“Old fuddy-duddies” versus Big Brother

The House of Lords has continued to fight against compulsory ID Cards but Home Secretary Charles Clarke persists.The Ulster-Scot in me is always wary of too much power in a central power’s hands and this enabling act reeks of a government using public fear for a power grab. The pressure for ID cards, more terror laws (that attack free speech) and government insisting the police be allowed to hold the DNA of innocent people including children should be grounds for …

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What’s going on down at Academy Street?

The money difficulties of the Belfast Education and Library Board are well known and proposed cuts of £4m lead has created a cross-party consensus of oppostion. However, the crisis has led to a close examination of all spending and a glaring inequality in youth provision in North Belfast has been highlighted. Youth centres (directly managed and independent) are a key part of youth service delivery. In the Oldpark area BELB spent £275,030 supporting full and part-time youth facilities in 2005-06. …

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A failure to communicate?

Last Sunday was the 60th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech but has the peace process produced anything comparable? Immediately after WWII, many were in denial of the new geo-political realities but Churchill encapsulated it with his speech at Westminster college. Speeches have often summed up a mood or helped people understand complex political issues. For Unionists two 20th century examples would be the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant of 1912 and Harold McCusker’s speech in the Anglo-Irish Agreement …

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Unlocking Learning Dreams in Deprived Loyalist communities

Dr Jerry Stein, an American academic with an innovative and successful approach to educational attainment in deprived communities visited Northern Ireland last week as a guest of Public Achievement, Community Relations Council and Upper North Belfast Community Empowerment Partnership and he is hoping to develop a pilot in deprived loyalist communities in North Belfast.In his talk at the CRC offices he emphasised that a culture of learning is the key. Schools impact upon those with a desire to learn and …

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“Britday” and the Olympics are coming

Brown’s call for renewed pride in Britishness through a day of public celebration with a focus on Britain’s veterans seems to have been confirmed to Iris Robinson.In his patriotic speech he made a robust defence of the display of the Union flag saying it was “…a symbol of unity and part of a modern expression of patriotism too…All the United Kingdom should honour it, not ignore it. We should assert that the Union flag by definition is a flag for …

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This is Ulster calling.

Mick had appealed for more Unionist bloggers and fair_deal has accepted the challenge. This blog is to see if I have mastered the technical know-howThe task Mick identified was someone to “brings to light the positive nature of protestant civil society”. However, he also added a challenge to slugger contributors that such stories have been “a constant subject of pejorative (and largely ignorant) attack by Slugger readers, politicians and the media in general. I hope to meet my challenge as …

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