Issue 29, 2014

VIEW

Independent Social Affairs magazine for community/voluntary sector www.viewdigital.org Issue 29, 2014

Portrait of the artist

Brian Ballard: I would love to see the Ormeau Baths Gallery reopening to the public

Story - Pages four to nine

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Page 10 – Joan O’Hara from Solas tells of her delight over award Page 13 – Why people are flocking to friendship club Pages 16-17 – VIEW looks at hard-hitting book about the effects of austerity in UK Page 20-21 Audiences NI and VIEWdigital link up for Driving Digital Day

Editorial

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Brian Pelan, Editor

am not a regular visitor to art galleries, especially in Belfast. On the rare occasions that I do drop in, I often feel overwhelmed at the work on view. The good thing is you will often find something that appeals to you – it’s a personal feeling and one that I enjoy when the sensation occurs.

A recent visit to an exhibition at the Ormeau Baths Gallery – which has been closed to the public since 2011 – was a positive experience on a number of levels and led to the decision to put the story on the front page of this issue and a number of pages within it.

Local artist Brian Ballard, with the help of friends, recently secured – on a temporary basis – the reopening of the gallery to mount an exhibition of his work, spanning over 50 years.

The display, which runs until December 6, has a variety of pieces – abstract, figurative and portraits. It is simply stunning and should be viewed by everyone – if only to lift the spirits in a city hits by austerity, cutbacks, job

A piece by Brian Ballard

losses and political tension.

On the opening night of the exhibition, Marianne O’Kane Boal, who curated the works, said it would be great if the Ormeau Baths Galley could be reopened on a permanent basis as the city needs more locations to display art to the wider public.

At a time when cuts are very much a part of the public landscape, VIEW would like to back calls for

the gallery to be open again – perhaps the Belfast City Council would support such a move and provide funding.

Many artists in Belfast and further afield would love to have the chance to display their work in such a beautiful building. In time, the Ormeau Baths Gallery could be a place, once again, where art, including photography and film, could be shown. We have a lot of local talent that deserves a venue befitting of their work.

The majority of people are highly dependent on public venues to appreciate different forms of art. Instead of cutting the arts budget in Northern Ireland – perhaps because it is viewed as an easy target – we should all seek to lobby for its protection.

A good place as any to start would be to back any campaign to reopen the Ormeau Baths Gallery. If successful, I would be the first in the door.

As a child, I first learnt to swim in the Ormeau Baths. It provided a public service then – it should do so again.

Photoline

Photographer Kevin Cooper has more than 25 years experience in Press and PR photography. Kevin works to a wide of clients in community and voluntary sector organisations as well as the trade union movement.

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The last pic

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The Ormeau Bath Gallery shut its doo talks to artist Brian Ballard as the Bel reopens to host a collection of his wo

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orn in Belfast, Brian Ballard trained firstly at the College of Art, Belfast and then at the College of Art, Liverpool. He still lives in Belfast but spends long periods of time living and working in his house on the remote and rugged island of Inishfree, off the coast of Donegal.

“I have always believed that ordinary people, so called ordinary people, have difficult access to paintings, says Brian. Galleries can often be daunting spaces. It can sometimes be hard to get people to look at art, including my exhibition.

“I try sometimes to bring my paintings to people. Three years ago I opened up a space at Sinclair House on Royal Avenue in Belfast. I turned a former cafe into a pop up gallery along with my daughter Lisa. We put up 21 paintings so that people walking pass the building could see them. Passers by just came in to the gallery and chatted with me. They loved the fact that they could chat with a 'real artist' as they described me, “The visitors book was filled with comments such as ‘I was walking by on a wet day and I came in and felt lifted by the place and felt at peace’.”

“The former Ormeau Baths Gallery, which closed due to funding difficulties in 2011, once performed that function. I would love to see it reinstated as a place where people could view art.

Curator Marianne O’Kane Boal

Brian described how he managed to secure the space at the Ormeau Gallery. “I had to find a big space for my exhibition. Many of them had been in storage for years. The only space available was the Baths. It's for sale and I think I may be the last person to get it on a short term lease, We tidied it up, the pictures are on the wall and we want people to come in.

He said he would back any efforts to reopen the Ormeau Baths Gallery.

“I've been saying to everyone that this place is amazing. We shouldn’t lose this place but it may still be lost. I got goosebumps all over me the first time I seen my paintings hung on the walls.

