The last few weeks have been bad weeks for the political process, bad weeks for the peace process and bad weeks for the vast majority of people who are absolutely wedded to building a new society on this island.
I have listened very carefully to the various reasons being put forward by those involved in the protests and in the violence. None of them can excuse what has been happening on our streets. We also must be careful not to overstate the numbers involved. Those who have been involved in attacks on the police, attacks on people’s homes and businesses and attacks on political parties have been a small number. Continue reading
Belfast 2013 is not the City I grew up in. In my youth and for much of my adult life Belfast was a place in which nationalists had no rights; a place where sectarianism and discrimination, injustice and inequality were commonplace and exercised as a matter of institutional and political practice. 