Derry – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

Ulster Uni’s new Belfast Campus Shows it isn’t Serious About Magee Expansion. So it’s time for Derry to Look Elsewhere

Steve Bradley on August 29, 2017, 10:59 am

| Readers 5085

Last week’s A’Level results not only signalled the start of the annual scramble to secure a place at University. They also pointed to a worrying development for the long-promised expansion of Magee campus in Derry. Student Numbers Falling Figures from UCAS (the University and Colleges Admissions Service) show a 4% fall this year in applications to go to University – the first such decline in five years. All parts of the UK are reflecting this drop, and the figures also …

The £400m for Infrastructure in the Conservative-DUP agreement will only exacerbate Northern Ireland’s east-west divide

Steve Bradley on June 28, 2017, 4:32 pm

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Northern Ireland’s infrastructure has drawn the prize ticket from the £1bn of new money in the Conservative-DUP deal – securing £400m, or 40% of the entire fund. This has been greeted with criticism elsewhere in the UK, but can be justified on two grounds. Firstly – Northern Ireland arguably has the worst infrastructure of any region in the UK. Only significant external funding will reverse the decades-long under-investment that has caused that. Secondly – the situation is worse still within …

“They’d have known from then that I couldn’t be counted on to fall into line.”

Eamonn McCann on May 31, 2017, 7:10 pm

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An organisation which plays a key role in distributing public money to community organisations in Derry has been found guilty of discriminating against a local man because of his opposition to what he characterised as a “Sinn Fein/DUP carve-up” of community organisation in the city. The Waterside Neighbourhood Partnership (WNP) has been ordered by a Fair Employment Tribunal to pay Gary McClean £10,000 compensation for denying him a job as a Community Development Officer (CDO) in the Curryneirin area despite …

Magee or not Magee – Time for for a graduate entry medical school in Derry / Londonderry?

Soapbox on April 1, 2017, 3:31 pm

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There is definite support in Derry for Ulster University’s proposal for a graduate entry medical school at Magee campus. After 53 years of exasperation that the city does not have a full sized university, actual excitement for such ideas is always tempered by fear that it will not happen. But at least the city’s response is definitely positive – unlike the apparent reactions in Belfast and Coleraine. A medical school in Derry should be a no brainer. There are …

The warm welcome Arlene Foster received at the funeral of Martin McGuinness came as a surprise to many. But not to those who know Derry well.

Steve Bradley on March 27, 2017, 2:19 pm

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“Of all the ‘moments’ in my 27 years of journalism, applause for Arlene Foster at the funeral of Martin McGuinness is right up there”. So remarked Sky News’s Ireland correspondent, David Blevins, after one of Northern Ireland’s most important funerals in years. Blevins wasn’t alone in being wrong-footed by this turn of events. This was, after all, the funeral of a former IRA commander – held in a staunchly nationalist city during the uncertain aftermath of a landmark and divisive …

Bill Clinton’s eulogy for Martin McGuinness and NI’s epic journey…

Mick Fealty on March 24, 2017, 12:24 pm

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For the record, whatever you think of Bill Clinton, Northern Ireland seems to bring out something extraordinary in him… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

The Case for a ‘Foyle Free Trade Zone’.

Steve Bradley on January 28, 2017, 9:32 am

| Readers 1758

Derry’s days as a regional transport hub appear to be largely behind it. In better times the city has served as a hub for shipbuilding, an international naval base, a thriving export centre and a key departure point for emigrants. Nowadays, the sole legacy of that is a small but important port facility at Lisahally. Meanwhile, the town which bore witness to Amelia Earhart making aviation history 85 years ago contains a regional airport that survives largely through Council subsidies. …

All I want for Christmas is a better road to Belfast

Daithi McKay on December 28, 2016, 10:31 pm

| Readers 2450

As a Saffron now living west of the Bann all I really want for Christmas is the upgrading of the A6. Which Christmas though? Being a heavy commuter of some years I know how hours spent in a car with just coffee and bad podcasts can affect quality of life, time spent with family and general health and wellbeing. Public transport with WiFi helps but any time that can be knocked off bus or car journey times would be a …

Discuss, Debate, Discover: NI Festival of Social Science (5-11 Nov) #ESRCFestival

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 2, 2016, 5:50 pm

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What is public art’s role in reimagining Northern Ireland’s post-conflict identity? What was the social impact of the 1941 Belfast Blitz? A look at the OU’s prisons oral history project. The role of sport in society – transformative or not? And discussing being an parent with an autistic child.

EDUCATING ULSTER : Northern Ireland has a chronic shortage of students, whilst Belfast has too many and the west of the province has too few. The solution is obvious.

Steve Bradley on October 13, 2016, 7:08 am

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September marked the annual return of students to their term-time accommodation. And within two days residents of the Holylands had lodged over 150 complaints of anti-social behaviour with Belfast City Council. That university neighbourhood’s term-time population comprises over 90% of students/young people, amounting to an estimated 7,000 in just one square kilometre. It will probably provide little comfort to residents of the Holylands to learn that Northern Ireland (NI) has the lowest provision of university places in the UK. And …

A fresh start for the A5 – but at what cost?

