Order of Bath
Companion (CB)

Carol Patricia Moore, lately director, justice policy, Department of Justice

Order of the British Empire
Dame Commander (DBE)

Professor Judith Eileen Hill CBE, chief executive, Northern Ireland Hospice

Commanders (CBE)
Catherine Elizabeth Bell, deputy secretary, Department for Employment and Learning

Professor Jack Crane, state pathologist

Officers (OBE)
David William Best, director of finance and support services, PSNI

Darren Christopher Clarke, for services to golf

James Dobson, managing director, Dunbia

James Stephen Foster, head of corporate real estate and sourcing (Europe, Middle East and Africa), JP Morgan Chase

David Alexander Gibson, senior lecturer, enterprise education, Queen’s University Belfast

David Dunbar Mawhinney, managing director, Equiniti-ICS

Fionnuala McAndrew, director of children and executive director for social work, Health and Social Care Board

Professor James Andrew McLaughlin, advanced functional materials, University of Ulster

Reverend Wilfred John Orr, Newtownbreda Presbyterian Church

Shelagh Rosemary Rainey, chair, Belfast Education and Library Board

Reverend William Alexander Shaw, director, 174 Trust

Joanne Stuart, former chairman, Institute of Directors, Northern Ireland Division

Members (MBE)
Esther Robina Yvette Anderson, musical director, PSNI Ladies Choir

Philip Moore Bolton, director of music, Royal Belfast Academical Institution

Beverley Eleanor Ann Burns, Trading Standards Service, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment

Dr Samuel John Burnside

Dr Linda Margaret Caughley, consultant histopathologist, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry

Brian Dorman

Jeffrey Edward Anthony Dudgeon

Charles Herbert Gerard Gould, chairman, board of governors, Carrickfergus Grammar School

Robert James Haughey

Dr Raman Kapur, chief executive, Threshold

Eileen May Kenny, head of quality, South West College

Lily Kerr, head of bargaining and representation, UNISON Northern Ireland

George Gordon Archibald Knowles, welfare officer, Disabled Police Officers’ Association

Renée Alice Logan, volunteer, Institute of Advanced Motorists

Flora Magee

Rosemary Magill, Women’s Aid

Anne Marie Marley, respiratory nurse consultant, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

Henry Irwin Mayne, social worker, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

Ann McCrea, breastfeeding co-ordinator

Patricia McDermott

Patrick McGonagle, managing director, Pakflatt Ltd

Rory McIlroy, golfer

William James McKittrick

Maura Muldoon

Robina Parkes

James Peel JP, lately assistant senior education officer, South Eastern Education and Library Board

Alderman John Mervyn Rea, Antrim Borough Council

Agnes Mary Reilly, chairman, Belfast Titanic Society

David Robinson, founder, Northern Ireland Transplant Association

Robert Moore Robinson, principal, Rainey Endowed School, Magherafelt

Richard Michael Sherry

David Smith, director, customer support, South Eastern Regional College

Councillor Marion Smith, North Down Borough Council

Eileen Watson, lately teacher, Ashfield Girls High School, Belfast

Thomas Joseph Welsh

John Victor Williamson, owner, Valley Hotel, Fivemiletown

Queen’s Police Medal
Detective Chief Inspector

Kim McCauley

Acting Inspector

Alexander Penney

Sergeant Russell Vogan

The BEM returns
In the Queen’s birthday honours this summer, the British Empire Medal will be reintroduced to recognise local acts of voluntary service. It was established in 1917 but discontinued by John Major in 1993, as it overlapped with the MBE and was seen as reinforcing class divisions. Recipients tended to come from working class backgrounds. David Cameron, though, sees it a way to reward a wider range of volunteers. Presentations were made by a Lord Lieutenant rather than the Queen, and this will continue through the new system.

Less than a year before the USA chooses a new President, Jim Naughtie finds that many Americans no longer believe in the American Dream. The BBC Today Programme presenter has covered every presidential election since 1988 and is discussing the current state of US politics after speaking at the Belfast Festival at Queen’s.

“Many Americans, say aged between 30 and 50, are profoundly sceptical of the idea with which they grew up, that it was almost an inheritance of theirs that every generation would be better off than the one before,” he comments.

That idea of constant progress was treated as an “absolute fact” that “made you an American” but now rings hollow in the Rust Belt and across the South. Indebtedness to China and Japan are major worries. Together, those countries hold around 45 per cent of US foreign debt.

“The idea that America no longer rules the waves is one that [has] really taken hold,” Naughtie reflects with some regret. “It’s extremely hard to use the word pessimism in relation to the States because it’s the most optimistic country in the world. And there will be a huge amount of rhetoric [this year] about ‘the Americans will bounce back, we’ll do it, that’s what we are etc. etc.’ but I think underneath that there’s a real lurking fear that it’s no longer true.”

A decade of conflict since 9/11 has added to that fear. Realising the threat of terrorism was a “profound shock” and Americans are “slightly bewildered” that they are no safer after the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions. Around 6,200 US troops have died and 47,000 have been injured in both campaigns.

