Aisling Bursaries

Click here to buy pictures of the 2011 event

Education at the heart of a vibrant West Belfast

Over the past twelve years, the Aisling Bursaries – an initiative of the West Belfast Partnership Board and the Andersonstown News – have contributed £450,000 to assist nearly 500 third level students pursue their dream.

Bursary sponsors contribute £1,000 for each bursary and recipients are chosen from the hundreds of applications submitted by students. In the midst of an economic downturn, nevertheless, we’re confident the companies and entrepreneurs who have built West Belfast will continue to give back to our next generation of high-achievers just as we trust today’s recipients will continue to contribute to this community in the years ahead.

You can read the speech made by Minister Farry at the 2011 Aisling Bursaries here.

Columnists February 17, 2012

Terms of justice should not be left to victims

Al Hutchinson, who is no longer officially our Ombudsman but is keeping the seat warm until his successor is installed, has stirred the pot of the past in recent days.

Andersonstown News February 16, 2012

A time for great rejoicing?

GENERAL hilarity erupts in West Belfast, firstly at news that Rangers had applied to go into administration; secondly, at news that they had indeed gone into administration; and thirdly, that the inevitable 10-point docking had taken place.

Andersonstown News February 16, 2012

Why snack lovers are getting that old sinking feeling on this 100th anniversary

AWAY from the Occupied Six-Counties fry, another staple food of Noel ’n’ Alan was in the spotlight this week. In the research and development wing of Tandragee Castle, Tayto have…

Andersonstown News February 16, 2012

Chemical fly in the oinkment

A CORRESPONDENT – ‘Pig-Ignorant’ – texts the paper this week complaining about some bacon he bought for his Saturday morning fry-up. He’s unhappy first of all about the fact that the bacon had an irridiscent sheen when he removed it from the packaging

Andersonstown News February 16, 2012

Resilience a recurring theme, from Conamara to Ground Zero

That great hero of Conamara, Seán Ó Coisdealbha, was in the Cultúrlann on Saturday to launch his new poetry anthology Stadhan. A veteran troublemaker – in the best sense of the word – and the dynamo behind some of the best community ventures in the Gaeltacht,

Columnists February 15, 2012

Bitsa ramblings on travel – both time and otherwise

In the mid-90s I briefly took a break from playing Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64 and worrying about who would win the musical face-off between Blur and Oasis to watch children’s television.