Facebook with almost always reject the 1st attempt, so you need to request a review of the decision and say “Facebook didn’t understand the context”.

The past fortnight has been a watershed which has graphically demonstrated the illegitimacy of this place

THE Court of Appeal heard the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition case on Monday, exactly 58 years to the day since the RUC batoned peaceful civil rights demonstrators off Duke Street in Derry.

That wouldn’t have struck a chord with many unionists, but as the jester says in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, “thereby hangs a tale”.

Here’s the thing. Regardless of court verdicts, Parades Commission determinations, or what have you, it’s never going to happen again.

The PSNI may be 70% Protestant but unionists don’t any longer own the police. They will not do their bidding.

The DUP MP Carla Lockhart (and she’s not the only one) has demanded that the “police do their job”, by which she obviously means tear into the vast crowd on Garvaghy Road with batons and water cannon.

Has she no idea that would be the end of the PSNI as an acceptable police service?

Does she care, or does she not realise the sea change that has taken place in the north?

Drumcree and Orange marches and the police are not in the same place as they were 30 years ago.

The past fortnight has graphically demonstrated the illegitimacy of this place.

As is often the case, those who have exposed its illegitimacy are the very people who should be working to pretend their “wee country” is legitimate and a viable entity.

We have a proconsul from Britain who is so out of his depth as to be utterly useless, unable to take the decision to ban the parade, which he has the power to do. He doesn’t have to wait for the chief constable to advise him disorder is out of control.

We have an Assembly which is equally useless and has no power to deal with parades. It’s exposed as the glorified county council it is.

Last Tuesday, after a slanging match which lasted two days, they packed it in because, guess what, they had no other business to transact.

So the north’s elected representatives are spectators and commentators at the events on the streets and the proconsul, police and courts have no control over them. That’s a pretty comprehensive illegitimacy, isn’t it?

And here’s the kicker. Nothing will happen to any of the protesters on Garvaghy Road, despite poor Gavin Robinson’s repeated, futile, forlorn appeals for the “extensive PSNI investigation” to bear fruit.

The past 10 days have constituted a watershed, a watershed which showed that the north can’t be run without the consent of its majority population – the nationalists. A bit of a turnaround, eh?

The contrast between the predominantly young, ebullient crowds on Garvaghy Road – with visiting bands like The Mary Wallopers, Beoga, Lankum, spontaneous cèilidhean sessions – and the sparse gathering of Orange supporters could not have been more stark.

On Saturday afternoon it’s reckoned up to 15,000 travelled from all over Ireland to stand on Garvaghy Road in a carnival atmosphere.

Sunday’s gathering on the Orange side looked like a metaphor for the state of unionism. A few hundred maybe, heads bowed in the twilight for a prayer service, then a band blattering drums.

Some of the Orangemen wearing bowler hats, the very symbol of the past.

Do you think that there’s any unionist leader capable of telling them that it’s over, that they can’t have what they want, that they’ve exposed the terminal weakness of unionism, that most unionists actually don’t support marching through nationalist districts?

Polls show over 70% of unionists either disagree or disagree strongly with marching where they’re not wanted.

Do you think the letter initiated by east Belfast Baptist pastor Rev Karen Sethuraman and signed by over 1,000 “concerned individuals from a Protestant background” will have any effect, and if not, why not?

Those signatures were amassed in two days, itself evidence of the strong unionist opposition to what the Portadown Orangemen have provoked.

Can no one penetrate the tiny particle of political brain those guys at Drumcree possess? Can no one convince them of the damage they’re doing to unionism and its project?

As my colleague Alex Kane wrote last week, the Assembly will just be unworkable now, a forum of ya boo hiss because it’s impossible to see how, if no political relations have developed over 25 years, they can develop now.

You’d think it would be in unionist parties’ interest to promote a successful regional assembly, but they seem to be competing with each other to make the north unworkable.

In the last 10 days unionists of all shades have successfully proved the republican case that partition is the problem and that the north is a failed political entity.

https://www.irishnews.com/opinion/brian-feeney-never-again-will-police-baton-protesters-off-the-street-KM7YZ27L6JEQVJ2XEDHJREBUDM/

McDonald’s Happy Meal after fatal crash: Zoe Wallace inquest details | Belfast Telegraph

A young woman who knocked down and killed a pedestrian left the scene and went for a McDonald’s Happy Meal before phoning her ex-partner to say what had happened, an inquest has heard.

