Politics
Street Photography – ethics, etiquette or free expression?
‘There is but one remedy for the amateur photographer. Put a brick through his camera whenever you suspect he has taken you unawares. And if there is any doubt, give the benefit of it to the brick, not to the camera. The rights of private property, personal liberty, and personal security – birthrights, all of [...] more »
Willie Clarke ‘allowed the option’ of working in Down council…
It’s not particularly thought to have anything to do with the SDLP selection of a successor (who’s still waiting in the wings) for Margaret Ritchie. But the official explanation for dropping an MLA whose not thought to have been under particular electoral pressure reads like a transliteration of ‘spending more time with my family’ to [...] more »
Britain and Ireland: Innocence versus experience?
Fascinating couple of pieces on the major shift in British politics in the last decade, which would seem to be a shift in preference towards young and inexperienced leaders… First this paper from Phillip Cowley of Nottingham University on the rise and rise of career politicians… In a précis on his university’s school of politics [...] more »
Maybe London should seek its independence along with Scotland?
Here’s a curve ball from the London Evening Standard’s Ian Birrell, who thinks the UK capital is getting unfairly kicked by the rest of England for getting some things right, not least understanding the value of immigration and cultural diversity that arises from it: Curiously, the most prosperous region outside the South is Scotland – [...] more »
“Scotland has been gearing itself up to follow the Irish example….”
Great quote from David Marquand in a powerful round up on Our Kingdom… Here’s his unkindest cut to the Unionist lobby: As Norman Davies shows in his extraordinary Vanished Kingdoms, states, like human beings, are mortal. Some die peacefully; some do so in a welter of blood. But, sooner or later, they all die. The [...] more »
“However, the Minister told us that she was too busy to see us.”
With potential European Commission fines still pending for the Northern Ireland Executive’s failure to protect a special habitat in Strangford Lough, another area of contention, environmentally, has opened up – with further potential EC fines. This time, it’s commercial salmon fishing. And the Department responsible for licensing the nets used is the NI Department of Culture, Arts [...] more »
Paying whistleblowers is sometimes in the public interest…
What’s interesting about this conversation with Tom Watson and Kelvin McKenzie is the latter’s mostly sober (until we get to his ‘shut up Tom Watson’ outburst) point when he argues that paying whistle-blowers is sometimes in the public interest. Well worth spending 10 minutes listening to it: Mackenzie and Watson on The Sun (mp3) In [...] more »
“Freedom of information it isn’t…”
In the Irish Times, Noel Whelan takes a look at the Irish presidential candidates’ declared expenditure. [So you don't have to? - Ed] Indeed. He starts by comparing that declared expenditure with what they said, during the campaign, they would spend. From the Irish Times article One of those mental notes was made during the [...] 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 »
Euro crisis: “It might be something which would allow Greece also to at least, to some extent, get a new start.”
Have the Greek coalition partners in Government, led by the technocratic former Greek and European central banker, Lucas Papademos, done enough to meet the demands of Germany their eurozone partners? Maybe… and maybe not. As the Guardian’s live-blog noted today Jean-Claude Juncker, who is also prime minister of Luxembourg, says the Eurogroup was still missing information from [...] more »
“all schools in the Catholic sector should move to an alternative form of transfer as soon as possible and by no later than 2012…”
Six years in the writing, the Northern Ireland Commission for Catholic Education (NICCE) has published its Post-Primary Review Strategic Regional Report. It’s a mixture of proposals of limited school closures, amalgamations… and wishful thinking. As the BBC reports, Catholic Church representatives have been focusing on one issue in particular. Cardinal Brady was speaking at St Mary’s [...] more »
Time for Ireland to align with London rather than Boston or Berlin?
It’s a brave taoiseach that would abandon years of coaxing investment from the US, to begin to cultivate a closer relationship with the British. You might say that one of the critical differences between Greece and Ireland is that Ireland’s export industries(seeded with US capital) have far outperformed its indigenous industries. Nonetheless, Paul Allen argues [...] more »
US elections: Real battle may be for dominance in Congress…
Interesting snippet from Dan Hannan who’s just spent the weekend with fellow conservatives in the US, at CPAC. Dan’s long been a fan of the American way, which you can take or leave according to taste, but in one thing is probably dead right. The right may not fare too well in the presidential elections, [...] more »
Sinn Fein upgrading Southern economic policies?
According to the Sindo… The party spokesman on European affairs Padraig Mac Loughlainn told the Sunday Independent that it was important to speak to such people when formulating credible economic policies. He said that in conjunction with the party’s two in-house economic advisers — Joanne Spain and Eoin O Broin — the party had sought [...] more »
Euro crisis: You have six days to comply…
That’s the message to Greece from Germany the EU finance ministers. Despite initial reports, prompted by the Greeks themselves, what was agreed yesterday between the party leaders there fell short of what was required – by some €300-odd million. From the Irish Times report The ministers imposed a six-day deadline on Greek authorities to comply [...] more »
raising an old issue like employment
At the moment, as Pete flagged a couple of days ago, Bill Clinton is doing some heavy lifting in the US for job creation on behalf of the Republic of Ireland’s government. Over at the Belfast media group, Jude Collins provides an interesting contrast, highlighting the uneven results of Invest NI’s work: During 2010/2011, Invest NI [...] more »
Belfast peace walls: A paradox of leadership
Audio – UU Peace Walls 01 – Dr Jonny Byrne: http://mrulster.podomatic.com/player/web/2012-02-08T08_59_57-08_00 At a seminar hosted by the Institute for Research in Social Sciences and the Inter-Institute Peace and Conflict Cluster, Dr Jonny Byrne of the University of Ulster presented his findings of three years of research in regards to public policy on peace walls (interface [...] 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 »
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Total Politics: Top 20 NI Blogs…
Fair play to Iain, he managed to get over 2,200 people voting in his poll for the top Northern Irish blogs this year… We (just, I imagine) retained our top spot, with Splintered coming straight in at number 2, no doubt his pet subject du jour will have garnered him a lot of fans… I’ve [...] read our review »
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Turas, by Colin Neill – a story of strangers in a strange land
Colin Neill’s first novel Turas peeks into a world in which many Ulster Protestants feel uncomfortable. It’s 2020 and the Irish unification that unionists and loyalists confidently predicted would never happen has become a reality. President Adams is ensconced in Phoenix Park. The newsreader reported that … a short ceremony at Stormont had confirmed the [...] read our review »
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Legion of the Rearguard – Dissident Irish Republicanism by Martyn Frampton, Book Review
Are you confused about ‘dissident’ Irish Republicanism? Anxious about its existence and its seemingly increasingly deadly capabilities? Martyn Frampton’s new book, Legion of the Rearguard: Dissident Irish Republicanism (Irish Academic Press, 2011) serves both as a primer on active dissident groups and a timely analysis of their historic significance and contemporary capabilities. This book clears [...] read our review »
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