Browse content similar to 28/01/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
a new constituency for May's election, | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
but the long-running problems with welfare reform | :00:07. | :00:08. | |
Tonight on The View, we'll hear from Martin McGuinness | :00:09. | :00:12. | |
so who is holding up the legacy issue? | :00:13. | :00:43. | |
Martin McGuiness says he has no doubt about who is causing the | :00:44. | :00:49. | |
delay. For the meeting I was involved in with Theresa Villiers it | :00:50. | :00:52. | |
was clear to me that the British Government were not keen to resolve | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
the situation prior to the assembly elections. | :00:57. | :00:58. | |
Plus, back off Brussels or all aboard the European gravy train? | :00:59. | :01:00. | |
we hear from a TD who thinks the UK should stay in the EU, | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
and an MLA who says the Republic should butt out. | :01:06. | :01:07. | |
Also tonight - the word of the week was waffle. | :01:08. | :01:09. | |
We will need executive support to do so. We call Jim Allister. That was | :01:10. | :01:21. | |
act-macro pure waffle act-macro | :01:22. | :01:29. | |
And in Commentators' Corner, Professor Deirdre Heenan, | :01:30. | :01:31. | |
who's joined tonight by the Reverend Lesley Carroll. | :01:32. | :01:33. | |
Once again this week, the political headlines have been | :01:34. | :01:44. | |
From the allegations surrounding the Shankill bombing to the inquiry | :01:45. | :01:48. | |
into inquests and, of course, the political deadlock over doing | :01:49. | :01:50. | |
I've been speaking to the Deputy First Minister, | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
Martin McGuinness, about his view on what's causing the current delay | :01:56. | :01:58. | |
When we caught up this afternoon at his office | :01:59. | :02:03. | |
in Stormont Castle, I began by asking him about recent comments | :02:04. | :02:06. | |
on the Shankill bombing made by the Chief Constable, | :02:07. | :02:08. | |
He said this week that he is "100% convinced that the police service | :02:09. | :02:13. | |
"at the time had no knowledge of the 1993 attack that | :02:14. | :02:15. | |
I can only take it at face value what the Chief Constable said. I | :02:16. | :02:31. | |
think in all of these matters, there are going to have to be addressed in | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
the context of finding a way forward on legacy and I think during the | :02:37. | :02:41. | |
course of the talks in the latter part of last year we made huge | :02:42. | :02:45. | |
progress in terms of the mechanisms and structures we intend to put in | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
place. The big obstacle was the issue of disclosure and this term | :02:50. | :02:55. | |
national security that Theresa Villiers was keen to deploy. I have | :02:56. | :02:59. | |
met Theresa Villiers on a number of occasions since then and from the | :03:00. | :03:06. | |
meetings I have had with plus the interviews she has given publicly, | :03:07. | :03:09. | |
she has certainly given the impression that the British | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
Government is up for resolving the concerns of the number of very | :03:14. | :03:18. | |
important groups of citizens who believe that that term would be used | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
to prevent the full truth coming out. I think we can plug out of the | :03:24. | :03:29. | |
air almost 20 or 30 different scenarios. The only way to resolve | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
it is to find a way forward on legacy, absent from that will be | :03:35. | :03:39. | |
difficult. On that case, it has been reported that the Republican who | :03:40. | :03:43. | |
ordered the Shankill bomb was a police informer, what is your | :03:44. | :03:47. | |
response? I do not know who the person is so how can I respond? I | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
have no information about who the individual is. What we have to do is | :03:54. | :03:57. | |
recognise that when it comes to dealing with the past that there is | :03:58. | :04:04. | |
a tendency for people to plug out of one situation and ignore others and | :04:05. | :04:07. | |
I think it is very important that we look of all of this in the round and | :04:08. | :04:12. | |
recognise that there are many concerns. I have no doubt that in | :04:13. | :04:17. | |
the past elements with in the British establishment used to people | :04:18. | :04:23. | |
within the community and indeed within organisations as agents. That | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
is very clear on the public record. It is really about how we came get | :04:28. | :04:33. | |
to the truth of what happened. The only possible mechanism for getting | :04:34. | :04:39. | |
to the truth is the root agreed by the two governments and parties in | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
relation to the mechanisms and structures. We need to find a way to | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
put those mechanisms and structures in place and that will only happen | :04:49. | :04:52. | |
in my view when we get our way forward and I listen carefully to | :04:53. | :04:56. | |
what Theresa Villiers and others have been saying about whether or | :04:57. | :05:00. | |
