Laurence McKenzie
McKenzie tells watchdog he resigned “to get their attention”
A number of people have been asking where the watchdog Consumer Council has been during the whole debacle over the period of upheaval at Board level in NI Water… Sam McBride has an interesting series of emails in which their chief executive expresses her own personal support for Laurence McKenzie… Some of it throws a [...] more »
Did McKenzie mislead the Public Accounts Committee?
UTV last night revealed that Laurence McKenzie (ie, not the sacked Board) had similar procurement problems at NIE: London consultants PKF were asked by the Utility Regulator to investigate the failings. PKF examined just 12 projects commissioned by NIE over a three-year period ending last January. Further they note (PKF Report) that under MacKenzie “Competitive [...] more »
NI Water: Board prevented from acting on contents of Internal Audit?
The Coalition government at Westminster clearly attach great public importance to Non Executive Directors on Departmental Boards. On his appointment as lead Non Executive Director to the Government, Lord Browne of Madingley laid out this description of the role of NEDs to departmental boards: “This is a role within Government but also independent of it. [...] more »
DRD and NI Water officials told not to co-operate with UTV…
Slugger understands that UTV have been taking a very close interest in the NI Water story about the sacked non executives, possibly for a documentary programme in the late summer, and before the next scheduled meeting of the PAC. Now it seems that officials in DRD, headed up by Conor Murphy’s Permanent Secretary, Paul Priestly [...] more »
Exclusive report on NI Water: “I need help from friends at the minute…”
What was the real reason for the big shake-up at NI Water last week? Four independent directors sacked last March were replaced by temporary appointees on the grounds that a relatively tiny number of transactions had been conducted poorly. But was this a post-hoc rationalisation for a decision that was taken for other, more political reasons? more »
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…if University education were universally available and availed of, the country would collapse in one generation
The words of Brian O’Nolan, variously Brian Ó Nualláin, Myles na gCopaleen, Myles na Gopaleen and, of course, Flann O’Brien. That O’Nolan was referencing his own dissolute student days at UCD only mildly distracts from the prophetic undertone of his words: I paid no attention whatsoever to books or study and regarded lectures as a [...] read our review »
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What Ireland did right (and what it needs to do)…
It is difficult to believe now that one country recently sent 19 delegations to Ireland to study how well our economy was managed. The revelation that our model of economic management featured positively in political and economic discussion in countries including Estonia, Greece and Scotland may also come as a surprise. As we survey the [...] read our review »
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Review: To Kill a Mockingbird
Somehow I escaped reading this essential school text, with its story of racism in 1930s American South. Living in Northern Ireland, I draw parallels with sectarianism, with its similar bigotry and prejudice. To Kill a Mockingbird was part of a Unite Against Hate campaign event at Parliament Buildings in Northern Ireland, which I’ve written [...] read our review »
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