NI Water
Ministerial U-turn on NI Water Chief Executive’s terms
After his very well publicised threat to resign, the acting Chief Executive at Northern Ireland Water, Trevor Haslett, appears to have got what he wanted – a £20,000 pay rise [and a two year contract? - Ed]. From the BBC report A spokeswoman for the Department for Regional Development confirmed the deal. “Northern Ireland Water needs [...] more »
NI Water: Another Chief Executive resignation?
The BBC’s Jim Fitzpatrick reports that NI Water Chief Executive, Trevor Haslett, has “signalled that he wants to leave and return to private consultancy”. Haslett has been in the post for almost 10 months, after stepping into the vacancy caused by the defenestration of former Chief Executive Lawrence MacKenzie. From the BBC report NI Water was created as [...] more »
The extraordinarily small gene pool for NI Civil Service reviews
Here’s an interesting snippet. It’s an Assembly Question from Patsy McGlone to Tom Elliott regarding “the independent board of inquiry that was convened to consider the disciplinary charges” against Paul Priestly. It’s interesting for a number of reasons: To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister, in relation to the independent board of inquiry [...] more »
Is the Head of the NI Civil Service defending the indefensible?
So to start with we have an empassioned plea from John Dallat, the Northern Ireland Public Accounts Committee’s longest serving member that, according to the News Letter: “that Sir Bruce Robinson be forced to appear before it to explain his decision and said that he wanted an assurance that the committee could scrutinise public spending [...] more »
NI Water: Mr Priestly to return to work, but the issue rumbles on?
So Mr Priestly, the former Permanent Secretary is to return to work, albeit as a deputy Permanent Secretary. His salary drops from £106,000 down to £92,000. It is not certain where he will be deployed. He was suspended for providing the text of a letter which was subsequently used by to attack the workings of the Public [...] more »
Priestly’s return…
The Northern Ireland Department of Regional Development Permanent Secretary, Paul Priestly, was suspended on full pay in August last year. The former Permanent Secretary of the Welsh Assembly, Sir Jon Shortridge, was appointed by the head of the NI Civil Service, Sir Bruce Robinson, to lead the investigation into Priestly’s role in the NI Water saga - but [...] more »
Declan Gormley launches multiple legal actions…
JUst when you thought it had gone away… Northern Ireland Water comes back. Declan Gormley, having waited for due process to recognise the shoddy manner in which he was dealt. He’s now speaking on Nolan. For clarity, here’s the presser: Former non-executive Director Declan Gormley is threatening new legal action against Minister Murphy and the [...] more »
Sinn Fein suffers another memory loss at the PAC?
There’s much to be said about where the PAC’s investigation of NI Water leaves us all. As noted previously there is plenty of material to draw out from the final report. But there’s one wee detail worth noting in passing. Mitchel McLaughlin had this to say on Monday: It was revealed during Ministerial questions in [...] more »
Was NI Water rolling back poor departmental compliance rates?
