Brian Feeney: Northern Protestants are following their own trail of tears
Susan McKay s exploration of how northern Protestants are navigating the shifting ground on which they stand in 2021 is a compelling portrait of a community with a crisis of identity, says Brian Feeney 04 August, 2021 01:00 Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol has amplified the identity crisis felt among elements of the northern Protestant community. Picture by Alan Lewis/Photopress
SUSAN McKay s new book,
Northern Protestants: On Shifting Ground, should be compulsory reading for both sides of the divide here: for nationalists, who only see their stereotype of northern Protestants confirmed by every utterance of unionist politicians; and for unionists also, who don t realise those same politicians don t represent the range and depth of different views in their own community which McKay has made available to readers.
Ireland
Belfast
United-kingdom
Northern-ireland
Craigavon
Newry
Newry-and-mourne
Fermanagh
Armagh
Britain
Scotland
Alan-lewis-photopress
URL copied to clipboard
openDemocracy is going to court to force the British government to release full details about its controversial ‘Clearing House’– a secretive unit inside Michael Gove’s Cabinet Office, which is accused of blocking sensitive Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
In November, openDemocracy revealed that the ‘Orwellian’ unit in the Cabinet Office was vetting FOI requests and sharing personal information about journalists across Whitehall in ways that experts believe could be in breach of the law.
The Cabinet Office has refused to disclose full details about the Clearing House operation under the Freedom of Information Act – despite the FOI watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office, ordering it to do so in July 2020.
Belfast
United-kingdom
Northern-ireland
Craigavon
Whitehall
Orkney-islands
Scotland
Britain
British
John-mcdonnell
Sarah-creighton
Michelle-stanistreet