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Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson

The Irish News

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Newton Emerson: Water woes, farm fury and campus cuts – but no dressing down

Newton Emerson: Water woes, farm fury and campus cuts – but no dressing down

AN important social housing project at a north Belfast interface is being held up by lack of sewage capacity. The Duncairn site between Tiger’s Bay...

previous day 6

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Has Stormont really thought through its Good Jobs Bill?

Has Stormont really thought through its Good Jobs Bill?

WHAT if Stormont’s Good Jobs Bill is a bigger issue for the public sector than for the private sector? In an open letter this week, 22 business...

16.04.2026 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Devolution isn’t proving a motorway to independence. It’s a dual-carriageway to nowhere

Devolution isn’t proving a motorway to independence. It’s a dual-carriageway to nowhere

Three nationalist first ministers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales may not prove the triumph for nationalism they seem

16.04.2026 10

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

If we don’t even like power lines, what chance is there of building a nuclear reactor in Ireland?

If we don’t even like power lines, what chance is there of building a nuclear reactor in Ireland?

MICHEÁL Martin has said he is “open” to nuclear power in Ireland, although he has questioned the cost. The taoiseach was responding to questions...

11.04.2026 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

One in five desks are empty in Northern Ireland’s classrooms: Pragmatism is needed

One in five desks are empty in Northern Ireland’s classrooms: Pragmatism is needed

An extraordinary 40 per cent of all schools in Northern Ireland will be unviable by 2033, up from a quarter today

09.04.2026 20

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Keep calm and carry on paying more at the pump

Keep calm and carry on paying more at the pump

THE 2000 fuel protests, a landmark event in recent political history, received significant support in Northern Ireland, including from the Ulster...

09.04.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Northern Ireland doesn’t have a housing boom, it’s a housing squeeze we can’t escape

HOUSE prices in Northern Ireland rose almost 10% over the past 12 months, six times faster than the UK average, according to the latest figures from...

04.04.2026 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Sinn Féin swaps cynical populism for pragmatism on Northern Ireland property tax rises

Some thought has gone into the psychology of carefully boiling the fiscal frog

02.04.2026 20

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Why are teachers being asked if they are loyalist or republican?

WHY is the Education Authority (EA) asking teachers if they are loyalist or republican? The explanation lies with Northern Ireland’s unique laws on...

02.04.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Is the DUP supping the Devil’s buttermilk with the drinks industry?

THE DUP has blocked the introduction of minimum alcohol pricing by UUP health minister Mike Nesbitt, claiming that evidence for its effectiveness is...

28.03.2026 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

There is plenty the DUP and Sinn Féin could do about housing if they wanted to

There is nothing Belfast City Council can do to to stop property developers and landlords bulk-buying houses and converting them into HMOs (Houses of...

26.03.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Absence of religious fervour in debate about Sunday shopping in North is suspicious

The classic image of Sunday closure in Northern Ireland is of unionist councils chaining up playground swing in the 1960s – the non-swinging ’60s

26.03.2026 20

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

What do you call a winter fuel payment in summer? Madness

IN November 2024, the Executive found a spare £17 million for a one-off winter fuel payment for pensioners who had lost the benefit when the...

21.03.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

We need to understand the financial cost of a divided society. It might surprise us

Having this number to hand would be transformative

19.03.2026 20

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson: Does the DUP really have a ‘wrecker’s agenda’ at Stormont or is Sinn Féin just failing its voters?

TWO parties threatened last weekend to quit the executive. Alliance leader Naomi Long, addressing her party’s annual conference, said participation...

19.03.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

The road to the A5 remains paved with contradictions

A JUDGE has accused two Stormont departments of being “entirely unfair and unacceptable”, “unprincipled” and of “gaslighting” in their...

14.03.2026 30

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

How the right to plonk a bungalow in your dad’s field caused all hell to break loose

Twenty years ago, NI officials tried to put restrictions on one-off rural house-building, and faced blowback from all sides

12.03.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

With home heating oil prices doubling in a week, should bills be regulated?

REGULATING the price of home heating oil in Northern Ireland would be surprisingly straightforward. It would be unusual – most developed countries...

12.03.2026 30

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Policing debates, pub licence rates and council stalemates

CHIEF constable Jon Boutcher has told a cross-border policing conference that the number of Catholic officers in the PSNI “isn’t good enough”....

07.03.2026 30

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

The DUP and Sinn Féin can agree to disagree – but please stop the sniping

HOW much should Stormont politicians discuss international affairs, a subject completely beyond their remit? It might be unreasonable to expect a vow...

05.03.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Potholes say a lot about the similarities between the two parts of Ireland

We have become fascinating island study of how bureaucracies work in their own interest

05.03.2026 40

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Visitors to Britain must now pay £16. This hasn’t had the predicted results

Yesterday marked the start of strict enforcement when boarding transport to the UK, hence Aer Lingus requiring passports on all flights to Britain

02.03.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson: Why not use driving bans to punish all types of crime?

CAUSING death by dangerous driving will attract a longer maximum prison sentence – 20 years instead of 14 – under the Sentencing Bill being...

26.02.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

If Sinn Féin backs puberty blocker trials, why doesn’t it just overturn Mike Nesbitt’s decision?

Michelle O’Neill has said it is “disgraceful” that the UK-wide puberty blocker trial for children with gender dysphoria has been paused in...

21.02.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Why won’t the PSNI stop pretending it can tackle all crime?

IT is clear from the reaction to last week’s story about flags that many people see the the PSNI as a sort of NHS for crime – a service that is at...

19.02.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Something borrowed but nothing new at Stormont

“TREASURY reserve” sounds like a particularly dry sherry. In fact it is the emergency fund for UK government departments, to be used as a final...

14.02.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Stormont is in denial about why young people can’t find work

13.02.2026 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

DUP’s crackdown on welfare fraud in Northern Ireland should be just a first step

12.02.2026 20

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Committee chaos, council games and awkward Stormont anniversaries

08.02.2026 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Could pothole politics be the future of unionism?

05.02.2026 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

‘John O’Dowd pints’ proved the final straw for Sinn Féin in pub and hotel rates row

05.02.2026 10

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Nach dtuigeann tú Gaeilge? There’s an app for that

31.01.2026 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Where are all the offenders doing community service?

30.01.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

EU ‘used Ireland as a battering ram’ against Britain. It’s time to undo the damage

29.01.2026 20

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Opposition, overreaction and the art of distraction

24.01.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Why is Stormont not talking about electoral reform?

23.01.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Sinn Féin’s refusal to levy a charge on water is pathetic

22.01.2026 20

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Stormont’s talent for dodging the difficult choices

17.01.2026 30

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

When the market fails, should the state defend you in court?

16.01.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Turning Newry into a Dublin dormitory town: now there’s an idea

15.01.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Will budget stand-off force Sinn Féin and DUP to confront reality?

11.01.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Stormont and the rise of the ‘stakeholder state’

09.01.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

UK and Ireland are both being reminded of their fragility. This should bring them closer

08.01.2026 40

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Laws, letters and long-running failures at Stormont

03.01.2026 40

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Should Stormont abolish homework?

02.01.2026 30

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Criticism of Stormont’s creationist Minister for Education really needs to evolve

01.01.2026 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Emergency meetings, mobility scooters and missing civil servants

27.12.2025 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Profits Returned, Promises Made and Powers Questioned

20.12.2025 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Could council call-ins backfire on the DUP?

19.12.2025 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

There’s just one problem with Ulster Scots. Unlike the Irish language, it doesn’t exist

18.12.2025 70

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson