A personal message from News Letter editor Ben Lowry

	I N S I D E R

Nov 4, 2023

Ben Lowry

Editor

I was in London this week and it was the same mix of rain and sun we have had here. But back home there was flooding in parts of Northern Ireland.

Newry and Downpatrick were badly hit and in Portadown some families will be out of their homes for months.

But it was political hot water that I returned to when the DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson sent a letter criticising a "negative and defeatist" editorial of ours in which we had said that unionists would not greet any return to Stormont with big enthusiasm

While I understand the view that unionists must appear positive, as articulated here by the Ulster Unionist deputy leader Robbie Butler, I nonetheless write here about why our editorial was so blunt

Owen Polley was blunt too in an opinion piece this week in which he condemned the blank cheque for the GAA at Casement

In this opinion article, the former senior RUC officer Chris Albiston hopes the new legacy plan will stop 'lawfare' against ex security forces but he is wary of the new set-up

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson hopes the UK and Ireland can one day help bring peace to the Middle East, which looks extraordinarily optimistic given the fierce divide in outlook, such as Sinn Fein now calling for the Israeli ambassador to be expelled, a position so hardline that even SF hesitated about it

With so much political news about, we are thrilled to have David Thompson joining us from the BBC as political editor

Some good news: the one-time lottery winner Peter Lavery, a popular and dynamic businessman, has escaped serious injury after a collision with a vehicle when he was walking across a street in central Belfast

Here a Belfast ex-Ozzy Osbourne roadie Stephen Rea may have creaked into middle age, but he knew he had to fly to the Californian desert to see the Power Trip festival

Ben Lowry

Editor

Ben Lowry: Yes, our editorial on the problems with Stormont was blunt - but was so for a reason