School Sport Under Pressure

28/06/2026 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

For your blog at Acoms Dave, here is a 350–400-word article in your concise, direct, socially aware style.

Northern Ireland Schools Are Struggling to Keep Sport Alive

School Sport Under Pressure For years, school sport in Northern Ireland has been sold as essential for health, confidence, discipline, and mental well-being. Politicians regularly praise the value of PE and extracurricular activities. The problem is that many schools are now being asked to deliver all of this with shrinking budgets and rising costs.

Post-primary schools across Northern Ireland are facing severe financial pressure. The Education Authority warned in 2025 that schools were operating against a funding gap of around £300 million, with principals being asked to cut spending wherever possible. (ITVX)

School sport is under pressure when budgets tighten, and sport is often one of the first casualties.

Schools may still timetable PE lessons, but the wider sporting experience is becoming harder to sustain. Transport to matches, coaching costs, equipment, maintenance of pitches, and after-school programmes all require money that many schools simply do not have.

At the same time, families are also under pressure. Research from Ulster University found that 37% of children in Northern Ireland had missed opportunities to participate in sport because of financial pressures linked to the cost-of-living crisis. Some parents are even borrowing money to cover sports-related expenses. (Ulster University)

The situation becomes even more frustrating when schools are told there is “investment” in sport. Yes, there have been capital projects. Schemes such as “Your School Your Club” have funded floodlights, artificial pitches, and upgraded facilities at selected schools. (The Brief NI)

But a new pitch does not automatically mean a healthy sports programme.

A school can receive a facility upgrade and still struggle to afford staff, transport, or equipment. In many cases, schools increasingly rely on fundraising, local partnerships, and parental contributions to keep sports functioning.

There are also growing complaints about the cost of compulsory branded PE kits, with some parents saying sports uniforms now cost more than standard school clothing. (Reddit)

The long-term danger is obvious. Sport slowly becomes something available only to children whose families can afford it. That creates inequality, damages health outcomes, and weakens community participation.

Northern Ireland does still produce talented young athletes and committed school sports staff. But without stable long-term funding, schools are being forced into survival mode — and school sport is paying the price.

Links:

#SchoolSports #NorthernIreland #PEFunding #EducationCuts #YouthSport #SchoolFunding #MentalHealth #CostOfLiving #SportsForAll #EducationCrisis

Northern Ireland’s School Sports Crisis: Budget Cuts Are Letting Young People Down

28/05/2026 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Northern Ireland’s School Sports Cuts Are Failing Young People

Northern Ireland's School Sports Crisis For years, politicians have talked about improving children’s health, tackling obesity, supporting mental well-being, and giving young people better opportunities. Yet in Northern Ireland, schools are being forced to cut back the very activities that help achieve all of those goals: PE and sport.

Since 2023, both primary and post-primary schools have faced increasing pressure due to education budget cuts. One of the biggest blows came when the Department of Education ended the Curriculum Sports Programme, a £500,000-a-year initiative that provided specialist coaching through organisations such as the GAA and IFA. More than 24,000 pupils across over 200 schools benefited from the programme, alongside hundreds of teachers.

Now, schools are expected to fund those activities themselves from already stretched budgets.

Northern Ireland’s School Sports Crisis – The result has been predictable. Most primary schools are no longer able to deliver the statutory minimum of two hours of PE per week. Specialist coaching has disappeared from many schools, after-school clubs have been reduced, and inter-school competitions scaled back or cancelled altogether. Equipment is wearing out, pitches and changing facilities are deteriorating, and many schools cannot afford replacements.

The impact is not spread evenly. Schools in poorer communities are being hit hardest because they have less ability to raise money through parents or local fundraising. That means children from disadvantaged backgrounds are losing access to sport at a far greater rate than others.

This matters far beyond the football pitch or sports hall.

Sport improves physical health, confidence, discipline, teamwork, attendance, and mental well-being. For some young people, school sport provides structure, belonging, and positive adult role models that they may not get elsewhere. Removing those opportunities stores up bigger social and health problems for the future.

