"A Passionate Unionist"
I just caught a brief word with the Tory leader, and found him proclaiming himself a "passionate unionist". He clearly wants to seal the deal on his courtship of the Ulster Unionists. But asked about the failure, so far, of Lady Sylvia Hermon to indicate any willingness to take the Conservative whip, he acknowledged there are difficulties in negotiating the new "movement" and it is "a lot to ask" for some people to sign on the dotted line.
When you to talk to some NI Conservatives they see what's afoot as very much a merger, forming a "Conservative and Unionist Party". But Sir Reg Empey and the Ulster Unionists don't go along with that. Instead Sir Reg talks about creating a common "campaigning vehicle".
The DUP fringe meeting around lunchtime brought some of the arguments surrounding the courtship to the fore. Jeffrey Donaldson renewed his old argument with David Trimble, contending that Lord Trimble's assertion that the Tories would fight every constituency would damage the union, by ruling out pacts in places like Fermanagh and South Tyrone. He also claimed that Lord Trimble was still the real UUP leader, not Sir Reg.
The DUP faced some hostile questioning from NI based Conservatives who accused them of representing a narrow sectional Protestant only form of unionism. Predictably Jeffrey Donaldson didn't agree, and he got support from one English delegate who claimed the DUP were the "true patriots" and the NI Tories were a "joke" who should be expelled.
Sir Reg Empey is now in Birmingham and a meeting is expected between him and the Conservative High Command in the morning. There are strong indications that David Cameron will pay the Ulster Unionists a return visit for their annual conference at the end of October, but that will probably depend on the deal being sealed.
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I dont know why the DUP are worrying. They will still get keep their 9 MP's at the next election and probably increase them. I expect them to take 2 seats of SDLP with the TUV getting none.
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Stormontspy, I take it you mean South Belfast which wouldn't be surprising, but do you really think the DUP could get Foyle or South Down?
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Mark
NOT MUCH PASSION FROM LADY SYLVIA
In Westminster terms, Sir Reg is in trouble. Lady Hermon is a silent presence and ineffective and that political waste-of-space, Trimble, is attaching himself to the Tories like a limpet to the exclusion of wider UUP interests.
How long before the Holy Trinity - Lords Laird, Magennis and Rogan weigh in with their usual vacuous, inane contributions.
Mark, mark my words, David McNarry will be on the fags before the weekend.
Susie
Carryduff
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You have to ask, do the DUP really care about Fermanagh and South Tyrone as Jeffrey would make out? If they did, then why put Jim Dixon on a platform and use him to split the vote handing it to Gildernew in 2001?
As for the Tory link with the UUP, I am all for it. It would be nice to vote for a complete UK political party which covers all four regions.
The DUP are worried and rightly so. I mean, they shipped in a Minister to win a council by-election. I envisage that they will not return 9 MP's, there will not be a hung parliament and there will be a Northern Ireland person in the cabinet. Sounds good to me!
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That English delegate is obviously extremely misguided? A DUP MP claims that the British government killed Princess Diana and says that they also spread rumours about her husband and domestic abuse allegations (Sunday Tribune). On top of that the party spend their time propsing measures for which the English taxpayer has to pay through their nose and are obviously more committed to Ulster nationalism than the Union.
Funny kind of patriotism the tories are into these days...
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Under Michael Gove's Conservative/UUP plan for new schools will the Lumen Christi Grammar in L/Derry become independent of both Catholic Church and the state?
How many N.I. grammars are in the top 400 schools? Will this scheme be a slap in the face to those schools who did not contribute data but are high achieving?
Why did Michael Gove not mention the words "grammar school"? What is the Conservative and Unionist Party education policy? Mark these are vital questions -please get us answers otherwise Stormontspy will issue another of those lengthy lists to Jim Allister.
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Mark,
I dont know why people are complaining about. The UUP are complaining about the DUP. The DUP are complaining about the UUP. Throw into the mix TUV who complain about everything and everyone. The UUP is a party that is in its end game. The DUP are growing from strength to strength. I think they will take South Belfast as Alastair McDonnell has done nothing to justify his seat. In South Down it is certain that SDLP will lose the seat as Eddie McGrady is inactive. If Sinn Fein dont get it then DUP will and as for Foyle I could take the seat as people in that area are now seeing the SDLP winding up. As for the TUV if I ask those crucial questions you will complain about my post as you can?t handle the truth.
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Stormontspy, that's the funniest thing I've read in a long while!!! Yes McGrady is standing down but have you ever heard of Margaret Ritchie? She's rather active in that area and that seat is a straight fight between her and Ruane. Jim Wells is a good and effective MLA but even if he is an agreed Unionist candidate he won't even come close! And as for Foyle, well frankly there is more chance of the Tories taking Glasgow than of the DUP taking Derry!
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Garethm2
Thank you for making me laugh so hard that my ribs cracked!!! To say "Yes McGrady is standing down but have you ever heard of Margaret Ritchie? She's rather active in that area and that seat is a straight fight between her and Ruane."
