Northern Ireland Assembly elections have been set for 2 March, and the current the governing body at Stormont, elected just eight months ago, will be dissolved 26 January. The Assembly will be reduced to 90 seats, or five member for each of the 18 constituencies, from the current allotment of 108 seats, or six representatives […]
UPDATE: Obama did mentioned “the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising” in his 15 March remarks to the Irish delegation. ORIGINAL POST: March is Irish-American Heritage Month, which means an annual proclamation from the White House and corresponding fact sheet from the U.S. Census Bureau. I was a little surprised that President Barack Obama’s proclamation […]
It’s marching season in Northern Ireland, and this year there’s some extra attention on appearances of the Confederate battle flag, subject of much controversy in the American South. Writing in National Catholic Reporter, Mary Ann McGivern notes the similarity of arguments between those who believe celebrating Protestant King William of Orange’s 1690 victory over Catholic King James […]
It’s July, and that means Orange parade season in Northern Ireland. The trouble has already begun as the two main unionist parties walked out of talks at Stormont after the Parades Commission banned Orangemen from marching by a republican area of north Belfast on 12 July. The Guardian reports there are renewed fears that serious […]
Two big marches occurred in Ireland over the weekend, one a political protest in the heart of Dublin, the other a Protestant parade in rural County Donegal. Some 7,000 Orangemen paraded in Rossnowlagh, the only such July 12th parade in the Republic of Ireland. “The march was highlighted as a tourist attraction for the first time as […]
The Joseph P. Tumulty papers at the Library of Congress contain a folder labeled “Support for Ireland.” Among other items it contains subscription solicitations for two newspapers: The Irish Statesman and The Irish Press. Details about the Statesman found in part 1 of this post . Discussion of the 1930 solicitation letter for the Irish Press, below, […]
March was a newsy month for Ireland, including the failed constitutional referendum, a sour St. Patrick’s Day visit to the White House, and the shock resignation of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Here’s some coverage and commentary that has caught my attention: Varadkar resignation, Harris ascension, Donaldson resignation The messiah complex: Neither Leo Varadkar, nor anyone else, […]
UPDATE: The Washington Post describes how Irish anger over Gaza may make for a tense White House St. Patrick’s Day at this year’s bilateral gathering. The New York Times explains “the deep roots of Ireland’s support for Palestinians.” ORIGINAL POST: March 1924 brought the first St. Patrick’s Day in a decade that the Irish were […]
UPDATE: Both referendum questions were defeated by margins of nearly 3-to-1, an embarrassment for the coalition government that put forward the measures. The Irish Times editorialized: “The timing was rushed, the rationale unclear, the propositions confusing and the campaigning lackluster. It was an accident waiting to happen.” Whether the outcome is merely a botched one-off […]
In about the same time that it takes to read this sentence, I could take a photo (or short video) by tapping my smart phone, upload the image and a few words of description to any of several social media platforms, and publish the content for viewing on a similar device or computer nearly anyplace […]