I am hoping to slide away from the office for the next fortnight. However I suppose whether I get to take my holiday may depend, as in previous years, on the news agenda. As things stand, though, I am hoping this blog will go into hibernation until 2009. So I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Earlier today I recorded an interview with Nigel Dodds for tomorrow's Inside Politics. Inevitably the programme is something of a counter blast to Margaret Ritchie's contribution last weekend in which she accused the DUP and Sinn Fein of attempting to bully her over fuel poverty.
Aside from exploring the DUP-SDLP dynamic, I question the Finance Minister about the prospects for the local economy, the UUP/Conservative partnership and the remarks about Bobby Sands by the Education Minister Caitriona Ruane.
I also try a few enquiries regarding the North Belfast MP's possible candidacy in next year's European elections, although his answers seem notable more for what he doesn't say than what he does.
As usual you can hear the programme tomorrow on 91Èȱ¬ Radio Ulster at 12.45 pm or, subsequently, via the listen again facility.
Tomorrow's programme is the last Inside Politics of 2008. The programme is due back on air on January 10th.
UPDATE: Today is January 5th, and I'm back at work. However several blogs written today have not yet appeared at the time of writing (1700) due to a technical logjam which appears to be holding up all the 91Èȱ¬'s blogs. Hopefully they will materialise soon.
Belfast SDLP Councillor Tim Attwood is about to embark on a Christmas mission to save Santa's elves. As the dad of Eoin, who arrived seven weeks premature in January, he's helping the local premature baby charity, Tiny Life, to raise money by taking part in an online challenge due to kick off in a day's time. To follow the exploits of "Comet" (that's Tim's code name) you can click
My esteemed colleague Gareth Gordon and another hack were having lunch in a Belfast cafe yesterday when they were joined by an uninvited guest. A rat scuttled in through the door, probably coming from a nearby building site. It ran around the floor, disappeared behind the counter then reappeared on the window sill.
The proprietor quickly closed the door and summoned help.
Which begs the question; when the authorities arrived and were confronted by two journalists and a rat, how could they tell who was the bigger pest?
The Education Minister, Caitriona Ruane, was presenting prizes at St Colm's High School in Twinbrook this week. During a lengthy speech she expressed sadness that the film about the Irish Civil War "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" had drawn criticism. Exhorting the pupils to do their best, she said people should be thankful to Bobby Sands for paving the way towards a better future for young people. There was a local connection as the IRA hunger striker lived in Twinbrook from the age of 18, so I presume the speech was not a single transferable one which the minister will use at all secondary schools here.
Yesterday's Stormont Live made for interesting viewing for anyone interested in the deteriorating relationship between the DUP and the SDLP. Neither Peter Robinson nor Margaret Ritchie pulled their punches as they sat next to me on the blue bench in our studio.
When I opened up my inbox today the row simmered on via press release. "SDLP - Ritchie. Smash and Grab Raid on Housing Budget." "Sinn Fein - Concern at Ritchie reaction to Executive respobse to economic hardship." "DUP MLA Simon Hamilton - SDLP should stop party politicking and welcome the good news for Northern Ireland.""SDLP. Ritchie responds to Robinson's dubious remarks." "DUP. Deliberately Misleading SDLP Comments".
In the context of recent rows about fuel poverty and the ministers' previous confrontation over the UDA related Conflict Transformation Initiative this might be all too predictable. But seen over a longer timespan it's remarkable that the SDLP is increasingly viewed as the opposition to a DUP-Sinn Fein axis.
DUP policy remains that they would prefer a voluntary coalition to a mandatory coalition. The assumption is that Sinn Fein would resolutely oppose any move to, say, weighted majority voting on the basis that unionists, given the chance, would permanently exclude republicans from power and seek to govern in alliance with the SDLP.
But could we be reaching a tipping point? Who would now guarantee, if we did move to a voluntary coalition, that the DUP would pick the SDLP over Sinn Fein as their nationalists of choice?
I missed yesterday's "bacon" breakfast organised by the Health and Agriculture departments. But someone has pointed out to me that the DHSSPS e-mail advertising the event was entitled "NORTHERN IRISH PORT BACK ON THE MENU".
Does this explain why Michelle Gildernew appeared so relaxed when she joined us on "Stormont Live" yesterday afternoon?
