Belfast and Beyond

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...

The United Nations has backed Northern Ireland proposals for a Bill of Rights. "The Committee notes the draft Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, which includes economic, social and cultural rights which are justiciable and calls for...

I previously blogged about Shaun 'Seven Houses' Woodward – the ‘butler-toting’ , Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, potentially seeking to deny the inclusion of basic housing rights and other economic rights protections in a NI...

Today a little more is told of the shocking truth about the role of the Catholic Church in Ireland in the endemic physical and sexual abuse of children and its systematic cover-up. The Child Abuse Commission report tells of how church...

It's not a great time to be a politician (although, of course, there are compensations ). The daily (Telegraph) revelations of politicians 'fiddling' while the economy burns have left people feeling understandably angry. Questions are...

Dear Mr Bolton, Please excuse me for using the blunt instrument of the Amnesty International blog to reply to your opinion editorial in yesterday’s Guardian. In your piece you accuse President Obama of a “lack of leadership” for his...

It’s the Stupid Economy, that’s that was the title of Mark Thomas’s gig at the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. Two hours plus, of fast paced improvisation and observational anecdotes, about the state of the world. It invited audience...

Pete Seeger has turned ninety. His life and career are so illustrious that any potted history can't do him justice, so see his entry at wikipedia for more detail. There you can learn of his role in the folk revival from the date in...

'Into the Killing Zone: Dispatches from the Frontline in Afghanistan' , Sean Rayment (Hardback, 288 pages, Constable, rrp £18.99, available £13.29) With the media reporting that citations for bravery earned by soldiers of the Royal...

Yesterday evening's European election hustings staged in Belfast by the Coalition of Aid and Development Agencies (CADA), of which Amnesty is a member, may be the only occasion during the Northern Ireland campaign in which...

It's Community Relations Week in Northern Ireland, with the theme this year being how community divisions hamper our economy. The call for more action by politicians on community relations will receive the backing of business leaders...

I find myself at Glasgow's wonderful Gallery of Modern Art, right in the heart of the city and just a short toddle from Border's bookstore, one of my favourite Clydeside haunts. I'm there for the sh[OUT] exhibition – contemporary art...

Get tweeting! Having just become a Twitter / tweeter, I am fresh with the enthusiasm of a recent convert to this abbreviated social networking platform. If you're not yet tweeting, here's one good reason to get onsite now. Hollywood...

The rest of the world's leaders may have been (conveniently) scared off by the presence of controversial Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but it takes more than a fiery speech to keep a Belfast teacher at bay. Especially when...

A Problem from Hell – America and the Age of Genocide , Samantha Power (Paperback, 656 pages, Flamingo, rrp £10.99, available £7.69) Genocide is back in the news. Who would have thought ? There are allegations of genocide on Tamils...

Watching Walzing with Bashir is a traumatising experience. This important film in Hebrew, written and directed by Israeli Ari Folman, challenges Israeli collective amnesia about their involvement in the Lebanese war in 1982 ; and...

Our friends over at Human Rights Now , the Amnesty USA blog, are reporting a worrying resort by President Obama to the unaccountable, limitless Executive power so beloved by his predecessor in the White House. "Last Friday, the Obama...

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about an approaching SDLP seminar on the oversight of policing in times of threat. With the events in London of recent days – rough-house public policing , followed by attempts to obfuscate ; blundered...

1. Student accommodation has not improved one iota since I were a lad. 2. AIUK Chairperson Tom Hedley's official Amnesty age is twenty-nine-and-a-half. He must have started young. 3. I too am getting older. Last night, as I was bed...

David Petrasek is the special advisor to AI Secretary General Irene Khan and co-author, with Irene, of the book Unheard Truths – human rights and poverty (to be published later in 2009). 11:35am Petrasek delivers a thoughtful speech...