Brendan Hughes
@brendanhughes64
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Journalist, currently Political Reporter for @BBCNewsNI. [email protected] https://t.co/0Lm1Kgu7aM
Joined June 2010
During the #equalmarriage rally, this student was unfurling a rainbow flag at her @QueensUBelfast graduation. #Solidarity @Love_EqualityNI
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Arlene Foster says we need to find solutions to the NI Protocol. Solutions the DUP has rejected since 2016:. ❌ Remain. ❌ UK remaining in EU single market and customs union. ❌ The backstop. ❌ Extending the transition period. ❌ NI Protocol. #bbctheview @bbctheview.
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The lunacy of the Eleventh Night in some parts of Northern Ireland: Fire crews with their backs to a fire, hosing down buildings, leaving the fire actually causing the emergency to blaze on.
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The DUP fury over Leo Varadkar's northern visit summed up in one handy graphic. Take a redner everyone. 🙈
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73% of @BelfastLive readers polled believe Stormont rules should be changed to allow a devolved government to be restored in the DUP's absence. Almost half think the party will "never" return to power-sharing following the #WindsorFramework. @BelfastLive.
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UUP's Doug Beattie says "we really are trampling all over democracy" if Sinn Féin is not allowed to take its place as the largest party in a restored Stormont. 🚨 Live updates from day two of @QUBelfast's #Agreement25 conference: @BelfastLive #GFA25
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A health trust has rejected claims by DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson that life-saving heart surgery was delayed because of Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol. @BelfastLive.
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DUP paid almost £33,000 to Cambridge Analytica-linked firm AggregrateIQ for its #Brexit campaign for the EU referendum . #CambridgeAnalyticaUncovered.
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An 8% drop of those in Northern Ireland with a British-only identity (32%) and a 4% rise in Irish-only (29%) is catastrophic for unionism. If that continues, Irish identity will surpass British within a decade. Political unionism is failing in its stewardship of the Union.
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Young Belfast loyalist @JoelKeysNI explains to @BelfastLive why he's engaging with an @SDLPlive forum on Irish unity. 📰 Full story:.
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'Michelle O'Neill, you say you want to be a First Minister for all. Will you say the words 'Northern Ireland'?. No response from Sinn Féin to @BelfastLive's question at their Stormont press conference. #AE22
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None can hold a candle to this absolute masterpiece in Craigavon 👇
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Far-right activist Jayda Fransen, who lives in Northern Ireland, has come last in the Wakefield by-election with just 23 votes. @BelfastLive #Wakefield.
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Sorry @rtenews but Ireland's first baby of 2020 was born in Derry, not Dublin 💅. @irish_news
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Robust exchanges on the DUP's Stormont boycott over the NI Protocol, as Alliance MLA Sorcha Eastwood reads DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson's own remarks back to him which he made on @bbcquestiontime when Sinn Féin collapsed power-sharing. #bbcqt
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The DUP has barred journalist @AmandaFBelfast from its party conference. It comes after she chaired an panel at the @IrelandsFuture conference in Dublin last week #DUP22 @BelfastLive.
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The 'Ulster-Scots for Trump' campaign may have begun their trailer tour, but unfortunately they weren't keen on speaking to @irish_news 👇. 📰.
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So hold on. Arlene Foster in response to what she condemned "an absolutely incredible act of hostility" (the EU invoking Article 16), wants the UK government to respond with. the same absolutely incredible act of hostility? .
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DUP claims about Protocol impact on cost of living inaccurate, fact-check group says. "Cherry-picking facts to suit a narrative is one of the mainstays of the modern age of mis- and dis-information. Rarely, however, is it quite this brazen.". @BelfastLive.
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'My real question for the PSNI. Where are you when we need you?' . Addressing a special meeting of @belfastcc after Saturday's street disorder, shop manager Bashir says it's the third time the store has been targeted. 'I don't want your sorry right now - I want your action.'
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Well that's me signing out of @BelfastLive after just over two and a half years. Thanks to the wonderful team for putting up with me for so long. Delighted to say I'll soon be joining @BBCNewsNI as a political reporter - so please do get in touch with any stories! ✍️
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Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill arrive at Belfast City Hall. #LE23 @BelfastLive #BelfastLE23
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DUP councillor John Carson, whose past controversial comments have included claiming the Covid-19 pandemic was God's judgement on abortion and same-sex marriage, is backing Edwin Poots for leader and says Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill will be "put back in her kennel".
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DUP @mea_bc councillor Marc Collins has been suspended for eight months by the local government standards watchdog over "abusive" tweets about Sinn Féin MP John Finucane. His tweets during the 2019 election "contributed towards a toxic atmosphere", the commissioner found.
