Ruth Dudley Edwards

Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou McDonald were among the Garvaghy Road protesters. Photo Stephen Davison/Pacemaker Press

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Garvaghy Road events make me ashamed to call myself Irish

The Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill is being steered through the assembly by Alliance

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Good people need to aid the sane in conversion bill debate

(left to right) First Minister of Scotland John Swinney, First Minister of Wales Rhun ap Iorwerth, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and First Minister of Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill, during a meeting at Voco St. David's Cardiff, on Monday, to discuss the "pursuit of a different attitude" from the UK Government and the future of independence for their respective countries

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Unionists can take unification off their worry list

The public have not yet forgiven the Tories, but leader Kemi Badenoch has earned real respect

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Badenoch is intelligent, tough, and has passion for truth

Prime Minister Andy Burnham clashed with the Conservatives’ leader in the Commons yesterday

Ruth Dudley Edwards: PM needs to see the past as it really was

A ban on Portadown Orangeman making their return parade from a church service at Drumcree has been quashed, after a landmark legal victory against the Parades Commission this week. A fresh application will now be submitted for the walk down the Garvaghy Road, after the previous decision by the quango was ruled unlawful in the High Court in Belfast on Tuesday

Ruth Dudley Edwards: I’m glad to see Orange Order boxing clever on Drumcree

The issue of Gaza seems to exercise republicans more than a united Ireland

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Felons Club now more about cheap drink and Gaza

It gave me much enjoyment in the early 1990s to have a go writing about crime

Ruth Dudley Edwards: What a privilege it is to love what you do

Joshua Bonehill-Paine is the Conservative candidate for Crewkerne South

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Repentant aggressors are strong voices against extremism

Intellectually-challenged banner-wavers have much to learn, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Idiots chanting over Israel should get facts right

Ann Widdecombe was still in politics though no longer in a parliament when she was killed

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Politicians feel hated – they’re scared and it’s our fault

Ann Widdecombe’s death was met with some uncharitable comments from some people on the left

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Many on left can no longer tolerate conservative opinions

To see this brilliant campaigner Nigel Farage - who used to play the press so cleverly - whingeing self-pityingly about annoying queries about the source and purpose of his new riches is to see a giant crumble

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Farage has come to believe that everything is about him

Andy Burnham has been a long standing public supporter of our campaign to stop the suppression of Labour Party candidates in Northern Ireland

Letter: ‘Missing fact’ from Ruth in her Burnham column

Andy Burnham is expected to take over from Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader and prime minister. There is no evidence of Mr Burnham engaging with unionism - neither does he seem to have a relationship with Sinn Fein, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards

Ruth Dudley Edwards: In Burnham, we may have PM without threatening views on NI

Back in the 1990s, David Trimble was mentoring his new MP, Jeffrey Donaldson, following his election to Parliament

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Some are astounded at Jeffrey’s unmasking, but I'm not
It was shortly after Jeffrey Donaldson was elected to parliament in May 1997 that David Trimble suggested a meeting with him.
Ruth Dudley Edwards

Leo Varadkar has been appointed to a position with Washington-based firm Penta

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Life in the corporate world should suit Varadkar fine

Taoiseach Micheal Martin’s line is that sanctioning the plant ‘would harm Europe much more than Russia’

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Ireland faces clash between economic interests and EU

The recent Ireland versus Qatar match in Dublin saw screaming spectators throw tennis balls on the pitch with the message ‘STOP THE GAME’

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Care about free speech now, you're on wrong side of history

Emma Little-Pengelly and Michelle O’Neill make heroic efforts to show each other courtesy in public, but anything involving constitutional issues is difficult, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Sorry Michelle, people want security, not the end of UK

New Green Party leader Zack Polanski is an anti-Zionist Jew

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Time for us all to show support for our Jewish neighbours

Former Sunday World editor Jim McDowell, who has died aged 76, started his career at the News Letter

Ruth Dudley Edwards: McDowell stood up for the poor against paramilitaries

It’s been a torrid week for Sir Keir Starmer as the Mandelson controversy stays in the headlines

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Starmer is a PM who won’t stand up for anything or anyone

Irish president Catherine Connolly is already taking more public interest in foreign policy than she should

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Connolly has the potential to be a serious problem

The new LGBTQIA+ Hub is to be on the first floor of 2 Royal Avenue in Belfast; whoever uses the ground floor must be ‘compatible’ with the hub

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Media outlets that champion free speech deserve support

Gerry Adams was being sued for £1 in damages by three men injured in the blasts in the 1970s and 1990s. He told the judge that he would go to his grave content at his outreach to unionists

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Adams still exhibits signs of delusion and arrogance

Micheal Martin’s performance in the Dail on Tuesday - responding to questions on Iran from Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald - was like that of a lawman at the OK Corral, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards

Ruth Dudley Edwards: SF leader took on taoiseach in a debate on Iran … and lost
It was a proper gunfight at the OK Corral on Tuesday, when Micheál Martin, leader of the lawmen, strapped on his gun belt and laid into Mary Lou McDonald, leader of the outlaws.
Ruth Dudley Edwards

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald paid tribute to IRA bomber Bik McFarlane on the first anniversary of his death

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Politicians in Britain beacons of frankness, unlike here

American author Lionel Shriver fell in love with Northern Ireland and stayed here for 12 years. Her new book, A Better Life, explores the issue of immigration in the US

