So Dave, Obama was bad tapping Trump.

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Pearce

Are you happy with the Provo party getting a huge vote, as people could have protested against Arlene with the Alliance, Green, SDLP, Pbp, or UUP alternative?

Gerry Adams spoke of breaking unionist barstewards, his exact words, and now SF are triumphalism.

No doubt, NI football tops will be banned from pubs again, whilst Roi are allowed in, lol.

Expect sectarian SF border poll request soon, Provo led enquiries and stirring of the orange green pot by SF this summer again, as they did on purpose on parades and flegs!Again, using Gerry's words on parades etc.

No worries Dave, my Mrs is asleep, so I am free thus far.

We will chat later, on the priest father topic issue, among other things, and have a good day at IKEA😬

Have a good day mate, and no offence intended earlier.

TBAB

Delighted that the DUP took a hammering. My father was born and brought up on the shankill road but anyone who voted for the DUP are living in the past.

Complete incompetence over a range of issues. However the fact that they remain popular demonstrates NI isn't quite ready for normal politics just yet.

Peter Weir for example, refused to allocate £50m promised in the fresh start agreement to promote integrated education because of his own bigotry, and the money had to be returned to Westminster. Yet he retained his seat, albeit in Strangford, (moved from North Down).

Thankfully they will no longer be able to abuse the petition of concern to prevent democratic decisions being made by the executive.

Equal rights for LGBT will now be able to brought in without the DUP blocking.

Can't see Foster lasting much longer too

Pearce

Fair enough, but again, you focus on DUP negatives and ignore SF.......her Da would be raging?

If you are liberal, surely the Provo party in a strong position is a worry?

Know Peter Weir personally, from Sub and he would not be a bigot, and oppose mixed schools....great idea, IMO.

Main objection to integration comes from the Catholic church,,and that church opposes he lgbt rights too....some Alliance and SDLP folk are not on the lgbt page, so stop blaming the DUP for it all.

Peter moved due to seat number changes, BTW.

I have two gay brothers and no problem with gay rights.....even as a brexit DUP deplorable😇
The Christians here also have rights, like the lgbt, so I am for All equality and rights respected.

As. Stated, voters could have picked parties other than extremist SF, to protest against Arlene!

Do you fear slating SF, in case you sound from for he past, or Shankill?😀

Gerry Adams is wors than Arlene,, believe me.

TBAB

I've mentioned before I've not a lot of time for SF. But you can't dispute their popularity, nor continue to refer to them as "provos"

Foster by both backing brexit, and making the election as green vs orange galvanised the nationalist vote. Her continual "radical republican agenda" rhetoric played right into their hands.

Unionism has been in the decline for years. 54% in 98, 51% in 2007, and now 44%. Thought Nesbitt's resignation speech was gracious mind you. Many unionists obviously not ready for cross party transfers just yet. Despite it being the norm at Westminster (Dodds, Donaldson etc recent examples)

In regard to Weir, he blocked the funds. £50m which could have been spent on schools now lost. If the funds were going to be spent on funding loyalist paramilitaries, orange order, as demonstrated previously, rather than cross community schemes, they would have been allocated.

Going forward unless Foster steps down looks like direct rule. And given the current NIO incumbent (Brokenshire) has no genuine interest in the province, not in anyone's interests to go back to direct rule.

The DUP were not funding loyalist paramilitaries, and just because Dee Stitt sat on a community business group Charter 21, it does not equate to the Uda being funded.Surely you want the orange and green ex-paramilitary guys to go Into work, rather than crime?

With Michelle O'Neill put in power by non democratic Provo army council members, the provo name fits, so until the likes of Adams, Molloy, Kelly and co depart the scene, Provo party will suffice.
The Pup are the uvf party.....and no excuse there either as that was their choice.
The orange order halls are community halls, and were funded as such, along with Gaa halls, so more nationalist or Aoh guys should have applied for funding...it was not an Orange only fund.
I disagree with DUP views on Irish, and that backfired on them, as language is used by SF politically, and the DUP took the bait.Irish belongs to all.
Michelle O'Neill attended a Provo event in Tyrone for dead vols on active service a few weeks back, so that was offensive and sectarian, yet voters backed her and Adams.East Tyrone ra were sectarian maniacs and Michelle honoured skum who had tried to murder po!ice in Coalisland.
If Arlene attended a Uff or Uvf event, all hell would break out, but wee Michelle gets away with it, and sectarian SF get a huge vote as reward, whereas loyalist paramilitary parties receive no support....who are the liberals here?