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Some pretty devastating slides on how well Brexit is going three years on. #BBCNewsTen #brexit
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Here's the email DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson received from the Southern Trust's CEO in response to his inaccurate claims that the NI Protocol delayed heart surgery. It was almost another three weeks before he publicly withdrew his remarks. 📰.
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UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt takes aim at Jim Allister, who is searing in his criticism of the DUP ending its NI Protocol protest and returning to power-sharing. The former UUP leader: "If Mr Allister's analysis is correct, why has he ended his boycott of this assembly?". @BBCNewsNI.
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Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson defends attending an event remembering a UVF man less than a week after criticising Sinn Féin over an IRA commemoration. @BelfastLive.
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The DUP has criticised Irish gov funding of a charity's research into Northern Ireland media - but meanwhile DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson's peace company has received almost €70,000 from the same Irish gov funding scheme in the past 5yrs. @BelfastLive.
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"Talking bollocks": Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris' sweary response as he is challenged by SDLP councillor Séamas de Faoite on Stormont budget cuts impacting children and young people. 📰 Full story: @BelfastLive @chhcalling
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'For example if in Ireland they prohibited the English language, what would the UK think about it? I can't imagine that a law like that would last for more than a couple of days. '. Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov attempting to justify invading Ukraine. wha?
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For the purposes of posterity, here is @BBCTalkback caller Bronagh's contribution to the debate on Stormont civil servants using 'the north' vs 'Northern Ireland'.
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DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson tells his party conference: "For me unionism should have no barriers to entry. ". (cc @AmandaFBelfast👀) #DUP22.
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The exasperated looks from SDLP's Colum Eastwood and Claire Hanna as DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson responds to UK government plans to override parts of Brexit's NI Protocol 👀. @BelfastLive
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The DUP's Gregory Campbell - who as an MP earns a salary of £81,932 - tells @BBCevex he is not middle class, saying he regards himself as working class.
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Irish passport figures by postcode obtained by @belfastlive show many are being issued to people in majority unionist areas of Northern Ireland in the years since Brexit. #Brexit.
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DUP MP Ian Paisley billed a Belfast peace charity almost £6,000 to fly first-class to New York to speak at a conference. Other invitees, including the tánaiste, flew in economy. @irish_news @politicsIN.
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DUP MLAs appear to filter into the front of the queue to see the Queen lying in state, skipping the miles faced by members of the public. Stormont is arranging travel for around 40 MLAs to see the coffin, according to an email seen by @BelfastLive. 📰
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These handout photos issued by the White House of Joe Biden meeting with the Stormont party leaders deserve more exposure. Giving me similar vibes to a backstage meet-and-greet at an Avril Lavigne concert.
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DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson - who withdrew Paul Givan as First Minister, forcing the Deputy First Minister's resignation, meaning @niexecutive cannot meet and remaining ministers can make only limited decisions - tells @bbctheview he "didn't pull down the Executive". #AE22
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Queen's University Students' Union cancels a planned live screening in its Belfast bar of the Eurovision final amid Israel boycott calls. @irish_news #Eurovision.
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Revealed: The DUP arranged after the EU ref for NI public bodies to discuss 'investment opportunities' with Richard Cook - the Tory behind a hidden pro-union business group that donated £435,000 to the DUP during its Brexit campaign. @irish_news #Brexit.
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A DUP amendment to a UUP @niassembly motion calling for a ban on so-called conversion therapy seeks to remove a section of the motion which says "it is fundamentally wrong to view our LGBTQ community as requiring a fix or cure".
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A loyalist parade has been barred from passing a North Belfast interface as it "risks serious public disorder". @BelfastLive.
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Had a party activist outside my polling station with a clipboard asking for my address 'so that we don't knock your door later'. You are under no obligation to provide this information, nor should you feel pressurised into doing so. #LE23 @eoni_official.
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The @DUPLeader handle has already been snapped up after Arlene Foster changing to @ArleneFosterUK.
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Sipping my mulled wine this evening, reflecting on #BrexitDeal, and how Boris Johnson told the DUP's 2018 conference no British gov could ever agree to an Irish Sea border as it would 'leave Northern Ireland behind. damaging the fabric of the Union'. Merry Christmas everyone🎄
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NEW: Sinn Féin was right to withdraw from talks with Foreign Secretary @JamesCleverly after its party leader @MaryLouMcDonald was excluded, more than 66% of @BelfastLive readers have said in a snap online poll.
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NEW: DUP minister Edwin Poots' son, ex-councillor Luke Poots, is facing a local government standards watchdog hearing over alleged conflicts of interest in the planning process - accused of breaching eight parts of the cllr code of conduct. @BelfastLive.
