I admit to having been rather irritated by Queen’s professor Colin Harvey’s recent complaints about being under threat, since I think he has a tendency to take himself unduly seriously, to see criticism as abuse and to flinch from the hurly burly that goes with...
At the weekend, I was in Dublin, where I was born and brought up, mostly seeing old friends. Published: 6 September 2022 When we got on to politics, there was the predictably gloomy view that there was no stopping the Shinners from getting into government. Some of my...
Last week I was on Talkback disagreeing with the journalist Susan McKay about her charge that Kate Hoey was sectarian — one piece of evidence being that Hoey had attended “a barbecue for the extremist TUV party” (as she wrote in an Irish Times article on January 8)....
I had a strange, draining and unforgettable Sunday. Published; 9 November 2021 It caused among many other emotions sadness, despair and occasionally laughter, during a tour of killing sites and memorials in south Armagh and at the launch in Belfast of a documentary on...
I was delighted for two reasons on Sunday afternoon when I saw this tweet from the Northern Ireland Office. Published: 8 June 2021 “Secretary of State @Brandon Lewis has announced Trevor Ringland MBE as the UK’s first Special Envoy to the United States on NI. He will...
It’s got to the stage that people are afraid to say anything in case they get sued, Ruth,” wrote Dr Ken Funston, manager of the Advocacy for Innocent Victims team of SEFF (South East Fermanagh Foundation) last week during a Facebook debate. Published: 13 October 2020...
McKee bravely shone a light on sectarian violence in Northern Ireland — then became one of its victims Published: 1 September 2019 Though I’ve known many people bereaved or injured during 25 years of covering Northern Ireland as a journalist, Lyra McKee is the only...
It takes bravery to put your head above the parapet and challenge convention, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards Published: 1 July 2019 I went last week to the award of the Contrarian Prize in London. The dictionary definition of a contrarian is “a person who opposes or...
Lyra McKee was a brilliant journalist on the cusp of success, but also a wonderful friend, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards Published: 21 April 2019 At 6.30 last Friday morning I opened the email from Ann Travers with the subject “Shocking news”. It turned out I...
All decent people should stand with organisations like SEFF as they battle for justice, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards Published: 2 April 2018 Kenny Donaldson of SEFF with Florence Graham and Serena Hamilton, who lost oved ones to terrorism in Co Fermanagh My default...