An old saying goes that voters don’t make up their minds after baseball’s World Series is over, which makes for a lot of deciding in the last week of October.

Obama will undoubtedly have to “carry the can” for unemployment, pay cuts and repossessions on his watch and there is now a “sense of quite steep disillusionment” among young people.

Turning to the Republican side, Naughtie adds: “There is absolutely no doubt that the person that the White House fears most is Mitt because he is competent. He is actually more personable than he was in the last campaign.”

Mitt Romney avoids the false conspiracy theories about Obama and instead paints him as “rather a nice guy” who wants the same things as him but “doesn’t know how the world works”. To win the primaries, though, Romney will play to the Tea Party with right-wing rhetoric.

“It’s beyond me to imagine that they could nominate Rick Perry but it’s not impossible,” Naughtie adds. While the Texas Governor is a “seasoned politician,” he has shown a “real lack of grip” on the Middle East, among other issues.

Romney’s weaknesses are his liberalism, faith and wealth. As Massachusetts Governor, he introduced a nearly universal health insurance plan. Many evangelicals “regard Mormonism as a cult” and it’s also “very easy to portray him as a very rich, smooth, Wall Street corporate fat cat, largely because that is indeed what he is.”

Although Americans frequently talk about freedom, enterprise and the American Dream, “very rich folks from Wall Street are not the flavour of the month” at the moment. However, Naughtie’s hunch is “if the Republican Party is serious about winning the election, they should nominate him.”

His own experience of America goes back to studying at Syracuse, upstate New York, back in the mid-1970s. He clearly regrets the polarisation and growing cynicism in its society, which in turn causes serious political damage.

The American constitutional settlement assumed that parties in Congress would search for consensus but his sources in Washington are “very gloomy about the prospects of any administration and Congress being able to sort out some of the deep-seated problems because the ideological rift is so profound now.”

Partisan talk shows and radio reflect the prejudices of their audiences, who are “not interested in hearing another point of view”. An ex-army colonel and Tea Party activist whom he met in Kentucky only listened to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

Getting answers

Hearing that makes him more proud of British radio’s style: “We have managed to preserve in this country the idea of the interview as being something that is an opportunity for people to hear their concerns, their questions, being put and answered.”

For almost every interview, his rule is: “You work out what the one thing is you want to know or you’ve at least got to be determined to get at, and everything else is a bonus.”

Going with the conversational flow is better than sticking to a plan. An alert interviewer who listens to the answers can pick up something intriguing, unexpected or surprising.

Naughtie sums up: “In a good interview, the person being interviewed has always had an opportunity to put their case across, assuming they’ve got one, but the question that most of your listeners want to hear asked has been asked and answered.” The art of it is “letting people feel that they really have learnt something, that light has been cast on something.”

On radio, it’s hard to avoid interrupting a down-the-line interview and eye contact makes the process much more straightforward. “Politicians and experienced people know it. When they’re actually there, it’s much better for us and it’s much better for them too,” he comments.

Realistically, some BBC services to the public will be hit by cuts. That said, he thinks that austerity is forcing to BBC to “think very hard” about its core values and what it does best.

“The BBC can never win because it’s got to try to please everybody, which is impossible,” he quips. With News International on the defensive, when it could otherwise be criticising the licence fee, this is “rather a happy coincidence.”

Reactions to Sands’ death

A compelling weekly bulletin from the Northern Ireland Office (file NIO/12/194A) describes the first week of May 1981 in grim detail. The medical prognosis of the hunger strikers had a direct bearing on the security situation outside the jail.

“As anticipated in the last bulletin Sands’ condition became critical at the weekend when he lapsed into a coma on Sunday morning [3 May],” it records. “He did not regain consciousness before his death at 01.17 hours early on Tuesday 5, the 66th day of his fast.”

Secretary of State Humphrey Atkins regretted a “needless and pointless death” before adding: “We should not forget the many others who have died.” Atkins urged the people of Northern Ireland to “recognise the futility of violence and turn their faces away from it.” A press statement from republican prisoners blamed the British Government “primarily” for his death but also condemned “politicians and other leading people” for their alleged “timidity and lack of courage”.

The document goes on to report “rioting for most of the day in Belfast” on 4 May and “heavy petrol bombing of RUC targets plus factories, commercial premises and a Methodist church” after Sands’ death. An RUC officer was shot dead in North Belfast on 6 May and an INLA terrorist killed by his own bomb.

A “marked increase in shooting incidents overnight” (6-7 May) suggested that “[IRA] terrorist action will be stepped up to maintain the campaign impetus.”

Robinson’s prison hostage offer

Peter Robinson was prepared to take a government offer to loyalist prisoners holding four prison officers hostage, according to NIO notes (file CENT/1/10/91). The incident happened at Crumlin Road jail and was discussed at a meeting at Stormont Castle starting at 9.15pm on 11 December 1981.

Robinson met NIO Minister of State Adam Butler as part of the Ulster Loyalist Prisoners’ Rights Committee. He warned that “the prison might be burnt down” and said he had been “shouting up to some of the prisoners taking part in the protest and had been told the hostages were being well treated.”

