NI Water
NI Water: Draft PAC report says IRT conclusion “too general” and “deficient”
UTV has seen a leaked copy of the draft PAC report into the NI Water saga. From UTV [added emphasis throughout] The draft document, which was prepared by Audit Office staff over the past six months, has criticised the composition of the team formed last January to examine procurement problems at the water company. It says [...] more »
Another conflict of interest in yet another NI Water review team…
You can never quite guess which way this Northern Ireland Water story is going next. So now there’s another question hanging over the appointment of a review team set up to look at the foul up over Christmas announced within hours of the conclusion of Mr MacKenzie’s negotiation over his departure deal on Friday. Two [...] more »
Serious allegations emerge from MacKenzie’s early life in Scotland
What did Conor Murphy think this morning as he read his copy of the Scottish Daily Record? If Charlie Gall is right (and so far as Slugger understands, as yet there’s been no legal challenge to what are some very grave allegations), then the Minister not only trashed the reputations of four Non Executive Directors, in [...] more »
Professor Hillyard: “We prepared the reports and they’re still sitting on somebody’s shelf somewhere”
A timely reminder from the chairman of the Independent Water Review Panel [IWRP], Professor Paddy Hillyard, of the results of the recommendations contained in the two strands of his previous review of NI Water. From the BBC report The review was set up by the assembly in 2007 after direct rule ministers advised that water services [...] more »
Did Murphy mislead the public over ‘Golden Handshake’?
I have to say for those neutrals in any doubt that the Minister has serious questions to answer, try Jim Allister’s rather impressive briefing on the matter. It’s appropriate I think to highlight this note of serious concern that contains at least one outstanding and highly pertinent detail of the last year in and around [...] more »
Ministerial Responsibility? It depends on who the Minister is
On Twitter this morning, John O’Dowd made the reasonable point that many of the calls for the Minister to resign are attempts to score political points. The proof is that few who are currently calling for the resignation seem able to say why. If you go to the Sinn Fein website you’ll see they’re scaling [...] more »
NI Water: How Murphy’s sackings left MacKenzie accountable directly to DRD
Fed up with drinking copious amounts of Northern Ireland Water stories on Slugger? Not as fed up as I am writing them. We kicked off back in July after that PAC when no one but the Belfast Telegraph (who have taken a ‘MacKenzie loyalist’ line throughout), whilst an industrious Jamie Delargy was working on it [...] more »
Updated: “The second part of the investigation will be produced by two individuals appointed by the First Minister and deputy First Minister…”
We now have the details of that “yet another expensive review” of NI Water, as annonunced by the Northern Ireland Executive. Despite concerns about the Utilities Regulator’s role expressed by, amongst others, the NI Consumer Council, that part of the review – proposed by the NI Regional Development Minister - stays in place. But they’ve added a [...] more »
NI Water: Yet another expensive review slouches into view…
So after just one year and seven months in post, the latest person to leave the shambles that is NI Water is Laurence MacKenzie. Negotiations on the exact terms of his departure only concluded at 12 Midnight last night. The final figure is thought to be about £96,000 (note, that’s not been confirmed). The Board [...] more »
Regulator to head up the NI Water review…
So the Utlities Regulator is to lead the review of NI Water. According to UTV: Following consideration of this matter I am proposing that the NI Authority for Utility Regulation – the Regulator – will conduct this review. “The Regulator is an established independent body which already has a statutory duty to regulate water and [...] more »
UUP publish motion of no confidence…
So MacKenzie has finally gone (according to UTVlive). Now George Savage of the UUP is the first to get out notice of a no confidence motion. As Ken Reid has noted this evening on UTV, even if it got support from other parties it will fail without the support of Sinn Fein. Here’s the proposed [...] more »
MacKenzie and Murphy: Negotiation by leak and spin…
The one thing that will be concentrating Laurence MacKenzie’s mind today, will be his possible appearance at the Regional Development Committee tomorrow in open session. Whether he does or not is in the gift of the Minister. The question is who wants Mr MacKenzie to appear there the least, himself or the Minister? Up now [...] more »
“This minister doesn’t appear to accept any responsibility for anything”
A BBC report includes this pertinent comment from UUP MLA Fred Cobain, chairman of the NI Assembly’s Regional Development Committee, on the NI water crisis. Ulster Unionist Fred Cobain is chair of the Regional Development Committee, which is to meet on Thursday to discuss the crisis. He said “the issue rests with the minister and not [...] more »
Mr MacKenzie’s been here before…
Okay, this is a bit of a bummer for Mr MacKenzie (not to mention a double dose of bad luck), but over the last few days people have kept mentioning to me a similar crisis which hit NIE a few years back (H/T edgeoftheunion). Turns out it was nine years back, when Laurence MacKenzie was [...] more »
NI Water: Any convenient ‘troubled’ port in a storm?
