Browse content similar to 29/02/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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It was a red letter day on the hill as John McCallister's crusade | :00:26. | :00:31. | |
to formalise arrangements for an Assembly opposition passed | :00:32. | :00:33. | |
And there was a promise from the Deputy First Minister | :00:34. | :00:37. | |
It's been a long journey, but John McCallister has rewritten | :00:38. | :00:43. | |
And joining me with his thoughts on today's business is our | :00:44. | :01:22. | |
political correspondent, Gareth Gordon. | :01:23. | :01:30. | |
At times it appeared to be an almost impossible task as John McCallister | :01:31. | :01:36. | |
laboured to create the legislation needed for an opposition | :01:37. | :01:38. | |
But today his Bill passed its final stage and it now proceeds | :01:39. | :01:43. | |
to Westminster to receive Royal Assent before the end | :01:44. | :01:45. | |
What makes it on to the statute books may not be quite what he set | :01:46. | :01:49. | |
out to deliver, but the South Down MLA | :01:50. | :01:51. | |
still believes his Private Members' Bill will improve how | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
We've had 15 hours of debate and consideration stage lasted over nine | :01:56. | :02:12. | |
and a half hours over two days. 52 votes at committee, on different | :02:13. | :02:21. | |
clauses, 20 divisions and considerations using another five | :02:22. | :02:26. | |
considerations. It gives you a place called opposition. Opposition gives | :02:27. | :02:30. | |
our elected the chance to change the Government. I think on the whole as | :02:31. | :02:45. | |
the Bill has emerged, I'm very, very pleased with what has come out at | :02:46. | :02:50. | |
the other end of so many hours of debate and scrutiny. I think it's | :02:51. | :02:55. | |
fair to say this Bill has evolved considerably from the Bill that was | :02:56. | :03:01. | |
introduced and scrutinised by the Assembly and the executive | :03:02. | :03:03. | |
committee. Key provisions such as the formation of the opposition by | :03:04. | :03:09. | |
technical groups, establishment of a budget committee, renaming of the | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
office of the first and Deputy First Minister and the proposal for | :03:14. | :03:18. | |
departments to be a single legal entity have now been removed. Given | :03:19. | :03:25. | |
that sentiment and the SDLP, consistent with the democratic | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
structures endorsed by the people of Ireland on the good Friday | :03:30. | :03:33. | |
agreement, we recognise that creating a place called opposition, | :03:34. | :03:39. | |
or a place for more formal dissent in this chamber is healthy for our | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
democracy. We remain totally convinced of the need and necessity | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
of opposition structures to be put in place. The reasons Assembly was | :03:49. | :03:59. | |
structured has been acknowledged in all stages of debate, but I think we | :04:00. | :04:03. | |
should all aspire to improve what we are doing and move in time with our | :04:04. | :04:09. | |
ever evolving society. But it is clear from the increasing disconnect | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
that we are failing to do so when it comes to the structures of this | :04:15. | :04:22. | |
chamber. I know this Bill has been well read since its inception, but | :04:23. | :04:26. | |
as the sponsor himself said, the opposition part of it is largely | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
intact and perhaps most important part of the Bill, perhaps the bit he | :04:32. | :04:36. | |
would have selected if all else had to fail. It is also, there've been | :04:37. | :04:41. | |
times in the passage of this Bill where I didn't expect it to go any | :04:42. | :04:48. | |
further, because we had the unedifying spectacle of Sinn Fein | :04:49. | :04:53. | |
voting against every clause of the committee, and the DUP weren't | :04:54. | :04:58. | |
helping by abstaining. The party that in the Assembly during the | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
course of Mr John McAllister's Bill has done most to try and derail it, | :05:03. | :05:11. | |
namely Sinn Fein, that after their failure to attain their ambitions in | :05:12. | :05:16. | |
the southern election, and falling significantly short of what they | :05:17. | :05:22. | |
hoped to attain, that the height of their ambition now in the Irish | :05:23. | :05:28. | |
Republic is to form the opposition. And yet in this House on every vote | :05:29. | :05:36. | |
on this Bill they've sought to deny even the right to have an | :05:37. | :05:41. | |
opposition. Because I think we had an opportunity to really improve | :05:42. | :05:48. | |
governance in Northern Ireland. I believe it's an opportunity wasted. | :05:49. | :05:54. | |
We wasted the opportunity to abolish Petition of Concern. We wasted the | :05:55. | :05:59. | |
