Off The Record - Issue Two Full

7/27/2019 Off The Record - Issue Two Full

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Of The RecordF R E E !

Issue #2 Oct/Nov 2013

Comment and Opinion | Politics | Arts & Culture | Northern Ireland

@Otherecordnifacebook.com/otherecordni

To Frack or not to Frack

New

monthlymagazine!

The Failed Economist

thE Quarter life crisis

party conferences 2013

VERSE CHORUS VERSE review

the blunders of edwin poots

Quarter Life Crisis

A personal guide to your:

We attend a debate on fracking and environmental issues!

Belfast Day 2013

Also Inside >

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Photos from:

In Discussion:

Student life is over, now what?

The Real Cost of Osborne’s Growth

You have a degree, but no job. Now what?

Our verdict on the main party conferences

The rst of many - his stance on adoption

Lynn Gilmour reviews the new album!

& Much more!

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Belfast forgets about flags for a day and

embraces international culture. We were there to

take some snaps!

#2



Welcome to O The Record, Northern Ireland’s newest indie print magazinededicated to politics, arts and culture. Consisting of up to date and cutting edgecomment and opinion, our writers and contributors will work day and night to bring youthe best content available! Enjoy!

Local Politics

International

Politics

Main Feature

The Failed

Economist

Discussion

Arts and Culture

Editors note:

ISSUE #2

2 Off The Record

The Grid: A Month in News

Content The Failed Economist - p.10

the Quarter life crisis - p.8

role of victims - p.3

party conferences - p. 7

VERSE CHORUS VERSE - P. 14Inter-Party Fracking Debate Richard haass talks begin

edwin poots - p. 6/7

seamus tucker comic - p.16

11 4Page Page

We attended an inter-party debate on environmentalissues including fracking. Find out how each

politician sided on this often controversial topic

We take a look back at the Haass talks and ask why we need a Washington endorsed helper? We alsohave a timeline showing previous US/NI relations

Comic Con Belfast! That’s right, the worlds biggest comic book, sci , movies andgaming show is coming to Belfast onthe 7th/8th June 2014 at Kings Hall.

Potential Exploris closureNI’s only aquarium and seal sanctu-ary is facing closure due to nancialissues and investment problems.Can you put a price on marine life?

Twitter goes public Those capitalist swine, some may say. No doubt under pressure toactually make some money, Twitter is now trading on the Stock Market.

Ian Paisley Jr spends moneyQuite a lot, in fact. The most of any MP. Travel, accommodationand stang cost over £200,000. Asked about this he said: “Hey,this haircut is expensive”*.*Not true.

America shuts downIn a fantastic display of co-operation and democracy, theUS has eectively shut downafter not being able to co-operateor be democratic on the issue of the debt ceiling.

All Hail George Osborne Yes, they were right. They havesaved your lives. The war is over. The war on having no money isover. Because now we have like,0.000007% more than last year. Gobuy some Champagne. Now.

Investment conference NICameron came over and promised jobs. Villiers talked about... some-thing. Martin McGuiness andPeter Robinson held hands.

Greenwald quits GuardianGlenn Greenwald has quit TheGuardian to work on a new onlinebased project. We wish him all thebest in the future!

Oprah: Atheists have no feelingsOprah, world renowned peace maker and lovable woman claimed that atheists cannot experience “awe and wonder”. She then burst into ames.

For a print magazine, it didn’t take us long to crumble into focusing a little more onthe online side of things. So, we did what every thirteen year old girl does and starteda blog! This will be a separate entity fromthe magazine and the general aim is toshowcase blog posts from members of thepublic. By giving folk a voice and a place topublicise their opinions, we hope to start some healthy debate. So, this is a call. If

you want to contribute a blogpost, email us(check back page for contact info) or giveus a follow on Twitter!

We are (as always) rather excited to get this issue out there. It doesn’t matter if youare reading this on your iPad or in paper form in your hands, we are just glad you arereading. Thank you for your time.

Jason A Murdock



Local Politics // Comment and Opinion on Northern Irish Politics

3

ecently up on ‘The Hill’ the issue of dening a victim came tothe fore again when the compensation which was awarded to thefamily of Real IRA man Kieran Doherty was up for discussion.

I’m sure you wouldn’t be surprised if I told you that not anawful lot of progress, in fact not really any, was made on the issue.Maybe that’s another topic for another day but surely sometimes you must ask yourself what on earth is the point of us paying the salaries of the folks on The Hill for them just to spout out entrenched positions with closed ears and who have no notion of listening and trying to understand their political foes.

Anyway. The DUP’s position on the issue of compensation to

victims was summarised by DUP MLA Paul Givan. “ Payment of compensation is an expression of public sympathy and support for the innocent victims. In no way is a payment of compensation to anyone that was involved in a terrorist organisation to be regarded as showing public support.” I’dinvite you to divulge yourself into the detail of what Paul Givanhas said. Mr Givan appears to be creating a false link in this case which simply doesn’t exist. He outlines that the payment of compensation is for the innocent victims, and then goes on tocreate the link between innocent victims and payment of compensation to anyone involved in a terrorist organisation.

Either the DUP don’t quite grasp who the compensation was

awarded to, or it appears to me that the DUP are presenting usa case in which they do not believe Kieran’s family were innocent victims. This is because the compensation payment in this case was awarded to - and this is the important bit - the family of Kieran Doherty. Not Real IRA member Kieran Doherty, whichPaul Givan almost seems to be suggesting when he says “In no way is a payment of compensation to anyone that was involved in

a terrorist organisation to be regarded as showing public support.”

This raises an interesting issue. If like MLA Paul Givan youbelieve that compensation should be awarded to innocent victimsonly – even though we are yet to agree on what a victim is – how do we test if a family member, who has lost a loved one is an ‘innocent victim’?

Take the case of Kieran Doherty who was killed by his ownorganisation. Should we make Kieran’s family distancethemselves from supporting the RIRA? Do we make them dothis in public or private? Alternatively, should we be more

compassionate and empathise with any family that has lost a lovedone as a result of the bloody sectarian conict, whether it be by the IRA, UVF or whoever. Why can we not say that losing a family member in such grim circumstances must bring an un-thinkable amount of pain and actually, you should becompensated.

