Newton Emerson: Stormont’s last collapse a warning of its nextDUP and Sinn Féin seem to have inability to take tough devolved spending decisionsThu Dec 5 2019 - 08:13
Newton Emerson: Road to united Ireland is via united NorthReconciliation is plainly envisaged in the Belfast Agreement as preceding unityThu Nov 28 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: Suspending democracy is not the way to save itPostponing Stormont elections has proved counter productive in fixing the impasseThu Nov 21 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: DUP should be forced to admit Labour is its only hopeSetting its face against a Corbyn government feels like one more corner the DUP is backing itself intoThu Nov 14 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: Tribal solidarity trumps all in North BelfastEmerging three-party system must be set against uncompromising acts of aggressionThu Nov 7 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: Unionists may allow a Sinn Féin win to decapitate the DUPDUP faces election threat as it is blamed for bringing disaster on union and devolutionThu Oct 31 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: The Irish Government is clearly pondering changes to powersharingFocus should be less on changing rules and more on driving new dynamics between partiesThu Oct 24 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: Brexit and the DUP’s bizarre aloofness towards its votersThe party has laid no groundwork to brace its voters for inevitable compromiseThu Oct 17 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: DUP defensive cunning misses big picture of being laughed out of courtTarget of unionist veto over regulatory alignment would never go undetectedThu Oct 10 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: UUP has one chance to make a differenceAllowing the DUP to claim to speak for every unionist has led to disasterThu Oct 3 2019 - 06:00
Boris Johnson is beyond UK supreme court embarrassmentMPs return to parliament 2½ weeks earlier than planned but nothing else has changedThu Sep 26 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: DUP wants cover for its Brexit retreatEU concedes backstop needs democratic oversight and Stormont is no threatThu Sep 19 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: Two U-turns will leave DUP in a spinThe party is marginalised at Westminster and its rivals in Northern Ireland are circlingThu Sep 12 2019 - 06:00
Doubts over Leo Varadkar’s good faith on backstopNewton Emerson: Taoiseach's comments imply he is not really open to considering alternativesThu Sep 5 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: North vote could offer Johnson an exit from backstop stalemateA backstop referendum is considered unwise in official circles because it would turn into a proxy Border pollThu Aug 29 2019 - 06:00
Leaderless North is now approaching the precipiceHow frequently does violence have to occur before the Troubles have restarted?Thu Aug 22 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: How the UK election plays out in North will be crucialIt must be presumed the DUP will lose its kingmaker role at WestminsterThu Aug 15 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: A New Ireland, or just a bigger Republic?Will nationalists accept Varadkar’s argument that unification requires constitutional change?Thu Aug 8 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: Dublin drawn into Brexit ‘do or die’ rhetoricEnough on the table for common position on departure without anyone losing faceThu Aug 1 2019 - 08:14
Newton Emerson: Some republicans very cynical on same-sex marriage and abortionIt is only seven months since Northern Ireland last had a more liberal abortion regime than the RepublicThu Jul 25 2019 - 21:32
Newton Emerson: Dublin need not fear direct rule of NorthWithout Stormont, civil servants will be unable to manage complexities of BrexitThu Jul 18 2019 - 06:00
Newton Emerson: Time for DUP to accept defeat on gay marriage and abortionAbortion and same-sex marriage not do-or-die issues for unionist electorateThu Jul 11 2019 - 13:19
Newton Emerson: Does Northern Ireland need a civic forum that cannot collapse?Having another body such as proposed civic forum could increase sustainability of institutionsThu Jul 4 2019 - 09:09
Newton Emerson: Mapping of Belfast accord veers off-courseVaradkar is pushing Brexit risk to Belfast Agreement way too farThu Jun 27 2019 - 06:00
Belfast’s dreadful murals should be consigned to the pastAmateurish images combine tired grievances with trite sloganeeringThu Jun 20 2019 - 06:19