It's been a busy final day at Stormont, with Nigel Dodds unveiling his £70 million credit crunch package. The package includes a £15 million fuel poverty payment which will be pushed through via emergency legislation. OFMDFM officials point out that they will use a new rapid response finance facility which can then be reactivated in future crises.
As viewers of "Stormont Live" will already know today's announcement, instead of resolving the row between Margaret Ritchie and her DUP and Sinn Fein colleagues, today's announcement only changed the nature of the argument. I have penned a piece for the main news website, and once they have attached the necessary bells and ribbons, I will attach In the meantime I shall put the raw material in the extended entry.
Read the rest of this entry
The Upper Bann MP David Simpson this week criticised the Education Minister Caitriona Ruane for only devoting 75 minutes to tackling bullying. No doubt Ms Ruane disputes this. But as I recorded an interview with Margaret Ritchie today about the "difficult scenes" around the Executive table as they have discussed their credit crunch and fuel poverty proposals, it struck me that the ministers might benefit from an anti-bullying initative of their own. To make your mind up listen to the programme at the usual time of 12.45 pm on 91Èȱ¬ Radio Ulster this Saturday or if you miss it via the listen again facility.
There's no Politics Show this weekend, but there is a special Stormont Live on the credit crunch package. That's on Monday afternoon at 2.30pm on 91Èȱ¬2.
Jim Nicholson was telling the OFMDFM Committee this morning about the shortcomings of the Executive in dealing with Europe. Then, to show how out of touch some of our local politicians are, he gave as an example an MLA's office which had contacted him about a matter the EU had dealt with three years ago.
Somewhat surprisingly, the anecdote concerned his own party colleague Tom Elliot. A ruffled Mr Elliot responded by thanking his MEP for "that demoralising message" then suggesting the two politicians could "deal with that another time".
A word of advice to Jim for the European election campaign. If you are canvassing Fermanagh, watch your step.
As the spin wars continue between the UUP and the DUP over the Ulster Unionist Tory link, the DUP's backroom boys have obviously been doing a lot of work on the UUP Communications Director Alex Kane's published views on David Cameron.
As a commentator having forthright views is the name of the game. But it can come back to bite you if you fancy a role as a spin doctor in the future.
Sinn Fein's Conor Murphy was at Westminster on Wednesday outlining developments in the peace process. According to the list of rooms and engagements, he had the "Thatcher Room" booked for 7pm. Now what would the Iron Lady make of that?
Apropos of nothing in particular, a Stormont source told me that a shower on the 3rd Floor of Parliament Buidings features a notice which reads "This Shower is for Showering Only."
The mind boggles.
The Executive has just finished its meeting on the credit crunch, without making any announcements. The ministers, will continue work over the weekend, meeting again on Monday morning before presenting their proposals to the Assembly later in the afternoon.
The big Stormont story, however, has been the First and Deputy First putting their divisions aside in support of With the final due this weekend, I suppose it was now or never, but let's hope the young Dungiven singing sensation doesn't fall foul of the curse of Jim Shannon.>
The Human Rights Commission presented its on a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights to Shaun Woodward yesterday. The two dissenting unionists, Daphne Trimble and Jonathan Bell presented their minority opinion to the Secretary of State today.
The advice has already come in for some flak over at the although their take on it seems to presuppose that a future court might decide it was not appropriate to send a teen murderer to jail. Elsewhere in the paper Newton Emerson - no fan of the rights lobby - is sceptical about whether Westminster will run with a comprehensive bill, given the lack of cross community support.
By contrast with the generally negative press coverage, rights enthusiasts like have defended the proposals as an attempt to create "a safety net for the most vulnerable."
At the time of the Good Friday Agreement many assumed the bill would deal with matters like parades and protests. Reading through the advice, I noticed the following:
"Everyone belonging to a national, ethnic, religious, linguistic or
cultural minority in Northern Ireland has the right, individually and in
community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own
culture, to profess and practise their own religion, and to use their
own language, in private and in public. No one exercising these
rights may do so in a manner inconsistent with the rights and
freedoms of others."
Unionists may have criticised the NIHRC advice for ranging across too many subjects not specific to Northern Ireland, but the anti abortion campaign group has accused Monica McWilliams of a sin of omission. They are demanding the Chief Commissioner's resignation due to her decision not to to recommend protection for unborn children.
