Belfast Blogs.com

Splendid. Truly splendid.Let the political classes take note that the Irish people will not be bullied.Let the other peoples of the EU, who were so egregiously denied democracy, take note and thank us.And let us, as a people, be proud.We have, for now, prevented what effectively would have amounted to a coup d'etats. But when that sleveen creature Barroso murmurs ominously that other countries should continue ratifying what, under the EU's own rules, is now a dead treaty, then there is reason to remain vigilant and concerned.Why in the hell would any other country waste their time ratifying this trash now, when it has been rejected? If not, that is, for the reason that Barroso hopes to ignore our democratic voice at some stage in the future?The EU parliament has already appallingly voted...

Despite revelations that Edwin Poots’s Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure has spent nearly £3.5 million on promoting a new stadium in his back yard, the press are hinting that the white elephant is edging ever-nearer to it’s ultimate demise after the DCAL Permanent Secretary Paul Sweeney refused to endorse the plans. According to the Sunday Life, “The absence of support from key civil servants in the departments principally involved in the project … is likely to put the final nail in its coffin.” Finance Minister Peter Robinson is due to make a recommendation to the Executive before he takes over the position of First Minister later this month, however he has recently hinted that the Maze could be redeveloped through other means that wouldn’t...

This just in from the Department of the Bleeding Obvious: Most Irish people haven't a clue what this Lisbon treaty malarkey is about.Why is that, do you think? Might it have something to do with the fact that the document is so difficult and complex to summarise that everyone just gave up trying to explain it?That seemed to be EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso's position this week when he visited Cork and deigned to take a few questions from a hand-picked selection of langers.But it's not that complex: here's a nice, simple (pro-EU) summary of what the treaty will do, from Auntie Beeb.Then again, it might be because the Lisbon Treaty is just the failed EU Constitution rehashed. That constitution failed because the good people of France and Holland rejected it in referenda.So...

It’s 2-and-a-half years now since direct rule ministers told us that the Maze was “the only viable option” and yet we don’t seem any closer to seeing a business case for it. We were told earlier this year that a business case would be forthcoming in the Autumn and then that it would be with the Finance Minister Peter Robinson in December. Instead all we’ve seen are attempts by the Minister to use his comittee for cheap publicity stunts, in what the members of that committee said amounted to an “abuse of the democratic process.” With the Northern Ireland Executive’s budget announced today there’s still no sign of this famed business case. All DCAL are saying is that the business case is “still being considered” and that...

Last week Ian Paisley Jr. (Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister) visited Nationals Park, “a key social and economic regeneration project in Washington DC” centred around the building of a new baseball stadium. The stadium is being built as the new home for the Washington Nationals baseball team and will be the focus of a regeneration effort encompassing business, residential and retail projects. You can see where he’s going with this, right? His visit serves to highlight the enormous benefits to the economy the building of a new stadium can bring in terms of regeneration etc. “It is clear that this site will also become not only a thriving economic platform for small and minority business but a social centre for the local community.” Ian...

I went to a Labour Party meeting last weekend. It was the first time I'd ever done so.Now for the first time ever, I understand why they are the half-party in a two and a half party system. The party's internal systems are stuck in the stone age.I also now realise the reason why no social democratic party has ever been elected to govern in Ireland (unlike pretty much EVERY other European country).It's because the only viable left-wing party in Ireland (no, the Marxist Revolutionary former terrorist Sinn Fein don't count) has never, EVER, got its act together.And after a single meeting taster, I'm not entirely convinced that they ever will, despite the undoubted talent that exists within the party.Recently I met with a local councillor who, after a few years in Labour, left and joined the...

Today Belfast City Council announced it was to “discontinue the … assessment of” the two remaining private development proposals for a stadium at Ormeau Park. Despite assurances from the council that they will “develop a business case” for a stadium in the city instead, this is a serious setback for proponents of a stadium in Northern Ireland’s first city. The council must now prove that they are serious about contributing towards a new stadium for Northern Ireland in Belfast before suspicions mount that they were only ever paying lip-service to the idea in a cynical ploy to curry favour with their electorate. The two developers involved in the proposals, Durnien and Sheridan, are certainly angry and legal action is already being discussed. If this has all been a big...

Over the past week a report has been published by experts at the University of Ulster recommending that a new stadium for Northern Ireland be located in an urban centre (like Belfast city, perhaps?) and accommodate between 20,000 and 30,000 spectators and developers behind the Belfast proposals are claiming they are all set to start work. Despite this, the DUP leadership in the form of First Minister Ian Paisley and DCAL minister Edwin Poots have been trying to sabotage proposals for a stadium at Ormeau Park near the heart of the city. As if the imposition of an unrealistically short 2-week deadline by Edwin Poots wasn’t bad enough, our illustrious First Minister then decided that we couldn’t have a stadium in Ormeau Park because it would position a greyhound track too near...

Ulster rugby star Trevor Ringland, previously a backer of the plans for a stadium at the old Maze site has urged the devolved executive not to rush the decision. The Sunday Life reported that the former Ireland and Lions winger has reconsidered his support for the Maze proposals. “As someone who has previously backed it, I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be there but I am willing to concede that it is not clear cut. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff & Croke in Dublin are obvious examples of grounds near the centre of populations that have created fantastic atmospheres. I do not want a white elephant built and that is why I would like to see a major, open and honest debate on the location. It is what is right for the people of Northern Ireland that counts.”...

An influential group of MPs today added their voices to the growing chorus calling for any new stadium to be built in Belfast. The Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee at Westminster published a lengthy and detailed report into tourism in Northern Ireland today which heralded the sporting, economic and tourism benefits of Belfast as a venue for the new stadium. 121. We believe that development of a National Stadium could provide the much needed exhibition space, as in Cardiff, which is required to attract major conferences to Belfast. Apart from the sporting and economic arguments in favour of locating the National Stadium in the city we believe that there would be considerable tourist advantages from such a decision. It’s clear that the Maze has been uncovered as something...

