en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/8379256 Comments by Priorities http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/doublejobbing-mlas-to-share-in-75k-handout-for-quitting-councils-30046266.html#IDComment799102240 How does not voting improve the situation? Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:50:42 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/doublejobbing-mlas-to-share-in-75k-handout-for-quitting-councils-30046266.html#IDComment799102240 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/disabled-home-residents-abused-30044661.html#IDComment798880994 If this wasn't so serious you'd laugh at Poot's arrogance. He has a solution to transforming care and ensuring abuse in care homes is stopped. It involves closing care homes and transferring the vulnerable from hospital directly back to their own homes. Presumably he feels that any abuse or failure in care then suffered will not be the responsibility of the health service - so problem solved. I'm sure the timing of this announcement today is a complete coincidence too. Thu, 27 Feb 2014 00:04:55 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/disabled-home-residents-abused-30044661.html#IDComment798880994 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/uup-fury-that-richard-haass-briefed-the-president-30038502.html#IDComment798876302 Its a good thought, but I think our politicians have just played their own 'get out of jail card'. The chances of them focusing on anything other than OTR's for the foreseeable is zero. And meanwhile the staff and patients of the RVH can whistle in the wind. Wed, 26 Feb 2014 23:43:55 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/uup-fury-that-richard-haass-briefed-the-president-30038502.html#IDComment798876302 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/dreadful-mistake-prime-minister-david-cameron-condemns-actions-that-led-to-case-collapse-over-hyde-park-bomb-suspect-30044057.html#IDComment798727844 And so the agenda is set for the coming weeks and any chance of getting our politicians to focus on the bread and butter issues of daily life - the economy, education, health etc. is gone. Division, division, them and us, what about.... We need to find a way to deal with the past soon or we'll never find the ability to actually enjoy our futures. Wed, 26 Feb 2014 14:49:05 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/dreadful-mistake-prime-minister-david-cameron-condemns-actions-that-led-to-case-collapse-over-hyde-park-bomb-suspect-30044057.html#IDComment798727844 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/mayhem-at-belfasts-royal-victoria-hospital-emergency-department-after-surge-of-patients-30038438.html#IDComment798399785 What's the old saying about banging your head on a wall - its good when you stop? Anyway, lets not give up yet. We do hold the power to vote them in or out. We're just not good as a society at voting for people based on whether they're good at the job or not. If we can break the cycle of voting on historic lines.......... Tue, 25 Feb 2014 18:09:16 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/mayhem-at-belfasts-royal-victoria-hospital-emergency-department-after-surge-of-patients-30038438.html#IDComment798399785 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/20000-northern-ireland-school-pupils-miss-weeks-of-lessons-30038312.html#IDComment798363647 TJ, just noticed I typed my response in the wrong box, see above. Tue, 25 Feb 2014 15:59:30 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/20000-northern-ireland-school-pupils-miss-weeks-of-lessons-30038312.html#IDComment798363647 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/uup-fury-that-richard-haass-briefed-the-president-30038502.html#IDComment798338460 Bang on the money OX Tue, 25 Feb 2014 14:16:36 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/uup-fury-that-richard-haass-briefed-the-president-30038502.html#IDComment798338460 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/endgame-for-dissident-republicans-running-out-of-semtex-hardly-any-guns-and-only-30-members-30038637.html#IDComment798338075 Seriously BT, by what Editorial standard is this now the top story of the day? Tue, 25 Feb 2014 14:14:42 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/endgame-for-dissident-republicans-running-out-of-semtex-hardly-any-guns-and-only-30-members-30038637.html#IDComment798338075 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/20000-northern-ireland-school-pupils-miss-weeks-of-lessons-30038312.html#IDComment798337572 Good question, and I'm not sure I have a good answer. We need to get the message across that you get on in life through employment and that you can achieve more through hard work. And the key to a job is maximising your skills, whatever they may be. That won't always be academic exam results but could be practical skills, trades, manufacturing. We have a fantastic heritage in areas such as Aerospace which is crying out for talent with practical