SF will want Arlene out, and a border poll, and the security forces up in court, so prepare for a bumpy ride.
Brokenshire is quite pro DUP, so not sure where you get his no interest teme from, as like Teresa May, unionism is central to the UK going forward.

Brexit is the latest stick used by SF to break unionism, as they were anti EU before, like Corbyn and the far left.
SF now spout lgbt lines, but in the recent past were hard-line catholics, and accused unionists of anti- catholicism.Now, some catholics shun SF for their abortion and same gender marriage stance, so SF are just using a new tactic to abuse unionism.....they also say unionists are racist and xenophobic, as they call for Brits out, rant about hating English rule and demonize their Protestant neighbours!

Dee Stitt (UDA leader, gun runner, paramilitary hood) and appointed head of Charter NI received, and continues to do so thousands of pounds from DUP allocated funds.

Did you see his interview to the Guardian? He's a hood. And has been as long as I can remember.

Yet you defend him.

The point is, folk in NI will continue to vote for inept/corrupt politicians, (on both sides) based on nothing more but tribalism.

Rather than the politician's ability, nor what they can offer local communities. The DUP offer nothing than protecting Unionism. SF, have, for all their faults (which are many) tried to reach out cross community.

Of late, the DUP have made a number of high profile financial blunders. Red Sky, Nama, RHI scandals etc. It's recently been discovered (despite attempts to cover up) they received £425,000 from a donor (organisation calling itself the Constitutional Research Council) to back brexit.

This organisation has previous links to the Saudis, and when asked, the DUP's treasurer, (Gregory Campbell) didn't know where the £425,000 came from. Furthermore he stated the DUP didn’t need to know the 'true source' of the funds. A breach of electoral commission rules.

There was no due diligence process to ensure the funds were clean. The donor doesn't even have any legal status. They're basically a front, for an as yet, unknown organisation. Which the electoral commission are currently investigating.

When interviewed on the BBC prior to the election, Foster said she didn't even know how much the donor gave her party, nor how much they spent. Further evidence she is completely negligent in regard to finances.

These are issues which transcend the political divide. But seem to be irrelevant to their supporters.

You also seem to be ignorant to the terms of the GFA. A border poll cannot be called on a whim. And even if it was, as per the terms of the GFA, its the electorate who decide, not any one party.

Time to move on. Or you, and the dinosaurs you seem to champion, will be left behind.

Pearce

You say I defend Dee Stitt, but I did not defend him.

Rather, I said Charter NI were funded, and so are numerous groups with dodgy guys on board.....you are not moving forward much here, are you?
We have convicted Provo's in govt, but you drag up the likes of Dee Stitt and loyalist paramilitaries only?
The ra robbed Northern bank and have recently murdered people, yet you go easy on them, and target the DUP alone.
SF talk about cross community, but deeds reveal what Gerry Adams said, in that breaking unionist bassa's is his and the SF goal.
Is Michelle attending a ra event last month, cross community?

You say SF are popular, but Trump and brexit got popular support, and you hammer those popular themes, so SF getting extremist voters is a problem for those republicans!They are the bigots, as much as any DUP member or voter, but you don't see this as a problem for NI, with a strong reppublcan force.

I know the Gfa says Bromenshire has to OK a border poll, but SF are stubborn and manipulative, so calls for polls are da gerous and backward looking.

The DUP funders were revealed, unlike other parties, and unlike hoods robbing and smuggling to host SF.

By all means oppose the DUP, but don't let SF off the hook.

I am not being left behind, and dismissing unionist and loyalist opinion is regressive and revisionist.

It is dangerous to have a spooked loyalist community, Pearce, as you would see if you spoke to people in your Dads Shankill area.....a district ripped apart by developers, violence, hoods and now with no representation, as SF control the west.

If that is your progress for the future, stick it!

Pearcey

Check out Comrade Corbyn and his tax returns.....what a plank that omnishambles is.

And Labour misspelt their party name wrongly on a party promotional too

Bless

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I can't actually believe some people believe Trump based on no evidence and only a solitary tweet. 🤦‍♂️

TBAB

True to form your response is an incoherent rambling of ‘whataboutery.’