Some of these pieces were done 50 years ago and they have been in storage ever since that time. It's time

that they got out.”

Marianne O'Kane Boal, who curated the exhibition, said: “In an ideal world it would be wonderful if the Ormeau Baths Gallery could reopen as a public gallery.

“This building is ideally suited to the showing of art. It has four impressive galleries of varying scales and dimensions. As the Ballard exhibition has shown the gallery still provides the perfect stage for art even though it has not been used for three years. It was exciting for me to curate a painting exhibition in the space and one that was accessible and of interest to the public. If the gallery was to reopen it should be purchased by Belfast City Council and run as a public gallery. I agree with the Arts Council's statement at the time of closure that the high rents of the building were unsustainable.”

Marianne added: “Art is accessible to communities, certainly. It depends on the type and breadth of art shown though. I feel it is very important to show traditional art forms - painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking and not only devote contemporary spaces to photography and new media. Both types of art are valid but often it is conceptual art that is shown at the expense of traditional practice.

“Art can be made more accessible through making it relevant to people generally. The public like to see Belfast artists who are known in the city.”

cture show?

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ors to the public in 2011. VIEW lfast landmark building temporarily ork which spans over 50 years

Artist Brian Ballard in a temporary studio he set up at the Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast Images: Brian Pelan

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Paintings by Brian Ballard which are on display at the Ormeau Baths Gallery until December 6

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Interior of the Ormeau Baths Gallery and the outside of the building, right, on Ormeau Avenue, Belfast

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Joan tells of delight after winning award

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Passionate: Joan Henderson

IPPERARY woman Joan Henderson has won a top award for helping Belfast children with special needs.

Joan set up the charity Sólás having grown up with a sister who has Downs Syndrome and is passionate about ensuring there are more services and support available to families.

She was awarded the 2014 Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Elevator Award, worth €30,000, after quitting her job as an engineering lecturer at Queen’s University to set up the charity.

Highly trained retired teachers volunteer their time to deliver the educational support programme at the charity’s premises at the junction of Donegall Pass and the Ormeau Road in south Belfast.

“We are just delighted to have won

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Contact

the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Elevator Award. It has been a tough five years but this makes it all worthwhile.

“We hope this will put us on the map and let people know what we are about,” said Joan.

One stand out moment for Joan since she started Sólás was last summer, providing support to the child of a single mother.

“She was just so grateful of the support. To help a group of people that often don’t have a voice, it motivates you every day of the week,” she added.

Sólás provide a range of support programmes for children and young people with a broad range of additional needs. Its programmes help with educational support, social development and parent support.

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The message is cut, cut, cut – it’s like buying a race horse and cutting two legs off ...

VIEW, Issue 29, 2014

By Una Murphy

nequality in Britain is now back to the 1840s, it has been claimed at a recent event held in Belfast.

Michael Pyer from Developments Trusts NI told the group’s first policy symposium that in some areas of Britain creeping privatisation had followed the grounding down of local government services.

The meeting had been called to discuss development issues within the Third Sector (Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise).

Delegates heard that big private companies often failed to deliver effective services – such as G4S at the London

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Olympics.

Neil Berry from Locality in England said there was a huge spend by the public sector on multinationals such as G4S, ATOS, SERCO and CAPITA but local community organisations could provide more effective services as well as save money.

John Little from Vanguard Consulting, who has worked with the Housing Executive in Northern Ireland, the biggest social housing provider in Europe, said: “This is not a crisis of funding it is a crisis of thinking”.

He said: “The message is cut, cut, cut – it’s like buying a race horse and cutting two

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legs off and saying it is going to win the Derby. It’s not going to happen.”

Mr Little said a challenge must be made to politicians and policy makers “Do you want to save the day - carpe diem - or do you want to sit there?”

He added that the emphasis should be on providing effective and efficient services. “The more you try to save the more it costs.”

Alasdair McKinley from the Scottish Government and Wendy Reid from the Development Trusts Association Scotland said a minister for local government and community empowerment and a pilot programme ‘Strengthening Communities’ had given local communities in Scotland more power.

• Visit dtni.org.uk for more details

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Stephanie Mitchell Comment

Club with Friendship on the menu L

ooking round Belfast Friendship Club (BFC) on a Thursday evening, at what seems like a huge and unruly family of 40 to 60 people, I sometimes wonder how many other settings exist that attract such a diverse bunch of individuals who seem to have so much in common and, between them, create such a happy atmosphere. One element of my role is to ‘hold’ this space.

