Brian O'Neill 
I don’t like zoos. I think they’re cruel to animals, plain and simple. I remember visiting Belfast Zoo when I was a kid and watching an elephant bang his head repeatedly against the wall, clearly distressed, clearly not where he belonged. Mind you, it was the 80s, so maybe he was just caught up in the general gloom that blanketed Belfast back then. Still, that image stuck with me, sadness dressed up as entertainment. But even beyond the animal welfare …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any …
From RTÉ News: Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has won a defamation case against the BBC. Mr Adams claimed he was defamed in a 2016 Spotlight programme and a subsequent online article, which he said falsely claimed that he sanctioned the killing of former senior Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson. Mr Donaldson was shot dead in Donegal in 2006, months after admitting being an informer for the police and MI5 over two decades. The jury rejected the BBC’s defence …
From the BBC: A total reset of the healthcare system in Northern Ireland is needed to avoid a year-on-year funding deficit of hundreds of millions of pounds, the new permanent secretary of the Department of Health has said. Mike Farrar said he had “every reason to believe” Northern Ireland’s health and social care system “could be fantastic”, but said there were significant challenges. There is currently a £600m deficit in the health budget – a third of which is earmarked …
From the BBC: A return-to-office policy for the civil service would not be possible because there is no longer enough space to accommodate everyone, Stormont assembly members have been told. Many civil servants began working from home during the pandemic, a trend which has continued. The NI Civil Service (NICS) is in the process of reducing its office estate by 40% by selling buildings and ending leases. Sharon Smyth, chief executive of construction and procurement delivery at the Department of …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any …
In anticipation of Adam Curtis’ new series Shifty, I have been listening to some of his podcast interviews. That gave me an idea to ask ChatGPT to apply the theories of documentary maker Adam Curtis to Northern Ireland society. Now, I know some of you have strong views on AI. Personally, I found this AI response very good, but frankly, it is rather scary given how smart it is getting. Let me know what you make of it. Prompt: Apply …
I remember being shocked at some of the responses to this post a few years ago – Schooldays, the most miserable days of your life?. The comments section turned into a kind of group therapy session, with some genuinely harrowing tales. Listening to a recent podcast, one guest described schools as trauma factories. Harsh, you might think – but it’s true for a lot of people. Behind the nostalgia-soaked lens some wear, the truth for many is far grimmer. Bullying, …
Adam Curtis is this brilliantly oddball British documentary maker who’s made a name for himself by stitching together weird archive footage, moody music, and these sweeping, hypnotic voiceovers that make you feel like reality’s been a bit of a scam all along. He started out at the BBC back in the ’80s and has been poking at power, politics, and the madness of modern life ever since. His big breakout was Pandora’s Box, but it’s stuff like The Century of …
The Irish News reports: Belfast-based litigation and media lawyer Olivia O’Kane said that with a case such as that taken by Mr Adams, “even getting to the door of the court alone could cost parties hundreds of thousands”. “That’s serious money, and you have to consider the associated costs, such as in this case flying a key witness over from Australia,” she told the Irish News. “Legal fees in Dublin are higher than NI, and sometimes higher than in London. …
The older I get, the more my inner Presbyterian asserts itself — and nowhere more so than in my loathing of gambling.Of all the addictions, gambling might just be the most ruinous. You can drink yourself into a stupor, yes, but your liver taps out eventually. With gambling, there’s no natural limit. You can lose your house, your job, your family — your entire future — in a single afternoon. Thousands gone in a few clicks. Just try watching any …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any …
I’ve fully embraced our shiny new AI world and now use ChatGPT daily — for everything from fixing the windows on my mate’s 2014 Honda Jazz to getting advice on random health queries. It’s genuinely brilliant, and I’d recommend giving it a try. A few months ago, I discovered I could use ChatGPT to help write posts. Typical use cases include: Tidying up spelling and grammar Making text more readable or expanding what I have written Adding background information on …
Veteran journalist Chris Moore has a new book out on Kincora – Kincora: Britain’s Shame, Mountbatten, MI5, the Belfast Boys’ Home Sex Abuse Scandal and the British Cover-Up. From Suzanne Breen in the BeltTel: A man who claims Lord Mountbatten raped him as a child says he learned the identity of his attacker from watching news reports of his murder by the IRA. Arthur Smyth was 11 years old when he says the senior royal twice sexually abused him in …
GPs have rejected the Health Minister’s additional funding of £9.5 million as insufficient. And you can see their point: £9.5 million is a drop in the ocean for our bloated, creaking health service. Still, I think we’re at a tipping point with general practice. GPs have what our American friends might call “f*ck you” money. They earn a well-deserved high salary, which gives them the freedom to retire early, especially after years toiling away in the NHS salt mines. In …
I was talking with a fella a while back who was very pleased with himself. He had just landed a new job with a company that paid £10k more than he was currently earning. Just one snag – the company was based in Dublin. They were in North Dublin, so he reasoned he could do the commute in an hour and a half, plus he figured he could work from home a few days a week. I caught up with …
From the BBC: The estimated costs of accommodation for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland has risen to £400m, four times the original estimate. That is according to a report by the UK Spending watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO). According to the NAO, there were 2,741 people in asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland in December 2024. That included 413 people in hotels and 2,328 people in other accommodation. According to the NAO, asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland is among the …
