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Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
In his News Letter column Alex Kane emphasises the importance of the SDLP leadership contest to prospects of a constructive, workable Northern Ireland Assembly. In stark terms, if the moderate nationalist party cannot recover and challenge Sinn Féin’s ascendancy, then devolved government will continue along current lines, perpetuating a community tug of war which results in stasis. Although...
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Slugger O'Toole (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
A, perhaps, somewhat optimistic suggestion from the latest IMC report [pdf file] regarding the devolution of policing and justice powers. 5.1 We have in this report identified the range and tempo of dissident republican activities as the most serious current threat. There are security and intelligence contributions to be made to addressing the developing problems. However, the early devolution of policing...
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Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
The Committee on Standards in Public Life has finally published its report on MPs’ expenses and allowances. The BBC has a PDF of the full ‘Kelly Report’ and a useful synopsis for the impatient or time restricted reader. Some of its recommendations will send a chill up the collective spines of Northern Ireland’s MPs, particularly those within the DUP. It is worth remembering...
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Slugger O'Toole (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
Here’s the relevant passage: One aspect of paid employment outside the House is that, partly for reasons of recent history, 16 out of 18 Northern Ireland Westminster MPs are also members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Five of them currently hold ministerial positions there. The only other example of dual mandates is that the First Minister of the Scottish Parliament is also an MP. He has indicated...
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John Rentoul (Free subscription) | 03/11/2009
Now this really is something. The BBC's new Democracy Live site: it has a bank of eight embedded videos running simultaneous coverage of the House of Commons, Lords, select committees, Westminster Hall, the Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly, Welsh Assembly and European Parliament. Whenever a body is not in session, it shows a recent recording. It's an astonishing resource, and I am sure...
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Thoughts of Nigel (Free subscription) | 03/11/2009
The BBC has launched its latest initiative in returning democracy to the people. Called Democracy Live the BBC says that it will offer live and on demand video coverage of the UK's national political institutions and the European Parliament. Alongside the video, we have guides to how the different institutions work and who sits in them. Our search engine is a BBC "first" - it uses speech-to-text...
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Liberal Democrat Voice (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
Here’s how the BBC describes its new Democracy Live website, which covers the Westminster Parliament, the European Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly: It brings together for the first time in the BBC, live and on demand video coverage of proceedings in our national political institutions and the European Parliament. [...]
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TechRadar (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
The BBC has launched a new politics-specific online portal which puts all the broadcaster's political feeds in one place. Called Democracy Live, the site uses the same video technology as the iPlayer and aims to cover all aspects of politics in the UK and Ireland, with feeds that will show what is going on in the House of Commons, House of Lords, Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly, Welsh...
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The Irish Times (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
CAMPAIGNERS AGAINST child abuse in Northern Ireland will today hand the Northern Ireland Assembly a petition demanding a full inquiry into the children’s treatment in institutions run by the Catholic Church and the State.
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Bashing Secularism (Free subscription) | 30/10/2009
It was a relief that Lord Alderdice's assisted suicide amendment wasn't even pushed to a vote during the report stage of the Coroners and Justice Bill on Monday. It was also reassuring to see several peers strongly criticise Lord Alerdice's ill thought out and highly dangerous proposal. The proposal was aimed at legalising assisted suicide through an amendment to a bill that is much wider in scope...
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The Daily Rant (Free subscription) | 28/10/2009
The House of Lords is set to give its blessing to the repeal of libel laws first passed over 700 years ago. The changes repeal laws - dating to 1275 - which allow libel and sedition to be prosecuted in criminal courts. The laws have long been regarded as something of an undesirable and anachronistic anomaly in UK law and open to abuse; Geoffrey Robertson QC - who successfully defended Salman Rushdie...
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Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness (Free subscription) | 26/10/2009
Before we consign the Ulster Unionist conference to the archives for another year, there are a couple of points worth addressing, which have been rather sidelined by the thorny issue of agreed candidates and the small, ancient cadre of UCUNF dissenters. The leader’s speech touched on more substantive policy considerations than commentators have generally acknowledged. Long sections were, after...
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SAOIRSE32 (Free subscription) | 24/10/2009
By Barry McCaffrey Irish News 23/10/09 THE father of a UVF murder victim has told members of the United States congress that they are his last hope to achieving justice for his son. Raymond McCord snr was speaking yesterday at a special hearing of the US congress to investigate the involvement of Special Branch agents in the murder of his son. Raymond McCord jnr was beaten to death by members of the...
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Bloggers4UKIP (Free subscription) | 23/10/2009
The eGov monitor reports that the Northern Ireland Assembly voted for a motion on Tuesday by 47-19 in favour of the UK holding a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, and calling on "those parties aspiring to form the incoming Government of the United Kingdom to give an unequivocal commitment to hold, within a twelve month period from assuming office in 2010, a binding referendum on the Lisbon Treaty...
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The Guardian (Free subscription) | 22/10/2009
No one injured by small device thrown at home of North Irish Horse Regiment Dissident republicans have mounted their second terror attack in less than a week in Greater Belfast. An improvised bomb was thrown at an army base in the north of the Northern Ireland capital some time before 2am. No one was injured. Army bomb disposal officers attended the scene of the explosion in the Ashfield Crescent...
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