NI Executive – Page 28 – Slugger O'Toole

Legal Aid Fees Dispute: “we cannot guarantee that they receive a fair trial”

Pete Baker on May 27, 2011, 2:03 pm

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Over 140 defendants in criminal cases are now reported to be without legal representation in the ongoing legal aid fees dispute. From the BBC report Solicitors have refused to take on more than three quarters of criminal legal aid cases due to start in NI during the past six weeks. More than 140 defendants have been left without legal representation because of the protest over lower legal fees. “We don’t want to be on strike. We don’t want to be withdrawing …

“What I can’t do is give a cast-iron guarantee…”

Pete Baker on May 17, 2011, 1:33 pm

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The new Northern Ireland Health Minister, the DUP’s Edwin Poots, has re-introduced doubt about the proposed radiotherapy unit at Altnagelvin when, during the election campaign, the NI First and deputy First Ministers’ had promised certainty. From the BBC report Mr Poots said he hoped to make a decision in the next few weeks. “It’s top of my in-tray. What I can’t do is give a cast-iron guarantee without having seen all the documentation and papers around this issue,” said Mr …

#skodashuffle Executive Ministers announced

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on May 16, 2011, 11:47 am

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We’ll update the post as the names on the doors of the ministries are revealed. Sounds like many will be named outside the Assembly chamber rather than waiting to be announced as part of business. The Speaker may not be amused. Choice 1 DUP – Finance and Personnel – Sammy Wilson (for 2 years) then Simon Hamilton Choice 2 SF – Education – John O’Dowd Choice 3 DUP – Enterprise Trade and Industry – Arlene Foster Choice 4 UUP – …

All change at the Executive today: Issues arising…

Mick Fealty on May 16, 2011, 9:32 am

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So we weren’t the only ones wrong footed by the parties’ choice of cabinet positions. Mark Devenport reports that Sinn Fein choosing DETI seems to have been just as much expected in Stormont as out in virtual world: …it looks like the stalemate over academic selection will continue. I’m told that when Sinn Fein announced their choice it was greeted by the other parties with a stunned silence. Sinn Fein’s decision to retain their nightmare portfolio in Education is the second …

Local democracy, a Big Idea for the new Assembly

Brian Walker on May 14, 2011, 8:03 pm

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What chance now for more normal politics after the smash victories of the DUP and Sinn Fein? The pessimistic answer is that with an even firmer grip on their electorates, deadlock in government will tighten further, as a natural consequence of a system that insulates each party from the wider interests of the community as a whole. That may be so. And yet there are reasons for hope. Their rhetorical unity in the face of the dissident republican threat was impressive. There is every …

The rubber stamp gets smaller?

Michael Shilliday on May 14, 2011, 2:53 pm

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Mark McGregor is of course right. At the very least the disclosure of the d’Hondt private run by the Executive Twitter account was a violation of the Assembly’s right to be first to know. It was like that in 2007, and is now. However there probably is some justification for it, given that such an important series of events almost certainly benefits from being run free from the procedural constraints of the Assembly floor. That said, it is of course …

It’s our House we don’t have to respect it?

Blank on May 13, 2011, 8:19 pm

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With a DUP speaker in the chair at Stormont again, it will be interesting to see how he deals with live tweeting the allocation of Ministries via d’Hondt before anything is presented to the Assembly. In many previously instances he has aped the protocols and expectations of Westminster when it comes to Stormont standards – Government announcing key decisions outside the House has long been a bone of contention at Westminster. Their Speaker previously had this to say: Ministers ought …

EXCLUSIVE: Slugger hivemind wrong-footed by dHondt

Blank on May 13, 2011, 7:25 pm

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The Executive caught almost everyone on the hop by live tweeting the d’Hondt ministerial lottery. It has brought our predictions competition to an early close but we hold off on announcing a winner until it is all official on Monday. I’ll pull out some of the main things predicted, the most obvious one being that very few Slugger readers were close to calling it right. 1st pick DUP – 99% of people correctly predicted Finance 2nd pick SF – 99% …

First DUP/SF back-room ‘deal’ of new Assembly?

Pete Baker on May 12, 2011, 3:21 pm

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After the public posturing by Sinn Féin earlier in the week, the DUP’s William Hay has been returned as Speaker in the new Northern Ireland Assembly. The BBC report notes BBC NI’s political editor Mark Devenport said a deal had been struck between the DUP and Sinn Fein over the speaker’s job. “The job is going to go to William Hay, but it looks like he won’t actually be performing that role for the entire period of this assembly,” he …

McClarty to stay independent

Pete Baker on May 11, 2011, 6:07 pm

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Former UUP MLA, David McClarty, now elected to the NI Assembly as an independent MLA, has just confirmed on UTV Live that he will not be joining the UUP Assembly group. That decision means the UUP will only get one ministerial position and the final, tenth, position on the NI Executive to be distributed under d’Hondt will go to the Alliance Party. Pete Baker

David Ford on d’Hondt: “I don’t think it’s a particularly proportional system.”

