Author: Kevin Barry BSc(Hons) MRICS

Both Slipways, One Seat: Chris Hazzard, the New Strangford and the Crossing Question Strangford Lough Crossing Campaign | Kevin Barry BSc(Hons) MRICS, Campaign Lead | 21 October 2026 This morning’s Belfast Telegraph reports that Sinn Féin’s Chris Hazzard, MP for South Down since 2017, plans to leave Westminster and stand for the Assembly in Strangford. […]

The Ards Peninsula: A SWOT Analysis the Minister Cannot Leave Until May 2027 Kevin Barry BSc(Hons) MRICS, Quintin QS, Campaign Lead, Strangford Lough Crossing (SLC). 20 October 2026. Elsewhere in County Down, things are being built. On the Newry River, the Narrow Water Bridge is past its halfway mark. At Ballykinlar, a €15.4 million community […]

Beyond May 2027: Hope, With a Price Tag Why a £250,000 study could unlock the Ards Peninsula and Newry, Mourne and Down, whatever the future holds On the steps of Downing Street on 20 July 2026, the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, called it “the moment we bring back hope”. He promised to carry power […]

The A5 Can Now Be Built. It Is Time to Plan Infrastructure the Proper Way. 7 October 2026 This week belongs to the families of Tyrone. More than 50 people have died on the A5 since 2006 (Pinsent Masons, Out-Law, 11 August 2025). Behind that figure are parents, children and neighbours, and a community that […]

Three Apps from QUINTIN QS: Better Information for a Better Life Made in Ulster. Built to make useful information more accessible. In Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren, the economist John Maynard Keynes imagined a future in which people could live “wisely and agreeably and well.” That ambition provides a useful question for any new tool: […]

The Ferry, the Timetable and the 75 km Detour What is happening to the Strangford ferry, who is using it, and what everyone else is doing instead. Ask any low-cost airline three questions about a route: how old is the aircraft, how full is it, and what are the customers who didn’t fly doing instead? […]

The Cheapest Litre Is the One You Never Burn: The Strangford Lough Crossing as a Fuel Hedge Diesel has hit a record £2 a litre across the UK, and the Ards Peninsula is not far behind. Nobody in Portaferry or Lecale can control the pump price. What public policy can change is how many litres […]

Futuristic newspaper front page Sixty Years of “Not Viable” — and the Dashboard That Asks Whether That’s Still True Blog post and dashboard updated Monday 23 September 2026 Why this post, why now For many months, the Strangford Lough Crossing campaign has been making one argument, in plain language and on the record: the case […]

Eight Months to Polling Day: Will the Money Get Tested, or Just the Photo Opportunities? A blog post for the Strangford Lough Crossing campaign Northern Ireland’s voters go to the polls twice on the same day next year: council elections and Assembly elections, together, on 6 May 2027. Every capital project, every subsidy line and […]