NI Executive – Page 20 – Slugger O'Toole

NI Affairs Committee: “We understand the sensitivities of this issue for some members of the Executive…”

Pete Baker on July 17, 2013, 5:27 pm

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As the BBC reports, the UK House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has published their report on the Implementation of the Armed Forces Covenant in Northern Ireland. Among the recommendations noted by the BBC The committee chair, MP Laurence Robertson, said the report highlighted the need for those who serve the country not being disadvantaged because of that. He said while the special political and legal situation in Northern Ireland made the situation potentially contentious, that should not mean …

“this Assembly notes the lawful but illogical determination issued by the Parades Commission…”

Pete Baker on July 16, 2013, 3:44 pm

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As the BBC reports, the Northern Ireland Assembly has rejected a tabled Sinn Féin amendment, and supported the DUP’s original motion on the recent north Belfast determination of the Parades Commission by 43 votes to 42 – here’s the Commission’s earlier defence of that decision. And here’s the resolved text from the NI Assembly That this Assembly notes the lawful but illogical determination issued by the Parades Commission on 9 July 2013 in relation to the application by the three Ligoniel Orange Lodges for …

North Belfast kicks off…

Pete Baker on July 12, 2013, 9:27 pm

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The BBC are reporting that water cannon and baton rounds have been used in north Belfast after a sustained attack on police in the Woodvale area. Four police officers and one civilian, to date, are reported to have been injured in the disorder. And there have been a number of clashes between rival loyalist and nationalist groups in the area. The Guardian is live-blogging events. • The first violent clashes erupted around twenty minutes to eight in the north end of …

Louth County Council Suspend Narrow Water Bridge Project

Pete Baker on July 9, 2013, 4:05 pm

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Looks like the Northern Ireland Finance Minister’s caution was justified. As the BBC report Plans to build a cross-border-bridge between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have been put on hold. Louth County Council said tenders had been significantly above the figure expected for the Narrow Water bridge project, leading it to halt it. RTÉ has the figures involved. The council today said the tenders for the 195m cable-stay bridge across the river Newry at Narrow Water ranged from €26m to €40m, …

Should we live within our means, tax a bit more and depend less on Mother England?

Brian Walker on July 8, 2013, 11:35 am

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Meanwhile just as the Assembly has broken up for the summer (apart from the recall to debate Housing- gate) the Northern Ireland Council of Voluntary Associations announces that the time is right for a debate on tax raising powers and has commissioned a report from PWC. That should keep them all busy for what’s left of the marching season. Nevertheless full marks to an important part of civil society for raising a real policy issue. The deadline of 2014 for …

“The Board has no confidence in the leadership of the Historical Enquiries Team…”

Pete Baker on July 5, 2013, 6:25 pm

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The Northern Ireland Policing Board has agreed a response to the critical HMIC Report on the Inspection of the PSNI Historical Enquiries Team. The BBC’s headline may be somewhat misleading, it’s the leadership of the HET that the Board have no confidence in. From the NI Policing Board statement The following has been agreed: The Board has no confidence in the leadership of the Historical Enquiries Team and the Chief Constable has been asked to review and action the management …

The Assembly shuns reform despite UK government pressure

Brian Walker on July 3, 2013, 12:21 pm

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The news from the Assembly and Executive Review Committee that the political parties in the Assembly have been unable to agree on reforming the political system will hardly shake the world. “No Consensus” is the mantra apart from minor concessions towards an opposition. There is not much here to tempt the SDLP or the Ulster Unionists into quitting the Executive, even in the proposals from those parties themselves, especially the SDLP. This will hardly impress the British government which was …

Military covenant: “I may need your help publicly on this…”

Pete Baker on July 2, 2013, 7:39 pm

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For the second year in a row, an Irish Government Minister has taken part in the Battle of the Somme commemoration at Belfast City Hall – this time it was the turn of Labour TD, Joe Costello. Also present were the Northern Ireland First Minister, the DUP’s Peter Robinson, and representatives from the Ulster Unionists, the Alliance Party and the SDLP. The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Sinn Féin’s Máirtín Ó’Muilleoir, has continued his party’s boycott of the official ceremony. [Are you serious?! – Ed] As the …

G8 Summit: “Of course, the event did not come for free…”

Pete Baker on July 2, 2013, 4:09 pm

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As the BBC reports, the Northern Ireland Finance Minister, the DUP’s Sammy Wilson, has revised, upwards, his estimate of the cost of the recent G8 Summit in Fermanagh. Here’s the relevant extract from Hansard There has been much focus on the cost of the G8 event. The most important thing is that we successfully delivered a safe and secure event, and, for that, I give my sincere thanks to the PSNI. Of course, the event did not come for free, and, …

Chief Constable: “You can’t separate the counter-terrorism efforts from organised crime.”

