07/11/2011 Stormont Today


07/11/2011

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Welcome to the programme. The global superstars of pop have gone

:00:27.:00:32.

home after the European Music Awards, but there is so plenty of

:00:32.:00:38.

stock quality here. The St -- the leader of the SDLP tells us how you

:00:38.:00:45.

plans to make his party a power should -- powerhouse. I will link

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up with all interests in Stormont, in Dublin, in Westminster, and

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reassert the clout of the SDLP. During questions, at the Enterprise

:00:58.:01:03.

Minister gets upset by gas. We sit in a darkroom with a blanket over

:01:04.:01:12.

our heads and hope it all goes away. Has MTV exposure made any

:01:12.:01:16.

difference to Northern Ireland? Alan Clark, head of the tourist

:01:16.:01:21.

board, joins me. Either you cannot get enough of it, or you are sick

:01:21.:01:27.

to death hearing about it. Either way, the MTV awards left an

:01:27.:01:32.

impression on Belfast. Has Belfast left an impression of any of the

:01:32.:01:36.

stars they came here. It is beautiful. It is one of the

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country's you always want to go to, but you think you might want to go

:01:41.:01:47.

to the beach. I am glad that I came here. I love the accents! It is

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beautiful people -- it is beautiful. People have been really nice.

:01:51.:02:01.
:02:01.:02:03.

Alan Clark, did we make a mark? in a really differ of -- big way.

:02:03.:02:10.

We had a really big weekend. I thought we had enormous support,

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and every bedroom was filled in Belfast. More than anything else,

:02:15.:02:25.
:02:25.:02:28.

it began a change in perception of Belfast. Did you have a thing to do

:02:28.:02:38.
:02:38.:02:40.

with that? It takes Belfast into a new league. I think Belfast

:02:40.:02:50.
:02:50.:02:51.

delivered in a different way. The NTV people on Saturday night said

:02:51.:02:57.

that they had never seen another scare like it. I guess the spirit

:02:58.:03:07.

but they felt in Belfast was so good. We were starved of the bigger

:03:07.:03:17.
:03:17.:03:18.

events before. Exactly, but it is about forward thinking. But we

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delivered on it in a big way. We had Belfast Music Week, and a book

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sell -- worked so well. I think everyone was ready for it when they

:03:27.:03:37.
:03:37.:03:40.

came. The winner helped as well! deserves some praise. People came

:03:40.:03:48.

into Belfast who didn't have any of the tickets for the event. They

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had... One of the most surprising things was the shortage of voices

:03:54.:04:00.

of dissent. Very few people saying negative things about it. Exactly.

:04:00.:04:06.

There were people in the business community and voluntary sector, and

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the entertainment side. Us in tourism see our link with the arts,

:04:13.:04:17.

culture and heritage sectors. It reflects Belfast being a young,

:04:17.:04:23.

vibrant and bowled City. It takes the City forward, and it will bring

:04:23.:04:28.

a wider role in tourism, changing perceptions. This weekend marked

:04:28.:04:34.

the beginning of that. Stay with us. Plenty more to come. The Enterprise

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Minister had plenty more to say about the awards during question

:04:38.:04:43.

time. First, the Environment Minister, Alex Attwood. He was

:04:43.:04:49.

asked about the cost of running a national park here. Yes, there will

:04:49.:04:54.

be costs around national park designation, because they would be

:04:54.:05:00.

a retired -- a requirement for national park management groups to

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take forward the management. There will be costs. Look at the benefits.

:05:06.:05:12.

You would have better protection of the Environment and the national

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heritage of any area so designated. At a time when the economic

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difficulties people face, it would bring economic growth in those

:05:26.:05:32.

areas, and it would protect local interests. It would lead to a

:05:32.:05:37.

situation, in my view, that farmers that farm in a national park would

:05:37.:05:42.

actually have premium produce, simply because they came from a

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national park. So yes, there would be costs upfront, but you would be

:05:49.:05:53.

creating a national park, and that would be a cost. But there will be

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many other benefits in terms of the Environment, in terms of jobs, in

:05:57.:06:06.

terms of a premium product coming out of the area. I believe strongly

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that on the balance sheet, if that's what it comes down to, it is

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very heavily loaded in favour of it. A world away from Stormont to the

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glamourous world of showbiz. 1 MLA thinks that we may have missed a

:06:25.:06:35.
:06:35.:06:40.

trick. Many American tourists carried a picture of Andrew Jackson

:06:40.:06:45.

want their dollar bills. The home of Andrew Jackson was closed. We

:06:45.:06:55.
:06:55.:06:57.

need to be doing more with councils. Can he give any ideas that we can...

