Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) – Page 48 – Slugger O'Toole

#onthehill In which the blogger wonders whether the online coverage is indeed better than being there in person …

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 13, 2011, 10:43 pm

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If the Vodafone network penetrating the stone-clad Parliament Buildings had made the leap from 2G to 3G, some of this might have been uploaded during the day! First off, should you want to go and watch your MLAs at work, getting into Parliament Buildings – where the Northern Ireland Assembly and its committees meet – is pretty straightforward. If you explain that you’re a visitor, you’ll be waved up the drive and directed to the visitors’ car park (which fills …

#onthehill A cold start

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 13, 2011, 9:29 am

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Flurries of snow were swirling around the already full visitor’s car park as I arrived. Like a scene from CS Lewis’ Narnia … though someone on twitter reckoned “Narnia made more sense!” Inside, evidence of the previous night’s primary school carol service has been stripped from the Great Hall. A well lit Christmas tree is giving the Queen’s chandelier – the one NI didn’t return after the wall – a run for its money on the illumination front. And to …

What’ll happen #onthehill on Tuesday? I’m planning to find out …

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 12, 2011, 9:05 am

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About eleven years old, visiting London for the first time, I queued up with my family and sat in the public gallery of the House of Commons and listened for a short time while a few MPs debated something unmemorable about foreign policy. Much closer to home, I’ve been to many events in the Long Gallery up at Parliament Buildings, sat inside the Assembly chamber while the McCrea/McElduff double act explained the finer details of life as an MLA, and …

GCSE results … and 9,000 sixteen year olds

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 8, 2011, 7:15 pm

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Jonathan Craig - MLA and chair of the board of governors of Laurelhill Community College

(Blog posts are better when they cover one idea at a time. This follows on from the previous post about the Belfast Telegraph’s coverage of Laurelhill Community College’s inspection report.) The front page of the Laurellhill Community College website links to a news item from August which – while omitting any figures – explains: the number of pupils being awarded the highest GCSE grades A* to C has risen again in Laurelhill Community College. It was particularly pleasing to see …

Which hat is a politician wearing when they speak? Readers need context.

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 8, 2011, 3:45 pm

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Jonathan Craig - MLA and chair of the board of governors of Laurelhill Community College

An article in Wednesday’s Belfast Telegraph [not online] (that made it onto the front page by the evening edition) drew attention to the latest Education and Training Inspectorate report on Laurelhill Community College in Lisburn. Lindsay Fergus reported that: A sixth secondary school in greater Belfast has been placed under special measures after being found to be inadequate by Government inspectors. Laurelhill Community College was criticised for “inadequate” standards achieved by key stage four pupils. The percentage of pupils achieving …

Fracking petition, debate and a cry of ‘liars and thieves’

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 6, 2011, 3:00 pm

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No Fracking petition outside Parliament Buildings

A delegation of concerned residents – accompanied by the Grim Reaper – travelled to Stormont this morning to present a petition of over 2800 signatures opposed to ‘fracking’ ahead of Green Party MLA Steven Agnew’s motion proposing a moratorium in Northern Ireland on the gas drilling process. Update – Members of the Assembly backed a call for a moratorium on onshore and offshore exploration and the withdrawal of licences by 49 votes to 30, though the BBC notes that “Enterprise …

Newry Times – a new hyperlocal online paper run by three unemployed graduates – the future of journalism?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 5, 2011, 9:05 am

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The Newry Times, a community-based local online newspaper was launched last week by three unemployed graduates, funded through their job seekers allowance. We’re hoping our story proves to other graduates throughout Ireland that there is things out there you can do while you’re unemployed, things that are really rewarding and exciting. With a newspaper look to the website, which is mobile friendly, the team have made a strong start this week with over 10,000 pageviews and a range of stories …

For what purpose will the special Belfast City Council meeting go ahead on Monday evening?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 4, 2011, 6:59 pm

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Belfast City Councillors took their opportunity on Thursday evening to scold and support the Lord Mayor Niall Ó Donnghaile, following his decision to only present half of the Duke of Edinburgh awards at a ceremony last Monday night, and in particular to avoid presenting the award to a young woman who was down in the programme as belonging to an Army Cadet Force. A summons signed by 21 unionist councillors was submitted on Thursday and a special meeting is still …

Live stream from Belfast City Council #bcc

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 1, 2011, 6:52 pm

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In Switzerland, they have a TV channel that switches between live views from the top of snowy mountain tops so that skiers and holiday makers can gauge the weather. In NI, we could have a channel that switches around live views from council proceedings! Loading…Webcast Available Here : http://www.belfastcity.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/68969 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 …

“bright colours and/or striped materials should not be worn as these may distort the images” … a summons … and a protest … it’s democracy live

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 30, 2011, 11:28 pm

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Tomorrow could be an interesting day – and night – around Belfast City Hall. A rally is being planned to protest at the Lord Mayor’s actions at Monday night’s Duke of Edinburgh Award ceremony. Facebook suggests: [click on the thumbnail to expand] The people of Belfast will emerge on the City hall tomorrow night at 6pm [or 5pm depending on where you look] to express their anger. We would hope that Citizens from all over Northern Ireland will join for …

Hotels in conflict …

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 30, 2011, 10:11 am

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Europa Hotel, Belfast via Rory Storey Photography on Flickr