opportunity to abolish community designation. We wasted the | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
opportunity to introduce collective responsibility. And we wasted the | :06:05. | :06:08. | |
opportunity to introduce a mechanism by which we can hold Ministers to | :06:09. | :06:11. | |
account. And the final stage | :06:12. | :06:14. | |
of the Opposition Bill passed by 63 So, John McCallister's Bill has made | :06:15. | :06:17. | |
it through the Stormont maze. It's a bittersweet moment for John | :06:18. | :06:28. | |
McAllister. Many said he would never get past the final stage, but he has | :06:29. | :06:32. | |
done so. That's a little victory in itself. It means that anyone after | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
May in the Assembly election who wants to go into opposition, the | :06:38. | :06:39. | |
bigger parties, the mechanism is there to do so. They'll be funded | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
and they'll have enhanced speaking rights. But no guarantee that any | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
parties will at this moment take the opportunity up. It is not the Bill, | :06:48. | :06:51. | |
however, that John McAllister envisaged when he set out on this | :06:52. | :06:58. | |
long road. For example he wanted to end the community designations. That | :06:59. | :07:08. | |
is not happening. Sinn Fein and the SDLP blocked that with the Petition | :07:09. | :07:12. | |
of Concern. They said it was too much like majority rule. The DUP | :07:13. | :07:17. | |
blocked the plan to rename the office of the first and deputy | :07:18. | :07:22. | |
Minister to the office of the First Ministers. It is not what he want. | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
But he says it is a worthwhile exercise. It is an achievement | :07:27. | :07:30. | |
achievement to get a Private Member's Bill through. It hasn't | :07:31. | :07:35. | |
happened too often. Sinn Fein voted against. How significant a piece of | :07:36. | :07:39. | |
legislation do you think it is, because it did go through today with | :07:40. | :07:45. | |
a significant majority. Well, I think potentially it opens the gates | :07:46. | :07:48. | |
and makes people think more about it. Whether or not as I said in my | :07:49. | :07:55. | |
first answer min will take up this offer at the moment is open, and | :07:56. | :08:00. | |
unless they do it sits on the statute books and doesn't mean a | :08:01. | :08:04. | |
lot, I suppose. We'll find out early in May when we come back with a new | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
mandate. The Deputy First Minister told MLAs | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
that he would be "absolutely willing" to appear at a commission | :08:13. | :08:15. | |
designed to provide information to relatives of those killed | :08:16. | :08:17. | |
in the Troubles. Plans for an Independent Commission | :08:18. | :08:19. | |
on Information Retrieval were set out in the Stormont House Agreement, | :08:20. | :08:22. | |
and today Jim Allister asked Martin McGuinness if he'll take | :08:23. | :08:24. | |
part in the process. Does the Deputy First Minister | :08:25. | :08:33. | |
intend by way as example to other IRA men to provide information the | :08:34. | :08:37. | |
information retrieval commission when it's established? Well, that | :08:38. | :08:47. | |
brings us back again to the negotiations that we participated in | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
prior to Christmas, and the huge progress that was made. There isn't | :08:53. | :08:59. | |
much point in establishing an organisation like the ICAR or the | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
other organisations that we agreed in terms of the structures if we are | :09:05. | :09:10. | |
not going encourage people to participate to ensure that families | :09:11. | :09:16. | |
who've been victims of the conflict can get some resolution to I suppose | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
the information that they are seeking. If that's so perhaps the | :09:22. | :09:29. | |
Deputy First Minister would answer the question: Will he as an officer | :09:30. | :09:36. | |
commanding in the IRA lead by example and give information, to the | :09:37. | :09:40. | |
information retrieval commission if it is to afford any hope to the many | :09:41. | :09:47. | |
innocent victims of his IRA? Well, I think that on a number of occasions | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
in the past I've made it clear first of all that Sinn Fein policy was to | :09:53. | :09:59. | |
argue for the establishment of an independent international Truth | :10:00. | :10:02. | |
Commission. And obviously we didn't achieve, that but what we have done | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
is compromised in terms of the structures and mechanisms that we | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
agreed prior to Christmas. I further make the point there isn't much | :10:13. | :10:15. | |
