Northern Ireland is growing ever more Catholic, ever more Diverse

Graphic from Irish Times available here.

It's becoming ever more clear that the old order in Northern Ireland is dying out. No longer are protestants in the numerical ascendency; rather that section of the community now falls under the growing shadow of the youthful Catholic class.

What Governments Actually Matter to the White House? Under Bush it was Israel, Ireland and Saudi Arabia

At 9m30s into the video above Geoffrey Wheatcroft says something very interesting on US-UK relations - the so called special relationship. He said:

"When Sir Christoper Meyer was British ambassador in Washington he forbad any members of the embassy staff from using the expression, 'special relationship'. He also said something else. Based on his experiences of being British embassador in Washington he came to realise that the White House took seriously the views of the governments of exactly three countries: Israel, Ireland and Saudi Arabia."

Though it should be said that the above video pre-dates the formation of the coalition government in 2010. I would regard it that things will have changed under the Obama administration; however it does tell us something about the US-UK relationship and the pscyhe of American government more generally.

The Bloody Brae: A Dramatic Poem

John Hewitt was a master of the modern verse. A father figure of the current generation of the Ulster poets which includes leading names such as Seamus Heaney, Frank Ormsby and Michael Longley, John Hewitt did much to promote art and literature in Northern Ireland throughout his life.

And even though he passed away over 25 years ago his mind and method lives on. Thanks in part of course to the well known Belfast city centre bar that bears his very name, the John Hewitt Society and the annual John Hewitt International Summer School.

On the Pain of Writing Ctd

Writing in English is hard. I've talked about this a few times before, most recently here where I explored the famous James Joyce quote on the challenge of writing in English:

"Writing in English is the most ingenius torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives."

The Joyce epigram came as massive comfort to me. I was someone who for a very long time had thought I was unique in finding it difficult to get words on paper.

Prelaunch Meeting of NI21 (May 14 2013)

On May 14 2013 a private gathering was arranged at the Malone Lodge hotel where people were invited to listen to and then engage in dialogue with John McCallister and Basil McCrea about their new party, at that stage un-named but now known as NI21.

John McCallister took to the lectern and kicked off the proceedings. He began [the below will not be letter perfect as I transcribed the dialogue onto my phone as the evening progressed. I should also say that any emphases are my own]:

"Relationships in Assembly are significantly worse today than in 1998. Where have the 1998 voting levels gone to 15 years on? Where are we? We now have the 'United Community' shared future document, but sadly we're further away from that goal than ever. 

Basil and I resigned because this is not the right way to do business: the endless quest and belief that unionist unity is the way forward - even though every election shows that unionist unity doesn't work. The "them'ens will get it" type of politics - that's what drives politics in Northern Ireland. 

That's the politics of fear. We need to replace it with politics of hope."

Andrew Sullivan on the Modern Form: "Why I blog"










To my mind Andrew Sullivan is one of the greatest minds alive today. His intellectual curiosity and pursuit of enlightenment is both refreshing and awe inspiring. Producing nearly 300 blogs a week Andrew has been blogging since 2000. Following this gruesome blogging schedule Andrew has carved out a name for himself as one of the world’s leading bloggers, regularly featuring on some of the most authoritative top blogs lists – including that of Time Magazine.

Why Northern Ireland Politics Needs a Boris Johnson

Margaret Thatcher may have divided opinion but the modern Tory maverick, Boris Johnson unites us all. He is revered and few can deny the political capital that Boris brings to electoral politics.

His personality and buffoonery, underpinned by real substance is political dynamite. What the Boris story tells us is that personality is King.

 As Hugo Rifkind writing in the Times said: 

‘It’s a rare politician today who seeks to sell himself or herself on the basis of policy alone. We get character, charm, declarations of ethics.’

However, Northern Ireland could be the exception.

We have a deficit double whammy: politics and politicians devoid of both character and policy. For today I’ll keep it simple and just look at the first deficiency.

We don’t have a Boris and Eamonn was right to lament on this. But we can go further: we don’t even have a Denis Skinner, Jacob Rees-Mogg or a Nigel Farage. We could lay claim to Lembit Opik at a stretch.

Frankly, Northern Ireland politicians are a thoroughly ‘dull’ lot. And these aren’t my words, but those of BBC journalist Mark Simpson.

Cast your mind to a given episode of Stormont Today and you’ll see a Plenary session choreographed and scripted to death by speechwriters and SpAds. You’ve seen it before: the elected representative takes to the floor with a pre-fabricated treatise and bestows it upon the world with a slow and painful barrage of logorrhoea.

