Archives for July 18, 2007

Well it's now official that visitor numbers at Stormont have been soaring since devolution. In one four week period there were 6,000 visitors through the doors. While in part this may be explained by the dearth of attractions in Belfast, it seems there is a political curiosity factor. People want to get a gander at our politicians. But most of the visitors are coming from east of the Bann. Lamented by Sinn Fein's Barry McElduff, among others. "Come in and pull up to the fire!"

PS I can definitely recommend the tour!

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Remember the tensions that we reported on Monday around the preparation for the British Irish Council. There were squabbles over who should do what and where at the rehearsal on Sunday. One insider had described two feisty Scottish women insisting that Alex Salmon was going to be in the front row, not the second row, for the family protrait. I met one Stormont insider up at Stormont today who insisted I had underplayed the tensions and the notion there were only two feisty Scots in the mix. "It was more like 20 mothers in law at a wedding," he recalled.

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