Search Results for “semi-detached polit-bureau” – Slugger O'Toole

The semi-detached polit-bureau in action

Pete Baker on July 29, 2010, 3:17 pm | Readers 9

They just can’t help themselves… Mr McGuinness was speaking at the official opening of the first high-speed road link between Belfast and Dublin. He said: “I think Peter Robinson and I will have more good news to announce in regard to the development of the Maze/Long Kesh site. “We have actually reached agreement and we will publicly announce how we intend to take that forward over the next very short while.” As both the BBC and UTV Press Association note …

Council reform founders on semi-detached polit-bureau rocks

Pete Baker on June 14, 2010, 10:45 pm | Readers 7

The BBC reports that, after a weekend of private talks between the DUP and Sinn Féin, the Northern Ireland Executive semi-detached polit-bureau have failed to agree on the proposed reform of local government. From the BBC report Next year council elections will be based on the original model of 26. SDLP, Sinn Fein and Alliance ministers all voted for the 11 council model but the three DUP ministers voted against. The UUP ministers did not vote. Michael McGimspey, Sir Reg Empey and …

Semi-detached polit-bureau at loggerheads over Council reform

Pete Baker on June 10, 2010, 11:26 pm | Readers 4

The BBC has the latest on the dysfunctional Northern Ireland Executive’s semi-detached polit-bureau’s failure to agree on local government reform Executive ministers have adjourned five-hour long meeting aimed at resolving the impasse over the future of local government. Ministers are due to meet again on Monday after further discussions over the weekend about a plan to reduce the 26 councils to 11.

As the dysfunctional semi-detached polit-bureau wends its way into history…

Mick Fealty on January 12, 2010, 2:17 pm | Readers 29

One of the things, I guess, that will be taxing most of our new readers from elsewhere is why does a crisis around one political leader potentially threaten the nature of the whole settlement? In an op ed for the London Times today, I’ve sketched the outline the plot of the political power play that’s been going on underneath these top line events. In effect, the supposed partners in OFMdFM have been engaged in a (to put it very crudely) …

The dysfunctional polit-bureau

Pete Baker on June 11, 2009, 1:33 am | Readers 2

During a longer, more wide-ranging, conversation between UUP’s Reg Empey, Alliance Party’s David Ford, and BBC NI’s Noel Thompson and Mark Devenport during the EU election count on Monday, Reg Empey opened the door on the dysfunctional Northern Ireland Executive – mentioned previously – and shed some light on the semi-detached polit-bureau in action. Full conversation – part 1 and part 2.

The failure of the polit-bureau..

Pete Baker on February 3, 2009, 1:44 am | Readers 5

The announcement today [After consulting her advisers? – Ed] by the Northern Ireland Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s Caitríona Ruane, of the new detailed policies guidance for schools heralds the start of an era of de-regulation of the post-primary transfer system. And, as Mark Devenport suggests in the opening discussion on Stormont Live, it also signals the failure of regional government the semi-accountable, and semi-detached, polit-bureau here.

“Run like a huckster’s shop” – Redux

Pete Baker on July 31, 2014, 2:35 pm | Readers 1119

[No change since June 2009, then? – Ed] Have there been any consequences…? A BBC report that the DUP and Sinn Féin have, belatedly, agreed the outcome of the semi-detached polit-bureau Northern Ireland Executive’s June budget monitoring round was met with understandable criticism from the other NI Executive parties. Justice Minister David Ford, who leads the Alliance Party, described the situation as “shambolic” while the Ulster Unionists and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) said they had been kept in the dark about …

NI Justice Minister: “I trust that the executive will recognise that it is the right decision, and that I was right to make it”

Pete Baker on January 31, 2014, 4:46 pm | Readers 96

In the aftermath of the Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers/Executive/Assembly/Policing Board members semi-detached polit-bureau’s kerfuffle over the NI Justice Minister’s proposed changes to the criteria for the next Chief Constable, Liam Clarke reveals some significant correspondence on the matter. Firstly, the Chief Executive of the NI Policing Board, Sam Pollock, tries his hand at herding cats to put some manners on members of the Board. In his letter to Policing Board members, Mr Pollock wrote: “I am disappointed in the …

NI Justice Minister: “It is important to note that, in setting some minimum standards, I am not prohibiting the Board from adding to these minimum criteria…”

Pete Baker on January 28, 2014, 2:39 pm | Readers 84

Whilst Brian may regard them as “surely sensible” changes to the criteria for the next Chief Constable, and they may well be, as I mentioned in updates to a previous post, no sooner had the Northern Ireland Justice Minister, the Alliance Party’s David Ford, announced those changes than the NI First and deputy First Ministers promptly agreed to exercise their prerogative to call his decision into the dysfunctional NI Executive semi-detached polit-bureau [Where it will be put to the sword… – …

Lord Chief Justice Morgan: “this is a case about political failure”

Pete Baker on December 28, 2013, 4:02 pm | Readers 176

Not the Haass talks. You can keep your nose pressed against the windowpane with David if you’re hoping for a scrap of comfort from that. No, this is about the continued dysfunctional approach of the two main parties of the Northern Ireland Executive semi-detached polit-bureau to the process of government – as defined under the current administration. Sinn Féin’s pre-Christmas (23 Dec) defence of the Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill’s unilateral decision to re-allocate €137 million of EU funding over the next six …

Theresa Villiers: “our economic package will be closely linked to, and conditional on real progress by the executive…”

