six county elections 05/05/2011

[haranguerer]

Think of it as a team - you cant just stick with the same faces, both team and results suffer - new players need to be given the opportunity to perform and gain experience

[Maguire01]

Think of it as a team - you cant just stick with the same faces, both team and results suffer - new players need to be given the opportunity to perform and gain experience

I agree that you can't remain static, but you have to balance rotation with quality control. Some MLAs - across all parties - would never be Ministerial material and shouldn't be given opportunities just because it's their turn.

[trileacman]

Ulick, can we expect Catriona to get the road next week? I'm keeping everything crossed. Is big O'Dowd in the running for a seat at the table? Always comes across as a good operator on tv so id like to see him replace Ruane or possibly Murphy who didn't help himself with his handling of NIW during the winter. Gildernew is no great shakes either.

tony i don't know how you think Michelle gildernew was no great shakes as agric minister when she was greeted everywhere she went in the farming comunity with rapturous applause IMO your completely wrong there she was probably the most popular minister in stormont

I know she was popular and that is because she was giving money to farmers hand over fist. DofA fucked up when submitting claims to EU and were fined to the tune of £60million. She wasn't personally responsible but he claim that no-one was to blame stuck in my craw and summed up all that is wrong with public sector NI.

actually what happened was the bean counters in Brussels started to look for excuses to reduce the single farm payment and began to stroke off land that was ineligible that had previously been payed out on. this included laneways, rushy ground, new yards, overgrown hedges. individuals had failed to stroke these areas off their maps and the dept had failed to notice Michelle took the hit to avoid the individuals  getting done for fraud and the issue was sidestepped, i understand that the 60million fine is being appealed with a Strong chance of success. i also understand that the Irish discrepancies were amongst the lowest in Europe

Thats complete and total balls. The land that was being claimed for should not have been claimed for and was never eligible for inclusion for SFP. Michelle didnt take any "hit" as she kept her job and the taxpayer has to foot the bill.

hedges grow and so do rushes oakleaf what do you want her to do, cut them?

Lawnseed,

You either know nothing about the eligibility of land under the SFP scheme or are stupid, which is it?

Hedges should be cut every second year unless they are at the roadside. Rushes have nothing to do with eligibility. All those issues are covered by the cross compliance checks which are carried out.

Gildernew was responsible as the Minister for the incorrect submissions.

i think you'll find that rushes do render land ineligible did you not get any aerial photos yet

Lawnseed,

I can log in and look at them anytime I like.

A field is either eligible or its not. We could go back and forth with different examples all night about different types of things covered under the 7 measures but the buck stopped with Gildernew.

do you not have to cut your hedges?

Lawnseed rushes make no field ineligible, quit it with your pub talk bullshite.

Gildernew is a bollix who doled out money hand over fist, ignored the rules and has been sent back from Europe with her tail between her legs. Trying to blame the 100 million fine that is in the pipeline for the taxpayer on "individuals" who didn't cut hedges or spray rushes is a conspiracy theory of the highest degree.

If the southern Ag minister brought a 100 million euro fine on the taxpayer he'd be out on his hole, it is annoying to think that the Shinner spin doctors can get this swept under the carpet and draw up double jobbing as an important issue. Gildernew is as successful an agriculture minister as she is a MP.

Here I've been away for a few days, can you tell me how the SDLP got on in Fermanagh and South Tyrone?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/constituency/html/36716.stm

Have you your single farm payment application in yet gda?

[oakleafgael]

Some interesting decisions with regard to the ministries. Nobody wants to be Health Minister.

[Nally Stand]

Indeed.

DUP to take Enterprise, Trade and Investment which SF were widely tipped to be keen on to develop the All Ireland strategy. For that reason alone im disappointed. SF to keep education and agriculture and to take culture, arts and leisure, so expect an Irish Language Act on the agenda fairly quickly. DUP to keep finance obviously but also take health.

