:39:52. > :39:55.Hello and welcome to the Sunday Politics. The first major event of
:39:55. > :39:58.the Derry - Londonderry UK City of Culture gets under way this evening
:39:58. > :40:01.with the Sons and Daughters concert. With the Executive promising
:40:01. > :40:07.investment of �30 million, will the year deliver on the economic and
:40:07. > :40:11.cultural legacy promised? The Culture Minister Caral Ni Chuilin
:40:11. > :40:13.is with me. And presidents and Prime Ministers praise his
:40:13. > :40:22.leadership, but back home there are fewer plaudits as political
:40:22. > :40:26.opponents put pressure on the Taoiseach. It did make reckless
:40:26. > :40:31.promises in advance of the election and they have broken almost every
:40:31. > :40:34.promise at this stage. People feel somewhat betrayed. And to discuss
:40:34. > :40:43.this and much more, journalist and commentator Susan McKay and
:40:43. > :40:46.Economist Neil Gibson. Liverpool's year as European
:40:46. > :40:50.Capital of Culture earned the city around �800 million in extra income,
:40:50. > :40:53.half of which came directly from tourism. It's been estimated that
:40:53. > :40:57.up to one million visitors could visit the north west this City of
:40:57. > :41:01.Culture year. As the first major concert kicks off this evening,
:41:01. > :41:08.what can the city expect? And can it deliver? With me is the Culture
:41:08. > :41:13.Minister Caral Ni Chuilin. Obviously it is a big night tonight
:41:13. > :41:18.and in some ways the proper launch of this year. Sons and Daughters,
:41:18. > :41:27.no better way to launch the programme than this evening, and we
:41:27. > :41:31.hope they can get to Derry with the weather. Now it has started, and
:41:31. > :41:35.with all the expectation and build up, tonight a lot of people will be
:41:35. > :41:39.biting their nails but I think it will be great. I think there will
:41:39. > :41:46.be some negativity along with the excitement and celebration of the
:41:46. > :41:52.year. When it comes to the marketing, there seemed to have
:41:52. > :41:58.been a few issues - what role has your department taken? We meet
:41:58. > :42:04.directly with Derry City Council and the issues have been sorted out.
:42:04. > :42:08.They have a licence for the city of Culture, taking the operational
:42:09. > :42:13.day-to-day responsibility including marketing, but negativity, I had
:42:13. > :42:19.this with the Olympics and the Paralympics last year and look how
:42:19. > :42:25.that turned out. �30 million from the Executive, about 12 million
:42:25. > :42:28.from your department, what will we get back? For the north-west has
:42:28. > :42:34.not received the Investment it should have over the last decade
:42:34. > :42:41.and we will get investment back. It will increase tourism and leave a
:42:41. > :42:47.legacy that was not there before. In what way? Will it be jobs? We
:42:47. > :42:52.didn't get the hotels we expected to be built. There will be jobs,
:42:52. > :42:57.retail, tourism, arts and crafts and music that were not there
:42:57. > :43:02.before and that in itself will help people with talent who were not
:43:02. > :43:05.recognised through the economy. There has been some criticism of
:43:05. > :43:10.the musical instruments forever child and there needs to be more
:43:10. > :43:15.than that. What can you offer people as reassurance what they
:43:15. > :43:20.get? When you look at the figures for Liverpool, �800 million, an
:43:20. > :43:27.enormous amount of money and visitors say that you still get the
:43:27. > :43:34.vibe. And you will get that in Derry. It is about introducing
:43:34. > :43:38.music, arts and culture, and if people have a career in that that
:43:39. > :43:46.is well and good. I think supporting local artists were there
:43:46. > :43:49.was not employment before, this is what Derry has to offer. When it
:43:49. > :43:53.comes to Infrastructure, you said yourself you can't control the
:43:53. > :43:58.weather obviously, but we didn't get the flights we thought a few
:43:58. > :44:03.years ago that might be introduced to get people to Derry. If they
:44:03. > :44:09.come to Belfast up the road, we have discussed the difficulties are
:44:10. > :44:14.with certain areas and the weather, did the recession scupper things?
