Opinion

Newton Emerson: Paisley's posse gearing up for a by-election

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson writes a twice-weekly column for The Irish News and is a regular commentator on current affairs on radio and television.

North Antrim MP Ian Paisley, currently suspended from the DUP and the House of Commons because he failed to declare holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan government, still has the support of young democrats
North Antrim MP Ian Paisley, currently suspended from the DUP and the House of Commons because he failed to declare holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan government, still has the support of young democrats North Antrim MP Ian Paisley, currently suspended from the DUP and the House of Commons because he failed to declare holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan government, still has the support of young democrats

FORMER police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan has revised her previous conclusion that the Omagh bomb could not have been prevented.

The timing of her comment, on the 20th anniversary of the atrocity, upset some victims but was welcomed by others.

O'Loan alleged no wrongdoing by police and intelligence agencies - rather a failure to work cohesively with the information at their disposal.

It is important that questions about intelligence handling can be asked. They are critical to understanding the Troubles and remain a matter of life and death.

This is not helped when apologists for violence baselessly conflate such questions with official conspiracy or intent to let murder occur.

Ultimate responsibility for the Omagh bomb lies entirely with the Real IRA and O'Loan has never suggested otherwise.

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After the names of murdered police and prison officers were placed on a republican bonfire in Derry, the PSNI said it was "working to determine if a crime had been committed".

This statement caused such a backlash that assistant chief constable Alan Todd went on the radio 30 minutes later to say police were investigating the bonfire as a hate crime and to apologise for "a poor choice of words on our part".

Yet legally the first statement was correct and the second was a poor choice of words. There is no standalone crime of hatred - it can only be treated as an aggravating factor in other crimes, usually assault, harassment or criminal damage.

It is unclear what offence, if any, is committed by burning your own signs and police have still not elaborated on this point.

While the bonfire signs were undoubtedly distressing and hateful, this incident and others like it cannot be addressed by indulging the misconception that hatred itself has been criminalised.

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In a strange foreshadowing of this week's A-level results, Ian Paisley has arranged to be photographed surrounded by smiling teenagers.

Presumably he is hoping the North Antrim recall petition will not be giving him an F.

Paisley's posse, reportedly friends of his daughter, were decked out in blue hoodies from his 2017 Westminster campaign - meaning they had a DUP logo on the front, although Paisley is currently suspended from the party, plus a large 'X' on the back, regrettably implying a by-election is imminent.

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TUV leader Jim Allister is becoming increasingly concerned by what he terms Northern Ireland's "perilous dependency" on Irish government ownership of the southern and northern electricity grids.

He has held what he called a "straight-talking meeting" with the northern grid operator and Northern Ireland's Utility Regulator, both of which he accused of having "meekly acquiesced" to standards and interests from the Republic.

With electricity prices rising and power stations north of the border closing, this is a real issue.

However, Allister's lurid language conjures up images of Dublin behaving like Vladimir Putin, turning off energy supplies to bully the neighbours.

There is no prospect of this ever happening - and in any case, Northern Ireland imports only minuscule amounts of electricity from the Republic, while the Republic gets 8 per cent of its electricity from Britain.

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What is "affordable housing"? The question arises two years after residents in south Belfast's Village area backed a regeneration scheme that promised new social housing plus affordable homes at £110,000, replacing hundreds of run-down terraced houses.

Now developer Hagan Homes says the 76 three-bed semis for sale will cost £140,000 - beyond the reach of most locals.

The government says affordable housing should have mortgage fees above social rent, and the Village scheme certainly manages that.

Rent allowances in the area are £450 per month for such properties, while the new ones would cost most people £700 per month to buy.

But the government also says affordable homes should be priced below the local market rate, which in the Village is £97,000 for a semi-detached house.

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Belfast's new easyHotel has opened by reclassifying itself as a guest house, after it emerged some of its rooms are below the minimum legal size required in a hotel.

An odd feature of the statutory regulations on tourist accommodation in Northern Ireland is that they set a minimum size for various types of hotel bedrooms, set no minimum size for guest house bedrooms, but otherwise make little distinction between both types of establishment.

So what is the point of minimum hotel room sizes when you can just avoid them by declaring yourself a guest house, without even having to change your brand to easyGuestHouse?

**

Sinn Féin's infrastructure spokesperson Philip McGuigan MLA marked Cycle to Work Day by cycling to Stormont, where he was filmed lapping the building for a party video promoting the occasion.

At no point was it mentioned he was Cycling to No Work, despite the glaring obvious fact that Stormont is out of commission.

The whole exercise carried an unmistakeable air of pining to get back to the office.

newton@irishnews.com