:00:00. > :00:25.Tonight: The deputy leader of NI21, John McCallister, on allegations of
:00:26. > :00:35.inappropriate behaviour within the party.
:00:36. > :00:41.About three weeks ago I became aware there were rumours against Basil
:00:42. > :00:50.McCrea. I spoke to him, I spoke to other senior colleagues as well, and
:00:51. > :00:55.he looked me in the eye and said I have done nothing wrong. If and when
:00:56. > :00:58.allegations come forward, if there is any name or whatever, I would
:00:59. > :01:01.address them as best I can. I am quite confident I have done nothing
:01:02. > :01:03.wrong. And it's all over: The canvassing's
:01:04. > :01:07.complete, the candidates can do no more and counting starts tomorrow in
:01:08. > :01:09.the local council elections. Freed from Commentators' Corner for
:01:10. > :01:12.this polling night programme, Professors Deirdre Heenan and Rick
:01:13. > :01:16.Wilford join our political editor, Mark Devenport, to give us their
:01:17. > :01:20.thoughts on the highs and lows of the campaign and what to expect over
:01:21. > :01:23.a weekend of results. And you can, of course, join the
:01:24. > :01:30.debate on Twitter, that's @BBCtheview.
:01:31. > :01:34.Tonight John McCallister breaks his silence on why Northern Ireland's
:01:35. > :01:39.newest political party went into freefall just two days before its
:01:40. > :01:42.first test at the polls. Mr McCallister claims his efforts to
:01:43. > :01:45.investigate what he terms "rumours of inappropriate behaviour" by his
:01:46. > :01:51.party leader led to an attempt this week to force him to quit the party.
:01:52. > :01:55.We'll hear from both men in tonight's programme and we'll hear
:01:56. > :01:59.more about the decision to quit the party's Executive by its Euro
:02:00. > :02:18.candidate, Tina McKenzie. But first this report from Gareth Gordon.
:02:19. > :02:41.It was one of politics great romances, ill at ease in the company
:02:42. > :02:47.of others, they left the Ulster Unionists and formed NI 21,
:02:48. > :02:52.promising fresh politics and aspiring to better. Just how did it
:02:53. > :02:58.all go wrong? For a party to turn on itself is not clever. To do it on
:02:59. > :03:03.the eve of its first ever election would be madness to stop it makes no
:03:04. > :03:09.sense at all. Unless, there is something more to it. Something
:03:10. > :03:15.which is yet to emerge. The issue is said to be its last-minute decision
:03:16. > :03:18.to reject the label unionist. We have been listening to what people
:03:19. > :03:22.have been staying on the doorstep. They have been saying they do not
:03:23. > :03:26.describe themselves as unionist or nationalists any more, those labels
:03:27. > :03:30.of the past. According to this candidate the issue hasn't been
:03:31. > :03:38.raised with him. Absolutely not at all, no, not on the doorsteps. I
:03:39. > :03:39.haven't, I have spoken to 500, 600 people. Nobody has mentioned it at
:03:40. > :03:48.all. That was one of the reasons given
:03:49. > :03:51.for changing. In other parts of the city could see how it could be an
:03:52. > :03:55.issue, but in this constituency it hasn't been mentioned.
:03:56. > :03:57.It is a competition you didn't need.
