:00:28. > :00:32.Hello and welcome to our final programme of Stormont Today before
:00:32. > :00:35.the summer recess. We'll have a sprinkling of MLAs from the
:00:35. > :00:40.Executive parties on the programme tonight, plus the Ulster Unionist
:00:40. > :00:45.leader, Tom Elliott, having another go at Sinn Fein's Francie Molloy.
:00:45. > :00:50.Mr Molloy is unfit to hold this position of Principal Deputy
:00:50. > :00:55.Speaker. Mothers bring their demand for nursery places to Stormont.
:00:55. > :01:00.Everyone knows a nursery close to home is noting to be sneezed at.
:01:00. > :01:10.Why are you here today? We are here, primarily because... Do you want to
:01:10. > :01:11.
:01:11. > :01:16.do that again? Sorry. At least baby -- the baby didn't yawn! Our
:01:16. > :01:21.regular viewers will know our MLAs can talk for hours about the driest
:01:21. > :01:24.of subjects. So, no surprise that most of the day was taken up
:01:24. > :01:29.debating the possible reduction in corporation tax. It seems many
:01:29. > :01:33.members are in the mood to gamble, view lower corporation tax, as a
:01:33. > :01:39.safe bet. Also, today there were questions to the Culture and
:01:39. > :01:43.Education Ministers. First, that tax discussion. By itself a
:01:43. > :01:48.competitive rate of corporation tax will not be enough to rebalance the
:01:48. > :01:51.local economy. It is one strand in a strategy which should include
:01:51. > :01:56.investment in research and development, invasion, education
:01:56. > :01:59.and skills. It should be accepted now however that a strong case
:01:59. > :02:05.existss for the devolution of corporation tax powers. There is
:02:05. > :02:09.much more detailed work to be done. Much will depend on the outcome of
:02:09. > :02:14.ongoing negotiations with the Treasury in terms of how attractive
:02:14. > :02:17.it will be in process. I believe it is important that this Assembly
:02:17. > :02:21.sends a strong message to the British government. Of course, the
:02:21. > :02:27.cynical amongst us will say that asking a business owner, do they
:02:27. > :02:30.want to pay less tax, is not going to receive an entirely surprising
:02:30. > :02:35.response. What we must remember is, the vast majority of small
:02:35. > :02:39.businesses, if we choose to reduce corporation tax, will not benefit
:02:39. > :02:44.directly from this. But even they support it because they know that
:02:44. > :02:47.the secondary spend, that comes from jobs created through foreign
:02:47. > :02:51.direct investment, will benefit small retailers also. I think, of
:02:51. > :02:57.some of the people who started small in this country, and have
:02:57. > :03:04.gone on to great things, I think of Alan McClay who started his
:03:04. > :03:08.business in Portadown, as a one-man band, where it led. To I think of
:03:08. > :03:15.Fred Wilson, Cad pillar. I don't think the corporation tax was a big
:03:15. > :03:22.factor to them when they started those businesses. I was asked, as a
:03:22. > :03:28.young insurance man, to insure NorBrook, the company I worked for
:03:28. > :03:32.decided they didn't like the look of it and it wouldn't go anywhere.
:03:32. > :03:37.The wrong decision would be to do nothing because the world is moving
:03:37. > :03:40.on. The Minister for Finance will tell us all the models and
:03:40. > :03:46.predictions are based on the assumption that other things being
:03:46. > :03:50.equal. I know he can tell us that in English and also in the original
:03:50. > :03:56.Latin. There is another Latin phrase that I think is appropriate
:03:56. > :04:00.in English, it is, "buyer beware" as we consider taking the power to
:04:00. > :04:04.set our own rate of corporation tax there are uncertanties to be
:04:04. > :04:09.resolved. Will Europe support us? Will we end newspaper the European
:04:09. > :04:14.Court of Justice? Although some of the trade unions and the MP for
:04:14. > :04:20.North Down are opposed to lower corporation tax, I am particularly
:04:20. > :04:25.concerned about one politician, that is our Finance Minister, Mr
:04:25. > :04:30.Wilson, not only has he stated his scepticism on numerous occasions,
:04:30. > :04:34.he made it clear that he does not share his party's enthusiasm for
:04:34. > :04:43.lower corporation tax. It's hardly a surprise, but that motion went
:04:43. > :04:48.through on the nod. Tonne Question Time and there was talk about the
:04:48. > :04:53.Irish language. I'm clear of what the St Andrews Agreement means. It
:04:53. > :04:59.is in the St Andrew's Agreement I can take strategies separately.