point in establishing those if people aren't prepared to go | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
forward. If I am required to go forward, on any point of relevance | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
to myself, I am absolutely willing to do that. The Deputy First | :10:27. | :10:35. | |
Minister refers to detrimental first contributions... Are will he agree | :10:36. | :10:39. | |
that's always been the case? And every time I have indicated to him | :10:40. | :10:45. | |
about his involvement in the past in paramilitary groups that was equally | :10:46. | :10:50. | |
detriment, it doesn't hold much water when he denies knowledge of | :10:51. | :10:54. | |
every single incident mentioned to him, which leaves people to the | :10:55. | :11:04. | |
conclusion that he was the most overpromoted person in | :11:05. | :11:05. | |
paramilitary... In the history of the world? Isn't it just as well for | :11:06. | :11:11. | |
all of the people out there that we represent that I am not as bitter as | :11:12. | :11:17. | |
the member who has just spoken? I spent a year in the office of first | :11:18. | :11:22. | |
and Deputy First Minister with Ian Paisley during which time we built | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
up not just a good working relationship but a friendship which | :11:27. | :11:33. | |
lasted until the day he died. We had many conversations about many | :11:34. | :11:38. | |
things. I know the member held Reverend Ian Paisley in high rafrmtd | :11:39. | :11:44. | |
never once did we recriminate about anyone, not once, and the 8 years I | :11:45. | :11:50. | |
worked with Peter Robinson. All we were interested in was making this | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
place work, making the executive work, delivering for our people, | :11:55. | :12:00. | |
getting jobs, and starting against against the activities of those who | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
would plunge us back into the past. It is a pity we still have maul | :12:06. | :12:11. | |
minded MLAs in this Assembly and one of them has just spoken and another | :12:12. | :12:16. | |
one spoke just a very short time ago. Fortunately for all of us in | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
the Assembly the vast majority of people are not like that. | :12:22. | :12:23. | |
The Deputy First Minister in combative form. | :12:24. | :12:25. | |
Was in comphebt from Mr McGuinness a complete surprise? It is not what he | :12:26. | :12:38. | |
set out to say, but he has had many questions in the past from John | :12:39. | :12:45. | |
McAllister and Mr Campbell about his past. He told the Bloody Sunday | :12:46. | :12:53. | |
inquiry he had for a time been the IRA's number two. But to put into it | :12:54. | :13:03. | |
context we should say that plans for an independent commission on | :13:04. | :13:10. | |
information retrieval, to agree other aspects of legacy of the | :13:11. | :13:16. | |
Troubles. John McAllister said, if it is set up would he be prepared to | :13:17. | :13:22. | |
give details about his IRA past? Martin McGuinness can hardly say no | :13:23. | :13:25. | |
if he wants other people to do the same thing. He says, if I'm required | :13:26. | :13:31. | |
to go forward on any point of relevance to myself, I'm absolutely | :13:32. | :13:35. | |
willing to do that. There is no such commission and there may never be | :13:36. | :13:37. | |
one. Gareth, thank you. And just 36 hours after | :13:38. | :13:43. | |
Carl Frampton won in the boxing ring, it was no surprise | :13:44. | :13:45. | |
that his name was mentioned a time or two during questions | :13:46. | :13:48. | |
to the Culture, Arts and Leisure But first Caral Ni Chuilin had | :13:49. | :13:50. | |
to answer questions about the cost of repairs to the MAC | :13:51. | :13:54. | |
arts venue in Belfast. The total cast of repairs was | :13:55. | :14:07. | |
estimated at ?938,000. Almost a million pounds. This figure includes | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
the repressed and of the stone facade and pipework as well as | :14:13. | :14:15. | |
management and supervision of the works which include professional and | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
legal fees. It is regrettable that almost ?1 million of public money is | :14:21. | :14:26. | |
being spent to not only carry out repairs, but to cover some of the | :14:27. | :14:31. | |
outstanding work which is health and safety related. I can assure the | :14:32. | :14:36. | |
member of this house that I will, my department, through the arts | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
Council, will pursue full recovery of this money. I believe it is an | :14:41. | :14:46. | |
important building. Many people have gone through the door. It has raised | :14:47. | :14:51. | |
a lot of concern considering the amount of money spent from the | :14:52. | :14:55. | |
public purse. Can the Minister provide an update | :14:56. | :14:59. | |
on the legal situation with reference to the repairs. | :15:00. | :15:05. | |
They have had an extra day. The reports, when they are in front of | :15:06. | :15:09. | |
