Chris Donnelly

A Primary school principal in Coleraine has claimed that his school has been the target of attacks on four occasions in recent weeks by loyalists following a visit to the controlled primary school in Coleraine by Education Minister, Catriona Ruane. John Platt, Principal of Millburn County P.S., claimed that ‘certain people’ wanted to “send a message that we can make life difficult for you” after he had invited the Sinn Fein Minister to the school. He went on to state …

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The mixed village of Stoneyford is once again making the news following the latest series of attacks on catholic residents by a locally based loyalist gang. In the past fortnight, three generations of one catholic family have been targeted by loyalists. In the first attack, the windows of an elderly woman’s home were smashed; subsequently, her son-in-law received the latest death threat to be issued against catholic families residing in the area; and last evening, three loyalists targeted the 12-year …

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ICTU President and Regional Secretary of UNISON, Patricia McKeown, has written to every UNISON member in the north criticising the actions of the NIPSA union leadership during the Classroom Assistants dispute. Accusing NIPSA of being in the grip of “a small political faction,” she accused the leadership of acting in a “dishonourable” manner and of making “hysterical and defammatory” remarks about UNISON. The development follows accusations by elements within NIPSA that UNISON and the GMB had ‘rigged’ their ballot which …

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Belfast Mayor, Jim Rodgers, has suggested that the Pride of the Raven flute band ‘take the high ground’ and withdraw their controversial application to hold a protest parade against Alliance MLA, Anna Lo. The “very respectable” [Mr. Rodgers’ words] Pride of the Raven Band had initially applied to march through Donegall Pass, a decision which prompted outrage due to suspicions that the route of the parade was deliberately selected to intimidate chinese people residing and working in the area- a …

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Another feast of international football awaits, with games in Cardiff, Belfast, Glasgow and Tel Aviv catching the attention of local fans. Whilst fans of the Republic will have to make do with a battle for 3rd place with an equally lacklustre Welsh side, the North can keep hopes of qualification alive with victory over the Danes tonight (though Mark Lawrenson has just suggested qualification would be a ‘loaves and fishes’ achievement on Football Focus.) As for the mighty Scots, victory …

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The BBC was tonight reporting the details of the conflicting legal opinions provided to Executive Ministers ahead of the decision by Social Development Minister, Margaret Ritchie, to halt funding to the CTI (not yet on website). In its 10:25pm bulletin, it reported the legal opinion upon which the Minister decided to act as stating that her move could be “robustly defended” and stated that the initial decision to proceed with funding for the CTI could be legally challenged on the …

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So David McNarry’s attempt to out-do the DUP in terms of public contempt for the Irish language has come a cropper at the first hurdle, illustrating in the process to unionists and nationalists alike just why power-sharing mechanisms will be required at Stormont for a very long time to come. Yet, taken with the DUP’s pronouncements that the party will not support an Irish language Act, do the antics of McNarry illustrate a failure of some unionist politicians to grasp …

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The continuing debacle over the siting of a new multi-sports stadium is likely to re-enter the political arena with the news that an IFA/ Linfield-commissioned report is due to recommend the closure of the South Stand at Windsor Park from January 2008, reducing the capacity of the stadium to 9,000. IFA Chief Executive, Howard Wells, admits he has “no idea where the money is coming from” to meet the cost of upgrading Windsor to the basic standard required to host …

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Two of our weekly political commentators have had a go at the DUP- and others- over the continuing Causeway’gate’ controversy this weekend. Brian Feeney’s comment piece (subs required) focused on both the mess Arlene Foster has got herself into and the manner in which the DUP’s Executive table partners have remained fairly silent on the matter. Feeney uses the occasion to criticise the Executive parties for their relative inactivity to date and he questions whether or not the Assembly as …

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To the annoyance of her dectractors on the unionist benches (and elsewhere..), Education Minister Catriona Ruane would appear to have successfully intervened to resolve the Classroom Assistants’ Dispute. As interesting yesterday was the very public spat between the various trade unions representing Classroom Assistants. Whilst trade unions often differ in strategy, tactics and outlook, the convention (normally though not always adhered to) of not publicly criticising another union, particularly in the midst of a strike, was shattered. Chris Donnelly

