Belfast Barman

Where Does Bad Journalism End And Fake News Begin?

I’m sure we’ve all heard criticism from the US President, and others, of the New York Times, and because of the era we’re in, we dismiss that criticism because of who it’s coming from. Should we? On May 24th the New York Times ran a story, an exclusive, with details about the Manchester bombing. That article can be found here. Found at the Scene in Manchester: Shrapnel, a Backpack and a Battery…

Sinn Féin have been barking up this tree before. And caved before too

Many commentators have been quick to make the point that Sinn Féin are hanging their hat (and the future of the devolved Northern Ireland institutions…) on getting agreement to implement an Irish Language Act, but yet no such red line was drawn in previous post-election talks. Not so. This Belfast Telegraph article from the late Liam Clarke highlights what has transpired previously. This was…

Foster’s giant leap, and the community that accepted it for what it was.

On Thursday, March 23rd, 2017, a little piece of history was made. Not the burial of Martin McGuinness, although that was undoubtedly an historic moment in these isles if not beyond, but in Arlene Foster’s attendance at the funeral of McGuinness. There in the church alongside the assembled mourners, was former US President, Bill Clinton. It’s with that in mind that I’d like you to indulge me…

The Transfer Oddities of AE17a

I’m always interested in weird things – it’s a bit of an obsession. Ripley’s Believe it or not is kinda my jam. So after Assembly elections… after the counting is done and the candidates are returned (or crying at home), I like to look and see what bizarre things happened. The unlikely… the inexplicable… (more…)

Unionist Unity would be a disservice to us all

Many within the DUP have begun plan B, following the Unionist tanking at the 2017 Assembly Election. All members of society, from all political persuasions, should discourage this – we, the electorate, deserve better. The purpose of opposition, insofar as it exists in an infantile form within Northern Irish politics, is there to oppose. So says Winston Churchill. Churchill was on to something.…

From severance, to returning – the SDLP payouts.

Following the 2016 Assembly Election, SDLP members John Dallat (who stood down), and Dolores Kelly (who lost her seat), received severance packages from the NI Assembly – public money – as is normal in such circumstances. It has been reported that they received the following: John Dallat £50,784 Dolores Kelly £65,792 Quite a sum for being out of Stormont for just 302 days. For John Dallat, that…

AE17 and two bookies – what do the odds say? Overall result

So, after the last few days of looking at the odds offered by Paddy Power in the NI Assembly Election-a (for there will likely be a ‘b’), today, ahead of tomorrow’s voting, I’m going to tote up the final scores. Not just of Paddy Power, but combining in A McCleans Bookmakers too. The method for this, if anyone is interesting, is quite simply ranking the top 5 candidates in each constituency based…

AE17 and Paddy Power – what do the odds say? The battle of the Independents.

Following on from previous odds-analysis, from Paddy Power’s spread on the Assembly Election constituencies, what about those with a more solitary route to election, or in some cases, re-election? Some constituencies have more independents than others, Foyle and East Antrim have just one apiece. North Down however has 3, and West Tyrone tops that particular league table with 4. But what do the…

AE17 and Paddy Power – what do the odds say? Outside the top 5

Continuing on from yesterday’s post about the average returns offered by Paddy Power for each party’s full candidate list in the 2017 Assembly election, now I think would be a good time to look at the likely fallers, to use gambling parlance. In the 2017 Assembly election, there will be 5 candidates returned for each constituency, compared to 6 in previous elections. This will bring the total…

AE17 and Paddy Power - what do the odds say?

It’s always interesting reading the analysis and predictions of political watchers, especially closing in on an election. The thing is, the likes of Alex Kane, Newton Emerson, Allison Morris, and David McCann all have one thing in common – they don’t really stand to lose anything if they’re wrong. Maybe a bit of egg on the face, or maybe standing in a dress at the steps of Stormont… As happened…

#AE17 – What Are The Options? Direct Rule…?

The most recent Northern Ireland Executive was made up of Sinn Féin and the DUP, with the addition of the blesséd peacemaker, Claire Sugden as Justice Minister. And, mathematically, barring some absolutely generation-shattering political revolution, those two parties will return as the largest once again. On a linear basis, what are the likely outcomes from the Unionist and Nationalist parties,…

The pejorative language of religion

“Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes. I am an Atheist. Or actually, I’m a non-theist. Or is it Humanist… Language tells us everything, its importance cannot be underestimated. But when it comes to common parlance, the language of the day-to-day, the centuries old pervasiveness of religion in language is hard to avoid. I…

Nationalism, Unionism, and a lack of Pragmatism

I would consider myself a unionist, if other unionists didn’t make it so fucking hard. Mike Nesbitt said, somewhat bravely, that he would be transferring to the SDLP, his fellow opposition party, in the 2017(a) Assembly Election. Thus bucking the typical, ‘transfer to other unionist’ instruction that has become an ever-present feature of tribal election literature. (And of course, on the…

NI Waiting Lists are costing me my vision

On the 5th of April 2016 I had eye surgery. Quite a horrible procedure actually, for an eye disorder called Keratoconus. The plan pre-surgery was for me to have an operation on one eye, and then approximately six weeks later, to have the operation on the other. It’s now the 10th of February 2017, and when I called the Royal Victoria Hospital today, I was told “there’s no date for you yet, but…

DUP, RHI, Twitter Suspension, and Censorship

I am currently suspended from twitter. My account, www.twitter.com/belfastbarman, is visible to people, however I am unable to access it. On Friday 27th at around 10am, I was using the Twitter app on my iPhone, when it suddenly switched to the following displayed message. Not understanding what had happened, at all – and I truly mean, at all. I clicked, ‘Start.’ Which presented me with the…

The best thing for the DUP is Foster stepping down.

Either temporarily or permanently, either way – in the long term, it’s a win for the party.

Like it or not, the DUP were elected to the position of the largest party in the NI Assembly, and as such, have a mandate and obligation to govern.

With Foster in charge going forward however, imagine the discourse likely in every single Stormont debate when funding comes up.

Need money for health service?…

DUP Manifesto 2016: Vote Arlene or Martin McGuinness will drown a puppy.

Who is this Arlene of which you speak? Maybe it’s just me, maybe it’s our dysfunctional mandatory coalition government set-up… but when I think of what an incumbent party should be preaching about come election time; change isn’t it. Stability maybe? More of the same successes? Not change. Yet the DUP Arlene waxes lyrical about changes they’d she’d make… ok, why haven’t they hasn’t she then? You…