Brian O'Neill 
With a majority of 530 votes Tom Elliot from the UUP took the seat from Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew. The SDLP candidate John Coyle got 2,732. Was it the wrong decision for the SDLP not to do an election pact with SF? Let us know your views in the comments. 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 …
Gavin Robinson is getting a lot of flak for his acceptance speech. Watch it below: Here is an extract: The last 5 long years are over. A new day has dawned in East Belfast. when people were offered the choice to go forward or back, they choose forward. And they choose to go forward with someone they can trust. The comments did not go down well on twitter: https://twitter.com/NewtonEmerson/status/596505194357207040 https://twitter.com/neildalzell/status/596496073885122561 Even more damning is this tweet from Naomi Long: @tomfromireland …
Slugger does not get any funding so to help us cover costs we are introducing limited non-intrusive ads. We hate annoying ads as much as you so we promise we will only run static ads or text based ads. We will not run any animated ads, auto start video ads, pop-ups or anything that could get on your wick. The ads will mainly be at the bottom of the right hand side bar, you can see some there now. How …
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.
On Monday night a group of males decided it would be a good idea to burn down Asta’s Glam Factory on Castlereagh Street in East Belfast. It is not clear if they felt false nails and tanning was a threat to Ulster or as the police suspect, it was a ‘racist hate crime’. The salon (which only opened last week) was owned by a Lithuanian woman, Asta Samaliute, who as you can imagine was not too happy about finding the business she worked so hard to …
Cartoon by Brian John Spencer | Twitter @brianjohnspencr 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.
After years of teasing and speculation, Hillary Clinton yesterday announced her bid for the White House. Barack Obama was the first black president, will Hillary be the first female? On the face of it the omens look good. Demographic changes of an increasing Hispanic vote mean many Republicans fear they may never reclaim the White House. Hillary has an impressive CV – from First Lady to New York Senator, to Secretary of State. On the negative side it really does …
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 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.
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. …
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
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? …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
