Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast)

Alan Meban. Tweets as @alaninbelfast. Blogs about cinema and theatre over at Alan in Belfast. A freelancer who writes about, reports from, live-tweets and live-streams civic, academic and political events and conferences. He delivers social media training/coaching; produces podcasts and radio programmes; is a FactCheckNI director; a member of Ofcom’s Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland; and a member of the Corrymeela Community.

“I will work tirelessly with all parties to build a truly shared future for Northern Ireland”

| Readers 51

From Peter Robinson’s New Year message: During 2013 I want to see the publication of the Executive’s CSI strategy. Those parties that walked away from the responsibility all politicians have to reach agreement on this issue need to come back to the table. The last few weeks has shown that a party political boycott is not the way to respond to such a significant issue. A worked-up draft is now available. I want political leaders to contribute to moving forward …

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PSNI officer’s car targeted with ‘viable device’ in East Belfast

| Readers 61

Dissidents are believed to have again targeted the car of a PSNI officer living close to police headquarters. [BBC] The unexploded device was discovered on the Upper Newtownards Road at about 14:00 GMT on Sunday. A controlled explosion was heard across East Belfast this evening. Police and politicians have condemned the attempted murder of the officer and his family who were about to travel with him. Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast)Alan Meban. Tweets as @alaninbelfast. Blogs about cinema and theatre …

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McGuinness follows Adams to become Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead

| Readers 80

Updated with a photo of the letter. Six a half months after announcing that he would resign as MP for Mid-Ulster to concentrate on being deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness today finally announced that he’d sent his letter to the Commons to kick of the process. Back in January 2011, Gerry Adams was disqualified as a Member of Parliament when the Chancellor of the Exchequer appointed him as “Steward and Bailiff of Her Majesty’s Manor of Northstead in the county …

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Looking back at 2012, and forward to 2013

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Doing some homework before taking part in a political review of the year on Lisburn’s 98FM community radio, I looked back at posts over the last twelve months. While there were lots of other significant political events during the year, below are some of the posts that caught my eye. Back in January, the DUP and Sinn Féin agreed to drop the Department of Employment and Learning. It hasn’t gone away you know! Aged 85, Lord Bannside stepped down from …

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4 Corners Festival & the Irish Churches Peace Project

| Readers 554

Five minutes of prayer around Belfast City Hall was the most public Christian response to the flags issue in Belfast. With the carols about the ‘Prince of Peace’ sung at Christmas, what else should the church be doing to bring peace and stability to the situation? The church’s role in the Troubles will long be a subject of debate with accusations of a lack of leadership weighed against individual grassroots peacemaking and relationship building. Planned long before the protests began, …

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OFMDFM’s sluggardly FOI performance under spotlight

| Readers 86

This morning the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced four public bodies which will be monitored between January and March in 2013 “over concerns about the timeliness of their responses to Freedom of Information requests”. The four public bodies were selected from the thousands of public bodies across the UK that fall under the ICO’s remit for FOI: Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council; two Westminster departments, Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions; and the Office of the First Minister and …

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Welsh Government to buy Cardiff Airport: What could NI Executive buy or sell?

| Readers 65

There’s money in those Welsh valleys. The Welsh government have reached an agreement to buy Cardiff Airport from its owners TBI. The BBC report: The airport would be run on a commercial basis by an independent operator on behalf of the government. It will not receive subsidies and should “demonstrate a return to the taxpayer,” [First Minister Carwyn Jones] said. Plaid Cymru welcomed the announcement and said the airport needed to be a “shopfront” for Wales, but Liberal Democrats are …

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“It was like Belfast in the 1970s out there”

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So far I’ve only found one mention of Belfast (or Northern Ireland) in this morning’s Daily Mail. [free at the airport – don’t judge!] On page 13 a neighbout was describing a Facebook party that had got out of control next door to his house in Essex: It was like Belfast in the 1970s out there. It was terrifying. There were hundreds of people out to cause trouble. 1970s? How out of touch … Maybe GB aren’t paying attention to …

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Political words this morning; but still violent protests and an attempted murder this evening

| Readers 74

This morning the parties up on the hill got to put their feelings about flags, protests and intimidation on the record. That this Assembly unequivocally condemns the rioting and the campaign of intimidation, harassment and violent attacks on elected representatives following the decision of Belfast City Council in relation to the flying of the Union flag; expresses its sympathy to all those who have been attacked, injured or threatened with attack in recent days, including police officers, elected representatives and …

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Belfast 400: People, Place and History (Sean Connolly, editor)

| Readers 144

Ten days ago I finished reading Belfast 400: People, Place and History, a book published to mark the four hundredth anniversary of the city’s charter. In the light of last week’s reawakened community tensions and violence, it is interesting to look back at the roots of the city and its journey into the twenty first century. Belfast 400’s chapters are written by a series of experts and edited by Prof Sean Connolly from QUB School of History and Anthropology. The …