Is the DUP so deep in their trench that they would deny recognising a family’s grief – in the form of compensation –because they feel that they have a duty to stamp on anything that could be spun by their political competitors to be seen assupporting terrorism.

Whether or not you agree with this analysis, it’s imperative that listening and debating takes place on the issue of victims becauseultimately, when push comes to shove progress must be made onthis extremely sensitive issue. Progress isn’t made by itself, andespecially won’t be made by any political tit-for-tat, whataboutery,up on The Hill.

The role of victims in society

By: Paul Wyatt @PaulWyatt94

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“Either the DUP don’t quite grasp who the compensationwas awarded to, or, it appears to me that the DUP are

presenting us a case in which they do not believe Kieran’s family were innocent victims.”

” ”The Slow Death of NI Tourism:

Is the end nigh for our aquarium?

Despite its perfect location for marine biology and the fact that it acts asnot only an aquarium, but also a seal sanctuary, Exploris is facing closuredue to a lack of private investors and high nancial cost to the tax payer.So, in a time when the PSNI can spend £50,000 a day on policing the

Twadell camp, how do the public feel about the potential closure? Wetook to Twitter to nd out!

Have YOUR say! Blog today for Off The Record! See @offtherecordni for more details

NI21

Member



Off The Record4

The ‘Special Relationship’

A Diplomatic Afair

Oct 1968

ichard Haass, highly acclaimed American Diplomat wasinvited to our shores to chair inter party talks over threeissues: ags, emblems and dealing the with past. Mr Haassand his team have been given three months to succeed. It isall too easy to see the driving motivation behind these talksemanating from a Westminster government that has quickly lost patience over our politicians inability to focus their attention on economic issues. With a UK coalitiongovernment existing almost solely as a result of the nancialcrisis of 2008, it is easy to see why London looks on inbemusement as we continue to bash each other over thehead, wrapped up in the ag of your choice and with a continuing refusal to accept the conventional wisdom that above all, the economy comes rst.

Secretary of State Theresa Villiers recently stated that:

“I rmly believe that it’s the economy which remainsthe number one priority for many people in North-ern Ireland, and it’s clear that Northern Ireland will never reach its full economic potential when sectariandivision keeps fuelling street violence and the kind of disgraceful attacks on police ofcers we’ve seen thisyear.”

The presence of Mr Haass in Belfast is another example

of an attempt to normalise Northern Ireland that has alsocemented our American cousins coveted title of external me-diator. Some have had more success than others, however there seems to be an idea gaining traction that an Americanaccent and a well pressed suit is all that is needed to x our problems. Why is it then that fteen years after the GoodFriday Agreement we still feel it is necessary to ask UncleSam for assistance when our own politicians cant get answers to even the most basic of problems. Instead, wehave constant bickering over the same old issues. How

can we expect the electorate to be sold the idea of a sharedfuture when our politicians can’t even share a couch?

The same politicians keep emphasising that the role of therecent G8 Summit in Fermanagh raised our ‘internationalprole’. What they neglect to acknowledge is how the rest of the world, scratching their heads in confusion, also caught a glimpse of Northern Ireland’s true colours – dysfunctional,divided and desperately searching for leadership. And so,our politicians turn to Mr Haass to provide the leader-ship which they so potently lack. The former US Envoy to Northern Ireland has a very impressive CV and is anextremely well experienced diplomat, however in thesetimes of ‘crisis’, sometimes it seems that any American willdo. With therumoured visitation of VPOTUS Joe Biden, it seems that NI/US relations are at an all time high since Clinton’sadministration. Upon the realisation that the reinssteering the peace process have slipped from the control of local hands, expect American involvement only to increasein the coming years – not forgetting it is a process that wasperceived to those outside of the UK to have long run itscourse.

It would be naive to assume that the peace process ended with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, or even St

Andrews. However, in the fteen years since, what could we reasonably have assumed? What ‘progress’ was possible?Surely the foundation of a democratic, normalised state. I would bet that no-one would have predicted the destructionof the ‘hard-line’ minority, but it would have been reasonableto assume that the leadership would not be dictated by their every whim. A perfect example of a dog being shaken by thetail. Nor had we expected that when things became dicult,our elected leaders would so quickly turn back to Washington for answers.

by Jason Murdock & Jason Ashford

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NICRA march inDerry marks thebeginning of thetroubles

British army

arrive in NI

Aug 1969

apr 1970 AllianceParty forma-tion

aug 1971Interment without trial

342 peopleplaced incamps

sept 1971UDA formation

(30th)sept 1971DUPformation

JAN 1972Bloody Sunday

mar 1973Border Poll-57% turnout,98% in favour of union(SDLPboycott)

End of Internment

dec 1975

Jimmy Carter gives speechon NorthernIreland

aug 1977

Armalite andBallot box speech

1981

Gerry Adamsgranted US Visitors Visa after previousfailed at-tempts

Jun 1994

Gerry Adamsgranted US Visitors Visa after previous failedattempts

Jun 1994

Clinton callson the IRA to lay downarms

MAR 1994

We take a look into the past relations between the United

States and Northern Ireland:



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O The Record is a progressivepublication. We believe rmly inthe power of dialogue and deploreany attempt to subvert thedemocratic will with violenceand intimidation by bullies andcowards. In most circumstances we would fully welcome inter party talks to resolve the stalemate at Stormont.

However, the fact we have turnedonce more to an American (from a

country that is not top of the ‘making governments work’ check-list) shows how little progress wehave actually made and how entrenched our leaders are. Every day the leaders of loyalism andrepublicanism fail to condemn theactions of the violent wings of their movements we will remainstationary – how can we ever change when those in power can’t get over the troubles of their youth? There is the inescapable sense that

the conicts of the troubles remainas relevant in the heads of our politicians as they ever were, andhow can we expect a sincerity in a handshake when behind the scenesthey are rmly sitting in their opposing camps. All of thesenotions – progressiveness,

democratic process and willingnessto forgive – remain that, simply notions. When a ag can trigger a year of rioting, you know there is a deeper problem at play.

