:00:00. > :00:00.Less than a year ago, she was the triumphant leader
:00:00. > :00:09.of unionism, taking 38 MLAs to Stormont.
:00:10. > :00:14.But a tumultuous few months has seen Arlene Foster
:00:15. > :00:16.battling allegations of corruption and incompetence.
:00:17. > :00:19.On The View tonight, she responds to the criticisms
:00:20. > :00:41.just two weeks ahead of the Assembly election.
:00:42. > :00:45.Arlene Foster vows to see off her opponents in this election
:00:46. > :01:00.saying she will continue to lead unionism on March 3rd.
:01:01. > :01:08.I will accept the outcome of the public inquiry whatever it says. I
:01:09. > :01:12.hope it will be a watershed moment and we will look back and say, could
:01:13. > :01:14.we all have handled that differently?
:01:15. > :01:16.Also tonight - Mike Nesbitt's plan to give his second preference
:01:17. > :01:22.to a nationalist has led to a split in his party.
:01:23. > :01:25.I'll be asking two former Stormont insiders if it was a generous
:01:26. > :01:33.gesture others should follow or politically naive.
:01:34. > :01:38.Plus, we take a look at the party political broadcast, American-style.
:01:39. > :01:41.And with their very own style, in commentators' corner,
:01:42. > :01:49.it's Professor Deirdre Heenan and Newton Emerson.
:01:50. > :01:52.What a difference eight months can make.
:01:53. > :01:56.Back in May last year it was a triumphant Arlene Foster
:01:57. > :02:00.who led her team back into government as the leader
:02:01. > :02:04.Fast forward to tonight and we're just two weeks away
:02:05. > :02:07.from another election - this time with the DUP
:02:08. > :02:11.at logger-heads with its former partners in government,
:02:12. > :02:13.and rows over RHI, legacy and the Irish language leaving
:02:14. > :02:16.little hope for a return to Stormont any time soon.
:02:17. > :02:19.I asked Arlene Foster to explain how she might work
:02:20. > :02:28.with Michelle O'Neill after the vote.
:02:29. > :02:35.It is not for Michelle O'Neill or anybody else in Sinn Fein to tell
:02:36. > :02:41.the people who should lead unionism. She just said she would not support
:02:42. > :02:45.you being in the Executive. The Executive will decide who they want
:02:46. > :02:52.as their leader in terms of unionism and it is up to the electorate, it
:02:53. > :02:58.is not up to Michelle O'Neill. It depends what her mindset is. I am
:02:59. > :03:05.not in the realms of blocking or breaking anybody. I'm trying to get
:03:06. > :03:11.devolution back up and working because this unnecessary election
:03:12. > :03:15.has been caused by Sinn Fein. Sinn Fein has consistently referred to
:03:16. > :03:21.what it says is corruption at the heart of government as a reason for
:03:22. > :03:26.the collapse of Stormont. It has said that throughout this campaign,
:03:27. > :03:31.how do is the DUP respond? There are legal issues around that so I will
:03:32. > :03:36.not get into that. In terms of the narrative they have blown up since
:03:37. > :03:41.December, we have to look at what was happening eight months before
:03:42. > :03:46.that. As you know, we were getting on with the business of government,
:03:47. > :03:53.we had a draft programme for government. We had health reforms
:03:54. > :03:59.under way. With respect, that is not an answer to my question, I am
:04:00. > :04:01.asking about Sinn Fein professing to corruption, an allegation of
:04:02. > :04:08.corruption to the heart of government. Let us look at what was
:04:09. > :04:14.happening last year. We were getting on with government. It was only when
:04:15. > :04:20.I was in China, dealing with issues on behalf of the Executive office
:04:21. > :04:26.and I went on that trip with the Deputy first minister's agreement
:04:27. > :04:32.because he had taken unwell before the trip. I went to China and when I
:04:33. > :04:37.came back, we had to deal with the whole RHI and tobacco which had
:04:38. > :04:44.grown up at that time. So it is quite wrong for Sinn Fein to try and
:04:45. > :04:50.rewrite what has been happening. -- the whole RHI crisis. Of course it
:04:51. > :04:55.is a political characterisation. That is what has been happening
:04:56. > :05:00.since then. In the last election campaign, the DUP media at all about
:05:01. > :05:05.you, your vision. Let us talk about you eight months on. Your opponents
:05:06. > :05:11.say you are not the safe pair of hands they thought you were. This is
:05:12. > :05:16.a different Arlene Foster going before the electorate? It is not,
:05:17. > :05:20.that is the irony. It is the same Arlene Foster who stood on that
:05:21. > :05:26.platform last year. Different circumstances? Different
:05:27. > :05:31.circumstances, that is correct but not a different Arlene Foster. It is