If the committee members could meet the prisoners and take an offer from the Government, he expected that the warders would be released. A Mr McDonald, also on the committee, was “concerned [that] the irresponsible element in the prison would take over completely.”

Butler insisted that third parties could not negotiate with protesting prisoners. “It was a matter for the prison authorities to handle,” as had happened in Great Britain. However, the committee “bore a heavy responsibility if they had the prisoners’ trust and it was essential that they should try to encourage and influence the situation to reduce tension.”

Robinson countered that another NIO Minister, Lord Gowrie, and “all sorts of people” had gone to the Maze to ask the hunger strikers to call off their protest. He warned that if anything happened to the warders, “it would be on the Minister’s conscience.” Ulster Unionist John Carson, a UUP councillor and former North Belfast MP, added: “Protestant feelings were running very high especially when it seemed that Republican prisoners had won all their demands, whilst Loyalist prisoners were being ignored.”

Butler suggested that the committee make an appeal on radio to end the protest, but this was rejected as ineffective. After two and a half hours, both sides agreed that the committee would tell prisoners, through a loud hailer, that they could meet elected representatives if the protest ended; the Government would announce a review of conditions at Crumlin Road for remand prisoners; Lord Gowrie would meet “conforming prisoners” at an early opportunity.

The prison officers were subsequently released.

Leading profiles

Frank profiles of political and church figures by NIO staff (file CENT/1/10/36A) indicate their fears that moderate figures were being overshadowed by loud hard line voices.

Ian Paisley “gained his reputation as a fundamentalist preacher with violently anti-catholic views” in the late 1950s and was “far removed from the old traditional middle class unionism”. His majority in North Antrim was “impregnable”.

Catholic Primate Tomás Ó Fiaich was clearly resented: “His public pronouncements tend to gain him notoriety, believing in a phased British withdrawal from the North. He rejects violence, but has on occasion been far from helpful on the prisons issue.” The main Protestant church leaders, all seen as ecumenical, were viewed much more positively.

John Hume had been “an effective Minister of Commerce” and is described as: “Altogether an academically minded, moderate politician.” Jim Molyneaux is curiously listed third out of the four main political leaders, perhaps reflecting NIO frustration: “Rather lacking in populist appeal, his lack of flair may have contributed to the UUP’s steady loss of support to the DUP.”

The DUP had narrowly overtaken the UUP, in first preferences, at the local elections on 20 May (26.57 per cent to 26.56 per cent), more than doubling its vote from 12.7 per cent in 1977. “Not a charismatic man, but an effective leader” was the summary for Alliance’s Oliver Napier.

In economic terms, Northern Ireland was a “uniquely distressed region of the UK” with “exceptionally high unemployment” (17.6 per cent and 101,522 persons in May 1981) and a “high degree of dependence on declining staple industries”. Several factories were at risk of closure, according to official predictions, and the futures of “Shorts and especially Harland and Wolff are not assured in the longer term.”

‘Catholic support’ for shared college

Many Catholic teachers supported a shared teaching training centre, but feared speaking out “because it might harm their job prospects.” The claim was made by Mr Mallaghan from All Children Together (a pro-integrated education group) when it met Education Minister Lord Elton on 26 February 1981.

The interim Chilver report, in June 1980, called for a Belfast Centre for Teacher Education, which would include a Catholic college, Stranmillis College and Queen’s University’s School of Education on the Stranmillis site. According to the official note (file ED/13/2/544), Mr Mallaghan “suggested that the Roman Catholic Church had orchestrated a response to the report and that many people were not aware of what was in it.”

The Minister was sceptical about public demand as he had received “no such approaches” from members of the public. Lagan College was opened in September 1981 as the first formally integrated school, with 28 pupils. That said, several schools had educated Protestants and Catholics together earlier in Northern Ireland’s history e.g. the mill schools of County Down.

Hunger strike support assessed

The hunger strike had generated “substantial international interest, notably in the US, the Holy See and Western Europe” (file CENT/1/10/36A). The UK had “encountered no difficulties from allied governments over the hunger strike, although it remains to be seen whether President [Mitterrand] will succumb to left wing pressure in France.” Mitterrand’s government included ministers from the French Communist Party.

May was a turbulent time in Europe. Bobby Sands’ death (5 May) was followed by the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II (13 May) which, the NIO surmised, “has probably had the indirect effect of reducing sympathy abroad for terrorist prisoners in Northern Ireland.” However, officials expected interest to revive when the European Commission of Human Rights (a legal tribunal) declared two complaints by prisoners to be admissible.

Some US television coverage had been “unhelpful” but there had been “some attempt at balance” in recent days. The southern Irish and French media were “notably hostile”.

The Taoiseach (at that time Charles Haughey) had urged the British Government to be “flexible on prison conditions” but was also “careful not to associate himself with the prisoners’ demands for political status.” The briefing warned that “Provisional Sinn Féin sympathisers” could take six seats in the Irish general election, which was held on 11 June. Two Anti H-Block candidates were subsequently elected (hunger striker Kieran Doherty and fellow prisoner Paddy Agnew). Haughey was unable to form a government and was succeeded by Garret FitzGerald. Doherty died on 2 August 1981.

