Daithi McKay

The Sustrans Walking and Cycling Report 2023 was launched today. The 24 page report shows that Belfast residents would like more investment in active travel. Their survey showed that : 62% would like to see more government spending on walking and wheeling. 54% would like to see more government investment in cycling. 65% would support more cycle paths along roads separated from traffic and pedestrians. Polling was also carried out in Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Galway and Dublin and also showed …

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Shane MacGowan will be laid to rest today in Nenagh, Co Tipperary. MacGowan will of course go down in history as one of the great Irish poets and his death will provoke many previously unfamiliar with his wider writing to look beyond ‘Fairytale of New York’ and into the treasure-trove of great songs that can be found on albums such as ‘If I should fall from grace with God’ and ‘Rum, Sodomy and the Lash’. A 1997 BBC documentary on …

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Today Wales, in a move that will undoubtedly save lives, has reduced its speed limit on ‘restricted roads’ to 20 miles per hour. It is one of the first countries in the world to introduce such a measure. The SNP and Green government in Scotland want to introduce similar measures by 2025. Way back in 2013 Conall McDevitt MLA brought forward a similar Private Members Bill to the Assembly which sadly did not progress into law. 37% of Welsh roads …

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Change to the cycling infrastructure in Belfast comes at a pace akin to the Ents in the Lord of the Rings books. Eons seem to pass before even straightforward decisions are made and implemented. The Lagan Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge proposal has been kicking about for many years now. The feasibility report was published in 2014 and will not be completed before the feasibility study’s 10 year anniversary. Wesley Johnston provides a useful timeline in relation to this project that …

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As the Department for Infrastructure this week puts forward more new proposals to reduce private car usage and reduce transport’s carbon footprint its worth considering what options people have to ditch their cars altogether. Better public transport and safer active travel routes are key to this but so too is car sharing and car renting. Those car owners that only need their car for one off journeys every couple of weeks would be more likely to consider becoming car free …

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An opinion poll released by the Sunday Independent – Ireland Thinks today shows that Sinn Féin remains the largest party followed by Fine Gael and then Fianna Fáil. The Social Democrats are polling well but the Green Party are clearly struggling at just 2%. This is the first poll released since the number of TDs was increased from 160 to 174. Sinn Féin 33 (-1 in a month) Fine Gael 21 (+2) Fianna Fáil 18 Social Democrats 6 (+1) Labour …

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The Catalan News reports today that Catalan pro-independence party ERC and the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s PSOE party have agreed a draft text that will reform the rules of the Spanish Congress and pave the way for the use of Catalan, Basque and Galician in the parliament. Sánchez has also agreed to seek that the 3 languages become official EU languages. Linguists have welcomed the move that will bring more visibility to the languages and ‘help them become more …

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Slowly (sometimes very slowly) but surely Ireland is putting together a greenway network. Already we have the more commonly known and well established Comber Greenway, the Great Western greenway (connecting Westport to Achill Island) and Waterford Greenway that opened in March 2017. In Waterford it is estimated that more than ¼ million people now use the greenway annually. The Royal Canal Greenway is Ireland’s longest greenway at 144km. In the south greenway investment has increased significantly and we may be …

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Last week the Boundary Commission published its revised proposals for the 18 Westminster (and therefore Assembly) constituencies. All 18 would retain their current names bar Belfast South which would become ‘Belfast South and Mid Down’ reflecting its extension into the more rural areas of Drumbo, Saintfield and Moneyreagh. There will now be another public consultation until 15th December with final recommendations expected before the summer. Final boundary changes are due to come into effect before November 2023. Its revised proposals …

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It is being reported that Boris Johnson will announce more radical Climate Change commitments later this week that will “set the UK on course to cut carbon emissions by 78% by the year 2035.” US President Joe Biden along with his climate envoy John Kerry will on Thursday host a virtual summit of 40 world leaders to discuss the climate crisis and seek new commitments to help fulfil the 2015 Paris Agreement. The US are expected to announce their emissions …

