The Arlene factor: her abrasive personality is part of a tradition that has had its day

Anger is a factor often overlooked in politics.   Les Enragés were the militants who spoke up vituperatively  for the poor in the French Revolution. Jihad is the product of demented rage.  Dispossession  or the threat of it is often the  justification for anger.  Fear and insecurity are  close relatives.  Arrogance thinly concealing both is its bedfellow. Anger has been fundamental in our politics and remains an expression of our contested differences from the streets to the pulpit and the debating …

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Arlene Foster triumphant thanks to Sinn Fein. Imagine that!

Arlene won hands down, thanks to Sinn Fein with a little help from the Speaker. True she was always going to win the day as Sinn Fein declined to wield the knife by withdrawing from the Executive on foot of her refusal to step aside, but it was nice for her to be seen to win it too. She didn’t have to be gracious and by God she wasn’t.  Magnificently alone apart from her DUP chorus she was allowed to …

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Sinn Féin to table amendment calling for Foster to step aside for 4 weeks & expand scope of judicial inquiry

SINN FEIN will table an amendment to tomorrow morning’s motion of no confidence requiring the First Minister only to step aside while a four week preliminary report is produced, but expanding the remit of the inquiry to cover special advisers and civil servants. They threaten grave consequences if the DUP disregard the joint authority of the Executive Office.

McGuinness and Foster at odds over the response to the RHI Scheme

The Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness has called on Arlene Foster to stand aside as First Minister for a period of time I spoke by phone this afternoon with the First Minister, Arlene Foster. “I outlined my serious concern that the credibility of the political institutions is being undermined by the serious and ongoing allegations surrounding the design, operation, abuse and ending of the Renewable Heating Incentive Scheme. “This includes allegations from a former DUP Minster that there was corruption. …

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SDLP Motion to Exclude Foster reaches 30 signatures

An SDLP motion to exclude Arlene Foster as First Minister for a period of 6 months has now reached 30 signatures and will be debated on Monday. The motion is backed by the Ulster Unionist Party, Alliance Party, Green Party, People Before Profit and Traditional Unionist Voice. If all MLAs attend, that gives the motion 41 votes in favour, that is a majority over the 36 DUP MLAs.  The Speaker Robin Newton cannot vote and Bell is shaky at the moment. Some …

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Maírtín, quick to lay into Bell – not so quick for Foster

Just a curious observation following Finance Minister Maírtín Ó Muilleoir commenting yesterday on the ongoing RHI situation, where he refused to say if he retained confidence in the DUP leader. Quite a stark contrast to when the Finance Minister appeared before the Finance Committee to answer questions raised over the Daithí McKay/Jamie Bryson deep throat situation. When Jonathan Bell began to give Ó Muilleoir a hard time in the witness seat, the Finance Minister was irascible in his replies. Ó …

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DUP go on the offensive over RHI

The DUP have released the first email from the Whistle Blower over the RHI scheme; The Deputy Leader of the DUP, Nigel Dodds says this email vindicates the First Minister; There has been a quite scurrilous attempt to blame Arlene Foster for the RHI saga. The endlessly repeated claim has been that she failed to follow up on the whistle blower concerns. “Now we know that no such concerns were raised with her. This is no criticism of the lady …

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When should a politician resign?

When should a politician resign? What is the bar for a politician to resign from Ministerial or public office? Firstly the trend in regard to leaders and major referendums is the most clear cut. Alex Salmond lost the Scottish Independence Referendum, he resigned as First Minister. David Cameron lost the EU Referendum, he resigned as Prime Minister. Matteo Renzi lost his referendum on  constitutional reform and he resigned as Italian PM. We haven’t had a referendum specific to the north …

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Nesbitt urges Foster to consider her position

After last nights Spotlight programme the UUP leader, Mike Nesbitt has urged the First Minister, Arlene Foster to consider her position over the Heat Incentive Scheme. In his statement Nesbitt says; “The mismanagement of the Renewable Heat Incentive and consequent squandering of hundreds of millions of pounds is another scandal, up there with NAMA and the Social Investment Fund. “This happened on Arlene Foster’s watch in the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. To date, her only defence is …

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“Return to your cumanns and prepare for Irish unification.”

In the Belfast Telegraph, Eilis O’Hanlon comments on the recent flurry of “displacement activity” from Sinn Féin.  From the Belfast Telegraph article So, what better way to distract the republican home crowd than with some conjurer’s cheap tricks? Don’t look at that hand, look at this one. Don’t mention my ineffectiveness on a range of issues that actually matter, look at all these things I’m saying and doing about something that doesn’t matter in the slightest. It’s not as if …

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Foster prepared to meet the Pope if he comes to Northern Ireland.

