NI Executive – Page 12 – Slugger O'Toole

The failure of the DUP and Sinn Fein to agree on the big issues is giving Alliance more leverage than they could have ever dreamt of .

Brian Walker on May 20, 2016, 7:32 pm

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Listening to Radio Ulster’s Inside Politics, little Alliance seems to have the joint leaders on a hook. It appears that the main sticking point for David Ford was Foster and McGuinness’s refusal to accept reform of the blocking mechanism of the petition of concern. Ford has been campaigning for reform for a long time, most recently over the DUP’s use of it to block an abortion amendment and earlier its use against the Welfare Reform Bill by SF, the SDLP …

Let’s wait for a clear outcome before proclaiming a new dynamic at Stormont

Brian Walker on May 20, 2016, 12:00 pm

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Am I right in thinking that the small avalanche started by Mike Nesbitt has taken the DUP and Sinn Fein entirely by surprise? Not to mention the distinguished local commentariat who failed to clock that the smaller parties were as serious as this about the opposition option? So what do we know? First, very little detail over precise sticking points. This has not been an open negotiation – until perhaps today. It seems that the smaller parties were even …

Assembly brinkmanship must end soon

Brian Walker on May 19, 2016, 10:30 am

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In the last mandate David Ford liked to boast that the Alliance party was unique because they had been finally chosen to occupy the Justice department by the whole Assembly rather than selected by the mechanism of D’Hondt. Because of their status they are more essential to the formation of the Executive than the SDLP despite their fewer numbers. So what’s changed? A bit of bargaining is ok at a time of maximum leverage but the brinkmanship should end soon. …

Integrating education would give the SDLP purpose and set the target for others to follow

Brian Walker on May 18, 2016, 9:21 pm

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So much comment about tactics and process! If they are to capitalise on a public mood for change, the SDLP like all the parties will have to concentrate on what they stand for beyond the old definitions. Reforming the education system to promote social integration and a diverse identity would be one big bold and creative approach to “making Northern Ireland work” And it’s actually in their manifesto. The SDLP appear to acknowledge that preserving the elements of the traditional …

Nesbitt’s gamble: at last the Ulster Unionists (and the SDLP) will have to decide what they stand for or face oblivion in the next Assembly

Brian Walker on May 14, 2016, 11:15 am

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Since the election and even before it, commentators have been casting around desperately for anything that suggests that the old muscle- bound duopoly is starting to crumble. Even the DUP “victory” is being hyped as a harbinger of change alongside the Sinn Fein “ defeat”. Something, anything that might mean fresh movement or greater stability. So the zeitgeist has moved in the direction of a more “normal “ democracy that an opposition signifies, and yet an opposition that doesn’t threaten …

Martin McGuinness: “We now wait to see if SDLP will stand by the principles of the Good Friday Agreement or follow the UUP into opposition…”

Pete Baker on May 12, 2016, 8:57 pm

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The response of Sinn Féin’s new MLA for Foyle, Martin McGuinness, to being upstaged – at the moment of his re-appointment as Northern Ireland deputy First Minister – by the UUP leader Mike Nesbitt’s announcement that his party had unanimously agreed to go into official opposition in the NI Assembly, betrayed a confused, or forgetful, party lashing out at sceptics, and potential sceptics, alike. [Nobody puts Baby in the corner… – Ed] From the Sinn Féin press release [added emphasis throughout] Speaking after …

To oppose or not oppose? Good government is the real priority

Brian Walker on May 11, 2016, 12:10 pm

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I hope wrangling over whether there should be an opposition or not doesn’t overshadow the important business of agreeing an outline programme for government. Now is exactly the right time for all parties to pitch in on more or less equal terms with their ideas free of immediate electoral constraints. The election is over, Mike Nesbitt. Of course Alliance should be in on the talks unless you think the UUP is going to be awarded Justice. The good news is …

McGuinness: “Work on the programme for government has been going on prior to the election for some months.”

Pete Baker on May 9, 2016, 2:55 pm

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With only two weeks set aside to allow the new Northern Ireland Executive’s Programme for Government to be thrashed out, and agreed between the parties, you might think that time was of the essence. But apparently not… The BBC are reporting that there will be a delay to the start of those negotiations. That may be a surprise to the new Sinn Féin MLA for Foyle, Martin McGuinness. On Sunday he told the BBC that “On Monday, we will be entering discussions …

Paramilitary violence and intimidation greater than admitted – The Detail. How will the parties deal with it?

Brian Walker on April 29, 2016, 12:16 pm

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The Detail investigative website continues to create impact by laying it out facts you might suspect the main parties have an interest in playing down with an election in prospect. Paradoxically that comparative reticence may be a form of implied cohesion between the DUP and Sinn Fein. But is it good enough? How should they respond? In their latest report following an inevitably rough audit of the last Assembly mandate the Detail gives a stark account of the level of …

Is Education the Number One Priority for Unionism this Election?

st etienne on April 18, 2016, 12:31 pm

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Education, Education, Education. There have been 3 Assembly Executives elected since 1998. At each juncture, a unionist First Minister was elected and subsequently under d’Hondt a unionist was given first choice of available ministries. Each time control of the Education ministry fell to a Sinn Fein MLA – whether they were the 4th, or the 2nd, largest party. If SF should emerge the largest in the executive post May elections, they may well opt once again for the Education post. …

Will SDLP support for integrated education create a new consensus?

