events – Slugger O'Toole

Join us for A Slugger Cafe Conversation on the crisis in the GP service. 2:30pm Sat 5th Nov…

Brian O'Neill on October 27, 2022, 11:16 am | Readers 434

Can’t get through to your GP? Then when you get through, the next appointment is weeks away? How can we improve the GP service for doctors and patients? Join us as we take a deep dive into the current crisis in the GP service. We will be joined by Belfast GP Dr Michael McKenna and by an expert in health economics, Professor Ciaran O’Neill from QUB. Brian O’Neill from Slugger will be chairing the event with assistance from expert facilitator …

The Steel Shutter Revisited 50th Anniversary Conference…

Soapbox on October 18, 2022, 7:46 am | Readers 2303

In 1972 at the height of the violent Troubles in Northern Ireland a group of people believed that they could make a difference by simply getting people to listen to one another. Taking great risks for all involved they flew nine stakeholders (5 Protestants and 4 Catholics) from Ireland to Pittsburgh and filmed a three-day encounter group. The famous psychologist Carl Rogers, and colleagues, attempted something radical. For the majority, it was the first time they had any real interaction with …

Join us for our live Big Election Event on the 30th of March…

Brian O'Neill on February 26, 2022, 2:32 pm | Readers 602

A surge of Omicron shifted Slugger O’Toole’s End of Year Review online, but as promised, Alex Kane and Allison Morris will be back in front of a live audience on Wednesday the 30th March in The Black Box to tease out the issues that will dominate the election campaign, mull over the polls, and make their predictions for the 5th May poll and the political aftermath. Against the backdrop of the Northern Ireland Protocol, budgetary concerns over departmental allocations, hospital …

Watch our End of Year Review For free…

Brian O'Neill on December 25, 2021, 9:05 am | Readers 1459

As you might know, we had to cancel our live event due to Omicron but we did a streaming version instead. We are very grateful to all the people who gave a donation to watch the live version. Our Christmas gift to you is you can now watch our End of Year Review for free! If you like what we do, please consider buying Slugger a Christmas drink. Give us the price of a pint or even a round. Or …

Get your tickets for the streaming Slugger End of Year Review – Next Wednesday at 7pm…

Brian O'Neill on December 17, 2021, 5:26 pm | Readers 607

Thanks to omicron we have had to cancel our live End Of Year Review Event. Instead, we plan to stream it online next Wednesday night at 7pm. Join Alan and David as they discuss the events of the past year with Alex Kane and Allison Morris. I know some of you would rather stick pins in your eyes than take part in another zoom but this is not your normal webinar. Alan puts a lot of effort into making sure …

Insights and intersections: NI Ethnic Minorities’ and Migrants’ Relations – Free Event…

Queen’s Policy Engagement on November 17, 2021, 11:04 am | Readers 437

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How do relations with the environment intersect with ethnic minority and migrant experiences and identities in Northern Ireland? A special online event will take place this Friday afternoon that will bring together individuals, community groups, civil society organisations, policymakers and researchers to discuss the ways migrant and minority ethnic members of Northern Ireland society: make proactive contributions to activism and philanthropy locally and globally about environmental concerns; engage in good environmental practices for the purposes of wellbeing, enterprise and environmental …

Our End Of Year Review Live Event is back! Get your tickets now…

Brian O'Neill on November 15, 2021, 1:01 pm | Readers 851

We are back! The Slugger End of Year Review will take place in the Black Box in Belfast on Friday the 17th of December at 7pm. This is a live in-person event. Alex Kane and Allison Morris are back to review the last year in politics. We will also have Tim McGarry opening proceedings and Alan Meban chairing the event. This year safety is our top priority. We are only having tables, no rows. You have the option to buy …

Seminar tomorrow featuring voices from NI, Libya and Somalia will honour Pat Hume’s legacy…

Soapbox on September 30, 2021, 10:59 am | Readers 348

Pat Hume who was recently described by Monica Mc Williams ‘as the woman who never gave up’ is the inspiration behind Fire in the Belly: Lessons from young women peacebuilders from Somalia, Libya and Northern Ireland on inspiring leaders for peaceful change’ the third event planned in the Youth, Peace and Security Leadership Seminar Series. On Friday 1 October 2021, Monica Mc Williams who is Emeritus Professor at Ulster University, Board member of the John and Pat Hume Foundation and former Chairperson of Interpeace, will chair Fire in …

Mini-Public Deliberation on Constitutional Futures – Launch Event…

Queen’s Policy Engagement on September 16, 2021, 4:58 pm | Readers 984

On the 23rd of September 2021, the Institute for British-Irish Studies (IBIS) at UCD in collaboration with the Democracy Unit at Queen’s will host a launch event at which researchers will share findings of the Mini-Public Deliberative Forum on Constitutional Futures organised in the Republic of Ireland by the Constitutional Futures after Brexit Project. In 2019, IBIS established the Constitutional Futures after Brexit as a three-year project to conduct research on the implications of the UK’s decision to withdraw from …

Get your tickets for the Slugger End of Year Review 2020!

