SLUGGER O'TOOLE

The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'Neill I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the …

Late sixties Belfast. It was the best of times. The worst of times was just round the corner. Waiting for us like a mugger in a darkened alley. It is surprising to think back to those days, pre – troubles. Such a different time. The troubles never really started, in my opinion, until July 1969, and even then 1969 recorded only 16 deaths. I remember this period well, I travelled daily to school in Belfast and socialised occasionally in Belfast …

Economy Minister Conor Murphy to contest Irish Seanad election Sinn Féin Economy Minister Conor Murphy announced on Monday (30 December) that he will run for election to Seanad Éireann (Senate of Ireland). The Seanad is the upper house of the Irish parliament, serving similar function to the House of Lords in the UK. Mr Murphy will be contesting one of the 43 seats elected from vocational panels, voted on by county and city councillors along with incoming TDs and outgoing …

The sheen has rubbed off the Prince Charming of international politics with predictions that he will resign today. From the Guardian: The Globe and Mail newspaper cited three sources as saying that Trudeau, 53, would quit as head of the ruling Liberal party after nearly a decade in office. It said one of the sources had recently spoken to the prime minister and believed he intended to step down before an emergency meeting of party members on Wednesday, “so it …

You may remember that after being bucked out by the ungrateful voters of North Down, Stephen Farry got himself a new gig as Co-Director of the new Ulster University’s Strategic Policy Unit. He also got the title of professor, which I am sure the hard-working academics of UU who have to toil for years to get to that level will definitely not resent. Anyhoo, the first fruit of the new Think Tank Tree is a report entitled “A Focus on …

As of 2022, NI’s Education Authority (EA) has an annual budget of £2.3 billion, employs around 44,000 staff, and delivers vital services to approximately 1,100 schools—from school meals and transport to maintenance and special educational needs (SEN) support. Therefore, how this organisation is governed and who controls it has profound implications for hundreds of thousands of pupils, parents, and education professionals. Current Controversies Recent appointments to senior EA positions have once again raised concerns about political patronage and the need …

Ah, Christmas, a time of tradition. Carol services, Slade on the radio, stressed shoppers in M&S and the BBC’s Marie-Louise Connolly standing in a hospital A&E unit expressing grave concern as trolleys of patients on trollies pile up around her. At this stage, the annual A&E crisis is darkly farcical. I mean, who could predict winter? You know that season that happens every year? There has been a winter A&E crisis for at least the last 10 years, and we …

We probably should have suspected something was up when Nick Clegg resigned from Meta as head of global affairs and was replaced with conservative-leaning Joel Kaplan. What it portended was revealed late yesterday afternoon when Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook and Instagram would no longer use third-party fact-checkers, instead relying on a system pioneered by Elon Musk’s X platform wherein users can append content with supposedly clarifying comments. In the attached post to his video blog, Meta …

Ireland’s Past and Future economic growth prospects The Irish exchequer recorded a record surplus of €12.8 Billion in 2024, helped in no small measure by a one off receipt of €11 Billion in tax arrears from Apple following a ruling of the European Court of Justice. Even without that bonanza, corporate taxes increased by 18% to €28.1 Billion, Income Tax rose by 6.6% to €35.1 Billion, VAT receipts increased by 7.3% to €21.8 Billion, Excise duties were up 11.8% to …

Each July my father made a choice not to erect a Union Jack outside our home, which was in a predominantly unionist area. This was out of respect to our neighbours, who were Catholic. However, this piece is not really about the flying of emblems from private property. Along many streets in various parts of Northern Ireland, flags of various sorts fly high and proud on public lampposts and there they can remain until the wind reduces them to tatters. …