Post Archives for Alan in Belfast
“the game for the UUP is virtually up unless it is able to come to terms with … the unpalatable reality”
The king of the UUP-scourging quote is back. David McNarry, the man who gave us the line “the party will close ranks and anybody who wants to be a hypocrite will get their photograph taken” has given up his early Lenten abstinence from the media. The UUP member and independent MLA at the centre of [...] more »
What has the Laganside Events Grant scheme been spent on?
After an unexpected intervention on Thursday night, some of the data requested from the Department for Social Development was emailed to me at lunchtime on Friday. It covers the last three years of the Laganside Events Grant, specifying the organisations as well as the amounts they have received. In 2009/10, the largest grant was awarded [...] more »
Does History Matter? BBC NI’s Festival of History & Broadcasting
I gave up history at the age of 14. Keeping on three sciences meant that it was a straight choice between geography and history. As a result, my knowledge of history is confined to the legend of Finn McCool, the Roundheads and the Cavaliers, and a link between the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in [...] more »
What Nelson takes away with one hand, Sammy can replace with the other
This evening a combination of OFMDFM, DFP and DSD came together to announce that £200,000 unallocated after the January Monitoring round is being made available from DFP to extend the Laganside Events Grant for one further year. The Department of Finance & Personnel statement details two conditions on the funding being made available. (i) that [...] more »
Freedom of Information – when the minister has access to the information the public can’t see
Minister for Social Development Nelson McCausland rang into the Nolan show on Radio Ulster on Tuesday morning to respond to the debate around the cessation of the Laganside Events Grant scheme. He had figures – from across departments – at his finger tips to explain the public funding that was being granted to events. In [...] more »
Outfoxed – as cunning as an iPhone game developed in Belfast and voiced by Jackie Fullerton
Something for the weekend … If the Executive is to be fully believed, it feels like the local creative industries are second only to Titanic tourists in being at the heart of Northern Ireland’s economic recovery! With seed corn funding from the Creative Industries Innovation Fund (administered by the Arts Council NI for DCAL), local [...] more »
DSD withdraw funding for Laganside Events
Since the closure of the Laganside Corporation on 31 March 2007, the Department for Social Development has given out grants for events and community activities in the Laganside area of Belfast. The area includes the Cathedral Quarter as well as stretching our towards York Street, Corporation Street, the Sydenham bypass (but not including Titanic Quarter), [...] more »
Stormtroopers on red alert for St Paddy’s Day riots in South Belfast
Last night, the PSNI riot squad took part in a dress rehearsal in advance of any trouble in the university/Holylands area over the St Patrick’s Day long weekend. One officer privately expressed concern that the new protective clothing “wouldn’t be taken seriously by tipsy students”. Another added that the pockets weren’t very accessible and there [...] more »
Dead tree columnist prejudices public’s perception of bloggers?
Allison Morris made a number of contributions to this morning’s Irish News. As well as the front page article about the alleged security breach when a police officer’s personal mobile fell into the hands of dissident republicans (and its contents were subsequently passed to the Irish News), she also writes a curious opinion piece on [...] more »
Some secondary schools get better results than selective grammar schools
In days and weeks to come, there may be many ways to slice and dice the data that Kathryn Torney published in The Detail and the Sunday Times this morning. Chris has already alluded to the potential weakness in directly comparing the raw NI stats about numbers of pupils achieving 7 or more GCSEs at [...] more »
John O’Dowd: the education debate is “continuing in a better atmosphere” but it’s not yet time for all-party talks
I grabbed a very quick interview with Education Minister John O’Dowd as he headed down the corridor in Ashfield Boys School to go home after last night’s East Belfast Speaks Out community hustings. In the past few months he’s announced reductions in school budgets, given a partial reprieve after finding extra money for his department, [...] more »
East Belfast Speaks Out – a community hustings that was in the hands of the people
East Belfast Speaks Out was back for a third time last night. Having eliminated the warm up act, this year it was straight into questions after a brief introduction from chairperson Mark Devenport. The panel consisted of Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle, DUP MLA Sammy Douglas, Sinn Fein Education Minister John O’Dowd, UUP MLA Michael Copeland, [...] more »
What’s in Belfast City Council’s draft investment programme?