not they believe it can be done before the assembly elections, I | :05:01. | :05:02. | |
would like it done before then but if not, the preparatory work needs | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
to be done so we can hit the ground running after the assembly | :05:09. | :05:12. | |
elections. Arlene Foster said the outstanding issues concerning | :05:13. | :05:15. | |
legacy, those matters that were not agreed in the Fresh Start deal will | :05:16. | :05:21. | |
have to wait until after the election, it do you accept that is | :05:22. | :05:26. | |
the case? From the meeting I was involved in with Theresa Villiers it | :05:27. | :05:28. | |
was clear that the British Government were not keen to resolve | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
the situation prior to the assembly elections so I think probably Arlene | :05:34. | :05:36. | |
Foster has taken her lead from the British Government. So that as it? | :05:37. | :05:43. | |
Know. I made the point when I have a conversation with Theresa Villiers | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
that if it was a matter of waiting until after the assembly elections | :05:49. | :05:51. | |
the preparation needs to be done between now and then so that after | :05:52. | :05:57. | |
the election, facing the public with the prospect that there will be more | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
talks, this needs to be resolved immediately after the assembly | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
elections. Do you except that that speculation about an informer and | :06:08. | :06:11. | |
the Shankill bomb is exactly the kind of story that underlines and | :06:12. | :06:14. | |
need for a credible mechanism for dealing with the past and that is an | :06:15. | :06:18. | |
issue that politicians including yourself have up until now failed to | :06:19. | :06:23. | |
grasp? I do not think we have failed to grasp anything. The big concern | :06:24. | :06:29. | |
that we have in my party is that there are significant victims groups | :06:30. | :06:33. | |
within the broad nationalist and republican community who believe | :06:34. | :06:37. | |
that the British Government are attempting to prevent disclosure or | :06:38. | :06:41. | |
are hiding behind national security. My position through the course of | :06:42. | :06:47. | |
the talks was to ask our negotiators to engage with those groups. We gave | :06:48. | :06:52. | |
a pledge to them that we would not sign up for anything but did not | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
allay their concerns and fears. The trick now is to find a solution | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
which they can live with and if they say to me that they can live with | :07:03. | :07:07. | |
that, I will go with that. The DUP has said that the money that was set | :07:08. | :07:11. | |
aside for the legacy bodies that should now be up and running but are | :07:12. | :07:19. | |
not, should be released anyway. Is that sensible? I think what is | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
sensible is what we have tried very hard to do is to do the preparation | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
to get the solution that clearly Theresa Villiers has indicated that | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
she thinks is out there. I think that money is much better used to | :07:33. | :07:39. | |
ensure that the mechanisms and institutions that we intend to | :07:40. | :07:42. | |
establish are properly funded. There is a big question as to whether or | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
not the ?150 million over a period of five years will be enough. I | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
think we need to be very cautious about how we deal with that money to | :07:53. | :07:56. | |
ensure that when the time comes to establish these structures which | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
will provide a menu of options for victims are properly funded. Let us | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
talk about the assembly elections in May, you have taken the decision to | :08:07. | :08:09. | |
move constituency from Mid Ulster to fight the next election in | :08:10. | :08:27. | |
Foyle, your home city, who is Sinn Fein more afraid of in Londonderry, | :08:28. | :08:29. | |
Colum Eastwood or People Before Profit? The political landscape on | :08:30. | :08:32. | |
the Ireland of Ireland is changing. It is clear even at this stage that | :08:33. | :08:35. | |
Sinn Fein will have a very good General Election in the south. Even | :08:36. | :08:39. | |
our most ardent opponents are conceding that there will be a very | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
substantial increase in our representation. In the north, I have | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
been on record within the party as saying that I do believe that Sinn | :08:50. | :08:53. | |
Fein can emerge as the largest political party in the north at some | :08:54. | :09:00. | |
stage in the future. My move into Foyle is about increasing Sinn | :09:01. | :09:03. | |
Fein's mandate and it is about delivery for the people of Foyle. I | :09:04. | :09:08. | |
have a deep affection for the people in South Derry and they are now very | :09:09. | :09:17. | |
lucky to have a very strong Sinn Fein organisation with an MP, three | :09:18. | :09:22. | |