:05:32. > :05:35.the same Arlene Foster who's asking for support and asking people to
:05:36. > :05:41.look at my record in government over ten years and not listen to the
:05:42. > :05:44.political smears and allegations, rumours, just because you say
:05:45. > :05:50.something more than once does not make it true. That is why I am
:05:51. > :05:56.pleased the public inquiry has been set up. Instead of having the drip
:05:57. > :06:02.effect over the last period of time, we will actually get the truth and
:06:03. > :06:07.justice. I want to ask about something, one of the most glaring
:06:08. > :06:15.examples of differences between the DUP, yourself and Sinn Fein is
:06:16. > :06:21.legacy cases. The Sinn Fein leader is attending at commemoration at
:06:22. > :06:25.Clonoe for IRA members shot by the SAS, can you see any way of bridging
:06:26. > :06:31.the gap between your parties when you are all so divided on such an
:06:32. > :06:38.important and sensitive issue? I think we have made progress on
:06:39. > :06:43.legacy issues. We have had fresh start talks. We have made progress
:06:44. > :06:48.about finding the infrastructure of dealing with the past. My position
:06:49. > :06:51.is clear, there can be no equivalence between terrorism and
:06:52. > :06:58.those people who stood between those of us in society who were living
:06:59. > :07:00.through it, the security forces, who were protecting people and
:07:01. > :07:13.terrorists who were going out to murder people. It is what it is. No
:07:14. > :07:20.surprise about her attending that event. I am not surprised that
:07:21. > :07:24.unfortunately she has decided to commemorate and indeed celebrate
:07:25. > :07:29.four IRA men... You have no idea that she is celebrating. Well having
:07:30. > :07:36.those commemorations, we have a good idea. Let us talk about the RHI
:07:37. > :07:41.scandal after fresh revelations today. It was a botched scheme and
:07:42. > :07:45.it happened on your watch. I am pleased we now have a situation
:07:46. > :07:52.where that is a public inquiry set up so we can get to the truth of
:07:53. > :07:55.everything that happened. I absolutely acknowledge their
:07:56. > :07:59.frustrations. I acknowledge the anger in the community about the RHI
:08:00. > :08:03.scheme. I acknowledge it because I shared it. I was the minister at the
:08:04. > :08:09.time so you can imagine how frustrated I am that this has come
:08:10. > :08:14.to the fore. Your critics say your ministerial oversight of the scheme
:08:15. > :08:17.was incompetent. You were asked to account for your actions in
:08:18. > :08:21.monitoring the scheme and you pointed the finger at your civil
:08:22. > :08:27.servants. All of that will come out of the public inquiry. That is what
:08:28. > :08:33.you did, we already know this. It will all come out in the public
:08:34. > :08:38.inquiry and I am content. I hope others will accept the outcome of
:08:39. > :08:42.the public inquiry. To date we have had smears and allegations. Hysteria
:08:43. > :08:47.are almost in relation to the issue and I am pleased the public inquiry
:08:48. > :08:52.will get to the truth of the matter. There was a platform piece in the
:08:53. > :08:57.Irish News from you last week, that I am hostile to their interests of
:08:58. > :09:02.national as hundreds of people in Northern Ireland. You do concede you
:09:03. > :09:08.have made mistakes on this issue? What were the mistakes? I concede
:09:09. > :09:11.that in the heightened tension that has happened since December there
:09:12. > :09:17.has been a lot of harsh things said about me. Possibly I have to take my
:09:18. > :09:25.share of the blame in reacting to that. I hope what will happen after
:09:26. > :09:30.the election, hopefully we will all be back in a devolved
:09:31. > :09:34.administration, I genuinely hope that it will be a watershed moment
:09:35. > :09:38.and we will look back and say, could we all have handled that
:09:39. > :09:44.differently? We have had difficulties in the past in
:09:45. > :09:49.devolution. We had the flags protest. We had the murder of a man
:09:50. > :09:53.in the East Belfast when the IRA were implicated but we work through
:09:54. > :09:57.all of that. On this occasion, Sinn Fein decided we would not work
:09:58. > :10:03.through it but they would pull the plug and throws into an unnecessary
:10:04. > :10:08.election. You had just turned that around and turned it into a way of
:10:09. > :10:12.criticising Sinn Fein, I am asking you to analyse what you said about
:10:13. > :10:17.conceding that you made mistakes and tell me what the mistakes were. Do
:10:18. > :10:23.you know regret talking about feeding the Sinn Fein crocodile last
:10:24. > :10:29.week? That is not a laughing matter. It is Sinn Fein for goodness sake.
