Liberty and all that

I am a guest on BBC Radio Ulster’s Seven Days programme today. Joining me on the panel are Dr Alex McGarel from the World Wildlife Fund, local economist John Simpson and Dr Karise Hutchinson from the University of Ulster.

 We will be discussing Gordon Brown’s ‘Liberty’ speech, two reports on supermarkets - their packaging and the dominance of multiples on the high street, the Northern Ireland Programme for Government and Budget, as well as the commercialisation of Halloween and the new ’shorter’ translation of War and Peace.

 I guess I’m on to add some perspective to Gordon Brown’s proposals to grant civil law recourse to people named in books written by those convicted of a crime. It’s an interesting suggestion and one which would give rightful recourse to victims and hit those looking to profit from their notoriety where it hurts, in their pockets. The other option would be to restrict the freedom of the press or publishers to decide what should or should not be published – something I would not support. The rest of his speech is well worth a read.

I posted on Thursday about the budget and Programme for Government.

Don’t know what to say about War and Peace!

A business budget, but where is the incentive?

The Executive published three important documents today. First up was the Programme for Government (PFG), which outlines the devolved administration’s policy agenda for the next three years followed closely by the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland (ISNI) which does what its says on the tin. Immediately after Finance Minister, Peter Robinson MP published his first Budget.

Big headline is the focus on infrastructure and investment to bolster our regional economy. It will be presented as a budget for business and whilst there is support for Tourism and important infrastructure work there are no major stimulants for economic growth such as a reduction in corporation tax. ‘Not my fault’, Robinson will say as he does not have tax varying powers but a major weakness none the less.

O’Conall Street would be more inclined to describe it as a public sector reform and investment budget. In short it’s a spending plan on a balance sheet with no significant revenue stream beyond the regional rate. The promise of 6,500 news jobs from inward investment is achievable but begs the question – how many more could this region be vying for if it had an attractive headline rate of corporation tax?

 The public service is also targeted today for savings across the board with efficiency targets at savings of up to £790million by 2010 – 2011. This is long overdue but will prove very difficult to achieve unless the entire Executive and the senior civil service across our eleven departments buy in to reform. With an Assembly full of career public servants this may not be as straightforward as it sounds.

 Two important points for those of you involved in representative roles. The PfG and ISNI are both consultative documents with a ten week window for comment.

Wheely great sight

OK so its an unashamed plug for a WS project but the new Belfast Wheel looks brilliant. Shadowing the east side of City Hall and towering sixty metres above the pavement our own answer to the London Eye will I am sure be a hit with locals and visitors.

 It’s another sign of the ever changing city centre. This week’s commercial property pages are packed full of glass edifices set to change the Belfast skyline forever and all the indications are that the Belfast commercial property market at least remains stable. That said, if you look carefully there are still signs of ten years ago. Walking down Linenhall Street this morning I noticed a rusting old security gate hanging on to the end of the Health Board building. A closer snoop revealed a security hut (empty) and what must have been the way into this office block a decade ago. It looks so out of place today. In fact my first thought was that you could squeeze a new office block on its narrow site. I’m probably not the first person to have that thought.

So lots of good publicity for the Capital’s developers and the DSD who are behind the Belfast Wheel with Belfast City Council.

Pity we cant say the same about the Giant’s Causeway. Anyone who saw BBC Spotlight last night is might well have the sinking feeling that we have not heard the last of Mr Paisley Jnr, the developer and the future of our only World Heritage Site. From a PR perspective they are all losers. Despite all the interviews and statements the questions remain. Sometimes, even in communications, less is more. It is pretty near impossible to spin your way out of a hole. A much better approach is to address the issues soberly and concisely and ensure that your answers don’t beg more questions. I am not sure all the interviews and two hour press conferences have achieved this.

This worm may well turn!

DUP calls for creationism on science syllabus

The DUP MLA, Mervyn Storey, has today called for Intelligent Design (a form of creationism) to be taught in science classes in Northern Ireland. This is likely to start (and pardon the biblical pun) an almighty row which will divide the Assembly, the churches and the people of Northern Ireland. This issue has not come out of the blue, for some four years now a number of DUP politicians have been seeking to have the creationist analysis presented alongside the geological interpretation at the proposed Giant’s Causeway Interpretive Centre. They believe the Causeway was formed some 4,500 years ago as a result of the biblical flood, slightly at odds with the geological explanation for one of the finest examples of basalt columns in the world. Good reason some more cynical observers would suggest why the party seems  so keen on having it built by a private concern and potentially beyond Assembly scrutiny.

