https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/ en Copyright 2008 Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:04:53 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Before you read on, it's not Mark Devenport. It's Martina Purdy. Mark is on leave and after some effort I've managed to burrow into the blog..... The Dromore by-election has been declared a Black day for the DUP - by... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2008/02/not_saying_it_with_an_x.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2008/02/not_saying_it_with_an_x.html Northern Ireland Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:04:53 +0000 Forget May 8th - when the history books are written it's May 17th they'll all be talking about. Why? Well that was the day this blog finally acknowledged that the Assembly election campaign finished some time ago and migrated to... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/a_defining_moment.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/a_defining_moment.html Northern Ireland Thu, 17 May 2007 13:16:45 +0000 So the timing of Bertie Ahern's speech in the Westminster Royal Gallery was nothing to do with the Irish election. But what then do we make of Tony Blair's appearance, praising Mr Ahern, in Fianna Fail's Party Political Broadcast? It's... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/mutual_backscratching_3.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/mutual_backscratching_3.html Northern Ireland Wed, 16 May 2007 16:49:18 +0000 Bertie Ahern had an interesting quote from Daniel O'Connell in his speech to MPs and Lords yesterday. He quoted the champion of Catholic emancipation as saying "there is nothing politically right that is morally wrong.” I wonder whether people agree... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/politics_and_morality.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/politics_and_morality.html Northern Ireland Wed, 16 May 2007 16:41:53 +0000 "Parents don't want their children sorted into sheep and goats at the age of eleven". Who said that today? Martin McGuinness? Catriona Ruane? No, it was David Cameron explaining his latest policy shift on grammar schools. The local Tories have... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/sheep_and_goats.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/sheep_and_goats.html Northern Ireland Wed, 16 May 2007 16:36:55 +0000 Blogging today from Westminster where I spent the day watching Bertie Ahern address both Houses of Parliament in the splendid gilt edged surroundings of the Royal Gallery, a chamber which sits between the Commons and the Lords. The Taoiseach took... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/mutual_backscratching_2.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/mutual_backscratching_2.html Northern Ireland Tue, 15 May 2007 16:57:14 +0000 The Ulster Unionists' call for the Assembly to rejoin the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association may have got through "on the nod", but Sinn Fein's attempt to create an all party working group on women hit the buffers today when the Assembly... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/no_assembly_group_on_women.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/no_assembly_group_on_women.html Northern Ireland Mon, 14 May 2007 14:44:12 +0000 So Bertie gave Ian a wooden bowl at St Andrews, and Ian returned the favour today when he visited the site of the Battle of the Boyne by giving the Taoiseach a musket. Will Bertie use it on Enda Kenny... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/bowls_and_muskets.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/bowls_and_muskets.html Northern Ireland Fri, 11 May 2007 17:10:23 +0000 Spent rather more time than I was bargaining for hanging around outside Stormont Castle this evening, waiting for the conclusion of the first meeting of the new power sharing executive. Eventually at about 7.20pm the ministers emerged to be driven... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/water_but_no_hot_water.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/water_but_no_hot_water.html Northern Ireland Thu, 10 May 2007 21:53:25 +0000 Of course the DUP's motive in getting Peter Robinson and Jeffrey Donaldson on to the Privy Council is to ensure they have access to raw intelligence material on paramilitaries, rather than having to rely on the IMC. But there are... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/privy_privileges.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/privy_privileges.html Northern Ireland Thu, 10 May 2007 14:21:56 +0000 Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness are hosting their first joint reception tonight. Stressing the inclusive approach of their new Executive, the function is devoted to representatives of different ethnic groups. But over at Westminster the Ulster Unionist MP Lady Sylvia... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/equality_for_all.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/equality_for_all.html Northern Ireland Wed, 09 May 2007 15:24:35 +0000 Started my day on a building site on the Lower Ormeau Road in Belfast, following Margaret Ritchie on her first day as Social Development Minister. She toured the development, which should provide homes for nearly 200 families. At one point... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/day_one.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/day_one.html Northern Ireland Wed, 09 May 2007 14:46:03 +0000 Amidst all the VIPs, few noticed a delegation of humanists who visited Stormont today to discuss the need for our politicians to respect diversity in their decision making. They presented the Alliance's Stephen Farry with a copy of Richard Dawkins'... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/divine_intervention.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/divine_intervention.html Northern Ireland Tue, 08 May 2007 17:38:31 +0000 Spent all morning in a TV studio following the events inside the Assembly Chamber and Great Hall. It definitely feels like the last of those "tents on the lawn" occasions. Interesting moments in the First Minister's Office when Ian Paisley... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/job_done.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/job_done.html Northern Ireland Tue, 08 May 2007 14:51:33 +0000 So it's arrived - restoration day. My colleague Jim Fitzpatrick is busy researching lines for his role presenting our special programme on air on BBC1 Northern Ireland from 10:30 am. He's discovered that this was restoration day way back in... Mark Devenport (BBC News) https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/may_8th.html https://bbcbreakingnews.pages.dev/blogs/election07/northern_ireland/2007/05/may_8th.html Northern Ireland Tue, 08 May 2007 09:16:31 +0000