Once more unto the data breach…
PSNI and other NI public bodies face data breaches due to human errors. ICO investigates and warns. Ciaran Ward urges better data protection.
Infrastructure
Travel Concession Consultation…
David Jamison is from Belfast. He has recently retired and to use his own words, now with time on his hands to think and write about things he probably should have thought more about years ago. Public Transport in all its various forms seems to be getting a lot of attention at the moment. The new Belfast Grand Central Station is proceeding a pace. Cycle routes have got a mention. Train routes and Connectivity to the NW. Then Bus Passes …
Connecting the North West
Derry and Donegal are not only marginalised by their geographic position on the periphery of the island of Ireland, but they are also very badly served by the transport infrastructure. They are not alone in this: there are similar complaints from Sligo, Fermanagh and elsewhere in the West. After a long campaign, parts of the A6 road between Derry and Belfast have been upgraded – though it is still not a dual carriageway between Dungiven and Castledawson. It was back …
All Island Rail Review has been published – but will it hit the buffers?
Yes, I’m cynical. You can’t entirely blame me. There is some great stuff in the All-Island Rail Review, published on Tuesday, including some blue sky thinking. The summary, with my annotations, is below. Short term and decarbonisation Electrify remainder of Belfast-Dublin line, Belfast-Bangor, Dublin-Cork/Galway/Limerick/Waterford (both companies were already working on plans to abolish diesel traction, but NIR I think also intends to electrify the Larne, Portrush and Derry/Londonderry (hereafter referred to as Derry) lines) Increase line speeed to 100mph (currently …
Wind turbines are a marvel of engineering…
I came across these videos via Reddit from local man Stephen (Frankie) Masterson. Stephen works on offshore wind farms and has done a video tour of the inside of an offshore turbine. From the outside, you don’t imagine much going on, but when you see the inside, you appreciate the engineering that goes into these massive structures. @frankie.1888 This tower is no longer owned or operated by Siemens #greenenergy #wind #offshore #windpower #windturbine ♬ original sound – Stephen (Frankie) Masterson …
Opportunity is where you find it? Demystifying geothermal opportunities and opportunity-making steps…
As Queen’s University prepares to open its new geothermal-heated Business School building, Mark Palmer, Joseph Ireland (QUB) and Orla Hanna (DWF Law) consider if the opening of a geothermal-heated Business School marks a new chapter for sustainable energy in the North. The leafy hillside and pristine gardens of Riddel Hall at Stranmillis in south Belfast reveal Queen’s University new Business School building. Nested within a crescent-shaped cluster of woodlands is the new red-bricked building which, at first glance, gives away …
Hill St Blues – The ongoing debate over car restrictions…
In the run up to the local elections, John Manley’s Irish News article on Hill St. in Belfast added more fuel to an ongoing debate over car restrictions. But why does a tiny cobbled back street in Belfast warrant a quarter page in one of NI’s biggest daily newspapers and continue to generate a running commentary on other media outlets? Hill St. is located at the back of St Anne’s Cathedral in the old print district – and runs through …
The politics of parking..