skills - and they're good well paid jobs. Inspiring young people by showing them the opportunities needs to be in the plan somewhere. I refuse to believe that kids give up that early in life and accept a life of unemployment and benefits - no matter how generous they appear to be. I'm pretty sure its not just on the Ormeau though - we'd have noticed 20K of them wandering up and down together! Tue, 25 Feb 2014 14:12:08 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/20000-northern-ireland-school-pupils-miss-weeks-of-lessons-30038312.html#IDComment798337572 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/mayhem-at-belfasts-royal-victoria-hospital-emergency-department-after-surge-of-patients-30038438.html#IDComment798332668 Lets not let the politicians off too easily! I guess what I'm trying to say is that we can and must hold our politicians to account on these issues. No-one is going to successfully set up new political structures and parties anytime soon so we're stuck with what we have. But if we keep telling them that our priorities are things like Health and Education rather than the divisive stuff then they might start to devote a bit of energy to fixing things. Then we can really judge if they have the capability to do the job and act accordingly. Tue, 25 Feb 2014 13:50:42 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/mayhem-at-belfasts-royal-victoria-hospital-emergency-department-after-surge-of-patients-30038438.html#IDComment798332668 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/lisburn-just-like-an-archaeological-dig-30038518.html#IDComment798331160 Brian - What you needed to do was take the short walk down Bridge Street and turn left, and there in front of you you'll find the Lisburn Island Arts Centre, complete with a Theatre / Concert Hall & Art Gallery. They have a fantastic program of events for all ages and artistic tastes to watch and participate in. I'd be pretty sure they even have Operatic performances from time to time, I've seen the Ulster Orchestra play there. As for the pedestrian area of the city centre, it is undergoing much needed renovations and it will all be done in a few weeks. In the meantime if you're struggling to get into the shops take that short walk and open your mind. Tue, 25 Feb 2014 13:43:52 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/lisburn-just-like-an-archaeological-dig-30038518.html#IDComment798331160 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/mayhem-at-belfasts-royal-victoria-hospital-emergency-department-after-surge-of-patients-30038438.html#IDComment798301364 Its too easy just to go off down this route - in a way we're letting our politicians off too easily with it. I'd absolutely agree that Poots has proven he is not capable of fixing this and he should go. But also what about the cross party Health Committee at Stormont who's job it is to hold the Minister and the Department to account? What about the MLA's who's constituents are suffering because of these issues. We should be putting them all under pressure as our representatives to put focus and energy into solving these problems. But we let them go off to the margins on divisive issues, and then we vote them all back in. Time for a change, but only the wider public can make that happen. Tue, 25 Feb 2014 11:37:23 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/mayhem-at-belfasts-royal-victoria-hospital-emergency-department-after-surge-of-patients-30038438.html#IDComment798301364 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/20000-northern-ireland-school-pupils-miss-weeks-of-lessons-30038312.html#IDComment798298053 This is a really shocking set of statistics. We have an excellent School system at the top end which we must ensure continues but we are clearly struggling to educate those either less academically able or who are dealing with issues preventing them from achieving a good schooling. We need a system which engages this group and gives them skills required to succeed in life or they will get stuck in a downward cycle. Tue, 25 Feb 2014 11:23:24 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/20000-northern-ireland-school-pupils-miss-weeks-of-lessons-30038312.html#IDComment798298053 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-assembly-members-eat-400-of-mints-in-one-year-30038399.html#IDComment798271201 They have got to be kidding! An MLA actually asked a formal question about this, how do they have the time to discuss such nonsense? Great that they all had a good laugh whilst down the road Staff and Patients at the RVH are in tears. Tue, 25 Feb 2014 09:33:12 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-assembly-members-eat-400-of-mints-in-one-year-30038399.html#IDComment798271201 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/mayhem-at-belfasts-royal-victoria-hospital-emergency-department-after-surge-of-patients-30038438.html#IDComment798267289 Far too late. Management are now terrified of calling this what it is - another major incident. They