Debates on sovereignty are nothing new to us here in Northern Ireland. Born in contentious circumstances, it has existed in a constant state of dispute, both political and violent, ever since. So used are we to the on-going arguments that they have almost become a backing track to everyday life: we can hear them, but are we really listening anymore?
BY COLIN WILLIAMSON Continue reading
An exchange programme for the last 4 years has been running at Queen’s university called the PMI-2: Strategic Alliances and Partnerships scheme. Its aim is to take a group of students to either India or China for academic and cultural exchange, and in the process take part in university life and complete some research. I’m a 24 year old student from Wales just waiting to graduate from a full-time Masters in Social and Community Development, and over the summer I spent a month, along with four other students and a member of Queen’s academic staff, in the Indian southern state of Andhra Pradesh and the city of Hyderabad.
BY JONATHAN EVANS Continue reading
‘Belfast is a fantastic example to the world….’
Add in as many superlatives as you wish and there wouldn’t be any we have not heard before. Now it appears that the ‘sitcheeation’ in Northern Ireland has entered that realm that we like to call our ‘annual stalemate’, which seems to happen as often as Man Utd release a new strip. This time though the reality is based solely on the fact that we simply do not have enough money to sustain a police force that will be sufficient and effective due to the ‘economic downturn’, another all too familiar phrase.