Brian Walker

The sad saga of Lough Neagh exposed. The Executive’s easy way out doesn’t work

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If you’re looking for a way to while away the time waiting for the next round of shadow boxing over Garvaghy Road, look no further than  Sam McBride’s latest  patiently laid out account of Executive dysfunction. Not evasion alone but …

Houdi McCabe

Storytime with Houdi – False Alarm Twiggy…

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She drives me crazy Like no one else It was as if the Fine Young Cannibals were singing this song just for me, from the piped music in the department store I was managing in 1989. The building was situated …

Queen’s Policy Engagement

The Festival of Social Science

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The Festival of Social Science is a yearly celebration of research that helps us understand people, communities and society. Now in its 25th year, the festival gives everyone the chance to explore topics such as health and wellbeing, crime, equality, …

Slugger Team

Secretary of State Overturns Parades Commission Determination on Drumcree

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Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Bryant has overturned the parades commission determination allowing the Orange Order to parade along the Garvaghy Road, having earlier been asked by the PSNI Chief Constable to review the determination. The Belfast Telegraph quotes …

Brian Pope

The A5. Two Roads – One Destination…

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What do Jamie Bryson and Liz Kimmins have in common? Yes, you guessed it! Both have recently had reasons to celebrate significant legal developments involving two of Northern Ireland’s most controversial roads, although in very different circumstances. In our Infrastructure …

Andy Pollak

Incredulity and despair as the ugly stand-off at Drumcree poisons Northern Ireland once again…

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Something unreal is happening in talks to try to find an end to the nightmarish deadlock at Drumcree. On the one side is the Portadown district of the Orange Order, often led – judging by television pictures and press statements …

Frank Schnittger

From Drumcree to the Donbas…

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As a naturalised Irishman and as a European, I find myself thinking far more about the Russia Ukraine war than I do about Drumcree. The war is existential for Ukraine, and perhaps for liberal democracy in eastern Europe. Together with …

El Cavador

AI in NI schools: time found, learning lost?

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The Executive Office’s draft Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy proposes that AI should help teachers grade and analyse pupil performance data. The Education Authority (EA), announcing its rollout of Copilot and Gemini, points to one supplier-funded study of Copilot. That study …

Brian O’Neill

Leo Varadkar calls on Dublin daddy to apologise for walking out on us…

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From the Irish Times: People in the Republic will one day need to offer apologies to northern nationalists for forgetting about them “for a very long time” after partition, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said. Speaking in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, …

Slugger Team

The Northern Irish Brain Drain is a Myth

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For decades it has been widely believed that many of our young folk who decamp from Northern Ireland to pursue further education elsewhere tend not to return. The logic was that with our many local problems there would be greater …