:44:14. > :44:21.No, we are not finished yet. The people of the North are very hardy,
:44:21. > :44:25.they will get to Derry. We have also root on the hour, every half-
:44:25. > :44:30.hour, and people will get to Derry not just for this evening but for
:44:30. > :44:35.the rest of the year. Is it too late to be tweaking some of those
:44:35. > :44:41.issues on the year it is happening? I'm not aware of any tweaking that
:44:41. > :44:46.needs to happen. We need to look at the flexibility and make sure the
:44:46. > :44:51.success of Derry is felt across the north-west. When it comes to some
:44:51. > :45:00.of the funding, the report after Christmas that the �6.5 million,
:45:00. > :45:08.some of that will be handed back. That is not a good sign, is it?
:45:08. > :45:14.It's not, but over �600 million will be spent so it is on target.
:45:14. > :45:17.When it comes to the concert, it is a big event. I have seen some of
:45:17. > :45:22.the pictures, it looks very impressive but it is only temporary.
:45:22. > :45:29.There will be no legacy from the venue. But the venue can be used
:45:29. > :45:35.elsewhere. That is an important thing. Every space has been opened
:45:35. > :45:40.up, it has brightened up the city, opened up the city. It is good news.
:45:40. > :45:44.Let's hear now what our Guests of the Day think. Neil Gibson, you
:45:44. > :45:49.carried out this report in 2010, half a million extra visitor
:45:49. > :45:57.nights', for �2 million additional visitor spending, and it is
:45:57. > :46:02.difficult because we are not at the end of the year yet but how much of
:46:02. > :46:06.that has come to fruition? It is difficult to say but we are already
:46:06. > :46:16.seeing significant event planning going ahead. None of the
:46:16. > :46:16.
:46:17. > :46:20.significant events have not materialised. This is a difficult
:46:20. > :46:25.time to gather international money, but I am encouraged that the
:46:25. > :46:28.signature events we were hoping for are still scheduled so we should
:46:28. > :46:34.still get significant tourist impact and most crucially bring
:46:34. > :46:38.some people to the City who have never been before. They may be
:46:38. > :46:43.future residents, future investors, and that is the real potential for
:46:43. > :46:48.the legacy. That, and bringing people into their own city for the
:46:48. > :46:53.first time to get involved. The legacy will be the responsibility
:46:53. > :47:01.not just of experts and politicians, but also the responsibility of the
:47:01. > :47:07.people of the city. Susan McKay, is it on the radar in Dublin? I think
:47:07. > :47:12.maybe it has fallen down a little bit on that marketing outside Derry.
:47:12. > :47:16.I didn't see it listed in a lot of the big UK destination events over
:47:16. > :47:23.Christmas but it will be an overwhelmingly positive thing for
:47:23. > :47:26.Derry. I am from Derry, I have a great loyalty to it, and I think
:47:26. > :47:32.the City is a great venue for international events. People are
:47:32. > :47:36.always surprised how lovely it is, the Donegal mountains, but one of
:47:36. > :47:40.the best things about the city of Culture is that it is not just the
:47:40. > :47:44.big set-piece events which are only going to appeal to a minority of
:47:44. > :47:49.the population, it is the fact that culture company has gone to great
:47:49. > :47:54.lengths to make sure kids in disadvantaged areas will get some
:47:54. > :47:58.benefit. They have got the music, staying, but when they have world-
:47:58. > :48:05.class performers coming over they are making sure they do some work
:48:05. > :48:10.with children in primary schools. They are involving talented young
:48:10. > :48:14.people in Derry with world class people they would not normally be
:48:14. > :48:20.exposed to. They are making it work for the whole city, not just a
:48:20. > :48:27.cultural elite. Interesting about the marketing - is it on the radar
:48:27. > :48:35.in London? In Dublin? It doesn't seem that it is. I think it will be.
:48:35. > :48:41.There have been challengers for example I spoke to people in Dublin
:48:41. > :48:44.talking about the flag coming, but not talking about anything else.