From many walks of life and from all over the world, including these islands, we are caterers, writers, au pairs, cleaners, students, artists, academics, volunteers, interpreters, IT professionals and so on. Some are working in Belfast, some are looking for work and others, seeking asylum, usually wish to support themselves through paid work but are not allowed to do so. Others have no entitlement to public funds of any kind.

People move freely between the tables, creating a warm buzz of conversation and much smiling and laughter is evident. The barriers of race, belief, class or income that usually separate people seem not to apply here. Starting out as a small-scale project in 2009, BFC has now become more of a social movement, attracting people from 20 plus nationalities and many walks of life. Every week five to 10 newcomers arrive and most return, bringing with them more people.

Regardless of how or why we find ourselves in Belfast, our humanity comes to the fore on Thursday evenings, spilling over into the street when members greet each other in the city centre. For anyone who has ever experienced being a newcomer, this simple acknowledgement can make all the difference to your day.

As coordinator of BFC, this sense of belonging is, for me, one of the simple building blocks of social capital that enables all manner of individuals and initiatives to thrive. And yet, such building blocks seem to be elusive in many settings across the

country, which motivated me to write the publication: ‘Be the change: a guide to creating safe and inclusive space.

The booklet attempts to capture the principles behind the success of Belfast Friendship Club. It is intended for those who are aware of newcomers or those in their midst who are ‘different’ and want to create a culture of welcome but are not sure how to start or, perhaps, how to improve what they have already begun.

The guide has now been published by South Belfast Roundtable, with the support of the Community Relations Council and will be available, free of charge, from early December 2014 in hard copy and PDF download via: www.belfastfriendshipclub.org or www.community-relations.org.uk For further information, email: stephanie.mitchell@sbrtr.org.uk • Belfast Friendship Club meets every Thursday at Common Grounds Cafe, 12-24 University Avenue, Belfast, BT7 1GY. All are welcome.

• Stephanie Mitchell, coordinator of Belfast Friendship Club

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Jenny Ebbage Comment

Is your charity on the register?

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ou cannot have escaped the news recently that all charities in Northern Ireland must register with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI). We have been advising a number of charities on their registration requirements.

All charities should check that they are on one of the CCNI lists and make sure that they know what action to take. There is a deadline of December 31, 2014, to notify the CCNI of the charity’s existence if the charity is not already on one of the lists.

We often receive enquiries about how to start a new charity.

The CCNI’s guidance for organisations or individuals thinking of setting up a charity is a good place to start. This covers the different types of legal entities that can be used to establish the charity and it explains the difference between an unincorporated association, a charitable trust and a charitable company.

It even covers the process for a scheme of incorporation for trustees, which is often misunderstood.

It is important to consider whether it is really necessary to form a new charity or not. There are already thousands of charities in Northern Ireland and elsewhere and it might be best to put your support and effort behind an existing organisation. It is really important to understand what a new charity is going to be set up to achieve: such as the advancement of education or relief of poverty, urban renewal or advancement of health.

Getting the governance right is essential. It is important to have

people on the board of the charity who really understand what it means to be a charity trustee.

In the current climate there is a high dependency on charities as funding mechanisms have fallen away due to the various cuts.

The public are always generous donors but be under no illusion that the charity sector can be a difficult sector to operate in at the current time and there is a host of regulation that needs to be clearly understood and complied with.

It is worthwhile reading the guidance from the CCNI, not only on this topic but also its other publications such as Running your Charity and The Registration and Annual Reporting Requirements.

Where necessary it is always important to take proper legal advice from a properly qualified person. At Edwards & Co. we specialise in charities and were recently recognised as the top firm in Northern Ireland for charity law.

• Please contact Jenny Ebbage if you wish to discuss any matter further at jenny.ebbage@edwardsandcompany.co.uk).

• Solicitor Jenny Ebbage joined Edwards & Co. as a partner in November 2011 and leads its Charities and Enterprise team.

Is Housing First policy a so

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Professor Paddy Grey examines a scheme w

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ousing First is a relatively new concept and has been developed to tackle homelessness and in particular those who are chronically homeless.

Accordingly to Shelter UK the model was developed in the United States and has demonstrated high degrees of success in both housing and supporting those who are chronically street homeless with multiple and complex needs. Shelter argues that it is founded on the principle of housing being a basic human right and as a result it provides permanent accommodation for people straight from the street.