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Alliance's Eóin Tennyson said most MLAs want Protocol pragmatism. "We've heard much today about the Good Friday Agreement and about equality. You will forgive me for taking no lectures from the party to my right (DUP) on either. They have spent a lifetime railing against both."
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The DUP is citing a @NuffieldTrust report as 'further confirmation' that the NI Protocol is 'disrupting medicine supplies'. What the party doesn't mention is the report says Brexit itself is having 'negative effects' on the health workforce, medicines and the economy.
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Breaking: Anne Donaghy has been suspended as chief executive of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, @BelfastLive understands. She has been placed on precautionary suspension while an independent investigation is conducted into complaints raised by some staff.
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Four in five @BelfastLive readers believe the DUP should return to Stormont power-sharing, according to a snap poll.
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Health officials feared DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson's Protocol heart surgery claims would be used for 'electioneering'. Internal emails also show he received a health trust letter dismissing the claims weeks before he publicly withdrew his remarks.
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Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy said DUP walked away from a 2018 bid to restore Stormont, saying "their MP team had scuppered the deal by rallying round the Orange Order, the UDA and all the others to spook the horses". Shouts of objection from DUP calling for remark to be withdrawn.
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Sinn Féin, which previously vetoed a Stormont NI centenary stone, responds to its approval:. "It's bizarre that three unionist parties focussed on a stone while the Assembly is being blocked from doing business on the real issues which are affecting the lives of all our people. "
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So after seven-and-a-half years, this was my last day with @irish_news. Thanks so much to the team for putting up with me for so long. It's been a brilliant place to work. I'm excited to say I'll soon be joining @belfastlive as their Political Reporter. DM me with any stories!
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NEW: Suspended DUP councillor William Walker has been charged with alleged child sexual grooming. @BelfastLive.
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The SDLP has postponed its party conference as a mark of respect following the sudden death of DUP MLA Christopher Stalford.
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Remembering how the potential new leader of the DUP once asked the Attorney General to intervene on his son's careless driving charge in which he mounted the footpath with all four wheels before passing a police vehicle & three PSNI officers. @BelfastLive.
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DUP leader Gavin Robinson looking pleased to be doing a live interview on @bbctheview for the #GE24 campaign.
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How some demonstrators on the streets of Belfast on Saturday reacted to the presence of the media 🎥. @BBCNewsNI
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DUP in June when Sinn Féin was threatening to collapse Stormont. Vs. Sinn Féin in September when DUP is threatening to collapse Stormont
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NEW: The scale of public spending by NI councils, the Housing Executive and roads service to address damage caused by summer bonfires - including the boarding up of homes to protect from heat and flames - is revealed in figures obtained by @belfastlive.
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As is being discussed on @BBCNolan, here is DUP MP Sammy Wilson's £48.56 expenses claim for face masks 👇
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Alliance leader Naomi Long:. "There is nothing in the deal that wasn't available in 2018 under Theresa May.". @BBCNewsNI
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Attacks in Co Down show once again instead of red and green lanes, loyalist paramilitaries are more concerned about ensuring their lucrative white lanes keep flowing. Not scrapping the Irish Sea border, but hardening borders in their reckless turf war.
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Ards and North Down: One source says tallies suggesting Alliance could be set to overtake the DUP to become the largest party. (Usual 'it's early days' health warnings apply, of course) #LE23 @BelfastLive.
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NEW: A Belfast library had its windows boarded up and glazing removed to protect it from a nearby bonfire - at a cost to the public of more than £10,000. Similar measures are being carried out at the library again this year for the Eleventh Night.
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A trans woman standing for election in West Belfast says she hopes to champion equality for all minority groups. Punk musician @ashanraijones speaks to @BelfastLive for International Transgender Day of Visibility 👇. #TDOV #TDOV2023 #LE23 @GreenPartyNI.
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NEW: How flags are quietly being banned from new-build housing developments across Northern Ireland because of a little-known legal clause increasingly being inserted into the small print of homeowner contracts. @belfastlive.
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"I want my British MLAs that are supposed to be in Stormont to go over to the Houses of Parliament and rule directly from there, and cut out all the Irish people that have been elected. ". - 'Jean from Bangor' on #BBCTalkback.
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Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald receives a standing ovation from some in the audience as she is introduced to the stage at the @IrelandsFuture conference in @3ArenaDublin. No one else so far has received a standing ovation.
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NEW: Seven referred to prosecutors over video mocking Michaela McAreavey murder. @BelfastLive.
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A second attempt by @Elaine_McGee10 to grab a word with the DUP's Ian Paisley as he faces losing his seat to TUV leader Jim Allister. Live @BBCNewsNI updates: #GE24
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.@KateNicholl says it's "shameful" for some to focus on housing policy "when there are victims sitting in this gallery living in fear right now" over the Belfast rioting. "Housing policy is a failure of politicians, not of people who have a different religion or skin colour."
