Sinn Fein? They have gone away, you know.

[red hander]

While Universal Credit bites the most vulnerable, bedroom tax is unmitigated, third sector workers are laid off and £30m of in-year cuts are being implemented by the Health Trusts, the Assembly runs up £300,000 for broadcasting nothing and spends £200,000 providing subsidised food to well paid MLAs and their staff and former MLAs continue to be paid £55K pa for the last 7 months until C Ruane SF resigns as Jim Allister TUV exposes the continued payments. Danny Kennedy UUP resigned his assistant Speaker post when he lost his seat in June taking no additional payments and A Attwood SDLP pays his MLA salary back each month.  C Ruane claims to have given her payments from the public purse away instead of returning them but did she provide her usual payment to SF to stay within the average industrial wage? She did nothing legally wrong. 

See how it was reported by BBC on The View:

https://youtu.be/NcK_mxxVO3k

Disgraceful. She should hang her head in shame. One point re: Kennedy, though. He was a minister for years on a very high salary, and then was on a very high salary as assistant speaker, YET he signed on for unemployment benefit when he lost his seat. Did he not have any savings from his 80k a year salary for being a minster for years or his 55k salary as assistant speaker? He has some cheek pleading poverty after his earnings from Stormont

[armaghniac]

While Universal Credit bites the most vulnerable, bedroom tax is unmitigated, third sector workers are laid off and £30m of in-year cuts are being implemented by the Health Trusts, the Assembly runs up £300,000 for broadcasting nothing and spends £200,000 providing subsidised food to well paid MLAs and their staff and former MLAs continue to be paid £55K pa for the last 7 months until C Ruane SF resigns as Jim Allister TUV exposes the continued payments. Danny Kennedy UUP resigned his assistant Speaker post when he lost his seat in June taking no additional payments and A Attwood SDLP pays his MLA salary back each month.  C Ruane claims to have given her payments from the public purse away instead of returning them but did she provide her usual payment to SF to stay within the average industrial wage? She did nothing legally wrong. 

See how it was reported by BBC on The View:

https://youtu.be/NcK_mxxVO3k

Disgraceful. She should hang her head in shame. One point re: Kennedy, though. He was a minister for years on a very high salary, and then was on a very high salary as assistant speaker, YET he signed on for unemployment benefit when he lost his seat. Did he not have any savings from his 80k a year salary for being a minster for years or his 55k salary as assistant speaker? He has some cheek pleading poverty after his earnings from Stormont

This is hardly reasonable. The idea of social insurance is that you pay in while working and then if you lose your job you can get the benefit, it isn't a question of poverty.

[Owen Brannigan]

While Universal Credit bites the most vulnerable, bedroom tax is unmitigated, third sector workers are laid off and £30m of in-year cuts are being implemented by the Health Trusts, the Assembly runs up £300,000 for broadcasting nothing and spends £200,000 providing subsidised food to well paid MLAs and their staff and former MLAs continue to be paid £55K pa for the last 7 months until C Ruane SF resigns as Jim Allister TUV exposes the continued payments. Danny Kennedy UUP resigned his assistant Speaker post when he lost his seat in June taking no additional payments and A Attwood SDLP pays his MLA salary back each month.  C Ruane claims to have given her payments from the public purse away instead of returning them but did she provide her usual payment to SF to stay within the average industrial wage? She did nothing legally wrong. 

See how it was reported by BBC on The View:

https://youtu.be/NcK_mxxVO3k

Disgraceful. She should hang her head in shame. One point re: Kennedy, though. He was a minister for years on a very high salary, and then was on a very high salary as assistant speaker, YET he signed on for unemployment benefit when he lost his seat. Did he not have any savings from his 80k a year salary for being a minster for years or his 55k salary as assistant speaker? He has some cheek pleading poverty after his earnings from Stormont

This is hardly reasonable. The idea of social insurance is that you pay in while working and then if you lose your job you can get the benefit, it isn't a question of poverty.

He registered for job seekers allowance in July, that doesn't mean he received benefits.  He could have continued to receive his assistant Speaker allowance like Ruane but obviously a man of true integrity, not just a political slogan for him, and resigned his Speaker post when not elected.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/danny-kennedy-went-from-high-office-to-dole-what-happened-to-other-mlas-36107528.html

[naka]

While Universal Credit bites the most vulnerable, bedroom tax is unmitigated, third sector workers are laid off and £30m of in-year cuts are being implemented by the Health Trusts, the Assembly runs up £300,000 for broadcasting nothing and spends £200,000 providing subsidised food to well paid MLAs and their staff and former MLAs continue to be paid £55K pa for the last 7 months until C Ruane SF resigns as Jim Allister TUV exposes the continued payments. Danny Kennedy UUP resigned his assistant Speaker post when he lost his seat in June taking no additional payments and A Attwood SDLP pays his MLA salary back each month.  C Ruane claims to have given her payments from the public purse away instead of returning them but did she provide her usual payment to SF to stay within the average industrial wage? She did nothing legally wrong. 

