A Conversation with DUP Jeffrey Donaldson – Episode 19

Jeffrey Donaldson DUP smilingThis week we sit down with the DUP member Jeffrey Donaldson discussing topics such as Brexit, North-South relations, Boris Johnson, a potential Irish Unity referendum & need for a “Truth & Reconciliation” process. We also discuss the DUP’s confidence and supply deal with the British Conservatives under Boris Johnson.

Jeffrey Donaldson also puts himself in the shoes of the Irish Government, and addresses reports that Nortern ireland is one of the poorest regions in the UK, and the NHS is a shadow of its former self.

You can follow Jeffrey on his Twitter profile here.

Jeffrey Donaldson (born 7 December 1962) is a politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley representing the Democratic Unionist Party. He is best known for his opposition to Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader David Trimble during the Northern Ireland peace process, especially from 1998 to 2003. He is Northern Ireland’s longest-serving current MP.

In 1998 Donaldson was in the Ulster Unionists’ negotiating team for the Good Friday Agreement. However, he walked out of the delegation at the end of the negotiations in protest at some of the arrangements, notably the lack of a link between Sinn Féin’s admittance to government and IRA decommissioning. In March 2019, Donaldson was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Conversation with Rev. David Latimer – Episode 17

We sat down with First Derry Presbyterian Church minister Rev. David Latimer to discuss his book, ‘A Leap of Faith‘, his friendship with the late Martin McGuinness as they sought to bridge the divide, what politicians need to do, and David addresses his comments regarding the War in Afghanistan. Join us after in the discussion at https://twitter.com/SharedIreland

You can find the bonus podcast here.

Rev. David Latimer was born in Dromore, Co Down, 68 years ago. His father, Cyril, was a coachbuilder with the Belfast Corporation Transport Department. They introduced him to the Christian faith and encouraged him to take school seriously. His mother’s constant advice was. “A little science is easily carried.”

he attended Dromore Primary School and Banbridge Technical College and, after O-levels, and worked for the Northern Ireland Electricity Board. Later, he graduated with an economics degree from Queen’s University Belfast and, in 1983, he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. “My first charge was in Glascar and Donaghmore in Co Down, before moving to Derry in 1988.”

Soon after ordination, he became part-time chaplain with 204 (North Irish) Field Hospital RAMC and served until 2015. In the second half of 2008, he served with the unit in Afghanistan, where he was also a hospital chaplain in Camp Bastion.

A Conversation with Mike Nesbitt – Episode 13

Headshot picture of Mike Nesbitt of the UUP.Mike Nesbitt, ex Commissioner of Victims and Survivors, journalist and current Ulster Unionist Party MLA for Strangford discusses recent election performances, gives us his thoughts on legacy issues, a shared future and an update on Stormont talks.

You can follow Mike on twitter here.

You can check out the bonus podcast with Mike here.

Mike Nesbitt (born 11 May 1957) is a British politician and former broadcaster who was the Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 2012 to 2017 and has been the Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford since 2011.

Following the 2017 election, Nesbitt announced his intention to step down as party leader, which he did on 8 April 2017.

Nesbitt worked as a sports reporter at BBC Northern Ireland and progressed to presenting Good Morning Ulster on BBC Radio Ulster from 1986 to 1990. Nesbitt joined UTV as a presenter and reporter in 1992, being joined by his wife Lynda Bryans to co-present evening news programme UTV Live in 1996.

In January 2008, Nesbitt was announced as a Commissioner of Victims and Survivors, a Northern Ireland Assembly role designed to promote the interests of victims of the Troubles.

Nesbitt resigned from the post on 17 February 2010 to become the parliamentary candidate for the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force in the constituency of Strangford. He lost out to the Democratic Unionist Party’s Jim Shannon in the election.

In the 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election, Nesbitt was elected as one of six MLAs representing Strangford.

 

 

A Conversation with Senator Ian Marshall – Episode 5

Professional headshot of former Irish Afrmers association chairman and irish senate memebr Ian Marshall.Seanad Eireann member Ian Marshall joins us this week to discuss cross border cooperation, #irishfood, role as senator, civic groups, and building links with Science Ireland. You can follow Ian on twitter here.

He also has a website which you can find here.

Ian Marshall (born 1968) is a farmer and politician from Markethill, County Armagh. He is from a unionist background and campaigned against Brexit. He was elected to Seanad Éireann in Dublin in 2018.

Marshall is a dairy farmer in the agrifood sector and was president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) from 2014 to 2016. In August 2017, Marshall was appointed Business Development Manager at the Institute for Global Food Security in Queen’s University Belfast.

Marshall was elected to the 25th Seanad on 27 April 2018 in a by-election for the Agricultural Panel. The vacancy was caused by the resignation of Denis Landy. He was approached to stand by Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader; his candidacy was also supported by Sinn Féin. He has never been a member of a political party and sits as an independent. He is the first unionist member of the Oireachtas since the 1930s.

Senator Ian Marshall previously revealed how he declined an invitation to join the Orange Order when he was a teenager. In an interview with the Dublin-based Sunday Business Post newspaper, former Ulster Farmers’ Union president Ian Marshall (50) said his father had told him that he didn’t need to hang his colours from a mast in order to prove he was a good unionist.

Senator Ian Marshall was the first Ulster Farmers’ Union president to speak at a Sinn Fein ard fheis, and his familiarity with the party was helpful when it came to winning republican support for his election to the Senate.

On Brexit, the major issue of the day for the agricultural community, he is opposed to the UK leaving the EU, and favours a second referendum on the issue.

“If they don’t do that, I will feel – as one of the 48% of people in the UK who didn’t want to leave – that I’ve been taken out of Europe against my will,”

 

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