Media – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

Lost Lives is a vital and eloquent riposte to “the old Lie”: Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori….

Mick Fealty on December 14, 2020, 10:18 am

| Readers 2492

I have been to the Vietnam wall in Washington, twice. The second time was every bit as emotional as the first. It was the trouble in the world when I was a kid, until it became us. It cuts a scar in the landscape appropriate to the human mess it left, not just in those who died but in the quiet way old men come to say goodbye to their much younger fallen comrades. I’ve often thought of that great book …

OK Boomer: Trump’s Last Stand and Fantasyland, USA…

Richard Delevan on November 18, 2020, 3:15 pm

| Readers 4815

“History is seasonal, and winter is coming…Some time before the year 2025, America will pass through a great gate in history, commensurate with the American Revolution, Civil War and twin emergencies of the Great Depression and World War II. The risk of catastrophe will be very high. The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule.” That grim prophecy wasn’t from the latest Qanon conspiracy drop. It was written in the 1990s, …

We need to talk about Care Homes

thedissenter on November 18, 2020, 8:36 am

| Readers 966

Looking at the steadily rising numbers of Covid outbreaks in Care Homes through September it seemed as if ‘something’ was happening, and that ‘something’ wasn’t good. That ‘something’ is now beyond bad. There were a few learning points from the first wave of Covid earlier this year. The basic message of wash hands, face masks (sort of) and safe distance; Hands, Face, Space seemed a simple message, and the fundamentals underlying that message hold good and accepted by most that …

ESRC Virtual Festival – Music Creators’ Earnings in the Streaming Age…

Ulster University on November 10, 2020, 10:45 am

| Readers 150

Music makes a significant contribution to the UK economy and to the perception of the UK globally. As of 2019, UK music contributes £5.2 billion to the UK economy and is the world’s second biggest market. But what is the music business without creators? Music creators are vital to the future of our cultural experience and the cultural economy, and so it is important to understand how they are financially rewarded, and the extent to which it is possible to …

We’ve All Been Infected With a Covid Side-Effect… And There Is No Cure

CM Johnston on October 27, 2020, 4:14 pm

| Readers 2286

In The Comey Rule then-FBI Director James Comey, played by Jeff Daniels, remarks that the Bureau losing the trust of its public is nothing less than “a bell that can never be unrung”. Similarly, the information vacuum created by the NI Executive’s confusion, frequent poor leadership at individual level and – in places – crude self-interest during the Covid crisis created a space now occupied permanently by cranks, conspiracy theorists, attention-clamouring ‘influencers’ and small government hyper-fanatics. In particular, and this …

With over 8 hours of news in a 12 hour period is BBC Radio Ulster forgetting its remit is also to entertain?

Brian O'Neill on October 19, 2020, 2:27 pm

| Readers 2954

When the lockdown was reintroduced last week I decided I needed to take drastic action to stay sane. I quit all social media, stopped reading online news, and stopped listening to Radio Ulster. I never watched the news on TV so that was already covered. Now I only read a printed newspaper as I find its less stressful but you can keep up to date. I have also switched to listening mostly to podcasts and music. Like a lot of …

Love’s Betrayal: The Decline of Catholicism and the Rise of New Religions in Ireland by Peter Mulholland: New Insights on Recent Religious History

Gladys Ganiel on October 4, 2020, 8:15 am

| Readers 5204

In Love’s Betrayal: The Decline of Catholicism and the Rise of New Religions in Ireland (Peter Lang Publishers, 2019) Peter Mulholland offers a frank and often bruising account of the decline of the authority of the Catholic Church in Ireland since the middle of the twentieth century. Mulholland follows in the footsteps of ground-breaking studies, such as those by Tom Inglis (Moral Monopoly, 1987, 1998) and Louise Fuller (Irish Catholicism Since 1950, 2002). What sets Mulholland’s work apart is how …

Representative democracy and its likely (and perhaps unlikely) rivals to power

Mick Fealty on September 30, 2020, 2:39 pm

| Readers 1507

Whilst Citizen’s Assemblies are not the panacea that some of their advocates suggest, what they can do is reveal otherwise unregarded characteristics of the electorate to elected representatives. As Jamie Pow notes in Fortnight Magazine, the New Decade, New Approach Deal document pledges to hold regular citizens’ assemblies that might bring democratic institutions and the people closer. But he says, they must be meaningful. Well, quite. As The Economist noted last week… …because citizens’ assemblies reflect the population, their conclusions …

Welcome back Fortnight Magazine, we’ve missed you…

Mick Fealty on September 23, 2020, 10:28 am

| Readers 1725

Welcome back Fortnight Magazine. The paper was founded in 1970 by Tom Hadden, and became a haven of sanity during the very years when large chunks of working-class Belfast were imploding in sectarian violence and immense social (and later economic) distress. I first started getting copies out of the old Gardiners newsagents and bookshop in Botanic Avenue in the late seventies when it was a vibrant confluence for thought from all sides, no least the McNee column which was, I …

Van the Man, or how expressive individualism is pulling us away from our obligations to each other

Mick Fealty on September 19, 2020, 8:44 am

| Readers 2561

So Van Morrison has brought out some new tunes which include “criticism” of the government’s Covid policy. I’m as much a fan as the next Ulsterman, but it seemed a good moment to reflect on the way expressive individualism is pulling us away from our obligations to each other. Even Henry Ford understood the immense value that lies in others, “if there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of …

