A bhuí le Daithí Mac Lochlainn i Nua Eabharc, tá an píosa seo thíos againn.
Up in Ballymoney, the SDLP is falling over its own shoelaces in opposing Irish street names for fear that unionists will demand street names in Ulster Scots.
Patsy McGlone in Magherafelt and Dominic Bradley in South Armagh must be cringing at the confused thinking of their own members since both men have done more than most to promote a bilingual society and not just bilingual street and road names.
And I see another unionist councillor in this report from the Ballymoney Times saying that he can speak Ulster Scots. How come then so little Ulster Scots is spoken by its advocates?
Meanwhile, Billy Tranghese (pictured in Richie Neal's office on Capitol Hill), assistant to Friends of Ireland Chairman in US Congress Richie Neal says members of the Senate and Congress are still keen to visit the North of Ireland before the holiday season kicks in. That sounds to me like a great opportunity to brief the US visitors on the continuing blocks on the Irish Language Act.
I'm not sure if Congressman Peter King (who is eyeing a run for the Senate from New York) will join the delegation but this week I dispatched to him a DVD of the movie Hunger (now on sale in Xtravision) and by return email he sent me these pictures of himself, Danny Morrison and Gerry Adams from one of his first visits here in 1983. Danny Morrison had tried unsuccessfully to dig out a picture he had of Congressman King and Gerry Adams outside Sevastopol Street Sinn Féin offices from that visit. Said the Congressman: "s you can see from the attached, my filing system is better than Danny’s."
Finally, one hopes the barrage of criticism from the media (led by the normally placid and pro-Unionist Daily Mail) aimed at First Minister Peter Robinson doesn't deflect him from the key tasks ahead — not least devolution of justice and policing powers — but you have to worry that the media are determined to dig and dig until they hit paydirt, something which Peter Robinson says can't happen because the earnings (and expenses) of he and his MP wife Iris are totally above board. The East Belfast MP has dismissed the 'Swish Family Robinson' moniker the British media has given the husband and wife team who maintain one house in London but with each claiming expenses for it, both paid for by the Exchequer. Their earnings and expenses last year, according to the newspapers: £571,000. Not bad work....
13 comments:
This just proves that the politics of the peace process is all about money and little else.
How many gold and silver coins can you stuff into your little purse?
We have both "swish" and "swill" in the First Minister's Office with their snouts slopping about in the public trough getting away with as much as is legally possible. There are no ethics or morality. 571,000?
You cannot genuinely ask American companies to come into Ulster with this legal political corruption going on.
Anything that is not specifically outlawed as illegal in Anglo-Saxon law is automatically legal.
Why are these people paid so much more than the President of the United States?
Peter and Iris Robinson and their 571,000 are setting the example for all our children and grandchildren.
From today's Belfast Telegraph:
"Their allowances cover such areas as travel, staffing, office-running expenses and the costs of staying in London.
The two Robinsons employ their three children and a daughter-in-law on their staff teams.
They are also entitled to claim separate London living expenses from the Commons for the same flat in the city.
In 2007/08, their combined totals for London living costs came to £40,342."
Apparently, is the same flat in London, not two separate residences.
The first person who should believe in and practice accountability is the First Minister.
And if he does not believe in accountability for himself, then certainly no else will believe in accountability because of the personal example he himself has set.
The remaining blocks on the Irish Language Act? Sinn Féin's refusal to take the Culture portfolio when it was available to them in 2007. They took Agriculture instead, which is appropriate, because they appear to be up manure creek now....
As for Peter Robinson and his wife and their largesse from the legislatures, sure that's a great way to spend public money, on exotic fish and natty ties.
See no evil.
Hear no evil.
Speak no evil.
Tá imní an domhain orm go mbainfidh an Feisire Ó Cionga úsaid as griangraif mar sin, é ag iarraidh vótaí ar na nGaeil-Mheiriceánaigh sna mbruachbhailte.
‘Chuile seans go gfillfidh Thatchereachas ar an Seanad le cuidiú Shinn Féin.
How can Northern Ireland ever move into the future when nothing has ever really changed and when everything is just a grab-bag at the top?
Concubhar,
Unfortunately, the Sinners have always believed that the Irish language should always be at the back of the bus unless there is a ballot in which case it is always blah-blah-blah and once the ballot is over then to the back of the bus once agsin.
How much do the Sinn Fein MPs make?
We need transparency across the board, not just for Swish Robinson and his fat-cat use of the expense account. This does not help Northern Ireland's business reputation abroad.
Now, how much do each of the Sinner MPs get paid in wages?
A little bit of truth is all it takes for these big boy politicans to squirm so uncomfortably and get so upset that they got caught red-handed with their hand in the cookie jar.
Looking forward to the post pointing out and criticising the SF half a million expenses claim for London apartments.
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