Brian O'Neill on December 8, 2020, 6:51 pm | Readers 325

Normally tickets for our End of Year Review sell out within a couple of hours. This year we can’t offer you the dark, alcohol-infused atmosphere of a Cathedral Quarter pub. But we can open the doors to let more of you attend our virtual live-streamed End of Year Review. Alex Kane and Allison Morris are back. But rather than squeeze everything into a single night, we’re spacing it out over three nights, to allow a selection of expert guests to …

Join us for a live Martin Luther King III talk this Thursday night at 7pm…

Brian O'Neill on November 17, 2020, 3:55 pm | Readers 214

We are partnering with The John and Pat Hume Foundation and Politics in Action to host an online event with Martin Luther King III – the American human rights advocate and son of assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr – who will be discussing the developing political situation in the United States and civil rights issues around the world. The event will be live-streamed on Facebook live, click here to register for the event for free… “MLK Peaking …

Would I Lie to ALL of You?

Queen’s Policy Engagement on November 14, 2020, 8:10 am | Readers 563

Fancy watching an online version of the popular BBC Show, but with a local slant? As part of the Being Human Festival 2020, the ContactVIRT project at Queen’s University will be hosting their own version of the show involving two groups comprising “Catholics” and “Protestants” in Northern Ireland who will play the game in virtual reality (VR). One team reads a story while members of the opposite team quiz them and decide whether the story is true or a lie. …

Queen’s to host virtual conference on sensing divisions in human societies…

Queen’s Policy Engagement on May 15, 2020, 1:32 pm | Readers 339

The School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, and the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University will host a virtual conference exploring human divisions in society on 21-22 May. This free conference aims to investigate the nature of troubling and persistent divisions in human societies that often keep societies from producing stable governance. Some societies which will be explored are Northern Ireland, Australia, Austria, Cyprus, Greece, India and Nigeria to name but …

Slugger Event – Wed 25th March 2020: What is the future of the United Kingdom in these historic times?

Brian O'Neill on February 5, 2020, 10:15 am | Readers 3399

These islands are steaming headlong into uncharted territory: politically, economically and socially. The Assembly and Executive are restored but can they weather the storm of RHI, welfare pressure, and the crisis facing the health service? Local businesses fear the prospect of extra paperwork post-Brexit for goods entering and leaving Northern Ireland, squeezing margins in a region already remote from potential growth markets. A bullish Tory government has the power to push through radical reforms of immigration, the civil service, broadcasting, …

Free event: Queen’s Policy Engagement Post-Brexit Clinic on 4 February 2020…

Queen’s Policy Engagement on January 28, 2020, 5:19 pm | Readers 422

Join us for what will be the first post-Brexit Clinic here at Queen’s Policy Engagement. The UK’s request to extend the Brexit deadline to 31 January 2020 was agreed back in 2019 and Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal recently became law after it received royal assent from the Queen, having gone through all the required stages in Parliament. As things stand, the 1st February 2020 will mark the first day of the transition period for the UK and the beginning of a very …

Get your tickets for the Slugger Big House Party! 2pm Saturday the 25th January 2020…

Brian O'Neill on January 13, 2020, 4:47 pm | Readers 597

The big house on the hill is open for business again! Join Slugger and an expert team of ex Special Advisors to discuss what the parties need to do to get Stormont working. The Panel: Tim Cairns – former DUP Special Advisor Alison Grundle – Former Special Advisor to Justice Minister Claire Sugden Brendan Mulgrew – former SDLP Special Advisor Chair: Alan Meban This is a fundraising event to keep Slugger lit. Our events are great fun so if you have not attended one …

Brexit, Citizens’ Assemblies and the future of Democracy in the UK

Queen’s Policy Engagement on January 3, 2020, 8:44 am | Readers 1255

The Brexit process has put the UK’s democratic system under great strain, pitting competing democratic visions against each other and exposing weaknesses in each. Join Queen’s Policy Engagement for our first event of 2020 with Dr Alan Renwick from the UCL Constitution Unit where he will examine those weaknesses and consider possible ways of addressing them. Could the 2016 referendum have been designed differently to create a less polarised process? How could the grievances with current politics that the referendum …

Get your tickets for the Slugger Big Election Hangover event on Saturday the 14th of December 2019!

Brian O'Neill on November 8, 2019, 7:49 pm | Readers 835

Join us as we dissect the #GE2019 results with an expert panel and a room full of political brains – the opportunity to understand the implications of how the public has voted on local, national and European politics. Panel: David McCann – Deputy Editor Slugger O’Toole Chris Donnelly – Teacher & Commentator Sarah Creighton – Solicitor & Commentator Grainne Walsh – Director of Stratagem Plus we will have some special political guests joining us. This is a fundraising event to keep Slugger lit into …

Get your tickets for the Slugger End of Year Review 2019 – Wed 4th Dec 2019…

Brian O'Neill on November 2, 2019, 2:31 pm | Readers 842

Now firmly established as a Christmas Tradition, join us as we look back on the year in politics with the Cinderella and widow Twankey of local commentators Allison Morris and Alex Kane. We also have as a special guest Sam McBride, author of the recent book on the RHI scandal ‘Burned’. The event is a little early this year but we thought it would be good to look at the upcoming general election as well, so the night will be …

Join us for our 1st Derry/Londonderry event on 23rd October – A fair deal for Derry?

Brian O'Neill on October 14, 2019, 3:52 pm | Readers 1883

For decades we have heard about the need to invest and connect the North-West. But how do we deliver on this promise and ensure that we help build a more prosperous city that can create good jobs and improves the lives of all of its people? This Slugger O’Toole event will examine the challenges and the opportunities that face this part of the island. Panel: Steve Bradley – Derry native & Commentator Karen Bonner – Derry native & Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Queen’s University …