:48:44. > :48:50.People will pick certain things out but we need to know what the
:48:50. > :48:54.overall package is. Susan has raised this, the people in Derry
:48:54. > :49:01.know what is coming and they should be involved in the planning, the
:49:01. > :49:09.benefit. We need to get people from Dublin and London and Belfast.
:49:09. > :49:17.Belfast people will not travel to Derry and invest.
:49:17. > :49:25.It is interesting - it is a lot of money to go to one project. But why
:49:25. > :49:31.not? Why not more than that? It is the whole balance in the economy.
:49:31. > :49:37.Disadvantaged areas are like people waiting on a bus. In deprived areas,
:49:37. > :49:47.the bosses don't past at all. Derry is an area where the boss has not
:49:47. > :49:49.
:49:49. > :49:54.passed at all. With your economist hat on, well people in other areas
:49:54. > :49:59.look at this and think that is money well spent and miss out on
:49:59. > :50:04.events in my area this year? what hope they will. What happens
:50:04. > :50:12.often here is that people disagree about where money... And nothing
:50:12. > :50:19.occurs. That is one of our major urban centres and people will be
:50:19. > :50:25.curious to see it. What I have to think is, if I was in the manner,
:50:25. > :50:28.how might I get visitors to come and see me as well? Let's get
:50:28. > :50:32.people to come down because most importantly we need new people
:50:32. > :50:38.coming into the island who might potentially have money in the
:50:38. > :50:42.future, or may be want to bring their family to. It is always a
:50:42. > :50:47.game in which some will get, some will not. There will be future
:50:47. > :50:52.investments that might have a different pattern, but there can't
:50:52. > :50:57.think why did I not get. Let's celebrate and look for other
:50:57. > :51:05.opportunities. Susan, the message was that we need to be proactive.
:51:05. > :51:09.You were in Derry on Friday, did you feel the vibe in the City?
:51:09. > :51:12.was extremely cold, and as it happens I was talking to young
:51:12. > :51:17.people in one of the most disadvantaged parts of Derry and
:51:17. > :51:23.they felt there was nothing in it for them. There is a serious issue
:51:23. > :51:27.of poverty in Derry, but at least the minister is correct that making
:51:28. > :51:33.an investment of the kind the end to kitted is making, it is correct
:51:33. > :51:39.in historic legacy of neglect and that is important. Thank you for
:51:39. > :51:41.In the Republic, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been praised abroad as a
:51:41. > :51:44.heavyweight for putting the Republic's bailed-out economy back
:51:44. > :51:50.on track, but criticised at home as the Taoiseach whose government is
:51:50. > :51:52.introducing measures that hit the poor and vulnerable. And now the
:51:52. > :52:02.abortion debate has returned. Here's our Dublin correspondent
:52:02. > :52:05.
:52:05. > :52:15.Shane Harrison. Kenny house until relatively recently, a relatively
:52:15. > :52:17.
