On Saturday, I brought Junior down to the Pride parade in Belfast. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. It’s quite the sight. It’s often said that nothing ever changes in Northern Ireland. But ...

Northern Ireland’s economic system is undergoing reform — again. The Lyons Review into Invest NI made headlines just two years ago, with its blunt assessment: the agency was underperforming and overly ...

Here you can post and discuss news stories, social media links, or whatever is on your mind. Slugger O'Toole A general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Back in 2006, the case for devolving corporation tax powers to Northern Ireland was championed as an economic game-changer. Nearly 20 years later, the idea remains strong—but it’s been quietly shelved ...

The Troubles. I remember the darkness. It always seemed to be dark. A combination of winter and broken streetlights. As I have often said, the arc of events in 1971/72 shaped me. Internment, ...

Is it totally fanciful to imagine that Donegal might serve as a model for a harmonious united Ireland? I have just returned after a week’s cycling in that beautiful northernmost county, where this ...

After listening to the 45 minutes of complaint by Mervyn Gibson on BBC Talkback, I read the Orange Order statement in full and as someone who grew up in a firmly unionist family, attending ...

Today, Wednesday, Sean will be cremated at Roselawn Crematorium. You will not know this as he left strict instructions there would be; no death notices, no mass, no eulogy, no memorial cards. Sean is ...

Need a break from the political noise? This thread is for anything *but* politics — books, hobbies, film recs, you name it. Slugger O'Toole A general account used for the daily threads and other ...