The prospects of voluntary coalition

Video: Peter Robinson on improving devolution Voluntary coalition seems to be a shibboleth connected with Jim Allister and TUV but in reality all three Unionist parties would prefer voluntary coalition with some form of qualified majority voting put in place to enable a more normal form of Assembly inline with Wales & Scotland which would include a formal opposition, compared to the mandatory coalition we currently operate where nearly all the parties are in government and will remain in government …

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UCUNF getting desperate as campaigning draws to close?

I have no idea what the UUP expected the media to do with the following innuendo laden press release issued by an Assembly Press Officer. I will note it but for obvious reasons commenting has been turned off: IMMEDIATE RELEASE Another confused outburst from Jeffrey Responding to another confused outburst from Jeffrey Donaldson concerning a mistaken story in the Financial Times an Ulster Unionist Party Spokesperson said: “Jeffrey appears to be thoroughly confused about a whole host of matters. The …

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Robinson’s hope: the circular firing squad of liberal East Belfast

Splintered’s guides are shaping up to be the blog gem of this campaign, though he’s not got as far as East Belfast yet. The common wisdom is that Robinson is safe. His majority of just 6,ooo majority in 2005 (which is towards the lower end of the scale in Northern Ireland), would be comfortable in normal times. But, for the Robinson family, these are not normal times. Here’s how it worked out last time amongst the main contenders (the nationalist …

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