In the USA, dockworkers announced a 24-hour boycott of British ships entering US ports on 7-8 May and Irish bars in New York were closed for two hours as a mark of respect (file NIO/12/194A). The East German Communists described Northern Ireland citizens as “suppressed and subject to discrimination”. Anti-British pickets and arson attacks were reported in several countries.

Ministers suggest action on ‘peace walls’ and shared education but language and the past are two major obstacles.

The Executive claims that “much progress has been made” in creating a shared and better future and it “remains as committed as ever” to achieving that. However, the first step of its “Building a Strong and Shared Community” chapter relies on three separate sports stadia projects, rather than the single one proposed under direct rule in 2006. The whole community can unite around the World Police and Fire Games in Belfast (1-10 August 2013) and plans for a major golf tournament in 2013-2014.

On dismantling interface barriers, the Executive will take action (starting in 2013-2014) if local communities agree to bring them down.

There are currently 59 interface barriers. David Ford’s preference is to invest funds into good relations work instead of extending walls. When asked how it would reduce paramilitary influence, the Department of Justice said that an ‘inter-agency’ group would deal with interface problems (with PSNI involvement).

Prison reform, a legacy of the peace process, should be “ready to launch” in 2012-2013 and swift action is demanded. Thirty-six of the 40 prison review recommendations are to be achieved by 2015. At present, 79.4 per cent of prison officers are from a Protestant background and 10 per cent from a Catholic background; the remaining 10.6 per cent are “undetermined”.

As expected, the Troubles are not mentioned. The Assembly has separately passed an Alliance proposal for cross-party talks on dealing with the past and the Secretary of State has written to party leaders to ask for their views on the way forward.

Irish language and Ulster Scots strategies, promised five years ago in the St Andrews Agreement, have been held up by DUP-Sinn Féin disagreements.

Culture Minister Carál Ní Chuilín said her officials were “working to determine the scope” of a draft Irish Language Bill, which unionists view as unnecessary. Ní Chuilín wants Irish to be protected in law (similarly to Scots Gaelic and Welsh) but concedes that promoting the language is “not simply about a piece of legislation”.

DCAL officials started a ‘scoping exercise’ last month, which is due to finish by 31 January 2012. A “suggested timetable for consultation and publication” will then be provided to the Minister.

The ministerial advisory group on shared education (due to report in 2012-2013) could encourage a more detailed and rational debate. Shared education programmes and facilities can bring pupils together for certain classes, but fall short of permanently shared schools.

In 2010-2011, 6.5 per cent of pupils (21,051) attended integrated sector schools. This figure increases to 10.5 per cent and 33,629 pupils when other forms of mixing (e.g. Catholic pupils in controlled schools) are included. Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey results over the last Assembly term indicated that 62-70 per cent of parents would prefer to send their children to a “mixed-religion” school.

Those plans should be underpinned by a cohesion, sharing and integration (CSI) strategy. OFMDFM admits that the June 2010 draft was seen as a “politically negotiated document” which did not reflect what most of society wanted.

agendaNi understands that the cross-party working group on CSI has been meeting weekly since September. However, the draft Programme for Government says that this would only be finalised in 2012-2013. The Community Relations Council is continuing with its work in the meantime.

Foreign observers are warning that an inward-looking and risk-averse Europe will fall behind the rest of the world. agendaNi asked American and New Zealand diplomats for their perspective on a continent in crisis.

Vangelis Vitalis is New Zealand’s Ambassador-designate to the EU, and the son of Greek migrants. “The euro zone crisis is transfixing us in Wellington,” he states. However, Vitalis is also troubled by Europe’s changing sense of perspective.

“If I look over Europe now, even in the month that I’ve been here, I’ve been struck by how inward-looking Europe has become and the feedback that I get is that there’s likely to be an intensification of that inward-looking nature of Europe,” he warns.

With more than 50 per cent of the world’s GDP generated in the Asia-Pacific region, he predicts that Europe will lose its global influence if it fails to engage with those economies. Vitalis is keen to pitch New Zealand’s case: a small, agriculturally-based economy diversifying into data services and software. It hedges its bets by negotiating free trade agreements and his goal is a comprehensive agreement with the EU within 2-3 years.

The EU’s external relations are a lesser known but growing part of its work, especially after Catherine Ashton’s appointment as High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Key EU foreign policy decisions are agreed unanimously by all 27 countries but others go through by majority votes.

Ambassadors from 165 countries are accredited to the EU. America’s mission is a growing operation and, after Lisbon, is engaging more with the European Parliament.

A solution to the euro zone crisis is seen as essential to the US recovery. At the EU-US summit in November, Barack Obama warned that a contracting European economy made it “much more difficult for us to create jobs at home”.

The Administration also thinks that US policy on data protection and climate change is misunderstood in Europe.

