Latest Updates

We all die eventually but, before we do, most of us encounter death many times. Not all of us handle it well. Additional support could help.

The levels of animal cruelty we are prepared to tolerate tell us a lot about the levels of civilisation our society has reached.

New research reaffirms an old oddity – Northern Ireland has the lowest rate of poverty of any UK region. However, that’s not the whole story.

The High Court this week declared that the rights of two children with sight loss were breached when authorities failed to help get them to school. This grim story points to a bigger problem facing NI.

At its heart, the debate about membership of the EU and the subsequent falling out over the protocol was a clash caused by different visions, both of which are now impossible to achieve.

The Chancellor has flagged up economic inactivity as an urgent issue. If he looks at this complex challenge and attempts a simple fix, he won’t get the results he wants.

Have you ever wondered what happens to the reports, insights and research commissioned by interest groups and delivered to government at a time when we have no functioning government in place?

It has been a grim and desperately hard winter for hospital Emergency Departments (EDs).

For years, mental health provision was described as Northern Ireland’s ‘Cinderella Service’. What words would best describe services for special educational needs?

It is only when you pause to look back at how things were in Northern Ireland that you can see just how far we have come since the days of mayhem and carnage.

A huge new report, years in the making, says that the community and voluntary sector’s increasing importance needs to be fully embraced. The private, public and third sectors all need to work together to build the best-possible future.

Modesty is such a rare quality among leaders in these days of “influencers” and social media braggarts that it can be disconcerting to come across it.

Research from late last year shows that organisations in Northern Ireland are not all fully comfortable in the modern digital age – but, with a bit of support, the right improvements are achievable.

Celine McStravick’s appointment as chief executive of NICVA seems the logical next chapter for a woman who has been deeply influenced by the sector she now represents.

Two new pieces of research lay out two sides of the cost-of-living crisis: poor mental health, and communities rising to meet the problems we all face.

One of the biggest problems with addressing climate change is the sheer scale of the challenge.

Distribution of the £600 home energy payment has begun. However, for some older people in Northern Ireland, huge challenges remain as they struggle both with the cost of living and the risk of loneliness.

The year 2022 was a disaster for households, especially poorer ones. Sadly 2023 is set to be even worse, according to the highly respected think tank The Resolution Foundation.

Reforming Assembly and Executive structures has been suggested several times as a way to end the current impasse. Will that work, in theory or practice? Scope looks at one suggestion: weighted majority voting.

Does big data provide an opportunity to improve the world? Can our personal info be used for nefarious ends? The answer to both is yes, potentially. Everyone should have an educated say in how we, as a society, use data.