:06:57.:07:03.

Can I say to you, in terms of the many visitors they came, I don't

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think anyone was disappointed. On the contrary, I thought there was a

:07:09.:07:12.

tremendous opportunity for Belfast and the whole of Northern Ireland

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to sell themselves to the world. I think they did it very well. I

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would like to thank everyone involved, Belfast City Council, and

:07:26.:07:28.

particularly the Police Service of Northern Ireland, who are thought

:07:28.:07:38.
:07:38.:07:41.

From rocking to cracking. A controversial way to getting

:07:41.:07:49.

natural gas. As to the many earthquake, it was felt by one

:07:49.:07:54.

person. There were very few people who felt the earthquake, and I do

:07:54.:08:03.

want to say to him that the select committee in Westminster have had

:08:03.:08:09.

an investigation into shale gas and the process, and a moratorium in

:08:09.:08:19.

regards to the process, which people are asking me about, the

:08:19.:08:27.

same people asking me to find solutions to rising electricity and

:08:27.:08:33.

gas prices. The two do not sit together. It is time that people

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realised that they have to join the dots in terms of energy policy.

:08:38.:08:43.

Sometimes, they are members in this House to do not join the dots. It

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is hugely frustrating, I have to say. Can I ask the Minister, firm

:08:49.:08:55.

and that is a tremendous destinations for tourism. What does

:08:55.:09:01.

she perceive as an effect on the industry? Should it go ahead in for

:09:01.:09:06.

a manager? That would be addressed in terms of any environmental in

:09:06.:09:16.

that -- impact. I would -- is the Green party's suggestion that we do

:09:16.:09:22.

not look for alternative supplies? We just sit in a darkroom with a

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blanket over our heads, and hope they did all goes away? Turned the

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lights off! Yes, indeed! It is absolutely amazing that people come

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to this chamber and do not look at what is there and available to the

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not -- the people of Northern Ireland. People... It is

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unbelievable. I look at supply solutions for Northern Ireland.

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Looking at ways to bring an alternative supply of energy to the

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people of Northern Ireland, and instead, the alternative from the

:10:02.:10:10.

Green Party is to sit in a darkened room with a blanket over their head.

:10:10.:10:18.

The new SDLP leader said that the current MLAs would stay in place.

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There will be no changes until January, and I will only be

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reshuffling in the context where I see it as helping the party up it.

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That is not a serious contender -- contender until January. Until

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January at least? And probably longer. What do you see as the

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SDLP's role in the executive? would hope that we would have more

:10:53.:10:57.

success. There are meetings from time to time with the First

:10:57.:11:05.

Minister, from a DUP perspective, with the deputy first minister with

:11:05.:11:09.

a Sinn Fein perspective. I would hope to open up more meetings.

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Whether there is any success with that or not, the proof of the

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pudding will be in the eating. are looking for more cordial

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relations? I am looking for a more constructive relationship. White

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and in Westminster regularly, and what there are wide gaps between

:11:35.:11:40.

the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, they are still able

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to co-operate in matters of local interests. The problems here are

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that the barriers are too high. In some ways, do not so work with Sinn

:11:52.:12:01.

Fein? Yes, we need to be on their side, but we need to maintain

:12:01.:12:07.

civilised discussions. I am a keen observer of how that happens in

:12:07.:12:13.

Westminster, and people challenging on issues that are of importance

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and at the same time, you can sit and have a cuppa tea with each

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other in the canteen or in the tea room or whatever. That is not

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happening here. That has to open up here. Personal trusts and

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friendships need to run cross-party. He said on Saturday when you become

:12:35.:12:40.

leader of the party that the fightback starts straightaway.

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fightback started this morning. I am on the road. Others with my

:12:47.:12:55.

assembly colleagues. The big issue for me is that it is on the ground,

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and I will be with the Northern Ireland Select Committee in Dublin

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over the next couple of the days. I will be meeting the Prime Minister

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there and the minister for foreign affairs, and and I will be working,

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and a lot of these things, yes, a lot of them are opportunistic as

:13:16.:13:22.

much to as planned, and I will try to link with all interests in

:13:22.:13:28.