:04:59. > :05:04.That is what I intend to do. I have had some discussions with the stake
:05:04. > :05:09.holders, not all, they will increase over the summer. I met
:05:09. > :05:16.some in Derry on Saturday who are affiliated to the app apprentice
:05:16. > :05:23.Boys. It is within my gift to take forward separate strategies. That
:05:23. > :05:26.is what I intend to do. No later than this morning, the Minister's
:05:26. > :05:30.colleague regaled the house on the corporation tax debate with the
:05:30. > :05:38.benefits of the English language as an attraction for inwand ward
:05:38. > :05:41.investment. Why, therefore, does the Minister want to waste valuable
:05:41. > :05:46.resources on promoting a language which will disadvantage young
:05:46. > :05:51.people in seeking employment in these hard economic times, instead
:05:51. > :06:01.of better quipping them through the even better profishent si in
:06:01. > :06:03.
:06:03. > :06:08.English? I have no comment to make on what the Member alleges my
:06:08. > :06:12.colleague said. That is his opinion. There is document agencies around
:06:12. > :06:15.having more than one language helps people in terms of their economic
:06:16. > :06:20.development and helps constituency and communities on their economic
:06:20. > :06:23.development. I suspect the economic development and economic wellbeing
:06:23. > :06:29.isn't what the Member is hinting out. I hope that answered whatever
:06:29. > :06:33.sort of question he had. Next, Education Minister, who revealed
:06:33. > :06:40.the tough questions he has phase facing him in the coming months.
:06:40. > :06:44.am looking closely at how best the - I'm looking closely at how to
:06:44. > :06:49.make best use of the capital funds to maximise educational benefits
:06:49. > :06:53.for children and young people. This work will be a priority for me and
:06:53. > :06:56.my officials. I wish to be in a position to make a statement in the
:06:56. > :07:01.autumn to the Assembly on the way forward when I've considered the
:07:01. > :07:04.options available to me. There will be - it will arise I will not be
:07:04. > :07:09.able to bring forward all projects which are currently planned or in
:07:09. > :07:13.the early stages of planning due to the budget. This is a very
:07:13. > :07:16.difficult position for any Minister to be in, the reality is, the
:07:16. > :07:20.capital funds available to me simply will not build the number of
:07:20. > :07:24.schools that are, quiegt rightly, seeking new builds at this time.
:07:24. > :07:28.it's time for reflection, the summer break is just days away,
:07:28. > :07:37.MLAs are already packing their trunks and getting ready to head
:07:37. > :07:44.off. What sort of year has it been? With me now recently elected UUP
:07:44. > :07:50.MLA Robin Swann and DUP stalwart Jim Wells. Has Stormont lived up to
:07:50. > :07:54.all your dreams? Certainly. Robert Kop Coulter did a great job during
:07:55. > :08:00.his time here. It was big shoes to fill. He has been there to guide me.
:08:00. > :08:04.I have enjoyed every minute I have been here. I look forward to the
:08:04. > :08:09.challenges. You were upset by what the Culture Minister said about an
:08:09. > :08:11.Irish language strategy, what is your problem? St Andrew's set
:08:11. > :08:18.forward a minority language strategy, the implications of that.
:08:18. > :08:22.The Minister said today - Andrew's promised an Irish Language
:08:22. > :08:26.Act? Minority languages. An act of Parliament? Yes, to cover all
:08:26. > :08:30.languages, not just Irish language. That is our problem, is she is
:08:30. > :08:38.minded now to take forward solely and Irish language strategy. One
:08:38. > :08:43.that doesn't include Ulster Scots, Chinese, by her taking this forward
:08:43. > :08:48.an Irish language strategy. She admitted to the committee that she
:08:48. > :08:55.know it is won't through the House. She is wasting the House's time and
:08:55. > :08:59.resources. We don't have the noun fund fancyful, political agendas
:08:59. > :09:06.that the Minister is solely pursuing through the committee.
