The recall petition against Ian Paisley has begun in North Antrim, surprising many with the reporting restrictions around this new and previously unused parliamentary mechanism.
For the next six weeks, while the petition is open, it will be an offence punishable by up to six months in prison to reveal who has signed, publish forecasts based on asking who has signed, or seek to influence the outcome in a broadcast from home or abroad.
This all makes perfect sense if the petition is seen as a vote, as logically it should be. Similar restrictions apply while normal polls are open against publishing voter information and exit polls, or broadcasting political exhortations and partisan commentary. Few consider this contentious. But voting normally lasts for hours, not weeks. Is a purdah of this duration sustainable? The recall legislation, just two years old and completely untested, looks ripe for legal wrangling. Paisley could end up deploying his much-mentioned solicitors after all.
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“Life finds a way” is the motto of the Jurassic Park films, explaining how dinosaurs avoid slipping into an engineered coma then get two females to reproduce.
That brings us neatly to Stormont, where senior civil servants and MLAs from all five main parties have accepted an invitation from councils to form a new body called the Regional Local Government Forum.
This will have no power and largely replaces a ministerial talking shop that collapsed with devolution. However, there is speculation the forum could evolve into something more significant in the executive’s absence, especially if councils are given more of Stormont’s powers.
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While we wait for something to evolve, the Irish government has been accused of lobbying the British government for direct rule, albeit indirectly. The News Letter suspects Northern Ireland’s electricity grid system operator (SONI) is pressing Westminster to get on with the new North-South Interconnector - a suspicion it refuses to deny. Since 2009, SONI has been owned by Ireland’s state-owned grid operator Eirgrid. Therefore, by serious if mischievous extension, Dublin is asking London for direct rule, despite saying direct rule is unacceptable.
What this really shows is that for all the diplomatic tiptoeing around Stormont’s deadlock, the grown-ups will do what is required to keep the lights on - literally and figuratively.
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Loyalist multiple-murderer Michael Stone has opened an exhibition of his paintings while on overnight release from prison, in an event attended by past and present DUP politicians and Orange Order Grand Secretary Mervyn Gibson. Relatives of Stone’s six victims were not informed.
It is a testament to the moral squalor of the peace process that the only distinguishing features of this outrage are the double-standards of the Order for refusing to meet Sinn Féin and the absurd childishness of Stone’s ‘art’. In fact, it is the latter point that is the clincher - and even then not by much. Troubles art merely has to be adolescent to excuse any degree of two-faced fawning.
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A passenger at Belfast International Airport missed his flight after being told the spanners in his wheelchair’s toolkit could be used to “dismantle the aircraft”.
This might have seemed like a ridiculous thing to say but security staff should be given the benefit of the doubt. Spanners are listed by the Civil Aviation Authority as prohibited items in cabin baggage - they must be checked into the hold. Crumlin International Airstrip uses external security staff who may not have the experience, training and confidence to show discretion on this point. There are also not enough security facilities to ensure passengers make their flight first time around, let alone after going back to recheck luggage. So the fault is entirely Aldergrove’s, not whoever it left scratching their head trying to explain why spanners are on the list.
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The role of the Public Services Ombudsman, Marie Anderson, is to ensure “accountability, openness and quality of service”.
This is hard to square with the convoluted tale of Greg Burke, a former volunteer lifeboatman who complained to the ombudsman about a Charity Commission investigation. His complaint was upheld, but then Anderson’s office warned him he faced contempt of court for sharing her report with a Stormont department prior to publication, although she had sent the same report to the same department. The court case in question is apparently unrelated to Burke’s complaint and is a civil hearing, meaning contempt does not apply. Worse still, Anderson threatened Burke with her legal costs.
Whatever quibbling may remain over the details of this mess, it is extraordinary that the final port of call for public complaints should escalate a dispute to this extent against a complainant.
Have we now reached the point where Northern Ireland needs an ombudsman for its ombudsman?
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Gerry Adams has announced he is co-authoring The Negotiators Cookbook, containing recipes that sustained republicans throughout the Good Friday Agreement talks, when “the British never fed us”.
Of course, this is complete nonsense. Lavish canteen facilities were provided by the Northern Ireland Office - a British government department - and the Sinn Féin team availed of them, as is well documented. Only Adams could turn a cookbook into fiction.
newton@irishnews.com
