Stormont Assembly Elections 2017

[AhNowRef]

Ah, they dont want equality, or anything even related to it .. they want domination .. nothing else will suffice 

And the sad thing is, the older I get and the more I see them in action, the more I realise (sadly) that if the troubles hadn't happened, this place would still be in a 1950s Stormont nightmare scenario....   Its slipping away from them though and the change is ultimately unstoppable and its not going to make them any easier to live with for the foreseeable.... 

[north_antrim_hound]

Ah, they dont want equality, or anything even related to it .. they want domination .. nothing else will suffice 

And the sad thing is, the older I get and the more I see them in action, the more I realise (sadly) that if the troubles hadn't happened, this place would still be in a 1950s Stormont nightmare scenario....   Its slipping away from them though and the change is ultimately unstoppable and its not going to make them any easier to live with for the foreseeable.... 

That is a worry
Things have come a long way for nationalist and the good Friday agreement has brought a new air of confidence through equality and this won't do in some quarters
The Dup sell hatred towards nationalist to maintain the polarisation and that equats to the biggot vote
If things change for the better for us anymore then get ready for the backlash
If that's the case so be it as this last few weeks have really been infuriating with some of the bile arnie and her cronies have been spewing
They just don't want power share on a democratic platform as it doesn't fill their oppressive mindset
A few more years of political struggle is no big shakes sure we are use to it

[Hereiam]

No word from big Arnie on who the donor of the 250k was. Now there's a surprise.

[stiffler]

The Democratic Unionist Party has confirmed that it received £425,000 from a group of business people led by a Scottish Conservative party member and passed it on to help fund the UK pro-Brexit campaign.

The money was used to help finance an advertising campaign in Britain during the EU referendum.

The money was given to the DUP by the Constitutional Research Council, which is chaired by Richard Cook, a former vice chairman of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.

Defending the transaction, the DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson said the party did its bit to give the British people the opportunity to once again govern their own affairs.


As part of the campaign, there was an expensive four-page 'Vote To Leave EU' advertisement in the British Metro newspaper.

The paper is available in London and other cities but not in Northern Ireland.

The DUP had faced calls to reveal how the cash was raised for the campaign.

DUP leader Arlene Foster had admitted that the party received donations after registering as a Leave campaigner.

However, when pushed for details about the donors during a recent UTV pre-election debate, she would only say: "From an organisation in England that wants to see the union kept and make sure we can have a United Kingdom."

Donations to political parties in Northern Ireland are kept confidential for fear of identifying donors. But other political parties had demanded that the DUP clarify who funded its "lavish" pro-Brexit advertising campaign.

[Farrandeelin]

Surely that might bring them down?

[Hereiam]

The DUP are saying that they spent it all on the leave campain. Don't believe that for one second. They really have been looking after themselves while the rest of the people have been made to suffer

[Take Your Points]

Looks like trouble ahead for those donating and spending money in the referendum:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39075244

From the Electoral Commission:

Issues under consideration

Issues under consideration include the following, although further issues involving these or other campaigners may come to light:

Both the lead campaigners – The IN Campaign Limited ('Britain Stronger in Europe') and Vote Leave Limited – do not appear to have delivered all the necessary invoices and receipts to support their returns. There are also issues with the delivery of all the details required in the return, including supplier details for a number of payments. The Liberal Democrats spending return also appears to be missing some details including invoices, receipts and supplier names.
One campaigner, the European Movement of the UK Limited, declared a total spend of £329,000 but has supplied payment details of only £290,000.
Two campaigners, Labour Leave and the UK Independence Party submitted returns with discrepancies in the way they reported the same campaigning activity.
One campaigner, Mr Peter Harris, delivered his spending return late and without the required audit report. Another campaigner, Conservatives IN, appears to have delivered a donation report late.
The Commission has not yet determined whether any offences have been committed in respect of these issues.

