Sam McBride

📢Some news from me: I've written a book with the erudite & eloquent Fintan O'Toole in which we each argue for - and then against - Irish unity, setting out objectively what seem to us each side's best arguments, and the issues people across the island of Ireland should consider.

Some senior Fianna Fáil sources dismiss reports of a Deirdre Heenan Presidential candidature. She is competent & a political blank canvass but would carry risks: A slew of highly opinionated comments, & the implications of being unable to vote for herself. belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/column…

Behind the scenes, there are efforts to engineer unionist unity. Gavin Robinson believes unionism should see the Orange Order as its inspiration for such unity. Yet two recent incidents illustrate how unity would leave unionism weaker rather than stronger. belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/column…

Norman Tebbit had rage, but many missed that he also recognised the need for rapprochement. In a long interview at his Suffolk home 14 years ago, he told me that Sinn Fein had changed & saw Martin McGuinness's Royal handshake as a "battlefield moment". m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/column…

This is a really good article highlighting that the A5 decision is merely one of a cacophony of massive consequences of the Climate Change Act, and highlights that the Executive’s plans to meet their own carbon targets are woeful and are not going to work without huge decisions.

Stormont has voted to accidentally tie its own hands by passing a sweeping law whose implications most MLAs didn't understand. Now it's going to force them to do what they hate: take unpopular decisions. m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/column…

At the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, ex-SDLP leader Colum Eastwood says that a number of people from several parties have asked him to stand for the Irish presidency, adding: "I am considering it".

When asked at the MacGill Summer School if Irish passport holders in NI should get a vote in Irish presidential elections, ex-Fianna Fail minister Mary Hanafin says: "Not yet, and not in isolation". She cites NI's lack of reconciliation and the recent bonfire disputes.

"People feel strongly about this issue, yet the shallowness of thinking is pretty remarkable…" @SJAMcBride and @fotoole 's forthcoming book, aims to deepen this thinking: pre-order it at arinsproject.com @ArinsProject @NDIrishStudies @RIAdawson

‘What is beyond dispute is that the republic is the wealthy part of the island, astronomically so’ When asked how much they are willing to compromise economically to achieve unity 51% of tonight's audience says a little; 29% a lot; 10% nothing and 9% almost nothing. @ArinsProject

CRICKET IRELAND AND NORTHERN CRICKET UNION SEEK UNITY OVER SUMMER CAMP ISSUE northerncricketunion.org/2025/07/16/cri…

I am delighted to reveal the cover of my biography of Lord Trimble. ‘ David Trimble : Peacemaker ’ is published in September by @Gill_Books @CormacKinsella

The first reviewer of the concept behind For and Against a United Ireland is torn about my appearance: "Presbyterian by the look of him", he thinks, "a Northern Protestant of sorts"...but "could be mistaken for the younger Ronnie Drew of the Dubliners". api.omarshehata.me/substack-proxy…

Joe Trewellard shut Bara Bakehouse in Comber over the weekend to join a bakery in Belfast. He tells James McNaney about shutting up shop, the industry’s challenges and why he thinks good bread should be affordable. belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/food-drin…

The Mobuoy illegal superdump could damage human health for more than a century – & cost taxpayers £107m to even partially make safe....yet the businessmen responsible gave the judge sob stories that getting caught hurt their own health & finances. belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/courts/mo…