News

This page will usually contain more recent content, in particular media articles as well as information about upcoming and latest activities and publications. It will be updated over the coming weeks and will include written blog posts as well as recent media appearances.

Blog on the Windsor Framework agreement between the UK government and the European Union published by the DCU Brexit Institute on 28 February 2023 ‘The Windsor Framework: Does it “Cut the Mustard”‘ https://dcubrexitinstitute.eu/2023/02/the-windsor-framework-does-it-vut-the-mustard/

Here is a piece I published in the Big Issue on the connection between James Connolly and the industrial action of the RMT in the summer of 2022, sparked by RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch invoking Connolly when asked who his hero was. ‘Why Century-Dead trade unionist James Connolly is the political voice of the summer’ Big Issue, 30 July 2022, https://www.bigissue.com/news/politics/trade-unionist-james-connolly-mick-lynch-strikes/

A blog on the possibility of a fresh Assembly Election being called in Northern Ireland published by the DCU Brexit Blog on 2 November 2022 ‘Stranger Things in Northern Ireland’s Political Upside Down’ https://dcubrexitinstitute.eu/2022/11/stranger-things-in-northern-ireland-political-upside-down/

Here is a piece I did for the Big Issue on the May 5th Assembly Election in Northern Ireland ‘Why you really need to keep an eye on the Northern Ireland Election’ Big Issue 2 May 2022, https://www.bigissue.com/opinion/why-you-really-need-to-keep-an-eye-on-the-northern-ireland-election/

Blog piece ’24 Years Later’ on the 24th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement published by DCU Brexit Institute on 11 April 2022, https://dcubrexitinstitute.eu/2022/04/24-years-later/

Interview with BBC Radio Kent on the implications of the US/UK withdrawal from Afghanistan and its implications for British foreign policy. Dominic King The Wake Up Call, 31 August 2021.

Webinar on Northern Ireland: The Fragile Peace with Conway Hall, Thinking on Sunday series June 2021 Thinking On Sunday: Northern Ireland – The Fragile Peace – YouTube

Mediating the Fragile Peace in Northern Ireland Webinar hosted by IM Campus on 12 July 2021 Mediating the Fragile Peace in Northern Ireland – IM Campus (im-campus.com)

Comment for University of Kent on Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s election as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party published 28 June 2021 Expert Comment: What does Jeffrey Donaldson’s appointment mean for the DUP? – News Centre – University of Kent

Delighted to talk to Jenny Kleeman on Times Radio on 11 June 2021 about President Biden’s visit to the G7 in the UK and specifically Biden’s warnings to Boris Johnson over implementing the Northern Ireland Protocol with the EU and protecting the GFA and peace in Northern Ireland My bit is at 2.23.30 Jenny Kleeman and Luke Jones with Times Radio Breakfast | Times Radio | The Times and The Sunday Times

A webinar event I did on Northern Ireland: The Fragile Peace for the Linenhall Library in Belfast on 19 May 2021 can be viewed on youtube here Northern Ireland: The Fragile Peace with Professor Feargal Cochrane – YouTube

My online research seminar on Breaking Peace: Brexit and Northern Ireland with Coventry University’s Centre for Trust Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR) on 5 May 2021 can be viewed on Youtube here youtu.be/Dhc-edS-JCw

Northern Ireland: The Fragile Peace (Yale University Press) virtual book launch on 11 May 2021 at the Conflict Analysis Research Centre (CARC) School of Politics and International Relations, at the University of Kent. Event can be viewed on Youtube Northern Ireland: Fragile Peace – YouTube

To coincide with the publication of Northern Ireland: The Fragile Peace’ Yale University Press, March 2021 and the centenary of Northern Ireland, Prospect Magazine published ‘Unionism, nationalism, and Northern Ireland’s Unrequited Love’ on 1 May 2021; Unionism, nationalism and Northern Ireland’s unrequited love – Prospect Magazine

Article in Political Studies Association (PSA) Blog to mark Northern Ireland’s Centenary, published 29 April 2021, ‘Northern Ireland’s Centenary: Cheers, Boos, and Ambivalence’, Northern Ireland’s Centenary – Cheers, Boos, and Ambivalence | The Political Studies Association (PSA)

Expert Comment on Arlene Foster’s resignation announcement in April 2021 ‘Comment: Arlene Foster Resigns -What’s Next?’ 27 April 2021 Comment: Arlene Foster resigns – What’s next? – Politics and International Relations News (kent.ac.uk)

‘Brexit’s Collateral Damage: Peace in Northern Ireland, published in the ECPR’s The Loop blog on 19 April 2021 Brexit’s collateral damage: peace in Northern Ireland – The Loop (ecpr.eu)

