Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Transparency watchdog ‘blunted’ by staff shortage
PHIL MILLER reveals how staff shortages at the Information Commissioner’s Office are placing the public’s ‘right to know’ in jeopardy
A quarter of the total backlog at the Information Commissioner's Office relates to complaints about the Police Service of Northern Ireland
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
BRITAIN’S transparency watchdog is so short-staffed that the public’s “right to know” is under threat, experts have told the Morning Star.
Their stark warning is the latest development in our investigation into the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which we revealed last month has just two staff at its Belfast bureau.
The stressed-out pair have to handle complaints about freedom of information (FOI) requests that have been rejected by scores of public bodies across Northern Ireland.
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