The Golden God Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 2 hours ago, btb said: There is a Public Sector in NI strike today partly down to the Stormont impasse, surely a continued non co-operation stance from the DUP will further erode their support amongst all but the hardliners. Don’t be silly it’s Westminster’s fault 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarrbridgeSaintee Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 2 hours ago, btb said: There is a Public Sector in NI strike today partly down to the Stormont impasse, surely a continued non co-operation stance from the DUP will further erode their support amongst all but the hardliners. Can’t see it. The reason the union leaders are focusing on CHH is because.. it’s his fault, and not the DUP’s. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 On 18/01/2024 at 09:02, btb said: There is a Public Sector in NI strike today partly down to the Stormont impasse, surely a continued non co-operation stance from the DUP will further erode their support amongst all but the hardliners. Possibly but most ire's being directed at Secretary of State. Plus autumn polls: 28% DUP 8% UUP 4% TUV 40% unionists 31% Sinn Fein 6% SDLP 1% Aontu 38% nationalists 16% Alliance 2% Green 1% PBP 3% others 22% cross-community versus 2022's assembly election results: 21% DUP 11% UUP 8% TUV 40% unionists 29% Sinn Fein 9% SDLP 1% Aontu 39% nationalists 14% Alliance 2% Greens 1% PBP 4% others 21% cross-community versus 2017's: 28% DUP 13% UUP 3% TUV 1% PUP 45% unionists 28% Sinn Fein 12% SDLP 40% nationalists 9% Alliance 2% Green 2% PBP 2% others 15% cross-community Their stance to date seems popular in unionist community. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btb Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) Fairy Nuff @HibeeJibee so on those polls (3 in 6 years) the total Unionist vote is currently holding steady with the DUP attracting votes from the more hardline Unionist parties. ****************** I note that in the current negotiations about a return to Stormont the DUP are focussed on the big issues Quote The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the government negotiators have discussed drafting more favourable language around the Windsor Framework, including potentially renaming the Green Lane – which governs the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland - as the ‘UK Internal Market Lane’. my suggestion would be to call it the Union Jack Lane! Edited January 19 by btb 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) 48 minutes ago, btb said: Fairy Nuff @HibeeJibee so on those polls (3 in 6 years) the total Unionist vote is currently holding steady with the DUP attracting votes from the more hardline Unionist parties. ****************** UUP are more moderate than DUP. Basically the opinion polls from later half of 2023 suggest DUP has recovered the ground they lost in 2022's election - when some 'soft' unionists gravitated toward UUP or Alliance, and some 'hard' unionists went to TUV. With them overawing UUP more than ever (btw same is seen in nationalist side where Sinn Fein overawe more moderate SDLP more than ever)... and sitting only 3% behind Sinn Fein for top... they'll presumably not rush to any new stance, unless they think they've hit highwater mark, or if/when the public opinion worm starts turning. Incidentally over last quarter of a century nationalist support has hardly varied from 40%; and unionist support has fallen from 50% to 40%, with cross-community correspondingly rising from 10% to 20%: However whereas UUP + SDLP were once the largest parties in their communities... days of Trimble + Hume... nowadays they're massively adrift of DUP + Sinn Fein respectively: Edited January 19 by HibeeJibee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O_Kahn Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I feel we are on a slow downhill path back to where were in the 1990s. Not the hundreds of deaths that used to occur annually in the early 1970s, but I wouldn't be that surprised if one dissident group does something lethal quite soon. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Dissident groups have been doing lethal things since the Belfast Agreement was signed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Is it the case that unionist politicians are likely to continue to scupper any devolved govt for as long as there's a SF First Minister on the basis that direct rule is much more preferable? Or are they likely to take their seats if the border conundrum can be resolved - acknowledging that the border was and remains the single most complex impact of Brexit? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 14 hours ago, HTG said: Is it the case that unionist politicians are likely to continue to scupper any devolved govt for as long as there's a SF First Minister Ironically until St Andrews Agreement in 2006 - which DUP agreed - title of First Minister (depute's powers are identical) went to leader of largest bloc, not party. Unionists remain largest bloc (37 v 35 v 18). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Golden God Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Their latest complaint is that an a Irish rap band got some money from the BBC to make a film that got into Sundance, got excellent reviews and was picked up by Sony to be broadcast all over the world. