Browse content similar to 16/06/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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specially extended programme, we assess the impact of the G8 summit | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
with live interviews from Fermanagh - including the Secretary of State, | :01:16. | :01:26. | |
:01:26. | :01:26. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2320 seconds | :01:26. | :40:06. | |
Hello and welcome to Sunday Politics in Northern Ireland. | :40:06. | :40:10. | |
Big events here are a bit like buses - you wait around for ages and then | :40:10. | :40:14. | |
two come along at once. It's the eve of the G8 summit, of course, and the | :40:14. | :40:18. | |
focus is on County Fermanagh, where world leaders arrive tomorrow. And | :40:18. | :40:21. | |
in the midst of all the fuss, the First and Deputy First Ministers | :40:21. | :40:24. | |
have signed off on an economic package with the Prime Minister. But | :40:24. | :40:28. | |
what is it worth and is it enough to make a difference? I'll be talking | :40:28. | :40:30. | |
live to the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, who's in | :40:30. | :40:35. | |
Enniskillen. And not everyone is rolling out the | :40:35. | :40:38. | |
red carpet for the G8 leaders. Protesters in Belfast signalled | :40:38. | :40:41. | |
their opposition to capitalism in one protest, while the focus was on | :40:41. | :40:45. | |
world hunger in a separate demonstration in Botanic Gardens. | :40:45. | :40:48. | |
I'll be talking to one of the headline acts, the singer Baaba | :40:48. | :40:53. | |
Maal. With me throughout the programme | :40:53. | :40:56. | |
with a view on everything G8 and more, my guests are Deirdre Heenan | :40:56. | :41:04. | |
and Rick Wilford. And we start with the G8 summit, | :41:04. | :41:07. | |
where some of the most powerful world leaders will start gathering | :41:07. | :41:09. | |
tomorrow. Prime ministers, presidents and at least one | :41:09. | :41:12. | |
chancellor will meet in the Lough Erne Resort for a two-day summit. | :41:12. | :41:14. | |
Leaders from Germany, Canada, Italy, the UK, USA, Japan, Russia and | :41:14. | :41:17. | |
France will discuss a range of issues and our political editor, | :41:17. | :41:27. | |
:41:27. | :41:31. | ||
Mark Devenport, is there. What is the mood like this morning? Fairly | :41:31. | :41:37. | |
relaxed as far as I can tell. There is an obvious and substantial | :41:37. | :41:41. | |
security presence. I came here late last night before midnight and was | :41:41. | :41:46. | |
stopped by a security checkpoint on the road coming in from Belfast. We | :41:46. | :41:50. | |
are being passed on a regular basis by integrative or police patrol | :41:50. | :41:55. | |
boats and if I turn around in every direction I look I can see police | :41:55. | :42:05. | |
:42:05. | :42:07. | ||
land Rovers police officers. So it is substantial but relaxed. We are | :42:07. | :42:11. | |
expecting large congregations of people today, not all to do with the | :42:11. | :42:19. | |
G8. There is a service going on at the Cathedral which is related to | :42:19. | :42:23. | |
the G8 but will be attended by a mob of clergymen including the | :42:23. | :42:29. | |
Archbishop of York and various local dignitaries. Have you managed to | :42:30. | :42:33. | |
talk to local people? Are they fairly relaxed or some of them | :42:33. | :42:43. | |
:42:43. | :42:46. | ||
frustrated at the locked and you have described? -- the lock down? | :42:46. | :42:51. | |
Well, local business people are making the most of it. One of them | :42:51. | :42:56. | |
is selling a series of ice creams modelled on the world leaders. Local | :42:56. | :43:01. | |
takeaway is doing quite good business. And one man involved in | :43:01. | :43:04. | |
haulage and shipping would like an event like this every week because | :43:04. | :43:08. | |
he is taking good business this week in terms of moving in some of the | :43:08. | :43:13. | |
gear that is being used for the summit. Politically, what can this | :43:13. | :43:21. | |
summit achieve? Well, they have outlined this agenda in terms of | :43:21. | :43:29. | |
tax, greater transparency of tax in relation to earnings and the | :43:29. | :43:33. | |
extraction of minerals in developing countries, improved trade deals. But | :43:33. | :43:37. | |