:10:30. > :10:36.We're in an election. Can I tell you some of the things said about me in
:10:37. > :10:42.this election. I am interviewing you. Last week I spoke to Michelle
:10:43. > :10:47.O'Neill. She sat in that seat and said it was wrong, she had
:10:48. > :10:53.admonished her colleagues for talking about giving you manners.
:10:54. > :10:57.Did she also admonished her party president when he said he was going
:10:58. > :11:04.to break unionists and use equality to do that? When did he do that? Two
:11:05. > :11:10.years ago. Let us talk about the present. We want to talk about the
:11:11. > :11:19.current issues relevant to this campaign. Do you regret the comments
:11:20. > :11:27.you made about feeding the Sinn Fein crocodile? Now, it was in the
:11:28. > :11:30.context. You just said talking about looking back and consider the
:11:31. > :11:35.dialogue and I ask you if it was wrong, you cannot have it both ways.
:11:36. > :11:44.Sinn Fein have used it now there's a joke. They are not offended by it.
:11:45. > :11:48.How would you know? They are now using it as T-shirts with see you
:11:49. > :11:54.later alligator. You have also said there will never be an Irish
:11:55. > :11:59.language act on your watch. That is why your opponents have come to the
:12:00. > :12:05.conclusion you are hostile to people who celebrate their sense of Irish?
:12:06. > :12:12.Not at all. That is why I decided to do the article in the news to debunk
:12:13. > :12:18.that. I am against an Irish language act because of the cost of it. Tens
:12:19. > :12:26.of millions of pounds... You do not know the cost? Certainly Sinn Fein
:12:27. > :12:31.have not costed it. Have you costed at? We have looked to say how much
:12:32. > :12:35.cause the Republic of Ireland government and it is tens of
:12:36. > :12:44.millions of every year. How many tens? So it is located if it is 20
:12:45. > :12:52.million but not more? I am not saying, is it 20 or 90 million? They
:12:53. > :12:57.spend 20 or 30 million on the Irish language. That is only part of it.
:12:58. > :13:03.Secondly we would be using the Irish language in an equal weight to
:13:04. > :13:06.English. Thirdly, if you are applying to this Civil Service and
:13:07. > :13:09.had the Irish language you would have affirmative action. This should
:13:10. > :13:15.be debated on the floor of the Assembly. We are going into
:13:16. > :13:19.negotiations now, that is what they're looking for so it is
:13:20. > :13:24.important the public now. I want to go back to the issue of Irishness
:13:25. > :13:31.and whether or not you're highly -- hostile to the Irish language. You
:13:32. > :13:39.had an opportunity to send a clear message about that last summer. You
:13:40. > :13:44.attended and Irish football games together. He went to both games and
:13:45. > :13:48.you refuse to attend the Republic match, wide? Because it is the
:13:49. > :13:52.Republic of Ireland and I am a representative of Northern Ireland.
:13:53. > :13:59.I was supporting and Northern Ireland team. You could have made a
:14:00. > :14:03.gesture by going along? This is not about gesture politics. I am
:14:04. > :14:07.supporting the Northern Ireland team. I am passionate about the
:14:08. > :14:13.Northern Ireland football team and I want them to succeed. If you're
:14:14. > :14:17.seriously saying that the administration has collapsed because
:14:18. > :14:25.I did not go to a Republic of Ireland match? I did not say that
:14:26. > :14:29.for a second. It is facile in the extreme.
