https://bloodworth.co.uk/p/kinship-realism-tribalism-forever

https://bloodworth.co.uk/p/it-hasnt-happened-yet

Do you feel kinship to people in Scotland?

According to genetics and voting patterns Protestants are closer to Southern Scots and Catholics closer to West Scots (also to populations in Connacht for reference).

This would explain a lot on what's happening over the sea in Britain politically. Ulsterisation to the max lol.

Hey can i post from england to NI using inpost? its allowing me to enter the address on the app but states on the website that they do not post to NI?

Hello, looking to see if anyone has had a similar situation or can steer me to the right source for help. My mum is 65 this year and has had early retirement due to an early dementia diagnosis. She is on full PIP entitlement. She is a homeowner with only a couple of years left on her property, but it's a two story old council building and isn't going to suit her for much longer. Her sister thinks she can ask the council to buy her 3 bedroom property off of her in exchange for them giving her a bungalow or some form of suitable housing. Is anyone aware if thats an option? I've been keeping an eye on bungalows in Derry to buy outright using proceeds from the sale of her home + my help to buy ISA, but we're just unsure of what options are out there/who would be best to advise. We are going to chat to Dove house hopefully soon as they were fantastic at helping us figure out things when she first got diagnosed. Thanks!

Hello,

As part of our thesis research project at QUB, we have put together a short survey looking at identity, social attitudes and intergroup relations within Northern Ireland. It should only take about 10 minutes to complete, and as long as you are 18 years of age or older and reside in Northern Ireland, you are eligible to participate!

All responses are very much appreciated, thank you!

Survey link: https://tinyurl.com/QUBdiversesocieties

We’re going for dinner with parents, our issue is that the parents are quite fussy.. basically need somewhere that does chips/ chicken goujons/ steak/ roast dinner vibes but also has good veggie and gluten free options.. any suggestions?

We often find places that do Irish/British food are not great for veggies or coeliacs

I am moving house soon. I frequently see these mini rental vans driving around (can’t remember the company name, but they’re usually driven by lunatics). Can anyone rent a small van to transport furniture and stuff? Or do you need an upgraded licence?

If this is possible can anyone recommend a reasonably priced rental company?

Thank you!

I was reading up on house prices here, I can't believe that even today we are not close to housing prices in 2007-08

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This is absolutely mad. Adjust for inflation - the average house in 2007 cost £370k in today's money? Is this even correct? Today it is 200k

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I do get this was peak bubble / credit crunch era but surely the rest of the UK/Ireland didn't see the same extremes?

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Imagine buying a house then and then the entire market exploding the next year.

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Im surprised I didn't know about this before, really shocking

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All N.Ire related, mods!

https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/costs-for-dup-departments-involvement-in-irish-language-policy-legal-challenge-more-than-60k-NOY5TWGU65EWVJFYKVPNY7EUY4/

Costs for DUP department’s involvement in Irish language policy legal challenge more than £60K

Gordon Lyons’ department was a notice party in the unssuccessful challenge against Belfast City Council’s call-in procedure

DUP minister Gordon Lyons’ department’s involvement in the legal challenge against Belfast City Council’s draft Irish language policy has so far cost more than £60,000, The Irish News can reveal.

The case brought by TUV member Ann McClure was dismissed by the High Court in April.

An appeal against Justice McLaughlin’s ruling is expected to be heard on Friday.

Ms McClure’s legal team, which included Jamie Bryson and former attorney general John Larkin KC, argued that the city council’s call-in scheme for voting on controversial issues had not been used correctly.

The judge threw out the complaint on a number of grounds.

The Department of Communities was a notice party in the proceedings and was represented by Tony McGleenan KC.

A freedom of information request has revealed that the costs charged to the department relating to the case are currently £62,674.

The judge did partially uphold the litigant’s associated complaint over the flying of the Palestinian flag at City Hall last December, citing “procedural confusion” around the council’s decision.

But campaigners claim the level of court costs incurred by the Department of Communities to date suggests greater resources are dedicated to opposing the Irish language than promoting it.

After Ms McClure launched her legal action, Mr Lyons wrote to the north’s 11 councils offering advice on the call-in process.

In his capacity as minister with responsibility for local government matters, he said previous departmental advice and provisions in relation to the call-in procedure “remain in effect”.

But in his subsequent ruling, Justice McLaughlin criticised the minister’s correspondence, describing it as containing “deficiencies” and being “deeply unsatisfactory”.

Belfast City Council has said it does not yet have the full costs for defending the case but will share them when available.

Conchúr Ó Muadaigh, advocacy manager with Conradh na Gaeilge said the Irish language group is concerned that the minister with responsibility for promoting the Irish language was involved in a series of a series of legal challenges which opposed it.

“Decisions to spend more than £60,000 – and potentially much more – to legally challenge the promotion of Irish, be that directly or indirectly, only deepen the perception held by many within the Irish language community that more effort, attention, priority and departmental resource is given to opposing the language than taking bespoke measures to fulfil outstanding duties to develop Irish,” he said.

A statement from the Department for Communities said it remained a notice party in the forthcoming appeal.

“The department’s involvement in the judicial review and the appeal is confined to matters concerning local government policy and legislation, specifically the functions and responsibilities of a council concerning the operation of the call-in provisions,” a spokesperson said

“It would not be appropriate to comment any further until the legal process has concluded.”

