Why isn't Northern Ireland prioritising child poverty?
Stormont's new draft Programme for Government has not addressed rising child poverty
Earlier this month, the Northern Ireland Executive published its draft Programme for Government. The document outlined the administration’s top priorities, including growing the economy, better childcare provision and cutting healthcare waiting lists.
But Peter Bryson, head of Save the Children Northern Ireland, is questioning why there was no mention of child poverty in the strategy.
Writing for The Detail, he cites statistics which show there has been a 6% rise in child poverty over the last few years.
Poverty is at the heart of issues across health, education and housing but if government isn’t setting out clear actions to address child poverty, we’ll continue to see it blight more young lives.
New Grand Central Station a move in the right direction
The new £340 million Grand Central Station in Belfast opened to the public over a week ago. Buses are already using the new transport hub, with rail services expected to launch by the end of next month.
Our columnist Rosalind Skillen says that although the station doesn’t provide a solution to all of Northern Ireland’s transport needs, it will go some way to encouraging more of us to use buses and trains.
In Northern Ireland, where we’re used to strategies going unpublished and targets unmet, isn’t it fantastic to see some investment and ambition for public transport?
Transport accounts for 18.1% of all of Northern Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions and needs to be reduced if we are to meet climate change targets.
Car dependency is also extremely high in Northern Ireland, and it will take huge improvements to public transport in rural areas, particularly the west, to get more cars off the road.
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Ireland’s most iconic GAA stadiums
Pobail na Páirce
Rows over the funding of a new GAA stadium at Casement Park in west Belfast have dominated news headlines over the last week.
With a new Casement a distant dream, amid estimates the stadium will cost £400 million to rebuild, Belfast and Antrim GAA fans may look enviously on other regional stadiums.
For the last few years, our colleagues in Below the Radar have been filming the stories of Ireland’s most iconic GAA grounds, the people who run them and the fans who come in their thousands to watch matches.
The first episode of Irish language series, Pobail na Páirce, will air on TG4 tonight.
The four-part series looks at the birthplace of GAA in Thurles’ Semple Stadium; Navan’s Páirc Tailteann; Clones’ St Tiarnachs Park, and Pearse Stadium in Co Galway.
Join Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Gemma O’Connor, Máire Ní Bhraonáin, Emer Gallagher, Gary Sice, Kevin Cassidy, Fiacha Ó Braonáin, Jamie Ó Tuama and GAA President Jarlath Burns as they explore the importance of stadiums across the country.
When: Thursday, September 19, 9:30pm
Where: TG4
From Ukraine to Ireland
Idir Dhá Bhaile - Ó Chív Go Corcaigh (Between Two Homes - From Kyiv to Cork)
Our colleagues in Below The Radar have made an incredible Irish language documentary about a family of Ukrainian refugees trying to rebuild their lives in Ireland.
Nadia Dobrianska, a fluent Irish speaker, and her family have suffered unimaginable loss and now find themselves torn between two countries.
Filmed over the course of their first two years in Ireland, the film sees Nadia and her father Leonid as they grapple with their new life in Ireland, come to terms with what they have left behind in Ukraine, and try to imagine what their future may look like.
The documentary will air on TG4 next week.
When: Wednesday, September 25, 9:30pm
Where: TG4
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Until Northern Ireland stops the violence against women there will always be child poverty. It is on the rise, and The Detail takes no note of it either. At least not my case. I have phoned you twice about a breach of Human Rights and the Belfast Agreement. Never mind, it has cost Northern Ireland £3m = 8% compound interest over five years at least. Think of what could have been done with that money.. Blame Radius Housing Association and PSNI, not me.