The Detail

“Assembly election campaign characterised by superficial discussions on ‘bread and butter issues’.”

Mick Fealty on May 9, 2016, 4:56 pm

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Interesting now that the election is over that suddenly the truth emerges about the DUP and Sinn Fein’s footsie over their joint prepping of the next Programme for Government: yet when I asked Gerry Kelly early on Saturday afternoon he was cagey, to say the least (2-50 in). Excellent from Steven McCaffrey at The Detail, on how this was a choreographed election. It’s worth reading it all, but here’s how he concludes: A critical analysis of Stormont’s last Programme for Government (PfG) …

Using data for public good – launch of Detail Data

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on June 29, 2015, 12:33 pm

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NICVA’s relationship with investigative journalism website The Detail began with the reporting on the umbrella organisation’s research paper on The Impact of Welfare Reform on Northern Ireland. Lisa McElherron said she was thrilled to launch the Detail Data project. NICVA had been keen (1) to better tell the stories of the sector they represent; (2) to forge better links into the media to tell those stories; and (3) to harness the thirst for public data and to ultimately deliver better …

OFMDFM’s sluggardly FOI performance under spotlight

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 21, 2012, 2:35 pm

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This morning the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced four public bodies which will be monitored between January and March in 2013 “over concerns about the timeliness of their responses to Freedom of Information requests”. The four public bodies were selected from the thousands of public bodies across the UK that fall under the ICO’s remit for FOI: Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council; two Westminster departments, Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions; and the Office of the First Minister and …

The ever changing rhetorical framework of a single term: Collusion…

Mick Fealty on June 21, 2012, 9:09 am

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Newton at The Detail at his withering best as he tries to grab that most Protean of Troubles/Peace Process™ watchwords, collusion… 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

Plotting school attendance rates in Lisburn and Newry

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on May 29, 2012, 6:56 pm

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Lisburn and Newry school attendance - using data gathered by The Detail

Over the weekend, The Detail published details about school attendance in Northern Ireland using 2010/11 attendance data for every primary and post-primary school that was released by the Department of Education in response to their Freedom of Information request. Quoting some of The Detail’s findings: The average pupil attendance across all schools in Northern Ireland in the last school year was 94%. However, our analysis of the department’s figures shows that the attendance levels for at least 20,914 pupils fell …

Some secondary schools get better results than selective grammar schools

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 5, 2012, 9:05 pm

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In days and weeks to come, there may be many ways to slice and dice the data that Kathryn Torney published in The Detail and the Sunday Times this morning. Chris has already alluded to the potential weakness in directly comparing the raw NI stats about numbers of pupils achieving 7 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and Maths with English secondary schools given the selective nature of the NI educational system. I wondered about the blurred boundary …

… to prosecute cases if the evidence emerges …

John Ó Néill on February 5, 2012, 9:56 am

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The Detail has an interesting piece to set alongside the DPP’s comments regarding confronting the past. It concerns the RUC and HET investigations into the killings such as the attack on Sean Grahams on the Ormeau Road which involved a Browning that was handed to the UFF/UDA by the RUC. The Detail outlines how: In 2010 the families were informed by the Historic Enquiries Team (HET) that police had “disposed of” interview notes of two loyalists who’d been caught in possession of the …

Who is really paying for the price of justice? The “fine” Detail has been doing its sums …

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 16, 2011, 2:45 pm

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The Detail’s Kathryn Torney has published an analysis of NI prison admissions due to fine defaulting. Information held in the Prison Records Management System covering 14,259 prison admissions over a 70 month period was released under a Freedom of Information request. The data shows that 2000 people go to jail in NI every year for fine defaulting – around a third of prison admissions. The Criminal Justice Inspectorate has also spoken out strongly. Chief Inspector Dr Michael Maguire said: “The …

OPONI wants more history, less inquiry…

John Ó Néill on November 24, 2011, 10:00 pm

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Over at The Detail, Barry McCafferty is reporting that the Police Ombudsman’s office is now saying that it can no longer investigate the killings of anyone shot dead by a police officer during the Troubles. “A test case in the Supreme Court (House of Lords) earlier this year has confirmed to us that we cannot investigate deaths from the Troubles which have previously been investigated unless there is new evidence.” The Ombudsman spokesman said it would now ask government to introduce …

The Detail goes live

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 14, 2011, 7:13 pm

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After a few months of recruiting, training and building their website, The Detail has gone live with a front page full of stories and columnists. Police and intelligence stories dominate the site at present, along with pieces about property, finance and child protection in sport. Serious stuff, with links to follow-up pages discussing aspects of each story at the bottom of the main articles. There’s also a Malachi O’Doherty photo story and an excellent comment piece by Newton Emerson with …

The Detail will launch in January…

Pete Baker on October 7, 2010, 6:13 pm

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The Guardian informs us that Bob Geldof’s media company Ten Alps will launch The Detail [added link], a Belfast-based news and current affairs website, in January. From The Guardian report The Detail will launch in January and is backed by £750,000 in grants from two bodies, Atlantic Philanthropies and Norther[n] Ireland Screen. This money is budgeted to fund the project for two years. Trevor Birney, managing director of Belfast-based independent producer Below the Radar, is to be head of The Detail. Below the …