It was surely risible for David Campbell of the Loyalist Communities Council to claim that young men in loyalist areas turned towards paramilitaries because they no longer got jobs with large employers like the shipyard, Mackie’s or Shorts.
They used to be able to get apprenticeships and jobs for life, so formal education was not so important, he said.
And there in a nutshell is the problem with unionist politicians. Why did they think it was ok to neglect education because your da could get you a job?
Why? Because unionist politicians were – and still are – wedded to a selective education system which tells working class kids they are failures at 11.
The traditional industries are long gone, and the Troubles are largely behind us too.
[ Newton Emerson: No job market can put organised crime out of businessOpens in new window ]
But more than 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, loyalist paramilitaries still have a grip on their areas, with the resultant drugs problems, punishment beatings and gangsterism which repels inward investment.
Maybe instead of complaining about the opening of an Irish-medium school, the LCC representatives should have asked the DUP education minister why several grammar schools could benefit from £20 million gifted from the Republic’s Shared Island fund to tackle educational disadvantage instead of concentrating on those with more pupils from a poor background.
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A trip down south to Limerick and Kilkenny allowed me to tune into local radio stations on the election campaign.
To nobody’s surprise, people are most worried about the cost of living, lack of affordable housing and immigration.
It sounds identical to the preoccupations of the American electorate who gave Trump a landslide, believing their millionaire messiah will fix it.
But at least Ireland’s system of voting precludes any likelihood of a big surge of support for any of the leading parties.
So, for what it’s worth, here are my predictions: it’ll be as you were with a FF/FG coalition – for who knows the difference between those two parties?
Sinn Féin won’t do quite as badly as some suggest, but it won’t be enough.
And there’ll be the usual parade of independents, some of them barking.
The left won’t manage to form a bloc of similar-thinking parties and will continue their decline.
You do wonder why voters could decide that the two parties who’ve been in control since the foundation of the state should be given another mandate to achieve little when it comes to providing a roof over the head of its citizens.
But I’ve given up trying to second-guess what goes on in people’s heads at the ballot box.
You won’t need a crystal ball to know that by the time the next election comes round, there’ll be little improvement.
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There’s apparently been an exodus from Twitter/X in the wake of the US elections, after its owner, Elon Musk, turned the social media platform into a Trump propaganda site.
Its rival, Bluesky, has been the main beneficiary, with an influx of several million new users fleeing the toxicity of Musk’s X, though many, like me, have their foot in both camps.
So far, Bluesky seems to be full of like-minded, liberal people who like cats, but post far too many pics.
Like babies, cats are lovely, but like babies, they’re of minimal interest unless they’re yours - in which case they’re the best in the universe.
They do not fascinate other people, and I speak as an owner of cats – and grown-up babies.
I’m trying to wean myself off Twitter, though it’s hard not to get involved in disputes when you read something so clearly wrong or deliberately deceptive.
It’s problematic when you find yourself occasionally in the wrong camp, so I’m trying not to get involved in gender wars, because just when you agree with the likes of swimmer Sharron Davies on protecting women’s sports, she then comes out with some right-wing bilge that is indefensible.
JK Rowling has not let me down yet, though.