To their credit, schools and sporting organisations are trying to plug the gaps. Teachers are volunteering extra time, schools are sharing resources, and organisations such as the GAA, IFA, and Ulster Rugby continue limited support programmes where they can. But goodwill and volunteers cannot replace proper long-term investment.

The reality is simple: when education budgets are squeezed, PE and sport are often treated as optional extras. They are not. If Northern Ireland is serious about improving health, opportunity, and equality for young people, restoring proper funding for school sport should not be an afterthought — it should be a priority.

Links:

#NorthernIreland #SchoolSports #PEFunding #EducationCuts #YouthSport #ChildrensHealth #SchoolFunding #PhysicalEducation #EqualityInEducation #InvestInYouth

The Alarming Erosion of Civil Liberties in the UK

04/07/2025 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

AI Generated Picture for ‘The Alarming Erosion of Civil Liberties in the UK’

Civil Liberties in the UK

Over the past 150 years, there has been an alarming erosion of the UK’s civil rights landscape has experienced both significant expansions and notable erosions. From the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, Britain made major strides, including extending voting rights (1918, 1928, 1969), recognizing trade unions, establishing the welfare state, passing Race Relations Acts (1965, 1968, 1976), and decriminalizing homosexuality in 1967. These developments marked a period of progressive growth in civil liberties and social protections.

However, since the 1980s, a pattern of erosion has emerged, particularly driven by security concerns and government policies. Counter-terrorism legislation such as the Prevention of Terrorism Acts from 1974 onward, the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, and the Terrorism Act 2006 expanded detention powers and surveillance capabilities. The 2016 Investigatory Powers Act, often called the “Snooper’s Charter,” further increased mass surveillance.

Time Moves On

More recently, the 2020s have seen significant restrictions on civil rights. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and Public Order Act 2023 have curtailed protest rights, allowing police to impose restrictions based on noise and stop-and-search without suspicion. Immigration policies like the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and the Rwanda deportation scheme have undermined asylum protections. Additionally, data privacy has been weakened, and measures limiting judicial review and threatening withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights signal a troubling decline in legal protections.

Overall, while Britain historically expanded civil rights, recent decades have seen systematic rollbacks, often justified by security and sovereignty concerns, disproportionately affecting minorities, protesters, and refugees.

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UK Libraries under Threat

28/09/2023 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

UK Libraries under Threat

I was reading the article ‘As book bans soar, a more subtle form of censorship has begun ravaging U.S. libraries’, and it was obvious that American libraries are under attack; however, I then thought about what was happening to the libraries in the United Kingdom- and what I found was that UK Libraries under Threat.

My research indicates that yet again we live in two countries:

a. England, Scotland and Wales – where an article by Sarah Shaffi in the Guardian (Thu 2 Mar 2023) indicates that spending on British libraries has fallen 17% as i-person visits have soared.

and UK Libraries under Threat

b. In Northern Ireland, the Guardian reports (Ella Creamer, 22 Sep 2023) that its libraries can no longer afford to buy books, that the library service will operate with reduced hours

The Belfast Central Library in Royal Avenue

Whatever way you look at it, it is the ‘working poor’ who are being disenfranchised. They do not have the access to books, papers, magazines etc. that the upper and middle class do; also the government in the UK advised benefit claimants to make use of the free computers in the libraries to manage their claims – something they cannot do if there are no libraries open!

But, is there also a hidden agenda; if the libraries are starved of resources, isn’t it also going to be minority groups [like the LGBTQ+] who will suffer by not being able to find books, magazines, newspapers, resources to support them?

It is obvious that the current government is one of austerity for the poorer class, but not for the rich!

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Where is your cloud storage?

22/08/2023 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Cloud Storage

To store or not to Store

Research has shown that over 65% of cloud storage is controlled by these three big giants:

- - Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  - Microsoft
  - Google

And whilst they do protect your data, they also have to allow US intelligence and law-enforcement services to access the data because of US Laws which give them very broad powers. So where is your clud storage?

Scare Monger

Now I could be called a ‘scare monger’, and as is often quoted @if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about’, but the latest tranches of data protection leaks show that mistakes can and do happen:

PSNI Police Details Leak
Electoral Commission hacked with all our personal details

The statistics for the US are equally alarming if not worse.