what is also looming over all of this of course is the issue of | :43:37. | :43:42. | |
Syria, and there is this meeting of David Cameron and Ballard make Putin | :43:42. | :43:52. | |
:43:52. | :43:54. | ||
today. -- and Putin today. For Northern Ireland, they will be | :43:54. | :43:58. | |
wanting to advertise the economic opportunities here and to ensure | :43:58. | :44:02. | |
that particularly the US and indeed other countries remain committed to | :44:02. | :44:08. | |
the peace process as it moves forward. Thank you. Hopefully we | :44:08. | :44:12. | |
will hear from him a bit later in the programme. | :44:12. | :44:14. | |
We'll hear from the Secretary of State, who's in Enniskillen, very | :44:14. | :44:18. | |
soon, but first, one issue that is certain to be on the summit agenda | :44:18. | :44:21. | |
is tax avoidance. It has dominated the news in recent weeks and has | :44:21. | :44:24. | |
attracted attention on both sides of the Atlantic. There's also been much | :44:24. | :44:27. | |
focus on Dublin after it was revealed that large, multi-national | :44:27. | :44:29. | |
companies are using Irish operations to save billions in taxes. Our | :44:29. | :44:39. | |
:44:39. | :44:53. | ||
political reporter, Stephen Walker, administration here in Dublin, used | :44:53. | :44:57. | |
tax rates and incentives to attract foreign investment. The generations, | :44:57. | :45:03. | |
they were the rules of the economic game. But in recent months, stories | :45:03. | :45:07. | |
about tax avoidance have changed the atmosphere, and now tax reform is on | :45:07. | :45:14. | |
the international agenda. Last month's US Senate hearing put Dublin | :45:14. | :45:20. | |
on the world map for the wrong reasons. Ireland was labelled a tax | :45:20. | :45:24. | |
haven after representatives of Apple admitted they had negotiated a deal | :45:24. | :45:30. | |
in the 1980s to set up an Irish operation. Recent figures are | :45:30. | :45:34. | |
revealing. Apple operations international made a profit of 30 | :45:34. | :45:39. | |
billion over three years but paid no income taxes over that time. Another | :45:39. | :45:44. | |
Apple sales international made 74 billion in profit but paid only a | :45:44. | :45:51. | |
tiny fraction of that in tax. Apple insist they have done nothing wrong. | :45:51. | :45:58. | |
We pay all the taxes we owe, every single dollar. Ireland's local | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
bridge and tax of 12.5% has been an incentive for foreign investors, and | :46:03. | :46:09. | |
it is clear other European countries have looked at Dublin would envy. So | :46:09. | :46:13. | |
that annoys other countries because maybe we attract their factories, | :46:13. | :46:19. | |
businesses, banks. On top of that, there is the worry about what is | :46:19. | :46:23. | |
called transfer pricing, that big multinational companies can in a | :46:23. | :46:27. | |
sense that the prices for the things they buy and sell in such a place as | :46:27. | :46:33. | |
to put their profits into particular locations. Moving profits to take | :46:33. | :46:37. | |
advantage of lower tax rates concerns some at Stormont who feel | :46:37. | :46:44. | |
the Republic's game if the UK's loss. My view is the British | :46:44. | :46:48. | |
government does have some leveraged on the Irish government back, | :46:48. | :46:53. | |
because they have made a 7.5 billion loan, and that is a lot of | :46:53. | :46:58. | |
leveraged. They should be saying to the government, you cannot stage tax | :46:58. | :47:06. | |
revenue from us in this way. -- cannot steal. In Dublin, they say | :47:07. | :47:11. | |
the loan was not related to changing tax rates. But are they exploiting | :47:11. | :47:17. | |
the rules? What of the allegation of Ireland becoming a tax haven? | :47:17. | :47:22. | |
it is wrong, and it is put out there by countries who I suspect are | :47:22. | :47:27. | |
looking at the success this country is making. It is not Irish tax law | :47:27. | :47:34. | |
that is at stake here, it is other jurisdictions with their tax law. | :47:34. | :47:39. | |
But there are those who insist that island now has a reputation as a tax | :47:39. | :47:45. | |
haven. This week, Richard Boyd Barrett will be in Fermanagh | :47:45. | :47:52. | |
protesting. I think it is outrageous. Our economy is | :47:52. | :47:59. | |