:03:58. > :04:04.Probably not, no. Maybe something else? Maybe it wasn't the only thing
:04:05. > :04:09.in play here, there might have been other allegations we don't know
:04:10. > :04:12.about. Things happening in the party between John and basil but that is
:04:13. > :04:20.not for anybody asked to comment on. This man shares NI21's Society at
:04:21. > :04:25.Queens University and is a candidate. It is crazy, two days
:04:26. > :04:29.before an election, it is not right to be fooling the electorate by
:04:30. > :04:38.changing two days before, trying in a different -- is but attempt to win
:04:39. > :04:47.votes. -- desperate attempt. I think it was done to rile Jon. Using basil
:04:48. > :04:53.did that? I do. This man used to be the party's
:04:54. > :04:56.director of communications. This has this may be an uproar or smoke
:04:57. > :05:00.screen to get John McCallister to react in some kind of way. He was
:05:01. > :05:05.excluded from the decision-making process, it was thrown upon at the
:05:06. > :05:08.last minute, his head of policy was excluded altogether, so this was
:05:09. > :05:13.some pretty -- provocative action to get him to leave the party or walk
:05:14. > :05:16.away, or force the party to implode, before these allegations hit the
:05:17. > :05:24.airwaves. I understanding is there is a mechanism between NI21 where
:05:25. > :05:27.the deputy leader can remove or impeach the leader if inappropriate
:05:28. > :05:32.activities are going on and that mechanism wouldn't be able to be
:05:33. > :05:34.instigated if he were forced out of the party left the party
:05:35. > :05:38.beforehand. Caught in the crossfire are 47 new
:05:39. > :05:44.candidates who have put themselves forward for election for the first
:05:45. > :05:48.time, and now feel very vulnerable. Myself and the other 46 candidates
:05:49. > :05:52.have put so much work, so much of our own heart, soul, time and effort
:05:53. > :05:57.into this, so to have somebody who is supposed to be so high up, and
:05:58. > :06:00.offering an example to the rest of the party, I find it really
:06:01. > :06:04.disappointing he would feel the need to give this interview right before
:06:05. > :06:07.the election. He is reacting to something that was done that he
:06:08. > :06:13.didn't agree with. But he did every acted to this after
:06:14. > :06:16.the election. What he has done is unfair on the candidates such as
:06:17. > :06:23.myself, he laughed put their time into this, and although he is of
:06:24. > :06:26.course entitled to his opinion, giving it in the manner he did is
:06:27. > :06:31.very explosive and undo the party any favour at all.
:06:32. > :06:34.Whatever the designation, there is no doubt where they stand on the
:06:35. > :06:38.constitutional question. I am pro union, I am from West
:06:39. > :06:41.Belfast originally, from a nationalist background, but having
:06:42. > :06:45.grown up in Northern Ireland this is my home, this is where I am from,
:06:46. > :06:49.and I would always call myself Northern Irish so I have no issue
:06:50. > :06:54.with the union and think staying as they stop is the rest of the party
:06:55. > :06:58.prounion? They joined it and it has been like that since inception so if
:06:59. > :07:03.they aren't I am not sure what they have joined. That is probably true
:07:04. > :07:07.in a number of ways, party at war with itself, social media and all
:07:08. > :07:09.too available battle ground will stop after this weekend will it --
:07:10. > :07:25.will be anything left fighting over? Earlier tonight John McCallister
:07:26. > :07:29.came into the studio to explain why he believes the party chose to
:07:30. > :07:34.redesignate itself as dormant as other rather than unionist. He told
:07:35. > :07:38.me he believes it was a move aimed specifically at him because he had
:07:39. > :07:43.asked an external human resources company to deal with rumours of
:07:44. > :07:47.inappropriate behaviour by Basil McCrea. I ask him to describe what
:07:48. > :07:49.happened on Tuesday when he was summoned to a party executive
:07:50. > :07:54.meeting to be told about the re-designation.
:07:55. > :07:58.No one would take a strategy decision of that magnitude in a 15
:07:59. > :08:05.minute meeting convened with no agenda, no discussion papers, your
:08:06. > :08:13.head of policy not there, no ideas around that. You would need a much
:08:14. > :08:15.wider meeting. It has been said I am somehow more traditional or
:08:16. > :08:24.something, that had nothing to do with it. As you well know, I am well
:08:25. > :08:29.on the record of saying I don't like the designation system, I would like
:08:30. > :08:31.to see us moving away, I wanted to move away from the bus and then type
:08:32. > :08:40.of politics. That meeting on Tuesday came
:08:41. > :08:48.complete completely out of the blue stop I was out canvassing with my
:08:49. > :08:57.colleagues. We were on doors, doing all of that, we hadn't much access
:08:58. > :09:05.to e-mails. The e-mail was only sent at 130 or something, I got a voice
:09:06. > :09:09.message from Tina McKenzie saying she had an idea to put past you, I
:09:10. > :09:17.would like an executive to meet at 5pm in her office. I tried ringing
:09:18. > :09:22.her back three times, and between canvassing I had a funeral to attend
:09:23. > :09:27.to as well in the constituency. And then go to Belfast for this meeting.
