Charlotte McKinney Photos

New Poll On A United Ireland

RTE's Top Ten Earners

Ryan Tubridy - 495,000 euros (£443,000) Ray D'Arcy - 400,000 euros (£358,000) Joe Duffy - 389,988 euros (£349,000) Miriam O'Callaghan - 299,000 euros (£267,000) Marian Finucane - 295,000 euros (£264,000) Sean O'Rourke - 290,113 euros (£259,000) Claire Byrne - 201,500 euros (£180,000) Nicky Byrne - 200,583 euros (£179,000) Bryan Dobson - 195,913 euros (£175,000) Darragh Maloney - 188,803 euros (£169,000)

Age Is More Than Just A Number

 

DUP Try To Stop Gay Couples Getting Married In Scotland

A former Scottish government minister has claimed that the DUP formally asked him to restrict Northern Irish couples from having same-sex marriages in Scotland.

Ex-SNP minister Marco Biagi said that when the DUP was in the Stormont Executive he received an official letter from them, asking him to curtail access to the ceremony, which is not legal in Northern Ireland.

Mr Biagi, who is himself gay, was the SNP's Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment from November 2014 to May last year.

He said he refused the request.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has previously insisted her party is not anti-gay, but supports the traditional view that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

What The Papers Say

 

Even More Justine

    

More Justine

     

Proxy Votes Increase

Polling station Fermanagh South Tyrone tops the table for both proxy and postal votes issued The latest Electoral Office statistics show a marked increase in the issue of proxy and postal votes for the Westminster election in Northern Ireland. 11,707 proxy votes have been issued - that is 1,787 up from the 9,920 proxies appointed for the March assembly election. 23,682 postal votes have been issued - up from the 19,670 sent out in March. Fermanagh South Tyrone tops the table for both proxy and postal votes issued. 1,707 proxy votes and 2,981 postal votes have been issued in the constituency. Other constituencies with high levels of applications include Mid Ulster and West Tyrone which are especially high for postal votes, and Newry and Armagh and Foyle which are high for proxy votes.

The British Empire Is Over

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/785065/Ale

Top Ten RHI Recipients

1. PAUL HOBSON LTD £659,540.81 2. EGLINTON (TIMBER PRODUCTS) LTD £538,885.63 3. McILROY FARMS LIMITED £513,312.78 4. ECOBIOMASS NI LTD £476,383.18 5. MOUNTTAIN VIEW FARM LTD £471,971.94 6. BALLINDARRAGH POULTRY FARM LTD £432,282.88 7. JOHN HOGG & CO LTD £417,322.29 8. McCAFFREY AGGREGATES LTD £396,647.94 9. L.W. SURPHLIS & SON LTD. £358,236.27 10. HEGAN FARMS LTD £351,969.11

Tory Party Fined £70000 Over Expenses

The Conservative Party has been fined £70,000 for a breach of election expenses rules, the Electoral Commission has said.It is the biggest fine ever imposed by the commission, the BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said. The fine follows an investigation into alleged misreporting of expenses during the 2015 general election campaign. It relates to allegations that the party used national money to fund local campaigns, said the BBC's Norman Smith. It comes after 12 police forces asked the Crown Prosecution Service to consider charges over election expenses.

New Scottish Independence Referendum To Be Called

“It is clear that our voice and our interests can be ignored at any time and at any issue. This is where we stand today… I cannot pretend to the Scottish people that a compromise agreement looks remotely likely… I will now take the steps necessary to make sure that Scotland will have a choice at the end of this process. A choice of whether to follow the UK to a hard Brexit or to become an independent country… The Scottish government’s mandate for offering this choice is beyond doubt.”

