Author Archives: Julian McGrath

A new poll published this week by LucidTalk on behalf of Save the Children NI has laid bare public frustration with the failure to address child poverty in Northern Ireland. The results are stark: 80% believe child poverty has worsened in recent years, mainly due to the rising cost of living. 67% support universal accessContinue reading “Public Says Enough: Time for an Effective Anti-Poverty Strategy in Northern Ireland”

Today’s announcement that the Northern Ireland Executive has agreed a draft Anti-Poverty Strategy is a long-overdue but important milestone. For nearly two decades, there has been a legal obligation under the Northern Ireland Act (as amended by the St Andrews Agreement) to bring forward a strategy to address poverty, social exclusion, and patterns of deprivationContinue reading “A Strategy Long Overdue – Now Delivery Must Match the Promise”

If recent discussions about the possibility of a third world war and the reintroduction of conscription in GB – with potential attempts to include Northern Ireland – has made you feel very uneasy, read on… Such distressing messages have surged across news outlets and social media, with some MPs urging conscription now. While many of us may fall outside the typical ageContinue reading “Will our children be going to war?”

Was going to post this weekend about the salient issues around Russia v Ukraine, but a colleague saved me and sent me this video. I think it says much of it, much better, than I ever could. It doesn’t deal too much with either historical or current international relations or internal Russian politics; nor doesContinue reading “Why is Russia invading Ukraine?”

Too many people, across the UK, with the aim of doing good but with zero experience working in education clambered for GCSE, AS-Level & A-Level examinations to be scrapped from an early stage. Now they are scrapped. Guess what all the teenagers in these age groups are going back to school to do in 12Continue reading “Our education mess”

We are saying “so long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu” to our European friends. Of course, it was at the start of 2020 that the UK actually left the European Union, but some four and a half long years since the shock outcome of the Referendum of 23rd June 2016, the ‘transition’ period is now over.Continue reading “So long, farewell, au revoir, auf wiedersehen”

As the chaotic approach to dealing with the fall-out of Covid wreaks havoc, it got me thinking about our very unique governmental structures in Northern Ireland. We remain the only country in the world to use the d’hondt formula to select its executive. Add to this mandatory coalition, the Executive’s “silo mentality”, the parallel consentContinue reading “Re-structuring government in Northern Ireland… a novel idea?”

A Northern Ireland independent public policy think tank, published a report last week on what opportunities and challenges exist to support young people in developing skills for a modern workforce. The report outlines the wider economic context that influences skills and training for the 14-19 age group. In the process it lays bare the starkContinue reading “Poverty, opportunity loss & educational under-achievement in Northern Ireland”

More and more football supporters are complaining about the players continuing to ‘take the knee’ many months after they first started doing this. A group of Millwall supporters booed their own players for performing the peaceful gesture this weekend. However, it isn’t just Millwall fans who have turned cold on ‘taking the knee’; increasingly IContinue reading “Taking the knee…”