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'.
It will not be said out loudly or with attribution and it might even be denied, but there are republicans who know the damage and…
There is nothing certain about the future of the political institutions at Stormont. They may or may not be restored. What makes the task all…
Chief Constable George Hamilton’s tweet just after noon on Monday January 28th was, to say the least, something of a surprise. At 51, it announced…
On this Stormont map we have lost the place of working politics. Yes Parliament Buildings still stands at the top of the Stormont hill…
In this place we’ve heard it all before – the familiar word plays that follow the negotiation. Clarification, explanation, interpretation, side letters, best endeavours and…
It’s a picture that speaks a thousand words. Those barriers on the Stormont steps a striking image in a place where obstacles, obstructions, blocks…
It was if a rewind button had been hit and what followed was a playback into conversations that have spanned two-plus decades. The panel…
The on-mic/on-the-record commentary was bad enough – but what was whispered on the sidelines of Thursday’s Stormont talks was all the more telling. “Shit show”…
If you can’t see a problem, then you can’t fix it; and if you can’t see, or won’t accept, that you are part of…
Think about what is happening inside the Northern Ireland Office right now, and what is due to happen in New York in just a few…
Crisis. Leadership issues. Spending issues. Confidence issues. Talk of last chance and of rearranging the furniture. I was watching the teatime football on television…
Soon decisions will have to be made on the Legacy consultations. We shouldn’t burden families who lost loved ones with the responsibility of having…
Just read this tweet on Wednesday evening from PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton: Those three words that he uses as his end thought -…
Last week the political script read like something out of EastEnders; the ‘word pellets’ firing from the RHI Inquiry providing enough material for a…
The words spit out like shrapnel – clearly intended to cut and wound. “Widow of the big hero.” “Widow of the Tout.” Two women -…