In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday.

Doctor Paisley and Mister Clerk In celebration of the recent 25th anniversary of the devolution of powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Paul Moore – former Clerk to the Assembly’s Agriculture Committee – has been sharing his recollections from the …

Executive Ministers brief Assembly on response to Storm Éowyn On Monday (27 January) the First Minister and deputy First Ministers made a lengthy statement in the Assembly regarding the Executive’s response to Storm Éowyn. First Minister Michelle O’Neil MLA told MLAs that there had …

Once again it seems we are facing a new controversy in the Education sector. The Belfast Telegraph reports that… “The Department of Education is facing calls for full transparency after £710,000 was awarded to a school in Londonderry following a …

This week’s Infrastructure debate in the Assembly was described to me as truly depressing. It was yet another lost opportunity to try and solve the growing wastewater crisis which is engulfing both the housebuilding and the construction sectors. The Infrastructure …

Were you taught about the Spartans in school history? Sparta was a small Greek state in 500BCE, situated in the south of Greece, roughly 130 miles west of Athens. The Spartans valued the security of the state and military strength …

I confess to no longer following UK politics or, frankly, the news in general. For the past year or two, I have been on a mission to quiet the 10,000 monkies in my head. I am concluding that most of …

Six nations 2025 In the 142 year history of the Home Nations, 5 Nations, and 6 Nations since 1883, no country has won the competition outright three years in a row.  Granted, there were rare occasions when the Championship was …

According to this article from the BBC… “Northern Ireland’s population is projected to peak at 1.95m in 2033 before starting to decline, a report by the official statistics agency suggests. The projection from the NI Statistics and Research Agency says …

The Role of the Electorate in Political Accountability: A Reflection on Nicola Mallon’s Comments In a recent episode of The View, with interviewer Mark Carruthers, Ms Nicola Mallon, former Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive, made a provocative observation about the …