otoolematthew.bsky.social
Now:
SDLP MLA for South Belfast | Leader of the Opposition
Former: civil servant & journalist.
Future: A social democratic new Ireland
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Oh no Mál - all ok?
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Small stretch of the Woodstock road with Carlingford Lough themed streets running off it (Killowen, Greenford, Oneath and Carlingfprd street running parallel)
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I would vastly prefer the UK to be in the EU but pretending that it is likely is profoundly wishful thinking. And I'm speaking with some professional experience.
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I was not tone-policing you but rather responding to your fairly robust critique on a public platform. I am confident in my politics and approach to constitutional change, and unmoved by being called a 'pick me' or stoop or whatever. But also happy to be challenged too. Have a good one.
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Acknowledging that these are also sources of meaning, sometimes pride, for people - even people who are otherwise aware of and sensitive to injustice - is not for me an act of self-hating abasement but a choice. Nor does it stop me being clear-eyed about the structural meanings of them...
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As with many northern Protestants, familial and cultural reference points will include things that are either a reflection of, or created by, structures that discriminated against others. Orangeism, large parts of Ulster industry and of course the military...
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Re what is a unionist. I think best to define it as someone who actively wants the current union as a political preference. The person who wrote this article is self-evidently from a unionist background, but clearly does not state a unionist preference for the future, indeed they hint elsewhere...
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Tone police? You are the one who slagged off the article? I responded. To be clear: I am a politician who believes in both irish unity and genuine encounter between historic identities in Ireland. I'm not in denial about the colonial context, but nor do you get to tell me what self-respect is...
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As with many northern Protestants, familial and cultural reference points will include things that are either a reflection of, or created by, structures that discriminated against others. Orangeism, large parts of Ulster industry and of course the military...
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Re what is a unionist. I think best to define it as someone who actively wants the current union as a political preference. The person who wrote this article is self-evidently from a unionist background, but clearly does not state a unionist preference for the future, indeed they hint elsewhere...
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If every northern Protestant has to declaim all aspects of structural injustice heretofore before commenting on the future of the island - even if they are supportive of change - we aren't going to get very far in ny view.
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Strongly disagree. You have conflated your views of the IT, which may be justified, onto an author who has written a thoughtful piece. At no point does he describe himself as a unionist, but you've pigeonholed him despite paragraphs like below.