Belfast City Council launched their 2012-2015 Draft Investment Programme (PDF) this morning. The 44-page colour brochure is packed with optimism, bullet points and potential. But away from the headline £233m figure and the photocall with Peter Robinson, Martin McGuinness, Niall Ó Donnghaile and Deirdre Hargey, what’s the real story? It should be recognised as a [...] more »
McNarry: “the party will close ranks and anybody who wants to be a hypocrite will get their photograph taken”
It’s the story that keeps on giving. And that looks to be David McNarry’s intention. Now free of having to notify the UUP press office about media interviews and statements – something that Tom Elliott has adhered to as Party Leader – David McNarry is everywhere. This morning’s News Letter. The Belfast Telegraph. Though nothing [...] more »
East Belfast Speaks Out on Thursday evening (reminder)
Quick reminder to East Belfast readers that they have a chance to put their questions to local representatives as well as the minister of education at Thursday evening’s East Belfast Speaks Out event. The general theme of the evening is still: How responsive is the Assembly to the real concerns of the electorate? John O’Dowd [...] more »
David McNarry resigns from UUP Assembly Group after Tom Elliott cuts him out of education committee role
The News Letter and UTV’s Ken Reid have been tweeting tonight what looks like being the latest episode in the UUP-DUP united unionist soap opera. David McNarry has resigned from the UUP Assembly group after Tom Elliott withdrew him as vice-chair of education committee, though stopped short of taking away the party whip. The BBC [...] more »
Newt Gingrich: a space cadet with ideas that are out of this world?
By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American. (Newt Gingrich) It certainly qualifies as a BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal for anyone lucky enough not to be fluent in management speak. An injection of ambition and cash into the state [...] more »
John Kyle on faith and loyalism
John Kyle – Belfast City councillor, well known East Belfast GP and evangelical Christian – addressed a large crowd at Contemporary Christianity last Tuesday evening. The strapline for his thirty minute address was Where Faith and Loyalism Collide You can listen to his talk on the Contemporary Christianity website or through the embedded audio player [...] more »
Occupy Belfast – a (small) protest about housing
Gerry Lynch mentioned Occupy Belfast in a post yesterday. I called past the front of Belfast City Hall just before 1pm today to see the latest in their series of Saturday afternoon protests. I started asking people who were sitting or standing around the railings if they knew there was going to be a protest, [...] more »
What if David Ford and the Alliance ruling council did walk away from justice? Allister? Agnew? Hay?
[Sherlock Holmes] How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? Let’s play a game of What If? for a minute … What if David Ford meets with the Alliance Party’s ruling council and they decide to show their giant bluff card [...] more »
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Lessons in Cute Hoorism: “Graft was accepted, for you were taking from the British…”
I’ve been catching up on some reading, recently. Most pleasantly surprised by John Drennan’s latest opus from Gill and Macmillan, Cute Hoors and Pious Protestors… It’s early days yet, but I was struck by this paragraph, part of a dissection of Fianna Fail near the beginning: One of the more fatal consequences of our colonial [...] read our review »
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The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday (Neil MacFarquhar)
With perhaps the longest title of any book I’ve read this year, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East gives an insight into the lives of people living in Middle East through the eyes of journalist Neil MacFarquhar. MacFarquhar’s father was a chemical engineer [...] read our review »
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Help me with the West Wing: Essential viewing or Party Political Broadcast?
Having somehow managed to avoid watching a single episode of the widely praised West Wing TV series I was delighted to discover the entire Box set in my Christmas stocking – and with enough spare time over the holidays to give it a good lash. But with 10 episodes of the first series under my [...] read our review »
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