outrageous. Now we discover that the Irish government policy is to | :47:59. | :48:02. | |
further encourage and expand this sector at the same time that | :48:02. | :48:08. | |
ordinary workers and citizens are being actually Chris vied with cuts, | :48:08. | :48:12. | |
austerity and employment, while these vulture companies are making | :48:12. | :48:22. | |
:48:22. | :48:23. | ||
fortunes. -- are being crucified. Finding answers will be difficult, | :48:23. | :48:28. | |
but it is clear there is a mood for greater tax transparency. People | :48:28. | :48:32. | |
listening to this will think, goodness me, the taxman pursues me | :48:32. | :48:41. | |
sometimes for a few hundred pounds. I think we need to address this. | :48:41. | :48:47. | |
This week, money will take centre stage. When it comes to tax, G8 | :48:48. | :48:51. | |
leaders know they have a worldwide problem to address. Finding some | :48:51. | :48:57. | |
harmony is the key. Stephen Walker reporting. While the | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
spotlight will be on County Fermanagh for the next few days, on | :49:00. | :49:03. | |
Friday all eyes were on Downing Street as details of that long | :49:03. | :49:05. | |
awaited economic package were unveiled. David Cameron described | :49:05. | :49:08. | |
the agreement as a symbol of our ambitious vision for Northern | :49:08. | :49:10. | |
Ireland: a genuinely shared society fulfilling its economic potential. | :49:10. | :49:13. | |
So, can the momentum of G8, combined with the economic pact, deliver | :49:13. | :49:18. | |
lasting benefits? The Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, joins me | :49:18. | :49:28. | |
:49:28. | :49:32. | ||
from Enniskillen. Thank you for joining us. Can I pick -- pick up on | :49:32. | :49:36. | |
this comment. The Republic of Ireland government has been stealing | :49:36. | :49:44. | |
the UK tax revenues. Do you agree? think what the current controversy | :49:44. | :49:48. | |
around Irish tax rules illustrates is that David Cameron was right to | :49:48. | :49:54. | |
put on the agenda for the G8 how we ensure, together, as an | :49:54. | :49:58. | |
international community, that big business pays its fair share of tax. | :49:58. | :50:03. | |
It is not necessarily the tax system in Ireland that is a problem, it is | :50:03. | :50:07. | |
the way big business is manipulating the international rules on tax to | :50:07. | :50:12. | |
avoid paying any tax at all. We can only resolve that if we have | :50:12. | :50:17. | |
international action, and that is why it is so important that David | :50:17. | :50:22. | |
Cameron has championed this issue and why he was right to put it on | :50:22. | :50:30. | |
the agenda this week. Sammy Wilson once the UK government to raise this | :50:30. | :50:33. | |
issue with the Republic of Ireland administration sooner rather than | :50:33. | :50:42. | |
later. Will you do that? Will David Cameron do that? Well, the UK | :50:42. | :50:44. | |
government has wanted to engage with a whole range of international | :50:44. | :50:50. | |
partners as to how we find a solution. We firmly believe that in | :50:50. | :50:53. | |
local corporation tax rates and we'd stood up for the Republic of | :50:53. | :50:59. | |
Ireland's right to have those tax rate in face -- in the face of | :50:59. | :51:05. | |
Europe's wish to abolish those. In reality, it is the system which | :51:05. | :51:07. | |
enables big business across the world to aggressively avoid paying | :51:07. | :51:12. | |
tax which is the problem here. We really think big business needs to | :51:12. | :51:16. | |
pay its fair share of tax alongside all of those who go out to work hard | :51:16. | :51:21. | |
for a living and cannot afford a aggressive avoidance schemes to | :51:21. | :51:25. | |
reduce their bills. Let's talk about Friday's economic package. You said | :51:25. | :51:29. | |
it would help to build lasting peace and prosperity. How, precisely, will | :51:29. | :51:36. | |
it do that? We believe that the economic package agreed on Friday | :51:36. | :51:40. | |
will help as we balance the Northern Ireland economy. It will see the | :51:40. | :51:43. | |
executive and the government working more closely together than ever | :51:43. | :51:47. | |
before on a whole range of issues which will help bring jobs and | :51:47. | :51:55. | |
