New riot college announced
THE
Police Service and Fire and Rescue Service are to have one big college, as
planning permission to have it built on a massive site somewhere well away from
Belfast has now been given.
We
got to thinking (too much caffeine!) that this could solve all our problems.
No
doubt there will be riot training for officers, with mock streets. After all,
police and fire service personnel need to ensure that they are up-to-speed on
how to deal with civil disorder.
And,
just today a leading East Belfast cleric told the Belfast Telegraph that “kids”
enjoy rioting.
So,
why not a couple of times a year bring the “kids” to the new police college and
they can throw bricks, bottles, fireworks and petrol bombs at police who can
then charge them, arrest them, deploy water cannon etc.
Some
officers and rioters might get hurt but outside the walls of the college we can
all go along with our normal business, go to work, generate employment and
revenue, and partake in democracy.
Now
all we need to figure out is when the flag on the new college is to fly…
Breadth of the broad
ULSTER
Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt came up with a rather unique turn of phrase when
commenting after the Unionist Forum’s inaugural meeting at Parliament
Buildings.
He
said he welcomed: “The breadth of the representation of the broad unionist
family”.
So,
something that was really broad had breadth…a point emphasised by Peter
Robinson as he claimed it to be the “most representative group in the unionist
community to meet in half a century”.
Half
a century ago: that would be 1963. That was the year that Viscount
Brookeborough stepped down after 20 years in political office after failing to
halt economic decline. His place was taken by Terence O’Neill, who met the then
Toaiseach, Sean Lemass. Two years after taking office the first embers or
turmoil stirred and the Troubles followed quickly after.
We
wonder about that reference by the unionist leaders. The protests that followed
the meetings with Lemass saw street agitation from the Rev Dr Ian Paisley, the
predecessor of Mr Robinson. It’s a curious sort of parallel to make….
Cold house for the Housing Executive
BEFORE
the awkwardness of a confrontation on the floor of the Assembly, Social
Development Nelson McCausland has announced the axe is to fall on the Housing
Executive with as much as haste as possible when he has figured out the detail…
Generally
everyone agrees that there is a need for social housing. How is this is
delivered is where Mr McCausland has identified a potential for change.
In
a nutshell, policy is to be delivered by a strategic oversight public body and
the Housing Executive’s landlord function will transfer out of the public
sector.
This
is supposed to be completed by 2015…
Young people get
hammered again
AS
children, the older folk among us used to enjoy nothing more than putting a
shilling into a one armed bandit slot machine and pulling the big handle down
to see if we won a half crown.
Later
as young people we had the new slot machines aligned with space invaders games
where we could throw the new-fangled decimal coins into to see if we won a
pound.
Now
those spoil sports at social development are stopping young people gambling on
gaming machines! Bah, humbug indeed!
It’s
part of a general reform of gambling laws, and while we fear that the coming
generations will never get the thrill of losing tuppence on a gaming machine,
it is generally a long overdue and welcome piece of tidying up, with issues
such as making a ‘bet’ at a bookmaker a legally binding contract.