New Ireland’s Future’s report outlines the steps that could be taken towards a border poll vote…

Gerry Carlile is the CEO of Ireland’s Future Ireland’s Future is launching our latest contribution to the growing debate about constitutional change: Ireland 2030. We believe a border poll is likely before the end of this decade. Ireland must therefore be prepared and ready. As is well known, we have organised major public events, conducted inclusive civic and political dialogues across the island, and we have produced substantive policy papers to help shape the public discussions. The conversation about constitutional …

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TITLE: Northern Ireland is hurtling towards an A.I. future that few are prepared for…

photo of girl laying left hand on white digital robot

Ben M is a slugger reader from Dublin Most people will have seen recent headlines that Artificial Intelligence is rapidly accelerating in development, but fewer people seem fully aware of many of the implications. Two developments in recent weeks seem very pertinent to Northern Ireland. Firstly, one of the leading AI developers, OpenAI, debuted a tool for AI to make photorealistic video, without the need for human involvement. Secondly, a Swedish company called Klarna got rid of 700 support centre …

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The Devenish controversy: Consent, Shame, and Society’s Expectations of Women…

Deb Biddleston is a native of Manchester, now living in NI for 18 years. She is a wife, mother and grandmother. You would need to have been off grid in the last few days not to be aware of stories and “the video” of the UK Pleasure Boys show at the Devenish in Finaghy. I will admit to being slightly aghast, not at the video, but at some of the comments from politicians, the media and others. Talk about double …

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Northern nationalism’s biggest barrier to achieving unification is other Irish people…

multicolored lighted park wall at night

Ben M is a slugger reader from Dublin Mary Lou McDonald recently said she thought a United Ireland was “within touching distance”. The remark received little positive response, even in the south, where reactions ranged from pointing out that it was unhelpful to say it on the day Stormont returned or that it was unrealistic. The latest LucidTalk polling for the Belfast Telegraph on the topic might give her some succour. However, it might also provide a counter-intuitive message. That …

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Belfast One BID: Championing a Dynamic and Unique Belfast City Centre Experience…

people walking beside buildings under cloudy sky with contrail

The Belfast Summit 2024 takes place tomorrow in The Ulster University. It will look at where Belfast is, and what we need to do to make it a leading city to work, live, socialise and visit. The keynote speaker will be Prof Carlos Moreno, pioneer of the 15 minute city. Belfast One Business Improvement District is one of the Partners of the Belfast Summit, and their Chief Executive, Alan Crowe, sets out what the BID is doing to foster growth …

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A Data Analyst Approach to the First Week of NI Assembly Written Questions…

white markee light

Kieran Mulholland was an elected representative for Sinn Féin on the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council from 2014-2019. He works in data analysis and data science in the private sector. As the MLAs embark on their new positions in the Assembly, you’ll have noticed the great announcements on social media of their Written Questions to Ministers. Indeed, Justin McNulty’s first tweet post-helicopter (and whip removal) was an ode to his Written Question to the Minister for Communities regarding the …

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Unionist and nationalist interviewees among Last Voices of the Irish Revolution..

Tom Hurley is an author and radio documentary-maker from West Cork. The Irish Civil War ended in 1923. Eighty years on, I wondered if there were many civilians and combatants left from across Ireland who had experienced the years 1919 to 1923, their prelude and their aftermath. What memories had they, what were their stories and how did they reflect on those turbulent times? In early 2003, I recorded the experiences of 18 people, conducting two further interviews in the …

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Transforming Belfast’s Linen Quarter: Challenges and Opportunities…

Chris McCracken, Managing Director, Linen Quarter BID Linen Quarter BID are delighted to sponsor the Belfast Summit, taking place at Ulster University on 15 February, and to warmly welcome keynote speaker Carlos Moreno to Belfast for the first time. Carlos, who is ranked as one of the top 100 urbanists worldwide, is best known for creating the 15-minute city concept. This has been rolled out to widespread acclaim in Paris and numerous other cities across the globe. Key components of …

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A Deposit Return Scheme is coming and we should not fear it.

Dr Ian Humphreys is the Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful An ambitious new initiative has come into force in the Republic of Ireland on February 1st that should be welcomed by all who work to change behaviours that can improve our environment for the better. The Deposit Return Scheme will see a 15 cent levy added to every aluminium can and plastic bottle sold in the Republic of Ireland. Customers can keep their empty cans and bottles for …

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Why are Sinn Féin and the SDLP so poor at furthering the unification issue in the south of Ireland?

man in black jacket standing on black ladder

Ben M is a slugger reader from Dublin Support for unification has advanced, at best, modestly in 21st-century Northern Ireland. The percentage of people who want it straight away rarely seems to deviate from the 30-40% range that it was in the late 20th century. What has changed is a growing middle ground of people who might consider saying yes to it in the right circumstances. The growth of this middle ground shows in other ways. For example, they are …