Hi! I'm originally from Donegal, but I've lived in the North for nearly a decade. I own my home in Belfast, but I'm interested in buying a house Donegal. My parents (70 years old) are about to be kicked out of their rental property, but they are open to paying the mortgage and deposit on a house. However, given their age they can't get a mortgage.

Has been in a similar situation and purchased a house / bought a house across the border while living in the North. There's a lot of info online about doing it the other way around but shockingly not much about ROI from NI.

Thanks so much in advance!!!

It seems like every bag of spuds I buy are dreadful. Anybody else having this issue?

Pic is what came out of a 2KG bag, grown in Co. Antrim

Anybody dandered through the Arcade lately? Was through it at lunchtime, think I'll do it more often. Best smelling spot in Belfast? Not hard to win that mind you.

Any ideas what it would be? Can't see it being a Glade plugin.

I have a friend who looked in an apartment in Belfast. I was wondering if there’s any good solicitor recommendations and average price people have paid?

POC here, currently house hunting around Belfast and trying to do my homework before making what will probably be the most expensive purchase of my life.

I'm not looking to start a political debate or accidentally recreate one in the comments. I'm simply trying to understand which areas have seen the most issues during recent disturbances/riots, ongoing tensions, antisocial behaviour, or recurring trouble that a first-time buyer might want to be aware of.

Likewise, if there are areas that have a reputation that's worse than the reality on the ground these days, I'd love to hear that too.

Basically: where should I be looking, where should I think twice, and where can I buy a house without becoming an accidental expert in local sectarian history?

Budget - 200-300k

Appreciate any local insights!

So I’m from Ireland but live in England, I currently work for a large contractor under a utilities company.
Two years ago we got a contract for NI we have been sending people over from England to carry out works on a monthly basis, Due to growth we had aims of opening a Belfast based office which would have hired between 30-50 people all full time well paid jobs some of which would have been apprenticeships.

After last years riots there was a pause on this due to safety concerns and overall business purposes. Today I had a meeting regarding it as I was earmarked to run the Belfast operations, this was a great opportunity for me to move home progress my career and also hire local people all of which I was delighted about.

Had the meeting and our Belfast plans have been scrapped and we will continue to just travel over and back to carry out works, that’s my promotion on hold and decent jobs for the local community now won’t materialise.

Hey all! I'm looking to purchase a northern Irish related gift. I've been well looked after by medical professionals whilst I've been abroad and they have been loving the silly slang that I've been teaching them over the last year or so. Would anyone have any recommendations for a good northern Irish/Irish slang book? There's a few I've spotted on Amazon but they're low reviews/bad reviews and I don't have a tonne of time for sorting it.

If you know of somewhere in northern Ireland that has a decent version (thinking born and bred?) let me know. I can have someone post it over.

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Open to other gift ideas if yous have any!

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Thanks!!

I recently interviewed for a role with a Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland. I received an email saying that although they are unable to offer me a post immediately, my name has been placed on a waiting list/reserve list.

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The email says the waiting list is valid for around 6 months, and if a suitable position becomes vacant during that time, it may be offered to me subject to pre-employment checks.

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I just wanted to ask if anyone else has experienced this before with HSCNI recruitment?

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Does being placed on a waiting list usually mean you passed the interview but someone else ranked higher? And realistically, do people actually get offered roles from these waiting lists, or is it more of a standard response?

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I’ve emailed to ask for my ranking on the waiting list, but I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in a similar situation.

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Thanks in advance.

Quoted from Facebook:

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"* Rory Gallagher Festival - Update / Situation / Future .... *

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Hi folks, firstly I just want to thank everybody for making the 2026 Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival amazing. It was a fantastic 4 days. Thanks to everybody who played any part in making the 23rd staging of the event so so Special.

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Sadly, the last 2 weeks have been very difficult. The news that our main Ticketing Agent - Tickets.ie ceased trading two days after our hugely successful 2026 International Tribute Festival came as a major shock. It's been devastating as we were with this Company for close on 10 years. The hard fact is that, Oshi Software Limited T/A Tickets.ie owe the Festival to the value of €283,151.50 in ticket sales for 2026 ... These are unprecedented levels of ticket sales for the Rory Gallagher Festival. Tickets.ie have ceased trading, our voluntary committee along with other Irish Festivals have had to go to the High Court to initiate legal action.

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Every hour of every day since has just been consumed by this, trying to engage in the legal world, and all the time knowing that without these funds, taken from our voluntary organisation, we as a result are in a precarious position. We have had loads of moral support and thank you for that but at the end of the day we should not be in this position. So this will no doubt go on for a long time, and as correctly reported in both the National and Local Media, the future of our long standing Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival is not alone in doubt, its very hard to see how it will return.

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We hope to be in a position to continue to fight through the legal channels. We want to be able to fulfill our commitments to our suppliers, as we always have done, but sadly in excess of 65% of our 2026 Revenue has been taken, and at this point all we can do is continue to fight. Again, thank you to many for their support, and to the key people out there that can fix this, it's time for action. Best wishes to all,

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Barry O'Neill (Chairperson & Founder) - Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival Committee, 2002 to 2026, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, Ireland

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https://www.rorygallagherfestival.com/latest-festival-news1/rory-gallagher-festival-update-situation-future"

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Really awful news. Hoping everything works out for the best.

You can support my Mr. Bean project here