:14:30. > :14:37.And made it clear he is not the Northern Ireland football team's
:14:38. > :14:40.fans, and that he will be more of it fan of the Republic of Ireland.
:14:41. > :14:45.But he saw the political capital to be made out of going to both games.
:14:46. > :14:49.You did not reciprocate. But I do not do political capital. So was it
:14:50. > :14:55.gesture politics when he should hand the Queen? You would have to ask
:14:56. > :14:59.him. It is of no value that he did that? That is a matter for him. You
:15:00. > :15:03.must have a view on whether Martin McGuinness as an arch republican was
:15:04. > :15:08.prepared to shake hands, take tea, sit down with the Queen and number
:15:09. > :15:13.of occasions. You don't believe that is politically significant? Or
:15:14. > :15:17.indeed, if she chose to do that. Which she did. So was a good gesture
:15:18. > :15:22.for Herbert valueless as far as he is concerned? No, now you are
:15:23. > :15:24.putting words into my mouth. I'm not into gesture politics. I am into
:15:25. > :15:29.real politics. So that was real politics?
:15:30. > :15:31.You going to a football match would not have been?
:15:32. > :15:35.No, because I fundamentally believe in the Northern Ireland team and won
:15:36. > :15:39.them to succeed. You have confirmed today, I think,
:15:40. > :15:42.your party received a large payments advertise a pro Brexit stands
:15:43. > :15:46.outside Northern Ireland across Britain, during a referendum
:15:47. > :15:50.campaign. Whether that money come from? Of course, as you know, we
:15:51. > :15:54.played a key role in relation to the Brexit campaign, and we registered
:15:55. > :15:58.as a party in the Leave campaign, because we felt very passionately
:15:59. > :16:01.about it. As a result, we played our role nationally, and received a
:16:02. > :16:07.donation. How much was the donation?
:16:08. > :16:13.It has been properly put into the Electoral Commission. How much was
:16:14. > :16:17.it? There is, as you know, rules around this.
:16:18. > :16:20.I am asking how much it was. We have stuck with it. I don't have
:16:21. > :16:25.the figure here, so I don't know how much. You must have some idea. I
:16:26. > :16:29.don't. There was speculation it could have been in the region of
:16:30. > :16:32.?250,000. I don't have the figures in front of me. It is hard to
:16:33. > :16:35.believe you have received a large amount of money as part of the
:16:36. > :16:40.Brexit campaign and you have no idea. I'm not saying I have no idea.
:16:41. > :16:43.If you have an idea, how much was it? I'm telling you, it was probably
:16:44. > :16:49.accounted for. I don't doubt that. How much did you spend? I have no
:16:50. > :16:54.idea. No idea how much you spend? It was last June. You're asking me to
:16:55. > :16:58.go back over Electoral Commission returns from last June. I am in the
:16:59. > :17:02.middle of an election. You have no idea how much you spend? I haven't.
:17:03. > :17:12.You must know where the money came from Ben? -- then? Yes, I do, and it
:17:13. > :17:15.has been told to the Electoral Commission. Why is it a secret? It
:17:16. > :17:19.is not a secret. We have done what we should have done. There are rules
:17:20. > :17:24.particular to Northern Ireland, and if we are to talk about those rules,
:17:25. > :17:27.we want to see all the donations open and accounted for, including
:17:28. > :17:31.all the money coming from America. So you're not about to say how much
:17:32. > :17:34.that was where it came from? No, because under the current rules, we
:17:35. > :17:41.have accounted for that and the proper fashion, and... It will be
:17:42. > :17:44.made public across the world, but not here in Northern Ireland? It
:17:45. > :17:48.will be accounted for under the rules as they currently stand. We as
:17:49. > :17:53.taxpayers in Northern Ireland would know where that money came from. We
:17:54. > :17:56.have indicated to the Secretary of State we want to see those rules
:17:57. > :17:59.changed. What does that say about openness and transparency? Well,
:18:00. > :18:06.what I have just that, we want to be open and transparent. We received
:18:07. > :18:10.that money under the rules of currently constituted. You have
:18:11. > :18:17.conceded you don't expect to return to a reduced assembly with a 38 MLAs
:18:18. > :18:19.you had last time, though you are running 38 candidates. How many you
:18:20. > :18:25.think you will secure? We are fighting this election to win, and
:18:26. > :18:29.you will recall, last year, you told me we would not go back with 38 and
:18:30. > :18:33.we did. I asked you if you would go back with 38! I watched the
:18:34. > :18:38.interview, but I did not say you would not go back with 38. You,
:18:39. > :18:42.interestingly, would not say you would go back with 38 either. What
:18:43. > :18:48.you want to do is win this election. Bat what we want to.