:09:06. > :09:09.Your party returned from the election riding high. Your party
:09:10. > :09:14.leaders wants to attract more Catholics into the DUP. Would you
:09:14. > :09:17.be minded to allow an Irish language strategy? I think it has
:09:17. > :09:21.absolutely no hope. It will be vetoed on the Executive and on the
:09:21. > :09:25.floor of the Assembly through a petition of concern. A language
:09:25. > :09:30.which has little relevance to the vast majority of people in Northern
:09:30. > :09:35.Ireland. It's a waste of money. It's a dead issue and will go
:09:36. > :09:40.nowhere. I agree with Robin entirely. You are the Health
:09:40. > :09:46.Minister in waiting. How is that waiting around for this big job?
:09:46. > :09:51.feel like Prince Charles. It's an unusual situation. I hope Edwin
:09:51. > :09:56.Poots doesn't have to passe way could go on for a long time. It's
:09:56. > :10:03.unusual to be publicly announced as being the Minister-in-waiting. You
:10:03. > :10:07.get two years to get into the portfolio and read into the
:10:07. > :10:11.extremely complex department. There are advantages and disadvantages.
:10:11. > :10:15.The disadvantages, if I complain about anything, backbenchers will
:10:15. > :10:19.say, you will fix it in two years time, we wait with interest.
:10:19. > :10:22.current minister has been accused of switching positions. Everything
:10:22. > :10:26.was black-and-white before the election, now things are greyer. Do
:10:26. > :10:32.you expect him to make all the hard decisions and you come in later and
:10:32. > :10:36.get the rewards? Chance would be the fine thing. Ed has difficult
:10:36. > :10:41.decisions to make. He has experience on the Executive. He has
:10:41. > :10:45.shown he is prepared to dig big into the issues and take difficult
:10:45. > :10:50.decisions. There are inefirbtent cyst that have to be dealt with.
:10:50. > :10:55.Whether it's Edwin or myself we can't escape the issues. People
:10:55. > :11:00.have admired the openness he has adopted really. Do you feel the DUP
:11:00. > :11:05.have been honest and open with the public about health? Definitely not.
:11:05. > :11:09.The way they atracked the Ulster Unionist party for being open and
:11:09. > :11:13.honest. The changes in mind set and position that the DUP have taken
:11:13. > :11:19.forward. This - the position we took before the election, with
:11:19. > :11:23.budgets, the finite resources we were lambasted for challenging
:11:23. > :11:27.making difficult decisions. The DUP are finding what it's like to be in
:11:27. > :11:32.that position. They also control the budget as well. They are using
:11:32. > :11:37.health to atact the Ulster Unionist as a political football rather than
:11:37. > :11:41.actually... Your party is done to one and lots of people writing off
:11:41. > :11:46.the Ulster Unionist that this is a party in decline? Definitely not.
:11:46. > :11:51.When you look through across our current Assembly team, we have six
:11:51. > :11:54.new members with new ideas, fresh talent and new ideas coming forward.
:11:54. > :11:57.We will bring them forward in September. And hopefully make a
:11:57. > :12:02.difference to this place and Northern Ireland. The reason we are
:12:02. > :12:07.down to one minister because of the hunt and configuration of numbers.
:12:07. > :12:10.That could be debatable. How will you spend the restful weeks before
:12:10. > :12:15.the autumn term begins, will you get a break? 123450 I don't think
:12:15. > :12:20.so. There is a vast amount of paperwork that accumulated after
:12:20. > :12:26.the election. A busy few weeks. I will have to spend several weeks in
:12:26. > :12:33.a dark room getting ready of it. Vast quantities of e-mails at 100 a
:12:33. > :12:36.day, difficult to keep up with. It sounds exhausting. Robin I hope you
:12:36. > :12:39.get a break before the autumn returns. Francie Molloy you saw him
:12:39. > :12:49.last night storing things up at a committee meeting and being brought
:12:49. > :12:54.
