Brian O’Neill – Page 85 – Slugger O'Toole

Our 20% DLA rates, taking the proverbial or rightly deserved?

Brian O'Neill on April 3, 2015, 3:59 pm

| Readers 2669

The Belfast Telegraph is reporting that 20% of the population in West Belfast are claiming DLA: 18,760 of the area’s 94,200 population. North Belfast had a rate of 15.6% and West Tyrone was on 15%. The average in England is 5% but even North Down is on 7.6%. Newton Emerson had a good column in the Irish News this week were he pointed out that the Troubles only account for a small number of claimants. Our own Salmon of Data also …

Photo of the every other day – Belfast starlings at dusk

Brian O'Neill on April 2, 2015, 11:44 am

| Readers 555

Photo by Mervyn McCullagh Can anyone advise on what locations and times you can see starlings in action across NI? 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 stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.

Slugger presents the East Belfast Hustings….

Brian O'Neill on April 1, 2015, 4:23 pm

| Readers 1488

The East Belfast seat is one of the most contested in Northern Ireland. Come and watch Gavin Robinson and Naomi Long debate the key issues for the upcoming Westminster Election. Sam McBride from the Newsletter, Allison Morris from the Irish News and columnist Alex Kane will also be in attendance to pose questions to the candidates. This event is brought to you by sluggerotoole.com and our partners Chambré Public Affairs & Lucid Talk. Tickets are free but you do need to book. …

Slugger Poll: Who do you think will be the next UK Prime Minister?

Brian O'Neill on March 30, 2015, 5:10 pm

| Readers 1448

As the UK election campaign kicks off in earnest, will ‘Call me Dave’ keep his feet under the number 10 kitchen table, or will ‘Red Ed’ seize the reins of power? If there is a hung parliament which parties votes will decide the next PM? Vote below then let us know your thoughts in the comments. Who do you think will be the next UK Prime Minister? If there is a hung parliament who will be King Maker? This poll …

Video: Patronising St Patrick’s Day TV…

Brian O'Neill on March 30, 2015, 1:40 pm

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Last Week Tonight had this great compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k16kJGRxlvk There is also this classic from the Simpsons. Look of out for the petrol bomber who looks a lot like the late great Gerry Anderson: 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 …

Photo of the every other day – DUP Westminster Candidates 2001

Brian O'Neill on March 25, 2015, 9:28 am

| Readers 1443

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 stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.

The Northern Ireland GP crisis. The doctor won’t see you now…

Brian O'Neill on March 24, 2015, 11:29 am

| Readers 3131

Across Northern Ireland there is a shortage of 234 family doctors. Some 25% of GPs are over 55 so many will be retiring soon further worsening the situation. The number of GP practices in Northern Ireland has shrunk to the lowest level in nearly a quarter of a century – and that each GP surgery in the region is, on average, now providing care to 500 more people than ten years ago. Over the last decade, the number of registered …

Liam Neeson, St Patrick and the Northern Ireland identity headache…

Brian O'Neill on March 16, 2015, 1:15 pm

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Ballymena’s finest Liam Neeson it seems is the official voice of Ireland. Here is is narrating the official St Patricks Day video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXifIS5pBi4 He is also the voice for Discover Northern Ireland. Here is the ad Liam narrated for Discover Northern Ireland: You got to hand it to him, he is great at the aul voice overs. Watching these ads you can really imagine the headache Discover Northern Ireland have in trying to market brand NI. Is it Ulster? …

Donate to charity and the UK government will match your donation…

Brian O'Neill on March 11, 2015, 2:01 pm

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UK Aid are running a great scheme whereby they will match your donation to select charities. Eg you give £10 the government gives £10 and the charity gets £20. If you are feeling generous this lent here is the list of eligible charities. CAFOD – donations doubled until 17 May 2015 Lent 2015 The Lent campaign focuses on building resilience against climate change. Match funding will go towards climate resilient agriculture: transforming the livelihoods of 300,000 poor women, men and children in marginalised …

The girl effect: The clock is ticking

Brian O'Neill on March 8, 2015, 6:00 pm

| Readers 153

Today is International Women’s Day. This thought provoking 3 minute video is well worth a watch. Find out more about the campaign here… 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 stuck in front of a screen, I am …

Cardinal Dolan compares Islamic State to the IRA

Brian O'Neill on March 5, 2015, 10:20 am

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The Newsletter is reporting the comments of Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York. The Cardinal said: “Remember 30, 35, 40 years ago with the IRA in Ireland? The IRA claimed to be Catholic, ok? And they were baptised; they had a Catholic identity. What they were doing was a perversion of everything the church stood for.” Watch the interview below and let us know your views in the comments. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by …

