The Guardian carries a shameful article, with links to another article and a flash presentation, by Mary O’Hara on Child Poverty in NI. False dawn The Good Friday Agreement heralded a period of economic prosperity for Northern Ireland. But beyond the luxury flats, second homes and flashy cars, the region’s poorest people continue to endure some of the UK’s most desperate poverty. Mary O’Hara reports Ambrose Uprichard
an excellent article in the Scotsman that has considerable relevence to Northern Ireland. Catholic dogma and Protestant guilt won’t heal sectarian divideStatistics prompt a rethink on religious aggravation. DUNCAN HAMILTON AFTER a week in which Rangers have knocked Celtic out of the CIS Cup and narrowed the gap at the top of the Premiership to just one point, I shouldn’t have been surprised that my wife was sore. A Catholic from Cork who has grown accustomed to the dominance of …
Yesterday’s Observer magazine carried an interesting series of opinion pieces on which part of the “British Isles” *ahem* is the best suited to your lifestyle. Best place to be a parent, famous, fashionable, green (Bristol, apparently), an artist, etc, etc.. Determined as they obviously were to hit every demographic I looked through to see who is, allegedly, best suited to live here. Belfast, it seems, is the best place to be ‘young’. Well, they don’t know any better, do they?The …
Following the Economist ‘quality of life’ survey, in which Ireland topped the list of ‘best countries in the world to live in’, in the Guardian, Irish Times columnist John Waters and author Joseph O’Connor give their take on how Ireland has coped with the shocking news.John Waters predicts a new dispensation that will see expectations increasingly failing to meet reality and, in the process, makes some good points on what he argues is “the last survey to include evidence of …
It’s November for christ’s sake. Get a grip. The BBC, having run out of startling revelations, ‘reports’ (and I use the term as loosely as possible) on the latest pre-christmas hype. Belfast shopkeepers’ are already pushing the idea of “a late christmas rush” – my tip.. stay warm, stay inside, and get those presents online. Pete Baker
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has declared his support for moves to provide equal rights for gay couples in Ireland on tax and inheritance issues – “These people who are in relationships which are not illegal, they’re not immoral, they’re not improper. They say: ‘We want more equality and we want to be treated fairer.’ I agree with that.” The RTE report also has Realmedia links to news reports on the Taoiseach’s comments. Pete Baker
`Eid Al-Fitr: A Day of Moral Victory `Eid means recurring happiness or festivity. There are two such `Eids in Islam. The first is called `Eid Al-Fitr (the Festival of Breaking Fast).It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Muslim year, following the month of Ramadan, which is the month of fasting in which the Holy Qur’an was revealed. The second is called `Eid Al-Adha (the Festival of Sacrifice). It falls on the tenth day of …
It might not be quite as pervasive as “up here in the North” but bigotry in the Republic manifested it`s self in Dublin on Armistice Day at the Irish Jewish Museum and the National War Memorial. This comes just ahead of Remembrance Sunday. KilsallyIT Technical Manager for a CCTV company in the UK & Ireland. Christian, Orangeman, Unionist. Webmaster of Ulster-Scots Online. Occasional blogger on Slugger O’ Toole. Eurosceptic. @Kilsally www.ulster-scots.co.uk
The Irish Times reported yesterday that “Some 70 racist incidents were reported to the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) between May and October of this year, compared with 42 incidents for the previous six months and 46 incidents in the corresponding period last year”. Today, Nigel Dodds condemns the spread of racist attacks to North Belfast. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the …
THE IMC has suggested that charities may be fronts for paramilitary money laundering (see pages 33 & 34). This is completely unsurprising, as the law, such as it exists here, on charities is simply not enforced.Whatever the Government might spin to you, I can assure you that charity is more or less unregulated here. Generous people are ripped off every day by NI charities. Some charity workers take most of the donations as income. There is no Charity Commission, as …
The latest Independent Monitoring Commission report is now available on-line and, with more prominent Sinn Féin representatives otherwise occupied, it falls on SF MP Michelle Gildernew to repeat the mantra, “They have no credibility and the contents of the report are of little interest to nationalists or republicans.” – by which she means Sinn Féin. As the SDLP’s deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell points out – “SF in denial”While the BBC highlights the report’s finding that “The IRA shows no signs …
Joanne Dunlop with a spirited account of the pro-choice case on abortion in Northern Ireland. It’s an issue on which there is a conspicuous and almost entirely unanimous consensus amongst all of Northern Ireland’s political parties. It’s a refreshing original analysis that, ironically may find supporters from every side. It’s also a sign that the Balnket is broadening the scope of it writing and its audience! Via Mwk. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on …
The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland (they should have a blog page on the front) has published a report suggesting that the Twelth of July celbrations can boost local and tourist businesses, suggesting that “businesses in one town netted a total of £175,000 on the day”. 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 …
In the Blanket, John O’Farrell has a thoughtful report on the “gathering of trots, anarchists, trade unionists, pacifists, ecologists, nationalists and interest groups” at this year’s European Social Forum in London.A few paragraphs worth highlighting – “Adams kept his audience happy by talking in the common language of “another world is possible”, of the “”importance of practical as well as symbolic acts of international solidarity.” Third World debt should be cancelled, the environment should be protected, private corporations should be …
For a society that’s been immersed in it’s own serious conflicts, it can be incredibly difficult to lift the gaze and look at new and emerging issues. The Anti Racism Network is trying to do just that, with a rally this Saturday 2pm, Art College Gardens, Belfast. According to PSNI statistics, between April 2002 and 2003 there were 226 racial incidents, resulting in just five prosecutions – and it is not known yet if any of these have been or …
That’s the title up for grabs in Lisselton, County Kerry. The Guardian’s Ireland correspondent Angelique Chrisafis reports on the attempt to reclaim the term ‘culchie’ by… well… culchies at Ireland’s national culchie festival – The title comes with “a new anorak, perhaps a sack of potatoes and maybe a new pair of wellies.”According to the report, “Any prize money would ruin the concept. You would get amateur actors in pretending to be culchies, and that, according to the locals, would …
Professor Liam Kennedy in yesterday’s Sunday Independent notes a rise in the numbers of Loyalist punishment beatings of teenagers and a halving of Republican attacks on the same age groups. He notes a correlation in a drop in the more brutal attacks and the work of the IMC. But Suzanne Breen examines the more extreme cases of the disappeared from the height of the Troubles. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of …
Within a week of the Provisional IRA ‘apologising’ for the abduction and murder of 15-year-old Bernard Taggart in 1973, a Sinn Féin spokesman has accused the author of a new report on the paramilitary beating and shooting attacks on young people in Northern Ireland, Professor Liam Kennedy, of being “a well-known anti-republican” despite the report detailing that, of the 22 acknowledged shootings and beatings by the end of August this year, eight were carried out by republicans and 14 by …
Well, not exactly what the headline says, that’s for sure. According to the RTE report “Ireland 17th least corrupt, survey finds” and opens with the line “A survey of 146 countries has rated Ireland as the 17th least corrupt.” Except the survey is a Corruption Perceptions Index by the Internet Centre for Corruption Research – that’s PERCEPTIONS.To be fair to RTE, the press release from Transparency International Chairman, Peter Eigen, confuses the two issues as well.. “Corruption is rampant in …
I would like to extend sympathy to Sinn Féin MLA Fra McCann on the latest tragedy to hit his family. A report in the Irish News carries the story that his Brother has committed suicide. A niece committed suicide some years ago. This, according to SF, is the third suspected suicide in West Belfast in the past week. Fra McCann was part of a deputation that discussed the issue of Suicide in N and W Belfast with the NIO health …
