Comment from the Editor

"The archaic law which gives Members of Parliament the freedom to say just about anything in the House of Commons and not face up to the consequences of their words has to be of dubious value.

Not for the first time, parliamentary privilege impacted on Northern Ireland recently when a Belfast Member of Parliament made a series of claims in the House about one of our leading business figures.

We’re certainly not going to repeat any or all of the claims in this ‘unprivileged’ space. Not surprisingly, we don’t enjoy the sort of legal cocoon which the MP in question and his colleagues can hide behind.

But one can help but speculate - as many are doing - about whether the source of the claims might just have been a rival in the cut-throat world of Belfast property development.

The target of the clains, Peter Curistan of the Sheridan Group, is not a man who tries to court favour or make himself liked. He can be outspoken and he can be irascible. But he has made a highly significant contribution to the city of Belfast through the years ….from his pioneering development of multiscreen cinema complexes when we had little else in this city to the magnificent Odyssey, a development which nowadays stands at the heart of Belfast life.

He also has a passion for development, regeneration and the creation of imaginative projects.

Belfast’s MPs ought to be thankful to him. Directly and indirectly, Curistan continues to provide high levels of employment for many Belfast citizens.

There are many who would argue that he has done a whole lot more for the city of Belfast than all of its MP’s put together.


The education debate continues to rage, with Minister Angela Smith recently under fire for backing Martin McGuinness’ original contentious decision to scrap academic selection at secondary level here.

The argument is one that has been running for many long years. But the net result looks like being the creation of a whole new private school network around these parts, including some of the better known school ‘brand names’ around.

Some are mourning the fact that that should be the case….but is it necessarily a bad thing?

Meanwhile, lost in the clamour around academic selection was a rather odious decision which appears to have been taken by the same Minister…or her department at least.

In recent times, the Government has turned down development plans for four integrated schools. It appears that a new provision has been added to the list of criteria integrated schools must meet.

The new provision insists that proposed integrated schools must not impact adversely on segregated schools nearby. In other words, as long as there are empty seats in a segregated school, integrated education will get no support.

Yet it is the integrated schools which are over subscribed, by some 700 pupils or so.

Selection and the future of traditional grammar schools is one thing, but this is an appalling decision which panders to traditional segregated educationalists and does nothing for the long-term future of Northern Ireland and our children"

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