OFMdFM – Page 5 – Slugger O'Toole

Draft CSI document contains yawning gaps. OFMdFM parties fear criticism.

Mick Fealty on April 30, 2013, 4:01 pm

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Interesting snippet from Mark Devenport which says an awful lot… The layman might think that the obvious big gesture for Stormont to make would be to publish the long delayed Cohesion Sharing and Integration strategy, a draft of which the BBC obtained back in January. However, publishing the whole document might be fraught with difficulties. As the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness explained at a Stormont Castle news conference at lunchtime, the parties are still nowhere near resolving their differences …

“they have failed to adopt the responsibility and transparency which goes with power”

Pete Baker on April 22, 2013, 4:45 pm

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In his Irish News column on Saturday, Patrick Murphy identified three “explanations for the failure of Stormont”. That’s all he had time for… From the Irish News article The first is the catch-22 analysis, based on the novel by Joseph Heller. In it, US pilots in the Second World War were deemed crazy to fly any further missions. But if they refused to fly, they were regarded as sane – and therefore fit to fly. The two main parties at …

“They’ve had the time, they’ve had the money, they’ve had the opportunity…”

Mick Fealty on April 19, 2013, 6:09 pm

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Refreshing to hear someone call it as it is.. and John Cunningham of the Camlin Group certainly laid it on the line last night on The View… “It’s like watching children argue, arguing at school. What relevance does it have? Why don’t they put it all behind and really look and address the problems that we’re facing. “We’re not facing these arguments and these historical things are not going to change the way we go forward. “They’re only going to …

OFMdFM parties tell Villiers she cannot take their money ball away…

Mick Fealty on April 12, 2013, 9:13 am

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That productivity deal that Theresa Villiers has been talking about putting on the table went down well with OFMdFM, NOT… Noel MacAdam in the BelTel: The controlling parties in the Executive also argued the attempt to use the promised package – believed to include EU Peace cash – as leverage could backfire. Finance Minister Sammy Wilson insisted it was the first time the Government had made the prospective funding conditional. Mr Wilson also described Ms Villiers warning, revealed in the …

Theresa Villiers: “our economic package will be closely linked to, and conditional on real progress by the executive…”

Pete Baker on April 10, 2013, 3:53 pm

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The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, was in west Belfast today on the 15th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement. Here’s a couple of lines from her press statement The Agreement called for ‘reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual trust’ and as I’ve travelled around Northern Ireland, I’ve seen many fantastic initiatives that are bringing different parts of the community together. Forthspring Inter Community Group and the Argyle Business Centre are two great examples of the courage, leadership and tenacity that local …

Cameron’s occasional summitry replaces Blair’s swing door…

Mick Fealty on April 10, 2013, 8:37 am

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When the First and deputy First Minister arrived at 10 Downing Street last month, they had to wait outside for ‘the magic door’ to open. Inadvertent no doubt, but the downgrade it implies chimes with David Cameron’s determination to signal to all parties in Northern Ireland that all messes are their messes and it is they rather than the UK government to clear it up. But as Mark Hennessy notes, there is a sense that much of the senior human …

FM and dFM troubles: “a lot more work to be done before there’s true unity…”

Mick Fealty on March 25, 2013, 3:02 pm

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Well, what a homecoming! No sooner had the First Minister got down off the steps of his transatlantic flight than Jane Loughrey of UTV was on hand to ask some relevant questions… And there at 2.56 is Peter’s immortal line, “Stop reading the Irish News…” It spawned three pages of coverage in that paper the following day, Saturday. Then today there was a response to the story, carried in the Irish News itself: “At no time has the first minister …

“unless it’s because politicians in Northern Ireland want to be able to sue newspapers more readily…”

Pete Baker on March 18, 2013, 3:58 pm

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Some interesting added detail in the News Letter report following up on the story of the Northern Ireland Executive’s failure to consent to the Defamation Bill going through the UK Parliament. To begin with, it’s claimed that it wasn’t the Executive after all… Last Wednesday, the News Letter revealed that the Defamation Bill – the first reform of the UK’s libel laws since the 19th Century – had been blocked from extending to Northern Ireland by Stormont’s leaders. However, the …

Absentee OFMdFM leadership thawing out in Brazil?

Mick Fealty on March 13, 2013, 8:40 am

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Brilliant piece of’so-whatness’ from MalachiO’Doherty on an OFMdFM that seems not to understand yet that it is they who are in charge, or Matt Baggott, or anyone of a dozen favourite bogeymen… Have you been down to the beach? Copacabana? Pina Colada? That’s what you need, some chill-out time to talk over your wee differences. Like the flags. Puts the whole thing in perspective, eh? No need to be getting so rattled about it that you have to virtually boycott …

Villiers: “It is crucial that political leaders here concentrate on working together on pressing economic and social issues…”

Pete Baker on January 23, 2013, 2:05 pm

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Both the Irish and British Governments have given their answer to Sinn Féin’s fanciful notion of a border poll. [Catch yourselves on? – Ed] Indeed. Taoiseach Enda Kenny in the Dáil “I think we have a lot of work to do both here and up North before people’s mentality and views change about the future of the island,” he told Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. The Taoiseach said it was a matter for the British government to decide whether to …

What exactly has OFMdFM done in the last six months (warning, it’s not impressive)?

