Newton Emerson columns
Westminster believes it has little to learn from devolved institutions. But the Shared Island initiative is showing how policy differences between close neighbours can offer useful insight
Today’s downsizers are closer to 70 and in no mood to rewire and replaster. They want a new build, which means they’ll be outbidding younger couples on a three-bed semi
Current row is over Irish language signs at Grand Central Station - but brace for more of the same
Rather than seeing a US trade deal as entrenching the sea border, some unionists hope Trump’s new world order might sweep the Windsor Framework away
Domestic bills and privatisation are off the agenda, but politicking is thwarting proper debate on who pays
The latest bombshell population data heralds a shocking reversal of demographic fortunes
The party’s code-switching in the US recently plays to negative stereotypes of unionism as a shallow identity. But could it be a response to a deeper shift?
Ireland is facing international criticism and it’s only natural that unionists want to join in. But incomprehension over support for neutrality is also a factor
Equally, the cost would be bad reason for the union to persist, so nationalists and unionists should want this spending to fall
Keir Starmer has been advised to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP, which could be paid for by slashing social welfare
Both have the least positive views on immigration of any two groups of party voters on the island
Extra supply at the top relieves pressure on the whole market. This is one form of trickle-down economics that works
Trump has transformed expectations of what can be done, even if his administration ultimately fails to deliver it
There are worse fates for the agreement than fading into irrelevance, but it would be dangerous not to acknowledge this is happening
Compounding the unionist party’s agony, it requested the brake over a matter so apparently trivial - font sizes on labels for chemical products - that it sounds like a satirical joke
He seems himself as less ideological than Blair, but he might benefit from adopting the New Labour master’s Machiavellian streak
Sinn Féin says Murphy will use his new position to advance ‘Irish unity debate in the Oireachtas’, yet he has vastly more scope to do so as a Stormont Minister
Alliance doesn’t sit on the fence, it walks a tightrope - but it has fallen off over EU regulations
Preference for a united Ireland has risen from a quarter to a third. Support for direct rule is about 15%, while 10% want an independent Northern Ireland
There were 40 ramming incidents in the 12 months up to the end of November, injuring 58 officers
It is an absurdity that Winston Irvine missed his graduation from Maynooth with a masters in “international peacebuilding” because of a court appearance connected to the UVF bomb hoax on Simon Coveney
Concerns that Sinn Féin’s electoral setback will destabilise Stormont miss the point. The party is at greater risk of endlessly shirking difficult decisions
The flax plant might be bland and its symbolism trite, but the same could be said of the Tricolour
New rules introduced by the UK government bring a quarter of farms back within inheritance tax, after three decades of being fully exempt. They’re right to be annoyed, but sympathy is waning
What passes for debate on a united Ireland is endlessly derailed by absurd claims from activists, academics and politicians. At least Fianna Fáil has now begun putting flesh on the bones of its plans
The DUP gives the impression of modernising at minimum speed, while being constantly tempted by conservative culture-war positions
Robert Jenrick’s suggestion that former colonies ‘owe a debt of gratitude’ to the British empire is one of the more robust responses to reparations debate
An almost total dearth of ideology, beyond unionism or nationalism, may be the deepest North-South political divide
Drastic action is considered essential, but this is part of a wider strategy that represents a looming calamity for Stormont
Not every organisation passes its employees around like a pilfered stapler until nobody is quite sure what is going on
Brexit and the sea border have dragged all aspects of trade with Northern Ireland into the zero-sum game of traditional politics
Throughout the negotiations of the 1990s, the British government and many others encouraged loyalism to develop a political project mirroring that of Sinn Féin. This briefly appeared realistic
What remains of the Euros plan is rancour and paranoia, a sorry legacy for what was meant to be an inspiring cross-community project
Concerns are being raised by experts that north-south and east-west strands face being “hollowed out” by careless duplication
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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