Eastwood's relationship with Labour MP has long been an open secret in political circles
However, the former SDLP leader would also make history in other ways too. Moving into Áras an Uachtaráin with him would likely be British Labour MP and former cabinet minister Louise Haigh.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Belfast Telegraph
18 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
‘Completely unacceptable': Unionists hit out after flag stolen from Orange Hall in Co Antrim
South Antrim MP Robin Swann said the vandalism, which is understood to have occurred on Thursday night, should be roundly condemned. 'The destruction of the flagpole and theft of the union flag at Mossley Orange Hall is incredibly disappointing to see and should be condemned by all,' he said. "This vandalism, carried out last night, is completely unacceptable and I urge anyone with information to speak to PSNI. "My colleagues have been in contact with the Lodge following this attack on their hall, and I will be offering to give my support however I can.' Antrim and Newtownabbey UUP Councillor Robert Foster said there had never been an incident at the hall before. "This is a resource used by the whole local community, and recently the District and Lodge have held proactive outreach nights exploring the origins and history of the Orange Order as part of their work to strengthen community relations,' he said. "The lodge will have my full support and assistance in replacing the flagpole and flag as quickly as possible.' DUP MLA for the area, Trevor Clarke, said the attack was an example of 'sectarian vandalism'. "This is petty, pointless sectarian vandalism, and it's part of a worrying trend of sectarian attacks on Orange Halls across Northern Ireland,' he said. "I've spoken with the Lodge, they've contacted the PSNI, and I'll also be writing to raise this with police leadership. We need stronger, visible efforts to tackle these blatantly sectarian crimes before tensions escalate further. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. "And to the sectarian idiots behind this, one day, you'll be caught. "One day, you'll sit in a job interview and have to explain why you've a criminal record for a hate crime, theft and criminal damage... because you 'struck a blow for Irish freedom' one night by breaking into an Orange Hall, destroying a flagpole and stealing a Union Jack just because you are filled with sectarian hatred. Well done.' Why is the M3 closed this weekend ? The PSNI has been approached for comment.
North Wales Live
18 hours ago
- North Wales Live
Kneecap bring Welsh cafe owner on stage at Green Man as they attack BBC
Irish rap trio Kneecap took a swipe at the BBC during their performance at Green Man Festival on Thursday night, with the band chanting "f*** the BBC". They criticised the corporation following its decision not to broadcast the group's set live from Glastonbury Festival. During their politically charged performance at the festival, the band from Belfast also addressed their ongoing support for Palestine and band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh's upcoming court appearance. Thousands of festival goers attended their set on the Far Out stage, with crowds spilling outside. The trio welcomed Helen Wilson on stage, the Welsh cafe owner who live streamed their Glastonbury performance on TikTok, which attracted millions of viewers. The band described Helen as their "hero". "Diolch," they told the crowd at Green Man. "It's not a bad crowd for our first time playing in a festival in Wales." They continued: "We recently played Glastonbury and the BBC wouldn't live stream our set. F*** the BBC." They added: "So the BBC, they said that they wouldn't show Kneecap live... but there was one woman. Do you know who we are talking about? "There was one hero who decided to TikTok live our gig, and she's from Wales. Can we have a massive round of applause for Helen?" The cafe owner joined the trio on stage and was seen giving band member Móglaí Bap a big hug as the crowd gave a loud cheer. In June, calls were made to pull their Glastonbury slot, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying the planned performance at Worthy Farm was not "appropriate", after band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, known as Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence for displaying a Hezbollah-supporting flag during a gig in 2024. Mo Chara has denied the offence, labelling the terror offence charge a "political" move designed to "silence" them. Glastonbury organisers refused to pull the trio's slot on the West Holts stage at the festival. However, while the BBC decided not to live stream their performance, they later uploaded a largely unedited version of their performance on BBC iPlayer. Welsh cafe owner Helen Wilson from Swansea live streamed Kneecap's performance on TikTok, which saw over two million people interact with the broadcast. At the time the BBC said: "Whilst the BBC doesn't ban