The collapse of public services in NI over the last 7 years of political abandonment is across the board. We need serious politically supported multi-year recovery plans. Without them we cannot plausibly ask for more money and things just deteriorate.

Last night showed the limits of Iran’s capacity to win a conventional war. Rather, by far the greatest threat to Israel is Netanyahu’s strategy of responding to Hamas inhumanity with months of scorched earth inhumanity because nobody can defend it. We all need a ceasefire in Gaza

The law of retaliation is that violence escalates unless we refuse revenge, Since last October escalation is all we have seen. We can be horrified about the next step but we dare not be shocked. Cliche or not, the choice is step back and seek solutions or this gets even worse.

Iran's state TV has just read a breaking statement by the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), in which the IRGC confirmed the launch of 'dozens of drones and missiles' against 'specific targets' in Israel.

In Ireland the sky is part of the story

One thing you can bet on is that most political voices in NI are unremittingly hypocritical when it comes to the past. And most share the same characteristics: prosecute their guys and let our guys off, while protesting undying commitment to the truth.

belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/column…

GB and RoI politicians agree that NI must be held at arm’s length. No change there since the 1920s tbh. Yet NI politics obsesses over tiny nuances of fantasy while failing to face the poverty and decay in front of our noses. The agenda is sustained collaborative problem-solving

The lack of real strategic infrastructure planning in NI is a crisis as big as health, education,policing and housing. No serious plans for a green revolution, water management, placemaking, active travel or transport. Instead we fixate on schemes dreamed up without context.

So, has the Union in NI become a free floating political cause without a coherent political vehicle promoting it?

And is the cause (maintaining the Union) stronger or weaker or unchanged by that development?

While Paris captures all the headlines, Lyon is quietly undergoing its own vélorution.

“Les Voies Lyonnaises” will invest €500 million in 396 kilometers of infrastructure by 2030—putting 99% of its 2.3 million metropolitan residents within 10 minutes of a high-quality facility.

South Korean Liberal Party projected to win majority in parliamentary elections.
en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN202404…

BGFA is 26 yrs old today. But this never gets old, despite the endless wrangling. 👇

Was the TUV offering to compromise policy on devolution and the WF with the DUP and UUP, or hoping to control the policy of a whole bloc? Or would each agreed candidate have had their own personally tailored policies?
belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/…

Hopefully the start of more investment in rail, not the terminus. Key priority

The SEUPB is thrilled to announce a €165million (£141.9million) investment in cross-border rail services from the PEACEPLUS Programme.

This funding will transform the cross-border “Enterprise” train service, replacing the existing fleet with brand new trains and paving for a…

Great to welcome Hilary Benn to Ulster University this afternoon. Opportunity for powerful engagement between students and political leaders. Important reflections on challenges for NI ahead.

In a universal franchise nationality is only a non-negotiable identity issue for some people. For others, it is one consideration among several. And in a close popular vote the ambivalent are sometimes decisive (eg Scotland 2014?)

Hamas’ attacks on 7 October were grotesque. The Israeli response has been utterly catastrophic. This violence cannot eliminate violence, but escalates it. There is no security or justice in the ruins of Gaza, but there are uncountable seeds of more killings.

If the result of the next Irish GE looks anything like this, the next phase of Irish politics will be dominated by parish pumps and pork barrels rather than grand strategy.

Another chance to see two events I recorded on NvTv this evening: 8pm Eamonn Mallie in conversation with Mark Simpson about his memoir, and at 9pm a lovely panel event from Look North! The North Belfast Festival festival reflecting on the life of May Blood.