In the heat of July, Northern Ireland has once again witnessed violent clashes following the decision by the Parades Commission to ban Orange Order marchers who took part in the twelfth of July parade to return along parts of the nationalist Ardoyne area of Belfast.
Across the nations the chancellor’s spending review has received a mixed reaction to say the very least.
It may have been his first visit to Belfast since he entered the White House, but Barack Obama’s speech yesterday to an assembled audience at the Waterfront Hall hit all the right notes.
As G8 leaders prepare to meet in County Fermanagh with the issue of tax evasion high on the agenda, Northern Ireland’s finance minister Sammy Wilson has accused the Irish government of ‘stealing’ tax revenue from the United Kingdom.
Amidst revelations in the Daily Mirror that over 100 services across the NHS are being run by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin group, members of the Northern Ireland Assembly have called on Ministers at Stormont to bring forward legislation to prevent the privatisation of health services by stealth.
This month marked the 15th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. It is one of the proudest achievements of the last Labour government. And we stand ready today to help secure its legacy and help build peace, progress and prosperity in every community in Northern Ireland.
For Margaret Thatcher, Northern Ireland wasn’t just a political minefield but a personal tragedy.
Just months before she took office in 1979, her close friend and ally, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary Airey Neave, who led her campaign for the Conservative Party Leadership, was killed when a bomb, planted by republican terrorists, went off from under his car as he drove out of the Palace of Westminster.
George Osborne’s 2013 budget has received a tepid response in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Internal unionist navel gazing following last weeks’ Mid Ulster by election has been exacerbated by allegations that the DUP and UUP last year held serious negotiations over a possible full merger.
Sinn Fein have pledged to oppose a vote at Stormont that seeks to restrict access to abortions. The amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, tabled by the DUP and SDLP, would make illegal abortions that are carried out outside of NHS institutions.
