Browse content similar to 21/04/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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And here in Northern Ireland: With the union flag issue refusing | :01:15. | :01:17. | |
to go away, the Alliance MP Naomi Long explains her party's | :01:17. | :01:27. | |
:01:27. | :01:27. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2093 seconds | :01:27. | :36:21. | |
opposition to flying the flag at Hello, and welcome to the Sunday | :36:21. | :36:24. | |
Politics in Northern Ireland. It's an issue that won't go away - | :36:24. | :36:28. | |
the flying of the union flag in Belfast, with the focus now moving | :36:28. | :36:30. | |
to the Cenotaph. The Alliance Party MP Naomi Long | :36:30. | :36:32. | |
outlines her party's position. Also the yearly scramble for | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
nursery and primary school places. Why can't the authorities get the | :36:35. | :36:37. | |
numbers right? And with their thoughts, journalists Alex Kane and | :36:37. | :36:40. | |
Suzanne Breen. On Friday an attempt by the DUP to | :36:40. | :36:43. | |
have the Union flag flown every day from the Cenotaph at City Hall | :36:43. | :36:47. | |
failed and the Alliance Party is refusing to back the bid at a key | :36:47. | :36:49. | |
council committee. The party cited equality implications and | :36:49. | :36:51. | |
opposition from the Royal British Legion. But the issue has taken | :36:51. | :36:54. | |
another turn, with efforts to increase the number of days the | :36:54. | :36:58. | |
Union flag can be flown over City Hall itself back on the agenda. To | :36:58. | :37:01. | |
discuss the issue I'm joined by Naomi Long, the Alliance MP for | :37:01. | :37:03. | |
east Belfast. The flag's flying today to mark the | :37:03. | :37:07. | |
Queen's birthday. Why did Alliance vote against flying the flag every | :37:07. | :37:15. | |
day at the Cenotaph? Well, in terms of the Cenotaph, the | :37:15. | :37:19. | |
proposal came forward on the same evening that the decision was being | :37:19. | :37:24. | |
taken in respect to the flag flying on City Hall. It was lobbed into | :37:24. | :37:28. | |
the debate by the way of a grenade as a result of wider discussion | :37:28. | :37:35. | |
that had taken part earlier than that. About. We were said we were | :37:35. | :37:37. | |
willing to listen and we were willing to listen to the arguments | :37:38. | :37:42. | |
for and against an we would reach a judgment and that is what we have | :37:42. | :37:46. | |
done. The most compelling voice for me in that was the voice of the | :37:46. | :37:49. | |
Royal British Legion who made it very clear that as the national | :37:49. | :37:52. | |
body who are the custodians of remembrance they believe that the | :37:52. | :37:57. | |
current moves and the manner in which the issue had been raised in | :37:57. | :38:00. | |
City Hall risk politicising remembrance in a way that was | :38:00. | :38:03. | |
unhelpful and we have to take cognisance of that because we don't | :38:03. | :38:08. | |
want to exploit our war dead. They should be respected. It is | :38:08. | :38:13. | |
important that we put the situation to bed quickly. Is one of the | :38:13. | :38:17. | |
difficulties for your party that it looks not to have a settled opinion | :38:17. | :38:20. | |
on this. It looks to some people from the outside that the party has | :38:20. | :38:24. | |
changed tack on a number of occasions. Maura Hendron said at | :38:24. | :38:27. | |
the time that the original decision was taken that she would have no | :38:27. | :38:31. | |
difficulty with a flying over the Cenotaph every day but there has | :38:31. | :38:38. | |
been or change of ideas. No, there hasn't. She said she would have no | :38:38. | :38:41. | |
problem with it but it would have to be subject to a quality | :38:41. | :38:44. | |
assessment and we would have to take a reading from the community | :38:44. | :38:50. | |
and when we did that it was clear that it was not a good idea. She | :38:50. | :38:54. | |
had no personal animosity to the idea but she was willing to listen. | :38:54. | :38:57. | |
There is a problem that if you are willing to listen you are seen to | :38:57. | :39:01. | |
not take a position and then if you take a position you are told you | :39:01. | :39:10. | |