prosperity to Northern Ireland. That is a crucial way to underpin | :51:55. | :51:58. | |
political stability in Northern Ireland, and the package also seeks | :51:58. | :52:04. | |
to support the announcements already been eight -- already made in recent | :52:04. | :52:08. | |
weeks about a shared society in driving forward with a | :52:08. | :52:11. | |
reconciliation. People are wondering if there is anything particularly | :52:11. | :52:17. | |
new. There has been a lot of talk about special area status, but the | :52:17. | :52:21. | |
statement says we can retain 100% of what we already have, so that is | :52:21. | :52:27. | |
effectively no change. That is a very significant decision and it was | :52:28. | :52:32. | |
actually very hard to persuade my Whitehall hot -- colleagues that | :52:32. | :52:37. | |
that would be possible. Significant changes in the EU rules on these | :52:37. | :52:41. | |
matters means it will be difficult to retain hundred percent coverage | :52:41. | :52:45. | |
for Northern Ireland. This package is recognition that special | :52:45. | :52:50. | |
circumstances justify that special treatment, and it is only through | :52:50. | :52:54. | |
hard work that we've been able to persuade my Whitehall colleagues | :52:54. | :52:59. | |
that Northern Ireland should retain that status. The First Minister said | :52:59. | :53:02. | |
that for him the game changer remains the dev elution of | :53:02. | :53:10. | |
corporation tax. That is not in this package. What the package does | :53:10. | :53:15. | |
contain is a further indication of the way forward. We have clearly | :53:15. | :53:20. | |
said that although the decision in principle will wait until the Autumn | :53:20. | :53:23. | |
statement in 2014, we're going to continue with technical work to | :53:23. | :53:27. | |
prepare for a possible depletion of corporation tax, and the baggage | :53:27. | :53:34. | |
confirms that if the PM's decision is yes in principle, we will proceed | :53:34. | :53:36. | |
with a stand-alone bill to legislate in this Parliament on corporation | :53:36. | :53:42. | |
tax. You are joining us from what looks like a very beautiful | :53:42. | :53:48. | |
Fermanagh. The world leaders arrive tomorrow and there is a lot of | :53:48. | :53:58. | |
:53:58. | :54:03. | ||
anticipation. What do you think -- to develop how far Northern | :54:03. | :54:06. | |
Ireland has come. It demonstrates that Northern Ireland is a great | :54:07. | :54:10. | |
place to do business and come on holiday. We can make sure the rest | :54:11. | :54:14. | |
of the world knows how far we have moved since the peace agreement and | :54:14. | :54:19. | |
the political settlement. Thank you very much indeed for joining us will | :54:19. | :54:25. | |
stop Theresa Villiers there, live from Enniskillen. With me now, | :54:25. | :54:29. | |
Deirdre Heenan and Rick Wilford. What do you think G8 could mean for | :54:29. | :54:34. | |
Northern Ireland? In the short term, it is going to mean that local | :54:34. | :54:39. | |
businesses down and Fermanagh are going to do very well. Some already | :54:39. | :54:47. | |
are. The G8's platform is the globe, so in that respect, it is not going | :54:47. | :54:51. | |
to be anything other than short-term gains from hosting -- hosting the | :54:51. | :54:58. | |
conference. It is ironic that the venue for the conference is a hotel | :54:58. | :55:04. | |
which does not chime with the austere times we are confronting. I | :55:04. | :55:07. | |
don't think the G8 conference in itself is going to have any lasting | :55:07. | :55:13. | |
effect. Deirdre, some businesses are going to do well out of it, but | :55:13. | :55:17. | |
others are suffering, and complaining about suffering quite | :55:17. | :55:23. | |
badly, certainly in the short term. How do you see at? It's going to be | :55:23. | :55:28. | |
a balance, when you host something on this scale. That goes with the | :55:28. | :55:33. | |
territory. What is different about Enniskillen and Northern Ireland | :55:33. | :55:37. | |
being chosen is the perception of Northern Ireland. 20 years ago, this | :55:37. | :55:41. | |
could not have happened. This is an opportunity to think about us in a | :55:41. | :55:45. | |
different way. When it was at Gleneagles, the location didn't | :55:46. | :55:50. | |
really feature. In Northern Ireland, it is all about location. We need to | :55:50. | :55:58. | |
