The 12th of July is not a unifying holiday.  The year is 2030 and you’re searching for the best cultural holiday spots the world over.  First appears France. On July 14th, the frogs celebrate Bastille Day. This commemoration marks the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789 by the Sans Culottes during the French Revolution. The […]

A guest post by Ray Bassett. The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred or Hate Offences) Bill 2022, which is currently before the Irish Senate, is expected to become the law of the land in September. It is a poor piece of legislation, which infringes civil and human rights, while masquerading as a progressive […]

A post by guest author Michael Hallihane. ‘Big Brother is watching’ is a well-worn cliché but it was also my first thought when reading the Republic’s new ‘Hate Speech Bill’. The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022, to give it its full name, has attracted significant media attention and […]

A book review by guest author Ray Bassett. This is a thought-provoking publication and an interesting contribution to political debate in post Brexit Britain.  The four authors are all left-wing supporters of Brexit, and their central theme is that leaving the European Union was only a first, if necessary, step towards the rebuilding of a […]

A guest post by writer and political strategist Jon Egan. This may seem like a strange time to offer a note of scepticism for the prospects of a United Ireland, and an especially untimely moment to question the role of Sinn Fein as a party capable of delivering the ultimate goal of the Republican struggle. […]

A guest post by author Ben Collins. It is often said that two things in life are inevitable, death and taxes. I would like to add a third, embarking on constitutional change without planning beforehand leads to disaster. There is significant political change happening in Northern Ireland and we want to avoid the chaos of […]

A guest post by journalist and blogger Theo Macdonald. The term ceasefire babies describes those of us who have grown up in an era when the threat of regular bombings, shootings and other displays of violence is no longer the norm on the Island we call home. The relative stability bestowed on the younger generation […]

Former Lib Dem spokesman on Northern Ireland Stephen Lloyd argues that the DUP and Catholic Faith schools are a barrier to progress in the North of Ireland. Much has been written about the numerous challenges democratic politics faces in Northern Ireland. This article is not about those myriad challenges but focusses on just two of the […]

What a fool I was! I was only a puppet, and so was Ulster, and so was Ireland, in the political game that was to get the Conservative Party into Power, writes Seán Hickey in this guest post for irishborderpoll.com. The reason why Edward Carson’s famous 1921 speech hangs so prominently in the mind of […]