Community relations:Draft CSI strategy
Monday, September 6th, 2010Two and a half years on from the Programme for Government’s publication, the cohesion, sharing and integration, programme replaces ‘A Shared Future’ from the days of direct rule. Published in draft form by OFMDFM on 27 July, it is the first community relations strategy drawn up by a power-sharing government. However, the long delay in its production and the very public differences of opinion in autumn 2008, when the DUP and Sinn Féin published rival drafts, suggest that it may not achieve all its aims. Jointly launching the document, Peter Robinson reflected that “we have all...[full story]
Tags: Community relations
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Westminster:Owen Paterson’s long view
Monday, September 6th, 2010Secretary of State Owen Paterson wants to see devolution settle down and the private sector grow, but says Northern Ireland must be part of the “team effort” to cut the deficit. Peter Cheney reports. Having settled quickly into his post, Owen Paterson is keen to see Northern Ireland and the UK Government working together as a “team” but is adamant that the deficit must be immediately tackled to restore the economy. “I met people from right across Northern Ireland, right across the community, in every sort of activity,” he recalls from his time in opposition, “but I couldn’t...[full story]
Tags: Westminster
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Assembly:Inside the Justice Bill
Monday, September 6th, 2010As the Assembly prepares for its first justice legislation, agendaNi summarises the main proposals being considered. When the Justice Bill is debated on the Assembly Chamber’s floor this month, it will be marking a significant legal milestone. Stormont is now on a par with Holyrood, Westminster and Leinster House by debating and passing laws on criminal justice. It is also the first Bill brought forward by an Alliance Minister. A miscellaneous provisions Bill was mooted in the Hillsborough Castle Agreement in February, and as the title suggests, this would essentially be a broad, tidying-up...[full story]
Tags: Assembly
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Finance:Public sector spending and its future
Monday, September 6th, 2010Public expenditure in Northern Ireland has almost doubled in money terms over the past decade but over the next four years the region faces drastic cuts in public services. Victor Hewitt considers the causes and consequences, along with possible fiscal options. A deal with the UK Government would offer some relief from the worst of the cuts and help turn Northern Ireland into an enterprise zone. The UK deficit The combination of an underlying structural deficit plus the impact of actions to alleviate the financial crisis and the recession has brought about a serious deterioration in the...[full story]
Tags: Finance
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Voluntary:Looking IN
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010Photographer Donal McCann explains how picturing homelessness on Belfast’s streets changed his attitude to the problem. There was something about the eyes of Belfast’s homeless people that really drew Donal McCann close to them. Some revealed sadness, others real hope. Twenty black and white portraits from the project with them were displayed at the Waterfront Hall’s ‘Looking In’ exhibition during June. He was invited by a friend involved in the Welcome Organisation to take some photos to document its work with rough sleepers. Welcome’s volunteer teams find people who are...[full story]
Tags: Voluntary
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Exclusive:Our woman makes mark on Australian politics
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010Australia’s first female prime minister, Welsh-born Julia Gillard, is awaiting her fate in the federal election but she is not the first non-native to achieve success in the country’s government. In 1975, Belfast-born Margaret Guilfoyle (pictured right, in 2008) became the first woman to run a government department. Guilfoyle was the first female Cabinet minister with a portfolio, when she became Education Minister in Malcolm Fraser’s government (November-December 1975). She was then appointed Minister for Social Security (1976-1980) and made history by becoming the first woman...[full story]
Tags: Exclusive
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Westminster:Who lived in Number 10?
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010The lives of 15 residents at the humble Belfast address. Five labourers, a flaxdresser and a driller called 10 Downing Street their home over the course of a century, further research by agendaNi has revealed. The modest terraced house off Belfast’s Shankill Road shared its name with the UK’s most powerful address from 1863 to 1981 but the site now lies deserted. The Belfast and Ulster Street Directories, held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, list the heads of households in each street of the city for most years of the late 19th and 20th centuries. Downing Street...[full story]
Tags: Westminster
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Assembly:Achieving a shared future
Monday, August 23rd, 2010With elections looming next year, new Social Development Minister Alex Attwood does not know how long he will have to put his stamp on the department. He spoke to Meadhbh Monahan about the need to encourage integration and maximise the benefits of devolution. “We only have 10 years to get North/South right” otherwise Ireland will be “by-passed” by the rest of the world. That’s according to reports given to Social Development Minister Alex Attwood, who sees all-island working as central to his remit. Four weeks into the new position, the former Policing Board member is aware...[full story]
Tags: Assembly
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Political Platform:Pat Ramsey MLA
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010A member of Derry City Council for 18 years, Pat was first elected to the Assembly in 2003. He served as Mayor for the Maiden City in 1999-2000. A member of the Assembly Employment and Learning Committee, he is also the SDLP’s spokesman on the subject. How did you get started in politics? In the late 1970s and 80s I was involved with youth and community work in Derry – in the Bogside and Creggan areas in particular. It was a time of very high unemployment, poor housing and violent conflict and these areas were intensely militarised. Many young people were convinced by the arguments...[full story]
Tags: Political Platform
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Finance:Deficits and cuts
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010With the announcement of public spending cuts, Owen McQuade looks at the UK deficit and how any changes made by George Osborne and his team might impact on Northern Ireland. Perhaps the main reason why David Cameron and his Conservative colleagues opted for a formal coalition, the first for 65 years, was that they realised the cutting of public spending in the parliament ahead would be politically very treacherous. As the new administration prepares for its first budget, the deficit stands at £156 billion at the end of the last financial year 2009-2010. At 11.6 per cent of national income...[full story]
Tags: Finance
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