David McCann 
We are now just a few days away from polling day and I thought it would be useful to put up some information about the count process in Northern Ireland for the EU referendum. Unlike other referenda that have been held in the past, Northern Ireland will count through the night and in 8 different centres across the province. You can see the estimated declaration times for the rest of the UK here, but I have compiled the Northern Ireland …
Sam McBride in today’s News Letter has an interesting report noting the defection of former UUP MLA for Fermanagh & South Tyrone, Alastair Patterson to the DUP. Speaking about the decision Patterson said; “This move to join the DUP was a step I needed to make. At the Assembly election in May the people of Northern Ireland delivered a clear and resounding message of endorsement of Arlene Foster as their First Minister and the leader of unionism. “Unionism in Northern …
In today’s Irish News, John Manley has an interesting story about the powers and staffing levels of the new Executive Office (formerly OFM/DFM). In his report he notes that despite losing a decent amount of its functions, the number of Special Advisors, Junior Ministers and the workforce will remain the same as he notes; The new Department of Communities takes on the bulk of the policy areas which would have previously been the responsibility of OFMDFM, including initiatives involving older …
Alex Attwood and Robin Swann conducted the first act of co-ordination between the UUP and SDLP as the official opposition in the Assembly today over the DUP and Sinn Fein’s attempts to change rules around when the opposition can lead debates. Speaking jointly both MLAs said; In key votes on Assembly business, the DUP and Sinn Féin have shown both their arrogance and their fear, with a slap in the face for our democracy. “In March, the five parties on …
We are just under three weeks away from the referendum on whether the UK should continue to be a member of the European Union. For years, one of the strongest critics of the EU has been the Conservative MEP, Daniel Hannan. This weekend he is in Northern Ireland to make the case for us to leave the EU, I caught up with him in Belfast earlier this morning. I began by asking him how the campaign overall was going and …
The Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness has today visited battlefields in Flanders to commemorate those who died during the First World War. With him on the visit is the South Antrim MLA, Declan Kearney and the party’s Vice President, Mary Lou McDonald. He is due to travel to France tomorrow to visit The Somme. Speaking about his visit he said; I come here as a proud Irish republican to recognise the deaths of thousands of Irish men during the course …
Mairtín Ó Muilleoir is the first Nationalist MLA to hold an economic brief for 14 years and the first from Sinn Fein. Our new Finance Minister has only been in the Assembly for two years, but now he has a real opportunity to do something for his party and wider nationalism. For years, I have heard on shows from Nolan to Talkback pundits saying Nationalists just don’t really do economics. We have the enthusiasm and the idealism, but not much …
The Assembly also nominated the new chairs of the various departmental committees that will have to scrutinise legislation and the work of ministers. Executive Office- Mike Nesbitt Department for Communities- Colum Eastwood Department for the Economy- Conor Murphy Department of Education- Barry McElduff Department of Health- Paula Bradley Department for Infrastructure- William Humphrey Department of Justice- Paul Frew Department of Finance- Emma Pengelly Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs- Linda Dillon David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South …
SINN FEIN ministerial team for May 2016 was announced today, ahead of tomorrow’s D’Hondt process. Martin McGuinness will be joined around the NI Executive table by colleagues Chris Hazzard, Megan Fearon, Michelle O’Neill and Mairtin O’Muilleoir.
The SDLP Leader, Colum Eastwood confirmed that his party would be leaving the Executive and joining the UUP in opposition. In a statement he said; Throughout the course of the recent election campaign the SDLP made a clear promise to the public. We vowed to fight hard to negotiate a credible and progressive Programme for Government which would actually meet the needs of people in Northern Ireland. Our ambition sought to implement specific policies which were designed to stop the …
Looks like four will become two as the SDLP and Alliance look set to head for the opposition benches. Alliance confirm not in position to recommend taking Justice ministry – DUP & SF reject their demands pic.twitter.com/o2cnGgO2L5 — Mark Devenport (@markdevenport) May 19, 2016 This does explain some of the earlier messages from the First and Deputy First Minister, has a possible deal been done between Sinn Fein and the DUP on this? DFM – “whatever others decide we …
Arlene and Martin getting their shots in first…. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
The votes are in and the new MLAs have all signed the register. Some of you will remember back in late 2013, I totaled up the ages of the parties in the last Assembly. I managed this time to get the ages of 107 of the 108 MLAs which means that this should be a more accurate reading of the current age profile of the Assembly. Parties The youngest Assembly group is the Green Party with an average age of …
Mike Nesbitt has just told the Assembly that the UUP will be a part of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s first official opposition. He has told MLAs that his Assembly group unanimously backed the move and concluded with the words “let the battle commence” Full statement from Mike Nesbitt; “We asked for a mandate to enter the talks on the next Programme for Government, promising that if either of our two tests were not met, we would form an Official Opposition. …
In today’s Irish News, John Manley reports that the SDLP Leader, Colum Eastwood has opened talked with the Green Party and People Before Profit which could see the creation of a “progressive alliance” on the benches at Stormont. Manley reports; Mr Eastwood noted that the Greens and PBP did not qualify for a place in the programme for government negotiations but he said it was important “progressive parties have a strong voice in these talks”. The SDLP leader said his …
For the last time, Allison Morris, John Manley and myself sat down to review the results of the 2016 Assembly Election. We talk about the performance of the various parties and what impact a greater number of female MLAs will have in the chamber. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
From the Irish Times; Ms Burton is to meet her parliamentary party tomorrow and The Irish Times understands she will confirm her resignation. It is understood deputy leader Alan Kelly and former minister of state Sean Sherlock plan to contest the party leadership. Former minister for public expenditure Brendan Howlin will not challenge for the position. It is understood Mr Howlin was only willing to seek the role if there was no contest. Labour’s constitution requires a leadership contest if …
The results are in and for the SDLP again it is a story of decline as the party returns with 12 MLAs and continues to shed votes. However, there are some silver linings for the party, that even a cynic like me cannot ignore. The team is smaller, but arguably better– In past elections people would regularly point to the lack of new faces in the SDLP parliamentary party. However, this time there is a relatively fresh sense about this …
It is now an annual election tradition on Slugger that we get a panel together to rank the party election broadcasts of all the political parties. Our panel of broadcaster, Jim Fitzpatrick and MCE Public Relations Director, Chris Brown got together to rate each broadcast out of ten. And the winner is….. SDLP we thought was incredibly well put together, with great shots of the party leader and profiles of the candidates. There was also a consistent theme throughout and …
The next weekly instalment of On The Doors with Irish News Political Correspondent, John Manley and this week we were joined by Security Correspondent, Allison Morris. This week we talked about the Sinn Fein manifesto, Labour and the Catholic Church. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
