Stakeholder

THE WEEK THAT WAS It’s usually not good form to kick a man when he’s down, but in the absence of any interesting local politics (bar the immensely tedious prefabricated, pre-election kerfuffle over the flying of a tricolor at Downpatrick’s painstakingly crafted cross-community St. Patrick’s day parade) there’s nothing for it but to return to [...]

THE WEEK THAT WAS  “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia.  It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”  That was Churchill’s summary of the Russian bear, but it could equally apply to the profound mystery that is the wonderful world of the Northern Ireland Budget.  Round and round and [...]

Friday 04th March 2011 Friday Treats? Good children sometimes get a Friday treat, at least in our house that’s how it works. Today at Stormont, after weeks of criticism from parties outside the Big Two – and it has to be said the vast majority of representative organisations, employers groups, community and voluntary sector as [...]

THE WEEK THAT WAS It’s been noted before that while we all like to flail MLAs for the very short, shortcomings of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the blame may not necessarily lie with them.  The Met was accused of being ‘institutionally racist’, the NHS has been accused of ‘institutionally discriminating’ against people with learning disabilities; devolution [...]

Director Sam Mendes gifted the world of cinematography with the ‘Road to Perdition’, the Northern Ireland Executive, if it get is way is going to gift us the A5 – the £800m plus ‘Road to Aughnacloy’.  Don’t get me wrong, Aughnacloy and Tyrone aren’t without their charms – it’s just that some groups who should [...]

As the countdown clock starts ticking on the current Assembly’s mandate it busied itself with a spring in its step to tidy up all those unfinished bits of legislation – nothing worse than having new MLAs coming through the doors in May and tut-tutting at all the unfinished business cluttering up the Chamber.  While the [...]

“Every loser wins, once the dream begins. In time we’ll see, fate holds the key. And every loser knows, the light eternal shows, will shine on you, and all those who knew…. we nearly made it” Received wisdom is to bemoan the decline of popular culture – but does anyone really regret the passing of [...]

THE WEEK THAT WAS…. Here’s one for the pub quiz.  What do Lord Mandelson, Enoch Powell, Ian Paisley, Martin Smyth, Sir Anthony Eden and Gerry Adams all have in common?  They all have had the privilege and pleasure of being the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.  Alright – so maybe a [...]

THE WEEK THAT WAS…. Given the ancient belief in the divine right of kings (or possibly the not unreasonable fear that your head might end up on a pike overlooking London Bridge) it was never the ‘done thing’ to directly criticize the monarch.  While the sovereign may not have made mistakes, his advisors most certainly [...]

THE WEEK THAT WAS…. “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree”. In the week before Christmas the Executive produced a draft budget which was more like a ‘pig in a poke’. There can’t be much festive fun for the Finance Minister these days, struggling [...]

THE WEEK THAT WAS…. This Tuesday had been flagged up optimistically by the Finance Minister as ‘Delivery Day’ for the draft Budget.  Nobody – and perhaps no-one more so than he – imagined that said document would actually be produced on said day. Instead, while Northern Ireland’s largest export market played hokey-cokey with the IMF [...]

THE WEEK THAT WAS…. Last night was the premier of the new Harry Potter film, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’.  If you’re wondering just what exactly a ‘Deathly Hallow’ is, I suggest you talk to the poor press officer who thought it would be a really good idea to picture the First & Deputy [...]

THE WEEK THAT WAS…. “Some people can’t see a priest on a mountain of sugar” Sage words indeed from the former Liverpool manager – the rather touchy Spaniard Rafa Benitez – who was back in the UK this week; defending his record at the out-of-form Reds while his new team got hammered by Spurs. While [...]

THE WEEK THAT WAS…. “Baby I know the first cut is the deepest, But when it come to being lucky he’s cursed, When it come to loving me she’s the worst” Listening to some of the reaction to ‘Axe Wednesday’ there are some who feel that Northern Ireland has been left high and dry, the [...]

THE WEEK THAT WAS…. Things started mysteriously disappearing this week. The Prison Service revealed that it had accidentally misplaced a couple of prisoners, the new leader of the Ulster Unionists lost his political judgement and suggested that the Justice Minister consider his position over the matter, while higher income tax earners learnt that the Chancellor [...]