There was a fascinating footnote to last night's BBC4 programme, Man on the Moon , which told the story of the US space programme and the billions spent to put a man on the moon before the Soviets. On the eve of the Apollo 11 mission...

A whopping 83% of people in Northern Ireland now think that a Bill of Rights is important for the region. That's the finding of a survey published today by the Human Rights Consortium , a campaign coalition which Amnesty International...

My old friend, former colleague and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire was among the peace and justice activists aboard a Greek cargo ship intercepted, rammed and boarded by the Israeli navy yesterday. The Amnesty office in...

Conall (who's been providing plenty of food for thought recently on Belfast and Beyond ) notes that the Belfast, unlike Dublin, does not yet fly rainbow flags to mark the city's Gay Pride. But the numbers participating in the Belfast...

I see that over on oconallstreet public affairs specialist Conall McDevitt is suggesting it’s time for Northern Ireland to mature its relationship with the United States. I’m all for that. For too long, Northern Ireland has played the...

I wrote this opinion piece a couple of days ago and it was published today in the Belfast Telegraph under the headline, ' Refugees face more hardship than most of us could endure' . It's not in the online edition, so am reproducing...

A politician and a journalist in Northern Ireland are today both facing the prospect of jail for refusing to disclose sources to the authorities. The politician, Ian Paisley Jr, was yesterday served with papers to appear in Belfast’s...

UPDATE (1:20pm): The decision of the Court has just been announced and four of the five people at the centre of the case have been found 'liable' for the bombing. This will go down as a landmark case. This blog has repeatedly visited...

I have previously suggested that the most effective way for a post-conflict society to move towards long-term peace, stability and reconciliation is to confront and interrogate the past and maximise the scope for justice. Yet what if...

Over on Slugger O'Toole (the anorak's favourite blog) there has already been some analysis of the Northern Ireland Euro election candidates’ party election broadcasts and household-drop leaflets . Being something of an election nerd...

The United Nations has backed Northern Ireland proposals for a Bill of Rights. "The Committee notes the draft Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, which includes economic, social and cultural rights which are justiciable and calls for...

I previously blogged about Shaun 'Seven Houses' Woodward – the ‘butler-toting’ , Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, potentially seeking to deny the inclusion of basic housing rights and other economic rights protections in a NI...

Today a little more is told of the shocking truth about the role of the Catholic Church in Ireland in the endemic physical and sexual abuse of children and its systematic cover-up. The Child Abuse Commission report tells of how church...

It's not a great time to be a politician (although, of course, there are compensations ). The daily (Telegraph) revelations of politicians 'fiddling' while the economy burns have left people feeling understandably angry. Questions are...

Pete Seeger has turned ninety. His life and career are so illustrious that any potted history can't do him justice, so see his entry at wikipedia for more detail. There you can learn of his role in the folk revival from the date in...

'Into the Killing Zone: Dispatches from the Frontline in Afghanistan' , Sean Rayment (Hardback, 288 pages, Constable, rrp £18.99, available £13.29) With the media reporting that citations for bravery earned by soldiers of the Royal...

Yesterday evening's European election hustings staged in Belfast by the Coalition of Aid and Development Agencies (CADA), of which Amnesty is a member, may be the only occasion during the Northern Ireland campaign in which...

It's Community Relations Week in Northern Ireland, with the theme this year being how community divisions hamper our economy. The call for more action by politicians on community relations will receive the backing of business leaders...

I find myself at Glasgow's wonderful Gallery of Modern Art, right in the heart of the city and just a short toddle from Border's bookstore, one of my favourite Clydeside haunts. I'm there for the sh[OUT] exhibition – contemporary art...

Get tweeting! Having just become a Twitter / tweeter, I am fresh with the enthusiasm of a recent convert to this abbreviated social networking platform. If you're not yet tweeting, here's one good reason to get onsite now. Hollywood...