Search Results for: NI water

Conflicted over the memory of 1916?

| Readers 13

This week sees the nintieth anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1916. It is a subject not to be trifled with. Inthe online edition of the Observer Geoffrey Wheatcroft was avalanched with strident criticism for his characterisation of the Rising as a betrayal of democracy. He mentions “Pearse’s exalted (or insane) words about the tired old earth that needed to be enriched by the spilling of much blood”. Though as Dan O’Brien has argued this same theme was echoed in …

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If by 24 November the Assembly has failed..

| Readers 1

As well as the big stick waving in the media, the two premiers have released a joint statement to accompany the announcement in Armagh today. Assembly to sit for 6 weeks from 15 May, then for a further 12 weeks after a summer recess. [So they did blink then? – Ed]Full statement below – Joint Statement by the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach – Armagh, 6 April 2006 1.In recent months we have held discussions with all the political parties …

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“this time really is different”

| Readers 0

Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, is waving his big stick, again, in the Guardian today, ending with the familiar, by now, line – “If locally elected politicians don’t like all this, the solution lies in their hands: taking their places at Stormont and, for the first time in over three years, earning their salaries by exercising self-government.” [Also available on the Guardian’s Commentisfree blog – Ed] Some will say with misplaced confidence that we have …

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Democracy or dependency?

| Readers 5

Tom Griffin has picked up on my Guardian piece on the questions facing the Northern Irish economy, and puts it the context of a changing discourse around devolution. He believes the choice is between continuing dependency on the central UK exchequer, or self determination. It is a situation inherently favourable to nationalism, because he argues, “the choice for self-determination which is at the root of the nationalist ethos.” That said, only the DUP seem to have anticipated the need for …

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Spare me £10 billion guv’nor

| Readers 2

Bairbre de Brun has re-emerged to front Sinn Fein’s new demand, a £10 billion peace package. The abortive Comprehensive Agreement had included a special package on the detested water charges but Sinn Fein now want any cash injection to go on All-Ireland strategies particularly in the “border corridor”. The package is to come from the government and the Irish government. How much each pays is unclear as is how they arrived at the figure of £10 billion (do I hear …

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What exactly is Restorative Justice?

| Readers 2

Much of the discussion on Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland has essentially taken place around certain important political considerations. Indeed, local activists will have received something of a moral boost when new member of the Policing Board Brendan Duddy voiced his support for both the concept and the practice. But what hasn’t ever significantly broken water into the wider discourse is what is it all about. By happy coincidence, this week’s Moral Maze provides a politically neutral (at least in …

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Children now getting involved in Cork pyramid scheme

| Readers 14

A pyramid scheme which has seen people from Munster invest up to €20 million in it is now apparently spreading throughout the country. It is also attracting schoolchildren with the Irish Examiner reporting that pupils are clubbing together to invest. The original “Liberty” scheme required at least €5,000 to take part but the new so-called “Speedball Scheme” is a watered-down version, requiring a smaller entry fee of €1,000. Under the scheme members must also introduce two others to the scheme. …

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Are there really two Mick Halls?

| Readers 5

I’m not quite sure what’s going on here. Daily Ireland has just published an article which comes close to claiming that only Protestants harbour sectarian hatred. Nothing too out of the ordinary about that. But it’s the byline that’s peculiar. It’s attributed to regular contributor to The Blanket website Mick Hall. He has recently contributed two geniune articles to DI, however Hall has told Slugger he did not write this piece. When he enquired at Daily Ireland he was told …

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Towards a tolerant, plural society…

| Readers 4

As St Patrick’s Day approaches, there is a flurry of debate on the subject of Irishness. As Chris has noted, the commemoration of 1916 has been the subject of some vigourous and largely divisive debate. Ruth Dudley Edwards attempts to pour some oil on troubled waters. Whilst noting the importance of the past, she notes the necessity of preparing for a fast arriving future. So as we commemorate the 1916 Rising and all who died in it – combatants and …

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Is the BBC home free on the ‘net?

| Readers 1

Interesting piece in the Economist, which argues that the BBC has an unfair advantage over the private press in the sense that it can sink investment in the net whilst others are bound by more short term fiscal constraints. For instance: The BBC now has 525 sites. It spends £15m ($27m) a year on its news website and another £51m on others ranging from society and culture to science, nature and entertainment. But behind the websites are the vast newsgathering …

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What’s going on down at Academy Street?

