Belfast Telegraph

It is great to have government again, and many of the ministerial statements made so far have been very positive. One example is new Economy Minister Conor Murphy recognising how central comprehensive childcare provision is to female participation in the workforce, raising productivity and reducing economic inactivity. Similar comments were made by the incoming First […]

Many years ago I interviewed the late Frank Dobson, then health secretary for England, about his plans for reforming the NHS. ‘It’s like turning round a giant super-tanker’, he said, using an analogy that applies in practice to pretty well all public service reform. Tony Blair, in his initial years as Prime Minister, believed he

The cost of living crisis has hit Northern Ireland very severely, with costs rising much faster than incomes. In fact, incomes last year increased more slowly in Northern Ireland than in any other part of the UK — reflecting our greater dependence on the public sector (where pay has been held down by British government

Housing policy in Northern Ireland is a mess. It is most evident in the social housing waiting list sitting at over 44,000 households, while we build less than a thousand social housing units a year.   But it is equally a mess when it comes to the private rental sector. Policy, it seems to me,

Capital investment of €44.5m (£38m) has been awarded by the Irish Government for the expansion of Ulster University’s Magee campus in Derry. This is intended to increase the number of students at the campus from both Northern Ireland and the Republic, including through the construction of new teaching and student facilities. It will also support

Young adults and teenagers are frustrated at the divisions in our society, making Northern Ireland a less attractive place in which to live. Over 40% of those surveyed by think-tank Pivotal are planning to move away. Yet, while this stark finding grabbed the headlines last week, the number one change called for by young people

Every day, it seems, new and harsh cuts to our public services are announced by those civil servants forced to run Northern Ireland’s departments because there is no functioning government. Cuts, so far, have included schemes that support toddlers from deprived families, schooling for children with special needs and student places on nursing and allied

The Windsor Framework should be wonderful news for Northern Ireland’s economy. But even if the DUP and wider unionism do endorse it, this is only the beginning of a necessary new journey if it is to lead to greater prosperity and more jobs. As we approach the 25 year anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement,

Sir Michael Lyons’ review of Invest NI is both brutal and excellent. This is an organisation, his report suggests, that has weak strategic leadership, poor internal and external relationships and fails to achieve the necessary influence on partner organisations. “Profound changes are needed in the organisation that requires reform and repurposing….. there is considerable room

It is often referred to as the ‘productivity puzzle’, yet there are some obvious reasons why NI underperforms against competitors when it comes to economic performance and output per person. The whole of the UK, in fact, has underperformed in terms of productivity in the period of recovery since the Great Recession of 2008/9. Brexit

Austerity in 2010 was a cause of subsequent weak economic output, according to some leading economists. “The UK’s underperformance arguably owes rather more to austerity and George Osborne than to Brexit and David Cameron,” wrote London School of Economics professor Jonathan Portes a few days ago. Portes, a former government economist, pointed out that the

Whether you are a unionist, republican, or neither, there is near universal recognition that Queen Elizabeth helped bind the United Kingdom. The challenge for King Charles will be to achieve a similar role. If he doesn’t – and it will be tough for a man often regarded as remote – the prospects for Irish reunification