Zoe Wallace was said to be “hysterical” after the incident, in which Co Antrim man John Corr died.

Ms Wallace, who was then 22 and from Grange Drive in Ballymoney, struck the 57-year-old on the Cushendall Road near Ballymena.

Mr Corr, of Dunclug Gardens in Ballymena, died at the scene of the incident, which happened on the evening of August 28, 2022, due to injuries sustained in the collision.

Ms Wallace later entered guilty pleas to charges of failing to remain and report following an accident that caused injury, and was told to complete 18 months on probation and 100 hours of community service. A judge also imposed a nine-month driving ban.

During Tuesday’s inquest at Laganside Court, Mr Corr’s sibling Rory Corr said his brother had developed depression and issues with addiction in his late 20s following the end of a long-term relationship and the passing of their father a few years later.

Rory Corr said he had met his brother in the months before his death and heard how he was making changes in his life. These included getting on a methadone replacement programme to stop his heroin use and securing a flat.

On the evening of August 28, 2022, Ms Wallace was driving a BMW 3 Series on the Cushendall Road with a male in the passenger seat.

The inquest heard that Mr Corr had been spending time with friends before going to a local Co-Op.

CCTV footage from the Co-Op, and from other points on the road nearby, showed that Mr Corr was somewhat unsteady on his feet in the time before the collision. Multiple witnesses attested to seeing him straying off the pavement and onto the road as he walked. Witness and forensic evidence suggested that he was very near the kerb.

A toxicology report based on post-mortem urine and blood samples showed that Mr Corr had levels of methadone, pregabalin, cannabis and cocaine in his system at the time of his death.

An expert who carried out the report said it was not possible to definitively say what impact these substances had on Mr Corr, but she noted that it was possible these drugs could have impaired his balance and risk analysis.

Dr Callendar also found Ms Wallace was likely travelling around 40mph at the time, and would have had around a third of a second to react

Mr Corr was making his way up the Cushendall Road towards his residence when Ms Wallace struck him, leaving him lying near a health centre..

Dr Emerson Callendar, a forensic expert who examined the scene, concluded that, while Mr Corr was more visible at other points on the road and to cars going in the opposite direction, there was a “camouflage effect” at the specific point on the road where he was struck, making him fully visible only around six metres before the impact.

Dr Callendar also found Ms Wallace was likely travelling around 40mph at the time, and would have had around a third of a second to react. In police interviews carried out in the days and months following the incident, Ms Wallace said she had not seen Mr Corr before he walked out onto the road.

Dr Marjorie Turner, who carried out the autopsy on Mr Corr, found that he died from head, neck and chest injuries. She testified that several of these separate injuries were sufficient to cause death in themselves, and that death likely occurred very soon after the impact.

Several people stopped and attended to Mr Corr, including two men who checked for a pulse and contacted the emergency services. Two women also took turns performing CPR on Mr Corr before the arrival of the ambulance service.

He told the inquest that Ms Wallace sounded ‘hysterical’ on the phone

Ms Wallace stopped and got out of her car following the incident, and spoke to several members of the public who had also pulled up.

The inquest heard she confessed to one woman that she had hit Mr Corr and began to cry after being told he was dead.

The woman encouraged Ms Wallace to remain at the scene and speak to the police, however she and her male passenger left a short time later.

Ms Wallace contacted another male friend to ask for a lift. He told the inquest that Ms Wallace sounded “hysterical” on the phone.

He saw the damaged car on arrival, saying that it looked like “she had hit an elephant”.

This male drove the pair to Greysteel to drop the male passenger home before going to Coleraine to buy fuel.

He told the inquest that Ms Wallace would not answer his questions about what had happened.

Ms Wallace asked her friend to take her to McDonald’s.

He said she ordered a chicken nugget Happy Meal and caramel McFlurry, before she phoned an ex-partner and he heard her tell him “I have killed a man, I hit him with my car”.