MLAs and 18 councillors, probably the strongest party in any of the | :09:23. | :09:26. | |
councils anywhere in the North. The move into Derry is about certainly | :09:27. | :09:35. | |
addressing a very clear perception that is out there are that more | :09:36. | :09:38. | |
needs to be done and that is why we have the budget in relation to | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
putting the money forward for the work this year of the construction | :09:44. | :09:52. | |
of the A6 and could focus on McGee university which has to be a top | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
priority for all of us. This is effectively Sinn Fein and the DUP | :09:57. | :10:02. | |
versus everyone else. I have been on public record as saying that in the | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
last assembly elections, it was Peter Robinson and myself against | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
the rest. We were singing from the same hymn sheet in terms of how we | :10:12. | :10:16. | |
move forward. Will this continue with Arlene Foster? Everyone knows | :10:17. | :10:20. | |
and I am not going to pull a blind over the fact that there were two or | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
three rocky years as a result of financial difficulties, mostly also | :10:27. | :10:31. | |
on account of flag protest, riots and the situation at Ardoyne. I have | :10:32. | :10:35. | |
been a colleague of Arlington for the last eight years and I think | :10:36. | :10:41. | |
that she and I know what we have to do -- Arlene Foster. We have had | :10:42. | :10:45. | |
conversations and we will put the negativity of the last few years | :10:46. | :10:49. | |
into the dustbin and we want to move forward with a positive agenda. Lord | :10:50. | :10:55. | |
MP has written to the parties suggesting a ban on election | :10:56. | :10:58. | |
posters, would use support that? That would only work in the context | :10:59. | :11:03. | |
of all political parties and candidates. If the others agree, | :11:04. | :11:08. | |
would you agree? If all others agree, we would give serious | :11:09. | :11:12. | |
consideration. What are the chances of that happening? Due only to be | :11:13. | :11:19. | |
honest? I think the chances of that happening zero. The chances of other | :11:20. | :11:25. | |
parties agreeing to are zero. Martin McGuiness does not need posters! | :11:26. | :11:31. | |
Part of generating interest in an election is the television debates, | :11:32. | :11:36. | |
it is about what is happening in the newspapers and local radio stations, | :11:37. | :11:40. | |
but it is also about creating an atmosphere. Our position is clear, | :11:41. | :11:44. | |
if all of the other parties and candidates were to agree that there | :11:45. | :11:48. | |
should be no posters, we would give it serious consideration, but I | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
think it is unlikely. We have had this discussion on a number of | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
occasions, it has never come to pass. Do you think that your party's | :11:57. | :12:03. | |
climb-down on welfare will play badly in May? I think people | :12:04. | :12:07. | |
absolutely appreciate the huge difficulties that all political | :12:08. | :12:12. | |
parties have to deal with in terms of the austerity agenda being | :12:13. | :12:15. | |
pursued by the British Government. For us in the negotiation we were | :12:16. | :12:21. | |
involved in with other parties, as in every other negotiation I have | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
been involved in, goes back to the Good Friday Agreement, everyone has | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
to recognise that compromises have to be made. I think from our | :12:30. | :12:34. | |
perspective to be able to put in place a fond of half ?1 billion | :12:35. | :12:41. | |
under the tutelage of Professor Eileen Evason and others is | :12:42. | :12:44. | |
something that is not available anywhere else, it is not available | :12:45. | :12:49. | |
in England or Wales or Scotland... You overpromised. He said that no | :12:50. | :12:53. | |
benefit recipients present or future would lose out and that patency is | :12:54. | :12:58. | |
not the case. I think that a very determined effort was made by Sinn | :12:59. | :13:03. | |
Fein protect everyone, but we had to work out what the cost of protecting | :13:04. | :13:08. | |
everyone would be at the undoubtedly there would be a cost to the | :13:09. | :13:11. | |
departed of education, to our teachers and schools and hospitals, | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
to our nurses and doctors and I think on the balance of things, we | :13:16. | :13:21. | |
have done I think a decent job in trying to protect the most | :13:22. | :13:25. | |
vulnerable in society. You have already suggested that if Sinn Fein | :13:26. | :13:30. | |
comes back as the biggest party after the election in may you would | :13:31. | :13:35. | |
designate as joint first ministers. Arlene Foster has said she is not | :13:36. | :13:39. | |
interested in that because she is confident she will be returned as | :13:40. | :13:41. | |
the leader of the biggest party and she will return as First Minister. | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
Were you disappointed she was not a bit more open to the suggestion? I | :13:47. | :13:50. | |
am never disappointed about things like that. I am not going to comment | :13:51. | :13:59. | |