me, will go to the committee. I will ensure that they are copied to the | :15:10. | :15:14. | |
member for information. It is unfortunate that given the amount of | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
money spent on the building, when I invested additional money from the | :15:20. | :15:25. | |
public purse. They are repairing a building that shouldn't need so many | :15:26. | :15:29. | |
repairs given that it is quite a young building. | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
Given the great victory on Saturday night, what plans are they to host a | :15:35. | :15:37. | |
reception for him in Parliament Buildings on his return. | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
We have had receptions for athletes who have achieved a lot in the past. | :15:44. | :15:48. | |
We are certainly planning to do that on the 9th of March in Enniskillen. | :15:49. | :15:56. | |
We will look at the achievements of all athletes competing at different | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
levels. I would hope that not just Carl Frampton but all the other | :16:02. | :16:04. | |
athletes who performed on Saturday are more than welcome to that as | :16:05. | :16:07. | |
well. He has said he would love to have a | :16:08. | :16:12. | |
fight in Windsor Park, in terms of Belfast. What would you, and your | :16:13. | :16:17. | |
parliament, given that we have the champion here in your own | :16:18. | :16:21. | |
constituency, what are you going to do in terms of yours Department to | :16:22. | :16:29. | |
support him? I'm not a boxing promoter. It is up to promoters to | :16:30. | :16:34. | |
come forward with opportunities not just for Carl Frampton but for other | :16:35. | :16:42. | |
boxes as well. We have met with many boxers, professional boxers in the | :16:43. | :16:49. | |
past. Worthy opportunities to create a spectacle for us to enjoy we would | :16:50. | :16:54. | |
be trying to have. Whilst we are all engrossed in | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
watching Carl Frampton on Saturday night when his boat was going on, | :16:59. | :17:07. | |
and another boxer became the band term weight champion in mixed | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
martial arts. What support can the minister give mixed martial arts. It | :17:13. | :17:18. | |
is a growing sport in this country? I will go on very quickly and three | :17:19. | :17:22. | |
I think we need to do more. I follow the work of many people in this | :17:23. | :17:32. | |
field. I believe that the work these teams do is absolutely brilliant, | :17:33. | :17:35. | |
particularly working with children and young people who are hard to | :17:36. | :17:41. | |
reach. We are showing them they can compete on a world stage. We | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
Time is up. That is the end of question Time. Congratulations, | :17:46. | :17:51. | |
Minister on completing your mandate. Congratulations, Minister | :17:52. | :17:52. | |
on completing your mandate. The Speaker congratulating Caral ni | :17:53. | :17:53. | |
Chuilin on her final appearance Another piece of legislation | :17:54. | :17:56. | |
reached its final stage today, It will enable credit unions | :17:57. | :17:59. | |
to offer shares which entitle holders to interest rather | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
than a dividend and allow them to offer membership to groups | :18:04. | :18:05. | |
as well as individuals. The passage of this bill represents | :18:06. | :18:18. | |
the culmination of almost eight years of work. It enables credit | :18:19. | :18:27. | |
unions to expand their range of services and offer the same | :18:28. | :18:31. | |
facilities that their counterparts in GB and South America have been | :18:32. | :18:35. | |
able to offer since 2000 and 21 respectively. | :18:36. | :18:41. | |
The bill was designed to promote these continued growth and | :18:42. | :18:44. | |
sustainability of this sector. I believe this bill will deliver what | :18:45. | :18:50. | |
is required. The required change to create an improved service. The | :18:51. | :18:53. | |
success and significant of these servers that credit unions provide | :18:54. | :18:59. | |
here is backed up by statistics. 34% of the population hold a credit | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
union account. Compared with around 5% and the rest of the UK. With | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
membership doubling in the past decade. | :19:08. | :19:12. | |
Frankly, the more you imitate banks, the more you become like banks. The | :19:13. | :19:16. | |
more you become susceptible to the same pressures and regulation. We | :19:17. | :19:22. | |
know what happened to them! I do hope that the sector continues its | :19:23. | :19:30. | |
progress. It has always been a marvellously well-run system in | :19:31. | :19:33. | |
Northern Ireland. I am sure it will continue to be so. | :19:34. | :19:39. | |
Credit unions are enormous importance. I could speak for hours | :19:40. | :19:45. | |
