Agriculture Committee visit Ballymena Agriculture Show

The Northern Ireland Assembly’s Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development set up shop at the Ballymena Show on Saturday 30th May 09. Thomas Burns said that being part of the show was a way of bringing the Assembly to the people, the well attended Ballymena Show being the ideal place. It is important to take [...]

Why would Sir Alan choose you

In a light hearted close to the Ballymena proceedings, Eamonn Mallie asked the panel what individual qualities they had that would make Sir Alan Sugar sit up and take notice. Which MLA do you think would make the grade as Sir Alan’s next apprentice?

Extending Committee outreach online

The panel were asked what plans the Assembly has to live stream committee meetings online. The DUP’s Mervyn Storey noted that the current infrastructure existed to live stream Plenary sessions. The discussion went on to focus on the issue of adequate committee space within Parliament Buildings with Sean Neeson from the Alliance Party pointing out [...]

Need for committees to better inform the public

An audience member in Ballymena noted that, while the Assembly seemed determined on its project of outreach and engagement, Committee output via the Assembly Website does not provide enough help in alerting the public and permitting them to inform upcoming Committee business. Assembly Commission member Reverent Robert Coulter UUP noted that the Assembly Commission is [...]

Does the Assembly voting system polarize the people?

A question on whether or not the current Assembly voting system institutionalised the polarisation of the two communities in Northern Ireland provoked general consensus among panel members. The UUP’s Rev Robert Coulter summarised the general feeling best by stating that “…you can’t change hundreds of years of history overnight”. Sean Neeson was however a notable [...]