Alliance showing their true colours now

[T Fearon]

Wanting to destroy catholic education (without even mentioning the OO,the body most singularly responsible for sectarianism in the 6 counties) and now proposing that the Union flag fly on designated days in nationalist controlled council areas.

[thewobbler]

Are you being ironic Tony? The whole point of being middle ground is that you don't have colours, let alone "true" colours.

[EC Unique]

The CCMS/Catholic schooling is much to strong and powerful for anyone to stop. The only way that will change is if Catholics decide to do so. I won't happen.

[T Fearon]

Their adherents are almost gloating all over twitter with their proposed flags policy "forcing nationalist councils to fly the flag on designated days". Sounds like an attempt to win lost unionist ground after the Belfast City Council motion.

Don't kid yourself about Alliance being middle of the road,they are and always have been small "u" unionists.

[T Fearon]

Integrated education is peddled as the panacea to end sectarianism.Can't see it,when you have the Orange Order ( whose raison d'être is promoting sectarianism) continuing to exert substantial influence,and shamefully indulged not least by the Dublin government.

[AQMP]

http://sluggerotoole.com/2013/01/29/has-david-ford-even-read-the-patten-report/

Alliance Party leader David Ford must have watched last December as British Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a public apology for the unchecked, extra-judicial and murderous activities of the Force Research Unit (or FRU) in Ireland. Cameron lamented at the time that, "The collusion demonstrated beyond any doubt... is totally unacceptable".

The issue with collusion was never simply that it happened but rather how it happened: how a culture of impunity emerged and was sustained; how state agents managed to act extra-judically, without fear of local oversight or local accountability. Real policing reform, starting with the Patten Report and culminating with the appointment of a local Justice Ministry with responsibility for local policing, was desiged to end that nefarious, lethal culture.

Why then is David Ford advocating for the introduction of the NCA, the National Crime Agency, to Northern Ireland?

Thanks to the SDLP and SF, the NCA will not be coming to a dark corner near your community (though it probably will anyway).

The Alliance Party may be out of touch with the meat of recent negotiations, but for anyone remotely familiar with the reasons fundamental policing reform was fought for and secured by Nationalist parties in the years before and since the signing of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, SF and the SDLP's determination to block an NCA usurpation of local policing powers is easy to understand.

Local Policing Accountability is a red line issue for Nationalists, and hopefully others besides.

As the BBC reported, were the new NCA given a pass to circumnavigate both the PSNI and the local policing boards' powers of accountability and oversight, the consequences would include the concession of the following powers to shadowy operatives free from the scrutiny of locally elected officials:

- the powers of a police constable in Northern Ireland;
- the authority to carry out searches and make arrests;
- the ability to conduct surveillance operations;
- the ability to recruit and run informers and agents.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that extra-judicial killings, corruption and a general social poisoning were direct consequences of policing operations that were insulated from accountability to the local communities they at times terrorized, the Alliance Party's leader David Ford appears confused. According to Ford,

"There is a real danger if it does not go ahead there will be very significant costs to the police both in terms of time and finances and that we will have an inferior response to the serious organised crime that we face,"

David Ford, NI's only minister not appointed under the d'Hondt mechanism, cannot be unaware (surely?) that some of the most "serious organised crime" Northern Ireland has ever faced was organized by agents of the state who were left free to operate beyond the scrutiny of locally elected officials.

The Alliance Party has earned some decent media of late but little, if any, of that has been down to the actions – or inactions – of its leader. While M.P for East Belfast Naomi Long – Ford's conspicuous, dignified and determined party colleague – has executed the responsibilities of elected office with elan and courage, Ford's knee-shakingly timid response to weeks of rioting, road blocks and attacks on police officers has, by contrast, left many wondering: what's the point of having a Justice Minister at all?

Now that Ford has reappeared his attempts to remind everyone that he's still on post by acting as lead Cheer Leader for the introduction of the NCA to Northern Ireland, his calls for a reversion to the days of policing of the people but not by the people, has only served to aggrevate those who hadn't forgotten he was still around.

It is difficult to assess what is more disturbing: a locally appointed Justice Minister who believes his power to hold 'intelligence operations' to account are too many, or a Justice Minister who appears blissfully unaware of why his post was created in the first place. Either way, confidence in Ford's ability to man the Justice Minsitry can never have been lower. Though he may not have claimed much personal input towards the original Patter inspired policing reforms, by endorsing the NCA and the loss of local accountability the question must be asked: Has he even read the Patten Report?

Let's assume Ford has read Patten. Let's assume he has listened to the British Prime Minister acknowledge and apologize for the murder of Irish citizens by, at best, 'out of control' extra-judicial paramilitary policing agents. Let's assume Ford also understands that local powers of accountability are a minimum bulwark against slipping back into the days when Ireland was treated as a counter-insurgency laboratory.

Assuming all that, could the Alliance Party please tell us why local people should have any faith whatsoever in unaccountable intelligence agents run from outside Northern Ireland?

Does the Alliance Party simply not understand the reasons Nationalists (primarily though not exclusively) will not countenance losing hard won powers to hold policing actions accountable?

Some will argue that Alliance's positioning here is less about policing policy than political posturing; Ford's attempt to distinguish his party from the SDLP. I'm not convinced this is that thought-through. Perhaps someone could hand him a copy of Patten before he leaves?

[cadence]

Would choice be important in this? The freedom for parents to choose to send their kids to whatever school they see fit.

[Milltown Row2]

Surely its kids education that's important, choosing a school should ultimately be decided on what is the best school (locally) that will provide the best education for your child, teaching them religion happens at home and at whatever church you go to, or in most cases don't go to church.

As for eradicating sectarianism, that is mainly done to parenting also.

[Mont]

As for eradicating sectarianism, that is mainly done to parenting also.

as is instillin sectarianism

[fitzroyalty]

Integrated schooling is a really nice concept but it would never work. For a start it would never be allowed to happen. I went to school in Newry, I'd like to see them explain how this would work for the four Catholic grammar schools there.

[glens abu]

Remember well Fords election slogan during council elections in Newtownabbey."Vote Ford to keep Meehan and Sinn Fein out",and they haven't changed.

[The Trap]

Are they still sponsoring the National League? 

[Milltown Row2]

Integrated schooling is a really nice concept but it would never work. For a start it would never be allowed to happen. I went to school in Newry, I'd like to see them explain how this would work for the four Catholic grammar schools there.

Would you agree that religion should be taught at home?

[armaghniac]

Integrated schooling is a really nice concept but it would never work. For a start it would never be allowed to happen. I went to school in Newry, I'd like to see them explain how this would work for the four Catholic grammar schools there.


Would you agree that religion should be taught at home?

I'm sure everyone thinks religion should be taught at home, the question is whether it should be taught at school.

As for Fitzroyalty's point, where you have areas where most people are of one side or the other then schools will reflect that.

[Rois]

Surely its kids education that's important, choosing a school should ultimately be decided on what is the best school (locally) that will provide the best education for your child, teaching them religion happens at home and at whatever church you go to, or in most cases don't go to church.

Teaching religion currently happens in schools in the Catholic sector and if you were going to get rid of the Catholic educational sector, you'd have to get churches to bring in Sunday School like their protestant counterparts.  Religion should be instilled at home, yes, but not everyone's parents are teachers who would have an RE curriculum to hand and the ability to teach it right.