Stormont, in Dublin and in Westminster. I will reassert the

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clout of the SDLP, and reassert that in a way that brings back

:13:34.:13:38.

maximum advantage to those who are out there without jobs or depending

:13:38.:13:47.

The Health Minister has told the Assembly there was no cover-up into

:13:47.:13:49.

allegations of abuse at Foster Green and Lissue Hospitals. Edwin

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Poots said his department will co- operate fully with the historical

:13:52.:13:55.

abuse inquiry which has been set up by the First and Deputy First

:13:55.:14:02.

Minister. I am determined that in my department that this behaviour

:14:02.:14:06.

was and remains unacceptable, and all complaints will be dealt with

:14:06.:14:09.

seriously. I want to know what happened, I will demand answers

:14:09.:14:14.

about who was involved to ensure that this kind of there is

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identified quickly and addressed urgently. That is why I

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congratulate Peter Robinson and the Deputy First Minister in the

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courageous steps they took to establish an independent historical

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abuse inquiry in Northern Ireland, the scope of which makes it clear

:14:31.:14:37.

that institutions like Foster Green are within its remit. My departure

:14:37.:14:42.

will co-operate with the inquiry team and all information gathered,

:14:42.:14:46.

or recorded in two historic abuse, or individuals, or within

:14:46.:14:50.

institutions by the Health and Social Care bought, or trust, or by

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my department will be shed. I have also committed to working closely

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with executive colleagues to ensure support so are in place for those

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who suffered as a result of the abuse and can now come forward to

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engage with the historic abuse inquiry. I can declare that there

:15:09.:15:13.

will never be, nor has there previously been any form of cover

:15:13.:15:19.

up within the Department, though some individuals who may have been

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involved with abuse will have tried to cover their tracks. He gave an

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interview in May to October but to the BBC in which he suggested but

:15:29.:15:32.

some of the people who had been abused might have forgotten about

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it, and therefore, his department might not have needed to provide

:15:35.:15:38.

them with support. Will the Minister apologise for that remark

:15:38.:15:41.

and clarify exactly what the Department's best practice is in

:15:41.:15:51.
:15:51.:15:59.

The member may, or may not be aware but I have a brother who was in at

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the hospital and this has been an issue which has caused me great

:16:04.:16:08.

vexation because we have our own concerns about war went on and that

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facility. I visited it over 1000 times in my lifetime, I know many

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of the young people are worried that facility. I know their

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capacity issues and many of them would not be capable of remembering

:16:26.:16:31.

what went on given their mental capacity issues. There was the

:16:31.:16:38.

context of the response to the BBC. But it makes me very certain as to

:16:38.:16:45.

what my attitude is on this issue. It is clear - we must ensure the

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maximum protection of children who were in our care, or adults in our

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care, these people deserve it and it is the least we can do as a

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society, therefore, I want to ensure that is the case.

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Enterprise Minister wasn't at last night's MTV awards but the Culture

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Minister was and she's with us now. How was it? It was brilliant, an

:17:09.:17:15.

experience of a lifetime. Belfast was buzzing all week. Yesterday and

:17:15.:17:22.

last night Belfast outshone itself, it was brilliant. The for anybody

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who is a bit cynical about it, how do you assess that we get the �10

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million back for the �1 million that it cost us? We will always

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live with cynics on the results and benefits of all this. You needed to

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be there to feel the atmosphere, even in the city centre yesterday.

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Belfast was buzzing, shops were full, people were down to see what

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was happening. Last night and even this week Belfast will capitalise

:17:56.:18:06.
:18:06.:18:07.

on what happened yesterday for a long time. Alan Clark, is there any

:18:07.:18:11.

sense of it being Belfast centric and if you live somewhere else,

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what is in it for us? That was shown by how much public transport

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was put on to come into Belfast. We got a really exciting range of

:18:24.:18:28.

event taking place next year on the north coast, Belfast and Derry, so

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it is the start of a story, but next year will be even more

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exciting. MCB gave us a great start but over the next couple of years

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all of Northern Ireland will benefit. City of culture for 2013

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coming up, too. I was in Derry when the bridge opened and the bus was

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palpable. What we witnessed last night is the start of an experience

:18:55.:19:00.

for Derry, the City of Culture. It will be great, local as well as

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international acts as well. It is all to work for and look forward to.

