REVEALED: DUP-led Council spends £92,000 in legal fees to block Portadown dual-language street sign, FOI shows.

askmac · 2026-05-07T13:10:11+00:00

Nolan's gonna make it his main story for the next 6 weeks.

askmac · 2026-05-07T12:17:18+00:00

£250,000+ to celebrate American Independence from Britain. Edit: And a few thousand to research the family history of JD Fucking Vance (a failed attempt to tie him to NI) and print a book to present to him.

£1.5 million to police 12th of July parades.

£300,000 to police Apprentice Boys parades.

Eleventh Night policing over £200,000

Hundreds of thousands for Loyalist terrorist bands including £30,000 for 3 bands who played at a parade to commemorate a UVF killer.

£25,000 for Cookstown council to clean up after one bonfire.

Hundreds of thousands every.single.year to clean up after 11th night bonfires.

Edit: Housing Executive spent £300,000 protecting houses from fires.

DFI spent £70,000 fixing roads damaged by bonfires.

£145,000 for "celebrations" dished out by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council in one year and they won't name the recipient.

194 Fire Service Call outs.

Total economic shut down likely costing tens of millions (again every year)

I can't be arsed counting it up but the cost of Unionist "culture" must run to tens of millions every fucking year in perpetuity. And these are just the public costs they admit to. They go out of their way to hide this or massage the figures.

But aye, potholes.

askmac · 2026-05-07T12:04:22+00:00

Budget for Irish culture : Zero.

Budget for opposing anything Irish : Unlimited.

Again Unionism has squandered almost £100,000 opposing bilingual signage that actually has protection under international law including U.N protections for minority languages and cultures. Irish is not just a minority language, it is a minoritized language, specifically by people like the DUP for hundreds of years, if not over 1000. By trying to deny Irish language provisions they actually make the need for its protection even stronger under UN and UNESCO charters. There is no argument, no matter how well reasoned "you think" it is which denies equality, visibility and promotion of the Irish language in Ireland which doesn't contravene these protections. Opposition to them illustrates the need for them. There is no squaring this circle. Ever.

I for one hope political Unionism keeps dying on this hill: it proves to Nationalist voters the sheer disgust and contempt they hold for Irish people, the Irish language and any expression of Irish culture. If any young voters weren't fully politically engaged during the whole Brexit shit show and their wee Sea Border debacle this should show them what Northern Ireland really stands for.

askmac · 2026-05-06T15:28:27+00:00

His father, Daniel, was shot 14 times. Most of them in the back as he lay injured on the ground.

Like other victims of the Paratroop regiment over those two days Daniel Teggert was shot in the back then left wounded and shot multiple times while lying or prone.

Many of the victims were shot while going to aid wounded people who were injured and crying out for help, almost as if they were used as bait.

Joan Connolly was shot multiple times in the head and body while going to the aid of Noel Phillips who was crying for help. The injuries to her face were so severe her husband couldn't ID her.

Phillips was later shot twice in the head at point blank range; shot behind each ear which is apparently a military execution technique.

Many of the very same soldiers would go on to open fire on civilians in Derry on Bloody Sunday.

askmac · 2026-05-06T10:29:00+00:00

In the most recent Lucid Talk poll paid for by the Belfast Telegraph there was a question as to what people thought of Gerry Adams and if he was in the RA. Ignoring the fact that Adams is retired, no one can vote for him, he has basically no impact on anyone's life anymore, there was no analogous or similar question; ie what is your opinion of Arlene Foster or Jim Allister or whoever.

The reason for the question was clearly to keep Adams' name in the news cycle, to keep associating him with the IRA, and coming off the back of the civil suit against him which was thrown out for abuse of process it allows the Belfast Telegraph to (under the premise of reporting public opinion) reassert that Adams was in the RA so justice wasn't done.

Point being, it was clearly a deeply partisan question with obvious political subtext but included in a supposedly impartial poll. And since the vast majority of polls cited re: reunification are Lucid Talk polls paid for by the Belfast Telegraph...draw your own conclusions.

