Northern Ireland politics

The year continued where it left off in 2016 with questions surrounding the failed Renewable Heating Incentive (RHI) scheme. After Sinn Féin deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness collapsed the Northern Ireland Executive in January, DUP leader Arlene Foster shared her reaction via a fireside address; our Deputy Editor, Jamie Pow went through her remarks line-by-line, with his own analysis of the situation. Would Stormont have survived had Mrs Foster, the minister behind the RHI scheme, temporarily stepped aside whilst an investigation got to the bottom of the mess? We’ll never know.

A snap Assembly election spelt the end for the short-lived official opposition at Stormont between the UUP and SDLP; Heather Wilson wrote we can still work towards a shared future irrespective of our orange or green identities. It was not long after Martin McGuinness retired from politics that he passed away. Ian Paisley Jnr’s warm tribute to Mr McGuinness, wrote Heather Wilson, was a far cry from the DUP’s days of “no surrender.” Around this time, Jamie Pow was at Queen’s University Belfast to hear words of wisdom from broker of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, former US Senator George Mitchell: Lessons from the patient optimist.

At March’s Assembly vote the DUP and Sinn Féin made gains at the expense of smaller parties; capital-U unionism lost its Stormont majority for the first time. When the nineteenth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement was marked by a Stormont deserted by those elected to serve, Jamie Pow looked at the implications of “zombie government” run by civil servants.

Whilst Gareth Brown presented a case for a voluntary power-sharing coalition if the DUP and Sinn Féin weren’t up for it, Joel Cassells suggested we need to revisit the GFA altogether. Drawing on lessons from other divided societies, Matthew Jackson asked could power-sharing ever work here.

Jamie Pow suggested that if MLAs failed to govern, we should replace them with a citizen’s assembly, others looked at specific intractable issues. Clare Rice asked how the Irish language debate could be de-politicised; and whether the Assembly should reform or abolish the Petition of Concern. By turning their backs on reform, Roger Greer claimed politicians were watching the health service decline.

Westminster, and Brexit

In March, the UK government triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, beginning the formal process of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. Having done so during a week which should have been celebrated across the continent to mark the sixtieth year of the European project, this writer wrote: Europe, we hardly knew you.

We saw another snap election, at Westminster, called by Prime Minister Theresa May who sought to strengthen her hand going into Brexit negotiations. In Jamie Pow’s analysis, Northern Ireland appeared the smallest factor in the PM’s electoral calculations. From “strong and stable” to “weak and wobbly”, he summarised Mrs May’s disastrous election in 5 points.

Paramilitaries and bonfires

In June, this writer argued that reaction to the placement of paramilitary and other loyalist flags in ‘shared neighbourhoods’ of Belfast highlighted the hypocrisy that surrounds our political leaders’ approach to paramilitarism: Paramilitaries – and appeasement – are plagues on our society.

In July, we’re accustomed to talking about bonfires. When Arlene Foster claimed bonfires have been “demonised”, this author wrote that in Northern Ireland we’ve been taught to demonise more than just bonfires. Meanwhile, Heather Wilson called for a sensible discussion on bonfires.

Irish unity?

Since Brexit, Irish unity has been a topic of debate on Northern Slant. 2017: The moment Irish unity  became inevitable from Kevin Meagher was this year’s most read post. He argued both Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and former Irish PM Bertie Ahern are wrong in suggesting a 50%+1 referendum result would not be enough to justify Irish reunification. Later, James Cumiskey asked how can we build a new Ireland?

LucidTalk opinion polling

So, should there be a referendum on Irish unity? If unionist politicians have failed to widen their coalition, is there still time to save the Union? These are just some questions – asked by James Pow and James McMordie respectively – following the release of LucidTalk’s quarterly ‘tracker’ opinion polls throughout 2017. Here are 10 things we learned from LucidTalk polls this year.

The Trump supremac-, er, presidency…

Isn’t Donald Trump’s US presidency the gift that keeps on giving? Steve McGookin thinks so – check out his review 2017 review of US politics. From The Donald’s first 100 days (in more than a tweet), to a very Trump Thanksgiving, to making sense of the “fake news” phenomenon, Steve’s had the commander-in-chief down to tee (no Golf Club Mar a Lago pun intended).

Education, equality, and tragedy

Other topics explored included academic underachievement and the equality agenda and homelessness in Northern Ireland – “time to call negligence on the Stormont spat,” wrote Heather Wilson.

According to Eamonn Cunningham, June’s Grenfell Tower tragedy demonstrated the reality faced by the disadvantaged in our society.

When it came to the refugee crisis, death in the Mediterranean, Kerry Corbett asked: why aren’t we doing more?

On the same-sex marriage debate here, Stephen Donnan called on Westminster to step in; Alexander Redpath said it’s a matter for the Assembly, not the courts.

Expanding Northern Slant, unearthing a new Northern Ireland

On Wednesdays our ‘Northern Lens’ imagery series has showcased stories of change and hope, like Allan Leonard’s Then and now: Belfast Blitz.

On Thursdays, we’ve brought insights to new books and movies through our ‘Northern Review’ series, like Niall Crozier’s look at Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh.

Every Friday, Caolán Conroy’s ‘A game of 3 halves’ column provides his take on three sporting developments across the UK and Ireland, shares his NI-born soccer ‘team of the week’ and predictions for match-ups ahead.

In our ‘Northern Roots’ series, published each Saturday, we speak to people originally from Northern Ireland but currently living elsewhere – and vice versa – about NI and their hopes for its future.

Each Sunday we publish our round-up of the political week in 5 points. Jamie Pow’s coverage of TEDxStormont Women, interviews with speakers Maxine Mawhinney and Naomh McElhatton were both timely and timeless.

Thanks from Northern Slant

It’s been an interesting year in politics, to say the least – and an exciting one all round at Northern Slant. Thanks for following, and being part of the project. Here’s to another great year in 2018.

If you’d like to find out more about our community of contributors, you can catch our ‘Two minutes with the team’ interviews every Tuesday.

Also published on Medium.