Unionist Outreach in Craigavon

[Eamonnca1]

In Nationalist controlled councils by and large Unionists get a fair crack of the whip, even Ballymena has elected a nationalist Mayor. Craigavon closely followed by Lisburn have continously done what the could to keep the croppies down.

Lisburn currently has a nationalist mayor as well - its second I understand.

Just a thought, but in England, would a Conservative controlled Council vote for a Lib Dem or Labour mayor to give everyone a 'fair crack of the whip'? What happens on councils down south where one party has a substantial majority?

Whatever about the specifics of this instance, which seems odd to say the least, are we skewing democracy in expecting every party to get their time as mayor, regardless of how many votes they get in an area? Taking Lisburn as an example, should SF ever expect to have a mayor when they have 5 out of 30 seats on the council?

England doesn't have a (recent) history of sectarian civil strife and doesn't need to have power-sharing enforced like it does in the north.

[Maguire01]

In Nationalist controlled councils by and large Unionists get a fair crack of the whip, even Ballymena has elected a nationalist Mayor. Craigavon closely followed by Lisburn have continously done what the could to keep the croppies down.

Lisburn currently has a nationalist mayor as well - its second I understand.

Just a thought, but in England, would a Conservative controlled Council vote for a Lib Dem or Labour mayor to give everyone a 'fair crack of the whip'? What happens on councils down south where one party has a substantial majority?

Whatever about the specifics of this instance, which seems odd to say the least, are we skewing democracy in expecting every party to get their time as mayor, regardless of how many votes they get in an area? Taking Lisburn as an example, should SF ever expect to have a mayor when they have 5 out of 30 seats on the council?

England doesn't have a (recent) history of sectarian civil strife and doesn't need to have power-sharing enforced like it does in the north.

Local councils are hardly the same as a legislative parliment - how much power do they have to abuse? To my knowledge, the roll of a Mayor (or Deputy) is largely ceremonial - any council decisions will continue to be made by a vote from the council members.

[JUst retired]

The votes on craigavon council are always on a sectarian head count. Nothing is ever decided by reasonable discussion. If the unionists  dont like it, it wont go through.

[Applesisapples]

In Nationalist controlled councils by and large Unionists get a fair crack of the whip, even Ballymena has elected a nationalist Mayor. Craigavon closely followed by Lisburn have continously done what the could to keep the croppies down.

Lisburn currently has a nationalist mayor as well - its second I understand.

Just a thought, but in England, would a Conservative controlled Council vote for a Lib Dem or Labour mayor to give everyone a 'fair crack of the whip'? What happens on councils down south where one party has a substantial majority?

Whatever about the specifics of this instance, which seems odd to say the least, are we skewing democracy in expecting every party to get their time as mayor, regardless of how many votes they get in an area? Taking Lisburn as an example, should SF ever expect to have a mayor when they have 5 out of 30 seats on the council?

By and large in England and in all nationalist led councils posts are allocated on party strength. Lisburn may and has indeed appointed a nationalist Mayor but the exclude SF from posts.

[glens abu]

In Nationalist controlled councils by and large Unionists get a fair crack of the whip, even Ballymena has elected a nationalist Mayor. Craigavon closely followed by Lisburn have continously done what the could to keep the croppies down.

Lisburn currently has a nationalist mayor as well - its second I understand.

Just a thought, but in England, would a Conservative controlled Council vote for a Lib Dem or Labour mayor to give everyone a 'fair crack of the whip'? What happens on councils down south where one party has a substantial majority?

Whatever about the specifics of this instance, which seems odd to say the least, are we skewing democracy in expecting every party to get their time as mayor, regardless of how many votes they get in an area? Taking Lisburn as an example, should SF ever expect to have a mayor when they have 5 out of 30 seats on the council?

By and large in England and in all nationalist led councils posts are allocated on party strength. Lisburn may and has indeed appointed a nationalist Mayor but the exclude SF from posts.

