Opinion Pieces | Belfast Media

WE SAY: Preventing the truth from coming out places the PSNI in the dock

THE trouble with political accommodations is that they require a degree of accommodation on both sides. 17 years ago when nationalists and republicans took the historic decision to throw their lot in with a policing service and justice system from which they were thoroughly estranged, the hope was that a new era of cooperation and respect would open up.

THE WEEK IN VIEW: The Larne bonfire safe word is 'mattresses'

I’VE an apology to make to the Craigyhill Bonfire and Cultural Facebook Page. Like many people with little or no knowledge of bonfire culture, I thought that when a thousand pishy, mouldy mattresses were delivered to the Larne bonfire site by container ship and Chinook they were going to be... well... burnt.

DÚLRA: Giving starlings a platform for survival

THE common starling isn’t used to our admiration.

SQUINTER: The ballad of the Larne mattresses

The Guinness Book of Records sent a team along to Larne,To see if there was any truth in an oft-told local yarn.It was said that in an open space a bonfire huge was hewn,That stretched from one street to the next and halfway to the moon. With clipboards, pens and measuring tapes, they went about their task,And when the sun began to set a man was heard to ask:‘Is this the biggest you’ve ever seen, is Larne the planet’s best?Is Craigyhill about to be with trophy and honour blessed?’

MOVIES AND STREAMING: Tennis coach takes love-all a bit too seriously

CinemaChallengersItalian director Luca Guadagnino has made a name for himself by making emotionally captivating films, usually centred around the lives of ordinary yet complicated people who are somewhat lost and in search of that special something, or someone.

EYE ON THE PAST: April 1983 – Lisburn councillors stand firm on demand for 'traditional Sunday'

WE look at the stories that were making the headlines in the Andersonstown News in 1983

THEATRE REVIEW: Project Children is funny, poignant and still relevant

IT'S difficult to imagine that there was a time in our recent history when parents sent their children away to America during the summer to escape the violence on the streets. But it happened.

WE SAY: Health is the real loser in UUP drama

THE decision of Health Minister Robin Swann to step down from his Executive position as soon as the Westminster election is called later this year is just one of a couple of worrying indicators of the sorry state of the UUP – and therefore of unionism more widely.

ANDREÉ MURPHY: Sean Brown case a symbol of disgrace

IT was not without irony that Simon Harris’ words in apology for state failings regarding the Stardust disaster travelled up the M1 to Belfast courts where families of the other state’s violations sat in a race against time to secure some accounting for direct state violence and collusion.

JUDE COLLINS: Geography knowledge dependent on... geography

ON July 21, 2000, the then Tánaiste and leader of the Progressive Democrats party, Mary Harney, addressed the American Bar Association in Dublin. In the course of that speech she made a claim that still resonates decades later: “Geographically we are closer to Berlin than Boston. Spiritually we are probably a lot closer to Boston than Berlin."

GERRY ADAMS: Palestinian statehood must not rely on the whim of others

IN 2014 Sinn Féin brought forward a Dáil motion calling on the government to “officially recognise the State of Palestine, on the basis of the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital".

DÚLRA: Let’s hope the call of the wild will work this time

DÚLRA knows his limits – and this week it was time to admit defeat and call for the expert. Because Dúlra wants to be sure that when some of our most stunning birds arrive back in Belfast after six months in distant lands, they will know where they can find a safe and welcoming home.

THE WEEK IN VIEW: United Ireland: The experts have their say

BBC Ulster performed an interesting experiment on Thursday night’s The View in an attempt to test the contention of new Taoiseach Simon Harris that young people in Cork know Berlin and Paris better than they know Belfast and Derry.

HEALTHWISE: Healthy diet vital for hair but can’t stop baldness

RECENT research has revealed that Belfast has the highest rates of hair loss in the North of Ireland – and the UK. Approximately 62% of males in Belfast are affected.

SQUINTER: Donaghadee Dynamo teases East Belfast

INDUSTRY legend has it that the Sunday Life once had Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair on their front page for over a year without a break. That’s when Johnny was loyalist royalty in Belfast and not sitting in a bedsit in Troon watching his tattoos fade with his notoriety.

Soccer: Reds return to Cup final with Larne victory

Boxing: Wonderful Walker enjoys Beech party to land first title

Boxing: Farrell overcomes Kerr in title thriller

Gaelic Games: St Gall's see off Tír na nÓg in hurling opener

MINDFULNESS MOMENT: Unveiling the ancient origins of Easter

GERRY ADAMS: UN rep was right to censure Irish government 'zero' response to Gaza genocide

DÚLRA: How childhood spawned a love of spring

HEALTHWISE: Enjoy your Easter pleasures

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