- Korean firm wins MoD tankers deal
- Mother and daughter given Asbos
- 'Exceptionally' mild weather on way
- Teenager 'repeatedly raped by gang'
- Man quizzed over women's murders
- Cherie Blair makes phone hack claim
- Man accused of murdering vicar
- Peacocks saved, but 3,000 jobs go
- Sex attacker was under surveillance
- RBS set to unveil £400m bonus pot
- 'Anxious' teacher 'set self alight'
- 'Crush racism' in football: PM
- Protesters refused cathedral appeal
- Man accused of starting riots blaze
- PM urges 'thorough' fraud probe
- Fox urges Budget business tax cuts
- UK reporter dies in Syria onslaught
- Private firm to run police station
- Ex-bouncer guilty of Nikitta murder
- Third chance to get Olympic tickets
Letters
Tolerance needed on earthly journey
THE subject of religious tolerance will continue to be topical now that the British local government secretary, Eric Pickles, powerfully, purposefully permits prayer again before council meetings, thus overriding a court ban against Bideford Town Council in Devon.
1 commentWhen were the ‘bad old days’?
UNIONIST politicians often say do we want to go back to the ‘bad old days’.
2 commentsThe suffering goes on in Syrian conflict
WHILE Christians have suffered in Syria, those who have suffered the most are the 2,700 members of the Syrian army and police who have been brutally murdered by foreign terrorists.
2 commentsGAA gets cash in spite of recession
I READ a notice in the classifieds section of the News Letter (February 10) regarding the Ulster GAA (Comhairle Uladh) Casement Park Stadium Project.
1 commentDeserters were not free agents
IT seems that William Cobain and I differ on the meaning of ethics, morals, honour and duty to one’s solemn Oath to State (Praise for courage of Irish ‘deserters’, February 8).
Cancer group seeks stories from over-70s
MACMILLAN Cancer Support is looking for people over 70 who have been affected by cancer to support their Age Old Excuse campaign.
NI party will have UK-wide influence
I’D like to thank your correspondent, David Leemon, for his interest in the Conservative Party in Northern Ireland and for his questions about our new party.
March opposition a blow to democracy
WHAT a sad day for democracy and politics in general when the SDLP and Sinn Fein join forces to oppose the envisaged march commemorating the Kingsmills massacre in memory of 10 innocent workmen, brutally murdered for no other reason than they were Protestants.
6 commentsGardens merit heritage status
THE Castlewellan National Arboretum and the Annesley Gardens are of national importance and should be of heritage garden status.
Welfare reforms will aid working families
I WAS disappointed to receive a note from the usually excellent NICVA advertising a forthcoming event on welfare reform by highlighting the “potentially negative consequences” for people in Northern Ireland.
1 commentShocked by ruling on prayers
I WAS horrified to learn that the case regarding prayers before a council meeting returned a judgment which ruled it as not against the human rights of atheists but did say that saying prayers was beyond the powers of the council as set out in the 1972 Local Government Act.
15 commentsPerfecting our communication
HAS Ben Lowry (February 9) the perfect solution for our imperfect MLAs?
Firms should swim with the IT tide
BUSINESSES in Northern Ireland are being swamped with employees bringing smartphones and tablets into the office following Christmas and the January sales. But 64 per cent of companies in the area are trying to swim against the tide and just don’t want employees to bring these devices into work. Security is the overriding concern - over a third of UK businesses said it was the main reason why they don’t want this to continue.
NI Tories need to spell out position
I’M presently completing a dissertation on ‘The Conservative Party and Northern Ireland: 1921-2001’ and have been following with some interest the exchange of views between your columnist Alex Kane and various members and supporters of the local Conservatives.
Republican strategy behind Maze project
THE proposals for the development of a Conflict Resolution Centre at the Maze, originally Long Kesh, is an obvious strategy by militant republicanism to tattoo their dirty struggle in the body British corporate.
1 commentRaze prison, says Kingsmills family
I WOULD like to add my view and those of my family to oppose the retention of any building that was and still is associated with the Maze prison, ie the prison hospital, H-Block, watch-tower, etc.
3 commentsUUP viewing world with blinkers on
THERE is a default setting for current Ulster Unionists; a stubbornness and an unwillingness due to their history, to accept the reality that time has passed their party by, long ago.
4 commentsPlight of Village residents is being ignored
I WRITE as someone who is proud to live in the Village, Donegall Road, south Belfast.
3 commentsPrison staff stories needed to be told
AS a serving officer of Her Majesty’s Northern Ireland Prison Service, I would like to thank and commend you on the very touching supplement included in your paper (February 10).
Battle to revive good grammar
I SHARE Ben Lowry’s frustration (News Letter, February 9) with the lamentable standards of English as displayed by our Northern Ireland politicians.
Coast to coast adventurers sought
CHILDREN Today is looking for real adventurers to join them on the defining multi-sport journey of the British Isles to raise funds for vital equipment for disabled children.
