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Soft shoe shuffle a fashion kerfuffle

THE more assiduous readers of this column may remember that some time ago Squinter wrote about a rather personal hang-up – phobia would be too strong a word. He wrote that he was discomfited by the sight of elderly men in nice suits and ties wearing big gutties. There’s not the space here to revisit […]

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Why Arlene as First Minister is no reason for women to celebrate

ARLENE Foster. First woman First Minister. Youngest First Minister. It was a good stab at trying to make us feel like something new had happened in Stormont. It left a lot of us feeling a bit cold, though. Wheeling the trolley around Sainsbury’s recently and bumping into all kinds of different people involved in sport, […]

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Brexit would copperfasten partition

SINN Féin’s Member of the European Parliament for the north Martina Anderson says it is “imperative” that people here are made aware of the “disastrous implications” a Brexit – Britain leaving the European Union (EU) – would have for Ireland. With a referendum expected to take place as early as July on Britain leaving the […]

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PSNI resort to bogus ‘resources’ excuse as they battle to defend grim RUC legacy

THIS week saw the beginning of back-to-back hearings in all 56 legacy inquests, involving 97 killings, to establish just how far they have progressed – or not as is the case in many. The Lord Chief Justice (LCJ) recently assumed full responsibility for the coronial process and consequently the backlog. Justice Weir, an eminent High […]

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On the road in search of the Lost Kingdom of Craigavon

OLDER readers may remember when Stormont was offering families in Belfast a thousand pounds and a new house to move to the new town of Craigavon. Not many did, preferring to stay in Belfast, even if they were living in a cardboard box in a tiphead. They weren’t bad judges, as the Stormont social engineering […]

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Why a Brexit could hasten the arrival of a united Ireland

I FIRST encountered Colum Eastwood when he was Mayor of Derry. My son was over from London for some charity-related awards in Derry’s Guildhall, and I remember being impressed and puzzled by Mr Eastwood. Impressed by his warm and easy manner, puzzled as to why a young lad like him wasn’t out having a livelier […]

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