[Cue music] This autumn looks like it will be time for our new found friends to face the music and dance.There are some obvious candidates for causing trouble between the Houses of Ian and Martin, that have already been extensively discussed here on Slugger:
Key issues over policing and criminal justice are by no means agreed, despite the target date of next May, and a row is definitely brewing over the introduction of an Irish Language Act. “These and other items offered fissile issues that could destabilise the Executive and impair inter-ministerial relations,” it warned. ” In particular, dealing with Northern Ireland’s ‘troubled’ past had the potential to derail the new arrangements.”
But the report also highlights on of the early failures of the new joint administration:
Having failed to persuade Prime Minister Gordon Brown to provide a significant transitional package or to align corporation tax in Northern Ireland with the Republic, there are also difficult decisions to be faced on local taxation, spending and local-government reform.
[Music fades to end]
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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