MEPs criticised American attitudes to privacy when considering the new US-EU agreement on passenger name records. The Patriot Act is still partly in force and the USA has separate data protection laws for different sectors, unlike the single EU Directive. US Attorney-General Eric Holder maintains that that both systems protect privacy “effectively but in our own ways.”

US senators rejected the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which would have established an emissions trading system, in June 2009. The US regards the EU’s decision to include aviation emissions in its system from 1 January 2012 as a ‘tax on airlines’. Instead, it calls for a binding global framework through the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

New Zealand, in contrast, has the only emissions trading system outside the EU and is keen to work on this common ground. It also launched the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research at the 2009 Copenhagen conference and wants to see more European researchers and scientists taking part.

The US Ambassador to the EU, William Kennard, has criticised the precautionary principle for holding back innovation in European agriculture. Kennard, a former communications regulator, said that regulators should “decide what is safe based on science” rather than dictating what consumers choose.

New Zealand and the USA are far apart on population (4.4 million compared to 312 million) but both emphasise their shared values with Europe. Other trading partners, such as Saudi Arabia and China, may be good for business but lack democracy. Vitalis concludes that the challenge for the New Zealand-EU relationship is “not to take each other for granted but to turn that all around and make something more out of it.”

Peter Cheney visits the Parlamentarium, the European Parliament’s new visitors’ centre in Brussels.

To promote itself to an apathetic public, the European Parliament has opened its first visitors’ centre and coined a new word in the process: Parlamentarium. Four days before it opened its doors, I joined a group of Czech students for a tour.

You can’t miss the entrance, lit up like a Times Square sign, although its surroundings are grey and drab. As the tour gets under way, a darkened room shows grim scenes from the 1930s and 1940s, and then leads into a brighter timeline from 1950, when the first steps to integration were taken. Photos of historic events bring the years to life, including Belfast City Hall during the 1998 Agreement campaign. As a geography graduate, I liked the multitude of maps.

Teenagers can take part in an interactive role play, which teaches pupils how to form alliances, stand up for their ideas and make quick decisions. The audiovisuals are impressive and potential politicians will enjoy them.

A walk-on map of a borderless Europe (named ‘Ground of Stories’) tells how the Parliament has made a local difference. Overhead, a light installation called ‘Sky of Opinions’ highlights the results of various EU-wide surveys. Interviews with 54 members of the public are played in a ‘living room’ style area next door.

The Parliament prides itself on being the directly-elected part of the EU. That is only partly true.

Yes, all 736 seats are up for election but only 20 MEPs are directly chosen by voters i.e. in Northern Ireland, the Republic and Malta. The others are picked by their party and placed on a list. The voter has no say on whether the candidate is the right person to represent them. Vacancies are filled by party appointees, except in Malta where by-elections are allowed.

In other quirks, the Parliament will grow to 751 MEPs before the next election. New members will be appointed by parties without a public vote. Three MEPs do not represent Europe, coming instead from the French overseas territories. Turnout has fallen continuously from 62 per cent in 1979 to 43 per cent in 2009.

Eurosceptics criticise the centre’s cost and €21 million (up from an initial €18.6 million) is hard to justify in austere times. The same critics, though, claim that the Parliament is out-of-touch and ignored by voters. It is in the public’s interest to understand how politics works and the Parlamentarium does a pretty good job at explaining this. The centre also tries to give a full sweep of modern European history, which few national museums offer.

A united Europe also means more to those who were cut off by its worst division: the Iron Curtain. The Parliament’s President, Jerzy Buzek, was born in 1940 and grew up in Poland under communism. To him, the exhibition shows that Europe has “come a long way”.

Missing Marshall

One major omission is the Marshall Plan, America’s $13 billion bailout which stabilised western and southern Europe after World War Two. A single photo describes the event.

The Parlamentarium maintains thatnot everything can be included and a balance must be struck between 27 different countries. As ‘Rise to Globalism’ by Stephen Ambrose relates, the Marshall Plan revolved around Germany, Greece, elections and Italian politics. How history repeats itself.

Admission is free and opening times are available at www.europarl.europa.eu/parlamentarium

As thoughts turn to Christmas reading, Assembly members share their favourite reads of 2011.

Conall McDevitt

Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs is an epic tome. It chronicles and dissects with brutal honesty and openness the life and works of one of the most complex and driven business leaders and innovators of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. I would commend to anyone who is really interested in pushing the boundaries, be that in business, government or society.

Paul Girvan

My favourite book is the Bible. It is worthwhile, because it has stood the test of time, and as we celebrate the 400th anniversary of its translation, it is still relevant today, as it was back then.

John Dallat

‘End of Term Report’ by Paddy O’Hanlon. For any reader, irrespective of party or politics, this is a fascinating book which takes the reader right behind the scenes running up to the Good Friday Agreement and sets out in modest terms the critical role Paddy played as one of the principal architects of that Agreement.

End of Term Report is beautifully written, giving an insight into the life of one of the most wonderful people I ever had the privilege of knowing.

Mike Nesbitt

‘The Element’ by Professor Ken Robinson, a specialist in creativity. I share his belief that schools ask pupils the wrong question i.e. “How intelligent are you?” We need to start asking: “In what way are you intelligent?” and not over value academic over vocational, or sport over art. 21st century education systems must deliver for the individual not the institution.

