Barry D Celt

@mooreholmes24 Instead of grasping at the perennial straws of being saved by the British establishment (& being humiliated in the process ), Unionism would be better served trying to persuade small ‘n’ Catholics of the benefits of the Union. But they won’t. Their bigotry won’t let them.

If Reform are to win the next UK election, they present the best opportunity for Unionism to tackle the Irish Sea Border. The DUP and TUV are wise to engage with them now and help influence the Reform manifesto. Nothing is guaranteed, and how much the party can be trusted remains to be seen, but a pledge to resolve the issue is better than it being dismissed as a non-issue.

@SJAMcBride To most people in America, and I would speculate at the events you attended, don’t regard Unionists & Sinn Fein as representative of any aspect of the Ireland they they have respect & fondness for. Unionists & SF are seen as slightly sinister characters to be humored on the day.

This has been a good week for unionism, while Sinn Fein seriously blundered - as I saw with my own eyes. In failing to distinguish between the American government and the American people, the party boycotted people who have nothing to do with Donald Trump. belfasttelegraph.co.uk/comment/opinio…

@piersmorgan Bombing the quicksand that is Iran from the air is one thing. Stepping onto it is quite another

The very thing Donald Trump campaigned against doing.

@ScotForUnity They dont want you to know that when all of Ireland was part of the UK - they suffered. Their land was stolen from them. Their culture crushed. They were deliberately starved. They were deported en masse — then freedom arrived & Ireland thrived unlike basket case Scotland.

They dont want you to know that when all of Ireland was part of the UK - they thrived. For the first time they produced philosophers, merchants, engineers, ferocious British Military divisions, and held positions of great power in the British state...then Marxism arrived.

@mooreholmes24 It’s hard to be innovative or build anything of substance when you’re made to live in a cold house. Absolutely blinkered post or just clueless.

According to Sinn Fein, Unionists are wreckers. Unionists built Northern Ireland. The place we call home. Sinn Fein have tried and keep trying to wreck the historic and special relationship across the British Isle. Unionists are innovators. Sinn Fein are wreckers.

@RFCGW When you look across the sea to Scotland, do you get homesick?

British clubs new Irish coloured sweatsuit modelled by a Scot. Weirdest club in the world 👍🏻

@itvnews ‘Now, Donnie, about those tariffs you imposed on us…’

Donald Trump urges UK and other allies to send ships to Strait of Hormuz itv.com/news/2026-03-1…

@thedavidcurrie Evolution is just a theory.

Disgraceful behaviour from the horse racing fans at Cheltenham. I fully expect statements, condemnations, bans, alcohol prohibition, police announcements, political intervention and enquiries in due course.

@archer_rs I would leave the gun holster at home too. And the gun!

Americans, if coming to Europe this summer, some suggestions of what not to wear ANY hats indoors Trainers with every outfit Cargo shorts Loud logos and graphics Ill-fitting clothes A shirt of your sports team Flip-flops everywhere Clashing colors and patterns Beach shorts

@afneil Whatever President Trump says it is. British sovereignty is secondary to these British ‘patriots’.

Can anybody tell me the definitive position of Reform on the US/Israeli attacks on Iran? I’ve heard three positions from Nigel Farage, Richard Tice and Andrea Jenkins. Which one is party policy?

@plusEVbacker Evolution is just a theory.

Looks like it's kicked off in William hill at Cheltenham 🤣

@nee_massey Fractured identity is the root cause. Are you Scottish, British, Protestant, Catholic first? Without a collective identity, divisions slow action, slow progress, slow innovation. Even if the differences are on a micro level, they undermine cohesion necessary for advancement

What are we going to do about Glasgow? Any ideas?

@Holocaust_Irl Jewish people have contributed enormously to society. From technology & medicine to the arts, Jewish people have been at the forefront of innovation & creativity. We have all benefited from their presence. Don’t let criticism of Israel be the litmus test for you staying/leaving.

My op-Ed in today's Irish Times on the current state of antisemitism in Ireland. "A report on antisemitism in Ireland, released last week by the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, had some deeply distressing findings: 143 incidents were recorded over a six-month period ending in January 2026. If this were the UK, with 120 times more Jews, that would represent 17,000 incidents."

@Peston It’s the economy, stupid.