put our best foot forward and embrace that. What about the view | :55:58. | :56:01. | |
that Northern Ireland is stealing tax revenue from the rest of the UK? | :56:01. | :56:07. | |
What do you make of that? It is very emotive language, and it does | :56:07. | :56:11. | |
nothing to help. To accuse the Labour government of stealing money | :56:11. | :56:16. | |
from the UK Treasury... That is an helpful, to say the least. The | :56:16. | :56:21. | |
response that Theresa Villiers made referred more generally to the UK | :56:21. | :56:26. | |
public's dysfunctional tax regime and the structure of the global | :56:26. | :56:29. | |
economic system. It is dysfunctional, and the issue | :56:29. | :56:39. | |
highlights the disparities between different tax regimes, and the kind | :56:39. | :56:42. | |
of drive to try and secure some kind of harmonisation of tax systems and | :56:42. | :56:47. | |
more transparency. The tree, the tax package announced on Friday - is | :56:47. | :56:57. | |
that helpful? We are almost seeing a repackaging of existing things. We | :56:57. | :57:02. | |
have to welcomed it. It will make us a more attractive place for trade | :57:02. | :57:06. | |
and investment. I would like more detail on the infrastructure of | :57:06. | :57:09. | |
Northern Ireland, and how we are going to address the key issues of | :57:09. | :57:16. | |
infrastructure. Thank you very much. Not everyone is happy to welcome the | :57:17. | :57:20. | |
world's most powerful leaders. Unionists and campaign groups led a | :57:21. | :57:24. | |
march in Belfast city centre yesterday, challenging the agenda of | :57:24. | :57:34. | |
:57:34. | :57:38. | ||
the G8 leaders. The Fairer World Campaign wants... Thousands gathered | :57:38. | :57:46. | |
for the Big IF Belfast concert. One of the performance at the events was | :57:46. | :57:50. | |
the Senegalese musician and Oxfam Ambassador Baaba Maal. Thank you | :57:50. | :57:55. | |
very much for joining us. Did yesterday's concert achieve what you | :57:55. | :58:05. | |
:58:05. | :58:05. | ||
hoped it would? I think so. We played music, and showed people what | :58:05. | :58:11. | |
we think is a link for what we are standing up for. Especially, there | :58:11. | :58:16. | |
was lots of young people. They are the future. We started this campaign | :58:16. | :58:22. | |
since January. We see it growing up little by little. I think it is | :58:22. | :58:28. | |
really important to talk about these issues. We must cut the hunger. | :58:28. | :58:35. | |
made a visit to West Africa recently, to your home country of | :58:36. | :58:39. | |
Senegal and other countries. How much difference have you seen on the | :58:39. | :58:44. | |
ground, and what do G8 leaders need to take on board? Coming from | :58:44. | :58:51. | |
there, I was not aware on how people are suffering. Senegal, Mauritania, | :58:52. | :58:56. | |
Burkina Faso, it is all similar in those country. People are not ready | :58:56. | :59:04. | |
to face that. I visited families where, for example, the woman was | :59:04. | :59:08. | |
the centre of raising the children. I asked them about education and | :59:08. | :59:13. | |
other issues, and they said they were not interested in that. They | :59:13. | :59:17. | |
were more interested in how to feed their children and take care of | :59:17. | :59:21. | |
themselves. That is something that is happening. World leaders need to | :59:21. | :59:28. | |
be aware of that. They have to fix that. I'm sure they can fix it. | :59:28. | :59:32. | |
global ambassador for Oxfam, you have made many public announcements. | :59:32. | :59:36. | |
You feel there is no excuse for hunger anywhere in the world in the | :59:36. | :59:41. | |
20th century. Of course. There is enough food in the world to feed | :59:41. | :59:47. | |
everyone everywhere. Especially when you travel in countries in West | :59:48. | :59:54. | |
Africa, you see big rivers, like the Senegalese River. You see good | :59:54. | :00:00. | |
agricultural land. But we don't have any support. People are ready to | :00:00. | :00:09. | |
work on agriculture. If you ask what our leaders are doing - I hope, with | :00:09. | :00:14. | |
the G8, people will be convinced to take action. What would you like to | :00:14. | :00:20. | |
see this G8 summit in Fermanagh achieved? I would like people to | :00:20. | :00:23. | |