Nicola Sturgeon seeks a new Scottish Independence referendum

Crocodile Rock

DUP 28 SF 27 SDLP 12 UUP 10 AP 8 I/O

Something Else That Is Interesting

https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/peter-geoghegan-adam-ramsay/mysterious-dup-brexit-donation-plot-thickens

A Interesting Tale

https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/adam-ramsay-peter-geoghegan/secretive-dup-brexit-donor-links-to-saudi-intelligence-service

New Independence Referendum For Scotland

A prominent Scottish independence campaign group has begun a fundraising drive, saying it expects a second referendum to be called within weeks. Business for Scotland said it was getting "back in full campaign mode" for a vote in 2018. It said it expected a vote to be called for May or September next year. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has previously said a second referendum was "highly likely" following the Brexit vote. Business for Scotland focused on the economic case for independence ahead of the 2014 vote in which Scots voted 55% to 45% to remain part of the UK. Group founder Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp has emailed members to say "we are only weeks away" from a second referendum being called. 'Drive support' In his message to supporters, Mr MacIntyre-Kemp said: "Business for Scotland was a vital contributor to the growth of the Yes vote in 2014. We need your help to renew the business and economic case for independence and drive Yes support to the levels required to call and win Indyref2. "We didn't go away, instead we have kept on campaigning for independence and we also campaigned for a Remain vote in the EU referendum. "We are getting ready for Indyref2 in May or September 2018 and so we are back in full campaign mode." The group aims to raise £15,000 and said it had already raised nearly a third of the target.

AOH Back In Fermanagh

THE Ancient Order of Hibernians has been re-established in Co Fermanagh for the first time in 60 years.

The new Fermanagh County Board was established and members initiated into the organisation at a meeting earlier this week.

It is believed to be the fist time since the 1950s that the AOH been active in the county.

A Catholic organisation, the AOH has members in Ireland, America and parts of Britain.

Organised into divisions, its members take part in annual parades on St Patrick’s Day and mark the Feast of the Assumption each August.

Tyrone county president Gerry McGeough said the expansion in the organisation follows the establishment of three new divisions - including a pro-life division - in his home county in recent months

“We are witnessing the emergence of a new Hibernianism”, Mr McGeough said,

Mr McGeough also revealed that the organisation is currently in the process of setting up an Irish-speaking Division, Craobh na nGael, which will be on parade at this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in Rasharkin, Co Antrim.

Employment Rates Equal In The North

The unemployment rates among Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland are equal, the latest figures have shown.

According to the Labour Force Survey Religion Report for 2015, both stand at 6%.

It said the rates have converged over time, from 1992 when the corresponding rates were 18% for Catholics and 9% for Protestants.

The report, released by the Executive Office on Wednesday, also showed a decrease in the difference between the proportion of working age Catholics and Protestants in employment.

In 1992 it was 70% for Protestants and 54% for Catholics, but in 1995 it was 68% and 70% respectively.

The report added that between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of the population aged 16 and over who reported as Protestant had decreased by 12 percentage points from 56% to 44%.

The proportion who reported as Catholic increased by six percentage points from 38% to 44%. 

Meanwhile, over the same period, the proportion of the population reported as “other/non-determined” has doubled from 6% to 12%.

UK Government Lose Article 50 Challenge

Majority of 8 to 3 vote against government.

The World Richest Men

1. Bill Gates (US): co-founder of Microsoft (net worth $75bn) 

2. Amancio Ortega (Spain): founder of Zara owner Inditex (net worth $67bn) 

3. Warren Buffett (US): largest shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway (net worth $60.8bn) 

4. Carlos Slim Helu (Mexico): owner of Grupo Carso (net worth $50bn) 

5. Jeff Bezos (US): founder and chief executive of Amazon (net worth $45.2bn) 

6. Mark Zuckerberg (US): co-founder and chief executive of Facebook (net worth $44.6bn) 

7. Larry Ellison (US): co-founder and chief executive of Oracle (net worth $43.6bn) 

8. Michael Bloomberg (US): owner of Bloomberg LP (net worth $40bn)

Is Joint Authority The Only Option For The North

Is British/Irish joint Authority the only option for the North. The collapse of Stormont after Martin McGuinness resignation has left a political vacuum which needs filling. The SDLP leader has discussed the issue with the Irish Government. A return to direct rule from London is not a option for Nationalists who tried to make Stormont work despite every roadblock placed in their way.