A personal letter from News Letter editor Ben Lowry
View email online | | | | | | | | | | | Jan 22, 2022 | | | | | | | |
Dear reader,
What glorious sunshine there has been in Northern Ireland for much of this week, including this very morning over greater Belfast as I write this. The Ken Branagh film that has as its name Belfast, and which includes some fine aerial footage of the city, has just been launched. We have had plenty of coverage, including here where we ask cinema goers their reaction to it https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/people/watch-the-reaction-of-some-of-the-first-people-to-see-belfast-film-on-official-uk-release-date-3537565 I was born in America and family friends there were in touch to say they loved Sir Ken's film. And a sad death of a rock star this week reminded me that my own journey was the opposite to Branagh's. He was born in Northern Ireland and his family moved elsewhere as things deteriorated. I was born elsewhere and my family moved here in 1974, so as I grew up gradually the Troubles gradually lessened. Rock stars coming here was part of normal life returning, and the first concert I attended was the late Meat Loaf in Avoniel leisure centre in 1985. https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/ben-lowry-my-memory-of-1985-meat-loaf-concert-in-belfast-3537744 Last week I wrote in this email about the breaking news of the double jobbing ban being eased, seemingly to help the DUP. But the government did a u-turn amid the backlash against its plan, leaving the DUP asking this question https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/crime/dup-says-if-government-will-axe-double-jobbing-due-to-lack-of-support-in-ni-then-why-wont-it-axe-the-irish-sea-border-3535550 Owen Polley today says the sudden reversal shows how unionists cannot rely on Boris Johnson to sort the Northern Ireland Protocol https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/owen-polley-flip-flopping-prime-minister-cant-be-relied-on-to-sort-out-the-northern-ireland-protocol-3537738 Stephen Nolan said this week that it was easier to get young nationalists and republicans to appear on some of his programmes than young unionists. Here a reporter talks to young unionists about why that might be, including the artist Brian John Spencer https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/young-unionists-react-to-stephen-nolan-why-our-peers-dont-want-to-speak-out-in-the-media-3537594 The mild impact of Covid is leading to a reappraisal of restrictions in Northern Ireland, with some rules already being lifted, such as the ban on nightclubs. https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/people/key-date-ahead-as-all-restrictions-to-be-reviewed-3537711 In sport, Jonathan Rea wrote us another exclusive column
https://www.newsletter.co.uk/sport/motorcycling/jonathan-rea-we-made-a-lot-of-mistakes-yet-still-fought-for-the-title-last-season-that-fills-me-with-positivity-3528895
And in football, the Glenavon manager Gary Hamilton reveals Irish League transfer market difficulties
https://www.newsletter.co.uk/sport/football/northern-ireland/gary-hamilton-reveals-transfer-market-difficulties-3529584 From Farming Life, here is a report on the changes to the use of red diesel . https://www.farminglife.com/country-and-farming/here-are-some-of-the-questions-answered-by-hmrc-during-red-diesel-webinar-for-farmers-3536979 And our Big Interview this week is the Wee man from Strabane! https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/people/everyone-loves-the-best-of-country-music-across-ulster-it-unites-us-3535976 As ever this is so much more: We have 144 pages of the weekend News Letter and Farming Life in the shops today and tomorrow. On Monday Henry McDonald will be writing about why unionists should value the cultural asset that is the BBC, followed during the week by our regular columnists Ruth Dudley Edwards, Jonny McCambridge and Tim McGarry. Thank you for your continued interest in The News Letter.
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Ben Lowry Editor | |
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