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If votes switch from DUP to UUP, then the new Assembly and Executive could be quite different. I wonder how ordinary Unionists view Arlene Foster after all this.
@PaulJ: Just watched the party representatives being interviewed on BBC News at Stormont. The DUP spokesman coming out with scripture quotes from the bible to justify themselves was truly cringe-worthy. Where do they get these headbangers.
@pat I’m an ordinary protestant and DUP have never had my vote and they never will!! Arlene Foster needs brought back down of her fcking pedestal and put in her place!
Diarmuid have you forgotten Trimble dancing hand in hand with Paisley down the Garvaghy Road? They were trying to out do one another. It was pathetic. An isolated Nationalist community being forced to endure a hate march through their area. Orange men aided and abetted by the RUC who beat the locals off the road when they staged a sit down protest. I’ll never forget the scenes, the sheer brutality. Apartheid state. Was illegal and unworkable from the get go.
@Stephen Duffy: not necessarily if we can get Nationalist population to come out in strength and match the unionist turn out it will strengthen the entire Nationalist bloc at stormont and end the terminal decline of Nationalist vote that’s been happening over the past 10 year’s..
Two years ago at least a thousand comments would have been posted by now. This site started out as wonderful and free and a voice for all.. now it’s so scared of litigation, barely 70 comments are allowed on articles. A shame really.
@Peadar Ó Gréacháin: As an environmental campaigner dedicated to ending the renewable energy scam, I how Sinn Fein calls Foster corrupt when they are promoting the wind energy scam.
@Jamie McCormack: Unfortunately this comment is largely true. But, I see things as having improved for the Nationalists in the past 10 years. The current political arrangements were working, but perhaps the DUP could have been a bit more helpful.
It is possible the electorate will return the exact same players. Many Catholics I talk to are scared about a united Ireland. It has been my experience that were it not for the border, we could not live in the south. I am a catholic by birth. The south has some horrible politicians. The worst being Eamon Ryan, but most others are a shocking dose RTE is an organ of the state, the papers are bought off and we are stuck with the EU for now. Lucky Northerners
Very ‘one sided’ list of businesses and groups that benefited from the scheme. Its disgusting such bigotry is allowed and it’s difficult to see things improving when Unionists won’t even acknowledge their failings or how corrupt they are and instead they roll out the victim card and try to pin it on Sinn Fein.Sinn Fein once again looking like the statesmen again in the mess of a coalition.
Never mind the election what are the odds north and south of a SF story/crisis or victim of the day being rolled out by pro-unionist parties north and south so as to bolster their unionist allies in the North? My money would be on a massive media/political attack using Austin Stack with the help of his Fianna Fail comrades. As for Kenny and his Blue shirts it doesn’t matter really so long as they say what the Independent News and Media “JOURNALIST” tells them.
@Brian Ward: Fianna Fail are looking for a foothold in Northern Ireland politics. I’m sure some blatant and well choreographed faux controversy is just around the corner.
@For Connolly: over the past 10 year’s total Nationalist vote has been declining across the 6 county state which is absolutely disgraceful at this stage it should be hovering around 47% instead it is at 38% all because the Nationalist population have a no choice only hard left and soft left parties to choose from fermanagh and south tyrone constituency has Nationalist majority of 20 thousand and it was lost this on belivable there was time west of the bann had 90 % Nationalist turn out .it time for a new Nationalist centrist party who can united rural /urban /working class / middle class Nationalist population right across the North
When Arlene Foster is returned as political leader of the largest party in NI, will you accept her as your First Minister, or hand back direct rule to the London Tory Government?
@Bobby wilson: The catholics don’t want a united Ireland. In fact moving to N.I. may be the only way southern youngsters will be able to get a house. I know a few who moves and they would not come back. Life is easier in N.I. there is more personal freedom and better public services.
No pot holes either. Their farmers come up here and buy my cattle in the mart.
Arlene Foster is a disgrace to women and to her party. She’s tried every angle to hang onto her pew and when it is failing she blames ring a woman and then the man who had more grace than her. The muppets who think she’s right won’t be happy till there’s no peace again. I hope their kids and grandkids have the stomach for the changes this stupid woman is bringing their way
Exactly. She is trying her hardest to turn it around and lay the finger of blame on SF. If the shoe was on the other foot with regards to the ash for cash scandal, she would not have been as patient or tolerant as Martin McGuinness was. You can see the hatred in her eyes. She has no one to blame but herself for this. All to try and cling on to power when she should have just stepped aside for a few weeks and let an investigation commence. If she had nothing to hide, this should not have been a problem.The blame for all of this lies with her and nobody else. She alone has brought chaos and turmoil to the political landscape which has resulted in this election. I have no sympathy for someone who hates anything we as an Irish people stand for and less tolerance for anyone who claims to called themselves Irish yet backs the likes of her knowing she is in the wrong just to have a go at SF. They are nearly worse than the hardcore Unionists.
@Mary Murphy: She was watching Duncan Stewart on Eco Eye and he did a programme saying wood was the way to go for renewable energy. Arlene believed him. Duncan burn wood and she did? Whats the problem?
