NI Executive – Page 14 – Slugger O'Toole

“Members of PIRA carried out their own investigation” into the Davison killing…

Pete Baker on August 22, 2015, 4:37 pm

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In the Belfast Telegraph, Liam Clarke highlights a significant point from the police assessment of Provisional IRA involvement in the murder of Kevin McGuigan – a point that was not included in earlier reports of that police assessment. From the Belfast Telegraph article Police have confirmed that senior IRA members conducted an inquiry into the death of Gerard ‘Jock’ Davison, gunned down in May, and identified Kevin McGuigan as the likely killer. Brian Rowan also mentioned that ‘inquiry’ in his …

PSNI Det Supt Geddes: “It is my assessment at this stage and my belief that people who are members of the Provisional IRA were involved in this murder, but we will not speculate on at what level.”

Pete Baker on August 20, 2015, 8:57 pm

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The police held a press conference today on the on-going investigation into the murder of former Provisional IRA member Kevin McGuigan Sr in the Short Strand area of Belfast last week – he had reportedly been “warned by the police that he was under threat from republicans” following the murder of former PIRA commander Gerard ‘Jock’ Davison in May. Of several arrests earlier this week one man has been charged with possession of a Glock pistol with intent to endanger life. The …

Anti- austerity arguments are not limited to Sinn Fein, but a proper debate about the real impact of cuts is needed.

Brian Walker on August 11, 2015, 10:18 am

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Anxiety and anger over budget plans including welfare cuts continue on both sides of the water. Amid the attacks on George Osborne for “ Tory austerity” in his plans to cut public spending by a further £20 billion or 40% for unprotected areas, a rough comparison of public spending as a share of GDP suggests that UK and Irish spending by this measure will remain roughly comparable to the end of the decade. I float this out in the hope …

“Still, there are words for the sort of reception meted out, and the most polite are ‘low’ and ‘key’.”

Pete Baker on July 31, 2015, 5:17 pm

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch… or, rather, as far away from the ranch as you can reasonably get… For the benefit of those concerned about accountability and the democratic process… Liam Clarke has some points to make about Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, and the Northern Ireland deputy First Minister Sinn Féin MLA Martin McGuinness’ recent, separate, trips to the US. In that situation, how much priority would you give when tapped on the arm and told that the Northern Ireland …

NI Public Appointments Commissioner: “Despite all the supportive talk in principle I don’t see any change in the public appointment process.”

Pete Baker on July 23, 2015, 3:33 pm

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When the previous Commissioner for Public Appointments in Northern Ireland, Felicity Huston, stepped down from the role in 2011 she, pointedly, wished whoever her successor would be “the best of luck”, noting that She said there were difficulties asserting her role as a regulator at Stormont. “People recruit people who look like them, sound like them and have the same life and work experiences,” she said. The commissioner said there were other issues about the independence of her position. “The …

Theresa Villiers is a semi-detached secretary of state. She needs to focus up, or go.

Brian Walker on July 16, 2015, 11:54 am

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Mick’s post brings out the striking ontrast between this debate in the Dail and how Westminster is currently dealing with Northern Ireland. There is a powerful irony that Dublin is far more interested in our affairs than London, even though London as the paymasters has the overwhelming responsibility. In NI questions on the same day,Theresa Villiers limited herself to a fatalistic statement of the position on deadlock. Although she has met the parties there have been no serious attempts at …

How to get Martin McGuinness off the hook

Brian Walker on June 21, 2015, 2:04 pm

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Despite the mockery that greeted it, Arlene Foster’s “phantom budget” has, in the now familiar phrase of financial crises, “kicked the can down the road,” even as Robinson and McGuinness have been ramping up the rhetoric in the game of chicken. This has bought time. However, it’s now clear that quite a big road block awaits the battered can in the form of the UK emergency budget – the real budget, George Osborne’s – in three weeks’ time and the …

As austerity is set to continue whatever, it’s time for civil society to call for a halt in the game of chicken over the budget

Brian Walker on June 17, 2015, 2:24 pm

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The silence from local economists and business people has been deplorably deafening about the game of chicken being played out in the Assembly over the budget and the welfare Bill. Rather than mixing it with the politicians they can perhaps be forgiven for turning to bigger pictures and hoping that the Assembly will do likewise. But time is running out for this passive attitude and a bolder line should be taken soon by those who keep the economic show on the …

Abortion pressure continues slowly, slowly

Brian Walker on June 11, 2015, 12:13 pm

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Two interesting blasts from non-natives in the abortion debate have appeared in – can you guess? Yes! – in the Guardian and the Independent. In the Indy, London-based Siobhan Fenton has been combing the statistics just out, to find that that 828 women who had abortions in England and Wales last year gave Northern Ireland addresses and 3754 were recorded as coming from the Republic. Almost certainly these figures are an underestimate, the real NI figure being around 2000, according …

“A Battle A Day” Is Creating A Political Wasteland

Gerry Lynch on June 3, 2015, 12:48 pm

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“It will always be a battle a day between those who want maximum change and those who want to maintain the status quo”. Recognise the quote? It came from Gerry Adams’ speech calling for the IRA to permanently abandon violence in 2005. Just a few days before the 2007 Assembly Elections that restored devolved government, Peter Robinson concurred with Adams’ assessment in a BBC Radio Ulster interview. Asked whether a government jointly led by his party and Gerry Adams’ could …