:18:49. > :18:54.What is your advice about how DV voters should transfer their vote on
:18:55. > :18:57.after voting for DUP? Should their second preference before the Ulster
:18:58. > :19:00.Unionist Party matter it should clearly be for Unionists, because
:19:01. > :19:03.this election will be very close, and I want to maximise the number of
:19:04. > :19:09.Unionists returned to Stormont. Why do I say that? For this reason,
:19:10. > :19:11.because if there are a majority of nationalist returns to Stormont, we
:19:12. > :19:17.could find ourselves in the situation where nationalists use
:19:18. > :19:20.that to push for a border poll, and that would cause great instability
:19:21. > :19:23.and divisiveness like we have never seen before in terms of Brexit,
:19:24. > :19:28.which was supposed to be the most divisive thing that had happened to
:19:29. > :19:32.us. That's why I think it is wrong for Mike Nesbitt to advocate
:19:33. > :19:35.transferring to nationalise, because it may lead us into a very difficult
:19:36. > :19:36.position. Arlene Foster, talking to me earlier
:19:37. > :19:42.this evening. Now, in two weeks' time we'll be
:19:43. > :19:46.going to the polls with the option of giving multiple preferences right
:19:47. > :19:48.down the ballot paper. This week, though, Mike Nesbitt
:19:49. > :19:50.found himself at odds with many of his own party
:19:51. > :19:53.when he revealed on Sunday Politics he would be giving an SDLP candidate
:19:54. > :20:07.second preference rather than giving That's a very significant thing
:20:08. > :20:10.three Unionist leaders say, and possibly without precedent in the
:20:11. > :20:29.history of Northern Ireland. -- for a Unionist leader to say.
:20:30. > :20:31.So just how unusual - or not - is voting outside
:20:32. > :20:36.With me is former MLA John McCallister and the one-time
:20:37. > :20:43.SDLP special advisor Michael McKernan.
:20:44. > :20:46.Welcome to you both, and thank you for joining us tonight. First of
:20:47. > :20:47.all, John. In 2015 the UUP had an electoral
:20:48. > :20:50.pact with the DUP, now Mike Nesbitt is saying don't necessarily
:20:51. > :21:07.transfer to unionists. It is, and I except there are two
:21:08. > :21:11.different electoral systems, and I was critical, in fact. I resigned
:21:12. > :21:16.from the Ulster Unionist Party because of an electoral pact, and
:21:17. > :21:19.that is why disagreed with them. If you are serious about removing and
:21:20. > :21:24.changing the government at Stormont, then of course, you should vote to
:21:25. > :21:30.transfer to opposition parties. That is the logic. The problem might but
:21:31. > :21:36.intake of that them -- the problem might got into is that the message
:21:37. > :21:39.is so mixed in west Belfast, he was voting for itself two years ago and
:21:40. > :21:42.is now voting for Ulster Unionist Party and transferring to the SDLP.
:21:43. > :21:48.I would love to see more people doing it, but to do it in the
:21:49. > :21:51.context of not even, well, speaking to the SDLP leader before you
:21:52. > :21:55.announced it, or indeed, speaking to member 's of your own party.
:21:56. > :21:58.We don't know what happened beforehand, of course, but it is the
:21:59. > :22:02.case that he said what he said, and he said this what I am doing, and
:22:03. > :22:05.not necessarily saying everyone else should do it, but quite a few of his
:22:06. > :22:09.candidates came out very quickly and said, we are not recommending that.
:22:10. > :22:16.It is very difficult as a party leader to separate the two, when you
:22:17. > :22:23.say in a political interview, as you were doing on Sunday Politics, you
:22:24. > :22:26.know, you cannot separate out in a throwaway line, this is my personal
:22:27. > :22:30.view. It just doesn't work like that. The message from a few years
:22:31. > :22:36.ago as, to do this and do what is logical, and I mean, every time I
:22:37. > :22:40.debated my opposition bill at the time, I mentioned the two key things
:22:41. > :22:49.in the opposition, scrutinising the government and providing an
:22:50. > :22:54.alternative. But you need to work on that throughout a period of years,
:22:55. > :22:57.but they haven't had a long period in opposition. That message is just
:22:58. > :23:01.too mixed and too confusing for voters not having your own party on
:23:02. > :23:06.board. It makes it look even more confused than it needed to be.