As does Newtownabbey with the help of the SDLP

[Maguire01]

In Nationalist controlled councils by and large Unionists get a fair crack of the whip, even Ballymena has elected a nationalist Mayor. Craigavon closely followed by Lisburn have continously done what the could to keep the croppies down.

Lisburn currently has a nationalist mayor as well - its second I understand.

Just a thought, but in England, would a Conservative controlled Council vote for a Lib Dem or Labour mayor to give everyone a 'fair crack of the whip'? What happens on councils down south where one party has a substantial majority?

Whatever about the specifics of this instance, which seems odd to say the least, are we skewing democracy in expecting every party to get their time as mayor, regardless of how many votes they get in an area? Taking Lisburn as an example, should SF ever expect to have a mayor when they have 5 out of 30 seats on the council?

By and large in England and in all nationalist led councils posts are allocated on party strength. Lisburn may and has indeed appointed a nationalist Mayor but the exclude SF from posts.

As does Newtownabbey with the help of the SDLP

SF has 2 councillors out of 25 in Newtownabbey and the SDLP has one. Neither has the power to influence the election of a Mayor. And should either party even expect to take the role at any time?

[Dougal Maguire]

Totally different situation, Craigavoin Borough is evenly balanced between both communities, it was just the unwillingness of SDLP voters to transfer that enable Unionists to hold the balance of power. Craigavon has a record of sectarian bigotry stretching back over many years. Remember the ST Peter's debacle where the had to be forced in the courts to lease ground to the GAA Club. In Nationalist controlled councils by and large Unionists get a fair crack of the whip, even Ballymena has elected a nationalist Mayor. Craigavon closely followed by Lisburn have continously done what the could to keep the croppies down. I'm afraid your post displays an ignorance of the North and its politics.

In the absence of any rules to force people to adopt certain methods of sharing the the spoils, such as you have in the Assembly, you can't stop parties not voting to share the spoils. Unionist politicians are going to form a pact, simple as that. Although I accept that there should be a obligation to be up front about it. You agree on the order of business and proceed through it in an orderly fashion. The bizarre manner in which they went about this stank to high heaven

I love when misinformed people like yourself post on threads like this to display your total ignorance of Northern politics.

Pretty much how we feel about you lads complete ignorance of politics in the Republic.

This coming from a place that wants to keep a tax fraudster in the Dail

[johnneycool]

Totally different situation, Craigavoin Borough is evenly balanced between both communities, it was just the unwillingness of SDLP voters to transfer that enable Unionists to hold the balance of power. Craigavon has a record of sectarian bigotry stretching back over many years. Remember the ST Peter's debacle where the had to be forced in the courts to lease ground to the GAA Club. In Nationalist controlled councils by and large Unionists get a fair crack of the whip, even Ballymena has elected a nationalist Mayor. Craigavon closely followed by Lisburn have continously done what the could to keep the croppies down. I'm afraid your post displays an ignorance of the North and its politics.

In the absence of any rules to force people to adopt certain methods of sharing the the spoils, such as you have in the Assembly, you can't stop parties not voting to share the spoils. Unionist politicians are going to form a pact, simple as that. Although I accept that there should be a obligation to be up front about it. You agree on the order of business and proceed through it in an orderly fashion. The bizarre manner in which they went about this stank to high heaven

I love when misinformed people like yourself post on threads like this to display your total ignorance of Northern politics.

Pretty much how we feel about you lads complete ignorance of politics in the Republic.

This coming from a place that wants to keep a tax fraudster in the Dail

Lowry has been a TD for years

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Totally different situation, Craigavoin Borough is evenly balanced between both communities, it was just the unwillingness of SDLP voters to transfer that enable Unionists to hold the balance of power. Craigavon has a record of sectarian bigotry stretching back over many years. Remember the ST Peter's debacle where the had to be forced in the courts to lease ground to the GAA Club. In Nationalist controlled councils by and large Unionists get a fair crack of the whip, even Ballymena has elected a nationalist Mayor. Craigavon closely followed by Lisburn have continously done what the could to keep the croppies down. I'm afraid your post displays an ignorance of the North and its politics.

