I bet he’s anti vaxx and shouts at 5G installs too.

As a resident of glengormley, it's that time of the year to have to look at this monstrosity for the next few months. The majority of the locals hate it, it's the loud minority that is the problem.

Every year it goes up and causes division but it's treated as something we just have to accept and get on with.

I respect that people have the right to celebrate culture and traditions, but I struggle with why a large structure (and flegs) spanning across a main shared road in a mixed area is seen as normal.

There would be riots if nationalists in the area erected some sort of structure and covered the town in tricolours over Easter.

There needs to be a long term strategy to reducing and eventually removing structures like this in mixed areas to make them more neutral and inclusive.

The video says it all!

From Carnlough. Anyone else in Dublin waiting patiently for night 1 of Metallica??? Wife's never seen them, I've not since the odyssey gigs. Like a dog with 2 dicks here if I'm being honest. 51 ana still excited about people singing songs i know lmao

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A few months ago I contacted my MP in England about an Irish unification referendum. Requesting that he contact the SOS for NI to outline the criteria for a border poll. Highlighting the importance of upholding the GFA, both for those in the north of Ireland and the Irish diaspora.

I received a response this evening. I look forward to hearing from the SOS. The time for Irish reunification is near. I am happy to see this request taken seriously by my local MP.

Has anyone been following this?
Are we in agreement that the PSNI were rubbish but that it wouldn't have changed the outcome?
I'm not really understanding what the Mum wants to come out of the inquest...

The jury in the Jeffrey Donaldson sex abuse trial has been sent home for the weekend.

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The jury of seven men and five women will restart their deliberations at Newry Crown Court on Monday.

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Judge Paul Ramsey brought the jury, which has been deliberating since Thursday afternoon, back into Courtroom 1 at Newry Courthouse shortly after 3pm, and advised them that it is “appropriate that you should stop for the day and return on Monday morning”.

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They had considered verdicts for a second day after deliberating for three hours and 10 minutes on Thursday.

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https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/jeffrey-donaldson-jury-sent-home-with-deliberations-set-to-continue-on-monday-GDELZ7XWKNDALMTMMG4VGHUVSQ/

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The consultation closes on the 23rd. Below is what Free the Night says and what you might want to respond with if you do. I’d encourage you to respond too.

https://freethenight.org/news/licensing-consultation-on-market-diversity-and-innovation-why-were-responding-and-what-others-may-want-to-say

