by RuthDE | Jul 14, 2026 | 2026, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, July
Even us politics junkies are now permanently dazed by the speed and complexity of keeping up with today’s politics. Published: 2 July 2026 m “Generation Prehistoric”, having been born in the middle of the last century into a family with neither interest in, nor...
by RuthDE | Jan 15, 2026 | 2026, Belfast News Letter, January, Journalism
This week Wes Streeting, secretary of state for health and social care, went public on government U-turns. Published: 15 January 2026 Addressing the Institute for Government’s annual conference in London he faced the issue more directly than do most of his...
by RuthDE | Jan 9, 2025 | 2025, Belfast News Letter, January, Journalism
Interesting – and often ridiculous – questions have cropped up during the recent Anglo-American X (formerly known as Twitter) rows. I should declare some prejudices before I write anything about Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Keir Starmer and other proponents in...
by RuthDE | Nov 22, 2024 | 2024, Daily Telegraph, Journalism, November
Trump’s tariff regime could wreck havoc on the nation at a sensitive political moment Published: 22 November 2024 The Irish electorate face a general election on November 29 in a gloomy mood, for the choices on offer are uninspiring yet only the most ignorant or...
by RuthDE | Nov 7, 2024 | 2024, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, November
Well! Well! well! We knew Donald Trump didn’t do things by halves but his comeback has been — appropriately — mega. It has stunned the world. His supporter, Elon Musk, doesn’t waste words. “Game, set and match” was his tweet as the key American election results came...
by RuthDE | Oct 3, 2024 | 2024, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, October
I’ve always hated capital punishment, but I’m all for robust self-defence rather than appeasement. Published: 3 October 2024 In 1983, although I was an organiser of a letter from historians of Ireland opposing a motion in the House of Commons in favour of the...
by RuthDE | Mar 19, 2024 | 2024, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, March
Before I get onto more solemn topics, here’s a news item that made me laugh last week. It was a video of the Irish Ambassador to Israel, Sonya McGuinness, eloquently telling an Israeli/Palestinian female peace rally in Jerusalem last year that she had lived in Belfast...
by RuthDE | Sep 19, 2023 | 2023, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, September
I wish I could have been in Dublin, my native city, on Saturday afternoon, standing shoulder to shoulder with the terfs. Published: 19 September 2023 I could have paid homage in person to Graham Linehan, a Dublin-born comedian with the heart of a lion, who was loudly...