are not making decisions. It now looks as though the centre half has | :39:10. | :39:13. | |
gone away, is that your understanding? What the Unionists | :39:13. | :39:17. | |
seem to be suggesting is that the number of days on which the flag | :39:17. | :39:21. | |
could fly over City Hall could be examined and increased. They have | :39:21. | :39:27. | |
put forward suggestions of perhaps commemorations of the Battle of the | :39:27. | :39:31. | |
Somme or the Battle of Messines or maybe Ulster Day. That would mean | :39:31. | :39:35. | |
more days but not every day, would that be a compromise? There is a | :39:35. | :39:38. | |
difficulty with all of that because we don't know if the Cenotaph has | :39:38. | :39:42. | |
gone away and we don't know if people will pursue it. But it would | :39:42. | :39:45. | |
need your support. It would, and that means it would not happen but | :39:45. | :39:50. | |
that does not mean it has gone away. People already know hour position | :39:50. | :39:56. | |
on City Hall but a already bringing forward additional days as options. | :39:56. | :40:01. | |
That was our second most favoured option, not the first. The first | :40:01. | :40:04. | |
was designated days only. Our position is already clear and it | :40:04. | :40:07. | |
will not stop people bringing further proposals because I think | :40:07. | :40:11. | |
there is a will in City Hall for some people to keep the pot boiling | :40:11. | :40:15. | |
on the flags issued by what we want to see his clarity on how they are | :40:15. | :40:19. | |
flown, not just at City Hall but at every council across Northern | :40:19. | :40:23. | |
Ireland. This is crucial because in the next few years we will see a | :40:23. | :40:26. | |
reorganisation of councils and 11 new councils and each of them, if | :40:26. | :40:31. | |
we don't get an agreed position as part of the review of public | :40:31. | :40:33. | |
administration will waste a year or two years bickering over when the | :40:33. | :40:36. | |
flag should fly and what flag should fly at how we should slide. | :40:36. | :40:40. | |
Let us get a result that a political level so we take it out | :40:40. | :40:43. | |
of the equation and we have a settled decision. I personally | :40:43. | :40:47. | |
believe that should be designated days at every council across | :40:47. | :40:52. | |
Northern Ireland. He just to broaden the conversation for a | :40:52. | :40:56. | |
moment. You are the MP for East Belfast. There was this historical | :40:56. | :41:01. | |
UVF parade as those organising it build it. There were as many as | :41:01. | :41:05. | |
10,000 people taking part and they say it was a history pageant. Are | :41:05. | :41:09. | |
you satisfied that it went off as well as it could have done? I am | :41:09. | :41:13. | |
satisfied that he went off largely without incident and that is to be | :41:13. | :41:17. | |
welcomed. I am also pleased that those who organised the parade went | :41:17. | :41:19. | |
through the normal procedures of applying to the Parades Commission | :41:19. | :41:23. | |
in order to do with. That is how orderly parades should be organised | :41:23. | :41:27. | |
within the structure of Northern Ireland. There are issues arising | :41:27. | :41:32. | |
from the parade, not necessarily with the parade itself but in terms | :41:32. | :41:35. | |
of how residents are consulted around those issues because many | :41:35. | :41:39. | |
residents were not so Ray -- aware parade would go through the | :41:39. | :41:45. | |
neighbourhood until last weekend until the flags were being put up | :41:45. | :41:48. | |
on the lamp-posts. We need to look at those issues and start to | :41:48. | :41:52. | |
address those. Five do you want to see the flags taken down as quickly | :41:52. | :41:56. | |
they were taking up? Obviously that is what I want to see because I | :41:56. | :42:00. | |
don't believe there is a place for that kind of public display. | :42:00. | :42:05. | |
Particularly when they are imposed on the communities with no public | :42:05. | :42:07. | |
consultation and not listening to the sensitivities of the people | :42:07. | :42:12. | |
within the community. The pattern has been when they go up they go up | :42:12. | :42:15. | |
quickly and when they come down it is because the weather takes it | :42:15. | :42:18. | |