The PAC’s report into Northern Ireland Water has to be one of the most comprehensive pieces of research, not only into a publicly owned utility, but into an insider government culture that brooks no dissent and treats whistleblowers with contempt. There is more than enough to keep Slugger going for the next fortnight, and yet [...] more »
NI Water: Murphy’s department “undermined confidence in the integrity of the public sector”
Just clicking through the journalism associated with Super Thursday’s report release day. That was the day the PAC’s report came out, and the regulator’s report. Two remain outstanding: the Executive’s conflicted interest report; and Sir Jon Shortidge’s report into the conduct of Mr Murphy’s suspended Permanent Secretary. Of these the PAC’s is the more substantial, but [...] more »
PAC considers asking for members’ phone records to source leak…
Not sure how seriously to take this one, since the legal complications it might invoke would probably rule it out from any serious consideration. But on the eve of the publication of a major report from Stormont’s Public Accounts Committee, Slugger understands that some members of the PAC have been suggesting that the phone records [...] more »
NI Water crisis: “once this information is in the public domain, it may undermine your perceived independence…”
Following an FOI request, BBC NI’s Stephen Walker reports that the NI Commissioner for Public Appointments, Felicity Houston, has raised concerns about the OFMDFM appointments to the latest ’independent’ review of NI Water with the head of the NI Civil Service. That’s in addition to the Commissioner’s previously expressed concern about the NI Regional Development Minister, [...] more »
NI Commissioner for Public Appointments: “We couldn’t find out how people had ended up being interviewed…”
It’s worth highlighting the comments by the NI Commissioner for Public Appointments, Felicity Huston, to the BBC NI Spotlight programme last night on the NI Water saga. From the BBC report Felicity Huston said: “I was a bit shocked about how chaotic it was considering the importance.” Mr Murphy said he had full confidence in the [...] more »
“OFMDFM are aware of the issues raised…”
On Friday [evening? - Ed] the Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers issued a statement in response to concerns about their appointment of an individual to an ‘independent’ review who “could be perceived as having a conflict of interest.” In particular, the appointment of Philip Holder to the second layer of the investigation into the role and [...] more »
Another conflict of interest in yet another NI Water review team – redux
As I said of the leaked draft PAC report into NI Water The First and deputy First Ministers clearly haven’t learned the importance of not appointing individuals to ‘independent’ reviews who “could be perceived as having a conflict of interest.” The BBC reports on questions over the Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers’ appointment of Philip Holder to the second layer of the investigation [...] more »
Jim Allister on Lawrence MacKenzie’s golden handshake
Jim Allister has an interesting set of questions over Lawrence MacKenzie’s severance package which has been picked up on by the News Letter. The questions essentially revolve around why if MacKenzie resigned of his own volition, he received over £90,000. As Allister says: “what sort of a remarkable contract had he which entitled him to [...] more »
Willie Clarke asks why the SDLP is ‘defending’ sacked NEDs
So whilst Northern Ireland Water is using section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act to prevent us finding out information we don’t already know (ie, whether or not Minister Murphy’s interim chair has been doing his job properly), Sinn Fein’s Willie Clarke’s going on the political offensive over NI Water, asking some questions the answers [...] more »
NI Water refuse to disclose attendance record of interim Chair
Fascinating little sidebar matter on the Northern Ireland Water issue. Jim Allister has been refused information relating to the attendance of the Chairman Pauric White at Board meetings. The reasons given are astounding: “Premature disclosure of information pertaining to the investigation, whilst the investigation is ongoing, could potentially result in closing off options through adverse [...] more »
Murphy: “The person who has responsibility for dealing with these things is me”*
Conor Murphy’s line today on the leaked PAC report is strangely reminiscent of his party colleague, the chair of the PAC, Paul Maskey. But it is also in line with his own original interview with Jamie Delargy in UTV’s Stormy Water special back in August, that this was all about procurement issues, not the misdirection [...] more »
NI Water: PAC chair complains about leaked report to UTV…
As Pete noted earlier, the chair of Stormont’s Public Accounts Committee, Paul Maskey is not best pleased that a copy of that committee’s draft report has found its way into the hands of Jamie Delargy of UTV. Not surprisingly, since as Maskey points out, it is not yet been official adopted by the committee. Mr [...] more »
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Books: Listening to Van Morrison…
Great little review of Listening to Van Morrison by Griel Marcus… It’s a short book, not a biography or a career survey, but an attempt to follow those moments in Morrison’s music, as he’s made it from his first records with Them, from Belfast in 1965 to the present day, when something happens that breaks [...] read our review »
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“Good Friday. The death of Irish Republicanism” by Anthony McIntyre: a review
This was a book that I first reviewed at the same time as “Unionism Decayed” back in 2008. Like Vance’s work, it is the author’s portrayal of a defeated political movement or ideal and as a Unionist it was instructional to read an interpretation of the immediate post-Agreement period from the other side of the fence. [...] read our review » -
Risk of going beyond either/or…
This is article was first published in Fortnight magazine back in February 2003. Chris Farrington is now a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences’ in the School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin. Although the circumstances it describes has changed radically and [...] read our review »
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