Yikes, the slick attempts at branding of the centenary of the creation of the state / partition (delete as preferred) does not bode well. Contentious commemorations can’t just pretend to be ‘our’ and based on ‘sharing’ without clear actions indicating how. https://twitter.com/bbcmarksimpson/status/1338434911510925312

It is not as if the NI populace is unversed on the sectional claiming of histories and identity so it goes without saying that meaningless sound bites without concerted and sustained action will fool no one.

Of course, commemoration is always about the interplay between the past as it is remembered in the present. In a parallel universe - one that followed a different route from 2016 that saw a rejection of brexit - there may have been more openness to critical looking back to 1921.

But we are hurtling towards a no deal Brexit lead by a reckless Tory govt who care little for its impact on NI. This has increasingly reactivated a border (be it land or sea) so the promises of peaceful co-existence as per the GFA are no longer valid. Partition is alive.

And while our peace process (ongoing 20+ years) has to cope with the reopening of these constitutional questions, which we could leave to the side as inconsequential before Brexit, this is not a time when the govt or populace will be comfort to ‘share’ stories on 1921.

The fact this charade in branding and carefully chosen sound bites is being lead by the NIO doesn’t bode well. My experiences with NIO were as an archivist in the early years of the GFA. The dept we had most problems accessing, who provided little and looked suspiciously on us.