Duncan Morrow

Diagnosing the Health Service Crisis in NI almost too easy. History will record that the underlying challenge is political drift and gridlock around decision making. Until that is resolved nothing serious can happen.

Executive ‘gridlock’ so bad a spreadsheet is needed to track ‘blocked’ papers A Stormont minister has claimed “gridlock” within the Executive has got so bad that a spreadsheet has been created to keep track of all the policy proposals being blocked by the DUP.

Gridlock is rapidly becoming as big a problem in NI as collapse. In terms of services both amount to the irrelevancy of politics to achieve change. We need reform to enable 'decide and review' (normal democracy) without requiring consensus on everything.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/norther...

"Regrettably, some political leaders in Northern Ireland were not always able, in this time of extraordinary crisis, to set aside political and sectarian divisions and to govern jointly and effectively in the interests of the whole of Northern Ireland."
(Hallett Covid Inquiry)

Who knew?

Italy probes claim that tourists paid to go to Bosnia to kill besieged civilians Italians and others are alleged to have paid large sums to fire at Bosnians risking their lives in besieged Sarajevo.

The possibility that some people may have paid money to go ‘on tour’ to a warzone and shoot civilians including children is simply staggering. Unlimited cruelty.

Italy investigates claims of tourists paying to shoot civilians in Bosnia in 1990s www.bbc.com/news/article...

Epstein Alleged in Emails That Trump Knew of His Conduct

Awkward.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...

Great to be at the launch @ulsteruni.bsky.social of our exciting new Flourish project supporting engagement and research on the long and rich cultural and linguistic contributions and interconnections through Gaelic languages and forms of Scots to the north of Ireland and west of Scotland.

Elon Musk Wins $1 Trillion Tesla Pay Package

Greed is apparently limitless. Shameless.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/b...

Reducing the cost of living is an easy and popular political message. And incredibly difficult to deliver when you also want to deliver e.g. fair minimum wage, net zero investment, protective regulations, tariffs if so inclined, investment from big companies...

As Labour has discovered ill-prepared to deliver a slogan of change, trade-offs must be made which electorates are rarely being prepared for. Because rich entitled countries are finding themselves no longer the masters and scarcely know how to cope.

I think we are at the ‘don’t amplify’ stage.

Two rows of car parking in a service road alongside a main road completely replaced by a cycleway, cycle parking and greenery

Bos en lommerweg, Amsterdam in 1976 and today

If UK Labour and Conservatives continue on the strategy of trying to undermine the insurgent right by stealing their clothes, the door is opening fast to the Lib Dems and Greens to follow the Dutch D66 in opposing their policies.

After this Dutch election, parties with 1% of the vote have members in parliament. 22 seats are distributed between 8 parties none of which won more than 3% of the vote. One party went from 20 seats to none in one election. Reflects opinion but stable government hard? Good or bad advert for PR?

Elections show huge volatility of Dutch electorate. Only 2 years since last election: Left-liberals treble their seats, Wilders loses a third of his, Christian Democrats recover from 2023 disaster and Centre-left have very poor outing. Alt-right Ja21 go from one seat to eight. No sign of stability.

It’s a massacre. How did the most successful political parties in the country become so bad at electoral politics so quickly

The Caerphilly by-election is perhaps the most important anywhere. 83% voted against the establishment. The vehicles of protest are different: the pissed-offness is common, deep and wide.

Audit Office publishes damning report on green energy strategy Report finds only 1% of targeted energy savings by the Department for the Economy have been achieved.

That's three issues in a short row- Lough Neagh, Active Travel and now Energy - where the NI Executive's performance on key environmental issues is failing. Radical change required.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Mist clears over Benevenagh on the north coast of Ireland this morning

Great night at the now annual North Belfast Schools Art Exhibition @UlsterUni Fantastic talent on view and thanks to all@UlsterUni students who spoke too.

The 400 richest Americans are now worth a record $6.6 trillion.

The entire bottom 50% of America is worth just $4.2 trillion.

Read that back.

When 400 people control more wealth than half a country’s population, we have a very serious problem.

Yeoo

Nobel peace prize 2025 live: María Corina Machado wins for work promoting democratic rights in Venezuela US president had been conducting campaign to influence prize committee

That’s 100% tariffs for Norway then… www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Naomi Long: Justice minister condemns 'mob' outside home Long's husband, councillor Michael Long, said

The normalisation of intimidation by mob is the story. Frightening because it is meant to be so. Completely unacceptable because civilisation depends on it. Whether directed at politicians, minorities or random targets this needs criminal sanction.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Should the UK leave the European Convention on Human Rights?

Interesting comments from Dominic Grieve, former Attorney General for England and Wales👇

#ECHR

Active travel: Spending in Northern Ireland needs significant increase, says auditor Departmental analysis states £85m should be spent on active travel per year but current estimates suggest it is spending £50m a year.

Basically @deptinfra has done nothing to support cycling and walking. Truly shocking NIAO report with huge costs loaded onto health and environmental damage and zero accountability. www.niauditoffice.gov.uk/files/niaudi...

Great launch of our Taking Boys Seriously Art Exhibition in the Great Hall of @UlsterUni in Derry-Londonderry this morning. Perspectives,Voices and Images to be displayed to the public in the Train Station.

Students moving in: stocking up for a long winter at the cash and carry open night!

Hill Street: Pedestrianisation to happen later this year The infrastructure minister says an informal consultation with businesses

One small step for Hill Street: maybe a giant leap for Belfast? Good News at last.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Each alleged mass shooter is even more On the Computer All the Time than the previous one. Probably nothing to worry about there

If Americans won’t or can’t limit gun ownership when their children are being killed and there is a universal sense of tragedy, why would they limit guns when the targets are political and contentious figures? This is existential.