My Freedom of Information request on the failed Hill Street pedestrianisation scheme sums up at a small level, the wider failure of this useless Stormont Executive. Devolve transport and physical regeneration powers to council. Sinn Fein and the DUP have no interest in making this place work.

More than a month after I asked NI Water for a copy of its whistleblowing policy, it has been unable to produce the document it has trumpeted. Amid concern at NI Water's treatment of whistleblowers, an Opposition MLA says it's "bizarre" behaviour.

Polizei Berlin said in a statement it has reported the incident to its police watchdog, the Directorate for Police Offences, “to determine whether any aspects of the police response may be disproportionate or of criminal relevance” #Gaza m.independent.ie/irish-news/i...

It's a decade since a critical meeting as RHI ran out of control. Now, hapless Stormont’s continued inability to shut RHI exposes how irreformable devolution has been - and some of the behaviour which led to RHI is being repeated under a Sinn Féin minister.

📣 Challenge launched 📣 Save Our Sperrins have applied to judicially review the Dept. for the Economy’s decision to grant several mineral prospecting licences. ✅️Papers signed ✅️Court fee paid ✅️ PILS acting as SOS' solicitor Now, we wait for the Department’s response... #PublicInterestLitigation

Great news for Rostrevor and the future of the Mourne Mountains! The Mourne Gateway/Gondola was always a deeply unsustainable, undemocratic and unwelcome project. Those who pocketed millions pursuing it against the will of the people must now be held accountable. www.irishnews.com/news/norther...

Sorry to burden you with another jaw-dropping scandal. But what the government intends to do to chemicals regulation in the UK is chilling. Its consultation was slipped out so quietly that most of us missed it. When I read it, I saw why. This week's column: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ Belfast Pride kicks off this weekend and our pedigree on lgbtqia+ equality is unassailable. The 5 executive parties have gaslighted us with broken promises and refusal to use their power to make our lives better. 1/2

In the midst of challenging those who threaten nature around us, it’s also vital to make time to celebrate the wonders of nature. Please check out our annual collaboration with the Fiddler's Green International Festival for our In Tune with Nature programme starting next Sunday in Rostrevor!

The A5 debacle is classic Stormont: It wants to slash carbon emissions but emit more; it wants it to be compulsory to protect the environment but be allowed to damage the environment; it wants to cut road journeys while building bigger roads. This is insane - but it's not the judge who's mad.

The seemingly never ending tragic outcomes of violence against women in NI, shows clearly that thoughts & prayers aren’t enough—we must act. m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/norther...

Red letters, bounced cheques and court action: How Ian Paisley Jr’s office failed to pay into public purse which lavishly funded him. The man who once got taxpayers to pay £950 (£1,800 today) for a single chair left politics with unpaid bills - which the DUP now won't pay.

Government often claimed that the operators hid their criminality behind legitimate businesses. Untrue. Both companies were permitted to operate way beyond planning regulation and environmental laws. One received significant public money while causing serious harm #Systemfailni

The two criminals responsible for the vast Mobuoy toxic dump polluting Londonderry’s drinking water repeatedly lied about their role — and then claimed when caught that the court process was hurting their own health.

Mobuoy’s polluters are finally behind bars, but the punishment doesn’t match the crime. Those who made millions dumping toxic waste beside our river should be forced to pay every penny back, not just serve time. 1/2 #environmentaljustice #climatejustice #cleanwater

Two businessmen have been jailed over an illegal Derry dump that could cost £700m to clean up - but did you know a 2013 report found there was a 'history of repeated non-compliances' at the officially regulated site open.substack.com/pub/theearth...

“Who will champion the voices of the people, demand that projects align with community needs, and ensure that proper consultation and transparency guide the council's actions moving forward?" An excellent letter from Jim Boylan. Public confidence in Newry, Mourne & Down Council has hit rock bottom.

📢Tell the government to stop stalling the urgent action needed and start to breathe life back into our precious waters by taking action! Please tell DAERA, by sharing the impacts you are aware of on the loughs, rivers, streams and sheughs you care about. Thanks bit.ly/DAERAwater

It's taken me a wee while - but I've decided to give #TheEarthsCorr a new home on substack. In my first post you can read about Ireland's biggest climate risks, now and into the future, following a major new report from @epaireland.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/theearth...