:52:17. > :52:21.unremarkable political career, been blessed with good fortune. That
:52:21. > :52:29.continued good luck marked his first year in office, according to
:52:29. > :52:33.John Downing, a political columnist. The previous government were so
:52:33. > :52:37.wildly unpopular he had to be popular. He was very lucky in the
:52:37. > :52:43.timing of his criticism of the Church. The public had just had
:52:43. > :52:48.enough. For rape and the torture of children were downplayed or managed
:52:48. > :52:53.to walk hold instead the primacy of the institution, its power, its
:52:53. > :53:01.standing and its reputation. He was very lucky in the arrival of Queen
:53:01. > :53:08.Elizabeth II and that whole visit also of Obama. We have the republic
:53:08. > :53:11.meeting its targets, there has been praised from abroad. By one to
:53:11. > :53:16.applaud the Irish government under your leadership for making some
:53:16. > :53:22.very tough decisions to shore up the Irish economy. The Taoiseach
:53:22. > :53:25.has got the time magazine front cover treatment, and was recently
:53:25. > :53:32.given a special award for putting the country back on the path to
:53:32. > :53:38.recovery. But the Dublin correspondent of the newspaper here
:53:38. > :53:45.is a sceptic. The journalists think Kenny is doing a good job because
:53:45. > :53:50.the success story has come out of Ireland, and they compare it with
:53:50. > :53:53.Greece where nothing seems to work. I don't think there austerity
:53:53. > :54:02.programme is going to work because it hits the poorest people the
:54:02. > :54:07.hardest. It is true there was little Christmas could chip in the
:54:07. > :54:10.Budget last month, but the Labour coalition would argue that during
:54:10. > :54:16.this recession by and large it is those who can afford it who have
:54:16. > :54:23.taken the biggest hit. How much more can people take in the form of
:54:23. > :54:29.tax rises and spending cuts? Especially as the seismic game
:54:29. > :54:34.changer under the banking debt has yet to materialise. The Fina for
:54:34. > :54:41.leader says it is a different story at home although he has been lauded
:54:41. > :54:45.abroad. Principally I think the promises have been broken. They did
:54:45. > :54:49.make reckless promises in advance of the election and have broken
:54:49. > :54:54.almost every promise at the stage and people feel somewhat betrayed.
:54:54. > :54:59.They thought it was going to be the dawn of the new year, wonderful
:54:59. > :55:08.change, none of that has happened. What has happened is the return of
:55:08. > :55:14.abortion as a political issue. The coalition seemed set on introducing
:55:14. > :55:22.legislation. The credible threat of suicide seems set to be included as
:55:22. > :55:29.a grounds for termination. Unlike the Labour Party, many here believe
:55:29. > :55:33.that could lead to abortion on demand. The party's Meyer
:55:33. > :55:38.constituency colleague of the Taoiseach opposes a liberal
:55:38. > :55:42.abortion law. The have to sit down and tease this through and that is
:55:43. > :55:46.a challenge to us to show leadership in the years of the
:55:46. > :55:54.economy when we have to make tough decisions, and in relation to this
:55:54. > :55:59.particular issue that we have to make a tough decision on. How he
:55:59. > :56:07.deals with both abortion and the economy will determined Kenny's
:56:07. > :56:12.future. To date, as Taoiseach fate has been fortunate and he will hope
:56:12. > :56:16.he can remain a looking leader. Obviously the tricky abortion
:56:16. > :56:21.debate will be difficult given the promise before the election. It was
:56:21. > :56:26.very foolish and wrong of the Taoiseach to make that promise
:56:26. > :56:29.before he was elected because we have known for a long time that
:56:29. > :56:37.successful governments have avoided legislating for abortion when they
:56:37. > :56:42.were clearly required to do so 20 years ago in the X case. He is
:56:42. > :56:46.living with the consequences of that. We have since had a European
:56:46. > :56:50.Court of Human Rights ruling which puts pressure on the government to
:56:50. > :56:55.regularise the situation and we had an outpouring of public sympathy
:56:55. > :57:03.late last year in the case of the Indian lady living in Ireland who
:57:03. > :57:08.died during a pregnancy. What about the 25,000 people who went out,
:57:08. > :57:15.pro-life campaigners, yesterday? Will that make the politicians more
:57:15. > :57:18.nervous when they see the strength of feeling? A lot of the anti-
:57:18. > :57:22.abortion people are willing to go on the streets to demonstrate their
:57:22. > :57:26.position and they have been given some strong backing by the Catholic
:57:26. > :57:33.Church, but the polls have shown that the majority of Irish people
:57:33. > :57:37.are now in favour of some degree of liberalisation of the abortion laws.