Nigel Dodds and Andrew Mackinlay are in Downing Street today raising their demand that Libya should be asked to provide compensation for the victims of the terrorist acts carried out with the guns and explosives it supplied. It's logical that if French and US victims received compensation those closer to home should get equal treatment. But as I reported the British government showed no interest in raising the matter as it led the push to have the sanctions against Libya lifted by the UN. The use of the words "Libya dossier" in my piece was a reference to the so called dodgy dossier on Iraq which was then in the news.
Should Gordon Brown be persuaded by the merits of the two MPs' arguments, one can imagine that Colonel Gaddaffi might respond by pointing out that British diplomats made no attempt to raise the compensation issue when they had the leverage of UN sanctions at their disposal.
Tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For that reason, Monica McWilliams has picked it as the date to hand over her Human Rights Commission's advice to the Secretary of State. The Good Friday Agreement requested the Commission to advise on rights supplementary to the European Convention on Human Rights, reflecting Northern Ireland's particular circumstances, which could then be worked up into a local Bill of Rights.
However it looks like two unionists on the Commission are set to rain on Monica's parade. It's understood that Daphne Trimble and Jonathan Bell are annoyed that the advice being provided to the government would make for a comprehensive Bill of Rights providing for the kind of social and economic matters which they believe should be a matter for government policy.
In his speech at this weekend's UUP conference Sir Reg Empey said his party "would not stand by and allow powers to pass from democratically elected representatives to unelected judges: and nor will we allow Northern Ireland to be separated from the rest of the Kingdom through the imposition of a Bill of Rights that would not be accepted in any other part of the UK."
That fairly summarises the two Commission members' concerns. It's understood the two wanted to write a minority report or have their dissenting opinions noted. It's thought they aren't happy with the asterisk which they have been given acknowledging their disagreement.
This isn't the first time we have seen a clash between unionists who want a minimalist approach to any future Bill, restricting it to topics like parading, and nationalists and human rights activists who favour a more comprehensive interpretation.
One challenge facing both camps is to find a language in which their argument will be understood by the general public - with concepts like "progressive realisation" of rights knocking around, it's likely that this controversy will go straight over the heads of most people.
Oisin McDonnell, six year old son of the SDLP deputy leader, has met his fair share of politicians, despite his youth. His father Alasdair brought him to the Stormont canteen today, but this time jokingly warned Sinn Fein's Raymond McCartney "not to be corrupting his son" when the republican approached to say hello. Oisin met the former IRA blanket man at a recent civil rights event and was rather intrigued to hear about his time on Hunger Strike. A few days later, faced with banishment from his parent's kitchen after breaking a few glasses during a round of footie, Oisin threatened to go on a Hunger Strike of his own for 53 days. His parents probably have little to worry about though based on his fondness for chicken and chips.
The Stormont bacon butties saga is a fast moving story. This morning diners were tucking into their rashers safe in the knowledge that they came from across the Irish Sea. This afternoon the 91Èȱ¬ was about to interview the canteen chef about an award they have won for their catering operation. However we had to pull our crew at the last minute when we were told that any questions about pork were definitely off the menu.
Now the Chamber is still waiting for the Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew's latest advice on the sausage situation. However the Assembly has decided in the interim to withdraw its Scottish rashers. That's not due to the dioxin scare, but because the meat supplied by a wholesaler fell foul of the Stormont preference for local produce.
So no more Tartan rashers. The message to MLAs and Stormont staff is that if local pig products aren't available, then don't expect to get any Scottish sausages instead.
The butcher-cum-MLA Jim Shannon was on the radio this morning complaining about the confused response of the authorities to the pork crisis. I found myself equally confused this morning in the Assembly canteen. A sign on the counter said pork products had been withdrawn. But the diners were still happily munching away on bacon and black pudding. One official billed it as a one man effort to save the local meat industry.
He may have thought he was showing exemplary courage, but an Assembly spokesperson was quick to reassure us that the bacon being served was Scottish, so not subject to the latest food scare.
As I have pointed out in my analysis in comparison to some of their past gatherings at the Ramada Hotel the Ulster Unionists didn't have a ding dong today. Instead the Cameron show came and went remarkably smoothly.
With all the talk of new inclusive unionism, it left an old conference observer yearning for some of the no holds barred personal assaults on the opposition which you used to be guaranteed at party conferences here.