:19:04.:19:14.
:19:14.:19:16.

It is a good news story. Let's be There was a sense from a lot of the

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visit is that we heard from after the event that they did not realise

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Belfast was so pretty. Not even that, they did not realise we could

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do it, and we did, and we did well. We have left a legacy. I think MTV

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could not be but impressed with how Belfast reacted. Thank you for

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joining us. The murder of the solicitor Pat Finucane has lingered

:19:42.:19:45.

in the public consciousness for more than 20 years. It's often been

:19:45.:19:48.

in the headlines and most recently the government's refusal to hold a

:19:48.:19:51.

public inquiry despite conceding there was collusion put it back on

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the front pages. Today MLAs got to have their say with a motion

:19:54.:20:02.

proposed by the SDLP in a debate where tensions ran high at times.

:20:02.:20:10.

The current British Government has rejected a public inquiry and has

:20:10.:20:19.

now opted for an independent review, no doubt by a distinguished lawyer,

:20:19.:20:24.

to conduct an independent review to produce a full public account of

:20:24.:20:30.

any state involvement in the murder. I am sure that Sir Desmond is an

:20:30.:20:35.

honourable man, and is an independent-minded jurist, but his

:20:35.:20:42.

review will simply be Corry number two. It is no substitute for a full

:20:43.:20:48.

independent judicial inquiry into this notorious murder. People seem

:20:48.:20:55.

to talk about collusion as if it all happens in republican cases.

:20:55.:21:02.

And it didn't. When collusion was used by the British Government and

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the state forces it was used across the board. Therefore, I would argue

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they should not be afraid of the truth coming out of and I had to

:21:13.:21:19.

say, we are being approached as a party by some people on the

:21:19.:21:25.

Unionist side because Unionism will not take up their cases. There are

:21:26.:21:32.

9256 when a stay was, the 1 million pages, 16,000 exhibits, one of the

:21:32.:21:37.

largest police investigations in UK history. Mr McGuinness also mention

:21:37.:21:41.

the purse has been asked to look into this, a distinguished QC with

:21:41.:21:47.

the UN, a man of absolute integrity and the purpose put forward by the

:21:47.:21:51.

Prime Minister on this is to bring the truth out, that is a commitment.

:21:51.:21:55.

Many people have said to me in the past we took too long to reach

:21:55.:22:01.

these conclusions. He does not do any of us any good to spend a lot

:22:01.:22:07.

of money to discover what we already know. It is clear there are

:22:07.:22:12.

many concerns about what appears to be a partial interest in a small

:22:12.:22:15.

number of victims in the Troubles, yet that is not what this motion is

:22:15.:22:25.
:22:25.:22:25.

about. It highlight on the basis of what was agreed at Weston Park the

:22:26.:22:31.

particular concerns of the family. This has to recognise the concerns

:22:31.:22:36.

which were expressed by that family in the light of promises made,

:22:36.:22:45.

whilst also recognising the Commons that have also been made as we look

:22:45.:22:49.

at the needs of all victims and this society as a whole. But that

:22:49.:22:53.

does not alter the fact that a promise was made to the Finnegan

:22:53.:22:57.

family, and that is fundamentally where they have every right to feel

:22:57.:23:04.

they were treated badly by the current government. The name was

:23:04.:23:07.

very well known within the period of the Troubles, in fact, during

:23:07.:23:15.

the period there was a famous family member who wanted to be

:23:15.:23:19.

extradited from the Republic of Ireland, there was a famous case.

:23:19.:23:29.
:23:29.:23:53.

But transpired to be the brother of Our last members to keep on the

:23:53.:23:58.

point of debate when speaking. -- I would ask members. Not surprising

:23:58.:24:04.

members do not like it when things are not going their own way. Let's

:24:04.:24:14.
:24:14.:24:18.

I accept the condemned -- condemnation of the death of

:24:18.:24:20.

Patrick Finucane, but he is suggesting he was perhaps engaged

:24:20.:24:29.

in something else and it was very clear at the inquest into the death

:24:29.:24:33.

that the investigation said there was no evidence to suggest he was

:24:33.:24:41.

involved in any paramilitary organisation, in particular the IRA.

