BILL WHITE, Belfast Telegraph, November 10th, 2026
It's a question we return to every year, but one that continues to attract much interest.
The latest polling offers a fresh insight into how opinion on Northern Ireland's constitutional future is evolving.
The key line is that support for remaining in the UK has fallen, while backing for a united Ireland has edged upwards.
Some 46pc back Northern Ireland remaining in the UK, with 42pc supporting a united Ireland if a border poll was called today. A sizeable chunk (12pc) said they didn't know or weren't sure.
When we last asked the question, in February 2025, the figures were 48pc for remaining in the UK, 41pc for a united Ireland and 11pc who didn't know.
So the pro-UK vote has slipped two points, while support for a united Ireland has edged up by one.
Much is made of the differences between the various polls and surveys on this issue. There are differences, and there always will be, particularly when polls are run at different times using different methods.
But there is one result on which they have all broadly agreed: support for Northern Ireland remaining in the UK.
For the past five to seven years, every poll and survey has put this key status quo figure at around 50%, give or take a few points.
Yet it is still clear that the story is shifting.
Poll trends
The most recent polls show support for the Union falling. The University of Liverpool's survey after the 2024 general election, co-ordinated by Prof Jon Tonge, put it at 49pc.
The Arins/Irish Times poll (2024) had it at 48pc, as did LucidTalk's 2025 poll. The annual Northern Ireland Life and Times survey (2026) was 45pc, and now our latest LucidTalk poll has it at 46pc.
There is a clear trend: every poll shows this crucial pro-UK figure sliding from around 50% into the mid-40s.
The pro-Union camp cannot afford to let this figure drift any lower. It should be thinking about how to push it back up, and preferably back past the 50pc mark.
Until now, unionists have tended to point to the lower poll scores for a united Ireland, and perhaps haven't concentrated enough on their own game.
The same is happening in Scotland, where unionists are quick to criticise the SNP but rarely ask the basic question: why do so many Scots support the SNP and Scottish independence?
We also asked an “aspirational” question aimed at measuring how many people who wouldn't back a united Ireland now might consider doing so in the future.
The results were 42pc would support a united Ireland now, matching the main question, while 43pc support Northern Ireland remaining in the UK now and in the future.
Six per cent might consider supporting a united Ireland within the next 10 years; while seven per cent might consider it in 11 to 20 years' time or beyond. A small minority (2pc) were unsure.
This gives a rough measure of the maximum pool of voters the pro-unity side has to work with.
Add the 42pc who back a united Ireland now to the 6pc and 7pc who might in future, and you get 55pc.
That may look like a majority, but it isn't a solid one. Thirteen points of it represent people who only say that they might “consider” a united Ireland some day, and in a real referendum campaign voters like these could easily change their minds.
So the pro-united Ireland side also needs to broaden its base, and win over those who might come round to the idea at some stage.
There is also a pool of around 80,000 to 90,000 people who have never voted in Northern Ireland elections — though many may have voted in the 1998 peace deal referendum — that could emerge to vote in a border poll.
Until a referendum is called and a campaign begins, it will be very difficult to know how this crucial group would vote. That is why no poll can give a truly accurate picture of what Northern Ireland thinks about its constitutional future until a date is set, a campaign is under way, and we start to get answers to the hundreds of questions about what a united Ireland would look like.
Until then, the polls send a clear message: both the pro-UK and pro-Irish unity camps need to broaden their appeal if they want to win a border referendum.
Bill White is managing director of Belfast polling and market research company LucidTalk
'He changed the history of city' - Bloody Sunday campaigner John Kelly
SHAUN KEENAN, Belfast Telegraph, November 10th, 2026
A foggy morning hung over Creggan yesterday as family, friends and fellow campaigners gathered to bid a final farewell to Bloody Sunday justice campaigner John Kelly.
Mr Kelly, who spent more than five decades fighting for truth and justice following the killing of his younger brother Michael on Bloody Sunday, died peacefully at his home on Saturday.
He was a former chairman of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign and honorary chairman of the Bloody Sunday Trust.
His funeral took place at St Mary's Church in Creggan, where mourners heard moving tributes to the man remembered as “the boy from Creggan”.
Among those in attendance were Foyle MP Colum Eastwood, Mayor of Derry Grace Uí Niallais and members of the Bloody Sunday Trust.
Before Requiem Mass, Bloody Sunday Trust chairman Tony Doherty delivered a eulogy reflecting on his decades of friendship and campaigning alongside Mr Kelly.
