Stormont – Page 4 – Slugger O'Toole

“It might not take much to expose this as a vulnerable sort of robustness.”

Mick Fealty on January 5, 2017, 10:00 pm

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Missed this yesterday, which I’ll put down to a bad dose of man flu. It’s Newton Emerson in the Irish Times: In financial and administrative terms, RHI is hardly an unprecedented failure. Its loss is currently estimated at £490 million (€577m), spread over 20 years. Comparable sums have been squandered on other Stormont schemes and projects since devolution, with official reports revealing similar levels of incompetence. The annual loss from RHI, at just under £25 million (€29m), is mundane by …

Flying the Union Flag above Stormont (in 1975) #20yearrule

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 30, 2016, 12:01 am

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QUESTION: How many politicians in 1975 needed to ring up the Permanent Secretary to get the Union Flag raised over Parliament Buildings to mark sittings of the NI Constitutional Convention?

No minister at Stormont’s ‘Openness and Transparency from the Executive’ debate

Mick Fealty on October 4, 2016, 2:28 pm

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The Assembly motion on Openness and Transparency from the Executive finished about a hour ago, and featured. Not one currently serving Minister was in attendance. That’s little short of contempt. https://twitter.com/mickfealty/status/783267426591014912 A point reiterated by all parties in the (actual) Opposition. The ‘government’ distinguished only by its absence… https://twitter.com/mickfealty/status/783269078370754560 Instead, as one member for North Antrim put it… https://twitter.com/mickfealty/status/783269589656465408 But the best trigger line came from another… https://twitter.com/mickfealty/status/783270396049104897 Then, online… Thanks Robin for publicising the event. We're close to max no of …

What will make for a good opposition at Stormont?

Mick Fealty on September 23, 2016, 1:24 pm

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The two main government parties seem to have convinced a large chunk of the media that in order to be effective as an opposition, the UUP and the SDLP must form a government-in-waiting. It suits the DUP and Sinn Fein to paint it that way in order to cover their many splits on policy. Unfortunately, it is also complete nonsense. Opposition parties must show they’re fit for government, but they must also demonstrate why incumbents should be replaced. Under proportional representation, the electorate …

Who helped write Jamie Bryson’s Stormont Inquiry script? Er, the Sinn Féin chair.

Mick Fealty on August 18, 2016, 11:26 am

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This is funny. Remember that ‘controversial’ Stormont investigation into Nama from a year ago? That’s where Jamie Bryson made a reference to Person A, then revealing at the end it was none other than Peter Robinson… It was great melodrama, but who wrote the script? Allison Morris reveals this morning that it was none other than a party constituency worker for the Chair of the Committee at the time, Daithi McKay. Mr O’Hara messages Bryson saying: “A wee suggestion for your …

“Oh Claire… You are the answer to our prayers…”

Mick Fealty on May 27, 2016, 8:55 am

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STORMONT LOVE: Claire, the moment we met you we swear, we thought you were going nowhere, not trying to mean that’s just how it seemed. But then, we found ourselves thinking again, and maybe you could be our friend. This may come as news, but beggars can’t choose.

So please, could we interest in a Ministry?

Cartoon – ‘Marlene’

Brian Spencer on May 21, 2016, 6:08 pm

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It has a satisfying and even harmonious ring, and the people have really taken to it. The portmanteau and new byword for the Executive Office – ‘Marlene’. While Jim Allister bequeathed it to a popular audience on BBC The View on May 19, it’s recognised that Paul Gallagher first coined the sobriquet back in January 2016. The First office has been abandoned by the small parties, and now they face an outbreak of belittling name-calling. Alliance won’t come to heel and the parties of …

#SluggerReport on Stormont: “Suspect too much sweet-talk, but never close your mind.”

Mick Fealty on May 19, 2016, 12:08 pm

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Well, Slugger hears that the SDLP parliamentary meeting takes place today at 4pm, so it may be that Brian gets his wish in the timely manner he may be hoping for. We’ll really have to wait and see what precisely emerges. As Brian notes, Newton Emerson has a particularly useful piece in the Irish Times today, in which he notes: …yet suddenly Stormont is transformed. In a matter of days, opposition has gone from a potential mutation in mandatory coalition …

Arlene tells the BBC she will have final say over where parties sit…

Mick Fealty on May 13, 2016, 5:40 pm

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Update on the idea of changing the seating arrangements to accommodate the Opposition, Arlene Foster has just said in an interview on Radio Ulster’s Evening Extra that she won the election and no one is moving their spot in the chamber. Though I think the last word on the actual positioning of Opposition and government will come down to the new Speaker and his office, Robin Newton. Mike Nesbitt will expand on the idea in Inside Politics after 6pm on Radio Ulster this …