See how it was reported by BBC on The View:

https://youtu.be/NcK_mxxVO3k

Disgraceful. She should hang her head in shame. One point re: Kennedy, though. He was a minister for years on a very high salary, and then was on a very high salary as assistant speaker, YET he signed on for unemployment benefit when he lost his seat. Did he not have any savings from his 80k a year salary for being a minster for years or his 55k salary as assistant speaker? He has some cheek pleading poverty after his earnings from Stormont

He is entitled to sign on, far from me to defend him  but he has paid his taxes and national insurance,
Ruane well that's another story.

[Dougal Maguire]

Is it the case that all MLAs who were not re-elected continued to receive their pay?  What about those who were newly elected did they gat paid too?

[rrhf]

Time to remove the money from the mlas. They aren't producing.

[Owen Brannigan]

Is it the case that all MLAs who were not re-elected continued to receive their pay?  What about those who were newly elected did they gat paid too?

In the St Andrew's Agreement SF and DUP carved up the Assembly rules and structures to ensure their own continuity and control over the Assembly, e.g. the largest party is the one which puts forward the FM instead of the FM coming from the largest community grouping, i.e. nationalist or unionist.

In return SF lost out again due to poor negotiating skills and was thrown a titbit of being given a principal deputy speaker role as the largest grouping could always choose the Speaker.  So, we the public mugs were handed a situation where we pay for a Speaker, a principal deputy Speaker and two deputy Speakers such is the workload demands of this position.

The Speaker, and principal deputy and deputy speakers are continued to be paid with a logic that the Speaker must be in chair to start off a new Assembly even if it is to call for the election of a speaker.  The Speaker's deputies are also in place in case this arduous duty is too much for him/her.

So Newton, Ruane, McGlone and Kennedy were the Speaker, Principal Deputy Speaker and Deputy Speakers in the last Assembly which ended in 26th January 2017 and under the mugs charter we continued to pay them until the next assembly was established.

The nonsense is extended further by Ruane not standing for election on 2nd March 2017 but she continued to be paid for her post as Principal Deputy Speaker on £55K pa. 

Kennedy resigned when he failed to be elected in March 2017, no longer paid.

McGlone was elected and he continues to paid as a deputy speaker. 

Newton was elected and continued to be paid as Speaker on £85K pa.

The other one continuing to be paid even when not elected is Attwood.  He is a member of the Assembly Commission which is to provide the Assembly, with the property, staff and services required for the Assembly to carry out its work, last meeting on 5th July.  He was not elected but because the assembly is not meeting he is unable to resign and he continues to be sent his pay as an MLA with an additional £5K for his commission work which has continued.  To resolve the problem, he sends the MLA salary back each month but retains the money for the commission.

The MLAs elected in March are all being paid and receiving funding for expenses and research staff.

[armaghniac]

Kennedy behaved with integrity, since he ended up with no seat but still resigned his salary.

[Dougal Maguire]

Mind you I've heard it suggested that he wasn't averse to accepting the odd gift in an envelope for services provided during his days as a Councillor when he worked with BT. Allegedly.

[FermGael]

Brilliant stuff from Pearse Doherty

   https://youtu.be/zawcvaW3Y48   

[Orior]

Ruth Dudley Edwards will be in Queens on 16th Nov.

https://daro.qub.ac.uk/page.aspx?pid=536&erid=6395350&trid=302ad52f-3364-412a-b628-faeac1c5d8a9

Maybe someone here will attend and then tell us how she turns the event into a smash Sinn Fein show.

[armaghniac]

26 county poll not good for SF, they were once only a bit behind FF.

@SunTimesIreland @banda_ie #poll
FG 34 +3
FF 31 +4
SF 14 -5
Lab 3 -1
Sol/PBP 3 +2
Ind All 3
Green 2
SocDem 1
Ind 8 -4

[Avondhu star]

Never mind that
Just wait until ex sticky Halligan gets his old pals in North Korea to promise world peace

[blewuporstuffed]

Ruth Dudley Edwards will be in Queens on 16th Nov.

https://daro.qub.ac.uk/page.aspx?pid=536&erid=6395350&trid=302ad52f-3364-412a-b628-faeac1c5d8a9

Maybe someone here will attend and then tell us how she turns the event into a smash Sinn Fein show.

Speaker:  Dr Ruth Dudley Edwards

Dr Edwards is an outstanding academic, a major crime fiction writer, a key opinion former in respect of British-Irish relations,
and an honoured and respected advocate of reason, understanding and fairness in Irish politics and affairs.

Jesus 

[Owen Brannigan]

First Adams announces he favours introduction of a more liberal approach to abortion and now, guess what, O'Neill declares in today's Irish News, to be in favour of the same.  An All Ireland party.

SF Racing FG to being the pro choice party ahead of referendum on 8th amendment and next RoI election. Neither are populist parties.

Tony!  Tony!