Mr Doherty recalled how they had campaigned together since the early 1990s, through to the publication of the Saville Inquiry's findings in 2010, which established the innocence of those killed and wounded on Bloody Sunday.
He described Mr Kelly as a gentleman who was never afraid to speak his mind, regardless of who was in the room, including prime ministers and government ministers.
Brother shot
Reflecting on the death of Mr Kelly's younger brother Michael, who was 17 when he was shot dead by soldiers on January 30, 1972, Mr Doherty said the tragedy had profoundly shaped his friend's life.
The congregation also heard lighter memories from the early days of the campaign, including how Mr Kelly would joke that he had stepped outside his first meeting for a cigarette, only to return and discover he had been made chairman.
Mr Doherty also revealed that Mr Kelly's jumper had been framed and displayed at the Museum of Free Derry, while recordings of his distinctive voice would continue to guide visitors through the city's history.
Reflecting on his friend's legacy, he said: “Put simply, he changed the city. He changed the history of the city.”
He concluded his tribute by remembering him as “John Kelly, the boy from Creggan”.
Applause broke out across the church as Mr Doherty finished speaking, before he embraced Mr Kelly's sons as he returned to his seat.
During the Requiem Mass, Fr Daniel McFaul told mourners that Mr Kelly had “fought the good fight” throughout his life and “kept the faith”.
He said the suffering and trauma experienced by the Kelly family following Bloody Sunday had driven Mr Kelly to seek justice for his brother Michael and the other victims. “Through John's determination, his courage and his perseverance, he helped ensure that the voices of those killed and their families would be heard,” he said.
“He had a desire to make our city a better place for you, his children and grandchildren's generation.
“He and [his wife Margaret] fought hard to bring justice and peace into future generations in our city.”
Reflecting on the burden Mr Kelly had carried throughout his life, Fr McFaul added: “He carried the memory of his brother Michael and the pain of his parents' grief at Michael's death.
“He carried the hopes of his family and he carried a responsibility that few people would ever have to shoulder.”
However, Fr McFaul also reflected on the man behind the campaign, describing Mr Kelly as a loving husband, father and grandfather who was the “rock of the family”.
He recalled how Mr Kelly had met his late wife beneath a streetlamp in Creggan, describing it as love at first sight.
“Part of your daddy died with your mammy,” he told Mr Kelly's six sons, reflecting on Margaret's death in October 2001.
“He never let a day or two go by without visiting her grave.”
Legacies
The priest also brought moments of humour to the service, recalling how Mr Kelly adored his grandchildren and spoiled them with sweets and chocolate.
Addressing the family, Fr McFaul said: “Your daddy's greatest legacy is not simply what he achieved in public life, but the love that he leaves behind in each one of you.”
He urged Mr Kelly's grandchildren to remember not only his place in Derry's history, but also the everyday memories they shared with him.
Concluding his homily, Fr McFaul encouraged the family to carry forward the values Mr Kelly had championed throughout his life, including truth, justice, courage, perseverance and love.
Mr Kelly is survived by his six sons, John, Michael, Emmett, Mark, Niall and Martin, and his grandchildren.
Mr Kelly's burial followed in the City Cemetery.
Ex-RUC chief constable tells of shame at ‘crass’ suicide comment on Omagh bomb
JONATHAN McCAMBRIDGE, Belfast Telegraph and Irish News, November 10th, 2026
Former RUC chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan has said he was ashamed over comments that he would publicly commit suicide if criticisms by a watchdog into the force’s Omagh bomb investigation were true.
Sir Ronnie told the Omagh Bombing Inquiry that the remarks he made in 2001 were “crass and insensitive”, and should never have been made.
However, the retired former top officer also said he feels he kept his promise to leave “no stone unturned” in the police investigation into the dissident republican massacre.
Sir Ronnie was giving evidence in the public inquiry into the dissident republican car bombing in Omagh on August 15 1998 which killed 29 people, including a woman who was pregnant with twins, in the worst single atrocity in the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The inquiry, chaired by Lord Turnbull, is holding evidential hearings in Belfast.
The latest phase of hearings is concentrating on the period before and after the bombing, and will examine how it was carried out and who was responsible.
The inquiry was set up by the previous government to examine whether the explosion could have been prevented by UK authorities.
O’Loan report
On Monday afternoon, Sir Ronnie was questioned on the critical report delivered in 2001 by former police ombudsman Baroness Nuala O’Loan into the original RUC investigation into Omagh.
