Funding

Where did the DUP get £250k for that Brexit Metro wrap around? (Answer: NI law says they don’t have to tell us)

Mick Fealty on February 16, 2017, 9:12 am

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When it comes donations and party funding, Northern Ireland is to the UK political world, what Panama is to tax. Peter Geoghegan and Adam Ramsay with a nice piece of investigative journalism at Open Democracy: A quarter of a million pounds is unlike anything the DUP has spent in the past. Just a month before the EU referendum, the party won 38 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections and retained its position as the largest party there. To do …

Hustings on the future of the Arts in Northern Ireland. Does it have one?

Brendan Mulgrew on April 17, 2015, 4:43 pm

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All 5 Executive parties were represented at the first MAC Question Time earlier this week which was focussed on the Arts. The #MACQT debate posed the question “Is there a future for the arts in Northern Ireland?” The event was opened by MAC Chief Executive Anne McReynolds who boldly challenged the assertion that all arts events must ‘wash their face’. “Do hospitals wash their face? Do roads wash their face?” The lively discussion was chaired by Wendy Austin and the …

“A lot of Northern Irish funding rewards bad behaviour” (with few positive outcomes)

Mick Fealty on May 3, 2013, 7:08 am

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Pete Shirlow was in Washington last night, briefing staffers on Capitol Hill about the current situation in Northern Ireland. The US – Ireland Alliance site has his report, which in turn draws on insight and data from two different surveys. Here’s how he opens: the peace process appears to be moving at two speeds in which some communities remain caught in a perpetual cycle of poverty, sectarian asperity and intra-community devotion whilst others are shifting into less antagonistic positions. These …

OFMdFM parties tell Villiers she cannot take their money ball away…

Mick Fealty on April 12, 2013, 9:13 am

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That productivity deal that Theresa Villiers has been talking about putting on the table went down well with OFMdFM, NOT… Noel MacAdam in the BelTel: The controlling parties in the Executive also argued the attempt to use the promised package – believed to include EU Peace cash – as leverage could backfire. Finance Minister Sammy Wilson insisted it was the first time the Government had made the prospective funding conditional. Mr Wilson also described Ms Villiers warning, revealed in the …

“The department of justice said discussions about the precise source of funding for the HET are continuing…”

Pete Baker on March 21, 2013, 8:45 pm

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The issue of funding the ongoing work of the Historical Enquiries Team, as well as its perceived independence, may be about to become a matter of political disagreement… As the BBC NI home affairs correspondent, Vincent Kearney, reports Hundreds of families have co-operated with the team on the basis that it was acting independently. Many families of people killed during the Troubles, including relatives of some RUC officers, did not want former police officers from Northern Ireland involved in the review …

You say RUC AA, I say Police Athletic Association Northern Ireland (or else!)

Mick Fealty on March 20, 2012, 5:01 pm

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A few weeks back Jim Allister kicked off a small storm by highlighting the remarks of Assistant Chief Constable KERR: “In blunt terms, a perceived unwillingness on the part of the Association to change to the more generic “Police Athletic Association Northern Ireland” may result in a failure to secure the grants on which this Association is financially dependent”. Someone, it seems, though they remain unnamed, has been suggesting that the RUC Athletic Association (based at New Forge) might face …

“We all want to see full transparency in politics…”

Pete Baker on August 3, 2010, 6:59 pm

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Northern Ireland Minister of State, Hugo Swire MP, has launched a public consultation [pdf file] on the confidentiality arrangements that apply to donations and loans to Northern Ireland political parties. The closing date for the consultation is 25 October 2010. From the NIO press release The Minister said: “We all want to see full transparency in politics and on the funding of political parties in particular. “But I accept there have been real concerns in Northern Ireland about intimidation which has made …