Nelson McCausland
How would you measure a Belfast Buzz?
At the ‘Belfast One City’ conference Paul Nolan, author of the Peace Monitoring Report, said it would be difficult to collect the data to measure the positive feelings in Belfast. As odd as it may seem to take a scientific approach to measure the mood of an entire city, it does highlight how small victories [...] more »
Lagan Weir footbridge safety report / Irresponsible Drinks Promotions Regulations
Minister for Social Development Nelson McCausland – whose department’s remit of “urban regeneration, community and voluntary sector development, social legislation, housing, social security benefits, pensions and child support” includes the safety of the bridges, drinks promotions and zipwires – released the final report into the safety of the Lagan Weir footbridge this morning. As well [...] more »
Laganside loose ends: an FOI, a disappearing Assembly question & a zipwire across the Lagan
In the end the Department of Social Development took a shade longer than the four weeks permitted under FOI to answer my simple questions about their investments in the Laganside Events and Laganside Community Activity Grants. Figures for the 2011/12 grants for the two funds were supplied in the meantime through another DSD source. But [...] more »
Is it effective when only 5-10% of DSD’s £50,000 Laganside Community Activity fund was spent in last two years?
Nelson McCausland, Minister for Social Development, appeared before the Assembly’s Social Development Committee on Thursday 23 February. [Audio temporarily available on NI Assembly website, and should appear shortly on BBC Democracy Live.] In his opening statement, he explained about the decision to withdraw the non-essential Laganside Events Grant and pointed out that it only contributed [...] more »
What has the Laganside Events Grant scheme been spent on?
After an unexpected intervention on Thursday night, some of the data requested from the Department for Social Development was emailed to me at lunchtime on Friday. It covers the last three years of the Laganside Events Grant, specifying the organisations as well as the amounts they have received. In 2009/10, the largest grant was awarded [...] more »
What Nelson takes away with one hand, Sammy can replace with the other
This evening a combination of OFMDFM, DFP and DSD came together to announce that £200,000 unallocated after the January Monitoring round is being made available from DFP to extend the Laganside Events Grant for one further year. The Department of Finance & Personnel statement details two conditions on the funding being made available. (i) that [...] more »
Freedom of Information – when the minister has access to the information the public can’t see
Minister for Social Development Nelson McCausland rang into the Nolan show on Radio Ulster on Tuesday morning to respond to the debate around the cessation of the Laganside Events Grant scheme. He had figures – from across departments – at his finger tips to explain the public funding that was being granted to events. In [...] more »
DSD withdraw funding for Laganside Events
Since the closure of the Laganside Corporation on 31 March 2007, the Department for Social Development has given out grants for events and community activities in the Laganside area of Belfast. The area includes the Cathedral Quarter as well as stretching our towards York Street, Corporation Street, the Sydenham bypass (but not including Titanic Quarter), [...] more »
Stand-off between Housing Minister and Housing Executive?
The BBC are pointing to a potential stand-off between the Northern Ireland Social Development Minister, the DUP’s Nelson McCausland, and the NI Housing Executive over the use of Red Sky building maintenance company. From the BBC report The housing minister had asked the executive to extend the contract with the Belfast maintenance company. The housing body [...] more »
50:50 is back … for arts festivals
Should arts festivals (that receive public funding) display a balance across their programming of musical tastes and political opinion? Nelson McCausland is in the news again. It’s a question that’s raised once more as the BBC lead their bulletins with the results of an FOI request to DCAL that has revealed the local minister’s directions [...] more »
Nelsons Swansong?
Last Monday saw the publication of a report/study on the Marching Bands of Northern Ireland. Commissioned by the Minister for Culture, Nelson McCauseland and DCAL, the report “aims to promote understanding and encourage development of the largest section of the community arts sector”. [...] more »
Nelson’s up for an Irish award
Suddenly it’s the middle of awards season with the IFTAs, BAFTAs and Slugger Awards over, and with the OSCARs and Irish Blog Awards only round the corner. A small number of NI-based blogs have been nominated in the political category of the Irish Blog Awards, including Splintered Sunrise, Politics NI and Slugger O’Toole. Open Unionism [...] more »
“It is pure frustration that for five years we have been led along with a bit of string.”
As Gonzo noted back in December IF this contrite statement is anything to go by, DUP Sports Minster Nelson McCausland must have hauled Sport NI chief executive Eamonn McCartan over the coals for listing off on TV reasons why we weren’t attracting Olympic interest. McCartan told the BBC that no Olympic teams had committed to [...] more »
Setting the unionist cat amongst the cultural pigeons: Nelson McCausland on why unionists ignore culture at their peril
The Gransha Suite at La Mon Hotel had obviously been packed with DUP Conference delegates for the previous session on Challenges in Policing when I eventually arrived earlier this evening. PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott was still giving a few interviews to the press while a Lambeg Drum was being set up on the other [...] more »
GAA: the Nation’s desire to live her own life, to govern her own affairs.
A question in the Assembly from Michelle McIlveen to Nelson McCausland suggested that Unionists are effectively barred from joining the GAA. While I’m delighted another DUP member has taken the time to read the GAA Official Guide, something many members have never done, I’m surprised they seem surprised to find an Irish cultural and sporting [...] more »
DCAL cuts “widespread and unpalatable”?
The BBC reports on the evidence provided to a Northern Ireland Assembly Committee today by two Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure senior civil servants. From the BBC report Overall, the department’s current budget of £109m is projected to fall to less than £92m by 2014/15. Speaking at a Stormont committee meeting on Thursday, [DCAL director of finance [...] more »
I wonder what they’ll spend the money on……
It’s just been announced that the Ulster Museum has won the Art Fund prize of £100,000. Congratulations are in order but it does beg the question can the Museum and trustees spend the prize as they wish or does the Minister for Culture & Arts Nelson McCausland have the final say so? more »
McCausland avoids the real debate on museum…
I’M not sure what to make of the Culture Minister’s latest blog entry on the Ulster Museum controversy. After waiting patiently for Nelson McCausland to address the merits of Creationism’s place in the museum, it now appears he doesn’t want to talk about the only genuine controversy in his letter to the trustees after all. [...] more »
Faic bainte amach don Ghaeilge?
Tá cuma ar an scéal go bhfuil sé beartaithe ‘straitéis’ a bheith ann don Ghaeilge mar thoradh ar na cainteanna ar siúil i gCaisleán Chroimghlinne. Beidh le feiceáil cad a bheadh i gceist ach tá dualgas ar a DCAL agus ar Nelson McCausland straitéis a chur ar bun don Ghaeilge cheanna féin, rud atá Nelson [...] more »
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Round up of Tuesday’s Political Studies Association conference
If you want to get a flavour of the proceedings at the Political Studies Association conference on its opening day, then the Storify collation below will bring you some of the images, tweets and sounds of the day. Particular highlights included: the Opening Plenary with David Blunkett, Peter Riddell and Matthew Flinders; and the late [...] read our review »
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“Unionism Decayed 1997-2007″ by David Vance: book review
I initially wrote this when the book was first published three years ago; whilst certain elements of it now sound dated, its basic premise that the period of 1997-2007 was a period of irreversible decay for Northern Irish Unionism can still be argued as a valid opinion. My own feeling is that it did indeed [...] read our review » -
Eamon Nancarrow’s misadventures in Rock…
It’s the quiet ones you have to watch, they say. When I last saw Eamonn Namcarrow, back in the mid 1980s he was a congenial, good-natured and highly sociable young lad. The next time was 26 years later, in Lavery’s Gin Palace in Bradbury Place. He’d just brought out his first book, Holywood Star about [...] read our review »
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