What’s behind Northern Ireland’s fake greenways controversy?
The Republic has built 91km of greenways in the past two years; Northern Ireland has built 4km, while claiming to have built many more
Newton Emerson
Newton Emerson columns
The campaign to free Bailey the support dog from prison sparks a useful debate
Bailey’s story has highlighted an odd feature of Northern Ireland politics: prison issues are normally a dog that does not bark
Here in Northern Ireland, the Irish presidential election seems a lot like Eurovision
Most Protestants in North have genuine and understandable indifference about Irish presidency
An orange-green split is looming over Lough Neagh
The visible decline of the lough this summer shocked people living around it, including in several heartland Sinn Féin constituencies
Lack of transparency over immigration fuels toxic atmosphere in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's parties must put agendas aside and have an open discussion based on evidence
Nigel Farage’s immigration bombshell raises nationalist hopes and unionist fears
Unionism still faces a hard new political reality if Northern Ireland comes to be seen in Britain as an obstacle to controlling immigration
Lack of tax powers renders Stormont a spectator in UK public spending debate
Patience of English taxpayers with Northern Ireland will be tested as Britain runs out of money
Scotland shows how an apparently unstoppable national cause can stall when mishandled by one party
Northern unionists might dare to dream of a similar outcome but SNP's legacy offers a mixed lesson
Why is Sinn Féin so reluctant to amend climate legislation to improve the A5?
Importance of road upgrade for constituents makes party’s tolerance of any political pain on it a genuine mystery
Who do you call if you want to speak to the leader of unionism? It’s complicated
The DUP has accepted second place at Stormont. But it doesn’t know how to lead unionism from there
Don’t expect votes for 16-year-olds to change the world. It’s the 25-35s who are the rebels
As the Scottish independence referendum showed, young first-time voters can be surprisingly conservative
A tricky question on Good Morning Britain for Mary Lou McDonald
Sinn Féin’s message to the British public is ‘let us take this expensive burden off your hands’, while to the Republic it’s that reunification will be almost painless
A GP strike could be the beginning of the end of free primary care in Northern Ireland
Minister for Health Mike Nesbitt’s negotiating tactics are remarkably aggressive. Has he overplayed his hand?
Fees for students from Republic in Northern Ireland need to rise
Students from south of the Border apply for capped places in NI and pay the local £4,855 fee, while students from Britain pay double. There’s a good argument for why that should change
Northern Ireland is a world leader in keeping a lid on protests
A problem that persisted for two centuries is now considered solved
As BBC coverage of the Ballymena riots took a while to crank up, I turned to ‘FreedomDad73′
The violence of the past week has been aired with immediacy and intimacy unimaginable 15 years ago
The DUP couldn’t have chosen a worse moment to get tough on immigration
The party may have unleashed sentiments that carry it swiftly to the right
Gerry Adams defamation verdict won’t have a chilling effect on journalism - and here’s why
Why did the BBC press on? Because it is an intractable bureaucracy with no respect for public money
The contrast between Kneecap charges and flag-festooned Northern Ireland is absurd
Complaints of one-sided treatment may often be simplistic or partisan, but that only underscores the corrosive effect of inconsistent application of the law
EU-UK deal is a gift to unionists. Shame they can’t all see it
Reaction among conservative politicians portrays NI as a victim. It is a short step from there to portraying Britain as a victim of Northern Ireland
Should people in Northern Ireland vote in Irish presidential elections?
Unionists are horrified and nationalists entranced by the prospect of polling stations north of the Border
Northern nationalists identify an unlikely source of hope: Nigel Farage
Many believe Reform leader’s isolationism will benefit the nationalist cause. Unionism has its equivalent fond delusions
It would be some irony if the two parts of Ireland taught the UK lessons in devolution
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
Downsizing is fine in theory. In reality, it’s rearranging property deckchairs on the Titanic
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
Latest controversy to engulf Stormont is over the definition of ‘controversial’
Current row is over Irish language signs at Grand Central Station - but brace for more of the same
UK has to pick a side between the US and the EU - and Northern Ireland is stuck in the middle
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
Underinvestment in water is harming the environment and economy, but no politician dares mention a solution
Domestic bills and privatisation are off the agenda, but politicking is thwarting proper debate on who pays
The big story from Northern Ireland no one is talking about
The latest bombshell population data heralds a shocking reversal of demographic fortunes
At home the DUP spurns Irishness, but when abroad it embraces it
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?
Unionists are enjoying the pile-on over the Republic’s defence freeloading
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
It would be pathetic if the united Ireland cause was frustrated by bill for disability benefits
Equally, the cost would be bad reason for the union to persist, so nationalists and unionists should want this spending to fall
A British defence spending bonanza will present Sinn Féin with a dilemma
Keir Starmer has been advised to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP, which could be paid for by slashing social welfare
Sinn Féin voters in the Republic and unionist voters in Northern Ireland agree on something
Both have the least positive views on immigration of any two groups of party voters on the island
Moral panic about build-to-rent apartments overlooks their obvious advantages
Extra supply at the top relieves pressure on the whole market. This is one form of trickle-down economics that works
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Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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