I THINK those who erected the Bobby Sands statue in Belfast should have applied for planning permission. Why they didn’t is anybody’s guess. Perhaps they were concerned about it being knocked back by City Hall, although I can’t see that having happened.
THE war of words over the axing of funding for an English-Irish placename project is another depressing example of the determination of unionism to keep scoring petty points that delight their staunchest followers but mean a drearily familiar round of division and anger that exhausts and dispirits the rest of us.
WHEN I was a wee buck growing up in Ballymurphy there was a river at the back of the houses across from our home place at the corner of Glenalina Road and Divismore Park. The river ran the length of our street and the length of Ballymurphy Road before exiting below the Whiterock Road and into the City Cemetery. From there it meandered down to and under the Falls Road beside the bus depot and onwards to the Bog Meadows. You can see it there to this day. The stretch which used to border our street was long ago captured and incarcerated in a pipe below ground.
This is not a good time to be a Jewish person in the UK. In the past week, two Jewish men were attacked and hospitalized. In 2025, there were 170 antisemitic assaults in the UK alone, with four cases of extreme violence. Jewish people throughout the UK speak of feeling fearful, especially when there are marches in support of Palestinians.
BELFAST City Council is inviting residents to pick up their trowels and join the 2026 Belfast in Bloom competition, which features an exciting new addition: the ‘Best Alleyway’ category.
ST Gerard's Special School on Blacks Road is preparing for a marathon effort this Sunday with 55 members of the school community taking part in the annual 26.2 mile event.
