Belfast and Beyond

Conall (who's been providing plenty of food for thought recently on Belfast and Beyond ) notes that the Belfast, unlike Dublin, does not yet fly rainbow flags to mark the city's Gay Pride. But the numbers participating in the Belfast...

I see that over on oconallstreet public affairs specialist Conall McDevitt is suggesting it’s time for Northern Ireland to mature its relationship with the United States. I’m all for that. For too long, Northern Ireland has played the...

I read with amusement today that Sir Hugh Orde , who is to take over as the new ACPO chief ,wants to out human rights at the heart of policing in the UK. So far so good and if you read the piece he certainly makes all the right noises...

The recent racist attacks against migrant workers have turned my stomach. But two things have shocked me more than the attacks themselves. The first shock was the police tactics in dealing with this crisis. The Romanians have...

I wrote this opinion piece a couple of days ago and it was published today in the Belfast Telegraph under the headline, ' Refugees face more hardship than most of us could endure' . It's not in the online edition, so am reproducing...

NEW IMMIGRATION DETENTION EMERGENCY HELPLINE The Refugee Action Group (RAG) is pleased to announce the launch of its out-of-hours Immigration Detention Emergency Helpline which goes live on 15 June 2009. RAG aims to be an independent...

A politician and a journalist in Northern Ireland are today both facing the prospect of jail for refusing to disclose sources to the authorities. The politician, Ian Paisley Jr, was yesterday served with papers to appear in Belfast’s...

UPDATE (1:20pm): The decision of the Court has just been announced and four of the five people at the centre of the case have been found 'liable' for the bombing. This will go down as a landmark case. This blog has repeatedly visited...

I have previously suggested that the most effective way for a post-conflict society to move towards long-term peace, stability and reconciliation is to confront and interrogate the past and maximise the scope for justice. Yet what if...

Over on Slugger O'Toole (the anorak's favourite blog) there has already been some analysis of the Northern Ireland Euro election candidates’ party election broadcasts and household-drop leaflets . Being something of an election nerd...