As the last ever Enterprise leaves Great Victoria Street Station this evening, a new article from me looking at the decline of the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and the all-but forgotten North-South efforts at railway cooperation in the 1950s:

x.com/crgmurray/stat…

As often, too many brilliant quotes to choose only one for highlight.. Just read this latest fantastic intervention in public debate by Amia Srinivasan - and if you are an activist and think the piece is about 'open letters', you have mistaken the finger for the moon

How many times do MPs have to hear how bad an idea this would be for NI before it sinks in?

Students Newcastle University learning together, teaching through their actions, showing that they genuinely understand what it means for a university to be committed to social justice. Colleagues can sign to show solidarity Tinyurl.com/NCLGaza

The EU Withdrawal Act 2018 says that the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is 'not part of domestic law'.

Come along to see why that statement should not be read in isolation (and why reports of the Charter's demise are greatly exaggerated).

Looking forward to presenting the findings of our NIHRC research with Tobias Lock and Anurag Deb @[email protected] on the continued application of the #EUCharter under the #WindsorFramework in Belfast, 29/5. Please join if you are around: eventbrite.co.uk/e/northern-ire…

It will temporarily unlawful to charge for hospital car parking in Northern Ireland because the legislation to defer free parking will not be in place by 12 May. So patients, visitors & staff are being warned of disruption from next week probably until the end of May. A mess.

An absolutely damning story for the PSNI, which is in every respect not funny, but features this absolute banger.

I mean, imagine a journalist 'looking for a story'.

A response to concerns over the Troubles Panel which confuses credentials with independence (generated by an absence of personal/professional connections with the UK Govt). Given the nature of the issue, the public expect a high level of independence:

timeshighereducation.com/opinion/academ…

The increase in border checks within the Schengen zone has prompted a recent EU strategy to ‘save Schengen’. But according to expert on EU law Steve Peers , the changes are unlikely to restore a fundamentally border-free travel area.
Read his analysis: sieps.se/en/2024_12epa

📺Watch live: parliamentlive.tv/event/index/11…

We are now hearing from Dr Sylvia de Mars, Professor Colin Murray and Martin Howe KC as part of our inquiry on strengthening Northern Ireland’s voice in the context of the Windsor Framework.

The UK Govt position on the Legacy Act is 'nothing to see here'. On the domestic courts, they have made clear they'll fight appeals to the bitter end. Lord Caine then refuses to even acknowledge the extensive sections of the Act found in breach of ECHR and EU law in the NIHC.

Thread. Another weak defence from the advisory group of this official Troubles history project that again fails to address its connection to the Legacy /1 irishtimes.com/history/2024/0…

These new EU Directives do not directly cover NI (notwithstanding the key role of the ECNI under Art 2 WF), but there's perhaps a good case for voluntary alignment. The ECNI clearly meets most of the new requirements, but there have often been tussles over adequacy of funding:

I went and read the Pilling Report on the Official History programme of the British government after it was cited in relation to the new project on public history, British government policy, and Northern Ireland. You can read it here.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79a123…

From a British perspective, this is quite shocking, both because judges seem to be entering into a political dispute and because they are punishing groups collectively, irrespective of individual involvement in these protests. America is a foreign country.

I'm not a historian, but let's see what the UKG's track record is for disclosing relevant documents under a *general legal obligation* to do so. The Thompson Inquest. 1/

Euro-American establishment has no idea just how cruel its justification of genocide comes across in the Global South & to people of colour: that non-white lives, loves & communities don't matter. Such👇🏾a letter would not be written for *any* white population in the crosshairs.