Newton Emerson: A Johnson premiership will not be the DUP’s finest hourParty’s real decision is where to position itself in relation to frontrunner’s Brexit strategyThu Jun 13 2019 - 11:41
Hollywood studios could shun North over DUP’s conservatismSuccessful film industry at risk of being drawn into America’s social battlegroundsThu Jun 6 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: The paradox of Alliance’s Stormont surgeParty’s growth creates problems for restoration of an Assembly that cannot accommodate itThu May 30 2019 - 05:00
Life after Theresa May fraught with danger for DUPRenewing pact with hard Brexit leader would see it blamed for ensuring chaos in NorthThu May 23 2019 - 12:19
A new direction of travel for the UK and IrelandCommon Travel Area agreement will take on a life of its ownThu May 16 2019 - 10:06
Newton Emerson: Stormont faces direct rule with Dublin input if talks fail againTalks structure raises prospect that DUP and Sinn Féin red lines could be blurredThu May 9 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: DUP must offer more than tribalistic flag-wavingUnionism must rediscover respect for individualism rather than forcing its beliefs on othersThu May 2 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: Hope springs eternal for the Chuckle SistersMichelle O’Neill could yet find the perfect counterpart in Arlene FosterThu Apr 25 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: SF likely to weaken united Ireland argument in electionsSinn Féin’s pursuit of united Ireland may backfire and further galvanise unionismThu Apr 18 2019 - 07:42
Newton Emerson: Whatever happens next, the DUP will be against itParty has backed itself into a corner by refusing to own a softer version of BrexitThu Apr 11 2019 - 05:00
Joining Nato would send powerful message to unionistsNewton Emerson: Being in Nato would trump Commonwealth membershipThu Apr 4 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: One of unionism’s deepest fears is that Britain will turn against itBritish people still take the union seriously and feel bound to honour itThu Mar 28 2019 - 05:00
The DUP's Westminster adventure is coming to an endNewton Emerson: Northern Ireland is being nudged towards a point of no returnThu Mar 21 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: Both Britain and Sinn Féin want an amnesty for former soldiers and terroristsFears of a British-unionist plot on this matter misrepresent what is actually going onThu Mar 14 2019 - 05:00
Mark Durkan’s candidacy is Varadkar’s alternative to border pollChoosing former SDLP leader for European election reflects view Brexit will not lead to united IrelandThu Mar 7 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: Westminster's indirect rule over the North is outrageous and barely lawfulNorthern Ireland is continuing to suffer as a result of its bizarre political limboThu Feb 28 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: Most Dublin politicians have no understanding of Northern IrelandSoutherners can be as bad as the British when it comes to grasping North’s new realityThu Feb 21 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: Can the DUP sell its Brexit backstop climbdown?The DUP's Brexit hardball has gone flatThu Feb 14 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: Irish and EU must stop ridiculing Border technologyAvoiding a painful Brexit now depends on implementing technological solutionsThu Feb 7 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: Can Irish America throw a spanner in the works of Brexit?Irish-American political clout may be a factor in any proposed US-UK trade dealsThu Jan 31 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: There is a backstop deal to be doneDUP and Dublin have powerful shared interest in getting withdrawal agreement throughThu Jan 24 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: The backstop has completely backfired for IrelandProvision has poisoned relations and muddied understanding of Belfast AgreementThu Jan 17 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: Former Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín seems to be finding a nicheAn implausible bolt from the blue, former Sinn Féin TD seems to be finding own nicheThu Jan 10 2019 - 10:18
Newton Emerson: If you thought ‘cash for ash’ was bad, wait for ‘bung for dung’Looming over efforts to reboot Stormont is a scandal uncannily similar to RHI, but worseThu Jan 3 2019 - 05:00
Newton Emerson: Stakeknife case will cut into comforting narrativesHigh-profile trials may expose British security’s management of paramilitariesThu Dec 20 2018 - 05:00