Three months later, what can weexpect? An optimist would say that we will nd a resolution to theag protests, this in turn will leadto the celebration and respect (onboth sides) of democratic decisions.Emblems of the past will be taught

to be loved, the curbstones will bepainted red, white and green. Thefuture will be rich and carefree dueto the countless amount of sheer investment we will receive frombecoming a true blueprint for turning conict into coin. Highspeed rail will take over from slow speed translink. Kevin Bacon willgive us 4G networks and we canride the M2 into the sunset.Children will line the streets andplay together, and the peace walls

will tumble down. Coee andowers for all. The sun may nally come out.

Too much? Reality dawns. Goodluck Mr Haass, it seems we can’t expect much.

Come say hello! @offtherecordNI

George Mitchell1995 - 2001

Richard Haass2001 - 2003

Mitchell B Reiss2003 - 2007

Paula Dobriansky2007 - 2009

Declan Kelly2009 - 2011

Previous US Envoys>Is it time for our politicians to stand on their own two feet?

Conicts are created,conducted and sustained byhuman beings; they can beended by human beings

Disagreements are ne,disagreements are to be expected,but again disagreements are tobe dealt with verbally and done

within a legitimate and accepted political process

We try to keep our eye on themain objective here - which ismoving the peace process forward and keeping the focus on the people of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland knows theworld is watching and that’s agood thing, because today theyhave a lot to show the world

By achieving devolution and a peaceful Northern Ireland, anew economic future could bemade possible for all citizens of Northern Ireland

IRA Ceasere

aug 1994

Mitchellappointed

ofcial‘economicadvisor andenvoy to NI

dec 1994

NI Politicians Trimble, Humeand Adamsincrease visits toUS shores

1994-95

Clinton calls for renewal of IRA

ceasere. SF announcecandidates for General Election

jun 1997

USA dropsthe IRA fromlist of terror-ist organisa-tions

OCT 1997

Signing of theGood Friday

Agreement

apr 1998

Richard HaassappointedSpecial Envoy to NI

2001

McGuinnessand Paisley tomeet President Bush in D.C

nov 2007

President Obama questions theneed for an NIEnvoy position

aug 2008

Envoy position left

vacant

09-11

‘Flag riots’ begin after Union Flag democratically removed fromCity Hall

dec 2012

Pres. Obama vows to back

those who ‘choose thepath of peace’ during theG8

JUN 2013

Haass cross party talks begin, with ‘no restriction ondealing with NIlegacy’.

sept 2013



Edwin Poots

Off The Record6

The Elected Fundamentalist

If there is an ever growing resentment that Northern Ireland remains stuck rmly in thepast, there must also be a resentment that for each crooked MLA to have gained thesepositions in which they are demonstrably

unable to perform, there must exist the bleak realisation that they have been voted indemocratically. Indeed sirs and madams,perhaps by your friends, your family and dareI say yourself. The recent (rather excellent)Belfast Telegraph polls not only backed up thenotion of a disillusioned electorate, but alsoone that is largely not interested in their current political options. On each poll, the number of don’t knows/don’t cares was staggering. Thismeans one of three things: that current MLA’sare not educating the population on their activities, that the general public have no inter-est in what happens ‘on the hill’, or perhaps that

the current crop of vote chasers oers them with no option but not to vote.

What does that have to do with Edwin Poots? Well, the recent petition to oust the HealthMinister from power – aptly titled ‘Give Poots

The Boot’ – is currently sitting at over eight thousand digital signatures, which as it turnsout is more than actually elected the man in therst place. The moderates are out there, but they only choose to act when the hardline act provocatively in liberal aairs – be it gay prideevents, abortion clinics or right wing groupsattacking minorities. One can’t help but feelthis needs to be quickly addressed if change isto occur. In light of the huge numbers of thosethat choose not to vote (sometimes reaching over 40%!) the votes they discard could very

well keep the next Poots-alike out of power.

It is for this reason that this author reluctantly signed the petition, but still retained the fullrealisation that Poots wouldn’t care about it – let along acknowledge it. Perhaps theanswer lies in a bit of tough love politics from

the moderate parties – most likely Alliance, theGreens and NI21. It simply must be noted that every time a person votes based on the views of their parents, of outside opinions, or does not use their vote, they share part of the blame for allowing the country to stay under occupationof the hardline. In the past, there was no optionbut to vote along tribal barriers (no one couldcompete) but now we have a chance to changethat notion. The like of Edwin Poots did not sneak in the backdoor of Stormont, he was put there by good old democracy. This is not mentioned to rub salt in the wounds, but simply to acknowledge the power of real

democracy over taking two seconds from your daily Facebook routine to click an onlinepetition. If he was a man of principle, this may make a dierence, but his actions to date havedistinctly ruled out that possibility. The lack of statement from Poots or the DUP on thismatter only leads one to believe they will only change if society – that is the voting society –forces change upon them.

There is a distinct amusement to be cherishedin witnessing a staunch Unionist so blatantly disregard the accepted norm of the UnitedKingdom. As reported by the Belfast Tel-egraph on the week the story broke “unmarriedcouples in England, Scotland and Wales canapply jointly to be considered for adoption,irrespective of sexual orientation”. Indeed,it was only June of this year that on his rst

attempt block equality legislation for adoptioncases that the Court of Appeal ruled that “thedepartment had put forward no justicationto exclude same sex couples as parties eligibleto adopt as a couple”. Still, Edwin Poots has

continued to ght the decision. His ration-ale for spending £40,000 in legal fees (but estimated to be sum to over the £100k mark) isthe aforementioned ‘traditional views’ of family life held by the general public. To back this up,Poots directed the confused faces to a poll that is over seven years out of date.

So, based on these proclamations, one wouldimagine that the electorate is rmly against un-married and gay adoption. Not only does thisnot seem to be true, but condemnation not only stems from LGBT groups and those pesky liberals, but also from the other political parties

many of whom have jumped on his wasting of public funds.

If the Twaddell ‘civil rights’ camp wasn’t enough to persuade you that Northern Irelandis not rmly in tune with the 21st Century,perhaps Poots denial of adoption laws and a personal vendetta against reality will help. Likean out of date pill, or using Viagra to cure a headache, his endeavours will be largely point-less. However, it cannot change the fact that

we currently have a Health minister that showsa blatant disregard for the LGBT community and unmarried couples. Thebottom line is that his reasoning is based onperceived traditional values and out of datestatistics that owe less to UK legislation andmore to the also outdated books of Matthew,Mark, Luke and John.

