Journalism
A selection of pieces published in local and national publications over the past two years. I have published features on a variety of topics, including consumer, TV, politics, first person and humour, and now specialise in travel, TV and wildlife writing. I also write on literature, children's books, fiction writing, UK holidays and camping, and am a content writer for UK camping site pitchup.com. I write local reviews as a marketing assistant for the international review site Yelp and write a regular TV blog.
Further writing samples available on request.
Hierarchy of Victimhood
Anyone convicted of a crime in Northern Ireland has an automatic 50% remission on their sentence. But why does this include rapists and sex offenders like Thomas Hamilton, released three years into a seven-year sentence for three brutal rapes to murder pensioner Attracta Harron? Laura Canning reports on how rape victims are the unrecognised "others" in the Northern Ireland war.
Traveller Discrimination Still Rife
The Molloy family spent Christmas 1998 on a bishop's lawn in Ennis, Co Clare. Moved on twice from their home by Ennis Urban District Council (UDC), the couple and their seven children had literally nowhere else to go. It was up to the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, to offer them a place in his grounds.
The Molloys are an Irish Traveller family. They had nowhere to go that Christmas because a 1997 High Court order closed Ennis's only official halting site for Travellers. With no official site, anywhere the family parked, anywhere they set up their home, was illegal.
NaNoWriMo Ate My Soul
What type of idiot decides to write a novel in a whole month? said a "friend" to me last Thursday, as he all but rolled around on the floor consumed with mirth at such foolhardiness.
Er...
November 1st saw the latest launch of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo (try saying that after a few drinks), an epic marathon where participants write an entire 50,000 word novel in four weeks. Yes, that's 12,500 words a week.1785 a day. Foolishly or bravely, I'll know which on November 30, I'm throwing my writing hat into the ring and accepting the challenge.
Women prisoners in N Ireland 'failed by the system'
Last week in the North Belfast News, we reported how women prisoners in Northern Ireland were found to be suffering serious human rights abuses at Hydebank Wood. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) last Thursday (5 July) released a report into the conditions of women prisoners here, with one of the report's authors accusing the Northern Ireland Prisons System (NIPS) of "failing in its duty of care". This week we look at the report in detail, showing how the prison system is failing women in Northern Ireland.
How to Reclaim your Bank Charges
How can a ten pound overdraft spiral into a debt of hundreds or even thousands of pounds?
Because banks charge their customers for going into the red unauthorised. This means there isn't enough money in your account for your next direct debits, which means you're overdrawn again, which means you get charged again, which means you don't have enough money to cover your direct debits...
It's time for Sammy Wilson to go
A Comment is Free piece for the Guardian on N Ireland's climate change denying Environment Minister; mentioned at the Green Party Conference 2009.
Our choice, too
A Comment is Free piece for the Guardian on the campaign to extend the 1967 Abortion Act to N Ireland.
Eye on the Box TV column, Christmas Special 2007
"Well, did you have your sad bitch Christmas?" was how I was cordially greeted in the office on returning to slavery on the 27th. This was a reference to how I had spent the month of December telling all who would listen, and plenty who wouldn't, that I was planning to spend Christmas Day on my own this year, saved from grim solitude by Eastenders and wine. For some reason people seemed to think this hermit-like happiness was not a happy event at all.
Eye on the Box, Summer TV Countdown Special (I Hate Big Brother edition)
TV is a comfortingly cyclic thing. Christmas: The Wizard of Oz and someone carking it in the snow in Albert Square. Autumn: the race to spot the first Christmas ad and a sudden tendency of TV weather forecasters to use the word "squally". Sundays: Last of the Summer Wine, Songs of Praise and bloody Heartbeat.
Sell U Shite?
QB's consumer editor kicks corporate ass. Each month Laura Canning examines the facts behind the advertising claims of one product. This month: Garnier Nutritionist Hydrating Regenerating Eye Cream.