[Cartoon] #BackToTheExecutiveDay

October 21 2015 was ‘Back To The Future Day‘, the date in ‘Back To The Future II’ that Marty McFly travelled forward to in order to save his children. That date was also the day when Peter Robinson travelled back to Stormont to save the power sharing executive. A nice historical coincidence. Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/

Something quite profound has shifted here, and more so within unionism than nationalism…

So where does this all leave Unionism? Well, plainly not everyone is in the same place Gregory Campbell was last night. The brutal truth of all of this is that the DUP did not want to leave office over this, or almost anything else. In the blame game it is always unionism’s fault, so staying in situ was always Peter Robinson’s plan of action. Then along came Mike Nesbitt, who, no doubt having seen the term “Head of IRA Intelligence” …

Read more…

DUP and Sinn Fein vote down Jim Allister’s SPAD bill

Jim Allister is back with a SPAD bill (not that one) this piece of legislation would have placed a cap on pay and the number of SPADs that can be employed. Northern Ireland currently spends over £2 million per year on SPADs which is double the cost of Scotland and three times that of Wales. A few months ago Jim Allister wrote for Slugger setting out his case for reform of the system. Alas it appears that business as usual …

Read more…

Cartoon – The many uses of a clothes-peg

In a tumult of controversies (in-out resignations, ministerial pay, talks and welfare reform) Edwin Poots has pushed the hard politics to the rear and brought the vintage ad hominem politics out of the cabinet and to the foreground. Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/

Cartoon – Cartoon – Ruth(less) Resignations

While DUP ministers continue their in-out-in-out, Hokey Cokey resignation-renomination routine, Ruth Patterson has gone all out with a traditional resignation. Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/

Perhaps what Northern Ireland politics needs is a few more alternatives and less Almighty’s

Don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative Pierre Trudeau Are we unrealistic about our politicians and the criteria that we use to judge them? You just have to listen to the Nolan Show or Talkback to hear plenty of criticism directed at our political leaders.  Hell on this website we give our fair share of criticism of politicians. However, recently anytime I hear the chorus of sustained criticism directed towards MLAs and their performance I am reminded …

Read more…

Cartoon – Unionist power play…

In the fallout from the murder of Kevin McGuigan and the decision of Nesbitt to play the strong man the DUP have had to tilt the unionist axis back towards Dundela Avenue, deploying the “in-out” routine as part of he “no business as usual” policy. All this means the health minister has been kept away from his position in office. Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/

Portadown Times gets pinged for not disclosing provenance of DUP commissioned poll in Upper Bann

And as the week closes, here’s an interesting wee bit of business for the UUP leader Mike Nesbitt in Upper Bann… The Portadown Times published results from what it said was an “independent” poll ahead of May’s general election. But it failed to acknowledge that the survey had actually been commissioned by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Mr Nesbitt said the article “appears to have skewed” the election result. The article suggested that the gap in support between the DUP …

Read more…

McDonnell “they don’t want a taig about the place. I’m sorry, it’s as brutal as that.” (updated with audio)

Great scoop from the North Belfast News who have recorded comments from the SDLP leader, Alasdair McDonnell who was speaking at the opening of an office in Glengormley, North Belfast. The paper reports the SDLP making comments about the DUP and their attitudes to Nationalists where he said; The DUP don’t want partnership – they don’t want a taig about the place. I’m sorry, it’s as brutal as that. I’m not divisive, I don’t like to be like that but …

Read more…

The DUP ministerial merry-go-round continues……

DUP GROUNDHOG DAY: Up at Stormont the DUP’s Ministers were briefly re-appointed as Ministers of DETI, DSD & DHSSPS. Shortly afterwards they resigned triggering another 7 days before they have to re-appointed in order not to trigger an election.

