Belfast and Beyond
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Its always a very difficult tight-rope to walk between cultural sensitivity and insisting that the rights of women and minorities are respected. However I will come down firmly on the side of upholding human rights, this is...
(continued from 'How do we respond to a time of threat? Lawfully.' ) Dame Nuala O'Loan is a solicitor and former law lecturer and was Northern Ireland's first Police Ombudsman from 1999 to 2007. She is the Irish government's special...
Policing and oversight at times of threat – how to respond (report continued from: Omagh: 'You can kill 31 people and get away with it' ) Chaired by Margaret Ritchie MLA, this was the second of three sessions presented at the SDLP...
The Omagh bombing, the Panorama programme and the needs of victims (report continued from Omagh bombing: 'Sir Hugh can't have it both ways' ) Michael Gallagher lost his 21 year-old son Aiden in the Omagh bomb . With other families he...
The Omagh bombing, the Panorama programme and the needs of victims Chaired by Alban Maginness MLA, this was the first of three sessions presented at the SDLP seminar, 'Policing and its oversight at times of threat', held on Saturday in...
John Ging looks and sounds like someone you know well already, his was the voice of outrage over the extremities of the gaza incursion in January 2009. John Ging, Director Operations in Gaza for the UN Refugee and Works agency ex Irish...
Ten years on from the landmark Patten report on policing in Northern Ireland, authored by former Conservative minister and Hong Kong governor general Chris Patten, this Saturday the SDLP are to stage a half-day conference on "policing...
Secret Policeman on the loose in Britain. Whodda thought? Well done to my Amnesty colleagues whose persistence appears to be paying off in the case of Remzi Hoxha , who is believed to have died under torture at the hands of the...
Just a quick blog about a spirited debate happening over at our friends 'Slugger O'Toole'! In an interview for the Observer Gordon Brown has been framing his drive for security on the recent situation over here. Slugger blogger Brian...
Northern Irish politicians have never been shy about going cap in hand to Washington to ask for help with our political and economic problems. They were there again this week for the annual St Patrick's Day shindiggery . Now it's time...
Can't resist the provocative title of this public lecture , being staged next Thursday evening at the University of Ulster's Belfast campus. It is a Lenten initiative from the University chaplaincy and will be delivered by Dr David...
Radio Ulster responded to messages from the Refugee Action Group and ran a piece about the UK Border Agency's St Patrick's Day enforcement operations on 'Good Morning Ulster' this morning. You can listen to it online here (just scroll...
"Just … follow the money" was the advice given by Deep Throat to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward in the brilliant 1976 film All the President's Men . It is sage advice to which I frequently turn when trying to get a handle on...
I have just attended the Peace Rally at the City hall in Belfast. I stood alongside trade unionists, unionists, republicans, nationalists, socialists, parents, young people a complete cross section of Northern Irish society. We all...
I see that BBC online has picked up on my blog about the killings in Northern Ireland and used it to reflect on some of the opinion being aired in the blogosphere. From my scanning of some my usual and not so unusual blog haunts, I'd...
I'm from Antrim. Born and brought up there. Eighteen years. I know it well. Including the gates of Massareene army barracks where two soldiers were shot dead and four others, squaddies and civilians alike, were left wounded on the...
The wonderful Ulster Hall re-opens tomorrow after two years' closure for refurbishment. The opening programme will have something for everyone – from Stiff Little Fingers to the Ulster Orchestra – and seems designed to rekindle fond...
In Westminster today the second reading of the Bill to Devolve Policing and Justice to Northern Ireland has received some staunch support from the Secretary of State Shaun Woodward. A BBC report on the proceedings indicates that Mr...
With the dust settled on Belfast's link up with the Modern Liberty Convention in London, it is time to take stock of all that has been achieved. As a paying customer I found the convention to be a resounding success thanks to the...