:12:54. > :12:59.I don't care what he said... That was a rather exercise Tom Eliot
:12:59. > :13:05.struggling to control the meeting. He is not over the experience and
:13:05. > :13:10.was in no mood to celebrate when Molloy was executed -- elected as
:13:10. > :13:15.the new principal deputy Speaker. Are you aware of Mr Molloy's
:13:15. > :13:19.conducts in the committee last week? He towed to lead his record -
:13:19. > :13:24.- disregarded and ignored the ruling of the chair. That is why I
:13:24. > :13:30.believe Mr Molloy is not fit to hold this position of principle
:13:30. > :13:35.Deputy Speaker. Therefore I look forward to establishing and
:13:36. > :13:39.witnessing how Mr Molloy will carry out that role, because I am sure it
:13:39. > :13:43.will go through with a cross- community vote by the two main
:13:43. > :13:48.parties supporting each other, but I will wait some judging his
:13:48. > :13:53.performance in days to come. But clearly in the perspective of
:13:53. > :13:56.holding that office, I think, Mr Speaker, you would not have allowed
:13:56. > :14:02.people to stray off the mark and the position that has been
:14:02. > :14:05.discussed in such a weight as Mr Molloy has shown he is capable of
:14:05. > :14:09.doing and has done in the committee last week, and therefore we will
:14:09. > :14:16.oppose this. Our politicians are sometimes
:14:16. > :14:20.accused of arguing like children - unfair, I know, to be children!
:14:20. > :14:24.Today the junior members of society came to Stormont with their parents,
:14:24. > :14:27.frustrated over failure to get nursery places close to home. A
:14:27. > :14:33.mother-of-three from the Antrim Road in Belfast, Sinead Steele, was
:14:33. > :14:37.among those visiting the Long Gallery. All parents of children
:14:37. > :14:42.from three downwards who applied in January passed for a place at pre-
:14:42. > :14:47.school, IMI's offer pride for several nurseries in the local area
:14:47. > :14:51.and was refused all. My personal circumstances are I have a three-
:14:51. > :14:56.year-old are now travelling to Glencore way to go to pre-school, a
:14:56. > :15:01.two-year-old who I am applying for nursery come January, and then I
:15:01. > :15:05.have a youngest. The issues that I have far there are two statutory
:15:05. > :15:09.criteria which mitigate against my eyes off and my husband, primarily
:15:09. > :15:16.against our children access to nursery education. All nursery
:15:16. > :15:19.education in our local area. They are the July and August criteria
:15:19. > :15:23.and that children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds take
:15:23. > :15:29.precedence over all other children. When we are looking at this issue
:15:29. > :15:33.it is not a them and us scenario, it is primarily social inclusion
:15:33. > :15:38.and a diversity and equity for children entering into the
:15:38. > :15:43.education system. How did you manage to get your eldest end to a
:15:43. > :15:47.nursery, and how are you getting him to and from the nursery?