Tylenol because somebody responsibly takes them down. Winnie | :42:18. | :42:23. | |
proposals on how to deal with flags because the current situation is | :42:23. | :42:27. | |
not sustainable. Were you concerned about the speeches that took place | :42:27. | :42:31. | |
at the end of the parade? Journalists were prevented from | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
witnessing what was said. I don't think anybody expected that to | :42:34. | :42:39. | |
happen. Did that concern you? seemed particularly strange, given | :42:39. | :42:44. | |
that the purpose of the parade, according to the organisers, was to | :42:44. | :42:47. | |
commemorate the people who formed the UDF and then went on to fight | :42:47. | :42:51. | |
at the Battle of the Somme and preserve people's right to freedom | :42:51. | :42:55. | |
of speech and an open and Alan Quinn society. It seems rather | :42:56. | :42:58. | |
ironic that they would inhibit journalists from recording what was | :42:58. | :43:02. | |
happening at the event. It was said to be an inclusive and open event | :43:02. | :43:06. | |
and they did not on the media to cover that. I can understand that | :43:06. | :43:11. | |
and they need to give an explanation for that themselves. | :43:11. | :43:21. | |
:43:21. | :43:23. | ||
we will leave that there now. Let's hear from my other guests, | :43:23. | :43:27. | |
the journalists Suzanne Breen and Alex Kane. I was surprised that the | :43:27. | :43:30. | |
journalists were not allowed to cover that because recently they | :43:30. | :43:35. | |
have been complaining that the BBC is distorting all of their messages | :43:35. | :43:38. | |
and so you would have thought and a big celebration like this they | :43:38. | :43:43. | |
would allow the speakers to be questioned. Ice asked yesterday why | :43:43. | :43:49. | |
it they did that and they told me they were toughening up and showing | :43:49. | :43:52. | |
to the media that they could not be their puppets. This is | :43:52. | :43:54. | |
extraordinary. You cannot blame the media and then refused to co- | :43:54. | :43:59. | |
operate with them. The loyalist policy of dealing with the media | :43:59. | :44:02. | |
has been atrocious compared to nationalists and republicans. They | :44:02. | :44:05. | |
constantly complain of censorship and then they deny freedom of | :44:05. | :44:09. | |
speech and turn journalists away and banned journalists. It is are | :44:09. | :44:14. | |
unacceptable and on called for. did not understand it, unless there | :44:14. | :44:17. | |
is something that they eat was saying that they did not want to be | :44:18. | :44:23. | |
reported. I don't get that impression at all. I suspect, and | :44:23. | :44:30. | |
this is my cynicism, I suspect they may have expected some mistakes | :44:31. | :44:34. | |
there maybe if they thought there was going to be heckling they might | :44:34. | :44:42. | |
say something unscripted but it looked the other way round, a look | :44:42. | :44:45. | |
to have though they would try to stop people hearing anything they | :44:45. | :44:50. | |
were saying. The issue of the flax is not resolved as far as Belfast | :44:51. | :44:55. | |
City Hall is resolved but are we inching towards some sort of | :44:55. | :44:59. | |
resolution, not the Cenotaph but maybe a proposal to an increased | :44:59. | :45:04. | |
list of designated days. The amount of time spent on this has been | :45:04. | :45:07. | |
absolutely ridiculous and the wasted resources in terms of | :45:07. | :45:10. | |
parades and Policing and the trouble that has been caused. | :45:10. | :45:13. | |
People really, really need to grow up. A decision has been taken by | :45:13. | :45:17. | |
the council and there should be a. Personally, given the recession a | :45:17. | :45:21. | |
people losing their jobs and people are struggling on low income I | :45:21. | :45:26. | |
don't care if the Union Flag, the tricolour or the skull and | :45:26. | :45:30. | |
crossbones flies at City Hall, and that is the situation for so many | :45:30. | :45:35. | |
people. That is not a major issue in our society but it has been | :45:35. | :45:39. | |
politically manipulated by the DUP because they want to oust Naomi | :45:39. | :45:43. | |
Long from her feet and also by Sinn Fein who are calling this a victory | :45:43. | :45:48. | |
