DUP – Page 49 – Slugger O'Toole

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

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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 …

[Updated] Queens academic taught a hard lesson at the hands of ‘that lot in the DUP’

Mick Fealty on January 31, 2014, 4:39 pm

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This is odd. Well intentioned or not, a Queens academic has managed to get himself on the poor end of the argument over Maurice Morrow’s private members bill which contains a maximalist clause that would criminalise prostitution. Rather ill-advisedly Dr Graham Ellison decided to lobby a Swedish witness, Gunilla Ekberg, an ex-special adviser with the Swedish Government, who had previously given evidence in favour of Lord Morrow’s bill. The trouble is the email contained rather a lot of man playing …

Robinson on the Irish Govt “relations have never been better”.

David McCann on January 30, 2014, 9:27 pm

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Gregory Campbell just fell off a chair somewhere as Peter Robinson heaped praise on the improving relationship with the Irish government today. He told his audience By focusing on outcomes we have found a way to work together in all of our interests. He continued arguing that what were once controversial issues were now normal (skirting over the fact that his predecessor was one of the people who made those issues controverisal) In many ways, it is remarkable that what …

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

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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… – …

Memo to the next Chief Constable: “It sounds to me like a battle a day – a siege.”

Mick Fealty on January 24, 2014, 11:50 am

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I’m sure it is only decent christian forbearance that stops the Chief Constable Matt Baggott from telling his political employers exactly what he thinks of them. They booked him for the gig knowing exactly what they were getting, and they could have sacked him at any point after. Not that you’d know that from their public utterances during the last two or three summers. The running public commentary (which contrived to undermine the cops very cops they themselves are in …

Ian Paisley: a word in favour of a fading patriarch

Brian Walker on January 21, 2014, 2:22 pm

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Eamonn Mallie has always preferred the bludgeon to the rapier. In Episode One he confronted Ian Paisley with some the most unsavoury quotes of an agitator’s past. Did you really mean it, Mr Paisley? In episode two he faced him with other people’s hesitant mutterings of rejection. How did you feel Mr Paisley? What did he expect the old man to say? Repudiate the past in the first case and turn the other cheek in the second? That is not the Old …

DUP: “the public may well ask whether then or now they have been misled” #Paisley

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on January 19, 2014, 11:14 pm

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In the internet age, rebuttals come in fast. Tonight’s statement from the DUP manages to arrive just in time to make it into some of tomorrow morning’s newspapers and news bulletins and even before those media outlets’ journalists have been able to report their analysis and opinion on what they gleaned from Friday afternoon’s embargoed preview of the second part of Eamonn Mallie’s documentary. Statement from Democratic Unionist Party Spokesman “Lord Bannside is entitled to his own opinions – however, …

Organ Donation: Should we be ‘Opting in’ or ‘Opting out’?

Mick Fealty on January 18, 2014, 2:56 pm

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Okay, a short enough question to chew on for a bit. The core of this argument between JoAnne Dobson (UUP) and Alastair Ross (DUP) is that the former wants to change the law to make organ donation a default position which you and your relatives can opt out of, whilst Mr Ross’s proposed amendment would set it back to opt in system. So, for the moment leaving aside all the politicking and looking at the core question, what is wrong …

Meghan O’Sullivan: “how do we make it possible for the others to deliver on the agreement? . . . I don’t know if there was enough of that in the room this time.”

Pete Baker on January 11, 2014, 4:58 pm

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Whilst the Northern Ireland media continue to obsess over digest the parting shot from Richard Haass on the political parties’ failure to agree to his proposals (version 7), the co-chair of those talks, Meghan O’Sullivan, appears to have been delegated the task of addressing the media south of the border. [Partitionists! – Ed] ANYhoo.. In the Irish Times, Dan Keenan’s report includes what is, perhaps, the most revealing comment on the failure to agree. The final draft was written by herself and …

Cartoon – Selling out the moderate (part 2)

Brian Spencer on January 10, 2014, 9:31 am

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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/

McCann meets….Jamie Bryson

David McCann on January 9, 2014, 6:27 pm

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When I put out a call for who I should interview on this segment Jamie Bryson’s name came up. He is a controversial character and invokes very few muddled opinions as the interview went out live on Lisburn’s 98FM the twitter feed went into action with people tweeting praise and criticism in equal measure. I wanted to treat Bryson like I would treat any interviewee, give him the chance to give his viewpoint and then give a critique to it …

Cartoon – Selling out the moderate (part 1)

Brian Spencer on January 9, 2014, 9:34 am

| Readers 62

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/

DUP outflanks UUP on #Haass

David McCann on January 7, 2014, 3:46 pm

| Readers 48

When he went into his fight with George Foreman in 1974, Muhammad Ali used a strategy now famously called ‘rope a dope.’ At its core it is basically give your opponent enough rope and they will hang themselves with it. In Northern Ireland politics we have seen the equivalent of this today as the wiley old operators within the DUP have outfoxed their UUP rivals (again!). It’s not often I praise the DUP but like Sinn Fein with South Belfast …

Arkiv: “in the real world pre-existing themes will skew the integrity of investigation, putting ideology before history”

Pete Baker on January 6, 2014, 2:45 pm

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In an early critique of the Haass proposals (version 7), Brian identified, as a potential problem, the “role [] envisaged for academics and experts especially historians”. A great role is envisaged for academics and experts especially historians, reporting to an Implementation and Reconciliation Group of political nominees . However the academics are naively treated as an on tap resource to be tasked like school pupils for a project . These proposals would need to be redrawn for any hope of implementation. [added emphasis] The Arkiv …

Haass – Larkin unrepentant, Allister is on the attack, but where oh where is the DUP critique?

Brian Walker on January 3, 2014, 5:47 pm

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Now hold on, the fat lady hasn’t sung yet. Inevitably most early reaction to Haaas is about the overall political verdict without going much into detail. And you know how we can’t be bothered to go into detail if we can stick it into them instead. But hush! Jim Allister QC has spoken. People tend to overawed by Jim’s legal expertise. But lawyers are advocates – even when they’re not self -interested politicians – and so should be taken with …

Cartoon – Haass talks 2.0

Brian Spencer on December 30, 2013, 5:23 pm

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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/

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

Pete Baker on December 28, 2013, 4:02 pm

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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 …

Haass, our future and a plea form a frustrated politico

David McCann on December 28, 2013, 2:25 pm

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Dr.Richard Haass begins his final session of talks today to get an agreement from all of main political parties in Northern Ireland on flags, parades and dealing with the past. While his earlier efforts have failed to produce anything, he will be banking on the need for our politicians to demonstrate once again what great peacemakers they all are and not become an international laughing stock. When we look back on this weekend in a few years’ time, we could …

NSMC: “Ministers re-affirmed that a final report on the results from the survey and proposals on the way forward will be available for consideration no later than their first NSMC Education meeting of 2013”

Pete Baker on December 11, 2013, 5:19 pm

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As the BBC reports, the Chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly Education Committee, the DUP’s Mervyn Storey, wants the NI Education Minister, Sinn Fein’s John O’Dowd, to publish the findings of a “joint attitudinal survey to inform cross-border pupil movement and school planning”, which was conducted a year ago for the North South Ministerial Council. From the BBC report The Stormont minister for education has been challenged to publish the findings of a survey of attitudes to schooling in the border counties. …