Baroness O’Loan told the inquiry last month that Sir Ronnie had told her in a one-to-one meeting that year that her report could have destroyed the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Responding to this, Sir Ronnie told the inquiry: “I never felt that for a second and wouldn’t ever have said that.”
The former chief constable was then asked about comments he made in a press conference in December 2001 that he would publicly commit suicide if the criticisms in the ombudsman report were true.
Sir Ronnie said: “I regretted it instantly I made it. It was crass, it was insensitive.
“Too many of my own police families have been afflicted by that curse.
“And I was so ashamed if I caused hurt to the families similarly affected.
“I apologised then. I apologised at the beginning of the inquiry, and I apologise now.
“A terrible comment that should never been made.”
Counsel to the inquiry Paul Greaney KC asked the retired officer about his determination after Omagh was bombed.
Sir Ronnie said: “That the people responsible, in whatever capacity, be brought to justice.”
Mr Greaney said: “That has not happened.”
Sir Ronnie said: “It has not happened and that is a source of the most deep regret to me.”
Sir Ronnie told the inquiry he had been in his office in Belfast in August 1998 when he first heard about the explosion and immediately travelled to Omagh.
He said he wanted to show “how much these things mattered”.
Questioned about the subsequent RUC investigation, Sir Ronnie was asked if it had kept faith with his comment from 1998 that “no stone would be left unturned”.
No extra resources requested
Sir Ronnie said: “I had open lines of communication to the SIO (senior investigating officer) and I had made it clear to him if there was anything he needed, anything whatsoever, and if he felt he wasn’t getting it, he should make direct contact with me.
“No such request for additional resources or help or assistance was ever forwarded to me on those lines.”
Mr Greaney said: “The question is sitting there now, with the knowledge of all that you know, and whatever the commitment that you made to the investigation, do you consider that the investigation, while you were chief constable, kept faith with the promise to leave no stone unturned? “
Sir Ronnie said: “That’s my feeling. Yes.”
Mr Greaney showed the inquiry an RUC policy log which said that the month following the bomb, the senior investigating officer (SIO) made a decision to reduce the manpower and hours of work in the incident room investigating the explosion.
The barrister asked: “The reduction in both the hours of operation of the incident room and the number of staff, did that reduction six weeks and two days into the investigation occur with your knowledge?”
Sir Ronnie said: “No, it did not.”
Mr Greaney said: “And if the prospect of those reductions had been raised with you, what do you think you would have said?”
Sir Ronnie said: “I would have sought assurance from the SIO that he was content that the incident room could be managed effectively by these new measures.”
Mr Greaney said: “Were you surprised when you saw that there had been a reduction in aspects of the investigation at quite an early stage?
The sergeant who spoke to the caller did not take the content seriously at the time, and made no report upwards at any stage prior to the Omagh bombing
Sir Ronnie said: “I’m not sure that this was shown to me or that I picked this one up.”
The barrister then showed the inquiry another log entry from November 1998 which showed further reductions in the size of the inquiry team.
Mr Greaney said: “Again, can I ask, were you made aware at the time, 15 weeks and two days after the bombing, that that was taking place?”
Sir Ronnie said: “No, I was not.”
Calls from Republic
Earlier, Mr Greaney had told the inquiry that he was confident the Irish Government would answer questions about an anonymous call to an army camp the day before Omagh was bombed.
Last month, the inquiry heard that the call had been made to the Finner army camp in Co Donegal on August 14 and that Omagh had been mentioned.
Mr Greaney said: “Drawing the strands together, the current evidential position appears to be this, there was an anonymous call to Finner Camp on the night of the 14th of August.
“This referred to a need for security forces, including in Northern Ireland, to pay attention to the road that was the main route from Lough Melvin to Enniskillen, Irvinestown and Omagh.
“The sergeant who spoke to the caller did not take the content seriously at the time and made no report upwards at any stage prior to the Omagh bombing.
“Accordingly, the content of the call did not come to the attention of UK state authorities prior to the Omagh bombing.”
The barrister said Garda intelligence reports had concluded that the call had not been a warning about Omagh.
However, he said the same report included a comment which indicated Omagh had been mentioned three times in the call.
He said the call had been traced to a bar in Bundoran and that there had been four other calls from the bar to the camp earlier on the same day.
The barrister said the relevance of the earlier calls is “unclear”.
Mr Greaney said: “The inquiry legal team has posed a series of questions to the Government of Ireland, in writing, designed to achieve greater clarity around this issue.
“In particular, around the apparent tension between the various conclusions reached by the AGS (An Garda Síochána) about the significance or otherwise of the call, about whether any information about the call was passed contrary to indications to the contrary, to the UK state authorities, and if so, when?”