A spokesperson for Arlene Foster said today she is prepared to meet the Pope if he visits Northern Ireland in 2018; Any potential visit to Northern Ireland by the Pope is a matter for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Were the Pope to visit Northern Ireland in his capacity as Head of State then the First Minister would meet him.   David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him …

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Arlene & Martin pen their first joint platform piece

In their first platform piece for the newspapers, Arlene Foster & Martin McGuinness have penned their first platform piece on the Executive here. Some key passages I have highlighted but this looks like the continuation of two real alternatives in the government of Northern Ireland. DAY by day, slowly but surely, politics here is changing. And it’s for the better. The focus is increasingly now on policies and delivery – on finding the best ways to make people’s lives better. The …

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DUP won’t intervene on employment matters, except when they will

Arlene Foster refused to echo Martin McGuinness’s call for Dee Stitt to reconsider his role as Chief Executive with Charter NI. The organisation and indeed the Executive is facing greatly increased pressure over the ongoing Charter NI debacle and the Social Investment Fund as a whole. Arlene Foster said, “This man is an employee of Charter NI and they have to deal with him as they see fit, it would be wrong for me to intervene in all of the …

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DUP’s victory lap celebrates election success, belittles Opposition, criticises Dublin & sets out Brexit negotiation principles

DUP CONFERENCE celebrated Assembly election success and demonstrated party unity as it poked fun at the Opposition, criticised the Irish Government, and set out the DUP’s principles for Brexit negotiations. The leader’s speech was light on policy – perhaps understandable in the vacuum before specific Programme for Government action plans are announced.

Soapbox – Is the same-old same-old is going to put us in more bother than usual?

MANY MONTHS AGO, Peter Robinson stepped down, his place taken by Arlene Foster. Thus, the Big House of unionism put their PR machine into overdrive to figure out how to make people vote for them, and came up with the idea of making Arlene look all progressive and friendly and able to take Northern Ireland forward … but without a single new policy to back any of the rhetoric up. That, of course, wasn’t enough.

Foster: Onward to the summit

Today Arlene Foster will speak to the DUP conference for the first time as party leader. Writing for Slugger she outlines her vision and plan for the next mandate of government  Detail is important.  For someone from a legal background like myself this is a given. Within the DUP Conference programme, there are details that are important to me and the direction I have set for my party and for Northern Ireland. In the conference booklet I make the statement …

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Cllr Graham Craig defects to the DUP

Another man overboard for the UUP as Botanic Councillor, Graham Craig defects to the DUP.  This is particularly bad news in South Belfast where the party lost their only seat to the DUP’s Christopher Stalford. Craig was formerly a SPAD to Sammy Wilson when he served as Minister for Finance and had some very harsh criticism of his former leader and party in the Belfast Telegraph. Speaking about her new councillor, Arlene Foster said I am delighted that Graham has …

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Has Theresa May assessed the risks of toughing it out with Nicola Sturgeon?

  So Flexit -a flexible Brexit or  separate deals with the EU for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland –  are ruled out – for now at least. “We have been very clear that we should be working together to secure the best possible deal for the whole country,” the prime minister’s official spokeswoman said on Monday. “We expect representatives of the devolved administrations to act in that way and to in no way undermine the UK’s position.” “The devolved administrations” …

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Taoiseach Enda Kenny: “I need to know what it is that the Executive in Northern Ireland is actually seeking”

With the Northern Ireland First Minister over-praising a letter of acknowledgement from the UK Prime Minister, and the deputy First Minister sounding off [again? – Ed] about his lack of trust in “this British government”, it’s worth noting this exchange between Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams in the Dáil yesterday high-lighting the dysfunctional approach of the NI Executive to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.  From the Dáil record 18 Oct. [The Taoiseach:] I want Deputy Adams to …

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On dealing with the past, Brokenshire should demand Executive action or withdraw the money

James Brokenshire is at least the eighth secretary of state to utter warm words about dealing with the past.   It’s almost two years since the abortive Stormont House Agreement described new structures headed by a new Historic Investigations Unit. £150 million will be made available by Westminster over the next five years to implement the full package. Brokenshire is the latest UK minister to acquaint himself of “the raw emotion, the pain etc” and to repeat the government’s pledge of …

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