Categories: Politics, Constitution, Devolved Government, Direct Rule, Local Government
Westminster Reforms
Constitutional Reform is afoot. In the upper house, recent reports suggest Michael's longing for an elected Lords or UK senate may eventually be satisfied . Meanwhile, Michael himself has flagged up rumours that elections to the House of Commons may be s… more »
Powell Implicates SDLP In Own Demise
Jonathan Powell, advisor to Tony Blair in the Good Friday Agreement era and a man attracting a lot of press on Slugger lately regarding his new book on that time, was on Simon Mayo's show on Radio 5 at lunch time today talking about his book and the even… more »
That UK Senate again
by Michael Shilliday on 17 Mar 2008 at 14:23. Categories: United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Blogging, Politics, History
Nearly two years ago I wrote a piece outlining why I believe that the House of Lords is undemocratic and untenable in a modern democracy. I'd be interested to hear what EU's readers think. Rather unfortunately, Charter88's Elect the Lords campaign s… more »
That 11 "Super Council" Deal
by beano on 14 Mar 2008 at 16:23. Categories: Northern Ireland, Local Government, Politics, Devolved Government
11 "Super Councils" - the changing face of local government in Northern Ireland
Things have been a bit slow at EU here over the last couple of days. It's awful when real life gets in the way of blogging. Anyway, apparently a "deal" has been done on t… more »
Peter's task ahead
by Michael Shilliday on 08 Mar 2008 at 20:54. Categories: News, United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Politics, Devolved Government
Remember that letter that wasn't a letter and didn't exist that was never written and never shown to Ian Paisley which didn't make clear to him that he was to stand down? The number 33 hangs in the air when signatures are mentioned. Have a ponder on th… more »
Short Term Memories or Collective Amnesia?
I was glad when Michael posted the news of Paisley's stepping down/being pushed from the positions of First Minister and leader of the DUP. OK, it was sidetracked more or less from the start into the history of Ulster Unionist leaders/NI Prime Ministers,… more »
Bomber Celebration Banned as SF Agenda Becomes Clear
The Assembly Commission, which runs the estate at Stormont, has drawn up new rules that mean events held in the Long Gallery now require "cross-community backing of three MLAs" (I'm guessing this means three from each community?).
This effectively m… more »
PSNI Recruitment Discrimination - End In Sight
For some unionists, discrimination in 50:50 recruitment in the PSNI, whereby 50% of new recruits had to be "members of the Roman Catholic community", was perhaps the bitterest of bitter pills swallowed to garner nationalist support for policing here. The… more »
US Envoy Denounces Provo Concessions
by beano on 02 Mar 2008 at 17:50. Categories: United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein, IRA, Direct Rule, Republicans, Law & Order, Politics, USA
The traditional view of Americans participation in the "Peace Process" here is generally seen as "cynical playing to the green Irish vote" by taking the side of nationalists and/or republicans. This was particularly true under the Clinton years.
With… more »
Manipulation of "Rights" Lets Criminals Off The Hook
by beano on 28 Feb 2008 at 14:43. Categories: Local Wackos, Law & Order, Politics, Devolved Government
It really is time to put a stop to the nonsense going on at the Bill of Rights Forum. This bunch of professional do-gooders, whose job seems to be to advise those who will advise the government on a Bill of Rights, seem to want to allow anyone under the… more »