The new Westminster Register of Interests has been pored over . Locally the Robinsons have registered their two sons, daughter and daughter in law as employees. Ian Paisley hasn't declared Ian Paisley Jr., although he is still on the Westminster researcher's register. (Questioned by my Westminster colleague Lisa Costello, Ian Junior wouldn't confirm or deny whether he is still employed as his father's researcher, saying only that it was something his father would have to clarify).
Family matters to one side there is an interesting discrepancy between what our MPs feel they ought to register. The Foyle MP Mark Durkan registers his Chairmanship of the Stormont Enterprise Committee, which should earn him a payment of just over £11,000. However Ian Paisley Senior and Martin McGuinness don't put down the fact that they are First and Deputy First Ministers (earning salaries of more than £71,000) and Peter Robinson, Michelle Gildernew, Conor Murphy, Jeffrey Donaldson, and Nigel Dodds also don't note their ministerial duties. The eagle eyed commenter Noel Adams pointed this out to me.
On tomorrow's Inside Politics the SDLP leader urges his fellow MPs to amend their details. He also talks about the Ashdown review on parading, the government's plans to detain terror suspects for 42 days, the Embryology Bill and the prospects for a joint Fianna Fail SDLP candidacy in next summer's European elections. That's all on Inside Politics at a quarter to one on Saturday afternoon on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio Ulster.
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I was at a conference on "How the Northern Ireland Assembly Works" yesterday. Organised by the AgendaNI magazine, it included presentations from politicians, lobbyists and officials on the nuts and bolts of the system. The Principal Clerk from the Bill Office, Martin Wilson, talked us through the stages of law making, during which he divulged when a Stormont bill is deemed to have received Royal Assent.
After passing its various stages and being forwarded to the Secretary of State, the "letters patent" are presented to the Queen to sign. Once she has done that, the documents are sent back to the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast. There a senior official applies a great seal. Only when the official lifts the phone and informs the Speaker's Office that the deed has been done does the measure become law.
This raised in my mind the notion of rugby tackling a ceremonially dressed Buckingham Palace flunky as he approached the Royal Courts as a last ditch attempt to avert, say, water charges becoming law. Sadly Martin tells me there is no flunky - the "letters patent" travel via more traditional mail.
It's often said the Assembly hasn't passed any laws. This isn't true. Martin says 8 bills have passed their final stage. The Assembly has introduced 14 bills since restoration and should start processing 8 to 10 more before the summer break.
The fact is, though, that most of these have been inherited from the days of direct rule or deal with fairly technical changes (including so called parity measures which keep our welfare systems in line with those in Great Britain). Martin says one reason why there has been no avalanche of legislation is that preparing an Executive bill can take up to two years, and the current administration is just coming up to its first birthday.
Private members bills can be dealt with more quickly (say in 3 to 4 months) and we now have one in the shape of David McNarry's Carer's bill. A few other private members' bills are in the early stages of preparation.
If you want to keep an eye on the bills under consideration and where they have got to so far you can do so via the Assembly website The explanatory memorandum attached to each bill normally provides a sense of the measure's purpose.
Leaked details of the interim Ashdown report have been condemned by the SDLP's Dolores Kelly and welcomed by the Orange Order, who see it as a victory in their campaign to abolish the Parades Commission. If the new structures enjoy the participation of both the Loyal Orders and nationalist residents groups they may stand a better chance of success than previous "piggies in the middle".
However the suggested involvement of panels appointed by the OFMDFM will raise some eyebrows given the difficulties associated with the new Victims Commission. If a three strong panel appointed to rule on a particular marching dispute is divided will they be allowed to reach a verdict by a majority vote, or should it be unanimous?
There's also the involvement of the councils as an "administrative conduit" for march applications. Although the Ashdown team's aim is to depoliticise parades, our councils haven't exactly been apolitical on the topic in recent years.
Presuming the NIO accepts the report, the new structures will not be in place in time to deal with this year's marching season. So the Parades Commission still has a job to do in the immediate future.
However it will be interesting to see if the proposals could be put in place for the summer of 2009, and whether there may be any interplay between the introduction of a marching solution attractive to the DUP and the party's acceptance that the time is right to devolve policing and justice.
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