[Take Your Points]

Just look at how much DUP spent compared to others:

From the Electoral Commission:

Leave campaigners   Reported spend (£)

Brexit Express   £630,236
Democracy Movement   £421,308
Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.   £425,622
Labour Leave Limited   £494,897
Leave.EU Group Ltd   £693,022
Mr Peter Harris   £421,433
UK Independence Party (UKIP)   £1,354,393
Vote Leave Limited   £6,789,892
WAGTV Limited   £303,623

Leave total   £11,534,426

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/journalist/electoral-commission-media-centre/news-releases-donations/details-of-major-campaign-spending-during-eu-referendum-published-by-electoral-commission

[Take Your Points]

Here's how they spent it:

£890.00    17/06/2016   Oasis Design Studio   A3 Ash Building, Willowbank Business Park, Larne, BT40 2SF,
£600.00    17/06/2016   Independent News and Media Ltd   124-144 Royal Avenue, Belfast, BT1 1EB
£99,616.00    10/06/2016   Soopa Doopa   Richmond House, Broad Street, Ely, CB7 4AH,
£3,120.00    17/06/2016   Independent News and Media Ltd   124-144 Royal Avenue, Belfast, BT1 1EB,
£1,800.00    22/06/2016   Independent News and Media Ltd   124-144 Royal Avenue, Belfast, BT1 1EB,
£32,750.73    20/06/2016   Aggregate IQ   240-560 Johnson Street, Victoria, V8W 3C6, Canada
£2,570.40    17/06/2016   Johnston Publishing   2 Esky Drive, Portadown, BT63 5YY,
£108.00    22/06/2016   Alpha Newspaper Group   Unit 179 Moygashel Mills, Dungannon, BT71 7HB,
£90.00    22/06/2016   Alpha Newspaper Group   Unit 179 Moygashel Mills, Dungannon, BT71 7HB,
£432.00    22/06/2016   Tapestry   51-52 Frith Street, London, W1D 4SH, United Kingdom
£282,000.00    21/06/2016   Associated Newspapers Ltd   A&N Media Finance Services, PO Box 6795, Leicester, LE1 1ZP
£1,645.00    14/06/2016   Belfast Mall and Marketing   Suite 2, 100 University Street, Belfast, BT7 1HE,

[Take Your Points]

The DUP are saying that they spent it all on the leave campain. Don't believe that for one second. They really have been looking after themselves while the rest of the people have been made to suffer

Look's like it was all raised and spent. 

[Frank_The_Tank]

Peter Weir a shambles on the Nolan radio show this morning.  Stumbling through most of it - hard to believe he is a former barrister

[Rois]

Peter Weir a shambles on the Nolan radio show this morning.  Stumbling through most of it - hard to believe he is a former barrister

The old "with respect" line lost its meaning after the 250th time he used it. 

[north_antrim_hound]

The people that will be voting for DUP will not care that their party was devoting a lot a man hours on a brexit campaign instead of putting those resources into making NI more efficient
All that admin work for a campaign that n Ireland voted against and they couldn't cop on the RHI scheme was draining taxpayers money
What else do they have to do before even a hardline biggot voter starts to say "hold on a minute here"

[armaghniac]

The DUP are saying that they spent it all on the leave campain. Don't believe that for one second. They really have been looking after themselves while the rest of the people have been made to suffer

Look's like it was all raised and spent.

Just like any GAA team's training budget, everything above board and no breach of amateur status.

The people that will be voting for DUP will not care that their party was devoting a lot a man hours on a brexit campaign instead of putting those resources into making NI more efficient
All that admin work for a campaign that n Ireland voted against and they couldn't cop on the RHI scheme was draining taxpayers money
What else do they have to do before even a hardline biggot voter starts to say "hold on a minute here"

Hardline bigots tend not to frame questions this way.

[north_antrim_hound]

Your right they might not use that exact terminology but I think they might still take a small hit on Election Day
A small minority has to apply some balanced perspective
Having said that not enough to effect their dominant party status