[ziggysego]

Will wee Barry be the next Culture & Sports Minister? Keep her lit!

[Nally Stand]

Wouldn't rule it out ziggy. There'd be less time on his hands to be ringin stephen nolan then!

[The Worker]

What ministers position is O'Dowd tipped for then?

[ziggysego]

What ministers position is O'Dowd tipped for then?

I'd say Education.

[trileacman]

Indeed.

DUP to take Enterprise, Trade and Investment which SF were widely tipped to be keen on to develop the All Ireland strategy. For that reason alone im disappointed. SF to keep education and agriculture and to take culture, arts and leisure, so expect an Irish Language Act on the agenda fairly quickly. DUP to keep finance obviously but also take health.

In reality though how much control and or influence can an assembly minister have? I mean how could SF manage the trade portfolio so much differently than the DUP? Could the language act even go through, even with a SF minister? SF proposals for a language act were quashed before, nothing has changed so they will be again. In the case of the Maze stadium, once the "shrine" uproar occured, party politics, 3rd party interests and finance intervened. Campbells only intervention was to decide when the money arrived, not who, where or how.

[Applesisapples]

Whilst Sinn Fein's position has moderated some what, probably because it was a negotiation stance much like the DUP, the SDLP in some constituency's have shifted to a Union friendly stance. Hence the acceptance of British Honours by some high profile people with connections to SDLP such as Dame O'Loan

I'd need some further evidence of this "union friendly stance". Dame O'Loan was a British person, I am not sure why she should not take an honour because of her husband's politics.

Combine this with her lack of Charisma and saddle her with people like Doleres Kelly and Alex Attwood and it is no wonder Sinn Fein keep growing at the polls.

Sadly enough for nationalism, Sinn Féin have little enough talent coming through in the 6 counties.

There are numerous others who have accepted gongs, Nuala O'Loan is just a well known example, she couldn't have accepted without her husbands support. In General the shinners are better organized they are more media savy and spread jobs and profile around, take Martina Anderson as an example. The SDLP have poor organization they are lazy politicians who don't engage in their communities...a general observation there are some notable and capable exceptions. I am not saying which party is right or wrong just presenting my analysis of the SDLP's problems.

And therein lies a problem. You should appoint people to jobs because they're capable, not for the sake of 'spreading it around'. It's not giving out sweets at a child's birthday party.

And I hear Paul Maskey is likely to be the candidate in the West Belfast by-election. Even with 70% of the popular vote in that constituency, they don't have much in terms of quality.

But by and large they are capable. Another problem for SDLP is the lack of capable people and indeed leadership.

[Applesisapples]

Will wee Barry be the next Culture & Sports Minister? Keep her lit!

God forbid otherwise every penny will go to the Tyrone County Board.

[Ulick]

Will wee Barry be the next Culture & Sports Minister? Keep her lit!

Possibly but I'd say Ruane is bound to be the favourite at this stage, fluent in a few languages (native Irish speaker as well), played tennis to high standard, experience at running large community and cultural festivals.

[ziggysego]

Will wee Barry be the next Culture & Sports Minister? Keep her lit!

Possibly but I'd say Ruane is bound to be the favourite at this stage, fluent in a few languages (native Irish speaker as well), played tennis to high standard, experience at running large community and cultural festivals.

There's speculation, albeit on the BBC, that Ruane won't be in the Executive this term.

[Evil Genius]

Will wee Barry be the next Culture & Sports Minister? Keep her lit!

Possibly but I'd say Ruane is bound to be the favourite at this stage, fluent in a few languages (native Irish speaker as well), played tennis to high standard, experience at running large community and cultural festivals.

You still around, Donagh Ulick?

Any chance you could supply me the figures to back up your assertion earlier in this thread that a "disproportionate" number of Alliance voters transfer to Nationalists, rather than Unionists?

I don't know the figures myself, so I'm not going to say you're wrong.

Or even making it up...