Conflicts of Interest

The European Union is very aware of the possible conflicts of interest between it [EU] and the United States [US}, and don’t forget that the UK is no longer a part of the EU. Only recently the EU fines Facebook E1.2bn (£1bn) for having inadequate safeguards for data sent from the EU to the US.

We individually must think carefully about where we store our data, because the more knowledgeable we are of where it is stored, with whom, and on what hardware then we can make informed choices about safeguarding our data. We need to be aware of the possibility of hardware failure, what happens if the US retreats within its borders and turns off the tap to allow us access to our data.

The EU have started thinking about this and are actively investigating setting up its own clud computing farm; but the question is, is this an option for the United Kingdom [UK], would we be able to go it alone, will be allowed access to the EU?

Questions, Questions, Questions

There are so many questions, and no one at present seems to have the answers.

What are your thoughts, comment and let us know

Comment and Let Us Know

Write a comment and let us have your thoughts

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Cloud Storage

Belfast Pride and Economics

01/08/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Pride-Belfast-civic-dinner-Brian-Gilmore-and-Jeff-Dudgeon-right-2004

Belfast-Pride-August-2008-Shanes-front-tattoo

Belfast Pride and Economics! Originally, we had Pride Day with a march to show people that we are part of their community and that we had a right to exist. At this point we were fighting for our lives; abuse, both physical and mental, was normal, and murder occurred and was usually brushed under the legal table as justified due to overtures or something similar. (Portsmouth Defence)

And again, marches started in large cities like New York and London, and like a spider’s web slowly the marches spread into other cities and links were formed.

In the background to these marches were the fights in court to get us legal recognition and protection (e.g., Jeffrey Dudgeon, MBE).

…’Try to will yourself into – or out of – loving someone, try to will someone into loving you, and you collide with the fundamental fact that we do not choose whom we love.’ …James Baldwin on Love, the illusion of Choice and the Paradox of Freedom

Time has passed and so the Pride March has become Pride Month, with a lot of regions or cities now holding the Pride Parade which is almost like a Lord Mayor’s Float Parade!

With a parade comes flamboyance, but why? To quote i-d-vice.com in their article the significance of men’s fashion at pride’:

…Queer men have always worn outlandish clothing within the safety of their own spaces but Pride is different; it’s an occasion which allows you to dress however you want, in broad daylight, in the centre of the city. Fashion at Pride is a way of being defiantly visible, satirising the straight world, and experimenting with gender….

However, this last year during the covid lockdown we have all seen how shallow the acceptance has been, with an increase in LGBTQ+ attacks, with the homeless of LGBTQ+ increasing and with some countries even reversing (or seeking to reverse) the laws which were fought for to give the LGBTQ+ community acceptance and protection.

I love Belfast Pride, having been one of those few souls who marched on the very first one in 1991 (all 200 of us), and walked past the various vociferous groups protesting us being there and alive.

That first Pride in Belfast was a small affair, but so significant as it allowed the Belfast population going about their normal daily tasks, to see that we were just like them from one end of the spectrum to another, with very flamboyant characters to extremely conservative ones – and that just as other groups have marched for centuries in the belief of their right to exist, so were we.

Today, as I have mentioned above, the Pride Day Parade is a large affair in Belfast, with conservative numbers for those taking part being (55000) and with watchers at least double that. We have support groups from Trade Unions, the PSNI, local councils, student groups to name but a few. The detractors have gone down in number, and indeed the local papers generally write in a positive way about the parade.

I welcome this change, but again I caution everyone to remember our roots, there are still those who would seek to have us put back in the closet.

The one thing that is not often mentioned about Gay Pride Parades is the economic benefit that regions, towns, or cities get from them. I come from a background of finance, and I am also a local community journalist for our community, so I was extremely interested to see if anyone knew what economic benefits were brought into Belfast specifically and for Northern Ireland in general.

