Northern Ireland
Violent extremists won’t spoil Joe Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland
What can violent extremists do to wreck Joe Biden’s first visit to Northern Ireland? The answer is precious little. The…
The DUP has a right to be difficult over the Northern Ireland Protocol
It’s easy to take an unsympathetic view of the Democratic Unionist Party. For many, its politicians are caricatures of the…
The David Trimble I know (1998)
David Trimble, Northern Ireland’s first minister from 1998 to 2002 and leader of the Ulster Unionist party from 1995 to…
The EU never understood Northern Ireland
At the heart of the crisis over the Protocol is its failure to deliver on its own stated aims. To…
Letters: Banning Russia’s culture only benefits Putin
Don’t ban Russia’s culture Sir: It is uncouth, illiterate and actually beneficial to Putin when theatres, opera houses and other…
Portrait of the week: Inflation’s 40-year high, Tory MP’s rape arrest and monkeypox in Britain
Home The annual rate of inflation, impelled by energy costs, rose to 9 per cent, its highest since 1982. Unemployment…
Letters: What happened to hymns in schools?
Disarming by default Sir: Underpinning Rod Liddle’s amusing article on use of nuclear weapons last week is the reassurance provided…
Portrait of the week: The Queen’s Speech, Sinn Fein surge and an £184m lottery win
Home The Prince of Wales delivered the Queen’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament sitting on a throne next…
EU: normal disservice resumes
In the past few months, relations between the UK and the EU have been the best they have been since…
Brexit’s potential is beginning to be realised
The purpose of Brexit was to strengthen Britain’s ties with both the world beyond Europe and with Europe itself, but…
Miss Brexit? Another bust-up is looming
In the past few months, relations between the UK and the EU have been the best they have been since…
The Northern Ireland elections could break the Union
Belfast, Northern Ireland Phillip Brett was just nine years old the night a neighbour called to say his brother, Gavin,…
Don't prosecute Soldier F
Sometimes old grievances are best laid to rest. That was certainly the view of Tony Blair when his government issued…
Will Westminster ever fix the Northern Ireland protocol?
Last night’s spat between the Foreign Office and the Treasury was hardly reassuring for Unionists. If you missed it, a…
Suchet makes Poirot sound like craft beer: Poirot and More, at Harold Pinter Theatre, reviewed
Producers are getting jittery again. Large-scale shows look risky when a single infection can postpone an entire show. Hence Poirot…
Richard Needham takes a businesslike attitude to the Troubles
This memoir from Sir Richard Needham, 6th Earl of Kilmorey, businessman and former Northern Ireland minister, has a frank opening:…
Could the rise of Sinn Fein lead to a united Ireland?
The possibility of a political wing of a terrorist organisation becoming a party of government in an EU member state would…
David Frost's protocol diplomacy
As a general rule in post-Brexit politics, when David Frost makes a public intervention on the Northern Ireland protocol, it…
When will the DUP realise the truth about the Tory Brexit strategy?
Are the Tories serious about getting rid of the troublesome Northern Ireland Protocol? The latest extension to the so-called grace period –…
Sinn Fein's troubling veneration of terrorists
Sinn Fein is not a normal party. It sometimes feels impolite to point it out in the era of the…
How Boris can save Northern Ireland
Over the past few weeks and months, there has been plenty of focus on the Northern Ireland Brexit Protocol, and…
Northern Irish unionists are united against the protocol
The DUP’s departed leader Edwin Poots spoke in his valedictory interview of a ‘significant victory’ heading unionism’s way regarding its…
The Troubles amnesty and the hypocrisy of Sinn Fein
Predictably – and understandably – the Northern Ireland Office’s proposed amnesty for crimes relating to the Troubles has resulted in…
Boris's Brexit deal isn’t worth sacrificing Northern Ireland for
There will be chaos at the borders. Food will run out at the supermarkets. Travellers will face long queues, and…
Has Boris Johnson forgotten what he once said about IRA terrorists?
Boris Johnson’s approach to dealing with historical prosecutions in Northern Ireland has achieved that unique political feat in the Province: uniting both…