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Sir Lindsay Hoyle tells the Commons that in his role "you need staying power". "I have already been Speaker during the tenure of three prime ministers, two monarchs - and one Jim Shannon."
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Crowds applaud outside St Malachy's College on Antrim Road in north Belfast as pupil Noah Donohoe's funeral procession leaves the school on his final journey. @irish_news
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Breaking: PUP leader Billy Hutchinson loses his seat on Belfast City Council. #LE23 @BelfastLive #BelfastLE23.
Ron McDowell (TUV) has been deemed elected for Court. #BelfastLE23 View Billy Hutchinson (PUP) and Cailín McCaffery (People Before Profit) have been excluded in Court.
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SDLP's Matthew O'Toole said: "I don't know how the party opposite (the DUP) can face the people it asked for a vote. I don't know how it can face them, blocking us from even electing a Speaker, to have debates and to hold shadow ministers to account. It is genuinely abhorrent."
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Alliance leader Naomi Long calls on the Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris to cut MLA salaries. @BelfastLive.
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🇬🇧 Sinn Féin on Ormeau Road flags in 2021 when SDLP held Infrastructure post: 'The Department for Infrastructure should act.'.🇬🇧 In 2022 when Sinn Féin holds Infrastructure: 'The PSNI should act.'
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66% say Sinn Féin was RIGHT to withdraw from Foreign Secretary talks after party leader Mary Lou McDonald was excluded, according to a snap @BelfastLive online poll.
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Bin collection workers in Belfast are being given an extra £30 per day as 'hazard pay' during the coronavirus pandemic. @irish_news #coronavirus #Covid_19.
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DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson says Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill was invited to the Foreign Secretary talks as "First Minister designate" but questioned if Mary Lou McDonald becomes Taoiseach, "Who's the boss?". "I don't need to have a minder with me every time I go to a meeting. "
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Loyalist jailed over £1m cocaine haul signed a DUP council election candidate's nomination papers - and has been out canvassing with DUP councillor Dale Pankhurst and ex-MLA Nelson McCausland. @irish_news #LE19.
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🔥 'It's healthy to cry. It's tough sometimes.'.🔥 'Different is a badge of honour.'.🔥 Reuniting a family.🔥 Two-mams book reader .🔥 Nanny Pat!. - #LateLateToyShow is pure joy and inspiration this year 👏 #toyshow
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DUP canvasser for Nigel Dodds tells woman targeted in sectarian attacks against Catholics moving into a new social housing development to "f*** off you rat" in vile Facebook comments. @irish_news @politicsIN #GE19.
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Nicola Sturgeon respectfully bowed as she met the Queen, but that apparently wasn't enough for Dame Arlene Foster. The former DUP leader's brand of blinkered royalism will do the UK no favours in the debate over Scottish independence. @belfastlive.
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DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson on #BBCGMU:. "If we're into a situation where Michelle O'Neill can only attend meetings with UK government ministers if she is accompanied by the leader of Sinn Féin in Dublin, and if she has to have a minder with her, that has very serious implications. ".
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The huge costs to mitigate bonfire damage plainly show some are too big, putting homes and lives at risk. Bonfires may be culturally important to unionists, but melting the window frames off your neighbour's house does nothing to serve your community.
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Greens take a fourth seat on Belfast City Council as @Briansmyth99 is elected to Lisnasharragh. The party has quadrupled its representation at city hall. #LE19 #BelfastLE19 @irish_news
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NEW: Ex-DUP minister Edwin Poots' instruction to officials to halt Protocol-related checks - an order that a judge quashed after ruling it was unlawful and taken for political reasons - has cost the public more than £57,000 in legal fees. @BelfastLive.
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The DUP cited the paper as "further confirmation" the NI Protocol is "disrupting" medicine supplies. What the party didn't mention is the report concludes Brexit itself is having "negative effects" on the UK workforce, medicines and economy.
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.@GreenPartyNI has more councillors (eight) and more MLAs (two) than TUV (six and one). So why is @ClareBaileyGPNI not allowed into this debate? 🤔. @BBCSpotlightNI #bbcspotlightni
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"I can no longer support a party that has not embraced the possibility of a new Ireland.". Former councillor quits the Alliance Party due to his support for Irish unity. @BBCNewsNI.
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Priest 'flabbergasted' at DUP MLA Christopher Stalford's Assembly remarks on Tyrone funeral. "For somebody to construe that into being a 'major republican funeral' is an absolute disgrace. it portrays a certain amount of ignorance and bad manners.". 📰
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