:09:28. > :09:31.I tried to find out what the meeting was about. Went to it in good faith
:09:32. > :09:35.and this was sprung on me. Two days before your first electoral
:09:36. > :09:40.contest was terrible timing from your point of view.
:09:41. > :09:44.Less than two days, by the time the decision was made and the statement
:09:45. > :09:49.was all ready to go, office and it wouldn't have been, all of this had
:09:50. > :09:52.been prepared and choreographed without my knowledge, by the time
:09:53. > :10:01.you get your stage, we were something like 36 hours from the
:10:02. > :10:05.polls opening. Absolutely bizarre, crazy timing. This wasn't and isn't
:10:06. > :10:11.about re-designation. This was purely about the allegations against
:10:12. > :10:16.Basil McCrea. You say the research and #
:10:17. > :10:20.redesignate and decision was an attempt to provoke you into leaving
:10:21. > :10:27.the party, what does that mean, what is your logic?
:10:28. > :10:33.Because of the process that has led to some of these, three weeks ago I
:10:34. > :10:39.became aware that there were rumours against Basil McCrea, I have spoken
:10:40. > :10:48.to him, I spoke to other senior colleagues as well, Basil up at Tina
:10:49. > :10:54.McKenzie's house was stop he said he had done nothing wrong. I said that
:10:55. > :11:03.is fine. But looking and judging by best practice, we should bring in
:11:04. > :11:11.outside professionals. Bring them in, investigate, speak to staff, if
:11:12. > :11:15.there are any issues there, anybody needs support, counselling,
:11:16. > :11:21.whatever, let's do that. Let's be pre-emptive, let's just look and see
:11:22. > :11:25.if we have any issues, if there are things we need as an employer to do
:11:26. > :11:30.better and offer people all of that type of good practice.
:11:31. > :11:34.You talk about rumours concerning your party leader. Are you talking
:11:35. > :11:42.about allegations of inappropriate behaviour on the part of Mr MacRae?
:11:43. > :11:44.I was talking purely about rumours, I had received neither a formal nor
:11:45. > :11:52.informal complete against Basil McCrea. But I had started this
:11:53. > :11:59.process just mainly from the well-being perspective, and it was
:12:00. > :12:04.to deal with the stuff that I direct manage my constituency staff and the
:12:05. > :12:09.ones in Stormont that I had direct responsible D4, Basil wasn't keen on
:12:10. > :12:14.having any of this before the election but he was opened to a
:12:15. > :12:18.discussion with them after the election.
:12:19. > :12:22.Just to complete that circle, your contention in this interview is that
:12:23. > :12:27.the re-designation at the meeting on Tuesday was an attempt to provoke
:12:28. > :12:32.you to leave the party so that you would not continue in your role as
:12:33. > :12:34.overseeing that external investigation, is that what you are
:12:35. > :12:43.telling me? Absolutely. That was about muddying
:12:44. > :12:46.the waters and saying we will distract. Because if I had resigned
:12:47. > :12:58.from the party over that issue, the report comes back to me and another
:12:59. > :13:05.person that we have too finalise it. The report comes to me, so if I
:13:06. > :13:10.was not in position, therefore the process could be stopped and could
:13:11. > :13:16.be easily stop. There is no way you are going to
:13:17. > :13:24.leave NI21? Not a chance. The staff there and morale at an all-time low,
:13:25. > :13:27.there is no way I am leaving at a point in time until these issues are
:13:28. > :13:39.resolved. There are elements of NI21
:13:40. > :13:44.suggesting you are in private discussions with the Ulster
:13:45. > :13:48.Unionist, but ultimately you might be the European candidate next time
:13:49. > :13:52.round, or you might take over from Jim Nicholson if he is successful
:13:53. > :13:58.this time and does not serve a full term. Is this what this is about?
