gdp's Comments

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Belfast City Airport warns that jobs will be axed if seat cap is not lifted - Business News, Busines

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 08:00:37 +0000

It speaks volumes that the City airport would focus on economic growth alone, failing to mention the horrendous increase of aircraft noise their 'noise contour' proposal would effect - with all the detrimental effects on children's education and quality of life for tens of thousands of residents - and without also mentioning that this very same level of economic growth (if not more) could easily be attained at the international airport. There's a reason noise contour restrictions instead of seats for sale restrictions are only in place at one other UK airport - because they're horribly ineffective and cause disastrous amounts of noise pollution. It's obvious the city airport doesn't care about Northern Ireland as such, but about padding its own pockets at any and all expense.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : 21 schools will suffer if Belfast City Airport proposal gets go-ahead, say campaigners - Northern Ir

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:13:19 +0000

I think calling a non-profit organisation that stands to gain nothing - nothing at all - from its campaining 'self-serving' is more than a little disingenuous. Especially when the city airport itself stands to gain so very, very much from all this extra noise.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : 21 schools will suffer if Belfast City Airport proposal gets go-ahead, say campaigners - Northern Ir

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:11:49 +0000

About time people gave proper notice to the negative effects on children that this aircraft noise has. So many studies have been done on this, yet apparently the welfare of our children is all secondary to economic concerns - and those economic concerns are bogus anyway as there's a perfectly fine international airport in the area where noise is almost a non-issue.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Too much airport noise but only silence from our MLAs - News Analysis, Opinion - Belfasttelegraph.co

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 16:16:48 +0000

When you have no ammunition to attack the issue, you attack the person instead... Well done. Your mother must be proud.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Airport still making our lives a misery - Letters, Opinion - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 16:14:13 +0000

Same for me - the few times I got in touch with them to complain about flights landing well after 11 PM I got nothing back but a canned response that managed to convey one thing more than anything: the airport simply doesn't care.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Too much airport noise but only silence from our MLAs - News Analysis, Opinion - Belfasttelegraph.co

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 16:13:06 +0000

Hear hear. The debate about the environmental impact of the city airport and its true economic value is too often drowned out by the corporate spin produced by GBCCA and its chorus of pro-business, anti-environment sock puppets. Funny how these pro-airport hornblowers never mention how exposure to noise pollution is detrimental to people's health, in particular children...: http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20021011/noise-pol...

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Belfast City Airport was on brink of closure after Ryanair exit - Business News, Business - Belfastt

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:21:05 +0000

It should have closed. It's mind-bogglingly insane that a city of such limited size as Belfast has two international airports - and one of those a stone's throw from the centre in the middle of a residential area! Even those champions of environmental issues in Hong Kong (note the sarcasm there) moved their airport away from the city. Those in favour of the city airport obviously don't live near it and are certainly entirely uninformed about its true economic value (hint: it's not as big as you've been lead to believe).

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : New flights to the Med from Belfast City Airport - Business News, Business - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:00:03 +0000

Is this the same "jrteastbelfast", obviously a City Airport employee, who is waging an utterly ineffectual smear campaign against BCAW on twitter? And who comments on the Tele only on stories to smear the BCAW and applaud the city airport? Go back to your puppetmasters, kiddo, and tell them they need to up their game if they want to be successful at misdirecting the public debate. Because what you are doing is laughably amateurish. BCAW doesn't spin, but the city airport does by distorting facts, hiding information, not performing proper noise control, and lobbying politicians behind the scenes. Are we really to believe that, with a longer runway, those BIGGER jets with HEAVIER loads are quieter? That is total nonsense and a pure fabrication. Because the jets WILL be bigger and heavier with the seats for sale limit removed - another one of those sneaky lobbying effects that city airport have managed to squeeze through without proper judicial review. At least that decision will be challenged in court.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : New flights to the Med from Belfast City Airport - Business News, Business - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:37:22 +0000

Not pleased. International destinations means bigger planes with heavier loads, which means more noise for the residents in the area. I already have enough issues from noise pollution from the city airport, as do tens of thousands of east Belfast and Holywood residents. Why can't BMI just fly out of the Intl airport like a proper airline, and save us all the extra noise burden?