Brian Walker on April 14, 2016, 10:24 am

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David McCann has already given his overview of the SDLP manifesto. On delivery, as is usual with these documents, the manifesto strains at being comprehensive without giving away too many hostages to fortune or burdening the reader with costings. And like all parties particularly the smaller ones, the SDLP can indulge in aspirations it knows it won’t be allowed to deliver – and may not always want to anyway. Aiming for (I make it) 26,500 new jobs by 2021, it …

The DUP manifesto: a fair start but big issues are left out

Brian Walker on April 6, 2016, 12:52 pm

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In the DUP manifesto,, buzz phrases like better service delivery and the modernisation of government are invoked in support of the business- like appeal of Arlene Foster the party is relying on at the outset of their campaign. There is a marked lack of “shared future” and united community rhetoric. At the same time unionist/loyalist tunes while clearly present are relatively muted. Whatever the claims and counterclaims of the short campaign there’s little doubt that the DUP and Sinn Fein …

What can the next NI Assembly do for people living with cancer?

Soapbox on March 16, 2016, 10:51 am

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Michael Moore is Policy Officer at Macmillan Cancer Support In a matter of weeks, the Assembly election outcome will be known and elected MLAs will be contemplating their priorities for the next five years. The numbers, needs and experiences of people affected by cancer in Northern Ireland make a powerful case for cancer care remaining high on the agenda. We want to see all parties in government working together – along with Health and Social Care providers and charities – …

“We say it’s highly improper and unorthodox, effectively OFMDFM are seeking to resist the grant of leave against the Department of Justice.”

Pete Baker on February 19, 2016, 4:55 pm

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A Belfast High Court judge has adjourned the application for a judicial review of the controversial new law criminalising the paying for sex following a last minute intervention by the Northern Ireland Attorney General on behalf of the Office of the NI First and Deputy First Ministers (OFMDFM). Interestingly, as the BBC report notes A barrister representing the [NI Department of Justice] confirmed it was not opposing Ms Lee’s application for a judicial review of the new law, on the basis that an arguable …

NI Assembly Commission misleads the Assembly, and the public

Pete Baker on February 15, 2016, 3:20 pm

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When the BBC reported the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission’s written answers to some ‘stupid’ questions from TUV leader Jim Allister on Friday they used the headline “Sinn Féin MLAs who claimed almost £700,000 in expenses ‘did nothing wrong‘”. There was also a report broadcast, “Sinn Féin cleared in expenses investigation“. The NI Assembly Commission is chaired by the Speaker, currently Sinn Féin’s Mitchel McLaughlin, and consists of one MLA from each of the Executive parties – who have a vote …

8 times Stormont failed to deliver

SituationNI on February 3, 2016, 4:08 pm

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In three months, the Assembly elections will give voters the chance to have their say on who will sit in Stormont for the next five years. At this point, it’s worth reflecting on what has (and hasn’t) been achieved by the current Executive. Use the comments to have your say and add anything (good or bad) that hasn’t made this list. 1: Integrated Education – The signatories of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 pledged “to facilitate and encourage …

The Executive needs to get its priorities straight

Soapbox on February 1, 2016, 3:37 pm

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Craig Harrison writes for us about Executive and its priorities… With the dust settled around Parliament buildings after the Assembly voted to pass the Executive Budget 2016/17, now is a good time to reflect on the financial deal Northern Ireland is committed to for the next year. While there is much to be commended in the spending plan – particularly the additional monies allocated to the new Health Department – the Executive won’t be getting a pat on the back …

Unite: “The recent deal between the parties ties the hands of the Northern Ireland Executive…”

Pete Baker on November 28, 2015, 5:32 pm

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Unite protests against Fresh Start: The Unite union holds protests against the ‘Fresh Start’ deal outside offices of the NI parties responsible – DUP and Sinn Féin.

“Sinn Féin achieved a welfare system better than the one in Britain, by an average of £94m per year…” – Redux

Pete Baker on November 17, 2015, 8:32 pm

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Back in February 2015, this was Sinn Féin’s original line on the welfare cuts mitigation schemes agreed at the first Stormont Castle Agreement. …Sinn Féin from 2011 onwards opposed the proposed welfare cuts and insisted welfare protection was absolutely fundamental for all citizens. “That is why Sinn Féin politically campaigned against welfare cuts alongside trade unions and grassroots communities. “This principle guided our strategy during the Stormont House negotiations and why, in December last, when the other four Executive parties …

Martin McGuinness: “if the governments move as speedily as we have done, all of this could move very quickly”

Pete Baker on November 10, 2015, 10:46 pm

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After 9 weeks of behind-closed-doors talks, including an exclusive, super-sekrit, meeting in Downing Street with David Cameron, and a less sekrit meeting with Enda Kenny, the Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers emerged blinking into the light today to inform the waiting press that… “The core of that agreement, the substance, has already been agreed in dialogue terms between Sinn Féin and the DUP,” [Peter Robinson] said. [added emphasis] So they haven’t put it in writing yet, never mind agreed it …