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ALEX KANE ON STORMONT [Hearts & Minds, 20/01]

  • 21-01-2011 12:00am
    #1
    madraj55
    Closed Accounts Posts: 31 ✭


    Former UUP man Alex Kane was giving out on tonight's Hearts and Minds about the totally undemocratic nature of the current setup on the white elephant on the hill. But Kane is talking here about democracy in N. Ireland, NOT democracy as it's practised in the rest of the UK. Therefore Kane is implying that there was a time in N. Ireland when there was democracy in it's true form. He couldn't surely be referrring to the period between 1921 and 1972 at Stormont? What exactly is Kane getting at?
    Is he seriously suggesting that the way things were run during the junta run by his former party, where constituencies which didn't have natural unionist majorities [Derry/Londonderry, a notorious example] were rigged to produce a unionist administrartion, is democracy? I think Mr Kane should explain further.


Comments

  • #2
    sligopark
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,620 ✭✭✭sligopark


    He was referring of course to the period between 1972 and the Good Friday Agreement ;)


  • #3
    Bottle_of_Smoke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,770 ✭✭✭Bottle_of_Smoke


    Well he has a point it is not real democracy it is a pseudo-parliament at present. I haven't seen this show but you don't have to say NI was previously democratic to say it is undemocratic now. Jim Allistair - the leader of the TUV - is a big critic of Stormont and calls it undemocratic. When pressed with the question your post asks he said of previous Stormont administrations ''They weren't perfect but they were democratic''

    Peter Robinson made a suggestion I like the idea of. Basically if a strong majority of MLAs favour something it will be passed.

    At the moment the biggest party from each tradition has a veto. I'd rather see a situation where if 65% of MLAs voted for a bill it could pass.

    Not quite ready for a full opposition type government yet imho


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