by RuthDE | Nov 15, 2022 | 2022, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, November
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...
by RuthDE | Sep 14, 2022 | 2022, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, September
In the spirit of kindness engendered by all the wonderful stories of the late, great Queen Elizabeth, I’m sorry for – rather than angry with – those whose inhumane response to the death of a woman mourned worldwide for her life-long exceptional contribution to...
by RuthDE | Feb 1, 2022 | 2022, Belfast News Letter, February, Journalism
I don’t like being labelled, but after covering Northern Ireland as a journalist for almost 30 years, I can now formally announce I am no longer a political agnostic: I am a unionist. Being from a Dublin Catholic mostly-soft-nationalist background and living in...
by RuthDE | May 18, 2021 | 2021, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, May
Every time I hear the sanctimonious voice of Peter Hain — that one-time rebel and enthusiast for Irish unity who in 2015 swapped his Commons seat for a peerage — I struggle to understand why the media think him an expert on legacy issues. Published: 18 May 2021 There...
by RuthDE | May 12, 2021 | 2021, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, May
On Friday Twitter explained why it had permanently suspended a Twitter account in the name of Barbara Pym that had been founded and run by the Sunday Independent columnist Eoghan Harris and friends. Published: 11 May 2021 “Using technology and human review in...
by RuthDE | Jan 26, 2021 | 2021, Belfast News Letter, January, Journalism
I finished last week’s column about the account of Martin McGuinness’s life just published by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) with: Published: 26 January 2021 “Despite all their lies and intimidation, McGuinness’s followers cannot stop true history...
by RuthDE | Jan 12, 2021 | 2021, Belfast News Letter, January, Journalism
I get fed up sometimes reading and writing about Sinn Féin/IRA. Published: 12 January 2021 But while violent republicanism is still a threat to peace and happiness of the people of the island of Ireland, most of the media let such terrorists get away – sometimes...
by RuthDE | Sep 29, 2020 | 2020, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, September
Well, the tweet from editor Alistair Bushe last Wednesday saying I was joining the News Letter certainly got the Shinnerbots excited. Published: 29 September 2020 For those of you who ignore social media, these are the armies of Sinn Fein supporters who assemble on...
by RuthDE | Jul 20, 2020 | 2020, Belfast Telegraph, Journalism, July
Michelle O’Neill was abused online but it’s tame compared to what I receive, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards Published: 20 July 2020 Three Sinn Fein communications in the last few days intrigued me. What was Francie Molloy, the MP for Mid Ulster, up to when he...
by RuthDE | Jun 16, 2020 | 2020, Belfast Telegraph, Journalism, June
A new breed of ‘offence archaeologists’ waging war on anyone holding dissenting views, says Ruth Dudley Edwards Published: 15 June 2020 What sort of decrepit rock did you climb from under you absolutely hideous harridan?” tweeted one of my critics last week. “You’re...