:13:59. > :14:03.Are those approaches happening Rushton Mark I am flattered that
:14:04. > :14:10.anyone would think I was going to do that. I can absolutely tell you the
:14:11. > :14:17.last three questions about the leadership, about about some sort of
:14:18. > :14:26.arrangement with the Ulster Unionist party or indeed the redesignation,
:14:27. > :14:33.all of these stories have been put out there to muddy the waters. Basil
:14:34. > :14:36.McCrea said that the reason for the redesignation debate was because
:14:37. > :14:45.people were hearing that on the doorstep. Not one person mentioned
:14:46. > :14:49.it to me. Bearing in mind I have always said you need to get away
:14:50. > :14:59.from that kind of agenda and talk about normal politics. We had one
:15:00. > :15:07.candidate in my area canvassing. The only person I heard that from what
:15:08. > :15:10.Tina McKenzie and Basil McCrea. Can I ask you what the nature of your
:15:11. > :15:16.relationship is with Basil McCrea. He was on television last night and
:15:17. > :15:20.said he still regards you as a friend. He has tried to get in touch
:15:21. > :15:26.with you and you have not returned his phone calls. He hopes you can
:15:27. > :15:33.patch up your differences. Can you? On that, we can patch up the
:15:34. > :15:41.differences once these allegations have been addressed. Those are the
:15:42. > :15:50.key things and in addressing these allegations I sincerely hope that
:15:51. > :15:55.Basil engages with the proper process and hopefully that will
:15:56. > :16:00.produce a resolution and an outcome, but he has two engage in
:16:01. > :16:07.that process so we know where we are with these allegations. If there are
:16:08. > :16:17.issues that we as a party needs to address, let us go through that
:16:18. > :16:24.process. Why have you decided to speak out publicly about a very
:16:25. > :16:27.sensitive issue before the external body you brought in to investigate
:16:28. > :16:35.has made its final report? Why not wait until that report has been
:16:36. > :16:43.released? What you have done is extraordinary. I had no choice but
:16:44. > :16:55.to say that this is what we as a party, as and individual, this is
:16:56. > :17:00.what we have done. This is where we are at in this process and it is
:17:01. > :17:11.ultimately about public confidence in me as an MLA and public
:17:12. > :17:20.confidence in NI21. When this is finished, can Basil McCrea and John
:17:21. > :17:23.McAllister remain in NI21? The most important thing is to work through
:17:24. > :17:29.the process and get the report and see what lessons we need to learn.
:17:30. > :17:34.Can you foresee the two of you working together as leader and
:17:35. > :17:45.deputy leader of NI21 after what you have told me tonight? It is
:17:46. > :17:52.unlikely. Finally, is those message to those people who went to the
:17:53. > :17:57.polls earlier today and cast their ballots in favour of NI21 and he
:17:58. > :18:05.will be watching this and thinking, what have I done, what is your
:18:06. > :18:09.message to them? I am sorry. I am sorry to the council candidates and
:18:10. > :18:14.all of those who worked hard to develop this, but the promise I make
:18:15. > :18:20.to them is that we are going to sort these issues out. We are going to
:18:21. > :18:31.resolve it and address them and we are going to get that to rebuilding
:18:32. > :18:38.NI21. I am truly sorry to voters, to people I feel we have really let
:18:39. > :18:43.down. We have missed an opportunity. Also, the candidates
:18:44. > :18:50.who have been walking the streets for the last three weeks and two are
:18:51. > :18:56.just so bitterly disappointed. John McCallister talking to me earlier
:18:57. > :19:00.tonight. I den puts his allegations of inappropriate behaviour to Basil
:19:01. > :19:06.McCrea. Sun I have heard the rumours. For the last 6-8 weeks
:19:07. > :19:14.there have been suggestions made online. John said that there is
:19:15. > :19:18.nothing concrete and he wanted to go ahead and have a look at how he
:19:19. > :19:22.would deal with that. He talked about it and I said that was fine.
