Vital water service should be in public hands

BY PAUL MASKEY MLA

THE experience of thousands of people across the North during the freeze and thaw over the Christmas and New Year period - and the response of statutory agencies, particularly NIWater (NIW) and the Housing Executive - was unacceptable.
The apparent shortcomings of these agencies included a failure of preparation,... Free article

‘When your back is against the wall, you get the strength from somewhere’

THE 1981 Hunger Strike was a direct result of the withdrawal by Margaret Thatcher’s British Government of political status for Irish republican prisoners and her administration’s intransigence after the 1980 Hunger Strike. MARY DOYLE took part in the 1980 Hunger Strike as a POW in Armagh Jail.
Mary was... Free article

SO, BRIAN, you finally made the trip to the Áras and the ball has finally been thrown in to get the game underway.
I have my own memories of visiting Áras an Uachtarain, more pleasant visits than your own than that fateful day of Thursday 20th January when you threw in the towel. (I am mixing my sporting metaphors, I know.)
I have had occasion to accompany groups from Tyrone to... Free article

Seachtain na Gaeilge ag teacht

LE NÍOS lú ná sé sheachtaine fágtha do thús oifigiúil Seachtain na Gaeilge 2011 tá obair ar siúl cheana le pleanáil agus eagrú imeachtaí; le poiblíocht a shocrú agus le hurraíocht a lorg ag coistí ar fud na tíre.
An tseachtain seo caite seoladh Lámhleabhar na Seachtaine, leabhrán a scaipfear ar scoileanna, clubanna agus coláistí le heolas agus... Free article

‘I’d accept Irish unity if it was fair and equal’

ULSTER UNIONIST PARTY MLA John McAllister has told an Government of Ireland Act anniversary event organised by Queen’s University Sinn Féin that he would accept Irish unity if there was a majority consensus for it:
“Yes, I suppose I would have to if it was fair and equal to all . . . but I probably wouldn’t like it very much!”Free article

Ógra students campaign against EMA cut

THE right of working-class young people to higher education is in jeopardy if moves to axe the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).
This is the reality if Assembly Minister for Employment and Learning David Kennedy follows the example of the Tory government in Westminster and abolishes the EMA, which is a crucial lifeline to many students.Free article

WITH Sinn Féin on 14% to 16% in the opinion polls, and the spectre of a lorry-load of republican TDs kicking up a ruckus in Leinster House, Independent Newspapers has started to work on some story lines for the coming months that will turn back the Shinner onslaught:-
Gerry Adams is Voldemort.
Sinn Féin cancelled your favourite TV show after just one series.
Aengus Ó Snodaigh... Free article

An Bord Snip’s Shock Doctrine

BY MATT TREACY

BY MATT TREACY

IN The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein described the “three trademark demands” which accompany IMF intervention in an economy as “privatisation, government deregulation and deep cuts to social spending”. We have already been given a taste of the third in the recent Budget; the rest are on the way.
The background for... Free article

Lothar Bisky, Chairperson of the GUE/NGL Group in the European Parliament, on the Hungarian EU Presidency and agenda for 2011:

WITH the EU under the stewardship of one of Europe’s most right-wing governments, the Left’s expectations for the Hungarian presidency were always going to veer towards caution rather than optimism. Beyond the fundamental questions raised by Hungary’s new... Free article

UT in Dublin Mid-West we have been out on the canvass trail since mid-November. The bad weather and dark nights aren’t the best conditions for electioneering but with a general election imminent every vote counts and every night is crucial.
People want change. They know who they won’t be voting for but haven’t yet decided who they intend to support. In many cases they are more... Free article