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Articles by Stephen C. Goss
Stephen Goss: Drumcree 2.0 has marched us back to the past, where the fruits of threatening unrest win the day
‘The Executive has agreed a joint statement calling for all parades and related protests to remain lawful. This must include the acceptance of the lawful decisions of the Parades’ Commission’. John O’Dowd in 2014. ‘We have all, thankfully, signed up to the justice system, to policing and to the rule of law.’ Colum Eastwood in July 2014. ‘I am calling on all political leaders to call for an end to any illegal protests’. Caoimhe Archibald, May 2021.
Stephen Goss: Did the triumvirate of separatist leaders get anywhere closer to their own triumph?
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading. The 28th September is Ulster Day; marking the occasion in 1912 when unionists across Ulster signed the Solemn League and Covenant, pledging to resist Home Rule for Ireland by any means necessary. There is a certain piquancy that seven days this September appeared to be a particularly bad week for the United Kingdom.
Stephen Goss: How a music festival hosted in Belfast might just signal a shift in Northern Irish politics
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading. The big story from Northern Ireland this month is the truly remarkable success of Belfast hosting Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann this year. ‘The Fleadh’, as it is known, is an annual music festival which has been running for 75 years.
Stephen Goss: Chris Bryant means more of the same for Northern Ireland
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading. When Andy Burnham reshuffled the Cabinet on his first day as Prime Minister, an eye-catching casualty was the mild-mannered, widely respected, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Hilary Benn’s removal was confirmed within hours of Burnham’s appointment, and it blindsided observers on both sides of the Irish Sea.
Stephen Goss: The disgrace of Jeffrey Donaldson has grave lessons for his party, his politics and further afield
‘All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure’. So said Enoch Powell, and such a fate has befallen Powell’s erstwhile Election Agent: Jeffrey Donaldson. Once the commanding figure of the Democratic Unionist Party, a familiar presence at Westminster and Stormont alike, Donaldson now stands condemned, having been found guilty of 18 historical sexual offences, including rape.
Stephen Goss: The 'Celtic alliance' is not a mandate to break up Britain
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading. The votes were cast and the results are in. To all appearances the ‘pro-union’ parties lost. Labour was rewarded for its abysmal record in national government with the loss of 1,500 council seats, four seats in the Scottish Parliament, and a historic 35 seats in the Senedd. The Conservatives were relegated to fourth place in Wales and fifth in Scotland.
Stephen Goss: The challenge of tackling a cost of living crisis is most acute in Northern Ireland
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading. A cost-of-living crisis; politicians eager to pander, frantically try to come up with ways to ease it, despite budget constraints and increasing debt. Such could describe most countries today, but Northern Ireland is in a particularly problematic position – one mostly of its politicians’ own making. Public spending per head is the highest in the United Kingdom.
Stephen Goss: How the rest of the UK risks becoming more like a Northern Ireland we've all been trying to leave behind
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading. Yesterday was Easter. Three days ago was therefore Good Friday. This weekend is not only of religious significance, but of political as well. Easter 1916 saw Irish republicans launch a rebellion in Dublin.
Stephen Goss: When is bombing justified?
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading. According to the Just War Theory, the use of force must be for a morally defensible cause – typically self-defence or the protection of innocent life. It must be fought by legitimate authorities. It must be a last resort. Its expected benefits must outweigh the harm it causes.
Stephen Goss: President Connolly's visit to Northern Ireland held out hope for a future that could weaken the peace
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading. Last week the Republic of Ireland’s recently installed President, Catherine Connolly, visited Northern Ireland. Since the 1990s, there has been nothing unusual about Presidents popping across the border to encourage peace and negotiation, to cement peace and consociationalism, or talk about peace and reconciliation.
Stephen Goss: One third of the Ulster Unionist Party have served as leader, now they need another one
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading. Last year Mike Nesbitt MLA, Minister of Health and Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party announced he was considering stepping down as head of his party. He promised to reveal his decision in the New Year. True to his word, he has decided to resign the leadership. Again. Mike took on the leadership in 2024 having previously led the Ulster Unionists between 2012 and 2017.
Stephen Goss: Northern Ireland is still perpetuating division and worse we are doing so within the education system
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading.
Stephen Goss: The lessons of the forty year old Anglo Irish agreement are that you actually need 'agreement'
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading. Last week marked the 40th anniversary of the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA). On 15th November 1985, Margaret Thatcher and Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald signed the treaty at Hillsborough Castle. The AIA remains a controversial but pivotal moment in relations between the UK and Ireland – and its legacy endures in more ways than is acknowledged.
Stephen Goss: The Irish language debate is just the latest weaponised by a nationalist agenda
Dr Stephen Goss is a freelance historian, lectures in history and politics in London, and is a Conservative councillor in Reading. Earlier this month, Belfast City Council voted to actively promote the Irish language in the city. This was passed despite the strident opposition of unionist councillors. The Council’s policy – hailed by Sinn Féin and SDLP representatives as a ‘historic moment’ – will ensure Irish is used in official communications, signage, and Council branding.
Stephen Goss: The legacy of the 'Troubles' is far from resolved and previous attempts have been deeply flawed
Dr Stephen Goss is an historian, policy and research manager, and a Conservative councillor in Reading. Bear in mind these dead: I can find no plainer words. I dare not risk using that loaded word, Remember, for your memory is a cruel web threaded from thorn to thorn across a hedge of dead bramble, heavy with pathetic atomies. So begins John Hewitt’s poem Neither an Elegy nor a Manifesto. The Troubles ended more than a quarter of a century ago, yet its legacy remains unresolved.
