Tories have done a deal with the DUP. And it only cost 1 billion.

[gluteustothemaximus]

What a bargain.

Hmmm. What shall I do to pass all these shitty laws? I know, I need a majority! Let's have an election so I can get a stronger mandate!

Oh shit, I lost my majority. Don't worry, I can link up with the DUP!

Yay for democracy.

So there IS a magic money tree!

To paraphrase a friend (with permission)

Since when has this "We deliver for all the people of NI" bullshit start?

Hospital Waiting lists through the roof, wages low, cost of living high, fucking paramilitaries running around dealing drugs, flegs everywhere, Kulture shoved down your throat, Religious opening hours, No Equal marriage, no abortion laws...Foster couldn't deliver a pizza

All this from bible thumping, homophobic, bigoted, hatefilled, climate change denying, UDA cocksucking cry babies who OPPOSED peace in this country in the first place because the worst hate preacher since Abu Hamza decided to throw a hissy fit in the 1960s, start a fucking civil war, start a political movement to legitimise his own hatred and claim his "gawd" told him to do it.

Fuck the DUP. They dont speak for me

You're right Tulips - no politician could say that they disagree with the violence of the IRA but understand the anger at the British government, even, without being a terrorist sympathiser at the very least. It's a fairly neutral stance and a sentiment expressed by Boris Johnson wth regards to the Middle East, yet it seems unsayable when talking about Ireland.

Evening all,
We're receiving some amount of reports about this thread, and have made the corresponding deletions. We understand why feelings are running high but please can we ask that the personal insults and goading stop? Thanks.

bueno the only thing we can do is believe.

Anyone who thinks this is a good thing for all the people of Northern Ireland is deluded frankly.

sunny we all need healthcare and education and Infrastructure and jobs

I'm not sure I'd trust Arlene Foster with a quid to go to the shops to buy a pint of milk without worrying that she'd run off with it, let alone a billion quid.

Her dodgy dealings are the primary reason that Stormount is in disarray.

TM is desperate, absolutely desperate, to hand on to power. And she's being allowed to because no one, but no one, wants to be in TM's shoes at the moment.

I would just like to point out before i deregister that only one of my posts could be possibly be construed as a personal attack

How long are the waiting lists in England or Scotland or wales ?

My DD has been waiting 16 months to see a consultant and will wait probably two years. That's just to be seen. Initial appointment.

Where did deregister come from

Leave the thread

Well, Peter Robinson would let a Muslim go the the shop for him after all.

Phew! Glad to see you're not deregistering over it Rufus

Scy4more maybe I'm just too much of a cynic

Rufus
I though deregister seemed a tad extreme.

One of my deletions (I asked) was for quoting another poster who was saying a word that was being banned throughout the thread. Yours might have been something similar.

Rufus oh I thought you were leaving us and was thinking no don't do that.
Pleased you're not

I do go along with belief and hope and all that good stuff, but I don't think it's the only thing we can do, Syc4. I believe in arming ourself with facts (and only with facts - I'm a pacifist!) and holding those in power to account as far as we can.

AgreedSomerville and I sometimes wonder how many facts are hidden from us.

somerville no one is arguing that those in power shouldn't account. My issue is the misrepresentation of Northern Ireland as an unstable entity. That's not my reality. We put up with a lot on all fronts, I think the problem here is there is still the bitter taste of the them and us mentality of the past. You are the future Somerville as much as I am, and arming ourselves with facts is fine, kicking sand in each other's eyes because of an accident of birth is not. You can agree that government spending in NI is a positive thing without having to deny the existence of dinosaurs.

Scy4more, if I remember correctly do you not live in Scotland? Apologies if I'm wrong. But if you do, maybe that's why we have very different opinions on the current tensions. And again, if I'm mistaken I apologise.

I'm glad you're not experiencing instability, Syc4. I really mean that. And to some extent you'd know more than me, because I don't live there anymore. But I visit regularly for both professional as well as personal reasons, and I feel like a bit of distance helps me to see the changes when I return. For the best part of twenty years, the areas I visit seemed demonstrably more stable every time I returned. But since Brexit and cash for ash, the cracks are forming. Scarily, my English-accented child was heckled by other children in a playground of a strongly republican community, recently. That hadn't ever happened before, and we've visited there loads. I had to initiate a conversation with my DC in Irish, and scarper out of there fast. And there have been sudden problems at the north of Ireland office of the company I work for, too.

My hope is that perhaps knowing the state of play now between DUP and government will help to damp down all the outrage a bit. The deal isn't as bad as it could have been, to my mind. If they all get a new power sharing deal up and running, and the marching season doesn't get too triumphalist, then we've just got to hope for a soft Brexit so the border issues don't flare up. Lots of 'ifs' and 'hopes' there...

Ah remember the good old days when we got our knickers in a twist over tuition fees and dodgy expense claims? Ah happy days.

Sunny..

2 year wait for mum to be seen .... seen!!! for a hip replacement. Another year after that for the op. She was in agony.

24 month waiting lists are normal.

...but hey it's NI, we are all dinosaurs or terrorists , so doesn't matter to anyone til they think it impacts them.

didn't the DUp waste millions of taxpayers money on cash for ash?

maybe that why waiting lists are so long