:00:32. > :00:36.Hello and welcome. The Cheltenham Festival has begun with a flourish,
:00:36. > :00:41.but the race up here is struggling gain momentum. With only John
:00:41. > :00:46.McCallister so far confirmed in the Ulster Unionist leadership battle.
:00:46. > :00:52.And Basil McCrea is a non-runner. Off course though, it's been as
:00:53. > :00:59.usual as the Education Minister takes a pop at the grammar secter.
:00:59. > :01:03.Grammar's talents outstrips all over sectors. And who dares
:01:04. > :01:09.criticise this minister's economic strategy. If that is the member's
:01:09. > :01:15.definition of failure, I would have thought coming from the Ulster
:01:15. > :01:21.Unionist party she would have had a better definition of failure.
:01:21. > :01:27.First tonight, the news that Mary McArdle is stepping down as special
:01:27. > :01:32.advisor to the culture minister. Her appointment led to a furious
:01:32. > :01:38.political row when it was revealed she was involved in the IRA murder
:01:38. > :01:42.of Mary Travers in 1984, who was shot in the back leaving mass with
:01:42. > :01:45.her father the magistrate Tom Travers. With necessity is our
:01:45. > :01:50.political editor. This very much came out of the blue this evening,
:01:50. > :01:54.what more can you tell is? Certainly it was a bit of a
:01:54. > :02:00.surprise. This appointment of Mary McArdle caused great controversy.
:02:00. > :02:06.This was one of the most notorious murders of the Troubles. And also
:02:06. > :02:11.Mary Travers' family was so vocal that the appointment added to their
:02:11. > :02:16.pain, particularly her sister Ann. Tonight Ann has sent out a message
:02:16. > :02:20.that she thrilled with her stepping down from the post. Sinn Fein for
:02:20. > :02:25.their part say that this is no kind of response to the press furore
:02:25. > :02:29.that there was last year. Instead they say it's part of a routine
:02:29. > :02:33.rotation of people through posts. We think that Mary McArdle is
:02:33. > :02:36.working now in the political department of the party. What about
:02:36. > :02:40.the Ulster Unionist Party race then? Only one confirmed candidate,
:02:40. > :02:44.but speculation about others. I think it will hot up. John
:02:44. > :02:47.McCallister came out of the traps today, announcing himself as the
:02:47. > :02:53.Standard Bearer for the liberal progressive wing of the party. He
:02:53. > :02:57.said his first act as party leader would be to pull the party
:02:58. > :03:00.unionists out of the executive, change the equation and form the
:03:00. > :03:04.opposition. Basil McCrea, who is closely associated with John
:03:04. > :03:07.McCallister made it clear he would back the Deputy Leader rather than
:03:07. > :03:11.standing against him. This leaves however the potential for other
:03:11. > :03:16.contenders. We would expect the regional development minister Danny
:03:16. > :03:23.Kennedy to probably confirm his candidacy tomorrow and Mike Nesbit
:03:23. > :03:29.to follow suit maybe on Thursday. Thanks very much.
:03:29. > :03:34.Caral NiChuilin now and part of her brief includes sport a topic which
:03:34. > :03:37.featured at Question Time. She was asked about the decline in adult
:03:37. > :03:43.participation, which she acknowledged before giving good
:03:43. > :03:48.news. On a more positive note a report published by my department
:03:48. > :03:52.on the website this morning indicates that 97% of young people
:03:52. > :03:56.surveyed in 2010 as part a young person's behaviour and attitude
:03:56. > :04:06.survey said that they have participated in sport or physical
:04:06. > :04:09.activity in seven days prior to the survey. I thank the minister for
:04:09. > :04:14.her answer, but giving that bridging the gap report highlights
:04:14. > :04:18.that tens of thousands of people weekly cannot take part in activity
:04:18. > :04:25.due it a lack of facilities, what action will the minister take to
:04:25. > :04:29.improve this situation? Well, I think, I mean I have seen aspects
:04:29. > :04:34.of that report and many others. Not only was a lack of facilities
:04:34. > :04:37.expressed as an issue, but even access to facilities was seen as a
:04:37. > :04:41.problem. The economic decline was seen as a barrier for people
:04:41. > :04:45.involved in sport and physical activity. I know some of the local
:04:45. > :04:50.governments and I've been in discussion was Belfast, looking at
:04:50. > :04:55.outside facilities, bringing in gyms from the outside and how that
:04:55. > :04:58.works. And with the Department of Education and others we -- how we
:04:58. > :05:02.increase physical activity. That's ongoing. I hear what the member has
:05:03. > :05:07.to say and I share those concerns. Onto community relations an the
:05:07. > :05:11.minister was asked how sport can reach out across divides.