I will excuse you this once as it seems that you are new to The Devenport Diaries. People who visit this site on a regular basis will know that recently I highlighted Margaret Ritchie?s and Eddie McGrady's failures here. It was after Margaret's performance on BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics. Regarding the programme itself all Margaret could say was "I am determined", "issue that has to be dealt with", "issue has to be resolved" and "I am determined". Margaret also said "I am not a tick box minister" and that she is a "radical minister" is mind blowing. Last year Margaret paid £700 in media training... Money well spent then....
If you are a constituent then I feel sorry for you. Only recently Margaret Ritchie campaigned for Ballykinler primary school not to close. What happened? The education authorities closed it. Also Margaret Ritchie and the SDLP campaigned to keep St John's nursing home open. What happened? The health authorities are going to close it within a year or so.
The Roads service also get an easy time as Margaret will not ask them to do anything to improve the roads and infrastructure. In Bangor and around Lisburn all main roads are 2 lanes each way and mostly dual carriageways. Is there any in South Down? No. In towns like Downpatrick, Newcastle and Castlewellan it can take 10 minutes to get from one end of a town to the other.
Regarding the Health service again very little representation is made to do anything and when it is health chiefs do very little. For the past 20 years there has been a call for a new hospital and now a new one has been built thanks to the tremendous effort of the Down Health Committee. Then we come to local council. There are no adequate facilities for anyone, the streets and footpaths are littered with rubbish and what is done? Your guess is as good as mine. There is also a rise in Anti-Social Behaviour and blue bag culture. Where is Margaret Ritchie on a Friday and Saturday night when there is attacks on residents and the emergency services? Sitting at home counting her money!!!Only a couple of weeks ago when Newcastle and other areas were badly flooded all Margaret could do on the radio was to praise the Housing Executive. Maybe if the housing executive and other government agencies didn?t build so close to flood plains and overload the drain system this may have been either prevented or not as bad. Also if you are a civil servant tell me this. Did Margaret or the SDLP get any civil service jobs in her constituency? The Bain report was out yesterday and Margaret's Constituency was not mentioned. Yes jobs are going to Newry but who is their MLA? It quite clearly is not Margaret Ritchie.
This list is not endless.
In my book this is sheer downright discontempt for people living in that area. How can Margaret be happy with her performance? Margaret described a response from OFMDFM regarding the failure of the executive to meet as timid and insipid. I think that sums up her performance in general. I hope when the Policing and Justice Minister is chosen the SDLP will be skipped over. The SDLP are providing opposition for opposition sake. If Mark Durkan and Margaret Ritchie had gold to sell they would probably sell it at rock bottom prices. No amount of slick salesmanship can obscure the fact that there is no substance in anything the SDLP say. At this rate at the next MLA elections I may throw my hat in to the ring and run as an MLA. Let?s face it with competition like Margaret Ritchie I am home and hosed.
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ROTFLMFAOAU!
The only things you have right in that rant is that I am from Newry and work in the public sector! I know the Downpatrick area very well and yes the infrastructure there is very poor. That is a legacy of the railways being shut down in the 1950's and the fact that the former Down County Council refused to spend any money on roads. Ritchie has been a Minister for what? 16 months? Yes plenty of time to overcome years of under investment in transport and other public services! Are the social problems in South Down any worse than in any other areas? Is "blue bag culture" unique to Downpatrick???!!! It's not the fault of Ritchie or Mc'Grady that the McRory reforms created a highly centralised and unaccountable civil service which local councils could do little to influence! As for civil service jobs, ever seen Rathkeltair House? Headquarters of the local Roads and Planning Divisions and has a very busy car tax office, probably over 200 people work there! And if you'd bothered to read the Bain report you'd see that Downpatrick was mentioned as a location for "second phase" relocation, one of the objectives of the Bain Report was to move jobs into locations that currently are under represented in that regard and as Downpatrick is already an important administrative centre it wasn't considered for the first phase. Regarding the flooding, Ritchie is minister for the Housing Executive, one of the golden rules for any Minister is that you do not criticise your own Department in public! Ritchie has to work with NIHE to get her priorities for social housing into action, she is not going to achieve this with a Department which she would have publicly criticised! And believe me, Margaret Ritchie was very critical of Planning Service over types and locations of development approved in South Down, but as a minister she has to observe various niceities.
It's pretty obvious that you don't like the SDLP, that's your business, I'm not a member and I don't care particular much for them but don't expect people to take you seriously when you are obviously so biased!! And I hope that you do exercise your democratic right to stand as a candidate in the next Assembly elections, but I don't think Rainbow George will be too worried let alone Ritchie and Ruane!
Bye! Bye! And thanks for making me laugh so much!
