The Agreement - 25 years on

[Brick Tamlin]

Not meant to be. Just an observation.

[trailer]

She may do but she is slowly becoming a parody of herself.
Credibility can easily slip for some when they're seen to be in the spotlight so often and in this little island has its fair share of those who are in everything but the crib.

And this is gonna sound so sexist but has anyone else noticed a clear cabal of females across the spectrum who seem to have chummed up, Team America style to take on all comers across politics, media and social media. Strong sisterhood and all that jazz.

I'm not a racist but...... vibes

[Brick Tamlin]

Ahh youse are right. The mask has slipped. I hate women.

[tonto1888]

She may do but she is slowly becoming a parody of herself.
Credibility can easily slip for some when they're seen to be in the spotlight so often and in this little island has its fair share of those who are in everything but the crib.

And this is gonna sound so sexist but has anyone else noticed a clear cabal of females across the spectrum who seem to have chummed up, Team America style to take on all comers across politics, media and social media. Strong sisterhood and all that jazz.

Can't say I have

[seafoid]

Deirdre Heenan is easier on the eye than some of the other doses.

She also provides a reasonable analysis and challenges unionists.

She and Jon Tonge are the go-to people for a lot of journalists who need to write 500 words about the North in 30 minutes.

[johnnycool]

She may do but she is slowly becoming a parody of herself.
Credibility can easily slip for some when they're seen to be in the spotlight so often and in this little island has its fair share of those who are in everything but the crib.

And this is gonna sound so sexist but has anyone else noticed a clear cabal of females across the spectrum who seem to have chummed up, Team America style to take on all comers across politics, media and social media. Strong sisterhood and all that jazz.

Yep, it does sound so sexist.

Some people just feel threatened or inferior when faced with intelligent women...

[seafoid]

The Agreement didn't bring the prosperity that people expected.

[imtommygunn]

It's like anything. It did in some areas / sectors and didn't in others. It's been good for a lot of people tbh.

[Armagh18]

Far from perfect obviously but better than what there was before!

[rrhf]

We just need to stop judging people all the time man or woman when they get more profile. It must be exhausting to have your head above the parapet in our world. Accept that good and talented people still need to have a profile just to be heard or to make things happen.  I'd rather hear about or see the chinks of light through the thoughts or actions of the likes of Deirdre Heenan, Ryan Feeney, Linda Ervine and many others and accept they won't get all right, than dwell too much on the constant negativity that stunts northern politics.

[Rossfan]

Far from perfect obviously but better than what there was before!

Exactly!

[seafoid]

Far from perfect obviously but better than what there was before!

Surely the North can do better though.


https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/04/20/north-might-have-trouble-spending-bidens-promised-billions/
But better investment requires a higher-skilled workforce, which is even harder to find. Northern Ireland has fewer graduates and more people without qualifications than the rest of the UK and Ireland. This is due to a selective school system that unionists refuse to reform, plus a cap on university places in order to subsidise tuition fees, which unionists and nationalists refuse to reform.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/03/04/unionists-prefer-grim-past-to-future-and-flags-to-good-fortune/
On average, people in Northern Ireland are a lot less healthy than their southern cousins. The average person in the Republic can expect to live a healthy life for almost a full decade longer than people in the North. The figure for the North is 61 years and the corresponding one for the Republic is 69.4 years.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/03/04/unionists-prefer-grim-past-to-future-and-flags-to-good-fortune/
Of this group between 25-34 in the North, 20 per cent have "low levels of education", compared with 7.4 per cent in the Republic. People are more than three times more likely to leave school early in Northern Ireland than in the Republic

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/03/04/unionists-prefer-grim-past-to-future-and-flags-to-good-fortune/
Most recent numbers (2020 data) found that nearly one-third of those aged between 16-64 in Northern Ireland are neither working nor in education and training. Economists have a nice term for it – "economically inactive". Northern Ireland has the highest rate of economic inactivity in any UK region.

[dec]

This is due to a selective school system that unionists refuse to reform,

Sinn Fein may have been the one to get rid of the transfer test but all the Catholic grammar schools were on board with creating their own replacement. Catholics seem just as keen to send their kids to selective grammar schools as Protestants.

[Eamonnca1]

The Agreement didn't bring the prosperity that people expected.

How so?

[seafoid]

The Agreement didn't bring the prosperity that people expected.

How so?

The Southern economy now is 9 times bigger than the 6 county economy.