With the news that Edwin Poots is to take his ght against the extensionof adoption rights to gay and unmarried couples to the Supreme Court, it

was the latest in a long line of DUP blunders that only furthered theperception that the party is not only out of touch with the more moder-ate of the electorate, but even with the laws of the UK. What is it about the LGBT and unmarried community that Poots dislikes so much that he campaigns for such blatant inequality? Is the Health Minister letting his biblical leanings dictate policy, or is he pandering to the will of the socalled ‘PUL’ community? Whatever the case, the answer lies in educating the moderates to teach that their vote can actually make a dierence.

It is dicult to see the strategy at play when analysing the move by Edwin Poots to take his case against the extension of adoption legislation

to the highest court in the United Kingdom. According to BAAF Adop-tion and Fostering in Northern Ireland, the numbers of children under public care is on the increase. Between 2011 and 2012, the gure grew by ve percent, and at last count, the split in demographic is fairly equal

when it comes to gender – 52% boys, 48% girls. The gure of those in thecare of foster parents – again, at last count – was 74%. So, for an MLA of one of the major parties in Northern Ireland to take such a passion inacting against getting more children out of the care system and into thearms of loving parents – be it gay or straight – baes even the most tiredof minds. It only rings true when the notion of ‘traditional values’ is givenas an explanation, the go-to excuse usually provided to pander to the

will of the godly – and to swiftly collect their ballot. However, one must remember that even Jesus supposedly had two dads.

by Jason Murdock

We take a look at one of Edwin Poots’ recent blunders - his personal agenda against gay and unmarried adoption.



National Politics// Comment and Opinion on International Politics

7

Conference Season:

“Edwin Poots has demonstrated no regard for thepublic purse or for children in need of loving parents.His own personal prejudice has Cost Dept of Healthupwards of £100K at a time when nurses bursariesare being cut, A&E depts and care homes are being

closed. My sexuality shouldn’t be the last word on whether I have the moral bre to be a father, not should anyone else’s. I am condent the Minister’sridiculous, oensive and irresponsibly costly chal-lenge to the NI High Court ruling on adoption willfail.”

“Banning people from applying to adopt simply be-cause of their relationship status is discriminatory andillogical. It sends a message that unmarried couples or same-sex couples are less able to raise children whilst studies consistently show that this isn’t the case. Un-

married and same-sex couples in England and Wales were given the right to apply to adopt by the Adoptionand Children Act 2002. NI21 believes that now, 11

years later, it’s time for Northern Ireland to moveforward and adopt the same position”

We take a look at the three big party conferences- Tory, Labour and Lib Dem - and attempt todecipher the messages in order to ask the big

questions 1) What energy source powers NigelFarage’s grin? 2) Will Nick Clegg be able to smileconvincingly and 3) How does Ed Miliband look

in a miners uniform?

>

Ed Miliband is quite good at conferencespeeches. Even if he keeps losing out in thepolls to David Cameron as to who seemsthe most prime ministerial, Ed has alwaysbeen pretty good at the big set piecespeech at conference.. He spoke this year for over an hour without notes or autocue.He’s also come out swinging vowing tobring back socialism to Britain, much tothe chagrin of the right wing press. Hismain message was “Britain can do better” a necessary tone for opposition as thegovernment has been basking in the newsthat economic growth has returned to the

UK for two quarters running this year.However instead of being cowed by this,Mr Miliband was aggressive in hiscriticism of the government’s economic record pointing out that good economic news has meant little for normal people.

With his well publicised row with theDaily Mail over comments they madeabout his dead father hating Britain, Mr Miliband has shown that he has the back-bone for a political ght. The downside of course, is that after the immediate positivepress that comes after conference, Mr Miliband nds it dicult to convince the

idea of him in the Prime Minister’s chair as plausible. By adopting an aggressiveand populist stance, he will hope to havechanged that.

David Cameron has been plagued by theright wing of his party and Boris Johnsonever since becoming the leader of theConservatives. This yearsconference was no dierent. As much ashe is willing to declare his love for BJ thesedays, Cameron must surely grind his teethevery time he hears the name Farage. Tothe right of the right of the Tories, oldNigel made an appearance at theconference in Manchester, albeit it onthe fringes and not as part of the actualprogramme. Farage’s UKIP has forcedCameron to address the issue of Europemore often than he would have liked inthe past year. He’s an intelligent man andknows his history, so he’s bound to know that, generally, when a Tory leader isforced to talk a lot about Europe it splits

the party massively and gets them arguing with each other instead of the opposition.However on the plus side, he did haveeconomic growth to parade as part of his

“told you only we could x the recession” which is going to be central to thecampaign message in 2015. With Borison one side and Farage’s UKIP gaining ground on the other, the question thenis can the party maintain the disciplineneeded to not fracture before the next general election? If they can’t, if they don’t recognise Cameron as one of their key election assets, then they may soon have

to get used to doing conferences fromopposition. From this conference and theattendance at Farage’s fringe event, thesigns don’t look great.

I’ve heard a lot of people say that they feel sorry for Nick Clegg. Caught between a rock and a hard place, hisparty has been burdened with the

hopeless task of being the nice sideto the nasty Tory party. In truth weshould really feel sorry for the party.See, outside of Nick Clegg, they don’t have anyone to lead them. There isn’t really anybody waiting in the wings whocould pick up the ball should the Clegg brand become too toxic in the run upto an election. So when the Lib Demstalk about their ambition to go back intogovernment in 2015, it’s far too easy tolook awkwardly at your shoes andpretend you didn’t hear. Hence why the Lib Dems get to announce the free

meals policy, something to draw out some of the toxicity that’s plagued theparty since 2010. Still Clegg gives a goodspeech!

Big policy announcement: Freeze of

energy prices

Big policy announcement: Everybody

under 25 earning or learning

Big policy announcement: Free school

meals for children in reception, year

one and year two.