There is little available documentation regarding this area, but one that I have read with interest is the Greater London Authority Mayoral Decision for funding for Pride in London for the period 2018-2022. I would like to share an extract from it: –

…During the past five years, Pride in London has continued to see growth and improved community engagement. It is the UK’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) event and parade that typically attracts an annual attendance of up to a million people into central London. Independent audience survey research in 2016 (the most recent data set) showed that additional spend in the local economy from people attending Pride was approximately £26.3m…

Now obviously Belfast figures as I have stated above are nowhere near 1 million (55000 approx.), however, if you conservatively look at the projected spend figures then I would suggest that Belfast economically benefits to the tune of

	Attendance Figures	Additional Spend	Spend per Head	Estimated Policing Cost	Estimated Cleaning Up Costs	Estimated Net Benefit

London	1000000	£26.3m	£26.30	£1m	£1m	£24.3m

Brighton	400000	£20.5m	£51.25	£420k*	£200k*	£19.8


Belfast	55000	£.825m	£15.00	£55k	£45k	£725k
	55000	£.550m	£10.00	£55k	£45k	£450K
Northern Ireland

Now the statistics for Northern Ireland are a lot more obscure as the Northern Ireland Tourist Board does not seem to track increased figures for the period of Pride Month, and in particular Belfast Pride (FOI Request reply to 3 questions on Belfast Pride and in general N Ireland Pride Festivals dated 25 Jun 2018), but I believe that economically, the events help attract tourist income, stimulate employment, encourage spending, and contribute to public infrastructure development; and in so doing events prove the opportunity to revitalise communities and foster economic development.

Also, the rural pride events can help members of the LGBTQ+ community to feel supported and accepted by creating visibility about different sexual orientations.

In the last week, we have seen reference to 1991 A Belfast Pride to be remembered! It is important to realise that Belfast Pride is both a celebration of life and who we are, but also a political statement to show we are here, that we will not be going back and that we will continue to fight for our rights in society.

Belfast Pride and Economics

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Virtual Belfast Reception

04/07/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

On July 1st, 2021 the PinkNews, in partnership with Citi and the Rainbow Project, under the title “Virtual Belfast Reception” organised a panel discussion on LGBT+ equality in Northern Ireland. The Virtual Belfast Reception online meeting involved Doug Beattie, UUP leader, Mary Lou McDonald, president of Sinn Fein, Colm Eastwood, SDLP leader, Naomi Long, Alliance leader and justice minister, and Mal O’Hara, a Green Party councillor in Belfast and the event was moderated by John O’Doherty, director of the Rainbow Project.

The virtual meeting was conducted through Zoom, with the audience being able to view but not comment except through the messenger facility of the program. Areas under discussion were:

- - - - Transgender
        
        Self ID Laws
        
        LGBTQ+ and Education
        
        Conversion Therapy

Obviously, during 1hr 30min+ discussion, there were sidetracks; the main one being over political parties and LGBTQ+ rights to which Paul Bradley, deputy leader of the DUP, said that in response to a question from Mr O’Doherty about the DUP and its history of negativity on LGBTQ+ issues,

“I’m not going to defend some of the things that have been said over the years, because they have been absolutely atrocious. They’ve been shocking, so they have.
“I certainly couldn’t stand by many of those comments – in fact, all of those comments.
“Because I know that the hurt they have caused people and I know that fed into the hatred some people have had to endure in their life, and I think that’s absolutely wrong.
“I think the vast majority of those people that made those comments are no longer there, and the ones that are there have said that they have learned their lessons, that their language at times has not been right.
“It’s something I’ve brought up on numerous occasions with my own party because I think not sometimes, all the time, our language very much that we use as elected representatives has an impact in wider society.
“I can certainly say I apologise for what others have said and done in the past because I do think that there has been some very hurtful comments and some language that really should not have been used.”

(A full transcript can be found in the Newsletter link which is at the end of this article)

Now, this was a welcome response, however, it was then followed by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson speaking on Sunday, July 5th 2021|:

Mr Donaldson acknowledged past comments by members of the party had been “hurtful” to LGBT people here, before adding it was “not just in the case of the DUP”.