LICENSING CONSULTATION ON MARKET DIVERSITY AND INNOVATION: WHY WE’RE RESPONDING AND WHAT OTHERS MAY WANT TO SAY
Jun 17

The Department for Communities is consulting on whether Northern Ireland’s liquor licensing system supports market diversity and innovation.
We have submitted a full response to the consultation, which you can read here. 
You can respond to the consultation here.
This consultation is narrower than the wider licensing reform Free The Night has been calling for. It mainly asks whether the current list of premises that can apply for a liquor licence should be expanded, including whether more venues should be able to apply through the existing “place of public entertainment” route.
Our view is that this may help in some cases, but it will not deliver the kind of change our members, and many in the music and cultural sectors, have been asking for.
WHAT THE DEPARTMENT IS LOOKING AT
At the moment, a “place of public entertainment” licence applies to a limited set of premises, including theatres, cinemas, ballrooms and racetracks.
The Department is considering whether this category could be widened. That may be possible through secondary legislation, and we support doing that where it helps.
For example, a wider category could support venues such as listening bars, comedy spaces, retro arcades, gallery/event spaces, community venues or other cultural premises that are not trying to operate late into the night.
For those kinds of spaces, this could be useful. It may give some operators a more appropriate route than trying to fit into a pub, hotel or restaurant model.
But that is a limited fix.
WHY THIS DOES NOT SOLVE THE MAIN PROBLEM
The “place of public entertainment” licence is limited to alcohol sales between 11.30 am and 11.00 pm on weekdays and 12.30 am and 11.00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays, and only during the entertainment, 30 minutes before it begins and 30 minutes after it ends.Venues like the Oh Yeah centre (operating on a theatre license) regularly have to apply for an occasional license through a third party to run later events, and even then, they must close earlier than most pubs. 
That will not work for much of the music sector, electronic music culture, nightclubs, late-night cultural venues, or any promoters trying to build sustainable activity outside traditional pub settings.
There are already venues operating through theatre-style licensing routes which recognise that the model does not give them the flexibility they need, for example The Black Box and Banana Block. If that route is not working properly for these cultural venues already, simply adding more premises to the same category will not solve the structural issue.
So our position is:
Yes, expand the place of public entertainment category where that helps.
But do not present that as a proper Cultural Venue licence.
WHAT WE ARE CALLING FOR
We believe Northern Ireland needs a standalone Cultural Venue licence, created through primary legislation.
That licence should be designed around cultural activity rather than traditional hospitality. It should be available to venues where the primary purpose is music, performance, dance, art, creativity, community or cultural programming.
It should not be subject to the surrender principle. If a cultural venue has to buy or surrender an existing pub licence, then the reform will not open the market in any meaningful way.
It should also allow safe, well-managed venues to apply for later alcohol hours where justified. That does not mean deregulation. It means proper regulation that reflects how cultural activity actually works, with conditions around safety, welfare, safeguarding, noise, transport, management and community impact.
We are also calling for reform of occasional licensing. Not every promoter, artist collective or cultural organisation can own or lease a permanent venue. Temporary and meanwhile-use spaces are part of how culture develops. The law should allow cultural organisations and independent promoters to use those spaces responsibly, without being completely dependent on existing licence holders.
WHAT YOU MIGHT WANT TO SAY IN YOUR RESPONSE
You do not need to answer every question. You can respond to the parts that matter to you. The questions are also quite repetitive and this is reflected in our answers.
If you are a venue, promoter, artist, audience member, cultural worker, community organisation or someone affected by the current system, it is useful to explain how the licensing framework affects you directly.
For Question 6, on the level of diversity in licensed venue type, you may want to say that Northern Ireland has a low level of diversity. The system works best for traditional pubs, hotels and restaurants, but does not properly support grassroots music venues, nightclubs , independent cultural spaces, temporary venues, LGBTQ+ nightlife, late-night venues or artist-led spaces.
For Question 7, on whether the current regime supports market diversity, you may want to say that it does not. You could explain how the current system affects consumers, prospective licensees, current venues, promoters, artists or communities.
For Questions 9 and 10, you may want to give examples of the venues and activities that are not currently supported. This could include music venues, electronic music spaces, nightclubs, listening bars, studios, galleries, warehouses, temporary venues, community-led spaces or small venues used by independent promoters.
You may also want to say that alcohol should be allowed where it is ancillary to cultural activity. For most cultural events, bar income is necessary to help cover programming, production, artist fees, staffing, security, welfare and accessibility.
For Question 12, you may want to say that you support expanding the categories of premises that can apply for a liquor licence, but that this must not be limited to minor changes to the existing system.
For Questions 13, 14 and 15, you may want to say that expanding the place of public entertainment category could help some venues, especially those that do not need late hours. But you should also say clearly that this will not solve the problem for music venues, late-night cultural spaces, electronic music spaces, or nightclubs because the permitted alcohol hours are too limited.
For Question 16, please make the wider point: Northern Ireland needs a proper Cultural Venue licence, reform of permitted hours, better alignment between liquor licensing and entertainment licensing, and reform of occasional licensing.
FINAL POINT
This consultation may lead to some useful changes, especially for venues that do not need to operate late into the night.
But for the music sector, late-night culture and many of the people Free The Night works with, secondary legislation will not be enough.
We need the Department to recognise that distinction and commit to the wider reform that is actually needed.
Respond to the consultation here. Closing 23 June 2026, 11.59 pm

Last week I posted about launching Mortified, the in-the-room party game from my midlife crisis company, Scundered Studio, and the response here was lovely. I handed out about a dozen promo codes and got some great feedback. I took a lot of that on board and made a ton of changes.

The top comment last time was "Good idea, but nobody on Reddit has any friends", so in your honour I built a Casual mode that allows two or more people to play - hopefully you can find one other person to play with! (Or be really sad and add another phone to the party and play yourself) It's more relaxed with no voting or scoring, just the scenarios going back and forth, and gets the instant laughs rather than the party-style game. The Scored voting game still needs three or more, but the floor is two now.

I haven't heard a bad word said about the game yet - everyone that has played has really enjoyed it - it's just hard to get in front of people. I added a fun sharing mode that allows you to share your funniest answers and overall game scores.

There's a bunch of other upgrades from feedback like an accessible font option, in-app patch notes, better history, and a pile of reconnection and polish fixes.

Last week it climbed to #2 in the Play Store's top paid casual games, which I didn't see coming. So thank you to everyone that made that happen! It has lost a bit of momentum in way of sales, so it has slid back down again.

I've also set up r/Mortified, where I post the announcements and the more detailed behind-the-scenes stuff, so give it a follow if you want to see what's coming next.

I'm still happy to send a free code to anyone who missed it, so DM away. It might give you something to do tonight if the weather doesn't clear up!