In the absence of any rules to force people to adopt certain methods of sharing the the spoils, such as you have in the Assembly, you can't stop parties not voting to share the spoils. Unionist politicians are going to form a pact, simple as that. Although I accept that there should be a obligation to be up front about it. You agree on the order of business and proceed through it in an orderly fashion. The bizarre manner in which they went about this stank to high heaven

I love when misinformed people like yourself post on threads like this to display your total ignorance of Northern politics.

Pretty much how we feel about you lads complete ignorance of politics in the Republic.

This coming from a place that wants to keep a tax fraudster in the Dail

Lowry has been a TD for years

At least we have less terrorists in our parliament than yours, has to count for something lads.

[red hander]

Totally different situation, Craigavoin Borough is evenly balanced between both communities, it was just the unwillingness of SDLP voters to transfer that enable Unionists to hold the balance of power. Craigavon has a record of sectarian bigotry stretching back over many years. Remember the ST Peter's debacle where the had to be forced in the courts to lease ground to the GAA Club. In Nationalist controlled councils by and large Unionists get a fair crack of the whip, even Ballymena has elected a nationalist Mayor. Craigavon closely followed by Lisburn have continously done what the could to keep the croppies down. I'm afraid your post displays an ignorance of the North and its politics.

In the absence of any rules to force people to adopt certain methods of sharing the the spoils, such as you have in the Assembly, you can't stop parties not voting to share the spoils. Unionist politicians are going to form a pact, simple as that. Although I accept that there should be a obligation to be up front about it. You agree on the order of business and proceed through it in an orderly fashion. The bizarre manner in which they went about this stank to high heaven

I love when misinformed people like yourself post on threads like this to display your total ignorance of Northern politics.

Pretty much how we feel about you lads complete ignorance of politics in the Republic.

This coming from a place that wants to keep a tax fraudster in the Dail

Lowry has been a TD for years

At least we have less terrorists in our parliament than yours, has to count for something lads.

Wasn't always like that, was it, if we accept your criteria? Why don't you read up on your history, try the chapter entitled 'The First Dail'. I know you like to display your almost childlike ignorance with every post, but not even the biggest fantasist would describe Stormont as a 'parliament'

[saffron sam2]

At least we have less terrorists in our parliament than yours, has to count for something lads.

0/10 for the piss poor windup attempt.

10/10 though for your perfectly valid point, although the UDR was never deployed in the free state.

[johnneycool]

Totally different situation, Craigavoin Borough is evenly balanced between both communities, it was just the unwillingness of SDLP voters to transfer that enable Unionists to hold the balance of power. Craigavon has a record of sectarian bigotry stretching back over many years. Remember the ST Peter's debacle where the had to be forced in the courts to lease ground to the GAA Club. In Nationalist controlled councils by and large Unionists get a fair crack of the whip, even Ballymena has elected a nationalist Mayor. Craigavon closely followed by Lisburn have continously done what the could to keep the croppies down. I'm afraid your post displays an ignorance of the North and its politics.

In the absence of any rules to force people to adopt certain methods of sharing the the spoils, such as you have in the Assembly, you can't stop parties not voting to share the spoils. Unionist politicians are going to form a pact, simple as that. Although I accept that there should be a obligation to be up front about it. You agree on the order of business and proceed through it in an orderly fashion. The bizarre manner in which they went about this stank to high heaven

I love when misinformed people like yourself post on threads like this to display your total ignorance of Northern politics.

Pretty much how we feel about you lads complete ignorance of politics in the Republic.

This coming from a place that wants to keep a tax fraudster in the Dail

Lowry has been a TD for years

At least we have less terrorists in our parliament than yours, has to count for something lads.

Look, Peter paid his dues after the siege of Clontibret, that shouldn't always be cast up to him, are we not 'maturing as a nation'? (c) Irish Independent.

[Applesisapples]

Check out the Brian Feeney piece in the Irish News...once again he hits the bullseye...SF should hire him.