think about all the issues that matter in the regions of the world | :00:23. | :00:31. | |
like Africa. By taking care about that, people can bring back some | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
profit to invest in developing countries. There is no way we can | :00:36. | :00:41. | |
make the balance come. We talk about peace every time, but there is a | :00:41. | :00:48. | |
proverb of Bob Marley who says, a hungry man is an angry man. We need | :00:48. | :00:53. | |
to feed people. Baaba Maal, thank you very much for coming in. Let's | :00:53. | :00:58. | |
hear more from Deirdre and Rick. What do you make of the | :00:58. | :01:03. | |
aspirations, the demands, of all of the campaigners who have been | :01:03. | :01:10. | |
agitating -- agitating ahead of the G8 summit? Do you think this will | :01:10. | :01:15. | |
have an effect inside the conference centre? I think they have to try. | :01:15. | :01:19. | |
With the protests, we had a lot of talk of huge protests that didn't | :01:19. | :01:26. | |
materialise. You have to ask, was that because people don't care about | :01:26. | :01:29. | |
issues like hunger and economic development, or are there too many | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
issues for them to separate out? They may want to be involved in | :01:33. | :01:38. | |
that, but they may not want to be involved in anti-capitalist march | :01:38. | :01:44. | |
is. Or do people think protests are pointless? In Northern Ireland, we | :01:44. | :01:50. | |
see the usual suspects protesting. And that turns people off. They say, | :01:50. | :01:54. | |
I do not want to be involved or aligned with those people, so I will | :01:54. | :01:57. | |
get my message through in other ways, such as attending a | :01:57. | :02:05. | |
conference. Yesterday's concert was anything but a damp squib, because | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
about 10,000 people came to the Botanic Gardens. The message was | :02:09. | :02:14. | |
pretty loud and clear. Explicit, in terms of tackling hunger across the | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
world. It is a chronic problem. It is difficult to explain. 50 years | :02:19. | :02:25. | |
ago, John Kennedy said, we have the capacity and the means to cure the | :02:25. | :02:31. | |
world of global hunger. What we need is the will. 50 years, we are still | :02:31. | :02:36. | |
waiting for that will to be realised. On the protest front, | :02:36. | :02:43. | |
every G8 summit is attended by protests and demonstrations, some | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
incredibly violent, such as in Seattle. Others are more passive or | :02:48. | :02:53. | |
Pacific, as they were yesterday. It always brings together a range of | :02:53. | :02:59. | |
organisations, each with a different focus. It is an umbrella movement. | :02:59. | :03:06. | |
Some are anti-state or anti-system. Others are pro-food. It captures a | :03:06. | :03:11. | |
wide range of interests. More from you later. Despite reassuring words | :03:11. | :03:16. | |
from our political leaders, not everyone is convinced the G8 summit | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
can deliver long-term economic benefits. There's been criticism of | :03:19. | :03:24. | |
the disruption it has been causing in Fermanagh itself. The Sinn Fein | :03:24. | :03:30. | |
MLA, Phil Flanagan, says any economic boost is likely to be short | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
lived. Are you warming at all to the notion of the G8 summit as it gets | :03:34. | :03:44. | |
closer? The G8 summit is upon us now. It is the big topic of | :03:44. | :03:49. | |
conversation here, over this last week or so. The attitude of most | :03:49. | :03:54. | |
people in Fermanagh that I have spoken to is one of concern at the | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
disproportionate response from the police and the security services to | :03:58. | :04:04. | |
the G8 taking place. Every single road, every layby, has a police car | :04:04. | :04:10. | |
with heavy machine guns. A road between Fermanagh and Enniskillen is | :04:10. | :04:17. | |
closed for a month. When you say disproportionate... Whether you like | :04:17. | :04:21. | |
it or not, these are eight of the most powerful people on this planet | :04:21. | :04:25. | |