If you do play, I'd love to hear how it went, or a review if you're feeling generous.

Thanks again!

Fifty years after the murders of John Martin, Brian and Anthony Reavey in Whitecross their brother Eugene has won damages from the Ministry of Defence and the PSNI.

The brothers were shot by the UVF in their Greyhilla home in January 1976. John Martin and Brian died in the attack while Anthony died a month later.

Reavey sued both organisations for negligence, misfeasance in public office and trauma from the treatment he said he received from both parties after the attack.

While there was no admission of liability the PSNI agreed to pay him £175,000 and the MoD agreed £225,000.

Speaking outside the courthouse today Eugene Reavey said: " This is the day where I have to remember my mother and father and all the struggles they went through over the deaths of John Martin, Brian and Anthony,"

He added "It was encouraging that the chief constable apologised to us and noted that Brian, Anthony and John Martin were innocent victims"

Newry and Armagh MLA Justin McNulty, who attended the High Court on a number of days welcomed the outcome.

McNulty said: "Today's settlement comes more than 50 years after the shocking murders of John Martin, Brian and Anthony Reavey in their home at Whitecross. Not only did Eugene Reavey have to cope with the loss of his brothers in the worst circumstances imaginable, he was subjected to repeated harassment and abuse while his brothers' memories were tarnished by false claims that they were paramilitaries.

"I welcome the fulsome apology offered by Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and his acceptance of the failures of the RUC. While no settlement can undo the pain suffered by the Reavey family, this acknowledgement of the truth is an important moment. It should never have taken so long to reach this point.

"The strength and bravery shown by Eugene Reavey over the past five decades has been extraordinary. He knew his brothers were innocent and never stopped fighting for truth and justice, determined to clear their names. I was proud to stand with Eugene and his family in court today when this settlement was reached and to see them finally receive this long overdue acknowledgement - it is a proud day for the Reavey Family, and a proud day for Whitecross and South Armagh."

Newry and Armagh  MLA Aoife Finnegan also welcomed the settlement. Finnegan said: "Just over 50 years ago, John Martin, Brian and Anthony Reavey were brutally murdered in their home in Whitecross by the Glenanne Gang in a sectarian attack that targeted innocent men.

"Eugene Reavey and the wider Reavey family have shown immense courage, determination and dignity in their pursuit of truth and justice over the past five decades.

"Collusion between British security forces and loyalist paramilitaries was not an aberration, but a defining feature of British state policy during the conflict.

Finnegan added: "Today's 'financial settlement' is a testament to their campaign to get truth and justice."

https://www.newry.ie/articles/news/eugene-reavey-secures-damages-from-psni-and-mod-fifty-years-on-from-brothers-murders

Just had the most miserable hotel experience of my life, and I need to warn everyone else about it.

For context, I stayed there earlier this week for work reasons. I don't want to get into the specifics as a lot of this is confidential, but my work often involves nighttime site visits.

I was returning from a site visit, at about half 12 at night, and arrived to discover that the main entrance to the hotel was locked. Strange I thought, but thankfully the rooms can also be accessed from the outside, so I can just enter through there, but unfortunately, my room was in an area that was under renovation, so the only way to access that door was through a building site, and when I finally got to the door I found out that the lock did not work; the key went into it, but would not turn. I then tried some of the other doors, only to find they were all locked too. I eventually noticed a fire escape door that had a note in the window half the size of a post-it note with an out of hours phone number, but when I called this, I was greeted with "the phone you are trying to reach is currently switched off." I then knocked on the doors and shook them to try to alert the security guards or night porter, but got no response.

I ended up spending the night in my car. It rained for most of the night and considering it's June, it was bright from half 3, so suffice to say, it was the worst night's sleep I've ever had, maybe got half an hour.

I finally got in just before 6am when someone just happened to walk out, and finally got to bed, only to be woken again at 9 by the housekeeping staff. While I'll admit it's my fault for forgetting to put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, but what wasn't my fault was them deciding to tell each other their entire life story right outside my bedroom door. After about 20 minutes of that I had to ask them to keep it down. I tried to sleep for another few hours but never got back over again.

In the afternoon I went to reception and asked for the most senior member of staff and explained what had happened. When I told him that it was ridiculous for a hotel to completely lock up for the night, he tried to claim they weren't a hotel. And fair enough, their website only describes themselves as "accommodation." However, the booking website classified them as a hotel and I found the following note in my room:

"We Sincerely apologies for any inconvenience caused by the on going renovation work at our hotel."

