Belfast Newsletter - Columnists Feed

Learning lessons from The Great Gatsby

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:52:35 GMT

The new film adaptation of The Great Gatsby is in cinemas now. It is a stunning, lavish and highly entertaining production, depicting the extravagant, fast living lifestyles of moneyed bright young things of New York and Long Island in the 1920s.

The Conservative Party are tearing themselves apart

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:10:38 GMT

THE Conservative Party is treating the nation to a masterclass in the art of how to lose friends - namely votes - and alienate people.

‘Us and them’ issues at the heart of our identity crisis

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:32:16 GMT

Every time I hear someone (and it’s usually someone from a pro-Union background, by the way) quote John Hewitt – “I am an Ulsterman, I am British, I am Irish and I am European. Anyone who demeans any one part of me demeans me as a person” – my thoughts irresistibly run towards multiple personality disorder. Indeed, I usually start humming the theme tune from CSI (the TV show, not the shared future strategy), “who are you, who, who, who, who?”

All is not well down on the farm

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:51:43 GMT

A distressed farmer writing in the News Letter’s Letters page last week described the many factors which have combined in the last year to create a ‘perfect storm’ in the agri sector.

Accepted as a Royal - but will the public ever like Camilla?

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:48:53 GMT

Was anyone really interested in the contents of the Queen’s Speech last week? Hands up those more interested in Camilla’s arrival on the big stage of British politics.

Jeremiah couldn’t take libel case today

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:01:34 GMT

The names of optimists and pessimists from literature often become words in their own right. Micawber, Pollyanna, Cassandra, Pangloss and…Jeremiah, to name but five, and keeping, of course, the balance in favour of the optimists!

Interesting parallels between Tories and unionists in Northern Ireland

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:18:48 GMT

THE British Conservative Party, once the “natural party of government” is flirting with disaster, and if it is not careful, destined to fragment and make itself unelectable. And there are interesting parallels with unionism in Northern Ireland.

Lack of compromise creating panic and crisis for coalition government in Westminster

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:09:15 GMT

FRED Karno’s Army is beginning to look like a well-drilled, efficient fighting force in comparison with the ramshackle, rickety coalition Government.

Parties more interested in a carve-up than shared future

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:28:44 GMT

So, the folks on the hill are having yet another go at creating a shared future, or space, or environment, or framework – or whatever the buzz phrase is this time round.

Learning lessons from Ohio kidnap case

Thu, 09 May 2013 19:49:09 GMT

THAT three women were held captive for 10 years in what appeared to be an ordinary house in a built-up neighbourhood where people came and went, and an air of normality reigned, is almost unbelievable!

Nolan has put fear into politicians and PR industry

Thu, 09 May 2013 11:56:53 GMT

THIS may be the worst of times for health bureaucrats but it has been the best of times for their nemesis Stephen Nolan.

Major business conference needs to focus on results

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:01:07 GMT

THERE have been reports that Northern Ireland will host a major international business conference following the G8 meeting in Enniskillen in June.

Cameron is the worst Tory leader since Edward Heath

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:14:02 GMT

A few days after David Cameron was elected leader of the Conservative party in December 2005 I noted: ‘He is the worst possible choice for the party. He has been chosen, not because of his convictions or innate conservatism, but because he is the candidate who most resembles Tony Blair. But when the electorate finally rumbles just how bad Labour and Blair have been for this country, they are hardly likely to warm to a Conservative clone. The party has opted for image rather than ideology.’

Tough times for Gerry Adams in Republic over IRA denials

Thu, 02 May 2013 09:56:01 GMT

WHEN Sinn Fein’s deputy first minister Martin McGuinness mistakenly referred to the Irish Football Association (IFA) as the IRA in an Assembly debate this week it provoked gales of laughter from all sides of the house.

Can UK stay on path of peacefulness?

Wed, 01 May 2013 09:29:44 GMT

AN interesting report popped out last week from Institute for Economics and Peace, a respected Austrian organisation that specialises in measuring how peaceful different parts of the world are.

Britain seems in danger of becoming a secret police state

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:54:02 GMT

Is Britain becoming a police state? There are more than a few disturbing facts which have come to light recently showing that some authorities are seemingly becoming more cavalier with the lives of ordinary citizens.

Union remains safe despite the antics of political parties

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:07:03 GMT

I sometimes wonder if there is a self-destruct button at the very heart of unionism.

Rihanna farmer sowing seeds of revolution

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 10:50:42 GMT

Down in the fields of barley at Clandeboye one can discern the seeds being sown of a revolution which could have consequences throughout the music world.

What foundations are you laying?

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:24:15 GMT

Last week it was observed that a multi-storied factory building in Bangladesh had developed noticeable cracks.

Beware the sob stories of strangers in Spain

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:13:35 GMT

EVERY year, about now, it seems that a starting pistol is fired and a thousand jets take to the skies, ferrying the sangria seekers and culture vultures towards Barcelona.