and they have to be properly protected. All it takes is one | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
individual to set the cat amongst the pigeons. Why don't you accept | :04:28. | :04:35. | |
that? I accept that, but this is the middle of June, and the road is | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
already closed. The road has been closed for a fortnight. It is | :04:40. | :04:47. | |
completely over the top. I have children in school in Enniskillen | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
before eight o'clock -- you have to be in any skill and before eight | :04:51. | :04:57. | |
o'clock. There is no place for that on a Monday or Tuesday morning. | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
say a lot of people in Fermanagh are not happy. What about the world's | :05:02. | :05:06. | |
attention being focused on the beautiful Fermanagh? You are keen to | :05:06. | :05:12. | |
tell us about that, and the fact it is showing Northern Ireland to be a | :05:12. | :05:18. | |
normal society on a global stage. Shouldn't we celebrate that? That is | :05:18. | :05:22. | |
something worth celebrating, and it could not happen 20 years ago. That | :05:22. | :05:27. | |
is a positive step forward for us. Lots of jobs have been created in | :05:27. | :05:33. | |
the short term. That is very positive, and to be welcomed. The | :05:33. | :05:39. | |
figures thrown out by the British and Commonwealth office, about the | :05:39. | :05:44. | |
long-term benefits for Fermanagh being between �500 million and �700 | :05:44. | :05:50. | |
million. That is ridiculous. The benefits to the Scottish economy of | :05:50. | :05:59. | |
Blair need was �74 million. The cost of hosting it was �94 million. There | :05:59. | :06:07. | |
is very little actual benefit to this. If we consider that Fermanagh | :06:07. | :06:11. | |
will be showcased around the world, I hope it will be done in positive | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
terms. What will actually be reported around the world is what | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
discussions these people have, and what decisions they take. That is | :06:19. | :06:23. | |
the most important part of this summit, and they have to take | :06:23. | :06:26. | |
decisions that will benefit those in greatest need around the world. | :06:26. | :06:35. | |
Thank you for joining us. The Sinn Fein MLA, Phil Flanagan, joining us | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
from Fermanagh. David Cameron has spoken of the three big Ts that are | :06:39. | :06:49. | |
:06:49. | :06:49. | ||
at the heart of the G8, Oddbins. But with the situation in Syria, | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
agreement could be hard to find. -- at the heart of the G8, Tax, | :06:54. | :06:59. | |
Transparency and Trade. Do you think the focus will be Tax, Transparency | :06:59. | :07:06. | |
and Trade? I think the leaders of the biggest countries in the world, | :07:06. | :07:10. | |
open democracies... Every day, they are used to dealing with the | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
toughest issues across a broad range of things at home. When they come | :07:14. | :07:19. | |
together, they have a common bond. A strong focus will be on the three | :07:19. | :07:28. | |
tiers that David Cameron started out with. After Marley, terrorism has | :07:28. | :07:36. | |
risen to the top. And with Syria now. Making sure we win the economic | :07:36. | :07:40. | |
peace in North Africa and the middle east, having won the war in Libya. | :07:40. | :07:47. | |
lot of people are confused about the fact that the biggest democracy in | :07:47. | :07:55. | |
the world, India, is not represented in the G8. China is not there. There | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
is no representative from South America. Is the G8 what it used to | :07:58. | :08:08. | |
:08:08. | :08:12. | ||
be? The G8 was created to promote individuality, liberty and social | :08:12. | :08:19. | |
advance. So in the case of India, there is a case for joining. China | :08:19. | :08:25. | |
is not there, nor is Saudi Arabia. Well, some people wonder about | :08:25. | :08:30. | |
Russia, of course. Well, it is a work in progress but we are vastly | :08:30. | :08:36. | |
better off with Russia than in 1997 before they joined as a full member | :08:36. | :08:43. | |
