Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman)

Kris tweets ferociously as @belfastbarman and runs an associated site, www.belfastbarman.com where he occasionally opines his views. He lived abroad for a while and as such, feels he will never really 'get' this place. Formerly a barman, he regularly broke the cardinal rules of, "No politics or religion in the pub," as such, he turned to writing. Previously a stand up comedian and an animal crematorium assistant, now works in marketing and is a recently joined member of the Alliance Party.

NI21 Deputy Leader And Sole Councillor Resigns Party

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on December 29, 2015, 11:44 am

| Readers 2462

Jonny McCarthy, councillor on Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council has resigned from NI21 as of this morning. Cllr McCarthy, also deputy leader of the party for just over a year, announced on his facebook page this morning that he was leaving NI21 as he feels he “could do the job better (if) independent of the party.” With party leader Basil McCrea now remaining as the only elected official within the party following a series of high profile party departures, John McCallister …

How to get the Homeless off the streets this winter in a few simple steps…

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on November 9, 2015, 5:10 pm

| Readers 1612

“Due to the emergency situation of low temperature/extreme weather, the premises at 123 Main Street has been requisitioned for emergency shelter” … What if councils created Homeless Outreach Liaison Officers and gave them the powers to save lives? Does any statutory body look out for the immediate welfare of the homeless?

On DUP Petitions of Concern (and one possible judicious use of Tippex)… [UPDATED WITH TIPPEXED MARRIAGE EQUALITY POC]

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on November 2, 2015, 7:00 am

| Readers 14221

Much attention has been expended on the DUP use of Petition of Concerns (POC). Unsurprising since they’ve had a good run of appearances recently, including: the blocking of a bill for Rates Relief for Sports Clubs; (almost) every amendment to a welfare reform bill in February; a same sex Marriage bill in April; and it is expected another will emerge on the same issue later today. After the April POC, a small number of party insiders furtively suggested to Slugger that the DUP have their MLAs “bulk sign” …

Friday Comic – James Bond’s Toughest Mission Yet… In Northern Ireland

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on October 30, 2015, 12:00 pm

| Readers 600

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman)Kris tweets ferociously as @belfastbarman and runs an associated site, www.belfastbarman.com where he occasionally opines his views. He lived abroad for a while and as such, feels he will never really ‘get’ this place. Formerly a barman, he regularly broke the cardinal rules of, “No politics or religion in the pub,” as such, he turned to writing. Previously a stand up comedian and an animal crematorium assistant, now works in marketing and is a recently joined member …

Friday Comic – The Inaugural Meeting of the Loyalist Community Council

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on October 23, 2015, 8:45 am

| Readers 897

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman)Kris tweets ferociously as @belfastbarman and runs an associated site, www.belfastbarman.com where he occasionally opines his views. He lived abroad for a while and as such, feels he will never really ‘get’ this place. Formerly a barman, he regularly broke the cardinal rules of, “No politics or religion in the pub,” as such, he turned to writing. Previously a stand up comedian and an animal crematorium assistant, now works in marketing and is a recently joined member …

DUP In-Out Ministers Salary Question Answered – And Back To Work

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on October 20, 2015, 5:17 pm

| Readers 761

Following the findings of the investigation into current paramilitary action and involvement being published today by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, all DUP executive ministers will return to their posts. Peter Robinson will also resume his position as First Minister, leaving Arlene Foster free to continue her sole uninterrupted role as Finance Minister. Throughout this period of uncertainty, questions had been asked of DUP executive ministers from many quarters about receiving payment for their brief time in ministerial …

Jonathan Bell And The Confucius Institute: The Unregistered Interest

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on October 16, 2015, 5:32 pm

| Readers 1931

Much has been made of Jonathan Bell’s trip to China, it emerged that his trip was not paid for out of public money nor from the Confucius Institute at the Ulster University of Ulster – the Irish News reporting that a university spokeswoman said “no” to the question of if the institute had paid for the trip. His Party, the DUP said that the trip was made in his role as honorary vice president of the Confucius Institute. An issue …

Friday Comic – Jonathan Bell Visits China

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on October 16, 2015, 11:51 am

| Readers 1033

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman)Kris tweets ferociously as @belfastbarman and runs an associated site, www.belfastbarman.com where he occasionally opines his views. He lived abroad for a while and as such, feels he will never really ‘get’ this place. Formerly a barman, he regularly broke the cardinal rules of, “No politics or religion in the pub,” as such, he turned to writing. Previously a stand up comedian and an animal crematorium assistant, now works in marketing and is a recently joined member …

An Alliance For The Future?

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on October 8, 2015, 5:18 pm

| Readers 1552

The recent comments by Independent MLA Claire Sugden where she suggested that those who lived through the troubles should perhaps step aside for a new generation of political leaders, Sugden named younger representatives from across the spectrum, Megan Fearon, Claire Hanna, Steven Agnew, Chris Lyttle, Sandra Overend, Gary Middleton and herself. This is an interesting viewpoint and one I have expressed myself over the years – those who have endured the worst that NI has to offer can (understandably) have …

Are Schools For Children Or For Gods?

