I have an identity crisis looming. It’s all my mate Andrie’s fault. She says I should consider changing the name of the book. Panic! But am I over-reacting? . The case for the prosecution: JULIET: ‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague? it is nor... Similar posts

I missed this, but MS didn’t – for which many thanks. A Brian Cowen incursion into the North, which took him to Crossmaglen last week. To open an FF office (natch!). Well, well, well. How interesting. It’s all show, with little substance, albeit read the list of attendees and while it doesn’t quite put an NSMC meeting to shame there’s some strength in numbers there. But read the throwaway comment about being the first Taoiseach to go to Crossmaglen… and what about the other where they say ‘there is no question of us contesting elections in the immediate future’. Great stuff, no doubt. But what on earth do they think is the medium to long term plan?... Similar posts

1. Comparing Academic Entrepreneurship in Europe: The Case of Sweden and Ireland (Magnus Klofsten and Dylan Jones-Evans: Small Business Economics 14: 299–309, 2000)2. National innovation policy and performance: Comparing the small island countries of Taiwan and Ireland (Grace T.R. Lin, Yung-Chi Shena and James Choua: Technology in Society Volume 32, Issue 2, May 2010, Pages 161-172)3. Contribution of basic research to the Irish national innovation system (Arnold E. and Thuriaux B.: Science and Public Policy, Volume 28, Number 2, 1 April 2001 , pp. 86-98(13))4. Ireland's National Innovation System: An Exploratory Study of Supporting Institutions and Dynamic Actors (Dimitrios Pontikakis; Thomas McDonnell; Will Geoghegan: Prometheus, Volume 24, Issue 1 March 2006 , pages 37 - 58)5.... Similar posts

In a column in yesterday's Irish News (as ever paywall and facsimile in situ) I considered the recent violence in Belfast.Our traditional summer riots this year acquired added menace due to the close involvement of dissident republicans.  Using the Orange marching season as their pretext, paramilitary groups orchestrated violence in several areas, marshalling an army of young foot soldiers, distinguished by their loathing for the police, and dismissed by Sinn Féin as ’anti-social elements’.  Despite this direction by shadowy forces, and the obvious parallels with trouble from another era, recent events have a distinct modern edge.   Between cameramen - who jostle with the rioters - helicopters and mobile phones, the latest disorder in North Belfast was... Similar posts

The land has such a presence in music, especially the sort of music we find here along the music road. It can be anchor or destination, part of the journey, image in memory, a place of hope, a places of dreams -- and sometimes, all of those at once. The Barra MacNeils, for example, sing of history and present day in their home place of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.Julie Fowlis often turns to songs set in the landscapes of her native Hebrides, in Scotland.Carrie Newcomer finds inspiration in geodes, common rocks in the landscape where she lives in Indiana.two quiet mountain landscapes:the Canadian Rockies and the Mountains of Mourne in Northern Irelandyou may also wish to seeDelicious Baby's Photo Friday, where travelers offer new insights to the world each Friday thinking about Cape... Similar posts

The title of this blog post is the most accurate description possible. It’s not every day that you are inspired by something, especially not what would be called a “industry move” but sometimes these items can inform you of really cool stuff that is happening out there and that’s where you can find inspiration. I’ve been playing with Code4Pizza for a while now. Code4Pizza is founded on the idea that people are essentially good – a pretty wacky idea. codeforpizza is a nonprofit idea to encourage young techies to build their own careers by providing computers, mentoring, internet access, learning materials and pizza. CodeForPizza is initially based in Belfast, Northern Ireland Now, so far we’ve managed to attract some of the best and brightest of... Similar posts

With the football eligibility argument hitting the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, in today's Belfast Telegraph I defend Northern Ireland players right to be considered Irish. Careful reading of FIFA's statutes shows that, if the FAI position is upheld, it denies the right of players born in Northern Ireland to consider themselves Irish only. FIFA asks that a single nationality, qualifying a player to compete for more than one international team, is held in conjunction with certain territorial or family requirements. A dual national, meanwhile, qualifies, as of right, for teams representing either of his nationalities.If the FAI wants to take its pick of players born in the north, irrespective of any other criteria, it must rely on an inference that they possess dual... Similar posts

Obviously you’re aware that we recently received a sterling example of ‘bad customer service’. I’ve blogged about some of this before. You can’t please everyone Two sides to every truth Get mad at yourself for your mistakes If you run a business, you provide some sort of service to someone. It would be great if every customer encounter was entirely positive but only a small fraction of people can lay claim to such a record. At some point you’re going to be part of a customer complaint and it seldom matters if it is your fault – what matters is how you deal with it. e.g. During the reign of the iBook G3, there was a repeating issue with some iBook logic boards which caused some units to come in for multiple repairs. More than one customer... Similar posts

Belfast cityscape and famine... Similar posts

Shrine for a murdererTwo articles caught my eye in this morning’s papers, ostensibly about different issues, but bound together by a similar mindset.The first was SDLP councillor Nicola Mallon’s apologia for rioters in North Belfast - not yet online at the Belfast Telegraph.Although their actions are wrong, she suggests, we can’t forget the context which surrounds the violence.  Deprivation causes the poor mites at Ardoyne to riot. The second appears in the Independent, written by regular columnist Mary Dejevsky.  She considers the case of cop-killer Raoul Moat and, like the despicable crowd joining a certain Facebook group, she has adopted him as a type of anti-establishment icon.The murderous body-builder was apparently representative of a class of underdogs, “who... Similar posts

Last night's recreational riot offering (Niall Carson / PA via AP) letting go because they’ve no other identify than being an opponent, an archenemy…and bog all else to do in-between despite the amount of money, pipe-dreaming and rejuvenation of the last 16 years. Within a few hours You Tube Clips are up on the net, complete with Kaiser Chief’s I Predict A Riot sound-track. It’s summer time and the kids need something to do… After spending three and a half years there, living in neutral, Catholic and Protestant areas (my last address was a rented coastal castle house with a Ranger’s Club at the end of the garden), I felt it would be inappropriate to let it all pass without comment. I attended University there, half-enjoyed a stunt in a tabloid, a... Similar posts

I contributed a column to Friday's Irish News, anticipating fresh calls from Orange platforms for 'unionist unity'.  I didn't watch the television highlights of demonstrations last night, and the Belfast Telegraph doesn't have much about Orange speeches in its Twelfth coverage, so the prediction remains to be tested. The Irish News operates a subscription service and it is a facsimile of the daily newspaper which lies behind the paywall, rather than a genuine online version, but this (slightly edited) extract provides a summary [T]he enduring ability of the Orange Order to undermine unionism, whenever it attempts to be constructive or threatens to box clever, (shouldn't be underestimated).  The organisation, which is now considered a stalwart of the Union, took a... Similar posts

Gawker is an amazing piece of software for Mac OS that I have just discovered.  With very little effort it allows you to put together a short movie of still imagines to track a day of work or an event. Time lapsed BBQ at McQuillan Manor – 11th July using Gawker from Russell McQuillan on Vimeo. For the... Similar posts