:05:11. > :05:15.strategy recognises that a well organised sport can make a
:05:15. > :05:19.significant contribution to community relations. It commits
:05:19. > :05:23.government to promote cohesion through sport in the context of a
:05:23. > :05:26.better future and contains actions to help also achieve this. These
:05:26. > :05:32.include actions to encourage underrepresented groups to
:05:32. > :05:37.participate in sport and provision of space for sport that promote
:05:37. > :05:46.community integration. These sports matters support the themes in the
:05:47. > :05:52.emerging programme for government. Sports matters also supports the
:05:52. > :06:00.delivery of other PFG priorities including a growing and sustainable
:06:00. > :06:04.economy and tackling disadvantage in priority two. Mr Deputy Speaker,
:06:04. > :06:07.sport as a means of improving community relation sz part of the
:06:07. > :06:13.wider government agenda and part of the minister's oversight of her
:06:13. > :06:16.department. Can I ask the minister does the naming of grounds after
:06:16. > :06:22.people convicted in the courts make a positive or negative contribution
:06:22. > :06:29.to community relations? I think the question that the member has raised
:06:29. > :06:38.has no bearing on the work that the department's undergone. And I
:06:38. > :06:42.would... And I would... Well I'm only a... We No Speak Americano
:06:42. > :06:46.order please. I think members -- speaker: I think members know you
:06:46. > :06:54.have to make remarks through the chair. There's no other way to do
:06:54. > :07:00.it. John O 'dowd next. People asked about possible school closures.
:07:00. > :07:05.Could the minister clarify that given the viability aud its were
:07:05. > :07:09.conducted against the sustainable schools try tiara, many would see
:07:09. > :07:13.them as a thinly veiled threat to our schools. Would the minister
:07:13. > :07:20.accept that in fact he is effectively put a closure sign on
:07:20. > :07:26.many schools, particularly those inural areas? The threat in this
:07:26. > :07:30.debate is not to schools but to education. I viability has been
:07:30. > :07:33.used in regards three of sustainable schools criteria. No
:07:33. > :07:38.action will be taken against any schools based on those criteria
:07:38. > :07:42.alone. After closer examination, under the sustainable schools
:07:42. > :07:45.policy which has six criteria, which the school is measured
:07:45. > :07:52.against. However no-one in this House should choose to ignore the
:07:52. > :07:55.findings of the viability audit. It is clear that a number of schools
:07:55. > :07:59.are evidencing underattainment levels, which everyone should be
:07:59. > :08:02.concerned about. Action needs to be taken in those schools. If after
:08:02. > :08:05.the full process has been went through, including the development
:08:05. > :08:09.proposal, which includes a two- month consultation process, if the
:08:09. > :08:12.right thing to do is close the school, to protect the educational
:08:12. > :08:19.attainment of young people, then that's the action that will be
:08:19. > :08:24.carried out. I thank the minister for his
:08:24. > :08:28.response. Would he acknowledge that there's little new material that's
:08:28. > :08:37.come out of the viability audit and it continues to list a high number
:08:38. > :08:41.of schools, 84% of post primary schools and as stressed and this is
:08:41. > :08:49.causing unnecessary stress to communities, to school staff and to
:08:49. > :08:53.parents as pupils themselves? significant amount of the
:08:53. > :08:58.information before us has been collated in a central point now.