To the many people trying to make local soccer into a profitable, enjoyable and family-friendly spectacle, tonight’s first ever live broadcast of an Irish League game on Sky Sports will be viewed as an important step forward. The game ended with a 2-2 draw between Linfield and Cliftonville. Yet I was struck by a part of the BBC Radio Ulster Sports bulletin tonight which highlighted how Cliftonville FC were warning fans on their website that a ‘zero tolerance’ approach would …

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Bit of a stink brewing in Wexford after local MEP, Avril Doyle, had a Papal flag and Irish tricolour removed from a local church prior to her daughter’s wedding last month. The Fine Gael politician has defended her decision to seek the removal of the flags, saying, “It was my personal call as I believe there is no place in church for flags of any kind.” The Catholic Church in Ireland, unlike other Christian Churches, does not have a tradition …

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The controversy surrounding the yet-to-be-rebuilt Giants Causeway Visitors Centre (here, here and here ) was revived today as Ian Paisley Junior, the North Antrim MLA who claims that he “knew of” the property developer and fellow DUP member, Seymour Sweeney, from whom he purchased a home, has now conceded that he went lobster fishing with Seymour Sweeney, and lobbied alongside his father for a drift net licence on behalf of a fisherman whose crew included Mr. Sweeney. Chris Donnelly

I doubt it will compare favourably with the ‘Thrilla in Manila,’ or indeed ‘The Brawl in the Hall,’ but the news that two of the defeated Northern Ireland players indulged in a bout of fisticuffs on the plane departing Iceland just about sums up the week from an international football perspective on the island. For Steve Staunton, the post-mortem assaults started at half-time in Dublin’s RTE studio last night and continued today; similarly, Nigel Worthington has faced the music today …

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The fire which badly damaged a Sinn Fein office in Lisnaskea two weeks ago has been followed by another attack on the village’s Sinn Fein office. In the latest incident, a brick thrown through the window in the office was accompanied by an envelope containing a note and bullets, naming a number of party representatives as targets. Chris Donnelly

Gaelic football has undergone many changes in recent times, facing up to the challenges of modernisation, the demands of dealing with the growing professionalisation of the game and introducing the radical alterations to the Championship format. The past decade has witnessed more and more counties competing at the highest level to ensure competitive Provincial and Championship formats right up to the September finale. But through it all, the men from the Kingdom have endured the many challenges to their throne …

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Both Irish international teams recorded victories tonight, with the two most prolific Irish strikers in history each adding a brace to their growing tallies. The Northern Ireland team, who won 3-1 in Belfast, will also be bouyed by the impressive 4-0 hammering dished out by the Republic of Ireland to the former’s Group opponents, Denmark. Special congratulations to Derry’s Darron Gibson, who made his international debut for the Republic making an immediate impact with his first touch of the game, …

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As a teacher, I am one of those who quickly becomes familiar with the latest trend in baby names. There was a period of years there when no class was complete without several Chloes, Hannahs, Conors and Rebeccas. The class I passed on to a new teacher last June contained multiple ‘Connells’, all with different spellings no less. And then, of course, there are those who go for the more unique Celtic name. (And, incidentally, teachers will also be able …

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Aer Lingus pilots have called off the threatened strike action planned for a 48-hour period this week. Meanwhile, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has asked a “

A row has erupted after a tourist was informed that no such place existed when looking to purchase a bus ticket to Derry at Belfast Central Station. Billy Armstrong, UUP MLA for Mid-Ulster, found nothing wrong with the behaviour of the Translink employee, comparing it to a tourist requesting a ticket for ‘Belfast’ but asking for ‘Coalisland’ instead on today’s Talkback (5-10 mins in), a remark surely deserving of some less than flattering award….. UPDATE: Apologies are in order to …

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