Mick Fealty on January 21, 2013, 11:15 am

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The Irish News today goes back to a strange little communication from OFMdFM last July 18, which laid out ten achievements. As it notes in its editorial: The statement was sent out one evening during the holiday period via email without any form of briefing. Further details were said to be unavailable and interviews with ministers were firmly ruled out, although it was claimed that the various initiatives would be brought forward over “a number of weeks”. But they note …

Peter Hain: “I took some risky decisions to engage with people who were on the fringes…”

Pete Baker on January 13, 2013, 4:56 pm

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The BBC reports more self-aggrandisement disguised as political comment from the erstwhile Secretary of State for Wales, etc, Peter Hain. From the BBC report “In Northern Ireland, I think there is a particular issue with the loyalist community and I do not think the government is doing enough to engage with them,” [Peter Hain] said. “I took some risky decisions to engage with people who were on the fringes and some actually almost in uniform as it were, in paramilitary …

OFMDFM’s sluggardly FOI performance under spotlight

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 21, 2012, 2:35 pm

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This morning the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced four public bodies which will be monitored between January and March in 2013 “over concerns about the timeliness of their responses to Freedom of Information requests”. The four public bodies were selected from the thousands of public bodies across the UK that fall under the ICO’s remit for FOI: Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council; two Westminster departments, Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions; and the Office of the First Minister and …

“Leaders welcomed the opportunity to meet and engage in a discussion…”

Pete Baker on December 21, 2012, 12:18 am

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According to the BBC report, after a “meeting at Stormont Castle, which began at 0930 GMT and lasted almost eight hours, [and] was supposed to take place last week but was cancelled after some parties refused to attend”, “The leaders of Northern Ireland’s five main parties have reaffirmed their commitment to the rule of law”. Phew. That’s a relief… Although, it’s not entirely clear from the reports which “leaders” they mean exactly. [Was Gerry there? – Ed] The UTV report has some …

OFMdFM: Political leadership, what’s that then?

Mick Fealty on December 18, 2012, 12:23 pm

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So where’s big politics in all of this flegs crisis. Answer: It is getting smaller and less apparent every day that passes. So far OFMdFM have issued two statements. The first was as follows: The First Minister Rt Hon Peter D. Robinson MLA and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness MP MLA have this evening spoken to the Speaker of the Assembly to ask him to bring forward the Plenary sitting of the Assembly on Monday 10 December in order to …

“I think it is somewhat contemptuous.”

Pete Baker on November 8, 2012, 8:44 pm

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It’s difficult to argue with Jeffrey Dudgeon’s comments on the Office of the Northern Ireland First and Deputy First Minister last minute compliance with an FoI request – 320 days after the application was made, and one day before a judicial review hearing into the delay was due to begin. From the BBC report Jeffrey Dudgeon had brought legal action over the delay. A judicial review hearing was due on 8 November but the outstanding material was sent to him on 7 …

McGuinness: “We can’t have a half-baked approach…”

Pete Baker on November 4, 2012, 12:12 pm

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Whilst the Northern Ireland deputy First Minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, has been urging co-operation with the police investigation of the murder of David Black, his party colleague Gerry Kelly has complained of “politically motivated” charges against Padraic Wilson – relating to the aftermath of the 2005 murder of Robert McCartney. From the UTV report Sinn Féin MLAs Gerry Kelly and Sue Ramsey were among party members in the public gallery during the court case. Mr Kelly has demanded the immediate …

Is the Parades issue a signal of underlying political drift in Northern Ireland?

Mick Fealty on October 22, 2012, 12:54 pm

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So, much to the bemusement of some of the Fine Gael TDs I sat with this morning at the BIPA in Glasgow, Micheal Martin’s accusation that under Enda Kenny the southern government has taken its eye off the ball regarding Northern Ireland seems more than just a little calculated. Yet, there’s also a fairly robust analysis of the kind of things that are rarely described these a in Northern Ireland as a political problem: The Peace Process was always intended …

Cameron: “it’s local politicians who have to deliver on that”.

Pete Baker on August 1, 2012, 9:37 pm

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Prime Minister David Cameron was in Northern Ireland today, as part of a UK-wide tour to promote the Olympics. But despite their recent complaints, neither the NI First and deputy First Ministers appear to have been able to schedule a meeting. According to Martina Purdy, The first and deputy first ministers were not on hand to meet the prime minister as both are on holiday. [Both!? At the same time? – Ed] Indeed. And, as I said in slightly different circumstances, that’s why you …

“…almost half of the electorate are choosing not to vote”

Mick Fealty on July 25, 2012, 1:01 pm

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Catching up somewhat from Monday, here’s Alex Kane on OFMdFM’s mini Queen’s speech (erm, presser about what they plan to do from September onwards), and the walkout from the UUP it provoked: So dull and uninteresting was it that the only aspect the media focused on the following day was the withdrawal of the UUP from the cohesion sharing and integration (CSI) committee. Now then, I know what most of you are thinking: goodness gracious, the UUP actually made a …