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 …

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, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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, …

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 …

Episode One of the new series of ‘Blue Lights’ last week ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. But before we dive into that, another quick reminder of the ground rules for these reviews. We would urge those commenting on …