Belfast Blogs.com

This BBC radio 3 debate was only recently drawn to my attention. It dates from December 2006, prior to Liverpool's assumption of the European City of Culture title. But it has possibly more relevance now.The question posed is fiendishly simple: Is Liverpool really an English city?Or is it actually the primary outpost of Irish cultures (Gaelic and Dissenter) in Britain, some sort of proto-capital of a notional East Ireland?Or is it better seen as a city state, a one-time global port now irreparably independent in spirit with a greater regional than national sense of identity?Or perhaps like Hong Kong or Cape Town, Liverpool is really just the nearest of the many obscure outposts of the Empire to London, a post-colonial entity struggling to shrug off the post-imperial hangover?There's no...

This story was on 5 Live yesterday evening. According to the media, Poole Borough Council used "laws to track criminals and terrorists" (the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act) to determine whether they were lying about living in a school catchment area. So what powers were these? Phone tapping? CCTV cameras pointed at the house 24/7? SWAT teams on standby? No. They sent a man to check if the family left the house they claimed they lived at each morning and returned there in the afternoon. The BBC did their best to sensationalise this as "spying" - despite listeners texting in telling them to stop trying to 'sex up' their stories. Others went one better, using attention grabbing headlines claiming that 'spies stalked' the family. If this is spying, the government have been 'spying'...

Nearly two years ago I wrote a piece outlining why I believe that the House of Lords is undemocratic and untenable in a modern democracy. I'd be interested to hear what EU's readers think. Rather unfortunately, Charter88's Elect the Lords campaign seems to have stalled last August.Powered by...

There's nothing like seeing a criminal, particularly a violent one, get their comeuppance. Those last couple of pictures are doozies. What can I say? It seemed relevant. Read more »Powered by...

The Patten Commission was not a pleasant experience for Unionists. The abandonment of the historic name and symbols of the RUC GC was needless, insensitive, and damaging to Unionist confidence in the political process of the time. While this was not the only negative experience to come out of Patten, what we can say is a great many of the recommendations (PDF) in the report were good ones that have improved the already high standard of policing in Northern Ireland. One of these proposals, detailed at pages 62 and 63 of the Patten report, was the civilianisation of many tasks that were being undertaken by fully trained Police Officers. Police Officers are expensive to train and retain, this training is extensive and produces an excellent public servant for the betterment of the...

When a Londonderry man living in England is forced to resign over "racist" Irish jokes [alternative source: BBC], is this just more evidence of political correctness gone mad? Denis Patrick Lusby, an Ulster-born Catholic, was editor of a community magazine in Cornwall for 11 years when Ginny Harrison-White, Cornwall County Council's equality and diversity boss, who had previously complained about the publication of Essex-girl jokes, wrote to local schools querying whether it was appropriate to publish school news in a magazine that included jokes about characters called "Murphy" and "Paddy" (remember Mr Lusby's middle-name?), urging headmasters to boycott the publication. Mr Lusby pointed out that as an Irish Catholic living in England while IRA bombs were going off, he probably knows a...

Looks like there might be a return of the late, lamented Home Nations Championship.The football competition, which was suspended in the early Eighties because England got fed up being beaten by Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, is set for a much welcome return on a biennial knock-out competition basis, rather than the previous league format.And like the cherry on top of the cake, since England don't want to take part and no one else wants England to take part, the Republic of Ireland have been invited to join discussions.The result: hopefully a vibrant Celtic Cup international tournament beginning in two years time.I can't wait. If only Lawrie could have stayed on......

Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are catching up to England for levels of broadband uptake according to figures released by Ofcom this week. In 2005 England was leading the way with 36% of homes connected to broadband. Scotland followed with 31% while Wales and Northern Ireland brought up the rear with 25% and 24% respectively. In 2006 though, England was just in front with 45% while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were all just behind on 42%. The Republic was still lagging well behind with just 13% of homes connected to broadband. The UK average of 44% is just above mid-table for European countries which is led by Holland with 66% and propped up by Greece with just...

Something of an alarming (or alarmist) poll in the Sunday Telegraph today (coinciding with the discussion here at EU about the various nationalisms in the UK) stating that 68% of voters in England want Scotland to leave the Union while 48% want to see England break away from Wales and Northern Ireland as well. I won’t go into the details because you can read the rest yourselves, but I thought I’d highlight one response in particular. The union between England, Scotland and Wales is good for us all and we are stronger together than we are apart. The last thing we need is yet another parliament with separate elections and more politicians spending more money. David Cameron, Conservative Leader The union between who Dave? I’ll be interested to see if the Northern...

http://www.everythingulster.com/blogs/index.php/everythingulster/2006/08/10/traffic_chaos_in_the_skyFlights into and out of Belfast and Londonderry have been among those hit by delays and cancellations today due to a major security alert at Heathrow. In particular, flights to and from the London airports have been affected, and passengers are being made to check-in their hand-luggage (including ladies' handbags) which will be flown in the hold. The Washington Post reports that the crackdown is in response to a specific terrorist threat to blow up planes crossing the Atlantic from Britain to America and the BBC reports there were plans to commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale", blowing up 9 trans-atlantic flights. Flight Information Belfast International Airport have an...

Flights into and out of Belfast and Londonderry have been among those hit by delays and cancellations today due to a major security alert at Heathrow. In particular, flights to and from the London airports have been affected, and passengers are being made to check-in their hand-luggage (including ladies' handbags) which will be flown in the hold. The Washington Post reports that the crackdown is in response to a specific terrorist threat to blow up planes crossing the Atlantic from Britain to America and the BBC reports there were plans to commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale", blowing up 9 trans-atlantic flights. Flight Information Belfast International Airport have an announcement on their web site, as do Belfast City (George Best) Airport. City of Derry Airport don't have a...

MPs from the DUP and UUP have joined with the SDLP and Sinn Fein in urging the Minister for Social Development, David Hanson, not to repeal Northern Ireland's antiquated licensing laws by bringing the licensing procedures inline with those in England and Wales. According to the UTV report the politicians warned "pressing ahead with liberalisation proposals could result in every corner shop being able to sell drink." and we could never have that (among other things, on the mainland, you can buy alcohol at your local corner shops with your groceries). Among the outrageous proposals being put forward by the DSD were such destructive ideas as: New powers for police to enforce licensing laws (including temporary closure or restricted hours for offending premises) A penalty points...