[Evil Genius]

Check out the Brian Feeney piece in the Irish News...once again he hits the bullseye...SF should hire him.

I read an article in a magazine last month.

It was excellent.

P.S. I heard a really funny joke in the pub last night, too. It made everybody laugh. And did I mention the film I went to see on Saturday? My g/f really liked it, though I thought it merely so-so.

[ziggysego]

Check out the Brian Feeney piece in the Irish News...once again he hits the bullseye...SF should hire him.

Annual pantomime shows need for legal constraints

THE parade of unionist triumphalism across the north is an annual event which should surprise no-one. No, not the Twalf or the other 3,000 Orange marches. No, it's the election of council chairs and mayors which takes place every year in June. The attitudes on display provide a salutary reminder to anyone who thinks unionism has changed and a useful lesson to the younger generation that unionist Neanderthals still exist from Castlereagh to Craigavon.

Perhaps that's unkind to Neanderthals because recent evidence indicates they co-existed with Homosapiens for thousands of years, which is more than unionists are prepared to do with nationalists. It's also wrong to suggest that the boneheads stop at the Bann because there's plenty of evidence of their presence right out to Fermanagh. The difference is that in Fermanagh and elsewhere west of the Bann you can hear their noise but they can't make their presence felt. And there's the point.

The disgraceful conduct of unionist councillors in places such as Craigavon, Antrim and Newtownabbey where they exclude Sinn Fein councillors from office would happen west of the Bann too if unionists had the numbers. If anything demonstrates the importance of strong equality legislation and the need for legal constraints on abuse of political power it's the annual pantomime unionists engage in when they have a free hand.

Don't you love the sheer effrontery of the political troglodyte Councillor Adrian Cochrane Watson in Antrim who justified his exclusion of Sinn Fein accepting, "Yes, it's totally undemocratic. I don't think they're fit for public office". Presumably he thinks he is? If any statement sums up unionists' attitude, his does. In Craigavon Sinn Fein was unfair to the DUP's Stephen Moutray by saying he accepted the power-sharing arrangements at Stormont but then he time-travelled 30 miles back to 1690 to sit in Craigavon. Not true. Moutray has been entirely consistent. He has never indicated support for the partnership arrangements at Stormont. Remember he was one of the DUP's 'dirty dozen' who in November 2006 signed a statement rejecting any deal with Sinn Fein at St Andrews.

You might wonder why neither of the leaders of the DUP or the UUP steps in to tell their councillors, too many of whom are MLA double-jobbers, to behave themselves in councils. You might, if you forget that no unionist leader has ever endorsed the concept of power-sharing or partnership in government. On the contrary, they regularly deplore the idea, constantly referring to a "compulsory coalition" which it isn't - it's power-sharing and hankering after some mirage where there will be a voluntary coalition, code for unionist majority rule.

Thankfully the antics of unionists in places such as Craigavon provide an annual reminder of just what these people would get up to at Stormont if they had any power. Again, remember no unionist leader has ever repudiated these antics and don't forget that some of the councillors concerned were around long before the Good Friday Agreement and at any time between 1974 and 1998 could have agreed to share power with the SDLP but they wouldn't. Indeed sometimes when the SDLP offered the council chair to a unionist it was refused in case anyone imagined for a second a unionist would share power.

In these circumstances it is important to point out the hypocrisy of Peter Robinson who talks about a 'benign apartheid' and advocates a shared future in speeches designed to appeal to moderate unionists, presumably a slice of the 50,000 in the doughnut round Belfast who vote Alliance.

The response to Robinson is, 'Physician heal thyself'.

Let him make a speech advocating partnership and power-sharing in the north's administration and let's hear him encouraging the backwoodsmen and women in his own party to acknowledge the existence of equal rights for the nationalist community. If they don't hear it from Robinson they're hardly going to listen to anyone else.

His silence can be taken as consent to their behaviour.

It can also be taken as an absolute requirement for legislation to compel the new councils to operate a d'Hondt voting system and rotate council chairs because there's no evidence of goodwill among unionist politicians.