on what Arlene Foster shed. What I said was if Sinn Fein is returned as | :14:00. | :14:03. | |
the largest party, the next time out, I am per paired to the DUP that | :14:04. | :14:09. | |
we change the title from office to joint First Minister. The reality is | :14:10. | :14:15. | |
is that power resides with both of us. We can get nothing done unless | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
we agree. I have as much power and authority as Arlene Foster and she | :14:21. | :14:23. | |
has as much power and authority as me, it only works if we can work | :14:24. | :14:29. | |
together. This is a very important year for centenary commemoration is | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
in Ireland, how do you think Republicans should mark the | :14:34. | :14:39. | |
centenary of the Battle of the Somme? I think, in short, very | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
respectfully. In a very dignified way. As I hope others will respect | :14:45. | :14:52. | |
and be respectful and dignified about what is precious to us in | :14:53. | :14:57. | |
terms of the 100 of anniversary of the Easter rising. I think we all | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
throughout the island have a duty and responsibility to give | :15:02. | :15:05. | |
leadership on these issues and I am presently examining what my | :15:06. | :15:10. | |
contribution can be towards recognising those Irish men in the | :15:11. | :15:14. | |
tens of thousands who lost their lives from all over Ireland in the | :15:15. | :15:20. | |
First World War. Might that involve you attending some kind of | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
commemoration on the site of the battle in July? Presently, I have | :15:26. | :15:28. | |
asked my advisers to sit down and think about how we can do something | :15:29. | :15:33. | |
in regard to acknowledging the sacrifices made by Irish men north | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
and south. It was not a Great War, it was a great slaughter and | :15:39. | :15:42. | |
whatever about the politics and the politics were terrible, what we are | :15:43. | :15:47. | |
focused on is the human loss. Might that extend to you considering | :15:48. | :15:53. | |
wearing a puppy at some stage this year? | :15:54. | :15:59. | |
I don't think it is essential to wear at poppy to remember those who | :16:00. | :16:07. | |
lost their lives. But you can imagine the impact on the Unionists? | :16:08. | :16:13. | |
We can wonder how it would impact on everybody. I will be respectful and | :16:14. | :16:19. | |
dignified about how I decide to commemorate those tragic people, who | :16:20. | :16:23. | |
left this island in their tens of thousands I've never came home. | :16:24. | :16:29. | |
Quick word about Brexit, that Enda Kenny is allowed to have his opinion | :16:30. | :16:36. | |
about what happens to the UK, but should not seek to influence the | :16:37. | :16:41. | |
outcome of the referendum. I agree with the Taoiseach that an exit from | :16:42. | :16:46. | |
Europe would be very bad for the island of Ireland, economically, | :16:47. | :16:49. | |
that it would be very bad for the agri- food counters -- the food | :16:50. | :16:58. | |
industry in the north. I respect the position of the DUP, which seems to | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
be very in between, some would like to exit tomorrow, to those who wish | :17:03. | :17:06. | |
to see David Cameron coming back with some sort of agreement, which | :17:07. | :17:11. | |
he can put positively to the people, for people to stay in. The danger of | :17:12. | :17:17. | |
that is that the British government are possibly running the risk of | :17:18. | :17:21. | |
sleep walking into an exit from Europe and from my perspective, I | :17:22. | :17:25. | |
think that would be disastrous for Ireland. We will leave it there. | :17:26. | :17:29. | |
Deputy First Minister, thank you. Thank you, Mark. | :17:30. | :17:32. | |
Martin McGuinness taking us neatly into our next discussion - | :17:33. | :17:35. | |
Should politicians from the Republic say it as they see it, | :17:36. | :17:38. | |
or mind their own business on whether the UK | :17:39. | :17:40. | |
The Taoiseach was accused by the DUP this week of interfering in internal | :17:41. | :17:45. | |
matters, which the party says are solely the preserve | :17:46. | :17:47. | |
The Fianna Fail TD, Brendan Smith, says that's a regrettable throwback | :17:48. | :17:55. | |
and he joins me now from our Dublin studio. | :17:56. | :17:58. | |
is the TUV leader and former MEP, Jim Allister. | :17:59. | :18:02. | |
The DUP was invited to be part of the discussion, but declined. | :18:03. | :18:07. | |
Welcome to you both. Jim Allister first of all, do you agree with | :18:08. | :18:14. | |
Nigel Dodds that this is an internal UK matter and the Taoiseach should | :18:15. | :18:20. | |
not interfere? Of course this is a United Kingdom matter, about the | :18:21. | :18:22. | |
future of the United Kingdom, whether we are in or out of the EU, | :18:23. | :18:27. | |
and the referendum is that the people of the United Kingdom and the | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
decision lies with them and them alone. People in the Irish Republic, | :18:33. | :18:39. | |
in France, other parts of Europe, and have an interest in what | :18:40. | :18:41. | |
happens. When the Irish Republic voted on the Lisbon Treaty, I as an | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