OTR rating-5/10

Conservatives

Labour

Lib Dems

OTR rating-7/10OTR rating-6/10

Off The Record Verdicts

Reactions to Poots’ stance

Stephen Donnan

Alliance Activist

@SteveDonnan

NI21 Statement

@NI21Ofcial“ “


Reviewed by Jason Ashford>



Investigations & Analysis

Off The Record8

You’ve nally graduated! Wavedgoodbye to your friends, packedup 3 years worth of belongings and

moved out of your student digs. At last you’re ready to land your dream job, travel the world, get onthe property market, maybe evenget married and start a family. The

world is your oyster, right?

Fast forward 6 months, and you’reliving back at home with your parents, still temping in a job youhate for minimum wage, with littlehope of setting up that savings

account you promised yourself you’d open with your rst month’ssalary. Suddenly a round the worldtrip, or having enough money for a deposit on a mortgage seems about as likely as the proverbial ying pig!

Struggling to cope with anxietiesabout jobs, unemployment, debt and relationships, many young adults are experiencing a quarter-life crisis, bearing all the hallmarks

of the midlife crisis, thisphenomenon – characterised by insecurities, disappointments,loneliness and depression is

aecting more and more twenty tothirty-somethings shortly after graduating.

A research survey undertaken by Gumtree.com found that 86% of the 1,100 young people questionedadmitted feeling under pressureto succeed in their relationships,nances and jobs before hitting 30.

Two in ve were worried about money, saying they didn’t earnenough, whilst 21% wanted a complete career change. 32% felt under pressure to marry and have

children by the age of 30. It seemsthat the dreaded Three-O islooming over our 20s in a way that it hasn’t for previous generations.Growing numbers of young people are struggling withpressures previously felt by those intheir mid-forties, says Damian Barr,author of Get It Together: A guideto Surviving Your QuarterlifeCrisis. “The truth is that our twenties are not as they were for our

parents. Being twentysomething now is scary – ghting millions of other Graduates for your rst job,struggling to raise a mortgage

deposit and nding time to juggleall your relationships”. There are noexperts because no other

generation has experienced thequarter-life crisis.

No generation has graduated intoas much debt. It would seem that a lack of opportunities in the current economic climate is the root of the problem; however it could beargued that young people today areactually faced with far more choicethan ever before. By the age of 25most of our parents would have

settled down, secured a job for life (an almost foreign concept intoday’s job market) got married andstarted a family. Whereas today’sgeneration of graduates have a lot more choice; to go travelling for instance, or go on to further study,perhaps an internship or maybeeven become an entrepreneur!Recent graduates are more likely to swap and change jobs beforesettling into a career, and many are

delaying getting married andraising a family – giving themgreater opportunity to meet “theone”.

Q u a r t e r L i f e C r i s i s

Feature

b y R ac he l S te ve nso n

@ R ac he lS te venso7

A g u i d e t o y o u r v e r y o w n :

It seemed so simple. Get a degree, land a brilliant job! Well, it seems

that an increasing number of graduates are nding this is no longer the case. As a result, there has been a focus on the ‘quarter life crisis’.

In what previously would have been a case of your dad buying amotorbike or growing a mad beard, now seems to be affecting thosecoming out of the halls of university. Rachel Stevenson, PsychologyGraduate, investigates this phenomenon for Off The Record Magazine.



9

The emergence of this so called “quarter life” period is not dissimilar to the emergenceof the concept of adolescence.

The concept of adolescencebecame current in the very early 20th century with the

publication of a book by G.Stanley Hall (1904). This wasthe rst discussion in whichadolescence was described asapplicable to a specic timeperiod and as having a distinct set of behaviours. Adolescenceas a distinct phase of socialdevelopment is thus a relatively modern phenomenon – onethat is characteristic of advanced industrialised

societies and extendededucational systems. This stagearose when it was recognisedthat young people held normsand beliefs that weredierent from their parents andthat appeared to be a periodof confusion or ambivalencethat represented a transitionalperiod from childhood to adult-hood. Prior to this distinction,children entered the work force

at young ages and there was nostage that represented a

waiting period – it is this waiting period that came to beseen as a separate stage of life– adolescence. It was believedthat this time periodrepresented a time of anomiebecause the norms of childhood

were no longer applicable, nor were the norms of adulthood.

According to Seeman (1976),anomie denotes a situation in

which the social normsregulating individual conduct

are broken down or are nolonger eective as rules of behaviour. With no norms for behaviour available to guideindividuals, people oftenbecome unsure and confusedby which norms of behaviours

are expected of them.Similarly, Graduates today arefaced with the same confusion;the thought of being thrust out into the real world can befrightening. For many, life asa student was predictable andstable. Now, upon graduation,

you’re expected to nd a career,a place to live, and be able tosupport yourself. The sheer amount of choice creates an

inordinate amount of confusionand anxiety; there are a bewildering number of choicesand no denitive way of deciding which one is right.

According to Barr, twenty-somethings are at greater risk of depression than any other age group. Although one in vepeople will be aected by depression at some stage in

their life, the Depression Alliance estimates that as many as one in three twentysome-things are depressed now. “No

wonder. No other generationhas had so much choice or suchgreat expectations thrust uponthem.” Luckily Barr is on hand

with some helpful tips andadvice for surviving your quarter-life crisis:

Firstly, “The decisions we makedon’t need to be popular – they

just need to be right. For us”.Feeling like you should be

having, doing, or being moreis the essence of the quarter life crisis, so try not to becomexated with what you feel youshould be doing or what your peers are doing, instead focuson your own goals and what

you want to achieve in life.

Secondly, “Your identity willalways be partly dened by

what you do, where you live,and the people you surround

yourself with. But if you rely too much on any one part of theequation – and something goes

wrong – you immediately losea sense of who you are”. So try not to dene yourself entirely

by your relationship, job, or salary etc. - these are just aspects of your life and are by no means a measure of how

well you are doing in life.

And nally “It’s not about whether your friends think you’re ne, you’re family approves, your partner ispleased, or your boss praises

you. It’s feeling good about

yourself whatever you’reearning, wherever you live,

whoever and whatever you’redoing. Never has so much beenexpected of a generation yet never has it been so hard toachieve it. Things are hardfor us twentysomethings – the

very least we can do is be easy on ourselves”. And take somecomfort in the fact that you arenot alone; there are thousands

of other graduates in similar situations, struggling to get it together amidst their ownquarterlife crisis.

