Simon Hamilton admits DUP colleagues have not shown ‘appropriate respect’ for the Irish language. Speaking at a cross-party debate at the 30th Féile an Phobail, the former Economy Minister suggested that his party was on a “journey” on the issue of language rights and insisted that it was prepared to re-enter government “tomorrow.” He blamed Sinn Féin for obstructing the restoration of power-sharing at Stormont, and accused the party of not showing enough respect to British identity in Northern Ireland. In a wide-ranging discussion on the prospect of Irish unity, however, Mary Lou McDonald said that British identity would be accepted in a united Ireland. Representatives from the UUP, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the SDLP and the Alliance Party also participated in the debate.

Omagh commemorates 20thanniversary of bomb attack. At a cross-community service at the town’s Memorial Garden on Sunday, relatives and survivors remembered the 29 people killed by a Real IRA car bomb, including a woman pregnant with twins. Hundreds more were injured in the attack on 15 August 1998. Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aidan was killed that day, called on political parties to show leadership: “We as a community have paid the highest price. Let us not forget why we need to make this work, showing strength, courage and leadership.”

Northern Ireland ‘not eligible’ for world record. Guinness World Records said that laws affecting Northern Ireland could still be passed at Westminster, making it ineligible to be considered as the country without a government for the longest period in peacetime. The record is currently held by Belgium, which had no government for 541 days after an election in 2010, totalling 589 days when factoring in the period between the prime minister’s resignation and the election itself. Northern Ireland will reach that unofficial milestone on 28 August. A protest will be held in Enniskillen to mark the occasion. “The message is that we deserve better,” said organiser Dylan Quinn.

Study finds that most UK constituencies now have ‘Remain’ majorities. Researchers at Focaldata analysed data collected by YouGov from 15,000 respondents in June and July, finding that 112 constituencies had shifted from Leave to Remain majorities in the space of a year. The largest shifts were in Labour seats in the North of England and Wales. The model estimates that a majority of voters support remaining in the EU in 341 constituencies, while a majority of voters support leaving the EU in 288 constituencies. Three were too close to call. It is the first major study to have examined the constituency-level shift in people’s preferences on Brexit, and adds pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to further distinguish the Labour Party’s position from that of the Conservative Party.

UK media spends a week talking about Boris Johnson. In his weekly column in the Daily Telegraph, the former Foreign Secretary targeted the appearance of women wearing the burqa. The Prime Minister said his language “caused offence” and called on Mr Johnson to apologise. So far, no apology has been made. The controversy over Mr Johnson’s column ignited a fierce debate on the freedom of speech. The comedian Rowan Atkinson came to his defence: “As a lifelong beneficiary of the freedom to make jokes about religion, I do think that Boris Johnson’s joke about wearers of the burqa resembling letterboxes is a pretty good one.” The debate around freedom of speech seldom addressed the distinction between someone’s entitlement to say something and, as far as a prominent political leader is concerned, someone’s wisdom in saying something.

Also published on Medium.