With the DUP snubbing yesterday’s Belfast Pride event at Stormont, Michael wonders how long it will be before they come on board on the issue of LGBT rights. Continue reading Politician states Pride is ‘totally repugnant’ – when will the DUP learn?
freedom, fairness and responsibility The three words that we are told by the Liberal Democrat Federal Party website sum up the Coalition Government’s Programme. However, I don’t see how it is promoting any of those when you consider what has just happened to the devolved countries’ finances. HM Treasury changed the rules Formerly, departments were allowed to carry over money from one year to another. In this way, Northern Ireland’s Department for Education had built up a reserve of £87m (2008 figures). Usually, making savings, is considered a good financial practice: building up reserves in case of need in the … Continue reading freedom, fairness, and responsibility: but not to NI!
The proposal that we should have the possibility of bilingual traffic signs in Northern Ireland is seen as divisive. However, I think it could have a much more positive benefit to our country in general.
Until many, mostly political unionists and cultural Protestants, stop seeing any language use other that of English as an attack on being British, we will have a hard job in using any such language. However, as I have said before, and has been said by many, if these self same people would look back in their heritage they would find that they are likely to have ancestors who used Irish, and if not Irish, then Scots Gaelic. Scots Gaelic of course like Welsh is in use on roadsigns in other parts of their so-beloved United Kingdom. In other words, they need to relearn the history of this island and come to the understanding that diversity is often a way of unifying a whole country. Continue reading linguistic diversity should be a positive benefit to all
A programme for the reform of the whole system is what is wanted. State built and State equipped school buildings in every district; management by a State department of Education… When a thorough system of secular education is advocated it is by many thought that religion is thereby endangered. This is not so. Religious instruction in schools is apt to be a mere routine which does not touch the finer feelings. Religious instruction in the schools has done much to destroy religious teaching in the home. The indifferent parent has satisfied his conscience by delegating some of his most important duties to the schoolmaster. In a country which has no State Church there is no State religion to be taught in the State Schools and it is the duty of the various religious denominations to see that their children get proper religious instruction without unnecessarily sacrificing their secular education and thereby providing third-rate education and routine religious instruction… Continue reading “We’re in a time warp: 1910, 2010, 2110?”
The most ambitious voter contact programme in British political history will be getting off the ground this weekend. The first wave of a total of 50 phonebanks will be open in cities across the United Kingdom. The cause ? The campaign for Yes to Fairer Votes for the Referendum on May 5th on the voting system used for Westminster elections. 140,000 already signed up Saturday 4th December will go down in history as the day it started. Already 140,000 people have signed up to help the campaign. I am proud to be one of them. This campaign truly is one from … Continue reading It’s a small change – but it will make a big difference
…but local campaigners are doing just that this Saturday The result in the General Election in Fermanagh & South Tyrone (FST) could hardly have been closer. Both Michelle Gildernew (Sinn Féin) and Rodney Connor (Independent) got 45.5% of the vote back in May. With 4 votes between them the result was taken to a costly electoral court. Would a vote using the Alternative Vote (AV) have made the result any clearer? Would it have made a difference? Stephen Glenn, Northern Ireland Organiser, and the Yes to Fairer Votes team will be running a re-run* of the FST parliamentary election by … Continue reading Court may not have ordered a re-run…
The Traditional Unionist Voice, has published its response to the draft Programme on Cohesion, Sharing and Integration, and I have taken this opportunity to make some comment upon it. TUV welcomes the opportunity to respond to this consultation. We will go through the document and highlight areas of particular interest or concern to our party and supporters. TUV finds it ironic in the extreme that this document should have a forward written jointly by the co-First Ministers. Had it not been for the brutal campaign of violence in which the deputy First Minister played a key role we would not … Continue reading A response to CSI that is rooted in the language of conflict and aggression
Today, I received a response from the Private Office of the Minister of Regional Development, Conor Murphy MP MLA, to my query about the provision of bus shelters in the Mountcollyer are of Belfast. It is clear from the response that there is need for further work to be done surrounding the need for bus shelters along the number 2 Metro route. I shall be working with my colleagues to ensure that this is done. There are other avenues open to us for any new bus shelters… read rest of post here. Continue reading Sinn Féin minister confirms bus shelters still possible
We are hearing the news that a body has been recovered in Waterfoot, County Antrim by the teams searching for Peter Wilson, one of ‘The Disappered’. I am glad that another family it seems is going to be able to bury the remains of their missing member soon. However, I found the comment of Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams MP MLA rather odd “The reports that remains have been found at Waterfoot, County Antrim, where the Commission have been searching for St James man, Peter Wilson, is welcome news. “My thoughts are with the Wilson family at this time and … Continue reading Assistance in finding bodies: but when for finding murderers?
Good to see that the all-Ireland political entity known as Sinn Féin is using joined up campaigning. On one side of the border that they now recognise (cf Belfast Agreement) people are being encouraged to join with Gerry Adams and protest the cuts – see poster… Whilst in Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin is saying that they want to make savings cuts worth £1billion and make £800 million in revenue. According to Eamonn Mallie, the deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness said (on tackling the economy) Let us have a bit of blue sky thinking – thinking outside the box. Mr Mallie … Continue reading stop the cuts, make some cuts… make up your mind Sinn Féin
Gyronny Herald 