“ R e c e n t g r ad u a t e s a r e m o r e l i k e l y t o s w a p a nd c h a n g e j o b s b e f o r e s e t t l i n g i n t o a

c a r e e r, a nd m a n y a r e d e l a y i n g g e t t i n g m a r r i ed a nd r a i s i n g a f a m i l y – g i v i n g t h e m

g r e a t e r o p p o r t u n i t y t o m e e t ‘ t h e o n e ’.

Did you enjoy this feature? Come voice your opinion @offtherecordNI



By Jason Ashford | @otrjasona

The Failed Economist

Off The Record10

See the Tories are very keen for youfair citizen to know that they’verescued the economy withausterity. The message is that economic growth has been achievedonly because the big smart boys wereallowed to look after the money again.Now I’m not a fan of Gideon andDave’s economic plans, but I’m alsonot a complete idiot. The Tory ledcoalition government hasreturned the economy to growth withtheir austerity measures.Congratulations and good cheer!

Well good cheer might be a bit

strong. See the economy as a wholegrew by 0.7% in the last quarter, but where has that growth really gone? Are you any better o? It’s very easy to think of economics as a numbersgame that doesn’t really aect realpeople. When the bons talk about the economy shrinking by 7.2% sincethe onset of the recession, they seemto be talking about something in theabstract. Know what it really means?It means that while we’ve been

surging through our astounding 0.7%growth, this summer has actually seena record number of people using foodbanks. In a western European country

at peace. It means that theunemployment rate is still 7.7% (a gure that’s misleading as it doesn’t take into account the wastedpotential of people working on zerohour contracts, this summers other big scandal). The governor of theBOE actually expects it to takeanother three years for that gureto drop even to 7%. What this 0.7%growth gure means is that averagereal disposable household income isactually 0.7% lower than it was a year ago. That means on average people’sincome, taking into account inationof prices, is actually lower than it was

a year ago.

0.7% growth in Q2 of 2013 is a goodthing, but here’s the kicker. What didit cost? We’re seeing hospital closures,the systematic destruction of the

welfare state, the ever increasing useof payday loan companies, increasedpoverty and misery. The alternative,focusing on minimising thenegative eects of the economic crisison normal people did not appeal to

the neo-liberal economists ingovernment. So yes growth is good,but growth without kicking themajority of the population in the teeth

would have been much better.

Speaking of people suering becauseof politicians getting it wrong about money…America is closed. Well at least all the nonessential services of the US government are closed,leaving 800,000 government employees stuck on furlough for theforeseeable future (special forces whopop into African countries to captureterrorists are obviously termed fairly essential). As the Republican party is full of politicians who have thementality of paranoid 1950’s children,terried of universal health care lest

it somehow resurrect Khrushchev,they have decided not to agree to thebudget to try and force Obama topull back his Aordable Healthcare

Act. Obama in response has toldthem to go to hell and called their blu. Thankfully this hasn’t really bothered anyone. The internationalmarkets sort of shrugged and said “so

what?”. Just before we went to print,Congress agreed a deal to reopen thegovernment and raise the debt ceiling

until the new year.

This would make great satire, if only it were funny.

Dear readers have you heard the news?! After eight years of soul crushing, country destroying recession,after eight years of hearing the phrase “the greatest nancial crisis” since 1929 so many times it actually became legal to shoot people who used it, we’re okay!Breathe a sigh of relief, everything is now all right.

In the second quarter of 2013, economic growth in theUK was double what it was in the rst quarter. For the

rst time since...that unfortunate episode in 2008, thereis hope in the UK economy. All the naysayers (yourstruly included) who thought the Tory led experiment of austerity was a suicidal, ideologically driven assault onthe people of the UK, have clearly been proven wrong.Since the announcement I have told myself twice a day that I have been an idiot for not realising that the only

way is Austerity and you shouldn’t have disagreed in therst place you bloody commie peasant.

The Real Cost of Osborne's Growth

So yes growth is good, but growth without kicking the majority of the population in the teeth would have been much better“ ”



Discussion // Off The Record | In Discussion

11Have YOUR say! Blog today for Off The Record! See @offtherecordni for more details

Fracking Debate - Friends School Lisburn11th October 2013

From Left to Right: (Speakers) Anna Lo, Basil McCrea, Ross Brown & Niall Bakewell

Reporting by Jason Murdock and Jason Ashford

“I’m not a scientist but” were the words rst uttered by Sammy Wilson, which was perhapsa depressing sentence to hear from a former Environment Minister on the subject of frack-ing (See side box for more information on

what fracking actually is). Mr Wilson was oneof ve speakers gathered in Friends schoolin Lisburn for a debate focussed on the oftencontroversial topic of fracking. With

Australian company Tamboran having recently been granted a license to explore for shale gas reserves in the Lough Allen Basin,the topic has once again been thrust into thepolitical conversation. Alongside Mr Wilson

was Basil McCrea (NI21), Anna Lo(Alliance), Niall Bakewell (Friends of theEarth) & Ross Brown (Greens). Fully awarethat in a couple of years the students in theroom were soon to be voters, each of thespeakers were very keen to impress. TheJesuits say ‘give me the boy before the age of

seven and I will give you then man’, but withpoliticians it seems to be ‘give me the kidsbefore they are seventeen and I will give youthe votes’.

IWhat on earth is “fracking”?“Fracking” – or hydraulic fracturing is the pro-cess in which oil and gas companies drill into theground to extract natural gas from the shale rockthat lays thousands of feet under the ground.

Step One Water, sand and additives are mixed at thesurface and pumped at high pressures down the

well bore.

Step Two The fracturing uid ows through the perforatedsections of the well bore and into the surrounding formation, fracturing it

Step Three The plugs are removed from the well bore andthe well’s pressure is reduced during the owback process, leaving the sand in place to prop openthe fractures and allow natural gas and/or oil toow toward the surface.

Step FourProduced water, collected during the owback

process and throughout the life of the well, isproperly disposed of or treated and re-used infuture hydraulic fracturing operations.