He added: “It is in the view of the inquiry legal team, unsurprising that the Government of Ireland has, in the time available, not been able to answer the questions posed in our document.
“We are confident that they will do so.”
Northern Ireland public bodies have up to 70% more staff than ones in Republic
By Conor Sheils, Irish News, November 10th, 2026
Stormont’s public bodies are up to 70% bigger than their southern counterparts, despite Northern Ireland having just over a third of the Republic’s population, according to a new report.
Professor Stephen Kinsella, of the University of Limerick, compared 18 northern bodies with their southern equivalents in an analysis published as an appendix to Fine Gael’s Blueprint for a Unified Island on Monday.
He found 15 had more staff than the North’s population size accounts for.
The Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) has around 70% more staff than the Road Safety Authority, its southern counterpart, giving it almost five times the staff per head.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the Policing Board are both around 46% bigger than their southern equivalents.
NI Water was found to be the same size as Uisce Éireann despite serving around a third of the population.
However, the figures pre-date the transfer of council water staff to the southern provider, which said in its most recent annual report that almost 2,400 direct employees, together with around 2,100 council staff working on its behalf, delivered its water services.
The Probation Board, Charity Commission and Forensic Science NI are all more than four-fifths the size of their southern counterparts.
The Utility Regulator, the Courts and Tribunals Service, NISRA, Invest NI, the PSNI, the Health and Safety Executive, the Prison Service and the Labour Relations Agency were also bigger than the North’s population share would suggest.
Per head of population, the North also has a quarter more health and social care staff and 27% more police officers than the Republic, but a quarter fewer teachers.
Professor Kinsella stressed, “these are staffing comparisons, and not measures of overstaffing, because remits, reporting dates and staff measures differ between bodies”.
The report does not set out those differences body by body, but some are well known. The DVA, for example, carries out MOT tests itself, while car testing in the Republic is contracted out to a private operator, meaning the Road Safety Authority needs fewer staff of its own.
Implications of integration
The report also acknowledges the figures do not necessarily show “where integration would mean redesigning a service rather than simply merging two bodies”.
But Professor Kinsella wrote that “by most measures it is accepted the public sector in Northern Ireland is larger on a per person basis than the Republic of Ireland’s”, and that it “likely would align itself over time with the structure observed in the Republic”.
If the north’s public sector were the same size per head as the Republic’s, it would employ around 66,000 fewer people, Irish News analysis of official figures shows.
However, Professor Kinsella’s costings assume no savings from job cuts or merging bodies.
The north’s public sector is also large by UK standards, accounting for more than a quarter of all jobs, against 18% of workers across the UK.
Professor Peter Shirlow, of the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies, said the size of Northern Ireland’s public sector was a legitimate issue.
“The public sector is larger in Northern Ireland than in the other UK regions, so there’s obviously some issue there. It has reduced, but there is a point there,” he said.
“On the one hand, we’re told public sector workers will receive greater pay in a new Ireland, but at the same time there would have to be some equalisation, in which many of those people would lose their jobs.”
He said such questions were not being properly debated, describing much of the unity case as “plucking figures, asserting arguments and leaving out inconvenient facts”.
The Department of Finance, the Department for Infrastructure, NI Water, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and the Policing Board have been approached for comment.
Why remembrance is important for Irish nationalists too
TOM COLLINS, Irish News, November 10th, 2026
THE entry in the priest’s diary was stark: “Ledwidge killed. Blown to bits. At confession yesterday and Holy Communion this morning. RIP.”
Small comfort for his family and friends. Small comfort too for the course of Irish literature.
In his poem ‘In Memoriam Francis Ledwidge’, Seamus Heaney calls him “our dead enigma”.
Ledwidge, who died in Flanders, was a poet of the First World War, but he was also a poet of the 1916 Rising.
Therein lies the enigma, and therein too lies the reason for the neglect of the countless Irishmen who died fighting for Britain in that most pointless of conflicts.
Much has changed since, not least through the determination of Mary McAleese when President to honour Ireland’s war dead.
Speaking on the 100th anniversary of the war, she posed the question: “How do we reconcile the commemoration of those dead Irishmen who wore British uniforms fighting for freedom in Europe, while others sacrificed their lives for our freedom from that same British colonial power with its grim history of oppression in Ireland?” How indeed? For Ledwidge, that contradiction was particularly stark.