Pete Baker on May 8, 2011, 3:21 pm

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BBC NI political editor, Mark Devenport, calculates that the Alliance Party are in prime position to pick up the tenth, and final, ministerial position to be distributed under d’Hondt. Now that “the government” have been re-elected… The NI Justice Ministry comes later – and may only be a temporary appointment. From Mark Devenport Steven Agnew’s last gasp victory for the Greens leaves Alliance on 8 seats – exactly half the Ulster Unionist total of 16. Under the D’Hondt system the UUP gets …

“They held an election and the government won…”

Pete Baker on May 7, 2011, 5:10 pm

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Something of a one-two in the Irish News opinion pages today. Firstly, from the editorial. For a government, it is difficult to claim a credible mandate when around half the voting population refuses to offer its backing to any of the candidates on offer. This disconnect is not a new phenomenon, of course, but representatives who dismiss this as simply a symptom of normal politics need to take a reality check. What they should be asking is why voters are staying …

“He benefits from formidable references from the very highest echelons of our society.”

Pete Baker on May 6, 2011, 10:23 pm

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Sentenced to 20 years for the attempted murder, in 1981, of now-DUP councillor, Sammy Brush, former Provisional IRA member Gerry McGeough has been refused temporary release on compassionate bail to attend his son’s first holy communion. That’s despite his barrister, Sean Devine’s, claim that his client “benefits from formidable references from the very highest echelons of our society.” [And that would be? – Ed] The erstwhile Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister, Sinn Fein’s Michelle Gildernew… It cut little ice with the NI Court …

“Honesty and realism have been fleeting visitors to the campaign trail.”

Pete Baker on May 5, 2011, 2:28 pm

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A Belfast Telegraph editorial today argues The campaign itself has been moribund with little vision and plenty of uncosted commitments which will have to be abandoned over the next few years. Honesty and realism have been fleeting visitors to the campaign trail. The good ship Duopoly appears to be sailing serenely with the DUP and Sinn Fein in what appears to be a stately procession back to power. ………….. We need strong, alternative parties to counter the Sinn Fein/DUP grip …

DENI appeal “abuse of power” ruling

Pete Baker on May 3, 2011, 2:23 pm

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The BBC report that the Northern Ireland Department of Education, including presumably the NI Education Minister Sinn Féin’s Caitriona Ruane, have lodged an official appeal against the “abuse of power” ruling that followed a judicial review of the minister’s refusal to provide funding for Loreto Grammar School’s planned new-build on its existing site in Omagh. From the BBC report Loreto Grammar School in Omagh was promised new premises by a previous education minister in 2004. However, this decision was reversed by Catriona Ruane. The …

“It will be 2012 at the earliest before we can say whether Northern Ireland’s unemployment rate and levels have peaked.”

Pete Baker on April 13, 2011, 3:16 pm

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As the BBC reports The number of people claiming unemployment benefit last month reached 59,000 – a rise of 100 on the previous month. That means unemployment has reached its highest rate in 13 years. And it’s worth noting from the Northern Ireland Labour Market Report April 2011 [pdf file], that that’s an increase of 3,300 over the year. Employment The number of persons in employment in the period December 2010 – February 2011 was estimated at 779,000. This estimate was up …

“There’s nothing impossible about such progress”

Pete Baker on April 4, 2011, 12:01 pm

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In the Guardian, Peter Preston, with echoes of a point he made in 2007, identifies the limits of the “politics of peace” – and our current ‘indigenous’ arrangements. From Peter Preston at Comment is Free Yet this commonsensical chorus only takes you so far. It clears the bloody detritus of the past; it provides a suitably united response to the murderers who remain; but somehow it still fails to address or secure the foundations of a quite different future. Nationalism (as chronicled …

“On the face of it, that is slightly disappointing…”

Pete Baker on April 2, 2011, 1:50 pm

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The Belfast Telegraph’s Insider column brings us OFMDFM officials Dale Heaney and James McEldowney’s verdict on the Northern Ireland Executive’s delivery, or not, on the Programme for Government 2008-2011. They were appearing in front of the relevant Assembly committee. From the Belfast Telegraph article Mr Heaney argued that, in spite the impact of the economic downturn, ministers “have made, and continue to make, a significant difference to people’s lives”. In introductory remarks to the hearing, he went on: “Delivery reports …

NI Executive member supplies reference for McGeough

Pete Baker on April 1, 2011, 2:32 pm

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The BBC reports from the pre-sentencing hearing of Gerry McGeough – who was found guilty in February of the attempted murder of an off-duty UDR soldier, then working as a postman, now DUP councillor Sammy Brush, in 1981. From the BBC report An unnamed member of the Northern Ireland Executive has supplied a reference for Gerry McGeough ahead of his sentencing. The former IRA member was found guilty in February of the attempted murder of an off-duty UDR soldier 30 years ago. Sammy Brush, …

“We don’t approve of young children engaging in this type of activity…”

Pete Baker on March 30, 2011, 8:43 pm

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The Belfast Telegraph has an update from the Ti Chulainn Cultural Centre in Mullaghbawn, south Armagh – where children, some of primary school age, were photographed in October wearing balaclavas, combat jackets and trousers, dark glasses and berets, and brandishing replica weapons including AK47s and Armalites. From the Belfast Telegraph update The Ti Chulainn centre in south Armagh has said that children dressed up as paramilitaries armed with replica weapons on its premises hadn’t “been part of an organised event” in the …