:08:58. > :09:01.It's now open to public examination. And is the member seriously
:09:01. > :09:08.suggesting that the general public are of such a nervous disposition
:09:08. > :09:12.they can't handle this information? Surely would the minister not agree
:09:12. > :09:16.he has created a difficult situation given the fact that he
:09:16. > :09:21.didn't, nor his department use criteria that was comparable, ie,
:09:21. > :09:26.in terms of non-selective schools he used a bench mark of 25%, which
:09:26. > :09:31.was lower than the Northern Ireland average, based on five GCSEs, A
:09:31. > :09:36.star to C. He used a bench mark for grammar schools of 85%, which was
:09:36. > :09:46.above the Northern Ireland average, based on seven GCSEs and the data
:09:46. > :09:49.
:09:49. > :09:53.for educational attainment was 8, 9, 9, 10, so it's out of date.
:09:54. > :09:58.data for 10/11 has not been verified yet. If I used this
:09:58. > :10:01.information I would be accused of using data that was not verified.
:10:01. > :10:08.In regards to how the figures were gathered, this was an agreement
:10:08. > :10:13.with the board of CCMS. And why is grammars on a higher level than
:10:13. > :10:17.secondary schools? They tell us their academic ability outstrips
:10:17. > :10:20.all other sectors. Now 2012 is proving to be the
:10:20. > :10:23.biggest year ever for sport in the UK generally and in Northern
:10:23. > :10:29.Ireland in particular. With the Olympics and Paralympics in London,
:10:29. > :10:33.bringing a number of teams here for pre-Games training, the Irish Open
:10:33. > :10:39.coming to Portrush and our golfers leading the world, sport has been
:10:39. > :10:45.dominating the front pages for all the best reasons. With me now is
:10:45. > :10:48.chair of sport NI, Dominic Walsh. It's great to say positive things.
:10:48. > :10:52.The spinnoff for the economy is potentially fantastic. It's a
:10:52. > :10:57.really exciting year, the Olympics, Paralympics. We have had a number
:10:57. > :11:02.of ef vents and confirmation that pre-Games training camps. This will
:11:02. > :11:11.be an varietying times fro vied inspiration for local athletes into
:11:11. > :11:15.the future. Whu mention golf, how wonderful to see Rory McIlroy
:11:15. > :11:19.leading the world. Brilliant time for Northern Ireland. There is an
:11:19. > :11:23.announcement tomorrow for more good news. What can you tell us? There
:11:23. > :11:28.will be an announcement tomorrow, more good news leading no the pre-
:11:28. > :11:30.Games training camps. We have the Chinese gymnasts confirmed. Olympic
:11:30. > :11:34.Gold Medal is coming. The Australian boxers are going to be
:11:34. > :11:38.sparring and helping local boxers as they get ready to compete. We
:11:38. > :11:42.have the Paralympics Ireland here and more to come. We've had events
:11:42. > :11:47.already hosted here, where we've had qualifying events for badminton.
:11:47. > :11:51.We've had the world championships, table tennis, where we've had Spain,
:11:51. > :11:56.Team GB and Northern Ireland, a big boost for the competitors, to get
:11:56. > :12:01.ready for competing and trying to qualify for the Olympics. It's
:12:01. > :12:05.exciting time. It is a turn around though. We had a lot of negativity
:12:05. > :12:08.at the time not least from your organisation about the lack of
:12:08. > :12:12.teams that were going to come here and the disaster that has been the
:12:12. > :12:17.swimming pool in Bangor. It hasn't lived up to all the expectations
:12:17. > :12:20.that we had hoped for when it was announced. Looking back at, that
:12:20. > :12:24.timing was everything on that. At the time we were negotiating with
:12:24. > :12:28.countries we would have loved to have said, yes we have the
:12:28. > :12:31.Australian boxing team. We knew that we were 99% of that, but we
:12:31. > :12:34.couldn't announce until we had the ink on the paper. It was
:12:34. > :12:38.frustrating as the chair of sport Northern Ireland to say nothing.