:57:37. > :57:43.Not abortion on demand but in circumstances where for example a
:57:43. > :57:48.woman has been raped, she is carrying a foetus that is not
:57:48. > :57:52.viable, a child has been raped and so on. There are these situations,
:57:52. > :57:56.but they don't want to go out and demonstrate on that. A lot of
:57:56. > :58:01.people who support a woman's right to choose abortion don't want to go
:58:01. > :58:04.out on the street and shout about it. They think it is a private
:58:04. > :58:09.thing for a woman to make her own decision. There has been a
:58:09. > :58:13.civilised debate within the committee system on this, and I
:58:13. > :58:18.think most people hope they can introduce the legislation in that
:58:18. > :58:23.kind of temperate manner without seeing a return to the very nasty
:58:23. > :58:28.scenes that we saw back in the 1980s. And Neil, in terms of the
:58:28. > :58:33.economy, do you think he is doing a good job? The Germans think he is
:58:33. > :58:41.doing a fine job. The tough hand he has been dealt. It is a much better
:58:41. > :58:47.time across the western world to be in opposition, but Ireland is not
:58:47. > :58:57.in the same position as the UK. It can't print its own money, it has
:58:57. > :59:02.to have someone to lend the money, so this is extremely important.
:59:02. > :59:08.it fair to compare Greece to Ireland? No, Ireland has a much
:59:08. > :59:12.stronger economy, a higher skills profile, and also as a have seen it
:59:12. > :59:16.has been able to make changes. Its people have taken some
:59:16. > :59:21.responsibility for the difficulties they have found themselves in. The
:59:21. > :59:27.most fundamental difference is Island has a route to future
:59:27. > :59:33.economic success in a way that is not so easy to see in Greece.
:59:33. > :59:35.with us. Thank you. There was a bad-tempered return to
:59:35. > :59:45.Stormont this week after the festive break. Stephen Walker looks
:59:45. > :59:45.
:59:45. > :59:51.back in 60 seconds. A veteran Ulster Unionist joined the DUP and
:59:51. > :59:57.said his former party were finished. I think it is politically exhausted.
:59:57. > :00:05.I don't think it has any new ideas. Alex musky found himself in the
:00:05. > :00:09.firing line in a war of words about stone-throwing. Traders said profit
:00:09. > :00:14.was being damaged. Is trouble brewing in the Executive? There
:00:14. > :00:19.were strong words in the Short Strand. This is an occasion where
:00:19. > :00:28.we need to be seen to be standing together. Politicians sat round the
:00:28. > :00:33.table but Peter and Martin would not face the pressed together. The
:00:33. > :00:38.Secretary of State visited Alliance party offices and the flag issue
:00:38. > :00:43.was not far away. The want to know when this flag is going to go up in
:00:43. > :00:52.Belfast? Because it is going back to the 70s, and my childhood was
:00:52. > :00:58.ruined. So far so good in terms of the violence but the protests are
:00:58. > :01:03.continuing. What do you may covet? I think it shows a dreadful failure
:01:03. > :01:07.of leadership within Unionism. I was at the protest yesterday and I
:01:07. > :01:12.was listening to stuff I have been listening to as a journalist for
:01:12. > :01:17.decades. This no surrender politics, no compromise, they are getting
:01:17. > :01:22.everything, we are getting nothing, completely sectarian, abuse being
:01:22. > :01:28.shouted at the police along sectarian lines, and I think the
:01:28. > :01:33.Unionist leadership needs to tackle the sectarianism going on and stop
:01:33. > :01:37.people feeling that... It has got to be made clear that the Executive
:01:37. > :01:43.has left Northern Ireland with areas of extreme deprivation, but
:01:43. > :01:47.they are in republican and nationalist parts as well as
:01:47. > :01:51.loyalist parts. When you have major spokespersons for these protesters
:01:51. > :01:57.talking about part of the problem being that too many Catholics are
:01:57. > :02:03.in the police, Unionism has got to speak out against that kind of
:02:03. > :02:09.thing. It is unacceptable and dangerous. Neil, we have had a lot
:02:09. > :02:13.about the economy, what real impact is this having? It is devastating
:02:13. > :02:18.in many ways because it comes at a difficult time for things like the
:02:18. > :02:23.retail sector at the minute. Whilst not wanting to trivialise the
:02:23. > :02:27.political and cultural issues, from an economic point of view, for the
:02:27. > :02:35.business owner and the international investor, violence