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Ben Kelly

@BenKellyTweets

Ben Kelly is Deputy Social Media Editor at The Independent. As a writer, he also covers political and social stories from Ireland, and regularly contributes comment pieces to Voices and other long read features.

Eurovision

Every Eurovision winner ranked from worst to best

UK Politics

What is the Good Friday Agreement?

Culture

Eurovision winners ranked from worst to best

<p>A united Ireland is suddenly becoming a very real possibility</p>
Voices

100 years after partition, we must prepare for a united Ireland

Ryan Tubridy hosting The Late Late Toy Show, with a Little Mermaid theme in 2017
Culture

The Late Late Toy Show: Ireland’s greatest Christmas tradition

Ireland's new Taoiseach Micheal Martin (L) attends a meeting with Irish President Michael D. Higgins (R) to be formally appointed to his post at the Aras an Uachtarain presidential residence in Dublin, Ireland
Europe

Ireland’s new government fails to bring in Northern voices

Ireland's new Taoiseach Micheal Martin (L) attends a meeting with Irish President Michael D. Higgins (R) to be formally appointed to his post at the Aras an Uachtarain presidential residence in Dublin, Ireland
Europe

Micheal Martin becomes Ireland’s Taoiseach as new coalition is formed

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin is due to be chosen as the new Irish premier on Saturday
Europe

Ireland set for coalition rule by Greens, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael

Micheal Martin's Fianna Fail party won 38 of 160 seats in Ireland's February general election
Europe

Who is the man set to be Ireland’s next Taoiseach?

Lorry showing images of Fina Gael leader and current Irish Taoiseach
World

Irish coalition lays aside historic differences to fight coronavirus

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald speaks to media members as she canvasses for support in Dublin on 6 February
Europe

Sinn Fein in poll position to alter Ireland’s political landscape

Irish political leaders at the final leaders debate on RTE, 4th Feb 2020 (L-R, Micheal Martin, Leo Varadkar, Mary Lou McDonald) EPA/Aidan Crawley
LiveEurope

Irish election campaign enters its final day - follow live

Europe

Everything you need to know about the Irish general election

Europe

Everything you need to know about the Irish general election

Culture

How I read 52 books in a year

(L-R) The Alliance Party's Naomi Long, the SDLP's Claire Hanna and Sinn Fein's John Finucane
UK Politics

The Remainers battling to take Belfast from the DUP

UK Politics

A seat-by-seat guide to the general election in Northern Ireland

Boris Johnson’s proposed deal has met with cautious approval from DUP leader Arlene Foster
Voices

History shows us the Tory-DUP pact would always end in betrayal

Boris Johnson’s proposed deal has met with cautious approval from DUP leader Arlene Foster
Voices

History shows us the Tory-DUP pact would always end in betrayal

Derry is home to Europe's biggest Halloween celebration
Northern Ireland

How Derry became the best Halloween destination in the world

Voices

How Boris and Brussels can solve the backstop and deliver Brexit

Voices

The situation in Northern Ireland is already spiralling out of control

The Bogside, 12 August 1969: police watch from a distance as crowds gather around a fire (Getty)
World History

Battle of the Bogside: The start of Northern Ireland’s Troubles

Voices

Ireland is not to blame for the disaster of Brexit

50 greatest LGBT moments in pop culture since Stonewall
Culture

50 greatest LGBT moments in pop culture since Stonewall

Related: President Donald Tump and Melania arrive at Shannon Airport on Air Force Two on the first day of his visit to the Republic of Ireland
News

Ireland sends Trump a strong message on climate change

Campaigners march through Belfast in support of same-sex marriage
UK Politics

UK made same sex marriage promise for NI, says Sinn Fein

50 greatest LGBT moments in pop culture since Stonewall
Culture

50 greatest LGBT moments in pop culture since Stonewall

Related: President Donald Tump and Melania arrive at Shannon Airport on Air Force Two on the first day of his visit to the Republic of Ireland
News

