Opinions
By Jamie Bryson @JamieBrysonCPNI As the election count was underway, a controversial decision was conveniently slipped into the media grid- the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has recommended that Marie Anderson be appointed as the next Police Ombudsman. Ms Anderson is the current Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards, the Judicial Appointments Ombudsman […]
By Jamie Bryson @JamieBrysonCPNI In Northern Ireland social media is saturated and completely dominated by so-called progressives and pro-EU activists. Given nationalism has hitched its wagon to social causes which identify with that broadly progressive/liberal movement and the attempts to stop Brexit, this gives as a social media sphere largely dominated by progressives and nationalists. […]
Jamie Bryson @JamieBrysonCPNI At the funeral of Lyra McKee the hall burst into applause following the well publicised contribution of Fr Martin Magill. I like Fr Magill, he is a fundamentally decent man and someone who genuinely believes in trying to understand all sides. A few years ago he came to a bonfire in Bangor, and […]
By Jamie Bryson @JamieBrysonCPNI In George Orwell’s 1984, the ideologically hypnotised masses were treated to the spectacle of ‘two minutes’ of hate. The villain of the day was held up on the contrived, manipulated and controlled altar of public opinion. The crowds would duly unleash a wave of abuse and hatred at the individual. Of […]
By Jamie Bryson One of the greatest scandals of our time in Northern Ireland is how the Belfast Agreement created parameters whereby democracy, the right to articulate political opposition and indeed the very moral compass of society, was hemmed in under the jackboot of a carefully contrived piece of political language- the often repeated phrase- ‘peace […]
In the Irish News 7 March edition solicitor Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law called for pending trials against British soldiers to be heard by a judge alone, i.e a non-jury trial. Let me from the outset make clear that I make absolutely no professional or indeed personal criticism of Mr Mackin’s advocacy on behalf of […]
By Jamie Bryson @JamieBrysonCPNI This weekend marks 30 years since the killing of republican solicitor Pat Finucane by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) in Belfast, who said in a statement at the time that they had not killed Pat Finucane the solicitor but “Pat Finucane, the IRA officer”. It cannot be disputed that Finucane came […]
By Jamie Bryson On Sunday night I quite deliberately tweeted an image of a green, white and orange plastic bag being used by JD Sports. It is not simply colours as part of a wider design- like a Tesco bag- rather it looks identical to an Irish flag with 3 equally divided dominant colours. Making no comment […]
By Jamie Bryson In a remarkable coincidence I happened to find that Mr Justice McCloskey had unilaterally decided to list my ongoing Judicial Review case against the unlawful actions of the PSNI and SIA on the same morning as the application by Fine Point films, the company behind the controversial Loughinisland film. By virtue of […]
By Jamie Bryson “If I was to write a letter on behalf of loyalists and unionists and flaunt myself all over the media promoting it, I would be shunned and drummed out of the profession.” That was the view of one astounded legal professional speaking to me in recent days about the ‘Leo Letter’. There […]