:15:47. > :15:52.applied and there was one place left, fortunately he met the
:15:52. > :15:56.criteria for that particular place. That said, that was out of 32
:15:57. > :16:03.places. My sister has moved to work in that area, that is the only
:16:03. > :16:11.reason she can access nursery at this time. How close to your home
:16:11. > :16:16.is the nursery? -- is the nearest nursery? Less than 100 metres. The
:16:16. > :16:21.system seems very fragmented. There are parents here today, one of whom
:16:21. > :16:26.has twins, one child got in and the other did not. Another mother is
:16:26. > :16:30.due in September at, she has a child going to primary school
:16:30. > :16:35.beside her home, she has no car and she has another child going three
:16:35. > :16:38.miles away to the only available place. Children are being
:16:38. > :16:44.shoehorned into places where, realistically, it is impractical
:16:44. > :16:47.for them, not with an area, they will not be going on to school with
:16:47. > :16:53.the children they are going to nursery with, the system is not
:16:53. > :16:58.ideal. It should be very child focused as opposed to focusing on
:16:58. > :17:02.what the parents do or don't do. That was my colleague Judith
:17:02. > :17:07.Cummings asking the questions. Just six weeks into the new term
:17:07. > :17:10.and it is time for a break. Politicians are battle-weary after
:17:10. > :17:15.Assembly and council elections and will rest their voices before
:17:15. > :17:20.debate resume in the autumn, where the workload will be piled high. I
:17:20. > :17:25.am joined by two members, from Sinn Fein Paul Maskey, and Dolores Kelly
:17:25. > :17:30.of the SDLP. Paul Maskey, you might be more tired than the rest of us,
:17:30. > :17:34.you had an extra Westminster by- election to win, west Belfast. How
:17:34. > :17:39.will you juggle your role as an MLA and committee chairmen with the
:17:39. > :17:43.challenge of rebuilding the economy of West Belfast? It works hand in
:17:43. > :17:52.hand. I was in Westminster last Thursday, I left the house at 5am
:17:52. > :17:57.and was home at midnight. We might need your prayers to rebuild the
:17:57. > :18:02.economy, lots of jobs to be created. I used the opportunity in
:18:02. > :18:09.Westminster to lobby and to explain to the Labour and Conservative
:18:09. > :18:14.politicians that they need to support to the north of Ireland. I
:18:14. > :18:17.work very hard for my constituents in West Belfast. Do you think that
:18:17. > :18:23.some point there will be legislation and you will have to
:18:23. > :18:27.choose and become a full-time MP? Yes, that is coming in 2015, we
:18:27. > :18:30.have supported that you can I do the double job. A big day tomorrow,
:18:30. > :18:34.you are chairing the Public Accounts Committee, you have
:18:34. > :18:38.summoned the head of the Civil Service to talk about the Paul
:18:38. > :18:41.Priestley situation. He was demoted us a permanent secretary when he
:18:41. > :18:46.was found to have drafted a letter of complaint to your committee at
:18:46. > :18:49.the time it was investigating the handling of Northern Ireland 4-.
:18:49. > :18:56.There are many questions being asked, there are 11 committee
:18:56. > :19:01.members. Some of the questions we will meet again prior to that. It
:19:01. > :19:06.is very important that when a permanent secretary or anybody else
:19:06. > :19:10.messes about with anything, we have to hold people to account. If we
:19:10. > :19:14.want people to respect and have faith in the mechanisms and the
:19:14. > :19:18.Assembly, we need to step up to the mark can do that, which is why the
:19:18. > :19:24.head of the civil service is coming. We need to hold people to account
:19:24. > :19:29.and make sure people have so -- have faith and trust. Will it be an
:19:29. > :19:34.open or closed session? Open. Dolores Kelly, your party had a
:19:34. > :19:38.bruising election, you made it back, but there was a post-election row
:19:38. > :19:42.over a ministerial post and a lot of speculation the leader could
:19:42. > :19:45.change. Will we see a leadership contest in the autumn? Margaret
:19:45. > :19:50.Ritchie has made it clear she wishes to remain as leader, and as
:19:50. > :19:59.yet I have not heard of anyone else throwing that hat into the ring.
