Disruption and reconstruction: Belfast city centre, in the aftermath of the Bank Buildings fire, October 30th, 2018. That it looks and feels different to elsewhere on this island does not make it less Irish, but more complex. But equally important for the coming century – and urgent given fraying relations – is commemorating or, even better, celebrating different kinds of Irishness, including Northern Irishness. “You know you gotta go, on that train from Dublin up to Sandy Row,” sings Van on Astral Weeks. Matthew O’Toole is a former Downing Street official who now works at Powerscourt communications and writes on British and Irish politics

Source: The Irish Times November 05, 2018 10:30 UTC