Being convinced in our consciences that Home Rule would be disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom, destructive of our citizenship, and perilous to the unity of the Empire, we whose names are underwritten, men of Ulster, loyal subjects of His Gracious Majesty King George V., humbly relying on the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently trusted, do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant, throughout this our time of threatened calamity, to stand by one another in defending, for ourselves and our children, our cherished position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, and in using all means, which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland.

Ulster Covenant

In his book ‘Covenant and Conversation’, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks makes three points about Covenant within the Old Testament and particularly the Sinai Covenant. (more…)

This season our ‘In Conversation With …’ events are on the theme of faith and politics in Northern Ireland.

Imagining a United Ireland: The Novelist’s Opportunity

21 February 2012

Turas is Colin Neill’s first novel.

It is 2020 and Ireland has been united. During this year of striking change, a group of men meet together in a church cell group to wrestle with uncertainty through the filters of their faith and God’s word. Mingled with profound transition all around them are tales of friendship, tales of love, and tales of coming to terms with what the past has meant. (more…)

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It was the evening of the 6th August 2011 when the London riots erupted. Two days before, the death of Mark Duggan had created significant anger which finally exploded into widespread civil unrest, rioting, arson and looting.  Other towns and cities were affected as the unrest spread. There were injuries to both the public and the police. Five people lost their lives. As of 15th August, 3100 people had been arrested and more than 1000 were charged. 3443 crimes in London were linked to the disorder with £200 million worth of damage done to property. In the subsequent analysis of the causes, suggested contributory factors were; poor relationships with the police, social exclusion, family breakdown, government cuts, unemployment,  gang culture, failure of the penal system and criminal opportunism. (more…)