Kieran McCarthy

My reading for 2011 was ‘A Tragedy of Errors: The Government and Misgovernment of Northern Ireland’ by Kenneth Bloomfield. I found this book to be a sincere attempt by someone who was in the thick of political goings-on from as far back as 1956. A real insight of how politicians behaved and opportunities missed. Had these government officials both at Westminster and Belfast any foresight, the horrendous 30-40 years of murder and mayhem would not have happened. The lack of wisdom, foresight and courage gave us all years of misery and mistrust: lessons must be learnt from reading this book which is a factual account of what took place at Stormont. It must not be repeated and future leaders of Northern Ireland would do well to read Ken Bloomfield’s contribution.

Stewart Dickson

My best read this year is ‘Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time’, a book by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin published by Penguin in 2006. For four years, the book remained on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller’s list. ‘Three Cups of Tea’ describes Mortenson’s transition from a registered nurse and mountain-climber to a humanitarian committed to reducing poverty and promoting education for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This has been my best read for a very long time. I could not put it down. I would recommend it as a must read.

Stephen Moutray

‘True Compass: A Memoir’ by Edward M Kennedy. This book was bought as a Christmas present by my wife last year. I commenced reading it in the summer past whilst on holidays in Cape Cod which very much brought the book to life and, although I would have little politically in common with the Kennedys, it was a captivating read. ‘True Compass’ was written in the last months of its author’s life as he struggled against his terminal illness, cancer. I have to say, as any politician would, that I enjoyed reading about the legislative battles, the policy debates and his foreign travels to meet with powerful people throughout the world. Overall it was an enjoyable and pleasurable read.

Daithí McKay

‘Armed and Dangerous’ by Ronnie Kasrils. The book is an autobiography of Ronnie Kasrils, a Jewish white lad from South Africa who became a leader in the ANC military wing during the struggle against apartheid and a Minister in the new Government. A rollercoaster of a read it not only charts his own experiences of loss and elation living under the regime but also the challenges of political reform in a new South Africa.

Alex Easton

‘Remembering Their Sacrifice in the Great War’ compiled by Barry Niblock. This is just new out and records every single person that made the ultimate sacrifice in World War One, who lived in the North Down and the Ards area. It is a reminder of people who live in the likes of Bangor and Holywood who walked the same streets as I do today and reminds me of the huge sacrifice made on our behalf. It also brings to mind quotes that mean a lot to myself: “I am not an Ulsterman but yesterday, the 1st. July, as I followed their amazing attack, I felt that I would rather be an Ulsterman than anything else in the world.” (Captain Wilfred Spender at the Battle of the Somme) “Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for a friend.” (John 15.13)

Trevor Lunn

I recently re-read Harper Lee’s 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird about prejudice in the deep south of America. Sometimes you need to revisit a book to really appreciate its power and this one , in its quiet and thoughtful way, exposes the ingrained hatred in America in the early 20th century and one mans stand against it. Gregory Peck starred in the film adaptation as Atticus Finch, and was excellent, but the film rarely surpasses the book and this is no exception.

Jim Wells

The world at our feet: Northern Ireland in Sweden by Ronnie Hanna is an epic tale of how the Northern Ireland minnows took on soccer giants and reached the quarter finals of the World Cup in Sweden in 1958. Footballing legends such as Billy Bingham, Danny Blanchflower and Bertie Peacocke put ‘our wee country’ on the soccer map, humbling the mighty Italy on their way to Scandinavian glory.

Brenda Hale

My best read this year was ‘Anna Karenina’ by Leo Tolstoy. I last read this over 20 years ago, when it was nothing but a romantic and complicated love story. To read it again as an adult with much more life experience was thrilling. The complexity of the characters dragged me in and I had no choice but to fully engage with them and their situations whether it was Anna and her lover, or Levin and his farm workers gathering the harvest. A real sense of Russian society with their passions and petulance, this book was real escapism, and a real treat.

Stephen Farry

One book I would recommend is ‘The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama’ by David Remnick. It was published in 2010, but I am behind with my reading, especially since the Assembly election. Three years on from his election as US President, it is easy to forget how extraordinary and groundbreaking it was. Next year’s presidential election will obviously be of major global significance.

David McClarty

‘The Lost Symbol’, Dan Brown’s latest thriller involving hero Robert Langdon was my read of the year. I am a consistent fan of Brown’s pacy conspiracy novels. Having read his previous work, his most recent installment did not disappoint. This story builds around the fascinating details of freemasonry, whilst revealing the secrets of the architecture in its setting of Washington DC. In typical Brown style, the gripping fiction is drawn out from well-researched fact, making it a truly captivating read. Highly recommended.

Original examples of political art were on display at Parliament Buildings over the summer. Thirty-six Assembly members submitted 44 contributions to the MLA Art competition, organised by Belfast’s Metropolitan Arts Centre.