In a briefing paper it issued in 2008, it recognises that the model has no preconditions of addressing wider social care and support needs but recognises that many long-term and repeatedly homeless individuals have multiple and complex problems relating to drug and/or alcohol dependency, poor physical and mental health, contact with the criminal justice system, and histories of institutional care and traumatic life events.

In 2013, the University of York carried out an evaluation of the Housing First service in the London Borough of

Camden. In the report, the authors acknowledged that Housing First approaches are based on the concept that a homeless individual’s first and primary need is to obtain stable housing and that other issues that may affect them can and should be addressed once housing is obtained.

There is no requirement to demonstrate ‘housing readiness’ or to be abstinent from alcohol or other substances. The report found that the Camden Housing First (CAMHF) achieved housing stability among a group of people with sustained and recurrent experiences of homelessness, high rates of severe mental illness and poor physical health, histories of anti-social behaviour, criminality and sustained worklessness and often highly problematic use of drugs and alcohol.

Many had not lived in their own home for many years or ever lived independently but had now been able to sustain their own tenancy for at least 12 months or longer.

Clients also achieved gains in wellbeing with evidence of improvements in engagement with treatment for mental and physical health problems, reductions in drug and alcohol use and marked

reductions in anti-social behaviour.

One of the major challenges, however, that the report found was the difficulty in finding suitable, adequate private rented accommodation within the rent limits that would be paid by Housing Benefit. This of course is one of the major barriers to the success of any such scheme.

In Northern Ireland, Depaul Ireland is currently piloting a Housing First scheme with the equivalent of three full time employees being funded through the Supporting People budget with a view to rolling out similar services throughout Northern Ireland. The identified areas have been east Belfast, north Belfast, west Belfast and Dairyfarm. This is due for evaluation by March 2015.

The questions that need to be asked, however, surround the availability of suitable accommodation and the support that is required. Indeed will properties be available particularly in the private rented sector, and will landlords allow their properties to be used for such purposes? The Depaul scheme is being heavily subsidised by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive who also uses its own properties.

But with a waiting list of nearly

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olution to homelessness?

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which Depaul has recently piloted in Belfast

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The questions that need to be asked, however, surround the availability of suitable accommodation and the support that is required

40,000 households and nearly 20,000 presenting as homeless annually and half of these being accepted as statutorily homeless is there the capacity to roll this out?

Supporting People budgets across Britain have been decimated in recent years and Local Authorities have been forced to cut back on vital services.

Although the budget has been ring fenced in Northern Ireland there is no guarantee that this will go on indefinitely as budgets are being squeezed across most government departments. Indeed there is a major campaign going on at present to protect this budget for future years.

In the University of York it was noted that CAMHF was slightly cheaper to run for 10 service users than the approximate average cost of funding support for 10 hostel bed spaces in a hostel designed to resettle lone homeless people for one year.

However, CAMHF appeared to deliver better outcomes in terms of housing sustainment and in terms of health, well-being and anti-social behaviour. It concluded that CAMHF represented a potentially more efficient use of public expenditure in reducing

Kerry Anthony, chief executive of DePaul Ireland, left, with Belfast Lord Mayor Nicola Mallon, Rick Henderson, CEO of Homeless Link and Mags Lightbody, interim chief executive of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, at the recent launch of the Housing First initiative in Belfast City Hall chronic homelessness than alternative services. CAMHF had lower support costs than some higher intensity and specialist hostels for homeless people.

So realistically in the long term Housing First is working and has worked in other jurisdictions. T To move to this approach across Northern Ireland, the government will

have to commit to securing the appropriate accommodation that is required and to safeguard the supporting people budget if we are to rid ourselves of chronic homelessness. • Paddy Gray is Professor of Housing at the University of Ulster.

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‘

I wanted to put a human face on the deluge of cuts that were happening to working class families

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Journalist Mary O’Hara tells VIEW why she decided to write the book, Austerity Bites, which concentrates on describing the brutal effects of economic cuts on working class families throughout the United Kingdom

A demonstration in London against the wave of austerity hitting communities throughout the UK

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By Brian Pelan

n the forward to Austerity Bites, comedian and political activist Mark Thomas writes: “This book gives voice to those at the bottom of the heap , those who struggle just to exist. This book is ammunition. Use it.”

The reader is taken on a grim journey by author Mary O’Hara in which we get to hear the voices of those suffering the brunt of austerity.

