• Here’s why St Patrick’s day and ‘the craic’ are two of Ireland’s greatest myths

    Here’s why St Patrick’s day and ‘the craic’ are two of Ireland’s greatest myths

    Paddy Hoey, Edge Hill University and David Shaw, University of Liverpool There are two world famous symbols of Irish culture: St Patrick’s day, and the Irish pub – both synonymous with drinking and “good craic”. But history tells us that these icons of Irish identity were first conceived far away from Ireland. Since then, these…

  • Bookies sort political favourites from rank outsiders

    Bookies sort political favourites from rank outsiders

    Political betting is one way of forecasting how this election might go. Working on the premise that bookies rarely lose money and always do their homework, the odds they are offering might give an overall picture of what the country will look like electorally on May 8. There has been a remarkable transformation in the…

  • General Election 2015 is a great indictment of the Northern Ireland Peace Process

    General Election 2015 is a great indictment of the Northern Ireland Peace Process

    It had been hoped that the religious and political binary fault line between Catholic/ Nationalist/ Irish and Protestant/ Unionist/ British was something that 20 years of the Peace Process would begin to erode. This election will suggest quite the reverse: ‘real’ politics, based on political, ideological issues rather than simple religious affiliation may be some…

  • How Northern Ireland’s parties could hold the balance of power

    How Northern Ireland’s parties could hold the balance of power

    Northern Ireland might be a small place that has receded from the public imagination since the end of the Troubles and the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, but it might just be propelled back into the political spotlight. It remains religiously and politically divided along sectarian fault lines, but the 18 MPs that it returns…