February 2024
Bonanza, but not enough
We’ll be awash with dosh, or will we, when all the ‘i’s are dotted and ‘t’s crossed. The UK may have slipped into a technical recession, but can the Restoration Rescue be a lifeline for little old Northern Ireland?
We’ve seen all the chatter about the £3.3 billion from Treasury, debt forgiveness for the £600 million overspend and €800 million from Dublin. Bonanza!
But let’s not pop the corks just yet. It was all looking pretty good before the Audit Office gave us a reality check. The estimated cost of delivering seventy-seven major capital projects is up £2.5 bn to £8.08 bn.
The Auditor General, Dorinnia Carville, didn’t mince her words: "It is clear that departments are not achieving value for money in the delivery of these major capital projects."
Back to local finances. The Restoration package came with the insistence by the Government to raise £113 million locally. In the grand scheme of things, a trifling sum. A second condition for unlocking the cash is the need for Stormont to prove it can produce a plan to deliver sustainable finances.
Pay awards will be delivered to Public Sector workers, there’s a huge wedge of cash for the long-delayed A5 and work can start on the re-development of Casement Park in west Belfast.
So, what could go wrong, I hear you ask. The first few steps have been taken, but the road to a trouble-free Nirvana is a long one with many deep potholes to navigate.
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Barnett reform
The financial package to get institutions restored includes a commitment to reform the Barnett formula which is used to decide how much we get from London.
Well, after considerable lobbying, we will see funding set at 24% above comparative levels in England. That, in anyone’s book, is considerable and will deliver a big uplift in the Block Grant.
Good things come to those who wait. Is there no end to London’s largesse?
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Burn the midnight oil
We’ll see a Northern Ireland Budget by the end of April. Internal wrangling will continue right down to the wire. A few Ministers will get some or most of what they want, others will feel let down. Spending priorities will be set, and that will be that.
Some big calls will have to be made. We can expect to see a hefty allocation to Health to address the chronic state of the Service. Health needs a radical re-organisation without which it will continue to limp from crisis to deeper crisis. Shameful waiting lists will get even worse.
Education, the other big spending Department, will also make a pitch for increased funding – an additional £1 billion is the demand.
Others, too, are in the queue. Expect late nights at Stormont Castle and Parliament Buildings over the next month or so as Ministers, Committees and backbenchers vie for a bigger slice of what’s available.
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Millions for potholes and repairs
John O’Dowd has certainly hit the road running, so to speak.
No sooner had he touched down in his Infrastructure Department than he announced an additional £1 million to deal with potholes. Last year, the number of potholes reached 25,000 – more than double the previous year - causing damage to vehicles and expensive claims.
Days later, he was in the headlines again with £8.1 million in extra funding for resurfacing and maintenance schemes.
Very shortly now, we can expect to see essential road works causing traffic tailbacks and disruption, but as the saying goes, you can’t make omelettes without breaking eggs.
Now all the big lad has to do is fix the mess that is MOT Centres and the backlog of frustrated motorists experiencing excessive delays.
Somehow, I don’t think privatisation is on the cards.
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Covid warning
We’re still seeing worrying infection rates from new strains of Covid. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 10,000 people are dying each month from the disease.
The data is furnished from fifty countries which means that we aren’t seeing the complete picture. We’re missing monthly fatality rates from about 140 countries.
Bottom line: even thought vaccines have transformed the global battle against Covid, we still must remain vigilant.
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The Department with the missing vowel
Down the years, the Department for the Economy has had a few different names but it always operated from Netherleigh House, Massey Avenue, within walking distance of the Stormont estate.
Before its latest name-change, it was the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI), a catch-all that tripped off the tongue with a bit of effort.
In bleaker times, when it was next to impossible to attract international inward investment, it was called the Department for Economic Development (DED). Some journos at the time used to call it the Department with the missing vowel. Unkind, I know, but if we didn’t laugh, we’d cry.
Now Netherleigh is up for sale. The Department moved to Adelaide Street in the city centre. Working from home has had an impact. The HQ of the Department for Infrastructure is on the market. It plans to move to the Gasworks Business Park on the Ormeau Road.
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Nolan and others not welcome
If your name is on this list, then look away now.
You’ll either get annoyed to volcanic levels or else you’ll just shrug your shoulders and say ‘typical’.
What’s at the back of this? Well, it’s a list of forty Irish traveller and gypsy names deemed ‘undesirable guests’ by Pontin’s Holiday Camp. Not surprisingly, the Equality and Human Rights Commission found the practice to be discriminatory. Once identified, suspected gypsy and traveller guests had their bookings cancelled or refused.
Pontin’s owner, Britannia Jinky Jersey Ltd, said the specific incidents predated 2018 and they apologised to all who may have been affected. Hopefully, this means that in future if your name is Boyle, Carr, Doherty, MacLaughlin or, wait for it, Nolan, you won’t be blacklisted. You might think it would make ideal material for the ‘Biggest Show in the Country’.
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A lament for choc changes
What’s your favourite nibble with a cuppa? Well, if it is a Caramac, United, Animal Bar, Yorkie Biscuit Bar or a Breakaway, then your days are numbered. All the aforementioned have or are being discontinued. Nestlé says it’s because of falling sales.
The Caramac bars had been on sale for some 64 years and the breakaway biscuit has been on shelves since the 1970s.
However, Nestlé is not alone and no biscuit or confection is safe! Cadbury has also discontinued its peanut caramel crisp bar after just five years on UK shelves and removed, somewhat more discreetly, the orange creme chocolates from its Roses tubs.
One person on X lamented: @CadburyUK disappointed to note I bought a tub of roses and there wasn’t a single caramel or orange crème in there 😭😭😭
So, my only advice is stock up …. When they are gone, they are gone!
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