Ms O’Hara said: “The book seems to have done really well, bearing in mind that it doesn't cheer anyone up. It's getting a lot of traction with academics, researchers and librarians which is where I want it to be. So it will hopefully end up on courses, such as social studies.

“I had five and a half months to write the book which was supported by a grant

Impact: Writer Mary O’Hara

from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

“People pump out the numbers about the effects of austerity but no one really has a grasp of what that really means in reality. The things that were not getting reported was the multiple impact on certain groups, such as the disabled, who are being hit with cuts to council tax

benefit, no access to crisis loans, bedroom tax, benefits capped, etc.

“I wanted to put a human face on the deluge of things that were happening to people. But I also felt sad that I had to write a book about people living in misery.

Mary goes on to say: “Without an effective opposition to austerity there is no real opposition.

“You have all these fractured groups scrambling around, trying to do there best, to highlight the injustices of austerity but you have to set that against the entire political class plus 95 percent of the media carrying us as if this was inevitable and there was no choice and trying to pin this on people who are not responsible for the economic situation.”

• Austerity Bites is published by Policy Press – http://bit.ly/1FjKyCw

Call to embrace ‘digital opportunities’

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he recent AGM of the Northern Ireland Law Centre in Belfast discussed a range of issues, including how advice agencies are looking for new solutions to meet increasing demand in the face of a tough economic climate.

Roger Smith, former director of Legal Action Group and JUSTICE and an expert in legal aid and access to justice, gave the Law Centre’s audience of voluntary sector advisers, members of the legal profession and civil servants an overview of innovative models of online services coupled with telephone and face to face advice.

Mr Smith encouraged local NGOs and government to take every opportunity to learn from international initiatives and to embrace the opportunities offered by digital developments to deliver better services.

He also threw a note of caution about being mindful of digital exclusion, citing statistics that revealed that, although technically at least 80 percent of the population in the UK has internet access, in real terms about half of our client constituencies would not be able to access online advice, for reasons of age, literacy, cultural and language barriers or ability.

He said: “The internet is revolutionising communication. We need to see how we can use it to improve legal services to those on low incomes. “Around the world, examples of enormous creativity are emerging. NGOs

Roger Smith speaking at the Northern Ireland Law Centre’s AGM

like the Law Centre – which has has a tremendous record of work in Northern Ireland – have a real opportunity to be at the cutting edge of innovation if they can get access to the necessary resources. “And, crucially, they can also provide the individualised help that some people will always need when IT systems go wrong or people cannot use them. “We need to learn all the lessons that we can from what others have done.�

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Ursula O’Hare, Acting Director at the Law Centre, added: “The Law Centre delivers online legal information through our Encyclopedia of Rights guide and our legal advice briefings. “In 2013-14, over 200,000 people accessed this information on our website. “This event is a great opportunity for the voluntary advice sector to learn about new models of service delivery and discuss possibilities for further innovations in Northern Ireland.�

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Harry Reid speaking frankly Assistance for politicians who are suffering from the dreaded MaLAise

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hank you for contacting MaLAise 108, the helpline for elected representatives. As we’re currently experiencing a high volume of calls, we ask you to either be patient and hold until one of our operators becomes available or select one of the following options, which we believe, will cover the majority of your concerns.

Press one if you’re enquiring about the location of the next meeting of the All Party Craft Group featuring illusionist Dynamo, who will be demonstrating how to make a Trojan Horse from a yogurt pot for MaLAise committed to displaying exhibits in the upcoming Shared Future exhibition.

Press two for a reminder of the details of the itinerary for the trip to the Isle of Man for the upcoming fixture in the Comparative Legislators Cup being hosted by the Tynwald.

With a fixture against the Congress of Micronesia early next year up for grabs for the victorious side, we’re sure a good performance against the House of Keys will stop the ill-informed sneering from London and Washington about our supposed democratic shortcomings.

Press three to get instructions on how to pick up your free noise cancelling headphones. Sponsored by Selective Hearing of Pyongyang, these bad boys will help sort out those tricky moments when you are trying to concentrate but are finding yourself disturbed by constituents’

unreasonable requests for you to Do Something.

Press four if you’re a member of the Executive unable to post any more strategy documents through the letterbox of the Room Of Requirement.

Unfortunately the facility is now physically full. Consequently, until JK Rowlings’ lecture next month explaining how to use the wands supplied to all MaLAise, you are advised to extend the relevant consultation periods as a means of making documents with embarrassing promised actions and targets vanish.