Cartoons to give people a lift. When council officials and their cheerleaders go into pantomime mode, they must prepare for the sound of very loud laughter in their ears. Please sign the petition to say NO to the gondola in Kilbroney Forest Park, Rostrevor ⬇️ www.change.org/p/say-no-to-...

Our response to BBC News on the story of attempts to move the failed Donard cable car project to Rostrevor. We sent the following comment with photograph (March 2025) of an “infrastructure” of crumbling barrels of concrete on the shore side of Mourne Coastal route between Rostrevor and Killowen.

🚨Bone fragments & muscle fibres found in calf meal produced by Northern Ireland animal feed firm. It’s been illegal to feed ruminants all forms of mammalian protein since Nov 1994 and to feed any farmed livestock, including fish&horses, with mammalian meat and bone meal since 1996

Fresnillo is a goldminer worth £8bn, listed on the London Stock Exchange and majority-owned by the billionaire Baillères family. For years it has been locked in a bitter dispute with the Bajío agrarian community on whose land it encroached in the desert of Mexico's Sonora state.

Earlier this year a court-appointed expert said Fresnillo owed $630m, reflecting the gold it mined on the community's land. Fresnillo's shareholders had been told nothing of the expert report, until SourceMaterial and The Times began asking questions. www.source-material.org/fresnillo-so...

‘Another record high’ as Northern Ireland’s homelessness crisis deepens - viewdigital.org/another-reco...

“Successful regeneration of the South East Coast requires more than a series of capital projects and a marketing programme, there is a need for integrated planning, sustained support for the local community and resources for the ongoing management of visitor impacts in the area.” 1/3

Evening light on the A2 roadworks for the Narrow Water Bridge exposes plastic, carpets, foam, piping, builders rubble and other rubbish buried in unauthorised groundworks carried out on the watch of Warrenpoint Harbour Authority (WHA) during their efforts to expand Warrenpoint Port.

We're calling for more sites to be zoned to protect nature by Belfast City Council. We have international ambitions to protect and manage 30% of our land & seas by 2030, why isn't this percolating through to how we approach planning? m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/environ...

With Presidential voting rights in the news... Wrote this a few years ago. Protestant, Northern and Irish: In Search of Deeper Democracy citizenshippapers.ie/paper%3A-cla...

Twenty-seven years ago the Good Friday Agreement was born. It has shaped Northern Ireland ever since. Yet declassified files reveal that the man crucial to the Agreement's survival was on the brink of being overthrown - then the world changed irrevocably.

Meaningless guff from agencies that are meant to protect Lough Neagh. What they don’t want you to know is that since the catastrophic blooms in 2023, the phosphorous levels have INCREASED. Wishful thinking & sombre words are no substitute for action. #Businessasusual www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

One of those lovely calm mornings yesterday when the water of Carlingford Lough is so still that there are two versions of the Cooley Peninsula on offer!

🔴 For *four years* officials refused to release names of all companies linked to Conservative donors and party figures put in the 'VIP' lane for bumper Covid contracts Now a judge has ordered them to. Huge win for @jennacorderoy.bsky.social (and DfS) democracyforsale.substack.com/p/government...

Sinn Féin is simultaneously demanding Storm Éowyn compensation for those who suffered in RoI while opposing it for the same people in NI. The details of how this happened reveal ideological chaos and a party which can't handle the power it has at Stormont.

Excellent article in today’s @belfasttelegraph.co.uk from Gail Walker on the disrespect towards Belfast’s built heritage & working class communities by undemocratic and inappropriate planning decisions & demolition of the city’s past

More than two years after pleading guilty, two Mobuoy criminals still haven't been sentenced. On the panel will be activists, a scientist and the journalistic pair whose brilliant Radio 4 podcast Buried brought the scandal to a mass audience - @danielashby.bsky.social & @lucytaylorpro.bsky.social.

The Mobuoy illegal dump scandal has exposed the toothlessness of Stormont and the NI criminal justice system. Tomorrow night just a few miles from the dump site I'll be chairing a discussion about what happened & what can be done. Still some tickets here:

We need an Anti-Poverty Strategy now, charities and campaigners tell Stormont - viewdigital.org/we-need-an-a...

Another great story of People Power! The Southern Relief Road project urgently needs to be re-examined by people with more experience and knowledge of the history and needs of our area, rather than consultants who are erasing this local context to facilitate Warrenpoint Harbour’s Priority Project.

Join us on the 16 February in Victoria Park to learn about the wintering birds there! Book a free ticket at www.wildbelfast.org/events-1/win...