Ulsterman doing what is necessary to survive in a Wessex-Danelaw border town. Involves M&S top-up shopping. Fond of obscure HMHB lyrics.

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Joined April 2010
It’s the battle of the Good Friday Agreement trashers. - Jamie Bryson: anti-GFA, turns a legal victory into a strategic cul-de-sac v - Breandán Mac Cionnaith: anti-GFA, turns resident protest into Provo hatefest. Or Option 3: support GFA and tell both to f*** off and get a life?
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Old Newtownabbeian retweeted
Green Party canvassers will now receive more hostility on the doorstep than Labour Party canvassers in 2015-20. And it's hard to feel any sympathy: even in the worst times under Corbyn, Labour never adopted 'Zionism is Racism' as party policy.
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Old Newtownabbeian retweeted
I suspect that this was always the position of the Lodge in Portadown since this latest determination was announced. The application to parade, which is already a significant effort to show accommodation, should now be met with an equally significant moment of grace by those opposed to the 10 minute silent walk. What a moment this could be.
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GAA don’t make it easy for themselves on the “we’re about sport not politics” front 🥴
GAA President Jarlath Burns visited Garvaghy Road this week to stand with residents & fellow Gaels 🤝
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This sounds the obvious fair resolution to all this. So it will be rejected by Bryson and pretty much of the whole of nationalism, which seems to have turned into some mirror image of Paisley in the 60s
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Unionism is accused of a culture of “Lundying” anyone moderate. I always found it baffling that anyone imagines nationalism doesn’t have the exact same phenomenon. This last week many unionists have disagreed with hardliners pushing Drumcree and we’ve not been Lundied like this.
Replying to @BelTel
No surprise there so !
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Old Newtownabbeian retweeted
It seems Sinn Fein have turned the Garvaghy road protest into an IRA get together,the country should be concerned......
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This is the strategy unionism needs. One focused on insisting the rule of law is applied.
✍️Statement from Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA regarding the scenes at the Garvaghy Road.
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Old Newtownabbeian retweeted
One probable scenario tomorrow is that Zionism is Racism passes and passes convincingly. The proposers are well organised, determined and well-placed to face down sabotage tactics that worked against them earlier in the year. Manipulation of that sort will be much harder to achieve at an in-person conference than it was at an online one. Passing the motion will have a number of immediate political consequences. The Green Party will be branded, with justification, as the Antisemitic Party - hostile to Jews in wider society and within its own party (several reasonable amendments put by Jewish members were not admitted). Think Corbyn years squared. A further consequence is significant damage to our political credibility, bleeding through to the ballot box, including the Holborn by-election next Thursday. I believe it is realisation of this liability that led Polanski to push for conference to be cancelled (so much for internal democracy) and for Lucas and Ramsay too late in the day to ventilate their concerns about the motion. What this means is potentially existential for both the Party and Polanski. He is already being presented as a betrayer, but those arguing against the motion motivated by avoidance of negative news stories or adverse electoral impact demonstrate that their priorities lie not with anti-discrimination in all it forms. Rather they are selective and only care when it suits them and for optics alone, ie. they don't really care. The hostile environment for gender critical members is being extended to Jews of the wrong sort. If the motion passes, this will be another sad day for the Green Party and its descent into authoritarianism. One of the biggest recurring themes of my seminar series today was how desperately menbers felt they need a space to speak freely and think aloud. It is hostility to free speech that lies at the heart of the Green Party's institutional dysfunction. For a political party which increasingly enjoys power, this represents an actual danger to society, and danger to Jews. The only consolation I can think of is forewarned is forearmed. Other things being equal I think it is better for us to see clearly what the party has become instead of concealing that. Transparency is an important democratic principle.
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'No going back' says the party that has released this intransigent dinosaur to front a morality campaign in the same town he bombed. Welcome to Nornia.
“Sectarianism, fascism, racism are the same mindset that treat other people lesser than themselves.” Residents' spokesperson Breandán Mac Cionnaith has been speaking at Saturday's Garvaghy Road solidarity rally in Portadown. Thousands attended the event, with other speakers including first minister Michelle O'Neill.
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Old Newtownabbeian retweeted
New in The Atlantic: @dgrobinson resigned this week. He was among the longest-tenured employees at OpenAI—and oversaw safety reports on 12 frontier launches. He is very worried: “The time for trial and error is over.” You can read his essay here: theatlantic.com/technology/2…
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Old Newtownabbeian retweeted
I’m sure the concerned Protestants on the Garvaghy Road were delighted to hear a rendition of “My Old Man’s A Provo”. No going back!
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Old Newtownabbeian retweeted
Michael O’Neill, Billy Bingham, Peter Doherty, Bertie Peacock, Danny Blanchflower……. All the Best Northern Ireland Managers played for Glentoran…😁💚❤️🖤 This young Northern Ireland team are immense under Michael O’Neill! 💚🤍💙
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Love this essay by John Gray on what he calls the re-enchantment of the world. I knew we were too quick to write off animism. newstatesman.com/technology/…
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Old Newtownabbeian retweeted
The Irish county system as we know it today was designed and built by the Normans and English. Prior to the 1,100s Ireland was divided into a patchwork of 150 petty kingdoms, quite often warring with each other. Example: The county of Londonderry was established in 1613, (there was no such entity as Co Derry before this), just Co Colerain with an amalgam of other lands from Tyrone and Donegal.
Ireland’s 32 historic counties form one of the island’s most enduring geographical frameworks, grouped within the four provinces of Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht. Six counties lie within Northern Ireland and the other 26 within the Republic of Ireland. The 32 counties remain an important part of Ireland’s geography, heritage, culture, sport and local identity. Explore the counties and their boundaries at RealCounties.com.
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Hear hear 💚💚💚 Result at 3-0 may have slightly flattered us but we deserved the win for sure and it was among the most polished away victories I’ve seen from an NI team. Given their youth, and were missing best player, it’s really quite something.
This Northern Ireland team is magnificent. Almost a flawless performance. Brown, Atcheson and McConville just immense. Shea brought composure to midfield. Hume gritty as ever. Spencer & Morrison raiding down the right. Love this young team. #GAWA
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If the Orange is innately offensive to Irish nationalism, what does its 🇮🇪 flag actually mean? Perhaps the Libyan flag 1969-2011 (the Gadaffi one - kind of fitting given PIRA were pals with him) might be more what this “United” Ireland thing is really about:
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