:19:59. > :20:04.The SDLP is very democratic. All positions are voted on by the
:20:05. > :20:10.people attending the conference. There is certainly no vacancy, I
:20:10. > :20:14.have not heard of any competition. What is the SDLP hoped to achieve
:20:14. > :20:19.in its term, and will it stay in the role we see or will it move
:20:20. > :20:24.towards opposition? We will have to see how things evolve. We were very
:20:24. > :20:27.disappointed today that Sinn Fein and the DUP were not more vexed
:20:27. > :20:32.about the creation of the principal deputy Speaker post rather than
:20:32. > :20:35.bringing forward a programme for government for this term. We're the
:20:35. > :20:38.only devolved institution and probably the only government in a
:20:38. > :20:43.Western democracy without a programme for government, even
:20:43. > :20:50.though the budget was approved by Sinn Fein, the DUP and the Alliance
:20:50. > :20:55.Party yesterday. I am sure that constituents and West Belfast are
:20:55. > :21:01.Becks they have no jobs, but we have a new job, the principal Paul
:21:01. > :21:09.Maskey, when will we see the programme? That was a half-hour
:21:09. > :21:17.debate. To our dismay think she has been smart by saying about people
:21:17. > :21:21.having extra jobs. -- Dolores Kelly may think she is being smart. All
:21:21. > :21:29.of our members give most of the money back to the party, and she
:21:29. > :21:34.knows that. There is no additional money. Is there not a new office
:21:34. > :21:39.already kitted out? Is it not the case that there are eight special
:21:39. > :21:45.advisers in the office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister,
:21:45. > :21:50.more than in the British cabinet or the day oil? The special adviser
:21:50. > :21:56.for junior ministers was created. Your party created the junior
:21:56. > :22:02.ministers and the special advisers. It is OK for her to come on and try
:22:02. > :22:06.to play silly games. Her party in the last term had a negative
:22:06. > :22:12.campaign which cost them in the election. The DUP run the same type
:22:12. > :22:16.of campaign commanded cost them. People want to see positivity, the
:22:16. > :22:24.parties working together, that is what people wanted to see. Without
:22:25. > :22:28.that, that delivery is stymied. Let us work together going forward, it
:22:28. > :22:33.is too serious an issue to be negative on. I don't think we are
:22:33. > :22:36.messing about... I am afraid time is up and I did not get the chance
:22:36. > :22:40.to ask you about your holidays, I assume you are not going to the
:22:40. > :22:43.same place. With two Executive ministers and an
:22:43. > :22:48.increased share of the bud it has been a good year for the Alliance
:22:49. > :22:53.Party, but there is a question of the David Ford's future as Justice
:22:53. > :22:57.Minister. I asked him how secure he felt his post was. I am fully aware
:22:57. > :23:02.that as soon as the Assembly comes back in September a motion could be
:23:02. > :23:07.put down to dismiss me as justice minister, that is the reality.
:23:07. > :23:12.Unlike every other minister I am elected by the minister, -- by the
:23:12. > :23:16.Assembly, which is a strength but a potential weakness. I hope there
:23:16. > :23:20.will be discussions in the autumn time about the new structures from
:23:20. > :23:24.a 2012 onwards. In my first year I said I wanted to do the best job
:23:24. > :23:29.possible to get the reforms started. I said for the second year the
:23:29. > :23:33.essential thing is to carry forward and start to see delivery. If
:23:33. > :23:39.people like the current system and me as minister after that, I will
:23:39. > :23:43.stay in post, if they want somebody else, they can have that. You are
:23:43. > :23:47.demob happy, you will not have much piece this summer if you do not
:23:47. > :23:52.have the Legal Aid resort? The deed -- the legal-aid dispute is being
:23:52. > :23:56.dealt with, I am hoping that we will find a compromise that will
:23:56. > :23:59.see the lawyers going back to work under the rates which are now in
:23:59. > :24:03.statute with the offer we have given them of a review. If they are
:24:03. > :24:07.not prepared for that, I am determined that by the autumn we
:24:07. > :24:12.will see what other ways they it -- they are at providing justice,
:24:12. > :24:16.because my key aim is to see those on charges getting access to
:24:16. > :24:20.justice and proper representation, and victims C in court case is
:24:20. > :24:24.going ahead. Will you be able to take time this summer to relax
:24:24. > :24:28.after a pretty challenging few months? I think there will be a few
:24:28. > :24:32.challenging weeks, unfortunately, but I am looking forward to a bit
:24:32. > :24:36.of relaxation. While some members are preparing to
:24:36. > :24:41.fly to exotic destinations, because the then Deputy Prime Minister was
:24:41. > :24:45.at Stormont today. Slobodan Petrovic led a delegation of 15
:24:45. > :24:50.Albanian and Serbian mayors keen to learn from the peace process. They
:24:50. > :24:55.met the SDLP minister responsible for local government, Alex Atwood.