Children are being deprived of help
THE Assembly is delaying its strategy for helping children in poverty.
Move by NI Tories is not a ‘step back’
ALEX Kane has spent the past year predicting wrongly almost every development for the Conservative Party in Northern Ireland and, true to form, his latest analysis is riddled with factual inaccuracies and misinterpretations.
2 commentsQueen’s selfless devotion to duty
FEBRUARY 6 is still remembered as the day that King George V died.
3 commentsMaze will be mecca for republicanism
I WISH to express my opposition and disgust at the proposed new “Conflict resolution centre” planned for the former Maze site.
Maze plan shows victims no respect
IN response to your excellent Morning View about the proposed Conflict Transformation Centre at the Maze (February 4), which finished with the question of ‘why perpetuate a living nightmare and cause further anguish for the multitude of victims?’ I would submit the following:
1 commentPraise for courage of Irish ‘deserters’
I must respond to the letter ‘A case for pardoning deserters’ from Tom Cooper, Dublin (News Letter, January 31).
4 commentsMaze centre is ‘totally disgusting’
WITH hospitals and industry struggling for funding and financial solvency we are informed that the mandarins in Stormont, having pursued European money, are to allocate £18m to a conflict resolution centre at the Maze.
6 commentsAid for tinnitus sufferers
AS we enter Tinnitus Awareness Week, I should like to remind any of your readers who suffer from this distressing condition that help is available.
Unionists are feeling ‘insecure’
SOME time ago we were informed by the DUP that, owing to their efforts, the unionist population in Northern Ireland was secure.
6 commentsVictims side-stepped in conflict centre plan
I wish to commend the News Letter on its principled stand of opposition to a ‘Conflict Transformation Centre’ being established at the former Maze prison site. Your publication’s analysis within the Morning View column of Saturday February 4 accurately captures the hurt caused to innocent victims of terrorism which would be further exacerbated were the proposal to go ahead.
Has DUP changed tune on Maze?
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson says the proposed conflict resolution centre at the old Maze prison site will not become a “shrine to terrorism” due to it being “a new purpose-built building”.
1 commentWe forget the past at our peril
“Forget the past” is the latest doctrine emanating from the DUP. It goes some way to explain why there has been such a clamour in past days to get to see the GAA at close quarters.
Progressive future demands new party
LAST December, in a letter published in this paper headlined ‘Do we need to think a bit more about the outcome of a Border Referendum?’ I posed a question in relation to the marking of the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on December 6, 1921.
6 commentsMajority decades ahead of politicians
ONE could be forgiven for being confused at this new idea of unionists reaching out to nationalists and vice versa.
NI needs to take reins from London
I ENJOYED Alex Kane’s musing on the possibilities of a Northern Ireland ‘Arab spring’.
3 commentsTime to muzzle dogs
YET again another child is savaged by a dog, so I ask: how long will it take before a child is killed by such dogs?
Confusion reigns over Sabbath laws
IN response to Mr Boyd’s letter (December 19) concerning the Sabbath commandment, much of the confusion relating to the law of God is due to a lack of understanding regarding its three-fold division.
1 commentSterile opposition is not the way
IT is perfectly natural that political parties with similar constitutional and ideological principles should work closely together.
The hazards of breaking the Union
MY understanding of the present situation is that there can only be a referendum in Northern Ireland if a reasonable number of the population or a majority of the political parties call for it.
12 commentsStraight talk from Bible is required
I read with dismay the comments (News Letter, January 24 and 27) of the Presbyterian Moderator the Rev Dr Ivan Patterson and ex-Moderator the Rev Dr Stafford Carson about the issues of homosexuality and Sunday sport.
4 commentsA case for pardoning deserters?
WERE the call to pardon Irish army soldiers who deserted their posts to join the British army during World War Two to succeed it would render the disciplinary procedures of the Irish defence forces a joke.
2 commentsPositive response urged over unity
I WRITE to commend Councillor Lee Reynolds on his excellent platform piece on unionist unity as published in your paper on January 26.
Answers needed over Covenant show
YOU would think that, this being Ulster Covenant Year, an exhibition at Belfast City Hall would already have been announced.
Protection a factor in Scotland move
IF Scotland gains full independence becoming a sovereign nation, then the remaining British state of the Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland (KBNI) will have implications for the protection of KBNI and its redrawn territorial sea boundary and air space.
3 commentsDangers of not condemning attacks
ALL right-thinking people should speak out in their homes and churches about yet another cowardly attack on a family because they are perceived as NLU (not like us) - to frame an idea similar to NIMBY (not in my back yard).
2 commentsChurches unable to define a Christian
YOUR article on the conference on homosexuality held recently at Orangefield Presbyterian Church, Belfast, raises a few critically important but apparently forgotten issues.
30 commentsUUP must merge or disband
I WRITE in response to your recent article (News, January 25) regarding the talks which have been taking place between the leaders of the DUP and UUP.
15 comments
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Weather for Belfast
Wednesday 22 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 11 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: South west
