Ach here, what a job. Nice travel piece in the NYT for Golfing in Northern Ireland. Great pics too. 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 good news today is that Northern Ireland is the fourth best performing regional economy in the UK. We noted earlier that the regional economies of the UK are slowly diverging on a north south axis. But here’s one blogger who imagines a case could be put for Northern Ireland to stay politically within the UK and still join the Euro (as a majority of its Small to Medium Enterprise or SMEs would like). Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of …
Sticking with the Young Unionists for a moment. One of the most underrated Northern Irish bloggers is Brian Crowe. In this piece he goes back to an interesting point in British history, the repeal of the Corn Laws and the rise of powerful notions political economy. He links it directly to a new-ish work, by the conservative think tank Policy Exchange, called Compassionate Conservatism: What it is, Why we need it. Crowe argues that something in conservatism died at this …
Gary McDonald, the business editor for the Irish News reports on a plan to hand over the 1,950-acre Harbour Estate which stretches from Holywood to the Belfast Lough’s northern foreshore to the Strategic Investment Board in order to pay for the deal being demanded by Northern Ireland’s political parties as the price for a return to Stormont. However, the Harbour Commissioners who currently oversee a substantial landbank are concerned that such a move could endanger a £140 million capital investment …
It seemed to me, from last weekend’s match against Ecudor that England are slowly putting together reasonable performances, and may yet surprise some of their critics. But this guy, Chris Dillow, has an interesting angle on a classic weakness of almost every England team since 1966: conglomerate discount. Confused? Read on for why Frank Lampard has had more shots on goal than any other player. And why it’s not working. Thanks for the heads up to Paul. Mick FealtyMick is …
Gonzo’s thread on Ballymena was eventually dominated by speculation, sparked originally by a statement from North Antrim Sinn Fein MLA Philip McGuigan, that Ballymena based Wrightbus discriminated against Catholics. In the Newsletter, Ian Paisley Junior has refuted the allegation citing employment figures that seem to contradict the two per cent Catholic employment figure mentioned by McGuigan. Paisley went on to suggest it had been an attempt to put in jeopardy a multimillion pound contract Regional Transportation Commission in Southern Nevada. …
Richard Delevan writing in the Sunday Tribune hopes that the subjection of government regulation to the individual ambition of politicians that became associated with the Haughey era is a thing of the past:By Richard Delevan: “AN iconic figure representative of Ireland’s brash new capitalist class” was one British commentator’s obit for Charlie Haughey. Jesus, let’s hope not. Whatever his virtues, to allow Haughey to be remembered as the “father of the Celtic Tiger” would be to launder his legacy in …
I’m grateful to David Vance for flagging up this spectacular figure for public sector’s share of economic output. Now before we get a chorus of CJ Haughey’s phrase ‘failed political entity’, ‘failed economic entities’ don’t pull in many ‘buyers’ either! 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
By Wednesday afternoon when he filed the story below, Newton Emerson noted that the Indian Press had not yet picked it up, but that “it will certainly be reported among the families and friends of those affected”. Well it has now. The New Kerala, Yahoo India and Chennai Online have all subsequently picked it up. As Emerson notes, both India and China are becoming major overseas investors of capital so that Belfast cannot afford to sustain a reputation for racialist …
Apparently the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Super-annuation Committee holds the lease to Bournemouth’s biggest white elephant (aka Britain’s second ugliest building), the IMAX cinema right down on the sea front, next to the pier. It has been closed since early last year. They have been in dispute with the operating group Sheridan, which Nilgosc claim has defaulted on the terms of the lease, by ceasing to operate the Cinema. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written …
Bill Lynch, a native of Ballybunion has lifted the top honour in the Ernst & Young 2006 World Entrepreneur Of The Year. A long time resident of South Africa he was one of two Irishmen who’d taken national honours, the other being Aidan Heavey of UK-listed Tullow Oil. 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 …
The Irish Times today celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the accession of TK Whittaker to the humble civil service post of secretary to the Department of Finance. Marc Colman charts Whittaker’s crucial role (subs needed) in developing, inputting and ultimately actioning key intellectual capital into a state that, economically, was going backwards. As Colman argues, possibly without exaggeration that if the Rising made the Republic’s independence possible, this unassuming Co Down man made it viable.Whittaker sets the context for his …
When it comes to financial mismanagement it would appear that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment [either under the auspices of the NIO or otherwise] is, as Peter Hain would have it, World Class. Mick noted the NI Auditors report on the role played by LEDU in the establishment and oversight of the Emerging Business Trust (EBT) in February. Today the Commons Public Accounts Committee report on the affair is published [pdf file available here] – BBC report here, …
As predicted Sinn Féin are operating a [selective] boycott of Assembly debates, begining today with their boycott of the first debate in the Assembly chamber – on the economy. As the Press Association report notes – The decision came after a meeting between business leaders and Assembly members in Stormont`s Senate Room which Mr Adams and his party attended. The meeting took place behind closed doors. Pete Baker
Jason Walsh takes another look at the economic prospects for the Republic, and finds that it may not have the ‘broad shoulders’ and ‘sturdy legs’ some in Northern Ireland believe. 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
Not sure about the £9million prediction, but good news it seems. The Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau and Port Of Belfast has announced that 23 cruise liners will dock at Belfast this summer with an estimated 30,000 passengers and crew. It’s not the Mountains of Mourne.. but there’s a lot of cheerful optimism in the report that it will encourage return visits. Pete Baker
My response to Alan Ruddock’s piece in Management Today, and printed in this month’s hard copy issue.Alan Ruddock paints a grim but accurate picture of Northern Ireland’s economic crisis. That a crisis exists after thirty years of conflict is no surprise. What is disturbing is the depth of the hole, and the apparent lack of political will to countenance never mind tackle its root causes. During the 1980s Tory direct rule minister Richard Needham boasted that by conserving high levels …
The Chief Executive of Northern Ireland’s economic development body, Invest NI, Leslie Morrison seems pleased with the performance of the publicly funded organisation in 2005/6, and also claims to have been “supporting the creation of more than nine new businesses every day”. The agency’s chairman, Stephen Kingon, has also called for a larger budget to continue along the same lines presumably.. well, I suppose I did ask.According to Invest NI – Key Operational highlights for year ended 31 March 2006 …
This piece in the FT today clearly identifies a possible property bubble and a reliance on the construction industry, as one of several sources of anxiety about the potential fragility of the Irish economic boom. As it happens, Leviathan is running tonight on that very same subject. David McWilliams hosts a panel consisting of Managing Director of HOK, Paul McNeive; Evening Herald columnist, Dan White; and co-founder of daft.ie. Politics.ie has a debate already motoring on the topic, where one …
Though the UK birth rate is on a rally from its 2001 low of 1.63, an ICM poll in the Guardian suggests that having babies come a poor third to earning money and having a good time. Survey pitched the option of having children against, by turns, making money and having a good time. I’m not a hundred per cent certain of the methodology, since having children may inimical to the former option, it is highly complementary to the latter. …
