Hillsborough Agreement

“resulted in it being promotional for the First and Deputy First Ministers and their respective political parties.”

Pete Baker on May 27, 2011, 5:06 pm

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As the News Letter reports, the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom has ruled that an OFMDFM radio advert – part of a £20,000 advertising campaign, in February 2010, promoting the Hillsborough Castle Agreement – was “political advertising” in breach of the Communications Act 2003. The ruling upheld a complaint made about the advertisement by the leader of the TUV, Jim Allister. It’s worth taking the time to read the details of the ruling provided by Ofcom in their broadcast bulletin [pdf file] Conclusion on “public …

Parading, the Hillsborough Agreement and the return of the Clever Device

Turgon on September 28, 2010, 10:53 pm

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The Hillsborough Agreement seems much longer than seven months ago. For months the DUP had stalled in accepting the devolution of policing and justice and Lord Morrow and Gregory Campbell gloated over Sinn Fein suggesting that P&J would not be devolved in the lifetime of the current assembly and that it might take six years. Then despite the rows behind closed doors and the supposed threatened resignations the DUP accepted P&J devolution. At the time in the wake of the …

U-turn over Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill?

Pete Baker on August 12, 2010, 11:47 am

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The Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers have published a very short summary of the responses [pdf file] to the consultation on their jointly drafted Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill [pdf file]. That’s the draft Bill “built on ignorance of the law, plain stupidity, arrogance, and worst of all, political expediency.” We’ll have to wait to see the detail of the reported amendments being proposed. But let’s be clear about one thing. When the First Minister says “The primary change …

“The bill is built on ignorance of the law, plain stupidity, arrogance, and worst of all, political expediency.”

Pete Baker on August 4, 2010, 4:24 pm

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In his Irish News column this week Brian Feeney is mostly correct in his response to the, DUP/Sinn Féin drafted, contentious “Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill“. Where he’s wrong is in his assertion that “The problem to be confronted under the terms of the Hillsborough Agreement was Orange marches – and only 5 per cent of them”. As I’ve pointed out previously, the Hillsborough Agreement actually tasked the working group on parades with attempting “to create a new improved framework …