Press five to ask for a copy of the new Abacus Repair Manual should your own counting apparatus have malfunctioned during any of the most recent meetings of the Ten Per Cent Club.

Members are reminded that as only the Green, UKIP and TUV MaLAise are outside the club’s governing body, the word ‘cuts’ should, where possible, be replaced by the phrase ‘savings resulting from difficult choices’.

Press six for advice for dealing with journalists seeking a response to the ‘Ebola & Welfare Reform’ document recently leaked to media outlets.

As the status of this publication, drafted as it was by the Blue Sky Thinking

Unit, is a discussion paper, you are safe in asserting that MaLAise had not adopted the idea of spreading Ebola amongst benefit claimants to reduce the welfare bill.

Press seven should you wish to attend next week’s ‘Toxic Tiger’ briefing by the Director of the Community Relations Council. As you know, this is an exciting initiative, that if well handled, could see an end to austerity and the dawn of an era of unparalleled prosperity.

With our track record of containing home grown hatred, why should we not import and contain the discord, strife and bigotry of other jurisdictions?

With the suggested generous tax breaks, and plenty of unused open spaces available for fighting here, no wonder the UN is taking this proposal so seriously. With the upcoming conference in Belfast to explore the strategy to make this an economic reality already sold out, and so many keynote speakers from the likes of ISIS, the Ku Klux Klan and the Janjaweed already confirmed, we are on the brink of securing a future, for future generations, in the emm, future.

Meantime, press eight if in the present you find yourself worried about your addiction to squabbling and general hullabaloo with the side effect of lack of time to address the social and economic issues everyone keeps pestering you about.

Dr. Con Census is on hand to take your calls.

VIEW and Audie

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Successful Driving Digital Day at Dunca

Clockwise, from top left: Ed Corn, MTV; with Margaret Henry, CEO, Audiences NI; VIEW editor Brian Pelan and VIEWdigital publisher Una Murphy. Shi and Miz from Leeds Art Crawl with Danielle Ross, Audiences NI. Ed Corn addressing the audience.

Angelina Fusco, former editor of BBC NI Newsline. VIEWdigital associate Willis McBriar with some of the participants at the event Images: Kevin Cooper

encies NI link up VIEW, Issue 29, 2014

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airn Cultural and Arts Centre in Belfast

FREE tickets to performances and events with Test Drive the Arts NI – http://viewdigital.org/2014/11/30/free-ticketsperformances-events-test-drive-arts-ni/

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The Big Picture

Hundreds of women, men and children took part in a recent Reclaim the Night march in Belfast. Speakers at the rally called for an end to sexual and racist attacks Image: Brian Pelan

If you would like your community/voluntary sector organisation or campaign to be selected for The Big Picture, send your image, marked Big Picture entry, to editorial@viewdigital.org

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Labour Party review to look at inequality T

he Labour Party has launched a review on tackling inequality in Northern Ireland.

The Heenan-Anderson Commission will address issues ranging from improving early childhood development and educational attainment to promoting more new businesses.

It will also focus on the implications of efforts to encourage the growth of the private sector following decades of violence which deterred entrepreneurs from setting up in Northern Ireland.

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Ivan Lewis said: "It seems to me it is crucial that when people look at these recommendations they believe that they will add value and make a real difference and signal, where necessary, a different course.

The co-chairs of the commission are Professor Deirdre Heenan and Colin Anderson, chief executive of Anderson Advertising and Mr Lewis, MP. Mr Anderson said: “Northern Ireland has made enormous strides in my many years as a business leader. But not everyone has benefitted from the progress that has been made.

“Looking at ways to increase skills and aspiration for people across Northern Ireland will bring a new lease of life to the economy.”

Professor Deirdre Heenan

Shadow Secretary of Northern Ireland Ivan Lewis, left, with Professor Deirdre Heenan and Colin Anderson at the launch of the Commission in Belfast added: “Too many of the young people I work with want to leave Northern Ireland to work abroad.

Many more lack hope and opportunities, and do not have the option to leave.

“This leaves them open to exploitation by paramilitaries and sectarian mind sets. Our commission will find innovative ways to bring a peace dividend to everyone in Northern Ireland.”

Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “The people of Northern Ireland deserve to have an equal stake in prosperity and the opportunities that will give them a chance to shape their lives for the better.

“The Heenan-Anderson Commission will look at ways to improve opportunities for the most disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland.”