Department for Communities – Department has responsibility for sport, arts and culture
Gallery Premium Stalled £36.2m football stadium project’s legal advice ‘won’t be published’ Legal advice on progressing a £36.2m Stormont scheme to upgrade football stadia will not be published, the Communities Minister has said.
Communities Minister seeks urgent meeting with colleagues over homelessness problem Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has requested a meeting with the Department of Justice and Health Department to discuss "immediate" steps to tackle our homelessness problem.
‘More lives will be lost on streets of Belfast with no Executive’: Authorities urged to consider preventative facilities to help homeless drug users The political instability at Stormont means no funding, facilities or strategy for helping drug users on the streets of Belfast — and that will continue to cost lives, according to homeless charities.
Premium Law to ban conversion therapy ‘cannot be progressed’ due to Stormont crisis Plans to ban controversial conversion therapy in Northern Ireland have become the latest victim of the Stormont crisis, it has emerged.
Social supermarket programme boosted by £1.5m expansion in response to cost of living crisis A social supermarket programme that began almost five years ago has been expanded to tackle the cost of living crisis.
Jim Allister MLA Opinion Public should be grateful for light being shone into dark corners of failing NI council I welcome the outcome of the NIAO special investigation into Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and its robust findings.
Premium Over 6,000 elderly people in NI waiting for a home, figures show Thousands of elderly people in Northern Ireland have been waiting more than four years for a place to call home, it can be revealed.
Play Premium Crumbling George Best Hotel building in Belfast city centre sparks call for return of heritage grant A Stormont department has been urged to reinstate grants for the restoration of listed buildings after masonry started falling from the Scottish Mutual in Belfast — the proposed site of a George Best-themed hotel.
Premium ‘No plans’ for Custom House Square fountains in Belfast to be fixed Fountains at Belfast’s Custom House Square are to be decommissioned as a Stormont department believes the cost of repairing them is just money down the drain, according to a councillor.
First cost-of-living £326 support payment will be paid to vulnerable people in Northern Ireland next month A £326 payment to help with the cost-of-living for those most vulnerable in Northern Ireland is set to be issued next month, the Department for Communities has confirmed.
Gallery Premium Housing crisis worsens with 44,000 on waiting list as 22,000 homes lie vacant Almost 22,000 homes here are lying empty while more than 44,000 people are on the waiting list, according to new figures.
Turner Prize winner set to go on display at Ulster Museum The 2021 Turner Prize winner – The Druithaib's Ball created by Belfast’s Array Collective – is set to go on display at the Ulster Museum next year.
Premium Belfast’s Linen Quarter gets an upgrade: Greek-style dining and outdoor movie nights French boules, Greek-style dining and outdoor movie nights — it's Belfast city centre, but not like you've ever seen it before.
Emergency fuel payments cannot be reopened without Executive: Hargey An emergency fuel payment scheme cannot be reopened due to the lack of an Executive, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has said.
Calls for Stormont to reopen Emergency Fuel Payment Scheme to address the cost-of-living crisis There have been calls for Stormont’s Emergency Fuel Payment Scheme to be reopened to help people deal with rising costs.
Cost of living, housing and Emergency Fuel Payment Scheme feature in first Assembly questions of the new mandate The cost-of-living crisis, housing and an emergency fuel payment scheme: these are just some of the most pressing issues covered in the first written Assembly questions for Stormont’s caretaker ministers.
Premium Viewpoint Opinion We need to get the ball rolling on football stadium upgrades Northern Ireland’s football clubs hold a special place in the hearts of many.
Premium £332k spent on football stadium upgrade scheme – £55k more than stated in letter to Stormont committee A further £55,000 more than previously reported has been spent on the long-awaited £36m upgrade programme for Northern Ireland’s football stadiums.
Premium Buildings empty as civil servants hold back on return to office Just 4% of staff at one Executive department have returned to the office on a regular basis.
Ulster University and Derry City FC close to teaming up on first-rate sports facility Ulster University (UU) and Derry City FC are close to an agreement which would see them partnering up to build new sports facilities in the city.
Premium Viewpoint Opinion Belfast councillors have set an example others should follow Many politicians in Northern Ireland — and elsewhere — are paid handsomely, and it many cases, rightly so.
Stormont officials slammed over ‘irrelevant’ memo about alcohol laws by funeral and wedding car sector Stormont officials have been accused of ‘wasting their time’ by wedding and funeral car firm bosses, after being sent an email about changes to liquor licensing laws designed for taxi drivers.
Salvation Army workers still waiting on £500 Covid recognition payment Salvation Army workers who supported the most disadvantaged in society throughout the pandemic are still waiting on their £500 Covid recognition payment.
Expanded services for homeless women to launch following 11-week protest outside Belfast’s only hostel for women Expanded services for homeless women – including a women’s only hostel in Belfast – are to be opened in May, according to the Unite trade union.
Premium Just £277k spent as multi-million pound Northern Ireland football stadiums scheme lies idle Just over £277,000 of taxpayers’ money has been spent on a long-awaited upgrade programme for Northern Ireland’s football stadiums — which has not yet been delivered despite being announced more than 10 years ago.
Ukraine President Zelensky accepts invitation to address Irish Parliament The Ukrainian President is set to address the Irish Parliament next month.
Communities Minister Hargey silent on cost of long-delayed plan to upgrade football stadiums Questions remain over how much has been spent by the Department for Communities on the long-awaited football stadia upgrade programme.
Gallery Premium Home heating oil price in Northern Ireland drops by 22.5% but Consumer Council warns it could be short-lived The price of home heating oil may finally be stabilising, new figures suggest.
Unpaid carers facing high levels of debt and stress: survey Carers who save the Northern Ireland economy almost £7bn a year are running up debt on credit card bills just to keep their loved ones healthy.
Gallery Premium MLAs who tried to cut rents will actually force them up, claims estate agents’ body A body which represents estate agents has claimed that private rents in Northern Ireland are likely to increase as a consequence of a Stormont law which could see the forcible reduction of rents by 10% - even though the law is unlikely to ever be used.