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Why I moved my family away from Northern Ireland…

black and brown ship on body of water during daytime

Originally from Belfast, John Connolly now lives in Dublin and is retired… I greatly enjoyed Barton Creeth’s recent lovely piece about moving to Belfast. My wife and I did something similar in the late 1960s. I’m a native of the city who had moved to England in 1964. There I’d met the beautiful young woman from County Mayo who became my (so far!) lifetime partner. We married in London in 1968 and decided in 1969 that we’d move to Belfast. …

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The Mental Health Challenge of the Transfer Test…

girl covering her face with both hands

Helen Armstrong lives in the North West and is a psychotherapist, executive coach and trainer. Many thanks to Arnold Carton for his article in January 2023 regarding the transfer test and why some kids give up because of being negatively impacted by the transfer test. I want to continue this conversation as a concerned mum. I wait with bated breath for the results of the transfer test today. It’s a double whammy for me as I have twin boys, so …

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Religious Diversity Stagnant in NI Schools Since Good Friday Agreement…

shallow focus photography of pencils on desk rack

Tony Gallagher is an Honorary Professor at Queen’s University. You can follow him on Twitter… The Independent Review of Education suggested that education has a ‘vital role to play in promoting cohesion in a post-conflict society’ and that more needed to be done ‘to educate young people together’. Its recommendations included the creation of more integrated or jointly managed schools, the latter referring to schools managed by the Catholic and one or more of the Protestant Churches; strengthening the model …

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Exploring the crisis in Irish road racing…

Deb Biddleston is a Northern English native who moved to NI 20 years ago to watch more road racing. She is a former club secretary and race photographer. We learned the other day that the 2024 Ulster Grand Prix was cancelled. Now, I can’t say this really surprised me, but it obviously surprised enough people to produce several articles (including this one). For those who don’t know, the Ulster Grand Prix ran from 1922 on the Clady circuit, moving to …

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How best to deal with the problem of climate refugees?

Martyn Todd is a retired public servant. Worried about climate change since reading The Doomsday Book by Gordon Rattray Taylor in 1969. Nearly every day in recent months, changing weather patterns have been on the news.  More named storms than ever before, floods galore and tornado damage in places where this has never happened before.  Nearly everybody accepts these events as the result of global warming. Similarly, immigration to the United States and European countries is featured in the news …

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Navigating the Digital Media Maze: Making Sense of TV, Internet, and Streaming Options…

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David Jamison is writing about those items that catch his attention now looking through an older person’s eyes.  He lives in Belfast and since retiring recently he is trying to make sense of a fast-changing world and trying his best to keep up! I was wondering what to title this piece, and interestingly, the dictionary defines “Media” as “the main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the internet) regarded collectively.” As a reality check, can I say at the outset …

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Kind of Green, a look at jazz from an Irish perspective…

Martin Connolly is from Belfast, a graduate of Trinity College and Queen’s University, resident in Japan since 1991. A Professor of literature at Tsurumi University, Yokohama, Martin has published extensively on Joyce. He also writes creatively -his latest novel is Belfast, with Dinosaurs, 1979 (Shanway Press).  Kind of Green -Jazz Legends, from ‘86 – ‘90, through an Irish lens is primarily a book of never-seen-before original photos of many of the greatest jazz artists during the period 1986 to 1990. Said photos …

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Get your Northern Ireland Top Trumps playing cards…

Fergus Boylan is an cartoonist. Originally from the North Coast he now lives in Dublin. You can follow him on Instagram. Hi, I used to do the political cartoons here at Slugger. Recently, I drew a bunch of Catholic and Protestant trading cards and posted them online. It obviously started as a mildly amusing idea but, shortly after sharing, people started messaging me about their availability. I’ve posted similar crap ideas in the past, like an NI themed video game, …

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Getting beyond pitchforks, or the Republic of Ireland has changed, and changed utterly…

american gothic, grant wood, painting

David Moane is retired, in his sixties, and has lived in Dublin most of my life. He’s an avid consumer of Irish and British media and writes in a purely personal capacity about how the Republic has changed in his lifetime. I remember our accession to the EEC in 1973, the long terrible saga of the Northern Ireland (NI) conflict, the turbulent 1980s, the Celtic tiger years (c1995 to 2010), the Crash years (2010-15) and since then the remarkable recovery. …

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An open letter to Sir Jeffrey Donaldson…

black and silver fountain pen

Dear Jeffrey, Like you, I believe that the interests of the people of Northern Ireland are best served by remaining within the United Kingdom. The cultural, economic and social ties with Great Britain offer both stability and unique opportunities. While there are many factors which support this position, time and again opinion polls indicate that foremost among them is the NHS. The promise of universal healthcare free at the point of need is the strongest incentive to be a UK …

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