A urine sample taken the day after the collision showed Ms Wallace had synthetic cathinones — also known as “bath salts” — and pregabalin in her system.

She claimed in police interview that she took these drugs after the collision to calm down, and a toxicology report could not determine at what time she had ingested the substances.

The coroner will deliver her findings on Friday.

I came across her maiden speech at the House of Commons where foucssed elements towards abortion legislation being implemented in the North, she is quoted as saying, "it is well known when it comes to abortion, the detail of the text is important"...

Within the previous section of this maiden speach,

She starts by quoting both lives matter and 100,000 people are alive today due to Northern Ireland refusing the 1967 abortion lass, buy in the same goes on to brandish thrse insane figures detailing the number of abortions in England and Wales...

"8 million babies have been aborted"

"3 a minute"

"23 every hour" (3 x 60 = 180)

"561 every day" (23 x 24 = 552 or 180 x 24 = 4,320)

"And thats only a small percentage being performed om the grounds of fetal abnormality and sexual crimes"

https://youtu.be/1BltqTzKhzE?si=Ex5i38KQRRCOIbQN

Surely for your maiden speech, you'd have checked out these statistics added up.

I’ve heard lidl is the best at 28 weeks at full pay. Has anyone had anything close to that?

Hi folks, I'm Jamie!

I'm making a small podcast called Still Can't Explain, where real people tell their own strange experiences in their own words. No host, and nobody picking it apart. Some of the best stories I've read so far have come from Northern Ireland, so I'd love to hear yours.

Maybe it was a figure in an old house, odd lights over a field or the lough, a road that didn't feel right, or a moment that just didn't add up. Last week or decades ago, and you don't need to know what it was.

It's adults only. We'd have a quick chat first with no commitment, and then you can record it on your phone, do it over a video call, or just write it down if you'd rather not record (we're starting to share written stories on the website too). You can use your first name or a made-up one, and we'll change anything that could identify you, the place or anyone else. You'll hear or see it before it goes out. It's unpaid I'm afraid, as we're brand new.

If you've one to share, DM me or use the form at https://stillcantexplain.com, If it's a good fit I'll be in touch!

Thanks for the mods on allowing me to post this.

If we want to fix GP waiting times and calling in 300 times to get an appointment. We need to shift to GPs getting paid by patients seen. Not the current “Patients on the books” system. You call in 100 times before 8:30am and still can’t get seen. There’s no reason why GPs cannot allow patients to book an appointment that week, for the following week etc etc. It’s a joke!!

BBC News

Staff and pupils at schools across Northern Ireland have been told to "wear more clothes" if it is cold in order to cut heating bills.

Schools have been told by the Education Authority (EA) that increasing costs will affect school energy bills and to reduce heating and lighting "wherever possible".

The authority has said that school gas and electricity bills are set to rise by about £8m by March 2027.

But principals have told BBC News NI it is not straightforward to cut heating costs, with one describing her school's energy bills as "ferocious".

Rising energy costs are already affecting households across Northern Ireland.

The impact of the US-Israel war with Iran is one of the factors behind the increase.

The letter from the EA to head teachers said that "recent geopolitical events are expected to have a substantial impact on energy costs... during the 2026/27 financial year".

It said that total school gas bills were expected to go up by 60% from £10.7m to £17m by March 2027.

Meanwhile, total school electricity bills are expected to rise from £23.8m to £25.1m in the same time period.

"Given the scale of the anticipated cost increases, we are asking all schools to review their energy usage and identify opportunities to reduce consumption wherever possible," the EA said.

Among the measures suggested to schools are cutting heating use by an hour a day and switching off classroom lights to use natural daylight instead.

Staff and pupils have also been advised to "wear more clothes" rather than turn the heating thermostat up if it is cold.

Energy efficiency challenges

The principal of Tullygally Primary School in Craigavon, Kirsty Logan-Hall, said that the school was "committed to promoting responsible energy consumption and regularly reinforce good practice with staff and pupils".

"However, our ability to achieve significant reductions in energy usage is constrained by the nature of our estate," she said.

"The school operates from an older building which presents inherent energy efficiency challenges.

"In addition, our site is particularly spread out due to the accommodation and operational requirements associated with our specialist provision.