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Earlier today Clare Bailey MLA introduced the cross-party Climate Change Bill to the Assembly. The Bill drafted by Climate Coalition NI proposes to : Set a Net Zero target of 2045 Establish a Climate Office Create the role of an independent Climate Commissioner The Bill starts off in a very positive position having the support of a number of parties in the chamber. The co-sponsors of the Bill are John Blair (Alliance Party) Clare Bailey (Green Party) Trevor Lunn (Independent) …

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In the coming days Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey is to bring a proposal to the Executive to commission abortion services in the north. Individual health trusts have set up temporary early medical abortion pathways. However nothing has yet been commissioned by the Department of Health itself.  Sinn Féin President Mary-Lou McDonald said “Legislation was passed in March 2019, following a widespread public campaign where we heard the real experiences and real lives of women and their families. “Women in the north …

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The Catalan elections took place at the weekend and it proved to be both a good day for the pro-independence parties as well as the Socialists who are in power in Madrid. The election was called after the Catalan President Quim Torra was disqualified from holding office after he refused to remove a banner in support of imprisoned and exiled Catalan leaders. The independence bloc took 51% of the vote (up 3.5% on 2017) and retain the majority of seats …

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A is for Angela After 16 years in office Angela Merkel stands down as German Chancellor when her term ends in September 2021. The pandemic has certainly helped the CDU/CSU bounce back in German opinion polls. However the CDU has yet to decide who its leader will be going into the federal election and there is no great enthusiasm for the three candidates that have thrown their hats in the ring. The poll should see the SPD relegated to third …

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Sam McBride writes in the News Letter this week about potential political reform at Stormont and believes that the “idea that a voluntary coalition would automatically mean Sinn Féin’s exclusion from government is outdated.” Of course that all depends on whose bums are on Stormont seats and what mechanisms govern the legislature. However as recent elections show there are some changes to voting patterns and the political environment in the north that add credibility to that argument. The north is …

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According to press reports today Causeway Coast and Glens Council is ‘facing financial meltdown’ and ratepayers in the area may face a increase in their rates of over 15%. Independent Councillor Padraig McShane told the Irish News that he received a copy of minutes from a meeting held last month by senior staff. Its claimed that the documents suggest that the council was £75million in debt and “suggested a 15 per cent increase in rates would be needed next year …

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Whilst exchanges were civil when Elisha McCallion and Colum Eastwood ran into each other on the canvass in Derry recently the battle of Foyle will be one of the most hard fought contests of this election. Elisha McCallion won the seat from former SDLP Leader Mark Durkan in 2017 in a result that took many political watchers by surprise. South Down was expected to fall to Sinn Féin but Foyle seemed at least another election away. The gap was just …

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South Down was held by the Ulster Unionists until Eddie McGrady snatched the seat for the SDLP in 1987 defeating Enoch Powell. The writing had been on the wall for the UUP in 1983 and 1986 when they held the seat by slim majorities of just 548 and 1,842. Since then, the SDLP had fairly comfortable majorities for 30 years. In 2017 however Chris Hazzard took the seat for Sinn Féin defeating sitting MP Margaret Ritchie. Hazzard’s majority of 2,446 …

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The SDLP has announced that it will stand aside in 3 constituencies in the interest of electing pro-remain candidates from other parties. Deputy leader Nichola Mallon said the SDLP “must also seek to weaken those who have cast the interests of Northern Ireland aside for five minutes of influence with a Tory Government that has been bad for our communities”. and that meant “removing pro-Brexit, Pro-Boris DUP MPs where possible”. In the last Westminster election the SDLP secured the following …

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South Antrim has been a tug-o-war constituency pulling between the Ulster Unionists and the DUP since the by-election held here in 2000. William McCrea won this seat for the DUP for the first time in 2000 from the UUP by less than 1,000 votes, lost it to David Burnside in 2001 by just over 1,000 votes and then won it back comfortably in 2005. In 2010 Reg Empey again came close for the UUP but it wasn’t until 2015 that …

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