:12:38. > :12:42.But a lot of hard work had been done. A lot of investment and time
:12:43. > :12:45.and effort from the local volunteers in sport, whether it be
:12:45. > :12:49.boxing, athletics, the Paralympics, disability sport Northern Ireland,
:12:49. > :12:53.a lot of hard work was done. It was a wee bit unfair at the time. We
:12:53. > :12:57.would have loved to have said. But we couldn't because the negotiation
:12:57. > :13:01.waser in a delicate position. will come back to that later.
:13:01. > :13:06.Growing the economy is the executive's number one priority. A
:13:06. > :13:10.tough task in these tough times. The minister responsible brought
:13:10. > :13:14.her economic strategy to the chamber earlier and with such an
:13:14. > :13:19.uncertain outlook, the few MLAs who dared criticise her plans were put
:13:20. > :13:29.in their place. We start as Arlene Foster outlines plans to generate
:13:30. > :13:29.
:13:30. > :13:34.We're committed to increase manufacturing exports. We have
:13:34. > :13:40.introduced a new and stretching target to increase the value of
:13:40. > :13:47.manufacturing exports to the emerging economies by 60% by 2014.
:13:47. > :13:51.We have a new commitment around youth unemployment, which aims to
:13:51. > :13:56.deliver 6,000 work experience and training opportunities for young
:13:56. > :14:06.people by 2015. And given the tourism potential, we have upped
:14:06. > :14:10.our targets to increase visitor numbers by 4.2 million and 676
:14:10. > :14:14.million. On finance, I accept this remains a key challenge for many
:14:14. > :14:18.businesses throughout Northern Ireland and having a local banking
:14:18. > :14:23.sctor that meets the needs of consumers and businesses and
:14:24. > :14:31.provides lending on a competitive basis is vital to economic recovery.
:14:31. > :14:35.There are two ways to approach the figures. Given there are around
:14:35. > :14:39.61,500 people claiming unemployment benefit, we're saying you have less
:14:39. > :14:47.than one in two chance of getting a job and I feel this is not good
:14:47. > :14:53.enough. Secondly, given the failure of Invest NI and handing back �39
:14:53. > :14:57.million, Haswell as the failure of jobs fund, changes must occur if
:14:57. > :15:02.we're to meet the targets and I understand the Federation of Small
:15:02. > :15:06.Businesses considers this target to be an aspirational one. The Ulster
:15:06. > :15:13.unionist Party will take a pragmatic approach and support and
:15:14. > :15:19.scrutinyise to ensure delivery. is lacking in proposals for all
:15:19. > :15:22.Ireland co-operation. I don't make that as a political point. One
:15:22. > :15:27.example which should not present a political difficulty for anyone in
:15:27. > :15:33.this house, is that right around the globe there is huge duplication
:15:33. > :15:38.and competition between invest and NIDA in term of where they locate
:15:38. > :15:45.offices. With greater integration, huge sums could be saved. Despite
:15:45. > :15:48.our criticisms, we see this as a good attempt at an economic
:15:48. > :15:53.strategy. This is probably because those who knew something about the
:15:53. > :16:00.economy were given their head and the document was protected for more
:16:00. > :16:03.cynical influences at the centre. If we give OFDFSs first draft of
:16:03. > :16:13.the CSI one out of ten and the programme for Government three out
:16:13. > :16:21.of ten, the strategies is a got six out of ten. Inners NI was said to
:16:21. > :16:31.be a failure. -- invest. Despite the fact that Invest Northern
:16:31. > :16:39.Ireland secured almost �2.6 billion in investment commitment, promoted
:16:39. > :16:46.15,565 new jobs. Safeguard 5,329 existing job, supported 8,267 new
:16:46. > :16:51.local business start between 2007 and 2009. They hit every single one
:16:51. > :16:57.of their targets. Now, if that is the member's definition of failure,
:16:57. > :17:05.I would have thought coming from the Ulster Unionist Party she would
:17:05. > :17:09.have had a better definition of failure. But I see that as the
:17:09. > :17:13.definition of success. You were saying, Dominic about not being
:17:13. > :17:16.able to say all you know on occasions. We have had this
:17:16. > :17:23.development that the culture minister has writ on the
:17:24. > :17:28.organisations, inclooding yours, asking them to contacts you when