:19:23. > :19:26.So if and when allegations come forward, if there is any name or
:19:27. > :19:36.whatever, then I will address them as best I can. I'm confident I have
:19:37. > :19:41.done nothing wrong. Do you deny ever engaging in
:19:42. > :19:53.inappropriate behaviour Rushton Mark yes. You have nothing to be
:19:54. > :20:03.pro-choice up about? No. -- to reproach yourself about. So there is
:20:04. > :20:09.nothing that can be made public? I have no input into any report and I
:20:10. > :20:15.have had no allegations put to me so I have no idea what has been said.
:20:16. > :20:20.Or I can sell you is that I am sure I have done nothing wrong. If there
:20:21. > :20:24.is any complaint, there are lots of besiegers to go through. If somebody
:20:25. > :20:34.bring something to me then I will respond to it. Have you cooperated
:20:35. > :20:47.with that investigation by the governing body? I was not told it
:20:48. > :20:54.was going on. Have you tried to stop other people cooperating with the
:20:55. > :20:59.investigation. I didn't. When John was putting out the e-mail to the
:21:00. > :21:04.people he wanted to talk to, I was copied into the e-mail and everyone
:21:05. > :21:09.said they were happy to do it. Do you support the fact it is
:21:10. > :21:18.happening? John wanted to do it and he is entitled to do it. John says
:21:19. > :21:22.you are seeking for him to walk away from the party because he started
:21:23. > :21:30.the investigation into inappropriate behaviour on your part. How about
:21:31. > :21:34.work? It is not possible. He said the raising of the redesignation
:21:35. > :21:38.issue was an attempt on your part to force his hand and to dry him away
:21:39. > :21:45.from the party. That would be so cack-handed. How would that work? I
:21:46. > :21:49.just don't see how he can draw those conclusions. The issues about the
:21:50. > :21:55.designation of the party was brought up in the speech I brought up to the
:21:56. > :22:01.local government elections. You were at that. It is in the government
:22:02. > :22:05.pack and the manifesto. It was a response we were getting on the
:22:06. > :22:08.streets. People were saying it was not clear. It was absolutely
:22:09. > :22:13.appropriate to do it and we made the call for all the right reasons and
:22:14. > :22:19.it was the right thing to do. Two days before the poll? Fire macro it
:22:20. > :22:35.was in response to what we were finding out from the canvas. Ash max
:22:36. > :22:43.all I can say to you it was brought up in other areas. It was mentioned
:22:44. > :22:49.when we launch the party. Although we work designating it Unionist,
:22:50. > :22:54.because we wanted to be clear of the constitutional point, it was an
:22:55. > :22:59.issue we had always spoke about. It does have the support of the
:23:00. > :23:06.majority of the party and I believe the people in the electorate will
:23:07. > :23:18.believe in that as well. Is this the end of the NI21 project? Well, I am
:23:19. > :23:22.surprised about the timing of things. They have been plenty of
:23:23. > :23:26.opportunities to say what has been said over the last number of weeks
:23:27. > :23:31.and I did say at the start of this interview that we have had
:23:32. > :23:34.significant pressure from outside forces which resulted in us going to
:23:35. > :23:42.the police and that is because we were worried. If you don't mind me
:23:43. > :23:45.saying, there does seem to be something there that has the
:23:46. > :23:52.potential for a dirty tricks campaign. I don't know who or why or
:23:53. > :23:59.where. It does seem to me that NI21 is threatening the status quo.
:24:00. > :24:03.Whether or not NI21 does upset the political landscape, it remains to
:24:04. > :24:11.be seen. The campaign is over and we are waiting for the verdicts. We
:24:12. > :24:16.will find out the results over the next few days. Let us have a quick
:24:17. > :24:29.look back at what was quite a dramatic campaign.
