Tina Calder

#CultureWar: Who stands to gain by forcing the country into deadlock?

448 Comments | Readers 4084

There really is no way to sugarcoat this, I’m angry and like so many other people across Northern Ireland I feel powerless, helpless and deflated as I look around at the state of our country. But my anger runs deeper than simply being frustrated and exasperated by the childish squabbling still going on between the DUP and Sinn Fein at the time of writing this. I’m a child of the 80s and 90s, although I was largely unaffected personally by … Read more

Stop messing around and get back to work!

82 Comments | Readers 1919

If I woke up tomorrow and decided I couldn’t get on with my colleagues nor did I want to strike an agreement on a direction for a project we were working on – I’d be in trouble. Worse still if I just simply decided not to turn up to my job, I’d no doubt be sacked and someone else would be found to replace me. As the talks to restore the Northern Ireland Executive seem to be stuck in a … Read more

Bigger parties running for cover as services come under the knife…

20 Comments | Readers 1283

Northern Ireland’s most vulnerable people are the real casualties of the current Stormont impasse. Funding cuts and restrictions across the board are causing chaos in voluntary organisations and educational institutions across the country. But seemingly the main political parties aren’t in the least bit concerned. Despite polarised politics being the cause of the problem the funding cuts are impartial in the devastation they are causing throughout Northern Ireland. MLAs continue to bank their salaries as schools and voluntary organisations who … Read more

As our MLAs refuse to compromise (and head for their holidays) our children are suffering

72 Comments | Readers 1605

Parents from disadvantaged families depending on school uniform grants this year have been struck a major blow this week as the Education Authority (EA) are intending to slash the money available by over 61%. In 2016/17 £4.9m was given out to 98,000 pupils across the country.  This year that budget has been reduced by £3m to just a meagre £1.9m. The EA claim they were instructed by the Department of Education to implement the cuts, but with no Stormont Assembly … Read more

94% of integrated education budget unspent due to ‘single minded’ failure to create a cohesive policy?

217 Comments | Readers 2896

Earlier this week the Irish News reported that the Department of Education underspent a £50m budget by a staggering £47m. Under the Fresh Start agreement, the money is part of an alleged £500m of new capital funding to support shared and integrated education over 10 years. In its first year, Education Minister Peter Weir has allocated just £3m. As a former primary pupil, mother of a nursery child and PTA member of Hazelwood Integrated Primary in Belfast I was horrified. To … Read more