Pete Baker on June 27, 2013, 4:24 pm

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The PSNI has already warned of the potential consequences of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s restricting of the activities of the UK’s new National Crime Agency here. Now, as the Belfast Telegraph reports, it’s the turn of the Chief Constable, Matt Baggott, to address the issue. Speaking at the launch of the Organised Crime Task Force’s (OCTF) annual report at Crumlin Road jail yesterday, Mr Baggott said any NCA work carried out in Northern Ireland would be done “with complete transparency”. And he warned …

“Adding more weapons to this volatile situation could destabilise the entire region…”

Pete Baker on June 15, 2013, 6:42 pm

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The Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers were in a sunny Downing Street garden yesterday, welcoming that suspect package, and extolling the virtues of demonstrating “peacefully, positively, constructively” [Is that with, or without, a Thompson sub-machine gun? – Ed] Without, probably… ANYhoo, on the same day Sinn Féin released the text of what appears to be a different speech to that delivered in Downing Street by the Mid Ulster MP Northern Ireland deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness – made at …

For the sake of the future, the Assembly needs reform

Brian Walker on June 13, 2013, 2:47 pm

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You could be forgiven for failing to notice that the Assembly’s Assembly and Executive Review Committee has been holding a review on “D’Hondt; Community Designation and Provisions for Opposition” over the past four months. As the committee is due to report about now we’ve not got long to contain our excitement. The sweeping nature of the inquiry contrasts with its brevity and limited response (according to information on the website) and has been held I suspect under Westminster pressure. It therefore augurs poorly for the …

“It is the politics of self-interest, exclusion, and fear…”

Pete Baker on June 12, 2013, 10:36 pm

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Less than a week after MLAs Basil McCrea and John McCallister announced the launch of their new party, NI21, and the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Business Committee has changed the number of MLAs a party requires to be eligible for a first round place in the order of party speaking rights in the assembly. A change that affects only the newly formed party… [“Meetings of the Committee are held in private” – Ed] From the BBC report From 2006, parties with two or more MLAs would be …

G8 Summit: “Gardaí will place a particular emphasis on securing the Border…”

Pete Baker on June 6, 2013, 5:27 pm

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According to the Northern Ireland Finance Minister, the DUP’s Sammy Wilson, the NI Executive will face a bill of £6 million from the £60 million total cost of hosting the G8 Summit in Fermanagh on June 17th and 18th – the UK Treasury is expected to provide the rest of the funds required. But, as the Irish Times reports, the neighbouring state on the island is also making preparations. Some 900 gardaí will be in the region for the period covering the …

“still much to be done in those communities that have not previously, or only partially, engaged in peace building and reconciliation activities…”

Pete Baker on June 5, 2013, 2:57 pm

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The Irish Times reports on, what would appear to be, the International Fund for Ireland’s (IFI) response to the Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers bullshit distraction about “Building a United Community”. From the Irish Times report “The community transformation strategy recognises the new reality on the ground and looks to support communities that are still affected by the threat of violence,” said the IFI chairman Dr Adrian Johnston. “It is particularly focused on addressing the root causes of sectarianism and, in …

Exploit Building a United Community to call the Executive to account, not to let them off the hook

Brian Walker on May 23, 2013, 8:22 pm

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Statement by the First and deputy First Minister “As our first move in implementing our new strategy “Together: building a United Community “ we are delivering a political bombshell. We solemnly declare that, following the precedent set by the former IRA which made stable power sharing possible, we intend as soon as possible to dismantle our respective parties, the DUP and Sinn Fein. We call on the other parties to do the same and join us in forming new centre …

“the current system is inefficient and we need to examine the case for reform of teacher education provision”

Pete Baker on May 21, 2013, 6:41 pm

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The BBC reports on the latest attempt by the Northern Ireland Employment and Learning Minister, the Alliance Party’s Stephen Farry, to reform the teacher training system here. It follows the publication of a report on the first stage of the Study of the Teacher Education Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. From the ministerial press release “The research concluded that Stranmillis and St. Mary’s are the only teacher training establishments in the UK which receive premia additional to their core funding. The cost …

OFMdFM: “as open and transparent as possible”

Pete Baker on May 18, 2013, 7:40 pm

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After much foot-dragging, the Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers have released the cost [to date – Ed] of their 12-day March junket trip to Brazil and the USA to “Develop and promote political, investment, trade, university and tourism links” – an eye-watering £155,509. As Mark Devenport tweeted So were FM and DFM’s recent investment trips value for money? Costs breakdown published here tinyurl.com/c75mymq — Mark Devenport (@markdevenport) May 16, 2013 It’s difficult to answer the ‘value-for-money’ question in the …

PSNI: “if the NCA is unable to operate fully in Northern Ireland, this will have a detrimental impact on our ability to keep people safe”

Pete Baker on May 15, 2013, 6:15 pm

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With continued political deadlock here over the new UK National Crime Agency (NCA) the PSNI have issued a statement warning of potential problems ahead, and proposing a suggested solution to complaints about accountability. From the PSNI statement Criminality has no respect for boundaries. It is therefore vitally important that the PSNI can access both the international reach which the NCA will provide and the ability to draw down on the expertise that the agency will offer. This expertise will include: …

“creating consistency between each of the devolved institutions across the United Kingdom”

Pete Baker on May 13, 2013, 3:50 pm

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While the bullshit distraction that is the DUP/Sinn Féin “Building a United Community” paper [pdf file] was being paraded across the airwaves last week – Think of it as a revamped Contested Space Programme [Don’t tell the International Fund for Ireland – Ed], pre-empting consultation on area-based planning, and Girdwood times 10. [And another non-working working group? – Ed] With 3 representatives from the DUP, 3 from Sinn Féin and 2 each from the other 3 Executive parties… ANYhoo… The NI …