ovarian -- hires an observer was interested to see what David do. And | :18:47. | :18:52. | |
when they had a second referendum, it was interested, when it did not | :18:53. | :18:56. | |
suit Brussels. But they never thought it was any of my business to | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
participate. Or to seek to influence that. So you are incomplete | :19:01. | :19:11. | |
agreement with Nigel Dodds on this? Arlene Foster roared back from a | :19:12. | :19:15. | |
somewhat at it is clear this is a matter for UK voters. But is it | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
acceptable for someone like Brendan Smith, Ruby will speak to in a | :19:21. | :19:25. | |
moment, remit as a Fianna Fail opposition spokesman includes the | :19:26. | :19:29. | |
border region, is it right for him to have a few on the subject, as EU | :19:30. | :19:37. | |
funding relates to Northern Ireland and the Republic? He is untitled two | :19:38. | :19:41. | |
of you but not to imprint that on the voters of Northern Ireland. -- | :19:42. | :19:47. | |
he is entitled to the review. This is a wonderful opportunity after 40 | :19:48. | :19:51. | |
years of the shackles of Europe to liberate ourselves. And to grow our | :19:52. | :19:57. | |
economy, we have the growth is, outside of the declining European | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
Union, and to build trade with the rest of the world, we at the growth | :20:02. | :20:07. | |
is. He is entitled to a few but not to vault or act as if he has one. | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
How do you feel about that, Brendan Smith? You are entitled to view, an | :20:13. | :20:18. | |
opinion, but you must not seek to influence the outcome of the | :20:19. | :20:22. | |
referendum? I would disagree with Jim and it is important us in public | :20:23. | :20:27. | |
life in the south, that we participate in the debate and I had | :20:28. | :20:30. | |
played the facts and concerns we would have if Britain decided to | :20:31. | :20:36. | |
leave the EU. We are concerned about the development relationships on | :20:37. | :20:46. | |
this island, between north and south, there are huge synergies | :20:47. | :20:48. | |
between economies not in sight. Other countries in Europe could have | :20:49. | :20:53. | |
an opinion. But we are the only country with a land border with | :20:54. | :20:57. | |
Britain, we are close ally in the European Union, I served as Minister | :20:58. | :21:06. | |
of agriculture, attended many meetings, and we have a very good | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
and close working relationship with Britain. We can differ with them | :21:11. | :21:15. | |
strongly on some issues but on a huge range of issues we would be | :21:16. | :21:21. | |
very close allies. But just to be clear, you began your comments | :21:22. | :21:24. | |
saying you disagreed but Jim Allister, but do you think you have | :21:25. | :21:29. | |
a right to try to influence the outcome of the referendum in the UK? | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
We have a right to put forward a viewpoint and we would hope the | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
electorate would take her views into account. So you want to influence | :21:41. | :21:43. | |
the electorate in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK? I did not | :21:44. | :21:48. | |
say that. With respect, that seems to be what you are saying. What you | :21:49. | :21:55. | |
want to state is, what you want to put clearly across is the huge | :21:56. | :22:00. | |
important and positive leveraged debt is for both economies, for both | :22:01. | :22:06. | |
north and south, by both of us being members of the European Union. | :22:07. | :22:14. | |
Looking at agriculture, food and fisheries, we work with Northern | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
Ireland to increase the cause of this, be it north side, and working | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
together on that respect. On a daily basis, there's huge trade and | :22:26. | :22:29. | |
commerce and business between north and south, we do not want barriers | :22:30. | :22:37. | |
put up between trade on this island. Very quickly, before I come back to | :22:38. | :22:42. | |
Jim Allister, to clarify, RUC Endura view is it would be better for the | :22:43. | :22:48. | |
UK to remain in the EU, but it is up to voters to decide for themselves, | :22:49. | :22:56. | |
or are you saying directly to people in Northern Ireland who will have a | :22:57. | :23:01. | |
vote in the referendum that this should stay within the EU? | :23:02. | :23:09. | |
Sovereignty of the sides with the people in a written constitution, we | :23:10. | :23:14. | |
respect the sovereignty of any other country to make its decision, that | :23:15. | :23:20. | |
does not stop as participating in the debate and outlining what we see | :23:21. | :23:24. | |
are the issues, the positives and negatives. Is that fair enough? It | :23:25. | :23:30. | |
excludes them from campaigning and it sounds like Enda Kenny was | :23:31. | :23:34. | |
seeking to be part of this campaign, and I think Mr Smith would like to | :23:35. | :23:39. | |
campaign on this issue in favour of staying and shackling us to the EU. | :23:40. | :23:45. | |
There are so much scare stories that would entry within the British | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