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“delivering a shared future [for] those who issued death threats [and] attacked home of colleagues”

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An interesting debate on Sunday Sequence this morning. Just after the nine o’clock news, William Crawley chaired a discussion between Naomi Long, Alex Kane and Danny Morrison. [Debate starts 34 minutes into the programme.] Points raised about the kind of parties that did not emerge following the Good Friday Agreement, whether there was a lack of political imagination, what moving on can feel like. The conversation finished with Naomi Long being asked about the personal impact of the last week. …

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“If working class loyalists … don’t decide to politicise and to tackle the political system then they’ll be left behind”

| Readers 86

At the autumn PUP conference and since, Billy Hutchinson has been pleading for loyalist communities to politicise. To quote part of his speech: If working class loyalists, protestants and unionists don’t decide to politicise and to tackle the political system, then they’ll be left behind. That is the problem with our community. We need to get it right. We need to articulate our arguments politically. We are perceived to be sectarian bigots and we are not. We need to get …

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Expect an influx of social energisers and culturally curious tourists in 2013 … as well as the G8 leaders

| Readers 110

Slugger readers in Great Britain who fall into the marketing segments of “social energisers” and “culturally curious” should expect to see adverts tempting them across the shuck Irish Sea in 2013 to “explore the landscapes, history and culture we have on offer”. social energisers = 18-34, no kids; heavy social networkers; often living in London, Glasgow and Manchester; wanting urban holidays with friends; looking for daytime activities. culturally curious = 45+, living with partner/married; use social media but not heavy …

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Inside a war of words; outside traffic disruption, flag burning, brick throwing and storming the City Hall

| Readers 64

Democracy in action tonight. A decision made (democratically) in a Belfast City Council committee – not with everyone’s agreement but a decision following the procedures nonetheless – was brought to the full council for debate and ratification. While the exchanges could be described as a war of words, a democratic process was followed and a recorded vote taken. The vote 29/21 passed Alliance’s proposal to fly the Union Flag on designated days only over Belfast City Hall (and not over …

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Who needs bus lanes when a flag might block the Belfast traffic?

| Readers 86

The Continental Market at the front of the City Hall will be open until 8pm on Monday evening, enticing visitors and shoppers to wander around the stalls and feel good about Belfast. Around the back of the City Hall, a rally will be held at 5.45pm on Monday evening to protest at the likelihood that the full Belfast City Council meeting at 6pm will vote to reduce the number of days that the Union Flag flies from the civic building. …

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Why doesn’t Leveson pass Cameron’s “bonkers” test? And would Ofcom really be a “flawed” backstop?

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[David Cameron to Andrew Marr] “We must wait for what Lord Leveson says … I don’t want to pre-judge it. We don’t want heavy-handed state intervention. We’ve got to have a free press.” Backing up with legislation the self regulation of an industry that has consistently failed to be harsh to itself hardly qualifies as failing Cameron’s “bonkers” test. Labour – from the advantage of Opposition – are asking for the Leveson recommendations to be implemented in full. Ed Miliband: …

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Leveson report: the self-regulation carrot with the legislative stick

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It may be some time before Slugger posters finish reading the 1988 pages of Lord Justice Leveson’s report into his Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press. So here’s a short post in the meantime! [48 page Executive Summary; four volume full report] He said that the press had “wreaked havoc in the lives of innocent people” for many decades and called their behaviour (at times) “outrageous”. The report’s executive summary comments: Phone hacking is most decidedly …

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For what is Northern Ireland going to be known in 2013?

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As NI2012 Our Place Our Time comes to a halt, does Northern Ireland Tourist Board have a fight on its hands to maintain this year’s impetus? Competition comes from Tourism Ireland’s The Gathering (which Tourism Minister Arlene Foster made no mention of in her party conference speech at the weekend) not to mention VisitScotland’s three month Winter Festivals promotion. On top of a series of high profile events, The Gathering’s website has a call to action, encouraging Irish families and …

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Know your members: the DUP launches a significant membership survey (proposed & run by university researchers)

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DUP 2012 membership survey front page

Update: A few clarifications from the DUP: “the researchers approached us and it is a funded research programme to costs party nothing”. The funding is from the Leverhulme Trust. The questions were drafted by the researchers around a year ago, building on previous work with the Orange Order. – – – Membership survey forms were being handed out to members at the DUP conference as the party works with three English universities to slice and dice and understand the make-up …

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DUP conference: dogmas, Mexican bandits, turkeys, opposition, outreach #dup12

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The DUP is undeniably changing. Ten years ago who would have thought that purveyors of the trade organisation representing sellers of the devil’s buttermilk – Pubs of Ulster – would be sponsoring a drinks reception at the DUP conference? Who would have predicted that a Irish government minister would be welcomed to the DUP conference and that delegates would speak highly of his understanding of the minutiae of CAP reform? Could you imagine a Conservative Secretary of State being willing …

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