:24:30. > :24:41.Sinn Fein were unable to get agreement for their party for the
:24:42. > :25:03.package. They did not have to do that in the
:25:04. > :25:05.middle of an election campaign. Remember, I contacted them two
:25:06. > :25:20.months ago. With me are our political editor
:25:21. > :25:28.Mark Devenport and our regular experts Deirdre Heenan and Rick
:25:29. > :25:33.Wilford. Mark, let us talk about NI21 and the allegations on tonight
:25:34. > :25:39.was my programme. What are your thoughts about where we are as far
:25:40. > :25:43.as that party is concerned? This must be one of the most disastrous
:25:44. > :25:50.political debuts we have ever had in Northern Ireland. It is a complete
:25:51. > :25:54.mess. I don't know how the election will have fared for them. Honestly
:25:55. > :26:00.it cannot have been helped by the headlines earlier on, but if anyone
:26:01. > :26:11.has voted for them, they might be thinking, why did I do that? Tina
:26:12. > :26:19.McKenzie, within the last hour has sent an e-mail saying she has
:26:20. > :26:27.resigned from the party's is edited. She was the standard-bearer in this
:26:28. > :26:31.party. She says she will continue to support NI21, but she is looking
:26:32. > :26:36.forward to spending time with her family. She says I wish John and
:26:37. > :26:40.basil sincere goodwill and hope they can work out their differences
:26:41. > :26:50.though the sake of the party. The Treasurer of the party has stepped
:26:51. > :26:58.down with immediate effect. Also an executive committee member has
:26:59. > :27:06.notified party members of his resignation, although he remained
:27:07. > :27:10.supportive of NI21. You have followed the fortunes of NI21 over
:27:11. > :27:18.the last year. Can they survive this situation? It's clinging to the
:27:19. > :27:24.wreckage at the moment. It is in survival mode. Two into one is not
:27:25. > :27:30.going to go. This partnership is broken. The tarts now is for one or
:27:31. > :27:35.other of them to rebuild the party from the wreckage, but it will take
:27:36. > :27:43.considerable time. The confidence in its candidates and whatever
:27:44. > :27:53.electorate it has got is badly damaged. It sounds as if it's the
:27:54. > :27:58.old adage about the person being political. I do think this is a
:27:59. > :28:04.relationship that can be fixed. I think they will have to start
:28:05. > :28:08.afresh. On the eve of the first election they are contesting, you
:28:09. > :28:16.could not have made up this car crash. It is a disaster. Both men
:28:17. > :28:20.apologised to voters and candidates for the situation that has unfolded.
:28:21. > :28:24.There will be people watching this programme he would have gone into
:28:25. > :28:30.the polling stations and voted to NI21 and that new brand of politics
:28:31. > :28:34.because they wanted to, as the party slogan had it, aspire to better.
:28:35. > :28:43.Resume agreed people would have voted for them? I think people
:28:44. > :28:49.thought they had something new to offer. They had done a good job of
:28:50. > :28:56.engaging people, particularly young people. They had convinced them
:28:57. > :29:01.about the need to use their vote. People who were feeling
:29:02. > :29:05.disenfranchised were beginning to speak about politics. I'm sure they
:29:06. > :29:11.are let down. Truth is stranger than fiction. Maybe it is a sign of their
:29:12. > :29:17.political immaturity that this has happened in public. I just can't see
:29:18. > :29:26.a wave act for them now because they have lost so much credibility.
:29:27. > :29:33.Do you believe this lectureship is over as far as the two men are
:29:34. > :29:37.concerned? You cannot have a spat in public, and we don't know what will
:29:38. > :29:41.happen over the course of the next few days, but obviously there was
:29:42. > :29:48.this reference to this organisation which is supposedly investigating.
