Nelson McCausland – Page 2 – Slugger O'Toole

Laganside loose ends: an FOI, a disappearing Assembly question & a zipwire across the Lagan

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 9, 2012, 8:00 pm

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In the end the Department of Social Development took a shade longer than the four weeks permitted under FOI to answer my simple questions about their investments in the Laganside Events and Laganside Community Activity Grants. Figures for the 2011/12 grants for the two funds were supplied in the meantime through another DSD source. But that left the remaining query asking for the total amount spend on the Laganside grants over the years the schemes have been in operation. The …

Is it effective when only 5-10% of DSD’s £50,000 Laganside Community Activity fund was spent in last two years?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 26, 2012, 8:20 pm

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laganside boundary

Nelson McCausland, Minister for Social Development, appeared before the Assembly’s Social Development Committee on Thursday 23 February. [Audio temporarily available on NI Assembly website, and should appear shortly on BBC Democracy Live.] In his opening statement, he explained about the decision to withdraw the non-essential Laganside Events Grant and pointed out that it only contributed 5-10% of many events’ budgets (as charted in a blog post last week). The minister explained that he’d no need to know where Finance Minister …

What has the Laganside Events Grant scheme been spent on?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 18, 2012, 9:15 am

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laganside boundary

After an unexpected intervention on Thursday night, some of the data requested from the Department for Social Development was emailed to me at lunchtime on Friday. It covers the last three years of the Laganside Events Grant, specifying the organisations as well as the amounts they have received. In 2009/10, the largest grant was awarded to Belfast Festival At Queen’s which received 22,650. (This is the last year I remember the Spiegeltent being set up in Custom House Square as …

What Nelson takes away with one hand, Sammy can replace with the other

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 16, 2012, 7:20 pm

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laganside boundary

This evening a combination of OFMDFM, DFP and DSD came together to announce that £200,000 unallocated after the January Monitoring round is being made available from DFP to extend the Laganside Events Grant for one further year. The Department of Finance & Personnel statement details two conditions on the funding being made available. (i) that DSD takes steps to ensure that only groups that are viable over the longer term are assisted; and (ii) that DSD and DCAL work together …

Freedom of Information – when the minister has access to the information the public can’t see

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 15, 2012, 4:26 pm

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laganside boundary

Minister for Social Development Nelson McCausland rang into the Nolan show on Radio Ulster on Tuesday morning to respond to the debate around the cessation of the Laganside Events Grant scheme. He had figures – from across departments – at his finger tips to explain the public funding that was being granted to events. In particular, he was able to rattle off the different public funding streams for the Festival of Fools. My query into the DSD communications team seven …

DSD withdraw funding for Laganside Events

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 9, 2012, 12:23 pm

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laganside boundary

Since the closure of the Laganside Corporation on 31 March 2007, the Department for Social Development has given out grants for events and community activities in the Laganside area of Belfast. The area includes the Cathedral Quarter as well as stretching our towards York Street, Corporation Street, the Sydenham bypass (but not including Titanic Quarter), Sirocco, Lanyon Place, St George’s Market, the Markets, the Gasworks and the banks of the Lagan. Back in 2007, the then minister Margaret Ritchie pointed …

Stand-off between Housing Minister and Housing Executive?

Pete Baker on July 6, 2011, 8:29 pm

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The BBC are pointing to a potential stand-off between the Northern Ireland Social Development Minister, the DUP’s Nelson McCausland, and the NI Housing Executive over the use of Red Sky building maintenance company. From the BBC report The housing minister had asked the executive to extend the contract with the Belfast maintenance company. The housing body announced in April that the contract would end on 14 July due to allegations of overcharging. Earlier, Mr McCausland denied Red Sky received preferential treatment …

50:50 is back … for arts festivals

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 24, 2011, 10:00 am

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Nelson McCausland speaking about unionist culture the night before the main November 2010 DUP conference

Should arts festivals (that receive public funding) display a balance across their programming of musical tastes and political opinion? Nelson McCausland is in the news again. It’s a question that’s raised once more as the BBC lead their bulletins with the results of an FOI request to DCAL that has revealed the local minister’s directions to the Belfast Festival. This morning’s BBC report explains: The email is part of an exchange between the director of the Belfast Festival at Queen’s, …

Nelsons Swansong?