One of his closest friends was Thomas MacDonagh, signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and commandant of the second battalion of the Irish Volunteers’ Dublin Brigade. Like his fellow signatories, MacDonagh was shot dead by a British firing squad.
Ledwidge’s ‘Lament for Thomas MacDonagh’ is one of the most powerful lyrics in Irish literature: “He shall not hear the bittern cry / In the wild sky, where he is lain / Nor the voices of the sweeter birds / Above the wailing of the rain.”
They died for us
It should not – must not – be forgotten that many of those who served and died in that most horrible of wars were Irish nationalists. They were fighting not for England, but for Ireland, and a belief that once the war was over it would achieve Home Rule.
Uncomfortable still as this thought must be for some, they laid down their lives for our future, not for king and country.
As novelist Jennifer Johnston noted in her introduction to Alice Curtayne’s biography of Ledwidge: “They were doing what they believed to be the best thing for Ireland and Ireland’s future. Ledwidge put it quite clearly: ‘I joined the British Army because she stood between Ireland and an enemy common to our civilisation and I would not have her say that she defended us while we did nothing at home but pass resolutions’.”
In a letter to a friend after the Rising leaders were executed, Ledwidge wrote: “Yes, poor Ireland is always in trouble. Tho’ I am not a Sinn Féiner and you are a Carsonite, do our sympathies not go to Cathleen ni Houlihan? Poor MacDonagh and Pearse were two of my best friends, and now they are dead, shot by England.”
“ It is one of the ironies of our history that the emergent Free State and the leaders of the partitioned six counties had a common cause in writing out of history the part nationalists played in the war
Carsonites, then and now, have their own view of that war. It is one of the ironies of our history that the emergent Free State and the leaders of the partitioned six counties had a common cause in writing out of history the part nationalists played in it. As McAleese noted: “Compassion became impossible. Mercy atrophied and men hid their stories away.”
The ‘sons of Ulster’ are honoured, their nationalist brothers in arms still lie largely forgotten.
Subsequent history has not helped. British army atrocities in the north added yet another layer of complexity to the issue of remembrance; as, it must be said, did the Enniskillen Remembrance Day bombing. Its 40th anniversary will be marked next year.
Given our more recent and still painful history, the willingness of republican and nationalist representatives to take part in annual services of remembrance is quite something – it’s a genuine and necessary part of our transition to a new Ireland.
The First World War may well have been provoked by the fragile egos of Queen Victoria’s grandsons – Kaiser Wilhelm, George V and Tsar Nicholas – but the millions who made the ultimate sacrifice were ordinary men and women.
As we remember them, which we should, we might take time to reflect that we find ourselves in similar circumstances. We too are being used as pawns in a game played out by powerful and egotistical men.
On killing fields across our world today, young men and women lie dead or dying. They deserve our prayers, whether they be Ukrainian, Russian, Palestinian, Israeli, Sudanese, Afghani, American, Iranian or the many others caught in the seventy or so conflicts currently in train.
As we approach Armistice Day tomorrow, and the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, we owe it to them to remember, but more importantly we owe it to them to reject war and relentlessly promote the path of peace.
'A very strong community' -praise for Strabane in UK's Town of Culture contest
LOUISE DOYLE, Belfast Telegraph, November 10th, 2026
CONTEST WINNER WILL RECEIVE £3M TO DELIVER SIX-MONTH CULTURAL PROGRAMME
Sir Phil Redmond knows a lot about working-class communities.
The man behind some of British television's most influential dramas, including Brookside, Grange Hill and Hollyoaks, grew up in an area of Merseyside where deprivation was a part of everyday life.
But when he visited Strabane last month, he was keen to make one thing clear: a community should never be defined simply by what it is perceived to lack.
Strabane is hoping to make history by becoming the UK's first Town of Culture in 2028.
It is one of 15 towns shortlisted from an original field of 399 and is the only town in Northern Ireland to make the list. There will be three finalists in the competition. Sir Phil, born in Liverpool in 1949, has built a career around telling stories about ordinary people and the challenges facing working-class communities. The screenwriter and cultural campaigner is chair of the UK Town of Culture expert advisory panel, which oversees the competition and assesses the bids.
The Government launched the inaugural UK Town of Culture competition in January 2026, with the winning town set to receive £3m to deliver a six-month cultural programme in 2028. The two other finalists will each receive £250,000 to deliver elements of their bids.
During his visit to Strabane, Sir Phil met local artists, musicians, young people, community organisations, businesses, educational representatives and council officials. He also experienced some of the town's cultural activities and visited community venues.