artists, our plans ensure that our programming meets our editorial guidelines. "We don't always live stream every act from the main stages and look to make an on-demand version of Kneecap's performance available on our digital platforms, alongside more than 90 other sets." On the Far Out stage at Green Man Festival, the band also addressed Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh's upcoming court appearance, saying that he would be back in court "next Wednesday", seemingly confirming that it would take place on Wednesday, August 20. On stage, the rapper said that he was returning to the court "to beat the British government in their own court for the second time". He later added that "they stole our funding two years ago, and we went to court and we won," which was in reference to the band winning a case against now Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch after she blocked an arts grant to the band in 2023. Liam continued: "And this time, we are going back to their court and we're going to beat them again." The band confirmed that this was their first time performing at a Welsh festival and referred to the crowd as their "Celtic brothers". They said: "Celtic brothers have to stand together as we can't trust the British government". The band later said there was a need for "international solidarity" now more than ever. "We are from west Belfast and Derry. Places that know colonialism all to well, as you know yourselves," they told the crowd. The band also said that they would "not stop talking" about Palestine, describing it as a genocide and led the crowd to a "Free, Free Palestine" chant. Green Man Festival concludes on Sunday, August 17. The Bannau Brycheiniog event will see the likes of Underworld, Wet Leg, CMAT, Perfume Genius, John Grant, Wunderhorse, Gwenno and English Teacher perform this year.
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Is JD Vance really Scots-Irish - and does it even matter?
Vance's claim to Scots-Irish heritage would connect him to America from the days before the revolution, which may explain why he's so keen to play it up. There's just one issue though - there's no real evidence it's true. Read More: Earlier this year Gordon Lyons of the the Democratic Unionist Party commissioned a report into Vance's ancestors in Northern Ireland but researchers were forced to admit they had "not established a conclusive family link'. Emails to Lyons, obtained via Freedom of Information, concluded "it has not been possible to establish conclusive proof of a direct Vance link back to Ulster at this stage". The vice-President was believed to be descended from Lancelot Vance, son of Scottish reverend John Vance, who died in the Siege of Derry in 1689. However, the Vance Family Association has been running a genealogical research project using DNA for more than a decade, and cast doubt upon the claim. Its president, Dave Vance, said there was no direct connection to "the John Vance who is popularly assumed by many genealogists to be the sole progenitor of all Irish Vances'. It appears then that Vance, who has been staying near Kilmarnock this week, is not as connected to Scotland as he might believe or claim. What is not in dispute, however, is heavy influence of the Scots-Irish community on Appalachia. JD Vance plays golf at Turnberry The term doesn't refer simply to those of Scottish and/or Irish descent but specifically to Protestant immigrants from the northern counties of Ireland, whose ancestors came there from Scotland. In the early 1600s King James VI of Scotland - James I of England - sought to solidify his rule over Ireland and encourage the spread of Protestantism. One method involved seizing land from the native Irish in Ulster, making it the property of the British Crown, and handing it over to Presbyterians from southern Scotland. It was, in effect, what would now be recognised as an ethnic cleansing in which the Crown sought to 'breed out' the native Gaelic population with poor protestants from Scotland, as well as Northern England and Wales. Those moving to Ireland did not own the land, instead operating as sharecroppers paying tithes to the Anglican Church of England rather than their own Church of Scotland. By the 1660s Scottish Presbyterians made up some 20% of Ulster's population, close to two-thirds of its British population, and that number would grow hugely at the turn of the century. A prolonged famine hit Scotland in the 1690s in which up to 15% of the population died of starvation, with 50,000 fleeing to Ulster between 1690 and 1710. By 1720 they represented the absolute majority in terms of population, but they continued to be shut out from political power by the Church of England. As a result many - at least a quarter of a million by the time of the American Revolution - emigrated to the American colonies in search of a better life. Many of them eventually settled in Appalachia, which shared geographical similarities with their former homelands. The Scots-Irish