While the DUP leader said it is right “that we say sorry and acknowledge hurt”, Mr Donaldson went on to add: “Equally in time, I hope others will be able to acknowledge that they have caused hurt, for example to people from a strongly held faith perspective.”

This is the politician two shoe shuffle, give on one hand and then take away by blaming it all on someone else.

Much as Paul Bradly may wish, and indeed believes, that the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) is making strives to reform, it would seem that its current leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, has more in keeping with the leader he replaced Edwin Poots, or if you go back further Mrs Iris Robinson, a previous MLA and wife of the then First Minister ‘Peter Robinson’, and ‘her’ psychologist who claimed that he could cure gays (gay conversion therapy).

Virtual Belfast Reception

Whilst I have concnetrated on the DUP during this virtual meeting, the other participants were very clear in the answers and supportive. Some of the phrases which I have written down are:

Even though things have changed, there is ‘always a need to remain alert’.
If you ‘Stop pushing forward, then we will move back’
Even though we have had ‘Immense change, the lesson is we have to keep gong’
‘Always think about those young people in turmoil’
‘A Safe Place For All Of Our People’

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The Conversion Therapy Saga

18/03/2021 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

This Conversion Therapy Saga is yet again another reason why I deplore the UK Government’s lethargy in making “conversion therapy” illegal. Here we have a man (Dr. Ole Ivar Lovaas) who developed “conversion therapy” but also tried to make autistic children “normal”.

Conversion Therapy

I have previously discussed “conversion therapy2 as applied to people within the LGBTQ+ community in my article ‘Conversion Therapy – Rethink Finally‘ published 11 September 2020

The worrying factor about both these therapies is that they in effect abuse the recipients, for the LGBTQ+ candidates they at least can make themselves heard about the abuse they received, for the autistic children it is extremely doubtful that they ever could or would be in such a position.

“No matter what form it takes, gay conversion therapy is going to be psychologically harmful,” Becker said. “They’re told that they can change this thing they can’t change, and it leads to devastating consequences.”

Dr. Lovaas died in 2010, however, his therapy for autistic children remains on the books I believe for ‘all states’ in the USA, and in only 20 states is gay conversion therapy banned.

Links:

The man behind ex-gay “conversion therapy” started out trying to make autistic children “normal”

A Child in Our Time

15/11/2020 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

A Child in our Time came about because yesterday I read an article by Jack Shenker on Craig Easton’s photographs of the Williams family which was published in the Guardian Weekend. It was thought-provoking in a number of ways, firstly the Williams family were not different from you and I, they worked and if it hadn’t been for the ‘depression’ of the 90s brought about by a number of factors including:

restrictive monetary policy enacted by central banks, primarily in response to inflation concerns, the loss of consumer and business confidence as a result of the 1990 oil price shock…Wikipedia

and because of the recession, they lost jobs and homes and ended up on benefits. They strived to get out the hole that they were driven into and let’s be honest neither the politics and politicians of that day, nor even today seem to understand what they need to help them step up out of the quagmire that governments have put them in.

But they are not alone; according to the current government’s own information, there were 5.6 million people on Universal Credit at 9 July 2020, an increase of 2% from 11 June 2020. around 42% (that means 4 in 10) of claimants were in the ‘Searching for work’ conditionality group. But again, this statistic means little until you also look at how many people in the United Kingdom are on the poverty line. According to fullfact.org, An estimated 14.3 million people are in poverty in the UK. 8.3 million are working-age adults, 4.6 million are children, and 1.3 million are of pension age. Around 22% of people are in poverty, and 34% of children are (27 Sep 2019).

As I said, the Williams family are not unique in what has happened to them, but I wonder if anyone in the government realises just how far we have sunk? We have initiatives driven by individuals like Marcus Rashford and other sporting stars, by organisations like Children in Need, businesses who either have their own initiatives or who have joined together to support others, and of course, we have private individuals – but, why does it seem that the government always seems to behind in taking action that will help positively. I see lots of government initiatives which rarely seem to achieve much!