on the value that credit unions have maimed too many people. | :19:46. | :19:48. | |
Individually, like myself, and collectively for families. I am glad | :19:49. | :19:54. | |
that they have the level of support they have in Northern Ireland. That | :19:55. | :19:59. | |
is reflective of the value that the people of Northern Ireland place in | :20:00. | :20:07. | |
them. I remember back when I had a sunbeam that cost ?50. They told me | :20:08. | :20:13. | |
I would be an essential car use and would need a reliable car at work. | :20:14. | :20:19. | |
It was to the credit union, you turned for the loan for the | :20:20. | :20:22. | |
second-hand car that allowed you to get a career. | :20:23. | :20:23. | |
And the Credit Unions Bill passed on an oral vote. | :20:24. | :20:27. | |
A Licensing Bill, brought to the house by Judith Cochrane, | :20:28. | :20:29. | |
If it progresses it would mean outdoor stadia would be able | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
to apply for permanent licences to sell alcohol. | :20:34. | :20:35. | |
Currently stadium operators have to apply for temporary licences. | :20:36. | :20:44. | |
This bill aims to apply the licensing provisions to outdoor | :20:45. | :20:52. | |
stadium. The committee supports the bill for this new type of licence. I | :20:53. | :20:58. | |
believe that the reform of our licensing laws is well overdue. The | :20:59. | :21:02. | |
committee for social development has discussed this on a number of | :21:03. | :21:09. | |
occasions throughout this mandate. We have a mandate to bring forward, | :21:10. | :21:15. | |
comprehensive legislation to do with the licensing laws on that basis, | :21:16. | :21:21. | |
the social development committee supports the bill. Can I just say, | :21:22. | :21:27. | |
with your indulgence, it would be remiss of me not to mention our | :21:28. | :21:34. | |
congratulations to Carl Frampton who is now a superbantamweight champion. | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
He is a great credit to himself, his family and the people in the area he | :21:40. | :21:44. | |
comes from. Can I start with the chair left off | :21:45. | :21:49. | |
and congratulate Carl Frampton. It was clear on Saturday night that the | :21:50. | :21:52. | |
Ulster boys were making all the noise everywhere they went. We wish | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
him every success for the future. The issue that has been alluded to | :21:58. | :22:02. | |
several times already is one that was the subject of some scrutiny by | :22:03. | :22:05. | |
the committee, that is the issue of the 9pm threshold. Particularly for | :22:06. | :22:13. | |
games, and there are quite a few games which commences in and around | :22:14. | :22:19. | |
seven or 730 in the evening. Therefore, either run close to the | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
9pm their shoulder or certainly, if people want to stay on after the | :22:25. | :22:30. | |
game, the 9pm threshold effects them particularly if they are families. | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
Quite a few of those attending the games are families, and therefore an | :22:37. | :22:39. | |
issue does arise in terms of accessibility. | :22:40. | :22:48. | |
I too would like to pass on my congratulations to Carl Frampton. | :22:49. | :22:51. | |
There is a relevance with this legislation today in that in some | :22:52. | :22:54. | |
point in the future and outdoor stadium may be required for a | :22:55. | :22:59. | |
subsequent world title fight. It is important that we update our | :23:00. | :23:02. | |
legislation. I am disappointed that there was no | :23:03. | :23:10. | |
attempt to restrict the licence from a 360 Friday year year licence, to | :23:11. | :23:16. | |
one, if the purpose is to facilitate sporting events, when the stadium | :23:17. | :23:22. | |
are actually in use for those purposes. | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
He was aware that this is a new reform of licence, it is a specific | :23:27. | :23:31. | |
licence was stadium. It is ancillary to an event occurring in the | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
stadium. This notion of a 365 day licence, we are not opening a pub in | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
the stadium. It is ancillary to an event. If our stadium, that has been | :23:43. | :23:47. | |
arrested in by the Northern Ireland executive could manage to run events | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
began to 65 days a year, I would be immensely surprised. It would mean | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
that they were really, really realising the potential of the | :23:57. | :24:00. | |
stadium. I don't see that that is happening. It's not in the business | :24:01. | :24:04. | |
The licence will always be ancillary to an event. | :24:05. | :24:07. | |
The Alliance Party's Judith Cochrane, who brought | :24:08. | :24:09. | |
the Licensing Bill which passed its Consideration Stage | :24:10. | :24:10. | |
Now on to matters from the weekend, not the Irish elections, | :24:11. | :24:14. | |
