Monthly Archives: May 2016

What does it usually mean? A stalemate due to the Fáilure of any party or bloc of parties to assemble a majority of TDs in favour of a government formation What does it mean in this election? The prospect that, based on all available opinion polls, the current FG/Labour government will fail to hold on to its majority, or even come close enough to a majority to form a broader coalition with other parties, or to govern with the support of independents. Add to that the fact that no alternative coalition is on offer to voters at this election, leaving the prospect that the new Dáil will not elect a government when it meets for the first time on March 10th. Where did it come from? The phrase is believed to have its roots in the 19th century American phrase “hung jury”, derived from the sense of “hung” to mean … Continue reading →

Yes there are a number of options available, you can set your browser either to reject all cookies, to allow only “trusted” sites to set them, or to only accept them from the site you are currently on. However, please note – if you block/delete all cookies, some features of our websites, such as remembering your login details, or the site branding for your local newspaper may not function as a result. Parliamentary reports show first speaker only – follow this lnk for the full transcription. Articles may come from parliamentary reports, various public news feeds and Google News Search. Content is republished here for context. Copyright is respected and remains with the original author at all times. Original Article:http://www.carrickfergustimes.co.uk/news/carrickfergus-news/assembly-election-2016-uup-s-roy-beggs-retains-east-antrim-seat-1-7370361

The DUP’s David Hilditch looks likely to top the poll in East Antrim, with his party colleague Paul Girvan looking good to take the most first preference votes in South Antrim. In East Antrim the UUP’s Roy Beggs also appears to have polled well and could be close to making the quota on the first count. According to one DUP supporter, “it could be as we were at the end of the day”, with three DUP, one UUP, one Alliance and one Sinn Fein MLA. However, there is a long way to go yet. In South Antrim the DUP are confident that they can retain the three seats they won in 2011, but that could depend on where transfers go after the first couple of counts. UUP newcomer Steve Aiken, a former Royal Navy submarine commander, seems likely to win a seat, but party sources say things aren’t looking so … Continue reading →