Latest Updates

The UK was struggling to get to grips with poverty before the pandemic. Immediate needs and underlying issues both need to be addressed in any recovery.

It is imperative that politicians and civil society in Northern Ireland exert all the influence they can to preserve the £20 a week increase in Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits, due to expire in April.

The post-primary transfer debacle appears finally to be over. What could have been a Covid-19 issue has become something more, thanks in large part to the Education Minister.

The Final Report of the Mother and Baby Commission was published this week. It is profoundly disturbing. Both church and state have apologised for their role. But the report is also an indictment of an entire society. 

Feeding hungry children should be uncontroversial. Combining this with activities to develop skills and knowledge sounds like a good idea – and work involving Children in NI shows promise.

In the past few months there have been a series of controversies as historians and researchers have exposed links between historic buildings, monuments and slavery.

The NI Human Rights Commissioner’s latest Annual Statement looks at 2020, the pandemic, and any progress – or not – in the wider rights picture for NI, where children appear to be second-class citizens.

If we are going to build a strong economy in Northern Ireland post pandemic and Brexit we are going to need to have the right workforce to power it.

Covid-19 may have increased loneliness - but loneliness was an issue before the pandemic and, without reform, will remain one even as society returns to normal or something very like it.

England has a severe teaching crisis. For the past seven years it has failed to meet its recruitment targets for new teachers. Its training colleges can only supply 85% of those required for secondary schools.

Calls to cancel this year’s post-primary transfer tests continue to mount – and the list of barriers to a fair testing process is growing. The Education Minister is gambling on everything going smoothly.

The vaccination programme marks the beginning of the end of the pandemic just as the shortening days herald the end of what has been an unforgettably traumatic year.

The pandemic has shown once more how important childcare is to many families in Northern Ireland – and why proper help from Stormont is essential.

Stormont’s Education Chair Chris Lyttle said this week: “For an education system to separate children as young as five on the basis of community and religious background is socially and financially flawed.” That’s just the half of it.

Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín explains her plans to revitalise the Housing Executive. 

The delay – or complete absence – of a consultation on the planned UK Shared Prosperity Fund is not encouraging. Perhaps this week will bring some news.

Here’s a question you thought no-one would ever ask. What impact has the pandemic had on paramilitaries?

More than half of young people in Northern Ireland say they have been bullied in the past six months, according to research from the Northern Ireland Anti-Bullying Forum.

In all the excitement that surrounded the announcement of a new housing policy last week, it is important not to forget the enormous role played by Housing Associations in Northern Ireland.

Throughout the pandemic, Westminster has not responded to the needs of community and voluntary organisations or the people they serve. That needs to change.