So thank you Danny Kennedy for your winding up speech, which included the following suggestions for new releases which just might make the Christmas charts.
"Catriona Ruane's re-release of Pink Floyd's "We don't need no education" - That's on the Columbia label.
Jeffrey Donaldson & Gelly Kelly, the two Junior Ministers duetting on the old Rolf Harris number "Two Little Boys"
Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness with their rendition, "He Ain't a Heavy, He's My Brother"
Nigel Dodds cover of the old Buck's Fizz hit - "Making your mind up" - which might be the DUP's Eurovision entry
Rev William McCrea - his interpretation of the old country & western standard - "Still Crazy after all these years"
Baroness Paisley - "Here's to you Mrs Robinson"
Alec Maskey and the SF reps on the Policing Board - "Every Step You Take, Every Move You Make, I'll Be Watching You"
I'm girding my loins for a UUP conference with a difference, as David Cameron is the guest speaker. A kick start for a brand new political force, or old wine in a new bottle? I'm sure you have all been eagerly booking tickets for Dave's 'meet the people' appearance in the morning. If you have been unavoidably delayed elsewhere you can watch it on the
If you want to see the Conference proceedings we have (just as we had with the DUP) a special TV programme on 91Èȱ¬2 from 11.45 am to 1 pm. The conference is also being carried on our website between 10.30 am and 4 pm.
If all this stuff is far too new fangled for you, then you could try listening to Inside Politics on the good old fashioned wireless at the good old fashioned time of 12.45 pm. My guest is Sir Reg Empey. Apart from asking about Dave's embrace, I also question the UUP leader over whether MLAs' should accept their latest pay offer.
My spies at Belfast City Airport tell me that when the hirsute Sinn Fein President made his way through security recently a large bottle of fluid was confiscated. Closer inspection revealed it was anti-wrinkle cream. Given that Gerry Adams is such a smooth political operator I can only assume this must have been a gift for someone else.
Ian Paisley Jr. has confirmed that he turned down "tens and tens of thousands" offered him to appear on "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here". Could any of our other politicians hack it in the jungle, without meeting the same sad fate as George Galloway and Robert Kilroy Silk?
Ian Paisley, Jr - An apology
It has been brought to the 91Èȱ¬'s attention that on 5 December 2008 two readers of the 91Èȱ¬ "Devenport Diaries" blog posted comments on the entry entitled "Bush Tucker Trial Declined" regarding Mr Ian Paisley, Jr. It was unfortunate that these inappropriate comments came to be published and the 91Èȱ¬ unreservedly apologises to Mr Paisley for any damage or distress that these comments may have caused.
Godwin's Law on the was last invoked when Fr. Alec Reid
It came back to me when I looked at Jim Allister's on the EU leaders' treatment of Irish voters having "something of the SS about it". Not sure Angela Merkel would be best pleased.
Declan O'Loan has also been exercising his totalitarian analogies, comparing the First and Deputy First Ministers' treatment of the Assembly with the old Soviet Union. "The proposals that they should cut First Minister's Question Time by half" the SDLP MLA argued "could have been written by Josef Stalin himself".
Let's hope that neither the Irish electorate nor the Committee on Procedures adopt a policy of Neville Chamberlain style appeasement to the EU-OFMDFM Fascist Stalinist Coalition or I shall run out of unlikely World War Two analogies quicker than you can say the words
P.S. Mark Durkan takes a lot of flak over his metaphors, but I must admit this morning's comment on the year long extension for loyalist decommissioning ("It's Johnny Logan politics: What's another year?") was a classic of the genre.
P.P.S. Just realised I wrote "Joseph Chamberlain" as opposed to Neville, thus ruining my own punchline. Now amended - what do you expect from the correspondent who once went on Radio 4 talking about "bringing the Mountain to Methuselah"?
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As some of you may have already noticed I wrote elsewhere on the website analysing the MLA pay deal. Whilst it's 3.5% this year, it's considerably more when you add it up over the four years covered (2008 - 2011). The increment over that time is £3000, and in addition the MLAs will get annual increases related to rises in MPs' wages. The full report can be found
Back in May Shaun Woodward warned loyalists that the decommissioning Some of my colleagues were left with the distinct impression that this meant the law which allows paramilitaries to hand over or destroy guns without risking prosecution would not be renewed when its term expires next February.
