A personal message from News Letter editor Ben Lowry

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Subscribe              I N S I D E R           Jan 6, 2024             Ben Lowry Editor I write this on a beautiful, bright January Ulster morning, after numerous uplifting sunny days!   Last year was warmer than average, which is no surprise, and wetter, but I wasn't expecting to find it was actually less sunny than the norm     I am delighted to run this essay by Eoghan Harris, dismissing the idea that David Trimble was 'fascinated' with Gerry Adams. Eoghan has been a vital friend of unionism amid the retrospective vindication of terrorism, so it is most unfortunate that he has been feeling snubbed    Talking about legacy of terrorism I feel it must be said that the BBC, with its considerable resources, produced badly unbalanced reports on the death of General Frank Kitson, which mentioned military killings but nothing on how the military began to get the upper hand on the vicious terror onslaught at the time    Here Dermot Nesbitt, a supporter of Brian Faulkner, recalls with sadness giving a speech in defence of power sharing at a key Ulster Unionist meeting 50 years ago, when Mr Faulkner lost a party vote and soon stood down     And here the brave Dr William Kitchen once again issues a rare defence of Northern Ireland's grammar schools. Why, when the abolition of grammars gravely damaged the English education system, are such voices so few? They will always find a space on our pages    NI's relationship to the EU remains the big political story in unionism. Adam Kula reports on new food packaging rules make it mandatory to have EU logos on 'protected' goods like Comber potatoes whilst goods in GB must bear UK logos    There is a unionist row over access to the EU single market. Sammy Wilson has implicitly contradicted his party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson on saying NI can benefit from full access to both EU and UK markets    The economist Dr Esmond Birnie warns against the notion that NI can have its cake and eat it in that respect  and Baroness Hoey says it can be unfettered trade with EU or UK but not both    In my column I say that with the Ulster Unionist also praising the opportunities of EU access, there is then a question for DUP and UUP how they would react if Stormont was to vote on losing such access to regain wholly unfettered UK internal trade    Finally, how sad that Linda McAuley is moving on from the consumer programme on Radio Ulster. I remember well her wonderful and distinctive Northern Irish voice on the radio in the 1980s, on Downtown. I hope she stays on the airwaves -- Ben Lowry Editor             Ben Lowry: Unionists have slowly lost faith in any idea of the best of both worlds from the EU and UK   Read more +     Eoghan Harris: David Trimble wasn't 'fascinated' by Gerry Adams - he could barely tolerate his presence   Read more +           Dermot Nesbitt: Remembering the Sunningdale Agreement, 50 years after the defeat of Brian Faulkner                     Read more +     Subscribe today             Full access   Subscribe for unlimited access to all our articles, 70% fewer ads, daily puzzles and our desktop & mobile app. Your first month free . Cancel anytime.     Find out more     Gift access   Give someone a subscription for a year's unlimited access to all our articles, 70% fewer ads, daily puzzles and our desktop and mobile app. From just £94.90 for 12 months.    Find out more

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