Isles. Of course it would not. We traded with the rest of Ireland long | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
before we were in the EU and will continue to do so. It might make | :23:54. | :23:59. | |
that more difficult. Northern Ireland exports 60% of its exports | :24:00. | :24:03. | |
to the rest of the United Kingdom, exports 10% to the Republic of | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
Ireland, but here is the key point, because the United Kingdom has a | :24:10. | :24:13. | |
huge trade deficit with the rest of the EU, in other words selling more | :24:14. | :24:20. | |
to us than we to them, they have a vested interest in maintaining that. | :24:21. | :24:24. | |
They have a vested interest in continuing the trade. So if and when | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
the exit there will be agreements to continue that. That bill applied to | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
the Republic of Ireland as well as the rest of Europe, because it is we | :24:36. | :24:43. | |
only did more than -- be more than we need them. It sits as strongly as | :24:44. | :24:52. | |
strong trading nation, similar to Britain, we explored 80% of what is | :24:53. | :24:57. | |
produced, doubled the European Union average. Britain is nearest | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
neighbour, we are likewise a huge trading partner for Britain as well. | :25:03. | :25:07. | |
If you think about Britain exporting more to our land than to Brazil, | :25:08. | :25:12. | |
India and China combined. That shows the huge trade that is across the | :25:13. | :25:18. | |
Irish Sea in both directions. I firmly believe, if the parameters | :25:19. | :25:27. | |
that we trade in at the moment, if there are no restrictions which add | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
to costs for both the export and import, it will be a negative for | :25:33. | :25:35. | |
the economies of Britain and Ireland. But the differences for the | :25:36. | :25:40. | |
Republic of Ireland the bulk of their trade is with the rest of the | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
EU. For the United Kingdom the bulk of trade is with the rest of the | :25:46. | :25:48. | |
world. Therefore we can afford to leave it. Maybe the Irish Republic | :25:49. | :25:54. | |
is so tied in the cannot afford to leave. That is a matter for them. | :25:55. | :26:00. | |
But they could see the wisdom of the United Kingdom flourishes after | :26:01. | :26:07. | |
leaving the EU. Injury strategy. -- dangerous strategy. A lot of your | :26:08. | :26:11. | |
critics and opponents and those who would like to see the UK stay in the | :26:12. | :26:17. | |
EU, they have said that while the UK may be a net contributor to the EU, | :26:18. | :26:23. | |
Northern Ireland however is a net beneficiary. That is not correct. | :26:24. | :26:31. | |
United Kingdom contributes ?20 billion per year into the EU. The | :26:32. | :26:37. | |
Northern Irish share of that, like the Barnett Formula in reverse, is | :26:38. | :26:45. | |
about 500,000 - ?600,000 per year. The total receipts in the last | :26:46. | :26:51. | |
available year, from the European Union, are ?430 million. Less than | :26:52. | :26:59. | |
we contribute. Figures confirmed last week, which is 500 million | :27:00. | :27:03. | |
euros for Northern Ireland and the border region. Your critics would | :27:04. | :27:08. | |
say, if Northern Ireland does not continue to be part of the EU | :27:09. | :27:12. | |
through the UK, we would lose out on that kind of funding. What was | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
announced was for the next seven years. 220 million -- 229 million | :27:17. | :27:25. | |
euros. It is over the next seven years, for the border regions of the | :27:26. | :27:29. | |
Republic and Northern Ireland. That is all it is. That is about ?15 | :27:30. | :27:36. | |
million per year. That is nothing when compared to the fact that the | :27:37. | :27:41. | |
health service gobbles up more than ?4 billion. And on top of that there | :27:42. | :27:48. | |
is interim money, which is of a similar vein spread even similar. | :27:49. | :27:53. | |
That some of throwing money we get back. It is a growing money we are | :27:54. | :28:00. | |
getting back and they only get back half of what we put in. Brendan, how | :28:01. | :28:06. | |
do you respond? He is not factoring in that foreign investment comes to | :28:07. | :28:11. | |
both Ireland and Britain, such as from the United States. But not | :28:12. | :28:18. | |
subject to bureaucracy from muscles. And also based on access to the | :28:19. | :28:22. | |
European market of 500 million people, another fact he has not | :28:23. | :28:27. | |
alluded to. I represent two southern Ulster counties and I need but a lot | :28:28. | :28:34. | |
of my neighbours north of the border and the farming community, and I | :28:35. | :28:41. | |
have yet to meet a farmer from any part of Northern Ireland that is not | :28:42. | :28:44. | |
in favour of remaining within the European Union. But the farming | :28:45. | :28:50. | |
community, farming and agriculture, is dependent on continued membership | :28:51. | :28:56. | |
of the European Union. Let me put that point... How do you respond to | :28:57. | :29:05. | |
that? A lot of farmers are nervous about the Brexit. There is no sector | :29:06. | :29:10. | |
more under the cosh of Brussels bureaucracy than farmers. The forms | :29:11. | :29:14. | |
