COMMENT: Why the Public Assemblies Bill is justified
Abraham Lincoln once claimed that “A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations . . . is the only true sovereign of a free people.” As part of the Hillsborough Agreement, Northern Ireland’s two incumbent political parties agreed to undertake a review of public assemblies, parades and protests. Following months of consultation, 20th April 2010 saw the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister publish their consultation paper. This document included a Bill which they hope will become the new law governing such activities. BY SEAMUS J. MULHOLLAND
June 30th, 2010 | Comments (3)
ARTS: Art Fund Prize to be announced tomorrow
The winner of the £100,000 Art Fund Prize 2010 will be announced on Wednesday 30 June. The Ulster Museum has been shortlisted and finished a close second in the popular vote, just 0.09% behind the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, with over 72,000 people voting. These figures are taken into account by the judging panel, which includes broadcaster Kirsty Young, but this may not influence the final decision. BY BEN FINCH
June 29th, 2010 | No Comments
REVIEW: Lebanon
‘Lebanon’ is the feature film debut of Samuel Maoz, who served in the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Based on his own experiences of the first day of the conflict, it took its director 25 years to bring himself to finally complete the script. Watching the film, it becomes exceedingly clear why it took its writer-director so long to complete. BY MATTHEW MCKERNAN
June 29th, 2010 | No Comments
SPORT: “Average” Germans blitz “experienced” England
As the BBC punditry tore England’s performance to shreds in the immediate aftermath of the 4-1 defeat to Germany, a nation begins to look for a culprit. They need look no further than the men on the field. BY DAMIEN EDGAR
June 28th, 2010 | No Comments
SPORT: Farcical French head home
June 28th, 2010 | No Comments
NEWS: “Tough but fair” – Emergency budget 2010
The 2010 UK budget was delivered by Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, to the House of Commons on Tuesday 22nd June 2010. It has been dubbed the ‘emergency budget’ as it aims to reduce the colossal national debt accumulated by the Labour Government. This is the first budget to come from the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition which was formed after the general election in May of this year. BY KERRI-ANNE CAMPBELL
FULL STORY
June 28th, 2010 | Comment (1)
REVIEW: Linebacker Dirge – Low self-esteem engine
Genres of music come and go with the passing of time, and as such, people are always striving to find the next sound, whether it is via experimentation, a carefully captured moment of inspiration, or the union of different genres. In this case, Linebacker Dirge takes the bold, ill-advised move of merging folk rock with angst-ridden emo, creating ‘Low Self Esteem Engine’: the sound of someone obstinately forcing a square peg into a round hole, producing disastrous results. BY CHRIS JOHNSON
June 22nd, 2010 | No Comments
COMMENT: The Saville Report – A victory for democracy…but it’s a shame not everyone can see that
Tuesday 15th June 2010 was a wonderful day for the world. It wasn’t just a jubilant day for the families of the victims of Bloody Sunday, the people of Derry, and the whole of Northern Ireland. It was a day when justice and truth won out, when a government was exposed for wrongdoing and a Tory Prime Minister was forced to apologise, when democracy finally triumphed after 38 years of lies, fantasy and cover-up. However, unfortunately the Saville Report has not been met with unanimous jubilance. Although Peter Robinson has finally spoken out regarding the report, and said that he was in support of all the findings, other Unionists such as Reg Empey, Lord Maurice Morrow, Jim Allister, and most infamously, Gregory Campbell, have reacted to the report in a way that appears to be a case of trying to look self righteous and humanist, but ultimately failing and showing themselves to be bitter and unable to accept the disgusting truth of what happened on 30th January 1972. BY CATHERINE WYLIE
June 17th, 2010 | Comments (63)
NEWS: Student leaders vow to oppose an increase to fees
Student leaders at Queen’s University have set out plans to oppose any scheme to raise admission fees. Students’ Union President, Shane Brogan, stated that there is “no basis” for fees to increase due to there being “no increase in standards” since the introduction of variable top-up fees. Opposition will take the form of political pressure on the Stormont Executive. BY BEN FINCH
June 17th, 2010 | Comments (10)





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