Foster: “Today is a new chapter in Northern Ireland’s story but when the history of this time comes to be written let it be said of all of us that we fought the good fight, we finished the race and we have kept the faith”

Arlene Foster spoke for the first time in the chamber as First Minister; Mr Speaker, it was with great humility, an enormous sense of responsibility and the imagination of endless potential for Northern Ireland that I affirmed the pledge of office and take up this post today. I can think of no greater honour than to have the opportunity to serve my country and the people of Northern Ireland as their First Minister. I am truly humbled by the trust …

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Robinson: ‘ I hereby resign the office of First Minister with confidence that the political institutions we have together created will be here for generations to come’

Remarks by outgoing First Minister, Peter Robinson; I am grateful for the opportunity to make this statement. It is typical of the fairness and courtesy you have demonstrated during your time in office that you provided me with this opportunity and made all the necessary arrangements. I can assure you that I do not intend to trespass on your generosity by speaking too long. Mr Speaker, it has been a great privilege to serve the people of Northern Ireland for …

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Foster: “The rebellion which took place 100 years ago this Easter was directly to attack the state to which I owe my allegiance”

Arlene Foster has ruled out any attendance at events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Speaking to the Impartial Reporter she said; The rebellion which took place 100 years ago this Easter was directly to attack the state to which I owe my allegiance. I don’t think I would be invited, but even if I was invited I certainly would not be going to commemorate a violent attack on the United Kingdom. She continued; I don’t think they …

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Foster says she wants a positive future for Northern Ireland & refuses to live in the past.

SLUGGER INTERVIEW: Following her election as DUP leader, I sat down with Arlene Foster to talk with her about how she felt about becoming the party leader, how she views her relationships with Sinn Fein and the UUP and how she views herself becoming the first woman to lead the party. I began by asking Arlene how she felt about becoming the DUP leader so unexpectedly, when until just 10 days ago most of us thought it would be Nigel Dodds.

Ford: People give more consideration to their family’s Christmas budget than the Executive gave to Northern Ireland’s budget

OPPOSITION FROM WITH IN: As Arlene Foster prepares to leave the Department of Finance, Alliance had a little parting gift for her on the day she becomes DUP. Following a meeting of the Executive, party leader, David Ford announced that both Stephen Farry and himself, voted against the budget before the Executive.

Kyle Paisley wouldn’t know who to vote for in Northern Ireland

Interesting spot from the Nolan Show today who picked up an interview that the former DUP leader’s son, Kyle Paisley saying he wouldn’t know who to vote for if he lived in Northern Ireland. It should be said that did praise Arlene Foster as somebody with ability, but still the segment with Jon Tonge is worth a listen.   David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

Runners and Riders to be the next Finance Minister

HAND ON THE TILLER: We have all been obsessed over the last few days with who will take the First Minister post. Yet, Arlene Foster’s promotion leaves an important vacancy that will have to be filled and lets not forget we have a budget to be presented at the end of January.

The Mechanics of the DUP Leadership

INSIDE THE TENT: The cloak and dagger nature of the DUP’s latest episode of leadership change provides us an excuse to revisit Hugo Young’s wonderful description of how, prior to 1965, the British Conservative Party handled the tricky process of succession. Tory leaders were, Young observed, ‘removed and replaced by the informal alchemy of a charmed circle of elders’.

Arlene Foster as leader would challenge some cherished media narratives…

LADY’S DAY: Only the second major Northern Irish party leader and a former UUPer, Arlene Foster’s rise runs counter to a long favoured analysis in the NI political media that the DUP consists mostly of a few modernisers living in fear of backwoodsmen. That’s a myth that will be harder to sustain under Foster than it was under Robinson.

DUP Leadership Contest: Arlene’s Ascendancy

ARLENE’S ASCENDANCY: As we approach the end of the Robinson era, the runner (s) and riders are now coming to the fore. But before we talk about the candidate, just who can vote in the DUP leadership contest?

Party faithful pay tribute to Robinson as he “steps back from front line politics & steps out of the limelight” #dup15

There were few surprises during the Saturday sessions of the DUP conference. While the next party leader and First Minister were anointed with praise, neither Nigel Dodds or Arlene Foster were taking anything for granted and second guessing the inevitable view of the elected representatives who will shortly back their formal promotion to new roles. There was a sense of “less is more” about the agenda, with many loose cannons and critical friends “being seen but not heard”. Other than …

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Finance Ministers from the devolved administrations issue a warning on cuts

Interesting article that caught my eye on Politics Home today was a joint letter issued by the Scottish Finance Secretary, John Swinney, Welsh Finance Minister, Jane Hutt and our own Finance Minister, Arlene Foster, to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Greg Hands about the pace of spending cuts coming from Westminster. The letter warns that the current pace of cuts are going “too fast and too far” and warn about the dangers to public services. The three ministers wants …

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Robinson: “Nobody goes on forever and I had a timely warning on that in terms of having a heart attack”

Good scoop by Liam Clarke in the Belfast Telegraph with his interview with First Minister, Peter Robinson. The interview covered areas of welfare reform, Stormont collapsing but the most interesting bit was in Robinson’s future. Asking him about the issue he said; Nobody goes on forever and I had a timely warning on that in terms of having a heart attack, but I do want to hand over at the right time and I want to hand over in the …

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West Belfast Business Breakfast: Making small changes day by day.

This morning I ventured over to a business breakfast in West Belfast hosted by local entrepreneur, Gerry Carlile.The event which had nearly 100 people in attendance was kicked off by the local MP, Paul Maskey who preached the need for more investment in West Belfast and cited success stories like the Kennedy Centre which operates at full capacity. The Sinn Fein MP also spoke of his relief that the Executive decided to retain the funding for St. Mary’s which he …

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McCann meets….Steven Agnew MLA #gpniconf14

So, last week it was Alliance, this week it was the Green party’s chance to strut their stuff on the conference stage as they gathered in East Belfast yesterday. Just before his speech I caught up the party leader Steven Agnew MLA. I began by asking him whether he believed that his European candidate, Ross Brown could do as well as he in 2009; I hope so. When I stood I trebled the Green party’s vote from the previous election, starting …

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