Society

Government fails to back drugs strategy with adequate funding

Community activists from Dublin have today criticised the cuts to the funding of local community and anti-drug schemes across the country.

Speaking at the launch of the Donore Community Drug Team (CDT) 2010-2013 Strategic Plan, activists and academics criticised the "lack of joined up thinking" exhibited by the government in its strategy thus far.

Irish artists lend support to local protests against library closure

As the recent budget cuts are felt by local communities, Irish artists have lent their support to what they see as unjust closures of important amenities. 

On Saturday, famous faces joined the local community to protest the closure of Sallynoggin library, which is being implemented by Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council as a result of government budget cuts.

Securing Africa: Post-9/11 Discourses on Terrorism

Our world is becoming increasingly uncertain. There are transnational dangers. But Securing Africa asks its readers to rigorously question dominant discourses about terrorism since 9/11. The aim of the book is to do this with Africa as a case study.

Critical thinking after 9/11, the editor contends, was silenced or slandered as traitorous. Even the Dixie Chicks bore massive criticism for their anti-war comments in 2003.

Irish Times wins out at Digital Media Awards

The Irish Times website won the Best in Media award at the 2010 Digital Media Awards last night, beating Heineken Music, RTE's Morning Ireland and its live news website, RTE News Now.

The site was praised for its broad appeal, its content and its design. Online editor Hugh Linehan said he was "delighted" with the award and said he hoped to continue to build on the popularity of the website.

Cuts in arts budget damaging culture and economy

Martin Cullen, the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, announced this week that over 3m people visited Irish cultural institutions in 2009. 

This calls into question the rationality of recent brutal cuts to the arts budget and indicates that greater investment in the arts and cultural tourism could make a significant contribution to economic recovery.

Deficiencies in mental health care persist

  • 25 February 2010
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Tackling the problems of a lack of political will and coordination across government departments is critical in the fight for a respectable mental health system in Ireland, according to Amnesty Ireland.

Milking the recession

Profitable companies are using the current economic crisis to weaken terms and conditions of employment and drive down wages of some of the countries lowest paid workers according to a new report published by Mandate.

'Milking The Recession', launched by the retail sector trade union earlier this month claims that there is "an aggressive and determined" drive by companies to roll back the modest gains made by workers in recent years.

HSE Service Plan 2010: An impossible task?

Two and a half weeks ago, amidst the media frenzy of George Lee’s resignation, the HSE Service Plan was published. The HSE Service Plan is the HSE’s most important publication of the year, as it is the contract between the HSE and the government which details the type and volume of service the HSE will provide in the year ahead within the budget it is allocated by government. 

A Kind Of Intimacy

The central figure, and narrator, of A Kind Of Intimacy is Annie Fairhurst. She has recently moved to a new estate but a mysterious past gradually unfolds. Her erratic behaviour is conveyed through a narrative style that often seems balanced and measured. She is the ultimate neighbour from hell. God help you if you live in the suburbs and she moves in next door. She roots through your trash, steals from your clothesline, accuses you of killing her cat, and much more.

Interview with Jenn Ashworth

Jenn Ashworth is a full-time writer and freelance literature development worker. She is currently working on her second novel and her first, A Kind of Intimacy, has just become available as a paperback. She also teaches creative writing and blogging workshops, organises literature events and projects and edits manuscripts. Her blog can be read at http://jennashworth.blogspot.com/

(Jenn Ashworth, photographed by Martin Figura)

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