‘Lies, damned lies and statistics’ that don’t mean anything to the common man. Where they could use one word they chose two and where they could speak in Anglo-Saxon plain English they choose a word of Latin origin.

Then when questioned its all evasive language, cliché, euphemism, insincerity and overused idioms.

The politics all feels very ready-made, flat and lifeless.

This reality is perhaps best typified by the Wikiweaks revelation when the former SDLP leader, Margaret Ritchie was described by a US official as “wooden” and “burdened with an unpleasant speaking voice”.

It hasn’t always been this way. It’s often recounted that Edward Carson made a massive impression on Churchill following his inaugural speech at the commons and was revered as a barrister.

More recently, Ian Paisley was undoubtedly a compelling speaker of the highest ability. Similar stuff could be said of Gerry Adams who could speak with real cogency.

Though these two political characters really gave meaning to Orwell’s famous quote on political language: 

‘Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.’

Anyway here’s the challenge: a vibrant political class is an absolute necessity for ensuring a healthy legislative system and for tackling voter apathy.

As Eamonn Mallie has said previously:

"Never has this election meant so little to so many - apathy is the enemy of all the political parties here."

What political personalities like Boris and Nigel Farage do is awaken the electorate. As the BBC's political correspondent Nick Robinson said on May 3 2013 on BBC News at 6:

"Like Alex Salmon and Boris Johnson; Nigel Farage can reach parts of the electorate that other politicians just can't"

This was echoed by James Foresythe of the Spectator who said in a podcast that the Tory party needs their own Nigel Farage cult of personality. Asked why, he responded:

"Because Nigel Farage reaches parts of the electorate that other politicians can't. And if you look at the Tories they've got one person who can do that and that's Boris Johnson. And I think in 2015 David Cameron has got to find a way to use Boris Johnson. Because there's going to be a massive story: what is Boris doing? Is Boris going to come back as an MP? Does Boris want to be a leader?
I think that Cameron should indicate pretty soon that Boris is going to be campaign chairman, because that is somebody who can talk to the kind of people that Nigel Farage is currently reaching. Brings together the Tory family."

Charlie Brooker in the Guardian went further and explained why the Boris' and Farages of this world can do what other politicians can only dream of:

'Farage, like Johnson, appears to be genuinely enjoying himself most of the time, like a delighted Aquaphibian guffawing in a bumper car. And this enjoyment instantly endears him to a huge section of the population on a level that transcends – or at least sidesteps – politics. Many people who hate Nigel Farage the reactionary throwback find themselves liking Nigel Farage the chortling oaf. Being a chortling oaf not only makes you critically bulletproof – oafish chortling being a perpetual escape pod – it functions as a kind of cloaking device, somehow obscuring the notion that you're a politician at all. Farage and Johnson are widely viewed as down-to-earth outsiders, despite their backgrounds and policies marking them out as anything but. 

In other words, the best way to succeed as a politician is to pretend that you aren't one. Which is both an interesting philosophical bind, and a hell of a mess for the future.'

So we need to front up to this paucity of personality. To do so, let’s go lateral and ask: why are our politicians so dull?

Firstly, the Times columnist Tim Montgomerie speaking on Radio 4 really came onto something.

To paraphrase Tim: modern politicians haven’t commanded men in uniform like past generations or presided over successful businesses.

Unquestionably there’s an advantage in having a crop of politicians who’ve done their time in the real world; men and women who are at the top of their game who can then apply their experience learnt at the coal face in speeches and the days affairs.

Secondly, in Northern Ireland we have a fascination with being skilled in reading, writing and arithmetic.

What about public speaking?

Look at the Americans. They’re always bright, vibrant and wonderful communicators: a reflection perhaps of the American spirit and their conditioning towards unbridled optimism. The fact that public speaking is at the core of American education system could teach our policymakers a lesson.

The truth is that we in Northern Ireland are pretty weak on communication skills. It certainly doesn’t help that we’re conditioned towards a bizarre blend of cynicism and modesty where nobody wants to put their head above the common whole. Just think about what it’s like for a young person to show intelligence in the classroom – it can be positively dangerous.

Our society is more about taking and knowing your place.

The famous American Dale Carnegie, author of How to Stop Worrying and Start Living wrote a seminal piece on learning the rudiments of public speaking.

‘As I looked back and evaluated my own college training, I saw that the training and experience I had had in public speaking had been of more practical value to me in business — and in life — than everything else I had studied in college all put together. Why? Because it had wiped out my timidity and lack of self-confidence and given me the courage and assurance to deal with people. It had also made clear that leadership usually gravitates to the man who can get up and say what he thinks.’