The Conservatives became the first party in Northern Ireland to come out and publicly question the wisdom of the Government’s plans for a national stadium at the Maze. Even Lagan Valley candidate Neil Johnston has expressed concern, meanwhile the other candidates in that constituency are still dreaming of photo-opportunities and self-interest. In a press release issued today, Johnston said: “When the government says they are going to spend multi millions on a project we should all be very concerned. When the government says it is really only prepared to spend money on one option to the exclusion of other options – then we should be very worried indeed. The vast majority of our candidates are in favour of a Belfast stadium and even though I am from Moira I am extremely...

In an unlikely turn of events Secretary of State Peter Hain has stated his belief that showpiece sporting events should be held in city centres, because “there’s a wonderful atmosphere of people milling around the streets, which become pedestrianised, coming in and out of pubs and restaurants and cafes and flooding into the ground.” He went on to say that there’s a much greater sense of occasion when events take place in a City Centre than they will, for example, at the new Wembley, because the new London stadium is being built in a suburb. If Peter Hain’s colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office would care to check, they’d find that that’s exactly what we’ve been arguing from the start! Our Secretary of State believes that the...

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny wants to see random drug testing introduced into Irish schools. I would direct his attention towards Dail Eireann first.On three separate occasions in the past two years, Irish newspapers have found evidence of cocaine usage in the Dail bar toilets.First Ireland on Sunday discovered that cocaine had been used in the Dail toilets on Budget day. Then a year later, the Irish Daily Mirror repeated the experiment with the same results. Most recently, the Irish Star tried again, and discovered once again that cocaine had been used in Leinster House.That's a 100% hit rate for a class A drug. Clearly evidence that if there is one location in Ireland outside of certain Dublin nightclubs that badly needs a randomised drug testing regime, it's Dail Eireann, not Irish...

The Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters’ Clubsand Belfast City Council are to host a debate on the national stadium issue in the Waterfront Hall on 25th January. Councillor Bob Stoker (Community & Recreation committee chairman) will be representing Belfast City Council, Gary McAllister (press officer) the Amalgamation of NISCs and Michael Smyth as an lecturer on Economics from the University of Ulster. The Political Development has been invited to take part and the Maze Consultation Panel have been asked to nominate a representative as well to ensure a balanced panel. The Maze Consultation Panel’s chairman Edwin Poots (whose DUP party colleague Jeffrey Donaldson illustrated many politicians’ understanding of the situation perfectly when he dismissed the...

Belfast City Council have officially selected Ormeau Park as the site for the proposed Belfast stadium. Three interested developers have now presented detailed plans to the council, all of which are focused on the park in the south of the city. Just as the Belfast stadium project is ploughing ahead, with world class developers (including the company behind the Emirates Stadium) presenting their ideas, concerns are being raised over the government’s commitment to the Maze project. Belfast City Council are still pursuing the NIO minister with responsibility for the Maze plans, David Hanson, in an effort to have the business plan for the Maze released. However, despite the stadium’s planned cost to the taxpayer of at least £85 million, the minister is still refusing to release...

Regeneration & Renewal, the leading magazine for the UK regeneration sector, has echoed StadiumForBelfast warnings that the proposed Maze stadium could be a white elephant comparable to the ‘financially disastrous’ Millennium Dome.  While planning consultants were reluctant to talk to the magazine on the record, in private they have confirmed the serious fundamental problems that exist around the Maze stadium plans. Just one of the major flaws in the plans is the fact that the stadium will be in the “middle of nowhere” and “the local population simply cannot support the planned leisure facilities during the stadium’s quiet periods.” In a press release from Belfast City Council, Councillor Bob Stoker called on the government to pay attention...

Belfast City Council today issued a detailed development brief to the 7 developers that expressed interest in the council’s proposals for a new stadium in the city (which will be funded at no cost to the ratepayer, unlike the government’s Maze Plans which will cost the taxpayer millions). The brief covers all aspects of the stadium from planning, design, development, funding, construction to operation, promotion and ongoing management. The council have set a deadline of 25th July for responses. THe NIO are a step ahead, having released their ‘masterplan’ last week, and are currently at the stage of running a competition for the design of the stadium itself. However the NIO need to attract anything up to £300 million in investment for their project, which includes...

The Amalgamation of Official NISCs is currently embarking on a ‘roadshow’, taking their arguments on the National Stadium debate to various locations throughout the country. The presentation is set to be given to NISCs and local Councils in the coming weeks - a successful presentation has already been made to Ards Borough Council’s External Relations and Planning Committee. The next in the series of these events will be held as follows: The Royal Hotel, Cookstown at 8pm on Wednesday 26th April. Portstewart FC, Portstewart at 8pm on Wednesday 3rd May. These events are open to the public and admission is free, so why not come along and take part in the national stadium debate. Meetings are also planned with Carrick Borough Council on Mon 15th May, Lisburn City Council (who...

What a pathetic election campaign we’ve just seen in Northern Ireland. As usual, the spoils go to those who can wave their flags better and higher than their rivals and matters of policy are ignored and forgotten in the process. Not a SINGLE mention of the Maze stadium in the election campaign. Tom Ekin, Belfast’s outgoing Lord Mayor, replied to a letter sent to him regarding the Belfast Stadium with some potentially positive news that needs further investigation. All the other local representatives failed even to respond, with the exception of Belfast City Councillor Carmel Hanna (SDLP) who basically said the decision has been made, there’s no point. There is a point. Northern Ireland has a new Secretary of State in Peter Hain and Stadium For Belfast plans to contact...