Stephen Goss: Palestine is not Northern Ireland
Dr Stephen Goss is an historian, policy and research manager, and a Conservative councillor in Reading. As you make your way into west Belfast from the city centre, towards the top of Divis Street is what is known as the International Wall. Here various shades of Irish Republicanism spread their propaganda via murals depicting the international causes with which they identify, claiming shared experience.
Stephen Goss: The Glorious Revolution laid the foundations for British liberty. So why does only Ireland remember it?
Dr Stephen Goss is an historian, policy and research manager, and a Conservative councillor in Reading. Summer is upon us, and in Northern Ireland summer also means the marching season. For generations the Orange Order’s annual commemorations have been conceived in terms of triumphalism: Protestant victory over Catholics; an inalienable right to parade along traditional routes even if that meant antagonising Catholic communities (most famously Drumcree, which still rumbles on 27 years later).
Tag: Trustees Report | SSA
General June 20, 2025 • By Social Security Administration Reading Time: 1 Minute Combined Funds Move One Year Sooner to 2034; OASI Remains at 2033 The Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report on the financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds.
Stephen Goss: The saga of Casement Park is a parable of Northern Ireland's dysfunction
Dr Stephen Goss is an historian, policy and research manager, and a Conservative councillor in Reading. This week, the long-awaited Spending Review will be announced. For months government departments, quangos, and interest groups have been petitioning HM Treasury; arguing, pleading, why they or their area of concern should receive more money – or at least be exempt from the sweeping cuts expected.
Stephen Goss: In Northern Ireland the death of a Pope showed Unionism has evolved but religious divides can still be exploited
Dr Stephen Goss is an historian, policy and research manager, and a Conservative councillor in Reading. Habemus Papum. After a relatively short conclave, the Roman Catholic Church once again has a Supreme Pontiff. The death of Pope Francis produced an outpouring of condolences from across the World, with messages of commiseration ranging from the FIFA President to the Aga Khan.
Social Security 2024 Trustees Report
May 6, 2024 • By Reading Time: 1 Minute Last Updated: May 6, 2024 Today, the Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds. Want to learn more? Read our press release. You can also watch this video from Commissioner O’Malley. Please share this information with your family and friends – and post it on social media.
Stephen Goss: A new Taoiseach is a vital opportunity to reset relations with Northern Irish unionists
Dr Stephen Goss is an historian, policy and research manager, and a Conservative councillor in Reading. In a surprise move, Leo Varadkar resigned last month as Taoiseach, stating he was ‘not the best person for the job anymore’. Both his departure and the referendum results that precipitated it have implications for Northern Ireland, as the restored institutions attempt to navigate devolution within the confines of the Windsor Framework.
Stephen Goss: How the DUP stole the Ulster Unionists' clothes - and why it might now share their doom
Dr Stephen Goss is an historian, policy and research manager, and a Conservative councillor in Reading. Last week Ulster Unionist Leader Doug Beattie MC wrote a piece for the Belfast Telegraph in which he stated that “the DUP have stolen our clothes”.
Stephen Goss: Why I, a Northern Irish Catholic, think ministers are wrong to reject reviving the Order of St Patrick
Dr Stephen Goss is an historian, policy and research manager, and a Conservative councillor in Reading. Last month Andrew Rosindell MP asked the Northern Ireland Secretary if he would assess the merits in reviving the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick (“the Order”) – this country’s third-highest ranking order of chivalry.
Methodologies in Fiscal, Economic, and Health Spending Projections
Fiscal and economic projections are crucial for informing public decision-makers who must plan for the future. In this online event, leading researchers at the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, Congressional Budget Office, Social Security Administration, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School come together to discuss their own methodologies and those employed in AEI Senior Fellow Mark J. Warshawsky’s new working paper.
Stephen Goss: Catastrophic data breach means a watershed looms for Northern Irish policing
Stephen Goss is an historian, policy and research manager, and a Conservative councillor in Reading. After getting married, my parents left Andersonstown to set up home in a Belfast suburb away from the battlefield of nationalist West Belfast in which they’d grown up. Predominately a Protestant area, it was sufficiently mixed that a Catholic couple (should the fact happen to emerge) moving in wouldn’t be an issue.
Social Security 2023 Trustees Report
March 31, 2023 • By Stephen C. Goss, Chief Actuary Reading Time: 1 Minute Last Updated: March 31, 2023 Today, the Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds. Want to learn more? Read our press release. Please share this information with your family and friends – and post it on social media. Tags: General Information, Trustees Report See Comments About the Author
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Arctic Fire Tea is a Flavoured Chinese Black Tea. Its unique, extraordinary flavour comes to the palate in waves: expect bold fruity notes, then mintiness, and finally a refreshing finish. Such is its allure that it has since become one of our most popular infusions. We pack it fresh to order - like all of our 1,000 types of Loose Leaf Tea - thus ensuring quality and consistency. What’s not to like?
social security disability benefits
Disability October 31, 2018 • By Jim Borland, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Communications Reading Time: 1 Minute In October, we observe National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) in the United States. For more than 70 years, NDEAM has promoted disability inclusion in the workforce and celebrates the contributions of workers with disabilities. This year’s theme “America’s Workforce: Empowering All” is near and dear to us at Social Security.
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