Our Future Together

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Sam Mansour Words of Wisdom

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. Patrick Henry Look not mournfully into the past, it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Continue

Added by Sam Mansour on December 17, 2009 at 10:04pm — No Comments

Sam Mansour The Future

I am always wondering when the people in charge will come up with a vision for Northern Ireland and share it with the population. I think if the people of Northern Ireland can see a direction, they will work towards it. I think a vision should reach the unreachable people of the Province as they seem to be left behind and not sure what is the situation now. Continue

Added by Sam Mansour on December 10, 2009 at 12:53pm — No Comments

Allan Leonard Peace Pole: Belfast unveiling

It was touch-and-go with the weather, but thankfully the rain stopped for the unveiling of Northern Ireland's first "peace pole", near the gates at Northumberland Street, west Belfast.
… Continue

Added by Allan Leonard on October 24, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Allan Leonard UUP Conference 2009

I attended the annual Ulster Unionist Party conference, held this year at the Europa Hotel, Belfast. As part of my job, I make it to as many of the Northern Ireland political party conferences as I can, to affirm relationships across all the parties. I found the main stage via a side stairwell, which was jus… Continue

Added by Allan Leonard on October 24, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Aran Black Transfer Test - update

The Belfast Telegraph is asking for readers to put forward questions for Catriona Ruanne (Minister for Education?) re the Transfer test. HEre are a few I put forward today. Dear Catriona, Q1. What is the political motivation behind scrapping the transfer test? Cost or a higher political ideal? Q2a. Was there a communication problem between your dept(you) and the opposition parties in the Assembly? Q2b. Some personal comments were directed against you regarding your handling of the democratic… Continue

Added by Aran Black on September 6, 2009 at 3:15pm — No Comments

NI Foundation Margaret Ritchie's Public Forum: Omagh Branch Library

Minister of the Department of Social Development, Margaret Ritchie, hosts a public forum event on theme of shared future. Venue: Omagh Branch Library, Omagh, Northern Ireland.
In what is a fairly revolutionary step for a Government Minister, Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie is ‘taking to the road’ hosting a series of public forums throughout Northern Ireland. She wants to garner opinions and ideas from the public on how the policies she… Continue

Added by NI Foundation on September 4, 2009 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Ivor Whitten Shuffling the DUP pack

With the Minister for Finance and Personnel being touted to leave his ministry to focus on his Westminster duties i feel a full DUP shuffle on the agenda. The DUP ministeries are Enterprise, Trade & Investment; Culture, Arts & Leisure; Environment; and Finance & Personnel. They also have a Junior Minister in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. So who will be where in the next few weeks? Peter Robinson, our First Minister, will not go anywhere. However, Nigel… Continue

Added by Ivor Whitten on June 12, 2009 at 5:29pm — No Comments

Peter Facey Vote Match Europe 2009

Unlock Democracy has launched Vote Match to help people understand the difference between parties standing in the European Election. It is a short online quiz that allow you to compare yourself against the parties standing. All the questions have been answered by the parties directly. Please check it out and pass it onto you friends. Peter Facey Continue

Added by Peter Facey on May 22, 2009 at 1:14pm — No Comments

Kevin Taylor Which OBAMA SHOULD WE LISTEN TOO

While the G20 summit was in full swing with everyone including the president of the U.S.A. was promising much i was sleepy watching the first lady Michelle as she was apperaing in a school to encourage the children and teenagers to look to their future . What i heard was a fantastic speech from the first lady A lot off it alludes me now but one thing she said which had me listing intently was the following I say to you today that all children should have the same opportunities regardless off w… Continue

Added by Kevin Taylor on April 14, 2009 at 12:28pm — 1 Comment

Julian Oliver Divided cities: comment

Delighted to learn that the project is alive a well and that in the event it was decided to drop Brussels. Brussels is a divided city: divided by languages - French, Flemish, Arabic, English and many others; while it is conventionally known as a 'French-speaking island in a Flemish sea', that tourist description is increasingly misleading. Many Flemish travel into the city daily, many foreigners find it more convenient to speak Englsih and may advertisers address both the local population in En… Continue

Added by Julian Oliver on April 14, 2009 at 8:25am — No Comments

Allan Leonard Divided Cities 20090413

I've arrived in Boston for a 3-day conference on divided cities, with delegat

… Continue

Added by Allan Leonard on April 14, 2009 at 4:00am — 5 Comments

ian butler When One Door Closes. A "Blow in" Writes

There is a song by a band called Squeeze, called Tempted, whose first verse is: I bought a tooth brush, some toothpaste, A flannel for my face, Pyjamas, a hairbrush, New shoes and a case, I said to my reflection, Let’s get out of this place. I hummed it in my head on the way to the airport. I had decided to leave and it was not a hard decision to make. There was lots of work to do, and lots of challenges to face but I was on my way to Fermanagh. Finally, I had decided to be a little selfish an… Continue

Added by ian butler on April 3, 2009 at 2:27pm — No Comments

Allan Leonard Peace Work (Radio 4)

On today's BBC Radio 4 programme, Peace Work, Mark Devenport investigates how Northern Ireland's politicians are sharing their experiences of conflict resolution. Interviews include Professor Padraig O'Malley (University of Massachusetts, Boston), Quintin Oliver (Stratagem (NI)), Jeffrey Donaldson MLA (Junior Minister, OFMdFM), and Martin McGuinness (deputy First Minister). (Audio playback above) Immediate disclaimer: I am assisting Prof. O'Malley in a forthcoming conference… Continue

