Orange Order

The personal details of Northern Ireland's main police force have been leaked – three reasons why that's incredibly dangerous

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 10, 2023
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But depending on the nature of the data leaked and the organisation, some breaches can be more serious and have greater consequences than others.

Key Points: 
  • But depending on the nature of the data leaked and the organisation, some breaches can be more serious and have greater consequences than others.
  • This is certainly true of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), which has accidentally published information about all its police officers and civilian personnel in response to a freedom of information (FoI) request.
  • It has been reported that the spreadsheet contained approximately 345,000 pieces of data relating to every police officer.

1. Risking violence

    • The most immediate problem is that the personal information of serving police officers is now potentially in the public domain.
    • This raises the question of who might have accessed this information and what they might do with it.
    • Today’s levels of violence in the north of Ireland are incomparable to the past but the threat of violence against serving police officers remains.
    • To them, PSNI officers represent “legitimate targets” because they uphold the constitutional status quo of post-Good Friday agreement Northern Ireland.

2. Stoking community tensions

    • Anyone from this background within the PSNI is unlikely to tell anyone beyond their closest family and friends what their job is.
    • This is partly because of the security threat but also because of the problematic relationship their community had with the PSNI’s predecessor force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

3. Reviving unresolved grievances

    • The force passed the personal details of nationalists to state agents within loyalist groups, who are accused of then murdering them.
    • This remains at the core of grievances over state collusion during the Troubles.

Peter Howson: new retrospective reveals how Scots painter found redemption after Bosnian war

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, May 27, 2023
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Peter Howson’s story is one of seeking dignity in human suffering and violence, and finding redemption; it is also uniquely Scottish.

Key Points: 
  • Peter Howson’s story is one of seeking dignity in human suffering and violence, and finding redemption; it is also uniquely Scottish.
  • When The Apple Ripens, Howson’s retrospective at Edinburgh City Arts Centre (27 May-1 October), is a timely showcase to celebrate his 65th year.

A Scottish sensibility

    • An unmistakably Scottish feature of Howson’s work is the undertone of Calvinism with its God-fearing, joyless culture of toil and penitence.
    • His unique perspective on the world reflects his experiences of living in the east end of Glasgow.
    • Most of his early work portrayed caricatures of rough, masculine men with exaggerated musculature.
    • At a time when Margaret Thatcher was in power, he called out the right-wing extremists and portrayed the dispossessed with dignity.

War and peace

    • With an obsession around violence and warfare, Howson applied and was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to record the Bosnian civil war in 1993 as the official war artist.
    • For Howson, life is about violence and confrontation, and in his words, encountering it makes him “feel alive”.
    • But the war had a huge impact on Howson’s mental health and his personal relationships were damaged by his experiences.
    • On his return, after a period of convalescence, he produced 300 pieces of powerful, shocking and controversial works of art.