to hide the fact that Sinn Fein have accepted partition and the DUP | :45:48. | :45:52. | |
has its own reasons for wanting it on the streets because it wants to | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
proper pace did against the Alliance Party. I think Suzanne is | :45:56. | :46:00. | |
substantially right. What strikes me about all of this is that | :46:00. | :46:04. | |
usually the DUP is pretty canny in the territory it chooses to fight | :46:04. | :46:09. | |
and fight it chooses to have. Back to last August with the Parades | :46:09. | :46:12. | |
Commission stuff and the Alliance stuff in September and the thing | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
about the corporals a few weeks ago and now the Cenotaph. On every | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
issue they seem to be getting it wrong in approach and a tactics. | :46:19. | :46:23. | |
They are going into battle that they must know they cannot win. I | :46:23. | :46:27. | |
don't understand why they are doing. Yes they thought it might damage | :46:27. | :46:29. | |
the Alliance Party a few months ago but now they have done so much | :46:30. | :46:33. | |
collateral damage to themselves and the UUP is out of the equation any | :46:33. | :46:38. | |
damage to be done to alliance has been lessened. Interesting to get | :46:38. | :46:41. | |
your thoughts on that, Naomi. We have had discussions about it | :46:41. | :46:44. | |
before. You would say it is absolutely about you being targeted | :46:44. | :46:48. | |
for political reasons in east Belfast but do you agree that the | :46:48. | :46:53. | |
tide has now turned and the wind is now in your back? I agree with Alex | :46:53. | :46:56. | |
and Cezanne on the fact that most people are thoroughly sickened with | :46:56. | :47:00. | |
it the whole debate and want an end. We are not continuing to bring new | :47:01. | :47:05. | |
proposals to the table, we want it to be put to bed for once and for | :47:05. | :47:08. | |
all. That is one of the reasons why these proposals for additional days, | :47:08. | :47:12. | |
we know there is a list of additional days that people are | :47:12. | :47:16. | |
looking at that could carry us through one a month until the next | :47:16. | :47:19. | |
elections. We are concerned about will simply keep the window open. | :47:19. | :47:24. | |
We need to find ways of respecting emblems and singles and flags and | :47:24. | :47:28. | |
doing it in a way that does not cause upheaval. That is not a war | :47:28. | :47:33. | |
of attrition at City Hall. If people have serious proposes an | :47:33. | :47:36. | |
additional days they should be included, take them to the | :47:36. | :47:39. | |
Department of Culture and, Media and Sport, who decide on designated | :47:39. | :47:43. | |
days and let them do that as they do for every other designated date | :47:43. | :47:46. | |
but it should not be fought out on the floor of city council. People | :47:46. | :47:50. | |
should be focusing on what is good for the City as a whole, for | :47:50. | :47:53. | |
business and all the people who live in the City, this constant | :47:53. | :47:57. | |
warmth lacks is not good for the City, not good for the city centre, | :47:57. | :48:01. | |
not good for businesses across the city and not good for local | :48:01. | :48:05. | |
communities. Thank you very much for joining us. We will hear more | :48:05. | :48:07. | |
from Suzanne and Alex later in the programme. | :48:07. | :48:10. | |
According to the Education Minister we've too many empty desks in our | :48:10. | :48:13. | |
primary schools, but try telling that to the dozens of parents who | :48:13. | :48:16. | |
found out this week there's no place for their children in their | :48:16. | :48:21. | |
preferred primary schools. And it's not just primary places. Every year | :48:21. | :48:24. | |
we hear about nursery or pre-school units being over-subscribed. While | :48:24. | :48:27. | |
the situation has improved in recent years, why is it so | :48:27. | :48:29. | |
difficult to plan for primary and nursery provision? We'll hear from | :48:29. | :48:32. | |
Danny Kinahan, deputy chair of the Education Committee, and Joanne | :48:32. | :48:35. | |
Browne, principal of St Ita's Primary School in south Belfast, in | :48:35. | :48:38. | |
just a moment. But first the thoughts of some parents in south | :48:38. | :48:40. | |
