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Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson

The Irish News

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

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 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

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

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 10

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?

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 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

The road to the A5 remains paved with contradictions

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 20

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 20

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 20

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 10

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 30

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 30

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 10

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 10

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 20

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 10

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 10

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 10

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Committee chaos, council games and awkward Stormont anniversaries

08.02.2026 6

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 9

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Where are all the offenders doing community service?

30.01.2026 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

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

29.01.2026 10

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Opposition, overreaction and the art of distraction

24.01.2026 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Why is Stormont not talking about electoral reform?

23.01.2026 10

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 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

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

16.01.2026 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

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

15.01.2026 20

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

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

11.01.2026 10

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 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Laws, letters and long-running failures at Stormont

03.01.2026 30

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Should Stormont abolish homework?

02.01.2026 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

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

01.01.2026 20

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Emergency meetings, mobility scooters and missing civil servants

27.12.2025 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Profits Returned, Promises Made and Powers Questioned

20.12.2025 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Could council call-ins backfire on the DUP?

19.12.2025 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

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

18.12.2025 60

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Is truth recovery for Troubles killings really possible?

15.12.2025 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

How to deal with the problem of nightmare social housing tenants

12.12.2025 20

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Real loser in row over EU observer status for Northern Ireland is the centre ground

11.12.2025 10

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Flags, fines and the fine art of megaphone diplomacy

07.12.2025 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Is it time to call out use of the call-in?

04.12.2025 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Northern Ireland may be left in a migration limbo. That’s a problem for the Republic

04.12.2025 10

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Short-term budget gains mask long-term economic pain

30.11.2025 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Unionists outdoing each other on questions about nativity plays and witchcraft in schools

27.11.2025 10

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson: Supreme Court ruling on religious education is a godsend for DUP

23.11.2025 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Is Northern Ireland facing a Windsor Framework immigration fiasco?

20.11.2025 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson

Ivana Bacik’s careless words are causing alarm among unionists

20.11.2025 30

The Irish Times

Newton Emerson

What will happen to legacy law if Labour loses power?

15.11.2025 10

The Irish News

Newton Emerson