Danny Kinahan took the overall top prize. His ‘Homage to Basil Blackshaw’ comprises four blocks of colour, with an etching of Parliament Building on each, and is based on Blackshaw’s piece ‘The Barn (Blue), The Barn (Red)’. The piece also took the best painting award.

‘The Peloton of Hope’ by Conall McDevitt was named best poem, edging ahead of Barry McElduff’s ‘Carmen to Carson’. Judges were divided with the final decision made by literature critic Davy Torrens, who owns the No Alibis bookstore on Botanic Avenue.

David McClarty’s photo of Mussenden Temple, located in East Londonderry, emerged as a clear winner in that category.

“We knew when we launched the competition that there was a hidden Heaney or a modest Monet and we’re really pleased with the results,” said MAC Chief Executive Anne McReynolds. The centre saw this as a “fun event with as serious message,” emphasising that art can be enjoyed by everyone and its facilities (to open next March) will raise the profile of Northern Ireland and Belfast.

The MAC decided to run the competition, to thank MLAs for their support as the project took shape, and it plans to start every new Assembly term with a similar exhibition.

It’s clear that Northern Ireland is excelling at sport in 2011.

At the highest level stand the golfing achievements of Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke, following on from Graeme McDowell’s victory last year (see pages 106-107).

Major personal achievements have also been chalked up by our athletes. Jason Smyth set a new Northern Ireland 100m record (10.22), a 0.1 second improvement on his previous best. Fifteen year old Sally Brown won a 200m bronze at the International Paralympic Committee World Championships. Ciara Mageean also set a new Irish junior indoor mile record (4:38.81).

Kelly Gallagher claimed a gold medal in the slalom at the Europa Cup Finals. Aileen Morrison won the European Triathlon Union Cup race, before taking a silver at the International Triathlon Union contest two weeks later.

In badminton, Madeline Perry won the Singapore Masters and enters the Australian Open as the defending champion.

Linfield won its 50th Irish League title in May. Northern Ireland, at the time of going to press, had won two of its Euro 2012 qualifiers, lost one and drawn three.

Ulster teams have won the Sam Maguire Cup four times since 2000, with Down narrowly losing out last year. Tyrone dropped out in this year’s quarter-finals but Donegal has progressed one stage further. Antrim reached the semis in this year’s All-Ireland U21 Hurling Championship. Meanwhile in rugby, Ulster reached the Heineken Cup quarter- finals.

Strategy

More and more people are also taking part in sport. In 2005-2006, 29 per cent of people regularly participated but this rose to 37 per cent in 2009-2010.

This is welcome progress in reversing the decline in exercise by 2013, one of the main goals in the Executive’s ‘Sport Matters’ strategy. Objectives for its finish in 2019 include:

• winning at least five medals at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games;

• 100 Northern Ireland athletes gaining medals at the highest level in their sport;

• 45,000 part-time and 700 full-time coaches.

In school, children should receive at least two hours of PE per week plus two hours of extra-curricular sport and recreation. A physically active lifestyle should become the norm as people grow up.

Sports bodies and local councils are to organise more events in disadvantaged areas and appoint 36 development officers to encourage people to take part: 18 for women and 18 for disabled people. Forty club support officers would keep up good links with local schools.

Performance would be improved by creating a high performance sports network (24 coaches plus 10 sports scientists) and a 100-strong network of full-time club coaches.

The most visible result will be the upgrading of Windsor Park, Casement Park and Ravenhill (worth £110 million). Other construction projects include constructing Bangor’s 50m swimming pool, completing the Sports Institute’s high performance centre and redeveloping the Tollymore Mountain Centre.

For the many people who prefer less intense exercise, publicly owned lands across Northern Ireland will be opened up for walking. All public rights of way will also be mapped out.

London 2012

As the clock counts down, all eyes are turning to the London 2012 Olympics (27 July to 12 August), followed by the Paralympics (29 August to 9 September). Local athletes have the choice of competing for Great Britain (officially Great Britain and Northern Ireland) or Ireland.

Getting the Australian boxing team to locate in Belfast is a significant achievement. The province’s rings have produced six Olympic medallists since 1956 (most recently Paddy Barnes in 2008). Australia has had no success since 1988 but has participated in every games since then. The team hopes to qualify 13 boxers: 10 men and, for the first time, three women.

Furthermore, two Chinese coaches inspected the Salto Gymnastics Centre in Lisburn in July. Chinese gymnasts won 18 medals, including 11 golds, at the 2008 Beijing games.

Indonesia’s badminton team is considering the Lisburn Racquets Club as a training camp. Five of its players trained there in early August, preparing for the Badminton World Championships in London.

Our progress has been slow compared to the Republic, which will host four watersports teams: Hungarian and British water polo, US synchronised swimming and British Paralympic swimming.

That said, most teams and indeed athletes are waiting to see if whether they have qualified.

Northern Ireland’s first Paralympic qualifier took place with the World Boccia Championships in Jordanstown (18-27 August). An international wheelchair basketball tournament will take place in the province in January-February 2012.

Back in Lisburn, badminton players will be ranked for the Olympics at the Yonex Irish International Badminton Championship, scheduled for 8-11 December. Two hundred players from over 30 countries are due to take part.