Child in our Time - Levels of poverty

(Joseph Rowntree Fundation)

Also, I again have to note that it is not just the conservative government, the Labour/Lib Dem pact was equally as bad.
I honestly do not know the solution, but I do know that if we continue to vote in politicians who have little or no idea of the society that they are representing then as a country we would seem to be doomed.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundations says:

Solving poverty is not quick or easy, but it is possible, starting with a vision, commitment and a plan.

Child in our Time - Poverty - Free Creative Commons Highway Sign image

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A benign Ogre – Stop and Search in Northern Ireland

20/09/2020 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

An ogre can be someone who is frightening or a ‘man’ who eats people.

So why did this come into my mind having just read an article by the BBC on “What are my rights if I’m stopped and searched?”? We as human beings have a tendency to resort to literature characters who are not real to enable us to describe a situation we are currently in or have experienced.

Firstly, I have yet again to take the BBC to task for being England/Wales centric. The article is professionally written and researched, however, to dismiss Scotland and Northern Ireland with the lines:

…The laws in Scotland and Northern Ireland are different, but there are many similarities with those in England and Wales..
shows a total lack of understanding that each of these countries is unique as is its law. I will not endeavour to speak about Scottish law as I do not live there, however, the law in Northern Ireland is most definitely coloured by the 30+ years of the ‘troubles’. This has polarised a lot of the community in terms of accepting the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland).

Now back to Stop and Search in Northern Ireland, let us do a comparison on stop and search figures:

Stop and Search Comparison

Country	Year	Population	Statistics of people stopped	Ratio as per population
England & Wales	2918	56.1m (approx)	380,000	19 people stopped per every 2810

Northern Ireland	2018	1.88m (approx)	28,116	28 people stopped per every 2288

So, what are your rights if you are ‘Stopped and Searched’ in Northern Ireland?

According to Northern Ireland Direct, and here I will quoted directly…

Who can stop and search you?

Any police officer can stop and search you. If they are not in uniform they must identify themselves before the search takes place. The stop and search action doesn’t mean you’re under arrest or that you’ve done something wrong.
The reasons police can stop and search you
The police can stop and search you:
• if there has been serious violence or disorder in the area
• if police are looking for a suspect who fits your description
• if police have reasonable grounds to suspect you’re carrying drugs, a weapon or stolen property
• in countering terrorism

What happens in a stop and search?

If you’re stopped and searched:
• you must stay for all of the search
• police must make sure the search time is as short as possible
• the search must take place where you were stopped or nearby, unless moving you would protect your privacy
Before a search, a police officer must tell you the grounds for the search, what they’re looking for, their name (except where the stop and search is to do with terrorism) and the station they’re attached to.
If you’re in a public place, you’ll be asked to remove your coat or jacket and any headgear or gloves worn unless the search is to do with terrorism or when police believe you’re using clothes to hide your identity. They can ask you to empty your pockets and open any baggage to help the search….(https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/stop-and-search)

But there is more to be considered; what personal information am I obliged to give the officer?

According to the Citizenship Foundation, this is what you should think about:

…: I do not have to give my name or address to the police
It Depends. You only have to if the police suspect you have committed (or are about to commit) an arrestable offence.
You don’t have to answer a police officer’s questions, but someone who refuses to give their name and address may be arrested if the police officer reasonably believes they have committed an offence. You have the right not to answer any more questions until you have received legal advice from a solicitor.
In Northern Ireland, a person has an obligation to give their name and address and DOB under certain circumstance, together with the answers to some questions, under section 21 of the Justice and Security Act. Consider

Q: If you’ve not done anything wrong, do you think refusing to say your name makes you look suspicious?
Q: Do you think it’s worth having this right if enforcing it means that you could be suspected of committing an offence…

(https://smartlaw.org.uk/wordpress//content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/2017/04/Police-powers-teachers-notes-v2.pdf)

Now consider in April 1993 the Editor of upstart (a local gay publication) stated exactly the same thing, but with the addition of reminding people if they are in doubt then give the minimum information you have to ask to see a solicitor – for Northern Ireland at this time this was really relevant for gay men, as various purges were taking place (the latest at that time being in Belvior Park) and people’s lives were being destroyed.

We all have a right to support the police forces in their given legal duty, but remember they like us are human and can make mistakes.

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