Added by Allan Leonard on March 24, 2009 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Kevin Cooper Alliance Party Conference was at the weekend in the Dunadry Hotel

Alliance Party Conference was at the weekend in the Dunadry Hotel, Templepatrick on Saturday 21st March 2009. Speakers discussed the Northern Ireland Economy with a presentation from the Economist John Simpson. There was disagreement on transfer system and single identity schools by a number of delegates. An interesting discussion on the Eames/Bradley Report although people were unhappy with the recommendation on the £12,000 payment, people welcomed other parts of the report. Delegates heard spe… Continue

Added by Kevin Cooper on March 23, 2009 at 1:32pm — No Comments

Allan Leonard Northern Ireland "one community": McGuinness

Northern Ireland First Minister, Peter Robinson, and deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, spoke at a press conference led by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

McGuinness described Northern Ireland as "one community", which I find remarkable, as the usual parlance is reference to "two communities":

And we don’t speak about two communities. We represent – although we represent different parties, we represent one comm
… Continue

Added by Allan Leonard on March 18, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Allan Leonard ICTU Murder Protest

Use bottom horizontal scroll bar or
… Continue

Added by Allan Leonard on March 12, 2009 at 8:48am — No Comments

Aran Black Sammy Wilson - hardline or mad?

Firstly God Bless the soldiers that died in the attack at Massareene... We all know there is a certain amount of lawlessness in NI (especially in Derry and Tyrone ) especially towards the PSNI. However stoning a landrover is one thing, machine gunning unarmed soldiers is another. I firmly believe that political activists should target these lawless areas (North Belfast, Derry etc, etc) as a matter of priority over and above simply campaigning for votes( at election times). It is our duty (as po… Continue

Added by Aran Black on March 9, 2009 at 11:41pm — 4 Comments

Kevin Cooper ICTU Join a silent protest at the Massereene murders

ICTU Join a silent protest at the Massereene murders Wednesday, 11 March 2009 at 1.00pm Belfast City Hall L’Derry Guildhall Square Newry Town Hall http://www.ictuni.org/ Continue

Added by Kevin Cooper on March 9, 2009 at 6:27pm — No Comments

Allan Leonard Twitter, Flickr, YouTube mooted at the NI Assembly

Earlier this week (3 March), the Northern Ireland Assembly held a plenary debate on an "engagement strategy", which is "aimed at improving public engagement with the Assembly, its committee and MLAs." The strategy has been devised by the Assembly's Assembly Commission. Much of the debate spoke to the number of school visits to Parliament Buildings and the need for improved facilities by the Assembly's Education Service (… Continue

Added by Allan Leonard on March 6, 2009 at 3:42pm — 1 Comment

Allan Leonard Tweeting the Northern Ireland people

I have been motivated by a recent article in The Economist, "Politicians on Twitter: Tweeting the people", to encourage this craze among our Northern Ireland politicians. Belfast Gonzo (on Slugger O'Toole) has commented on the relative paucity of our local take up, but I'm determined to improve this situat… Continue

Added by Allan Leonard on March 2, 2009 at 3:00pm — 6 Comments

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Sam Mansour added a blog post
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. Patrick Henry Look not mournfully into the past, it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly…
2 hours ago
Sam Mansour updated their profile
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2 hours ago
Allan Leonard left a comment for Brian Eastwood
17 hours ago
anne odling-smee replied to anne odling-smee's discussion 'neutrality on union'
This was not about you and me being neutral on the union and therefore not minding who ran NI. I think that is a non sequitor anyway! but when the unionists made this statement they were suggesting that a minister in charge of Justice should / could…
on Saturday
Aran Black replied to ian butler's discussion 'Should the Alliance take the Policing and Justice Portfolio?'
Speaking as an Alliance party member I am going to say Alliance should accept the Justice post. However that said the SDLP have a good legal argument for accepting the post. The Good Friday Agreement (a.k.a. "Belfast" to those of UnChrisitan belief)…
on Saturday
Aran Black replied to Allan Leonard's discussion 'Is your local neighbourhood as mixed as you'd like it to be?'
Attending church service , working in the community, socialising in the community are all things which defines "mixing". That is living ones live in a normal why is the answer. However if you go out of your way to avoid contact with certain ethnic m…
on Saturday
Aran Black replied to anne odling-smee's discussion 'neutrality on union'
If you are neutral on the Union then you dont mind who runs NI. And if this were the case then you wound't mind who runs the police? The issue re. Policing and Justice and Security in NI is one of trust. I am would be very happy to see Policing and…
on Saturday
Aran Black replied to NI Foundation's discussion 'Localism in Northern Ireland?'
Having experienced localism in england for the last 13 years I can tell you it doesnt work. National Government has the advantage of the "economy of scale". Thsi means they can buy in bulk and provide services faster by utilising resources underoccu…
on Saturday
Aran Black replied to Allan Leonard's discussion 'Would you invite a foreign dignitary to Northern Ireland?'
This question is particularly relevant to todays discussion on the peace walls of Belfast. Berlin (and Eastern Europe) has had it's peacewalls removed yet Belfast they stay. The problem is the politicians and authroties must sow leadership with resp…
on Saturday
stefanie vance sorry i havent been here my laptop went down. just got it back a week or so ago. been trying to catch up
December 11

Working for a progressive and outward-looking Northern Ireland society, in a culture of tolerance and reconciliation.

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