In this morning’s Independent, Jonathan Brown takes a look at infamous conflict hotels. The Rex Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali, King David Hotel in Jerusalem … and closer to home, the Europa Hotel in Belfast! When work began on the site of the former Great Northern Railway station in the early 1970s, the Europa and its 12 glass-fronted stories were supposed to herald a sophisticated, cosmopolitan future for Belfast. But by the 1980s …

Sammy Wilson’s #dupconf routine – complete with doubtful gags about SF’s Long Creche

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 26, 2011, 4:26 pm

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Sammy Wilson’s speech was billed as ‘finance’, but was in reality his usual mid-afternoon comic turn to pick up the spirits of the delegates who were still in the hall. You can hear the full 20 minute routine over on Audioboo (mp3 download). In one section about 5 minutes in, he was commenting on the recent Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall. He referred to the crèche – labelled by Sinn Fein (rather than Sammy) as ‘Long Crèche’ …

The not-so-elitist grammar school education (with the exception of Lumen Christi and Rathmore)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 23, 2011, 10:28 pm

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An article in today’s Belfast Telegraph [some detail now online] contains the results of this year’s Freedom of Information trawl around NI grammar schools to find out about their Year 8 entrance policies for the 2011 intake. With two different exam systems (AQE and GL assessment), varying degrees of using the overall scores or grades/quintiles, and some schools , the results are even more difficult to compare than last year (which I posted about in September). The chart below shows …

Robinson reaching out to nationalists … just not through the Irish News

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 21, 2011, 3:00 pm

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Peter Robinson has “declined every request for an interview from The Irish News over the past two years” In an editorial titled “Robinson ways contradictory”, this morning’s Irish News [behind a paywall] accuses the DUP leader of speaking with forked tongue when he calls for votes from the Catholic and nationalist tradition to maintain the link with Britain. The first minister said that the time had come for all our citizens to stop seeing everything through the prism of religion …

TUV Conference – from “a thorn in their flesh” to “a great big cactus inside their shirts”

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 19, 2011, 9:48 pm

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The TUV held there annual party conference in Cookstown today. I wasn’t there, but offer some snippets from the speeches (or highlights of speeches) emailed through from the TUV press office. There was practically no online activity around the conference – and the non-attendance of former candidate David Vance probably dampened the volume of tweeting. Party President William Ross opened the conference by addressing the party’s continued existence: I am sure that some are surprised to see us still alive, …

Conservatives winding up the UUP?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 10, 2011, 11:41 am

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If you tilt your head towards East Belfast, hold your breath and listen carefully, you’ll be able to hear the sound of chuckling from UUP HQ. Jeff Peel has blogged this morning about an audacious, bold, and unlikely-to-be-considered offer from the Conservative Party to the UUP. I was today forwarded a letter that has been sent to all members of the Conservative Party in Northern Ireland. The letter suggests that the Conservative Party chairman, Lord Feldman of Elstree, has addressed …

Margaret Ritchie signs off as leader

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 5, 2011, 3:46 pm

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Margaret Ritchie outgoing leader speech

Margaret Ritchie addressed the SDLP conference on Saturday afternoon. Ostensibly introducing a panel on Creating Jobs Supporting People, she reflected that she first entered politics to serve people. Outgoing @sdlplive leader Margaret Ritchie addressing SDLP conference (mp3) She pointed to a “return to poverty” and a new phenomenon of “middle income poverty”. She described “the onslaught of Tory Welfare Reform” as “a major money-saving exercise at the expense of those at the bottom”. David Cameron says “We’re all in this …

SDLP Conference – Friday night is hustings night #sdlp11 (with audio from hustings speeches)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 4, 2011, 10:43 pm

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It’s dark in the large room hosting the SDLP conference. So dark, that I can’t see my laptop’s keyboard. Delegates are seated around circular tables – wedding style – in the Shaws Bridge Ramada Hotel. The tables at the front are pretty empty, while delegates loiter around the back wall like teenagers at a youth club. There’s a general spirit of disinterestedness amongst some delegates this evening – the leadership is dominating everyone’s thinking. The illumination is dull, and so …

Austerity? What austerity? The MTV EMA goodie bag, I mean goodie suitcase

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 4, 2011, 5:17 pm

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MTV EMA European Music Awards goodie bag/suitcase

It’s good to see that as debt and austerity envelopes the European Union, the presents thrust upon the artists and ‘VIPs’ attending the MTV European Music Awards in Belfast this weekend are reflecting the pressures felt by those who listen to their music … I hope they’ve all booked an extra piece of hold luggage on their return flights, otherwise Ryanair are going to fleece them for an extra suitcase! MTV today revealed the contents of the 2011 MTV EMA …

SDLP go to the polls this weekend – a look at the voting process as Attwood becomes the bookies’ favourite #sdlp11

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 2, 2011, 10:00 am

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Margaret Ritchie SDLP leadership campaign promotional balloon - Let's Make History

SDLP delegates go to the poll this weekend to select a new leader to succeed Margaret Ritchie. Party HQ will be busy selecting suitable triumphant music for the winner to enter the hall to on Saturday evening around 5pm. This morning, Paddy Power lists the odds 11/8 Alex Attwood 7/4 Patsy McGlone 3/1 Conal McDevitt (though Paddy Power spell his name incorrectly) 6/1 Alasdair McDonnell Votes will be physically cast at this weekend’s conference. Each branch has one voting delegate …