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Beware the web of lies that runs amok in cyberspace - News Analysis, Opinion - Belfasttelegraph.co.u

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 08:29:14 +0000

Bitter much? Sour grapes that the Tele was fooled by a clever student? Who wrote this piece of tripe anyway - a byline is conspicuously missing. "Remember him?" Yes I do actually, as would anyone in NI who's worth his salt in all things digital. That obviously excludes the witless author of this piece of spiteful bile. Mr Campbell has a great future ahead of him in the creative digital industries, whereas the writer of this commentary is doomed to go down in the sinking ship that is the old print-based media.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Why Google\'s Latest Step In The Fight Against Spam Is Dangerous - Watching the Web, Opinion - Belfa

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 09:32:13 +0000

Update: a plugin is no longer required, Google has now added this functionality to its search results: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/hide-sites...

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Fury as gay sauna opens in Northern Ireland - Environment, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:44:03 +0000

While technically correct, I wouldn't call Ireland a secular state. Didn't they introduce that ridiculous law against blasphemy - the ultimate victimless crime - a while ago?

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Fury as gay sauna opens in Northern Ireland - Environment, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:16:11 +0000

“This is killer behaviour and is not how the city of Derry needs to be portrayed in the run up to the City of Culture title year.” Correct - Derry doesn't need to be associated with such vile bigotry, homophobia, hatred and fundamentalist ignorance.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : It is time to show city centre means business - News Analysis, Opinion - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:52:50 +0000

It is interesting that you support "city-centre living" while at the same time supporting the expansion of the city airport. The two are mutually exclusive. The amount of noise and pollution the city airport currently generates has a significant adverse affect on the quality of life of tens of thousands of (east) Belfast residents, and any expansion of the city airport will aggravate this. There is a perfectly fine intl airport just outside the city - and yes it does need a more solid public transport link - so there is no economic requirement for the city airport to expand either.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Peter Robinson shown as a ‘power hungry’ politician - Letters, Opinion - Belfasttelegrap

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:24:07 +0000

Interesting that you interpret a willingness to compromise - the hallmark of a true diplomat, imho - as a character flaw. Lack of compromise is exactly what caused the Troubles to drag on for as long as they did, and countless human lives were lost due to the stubbornness and pig-headedness of leaders on both sides. Robinson ought to be commended for having been able to help break that dogmatic stalemate.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Belfast Telegraph\'s website is a huge hit with users - Business News, Business - Belfasttelegraph.c

Wed, 2 Feb 2011 14:19:24 +0000

Congratulations guys! Well done!

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Sinn Fein chief Gerry now \'Baron Adams\' - Politics, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 10:40:36 +0000

Happy to be elected to UK Parliament and take the salary, but unwilling to actually follow the relevant protocol? Hypocrite.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Irish consumers are ‘negative’ towards online advertising - Business News, Business - Be

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:11:03 +0000

@belfastchris: The research was actually performed by Mintel (mintel.com) based on a survey of 2000 consumers in RoI and NI. The full report is due to be released at the end of the month. Pierce Communications had pre-access to the report and have submitted comments to it.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : So, just who is on trial over those WikiLeak sexual assault claims? - Gail Walker, Columnists - Belf

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:26:00 +0000

Oh, and Gail: here is an article written by another female columnist. Her conclusions are rather, well, opposed to what you proclaim here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/post_143...

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ : Frankie, do you really think it is funny or clever to mock the weak? - Lindy McDowell, Columnists -

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:12:58 +0000

You make a good point there, but we need to keep in mind here that we're not talking about day to day life - we're talking about performance art (yes, comedy is a form of performance art). And art, by its very nature steps outside of normal human constraints. As far as I am concerned there should be minimal limits to what is allowed in art (of course there should be some limitations, obviously), but I strongly believe that no one has the right to never be offended by what others say and do. But yes, maybe here in the UK society hasn't matured enough yet that we can be adults about enjoying comedy at someone else's expense without carrying that over in to day to day society. In my native Netherlands things seem to have progressed a bit more.