Taco time, already. Or so markets believe. Oil back below $90 and shares up because “I think the war is very complete, pretty much” and the military operation is “very far” ahead of its initial four-to-five week timeframe [Trump to CBS News on the phone]. “They [Iran] have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force”

@Peston Britain needs to reassert itself on the world stage militarily & not be compromised into following others into war because of its military & security shortcomings. This also applies to Europe

Here is a funny thing. There was an intriguing omission from the extraordinary and almost unprecedented leak from the 27 February meeting of the National Security Council to the Spectator. This accurate leak said that Ed Miliband, Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper were all wary about allowing President Trump’s bombers to use UK airfields, Diego Garcia in Chagos and Fairford in Gloucestershire. It said Starmer “was blocked by an alliance of Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary.” Which is largely true. But I am told by multiple sources there is an important elision, because the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was also making the same case as Miliband, Reeves and Cooper, namely that there were significant dangers in providing British facilities to the American military for attacks defined by the Attorney General Richard Hermer as unlawful and whose aims and likely consequences are highly uncertain. Mahmood is however mentioned by the Spectator as supporting the foreign secretary’s position. But this reference to her is lower down the report, and as a seeming afterthought, whereas my sources say she was one of those explicitly urging caution on the PM. This matters, partly because in follow-up reports by other media outlets her name is omitted. More importantly it means that every holder of a great office of state - chancellor, foreign secretary and Home Secretary - was telling Starmer to beware of rowing in behind Trump, as was the only former Labour leader still in the cabinet, Miliband. Against such a united ministerial front, there was probably no way for Starmer to do what he was being urged to do by senior members of the military, which was to immediately reverse a decision taken weeks before to refuse permission to the US to use relevant UK air bases for the joint US and Israeli strikes on Iran. I am told that the military “chiefs” were livid with the ministers urging caution, especially with Miliband. The language used by one defence source about the energy secretary does not bear repeating. That said, two days later, on 1 March, Starmer did reverse the prohibition on US bombers landing at Fairford and Diego Garcia, following a formal request from Washington on 28 February to do so. But it was too late. By then, President Trump felt properly slighted by Starmer and the UK. That has resulted in a barrage of invective flung at the British prime minister - that culminated in the American president posting on his Truth Social platform last night that the UK was “our once great ally” and “we don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won.” It is highly uncomfortable for Starmer and the British government to have Trump’s fractiousness and mistrust rehearsed in public: it is an inescapable fact that Britain’s nuclear weapons capability is totally dependent on American support and its intelligence service works hand in glove with America’s - not to mention that NATO’s credibility vis-à-vis Putin requires America’s incomparable military strength. So what is important is the impact on the working relationship between the two countries’ intelligence and military capabilities AFTER the war is over, and that can’t and won’t be known for weeks - and maybe months. Here is Starmer’s Scylla and Charybdis: if he allows the UK to become too embroiled in Trump’s war, he risks ministerial resignations and a revolt by his MPs; but if he irrevocably alienates Trump, he risks the collapse of a defence partnership between Britain and America that has underpinned the UK’s and western security for decades. Opinion polls show the public is supportive of the PM’s refusal to join Israel’s and America’s strikes on Iran and to restrict our military to defensive operations in the Middle East. But popular support for his caution could evaporate if the security of the UK were to be put at risk by the disintegration of the alliance with America.

@SJAMcBride A United Ireland or an agreed with some reluctance Ireland will happen not because of diminishing Unionist opposition or because of Sinn Fein but because greater forces than either are pushing it that way. An island of relative stability in an increasingly unstable world.

Had the young John Taylor been able to read the octogenarian John Taylor’s comments last weekend, he’d have snorted in scornful derision. One of the biggest beasts of 20th century unionism, he was no cuddly liberal - but now he's lost his political faith. belfasttelegraph.co.uk/comment/opinio…

@JamieBrysonLLB What happened on the pitch today was atrocious. No matter whose team you support, you cannot witness what occurred & be okay with it. It was an insult to all right thinking people. Such an an abomination must never be allowed to happen again. Ever! But enough about the game.

The behaviour of Celtic fans has been tolerated for far too long by the football authorities & Scottish police. They are unable to behave in a civilised manner, and once again today demonstrated that. They shouldn’t have been let anywhere near Ibrox, and should never be again.

@GerryHassan What happened on the pitch was an abomination. An insult to all right thinking people. Such an abomination must never be allowed to happen again. Ever! But enough about the game…

With the state of the world Rangers and Celtic show their pathetic small-minded obsession with each other. Letting down Scottish football & Scotland again. Sadly the Old Firm never same to change: dinosaurs who cannot deal with how irrelevant they are in European football.

@Peston Sounds like Farage has been telling Donald what to say regarding the UK lately to undermine Starmer. Nothing like a great British patriot attacking the UK from a foreign country

Trump: “The UK, our once great ally…we don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won”

@Amandasmylife Thank God I’m an atheist! 😁

There are approximately 53 million to 72 million Catholics in the United States, representing about 19% to 20% of the adult population. The Catholic Church is the largest single religious body in the country. Not one Priest invited. Because Catholic clergy are calling this an unjust war and Catholics should not be fighting in it.