Join the conversation! Find us @OfftheRecordNI

Off The Record12

On paper, the process of hydraulic fracturing oers numerous benets; jobcreation, self suciency, energy security, and an untapped source of cheap energy. On the pro side was

Sammy Wilson and Basil McCrea. Wilson based his arguments on mainly non-scientic sources, while McCrea made clear his decision to endorse theprocess was based on scientic reason-ing, his background as a ChemicalEngineer and acting as chair on an AllParty Group of Science and Technol-ogy. It should be acknowledged that even though the arguments are both infavour, they have come to their decisions via dierent paths. Basil’s

stats are based largely on the reportsof the Royal College of Engineers,and Sammy Wilson’s are based on theappeal of economic benets. Thesepromises of job creation and economic growth were fairly vague and basedmainly on the experience of the USenergy market. He also was very keento point out that not exploiting shalegas would be a massive waste of our natural resources and that opting for green energy instead would add £487

to every household’s energy bill. Wherehe got this number is not entirely clear.

This is just one more example of thescare tactics that both sides of theargument partake in, however it is thepro-fracking lobby that is more keento label their opponents are scare-mongers. This hypocrisy was evident

when after accusing the Greens of scaremongering, Basil McCrea in thenext breath talked of the “lights going

out within three years” without massivechanges to the current system of energy provision. It is quite clear that what both sides have in common is the useof fear tactics to grab the attention of the electorate. In an argument based onhypothetical costs and benets,hyperbole is deployed to make thearguments seem relevant to people.

The crux of the argument made by theanti-fracking side of the panel made upof Anna Lo, Niall Bakewell and RossBrown comes down to whether or not

you believe we should be pro-actively moving away from the use of fossil

fuels. Fracking is simply a new way of exploiting long dead dinosaurs, but onthe anti-fracking side, the emphasis ison using renewable energy. Their arguments, both economic and

ecological focused on the negative sideeects of fossil fuels and the dangersunique to fracking. You see, the reasonfracking is controversial is becausethere is scientic evidence that it canlead to poisoning of the water supply

with heavy metals such as bromine,and even earthquakes. The pro frack-ing team was quick to point out that the earthquakes caused by fracking in Lancaster were “only a 3.4” on therichter scale and that there is “bromine

in all water anyway, just in very smallamounts”. This kind of justication that can lead to escalation is very dangerousas how long will it be until politiciansare justifying something as “just a 4.0”?

Some of the most persuasivearguments made by the pro-fracking lobby are economic. While NorthernIreland sputters out of recession, theallure of a magic x that will not only create brand new jobs by exploiting

an underused resource but also drivedown energy bills by increasing thesupply of natural gas, is almost toogood to be true. According to NiallBakewell, that’s exactly because it is.He spoke convincingly, deconstructing the economic arguments one by one.First of all, he claimed that any jobcreation would not benet Northern Irish people directly becausegas companies would look to exploit any fracking sites in NI quickly and so

will ship in specialist engineers fromother countries where expertise is muchgreater in this particular type of energy extraction. According to Bakewell, wesimply don’t have the engineers whoknow how to get the gas out of theground, and the companies aren’t going to wait around until we get trained up.He painted a picture of American andEuropean engineers ying in getting the gas out while we watched theprots draining out of NorthernIreland with little or no benecialimpact for the people of the province.

Even more worryingly, he said that

“we could nd ourselves extracting gas while our homes go cold”. Mr Bakewell was referring to the fact that NI existsin a European energy marketplace andthat companies could simply ship the

gas to any part of the Union where they found prots to be higher. There werenumerous quotes from theleaders of energy companies that stated, quite clearly, that fracking

would by no means lead to lower energy prices. The point is that the gas

will not stay in Northern Ireland asthese companies exist in a competitive,international market.

In response to this, Mr Bakewell

pointed out that while fracking creates 3 jobs for every £1 million spent,the retrotting of buildings to be moreenvironmentally friendly creates 17.Even more alluring is the fact that NI isnot short of builders with theexpertise and experience to do this typeof energy conservation, who arelooking for work, especially considering the bruising the construction industry has taken post 2008. He pointed out that this is not only more

environmentally friendly, but our industrial past puts us in a perfect position to pursue this course of action.

Mr McCrea based many of hisarguments on the RCE report that stated that fracking could be carriedout safely as long as there was strict regulation on the companies involvedin the drilling. Bakewell had answeredthis earlier when he spoke of theregulatory bodies charged with

oversight of energy companies, in thepast, being either impotent or incompetent. For an example he citedthe ecological damage done at the goldmine outside of Omagh as a perfect case of these bodies being unable toprevent pollution. Mr McCrea statedthat no government intends to poisontheir citizens as it’s bad for votes,however it should be noted that largeenergy conglomerates are not wellknown for having this kind of moralcompass. The best indicator of what could happen, is what has happened.



13Have YOUR say! Blog today for Off The Record! See @offtherecordni for more details

There are issues that will forever overshadow the public perception of a politician or a political movement. Certain

issues are so emotive and partisan that they form anintegral part of the backbone of any party. Fracking isone of these issues. It will probably come as a surpriseto some supporters or potential supporters of NI21 that they are pro fracking. Generally speaking, throughout theworld, liberal parties have tended to side with the anti- fracking lobby.

It is unclear whether this is an ofcial party policydecided by members or is just of particular interest to Basil McCrea. Would the average person, tempted tovote for N21 declare themselves to be pro-fracking? NI21 formed on the promise of focusing on what mattered toordinary people, namely the economy. The promise wasto form a party focused on economic growth and prosperity and this has clearly resonated with votersin the province. However in putting potential economicgrowth ahead of ecological safety, has Basil gambled too far? He should be commended for not sitting on the fence,but it will be interesting to see if this alienates any potential supporters. Is it possible to differentiate betweenan ofcial NI21 policy and a Basil policy? Will hisdecisiveness be seen as strong leadership and win over

those who are quick to accuse him of fence sitting?

At the end of the debate the principal of Friends School Lisburn was heard to ask someof the assembled students who they thought had won. Amidst the embarrassed laughs of school children thrust into the role of judges

of politicians, the truth was quite clear, neither side had won. Both came out ghting,passionately defending their corners. The stylepoints surely went to the two politicalheavyweights Mr McCrea and Mr Wilson, but in terms of pure argument, the anti-fracking lobby of Mr Bakewell and Mr Brown hadmore than held their own. For example, whileMr Wilson attempted to make the decisionseem simple by asking why we would “turnour backs on a resource that is on our front doorstep” the anti-fracking side were quick to

muddy the waters by exposing the inherent short termism of this approach, something admitted even by the fracking companiesthemselves.

