Northern Irish Blogs.com

One of the main roles of Stormont Ministers is to act together as a collective in the form of the Executive. The whole point of this is to agree on the best way to do the job they were elected to do and to justify the rather large sums of money they get as Ministers.However, with the DUP and Sinn Féin refusing to meet, the process of government has ground to a standstill.As SDLP Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie has said: The cancellation of Thursday’s Executive meeting is totally unacceptable.“I am outraged that amongst the many other important issues which are being held up in this logjam I am not able to progress my own housing agenda.“The people who elected us have the right to expect much better from the Ministers they entrusted with power.“This year I have set...

It is becoming increasingly obvious that Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe will stop at nothing to keep his greasy mitts on the levers of power in the cash-strapped African nation.The once bread-basket of the continent is now the basket-case, yet Mugabe's egomania continues to drive him to maintain his grip. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's hyperinflation continues to paralyse the country.It was pretty obvious that Mugabe was going to rig last week's elections to ensure that the Movement for Democratic Change, who had previously received advice from Margaret Ritchie on policy and conflict resolution, didn't overthrow Zanu-PF by democratic means. However, after a week we still haven't heard the presidential results, which would perhaps indicate that Mugabe took more of thrashing than he expected.Now...

The SDLP, having weighed up what was on offer in the budget against its serious shortcomings, voted against it- fair play to them. Margaret Ritchie stood firm in the face of the DUP/ SF axis bullying tactics and managed to squeeze extra money from them for much-needed social housing. However, it remains an essentially right-wing, anti-community budget. There is of course the lack of detail on water reform and education, and by the recent performance of Nigel Dodds with regard to the abolition of relief for the installation of energy efficient measures, the two big parties cannot be trusted to deliver unless they spell out exactly what they are intending to do.Some people don't seem to be able to get their heads around the concept that the SDLP are in the Executive as a right, not because...

I must apologise for my irregular appearances on the blog of late- a new computer is winging its way to Áras an Bhlogador so with any luck my contributions will resume a somewhat more orderly rate of publication. As it transpires, Pól has been keeping a steady hand at the helm, guiding El Blogador safely away from being dashed on the iceberg of irrelevance.Today saw the current Assembly's first budget. After all the wrangling of recent months over who was getting what from the proverbial purse, Margaret Ritchie's department emerged as the 'victor', which in effect means that the people in our society who need help to get a headstart in life are the victors.Despite being bullied and harrangued by the DUP/ Sinn Féin axis, Margaret has stood firm on a range of issues such as the...

You've got to hand it to Martin McGuinness- for someone without RADA training it must have taken some skill to keep a straight face yesterday when he described the SDLP and UUP as the "problem parties". Clap, clap, clap. Bravo.Perhaps Mr McGuinness suffers from amnesia (probably useful given his past), but if he casts his mind back just a decade, then he will see what real problem parties were, including his own- on one side we had Sinn Féin advocating the resurrected campaign of terror being waged by the IRA and refusing to condemn provo killings, and on the other we saw the DUP refusing to entertain the idea of sharing power with nationalists and displaying just about every sectarian cliché in the book. The only problem with the SDLP and UUP for Sinn Féin and the DUP in the current...

In the last week two PSNI officers have been shot by what are termed dissident republicans but who might be more accurately be described as non-subscribing Provisionals. Thankfully, though badly wounded, neither officer was killed. The Real IRA claimed responsible for the attack in Derry and a group styling itself the Irish Republican Liberation Army admitted the shooting in Dungannon. (Where do they get their names? Is there an Irish National Republican Army out there too?) The worrying thing is that these attacks will continue and, worse, escalate.The RIRA issued a statement about their attack which readers of a certain age will recognise as coming from An Phoblacht circa 1979: “As the Crown forces member travelled along Bishop Street towards the city centre, two IRA volunteers...

I would like to congratulate the Minister for Social Development for standing firm against the UDA, despite attempts by elements from within and outside the Assembly to undermine her. It is quite clear that the UDA should not get their grubby fingers on a single penny of public money.Of course it comes as no surprise that the DUP threw their toys out of the pram upon hearing the Minister's statement. What exactly do they want- a continuation of funding for those who refuse to decommission? Funny how they didn't display the same attitude in relation to the IRA in recent years. Hypocrisy of the highest order, methinks.Sinn Féin weren't much better. In the Assembly today they repeatedly asked the Minister the wholly pointless question: "Have you been funding the UDA?" Sinn Féin and...

Quelle surprise, loyalists haven't taken too kindly to Margaret Ritchie's threat that funding will be cut unless the UDA decommissions.'UPRG' spokesperson Frankie Gallagher has claimed: "You cannot out-green the greens [Sinn Féin] but you can rise above them."Perhaps it has escaped Frankie's notice, although given the lack of political nous historically displayed by the loyalist leadership it wouldn't be surprising, but virtually the whole community despises the armed terrorist militia that is the UDA/ UFF. It has got nothing to do with nationalism, unionism or even monsterravingloonyism. I'd bet Margaret Ritchie would take exactly the same line in relation to the RIRA or CIRA if they were looking government hand-outs.Frankie has also offered this nugget of advice to Margaret's party:...

Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie has told the UDA that if it doesn't decommission its arsenel of terror, the (frankly ridiculous) government funding it receives will be cut.Damn right.For too long direct rule dictators with no notion of the reality of the situation in the north handed out cash left, right and centre to barely-reconstructed terrorists.Ms. Ritchie said: "If this funding is to continue, then the UDA have to decommission their arsenal."An intergral part of the transformation initiative is decommissioning."I have already communicated that message to them and I, as the minister, demand that they do that. The public demands that they do that."If the UDA refuses to decommission then, to coin a phrase, the continuation of government funding shouldn't even be on the...

The SDLP has announced its nominees for the top committee jobs to which it is entitled in the forthcoming assembly. They are:Enterprise, Trade and Investment Chair: Mark DurkanEnvironment Chair: Patsy McGloneEducation Vice-Chair: Dominic BradleyThis is in addition to the position of Social Development Minister, for which South Down MLA Margaret Ritchie has been...