The road to a better society – less politics, more policy from smart politicians
As Tip O’ Neill once said, ” all politics is local.” And so it is, in Stormont as in the US Congress. All that grafting by the massed ranks of family members employed in constituency work from low rent advice centres once paid off handsomely for the DUP and Sinn Fein. But there are signs [...] more »
“the ball is in Sinn Féin’s court”
Interesting to note that the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, told the NI Affairs Committee that he had had discussions with Sinn Féin about what would be required for them to take their seats in Parliament. And, as the BBC reports The Secretary of State has said that he has asked Sinn Fein for an [...] more »
Thoughts on the UUP leadership: Part 2
I suggested the problems with a Basil McCrea led UUP below. Hence, the only alternative is Tom Elliott. Here again there are problems albeit different ones. Tom Elliott is a pretty hard man to dislike: he is affable, decent, honest and hard working. He has as Alex Kane suggests a much sharper political brain than [...] more »
Thoughts on the UUP Leadership Part 1
The UUP leadership is finally becoming rather interesting. The establishment choice of Tom Elliott may have been the front runner but now the supposed outsider Basil McCrea is in fact becoming if not the favourite, certainly the media darling. McCrea is seen to offer the new dynamic choice of the party. The Belfast Telegraph has [...] more »
Owen Paterson: “It is absolutely not an option to leave a [Parades Commission] hole.”
With the future of the DUP/Sinn Féin drafted Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill currently uncertain the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, has told Parliament’s Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that if no new legislation was produced by the NI Assembly he will “reappoint a Parades Commission by January next year”. The draft Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests [...] more »
McGuinness saw Chesney on his deathbed…
Here’s a weird one. Martin McGuinness is now running against what he told the BBC back in 2002, and is now saying that he did meet Father Chesney (the Claudy bomber) on his deathbed in 1980. Strange timing. Has someone been round asking awkward questions? more »
Photograph of the day – Re-categorised
I’d heard tell of a campaign for people to move Tony Blairs memoir to the crime section in bookshops and in two separate bookshops today it seems that some folks are doing so. more »
Political Innovation 2: The politics of buying things
This is a guest cross-post by Dominic Campbell – originally posted on the Political Innovation site here: Well, you wouldn’t still be reading had I called it the politics of procurement now would you? (no, stop – don’t go!). No-one who engages with government procurement comes away impressed with it. It’s a process that wastes [...] more »
Judge points to lack of verification of FST’s disputed votes…
Interesting piece in the Irish News today on the Fermanagh South Tyrone election result, in which Sinn Fein’s Agricultural Minister Michelle Gildernew pipped the Unionist Unity candidate, Rodney Connor by just four votes. Mr Connor will be raising the issue of why six more votes than were issued turned up in the final count was [...] more »
Historical Enquiry: “…this is not an out-of-control situation”
The Historical Enquiries Team (HET) categorically states that it isn’t part of any political or ‘truth and reconciliation’ process. That may be, but as the only ship on the water, it’s uncomfortable jetsam is washing up on our shores every now and again. Two of the latest stories emanating from HET will no doubt be dismissed on [...] more »
NI Water: Is the Audit Office about to take the gloves off?
One of the most interesting aspect of this story is the degree to which most of the mainstream media (pace UTV and the News Letter) does not seem to understand what led to the point at which the Northern Ireland Audit Office is now going into the offices of NI Water to examine their financial [...] more »
Irish foreign policy grab bag
The first is drugs; the second and third are not sex and rock and roll. Maybe next week. With Colombian drug-trafficking networks increasingly eyeing Ireland’s south-west coast as attractive real estate to land cocaine for transshipment on to Britain and Northern Europe, the Gardaí and Irish Navy have become Europe’s frontline against narcotraffic. In this [...] more »
“Ireland’s dependence on Europe is a one-way street.”
As the Irish Times reported, the Irish Finance Minister, Brian Lenihan has been in Brussels this week in meetings about the troubled Anglo-Irish Bank. He’s announced a three-month extension of the Government guarantee for short-term bank liabilities until the end of 2010. The bank’s longer term future remains uncertain. Meanwhile, the cost of the Irish State’s [...] more »
I’ve never been there but I can write the copy boss
In recent years many media outlets have been pulling experienced reporters out of the north of Ireland and closing offices. While Dewi has highlighted today’s focus in the Independent on issues here, he missed a major factor that should colour any opinion on the value of much of the coverage now provided by English based [...] more »
Independent has an NI day
I know…..but only just got round to reading the papers: The Independent concentrates on: more »
At last from Australia
Apologies for the profligacy of posts but just in case anyone is staying up for Australia…… Looks like the Welsh girl’s got it… The Australian says Labor’s great escape. Worth a browse…..oh and they are still counting. AV a wonderful system…mmm. Anyway now we’ve won Australia I await an Alliance surge with you – after [...] more »
Talking to a brick wall: how to make politicians listen?
It took me a long time to warm to advertising agencies. The first time I worked with one I was working in sales management on Fairy Washing Up Liquid. I was due to attend a meeting at which I was to be told what consumers really thought of the brand. I remember my reluctance to [...] more »
DARD budget to be cut by 18% over four years
A couple of points to note from the BBC report on comments by a Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture senior civil servant to the NI Assembly committee. The 18% budget cut over the next four years matches the earlier reported cut of 17.2% in the budget of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. Then there’s this [...] more »
General Election 2010 – Sinn Féin
With 25.5% of the vote SF beat the DUP by 3,700 to get the highest vote of all parties (helped, of course, by DUP absence in FST and North Down). That’s the first time ever in General Elections. (One of the things you wonder about late at night is what would have happened in 1921 [...] more »
The Coulson affair could be bad for us all
MPs and the Met mixed together make a toxic brew. Add the media and it becomes explosive. And this early in a new government’s life too. The Damian Green affair, Cash for honours, and now Hackgate require nerves of steel and a very tight lip from the likes of Yates of the Yard. If like [...] more »
UUP establishment worried about Basil McCrea?
Basil McCrea launched his campaign with a very interesting speech (copied below) yesterday at the Merchant Hotel in Waring Street, outlining)67 his five pledges for the kinds of changes he wants to make to his party’s approach. It’s fresh, interesting and in places thought provoking. Whether it adds up to a viable platform for change, [...] more »
Attacking Blair only steers political reform into a cul-de-sac
Robin Wilson’s dismissal ( link repaired) of Tony Blair’s handling of the peace process is misconceived. It’s not clear what his precise objections are. For Robin the form of power sharing which was adopted only institutionalised sectarianism. Can we really heap all that on Blair’s head? In one vital respect the prophets of doom were [...] more »
“it is not the first time Spain has been here”
The International Representative for west Belfast has been offering his unsolicited advice to the Spanish government on how they should respond to the latest statement by ETA. And an Irish Times report adds According to a Sinn Féin spokesman yesterday, Mr Adams and other senior party figures have been involved in long-running contacts with senior [...] more »
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