For those that didn’t catch this on slugger.

Apologies for the delay in getting this up – it’s a debate I took part in, focusing on local Councils and councillors and how they interact, or not, with rate payers and the general public, as well as a discussion on education and the SDLP and UUP call to have the Executive deal with it.

It’s well worth a watch.

‘I said I’m a communist and I vote for SF, your not a communist, your a right winger, so I would never vote for you’

I proceeded with a few simple questions.

‘How do you reconcile that, you do realise that the SDLP voted against the Programme for Government mainly because it is right wing? 

You also realise that SF wrote the ring wing programme and stick by it to this day, even in the current economic climate? 

Tell me how does a communist SF supporter view the current privatisation in education, on Sinn Fein’s watch?’

I could see his mind trying to process what I was saying and then thought I was about to get an answer.

His response. He tried to kick me. The nice but noticeably odd little man tried to kick me. And then shouted me off his front door. Nice.

I attended the rally today at City Hall in support of workers who are suddenly finding themselves out of work.

There was a small turn out - when you compare the rally here to the rallies across Ireland and Britain, coupled with the fact that we here in NI are going to be hit worse than England, Wales or Scotland in terms of job loses - the turn out was disappointing. It is all of our responsibilities to ensure that workers have their rights protected. Anyone could be next.

It’s in our nature here, until it affects us we generally don’t pay attention. We vote for the same politicians who consistently fail to help us, and we will again when the EU election comes along.

Our political leaders, the First Minister and deputy First Minister’s response to the economic crisis: attack the Belfast Telegraph for raising the issue. Are they for real? Notably the National Union of Journalists attended the rally – no doubt to sent that same message to our so-called leaders.

While the speakers where very good, they consistently failed to call up those that have the biggest responsibilty here to deal with job losses.

Sinn Fein and the DUP!

They didn’t name Robinson or Maguinness – SF representatives told us on easter that they have co ownership of the institutions, well they must accept then, along with that comes co-responsibility and co-failure to act. As well as co-blame for the executive turning a blind eye to what is happening.

It’s time to get real, people are losing their jobs, homes are being repossessed, people are being taken to court, employers are walking all over them.

Time to turn up the pressure. Time to put Mr Adams and his co-ownership rhetoric to the test.

Time for a new budget and programme for government.

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Time for help for our workers.

Time to help the economy. 

Time for movement.

Time for action.

It’s the economy, stupid, or so it goes.

We’ve seen over the last number of weeks a great and welcome sense of unity shown by our politicians over the ‘dissident’ murders – the message went out loud and clear, ‘peace is here to stay.’

One of the clearest signals our Assembly and political parties collectively and independently can take is to show everyone that it’s business as usual.

The issue facing everyone at the moment is undoubtedly the financial situation we are in and how we are to deal with it. I have met many, many constituents who are finding themselves suddenly out of work. There is no doubt that our government needs to step in, in fact it is long over due. That is what they are saying. That is what we are saying.

Yes this is a global crisis. Yes this did start somewhere else. Yes this is a problem bigger than our little government.

But no, this is not something our government can’t give ordinary people assistance with. No we should not be sitting on our hands (as the DUP/SF are doing by standing by their failed budget) and no we should not be settling for a budget that was written when economic times where good and not bad.

The SDLP say it’s time to budge on the budget. We need a new budget for new times. Our economists are saying so and the DUP’s answer is that the economists are sitting in ivory towers.

How arrogant can a party get? I don’t care how precious they think their budget is, the fact is, it’s failing us, it needs changed and the government needs to do more. The reality is that people are seeing no tangible benefits to devolution that they can talk about and that needs to change.

The DUP and their SF friends need to stop burying their heads in the sand………..