Newton Emerson

Plan to make it compulsory to remain school or training until 18 will be difficult to enforce

An almost total dearth of ideology, beyond unionism or nationalism, may be the deepest North-South political divide

Reform is not just about preventing collapse. It is about better government and normalising democracy

Newton Emerson offers his inimitable take on the week’s news headlines

Rachel Reeves’s budget brings good news for Northern Ireland as any fiscal pressure was lifted by the automatic operation of the Barnett formula

The DUP gives the impression of modernising at minimum speed, while being constantly tempted by conservative culture-war positions

The world may have changed since 2016 but President Trump's first term remains our best guide to how he might treat Northern Ireland during his second.

What passes for debate on a united Ireland is endlessly derailed by absurd claims from activists, academics and politicians. At least Fianna Fáil has now begun putting flesh on the bones of its plans

Grandiose analysis of the Troubles as a ‘dirty war' is not matched by analysis of a dirty peace