continue to be in denial about the scale of these issues, but staff have been telling them for years that this is the consequence of poor decision making. Some of it can be traced back to the (still) temporary closure of the A&E at the City Hospital - The RVH unit was never ever going to be able to cope with the extra demand. On top of that there is no joined up thinking about how to move patients through the health system. So staff elsewhere in the RVH today will be under massive pressure to clear beds to allow the flow of patients from A&E to be relieved. But to do that they will be moving patients out of hospital who are not well enough to be released to other forms of care - and the consequence is that many will simply re-appear in, you guessed it, the RVH A&E dept. in a few days time. A lack of planning, lack of resources and a lack of political capability to grasp and fix this system Tue, 25 Feb 2014 09:17:12 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/mayhem-at-belfasts-royal-victoria-hospital-emergency-department-after-surge-of-patients-30038438.html#IDComment798267289 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/uup-fury-that-richard-haass-briefed-the-president-30038502.html#IDComment798264806 Hard to know whether the 'Fury' and 'Fresh Row' are just poor reporting of an over exaggerated disagreement. Either way its astonishing our politicians even have time to discuss this stuff given the state of our Health Service and Education system. They should be putting their energy into sorting out key public services and we should be holding them to account. Tue, 25 Feb 2014 09:06:21 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/uup-fury-that-richard-haass-briefed-the-president-30038502.html#IDComment798264806 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/royal-victoria-hospital-extra-staff-called-in-as-pressure-increases-at-jampacked-ae-30037345.html#IDComment798110776 The Department of Health, the Minister and Senior Management in the Health Service are in complete denial about the scale of the issues. The health service is complex but it seems to lack good internal communication and leadership. But them it was picked as the 9th choice of 10 ministries at the Assembly last time out. Why is Poots still Minister? Nobody else will touch the job. Meanwhile the wider public allow all our politicians off the hook of responsibility by bickering about nonsense divisive issues - Just check out the volume of comments elsewhere on this site today versus 5 on this topic. Mon, 24 Feb 2014 22:46:53 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/royal-victoria-hospital-extra-staff-called-in-as-pressure-increases-at-jampacked-ae-30037345.html#IDComment798110776 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/fears-over-future-of-belfast-international-airport-as-longhaul-plans-to-toronto-and-abu-dhabi-stall-29994635.html#IDComment798104012 You don't need to 'find out by accident'. Just Google Good Friday Agreement and you'll get the entire text so you won't have to risk typing such divisive nonsense. (It simply lists Tourism as one of 12 possible areas for North South Cooperation - just to save you some time.) Mon, 24 Feb 2014 22:22:25 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/fears-over-future-of-belfast-international-airport-as-longhaul-plans-to-toronto-and-abu-dhabi-stall-29994635.html#IDComment798104012 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/protestant-boy-punished-for-not-attending-first-communion-30020048.html#IDComment796408376 There's a lot wrong with this place, but a lot good too - We can be our own worst enemies about the image we project. I'm glad you're enjoying being here, I lived in Dublin for 6 years from 1999, best time of my life - course it was before my daughter was born and emptied my wallet! Wed, 19 Feb 2014 17:17:22 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/protestant-boy-punished-for-not-attending-first-communion-30020048.html#IDComment796408376 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/protestant-boy-punished-for-not-attending-first-communion-30020048.html#IDComment796407112 Cheers, Its up to all of us to make a change. If we put the same energy into issues with a common good we'd have a lot of things fixed in no time, maybe! Don't get me wrong though, I've been one of so called silent majority for a long time. My local MLA was out canvassing last year and came to my house. He asked if there was anything he could do to help me. Now I could have raised the education system and why my daughter was having to endure the nonsense of our transfer system, or why my wife comes home from work at the RVH each day stressed to hell or even something about the economy. I bottled it and asked about the pot hole at the end of my drive! Must do better if we're to change the nature of debate Wed, 19 Feb 2014 17:11:30 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/protestant-boy-punished-for-not-attending-first-communion-30020048.html#IDComment796407112