There once was a first minister Arlene, Her reputation she couldn’t keep clean, On this cash for ash scandal, She could keep not a handle, So old Gerry is ready to get mean.
While I wouldn’t personally refer to him like that, they are still views and someone like hime with a past you can understand why there may be a lot of animosity towards him.
Plenty of Irish would refer to people for example in British army the same way and so on.
@For Connolly:
I think Foster has been a disgrace, and an election is correct. However I dread the daily stable of sectarianism that we will be feed over the next couple of months with the combination of the election and attempt to form a government. If i was a betting person I can see a possibility of this ending in direct rule from Westminster. This will test whether some form of normal politics can surpass tribalism and sectarianism. Sadly and I hope I am wrong, I do not think the north is ready for that yet.
This all boils to one thing- certain elements of the Protestant land owning class still don’t want to share power with Catholics but the days of them dictating though are long gone. Their days of ruling with fear, extortion and collusion are well and truly over.
Very true, and a return to Direct Rule from London is not an option. If the power-sharing arrangement can’t be seen to function effectively, the alternative is joint authority which equates to joint sovereignty. This is a nightmare scenario for Unionists. Although in the greater scheme of things, this set up would just be another one of those stepping-stones that have yet to be skipped past. All in good time.
@Eadbhard MagUiginn: I wish someone would tell me why promoting wood burning is large quantities is wrong and paying wind farmers to turn off their turbines is right. What is the difference\?
A case where Waterford whispers did the nail on the head as per.. UK to NI, honestly we couldn’t give a shite. Fair play to M Mcguinness he may have had his other reasons ,those dinosaurs have NI in a trap of bigotry. What a mess.
Up to now I wasn’t aware that Arlene fosters father was murdered by IRA . Totally sympathise with her loss but I’m not sure whether she should have been in that position. As it clearly shows now it was never going to work,this Sinnfein/DUP power sharing. Now look at the mess. Direct rule again front london
Why not direct rule from Dublin.? Why not direct rule from an Anglo-Irish ministerial council.? It’s undemocratic. The people will have their say and if need be their say again until this is resolved.
Andrew.On the RTE news at 5 today They said her dad was murdered by the IRA. AS I said I was not aware of this before the RTE report. So you’re 100%sure he wasn’t yeah? I genuinely would like to know.
Ok Andrew. I accept that point. It was RTE who reported that he was killed by the IRA . In fact in 1979 he was a serving RUC officer and was shot by the IRA but survived ok.
What you meant to say was Arlene is a bitter woman who’s father was a member of the hated b-specials, and who has p*ssed away half a billion pounds of tax payers money over the next 20 years, thus ensuring money that could have been spent on schools, hospitals, infrastructure and job creation goes to her pellet burning buddies instead.
@Paddy Lions: The Irish state was born out of civil war and most of the Free State government had blood on their hands and managed to move on from it. Arlene Foster is no exception and needs to move on from the past for the benefit of everyone in Northern Ireland. If she can’t do that then she has a serious problem.
@Paddy Lions: … Both cummuinities have suffered as much as the other Nationalist population have excepted over the past 18 years unionist first ministers will the unionists population except a Nationalist first minister…
@Diarmuid: Nationalist population have excepted unionist first ministers over the past 18 years the question is will they except Nationalist like the way they did in belfast city council No Catholic lord mayor was ever elected in 90 years since it was created..
So Cameron leads his party and the U.K. over the cliff and into uncertain shark infested waters, resigns; the UKIP leader resigns after “winning” the Leave vote; no Snap election called.
McGuinness resigns to score political points and there’s a snap election in Northern Ireland.
Growing support for Sinn Fein in the North indicates that a referendum on union with the Republic is not that far away
and now is the time to jettison the old political hacks and install a new crop of young republicans without a shady past.
The Orange Order and its agencies of political and militant influence should be simply shunned also so that the youth
of Northern Ireland can entangle itself from a violent and tragic past and get on with building an Ireland that we can all
be proud of.
Perhaps, in a minor way, the results of the election can also be tacit comment on Brexit which could draw the Six Counties closer to the Republic.
@Moorooka Mick: A referendum on union with the south would fail miserably. The south is run by Bono, Mary Robbinus, Peter Sutherland and George Soros. Gang land murder rules Dublin, A lot of poverty and its getting worse.
Carbon tax, globull warming everywhere. Eamon Ryan, Censored media. Wouldn’t you run a mile;
Never vote in the Republic, stay at home, leave it to them they cant do much ,more harm.
They need to ditch the extremist parties in the north to stand any chance of progression. SF and DUP have had far too long putting fear into their own communities, forcing them to vote purely out of fear. Extremism is always doomed to fail.
Arelene foster needs a reality check .who was the minister who was looking after this scheme. It wasn’t a sinn fein mla .typical dup trying to deflect from there own failings .Martin McGuinness had been very patient he has worked with Ian Paisley and they said they would never got on then Peter robinson… so u have arelene foster arogence ..lack of respect for the Irish language .the ash for cash scandal. The lack of respect of other people regardless of creed and sexual orientation. The people can have there say .
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