Some recent conversations have raised questions about why fewer unionist voices are active in the comments. This article reflects on that and invites everyone to consider what helps make debate more ...

Here you can post and discuss news stories, social media links, or whatever is on your mind. Slugger O'Toole A general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Northern Ireland’s economic system is undergoing reform — again. The Lyons Review into Invest NI made headlines just two years ago, with its blunt assessment: the agency was underperforming and overly ...

The Troubles. I remember the darkness. It always seemed to be dark. A combination of winter and broken streetlights. As I have often said, the arc of events in 1971/72 shaped me. Internment, ...

Need a break from the political noise? This thread is for anything *but* politics — books, hobbies, film recs, you name it. Slugger O'Toole A general account used for the daily threads and other ...

Back in 2006, the case for devolving corporation tax powers to Northern Ireland was championed as an economic game-changer. Nearly 20 years later, the idea remains strong—but it’s been quietly shelved ...

It’s the weekend! Here you can post and discuss news stories, social media links, or whatever is on your mind. Slugger O'Toole A general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Is it totally fanciful to imagine that Donegal might serve as a model for a harmonious united Ireland? I have just returned after a week’s cycling in that beautiful northernmost county, where this ...

After listening to the 45 minutes of complaint by Mervyn Gibson on BBC Talkback, I read the Orange Order statement in full and as someone who grew up in a firmly unionist family, attending ...

When I was in a bookshop with my son at the weekend, he asked for several books. I explained that no, he could only get one, but when he read it, he could get more. “Buying books and reading books are ...