:23:07. > :23:09.An economist has said on the record today that he did not know Mike
:23:10. > :23:12.Nesbitt was going to say what he said, and he did not reciprocate. He
:23:13. > :23:18.did not say that he would do the same thing that Mike Nesbitt said he
:23:19. > :23:22.would do in east Belfast. I know you are not an SDLP member any more, but
:23:23. > :23:27.what do you think members will have made of what was said on Sunday?
:23:28. > :23:31.Firstly, I think Mike has been quite brave, given that candidates are
:23:32. > :23:35.never more jittery than at election time, and they have clearly got the
:23:36. > :23:38.jitters in that party. His party members might not have
:23:39. > :23:42.seen it as brave. But the shock, horror is exaggerated
:23:43. > :23:45.to me. Unionists have voted for nationalists before. There was
:23:46. > :23:49.tactical voting in Westminster elections, and regularly that has
:23:50. > :23:54.happened with Unionist vote. So that is number one. There should not be
:23:55. > :23:57.that surprised with the Unionist vote.
:23:58. > :24:01.And in the PR at election, people would say that benefits West
:24:02. > :24:04.Belfast? Yes, and that is a critical point.
:24:05. > :24:08.I will give Mike the benefit of the doubt, saying that while he knew he
:24:09. > :24:13.would probably create a media storm, he has actually move the issue front
:24:14. > :24:16.and centre, and in his election in ambition, which is nothing short of
:24:17. > :24:20.regime change, he is saying, if you want regime change, you have to vote
:24:21. > :24:25.for the Ulster Unionist Party one rid of the DLP, and vice versa if
:24:26. > :24:31.you want rid of Sinn Fein. The difficulty is with that, while he
:24:32. > :24:34.says vote Mike, get Colin and vice versa, I think it is the case that
:24:35. > :24:38.eight of his high-profile candidates have come out and said, don't do
:24:39. > :24:42.that. What does that say about the message?
:24:43. > :24:47.It is OK. They are looking at their local situation, and Danny Kennedy,
:24:48. > :24:54.for example, needs to hoover up votes from TUV, Ukip, etc, to get
:24:55. > :24:58.him through in Derry- Armagh. People are looking after themselves and
:24:59. > :25:02.should not get so excited. You might even argue it is illogical. We have
:25:03. > :25:06.just heard Arlene Foster say she is calling on all DUP people to
:25:07. > :25:09.transfer to the Ulster Unionist Party by other people who want to
:25:10. > :25:13.put her out of business, yet he is calling for transfers to them. There
:25:14. > :25:17.is a logical round. That is a good way of putting it.
:25:18. > :25:21.And I suspect there will be people at home who are perhaps baffled or
:25:22. > :25:24.bamboozled by precisely what message they are being given by different
:25:25. > :25:28.politicians on any given day of the week. It is very complicated, isn't
:25:29. > :25:32.it? It becomes that kind of complicated
:25:33. > :25:41.when you change the electoral system and then you change the message. If
:25:42. > :25:43.you are looking to use, in that phrase, regime change, the logical
:25:44. > :25:47.outcome of that is voting for the opposition parties. Personally, I
:25:48. > :25:52.would have preferred to sea the alliance brought into that as well,
:25:53. > :25:58.and going even further down that road. The point that Arlene Foster
:25:59. > :26:03.was making in your interview, about voting for Unionists, and it being
:26:04. > :26:07.slightly illogical, that is trying to bring the election back to not
:26:08. > :26:11.how Northern Ireland works or making Northern Ireland or the assembly
:26:12. > :26:15.work, but bringing it back this inflated border poll, a tribal
:26:16. > :26:19.headcount. I would like to see us normalising and continuing. My
:26:20. > :26:24.criticism of anything to do with Mike is he really needs to warm up
:26:25. > :26:27.his own party to this before just announcing it in the middle of the
:26:28. > :26:31.heat of an election campaign. I think that is the danger that he set
:26:32. > :26:36.himself on Sunday. And it is the case that, and history
:26:37. > :26:42.tells us very clearly, it is very difficult to make out... To break
:26:43. > :26:45.Gaza tribal politics. You hear a lot of people saying social media is
:26:46. > :26:51.bouncing with people talking about the need to break away from the
:26:52. > :26:55.orange and green divide, and yet, arguably, our electoral system
:26:56. > :26:59.encourages it? Well, maybe not this time. We have had our biggest
:27:00. > :27:03.turnouts in the times when people have had most hope and have had more
:27:04. > :27:08.optimism, and the future looked better. We have had a gradual
:27:09. > :27:10.decline in turn out as people have become more cynical and
:27:11. > :27:14.disappointed, so maybe this occasion, it feels the union and the
:27:15. > :27:18.SDLP can excite people about this potential change and a new
:27:19. > :27:21.government and the new approach and people who want to work together, if
:27:22. > :27:29.they can commit people of that, they might get a higher vote share.
