Newton Emerson (born 1969) is a political commentator from Portadown in Northern Ireland, and now lives in Belfast. He described himself as a 'liberal unionist' in 2001. [1] He contributes to both the Sunday Times , and The Irish News as well as The Irish Times . [2]
He first came to prominence as writer of the "Portadown News" website, similar to American publication, "The Onion", poking fun at both sides of the political divide.
Emerson was forced to leave his job at a computer company, [1] but maintained the website until 2005. [3] In 2008, he presented the documentary, Lost City of Craigavon, which was broadcast on the BBC. [4]
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movement. Following the partition of Ireland, it was the governing party of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. It was supported by most unionist voters throughout the conflict known as the Troubles, during which time it was often referred to as the Official Unionist Party (OUP).
Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about 18 miles (29 km) south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population of about 28,634 at the 2021 UK census and is within the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon district. For some purposes, Lurgan is treated as part of the "Craigavon Urban Area" along with neighbouring Craigavon and Portadown.
Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 24 mi (39 km) southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of about 22,000 at the 2011 Census. For some purposes, Portadown is treated as part of the "Craigavon Urban Area", alongside Craigavon and Lurgan.
Craigavon is a town in northern County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Its construction began in 1965 and it was named after the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland: James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon. It was intended to be the heart of a new linear city incorporating Lurgan and Portadown, but this plan was mostly abandoned and later described as having been flawed. Among local people today, "Craigavon" refers to the area between the two towns. It is built beside a pair of artificial lakes and is made up of a large residential area (Brownlow), a second smaller one (Mandeville), plus a central area (Highfield) that includes a substantial shopping centre, a courthouse and the district council headquarters. The area around the lakes is a public park and wildlife haven made up of woodland with walking trails. There is also a watersports centre, golf course and ski slope in the area. In most of Craigavon, motor vehicles are completely separated from pedestrians, and roundabouts are used extensively. It hosted the headquarters of the former Craigavon Borough Council.
Armagh is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All Ireland for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland. In ancient times, nearby Navan Fort was a pagan ceremonial site and one of the great royal capitals of Gaelic Ireland. Today, Armagh is home to two cathedrals and the Armagh Observatory, and is known for its Georgian architecture.
Upper Bann is a parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland, which is represented in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Carla Lockhart of the DUP.
Thomas David Simpson is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper Bann from 2005 to 2019. On 6 November 2019 Simpson announced that he would not be standing for re-election in the 2019 general election.
The Portadown News was a satirical web-based newspaper dealing with Northern Irish politics and culture. It was written by journalist and political commentator Newton Emerson, who had been raised in Portadown in County Armagh. Its format and style were similar to The Onion.
Richhill is a large village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies between Armagh and Portadown. It had a population of 2,821 people in the 2011 Census.
Darren Kelly is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is currently the sporting director of League Two club Hartlepool United.
Portadown College is an academically selective, co-educational post-14 grammar school in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
This is a chronology of activities by the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA), an Irish republican paramilitary group. The group started operations in 1994, after the Provisional Irish Republican Army began a ceasefire.
Breandán Mac Cionnaith is an Irish politician and a prominent residents' group leader. He is a member of Éirígí, a socialist republican party. He used to be an adviser to Sinn Féin members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. He came to prominence in the 1990s as the spokesman for the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition. In the early 1980s, Mac Cionnaith was jailed for six years for his involvement in the IRA bombing of Portadown's town centre.
Fortnight was a monthly political and cultural magazine published in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The magazine was founded in 1970 with the aim of providing analysis and criticism of politics, culture, and the arts from those from both inside and outside the local mainstream. Fortnight was read by and contributed to by people from all over the spectrum. Gerry Adams is credited as saying "A month without Fortnight would be twice as long."
Johnston Publishing (NI) is a large newspaper group in Northern Ireland consisting of Mortons Newspapers and the News Letter, and is a holding company of JPIMedia. The company was formed following Johnston Press's purchase of Century Newspapers (publishers of the daily newspaper, the News Letter) from Trinity Mirror, and Scottish Radio Holdings' 45 weekly newspapers (Score Press) following their take over by EMAP.
Craigavon Senior High School was established as a separate controlled school on 1 September 1995. Its primary function is to provide education at Key Stage 4 for those 14- to 16-year-old pupils who transfer from the junior high schools in Lurgan, Portadown and Tandragee. It is the only school in Northern Ireland that solely caters for pupils at Key Stage 4.
The first election to Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, part of the Northern Ireland local elections on 22 May 2014, returned 41 members to the newly-formed council via Single Transferable Vote. The Democratic Unionist Party won a plurality of seats, although the Ulster Unionist Party attracted the most first-preference votes.
On 28 March 1991 a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, shot dead three Catholic civilians at a mobile shop in Craigavon, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The gunman boarded the van and shot two teenage girls working there, then forced a male customer to lie on the pavement and shot him also. The killings were claimed by the "Protestant Action Force", who alleged the mobile shop was owned by an Irish republican. Staff said they had been harassed by Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldiers for not serving them.
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