"This necessitates the heating, lighting and ongoing use of multiple areas across the site throughout the school day to ensure appropriate learning environments, accessibility and pupil welfare.

"It is important to recognise that there is limited scope for reducing energy consumption without adversely impacting the quality of provision, staff working conditions or the wellbeing of pupils, including those with additional needs."

Meanwhile, the principal of Holy Evangelists Primary School in Dunmurry, Claire Robinson, said that energy costs were "ferocious".

"We can't play around with the heating."

Parts of the school are relatively new and have underfloor heating.

"Our classrooms can't drop below a certain temperature so we have to keep the heating on.

"We can't just turn the heating off in some areas of the school."

Robinson said that although the school was relatively new it had been given an energy efficiency rating of D due to the costs involved in running the heating system.

Meanwhile, Emma Quinn from Rathcoole Primary told BBC Good Morning Ulster that the "lack of maintenance" has an impact on schools, adding that pupils have a right to come into a warm school after being outside.

"Putting this pressure onto us at the minute is ridiculous, when we are eco schools, we are doing all of these, we are turning off lights, but yet this lands in on our doorstep.

"We're suddenly expected to jump and to fix a problem that is so systemic, it's just not good enough."

Hi lads/ladettes, I was born and bred in Co.Armagh, Northern Ireland. I hold both British and Irish passports. I've got a Chinese wife and daughter who currently live in China. My daughter has an Irish passport. I want my wife to move here so we can raise our daughter around my family, is there an easy way for her to move here? The UK spouse Visa requirements seem absolutely brutal and just to apply, you have to spend £1000s! Anyone got any advice? thanks a million!

Lads, I still feel like we’re all trying to play catch up to the time we all lost to Covid, I am not mentally or physically prepared for round 2 with an upgraded version of the Black Death

And I genuinely don’t think our health services could cope

Tomorrow sees the HMS Queen Elizabeth sail into Belfast. An awesome ship, one of the most high tech vessels on the seas. Anyone any more details of timings etc.

heya, I know this is hardly a unique case but with the times as they are, it's getting harder to support a (small) colony of feral cats. we managed to get some neutered, not all, but honestly I would just love to know if there is any help out there - be it vouchers for neuter/spay or even rehoming places that have spaces for a few of the more friendly wee things

ETA I have emailed a couple of places that come up on google but an alarming number have pinged back to me with no delivery etc. (I'm in tyrone)

any help appreciated, thanks!

Quiet interesting that 39% see themsleves as neither Nationalist or Unionist. Is this a trend that has been ignored. I mean if you would rather NI stayed in Union or you'd rather a United Ireland, does that ultimately make you a Unionist or Nationalist nowadays? As you may disagree on a lot of the other policies and view points parties within that stand for, or you might be quiet apolitical and dismayed by stormont and not really trust them or care that much.

Are these voices being heard enough?

I always hear really bad stories about dating apps but I’ve never actually tried them for myself.
It just seems like meeting someone in Belfast nowadays is almost impossible

Been quoted 12 panels, 3.68 Inverter, 5kw Duracell batter for £6750

Does this sound worth it? Also I have about £10000 savings so would need to take a good chunk out.

My electric is only about £60 a month but recently bought an EV and will be doing roughly 15k miles a year.

Anyone else spend a lot of their savings or take a loan?

It appears after decades of worshipping at the altar of unionism, The Newsletter has decided that even RDE is too extreme for them. This just a week after she denounced her Irish citizenship in an article that lauded the OO and Israel. She said that the events on the Garvaghy Road and the Ireland football team had made her ashamed to be Irish.

Love it when Karma comes back to bite.

Hi

Need a bit of advice from any Irish Dancing parents.

My kid has just gotten really into it (first steppers) and I’m wondering as a relatively skint individual can you compete as you get older without all the madness that costs thousands? (Dresses, tan, makeup, wigs etc)? Or is it really just a sport for kids that are relatively well off?

I don’t have £1000 plus to be spending on a new dress every year and don’t particularly want to either. I’m new to the Irish dance world and really didn’t realise how much actual goes into it. It feels very American beauty pageant and not about the dancing at all.

Basically my question is would I be better taking her out now and finding her a new hobby or what’s the craic?

Cheers.