:17:28. > :17:33.media organisation contact you, so there are no surprises. How do you
:17:33. > :17:38.feel about that? Well I have been away on business for two days. And
:17:38. > :17:42.I came back and got a chance to touch on that on the road from the
:17:42. > :17:47.airport. We are an arm's length body and we have a level of
:17:47. > :17:53.independence, but we work with the department and the minister and by
:17:53. > :17:58.working with them, that for sport is thousand team is most effective
:17:58. > :18:03.-- how the team is most effective. Does it surprise you, some people
:18:03. > :18:08.have said it amounts to the thought police? I wouldn't quite say that.
:18:08. > :18:13.Working with the minister is fine. But we are independent and the
:18:13. > :18:16.minister respects our independence and we have kept our own counsel
:18:16. > :18:20.and said what needs to be said from time to time. As you would know.
:18:20. > :18:24.The health minister's attempts to make peace with community
:18:24. > :18:30.pharmacists have been rebuffed. Today Edwin Poots announced a
:18:30. > :18:36.financial package of �8 million which would have reimbursed them
:18:36. > :18:39.for some money deconducted last year. Although part of rise is
:18:39. > :18:43.about how much has been detubgtd. Here is what the minister said.
:18:43. > :18:48.the renumeration of pharmacists, its has been necessary to move
:18:48. > :18:54.quickly, as only a few weeks remain in this financial year. Up to this
:18:54. > :18:59.points, some 8.5 million has been provided through the arrangements
:18:59. > :19:07.that were put in place. I'm announcing that the release to
:19:07. > :19:13.community pharmacies 06 a further �8 million. This fund will support
:19:13. > :19:18.new services, improve premise and support staffing. Particularly in
:19:18. > :19:27.depriefrd areas. This represents a substantial package for businesses
:19:27. > :19:34.in Northern Ireland. This �8 million investment will bring the
:19:34. > :19:40.total to be provided to contractors for renumeration and aspect of
:19:40. > :19:44.reimbursements to �91.5 million A further 10% more than the 83
:19:44. > :19:49.million provided to date. The investment includes an additional
:19:49. > :19:53.�4 million, in recognition of concerns raised in respect of
:19:54. > :20:03.vulnerability of pharmacies located in rural and socially deprived
:20:03. > :20:09.areas. I have been mindful of the committee and MLAs' concerns about
:20:09. > :20:14.helping depriefrd communities. guest has shob a should be an --
:20:14. > :20:19.has shown an interest in this. Many people were not pleased with the
:20:19. > :20:24.minister. He is trying. They have been through two judicial reknews
:20:24. > :20:29.and he has offered �8 million and I think that is taking something from
:20:29. > :20:34.him to do that. I think by the fact now, I don't think he realises
:20:34. > :20:40.himself that it was enough and that is maybe illustrated by the fact he
:20:40. > :20:46.now wants a survey to take place and nor negotiations to go on. The
:20:46. > :20:50.pharmacists can go into the negotiations with �le - �8 million
:20:50. > :20:56.in their pocket. But I think they will be looking for more. The whole
:20:56. > :21:02.issue is a massive issue. This is not just about the boots, the big
:21:02. > :21:07.pharmacies, but about my own village pharmacy and others, and
:21:07. > :21:11.they have been, they have had too much taken from them. And these,
:21:11. > :21:14.we're talking about the pharmacy side, not just the perfumes and
:21:14. > :21:18.other things they would sell in their shops. And I think what you
:21:18. > :21:22.have got to put that together is that now we can see that there are
:21:22. > :21:27.going to be new reforms, new changes into the health service,
:21:27. > :21:32.whereby you know patients of all kinds, most of it is going to have
:21:32. > :21:37.to be done in a communities. The hospitals will be made smaller and
:21:37. > :21:40.are attracted to certain degrees of patient care. These can be woven
:21:40. > :21:44.together. The pharmacys are in a strong position and there is a
:21:44. > :21:47.sense of where the minister is on this and I wouldn't want to be
:21:47. > :21:51.criticising him too harshly until we see the end of the negotiations.