In the absence of real deterrents, you’ll catch more students with honey than with vinegar

Gareth Brown on September 17, 2020, 12:34 pm

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It would be difficult to look at the scenes from the Holylands of Belfast in the last number of days and not be very concerned. Scores of students partying until the early hours of the morning caused understandable frustration and fury among residents and a media furore. Either the young people in question do not fully understand the risk to themselves and others around them, or, the public awareness campaign is not persuading them sufficiently, or, they both understand and …

#TheReset: What does Jürgen Klopp have to do with democratic renewal? #CargoOfBricks #Podcast

Mick Fealty on September 16, 2020, 7:00 am

| Readers 922

Do we need a re-set in political culture? We often tie ourselves in knots thinking that Northern Ireland is an exception to the rest of the world, but this week’s guest on #CargoOfBricks Richard Wilson’s experience is much broader and he thinks politicians are falling far short of current needs. Powered by RedCircle In it we cover… How our Victorian ideas of how representative democracy actually works are being quickly outrun by a connected electorate which is losing its patience …

#TheReset: Sheer fluidity of technological change means our cultural industries should be more central than ever

Mick Fealty on September 9, 2020, 6:58 am

| Readers 551

It’s hard to think of a working sector in society that delivers quite so much social, cultural, and economic benefits to society at large but where the living for those talented individuals who often devote their lives to it is quite so precarious than in the Arts and Cultural industries. In today’s Cargo of Bricks, I speak to Ali FitzGibbon and discover how the long slow and steady bottom-up development of Northern Ireland’s cultural industries over the last thirty years …

NI Executive Office acting unlawfully in delaying introduction of victims compensation scheme

Pete Baker on August 21, 2020, 4:07 pm

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Not unexpectedly, given Mr Justice McAlinden’s comments during the two-day hearing, Belfast High Court has ruled that the NI Executive Office is, indeed, acting unlawfully in failing to implement the victims payment scheme. Or, rather, the NI deputy First Minister is acting unlawfully… From the summary of judgement [pdf file] It is incumbent upon the Executive Office to forthwith designate a Department under paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 1 to the Victims’ Payments Regulations 2020 to exercise the administrative functions of …

We need to stop producing any new books, films and TV shows until we all have had a chance to catch up…

Brian O'Neill on August 16, 2020, 10:34 am

| Readers 1035

One of the stresses of modern life is the tsunami of content out there. Aside from the bottomless pit of social media and online news there has never been such a volume of everything. On my TV I have the BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV, Britbox and NowTV. The issue is I only watch about 1 hour of TV a day so it is impossible to even touch the surface of all the new shows out there. …

#SluggerTV After lockdown, can the arts return to health without a vaccine? (John Hewitt Digital Festival)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 31, 2020, 8:30 am

| Readers 426

A recent article on The Stage magazine website noted that “big tops are being built up across the UK”. “With sidewalls raised and seats spaced out, tented circuses are resuming summer tours. Heavy theatre doors, meanwhile, remain shut. But there’s a simple solution to opening up with socially distanced productions. Theatres should take to tents.” A trip to the cinema this week – I’d recommend Saint Frances out of the poor fare currently being screened – was a lonely affair …

John Hewitt Digital Festival of Literature and Ideas 2020

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 27, 2020, 4:03 pm

| Readers 419

The John Hewitt Society have moved their Armagh summer school online with a series of free online talks and discussions. While we normally take Slugger TV out of the NvTv studio to record in front of the Armagh audience, we’re delighted to be opening this year’s festival with a discussion about “After lockdown, can the arts return to health without a vaccine?”. Read more about this and the rest of the programme …

Shared or united island? The Greens called it right.

Sarah Creighton on July 16, 2020, 2:16 pm

| Readers 4077

The new banter coalition in the Republic has got off to a dramatic start. Ministerial sackings! A tax ruling from the ECJ! Infighting! It’s everything we could have hoped for. Among the chaos of this week came an interesting titbit from Green Party leader Eamon Ryan. According to Ryan our own Clare Bailey, the party leader in Northern Ireland, was behind the decision to rename the ‘united island’ unit in the Department of the Taoiseach to the ‘shared island’ unit. …

“This decision is directly, but not solely, related to the issues which arose around the Bobby Storey cremation.”

Pete Baker on July 9, 2020, 7:04 pm

| Readers 2393

As BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport said a few days ago, there is “No prospect of Stormont falling.” That doesn’t mean there might not be casualties elsewhere… Having apologised in public for “operational decisions” around the Bobby Storey cremation at Roselawn Cemetery, the Belfast Telegraph reports that Belfast City Council Chief Executive, Suzanne Wylie, and director of city and neighbourhood services, Nigel Grimshaw, have lodged a formal grievance with the city solicitor, and have threatened to resign “if [their] …

How does our press emerge from lockdown? Part Four: Has the paywall dice got any spots?

Ian Clarke on June 21, 2020, 10:18 am

| Readers 1922

I hadn’t planned even to write the third installment of this series but now, here is the fourth! Events of the past few weeks have been playing on my mind and I think it’s worth sharing. Recently, those of us who follow the Belfast Telegraph on social media will have noticed that it was actively promoting the fact that its “premium articles” would soon only be available to paying subscribers. Hugo wrote an article in anticipation of it happening a …