DUP Minister Under Pressure As Anti-Fracking Campaign Grows
The issue of hydraulic fracturing – fracking – has been catapulted into mainstream attention in Northern Ireland over the last few weeks. For those not yet in the know, fracking…
Tescopoly: A Green’s Praise for Sammy Wilson
It’s rare that I’ll have anything very nice to say about the DUP’s Sammy Wilson, our current Northern Ireland Finance Minister. Despite a friend telling me when we were both…
Northern Ireland Green Party Conference 2011
The Green Party in Northern Ireland’s conference took place in the Ramada Encore Hotel in Belfast’s trendy Cathedral Quarter last weekend – five minutes’ walk away is Writer’s Square, where…
Drenched in Oil – Ulster Bank, RBS and Ethics for the Belfast Festival
What links the suffering of the indigenous Cree Indians of Alberta, Canada, the international arms trade and the President of Belarus to a vibrant cultural event in Belfast, Northern Ireland?…
Plan To Turn Northern Ireland Into Tax Haven Shelved
In a response to a question asked in the Assembly by Green MLA Steven Agnew, Northern Ireland’s Finance Minister Sammy Wilson revealed that plans to cut the province’s corporation tax…
On Integrated Education – Happy 30th, Lagan College
This 4th September marked the 30th birthday of Lagan College, Northern Ireland’s first integrated school – that is, the first school where Catholic and Protestant children were educated together. It’s…
Northern Irish Greens 2011 – Election Review
After reading Peter and Sam’s post-election thoughts on Green performance in Scotland and Wales, I thought I’d complete the regional picture. Less than a week after the Assembly elections in…
Northern Ireland – Still The Worst Region of the UK to be LGBT
Last Saturday saw Belfast’s annual Pride parade take to the streets. It’s a celebration that will be familiar to many cities across the world. It’s a lively day with an…
From Here To Eternity – Nuclear Waste & The Far-Flung Future
Fukushima has pushed nuclear reactor safety - rather understandably – into mainstream political debate once again. But strange as it may sound, reactor safety is not at the top of…
The Labour Party and Northern Ireland
At the risk of sounding like I have too much experience of this, I imagine that being voted out of government must be a lot like getting chucked by someone…