The irony here is that Dale Carnegie is the man who wrote that ‘any fool can criticise, condemn and complain’. However I really feel that there’s something in my critique. The Northern Ireland electorate need not reconcile itself to a permanence of bland and utterly uninspiring politicians.

We can’t teach ‘Borisness’ or coach our politicians to be like Obama, but we can educate our young people in public speaking and recruit men and women who’re genuinely skilled orators. Just look at Jim Allister’s speaking skills: he spent years at the bar as a practicing barrister.

If all else fails Stormont could just buy the class of 2015 the classic book on good political oration by Aristotle, On Rhetoric. Then the current stock of politicians would learn the fundamentals of good public speaking: ethos, pathos and logos. Whatever that means…

(You can follow Brian John Spencer on Twitter by clicking here)

Update:

Boris gives us an insight into his secret from 2004 interview with Independent:

‘I think it’s important to remember that most people find politics unbelievably dull, so I don’t see any particular vice in trying to sugar the pill with a few jokes.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/8920151/the-wit-and-wisdom-of-boris-johnson-edited-by-harry-mount-review/

Why We Hate in Northern Ireland

It was Mary McAlease who said, “There is a sediment of sectarianism in all of us if we come from Northern Ireland”; and as Eamonn put it last summer: I challenge you to deny it.

To put it flatly: it’s just part of the human constitution in Northern Ireland – whether it’s sectarianism of the benign, not-so-benign or utterly vicious kind. The moderate BT9 type hates the rival rugby team, while the local loyalist hates “them there taig” and the republican hates “the huns.”

The Maker Movement and Digital Factories

On Monday 10 December 2012 the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4 discussed the rise of digital factories, digital manufacturing, the associated “Maker Movement” and the emergence of the “New Industrial Revolution”. You can listen to what they had to say here.

Ukip, the British Tea Party that's Reshaping British Politics

My essay on the League of Ordinary Gentlemen on the rise of Ukip. Read what I had to say here.

Re-Imagining the Size and Function of the State

This blog was written after the Newsnight episode broadcast on Friday 7 December 2012 and presented by Emily Maitlis which featured a debate on the size of the state which included author of the Black Swan, Nassim Taleb.

These are fiscally challenging times. Public debt is on such a scale that it’s not just a short term challenge but a multi-generational one. And so with our public finances out of control is there a case to rethink and even reconstruct the purpose, role, size and function of our state? To reconsider what we need from Whitehall and what state provisions we can reasonably do without.

Barack Obama - A Natural British Conservative?

I recently contributed a blog for the popular American blog The League of Ordinary Gentlemen. I tackled an issue that had been bugging me for some time: the idea that the President of the United States, Barack Obama is very much like a British conservative.

So I put something together and up it went onto the League. Hindsight has told me that I rushed my analysis. It's actually a matter that deserves some serious thought but sustained thought over a period of time.

I hope to come back to issue and really unpack some of the policy detail, similarities and discrepancies.

In the meantime read on to see what I had to say on the League. Or you can also see the original by clicking here.

Cartoon by Morten Morland of the Times.

Digital Human: Do You Participate in the New Digital World?

The birth of the internet has heralded a new Age: the Age of Digitalism. An Age that has seen the wondrous and insatiable creep of digital. In less that a decade digital has woven itself into every aspect of our daily lives. This Digital Age has also ushered in a new and exciting world for all of humankind to explore – a limitless plain of untouched Digital Land for man and woman to colonise and stake claim to.

Think about it: like the frontiersmen who forged into the uncharted plains of North America, men and women all around the world are pulling back layers of untouched Digital Land.

And you too can be part of this exciting Digital World. You too can stake claim to a patch of rich land for not even a penny piece. You can cultivate your Digital land with your thoughts, opinions, pictures, videos, skills, ingenuity and enterprise. For those with restless ambition the possibilities of this new Digital World are limitless. You can achieve whatever you so wish; it’s just up to you to decide what you want to make of it.

But there are those among us who choose to reject this New World. There are those who choose not to stake their claim to the virgin land. There are also those who have staked a claim – they may have a website, social media account or blog – but they do not till their Digital Land. They choose to leave it barren. And for their inaction the digitally idle will lose out on all benefits that the Digital World holds.

We are living in a restless world where the infrastructure, both real world and digital, is changing before our very eyes. Participate and you could reap limitless personal and professional success. Ignore it and you could be left behind.

[This blog was inspired by Radio 4's Digital Human Series and was originally published on my business blog, Twitter for Law Firms in November 2012]

Thatcher, Blair, Labour's Clause 4 Moment and why Miliband is Wrong

Image by Morten Morland.