Not all the zombies are politicians. This is also civil society’s failure

Brian Walker on May 26, 2015, 11:49 am

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Not so long ago, Northern Ireland politics were conducted in a seething cauldron. Today they’re in zombieland. Nobody seems to know what sort of situation is facing Northern Ireland in the forthcoming days, weeks and months. Your starter for 10. Is it bailout, surrender or just staggering on? At home, nobody can be bothered even to do an informed analysis of the costs of continuing denial. Malachi, like myself no economist, is no better informed but is properly uneasy . In …

Over the Welfare Bill impasse, a few points of clarification should do it for anybody with sense

Brian Walker on May 13, 2015, 2:39 pm

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In her first move as finance minister, Arlene Foster is right to echo Theresa Villiers in ramping up pressure to implement the Stormont House Agreement and pass the £ 10 billion budget and the Welfare Bill. Unless Sinn Fein gives way, the budget will have a £500 million gap. Funding for 30,000 public sector redundancies will be withheld and corporation tax will not devolved to Stormont. No doubt before the election the DUP were hoping for a modest improvement in what was …

The election exposed the faint breath of a desire for change within the sectarian camps.

Brian Walker on May 9, 2015, 4:38 pm

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All true democrats should thrilled to have it confirmed that politics is not dominated by the polls. Real people apparently can think for themselves. Locally LucidTalk’s amazingly hairy exercises with opinion panels fared better in the prediction stakes than the UK national pollsters, even though playing percentages is a whole lot easier than making firm predictions. Small shifts in turnout and opinion made all the difference. Looking at it from across the water, your campaign was generally beyond embarrassment. The …

Carál Ní Chuilín: “What is clear to me is that there has been an anti-GAA element throughout…”

Pete Baker on May 7, 2015, 8:17 pm

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Having had to apologise for “an error” in claiming that the “Electoral commission vetoed using last election figures” in defence of Sinn Féin’s sectarian leaflet campaign in North Belfast, the Northern Ireland Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Sinn Féin’s Carál Ní Chuilín, might have been better advised to be more cautious in her public utterances in future… Despite having reportedly announced, last Thursday, a full review of the new Casement Park Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ground redevelopment plan, on Tuesday, …

Casement Park STG Chair: “we were being attempted to be coerced, pressurised into signing off something that we were singularly uncomfortable with…”

Pete Baker on April 30, 2015, 2:46 pm

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The BBC reports on the latest wrinkle in the on-going saga of the controversial £70million redevelopment of Casement Park in west Belfast – stalled in December last year when Belfast High Court quashed the decision to grant planning approval for the redevelopment. At the start of April this year, the BBC obtained the minutes of the last meeting of the Casement Park Development Safety Technical Group (STG), in November 2014, under a Freedom of Information request. The STG is made up of representatives …

NI Tourism Minister: “I recently had discussions with the chief executive of Tourism Ireland and expressed my disappointment about how the promotion of the Wild Atlantic Way stops at the border.”

Pete Baker on April 15, 2015, 7:08 pm

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Without wishing to undermine historian Hiram Morgan’s call for Irish Government action to preserve the cultural heritage in the seas off the Wild Atlantic Way, it’s worth noting the stated objective of that tourism initiative… The overall aim of the project is to develop a route that will achieve greater visibility for the west coast of Ireland in overseas tourist markets. Also worth pointing out that one of the armada wrecks he mentioned, La Girona, isn’t on the Wild Atlantic Way, having …

Northern Ireland Water charges to rise…

Pete Baker on April 1, 2015, 12:44 am

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As the BBC reported on 27 March Northern Ireland Water is putting up charges to its 80,000 non-domestic customers from April – the first price rise in three years. The company said the increase would average out at 2.4%. The main factor “dictating this increase” is a £14m rise, or doubling, of its rates bill, following a revaluation carried out of all local businesses last year. In the previous two financial years, Northern Ireland Water cut its tariffs. Businesses and …

Lord Carlile: “Peace is in no small way the result of these efforts by PSNI and MI5 personnel.”

Pete Baker on March 26, 2015, 7:33 pm

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On 20th March the Order in Council extending the operations of the UK National Crime Agency to Northern Ireland came into power – despite the challenge that presents to the Speaker of the NI Assembly – bringing us into line with the rest of the UK in the process. On the same date the NI Secretary of State of State, Theresa Villiers, made a written statement to the House of Commons on the report by Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of national security …

Assembly’s ‘consent’ for National Crime Agency Order is a challenge to the Speaker

Pete Baker on March 23, 2015, 4:22 pm

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In a Parliamentary written answer last week (16 March), the Secretary of State gave an update on the progress of the Draft Order in Council which will extend the operation of the National Crime Agency to Northern Ireland. Here’s what Teresa Villiers said. The Northern Ireland Assembly recently agreed to the making of an Order which will enable the National Crime Agency (NCA) to be fully operational in Northern Ireland. That Order has been considered by Committees in both the …

“Now it seems that Sinn Fein is realising how badly exposed its negotiators left it to accusations of a sell-out.”

Pete Baker on March 10, 2015, 2:55 pm

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In today’s Irish News John Manley does everyone a favour by identifying Sinn Fein’s problem with the agreement they signed up to in December. The nub of the problem appears to lie in the figures contained in the Stormont Castle Agreement, an agreement within an agreement negotiated between the five parties days before the final accord was signed off on December 23. In annex A of this sub-agreement, the figures for the planned welfare safety net are outlined. It earmarks …