The Tinnies
Among the most memorable encounters were The Tinnies dressed for Halloween, young musicians at The Farmers House, and the warm hospitality at Grass Roots café.
But Sir Phil said it was the strength of the community spirit that resonated most strongly with him.
He recalled that, when he was 33, he found out the area in which he had grown up was regarded as one of the most deprived in western Europe.
He explained that this experience had influenced his attitude towards the language frequently used to describe communities such as Strabane.
“I always counsel people about using this phrase, deprived, disadvantaged or whatever,” Sir Phil told the Belfast Telegraph. He said there is a danger that describing a place exclusively in terms of deprivation overlooks the qualities, relationships and opportunities that exist within it.
“It's about your community and what you get out of your community,” he said.
“You've got a very strong community spirit here in Strabane that we need to build on.”
Sir Phil also reflected on the town's history, including the legacy of the Troubles, saying some people he had met in Strabane “had endured several lifetimes' worth of challenges”.
He challenged the idea that creativity and cultural influence had to “originate in London or major metropolitan centres”.
That thinking lies at the heart of the Town of Culture competition, which is intended to recognise the cultural contribution of towns rather than concentrating exclusively on major cities.
The £3m prize would provide Strabane with an opportunity to develop a substantial cultural programme, create opportunities for local artists and performers, support young people, attract visitors and potentially contribute to wider regeneration.
Sir Phil said: “Such a recognition could provide a renewed sense of confidence and pride in a town that has often found itself having to challenge perceptions about its economic circumstances and opportunities.”
Recent protests
His comments come after a recent protest in Strabane against plans to pursue the UK Town of Culture bid.
Banners held during the protest bore the words 'No King Nor Kaiser' and 'No UK Stamp on Strabane'.
While the bid has attracted considerable community engagement, the white-line protest served as a reminder that there are differing views about the campaign and the priorities facing Strabane.
“I'm not saying anyone should forget the past — we know the sensitivities,” said Sir Phil. We talk about how we want to have the authentic voice of a place. The more people you can bring to a place and tell them about the past, the more tolerance you have.
“UK is two letters. If we can cope with the Republic of Ireland being in the EU, surely we can cope with Strabane being in the UK for this purpose?”
The next stage will see the shortlist reduced to three towns in January, representing small, medium and large categories. Further assessment visits will follow before the winner is announced in March.
A 'UK town of culchies' that produced Flann O'Brien, Paul Brady and many more
MALACHI O’DOHERTY, Belfast Telegraph, November 2026
Strabane faces two major obstacles to being taken seriously as a contender for the title of UK Town of Culture.
One of these is derision from the rest of us. The other is doubt in the town.
Somehow, people who do not know Strabane feel entitled to sneer at the prospect of it being honoured and funded for its local culture.
I posted on Facebook some pictures from a republican protest on a recent Saturday morning.
About 200 people had come out with their big tricolours and banners to object to the branding of the town as British. That is how they viewed the UK Town of Culture award for which Strabane is shortlisted.
Strabane is in the UK. An awful lot of people are understandably unhappy with that, but that is where it is.
If you live in Strabane you can't enter it in the Irish Tidy Towns competition. You can't enter competitions on RTE's The Late Late Show.
These are hardships the people of the town are condemned to bearing with good grace.
They can, however, enter the UK Town of Culture competition. And for one very good reason: Strabane is in the UK.
When I approached some of the protesters lining the middle of Main Street one of them complained Strabane was in the UK against its will. “We were never consulted,” he said.
Good Friday Agreement
Well, actually, they were. The Good Friday Agreement required a referendum in which people would either assent or not to Northern Ireland remaining in the UK until the majority here voted to merge with the Republic.
These brave chauvinists, however, deserve some recognition of their commitment and stamina.
But they do not present an argument that needs to be taken seriously enough to stop Strabane being a potential town of culture and getting an award that would bring in £3m to develop arts and culture locally.
And if they are to be consistent in their rejection of their membership of the UK, there are far greater noble sacrifices they could make in detaching themselves.
They could give up their benefits, refuse British healthcare from the NHS. It is, after all, a UK National Health Service.
This is what many of the commentators on my Facebook page suggested.
I think all these suggestions are petty sneering, but no less petty than the suggestion the town should waive the opportunity to enhance its culture because the title of the award includes the odious reference to the actual state that we are — for now — living in.
But the comments also included another pernicious idea. That Strabane being regarded as a town of culture is “risible”, that it is foolish even imagining it could be honoured for its culture.
Cultural desert?
The authors of such comments regard Strabane as a bleak cultural desert.