What spoof and delusion we heard from Ed Miliband on the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher. He said:

“The Labour Party disagreed with much of what she did.”

Tony Blair, the last elected labour Prime Minister was the Iron Ladies’ chief ideological heir. His ‘Clause Four Moment’ changed Labour from a party that championed unions, the lower classes and socialist thinking into a party that wanted to work with the ambitious middles classes and a party that wanted to foster a liberal, outward looking economy.

QUB Social Media Week

Speaking to Belfast Metropolitan College Students

On Monday 15th April I was invited to speak at Belfast’s new E3 College in the north of the capital city. Housed in a state of the art building the college teaches young people under a new philosophy: employer-led project learning.

Speaking - Belfast Metropolitan College

On Monday 15th April I was invited to speak at Belfast's new E3 College in the north of the capital city. Housed in a state of the art building the college teaches young people under a new philosophy: employer-led project learning. A style of teaching which blends theoretical with on-the-job practical learning. I spoke alongside the super succesful Belfast native, Aaron Taylor who clocks up 1000s of air miles every year and who can be found anywhere in the world from New York to New Delhi. His success has come from his gaming company Goprezzo, formerly known as Gogamingo. You can read the latest news about Aaron, his company and his adventures here. You can see a selection of photos from the speaking event below: In this image I'm talking to the gaming students about working with Michael Deane and how I have publicised my work through social media.

How To Add Social Media Icons to your Website

Have you ever asked: how do I add social media icons to my blog or website?

Well I had.

I know that it's not easy but there's one place to go that is free, easy and accessible. It's called AddThis which runs under the watchphrase, 'Supercharge Your Site'. You can access AddThis here.

Please let me know how you get on.

You can also get access to some great tips from a blog post entitled, 'Idiots Guide to Adding Social Media Icons to Blogger'. You can get html/java code for hanging ribbon social media icons here.

Being an Artist naturally means that we stand on the shoulders of giants

Believe it or not, but every artist, writer and creative agent in this world stands on the shoulders of those who have come before. All those who create new art and literature are in fact furthering and building on the legacy of those who have preceded them.

And this cartoon illustrates this; something which I find of huge importance and huge scope. But which I also feel goes unnoticed.

Charting the Artist's Journey

I’ve been making political cartoons and producing general illustrations for around 3 years. The drawing process is forever challenging. But for all the difficulties, there is one stand out lesson that I’ve learnt: you cannot be consumed by the difficulty of the moment – you need to stand back and look at the process from a distance and see art and drawing as a journey.

I took a lot of comfort and reassurance when I compared the two pieces I had done in the image above of Northern Ireland Justice Minister and leader of the Alliance Party, David Ford. The cartoon on the left was done in April 2012, while the one on the right was produced in October 2012.

Shane Smith and Vice Magazine - the Secret to New Media Success?

The Western world of today is undergoing a massive inter-generational shift. A painful and disruptive dislocation which is changing  the world as we know it.

As Shane Smith of Vice Magazine put it here (20 mins): we’re seeing a “changing of the guard”. And as Shane added: Generation Y  have become the biggest consuming cohort and it is they who hold the levers in business and politics.

This has massive implications.

My Feature in the Belfast Telegraph

I was recently featured in the Belfast Telegraph after my time on an entrepreneurship programme run by the Belfast Metropolitan College came to an end.

The 5 month entrepreneurship course, called the Fresh Creativity Programme was the flagship initiative of the Belfast college run at the innovative e3 building in north Belfast. It included one week of intensive learning at the new e3 campus followed by 5 months of expert mentoring.

Politics and the English Language: Orwell's 6 Rules to Good Writing

I love to write. But I also find writing intensely and interminably difficult.

This is an unfortunate state of affairs. My love for writing is halted by my finding of writing difficult. These are equal and opposing predispositions and they come together and wrap me up in the bondage of maddening procrastination.

It’s like a rational irrationality. It comes so easy, yet it causes such pain. News that Nobel-winning economist George Akelof procrastinates provided some comfort. But it’s still hard to deal with nonetheless.

Thoughts on Public Speaking with Dale Carnegie

We always hear that children need to be fluent in reading, writing and arithmetic. However there’s something missing in this recipe to social success.

In order to succeed children must be taught the fundamentals of public speaking and effective communication.

As I looked back and evaluated my own college training, I saw that the training and experience I had had in public speaking had been of more practical value to me in business — and in life — than everything else I had studied in college all put together. Why? Because it had wiped out my timidity and lack of self-confidence and given me the courage and assurance to deal with people. It had also made clear that leadership usually gravitates to the man who can get up and say what he thinks.