filled in, when they can spread slurry, do anything, take your cat | :29:15. | :29:19. | |
to Brussels. And the single farm payment is a different story? Of an | :29:20. | :29:27. | |
money back, which would be made up, because agriculture is key to the | :29:28. | :29:31. | |
economy of the United Kingdom, made up of a national scheme which would | :29:32. | :29:35. | |
be far better for us in that we would have the money to spend on our | :29:36. | :29:40. | |
own people instead of subsidising the inefficient farmers of Italy, | :29:41. | :29:45. | |
France, Greece, Romania, which is what we are doing at the moment. We | :29:46. | :29:55. | |
will have to leave it there. Have rained two at moment. There should | :29:56. | :29:58. | |
be more opportunity to discuss this. Thank you both very much. -- we all | :29:59. | :30:00. | |
have round two. Over to the Corner now, | :30:01. | :30:02. | |
where there's plenty to mull over with tonight's commentators | :30:03. | :30:05. | |
Professor Deirdre Heenan We'll talk about that interview | :30:06. | :30:06. | |
with Martin McGuinness shortly, but first to tonight's news | :30:07. | :30:10. | |
that Naomi Long is back She has been selected for East | :30:11. | :30:19. | |
Belfast for the Assembly. Your response to that? No huge surprise? | :30:20. | :30:27. | |
Not huge but welcome. It is easy to forget she had a particularly | :30:28. | :30:31. | |
bruising time that involved bombs and bullets. But I believe she and | :30:32. | :30:36. | |
she can make a difference and Northern Ireland needs performance | :30:37. | :30:40. | |
of her calibre, someone articulate and could make clear what it is they | :30:41. | :30:47. | |
are trying to do. Absolutely I agree, incisive, energetic, | :30:48. | :30:52. | |
intelligent, we need more of it. The former MP was selected for East | :30:53. | :30:56. | |
Belfast as both an Assembly member for East Belfast in the past. Gareth | :30:57. | :31:01. | |
Gordon was speaking to her shortly after the news was made public and | :31:02. | :31:05. | |
asked her for her reaction to being reselected. | :31:06. | :31:10. | |
It was quite a journey for me in deciding what to do but I reached | :31:11. | :31:16. | |
the conclusion that for me I wanted to make a contribution in politics | :31:17. | :31:20. | |
and wanted to continue to do that in the assembly and I am pleased to | :31:21. | :31:24. | |
have been selected along with Chris Lyttle and Tim Morrow to stand at | :31:25. | :31:29. | |
the assembly elections and I hope that we are able to return a team of | :31:30. | :31:32. | |
three to make a difference. Does that mean that you considered not | :31:33. | :31:38. | |
coming back? After May I was tired, exhausted, it was a | :31:39. | :32:00. | |
bruising five years and I took the time to find my passion because they | :32:01. | :32:04. | |
did not want to come back because people expected me to, I wanted to | :32:05. | :32:07. | |
come back because I thought I had something to contribute. I am | :32:08. | :32:09. | |
convinced after reflection that there is still work to be done and | :32:10. | :32:12. | |
there is still a role for the Alliance Party in terms of what we | :32:13. | :32:15. | |
can deliver. I still want to be part of that. I could not go off and have | :32:16. | :32:18. | |
a nice life because I would find myself shouting at the television | :32:19. | :32:20. | |
and getting frustrated because I am passionate. When did you make that | :32:21. | :32:23. | |
decision? I made the decision at Christmas. Your passion must have | :32:24. | :32:25. | |
been dented if you spent seven months deciding whether and not to | :32:26. | :32:30. | |
continue. What happened was I needed rest. I was very tired, it was a | :32:31. | :32:40. | |
very exhausting campaign and they took the time to rest and | :32:41. | :32:42. | |
recuperate. I took the time to remind myself what it was like to | :32:43. | :32:45. | |
have a life outside of politics. To do normal things for a while was | :32:46. | :32:48. | |
important to be ground myself and what I found when I did that was | :32:49. | :32:52. | |
despite how much I enjoyed that like and how much I enjoyed the time and | :32:53. | :32:57. | |
how valuable it was, I still missed politics because I am passionate | :32:58. | :33:01. | |
about Northern Ireland and passionate about making change here | :33:02. | :33:04. | |
and I believe the Alliance Party is the right vehicle and I am honoured | :33:05. | :33:14. | |
that they believe I have a contribution to make. How did you | :33:15. | :33:16. | |
feel after what happened in May? Did you take it badly, did you feel | :33:17. | :33:22. | |
better? Not at all. Why would I? For me, the election campaign was as | :33:23. | :33:25. | |
successful as it could have been in the circumstances in which it was | :33:26. | :33:30. | |
run. We added 4000 votes to the votes I had in the previous election | :33:31. | :33:34. | |
so I think we debunked the myth that the only reason I took the seat was | :33:35. | :33:39. | |
because Peter Robinson was in trouble. That was not the case, I | :33:40. | :33:46. | |
increased my vote. I think we won a moral victory and if we had been on | :33:47. | :33:50. | |
a level playing field, I think we would have retained the seat. I was | :33:51. | :33:55. | |
not bitter, I was exhausted, but my initial reaction when I did not win | :33:56. | :33:59. | |