| Readers 21

The money difficulties of the Belfast Education and Library Board are well known and proposed cuts of £4m lead has created a cross-party consensus of oppostion. However, the crisis has led to a close examination of all spending and a glaring inequality in youth provision in North Belfast has been highlighted. Youth centres (directly managed and independent) are a key part of youth service delivery. In the Oldpark area BELB spent £275,030 supporting full and part-time youth facilities in 2005-06. …

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Challenges ahead for Ireland’s economy

| Readers 0

Thanks to Maria at Crooked Timber, who hopefully will find time to take a detailed look at the report, I can note the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Economic Survey of Ireland, released yesterday., which, among other points, makes recommendations on the fiscal framework, the housing market, removing obstacles to employment for women, closing the infrastructure gap, encouraging research and development, reforming all levels of education, increasing competition, and, most importantly, the key challenges for the economy in the …

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“We’re all in this together” – Peter Hain

| Readers 11

Another week, another two year funding package announced by the Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland, Peter Hain [should we be reading something into that 2-year time-frame? – Ed]. This time a �59million package, the Environment & Renewable Energy Fund, that will attempt to create a market for renewable energy in Northern Ireland. The BBC report focuses mainly on the 4,000 private home-owners that the government hope will avail of grants [of between 30-50% of the cost) to …

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Not in the public interest.. again..

| Readers 1

In today’s Observer, Henry McDonald reports that the NI Department of Culture, Arts and Learning has blocked a freedom of information request to publish an internal report into allegations of bullying and mismanagement at Waterways Ireland, “the largest and most expensive cross-border body established under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.” – Mick noted the allegations previously. According to the Observer, documents they received claim that disclosing the report “would, or would be likely to, prejudice relations between the United Kingdom …

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Our tedious range of displacement activity

| Readers 1

Back in 2000 I came over to Northern Ireland with a colleague from River Path. He’d done his homework well. The most striking fact he came up with regarding NI’s economic health, at a time when money was arguably flowing far too freely, was that the inward investment of private capital in NI was 25% of the UK average. That, in anyone’s language, was/is bad news. It’s one reason why Lyndsey Allen’s fingering of the real problem of Northern Ireland …

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SDLP fills North South economic gap with sound policy?

| Readers 2

Economic unification of the island is the fond ambition of individuals as diverse as Peter Hain, David McWilliams, Cecilia Keaveney and Gerry Adams. Yet there has been little evidence of a practical any proposals to help bring it about. The SDLP document released yesterday found favour with the Irish Times (subs needed)at least: though it points to the risk for the UK in allowing separate corporate tax rates in order to level the local gap between north and south. Update: …

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Fiscal irregularities…

| Readers 11

Businessman and promenent member of Sinn Fein Des Mackin has had seven of his companies slapped with a fine of €5,000 for not keeping proper books. In a court hearing held in December, all seven companies were given the Probation Act, provided they made a large donation to charity. The defendants agreed to give €5,000 to a charity of their choice which was not named in court. The case is due for mention in court tomorrow when the identity of …

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Looking forward to devolution…

| Readers 0

THE Beeb reports the DUP’s Nigel Dodds saying it would be “ludicrous” if people thought Sinn Fein could have ministers in a devolved administration, but not support the security forces. On the face of it, it looks like another one of those pretend ‘who’ll blink first’ debates is under way; the DUP want SF to sign up to policing before entering an executive. Sinn Fein appear to want the reverse. However, the positions are not mutually exclusive, so we’re not …

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Rowan points to ‘inevitable’ deal…

| Readers 0

AS we await the IMC’s next report on paramilitary activity, Brian Rowan points to an IRA in transition. The recently retired veteran BBC journalist, whose most recent book pointed towards an inevitable future deal between the DUP and Sinn Fein, writes that the IRA “is waiting for political progress and for the proof that there is a viable alternative to its “armed struggle”.” Rowan writes: The men of the Independent Monitoring Commission have been in Belfast this week as part …

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Derry’s Christmas gifts to the GAA

| Readers 3

Discussions in Derry City Council has discussed gifting another GAA club a parcel of seven acres of land, in the Waterside. Unionist councillors estimate that the value of the combined deal would come to £300,000. Gregory Campbell: “Within two weeks, we have two Gaelic clubs, both in Londonderry, both getting effectively free gratis, either land or land at a nominal rent, and other sporting disciplines have major applications in before the council that have not yet been decided upon.”

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