Belfast. I am a working parent, so for me a | :48:40. | :48:42. | |
place is very important. If the criteria has led by parents who | :48:42. | :48:45. | |
don't work, then that would be a concern. They think you should be | :48:45. | :48:48. | |
prioritised for people who are out working. For there are a lot of | :48:48. | :48:51. | |
shortages, particularly in pre- school and nursery placements and I | :48:51. | :48:56. | |
have not seen any evidence of many changes to deal with increasing | :48:56. | :49:00. | |
population or additional places be needed and I have not seen any | :49:00. | :49:04. | |
extra nurseries opened, other than private nurseries, which cost a | :49:04. | :49:08. | |
fortune. We have another couple of years until the two of them are in | :49:08. | :49:11. | |
schools so it is something I will meet other look at but I don't | :49:11. | :49:15. | |
really know how the schooling system works. I need to go away and | :49:15. | :49:20. | |
work out what is the best thing for the two of them. We are being told | :49:20. | :49:23. | |
by friends and family that it will be very difficult because my | :49:23. | :49:29. | |
daughter and her husband work full- time and there is a lack of places | :49:29. | :49:33. | |
generally anyway. I cannot register where I live, it is much more | :49:33. | :49:36. | |
difficult now to get your child into a pre-school place or a | :49:36. | :49:42. | |
nursery or playgroup than it was 25 years ago. Danny Kinahan and Joanne | :49:42. | :49:48. | |
Browne are with me now. Why does this continue to be such a problem? | :49:48. | :49:52. | |
I think the department and the minister do not bother to sit down | :49:52. | :49:56. | |
on lookout the short-term plans that are needed each year. It is | :49:56. | :50:00. | |
better this year in certain areas but we are constantly looking at | :50:00. | :50:02. | |
long-term strategies rather than looking at the grand to see where | :50:02. | :50:07. | |
parents want to send the children, almost like marketing, looking at | :50:07. | :50:10. | |
whether places are needed are trying to fit to it. We have area | :50:10. | :50:15. | |
planning going on that frightens everyone else at the top but down, | :50:15. | :50:18. | |
local issues, no one seems to be planning. It is enormously | :50:18. | :50:21. | |
difficult to get it right because you have to plan a number of years | :50:21. | :50:26. | |
in advance. The minister is dealing with many schools where, actually, | :50:26. | :50:31. | |
the role is falling so he has excess capacity but in some pockets | :50:31. | :50:35. | |
he has under capacity so it is quite a difficult trip for any one | :50:35. | :50:39. | |
tooth Wolof. It is far he has got to have people on the ground and | :50:39. | :50:43. | |
the boards are being run down so no one is contemplating whether a | :50:43. | :50:47. | |
school needs 20 places next year or five. It has got better but we have | :50:47. | :50:51. | |
got to find a way of helping the working families as well. At the | :50:51. | :50:56. | |
moment there is a bias against them. Because parents on benefits trump | :50:56. | :51:00. | |
working parents? Yes, and quite rightly, but at the same time if we | :51:00. | :51:04. | |
were to look at a certain level below which we had to help working | :51:04. | :51:08. | |
parents then that would be important as well. You have had to | :51:08. | :51:11. | |
turn parents away from the school and that is not what you want to be | :51:12. | :51:15. | |
doing? Absolutely not. In the last couple of weeks parents have been | :51:15. | :51:20. | |
very upset. On the 10th letters were issued for nursery places and | :51:20. | :51:24. | |
parents were disappointed that they did not receive a place in our | :51:24. | :51:30. | |
nursery unit. On top of that, they can accept the nursery school, but | :51:30. | :51:36. | |
what they are afraid of is December -- SEP- 2014, what happens them? We | :51:36. | :51:40. | |
have had the primary letters issued and many parents have also been | :51:40. | :51:44. | |
disappointed and they may not even have got into the second, third or | :51:44. | :51:46. | |
4th choice and they may have to consider going to a different | :51:47. | :51:50. | |
sector away from home and they are very upset and we empathise with | :51:50. | :51:54. | |
