Tag: Northern Ireland
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Divisive politics and Northern Ireland’s obsession with flags
Support Politika News on Patreon. OPINION Northern Irish citizens, whichever side of the political spectrum they find themselves on, have an undeniably unhealthy obsession with flags, or ‘flegs’. While these pieces of coloured cloth are used as symbols of cultural or political identity the world over, in few places have they provoked such controversy and…
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Stormont’s neglect of the most vulnerable in Northern Ireland has led its children to violence
OPINION Reports of children as young as 12 being coerced to riot by gangs has been the most harrowing aspect of the recent upsurge of violence in Northern Ireland. The sinister and parasitical thugs who groom young people for criminal activity must be roundly condemned, but our political leaders share part of the blame for…
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Hopelessness, segregation and divisive politics have driven Northern Ireland’s peace generation to violence
OPINION As the centenary of the partition of Ireland approaches, the streets of Northern Ireland are facing the ‘worst rioting in years’. Many of those leading the violence, some of whom have now been arrested, have been strikingly young. A significant number were born after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA). What has brought this…
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Why integrated education should be non-negotiable in Northern Ireland
OPINION How to bring together a community divided by civil war is a long, arduous and difficult process with no clear blueprint or one-size-fits-all remedy. However, there are certain policies a government can take that would be conducive to reconciling one section of its society with another. One such measure that seems blindingly obvious to me…
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State of the Union: a post-Brexit Northern Ireland looks south of the border for answers
OPINION The first week of the United Kingdom’s independent, “taking back control” status has been predictably underwhelming to say the least. Overshadowed by the devastating developments of the coronavirus pandemic, the early hiccups have been (understandably) largely passed over by the media in comparison with the more pressing health crisis. However, in Northern Ireland this new…
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United Ireland: flight of fancy or near reality?
Ireland united is not a new concept. If anything, it is the actual partition of the island that to many Irish and Northern Irish citizens feels like the novelty. The centenary of that partition will be celebrated by unionists this coming May, but the significance of it will go far beyond commemoration; it will add…
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