Interesting quote from Liam Mulholland who in the absence of any substantial public appearance from his boss, the CEO of NI Water Laurence MacKenzie, puts the blame on the Troubles (for any foreign journalists reading, you might like to note these ‘officially’ ended back in 1994) for his company’s poor reaction to the extreme freeze thaw [...] more »
MacKenzie to resign
It is not on line yet but the BBC have just announced that Lawrence MacKenzie the chief executive of NI Water is going to announce his resignation. Presumably Conor Murphy hopes that this resignation will quieten the criticism of his handling of the debacle. It does leave Murphy’s recent claim to have confidence in MacKenzie [...] more »
Water UK: “I think they felt that the scheme was narrower than it actually was”
With a failure of communication being one of the main features of the Northern Ireland water crisis it’s worth highlighting this BBC report from last night. [Water UK Chief Executive Pamela] Taylor said the idea behind the [mutual aid] scheme was that operators could call for assistance in the event of an emergency. She said [...] more »
NI water crisis: “why Sinn Féin and the DUP have reacted with a mix of denial and pulpit thumping”
Via Newshound, in the Sunday Times Liam Clarke adds his thoughts on the “pulpit thumping” intervention of the OFMDFM, the possibly misplaced ministerial confidence, and the ongoing cost of Executive crowd-pleasing as the NI water crisis continues. From the Sunday Times article Murphy and his colleagues are making the most of the inherited nature of [...] more »
NI Water late to access Water UK help
As the water crisis rumbles on the political arguments continue fairly unabated. The latest attacks on Conor Murphy have centred around the failure of NI Water to ask Water UK for help until yesterday. Water UK is the organisation which oversees support for UK water companies in crises. The News Letter is carrying the story [...] more »
Conor Murphy: “I do have confidence [in Laurence MacKenzie].”
Following the intervention of the First and deputy First Ministers in the Northern Ireland water crisis, a NI Executive statement was issued stating that “There was considerable anger across the Ministerial spectrum about the shambolic response of NI Water which had let down the whole community.” OFMDFM appear to be still singing from the same hymn [...] more »
Advertise
-
Books
-
Douglas Murray – Bloody Sunday: Truth, Lies and the Saville Inquiry, Book Review
The aftermath of the Saville Inquiry into the events around Bloody Sunday has left me, and I suspect many others, with one enduring image: Prime Minister David Cameron’s apology in the House of Commons, where he says that the actions of the British Army were ‘unjustified and unjustifiable.’ But there’s a lot more to the [...] read our review » -
Voices from the Grave
Coming up to the Halloween holiday, some people might be frightened of the idea of Voices from the Grave – but for others, the chance to hear an oral history of the Troubles from the mouths of two (in)famous protagonists, PUP leader and former UVF member David Ervine, and Brendan “The Dark” Hughes, is not [...] read our review »
-
Have we Learned our own Lessons? Book Review of John Brewer’s Peace Processes
Northern Ireland’s peace process has been promoted as an international success story. The Republic’s Department of Foreign Affairs has its Conflict Resolution Unit, which aims to disseminate the ‘lessons’ of the Northern Ireland peace process. And some of the prominent players in our peace process have travelled abroad to other troubled spots to share their [...] read our review »
-
