Karen Bradley MP replaced James Brokenshire as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who quit his role due to health reasons. Mrs Bradley, who previously held the role of culture minister has little experience of politics here, and before this week had never been to Northern Ireland. She met the Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney; both said they want devolved government restored at Stormont as soon as possible. On Northern Slant, Vicky Cosstick prepared a to-do list for the new SoS: The new Secretary of Sate can make a difference.

Sinn Féin suspended its MP for West Tyrone, Barry McElduff, from party duties for three months over a video in which he appeared to mock the Kingsmill massacre on the 42nd anniversary of the atrocity. The party’s leader at Stormont, Michelle O’Neill, apologised to victims of the atrocity. She said that the video was not what was expected of a party member, but maintained Mr McElduff’s actions weren’t “malicious or intended to cause the hurt or pain which they did”. On this website, Heather Wilson asked whether the MP’s actions showed a lack of self-awareness or outright malice.

Democratic Unionist Party leader, Arlene Foster said that it’s not in Northern Ireland’s interests if Ireland does not prosper when the UK leaves the European Union, in a rare speech south of the border. At an economic summit in Killarney, Mrs Foster said that while she did not agree with the Irish government’s concerns over Brexit she understood them and shared concerns over a hard border. Her remarks could smooth relations between Dublin, Belfast and London.

UKIP leader, Henry Bolton suggested that his predecessor Nigel Farage misspoke when he said he was close to backing a second Brexit referendum. Mr Farage told Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff show that a second referendum would stop the “whinging and whining” of anti-Brexit campaigners; a fresh vote, he continued, could “kill off” the Remain campaign for a generation. Later, Mr Bolton came under pressure from senor UKIP figures to quit his post after his girlfriend was suspended from the party over reports she made racist remarks including ones about Prince Harry’s fiancee, Meghan Markle.

US President, Donald Trump reportedly referred to Haiti and African countries as “s***hole countries” during a meeting with congressional leaders aimed at reforming America’s immigration policy – a central theme of his campaign. Mr Trump denied using this language, but admitted it had been “tough”. The African Union demanded that Mr Trump apologise. Also this week, Mr Trump cancelled a planned visit to the UK in February; he had been expected to open a new US embassy in London. He claimed that he is not a “big fan” of the new embassy – which has been moved from Mayfair to south London. On Northern Slant, Steve McGookin shared his take on another week that felt like a month in Washington with: ‘Welcome back to the studio…’

Also published on Medium.