Archives for August 2, 2007

The DUP in the 1999-2002 Executive liked to style itself as "government in opposition." It was a phrase the other Executive ministers treated with contempt, but is the DUP about to get the same treatment from the Ulster Unionists? The party's assembly team is gathering at Stormont next week for a strategy meeting which will debate the potential of the party to take an opposition role either inside or outside the Executive, or both. Notably, the UUP chief whip David McNarry has been quoting the DUP minister Peter Robinson's remark that the four-party Executive is in fact dominated by two parties, the DUP and Sinn Fein. Is the UUP about to lay the blame for unpopular decisions at the feet of the "dominant parties." Water charges springs to mind!

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What does the future hold for Hillsborough Castle, given that the Northern Ireland Office's days are numbered? The NIO is busily putting itself out of business, working on the devolution of policing and justice (provided the DUP agree). If all goes to plan then this time next year, the Secretary of State will have little to do. Which apparently has begged the question about whether the SoS needs to be living at Hillsborough Castle, the Queen's official residence. It is certainly a question that has passed through the minds of some in the NIO....

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