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Ed Curran

Parties need better defence in Stormont's game of two halves

Surprise, surprise. Peter Robinson has been to his first gaelic match, Martin McGuinness is heading for Windsor Park and the Ulster Unionists have scored another own goal.

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Inside Ed Curran

No need for a tartan army when Salmond is around

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

As Billy Connolly might crack, in his broad Glaswegian accent, "Isn't it amazen?" No Provisional, Real, Official, Continuity or even imaginary Scottish Republican Army.
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Sport in Ulster is good for us in more than one way

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

The accolades continue to fly for sport in Northern Ireland. What is marketed rightly as the golfing capital of the world is now also home to one of the top eight rugby teams in Europe after Ulster qualified for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals at the weekend.
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It'd be great if Lord Sugar could lay waste to Stormont

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

Sometimes I wish Lord Sugar would be employed to run his eye over Stormont and reveal his recommendations. Just what might he conclude?
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Our bitter tribalism was too much even for the Iron Lady

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

The Iron Lady is back in the limelight thanks to Meryl Streep and the release of Cabinet papers from 30 years ago.
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Old Firm still stuck in sick sectarian ways of the past

Tuesday, 3 January 2012

There was a time when a Rangers and Celtic soccer clash was as much a part of New Year's Day as haggis is to nips and tatties. Not anymore.
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Queen's Ireland trip healed 800 years of enmity

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

A belated Happy Christmas. Nollaig Shona Duit. There, I've gone and written it - in Irish. And on this Boxing Day 2011, the heavens haven't fallen out of the sky over Belfast City Hall. The Dome of Delight remains intact. The Union flag still flutters proudly atop the portals.
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Our health can't depend on Britain's generosity forever

Tuesday, 20 December 2011

If ever Northern Ireland needed to be part of a United Kingdom it is now. That is not a unionist argument. It is economic reality staring everyone in the face every time we hear another recessionary newsbite and feel the monetary hurt in homes, jobs, wallets, or life in general.
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Anthem that divides ill at ease with our goal of unity

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

If we want a better society, it can't be 'them' and 'us'. It can only be 'all of us'." I raise these words, spoken by the First Minister, Peter Robinson, at his party conference, in the face of two recent controversies.
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Most journalists are good but bad ones let us down

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

These are not good times to be a journalist. I must admit that watching the Leveson inquiry into Press standards is an embarrassing and uncomfortable experience.
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As world teeters on brink of ruin, this strikes wrong note

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Have the organisers of Wednesday's national strike stopped reading newspapers and turned off their radios, televisions, iPhones and laptops?
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Are these the people who really control Ulster now?

Tuesday, 22 November 2011

The realities of devolution in a difficult world have begun to sink in at Stormont. The new Programme for Government announced last week is no panacea for Northern Ireland's serious economic ills.
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Why we punch above our weight on the tourism front

Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Why should tourists want to visit Belfast? What is there to do here? Is the place really attractive - or is it just another European backwater city?
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Thanks a million Lady Gaga. You hit the right note at MTV EMA

Tuesday, 8 November 2011

A very big thank you to Lady Gaga and all the many international artists who participated in the MTV Awards in Belfast. The event has put the city on the map for reasons that are positive and very different to its reputation in the past.
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Defeat for McGuinness is a hard lesson for Sinn Fein

Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Martin McGuinness should return to Northern Ireland politics this week a somewhat chastened figure. His adventure into the Irish presidential election failed to rid him and Sinn Fein of the ghosts of the past.
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Cathartic moments on the presidential election trail

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

The phone rings again in the First Minister's office. "Hello Peter. Martin here. Only three days left." "Martin, I don't need to ask you how it's going. Not too well from what I can see."
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'Hi Peter, they're making it tough for me down here'

Tuesday, 18 October 2011

The telephone is ringing in Peter Robinson's office. "Hello Martin. Nice to hear from you. How's it going down there? Must confess I'm not that interested but, from what I've seen on RTE, I'm glad it's you and not me standing for president."
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Ulster heading for another chilly winter of discontent

Tuesday, 11 October 2011

Dear David Cameron, Are you gambling with the peace process? Are your cuts in public spending a step too far? Are you ignoring Northern Ireland as a special case within the UK?
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Is McGuinness' remorse a case of too little, too late?

Tuesday, 4 October 2011

The IRA took a long time to go away and the same can now be said of the searching questions facing Martin McGuinness. He is finding that the Irish presidential election is a different ball-game to the peace process in Northern Ireland.
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Is the Republic really ready for President McGuinness?

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Imagine the scene - a lavish white-tie state banquet at Windsor Castle. The guest of honour is announced. "The President of Ireland, His Excellency Mr Martin McGuinness."
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Why does Executive keep shirking the tough decisions?

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

First it was no water rates for Northern Ireland. Now, the province's local students are to be spared a major increase in university tuition fees and 30 towns and cities will escape parking charges.
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