:21:52. > :21:57.He does have a point, that community pharmacist should be
:21:57. > :22:04.doing more than just dispensing drugs? Well, I mean that is what he
:22:04. > :22:08.is taking away from them. The fact is that do do a lots more. What
:22:08. > :22:14.concerns me about the survey is it will look into their profits. I
:22:14. > :22:18.think business people, no matter who they are, pharmacists do a good
:22:18. > :22:25.community business, they will look at this and sai, hang on, who do
:22:25. > :22:28.you think you looking into our profits. It is almost implicit that
:22:28. > :22:33.somehow, maybe they're cheating here or not earning, not declaring
:22:33. > :22:38.the profits they're earning, I have talked to many pharmacists and they
:22:38. > :22:43.like many retailers, like many in business, are having difficulties.
:22:43. > :22:47.If they were making these profits, they would declare them. More on
:22:48. > :22:53.that I'm sure. While you're here, people will know what has happened
:22:53. > :22:56.with you with the Ulster unionist Party, there is a leadership race
:22:56. > :23:02.ffplts Tom el yachts had not disciplined you in the way he did,
:23:02. > :23:08.do you think he would still be leader? -- Thame Elliott. More than
:23:08. > :23:13.likely. I was a strong support of Tom's and who is to say what would
:23:14. > :23:18.have happened? One doesn't know. I would haven't let any party leader
:23:18. > :23:24.get into the trouble he a allowed himself to get in and to take the
:23:24. > :23:28.bad advice he was taking. What about the Sinn Fein specialist
:23:28. > :23:33.advisor, Mary McArdsle and the announcement she will move to
:23:33. > :23:37.another post in Sinn Fein? That is Sinn Fein's business. They made the
:23:37. > :23:43.decision and they have made the decision originally and now changed
:23:43. > :23:49.it. That is their business. I have enough to be worrying about within
:23:49. > :23:53.the Ulster union I remember. Could I say if I may, I heard Dominic
:23:53. > :23:58.talking about the special year of the Olympics, for unionism it is a
:23:58. > :24:02.special year. This is a hundred years since the signing of the
:24:02. > :24:08.covenant and it will be a massive year for union I remember as parts
:24:08. > :24:11.of those sell Gration braigss. There is a chance -- of these
:24:11. > :24:16.celebrations. There is a chance to look at how we went wrong and where
:24:16. > :24:20.we can put it right. Can you see yourself going back into the
:24:20. > :24:24.Assembly group under a new leader? I still have the disciplinary
:24:24. > :24:28.matter, until that is resolved, I'm not going anywhere. But I do want
:24:28. > :24:32.it resolved. Thank you. The First Minister and deputy First Minister
:24:32. > :24:36.had to answer tough questions today and for a change it wasn't in the
:24:36. > :24:39.chamber. Pupils from two schools were taking part in the BBC's
:24:39. > :24:45.school report project, where young people get the chance to try their
:24:45. > :24:49.hand at reporting. They told me what they had learned. It was lard
:24:49. > :24:56.to get the questions out of politician and they're good at
:24:56. > :25:01.skipping out of points. -- hard to get. What were the interviews like?
