by RuthDE | Jan 30, 2024 | 2024, Belfast News Letter, January, Journalism
I could never bear Nicola Sturgeon. It wasn’t because of her politics. I like many people I don’t agree with. But her narcissism and self-righteousness made my flesh creep. And I thought it a disgrace that her husband Peter Murrell was the chief executive of her...
by RuthDE | Jun 13, 2023 | 2023, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, June
What a week it’s been for those of us who follow the soap opera that is contemporary politics! Published: 13 June 2023 We had the arrest over mysterious SNP finances of Nicola Sturgeon, erstwhile first minister of Scotland — a inept administrator but a...
by RuthDE | Apr 11, 2023 | 2023, April, Belfast News Letter, Journalism
I hope everyone’s been having a good Easter. Published: 11 April 2023 Apologies for the graphic detail, but I’ve been out of action for three weeks since I slipped on a wet pavement, broke two small bones in my lumbar region and incautiously accepted painkillers that...
by RuthDE | Mar 7, 2023 | 2023, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, March
My first instinct on hearing of the Windsor Framework, the deal Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reached with the EU, was tremendous relief. Published: 7 March 2023 Until then I could see no way out of the terrible mess we were in. Unionists had few friends and were...
by RuthDE | Jan 4, 2023 | 2023, Daily Telegraph, January, Journalism
By accepting his errors on the Protocol, the Irish PM is adapting to the new realities of Ireland’s politics Published: 3 January 2023 In his second chance as Ireland’s Taoiseach, a job he recovered in mid-December, Leo Varadkar has finally indicated that he’s learned...
by RuthDE | Aug 25, 2022 | 2022, August, Daily Telegraph, Journalism
Every political leader deserves a break, but this was a blatant dereliction of duty at a time of war Published: 24 August 2022 At first, my instinct was to sympathise with Sanna Marin, the 36-year-old prime minister of Finland, who is in a media storm over videos of...
by RuthDE | Jun 15, 2022 | 2022, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, June
I’m a bit of a politics nerd, but being an historian by trade, I’ve always been interested in the long view. Published: 14 June 2022 Often I find myself comparing contemporary politicians with those of the past, which is why I find myself so impatient with media...
by RuthDE | Apr 5, 2022 | 2022, April, Belfast News Letter, Journalism
Here’s a question to ask candidates on the doorstep over the next few weeks when you get tired of discussing the protocol. Published: 5 April 2022 “Can a woman have a penis?” This is the answer the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, produced last week, when...
by RuthDE | Nov 23, 2021 | 2021, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, November
I‘ve recently been reading too much about the UK-EU Brexit negotiations past, present and to come, and am delighted that at last some substantial work is being produced that answers some questions that have been bothering me for a long time. Published: 23 November...
by RuthDE | Sep 21, 2021 | 2021, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, September
Before I get on to two subjects with which I hope to cheer up at least some of my readers, just a few words about something else. Published: 21 September 2021 The media’s seemed to me to show extraordinary lack of compassion about the unexpected death of the prime...