them. Where does the problem lie? Is it with the Minister or the | :51:54. | :52:00. | |
boards or area planning laws core principles? If no. Not the | :52:00. | :52:05. | |
principles! It is everybody else's fault for! We are doing our best. | :52:05. | :52:11. | |
We have supported Our applications for additional places and | :52:11. | :52:15. | |
thankfully we have got extra places. This has been three years coming. | :52:15. | :52:19. | |
First of all we applied for minor works and it did not materialise | :52:19. | :52:23. | |
and again last year. Ideally you have to have the children there | :52:23. | :52:28. | |
before you get, before it makes sense to have a developmental | :52:28. | :52:32. | |
proposal. You are a good school in an area of high demand and you have | :52:32. | :52:34. | |
a catchment area where the numbers are going up and knock down. But | :52:34. | :52:37. | |
the minister has to balance that with a very different picture, the | :52:37. | :52:43. | |
absolute opposite in many parts of the country. Absolutely. Not every | :52:43. | :52:45. | |
parish or community is oversubscribed. There are pockets | :52:45. | :52:50. | |
that need to be addressed. I think it is difficult for parents. They | :52:50. | :52:54. | |
have to actually move out of that but the reality is that schools | :52:54. | :52:58. | |
have a maximum capacity and we cannot take everybody. As much as I | :52:58. | :53:06. | |
would want to take everybody our school is a restricted by our side. | :53:06. | :53:08. | |
He will be Education & Skills Authority be part of the solution | :53:08. | :53:12. | |
when it is up and running? If it is up and running. We wanted to place | :53:12. | :53:16. | |
in a different form and it is. It could do it and again we are going | :53:16. | :53:19. | |
up to higher level. We need something at a lower level, whether | :53:19. | :53:22. | |
it is board-level local groups that can actually deal with what is | :53:22. | :53:26. | |
happening on the ground and look at the numbers from year to year | :53:26. | :53:29. | |
instead of five-year plans or ten- year plans or even longer. So what | :53:29. | :53:34. | |
is the optimum time scale, do you think, that those responsible for | :53:34. | :53:37. | |
planning need to think about because you have year on year, as | :53:37. | :53:41. | |
Joe and has said and you have just spoken about 10 years. It is a | :53:41. | :53:45. | |
conjuring trick, the like of which I think we are all agreed that we | :53:45. | :53:50. | |
are not being asked to pull off. absolutely but you have to have a | :53:50. | :53:53. | |
system in place that is looking at the parents that are coming and in | :53:53. | :53:56. | |
each counsellor at birth rates and other things to go by, there must | :53:56. | :54:02. | |
be ways of doing it. Do you accept that their situation is getting | :54:02. | :54:06. | |
better every year? Is that if that was my aim now particular area it | :54:06. | :54:09. | |
is not. We have done a lot of surveys... That is another thing | :54:09. | :54:14. | |
you're going against the trend on! There is a lot of rapid growth and | :54:14. | :54:18. | |
new developments in our area. We analyse baptismal register so we | :54:18. | :54:21. | |
are prepared for the next few years and we know that the figures are | :54:21. | :54:25. | |
rising so we know what will happen in the next two years and it is | :54:25. | :54:29. | |
frightening in our particular area. Again with area planning and the | :54:29. | :54:33. | |
board working together on area planning then it is good because | :54:33. | :54:36. | |
they will put sustainable measures in place and it will happen at the | :54:36. | :54:40. | |
time but there is an emergency now to get children sorted for | :54:40. | :54:45. | |
September and September next year and it has to be addressed fairly | :54:45. | :54:49. | |
urgently. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. A lot of | :54:49. | :54:58. | |
disappointed people in the past, that is for sure. Thank you very | :54:58. | :55:01. | |
much. Now, let's take a look back at the political week in 60 seconds. | :55:01. | :55:08. | |
Here's Gareth Gordon. Trouble at the executive. The DUP | :55:08. | :55:12. | |
and Sinn Fein crossed swords over who was to blame for lack of | :55:12. | :55:15. | |
progress. They need to wake up and smell the | :55:15. | :55:18. | |
