Blogsitting - I'm back
| 11:29 UK time, Friday, 17 July 2009
Greetings all! It's Martina Purdy again - it's taken months but I've finally driven Mark Devenport out of the office for a well-earned rest. So you will have me to contend with for much of the summer.
First talking point - An Bord Snip - the Republic's cost cutting body - has put the spotlight on North-South bodies. And it appears that the tourism budget may be getting the snip. There's a proposal to save 12 million Euros from the Tourism Marketing Fund which is administered by the cross-border body, Tourism Ireland. It seems this is a matter for the finance ministers is Belfast and Dublin, as well as the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment and presumably also the Executive and the North South Ministerial Council. So it could be a while before there's agreement on this....
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~09~RS~)
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This is exactly why an "all-island economy" would NOT work.
Co-operattion between Northern Ireland and the Republic is great and all and I agree some areas we are better working together on than seperate. However if one part of the island suffers more than the other, that part might drag the other down.
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Hey Martina,
firstly, welcome back! I'm glad we'll still be able to get our political news and musings while Mark "Mr Beaver" Devenport is away :)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markdevenport/2009/07/a_toxic_shock.html
Does anyone know anything further about the 15-20 billion toxic debt issue here that could be dealt with by NAMA ( National Asset Management Agency )?
Patrick
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Hi Martina,
It is nice to see you back and nice to see Mark taking a well earned break.
It is interesting to hear that a House of Lords committee which helps decide the level of public funding in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has declared that the Barnett formula should be scrapped as Scotland's needs were not as great as other parts of the UK.
I wonder whether the Tories when they get in next May accept this report or bin. At least with the link up between the Tories and the UUP, Northern Ireland should be ok.....
Stormontspy
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Welcome Back to the "service", Martina!!!!
I hope you bring us many excellent blogs during the time of absence of Mark Devenport.....
-Dennis Junior-
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