Stormont

Northern Ireland is a “disaster” and the UK government has a “responsibility to step in and do something,” a former Stormont speaker has said. John Alderdice, who was the leader of the Alliance Party at the time of the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998, also said the British and Irish governments must reflect “on what they need to do if they truly are committed signatories of the agreement”. He was giving evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in Westminster on Wednesday as part of its investigation into the effectiveness of the institutions set up under the agreement. The North has been without a functioning Assembly or Executive for more than a year because of a DUP boycott over post-Brexit trading arrangements. The Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, was in Belfast on Wednesday for meetings with the Northern political parties aimed at restoring the Stormont institutions. “There is not proper governance in Northern Ireland by any account,” the former speaker said. “It’s a disaster, with its health, with its education, with almost everything else. It’s a disaster, and it’s getting worse all the time. “The question for me is, how long does the British government stand back from its responsibilities in respect of ensuring proper governance for the people of part of the United Kingdom?” He also said London needed to “think carefully about how long it allows this to drift on, because we’re assuming the Assembly will come back at the end of this year ... if it doesn’t...

Contents • 1 History • 1.1 Original plans • 1.2 Finished building • 1.3 Statues • 1.4 Architectural fittings • 1.5 Uses for the building • 1.6 Security breach • 2 The chambers • 2.1 Assembly Chamber • 2.2 Senate • 3 Stormont Estate • 3.1 Stormont regulations • 3.2 Gallery • 4 References • 5 External links The entire House of Commons chamber was destroyed by a fire on 2 January 1995, blamed on an electrical fault in the wiring below the Speaker's chair. Critics alleged arson and noted how the destruction of the chamber allowed the creation of the modern, less-confrontational chamber now used by the power-sharing Senate Unlike the new Assembly chamber which replaced the old House of Commons chamber, the There have been few changes made to the chamber since the building opened in 1932. One change is the installation of television cameras and microphones. Another is the addition of two paintings. One painting, which is untitled, depicts the state opening of the Northern Ireland Parliament in 1921. Facing this painting on the opposing wall is The House Shall Divide, a group portrait of the members elected to the inaugural Assembly in the A further alteration that has been made to the chamber since 1932 is the addition of an inscription in the marble of the balustrade of the Senate Chambers Press Gallery. The message reads: "This inscription records the gratitude of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom for the use of this chamber as an operations room by the Royal Air ...

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Play Brightcove video We ask if any sort of agreement can be found on how we remember the dead of the troubles as the Sinn Fein MP John Finucane is heavily criticised for attending an IRA commemoration at the weekend. Discussing all the difficult issues related to legacy: Kenny Donaldson from the victims and survivors group SEFF, Daniel Holder from the Committee on the Administration of Justice, commentator Chris Donnelly and Sandra Peake from the WAVE trauma centre. You'll hear from the Victims' Commissioner Ian Jeffers. Tonight's commentators are Professor Deirdre Heenan and Sam McBride. •