Sinn Féin has raised $12 million in the United States over 20 years…

Brian O'Neill on March 5, 2015, 10:07 am

| Readers 1056

The Irish Times has a major report on Sinn Féins fund-raising efforts in the US. Over 20 years they received 15,000 donations with the Philanthropist Chuck Feeney being their biggest donor giving $780,000. The Irish Times Reports: Almost $9.4 million of the $12 million donated were sums of $1,000 or more from individuals and companies ranging from plumbing firms to restaurants, from IT service providers to funeral homes, from air conditioning firms to fish suppliers. Film actors Martin Sheen, Lord …

2015 is looking bleak on the jobs front…

Brian O'Neill on March 4, 2015, 5:59 pm

| Readers 1081

Education Minister John O’Dowd has said schools will likely see 500 job losses for teachers and 1,000 for non-teaching staff due to £28m cuts to his budget. Meanwhile we keep churning out student teachers with no work for them. Also today 200 jobs are to go at a call centre in West Belfast. Translink is also warning of 150 job loses, and also claiming it could go out of business. How a monopoly could go out of business is beyond …

U2 release their short film set in Belfast. Kevin and Sadie with safety pins…

Brian O'Neill on February 16, 2015, 10:36 am

| Readers 1732

U2 has released their short film “Every Breaking Wave” – Directed by Aoife McArdle. . The film is set in Belfast during the early eighties and tells the cross community love story of two punks. The film throws every troubles cliché into the mix, paramilitary dad – check, squaddies beating up punk – check, you get the idea. The film has not gone down well with some locals. Many people do not like it’s negative portrayal of Belfast, they prefer people concentrate on …

Kim Jong Paisley – Photos of the every other day

Brian O'Neill on February 12, 2015, 4:37 pm

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Remember the Paisley icon posters? Well the local artist TLO is at it again. This time its a mash up of Kim Jong-un and Ian Paisley Jr. The artist says: I’m interested in how people read and respond to the image. A woman in the holylands asked me who was missing? She thought the poster was of a real missing person. Lots of the posters have been defaced or removed. A large number remain in Antrim, Ballymena, Ballycastle and Belfast. There …

Photo of the every other day – great balls of fire…

Brian O'Neill on February 9, 2015, 5:50 pm

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Photo by David McDonald, taken February 7, 2015 The Rise sculpture at sunset, Broadway Roundabout Belfast. 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 stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.

Caption competition…

Brian O'Neill on February 3, 2015, 8:48 pm

| Readers 791

Gavin Robinson, Nichola Mallon and Máirtín Ó Muilleoir at 3 mayors event in Fitzroy Pres. Church. Part of the 4 corners festival (4cornersfestival.com) Be nice 🙂 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 stuck in front of a …

New York Times: 36 hours in Belfast

Brian O'Neill on January 29, 2015, 10:44 am

| Readers 2189

The New York Times have created a rather snazzy travel video of Belfast. It makes Belfast look REALLY good. I would want to visit and I live in Belfast. I know we complain a lot, and God knows we have a lot to complain about. But sometimes it takes outsiders to show us what we have. The video is currently the second most popular on the New York Times website. The branding value of such a video is worth hundreds of thousands …

Stranmillis launch their Spring Lifelong Learning programme

Brian O'Neill on January 27, 2015, 3:16 pm

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One of the benefits of working from home is the possibly of sneaking off to the cinema etc. when things are quiet. Each year I am also tempted to do some of the lifelong learning courses at Queens or Stranmillis. Unfortunately reality gets in the way and I seldom make it away from my digital shackles. If you have some free time the courses are really worth a look. Are you running night/lifelong learning classes? Feel free to plug them in …

Michael Mansfield QC to deliver the first Gerry Conlon Memorial lecture this Friday on the theme of “Democratic Bankruptcy”

Brian O'Neill on January 20, 2015, 3:48 pm

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An annual memorial lecture has been established by SDLP West Belfast to mark the memory of Gerry Conlon who died last year. The first lecture is this Friday 23rd January 2015 at 7pm in St. Mary’s University, Falls Road, Belfast. The “Democratic Bankruptcy” lecture will be delivered by Michael Mansfield QC, who worked on the Guilford case and is currently working on the Hillsborough inquests. There will be a panel afterwards with Patrick Corrigan from Amnesty International and Paddy Hill, …