Ireland sends Trump a strong message on climate change

Campaigners march through Belfast in support of same-sex marriage
UK Politics

UK made same sex marriage promise for NI, says Sinn Fein

UK Politics

Deal or no deal? The Northern Ireland talks explained

UK Politics

Deal or no deal? The Northern Ireland talks explained

Alison Bennington said she had stood for election based on what she could deliver to the electorate and “not based on my sexual orientation"
UK Politics

DUP elects its first gay candidate

Related video: Tony Blair recalls 'incredibly complicated and difficult' Northern Ireland talks 20 years on
Long Reads

Northern Ireland is divided, but a united Ireland is now a possibility

Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty speaking at an Easter commemoration in Co Tyrone
Home News

Sinn Fein politician says Lyra McKee murderers ‘besmirch name of IRA’

UK Politics

Why is there no government in Northern Ireland?

UK Politics

Why is there no government in Northern Ireland?

The original performance of Riverdance during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin
Culture

How a Eurovision performance gave birth to the Riverdance phenomenon

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood says the Good Friday agreement is under threat
UK Politics

EU elections are Northern Ireland's people's vote, says SDLP leader

Friends of Lyra McKee defaced the walls of a dissident republican office in Derry.
Home News

Twitter bans Irish dissident republican group linked to New IRA

A friend of journalist Lyra McKee places a red paint handprint on the wall of a dissident republican office in Derry
Home News

The writing is on the wall in Derry for those who killed Lyra McKee

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and DUP leader Arlene Foster
Voices

Northern Ireland’s local elections are a constitutional showdown

Europe

Irish government will cover EU health insurance for Northern Ireland

LiveUS politics

'Breakdown-level anxiety' as White House awaits Mueller report

Nancy Pelosi is greeted by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during a visit to Dublin
Europe

Nancy Pelosi says Brexit must not threaten seamless Irish border

Lifestyle

John Boyne deletes Twitter after ‘abuse’ over trans comments

LiveUS politics

Trump 'doesn't regret' tweeting 9/11 video about Ilhan Omar

UK Politics

No UK-US trade deal if Good Friday Agreement undermined, Pelosi says

UK Politics

No UK-US trade deal if Good Friday Agreement undermined, Pelosi says

Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern sign the Good Friday Agreement in 1998
UK Politics

Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern call for second Brexit referendum

The child was discovered outside a busy shopping centre in the heart of Belfast
Crime

Baby found by refuse workers outside Belfast shopping centre

Voices

What James' journey in Derry Girls taught me about my home city

Editors' letters

As Brexit lumbers on, readers are finding solace in the ridiculous

Editors' letters

As Brexit lumbers on, readers are finding solace in the ridiculous

Arlene Foster, leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, met with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels on 9 October
UK Politics

How can the DUP support Brexit when Northern Ireland does not?

Voices

Bloody Sunday families deserve justice – one prosecution is an insult

Voices

Karen Bradley makes Grayling look competent – she needs to resign

The cast of Derry Girls are returning for a second series of the hit Channel 4 show
Features

How Derry Girls tells the story of a city where laughter conquers all

Campaign group Solidarity with Repeal holds a rally calling for abortion rights outside Belfast City Hall on May 28, 2018
UK Politics

Why abortion remains illegal in Northern Ireland

Editors' letters

Pause for thought before launching a trial by social media

Claire Byrne hosting her prime time show on Ireland's RTE One
Europe

Irish TV host tears up as she lists Troubles victims in Brexit warning

Left to right, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald
Europe

The Irish parties building a new era for nationalism

Raab could be a dark horse in the contest
Voices

Raab's ignorance is an insult to Northern Irish people like me

Men share their own stories at the Whole Man Academy in central London on 26 January 2019
Lifestyle

What happens when men meet to talk about their feelings?

