NI21 – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

What the civil servants get up to in Borgen – Outside the Castle (Radio 4)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 20, 2013, 11:46 am

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It’s the season of waiting. The Haass/O’Sullivan talks will inevitably reconvene in the days between Christmas and the New Year. Party leaders will be penning their new year messages, with alternative wordings to cover different Haass outcomes. Assembly committees won’t start back on Tuesday 7 January and the next plenary session of the Assembly isn’t scheduled until Monday 13th. The third and final season of Borgen finished last weekend. NI21’s executive committee will now be waiting for the box set …

McCann meets….Simon Hamilton MLA #dup13

David McCann on November 25, 2013, 10:12 pm

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In the second part of my series of interviews with DUP ministers I bring you Simon Hamilton MLA. The youngest of all the DUP ministers he has impressed a number of people with his solid performance in the Department of Finance. On a personal level I found him very impressive and well briefed on the finance file. He opted for an Ed Miliband speaking without notes speech at the DUP conference which seemed to go down well. The interview is …

Learning Together: NI21 Party Conference

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on November 20, 2013, 3:02 pm

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Learning Together: Maximising Common Education NI21 Party Conference by Allan Leonard for Northern Ireland Foundation 16 November 2013 At the NI21 inaugural party conference at the Europa Hotel, I chaired a fringe meeting to explore how shared and integrated education could be increased in Northern Ireland, and what potential role NI21 could have here. The panellists were: Mark Baker (Programme Manager, QUB Centre for Shared Education) Noreen Campbell (Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education) Kathleen Gormley (Principal, Hazelwood …

North-South relations and the game the Irish government wont play anymore.

David McCann on November 18, 2013, 11:24 pm

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The past week has not been a good one for North-South relations as the EU funding was pulled for the Narrow Water Bridge. Mick noted the general disengagement of the Irish government in an earlier post but as I sat at the NI21 Conference, I listened to the Junior Finance Minister, Brian Hayes TD, give his verdict on North-South relations which to me highlights our current problem in this area as he said; There has been too much navel gazing …

NI21 inaugural conference launches some policies & starts the job of converting supporters to votes

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 17, 2013, 4:38 pm

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On Saturday NI21 started their quest to turn supporters into advocates, to get members to realise that paying a tenner to join the party was only a fraction of the effort and sacrifice that will be required over the next couple of years. For supporters it was a chance to pick up their NI21 lapel badges, hear senior party members outline their vision, and meet other interested people living in their constituency. NI21’s core team should be very pleased with …

Nesbitt recommends politics over further street protests; McCallister disses talk of “culture wars” in speech to Ulster GAA

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 10, 2013, 12:00 pm

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In other non-SDLP news, the Belfast Telegraph report that Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has told party colleagues via an internal bulletin that the tactic of flag protests should cease. The tactics used to protest over the flag have alienated many who instinctively supported the cause … He warned against disrupting Belfast city centre and its traders for a second Christmas. I hear talk of rallies, parades and protests. As ever, I understand and support the right for lawful and …

Who has the youngest assembly group in NI?

David McCann on November 7, 2013, 1:07 pm

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I had to do a bit of research during the week on the assembly and the people who work in it. On the side I thought it would be interesting to find out just how old the average MLA is and what party has the youngest assembly group. Let’s begin with the overall picture-I surveyed the ages of 106 of the 108 MLAs-I couldn’t find the date of birth for two of them but this will still give me a good sample. …

John McCallister says Sinn Fein already have a “new Ireland” while Gerry Adams calls for “an entirely new dispensation”

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on October 19, 2013, 9:59 pm

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By coincidence, while John McCallister didn’t have the opportunity to speak at the UUP conference today, he did get an invite to address Sinn Fein’s Towards a New Ireland – A new phase of the peace process conference in London this afternoon. He started a little apologetically … If my comments at any time seem unduly harsh or perhaps unfair, be assured that such is not my intention. I am here in good faith to promote political dialogue and debate …

New media and new politics in NI? Or complacency after conflict?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on October 18, 2013, 6:19 pm

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This afternoon’s Political Studies Association of Ireland conference in Trinity included a panel looking at new media and new politics and their influence on conflict transformation in Northern Ireland. Chaired by Niall Ó Dochartaigh (NUI Galway), the panel spoke in the order: Alex Kane (Journalist) Paul Reilly (Uni. of Leicester) Brian J. Spencer (Political blogger and cartoonist) Alan Meban (Political blogger) Topics covered included whether NI actually wanted to change, whether anyone could think of an example of social media …

McCann meets….John McCallister MLA

David McCann on October 10, 2013, 8:35 pm

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Yesterday I sat down with NI21 deputy leader, John McCallister. In our interview we spoke about the upcoming NI21 conference, his relations with the UUP and the summer violence we have experienced. On his relations with the UUP; The hardest part (of leaving) was the strain that might put on some of this friendships and some people feeling diappointed or let down. When I look now and see where the UUP is…it has literally lost all sense of direction or …

Alliance party-Is it really the Belfast party?

David McCann on September 22, 2013, 10:58 pm

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I often think of the Alliance party as the Helen Lovejoy of Northern Ireland politics. They are well intentioned but have suffered from a ‘do gooder’ image that they at times project out. In my last piece on the SDLP and UUP, I was very pessimistic about the future of those parties going forward. However, with the Alliance party, I would not make the same assessment as I think they do occupy a space in Northern Ireland politics that very few …

NI21 call for ministers to pledge a flag commitment & for councils to regulate. But flags aren’t the only issue?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on September 15, 2013, 7:07 pm

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Tonight, NI21 have launched an intervention into the debate around flags. You can read their statement and find the link to their video on an earlier post. It’s notable that the video is very careful to balance shots of Union flags and Irish tricolours. The messaging is not aimed at just one community – though perhaps one community is where the strongest reaction and criticism will come from. Over on the NI21 website I also spotted a longer position paper …

Time to show flags proper respect

Basil McCrea on September 15, 2013, 6:04 pm

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Does the Union flag represent the United Kingdom or is it a marker in a sectarian battlefield? When the flag of the country hangs tattered from a lamppost, so does our society. When it is wrapped around someone during a riot or used to attack the police, it is defiled. In no other country would this be allowed. The Union flag and the flags of all states should be treated with respect by Governments, politicians and individuals within society – …

NI21’s chair Tina McKenzie on why she got involved, party labels and Alliance

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on June 14, 2013, 3:04 pm

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New to politics but not a newcomer to recruitment or change management, Tina McKenzie chairs the newly launched NI21. She was interviewed by Kerri Dunn for yesterday’s On the Record politics show on Lisburn’s 98FM. Over the twenty minute interview she answered questions about why she joined the party, her thoughts about standing as a candidate, perceptions of the party, and her attitude towards Alliance. listen to ‘Tina McKenzie (chair of @NI21official) interviewed by @KerriDunn on @lisburns98 On the Record …

“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 …

NI21 launches – looking for fresh voices rather than defectors

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on June 6, 2013, 11:36 pm

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Basil and John tonight crawled out of their Team Jasil chrysalis to reveal the NI21 butterfly. Question is, will it take off? Launched in the Metropolitan Arts Centre, a cosmopolitan wine-drinking audience, and if they’d handed out much needed icecream cones to cool down the attendees, NI21 might have been Neapolitan too. A few hundred supporters crammed into two rooms in the Belfast MAC and another two hundred watched online as John McCallister, party chair Tina McKenzie, and leader Basil …