:24:41.:24:46.

It is accepted by almost every objective observer that he was

:24:46.:24:50.

simply a lawyer carrying out his work on behalf of clients, albeit

:24:50.:24:55.

that some of them, or many of them were connected with the IRA, or

:24:55.:25:05.
:25:05.:25:10.

I accept the member makes the case for Patrick Finucane and his family,

:25:10.:25:15.

none the less, if he is accepting that information was done at that

:25:15.:25:19.

time, is excepting all the information and will bring it --

:25:19.:25:24.

and clearly he is not. That motion will be voted on tomorrow after

:25:24.:25:27.

what's known as a petition of concern was lodged with the

:25:27.:25:29.

speaker's office. It will need cross-community support to be

:25:29.:25:34.

endorsed so that's not likely to go through. The past was the focus of

:25:34.:25:37.

debate, there were legal developments have a different kind

:25:37.:25:46.

outside as our political editor explained. Outside we have a new

:25:46.:25:51.

Director of Public Prosecutions. is interesting that if you went on

:25:51.:25:54.

what you saw in the chamber you might think in terms of the legal

:25:54.:25:58.

and political worlds nothing had changed because of that controversy

:25:58.:26:04.

was a reminder of Commons back in 1989 by Douglas Hogg when he said

:26:04.:26:10.

some lawyers were overly sympathetic to the IRA and those

:26:10.:26:15.

comments came before the murder of Pat Finucane. So we had a repeat of

:26:15.:26:19.

arguments that have done over the years. Outside the chamber we had

:26:19.:26:26.

the appointment of Mary McGrory, a well-known defence lawyer whose

:26:26.:26:31.

father back in the 1980s was being targeted by loyalists. It is a sign

:26:31.:26:35.

of how much things are changing that a defence lawyer could now

:26:35.:26:39.

have moved over and will be the public face of the Prosecution

:26:39.:26:44.

Service in Northern Ireland. Change at the SDLP as well, a pretty

:26:44.:26:50.

inauspicious start for the new leader. Yes, it was a bad one for

:26:50.:26:53.

Alastair Macdonald. All the energy being generated by the SDLP

:26:53.:26:57.

leadership election, the triumph Alastair Macdonald had of getting

:26:57.:27:01.

his leadership he had lost previously, followed by the

:27:01.:27:06.

disaster when he had an autocue malfunction in his first formal

:27:06.:27:11.

speech as leader and everything went quiet. He spent much of the

:27:11.:27:16.

time asking for the likes to be turned out. Could somebody turn-off

:27:16.:27:24.

those like supplies. I am blinded. -- turn off those might so please.

:27:24.:27:29.

There was a sombre mood around after that. Today Alastair

:27:29.:27:32.

Macdonald was trying to put this behind him, saying it was a

:27:32.:27:38.

technical glitch -- Alasdair McDonnell. There is no doubt it is

:27:38.:27:43.

not the start he would have wanted. A new job for the SDLP leader, but

:27:43.:27:48.

back to the old job for Martin McGuinness? He and the first

:27:48.:27:53.

minister have been in London attending a dinner organised by

:27:53.:27:56.

invest in Northern Ireland, meeting with people from the banking

:27:56.:28:02.

sectors. I am told Martin McGuinness was meeting Ed Miliband

:28:02.:28:06.

and the shadow spokesman of Northern Ireland, so he has been

:28:06.:28:11.

doing that, but the two men will be around and about Stormont tomorrow

:28:11.:28:14.

with the first public engagement since he mounted his unsuccessful

:28:14.:28:24.
:28:24.:28:30.

It makes your job easy. It adds up to her becoming more mainstream in

:28:30.:28:33.

the economy. We believe tourism could play a wider role. If people

:28:33.:28:37.

feel good about where they live and work there are more likely to

:28:37.:28:42.

attract people here. Tourism can play a wider role than it has in

:28:42.:28:46.

the past and I guess with MTV this weekend shows the potential for

:28:46.:28:54.

that. Thank you. That's it from Stormont for this evening. We're

:28:54.:28:57.

back tomorrow with highlights from questions to the health minister

:28:57.:29:00.

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