Moochin Photoman on March 23, 2011, 11:10 pm

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Last Monday saw the publication of a report/study on the Marching Bands of Northern Ireland. Commissioned by the Minister for Culture, Nelson McCauseland and DCAL, the report “aims to promote understanding and encourage development of the largest section of the community arts sector”. The report runs to 37 pages with 7 appendices. The detailed specification for the Project states that it must address various areas and undertake a …

Nelson’s up for an Irish award

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 13, 2011, 11:19 pm

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Suddenly it’s the middle of awards season with the IFTAs, BAFTAs and Slugger Awards over, and with the OSCARs and Irish Blog Awards only round the corner. A small number of NI-based blogs have been nominated in the political category of the Irish Blog Awards, including Splintered Sunrise, Politics NI and Slugger O’Toole. Open Unionism makes it to the Best Post category (the post’s link has changed). But Nelson McCausland’s blog The Minister’s Pen Nelson’s View stands out as the …

“It is pure frustration that for five years we have been led along with a bit of string.”

Pete Baker on January 19, 2011, 4:18 pm

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As Gonzo noted back in December IF this contrite statement is anything to go by, DUP Sports Minster Nelson McCausland must have hauled Sport NI chief executive Eamonn McCartan over the coals for listing off on TV reasons why we weren’t attracting Olympic interest. McCartan told the BBC that no Olympic teams had committed to train here for the 2012 Games due to our violent image, the threat from dissidents, geographical location, travel costs and access to Olympics venues. But …

Setting the unionist cat amongst the cultural pigeons: Nelson McCausland on why unionists ignore culture at their peril

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 26, 2010, 11:50 pm

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Nelson McCausland speaking at his session at 2010 DUP Conference on Why unionists ignore culture at their peril

The Gransha Suite at La Mon Hotel had obviously been packed with DUP Conference delegates for the previous session on Challenges in Policing when I eventually arrived earlier this evening. PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott was still giving a few interviews to the press while a Lambeg Drum was being set up on the other side of the stage. Nelson McCausland was up next, addressing DUP delegates as a dedicated follower of culture and MLA, rather than as Minister for …

GAA: the Nation’s desire to live her own life, to govern her own affairs.

Blank on October 13, 2010, 8:30 pm

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A question in the Assembly from Michelle McIlveen to Nelson McCausland suggested that Unionists are effectively barred from joining the GAA. While I’m delighted another DUP member has taken the time to read the GAA Official Guide, something many members have never done, I’m surprised they seem surprised to find an Irish cultural and sporting organisation doesn’t have a Unionist ethos. Both McIlveen and McCausland call for the GAA to change its rules. For those of us with experience of …

DCAL cuts “widespread and unpalatable”?

Pete Baker on September 2, 2010, 9:54 pm

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The BBC reports on the evidence provided to a Northern Ireland Assembly Committee today by two Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure senior civil servants. From the BBC report Overall, the department’s current budget of £109m is projected to fall to less than £92m by 2014/15. Speaking at a Stormont committee meeting on Thursday, [DCAL director of finance Deborah Brown] said the figures represented a cumulative cut of £46m over the budget period. She said the department would [cut] its operating budget by 14% …

I wonder what they’ll spend the money on……

Moochin Photoman on June 30, 2010, 8:09 pm

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It’s just been announced that the Ulster Museum has won the Art Fund prize of £100,000. Congratulations are in order but it does beg the question can the Museum and trustees spend the prize as they wish or does the Minister for Culture & Arts Nelson McCausland have the final say so? Moochin PhotomanPhotographer and visual artist based in Belfast. I have facilitated community based workshops with groups as diverse as visually impaired individuals in Dungannn, Travellers across Northern Ireland, …

McCausland avoids the real debate on museum…

Belfast Gonzo on June 13, 2010, 5:05 am

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I’M not sure what to make of the Culture Minister’s latest blog entry on the Ulster Museum controversy. After waiting patiently for Nelson McCausland to address the merits of Creationism’s place in the museum, it now appears he doesn’t want to talk about the only genuine controversy in his letter to the trustees after all. This is disappointing, because the Minister freely offered his personal defence of why Ulster-Scots, the Orange Order and other fraternal organisations like the AoH, the …

Faic bainte amach don Ghaeilge?

Ciarán Dunbar on February 2, 2010, 5:37 pm

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Tá cuma ar an scéal go bhfuil sé beartaithe ‘straitéis’ a bheith ann don Ghaeilge mar thoradh ar na cainteanna ar siúil i gCaisleán Chroimghlinne. Beidh le feiceáil cad a bheadh i gceist ach tá dualgas ar a DCAL agus ar Nelson McCausland straitéis a chur ar bun don Ghaeilge cheanna féin, rud atá Nelson ag déanamh a sheacht ndícheall chun moill a chur air, seans nach bhfuil i gceist sa straitéis seo ach an tAire ag cúlú siar céim …