New row over MLA salary increases…
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From the BBC: A pay rise of more than £2,000 for Northern Ireland Assembly members (MLAs) is “grotesque”, the first minister has said. The proposals planned for next year would bring MLAs annual salary to £69,216. The increase will take …
‘Days of conversation, centuries of consequence’: Benjamin Franklin at Hillsborough Castle
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The Linen Hall Library in Belfast hosted the final event in its five-part series marking the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence. The talk, introduced by Patsy Horton, the library’s cultural programmer, was delivered by David Orr, Castle …
Pax Americana is becoming Tax Americana…
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The Trumpian revolution is re-ordering the global economic and security architecture in many ways, some of which could have significant implications for Ireland, whether we like it or not. Pax Americana is being replaced by Tax Americana where relations between …
UUP, DUP and SDLP play swapsies…
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Former UUP councillor,ex peeler and happy Lundy Linzi Mclaren has announced that if she re-enters politics, it will be as a candidate for the SDLP. Telling Cool FM: ‘I’ve been on a journey. No one crosses that divide. I’m interested …
You are getting £63 quid of your electricity bill next month….
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Thanks to the Great Orange One, it’s going to be an expensive winter for all of us, with petrol predicted to hit £2 a litre in the next few weeks, gas up 20% and home heating oil up 100% and …
AI: Ireland’s Next Great Engine of Jobs and Growth…
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Over the last week, there have been genuine concerns about the safety of increasingly powerful AI and, at the same time, ongoing scaremongering about AI causing mass job losses in the future. Whilst it is absolutely essential that AI does …
All support acts withdraw from Ed Sheeran’s tour…
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From the Guardian: All four supporting acts for upcoming dates of Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour have withdrawn in solidarity with fellow opening act Macklemore, as backlash grows against his removal from the tour over onstage comments in support of Palestine. …
Canada could become first ‘associate member’ of the EU…
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From the Guardian: Ursula von der Leyen’s dramatic offer to open the gate to Canada to become the EU’s first ever associate member (9:54) cannot be underestimated in political and trade significance. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney shakes hands with …
Noah Donohoe inquest verdict: jury deliver their unanimous findings to the coroner
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It has probably been the most high-profile story we have never covered on Slugger. The reason being that any discussion of the topic automatically got into conspiracy theories that I felt were hurtful to his family and friends. It was …
The lamentable response to the Robert Hamill Inquiry…
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Bridgewater is a Slugger reader from Belfast. The Robert Hamill Inquiry was published yesterday. The 25 year old Catholic father of three was viciously murdered by a group of Protestants in the centre of Portadown in 1997, simply because he …