Finn Purdy

Sinn Féin’s Presidential Candidate Appears to Distance Herself from the Party

Finn Purdy on October 2, 2018, 6:48 pm

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Liadh Ní Riada, Sinn Féin’s nominee for the upcoming Irish Presidential election has appeared to distance herself from her party in much of her campaign material. This includes Ní Riada’s election posters which have begun to appear on lampposts around the country and include no indication of her affiliation to the party she currently represents in the European Parliament for the constituency of Ireland South. The colour scheme of the posters, mainly purple and white, also does not hold connotations …

The Downside of Success – Coping with our increasing tourist numbers…

Finn Purdy on August 1, 2018, 7:21 pm

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Over the past number of years, Northern Ireland’s tourism industry has maintained a steady growth and our visitor attractions have continued to become more popular than ever. These high levels of tourism are a relatively new phenomenon for the region and perhaps not one we have yet learnt how to deal with properly. In 2017 there were an estimated 4.9 million overnight trips in Northern Ireland, the highest estimates on record. Many of our most popular visitor attractions are purpose-built …

The Good Friday Agreement: A Milestone, not the Finish Line

Finn Purdy on March 20, 2018, 10:27 am

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Twenty years on since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and it is now being called into question, but not for the right reasons. The agreement’s fitness for purpose has been challenged in recent weeks as it is perceived as standing in the way of the hard Brexit that some desire. Rather than question the agreement because Northern Ireland is currently without an assembly or because even whilst there was an assembly in place its legislative record was pitiful, …

‘Cross Community Projects’ are Outdated in Today’s Northern Ireland

Finn Purdy on February 13, 2018, 7:14 pm

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The concept of a polarisation of politics is one often talked about in today’s society, and in Brexit Britain and Trump’s America and so many other cases it is easy to see evidence of this polarisation. People follow different narratives that offer different (or alternative) facts and there is a demonised view of the motives of politicians that you do not agree with. In Northern Ireland polarisation of politics is nothing new to us, and it continues to this day …

Lord Mayor of Belfast: “I would not stand for an assembly that is not functioning”

Finn Purdy on November 24, 2017, 9:10 am

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The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Nuala McAllister visited an A level Politics class last week to ask students how they viewed Belfast and, in line with her theme for her year as Lord Mayor of ‘Global Belfast’, how the city could be more welcoming. The Alliance Party politician expressed her dismay at the rise of hate crime in Belfast and explained to the students that she believed that sectarian attitudes were still prevalent in Northern Ireland. She drew a contrast between …

Are Council Dragging Their Heels with the Re-opening Blackhead Path or is it an Impossible Situation?

Finn Purdy on October 3, 2017, 4:48 pm

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The Path has now entered its fourth year of closure with no sign of immediate change A large section of Blackhead path in Whitehead, County Antrim has been closed since July of 2014 when Carrickfergus Borough Council shut the path for safety reasons regarding rock-fall and erosion from the sea. The move to close the path off entirely to the public was described at the time by the then Mayor of Carrickfergus Charlie Johnson as only a “short-term” measure and …

Could Spanish “Superblocks” make Belfast Greener, Quieter and a Nicer Place to be?

Finn Purdy on August 30, 2017, 7:14 am

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So much of our modern city space is dedicated to cars, the needs of the automobile take priority in almost every city’s layout. This causes pedestrians and cyclists to be pushed to narrow pavements and cycles lanes, both having to navigate through traffic as they go. One alternative to this norm is the “Superblock” scheme currently being implemented across cities in Spain. You take an area of blocks and close off the inside to ‘through’ traffic i.e buses and big …

Will DUP demands be small and parochial or will they look to shape wider government policy?

Finn Purdy on June 9, 2017, 3:31 pm

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Theresa May has now stated that she will look to work closely with her “friends and allies” in the DUP, but the terms of this deal are yet to be set out. Many of the smaller parties early on in the campaign were keen to rule out any kind of coalition or deal with either Labour or the Conservatives, having seen the electoral impact on the Liberal Democrats for having made such a bargain in 2010. The DUP however arguably …

Brokenshire threatens to take away the one thing that makes NI parties cooperate

Finn Purdy on June 3, 2017, 3:41 pm

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At the launch of the Conservative Party in Northern Ireland manifesto, James Brokenshire gave the parties 21 days after the election to agree a deal before “passing the baton” to the government in Westminster to run Northern Ireland. An extended period of rule from Westminster would remove all responsibility from the DUP and Sinn Fein to moderate and compromise. The practicalities of running a power sharing government has always forced the DUP and Sinn Fein to behave in a much more moderated …

Labour Candidates in NI would spell further fragmentation of the left

Finn Purdy on May 26, 2017, 4:09 pm

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PROGRESSIVE FRAGMENTATION If Labour has unity problem and voters on the left more generally have a unity problem, it is therefore baffling that Labour supporters in Northern Ireland would like to see Labour candidates adding to an already crowded left field over here.