The person who was most impressive though, was, perhaps unsurprisingly, Ms Lo. Wellknown for her personable disposition andrationality, Ms Lo urged caution. Whileadmitting she was not a “denite no” tofracking, she was rm in her resolution that

“we need to protect our society and

environment from a process that has a severedeciency of research”. What O The Recordcan only hope, is that such level headedarguments prevail on the assembly oor.

NI21’s (kind of) surprising stance on fracking

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Arts &Culture // The very best of NI music, comedy and events

Off The Record14

rom the condent opening bars of ‘Our Truth Could Be Their Lie’ to thedeliberately soporic closing lines of ‘Close Your Eyes, Fall Asleep’, Tony

Wright’s accomplished debut albumunder the guise of VerseChorusVersetakes the listener on a captivating musical journey; one that encompasses lightnessand dark; joy and grief, and everything inbetween.

For his latest venture, the artist formerly known as a member of And So I Watch You From Afar, has chosen thepotentially lonely, yet often life-arming path of singer-songwriter, writing fromthe heart and inviting us to follow along

and share the experience. Released withthe support of fans via PledgeMusic, thealbum is steeped in belief: belief in life,love, hope and in music itself.

For those who like life-arming, foot-stomping tunes, ‘No More Years’ oersa loud and clear message that it’s vital totread your own path through life: ‘I won’t wait no more years, so I don’t waste nomore tears’. The pace slows with theheartfelt ‘Help Myself’, a ballad of failedromance and self-preservation: ‘I can’t

help you now, but I’ll help myself, by turning my head every time you’re around… but you’re always around’.

For me, the standout tracks on thealbum are the two that follow next: ‘WeSpoke With The Night’, a soaring song about faith, trust and hope, ‘we took a

leap with our eyes closed’; and ‘Three’, a powerful, haunting and darkly menacing track which we can surely assume refersto Wright’s departure from ASIWYFA – ‘heavy heart, leaden feet, leaden hands / places to go, people to greet / tornasunder, contract to meet / three against one ain’t no fun’.

But, as so often with life, the albumswiftly leads us to a more optimistic place. ‘Big Red Van’ encourages us to join together to change the future. ‘All we

need is a big red van to take these plansall across the land / just think of all thethings we’ll see, people we’ll meet when we sail the sea’. The message is clear;learn from others’ errors, make some of your own, and do better the next time. This track also contains a beautifully vitriolic line, possibly my favourite on thealbum, presumably levelled at those who wield power, but lack honesty: ‘I wish you all the luck in the world / as the story unfurls, you’ll need it’.

Likewise on ‘You Can’t Win Back Your Freedom If You’ve Never Been Free At All’, there is a tangible sense of optimism

and a call for the masses to rise up: ‘befree from your servitude and saved from your debt / all icons to fall’.

The pace slows once more with a lament called ‘Common Prayer’. This is a stark but engaging track, from Tony’s audibleinhalation of breathe at the song’sopening, to the haunting lyrics wovenaround the simple acoustic guitar: ‘TheDevil don’t want me / take him, just leaveme’ and later, ‘Lover, come nd me / lover, come save me’.

On ‘Unied Unity (Sing for Seeger)’ peace is the focus. While clearly a homage to Pete Seeger, and his famous

version of what became the AmericanCivil Rights anthem of the 1960s, ‘WeShall Overcome’, this track can be seen asa plea for peace in Northern Ireland too: ‘We can overthrow it, without a bullet,hand in hand in unison / it’s achieved by talking and not by bombing’.

An inspiring, thoughtful, emotional,passionate album from an artist with theimagination, talent and drive to ensurethat his future musical adventures will belled with songs of hope, lives well-lived

and, above all, honesty.

Continue the conversation! @BandsNI

Assistant Editor for BandsNI.co.uk which

recently launched!Go check it out for all the latest on the local

music scene in NI.

By Lynn Gilmour

Album Review: versechorusverse

F



15

Belfast DaySunday 29th September 2013 - Belfast City Hall

So Ciaran, where did

the idea for a covers

EP come from?

The idea of a covers EP hasbeen something I’ve beeninterested in doing for along time. Any time I’veseen a band live I’ve always

found it extra special whenyou hear them rework acover, unlike the original so

I guess in a way it stemmed from that

How did you pick the

four songs on the

EP?

I was drawn to them eachin a way because of individ-ually how fun they seemed

to work with. Also, I wasborn in the 80s and thoughafter years of suppression,

I grew to love a lot of the

music that came out of that decade, the cheesier thebetter really. Is there a difference

between recording

cover songs and

recording your own

stuff?

The whole process of reworking already writtenand established songs isvery different from record-ing material self written

frstly because the pressure is totally off. I didn’t worry at any stage

about not doing theoriginals justice. I remember having theconversation with Mike

Mormecha (the producer)that I wanted us to mix instruments together that you wouldn’t ordinarilyget, arrange things unlikewhat you would expect,turn things slightly on theirhead. I think we did a prettygood job. So does O The Record!

“Other people wrote these” is available for free on Sound-cloud. Go get it! Links to theEP and the whole, unabridgedinterview will be available onour website.

Off The Record loves new things. In fact the only thing welove more than new things is soulful singer-songwriters (they

make us feel warm inside okay?!). So when we found out Ciaran Lavery had released a new covers EP called “Other

people wrote these” we had to catch up with him to fnd out all about it.

Ciaran Lavery EP showcase and Interview




Off The Record16

C o n t a c t O f t h e

R e c o r d Jason A Murdock

Editor/Writer [email protected]

07447471459

Email AND [email protected]

Facebookwww.facebook.com/

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Twitter@offtherecordni

jason ashford@otrjasona

Fear and Loathing By Keith Boe

Support local business, support art, support culture. If you liked this issue, please give ussome feedback on Twitter! If you would like to contribute a piece or have an story you want to see the light of day, contact us! If you didn’t like this, please don’t put us in the bin.Pass it along, and we can try our charms on another. See you NEXT MONTH!

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