Pete Baker on April 10, 2013, 3:53 pm | Readers 47

The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, was in west Belfast today on the 15th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement. Here’s a couple of lines from her press statement The Agreement called for ‘reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual trust’ and as I’ve travelled around Northern Ireland, I’ve seen many fantastic initiatives that are bringing different parts of the community together. Forthspring Inter Community Group and the Argyle Business Centre are two great examples of the courage, leadership and tenacity that local …

“unless it’s because politicians in Northern Ireland want to be able to sue newspapers more readily…”

Pete Baker on March 18, 2013, 3:58 pm | Readers 68

Some interesting added detail in the News Letter report following up on the story of the Northern Ireland Executive’s failure to consent to the Defamation Bill going through the UK Parliament. To begin with, it’s claimed that it wasn’t the Executive after all… Last Wednesday, the News Letter revealed that the Defamation Bill – the first reform of the UK’s libel laws since the 19th Century – had been blocked from extending to Northern Ireland by Stormont’s leaders. However, the …

“Our job is to express the concerns as we hear them in the community…”

Pete Baker on March 4, 2013, 8:55 pm | Readers 78

If it’s not Sinn Féin complaining about ‘political policing’, it’s the DUP. Mr Robinson said that trust needed to be rebuilt. “It’s important that the police gain the confidence of the unionist community, or regain the confidence of that section of the unionist community who have lost confidence in the police, by showing that his actions were entirely even-handed,” Mr Robinson said. “Our job is to express the concerns as we hear them in the community. [Good to see both parties are still …

Peter Hain: “I took some risky decisions to engage with people who were on the fringes…”

Pete Baker on January 13, 2013, 4:56 pm | Readers 49

The BBC reports more self-aggrandisement disguised as political comment from the erstwhile Secretary of State for Wales, etc, Peter Hain. From the BBC report “In Northern Ireland, I think there is a particular issue with the loyalist community and I do not think the government is doing enough to engage with them,” [Peter Hain] said. “I took some risky decisions to engage with people who were on the fringes and some actually almost in uniform as it were, in paramilitary …

“they demonstrate clearly their disdain for the democratic process”

Pete Baker on July 19, 2012, 5:06 pm | Readers 61

The semi-detached polit-bureau are at it again. Whatever ‘it’ is… [Headline-grabbing? – Ed] Possibly… There’s certainly a lack of detail. In the absence of a sitting Northern Ireland Assembly to question them, and with no NI Executive meeting for them to jointly chair until September, the NI First and deputy First Ministers issued a statement last night. [It’s a Queens’ Speech! – Ed] Indeed. From the OFMDFM statement Commenting, Ministers said: “We are pleased to be able to give some detail on …

“For much of the time, the Stormont Assembly looks more like a talking-shop.”

Pete Baker on May 29, 2012, 1:58 pm | Readers 99

With the announcement on Girdwood [and any other business? – Ed] as a stark example of the semi-detached polit-bureau back in action, Ed Curran looks ahead The mark of the Stormont Executive has been its ability to take longer than could be imagined to arrive at decisions on many important issues. No agreed legislation means little, or nothing, to debate in the Assembly chamber. MLAs have been hard-pressed to stretch out debates in plenary sessions in recent months. For much of the …

Martin McGuinness: “This decision is a very decisive decision…”

Pete Baker on January 11, 2012, 3:16 pm | Readers 72

…and not at all another fudge to keep the Department of Justice upright while they re-apply the same sticking plaster as last time. And as TUV leader Jim Allister said, “The Committee, of course, will lend itself to that farce.” According to the Northern Ireland deputy First Minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness Mr McGuinness said the office of the first and deputy first minister was committed to tackling “the size of the assembly and the number of departments”. “The whole issue of d’Hondt will …

“more to do with their reluctance to take the hard economic decisions…”

Pete Baker on December 23, 2011, 1:36 pm | Readers 16

As Andy said in his post yesterday Many people were surprised when Sinn Féin did not take the influential Enterprise, Trade and Investment portfolio after last May’s election, even though it was theirs for the taking. I have heard it said that this absence of interest in the economy is partly due to a lack of confidence in economic matters: although the IRA prisoners who became Sinn Féin leaders were famous for their attention to their studies when they were …

“Although the delivery timetable for local government has not yet been finalised by the Executive…”

Pete Baker on December 1, 2010, 4:27 pm | Readers 10

The Northern Ireland Environment Minister, the DUP’s Edwin Poots, may be introducing a Planning Bill to the NI Assembly next week – with the intention to absorb Planning Service within the Department of the Environment before transferring planning powers to local councils. And he may be seeking views “on proposals aimed at modernising and strengthening local democracy”. But as he admits in his press release, the timetable for the proposed “transfer of Development Plan and Development Management powers to councils” has yet …

Fact-checking Sinn Féin’s economic proposals for Northern Ireland

Pete Baker on October 14, 2010, 3:03 pm | Readers 15

While John wants alternatives, let’s have a closer look at what Sinn Féin’s ‘blue-sky thinking’ has actually resulted in. And how the figures, where given, stack up against the ‘can save £1.9bn’ headline. Here is the list of SF’s economic proposals Introduce tax varying and borrowing powers to enable the Executive to generate income and stimulate development. That’s top of the list. It’s not costed and there’s no indication of what ‘varying’ they propose to do. Implement the Review of Public Administration …