coffee and start taking decisions instead of frustrating the good | :55:18. | :55:21. | |
government of Northern Ireland. should be going into rooms and | :55:21. | :55:27. | |
sitting down and talking through the issues. The row frustrated | :55:27. | :55:31. | |
leading industrialists. If they were a business they would be | :55:32. | :55:35. | |
bankrupt. A bomb attack on the Boston Marathon leaves three people | :55:35. | :55:40. | |
dead and hundreds injured. All of those who have been to Boston won | :55:40. | :55:43. | |
over the city is at once American, European and Irish. The funeral of | :55:43. | :55:47. | |
Baroness Thatcher took place and 1,000 lined the streets to play | :55:48. | :55:56. | |
their last respects. A after Francie Molloy made success in a | :55:56. | :56:02. | |
by-election he became the deputy speaker. Is there a second for him? | :56:03. | :56:11. | |
I would be the second. Gareth Gordon reoporting. Let's | :56:11. | :56:16. | |
hear a final thought from Alex and Suzanne. | :56:16. | :56:21. | |
Talk about political disunity in the executive, particularly between | :56:21. | :56:25. | |
the DUP and Sinn Fein. We keep hearing a lot about it, we hear the | :56:25. | :56:29. | |
relationship at the top has not good. Alex Attwood said on Thursday | :56:29. | :56:33. | |
that there is a frosty relationship in the executive, frostier than | :56:33. | :56:37. | |
eager as ever known. What is the answer? The whole of Stormont is | :56:37. | :56:41. | |
dysfunctional, the whole set-up is dysfunctional. This is really about | :56:41. | :56:45. | |
two parties playing to their grassroots. I don't believe there | :56:45. | :56:49. | |
is any great ultimate disagreements between Peter Robinson and Martin | :56:49. | :56:52. | |
McGuinness, I don't think there is any particular personal problems, | :56:52. | :56:56. | |
it is really just about both parties appeasing their grass roots. | :56:56. | :57:00. | |
It is a very phoney war. They actually get on a lot better than a | :57:00. | :57:03. | |
lot of people with thing but they are aiming to keep their grassroots | :57:03. | :57:07. | |
on board with these walls and is nit-picking. Do you think people | :57:07. | :57:11. | |
get on better than people think or do you think the frostiness is 100% | :57:11. | :57:18. | |
genuine? I think it is not 100% genuine but it is genuine. What is | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
the difference? I think they are almost hate each other, but not | :57:22. | :57:25. | |
quite. These are two men leading to parties who do not want to be | :57:25. | :57:29. | |
around the same table. They don't want to be the same government they | :57:29. | :57:34. | |
do not have the same duffer of -- agenda. The only reason they stay | :57:34. | :57:37. | |
together is mutual assured destruction if one of them pull out. | :57:37. | :57:42. | |
Is mutual veto, mutual hostility. They despise each other's presence | :57:42. | :57:46. | |
in government. They are playing to their own galleries because they | :57:46. | :57:49. | |
have no other option but to play to their own galleries because there | :57:49. | :57:53. | |
is no one else to play two. they say that they want to be there | :57:53. | :57:57. | |
and they want to make the system work. That is a delight the parties | :57:57. | :58:01. | |
saying, we want opposition but we will not go into it. This is the | :58:01. | :58:04. | |
reverse. We want to be together because we tried to send us some | :58:04. | :58:08. | |
sort of message but as soon as you say you do not want to be there or | :58:08. | :58:11. | |
share, you will come back and ask them why they are there. They are | :58:11. | :58:15. | |
there because they have to be and there is no love involve. Four we | :58:15. | :58:18. | |
saw an extract of John Cunningham saying that the executive would be | :58:18. | :58:22. | |
bankrupted it was a business. Is it a fair,? Absolutely fair,. I think | :58:22. | :58:28. | |
it would be bust. The reality is that most people on the ground are | :58:28. | :58:35. | |
disconnected from the situation there. All that raises their | :58:35. | :58:37. | |
interest his expenses, civil servants, foreign junkets, | :58:37. | :58:42. | |
thousands of pounds being wasted. That is there any interest in | :58:42. | :58:49. |