but the Green Party's annual conference which was held | :24:15. | :24:16. | |
This sort of photo is featuring a lock on the conference trail. | :24:17. | :24:29. | |
Candidates on display and ready for doorsteps. But the Greens have never | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
had a picture like this before. This is the first time they are running | :24:35. | :24:40. | |
in all 18 in situ disease. Half of the candidates are women. This was | :24:41. | :24:46. | |
emphasised by the leader. -- 18 in constituencies. This reflects how it | :24:47. | :24:55. | |
is in society. It reflects the assembly as it should be. He is | :24:56. | :25:05. | |
currently the Greens only MLA. Taking his seat will be the party's | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
first priority in May. They seem confident they can do better than | :25:11. | :25:13. | |
that. I am looking for at least the | :25:14. | :25:19. | |
Greensleeves. I am confident, my record in the assembly, my party's | :25:20. | :25:23. | |
record in terms of campaigning, we can go with confidence to back it | :25:24. | :25:31. | |
up. And so he is aiming for the stars. | :25:32. | :25:36. | |
This is a new Pope. Let's hope it's the force a week and is! -- a new | :25:37. | :25:47. | |
Hope. We are offering the electorate something to vote for rather than | :25:48. | :25:53. | |
against. The big message we got in May 2015 was that people are trying | :25:54. | :25:57. | |
to break the cycle of voting something that they didn't support | :25:58. | :26:01. | |
to keep something that they didn't support out. We had a huge mandate | :26:02. | :26:06. | |
and our best election result ever. But is there a limit it did pool of | :26:07. | :26:13. | |
votes for parties that are not Unionist or nationalist. They think | :26:14. | :26:17. | |
the appeal to the post-troubles generation. | :26:18. | :26:21. | |
We are leading that agenda. We are looking at things like transparency, | :26:22. | :26:26. | |
whether it be defending student fees, ensuring they don't go any | :26:27. | :26:29. | |
higher. We represent young people. The | :26:30. | :26:35. | |
conference did not hold the attention of everyone, but this was | :26:36. | :26:39. | |
the biggest Green party gathering ever hear. Membership has trebled, | :26:40. | :26:44. | |
but whether the party will achieve their ambitions will become clear in | :26:45. | :26:45. | |
May. Chris Page reporting, | :26:46. | :26:45. | |
and Gareth is here for a final word. The former Foyle MLA | :26:46. | :26:48. | |
Maurice Devenney has quit the DUP, But it's not as clear | :26:49. | :26:51. | |
as to whether or not he's joining He has a starring role, his very own | :26:52. | :27:07. | |
political soap opera with a different plot twist every week. He | :27:08. | :27:14. | |
was briefly an MLA here, co-opted to replace the former Speaker. He | :27:15. | :27:18. | |
disappeared after about seven months. Recently the DUP suspended | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
imports allegedly standing out a police station in encouraging people | :27:24. | :27:30. | |
to vote for the SDLP MPU. Last week the Ulster Unionist party said he | :27:31. | :27:35. | |
had joined them. The gauche Asians have been going on for some time. -- | :27:36. | :27:41. | |
negotiations have been going on for some time. Today he has said he is | :27:42. | :27:46. | |
not joining the Ulster Unionist party at all. He has changed his | :27:47. | :27:52. | |
mind. He said in a statement that as a result of discussions over the | :27:53. | :27:55. | |
weekend, there are a number of issues I feel we cannot find | :27:56. | :28:00. | |
agreement on. That seems to be news to the Ulster Unionist leader who | :28:01. | :28:03. | |
issued a terse statement tonight saying that the contact had been at | :28:04. | :28:11. | |
his own request and not progress of Ulster Unionist party. When we met | :28:12. | :28:17. | |
on Saturday he claims he was less sure. It is news to me. All in all, | :28:18. | :28:22. | |
an episode from which neither the Ulster Unionists nor the man himself | :28:23. | :28:25. | |
emerge well. And the Speaker has | :28:26. | :28:28. | |
been hosting an event for the Royal British | :28:29. | :28:29. | |
Legion tonight. It's part of his outreach as a Sinn | :28:30. | :28:39. | |
Fein member. He hosted our remembrance event in November. He is | :28:40. | :28:46. | |
hosting the British Legion tonight, it was one of the things he wants to | :28:47. | :28:51. | |
do before he retires in a few weeks. He praised what he called the | :28:52. | :28:55. | |
significant contribution be Legion has made to marking a shared | :28:56. | :29:03. | |
He expressed his respect for helpful direction. | :29:04. | :29:06. | |
Join me again at the same time tomorrow night, | :29:07. | :29:10. | |
Until then, from everyone in the team, goodbye. | :29:11. | :30:05. | |
If this offer isn't good enough for you, I'm absolutely not interested. | :30:06. | :30:16. | |
I became jobless, penniless and homeless... | :30:17. | :30:20. |