MIRIAM LORD'S WEEK:One can always tell that a politician is irritated by a journalist's question when they include the words "with respect" in the reply.
On Monday, the British-Irish Council, which draws together the Irish and British governments, the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the crown dependencies of the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, gathered in Lancaster House, the home of many a diplomatic drama.
Northern Ireland politicians outnumbered everybody else. They usually do at British-Irish Councils. The Government sent two: Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Pat Rabbitte; the British fielded four, including deputy prime minister Nick Clegg; the Scots rowed in with three, including first minister Alex Salmond; while the Welsh were happy with two representatives, including first minister Carwyn Jones.
The Northern Ireland Executive, on the other hand, sent a whopping 10: First Minister Peter Robinson; Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness; Minister of Justice David Ford; Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Industry Arlene Foster; Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure Carál Ní Chuilín; Minister for Employment and Learning Stephen Farry; Minister for the Environment Alex Attwood; Minister for Regional Development Danny Kennedy; and junior ministers Martina Anderson and Jonathan Bell.
Robinson was very put out when quizzed on the size of the contingent. “I don’t think that I would ever value the work of any organisation based upon the number of press who came up to the press conference afterwards, with respect. As far as the numbers from Northern Ireland are concerned, we have a mandatory coalition in Northern Ireland, which has five parties in it. The British-Irish Council grew up around the agreements reached between the parties in the NI situation.
“I hope that we can move to a different form of government in good time, where we have normal politics and normal voluntary coalitions. Until such a time we are stuck with an unwieldy system of government which requires each of the parties to be able to be present at meetings such as this.”
Some might question the logic of Robinson’s statement, particularly at a time of financial stringency. He would appear to be saying that all parties have a right of automatic attendance at everything, including the premier gigs on a Northern Ireland leader’s calendar, such as occasional trips to the White House.
Still, it’s always nice to get away for break.