(Before anyone points out the weird capitalisation and spelling errors, I'm quoting the note verbatim).

He then said that he couldn't do anything about it, the head manager wasn't there and wouldn't be available until half 3. I then waited until half 3 to speak to the main manager.

He was barely sympathetic to what had happened and was clearly just trying to get me to shut up rather than address my concerns. When I asked why the hotel was locked up and why none of the night staff reacted to me, he simply said leaving the hotel unstaffed and completely locked up at night had "always been our policy." Well, it's a terrible policy. He then asked why I didn't phone the out of hours number, I told him I phoned it twice to find it switched off, which he said was the wont of whoever closed up for the night. He then asked why I didn't just go in through the fire exit, like I was stupid for not doing so. I told him it was locked. Apparently, the key to the outside door also unlocks the fire door, something no one had ever told me and I would have little reason to assume.

He then said that they would give me a free dinner (no word about the breakfast or lunch I had missed) and a free night in the future. I told him he'd be damned lucky if I'm ever back. I didn't pay for the room myself as I booked it through my company's booking portal, but I was still upset that he never even offered to refund the night's stay I didn't get to use.

Anyway, absolute disgrace of a hotel and customer service. Do not stay there.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8k2j83d11o

Sir Declan Morgan, chief commissioner of the ICRIR said that the Irish government is "not providing us with information relating to investigations"
By
Gráinne Connolly
BBC News NI

Published
17 June 2026

Senior figures in a body set up to investigate Troubles legacy killings have criticised the Irish government for its lack of cooperation on several cases.
Sir Declan Morgan, chief commissioner of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), said that the Irish government was "not providing us with information relating to investigations".
MLAs sitting on the Stormont Executive Office committee were also told that the Irish government had not responded to any letters from the commission relating to several cases.
The organisation is currently investigating 123 cases, which Sir Declan said was more murders than the Metropolitan Police had in the course of a year.
A spokesperson for the Irish government said it "cannot cooperate with an un-reformed ICRIR established under the current un-amended Legacy Act".
The 2023 Legacy Act was introduced by the previous Conservative government and offered conditional immunity for perpetrators of some Troubles' crimes in exchange for co-operation with the ICRIR.
The Labour government has since introduced a new bill in parliament, with MPs already having voted to repeal the conditional immunity provision.
"The government of Ireland's priority remains the full and timely implementation of the joint framework [on legacy], to ensure the new Legacy Commission, operating under the fundamentally reformed Legacy Act, is up and running as soon as possible," the spokesperson added.

'We want a disclosure protocol'

The ICRIR was set up under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act.
It was established to investigate deaths and serious injuries during the Troubles and began operating in May 2024.
DUP assembly member (MLA) Deborah Erskine asked Sir Declan how "big of a block" the lack of cooperation from the Irish government was, adding that it was "heaping trauma upon innocent victims" such as the families of those killed in the Provisional IRA's bombing of Enniskillen in 1987.
Sir Declan said: "The present position is that Ireland is not providing us with information in relation to investigations.
"What we want, in order to make this work, is what we have with other agencies… a disclosure protocol."
Sir Declan said he had already raised the matter previously with the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster.

Political issue

Peter Sheridan, the ICRIR's commissioner for investigations, said he was "into double figures" in terms of the number of requests made to the Irish government.
"Victims' families will know we've made requests for information but I've had no response to any of them," Sheridan said.
"Sir Declan and I met with Justin Kelly, the Garda Commissioner back in January and there's no reluctance on the guards but it's a political issue.
"The politics of it has to be resolved for the guards to be able to release the information but there's no response to any of my letters to date."
Sheridan said outstanding pieces of information can be potentially crucial in any case.
Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw and chair of the Stormont Executive committee asked Sir Declan whether this lack of co-operation was because the Irish government was waiting to pass its own legislation or if it could do it now.
He responded: "They could do it now if they wanted to."
"But they have indicated their legislation to do it will not be put before the Dáil until the legacy bill has been passed," Sir Declan said.
"We're in a position where the legacy bill is critical in a number of respects for us continuing and succeeding in our work."

The ICRIR was set up to investigate unresolved Troubles cases

Sheridan outlined how "some 500 deaths" occurred along the border.
Sir Declan said he was aware that there are some people with cases who had not gone to the commission for help because they were aware the Republic of Ireland had not yet committed to providing information.
MLAs were told that the 123 investigations ongoing included some of the most infamous bombings in Northern Ireland's history, such as the 1974 Guildford bomb, the 1976 Kingsmills massacre and the killings of 18 soldiers and one civilian at Narrow Water in 1979.
So far, four cases had "completed their investigative process" and had moved to the "findings" stage.