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Where and who did Ritchie work for before she became an MLA? She was a researcher for McGrady. Also Rathkeltair House is due to close in 2 years with all the jobs being sent back to Belfast. When will the second wave of the Bain report be implemented? The first report has to be deferred to an executive that is not and won't meet. The second report is at least 10 years away. As for biased you clearly dont read what I say about Jim Allister!! The people of South Down have a choice has to who they want to represent them. An underachiever or a foreigner?
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I assume you're referring to Workplace 2010? Well that building is probably going to be sold off under that but actually most of the jobs there such as Planning Service and Roads Service are due to go to the new super councils and not "back to Belfast". Or is this another little fantasy of yours to go with "DUP to win Foyle or South Down (although to be fair if people here judged candidates on ability and not sectarian labels Jim Wells would win that seat by about 15,000 votes as he is the most capable representative in the area, but we are where we are!) You also mentioned Ballykinlar Primary School. Who is the Education Minister? Where does she represent? Do you not think that if she would have wanted to keep that school open so she could get the credit for it and put one over on Ritchie? Perhaps the reason why it closed is because like so many other rural schools there sadly aren't the numbers to keep it viable? A sad but necessary decision?
And yes I do read what you say about Jim Allister, and I would actually agree with a lot of it! But let me, as someone who follows a lot of political blogs and discussion boards give you a bit of friendly advice, get your facts straight before you post and don't make statements which are factually incorrect or are unrealistic. Good luck to you and goodbye!
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Stormontspy. I was too agressive in that last post, my apologies. But please understand why I was. If you work in the civil service ATM then you are worried about if your job is going to exist in 18 months time let alone where you'll be based, and then you read some guy on the internet saying "you're being sent to Belfast" if you worked in Rathkeltair House how would you feel about that? Please try and see things from their point of view.
Regards
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I generally enjoy the blogs on this site and the banter with sormontspy is often quite good. But he has really let himself down with comments about voting for foreigners in South Down. I am afraid that is a sectarian comment.
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Garethm2
I understand how you feel about your job. I am not a civil servant but I have family and friends who are. Yes Workplace 2010 is happening in 2010 but I think it is the biggest joke ever. I think it will cost the tax payer more than save it. According to recent NIPSA reports Workplace 2010 and different Strategic Business Reviews are nothing more than a tool to cut jobs. The Housing Executive is a recent example of where jobs must be lost. Instead of running down the workers the senior civil servants would be better to clear off. Only on Monday in a written answer it was revealed there was 1474 grade 7's and above in the civil service. With a grade 7 earning £40,000 before bonuses that is a wages bill of £59 million. Taking into account there is Grade 5's and others the wages bill must be £100 million. If you are an Admin Officer then you are probably waiting on your back pay. Any word on it? It seems that Nigel Dodds, his department and the treasury are fighting over who should pay it. If it was paid now then lower paid workers could provide more for their families this winter. Going back to workplace 2010 in these economic climate buildings will be sold around 30% lower than its normal price. In the past 2 years local newspapers in the Down Area ran articles to say that Rathkeltair House was to close and the jobs would be sent back to Belfast. If it is not how do you know? The likes of car tax was going to be continually processed at Post Offices but as the Government are closing down Post Offices left right and centre so this may not happen. Looking through old written answers last year it was revealed that Rathkeltair House costs £73,000 a year to maintain it and since 1999 the Government has spent £249,000 on modernisation. These figures were listed under buildings that will transfer over under Workplace 2010.With that in mind Rathkeltair house may stay open but nothing has been approved by the Executive has again they are not meeting. Also what about the SSA and DEL offices? Also the Fire and Police stations along with the Down Council. There are plans to move them to Downshire site in Downpatrick. Was Rathkeltair house not deemed to be unsafe in parts as next door to it is a large shopping complex were millions were spent to relay the foundations. Whenever there was heavy rain Rathkeltair house flooded along with other parts as the area is near enough marsh land. In August the leisure centre across the road flooded. Are my facts right? I do hope politicians get their act together so civil servants do not face uncertainty. The lowest paid workers get the toughest jobs especially where there is front line contact like benefit offices. Anybody who has worked in one will probably have horror stories of where they have been verbally and physically abused. How would Peter Robinson and others know how they feel? He can?t as he has lived a charm life. In case you think I am attached to any party I am not. I read a lot of newspapers, internet sites, written answers and Hansard from both the NI Assembly and Parliament in London. Also I am not Rainbow George!!! I agree with all parties on certain issues and I disagree on certain issues. For example I agree with Michael McGimpsey for replacing the Ambulances but I disagree with him on cutting ambulance hours down. I am just looking at a local newspaper for South Down and there are 2 letters calling for political support over ambulance cuts.
Now regarding Jim Allister do you think he should declare his expenses!!!!!!
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Comment 14
Let me clarify my comments. How by stating that Catriona Ruane is a foreigner is sectarian? If Gerry Adams was living in Belfast, representing Louth and in the Irish Government what would you say? How can anyone represent an area that they dont live in or work in? As a minister Catriona would not have time to go to South Down on a weekly basis. Does she have a constituency office?
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