These are the words of Dale Carnegie, words which have been formulated and structured in a way which express better the argument than I could ever wish to argue that children MUST be taught public speaking.

The video above is a recording of Dale Carnegie’s famous work ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.’ Dale Carnegie was an American  writer, lecturer, and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills.

James Joyce on the Torture of Writing

I’ve written a couple of times before (here and here) that I often find writing intensely difficult. It’s a situation where I’m frozen by doubt, worry and self-criticism. Crippled by the inability to structure syntax correctly, get the phrases and sentences flowing or have the paragraphs follow on from one another in a linear narrative.

Unfortunately there’s no quick fix. Like anything it’s a matter of practice and of course reading often and widely.

Also, taking a long view I’m still in my writing infancy. And that’S the most pragmatic way to look at it; writing and becoming a writer is a journey. There will be challenges, highs and lows – but I’m up for the challenge.

I recently stumbled across a quote by the iconic Irish writer and novelist James Joyce.

Writing in the English language is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives.

And so it appears even he, surely one of the most storied and studied writers in the history of man, also struggled writing in the English language. What a huge comfort this has been!

Why Do Politicians Lie?

Slugger O’Toole recently hosted a digital lunch around the ever-topical question of: “why do politicians lie?”

I contributed my 5 cents to the debate which was picked up by Slugger O’Toole editor, Mick Fealty in his prefatory post as the screen grab below shows.

Thoughts on Life Drawing

The famous Northern Ireland artist and political cartoonist Rowel Friers recounted the tale of his first ever life drawing class in his autobiography, ‘Drawn from Life’.

He was only in his teens at the time, too young for naked ladies you’d think but the story went that his nervousness caused his left leg to shake. And in this instance you must of course remember that at life drawing class the artist draws on a board which rests on their knee. So as the knee bounced the board kicked up a rhythm against the chair in front which drew the attention of the rest of the classes.

The resulting collective stare was recounted as the “most embarrassing moment” of Rowel Friers’ life.

Fortunately my first ever experience of life drawing wasn't as traumatic. The class was taken by Mike Bass and the teaching was directed more towards animation students. So for someone like me who draws with loose lines I actually found it a little prescriptive. Anyway you can see an example of the work I produced in the image above.

The Story of How I got to Write for the Guardian

I got to right for the Guardian in December 2012, but it didn’t just happen over night. I explain how it all came about.

[You can read the Guardian article here]

After leaving the sanctuary of academia at Queen’s University Belfast, I got a rude awakening. The economy was flat and jobs in the legal sector were scarce. Lawyers were a human resource in abundance, and so there was no allocation of a job for me. Sigh…

Live Drawing - Gems Northern Ireland Conference

I had the pleasure of being invited along to the GEMS NI Kestrel Conference on the morning of Wednesday 20 March 2013. The event was presented by the well known voice of Seamus McKee who presents BBC Radio Ulster Evening Extra and who you can see in the image above. It also had a number of famous political faces in attendance including Nelson McCausland and the two Junior Ministers, the DUP's Jonathan Bell and Sinn Fein's Jennifer McCann. There were of course many more lesser known faces in attendance which provided great material for me to work with!

It was a great event and you can read more about it here and here. I have included a selection of photos of the pictures I drew on the day. I drew many more and because of the speed of production I missed the opportunity to record many of the images.Above right is my graphic depiction of Susan Russam, Chief Executive of GEMS NI. Below is a further selection of cartoons.

The greatest milestone in the Northern Ireland peace process?

This is the question I put to Malachi O'Doherty.

Malachi O’Doherty has been a long time journalist and commentator on the Troubles and Northern Ireland politics. He’s now the BBC Louis MacNeice Writer in Residence at QUB. He’s also an active Twitter user, tweeter from here.

How Has the Economy Affected Community Relations in Northern Ireland?

This is the question I put to Duncan Morrow.

Duncan Morrow is the current Director of Community of Engagement at the University of Ulster. He was previously head of the Community Relations Council and so has a unique perspective into community relations and the problems that exist in the province.

Interview with Mike Gilson: has Digital Killed the Print Media Star?

Mike Gilson, editor of the Belfast Telegraph

I recently had a sit down with Mike Gilson, editor of the Belfast Telegraph and put to him a simple question: “Has digital killed the print media star?”

Listen to the SoundCloud clip below to find out what he had to say on the matter:

You can also read my Huffington Post blog which followed the interview with Mike Gilson, here.