:27:30. > :27:31.You have looked at some of the numbers, but Phillips actually
:27:32. > :27:34.benefited from Unionist transfers in the past?
:27:35. > :27:38.Yes, very sadly, he was left with a Sinn Fein candidate when he was 400
:27:39. > :27:44.behind. -- very simply. The Ulster Unionist Party just been elected had
:27:45. > :27:48.920 votes to distribute of her surplus. Richie needed half of them,
:27:49. > :27:50.but got all of them. He got 900. So there is a degree of
:27:51. > :27:57.sophistication on the ground? Yes, I think he would benefit again.
:27:58. > :28:01.Someone else got elected under his own steam in west Belfast last time,
:28:02. > :28:05.but with the move devices, that is a tough ask for him, and he would be
:28:06. > :28:07.dependent on Unionist transfers to get in.
:28:08. > :28:10.It is confusing and bamboozling, but that sophistication is there a
:28:11. > :28:16.grassroots level, and people know what they want to do? They do. The
:28:17. > :28:19.other important thing on that is actually getting turnout, getting
:28:20. > :28:21.people excited, because breaking through, people have to know it is
:28:22. > :28:26.not enough to tweak your support. You actually have to go to a polling
:28:27. > :28:29.station. Just one more point, I think the
:28:30. > :28:36.opposition parties have been gifted with an opportunity in the fact that
:28:37. > :28:39.Arlene Foster has been ruled out as First Minister. That means there is
:28:40. > :28:42.a hiatus least the first six months of the enquiry. I don't see the
:28:43. > :28:47.judge being pushed around. I would say that is a year, so Colum
:28:48. > :28:49.Eastwood will be quick to jump on that and say, vote for Ireland, you
:28:50. > :28:56.vote for Michelle. The opposition could have done with
:28:57. > :28:59.more time, but that is politics. Gentlemen, thank you very much.
:29:00. > :29:01.Thank you John McCallister and Michael McKernan.
:29:02. > :29:03.Now let's get some thoughts from our commentary team
:29:04. > :29:06.Professor Deirdre Heenan and Newton Emerson.