Reeling in the years: Collapse of devolution throughout the years

The collapse of devolution has happened before in Northern Ireland and whilst we await the pending demise of the current Executive I thought it’d be interesting courtesy of AP to take a trip down memory lane to see other collapses in the past. Direct rule introduced in March 1972. Here is the outgoing Prime Minister, Brian Faulkner protesting the British governments security policies. Brian Faulkner following the UWC Strike in May 1974. The first power-sharing coalition between the Official Unionists, …

Read more…

Robinson: “I am therefore standing aside as First Minister and other DUP Ministers will resign with immediate effect’

Peter Robinson pulls the plug on the Executive (We think); As someone who invested many hours trying to bring devolution to Northern Ireland, and to maintain it, I have tried to create space to allow these critical unresolved matters to be dealt with in a structured manner. Local Ministers making local decisions is best for Northern Ireland. The failure of the SDLP and Sinn Fein to implement the Stormont House Agreement together with the assessment from the Chief Constable of …

Read more…

Beginning of the end? DUP won’t attend Executive meetings & Sinn Fein won’t be distracted

Peter Robinson set out his plan today that seems to indicate the beginning of the end for the Executive. Flanked by his parliamentary party, he told reporters; For our part we will take steps to ensure that pending a satisfactory resolution of the outstanding issues business will not be as usual. As a first step there will be no further meetings of the Northern Ireland Executive unless we deem there are exceptional circumstances.  In addition there will be no North …

Read more…

A Little Perspective on the Spat at Stormont

On a day when the front page of most of the newspapers on these islands carried a heart-wrenching photograph of a little boy drowned on a Turkish beach, we really need to catch ourselves on and make sure our politicians do likewise. Like Jude Collins, I heard PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton on the news setting out that the IRA does not exist as a paramilitary organisation and that its members are pursuing their goals through exclusively peaceful means. You …

Read more…

Who is responsible and what’s at stake in the Assembly standoff

David McKittrick emerges from retirement to pass a magisterial verdict on the Assembly in the Newsletter, while the paper has just run a long and fascinating interview with David Trimble by Alex Kane. His view of the history since 1998 is not a million miles from the familiar saying that Sinn Fein were  clever enough to play their weaknesses to advantage while unionists were too stupid and bigoted to realise that  they’d won. Presumably recorded before the latest developments in …

Read more…

34 bills in four and a half years; Example of a “Do Nothing” Executive?

It is now pretty much seen as very likely that our government will fall at some point in the next few months. In this fit of pessimism I thought I would take a look back at the record of this Assembly since it was elected back in May 2011. I must confess the Irish News political correspondent, John Manley back in March 2013 did take a look at this and found that the Assembly had passed just 11 bills in …

Read more…

Nesbitt: “This is not about wrecking things or pulling things down.”

The UUP Executive met in the Park Ave Hotel in East Belfast to formally decide whether to pull out of the Northern Ireland Executive. Around 90 delegates debated the issue for over an hour and unanimously voted to leave. The sole UUP minister, Danny Kennedy will tender his resignation on Tuesday and Mike Nesbitt will refuse to nominate a successor. The post will then fall to the DUP to fill the vacancy. For such an important decision there was a …

Read more…

Nesbitt: “That decision is to withdraw from the Northern Ireland Executive, to form an Opposition and offer people an alternative, as is the way in any proper democracy.”

A confident Mike Nesbitt walked down the staircase of the Great Hall in Stormont with his parliamentary colleagues to make a significant announcement about the future of the UUP’s involvement in the Executive. Nesbitt began by speaking of the risks and political pain that his party had taken in the past to secure devolution in Northern Ireland saying; In 1998, the Ulster Unionist Party stretched itself very close to breaking point to secure the return of Devolution, because it was …

Read more…

Threatening the existence of the Assembly is a victory for terrorism

Oh God, not another fundamental breakpoint founded on the highest principles, whether they’re about welfare or the IRA! Come on, get real. This kerfuffle over “IRA structures” will pass. For all their simulated outrage over the IRA or welfare, no politician – none of the leaders anyway – want to close Stormont down.  Electoral politics are also in play on both sides of the border. We should discount it. No clear advantage can be gained by any party threatening to …

Read more…

Finance Ministers from the devolved administrations issue a warning on cuts

Interesting article that caught my eye on Politics Home today was a joint letter issued by the Scottish Finance Secretary, John Swinney, Welsh Finance Minister, Jane Hutt and our own Finance Minister, Arlene Foster, to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Greg Hands about the pace of spending cuts coming from Westminster. The letter warns that the current pace of cuts are going “too fast and too far” and warn about the dangers to public services. The three ministers wants …

Read more…