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Arlene Foster hanging by a thread.

Tony L said:
Ugh! I really had enough of them in Liverpool. I lived on one of their parade routes for a few years (right in the heart of the city centre). They seemed a right bunch of drunks to me. I felt sorry for the children they dressed-up in bizarre clothing and paraded in front of them. Something quite disturbing about the whole thing.
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We were in Glasgow on a parade day once. I would agree that it was quite disturbing.

Coming from the North of Scotland the Orange Lodge is very much a minority interest. In Moray we have 3 Catholic primary schools but all all secondary education is non denominational. I think the at least some of the primary schools would closed if it were not for the eastern European migrants boosting numbers.
 
I live in Portadown N.I. It is a truly joyous place......

Yesterday I was working with a year 9 class (12/13 year olds) and was given a lecture by a gobby young lady from the farming community.
You people have just got to understand that Ireland is and always has been two countries.
The Protocol is bad for Farmers and all business.
Themmuns have terrorists in Govt (that'll be the Shinners she means)
We'll never give up our Britishness without a war!

God help us if she breeds!
 
I see Jeffrey Donaldson is favourite to be next DUP leader. Pro-Brexit, opposes Northern Ireland Protocol, opposed Good Friday Agreement, opposed same-sex marriage. Should be a calming influence then.
 
paulfromcamden said:
I see Jeffrey Donaldson is favourite to be next DUP leader. Pro-Brexit, opposes Northern Ireland Protocol, opposed Good Friday Agreement, opposed same-sex marriage. Should be a calming influence then.
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He's a sanctimonious prick.

I'd hazard a guess that Numbers 32:23 might apply.
 
paulfromcamden said:
I see Jeffrey Donaldson is favourite to be next DUP leader. Pro-Brexit, opposes Northern Ireland Protocol, opposed Good Friday Agreement, opposed same-sex marriage. Should be a calming influence then.
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He also rose to the rank of Corporal in the Ulster Defence Regiment, notable for having the highest number of convicted murderers of any British army regiment.
 
Whatever he does as leader, it won’t matter. This is a pyrrhic victory for the DUP’s membership - the mess has raised a risk of early Assembly Elections, which will mark the end of the DUP’s days in the limelight.

Arlene Foster was the moderate wing of the party (hardline unionist, but not a religious fundamentalist), and was chosen specifically to prevent moderate Unionist voters from defecting (back) towards the centre-ground UUP. A more even split of the Unionist vote between DUP and UUP will hand SF the role of largest party, and thus give them the dibs on the First Minister position. That’s the prize that has been lost last week.

Moderate Unionist voters vote for DUP rather than UUP because DUP was the only party that offered a chance of getting a Unionist as First Minister. If only the Deputy First Minister position is up for grabs from now on, then that block of voters will return to more moderate parties: no matter what way they vote, SF will get the First Minister job, so it’s better to stack the Unionist bloc of the Assembly with people who better represent their views.

In terms of powers, there’s no difference between First Minister and Deputy First Minister, but the First Minister is the one who shakes hands with the other heads of state, and does the high-profile figurehead work.
 
Good interview with Joe Brolly below. He is occasionally (often even) deliberately provocative on a wide range of issues, but articulates well - imo - why the DUPs time has probably come.

https://www.joe.ie/news/dup-heading-self-destruction-claims-joe-brolly-724522

There is a link to a 10 minute radio interview with him further down in the article where he sets out his reasoning in more detail. It outlines why he feels that NI could well come out of the current situation in better shape than it went in. Gives you a bit of hope for the place.
 
^^^ DUP Self destruction is the only reasonable outcome - it may be unsettled for a time but I'd take that risk for a change of heads...

It's such a shame. I drive around this country this time of year as a 'blow in' and just think...it has so much potential being squandered. Many reading this thread have probably never been here and they really should make the effort. There are spots on the coast that will make your jaw drop and they are often deserted (compared to the same in England)...the nice parts of Belfast are really nice...
 
andyoz said:
I drive around this country this time of year as a 'blow in' and just think...it has so much potential being squandered. Many reading this thread have probably never been here and they really should make the effort. There are spots on the coast that will make your jaw drop and they are often deserted (compared to the same in England)...the nice parts of Belfast are really nice...
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We tend to be pretty welcoming and tolerant of blow-ins up there Andy. (Apart maybe from that lot that arrived in about 400 years or so ago. We've had a lot of trouble with them.. :) )
 
It's not all bad...taken today while waiting for a train at Lanyon Station...

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Nice stretch of water that.
Like the river the runs through Brisbane almost, only without the bull-sharks :)
 
andyoz said:
It's not all bad...taken today while waiting for a train at Lanyon Station...
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Yes, they've certainly transformed the ol' home town. That harbour area used to be particularly grotty. Sad to think that it could so easily go back to rack and ruin, if all the pollies involved don't get their acts together and do something sensible. Given the two incompatible ideas of the warring Northern tribes, that won't be easy, but the effort should be made, instead of Westminster's classic attitude to Northern Ireland "ignore it, and maybe it'll go away" - because it won't.

P.S. An old colleague from Downunder sent me this, from the A(ustralian)BC:

https://www.abc.net.au/foreign/troubled-land/13396076

Apart from the annoying constant reference to Northern Ireland being part of Great Britain, it describes the situation to puzzled Ozs rather well.
 
Dogberry said:
Good news NI.is drowning in sh*t.
Intensive animal farming is producing too much
poo which they are secretly letting seep into Ireland,
and exporting to the UK.
More intensive animal farming is planned.
All their lakes are polluted.
It goes without saying that animal welfare is zero.
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...-forced-to-export-a-third-of-its-animal-waste
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It’s coming ashore at Stranraer through the Boris tunnel. Sixteen customs officers have drowned in it already.
 
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