A Rapid Reading Review of the media – short reports and web links @ 9.35 am
Northern Ireland report: Statistically the future is Catholic and female
Belfast Telegraph – Catholic middle classes have been the big winners from the peace process, but they are increasingly comfortable to stay within the union, a new report has concluded. In a bold statement the author of The Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report has declared: “Statistically the future is Catholic, the future is female.” The report, issued by the Community Relations Council, is the first major stock-taking of the Northern Ireland peace process 14 years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed and will be seen as a warning for the future prospects of Protestant males.
Northern Ireland woman hunted in al-Qaida plot probe
Belfast Telegraph – A Northern Ireland woman is being sought for questioning by police over a suspected Islamic bombing campaign in east Africa. Samantha Lewthwaite, who was married to one of the 7/7 London bombers, is suspected of being part of a cell affiliated to al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida-linked group in Somalia, that planned to mount a series of attacks on the Kenyan coastal resort of Mombasa last Christmas. The 28-year-old, who spent part of her childhood in the Whyte Acres estate in Banbridge, has been on the run with her three children since anti-terrorist officers in Nairobi swooped on the terror gang.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-woman-hunted-in-alqaida-plot-probe-16125122.html
University’s city plans revealed
BBC – The University of Ulster unveils its plans for its campus in the centre of Belfast.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17225036
Queen’s University’s ‘softly approach’ to St Patrick’s Day blasted by University of Ulster
Belfast Telegraph – A row has erupted between Northern Ireland’s two main universities over how to stop student riots engulfing the Holylands area of Belfast on St Patrick’s Day. The University of Ulster has accused Queen’s University of encouraging a “four-day party” by giving its students two extra days off to mark March 17 this year. But Queen’s has hit back saying the UU alternative approach of warning trouble makers they will be expelled “will be extremely hard to execute”.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/queenrsquos-university-belfasts-softly-approach-to-st-patricks-day-blasted-by-university-of-ulster-16124058.html#ixzz1nwxPOkMZ
Peacemaker sparks radio debate
News Letter – South Armagh peacemaker Ian Bothwell faced stiff opposition yesterday on Radio Ulster’s Talkback show after revealing in yesterday’s News Letter that he knows IRA men who are seeking forgiveness for their past. Mr Bothwell said he knew “a number of republicans who have engaged in front-line activity. They would like closure. They would like to deal with the torment in their minds and I think they would like to have a framework which would allow them to feel safe in doing so”.
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/peacemaker_sparks_radio_debate_1_3575585
Remembrance in NI need not be divisive for communities
Irish Times – Commemorations can help shape our collective political, social and cultural conscience and may be a source of healing and learning. The way in which commemorations, including parading, are managed is more important now than ever given the start of a decade of centenary commemorations of a period that includes many major events shaping where we are today and culminating in the physical division of the island. The sobering truth is that how we pay tribute in 2012 will tell us more about our society and relations now than it will tell us about events 100 years ago. Few of us need to be reminded of how tangible and long-lasting were the ramifications of the events we are now commemorating.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0302/1224312633370.html
Canada calls for Irish farmers willing to buy land
Examiner – Certain regions in Canada are willing to give permanent residency to Irish farmers who are willing to buy land and set up shop in the North American country. The employment opportunities for Irish people have been well documented recently, with the visit of a Canadian delegation aiming to fill 335,000 construction jobs in western Canada. Edwina Shanahan of migration experts VisaFirst.com said Canada now rivals Australia in terms of attracting an Irish workforce, and predicted that 6,000 Canadian work permits would be granted to Irish people this year.
Occupy Belfast protesters at bank may get a visit from council inspectors
Belfast Telegraph – The remaining Occupy Belfast protesters who set up camp in a city centre square last October have moved into a derelict bank they plan to convert into a cafe. And it has emerged that council environmental health officials could be sent in to inspect the premises. As the last of the Occupy London camp at St Paul’s Cathedral was being forcibly dismantled this week, demonstrators in Belfast were voluntarily removing their makeshift marquee and tents to focus on the disused Bank of Ireland building on Royal Avenue.