Editors' letters

Beware the social media echo chamber

Editors' letters

Beware the social media echo chamber

Head shot of Ben Kelly
Ben Kelly
Voices

The people of Derry have rejected violence – we’re never going back

Before Northern Ireland, Belgium held the world record for being without a government
Voices

Northern Ireland has now been without a government for 2 years

Europe

How 2018 was the year Irish politics came to dominate the news agenda

Éamon de Valera, who led Sinn Féin to a landslide victory in the 1918 election, pictured in the US in 1919 where he was declared President of the Irish government in exile
Voices

Remembering the last all-Ireland election 100 years later

Éamon de Valera, who led Sinn Féin to a landslide victory in the 1918 election, pictured in the US in 1919 where he was declared President of the Irish government in exile
Voices

Remembering the last all-Ireland election 100 years later

Boris Johnson, pictured with DUP leader Arlene Foster and Nigel Dodds MP at the party's conference in Belfast, November 2018
Voices

By steering us towards no deal, the DUP will destroy the union

Long Reads

How millennials are breathing fresh life into the Irish language

My Brilliant Friend, HBO
Reviews

My Brilliant Friend, episode 1: Ferrante’s novels brought to life

Editors' letters

The Irish border dilemma shows the media ignores issues at our peril

Iris Robinson, pictured here with her husband Peter, is among the DUP politicians whose words will be set to music in a new production
News

DUP’s anti-gay comments to be showcased in new Belfast opera

The group’s presence in the area was reported to police after 5pm on Sunday evening
UK

Gang in KKK costumes pictured outside Northern Ireland Islamic centre

Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina arrive at Dublin Castle to attend the count in Ireland's presidential election
Europe

Liberalism prevails as Ireland re-elects Higgins and ditches blasphemy

Michael D Higgins makes his victory speech after he was announced as the winner of Ireland's presidential election at Dublin Castle
Europe

Michael D Higgins re-elected as President of Ireland

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaks to media at the central count centre in Dublin castle at the blasphemy referendum in Dublin
Europe

Ireland votes to remove ban on blasphemy

Irish presidential candidates (L to R) Peter Casey, Sean Gallagher, Liadh Ni Riada, Michael D Higgins, Joan Freeman and Gavin Duffy are pictured with Pat Kenny ahead of the final RTE debate
Voices

Essential summary of Ireland’s bizarre presidential election campaign

Europe

All you need to know about Ireland’s upcoming referendum on blasphemy

Michael D Higgins, Liadh Ni Riada and Sean Gallagher are among the six candidates contesting the Irish presidential election on 26 October
Europe

Everything you need to know about the Irish presidential election

Europe

Who is current Irish president Michael D Higgins?

Sean Gallagher announced in August 2018 that he would be seeking a nomination for the Irish presidential election
Europe

Dragon's Den star Sean Gallagher running again for Irish presidency

71 countries around the world have laws which criminalise views deemed to be blasphemous
Europe

The law on blasphemy in countries around the world

‘Because of the science and the jargon, people can feel distanced. But we’re all going to be affected’
News

The former Irish president fighting for climate justice for the world

Sean Gallagher announced in August 2018 that he would be seeking a nomination for the Irish presidential election
Europe

Dragon's Den star Sean Gallagher running again for Irish presidency

71 countries around the world have laws which criminalise views deemed to be blasphemous
Europe

The law on blasphemy in countries around the world

‘Because of the science and the jargon, people can feel distanced. But we’re all going to be affected’
News

The former Irish president fighting for climate justice for the world

Amy and Daniel McArthur won appeal case on Wednesday
Voices

Northern Ireland needs same sex marriage more than Ashers' cakes

The people of Northern Ireland are being denied their rights. Again, this is down to Unionists in Belfast – this time in the shape of the DUP
Voices

Fifty years since the Troubles began Northern Ireland is still ignored

The cruise ship would likely have been docked on the River Liffey, pictured.
Europe

Dublin council proposed housing homeless people on a cruise ship

People attend an 11th night Bonfire in the Sandy Row area of Belfast
Voices

The Twelfth proves Northern Ireland is treated different to Britain

The panel chairs a meeting of Derry Girls Against Borders at the London Irish Centre in Camden
Home News

The Derry girls building a movement against new borders after Brexit

Ian Paisley Jr has been suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days
UK Politics

Ian Paisley Jr avoids by-election over Sri Lanka holiday scandal

Presidential hopeful Peter Casey at City Hall in Dublin following a Dublin City Council meeting
Europe

US-based businessman Peter Casey running for Irish presidency

Liadh Ni Riada is Sinn Fein's candidate to contest the Irish presidential election on 26 October
Europe

Who is Sinn Féin’s presidential candidate Liadh Ní Riada?

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