In an eamonnmallie.com special, Eamonn Mallie, Brian Rowan and Dr. Katy Hayward sit down to discuss the current political landscape in Northern Ireland and beyond following an eventful 2019.
Areas discussed include:
- The recent election results
- Brexit past, present and future
- Prospects for the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly
- Scottish, English and Irish Nationalism
Watch the show here:
Listen to or download the show here:
Eamonn Mallie is an Author, Broadcaster, Journalist, Filmmaker, and Presenter of ‘Eamonn Mallie: Face to Face with…’ on UTV.
Brian Rowan is a journalist/author. A former BBC correspondent in Belfast, four times he has been a category winner in the Northern Ireland Press and Broadcast Awards. He is the author of several books on the peace process and contributed chapters to ‘Reporting the Troubles’ and ‘Brexit and Northern Ireland: Bordering on Confusion’.
Dr Katy Hayward is a Reader in Sociology at Queen’s University Belfast and a Senior Fellow of the ESRC-funded UK in a Changing Europe initiative, working full-time on the topic of Brexit and Northern Ireland/the Irish border.
1 Comment
While Alliance the political entity has a position of neutrality on the border, assigning that characteristic to all Alliance voters is a logical error. From the limited, scattered and fragmentary evidence of transfers to and from Alliance in elections, we see their voters are both Nationalist and Unionist. Most Alliance voters already have their minds made up on the border. LucidTalk and Ashcroft bear this out, most keenly in the context of a harder Brexit. Which, surprisingly, is still somewhat of a mystery. Despite the election empowering Johnson to do whatever he likes.
Brian is right, the political forces unleashed within the UK are far greater than Northern Ireland’s capability to impact them. 1.8 million people are not influencing Scotland or England. He is also correct about what needs to happen now. The existing bloated quango budget could easily encompass a citizens assembly, and if Johnson exits with no deal at the end of 2020 I would think NI would be looking to bail out of the UK in a hurry. Better to have some planning and not need it, right?
Regardless of Brexit, a UI is coming, NILT’s finding of 19% support for a UI is hard to take credulously given the polling. Time to start planning now, it would be reckless not to.