The province has missed out on hosting Olympic events, due to the failure to build the Maze stadium and the delay in upgrading Windsor Park. Meanwhile, both Hampden Park and Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium will host Olympic football matches.

Over 600 volunteers will carry the Olympic torch through the province from 3-6 June. Following on from this year’s achievements, the Olympics are a unique opportunity for Northern Ireland’s sportspeople. London last had the games in 1948 and this chance may not pass our way again.

Olympic football: pros and cons

A ‘Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ Olympic football team has been proposed by the British Olympic Association and Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington is happy for his players to take part. FIFA has pledged that the Celtic nations will not lose their status and a UK team did compete up to 1960. Individual footballers are free to decide whether they want to compete. Eighteen players will be in the men’s squad: 15 under-23s and three of open age, possibly including David Beckham.

The Irish Football Association has long been opposed (along with its Scottish and Welsh counterparts), claiming that this would undermine Northern Ireland’s independence in FIFA. Founded in 1880, the IFA is the fourth oldest football association in the world. Many Northern Ireland supporters distrust FIFA, especially with the ongoing bribery allegations, and their top priority is the World Cup rather than Wembley in 2012.

In brief, what are your ambitions for sport?

One of the five priorities of the Executive is to promote tolerance, inclusion, health and well-being. Sport is a key vehicle for achieving this.

Greater physical activity reduces obesity and promotes well-being, which improves physical and mental health. This, in turn, has benefits across society, both tangible and intangible. Sport can and does make a very real difference in people’s lives: people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.

What are your personal first impressions of the Sport Matters strategy? Is it achievable and do you plan to make changes?

The strategy is a comprehensive document setting out the sporting issues to be addressed, targets to achieve success, the benefits to be achieved and the costs of delivery.

It has quite rightly been developed in consultation with all the key stakeholders and is all the more robust for having done so.

It highlights the many organisations involved in delivering the strategy and, to its credit, sets out the structures that need to be in place to assure delivery in the 10-year lifespan.

It is rightly an ambitious strategy and must be achievable over the 10 years as it is intended to address basic sporting needs in the North of Ireland. Implementation will be challenging but it is achievable if everyone involved on the Sport Matters Monitoring Group and those represented on the various Sport Matters implementation groups maintain their commitment.

At an abstract level, what is the rationale for investing in sport when other public services are under financial pressure?

The case for investment at both an abstract and practical level is made very clearly in Sport Matters and I would refer you specifically to Chapter 8 and Appendix 1 of Sport Matters, which covers the cost of doing nothing and the importance of sport.

Your department is spending £138 million to upgrade stadiums. Would that money would be better invested in getting more people to play sport?

Successive executives have agreed that the people in the North of Ireland deserve stadiums that are both safe and fit for purpose for spectators who go to watch the three main ball sports here.

The sports have suffered for many years from a lack of investment in major stadiums. Added to that, the stadiums provide a major funding source for each of the sports and the profits from the hosting of major sporting fixtures are re-invested in grassroots sports.

Over the next year, what will you do to ensure Northern Ireland benefits from the London 2012 Olympics?

Good progress has already been made in realising benefits for the North from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games.

With just over 12 months to go before the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay arrives here, DCAL will now focus on delivering the torch relay, the live sites in Belfast and Derry, providing support for the Land of Giants project and other Cultural Olympiad programmes, supporting and encouraging volunteering opportunities, and promoting the North of Ireland as a destination for pre-games training camps and qualifying events.

DCAL will also continue to work with Invest NI and local government to maximise opportunities for local businesses.

These activities will deliver both short-term benefits and a lasting legacy. They will enable us to develop the capacity and confidence to deliver other high quality, high impact major events and celebrations in the North throughout 2012 and 2013.

When do you hope to reinstate the Places for Sport programme for community level sports clubs?*

There is an ongoing Places for Sport programme being taken forward in the four-year CSR period. It is titled the Sport Matters Community Capital Sports Programme. Through this programme, £9.5 million will be invested in facilities at community level.

Your manifesto commits you to increasing quality sporting provision for all minority groups? How do you plan to carry this commitment out?

DCAL has a lot to offer, not just in terms of sport but also in relation to the other aspects of culture, arts and leisure. But we have to make sure that people who are hard to reach are engaged; it’s about breaking down misconceptions and barriers, and providing access. That doesn’t take a pile of money; it takes good ideas and initiative.

What are your own sporting interests?

I come from a GAA family, and hurling is my favourite sport to watch. It’s an amazing game: it’s fast, so much pace. I see how sport makes a real and meaningful difference in people’s lives. Especially since I took up the post of Minister, I have seen this impact on those who take part in sports, those who spectate and those who volunteer in all areas of sport.

What would you hope to achieve during your term as Minister responsible for sport?

Echoing what is outlined above, one of the key things is making sure we reach out to hard-to-reach communities, and that we use sport and physical activity as a way of promoting better physical and mental health.

The priority is around following objective need; we have a challenge in making sure communities avail of opportunities, and that money spent will have a direct impact.