But today the SoS has announced the legislation will be renewed for another year. The NIO statement is headlined "Woodward calls time on decommissioning legislation" and refers to the roll over as a "final extension to February 2010".
End result, the loyalists have 12 more months to get on board.
The Assembly Commission has been meeting this evening and I am told they are being briefed on the Senior Salaries Review Body's recommendation on MLA pay. As I wrote last week, the mood amongst the politicians is against taking any rise. I am also told that the SSRB recommendation is likely to be considerably lower than the 16% increase predicted in the spring.
UPDATE: As some of you may have heard I reported more on the and Good Morning Ulster this morning. The document is due to be released officially tomorrow. Currently an MLA gets just over £43,000. The rise should take them to nearer £44,000. Given the suggested cut in mileage and cut in Office Costs Allowance for those who are also MPs it has been suggested to me that the impact of the report will be "cost neutral". The report is understood to make reference to the number of MLAs (108) and the joint mandates. I am also told it may suggest that there should be another review of MLAs' pay in 2010, and that in the future MLAs should not be asked to vote on their own pay and conditions.
When the Tories considered all the potential complications of getting involved in Northern Ireland politics, I don't think they ever imagined the difficulties a would end up posing for one of their councillors in Croydon.
Before David Cameron addresses the Ulster Unionist Conference on Saturday, the Conservatives are putting him up for questioning by Belfast residents, as a local stage in "Cameron Direct". If you want to go along to the 9.30 am event you should e-mail the Conservatives for a ticket on camerondirect@conservativesni.org
If you are a DUP politician, though, perhaps you should look for an e-mail for torydirect. Downtown radio's Eamonn Mallie has got his hands on an internal DUP e-mail telling all party activists to refer to the Conservatives as "Tories", arguing that the label has more of a negative resonance. The e-mail goes on to give some helpful examples such as "Tory boy, Tory toff and Tory sleaze".
Sadly the DUP e-mail did not go on to draw on the historic derivation of the term "Tories" who were outlaws, former Irish Confederate soldiers who gave Cromwell's forces a lot of trouble in the 17th century attacking vulnerable garrisons and supply columns before melting away into the countryside.
Wikipedia says the original Tories were "eventually defeated by evicting all civilians from areas where they operated, selling those who refused to surrender into slavery and finally publishing surrender terms allowing Tories to leave the country to enter military service in France and Spain".
Of course the official DUP line is that the Conservative, sorry Tory, partnership is a "non event". But if they are as concerned as the e-mail appears to indicate maybe they can consider combatting the "new political force" with the old selling into slavery tactic.
Toraidhe, or Torai apparently derives from the Irish word toir meaning pursuit, as the outlaws were "pursued men", which seems a fairly accurate definition of the UUP so far as the merger, sorry partnership, is concerned.
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The Assembly has installed a series of "becca" bins to enable plastic cups used inside the building to be recycled. However some people are sticking coffee cups and chewing gum in the bins, gumming them up and ensuring their contents must be treated as general waste. The Assembly wants to take a lead in recycling so is asking the phanton Stormont chewers to desist. Thanks to Daithi McKay and the Assembly Commission's Robert Coulter for this information.
Back in October, I gave evidence to the Stormont Committee on Procedures about how the Assembly Question Time might be reformed to make it more relevant to the public.
Now the FIrst and Deputy First Ministers have responded to the Committee by suggesting they should face questions once a month, rather than once a fortnight as at present. The FM and DFM argue this would bring them into line with other departments which face questions monthly. However such a move would put them seriously out of kilter with Scotland and Wales, where the First Ministers take questions every week.
I did a web search to find out what else happens once a month. I was surprised to find how many people think you can get done once a month, alternatively you can on that basis. But I like to think of the FM and DFM as our very own whose appearances in the future should perhaps be cross referenced with the lunar cycle.
Friday 28th November: Culture Minister Gregory Campbell publishes written answer responding to question from Strangford MLA Jim Shannon. Mr Shannon has asked for a statement of support for Strictly Come Dancing's Christine Bleakley and X Factor's Eoghan Quigg. The minister replies "I would like to extend my very best wishes to both Christine and Eoghan for their continued success in their respective competitions. I am sure that the people of Northern Ireland will continue to vote for Christine and Eoghan."
Sunday 30th November: Christine loses the Strictly Come Dancing dance off.
I'm 