:24:55. > :24:59.I spoke to Mr Petrovic about his impressions of Northern Ireland.
:24:59. > :25:03.TRANSLATION: Obviously both countries have had a terrible past,
:25:03. > :25:07.Kosovo and Northern Ireland have decades of the turbulent past and
:25:08. > :25:13.violence on the streets and everywhere else. What I am very
:25:13. > :25:19.impressed to see is that Belfast house left the past behind and is
:25:19. > :25:25.living a normal life at this stage. It is difficult to deal with the
:25:25. > :25:28.past, your country is coming out of conflict, Wotton at -- lessons do
:25:28. > :25:31.you think Northern Ireland can teach you? TRANSLATION: All the
:25:31. > :25:35.people I have spoken to have the same will and energy to deal with
:25:35. > :25:38.the problem, they are not just passively sitting listening about
:25:39. > :25:43.the problem, they are dealing with it and making the best possible
:25:44. > :25:47.solution for the country. The issue at Short Strand, the violence in
:25:47. > :25:52.Belfast just last week, is that something you were aware of and
:25:52. > :25:55.what impression did it leave? TRANSLATION: I am very well aware
:25:55. > :26:01.of the violence that was happening on the streets of Belfast in the
:26:01. > :26:06.past week for three days. I have to say that I am very happy to see
:26:06. > :26:10.that the problems as such are non- existent at the moment and
:26:10. > :26:15.everything looks so peaceful. I am happy to see that the country was
:26:15. > :26:19.back to normal in such a short period of time and that for the
:26:19. > :26:25.untrained eye its people would not be able to see that such violence
:26:25. > :26:30.even was taking place in Belfast. The debating chamber may have
:26:30. > :26:33.closed for the summer, but cafe recess is still open. I caught up
:26:33. > :26:40.with my colleague Gareth Gordon, who has assessed the mood which, to
:26:40. > :26:44.be from, his demob -- demob-happy. Today was the last full sitting of
:26:44. > :26:48.the Assembly before the summer recess. It has been a very short
:26:48. > :26:52.term, just six weeks since the Assembly, lots of but time spent
:26:52. > :26:58.getting the new Assembly win, debating private members' notions,
:26:58. > :27:02.not much business of substance. But there has been some business. Today
:27:02. > :27:07.they finally passed the Budget and their elected Francie Molloy to the
:27:07. > :27:12.new post of principal deputy Speaker. It does not mean MLAs can
:27:12. > :27:16.get the deck chairs out yet? Some can, but the Executive will
:27:16. > :27:19.continue to meet at least until the end of July. There are some
:27:19. > :27:22.potentially interesting committee meetings before the end of the week.
:27:22. > :27:26.The Public Accounts Committee will tomorrow hear a briefing from the
:27:26. > :27:32.head of the civil service, who may well face a more awkward questions
:27:32. > :27:35.on a story I know you have covered. That is the demotion of the former
:27:35. > :27:39.permanent secretary Paul Priestley, which happened because he was found
:27:39. > :27:43.to have helped draft a letter to the committee looking at the
:27:43. > :27:48.running of his department. There may be some interesting questions
:27:48. > :27:51.and perhaps some interesting answers. There could still be fun
:27:51. > :27:55.at the other committee? I don't know if everyone would agree it was
:27:55. > :28:00.found last week, sparks flew at last Wednesday's meeting when the
:28:00. > :28:06.chairman of the Ulster Unionists Tom Eliot suspended the meeting
:28:06. > :28:10.after failing to shut up Francie Molloy. He had made allegations
:28:10. > :28:15.about a well-known Irish League manager. Afterwards, a letter of
:28:15. > :28:20.complaint was written to the Speaker. From C Molloy was elected
:28:20. > :28:25.to the post today. -- from Sue Molloy. We will have to see if
:28:25. > :28:30.there any more after his, I don't think that is it. But that will be
:28:30. > :28:34.it until September when we are all back to do it again.
:28:34. > :28:36.Maybe the time out will do everyone some good after months and the
:28:37. > :28:40.basement at Stormont, I am heading for the Sun.