Andy Boal on November 19, 2015, 1:55 pm

| Readers 1946

Disclaimer: being a strong public transport advocate does not stop me from enjoying the open road, gliding effortlessly past slower traffic [You don’t say – Ed] Indeed – but we all have too many things to do that cannot conveniently be done by bike, bus or train… Mick has already considered the opportunity cost of the £75 million promised by the Irish Government for the A5 scheme from Newbuildings to Strabane, although I think that money could buy several Narrow …

A Little Perspective on the Spat at Stormont

Patricia MacBride on September 3, 2015, 10:29 pm

| Readers 2009

On a day when the front page of most of the newspapers on these islands carried a heart-wrenching photograph of a little boy drowned on a Turkish beach, we really need to catch ourselves on and make sure our politicians do likewise. Like Jude Collins, I heard PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton on the news setting out that the IRA does not exist as a paramilitary organisation and that its members are pursuing their goals through exclusively peaceful means. You …

Uncomfortable Conversations – the Chief Constable, Sinn Féin Chair and me

Patricia MacBride on August 25, 2015, 9:41 am

| Readers 1503

Tomorrow night in Derry, I’ll take part in an “Uncomfortable Conversation” that will include the PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton, Sinn Féin Chair Declan Kearney and Alan McBride, member of the NI Human Rights Commission and victims’ campaigner. The event, part of the Gasyard Féile, is one of a series of conversations around how we both deal with our past and build our future as communities, towns and cities and indeed islands seeking to emerge from conflict. These events and …

Coleraine-Waterside Phase 2 contract awarded

Andy Boal on June 15, 2015, 12:54 pm

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With the controversy well recounted over the escalation of costs for the upgrade of this section of railway line, I think I should start this post with a little explanation well known to those of us who have ever been involved in procurement, whether public sector or private sector. Basically, and regardless of the skills of your Quantity Surveyor who has their ear to the ground and knows very well what the going rate is for the materials needed for …

Xchange Summer School 2015: bravery in the face of challenge #xss15 (updated with audio from Jo Berry, Patrick Magee, Ann Travers conversation)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on June 11, 2015, 6:10 pm

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Living through the challenge of austerity mean that the Third Sector in Northern Ireland will “have to show bravery, take decisive action, be willing to change, celebrate diversity and yes, think the unthinkable” according to the organisers of the Xchange Summer School. The sofa set from the inaugural event in Enniskillen has been traded in and this year’s contributors are sitting around a kitchen table that has taken over the stage of the Great Hall in UU’s Magee campus. Introduced …

Prince of Wales welcomed the prospect of “a Northern Ireland Prime (sic) Cymru!”

Brian Walker on May 14, 2015, 11:54 am

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So Northern Ireland had a look-in in the Prince of Wales” black spider” letters. This in a bread and butter letter to the then secretary of state Paul Murphy. We discussed the issue of an Action-Learning Pilot Scheme which has remained in abeyance since last year, but which, if implemented, could help perhaps break the mould of housing “ghettoes” in Northern Ireland. You may remember that both Paul Murrain, from my Foundation, and John Thompson are ready to help with …

Dave Duggan’s DENIZEN – a dissident republican addresses the court – drama performed in an actual courtroom

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 24, 2015, 10:00 pm

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The word ‘denizen’ conjures up the notion of a citizen, yet perhaps one with fewer rights or living somewhere that isn’t home. It’s also the title of Dave Duggan’s new play, a courtroom drama written in verse which opens in the north west this weekend and will be performed in two courthouses. Interviewed last week, the playwright told me: The conceit in the play is that the judges have given Denizen an hour to speak to the court of public …

What would it take to get a motorway to Derry/Londonderry? – Guest post by Wesley Johnston

Soapbox on February 10, 2015, 5:26 pm

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Back in 1964 William Craig, the Minister of Home Affairs for Northern Ireland, announced an ambitious plan to build a network of motorways around the province. In terms of the North West, the core of the plan was a motorway from Belfast to Coleraine – the M2. From this would come two spurs. The M22 would diverge at Antrim and go to Castledawson, serving Mid Ulster. The M23 would diverge north of Ballymena and go to Londonderry, via Limavady. At …

It’s time to right a 50 year injustice and expand Magee College Derry

Soapbox on February 4, 2015, 1:22 pm

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Colum Eastwood is an SDLP MLA for Foyle. Next Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of a report which condemned Derry to decades of economic stagnation. The Lockwood Report recommended the siting of a second university in Northern Ireland at Coleraine instead of Derry. The publication of the report was the catalyst for a mass, cross-community, campaign by the people of Derry. The effects of the Stormont government’s subsequent decision not to support a new university in Derry are still acutely …

Slugger Seasonal Book Club: Vol 4

W[r]ite Noise on December 2, 2014, 9:53 am

| Readers 232

It’s getting to be the time of year when you have to start thinking about gifts. Bah. For others. Humbug. Or maybe all this talk about wind farms and / or Amazon Anonymous makes you long for a simpler, pre-tech era. Or perhaps you are just a bibliobibuli, c.f. someone who reads too much. Either way, this seasonal Slugger book club is for you. So pull up an armchair while we discuss classic NI books, past and present. This week….Kathleen …