The chords are played gently; neatly in time. A sudden sharp tingle runs up through your spine. Delicate goosebumps dance on the skin, Whilst smooth sweeps of strings cause a terrible thrill. Such is the impact of the opening notes of the iconic Euro ’96 hit, ‘Three Lions’. More popularly known as ‘Football’s Coming…

    This half-sentence extracted from a speech by the Sinn Fein President on Saturday evening needs some further explanation. It does not suggest an easy or a quick return to the Stormont political institutions. Indeed, speaking to this website, a senior DUP elected representative dismissed the Sinn Fein emphasis/focus on restoration as being for the “southern…

    You walk on eggshells when you write about this place – and, even in fiction, we are never far from actual events. Although differently described, they are a mere scratch beneath the words. John McClintock’s debut novel – FINDING ARTHUR – is set in the early phase of the peace process; its pages…

Prime Minister Theresa May must know what she is doing. Must know that it is just wrong to suggest that the only people being investigated in relation to conflict-related deaths are soldiers and other security personnel. Yet, just a few days ago – having already been corrected – she repeated those comments.     What…

    Early Years: My dad was a Presbyterian minister, and during my teenage years he was ministering half way between Lisburn & Glenavy in a small rural Presbyterian Church. This is where I met my wife, Elaine and we got married in 1998. This coincided with the fresh hope in Northern Ireland flowing from…

    The politics of this place needs something right now – some hope; something that lifts it out of this pedestrian, directionless, unimaginative, short-term and short-sighted phase. The Westminster arithmetic will change at some point. The focus will turn to how you restore the political institutions at Stormont; and, at that point, there will be…

    There are some things which Barra McGrory QC said recently about legacy – in particular the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) – that I can agree with. However, there are also some things which I cannot support, and indeed I question the former Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) on his change of heart. Like…

    If you’re explaining, you’re losing. Just a week after the launch of the legacy consultation here, already clarification is being sought. It relates to the proposed new Independent Commission on Information Retrieval (ICIR) – designed to enable families “to seek and privately receive information about the Troubles-related deaths of their relatives”. If it…

    ‘Healing our society needs to be placed above the challenges of the political process.  A shared future should be about respect and equality for political, cultural and religious difference.  We share a common humanity.  Authentic reconciliation will depend upon us all embracing new thinking, having conversations to build new relationships between all sides.’…

    How might this period of consultation – the days and weeks to September 10th – be best used? This is the time that will determine the next steps in the legacy process; whether what is on paper in the Stormont House Agreement should be taken forward into historical investigations and inside a new commission tasked…

(Below are the transcripts in full of Chief Constable George Hamilton and Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire addressing a gathering at Queen’s university this morning):   Lessons from the past and building for the future – by Chief Constable George Hamilton     I was very glad to accept the invitation to come here to…

    ‘2,400 lives saved in Northern Ireland by ending of the troubles’. This Belfast Telegraph article reminded me of a conversation I had some five years ago. “You have no idea how lucky you are”. He took a sip of his pint before he continued. “It’s not perfect but it’s a damn sight better…

    Those few words cut through all the political babble and bullshit about more talks and another push to fix the broken Stormont. They were spoken by an MLA; one of the many MLAs tired of the talking of the past 15-plus months and tired of the nothing that has happened, or is going…

  It was a birthday party with nearly all of the right guests – but spoiled by the long face that is the political failure and fallout that has stretched into this important anniversary year. On Tuesday, Belfast played host to some big-name guests; those who helped shape the political agreement of Good Friday 1998…