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on September 22, 2015, 5:43 pm

| Readers 1488

“I’m a Christian… well actually, I was born a Christian… well actually, I was born and told about only one religion… so I picked it” – Glenn Wool This week saw the launch of a petition by Scott Moore (a member of the Alliance Party but acting in a personal rather than party capacity) to amend the law, making it optional for state-funded schools to host a Christian prayer during assemblies. The campaign has received some local media coverage including …

Breaking News(?): Frank Mitchell Had Eye Surgery

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on September 1, 2015, 8:50 am

| Readers 1319

At what point does a news broadcast end and the advertisements begin? In the UK this is fairly clear, usually the broadcaster will say something along the lines of “back after the break/these adverts”… in America, it can be a narrower border, it is common practice for private companies to sponsor part of the news broadcast, for example “And now with the weather sponsored by [Insert Company Here]…” In Northern Ireland, perhaps this discussion is needed. The advertising standards agency …

More Questions Than Answers Following UUP Withdrawal

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on August 30, 2015, 12:08 am

| Readers 3630

So the UUP executive met today and ratified Mike Nesbitt’s decision to leave the Northern Ireland executive, on Tuesday of this coming week Danny Kennedy will resign from his position as Minister for Regional Development – but what does this mean? I have spent today discussing this at length and have concluded that I know as much about the potential ramifications today than I knew this time last year… So what questions remain open-ended? What link is Mike Nesbitt aware of …

Alliance For Choice – #dropthecharges

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on July 20, 2015, 9:26 am

| Readers 1144

In June 2015 a Belfast woman appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court facing charges of procuring a poison or other noxious substance. The defendant obtained two different medications, Misoprostol and Mifepristone, which are common drugs used to induce abortions. The World Health Organization added these drugs to their “Essential Medicines List” in 2005, a list defined by the WHO as “those drugs that satisfy the health care needs of the majority of the population; they should therefore be available at all times …

Does Loyalism Have An Image Problem?

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on June 30, 2015, 5:58 pm

| Readers 4179

Following my article about the Sandy Row bonfire last week, a fair amount has happened. It was burned down (it wasn’t me), it has been moved (by a few feet), it is going to be bigger in size (the base layer seems at least 30% larger than before), and the level of anti-social behaviour in the area has escalated to new levels. The response I received across social media was generally one of, to me, common sense… along the lines …

Some People Just Want To Watch The World Burn

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on June 22, 2015, 5:44 pm

| Readers 8472

One of these images is a view from my apartment block on bonfire night 2014… one of these is a scene from 2004 zombie-flick Dawn of the Dead… The entire area becomes uninhabitable for the night, you physically cannot leave your house unless you’re willing to navigate your way through crowds of overly-intoxicated, often threatening bonfire attendees, if a resident was to have a medical emergency, the consequence doesn’t bear thinking about. This isn’t culture. This is a riot. …

I Just Don’t Get The Troubles

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on May 29, 2015, 6:55 pm

| Readers 5528

I watched BBC’s Panorama on state collusion in criminality during the troubles in a state of shock. I knew this kind of thing happened, we all did… people killed, people were killed, people enabled killings and people seemed to acknowledge that killing just sort of…happened. I’m 28, I was born in May 1987 four days before the Loughgall Ambush, I was eight months old when the Milltown Cemetary attack took place, I wasn’t yet two years old when Pat Finucane was murdered, a month …

Who Should I Vote For App’s – Accurate?

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on May 6, 2015, 11:08 pm

| Readers 697

I’ve noticed in this General Election more than any other that there is an abundance of tools online to help the electorate align themselves with a party that matches closer to their values than another. Does it work though? Take a look at where I ended up across different guides. And don’t judge me… Who Should You Vote For The questions weren’t exactly in-depth, each policy area was skimmed across rather than actually getting down to the nitty gritty …

The Unique Democracy of the DUP Part 1…

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on May 2, 2015, 9:23 pm

| Readers 2992

In the advent of the Jim Wells debacle at the South Down hustings I found myself in an unfamiliar situation, I, as a liberal pro-union voter, had front row seats to a DUP disaster movie that I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch but yet couldn’t look away from. I’m on record stating how comfortable I am with voting Sinn Féin, I probably sit very close to Alliance-but-not-quite-entirely-there but ultimately, if I had my way..my dream scenario, there would be …

Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol – Who are they and what do they want?

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on April 16, 2015, 10:57 pm

| Readers 2371

I met 3 of the Northern Irish parliamentary candidates for the Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol party to discuss their campaign, their goals and ambitions. Barry Brown (West Tyrone), Glenn Donnelly (North Down) & Neil Paine (East Londonderry) are all standing for the single-issue party in the 2015 general election but they admit that they are quite late to the table for this vote, with firm eyes on the 2016 Assembly elections. I asked them all the normal questions that …

NI Conservatives – (not)Sponsored by FlyBe

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on April 15, 2015, 11:30 pm

| Readers 2540

In the 2010 General Election the Conservatives in NI party allied with the UUP and ran under the “Ulster Conservatives & Unionists – New Force” banner. It wasn’t successful, UUP lost their only sitting MP, no candidates were elected, and despite a couple of candidates coming a respectable second, such as Reg Empey losing by just over 1000 votes to William McCrea…it was a failure. The unionist alliance disbanded afterwards which has brought us to now… The Conservatives in NI …