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 No obvious tribalistic windup angle is possible so I guess that explains why there are no posts in response to the latest news from TFS that the DUP will almost certainly be returning to Stormont if the Tories can deliver new Brexit-related legislation. Looks like it has finally dawned on the DUP that a softer Brexit through "unilateral alignment" is better than listening to Little Englander clowns like Nigel Farage who would have happily ditched NI in a second if it got them a hard Brexit for the Home Counties. What's pleasantly surprising is the Tories seem to be on board with a softer Brexit also. The irony to all this of course is that No Brexit at all would have kept the Union safe for the foreseeable future because a United Ireland any time soon wasn't even on SF's radar screen before the referendum went the wrong way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Left Back Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 15 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said: No obvious tribalistic windup angle is possible so I guess that explains why there are no posts in response to the latest news from TFS that the DUP will almost certainly be returning to Stormont if the Tories can deliver new Brexit-related legislation. Looks like it has finally dawned on the DUP that a softer Brexit through "unilateral alignment" is better than listening to Little Englander clowns like Nigel Farage who would have happily ditched NI in a second if it got them a hard Brexit for the Home Counties. What's pleasantly surprising is the Tories seem to be on board with a softer Brexit also. The irony to all this of course is that No Brexit at all would have kept the Union safe for the foreseeable future because a United Ireland any time soon wasn't even on SF's radar screen before the referendum went the wrong way. The little I've read about this talks about an agreement between the DUP and UK gov. Do SF get a say in this and could they scupper it if they aren't happy? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Just now, Left Back said: The little I've read about this talks about an agreement between the DUP and UK gov. Do SF get a say in this and could they scupper it if they aren't happy? From the little I have read SF appear happy that Stormont looks highly likely to be back soon. Worth bearing in mind who gets to be First Minister. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Golden God Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 This whole thread is an excellent laugh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 29 minutes ago, The Golden God said: This whole thread is an excellent laugh. Jamie Biryani as he's known in loyalist circles.. Quote Union flag protest leader Jamie ‘Biryani' Bryson's much-heralded hunger-strike lasted less than half a day. The baby-faced loyalist asked cops at Belfast's Musgrave PSNI station to get him an Indian takeaway after his arrest in Bangor last week. Hours earlier Bryson's pastor pal Mark Gordon — in whose house he was captured — told the media that the 23-year-old was on a “hunger and thirst strike”. But lying in a lonely police cell with his stomach rumbling a starving Bryson asked the custody sergeant to order him a takeaway. The laughable episode has led loyalists to brand him ‘Jamie Biryani'. “Everyone is joking about wee Jamie getting lifted and how he is sharing a cell in Maghaberry Prison with Willie ‘The Taser' Frazer,” said a UVF source. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/union-flag-protester-jamie-brysons-hunger-strike-ends-with-an-indian-curry/29121911.html 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Golden God Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 6 hours ago, welshbairn said: Jamie Biryani as he's known in loyalist circles.. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/union-flag-protester-jamie-brysons-hunger-strike-ends-with-an-indian-curry/29121911.html Also known as bin boy because he done a speech whilst standing on top of one. Republicans like to call him Seamus as well. A complete idiot and potentially dangerous, but hilarious all the same. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btb Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 (edited) Who's gonna tell Nigel this? Quote The latest negotiations reportedly involve a commitment from the UK government that its trade rules will not diverge from those of the EU in ways that could necessitate tougher checks as goods enter Northern Ireland from Britain. Edited January 31 by btb 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Golden God Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Saying the quiet part out loud here. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTG Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 6 hours ago, The Golden God said: Saying the quiet part out loud here. Jim Allister is not altogether happy. Arsehole. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Golden God Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 2 hours ago, HTG said: Jim Allister is not altogether happy. Arsehole. Also a hypocrite considering he’s slating the DUP but still going into Government himself. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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