at the summit in Birmingham hosted. Should Italy still be there? It is | :08:43. | :08:52. | |
bankrupt. Yes, Italy is perhaps a different style of democracy. But | :08:52. | :08:55. | |
even the mother of all Parliaments has a coalition government as well | :08:55. | :08:59. | |
so they are becoming a bit Italian. They face the same problems, they | :08:59. | :09:05. | |
are with us as a member of NATO. They were a critical ally if you use | :09:05. | :09:13. | |
ago in stopping slaughter in Libya. -- a few years ago. I think if we | :09:13. | :09:16. | |
need to take hard decisions on Syria, they will be with those as | :09:16. | :09:25. | |
well. There is a huge focus that this event is taking place here. But | :09:25. | :09:31. | |
be honest, do people notice where the summit takes place? Absolutely. | :09:31. | :09:35. | |
For a start, it brings in the most prestigious journalists from the | :09:35. | :09:41. | |
most powerful countries in the world and the vast entourage from other | :09:41. | :09:49. | |
countries as well. Almost all of them will not have heard of the rich | :09:49. | :09:53. | |
array of assets here. They will see it first hand and have a chance to | :09:53. | :09:58. | |
make their own judgements. The message they will go home with is | :09:58. | :10:04. | |
not just the small one, that it is good for business or tourism, it is | :10:04. | :10:09. | |
a powerful inspiration for the central issue of this summit. What | :10:09. | :10:14. | |
we're seeing in Syria, massive sectarian violence, what we saw on | :10:14. | :10:19. | |
the streets of Boston in the bombing and London is that as well. Northern | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
Ireland proves we can win that fight. Very interesting to hear your | :10:23. | :10:30. | |
thoughts, thank you for joining us. Now, let's get a look at the | :10:30. | :10:40. | |
:10:40. | :10:44. | ||
summit will put Northern Ireland in the shop window. A lot of people | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
look at these things in pounds and pence. I don't. For Northern | :10:48. | :10:53. | |
Ireland, a lot of this is about reputation. An economic pact with | :10:53. | :10:59. | |
London promises to help as break barriers to peace and prosperity. | :10:59. | :11:02. | |
The social development Minister revealed the Housing executive | :11:02. | :11:09. | |
overpaid housing contractors by �18 million. The scale of what has been | :11:09. | :11:19. | |
:11:19. | :11:22. | ||
uncovered is a scandal. Let's not forget this is taxpayers money. At | :11:22. | :11:30. | |
Stormont, some politicians were living dangerously. And inside the | :11:30. | :11:33. | |
assembly, the newest political party was in for a bit of teasing. | :11:33. | :11:41. | |
thought it was NI 21 last Thursday, P 45 on Monday. Let's take a quick | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
final thought on Mark Devenport our political editor in Ennis killing. A | :11:45. | :11:55. | |
:11:55. | :12:01. | ||
quick reflection? -- in Fermanagh. Well, we've heard bad that this | :12:01. | :12:07. | |
summit puts Northern Ireland in a shop window. No doubt there will be | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
a report on whether this was in fact a benefit. I think ministers at the | :12:12. | :12:16. | |
moment are saying they are taking this opportunity and that they | :12:16. | :12:20. | |
managed to negotiate a situation in which they pay a smaller proportion | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
of the build and maybe was the case in Gleneagles in 2005. We will have | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
to see which of the camps, the sceptics or the optimists, are | :12:28. | :12:35. | |
proved right. And a final brought from guests. Deirdre, how do we | :12:35. | :12:40. | |
judge the success of what happens over the next 48 hours? I think it's | :12:40. | :12:45. | |
a case of watch this space. We don't quite know yet. But I agree that | :12:45. | :12:48. | |
this is a unique marketing opportunity that we simply could not | :12:48. | :12:52. | |
pay for. It is a chance to change perceptions about Northern Ireland | :12:52. | :13:00. | |
and put it on a global stage. feeling outclassed here. How do we | :13:00. | :13:07. | |
think -- how do you think we judge the success? I think we have to | :13:07. | :13:12. |