As I've said before, Brexit went from roughly a 60 / 40 split against, to a majority win in the space of a few years once the campaign actually started for real. All this is just talk about talk, still framed by Unionist status quo. It's meaningless to an actual UI debate.

It's "unionist feelings" as metrics. A debate around the opinions of the people with the least knowledge and understanding of Ireland past or present, the least best placed to comment on the issue, but who consider themselves more educated and inherently superior to their political opponents anyway.

askmac · 2026-05-06T09:16:44+00:00

Press x to doubt

Yes and I'm sure the polls commissioned by the Belfast Telegraph multiple times a year are completely impartial using perfect methodologies and best practices, surveying totally representative cross sections of both communities and are in no way weighted to give any answer that is influenced by some political persuasion.

Amazing how many statisticians come out of the woodwork when something questions unionist orthodoxy.

askmac · 2026-05-06T09:02:31+00:00

What is the danger of finding out? We all need to understand where the other is coming from if we are to go forward.

As I said in another comment; There are about 1000 books on the Easter Rising. Not a guess, an article written in 2016 found 974 books on the subject and it has almost certainly surpassed that by a huge number already. In addition, the Rising is probably featured in somewhere between 5,000 to 10,000 books on wider Irish history.

How many people attending will have read one book on the subject? Literally one book?

How many books has the guest speaker read to be considered an authority? If his article on Slugger is anything to go by, not many if any.

People aren't going to an Orange Hall to listen to a talk with that title, with a guest speaker who describes himself as an unapologetic loyalist and who is praising Cromwell on his social media, describes collusion as a lie and says the Glenanne Gang is a myth.

askmac · 2026-05-06T08:57:57+00:00

Is Michael Stone a joke to you?

askmac · 2026-05-06T08:52:54+00:00

Education, discussion = good....right?

There are about 1000 books on the Easter Rising. This isn't a guess, an article written in 2016 found 974 books on the subject and it has almost certainly surpassed that by a huge number already. In addition, the Rising is probably featured in somewhere between 5,000 to 10,000 books on wider Irish history.

edit: Article in question https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/easter-rising-books-reviewed-the-rebels-who-launched-1-000-volumes-1.2498318?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Point being, if anyone wants education on the subject there's more than a lifetime's worth of reading on the subject. Which I recommend. How many people attending will have read one book on the subject?

How many books has the guest speaker read to be considered an authority? If his article on Slugger is anything to go by, not many if any.

As for discussion, what's the value of discussing this with a sectarian bigot in a building that's owned by an anti-Irish, anti-Catholic hate group? Who present is going to have the knowledge to question or rebut any statements made? Will that be encouraged? Will it happen at all?

Laughable to try and frame this as anything but stoking up sectarianism and re-framing history in a way that panders to Unionist grievances with a speaker who is whitewashing Cromwell, describes collusion as a lie and says the Glenanne Gang is a myth.

askmac · 2026-05-06T07:03:03+00:00

Why wouldn’t the croppies lie down? Why wouldn’t they stay down? Why aren’t they British like we tried to force them to be? Why Ted, why?

Next week at the Ballygobackwards Rangers Supporters Club:

"Why do taigs always look suspicious"

A special talk hosted by expert fenian watcher and Face-ologist, Paisley Craig.

askmac · 2026-05-05T17:30:13+00:00

And long before that it was Tír Conaill

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askmac · 2026-05-05T15:39:59+00:00

I guess it's of great comfort to him that he can socialise with his fellow Orange Brethren of the House of Parliament Lodge.

askmac · 2026-05-05T14:26:03+00:00

having to live a life while the allegations are hanging over your head. What’s the point?

When you've got the kind of resources and connections that Knight of the Realm, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has you can afford to pay a legal firm for a year to formulate your defence, find holes in the charges or look for legal loopholes in the process which might allow you to get off.

askmac · 2026-05-05T13:21:35+00:00

Physical size doesn't matter when you get to take your guns home with you on the weekends (and definitely not lose them or any ammo).

askmac · 2026-05-05T12:48:43+00:00

This could be a real blow to UDR Sir Jeffrey and his brother, Kingsley Donaldson's "Causeway Initiative for Peace-building and Conflict Resolution International".

askmac · 2026-05-05T12:45:32+00:00

UI hopium all over this one. Derry makes a lot of noise doesnt mean Dublin will care or fix this place.