:29:07. > :29:15.Good evening. Let us talk about that Arlene Foster interview. What did
:29:16. > :29:20.you make of it? Of all the terrible aspects of that interview, the one
:29:21. > :29:27.that jumped up and need was the figure for the cost of Irish
:29:28. > :29:31.language in the south. Her argument boils down to cost but she could not
:29:32. > :29:38.remember the one number that it boils down to. She said tens of
:29:39. > :29:44.million. She should know an exact figure. She only has one figure to
:29:45. > :29:49.remember. She could then launch into a baggage of details but she could
:29:50. > :29:53.not remember any factual details, that is her leadership. She cannot
:29:54. > :30:03.offer a generous vision, what is she bringing apart from a disaster she
:30:04. > :30:05.cannot get out of. Her supporters will differ. I thought it was a
:30:06. > :30:09.shocker, she do it yourself no favours. There were lots of
:30:10. > :30:17.inconsistencies. She said I do not do jester politics. But I would have
:30:18. > :30:22.gone to IgE team. But as far as I know she does not support one. What
:30:23. > :30:29.mistakes did you make a? It is all the fault of Sinn Fein. She went on
:30:30. > :30:35.to list the mistakes they had made. No apology for a comment about
:30:36. > :30:40.feeding the Sinn Fein crocodile. Her response was bizarre. What does that
:30:41. > :30:47.mean? Sinn Fein was her partner in government. I do not think it is
:30:48. > :30:51.acceptable. Most people thought it was offensive. Is she saying she
:30:52. > :30:58.could not accept that people thought that kind of language was not
:30:59. > :31:02.offensive? Really, the inconsistency, saying one thing and
:31:03. > :31:06.seeing something else later on. She seemed very unsure of herself. I
:31:07. > :31:12.thought there were signs that she had decided to bring across the
:31:13. > :31:16.different attitude but she could not hold it together. It is too much to
:31:17. > :31:21.expect someone to change their personality in the course of the
:31:22. > :31:26.campaign. If you remember when Peter Robinson suffered a similar disaster
:31:27. > :31:32.in 2010, he appeared to be genuinely humbled at least for a while but
:31:33. > :31:37.there is no sign of this with Arlene Foster. She seems to be struggling
:31:38. > :31:43.to find the right tone. She swings around all over the place. She tries
:31:44. > :31:50.to be jokey and Charney, it comes across as someone who's not sure
:31:51. > :31:54.where she should be. What did you make of her decision not to go to
:31:55. > :32:00.the Republic of Ireland match in France last summer? It was
:32:01. > :32:05.ridiculous. It would've been so easy to find words alone that even if she
:32:06. > :32:09.did not feel she was able to go, she could have paid tribute to Martin
:32:10. > :32:12.McGuinness for finding the time to do so when you mentioned their North
:32:13. > :32:18.of Ireland team she could have mentioned her local wine but the
:32:19. > :32:21.whole manner of her approach was dismissive and contemptuous. I am
:32:22. > :32:28.sure the Northern Ireland team herself will not be thanking her for
:32:29. > :32:32.that. Again, we cannot be sure about that, maybe we will hear from
:32:33. > :32:42.individuals who have their view on that. I just want to ask about the
:32:43. > :32:47.breaking story today about political donations and we know now, as she
:32:48. > :32:51.confirmed, a substantial donation was made by an organisation in
:32:52. > :32:56.England to support the DUP Brexit campaign but we do not know what the
:32:57. > :33:03.organisation was or how much the amount paid was? The attitude was
:33:04. > :33:06.you expect me to know figures? There are number of key figures that you
:33:07. > :33:10.should know and instead of trying to refer back to something that
:33:11. > :33:15.happened years ago, those figures should be in the public domain. She
:33:16. > :33:23.is correct when she talks about the rules and what they are. Equally,
:33:24. > :33:28.you do not have to. And then comes across as very shifty. I know
:33:29. > :33:34.there's that I am not going to tell you, why should I? The point is she
:33:35. > :33:38.does not have to make that public. She has reported it to the electric
:33:39. > :33:43.commission and that is all that is required. That organisation in
:33:44. > :33:48.England could have made that a nation and declared openly over
:33:49. > :33:54.there but she needs to get a better explanation over a year. She does
:33:55. > :33:57.not have to come across saying, we want to work together. She's clearly
:33:58. > :34:02.working towards the hardline. Thank you, we have to leave it there.
:34:03. > :34:04.That's it from The View for this week.
:34:05. > :34:07.No Sunday Politics this weekend but we will be back next Thursday
:34:08. > :34:09.with a special outside broadcast from Ulster University.
:34:10. > :34:11.We've seen some interesting party political broadcasts this campaign.
:34:12. > :34:14.But they're nothing compared to those in the United States.
:34:15. > :34:16.And across the pond things have certainly changed over the years.
:34:17. > :34:43.It's morning again in America and under the leadership of President
:34:44. > :34:49.Regan, our country is stronger and better. Why would we want to return
:34:50. > :34:56.to where we were. $1 million spent to become the mayor of Minneapolis,
:34:57. > :35:02.a $100,000 a year. I will not take money from developers or the
:35:03. > :35:05.political angle, I will not go to the strip clubs anymore.
:35:06. > :35:07.To be in the Lords, you have to be punctual...
:35:08. > :35:13.literally have to slam the door in somebody's face.