Rewriting the Agreement
I'm just back from the Ulster Hall where the First Minister made a speech to the new Evolve group, which suggested not so much an evolution more a revolution in the way matters are handled at Stormont.
Picking up on the concern about deadlocks and mutual vetoes which dominated the "Beyond Westminster" report broadcast at the weekend on Radio 4, Peter Robinson is calling for an end to the designation system and a move towards a 65% weighted majority vote. That has always been implicit in the DUP's preference for a voluntary coalition, but the DUP leader has just made it a bit more explicit now.
If my maths are right (and it never was my best subject) 65% of the current 108 member assembly equals just over 70. So you would need 71 MLAs to agree an initiative. Under the current numbers this would remove Sinn Fein's veto and also (unless they took a couple of defections) the DUP's veto.
This kind of rewriting of the Good Friday Agreement isn't going to happen overnight. The Robinson speech didn't say such a change was a precondition for devolving justice, but he did say he thought it was equally important.
In the shorter term he is proposing a shift in how business is done in the Executive, suggesting that SDLP and Ulster Unionist ministers will be briefed at an earlier stage and even that some decisions in the future should be unanimous.
There were no nationalist ministers at the Evolve event, but Sir Reg Empey (perhaps somewhat disgruntled about a few barbs thrown at his Tory UUP experiment) described the Robinson speech as "a cry for help". Sir Reg is sympathetic to the talk of reforming the system but thinks the First Minister might be trying to spread responsibility within the Executive just to ensure he isn't the only one whohas to answer for difficult decisions about policing and justice.
I'm 
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Mark:
I think that whole idea of rewriting the agreement is not acceptable, but, they may have to revised the text of it...Instead of renegotiations...
=Dennis Junior=
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Robinson has the right recipe in mind pity he didn't supply or refused to supply these well known ingredients back in 1998 and indeed onwards. Now he is the head chef he has reduced the temperature and wants to be the one to cook up a perfect brew.
So the "cry for help" is probably correct, it would a be a very wholesome endeavour by the DUP if it wasn't actually being advocated by the DUP and we really didn't know them by their past exploits. Exploits consisting of spoiling the broth by overheating everything to spill over so as to suit themselves because they had the aggressive personnel to win after the many political fallouts.
In the shorter term he is proposing a shift in how business is done in the Executive, suggesting that SDLP and Ulster Unionist ministers will be briefed at an earlier stage and even that some decisions in the future should be unanimous.
I remember the Brawl in the Hall and a certain DUP that didn't take their exective seats once or twice, but still, I suppose it has to be welcomed...
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What cry for help?
The DUP was the only party of the major 5 who opposed the GFA on the basis that it was a pathetic political system. ( in addition to the unionist issues)
Only since the UUP and SDLP have been reduced to sideline sniping have they enterained the idea that the system might be flawed. The Alliance after bending over backwards...sorry redesignating as unionist....
have also now decided this system doesn't suit. time to move on they tell us.
Well i attended many no rallies in 1997/8 and as many times as i heard paisley say trimble was selling us out....i heard bob mccartney or peter robinson inform us how poorly we would be governed, ministerial fiefdoms, toothless committees, no collective responsibility of executive members, deadlock. etc
While i am pleased that the UUP, SDLP and Alliance have changed their position it is evident that Sinn Fein still have to. So lets all get behind the DUP and see through their vision for better government!
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Mark,
It appears that the DUP have moved completely into election mode. At today's speech Peter may well have had Jim Allister's name on every line of his speech. Peter Robinson told everyone from 1998 that the Good Friday agreement was wrong. If that is the case, why is he carrying out the work of it 11 years (I suspect the pay cheque has a big input).
Last year when he let Sinn Fein rule the roost for 5 months with no Executive meetings he did nothing about it (I suspect the pay cheque had a big input).
Also today's speech was meant to be a Peter Robinson charade. Yet we discover that this speech has to be signed off by Sinn Fein (yep you guessed it, the pay cheque was in his head). Does any other country leader have to do that?
To sum up Mark it is about time Peter Robinson and the DUP had the courage to do their own thing or be quite.
Stormontspy
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In my first post: I should've wrote, that the parties have the right to make amendents to the Agreement.....
=Dennis Junior=
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Dennis Junior,
Why should the parties have the right to make an amendment to any agreement? Once you buy a car or house do you go back and make a change? No you dont so catch yourself on. If they were allowed to make changes then there would be no Government.
Stormontspy
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