THE BBC’s Home Affairs Correspondent has this week been writing about his run-in with a
Our young Mayor fails to talk the talk
Our Lord fell three times on the road to Calvary, so let’s not be too disappointed that the youthful
A century on, tide of change is irresistible
A decision at last week’s top committee at City Hall means we are moving inexorably to a place where Belfast City Council will be compliant with the law by removing the union flag from the Dome. There should be two flags, no flags or a civic flag flying from City Hall, but sadly only one flag has dominated the skyline in the century-plus since that imposing building went up in 1906.
An opening, a step forward, a passing
THE NAME is awful and the artificial flowers and fish tank quite disconcerting, but fundamentally the E3 Belfast MET building at Springvale is a gamechanger for the city. Ducking the squalls this week, I joined Patricia Flanagan to view the spanking new facility on the Springfield Road peaceline. 20 years ago, there were promises – ultimately unfulfilled – to locate a university at this site in a dramatic move which would have turbo-charged the faltering economy of North/West Belfast
My marathon highs and lows
HIGHLIGHTS 1. Sheltering in City Hall with marathon veteran from New York Fr Brian Jordan — chaplain to the trade unions of the Big Apple — before the 9am start while thousands were getting drenched outside waiting for the Lord Mayor Niall Óg to sound the starting horn (gun for off apparently decommissioned).
We’ve come a very long way since the Ardscoil
I ALWAYS allow myself a little holiday in the heart when I attend an Irish language event in the Dome of Delight — as I did on Tuesday evening. That’s partly because I was thrown out after ten minutes of my first-ever meeting in City Hall back in the eighties because I spoke Erse, and that’s partly because it’s a thrill to witness the strength and vibrancy of today’s Irish language movement.