Author Archives: Ian Butler

Opinion: Stand with Anna

By Ian Butler | Fri 30th May 2014 - 11:25 am

A story is breaking in Northern Ireland where an extremist pastor has dubbed Islam as “satanic” That is reprehensible in itself but he has received support from some Unionist politicians and in particular Peter Robinson the First Minister. The Guardian reported

…Robinson, who sometimes attends McConnell’s mega-church on the shores of Belfast Lough, was quoted in the Irish News on Wednesday as describing the pastor as “someone who preaches the gospel”.

The Democratic Unionist party leader said he would continue to visit McConnell’s church.

He then went on to …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged islamophobia | 69 Comments

On life and politics in Fermanagh

By Ian Butler | Wed 9th June 2010 - 3:20 pm

Arriving from in Fermanagh from England in July 2008, five weeks after having had a stroke, I was understandably more concerned with my recuperation than with politics. However fate has a sense of humour and I found my new constituency plunged into the center of a political battleground that allowed me the opportunity to look at Northern Ireland politics. It allowed me to compare and contrast politics here with my 20 odd years of political activism in the Labour Party in England.

Enniskillen is my home now and nestling on the Island between Upper and Lower Lough Erne is the greatest …

Posted in Op-eds | 5 Comments

The General Election campaign in Mid-Ulster

By Ian Butler | Tue 25th May 2010 - 4:47 pm

To be honest I love going on the stump, all of it! Even though you know it is going to be a very hard campaign. There are none harder than campaigning for a liberal party in the deeply polarised area West of the Bann. The hardest bit is getting started – Knowing that whatever you do, however hard you fight, however good your arguments or your candidates, you are going to lose and lose very big.

The street pounding, the leafleting, the phone calls, the “grip and grin”, the talking, talking, talking, persuasion, persuasion, persuasion, cajoling, joling, joling, joling.

The campaign begins so long before the date that the election is called and yet, yet, yet…