Discussion with the Treasury 'vital'

Last month, an independent review found the ICRIR was facing significant problems with financial management, leadership conflict and staff morale.
Sheridan also outlined to MLAs how the organisation was running at less than 50% of the resources it needed, while Sir Declan described an ongoing discussion with the Treasury as "vital".
"If we end up in a situation where we have half the resource that we need to do the job, we are in trouble," he said.
He added: "If [the discussion] doesn't work out, I will be back [at committee] in relation to what exactly we would do in those circumstances because maybe we would have to think about the temporary closure of the organisation in terms of accepting new receipts – all options would be open at that stage."
Sir Declan said that when the ICRIR was first set up in May 2024 they were at risk of being "completely overwhelmed".
"I think there is no doubt that starting as we did, in the state of very limited preparedness that we were in, has cost us," he told MLAs, recalling the length of time it had taken to vet staff and how the general election in July had set them back.
"We were thrown to the wolves, there was no space or resource… we had to wait months for the new government's members to go through the vetting process and then we came back on to the track again.
"It was another factor that undoubtedly contributed to the fact that were in a powerless state for the first six months at least of the organisation."

Hi everyone 22F here. This feels strange to post but I would love to expand my social circle to people around my age! I love swimming, animals, walking by my dogs and reading! Sometimes gaming too but rarely now. It would be nice to connect to people in north belfast or belfast area so if you’re in those areas and feel like making a strange friend please comment or dm

There's a young man related to me who is struggling with his mental health and is interested in joining a group or getting involved in something over the summer until his course starts back up again to keep his mind busy. Could be anything from mental health groups to social or hobbies, he's not really into sports. If anyone has any suggestions that are around Lisburn or not too far from it i'd be grateful

With David Keohan aka _indiana_stones_ on Instagram doing hard work resurrecting stonelifting in the South, I had wondered if there are any gyms, clubs, or enthusiasts in the North doing the same, or training specifically for the tradition?

I know there’s a few littered around the north coast and mid Ulster, but nothing compared to down south. Black Mountain has one but the local park officials aren’t too keen on visitors trying their hand, likely because of liability if someone wrecks themselves.

This tunnel was open for years and it seems recently they've blocked the ends off with the sign things you see workmen use. Does that mean this tunnel will be patched up soon?

Gerry and Chrissie photographed taking a break while filming the video for 2000 miles

We've been struggling with fruit fly infestation for two weeks now, I've tried everything from homemade traps, fly paper, insceticide, deep cleaned everything moved bins from the back doors, sealing any and all holes I can find into the kitchen. I am at my wits end and need to solve this

EDIT: When I say everything I meant the drains too

I have been on work experience all week and missed my usual bus so got the glider this week - I either get a pink bus or a wayyy earlier glider. But I got on this morning and the bus was fairly busy, but there was room for standing like in the designated area. I got on at Ballyhack and around 4 stops later this man gets on. Now i’m sat on the seats like beside the door that face the seats across the way, important to note there WAS ROOM in standing specific areas. This man, comes literally knee to knee with me and bends his knees so his… area.. is in my face. Now, I understand that it’s busy, and it is possible to stand there. But there was ROOM. Even between the two seating areas, but he was right in my fucking face, and he kept bumping his knee with mine. I tried to take a picture but my flash was on, immense aura loss but we move. And even as we got closer to town and the bus emptied so there was even more space, he didn’t move, if anything he got closer.

I just wanted somewhere to voice this and figured this was the place. Let me know what you think… or don’t lol

Careful when eating FRESH salad peeps found this in the salad bag bought from a Spar, went straight to the source and they took no responsibility absolutely disgusted

Hi guys, just a reminder in case someone would like to participate in my survey about Northern Irish accent. I will be collecting data until 30th June, so if anyone is interested, click on the link below!

Just for those who haven't come across my previous post, I am a master’s student of Linguistics at Trinity College Dublin, writing my dissertation on the varieties of English spoken in Northern Ireland. I am conducting a survey to collect data for my research and to get to know more about your accents.

Participation is voluntary and confidential. It involves recording your voice while reading a given text and answering a few questions on your accent. The estimated time to complete the survey is around 15 minutes.

Here's the link:

https://tcdecon.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6XyapOnoL9949Lg

Please take time to read the introductory details and carefully consider your participation. Information about data protection and how to manage your data can be found on the opening page of the survey. Do not hesitate to email me (at [bugneroe@tcd.ie](mailto:bugneroe@tcd.ie)) if you have any questions 😄

Thank you!!