“UK town of culchies,” said another comment.
Ask most people what the town brings to mind and they will probably mention the 'wee man from Strabane', Hugo Duncan.
He is one of the most popular broadcasters in the country because, fleadh or no fleadh, country music is far more popular in rural Ireland than traditional folk.
A few days after the protest I went to see Emer Maguire's one person comedy and song routine in a packed theatre space in Limavady. Emer is from Strabane and has a routine of funny stories about the place.
My wife Maureen Boyle has written a poem sequence about Strabane that formed the basis of a BBC Radio Four programme.
I took some of the photographs for the book and discovered the beauty of the town's location between the Sperrins and Donegal hills, by the River Mourne — leppin' with salmon — where it joins the Foyle.
Strabane gave us Flann O'Brien, who could deflate any pretension.
It also produced Paul Brady, Concert Brass and the first Irish showband, The Clipper Carlton.
The town sustains a lively theatre, The Alley (currently closed for renovation), and notably it preserved cricket and golf in a mostly Catholic town when much of the rest of the country dismissed these as foreign sports.
Strabane has one of the most distinctive pieces of public art in the country, a set of metal sculptures by Maurice Harron of a group of tall, lean traditional musicians.
In keeping with the self-deprecating humour of the place, they are called The Tinnies. Its proper title, Let The Dance Begin, has been generally ignored. And depending on the time of year or who's thriving in sport, Harron's musicians get draped in Tyrone shirts, Santa costumes and black robes (for Halloween).
This is not a culture that reveres high art, but one that instinctively finds humour, as Emer Maguire does, in anything at hand.
If Michelangelo's David was in Strabane, they would put a funny hat or a football jersey on him.
That's not a sign that it doesn't have a culture, but that it does.
Derry care worker beaten with iron bar during racist attack
By Allan Preston, Irish News, November 10th, 2026
Police are investigating a number of racist attacks against care workers in Derry.
It was reported to police that a woman was stopped in her vehicle around 9pm in the Dales Corner of the Waterside, where she was punched and had her windscreen smashed by two male suspects.
A man was then said to have been assaulted as he walked along the same area around 9.20pm, where he was confronted by a group of males and struck to the lower body with an iron bar.
By 9.30pm, a second man was assaulted while inside a nearby licensed premises.
When the man tried to get away, it was reported he was chased but was able to escape.
Police say the incidents may be linked and are being treated as racially-motivated hate crimes.
Female paramedic suffered ‘sustained attack as she lay helpless’ from patient outside
The North West Migrants Forum (NWMF)have said they were “appalled” by the attacks.
They said the man hit by an iron bar (28) was originally from Nigeria and has worked in a local care home for over a year.
The man told the forum he had just crossed the road and was speaking to a female relative, who also works in the care sector, when a crowd of men approached.
Claiming that some of them were in band uniforms, he said: “We thought nothing of it and we continued chatting when one of the men called me a black b******d. I laughed it off and said nothing. Then another man asked me what I was laughing at.
“He asked me where I was from and I told him I was from Derry. He replied ‘it’s Londonderry’.
“It was at that point that they started punching and attacking me. I managed to escape but two of them followed me and starting punching and kicking me again.”
He added: “It was a terrifying experience. I don’t know who these men were but I do know that if I see a large gathering like that again, I’ll run.”
A NWMF spokesperson described the attacks as “shocking” and said they hoped someone would be held to account.
“These were disgraceful, unprovoked assaults based on nothing more than the victims’ skin colour.
“Two of those targeted provide a vital service in care homes in this city. One of them remains in Altnagelvin Hospital where he is being treated for his injuries (a suspected broken tibia).
“The reality is that he now faces a period of time off work as he recovers from his ordeal.
Recovery
“We believe these attacks to be the actions of a few individuals and that they do not reflect the views of the wider Waterside community, many of whom have befriended and shown support to our members.
“Hopefully the PSNI can track those responsible down and bring them before the courts because behaviour like this cannot go unpunished.”
Superintendent Sinead McIldowney said: “There is no place in our city for this shameful type of behaviour.
“We will continue to use targeted patrols to help keep the city streets as safe as possible and have dedicated resources to investigating these reports.
“We meet regularly with partner agencies, local representatives and members of the community and we remain committed to working alongside them to address concerns.
“We would encourage anyone affected by crime motivated by hate to contact police to enable us to take action.”
Football fans warned over organised fight between Cliftonville and Cork City
NIALL McGREEVY, Belfast Telegraph, November 10th, 2026
North Belfast football fans pictured taking part in an organised fight have been warned they will be “dealt with robustly” by police.
