u/binesandlines

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/were-not-going-anywhere-belfast-33715934

The owners of a Belfast coffee shop say they have been left frustrated and disheartened after their business was targeted for the fourth time in weeks.

Dilly and Dolly's on Ann Street in the city centre was broken into on Friday night with cash taken and damage caused to the premises.

The business took to social media to share news of the incident, which they say is one of a series over recent weeks.

They said: "Tonight, Dilly & Dolly’s was broken into. Money was taken and there was some damage done and to be honest, it’s been a tough one to process.

"It’s already been a difficult year, watching so many businesses around us close their doors, leaving us surrounded by empty buildings. It’s hard not to feel like that makes things like this easier to happen."This is the fourth incident in just a few weeks, and the police have been called out 3 times in the last two weeks alone. It’s frustrating, and at times, disheartening, when we are so proud and determined to bring a little colour and vibrancy to what can sometimes feel like a very grey city."

Natalie Lennon opened Dilly and Dolly's on the Upper Lisburn Road in June 2021 after losing her job during the pandemic.

The Hannahstown woman previously told Belfast Live she wanted to bring something different to Belfast and since their opening, the Dolly and Dolly's name has grown - with a second location on Ann Street following a year later.

Despite this latest setback, Dilly and Dolly's said it would be business as usual on Saturday: "But we’re still here. And we are not going anywhere. I want to say thank you to my team, who continue to show up, work hard, and care so much about this place every single day. So tomorrow, we will dust ourselves off and open our doors as usual.

"Thank you to all our lovely customers who continue to support and encourage us, we will see you tomorrow! Team Dilly & Dolly’s & Natalie x."

When contacted, police said they are appealing for information and witnesses in relation to a report of a burglary at commercial premises in the Ann Street area of Belfast yesterday evening, Friday, April 3.

A PSNI spokesperson added: “At around 8.45pm, it was reported that entry had been forced to the premises, and a sum of money taken from the till.

“Enquiries are ongoing, and we are appealing to anyone who might have been in the area at the time and saw any suspicious activity, or who has any information which could assist, to get in touch. The number to call is 101, quoting reference number 1560 of 03/04/26.”

https://sluggerotoole.com/2026/04/02/northern-ireland-economy-wages-poverty-politics-of-success/

Two data points landed this week that I think deserve more attention than they’re getting. First, Northern Ireland’s average monthly wage is up 8% on last year — outpacing inflation and signalling genuine improvement in household income.

Second, an IFS report tells us that Northern Ireland has among the lowest child poverty rates in the UK, sitting well below Wales, London, West Midlands, and the UK average. On the metrics that matter we’re moving in the right direction.

So why does our political culture feel stuck in a doom loop of crisis?

Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson argue in Abundance that Western democracies have become good at preventing bad things but have forgotten how to build good ones. Northern Ireland may be living proof: our institutions are calibrated for managing dysfunction, not stewarding success.

Lonergan and Blyth’s Angrynomics adds another layer — when economic anxiety becomes chronic, it gets weaponised politically, long after the underlying numbers have improved. The anger, they argue, long outlasts the emergency.

And then there’s the filter. Jaron Lanier has long warned that social media’s attention economy rewards outrage over nuance, collapsing complex economic progress into a scroll of grievance that induces a paralysis of will in the real world.

C. Thi Nguyễn goes further — distinguishing between filter bubbles, which limit what we see, and echo chambers, which actively erode our ability to trust outside voices. Northern Ireland’s political tribes may be less a product of genuine disagreement than of epistemic architectures that make consensus feel like surrender.

The result is a public will that’s perpetually pessimistic — even when the data says otherwise. So here are three questions our political class should be asked — and where possible forced to answer:

1. If wages are rising and child poverty is falling, what is your specific plan to lock in these gains rather than simply claim credit for them?

2. Northern Ireland’s poverty profile is improving relative to Great Britain — what structural reforms would you make to sustain that trajectory, rather than revert to dependency arguments?

3. If abundance, not austerity, is now the frame — what would you actually build?

The economics of success require different politics than the economics of failure. It’s time to find out if anyone at Stormont is ready for that conversation?