Heading into the local elections in Northern Ireland, we’ll hear about health, the climate crisis, the housing crisis, anti-social behaviour, dereliction etc. We’ll hear very little about parking. But we should, because it affects all of us and contributes directly to those issues. The word “parking” has its roots in Washington DC. In 1871, the Washington Parking Commission was established – not to park cars as they didn’t exist then – but to to plant trees, bringing shade, birdsong and …
The Irish government will pay a heavy price for housing failures…
As a recent poll showed, Fine Gael lost the room when it ended the eviction ban. In fact, it lost the whole house. It bet the mortgage on private landlords re-entering the market if the eviction ban was lifted. In reality, private landlords can’t exit the market quickly enough when the opportunity comes. There is more money to be made in short-term lets through Airbnb or selling into the swollen property market. The Government has a fundamental responsibility to provide …
Previewing the ninth annual Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics #imaginebelfast
The Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics is seeking to provide ‘brain food’ to all and sundry over seven days in March. The packed programme is a veritable feast of ‘ideas for a better world’. Now in its ninth year, the festival has over 130 in-person and online events, and the majority are free. While politics is often to the fore, politicians themselves aren’t usually platformed at the non-partisan festival’s events. But this year, one event will be exploring …
House prices still rising in Northern Ireland…
Despite the recent hikes in interest rates and the general uncertainty around the economy, house prices are still rising. From Margeret Canning in the BelTel: Dr Michael McCord, reader in real estate valuation at UU, said: “The housing market, while showing a softening in price growth over the course of 2022, continues to show resilience with no price correction evident despite the rather turbid economic setting, the continued cost of living crisis and Bank of England base rate increases. “There …
Early reversal of previous Minister’s policy as fares rise scheduled
It shouldn’t actually surprise us in the slightest, and for once I can’t entirely blame the DUP’s collapse of the Assembly. On 25th October, John O’Dowd announced as Infrastructure Minister that Translink fares would “remain frozen for another year”, but today it was announced that they would rise by an average of 7% from 6 March. The Secretary of State made a statement to the House of Commons on 24 November 2022 saying he recognised “that steps will also need …
Why hydrogen can’t solve our climate change problems
One of the conversation points that I often encounter in the debate around climate change and the move to net zero/energy independence is the role that could be played by hydrogen. Like many of the other aspects of this debate, it is poorly understood, particularly among the press and policymakers. What is hydrogen ? Chemically, it is the simplest and most plentiful element in the universe, having one proton and one electron. It’s thought that, along with a small number …
Nuclear Fusion power – how long will we have to wait ?
Just before Christmas, it was announced for the first time that researchers at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US had successfully achieved “ignition” within a nuclear fusion reaction. This generated a lot of excitement in the press, not all of it well-informed, so I thought it might be interesting to explore this topic in more detail. What is nuclear fusion ? Why was this news so significant ? When will we begin to benefit …
Supposedly we will get our £600 payments in January…
Quite a difference in the weather today. It was 14 this morning in Belfast. The BBC reports that we should get our £600 energy payments in January, but I will not hold my breath. From the report: The UK government confirmed electricity firms will be funded for the payments, with direct debit customers receiving the money into their bank accounts. Other customers will be sent a voucher to redeem the payment. The money is intended to help with energy bills …
Nuclear Fusion Energy Breakthrough…
Fusion energy has been promised for decades now. I remember watching BBC Horizon documentaries about it in the 1990s; it was always ‘just around the corner’. But now it seems we have an actual breakthrough. For the first time, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California could generate more energy than it took to start a reaction. Fusion is different from nuclear fission. It is a very clean energy source, with none of the pollution and greenhouse gases …
The English right wing press try to make Mick Lynch public enemy number one…
I admit I take a certain amount of pleasure in the fact that a guy with an Irish background is being such a complete pain in the neck to the British Establishment. They absolutely loath charismatic working-class leaders. This is the front page of today’s Sun. Take a minute to watch this bizarre monologue from Richard Madeley yesterday: 'Will you answer the question Mr Lynch, I won't let you get away with nonsense'@richardm56 grills the General Secretary of the RMT, …
Are we creeping towards a harder border?
The Nationality and Borders Act achieved Royal Assent in April 2022. A period of consultation is under way on the implications for immigration tribunals etc. The mainstream GB media focus has been on issues like detention in Rwanda whilst asylum applications are considered, but of interest here is the controversial requirement for non British and Irish citizens to need to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) to enter Northern Ireland from the Republic. In this OP I explore why …
New Campaign Calls for Reopening of ‘North West Rail Corridor’ – Giving West of NI a Direct Route to Belfast/Dublin…
A campaign has been launched calling for the reopening of a key railway line that served the West of Northern Ireland up until the 1960s. Lobby group ‘Into The West’ campaigns for the improvement and expansion of rail across counties Derry/Londonderry, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Donegal. The organisation was founded in 2004 when they successfully defeated a proposal by civil servants to shut the Derry-Belfast rail line west of Ballymena. Since then they have also secured a major track upgrade of …
Electric prices down substantially today…
Yesterday my electric tariff was 38p per unit. Today it is down to 17p, which is quite a drop, and not far off the 14p it was last year. The reason is the new Energy Price Guarantee scheme has come into effect. The scheme will cap the price for a unit of gas and electricity until April 2023. Bills will be reduced by up to 19.9p per kilowatt hour (kWh) for electricity and 4.8p/kWh for gas. The Consumer Council have …