The group, which associates itself with Cliftonville FC and calls itself the 'Frontline Reds', took to social media to brag of their victory, with a picture blurring the individual faces was captioned: “Win Cliftonville. 2 mins 45 secs.
“Respect to Cork City for easy organisation and fair fight.”
The picture was also uploaded onto a website that promotes football hooliganism. On the site's app, a full video of the fight is behind a paywall.
A PSNI spokesperson said: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland is aware of social media commentary online surrounding this matter.
“However, to date, no official reports have been made to police in order to allow us to conduct relevant inquiries.
“Anyone engaging in anti-social or criminal behaviour should be aware that it will be dealt with robustly. Public safety is of paramount importance to us.
“We would ask anyone who has information that could assist to contact us on 101. Alternatively, a report can also be made using the online reporting form at: https://reporting.psni.police.uk/appeals.”
Cliftonville FC and Cork City FC were contacted for comment.
Elsewhere over the weekend, four men required hospital treatment after sustaining injuries at two separate Irish Premiership matches.
On Friday night, Cliftonville versus Larne saw trouble occur in north Belfast.
In the Cliftonville Drive area, the PSNI said an object was thrown at a male, striking him in the head and causing him to require treatment.
Police confirmed they are investigating the matter.
On Saturday night, the top-of-the-table clash between Linfield and Coleraine saw “a number of supporters” become involved in a dispute.
A PSNI spokesperson said three men required treatment for bruises and cuts to their faces. The spokesperson said: “Police received a report of disturbances in the Donegall Avenue area of south Belfast on Saturday, November 7.
“It is believed that a number of football supporters became involved in disorder which ended with three men requiring hospital treatment for cuts and bruising.
“An investigation is under way and officers would ask anyone with information or footage captured from the scene to contact them at Lisburn Road on 101, quoting reference number 1068 07/11/26.”
Who is playing unionism’s tune and where does it lead?
LETTERS, Irish News, July 10th, 2026
SIR, in 1843, John Kells Ingram asked a question, “Who fears to speak of ’98?”, a quote from his poem The Memory of the Dead that commemorates the United Irishmen and their 1798 Rebellion.
Almost two centuries later, perhaps the more urgent question is: who dares to think of ’98?
Today, you can ask a different question: who dares to challenge unionism about 1998? The events surrounding Garvaghy Road and the turmoil within the DUP raise fundamental questions about the political maturity of unionism almost three decades after the Good Friday Agreement. Have unionist leaders ever truly accepted the spirit of the Agreement, or have they simply accepted it as a means of protecting the constitutional status quo?
The Good Friday Agreement was never a guarantee of the union. It recognized the principle of consent while explicitly acknowledging the legitimacy of Irish nationalism and the democratic possibility of constitutional change.
Unionist leadership signed up to that settlement. It cannot now treat its consequences as an inconvenience.
Garvaghy Road is particularly revealing. This is not simply a dispute about an Orange parade. It is about whether cultural expression can be reconciled with the rights and wishes of the communities through which parades pass.
Tradition deserves recognition, but it does not confer an unrestricted entitlement to march wherever they choose. The subsequent divisions within the DUP expose a deeper problem. A party claiming to defend unionist interests must explain why its internal disagreements repeatedly threaten the institutions in which it has a central responsibility.
There is something of the Pied Piper of Hamelin about the present predicament. Who is playing the tune in unionism, who is following it, and has anybody thought to ask where it leads? Unionist politics appears increasingly consumed by defending symbols, resisting perceived concessions. But where is the destination? What is the positive political vision for the next generation? It is not enough to keep saying no.
The historical irony is compelling. The United Irishmen of 1798 sought to overcome religious divisions and create a common political identity. Ingram’s poem, The Memory of the Dead, challenged a generation to remember that ambition.
The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 offered unionism an opportunity to participate in a new political settlement in which British identity would be recognized and protected, but not privileged above everyone else’s.
There is also a historical question that unionism might consider. Wolfe Tone and other Protestant United Irishmen saw no contradiction between their Protestant identity and an independent Ireland. Why, then, should British identity be incapable of finding an honoured place in a future Ireland?
The United Irishmen imagined an Ireland beyond sectarian division. The architects of 1998 established a framework for competing identities to co-exist. The question facing unionism is whether it can help shape that future, or whether it will continue following a political tune whose destination it has never properly considered.
Who dares to think of ’98?
JAMES G BARRY Dublin 6