In regard the election, it was triggered due to continual DUP financial mismanagement. And, as I suspect, SF saw it as an opportunity to increase their vote. It worked. The DUP, in an effort to deflect attention away from their financial incompetence, degenerated the election campaign language into green v orange. The RHI scandal wasn't even mentioned in their manifesto. Which backfired massively.

In regard to the DUP Brexit donor, you haven't understood. The source of funds remains unknown. Electoral commission rules stipulate political parties have to complete due diligence checks. The DUP did not do this. And according to their party treasurer didn’t even know they had to.

While unlikely, the funds could have come from proceeds of crime. Even if the actual donor was bona fide, the DUP failed to complete due diligence checks as required by the electoral commission. Another example of financial ineptitude.

In regard to Charter NI, Peter Robinson (DUP) appointed his own members to the Social Investment Fund steering group, who in turn allocated public funding to many loyalist organisations. Millions of pounds of public money has been wasted on funding parades, the orange order, bonfires etc etc. Only in NI could ex-paramilitaries (on both sides) receive public money to subsidise racketeering.

Charter NI (Stitt it’s CEO and UDA member) received £1.7m of this public money. When Foster discovered Stitt had been channelling funds to paramilitaries, she asked him to step down. Stitt refused. Foster then had to retract her demands, stating she “could not tell the organisation what to do over employability issues.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-38011001

Like many others, I couldn't care less if the executive was run exclusively by unionists or republicans.

For me, the ability to govern, and manage the diminishing Executive budget, should take priority above all else. And certainly sectarianism.

Maybe if more people thought the same, Stormont wouldn't be in the mess it is now.

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TBAB

Just wanted to pick up on Brokenshire, as it appears you are not entirely aware of developments.

As discussed in the Brexit thread, leaving the customs union will mean a border between north and south. Logistical plans have already begun to prepare for its construction.

Across the political and sectarian divide, (DUP aside) ‘special status’ has been asked for NI when the government enter Brexit talks. To ask the e27 if the common travel area between north and south can remain.

While Brokenshire won’t even be involved in the Brexit talks, (another example of how little the Tories care about NI) he won’t even consider asking the government to request special status for NI.

As far as the Tories are concerned, NI is Brexit collateral damage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-38827331

comment by Galvs...Friend of Reason. (U10415)
posted 51 minutes ago
comment by Kung Fu Cantona *JeSuisPalestinian* (U18082)
posted 1 hour, 51 minutes ago
I can't actually believe some people believe Trump based on no evidence and only a solitary tweet. 🤦‍♂️
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Really?
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??

comment by Brightdave: (U11711)
posted 8 hours, 40 minutes ago

Tibet and the Dalai Lama has been used by the west as a stick to beat China with.....
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Great post Dave. Fascinating, genuine insight rarely seen here.

Dave

Inretesting post on China bud, and I learn something new each day.
I am often wrong, misinformed and quick to fire off comments😯

As a unionist/ loyalist who backs brexit, No independence in Scotland, opposes Isis and islamist extremism, I tend to get into heated debates....plus I give Israel a shout, and opposed Hilary Clinton.Not a fan of Trump the man, but I would be a populist or patriot....not really Tory conservative though.

Your gf sounds great and good luck Doc😀

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Pearce

You make fair points, even though you suggest my request for scrutiny of Sf ra funding is incoherent whatabouttery.
You know plenty about Dee Stitt, but forget that ra members are in govt,,so how is this coherent?
I refer to recent ra murders and Northern bank robbery, to fund SF and dominate people, but that is not on your radar.However, bonfire money is?
Slate the DUP all day, but slate their SF partners in crime too....my point is that SF will oppress, control and stir up hate, so having them so strong is dangerous for us all.They are not democratic, liberal nice guys, if you know them.....?

You hate brexit, so condemn the DUP and pro- brexit backers...your opinion, but brexit got nearly eighteen million votes, so a little respect would be nice.
You hate Trump, who got over sixty million votes, so respect the office and democracy there too.
We are not all thick, racist or deplorable.

Opposing Trump, you get Hilary.....hmmm?

Opposing brexit you get Brussels...hmmm?

Opposing May, you get tax dodger Corbyn, friend of the ra and Hamas...hmmm.

Opposing the DUP, you get SF and the ra mob...hmmm!