:29:49. > :29:53.They have told us the investigation services are confidential and
:29:54. > :29:59.independent and they will not, -- they will not comment. Something is
:30:00. > :30:06.going on, so no doubt something may then reach the public domain. The
:30:07. > :30:10.ordinary thing is the speed which was a real French, not a political
:30:11. > :30:14.convenience, it was a real friendship between the two men, they
:30:15. > :30:20.spent a lot of time in each other's company, when one jumped the other
:30:21. > :30:23.followed, and it is quite a personal tragedy for them, I would say, it
:30:24. > :30:37.has broken down. So close, some people, Tom in cheek,
:30:38. > :30:40.referred to them as Jasil. You can't have a party whose
:30:41. > :30:44.leadership is divided in this way for top the image of a party is
:30:45. > :30:51.critical. Leadership is an indispensable part of that. Coming
:30:52. > :30:56.back to Deirdre's point about things being brought up in public, they
:30:57. > :31:04.launched prematurely, the policy cupboard was largely bare. You have
:31:05. > :31:08.seen this immaturity unfold. The population felt they were brave,
:31:09. > :31:11.embarking on something new, trying to bring a freshness of politics. We
:31:12. > :31:17.feel disillusioned by the whole thing stop there may be a future for
:31:18. > :31:20.the two actors who did their party election broadcast.
:31:21. > :31:24.That takes is neatly onto the broader picture and is briefly your
:31:25. > :31:30.reflections on the campaign. Do we know festival about turnout, is that
:31:31. > :31:33.likely to be a key issue? It is still pretty anecdotal. We
:31:34. > :31:37.know the last European elections there was a turnout of 43%, in the
:31:38. > :31:41.last council election which was a joint election it was more like 55%.
:31:42. > :31:46.The anecdotal accounts tonight is that it will be probably somewhere
:31:47. > :31:49.in between that, in some places it has been down near the lower figure,
:31:50. > :31:55.some places it has been near the higher figure but they may even out
:31:56. > :32:00.to around 50%. Possibly getting there, possibly a little bit under.
:32:01. > :32:04.What will you be looking out for over the next few days? Local
:32:05. > :32:11.election results Friday, Saturday and it isn't a. Discussions on
:32:12. > :32:14.Sunday. On Monday we get a better plan -- -- better picture of the
:32:15. > :32:22.European state. They have all got significant
:32:23. > :32:27.features, the odds look, we have some back casting trying to
:32:28. > :32:33.aggregate from census data in any pulse. They looks as if the
:32:34. > :32:39.incumbent three will be returned, but that 30 could be interesting.
:32:40. > :32:48.Between Tim Nicholson, and Alex Attwood. If Jim Nicholson loses it
:32:49. > :32:54.the career is in jeopardy. A poor performance by the SDLP may be well
:32:55. > :32:58.make that party think again about the leadership. I have taken the
:32:59. > :33:05.view for some time that party needs an architect.
:33:06. > :33:08.What about the Alliance party, we have mentioned, people are
:33:09. > :33:12.interested in the strength of Sinn Fein and the do the weather on at
:33:13. > :33:17.the Ulster Unionists staged some kind of recovery, what about
:33:18. > :33:20.Alliance? Alliance will be commended for their party election broadcast,
:33:21. > :33:30.it was different, it set a different tone, you had to go and it before
:33:31. > :33:33.politics was even mentioned. I thought it was interesting. Overall
:33:34. > :33:36.the campaign wasn't about Europe, and the powers of the new super
:33:37. > :33:42.council were barely mentioned for stop it was very quickly about them
:33:43. > :33:44.and us. Of course the arrest of Gerry Adams set the tone and contest
:33:45. > :33:50.for what happened afterwards. It was very bitter, the main parties were
:33:51. > :33:57.Ebony and has a -- antagonistic towards each other. That is the key
:33:58. > :34:02.point in terms of how this election has been run. Largely it was
:34:03. > :34:08.turgid, uninspiring, the policy was not debated at any level. Are you
:34:09. > :34:13.expecting any surprises? We will probably have the same three coming
:34:14. > :34:16.back, it will be interesting to see if alliances impacted in the
:34:17. > :34:19.councils around the greater Belfast area. Interesting to watch Jim
:34:20. > :34:22.Allister because things like the Gerry Adams breastplate was his
:34:23. > :34:27.agenda. Busy programme, we will have
:34:28. > :34:31.extensive coverage of the result of the coming over the weekend. On
:34:32. > :34:33.radio, online and television, I will be here with us first special
:34:34. > :34:37.programme tomorrow. Goodbye.