settlers brought with them their knowledge of crop rotation and the farming techniques which had been practiced in Ireland for centuries, adapting them to the rich soils of the region. Culturally, too, their contribution was foundational to the traditions of Appalachia. The fiddle, blended with the banjos played by slaves from West and Central Africa, became a key component of bluegrass as did traditional folk ballads and their narrative storytelling. Appalachian quilts mixed Scottish and Irish traditions with those of Native American, Amish and Quaker to create a style distinct to the region, while food staples like buttermilk and potatoes can also be traced back across the Atlantic. Then, of course, there's moonshine. A moonshine still (Image: Wikimedia Commons) As Mark Sohn wrote in his book Appalachian Home Cooking: History, Culture and Recipes: "For the Scots-Irish, whiskey-making was linked to freedom. They came to Appalachia in search of freedom, and they brought not only their whiskey-making knowledge but also their worms and stills.' During the prohibition era the limited road network in Appalachia made it easy to evade revenue officers, moonshiners swapping barley mash for maize corn to create a potent - and illegal - spirit. Kathy Olson, director of the Stephenson Center for Appalachia at Lees-McRae college said: "It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Scots-Irish made the defining contribution to Appalachian culture in terms of shaping the region's cultural identity as distinct from lowland American culture in terms of language, music, religion, and agriculture." Many Scots-Irish immigrants played a key role in the successful struggle for independence. The Battle of Kings Mountain, which took place in 1780 in North Carolina, was described by President Theodore Roosevelt as the "turning point of the American Revolution". It was fought and commanded by a number of Scots-Irish and Scots on the American side, including Joseph McDowell Jr, William Campbell, and James Johnston. Loyalist commander Patrick Ferguson, from Pitfour in Aberdeenshire, was killed in the battle. To this day, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee have the highest proportions of Scots-Irish ancestry in the United States and place names across the region reflect their Celtic origins. Virginia has a Glasgow and a Kilmarnock; there's a Kelso in Tennessee and an Elgin in South Carolina; while North Carolina has Aberdeen, Cumnock, Glencoe and Inverness. The list of notable Americans descended from Scots-Irish immigrants is huge. Edgar Allan Poe's grandfather, David Poe, was an emigrant from County Cavan, and the author spent time in Irvine as a child having been fostered by a Scottish tobacco merchant. His fellow horror scribe Stephen King is descended from Reverend James Pollock, who moved from Ireland to Pennsylvania in the late 18th Century, while Mark Twain's ancestors came to the United States from County Antrim. The former's home state of Maine isn't generally considered part of Appalachia, though the Appalachian mountains do stretch into it, but it's third most populous city is named Bangor. King devised a fictional analogue for the city, also with an Irish name, called Derry, the setting for his 1981 novel IT. In the world of music Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day can trace his ancestry back to the members of the Armstrong clan given land in County Fermanagh; Elvis Presley's mother Gladys Mansell's family came to Ulster from Scotland; and Hank Williams' mother was of Scots-Irish descent. John Wayne's great-great-grandfather Robert Morrison arrived in America from County Antrim and was of Hebridean descent; while other actors with Scots-Irish roots include Steve Martin, Brad Pitt, and Burt Reynolds. Vance may well occupy the White House one day, but the Oval Office too has a long history of Scots-Irish occupants. Andrew Jackson's parents were from near to Carrickfergus; Teddy Roosevelt's mother was descended from people who emigrated from County Antrim; and Lyndon B Johnson's roots went back to Dumfresshire via Ulster. Trump famously shared his belief that Barack Obama was not born in the U.S but he, too, has Scots-Irish heritage. Obama told the Democratic National Convention in 2016: "See, my grandparents - they came from the heartland. Their ancestors began settling there about 200 years ago. I don't know if they had their birth certificates, but they were there. "They were Scotch-Irish mostly - farmers, teachers, ranch hands, pharmacists, oil rig workers. Hearty, small-town folks. Some were Democrats, but a lot of them, maybe even most of them, were Republicans - the party of Lincoln. And my grandparents explained that folks in these parts, they didn't like show-offs, they didn't admire braggarts or bullies." Those words were a none-too-subtle rebuke of Vance's boss, whose Scottish heritage is far more certain. Whether the country has to take the blame for the VP too remains a matter of debate.