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Why I enjoy having Lionel Shriver as a friend

A bust of former US senator George Mitchell has been removed from the grounds of QUB over his links with Jeffrey Epstein. The senator is seen here at its unveiling in April 2023. Mr Mitchell has denied all wrongdoing and has expressed regret for ever having known Epstein

Ruth Dudley Edwards: I'm horrified that Queen’s has jumped on Epstein bandwagon

Peter Mandelson retired from House of Lords earlier this week amid controversy over his links to Jeffrey Epstein

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Before condemning Mandelson, remember we are all fallible

Disenchantment has caused many Irish people to blame the EU rather than the Brits for whatever goes wrong and the EU is fed up with it

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Changing times could see Ireland alter stance on defence

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer did what he does best - he caved in and agreed to hand over the Chagos Islands. (Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Only Trump can save us from our ‘international lawyers’

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who is understood to have leadership ambitions, told a conference earlier this week that ministers should aim to make the right decision the first time round

Ruth Dudley Edwards: If Labour wants to avoid U-turns, perhaps Grok can help

Morning View

Editorial: Starmer put himself in a position where veteran u-turn is predictable

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer performs an elaborate dance of two steps forward, two steps back, as he reverses his policies to placate the left of his party. (Photo: James Manning/PA Wire)

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Starmer has proved to be a catastrophe as PM

The monarchy is a symbol of continuity in a nation that doesn't always appreciate its greatness

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Britain must realise how great it really is

A woman places an Israeli flag over flowers at Sydney’s Bondi Beach after Sunday’s shooting. Fifteen people were killed when father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram, armed with what police described as “long guns”, opened fire on more than 1,000 people attending a Jewish festival in the Archer Park area of the popular beach at 6.47pm local time

Ruth Dudley Edwards: I have no Jewish blood but I know where I stand

A bid to rename a Dublin park – named after the former president of Israel, and Belfast-born, Chaim Herzog, pictured – has backfired on Sinn Fein

Ruth Dudley Edwards: SF have made Irish seem most anti-semitic in Europe

Chancellor Rachel Reeves after delivering her Budget in the Commons yesterday

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Starmer's government doesn’t know what it’s doing

George Orwell’s statue outside BBC Broadcasting House with his famous words etched on the wall: 'If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what do they do not wish to hear'. News Letter columnist Ruth Dudley Edwards says she has 'given up' on the BBC after it was 'murdered by morons and its own self-regard'

Ruth Dudley Edwards: I could weep for demise of the BBC

An Armistice Day ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London on Tuesday November 11. Early on Remembrance Sunday, Ruth Dudley Edwards had walked around it. Pic: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Ruth Dudley Edwards: The generals at last defend their troops against NI lawfare

Andrew was stripped of his titles last week over his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Why I dislike people's delight in Andrew's downfall

Catherine Connolly may find her pacifist, left-wing politics do not go down well with America or with NATO, both of which Ireland derives huge benefits from, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Connolly on collision course with reality of world politics

A Presbyterian, Heather Humphreys has shown herself in all her public activities to be wholly non-sectarian. She would have no fear of being at the centre of ceremonial duties required of a president

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Humphreys is best suited for Irish presidency

The grumpy Irish electorate was left with Heather Humphreys, Catherine Connolly - a proud member of the loony left, endorsed by Sinn Fein - and Jim Gavin. Pic: Conor O'Mearain/PA Wire

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Exit of Gavin might lead to a worse president than Higgins

If Heather Humphreys wins the election, she will be the third from a non-Catholic background to be Irish president

Letter: Heather Humphreys’ background is not news in Ireland

Martin Mansergh, who died last week, aged 78, was an adviser for Fianna Fáil of Protestant background during the peace process. Ruth Dudley Edwards enjoyed good-natured debate with Mansergh - and then a friendly drink afterwards

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Docklands Bomb caused Mansergh and me to (briefly) clash

Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys is one of three candidates remaining in the Irish presidential race

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Honest debate in Irish president vote avoided

Peter Mandelson on a visit to Omagh in January 2000. The former NI secretary of state held deep concern for the victims of the 1998 Omagh bomb, and helped secure them legal aid in their the successful civil case against the bombers

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Why Mandelson is a hero to Omagh bomb victims

Lord Mandelson is not fit to be UK ambassador to the US. There is no doubt about his unwise association with Jeffrey Epstein

Letter: Ruth Dudley Edwards is wrong to defend Peter Mandelson

Lord (Peter) Mandelson, seen with President Trump n the White House, has lost his job as UK ambassador to the US

Ruth Dudley Edwards: I believe Mandelson that he didn't know Epstein was a liar

Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan was detained by five armed officers at Heathrow Airport on Monday after flying in from Arizona, and told he was under arrest over three posts on X

Ruth Dudley Edwards: Linehan’s arrest shows the ugly reality of trans extremism

Ruth Dudley Edwards initially thought the Rev Smyth, seen above on the Twelfth in 2001, unimaginative but later interviewed him about the Orange Order and came to admire him

Ruth Dudley Edwards: I under-estimated that brave Orangeman, Rev Martin Smyth MP

Sally Rooney is the pseudo-intellectual young person’s poster girl who self-identifies as a Marxist

Ruth Dudley Edwards: What would happen to women if Islamists destroy Israel?

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