When Monsignor Denis Faul died last week I have to confess as to now knowing who he was or why he was important. In fact it wasn't until Mick Fealty pointed out this piece in the Times and I then googled a bit until I came across his obituary in the Guar… more »

Following the unscheduled outbreak of law and order mentioned at EU the other day, I'm pleased to see a fourth man has been charged following the arrests made in Armagh and Fermanagh. Paul McCaugherty, 39, from Lurgan, has been remanded in custody on… more »

As I've been trying to keep a (relatively) open mind on the link between the UUP and PUP in the non-assembly up to now, I found this piece from Alex Kane in the Belfast Telegraph quite interesting (hat-tip to Pete Baker). Kane is one of many members obvi… more »

Over the last couple of days we've seen the seizure of cocaine at Aldergrove with estimated value between £1-3 million, 8 men arrested (although 4 already released without charge) suspected of being involved with active republican groups, promises… more »

Andrew McCann has noted the publication of the 2005 Northern Ireland Life & Times survey this week and, much like last year, the results aren't great for those who want to leave the United Kingdom. This year's survey had a sample size of 1,200. I'… more »

Are the UDA preparing for peace or milking the media? Just what are the UDA actually doing, I wonder. Today saw two more high profile expulsions in the form of the Shoukri brothers (even though the courts didn't have enough evidence to convict them of m… more »

Dermot Ahern and the Republic's Foreign Ministry may have grabbed the initial headlines on FIFA's reversal of an earlier decision to require Northern Ireland players to carry UK passports, but the IFA have said that their negotiations with FIFA were resp… more »

The Chancellor is in Belfast today and will meet with the local political parties (lucky guy) as well as business leaders (I wasn't aware we had any). This quote stuck out to me: "The first message to him has to be that you can't penalise people now for… more »

Just what is a good distance to stay from a bonfire? If you're adorned in paramilitary regalia, I'd suggest as far away as possible. If we are ever to see widespread public acceptance and/or support for bonfires then the paramilitary connection, particul… more »

I've been saying from I began blogging just over a year ago that I'd like to see the Conservatives perform better in Northern Ireland elections, so you'd naturally expect that I'd be happy at the prospect of UUP members defecting to the Tories. Well you… more »