:25:01. > :25:08.Well the interview with Martin that we had first, a lot, he didn't know
:25:08. > :25:14.the questions. We got interesting answers from him. We found the
:25:14. > :25:18.answers were tkprifrpbt what Peter gave. Asked should grammar school
:25:18. > :25:24.become comprehensive and what are you doing to prevent bullying. They
:25:24. > :25:29.were both similar answers. And they both said that bullying is an issue
:25:30. > :25:35.that should, the school should address and not tolerate. Were you
:25:35. > :25:39.nervous? Very nervous. Did they put you at your ease? Or were you there
:25:39. > :25:43.to ask tough questions. In there to ask tough questions, but they did
:25:43. > :25:49.put me at my ease. I thought they were nice people and took our
:25:49. > :25:53.questions very well. I thought that their response was clear and
:25:53. > :25:58.concise and quite accurate. they answer your questions?
:25:58. > :26:02.they did. There were a few circumstances where other people
:26:02. > :26:07.asked questions, or other reporters asked questions and they circled
:26:07. > :26:13.their way around it and didn't answer it that well. But I think
:26:13. > :26:21.they answered my questions, yes. There was interviews will be on air
:26:21. > :26:26.and online on Thursday and you can get more on the web-site. Well
:26:26. > :26:29.normally now we hear from one of our political correspondents. But
:26:29. > :26:33.their Scottish counter part was in town and I caught up with him to
:26:33. > :26:38.ask him what he makes of store months compared to the Scottish
:26:38. > :26:43.Parliament. The first thing that strikes you is the architects churl
:26:43. > :26:47.difference. The Scottish Parliament is staggeringly lrm challenging
:26:47. > :26:52.modern. Here you have a statement of a different kind. Reflecting a
:26:52. > :26:58.different era and the politics of time when it was built. And then
:26:58. > :27:06.what strikes me is perhaps the balance between media and members,
:27:06. > :27:11.we have braps a bit more latitude in the Scottish Parliament to
:27:11. > :27:16.wander around and engage with members. The third one is the
:27:16. > :27:22.completely different nature of the politics here. I found an economic
:27:22. > :27:26.debates going on, where members of the governing kogs coalition are
:27:26. > :27:29.dissenting from that 5 yet remain member of Government. That is the
:27:29. > :27:34.core nature of Northern Ireland politics. That it is betore stay
:27:34. > :27:39.together and keep the disputes -- better to stay together and keep
:27:39. > :27:43.the structure. But it is unthinkable in the sparplts that
:27:43. > :27:48.somebody could disputes' sporplt that somebody could disputes the --
:27:48. > :27:54.Scottish Parliament that somebody could dispute the budgets. But the
:27:54. > :27:59.politic os of devolution are very different. And change as well now
:27:59. > :28:05.you have a busy few years coming up with the debate over independence.
:28:05. > :28:12.The issue of rofr dumb is -- of a referendum is arising. We're
:28:12. > :28:15.debating the nature of the question, the date and a choice there will be.
:28:15. > :28:18.The people of Scotland will determine whether they wish to
:28:18. > :28:27.remain within the union as they have done for more than 3 hundred
:28:27. > :28:32.47 years -- 300 years or go down the road for independence. The
:28:32. > :28:37.debate will sutsle as to the nature of the question. The word agree, is
:28:37. > :28:42.it loaded. Or should we say welcome or for or against. The words will
:28:42. > :28:47.be pourdz over. But behinds it is a core choice for the people, whether
:28:47. > :28:51.they choose the union or independence. It is in the hands of
:28:51. > :28:57.the people, the politicians can cajole and seek to persuade, but