Interview on BBC Radio Kent on 9 April 2021 relating to the riots in Belfast that were taking place that week. click the download button to listen

‘Northern Ireland: Ironic or just Unfortunate?’ Irish News, 23 March 2021 Irish News  Feargal Cochrane: Northern Ireland –Ironic or just unfortunate? – The Irish News 

My Seminar at Institute of Irish Studies QUB on 22 March 2021, Brexit and Northern Ireland: Into an Uncertain Future can now be viewed on Youtube at https://youtu.be/Ex6DGV5HApM

My new book Northern Ireland the Fragile Peace is published on 9 March 2021 by Yale University Press. It can be pre-ordered for £9.99 from Yale at Northern Ireland by Feargal Cochrane – Yale University Press (yalebooks.co.uk) or via online book retailers. It will be available in book shops when they reopen. The book updates my 2013 Reluctant Peace, with new chapters on Brexit and devolved government since 2017. It is published to coincide with the centenary of Northern Ireland and the political issues that surround that anniversary.

Article in Irish News on my book Northern Ireland: The Fragile Peace published on 23

Watch Chat and Chowder talk on my Breaking Peace Book with World Boston supported by the WGBH Forum Network at Forum Network | Feargal Cochrane: Breaking Peace—Northern Ireland and Brexit (forum-network.org)

‘Brexit’s Graceless Diplomacy’ DCU Brexit Institute Blog 8 March 2021 Brexit’s Graceless Diplomacy – Brexit Institute (dcubrexitinstitute.eu)

‘We’ve Finally Got a Brexit Deal. But where now for Northern Ireland?’ DCU Brexit Institute Blog 1 February 2021 We’ve finally got a Brexit Deal – But where now for Northern Ireland? – Brexit Institute (dcubrexitinstitute.eu)

My piece on Joe Biden’s 2020 Presidential Election victory and likely impact on Brexit and Ireland published in Fortnight magazine Issue 480 January 2021 Biden’s Ireland – Fortnight Magazine (Written in advance of the UK trade deal with EU but published after)

Interview with BBC Radio Kent on 9 December 2020 on the Agreement in principle over the terms of the UK’s Internal Market Bill and implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol and Withdrawal Agreement. Breakfast on BBC Radio Kent – 09/12/2020 – BBC Sounds

Article in Dublin City University’s Brexit Institute, ‘Johnson’s ‘Oven Ready’ Brexit is a Slow Burner’, 14 December 2020 Johnson’s ‘Oven Ready’ Brexit is a Slow Burner – Brexit Institute (dcubrexitinstitute.eu)

‘Feargal Cochrane: DUP has done more in four years to promote Irish republican objectives than Sinn Fein has achieved in decades’. Irish News 22 September 2020 https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/09/21/news/feargal-cochrane-dup-has-done-more-in-four-years-to-promote-irish-republican-objectives-than-sinn-fe-in-achieved-in-decades-2072558/

‘Academic argues DUP has done more than republicans to advance case for border poll, Irish News, 22 September 2020, https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/09/22/news/dup-has-done-more-than-republicans-to-advance-the-case-for-a-border-poll-academic-feargal-cochrane-claims-2073826/

Online talk in association with the Linen Hall Library Breaking Peace: Brexit and Northern Ireland broadcast 24 September 2020, based on my book of the same name published by Manchester University Press, 2020, available on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnQ33sKFB9M

Radio Interview RN Breakfast with Fran Kelly, ABC Radio Sydney Australia ‘Fear in Northern Ireland as Boris Johnson threatens EU over Brexit’ 17 September 2020 https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/fear-in-northern-ireland/12672044

Political Studies Association (PSA) ‘The Internal Market Bill: Contingency or Calumny?’ PSA Blog 5 October 2020, https://www.psa.ac.uk/psa/news/internal-market-bill-contingency-or-calumny

Interview with Ian Collins on talkRADIO on the implications of the Internal Market Bill for the Withdrawal Agreement and Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland 8 September 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhh1agXzEtg

Fortnight Magazine is back with a bumper 80 page edition to mark its 50th Anniversary. Very pleased to have a piece in it ‘It’s a long way from Finchley’ -see http://www.fortnightmagazine.org for the whole issue which can be downloaded free.

I was interviewed on BBC Radio Kent’s Breakfast show on 2 November 2020 about the US Presidential Election the following day. We discussed the impact of a Biden or Trump Presidency on the UK and how each option could impact on the Brexit negotiations and political stability in Northern Ireland. The piece starts at 1:50:40 into the link http://ow.ly/y2Kf50CbdvO