NI universities are facing financial peril and technological armageddon... well, at least that's what my chatbot is telling me
Surprise, surprise... Stormont won't be increasing university tuition fees in Northern Ireland. The begging letter failed to get through The Hill's Difficult Decision Alert filter and ended up in a bottom drawer alongside loose batteries, takeaway menus, Nokia phones and feasibility studies for the introduction of water charges.
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Nama trial: Jamie Bryson says he sent private messages to Sinn Féin's Daithí McKay
The loyalist activist Jamie Bryson has admitted sending private messages to Sinn Féin's Daithí McKay before appearing at a Stormont committee but denied they made a secret Bryson has been on trial for the past three weeks along with two others, including Mr McKay, on charges related to misconduct in public all deny the charges against themThe Crown's case is that Mr McKay and Mr Bryson manipulated how evidence was presented to a Northern Ireland Assembly committee meeting on 23 September 2015. The finance committee was investigating Northern Ireland property loans by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).The finance committee meeting was chaired by Mr McKay, and the court heard that he and Mr Bryson exchanged a series of direct messages on Twitter in the weeks before the hearing. 'Not bosom buddies' During his appearance at the committee in 2015, Mr Bryson spoke about how Northern Ireland property loans were handled by the National Asset Management Agency, known as Nama. He made an allegation about the then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Peter Robinson, which was later denied and described by the politician as "scurrilous".Giving evidence in the trial for the first time, Mr Bryson told the court: "I made no agreement with Daithí McKay that he would do anything."He added: "We weren't bosom buddies. We'd spent probably the last three or four years kicking lumps out of each other in the media." Asked why he made contact with Mr McKay on Twitter before the committee meeting, Mr Bryson said he had lobbied all of the main parties on the committee before giving insisted he did not want to break any rules by appearing at the committee and claimed that the content of the Twitter exchanges showed this to be the Bryson told the court: "I don't say 'I'm coming along to tell a bunch of lies, help us out?'."The prosecution said Mr Bryson and Mr McKay were involved in an attempt to subvert the rules of the committee, in order to cause "considerable political embarrassment" to a number of people, including Mr Bryson, 35, from Rosepark, in Donaghadee, County Down, denies a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public McKay, 43, from Loughan Road, Dunamanagh, County Tyrone, denies a charge of misconduct in public office. Another man, who was a Sinn Féin member at the time, is also on O'Hara, 41, from Lisnahunshin Road, Cullybackey, County Antrim, faces a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office, which he Crown alleges he, like Mr McKay, was involved in an exchange of messages with Mr Bryson in the run up to the committee Bryson told the court that Mr McKay put him in contact with Mr O' was suggested that Mr O'Hara's role as a Sinn Féin worker meant he operated as a "back channel" to Mr McKay but Mr Bryson rejected said: "I essentially took it as Mr McKay palming me off to a policy worker."Mr Bryson insisted he did "nothing improper" by giving evidence in the way he did to the Stormont committee about trial continues.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Nokia, Nvidia, defence firms back EU-funded drone infrastructure oversight project
June 4 (Reuters) - A consortium of more than 42 organizations, led by Nokia ( opens new tab, will work on an unmanned drone project aimed at protecting and bolstering the resilience of Europe's most critical infrastructures, the Finnish network equipment maker said on Wednesday. The member organizations, which include start-ups and universities, will build new capabilities such as laser or radar sensors on top of hardware platforms like drones built by defence companies. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the European Union's inability to protect its vital systems, a vulnerability starkly underscored by drone warfare's increasing capacity to inflict devastation deep within adverse territory. "Safeguarding of our critical infrastructure has not always been a first priority," project leader Thomas Eder at Nokia said in an interview with Reuters, adding that EU-funding for a similar venture did not come through only a few years earlier. The project is funded in part by participating countries, companies and the EU under its Chips Joint Undertaking, opens new tab programme, which also allows non-EU countries such as Israel to participate. Among companies involved in the venture were Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and European defence firms Safran ( opens new tab, Leonardo ( opens new tab and Saab ( opens new tab. Nokia is looking to do more around defence as its new CEO has identified the sector as one of the company's priority areas, alongside data centres and AI, a Nokia spokesperson said. The aerial, ground and underwater robot project, initially scheduled to run for three years, is expected to generate 90 million euros ($102.7 million) in revenue by 2035, according to a statement seen by Reuters. Nokia was not able to confirm the total funding numbers for the project. While the initiative is targeted for civil security, when asked if it could be later spun-off into a dual-use project for defence purposes, Eder said, "I think it is highly possible." "But for the time being, this is a critical infrastructure project for power lines, for power plants, for railways, for ports, for any type of power grid applications," he said. ($1 = 0.8767 euros)
The Independent
3 days ago
- The Independent
Ombudsman has received 40 complains of ‘police predatory behaviour'
Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman has received 40 reports alleging 'police predatory behaviour', Stormont has heard. Justice Minister Naomi Long said the Ombudsman Marie Anderson's office receive around eight such complaints a year, and has not indicated that the number is increasing, but that there is a 'steady flow'. Ms Long was speaking during Assembly Questions for her department. Sinn Fein MLA Danny Baker put to her that a recent Criminal Justice Inspection report noted that as of July 2024, the Police Ombudsman's Office had 19 active investigations of abuse of position for sexual purposes. He asked whether the minister intended to introduce a 'more comprehensive vetting process and a code of conduct'. Ms Long pointed out that the employment of police officers and vetting is not a matter for her department. She said: 'However when you look to this report, abuse of position, concerns and complaints, there are recommendations on how justice organisations should address matters and the timeframes within which they should do so. 'The PSNI, Police Ombudsman Northern Ireland and Public Prosecution Service all have responsibilities in addressing the abuse of position that referenced. 'Given that those organisations are operationally independent from me as justice minister and my department, I can't comment on progress of the recommendations, however I do agree that it is important that robust and effective processes are in place to ensure accountability and safe guarding. 'Given the vulnerability of some of the people in contact with police, it is important that we have absolute confidence that those individuals involved in that unethical behaviour do not draw other ethical officers into disrepute.' Asked by Ulster Unionist MLA Alan Chambers for the number of cases of abuse of position for sexual purposes that have been investigated in the last 12 months, compared to the previous 12 months, Ms Long said she would not have access to that information directly. 'However since 2021, PONI has advised me that they have received around 40 complaints of what they described as police predatory behaviour, and say that they continue to receive an average of eight cases per year,' she said 'So they have not suggested that that has significantly increased but there has certainly been a steady flow.'