Nesbitt Opposition Statement Fails to Pass the Test

SituationNI on May 12, 2016, 8:38 pm

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“We have now set sail down the path of opposition.” The words of Mike Nesbitt. Words not spoken today but eight months ago, as the Ulster Unionist Party first took the plunge into opposition. Eight months may have passed but little has changed, despite an election and a number of new faces taking to the blue benches of Stormont’s chamber. The murders of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan, the latter sparking the party’s initial exit from the Executive, remain unsolved while …

“Government isn’t a rolling seminar; its function is executive, not discursive…”

Mick Fealty on May 11, 2016, 2:48 pm

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In the Inside Politics digest from the Irish Times this morning, Pat Leahy had this to say about cabinet responsibility: The reason there is a requirement for government to act collectively is that it defines the executive will of the state. Government isn’t a rolling seminar; its function is executive, not discursive. A cabinet must make decisions; to govern is to choose. Inevitably, in our imperfect world, those decisions will often be between unpleasant alternatives. He’s talking about the tough …

Why an Opposition (if we ever get one) should sit opposite the First Minister

Mick Fealty on May 10, 2016, 7:54 pm

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So, in case you missed it. And whilst we’re waiting for this ‘new’ programme for government, here is the case I made on Radio Ulster’s Election Special with Karen Patterson and Seamus McKee for changing the seating arrangments in the case an ‘opposition’ is ever established. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the …

#SluggerReport: Surely no self-respecting Speaker would consign opposition to the Naughty Corner

Mick Fealty on May 9, 2016, 1:09 pm

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SWAPPING BENCHES: It’s beginning to sound as if we have some kind of editorial position on Opposition. We don’t actually. There are arguments for the smaller parties staying in, not least if you think the result is by and large an endorsement for being in Government.

Is a two party stitch up the nearest thing to powersharing we’re likely to get?

Mick Fealty on April 20, 2016, 5:45 pm

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HNIW45 from The Detail on Vimeo. Right, so. Great analysis here from both Newton Emerson (and whoever who does his graphics). Under Fresh Start there is now a negotiation period for the new Programme for Government of two weeks, but Arlene Foster admitted in February she’s started working on it already (ie before the election). A two party stitch up. Well, I never? The big fault with all of the Programme for Government negotiations is that they are done in …

A tiny insight into how Sinn Fein MLAs make their huge donations to the party?

Mick Fealty on February 17, 2016, 9:18 am

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If you missed this, it’s worth noting in passing… Fermanagh-South Tyrone MLA Phil Flanagan told the High Court last week that he gets to keep only £2,000 a month of his £48,000-a-year assembly salary and that people within Sinn Féin “have access” to his bank account. Mr Flanagan made the claim to support his case for not having enough money to pay substantial libel damages to former Ulster Unionist leader Tom Elliott. The Sinn Féin MLA is challenging Stormont’s former …

On the dire circumstance of politicians as ‘wee boys just minding the shop’…

Mick Fealty on February 10, 2016, 2:48 pm

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I think Alex is annoyed… I don’t expect the Executive parties to like each other. Heavens, I’m well aware that half the members of one party don’t actually like the other half of their own party! But I expect them to respect each other enough to govern together. It’s what they signed up to do in 1998 and what the DUP and Sinn Fein signed up to do in 2007 and again with the Fresh Start agreement a few months …

“What’s the point of devolving tax powers if we barely use the ones we already have?”

Mick Fealty on February 5, 2016, 12:05 pm

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HNIW36 from The Detail on Vimeo. Excellent use of data to throw light on why it is probably better to refer to Stormont as an administration than a government from Newt Emerson and The Detail… I’ll just add these stills from the video to get the conversation going… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across …

8 times Stormont failed to deliver

SituationNI on February 3, 2016, 4:08 pm

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In three months, the Assembly elections will give voters the chance to have their say on who will sit in Stormont for the next five years. At this point, it’s worth reflecting on what has (and hasn’t) been achieved by the current Executive. Use the comments to have your say and add anything (good or bad) that hasn’t made this list. 1: Integrated Education – The signatories of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 pledged “to facilitate and encourage …

There seemed to be a Purple glow over the city

Soapbox on November 5, 2015, 4:51 pm

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Guest Blogger Ann Allan talks about the Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month event at Stormont on Monday November 2nd As a blogger I’m always on the look out for a subject for my next blog. In my case it is usually something witty (hopefully) and the word ‘me’ or ‘I’ comes up quite a lot. As I lay in bed last night unable to sleep I was thinking about what I was going to write about for my next blog. It …

[Cartoon] #BackToTheExecutiveDay

Brian Spencer on October 22, 2015, 6:09 pm

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October 21 2015 was ‘Back To The Future Day‘, the date in ‘Back To The Future II’ that Marty McFly travelled forward to in order to save his children. That date was also the day when Peter Robinson travelled back to Stormont to save the power sharing executive. A nice historical coincidence. Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/