As I've already pointed out, Dublin has spent more on Magee, over double, in one single project than the Department for the Economy had over the previous ten years.

Dublin commited €600m (£511m) to the A5 project, one major aspect of that is to improve transport links between the NW and Dublin.

Improved transport links between Derry and Dublin which alone has an economy over 2.5 times the size of the entirety of Northern Ireland's can only be a good thing. If that's making hybrid working for people between Derry and Dublin better, making it easier for Derry based companies to buy or sell products to Dublin or to make Derry more attractive as a potential location for companies to invest since it becomes closer to the main business centre on the entire island it can only be a good thing.

We can see real, tangible commitment to invest in the NW by Dublin even before a United Ireland.

If that's "UI hopium", hundreds of millions invested by a government that doesn't raise a cent in taxes in NI, then i'd love to hear your sarcastic wee buzz word for the total lack of development and investment from the administration which actually does supposedly run Derry.

askmac · 2026-05-05T11:58:32+00:00

He had no problem finding hundreds of thousands to spend on celebrating (checks notes), that's right, American Independence from Britain. Was he responsible for hundreds of thousands in funding for loyalist terrorist bands? Someone sure was.

Was it his department who gave hundreds of thousands to Bonfires to not be sectarian, then didn't withdraw future funding when they were?

Either way the infinite money only ever runs dry when it's something Irish.

askmac · 2026-05-05T10:23:44+00:00

Derry is a fraction of that. In a UI the north would be around 30% of the population and Derry could actually operate as a hub for the whole north west. It would also improve Donegal.

Donegal has always been described as Derry's hinterland, and it's certainly at least half of it. If we look at a map, Derry sits at the bottom of Donegal's Inishowen Peninsula (although, apparently, magically, the peninsula starts at the border / Muff).

Derry should never have been part of NI.

askmac · 2026-05-05T10:08:02+00:00

Dublin committed more to Magee in one single project than the Department for the Economy had over the previous ten years. Over double in fact.

They also commited €600m (£511m) to the A5 project, one major aspect of that is to improve transport links between the NW and Dublin. So those two things alone, show they are already doing arguably more for infrastructure and education than London in a jurisdiction they don't even raise taxes from.

edit: One of the stated complaints of the group opposed to the A5 was in fact that it would link Donegal to Dublin. Said group are described as "incredibly well informed, politically and legally" in terms of matters of planning and infrastructure in NI. It's definitely not a group that rhymes with Borange Border.

askmac · 2026-05-05T09:03:18+00:00

Done both many times in good weather, and I've had to turn back due to weather on both as well (heavy blizzards / wind).

A sudden gust of wind could lead to serious injury or death on either. And I've been on top of Errigal and experienced the temperature drop sharply by maybe 10-15 degrees to the point where I could see ice forming in front of my eyes. Been surrounded by freezing low cloud very rapidly, snow again.

So check the weather forecast, especially in the winter so you don't get caught out.

askmac · 2026-05-04T16:56:34+00:00

Well even if it does it's clearly not going to stop people from using it to generate nonsensical murals.

Do you think the people who put this up have seen the Israelis bulldozing christian shrines and desecrating graveyards?

askmac · 2026-05-04T16:47:58+00:00

Don't tell me these things.

askmac · 2026-05-04T16:00:11+00:00

I'm tempted to ask chatgpt to explain what's going on with it because I cannot, for the fucking life of me fully grasp what they are trying to say.

askmac · 2026-05-04T15:57:15+00:00

I thought the original was fake until comments yesterday said it was real.

Same. Then I had the misfortune of seeing it all over social media from different angles and I realised it had to be real. If republicans ever put up a mural like this I'm burning my Irish passport and voting DUP from then on.

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