this seat was concerned for my staff because it was not just about what I | :34:00. | :34:03. | |
was going to do with my future but also what the people who had worked | :34:04. | :34:06. | |
so closely with me over that period were going to do about their futures | :34:07. | :34:11. | |
and also the constituents whom I had worked for, the cases I had worked | :34:12. | :34:15. | |
on, making sure that those people were able to transition, get their | :34:16. | :34:19. | |
results and get the service we wanted to give. My only long talking | :34:20. | :34:28. | |
to Gareth Gordon. Let us talk about Martin McGuiness. You have an | :34:29. | :34:33. | |
interest in legacy issues. He talked a lot about legacy issues and he was | :34:34. | :34:38. | |
prepared to call it as he sees it in terms of who is responsible. The | :34:39. | :34:48. | |
more they call it as they see it. Somehow this has to get an and | :34:49. | :34:54. | |
Martin McGuiness ad nets that but it has to be attended to. As far as he | :34:55. | :34:59. | |
is concerned it is the fault of the Secretary of State. Other people may | :35:00. | :35:04. | |
think it is the fault of Sinn Fein. We keep going around. Yes, I would | :35:05. | :35:08. | |
love to see people starting to say this is what I will do instead of | :35:09. | :35:12. | |
saying this is what I expect someone else to do. That will help. The | :35:13. | :35:17. | |
chances of any of this being resolved before they are virtually | :35:18. | :35:21. | |
none will stop I would think zero, they could not resolve it as part of | :35:22. | :35:27. | |
the Fresh Start and it has been pushed aside. I think it is | :35:28. | :35:33. | |
interesting, I felt Martin was quite subdued in that conversation. You | :35:34. | :35:36. | |
referred to his climb-down over welfare and he did not flinch or as | :35:37. | :35:40. | |
previously he would have gone mad over the suggestion. He also said he | :35:41. | :35:44. | |
had to get on with Arlene Foster because they could get nothing done | :35:45. | :35:49. | |
unless they agreed. Everyone in Northern Ireland knows that because | :35:50. | :35:54. | |
Stormont has been covered in a permafrost. Him moving to Foyle will | :35:55. | :35:59. | |
add zest to the constituency and we will be watching with great | :36:00. | :36:06. | |
interest. It is putting it up to SDLP and they are trying to spook | :36:07. | :36:10. | |
Colum Eastwood. Will he say we are not bothered or does he focus on the | :36:11. | :36:16. | |
young people in the party? I noticed today year unveiled his new spokes | :36:17. | :36:20. | |
team and they are young, he has swept aside and a lot of the old | :36:21. | :36:24. | |
guard and I imagine that is what he will be playing on, the focus on the | :36:25. | :36:32. | |
future instead of the past. Deirdre referred to the part about welfare | :36:33. | :36:35. | |
and that Sinn Fein did not deliver what they said they would. He did | :36:36. | :36:40. | |
not really argue with that, he made the point that the reality of | :36:41. | :36:43. | |
politics is that that is the best deal they could get anti-use the | :36:44. | :36:47. | |
word compromise. He did and I found that interesting. He did not take | :36:48. | :36:56. | |
any eight. I think that he was right to admit he did what he had to do, | :36:57. | :37:00. | |
his party did but they had to do, but they need to do what they have | :37:01. | :37:04. | |
to do in other respects. Then we have the Brexit debate and he said | :37:05. | :37:08. | |
he supports the Taoiseach and the Taoiseach made the point that it was | :37:09. | :37:12. | |
important for the Republic and Northern Ireland and we had an | :37:13. | :37:17. | |
interesting failure of the mines to meet between Brendan Smith and Jim | :37:18. | :37:22. | |
Allister. Not surprising. What came out of that debate is that there is | :37:23. | :37:27. | |
scaremongering on both sides. The EU has not been the subject of any | :37:28. | :37:30. | |
informed debate, it does not make the regional news, but we need to | :37:31. | :37:36. | |
have a better understanding of the political, social and wider cultural | :37:37. | :37:40. | |
consequences. A final sentence on that. I was surprised to hear Jim | :37:41. | :37:45. | |
say that we were lifting up the week and we | :37:46. | :37:46. | |
That's it from The View for this week. | :37:47. | :37:52. | |
Join me for Sunday Politics at 11.35, here on BBC One. | :37:53. | :37:54. | |
But before we go, a quick vocabulary lesson. | :37:55. | :37:56. | |
To babble, to prattle, to blether, to blather - | :37:57. | :37:59. | |
to waffle - that was the word of the week at Stormont. | :38:00. | :38:01. | |
Can I remember the Minister that the two minute rule? Helping people in | :38:02. | :38:16. | |
Northern Ireland. Can I remind the minister about the two minute rule? | :38:17. | :38:21. | |
Order! I again remind him about the two minute rule. Tell him to advise | :38:22. | :38:27. | |
their ministers to give less waffle and more answers. I have taken the | :38:28. | :38:31. | |
appropriate action. Before we move on can I remind the | :38:32. | :38:48. | |
minister about the two minute rule? Local government has a central role | :38:49. | :38:51. | |
to play because they will prioritise this, they will drive that and they | :38:52. | :38:55. | |
will need executive support to do so. I called Mr Jim Allister. That | :38:56. | :38:58. | |
was pure waffle! bought on the streets | :38:59. | :39:03. | |
of east Belfast, | :39:04. | :39:08. |