An "image problem" may explain a fall in visitor numbers to Northern Ireland from across the border, according to a review of the tourism industry.
Overnight visitors from the Republic of Ireland declined by 7% in 2013.
A report for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) said "social unrest over parades and flags" had potentially had an impact.
It also said the local tourism industry was worried about "continuing sectarianism and racial prejudice".
The report said there needed to be "concerted action to promote a safe and secure image of Northern Ireland, including targeted marketing".
The review was ordered by DETI minister Arlene Foster last year.
It calls for a need "to deepen the relationship" between the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) and Invest NI.
It rules out a merger, but suggests a shared office and renaming the Tourist Board either Visit NI or Discover NI.
The recommendations contained in the report have been put out to public consultation.
It calls for an updated strategy and says the Tourist Board needs to improve "partnership working".
"NITB is at a crossroads," the report's author writes.
"Given the board's achievements in recent years... I am confident that NITB will meet the challenge."
Here: http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-28136326
Report here: http://www.detini.gov.uk/deti_tourism__14__review_doc_2-7.pdf
A first professional survey of Orangemen in Fermanagh found the following:
- Almost 50% of respondents believe the rule barring Orangemen from attending Mass should be changed. Just 25% believe it should stay.
(The Mass finding may be influenced by the overwhelmingly Church of Ireland make-up of Fermanagh Orangemen, with 77 per cent coming from an Anglican background.)
- 43% believe shared education should be encouraged, with 30% opposed
- 33% of Fermanagh Orangemen do not think the Order is doing enough to promote good relations.
- Only 44% believe the wider Protestant/unionist community understand them.
One member told researchers:
"No matter how we create good relations in Fermanagh we will always be let down by the hooligans in Belfast who tarnish our reputation."
The information-gathering exercise was run by consultancy firm Green Hat and partly funded by Fermanagh District Council. The survey was sent to all the county’s roughly 1,800 Orangemen. The survey was run with the aim of improving relations in the Fermanagh area. A large percentage – almost a third – responded, and the results were published as a 166-page report last night.
http://m.newsletter.co.uk/news/regional/drop-mass-ban-say-rural-orangemen-1-5992486
Flag protesters are making a key error: they are now damaging the cause and brand they seek to promote. Get off the streets and into talks.
— Alex.Kane (@AlexKane221b) December 21, 2012
The NUIG Whitaker Institute study, which focused on Galway as the most culturally diverse area in the State, says this will result in a significant “under-representation” of children of migrants in third-level institutions.
The research found non-migrant children were twice as likely to sit higher level Leaving Certificate mathematics than Irish-born children of foreign-born parents.
Non-migrant children are also 2.25 times more likely to sit higher level Leaving Certificate science than Irish-born children of foreign-born parents.
The study by Dr Valerie Ledwith and DrKathy Reilly at NUIG’s school of geography and archaeology found 66.7 per cent of non-migrants planned to attend university, compared to 56.2 per cent of migrant peers. They attributed this trend to a “regime of power relations that privilege the position of Irish nationals” when it comes to school enrolment and attendance.
More:
The research also shows that young migrants are less likely to take Junior Certificate subjects at higher level, which restricts the student to sitting that subject at ordinary level for the Leaving Certificate.
"Despite the claims to the contrary by members of both constitutional nationalist parties in the Six Counties and by the establishment parties in the Free State, very little substantial change has occurred in respect of policing in the North.
The name of the police force may have changed, but let’s not forget that the PSNI is a fully armed force with access to the most modern weaponry. It still operates under a whole raft of very draconian and far-reaching so-called ‘anti-terror’ legislation.
While the titles of the police force and the legislation that force has access to may have changed over the years, there is little to differentiate between supposedly modern, reformed policing and that which took place under the RUC and the legislation available to that force in previous decades.
Finished cover to cover read of UUP document. Puts them well to the right of TUV. I've no idea what votes they're now chasing.
— Alex.Kane (@AlexKane221b) March 12, 2014
@brianjohnspencr @SadisticMark "moderate" in NI means "not pathologically obsessed with the supremacy of one's own tribe"
— Andrew Gallagher (@andrewgdotcom) March 2, 2014
@Irish_Gaels @ianjamesparsley @brianjohnspencr That sounds dangerously close to an argument for cultural purity—which isn't republicanism.
— Barton Creeth (@bartoncreeth) March 5, 2014
Who is a non voter in NI? They are typically wealthy, slightly more likely to be Protestant and young-middle age.
— David McCann (@dmcbfs) March 2, 2014
@SeamyC @Donnchadhol Yep 2011 election showed 51% of wealthest voted wereas around 65% of working classes voted. NI goes against most norms
— David McCann (@dmcbfs) March 2, 2014
