Russia get out of Ukraine | Vote is a four letter word – Use it! | Pensions and Irish Unity

Russia get out of UkraineThe big story of the moment is the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Like many of you I have been watching the round the clock news reports emerging from what is now a war zone. The television images and photographs are distressing. Burning buildings, the skeletal shell of others already destroyed. Russian tanks and armed soldiers. And terrified citizens and families, many with young children, desperate to escape.Vote is a four letter word – Use it!The Assembly election is just 9 weeks away. It won’t be long going in. Most parties have completed the process of picking candidates. Many of these are already out on the doorstep setting out their policies, offering leaflets and trying to win first preference votes or at least a preference somewhere on the list. In PR elections every vote and every preference on a vote can play a crucial role in shaping the political landscape after 5 May.Pensions and Irish UnityOpinion polls have indicated that there is a section of public opinion in the North that is increasingly open to the idea of a united Ireland. These potential persuadables are now looking at other possibilities. Some are nationalist voters who are not yet convinced of the merits of unity. Many are young voters. Others are former unionist voters fed up with the negativity of the unionist parties and perplexed by the Brexit crisis. And then there is range of people who think Boris Johnson is a clown and the Tory Party couldn’t care less about the North.