For those of you who have not been following this debate, Creationists believe the Bible to be more or less literally true and that the universe, earth and life were created by God and were not the product of evolution or can be explained scientifically. This view is most strongly held amongst fundamentalist Protestants. The vast majority of those in other major faiths such as Islam, Catholicism and progressive Protestantism see the biblical explanation as compatible with modern scientific theories: an allegory which helps us understand our origins.

Intelligent Design, which is a very polished argument, is what Mr Storey is advocating for our science syllabus. Dr Iain Stewart, one of the best known earth scientists in these islands was discussing this with me over a pint after the Tellus Conference earlier this week. As an eminent scientist he is not surprisingly in total disagreement with Intelligent Design. Whilst flawed in his mind he is critical of mainstream scientists simply trying to ignore creationists rather than dedicating some time and energy to rebutting their flawed arguments. This will have to change if Mr Storey’s campaign is to be resisted. There is a desperate need for science to tackle those who are trying to turn Intelligent Design into a credible scientific theory. Not unsurprisingly Northern Ireland could end up at the centre of a global debate in the years ahead.

For what it’s worth I think creationism is something to be discussed and considered in a religion class, not a science one.

Journey to the centre of the Earth

When people ask what is interesting about my job I often say pretty much everything. Here is a good example. For the past three years Weber Shandwick in Belfast has been working with the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland on the biggest geophysical and geochemical survey ever to take place on these islands. The Tellus project results are being announced today at a major conference in Belfast.

 The project was of tremendous scientific importance but also challenging from a communications point of view given the survey methods (low flying aircraft and direct soil sampling) and the reach (everywhere in NI and some parts of the border counties in the South).  The communications efforts have already been recognised by the PRCA (IRL) and the CIPR Pride Awards where it was the top 2006 winner. Indeed the project’s outreach manager, Dr Marie Cowan, has gone on to us assume one of the top earth science communication roles in Europe as Communications Manager for the British Geological Survey.

Weber Shandwick’s project leader, Sonya Cassidy, will tell you the communications were good but the science is excellent. There is hardly an aspect of life in Northern Ireland that will not benefit from this project’s outputs. There may well turn out to be gold in the Craigantlet Hills or Platinum in Antrim and the possibility of us tapping into geothermal energy deep underground is one step closer a a result of Tellus. Farmers will also be interested in the detailed readings of numerous elements in the ground soil which way exceed anything they would have had access to on a regional basis. I could go on and on but best check out the project website yourself to find out more. As Garth Earls the GSNI’s Director said at the press briefing yesterday. We are scratching the surface of opportunity with this data. It is now time for the private sector and academia to dig deeper into it to grow our economy and make our region more sustainable.

At the outset of the project we set ourselves an objective of trying to connect young people with science through Tellus. Debates, gold panning in the Mournes and cliff walking in Larne all brought us eventually to W5 at the Odyssey where we have hosted two successful Gold Mine days allowing 16 – 18 year olds role play there way through the planning process for a Gold Mine. Each has been a sell out and the third is planned for next February. 

To Garth Earls, Mike Young and Marie Cowan at the GSNI we want to say thanks for making us part of this amazing journey to the centre of (NI’s) earth.

O’Conall Street signposts

Have decided to post an occasional link to some thought provoking blogs. Today I want to signpost Professor Stephen Barnett’s post on the Guardian’s Organ Grinder blog about the BBC’s reaction to recent poor practices within the corporation.

If media isn’t your thing and given it is Sunday you might want to check out Will and Testament’s post on the ‘God Debate’ which took place in Birmingham, Alabama, the other week.

October 12th

October 12th is one of those good anniversary dates on O’Conall Street. Its Columbus Day which always meant a day off school growing up in Spain. The Spanish state’s big day celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the ‘new world’ in 1492. This Oct 12 has been a particularly contentious one because of the ruling socialist government’s determination to distance the new Spain from the dark years of General Franciso Franco’s dictatorship. The Spanish Government are proposing a bill which will outlaw all forms of fascist expression and lead to the removal of all public signs and symbols of ‘Francismo’. Much work has been done symbolism, identity, place and the commemoration of conflict in Northern Ireland. I am thinking in particular of Jane Leonard’s book which was published some years ago by the Community Relations Council. The North has already begun to tackle some of these issues with the creation of new symbols (like the Assembly’s crest and the PSNI badge) and the reconfiguration of old ones. The removal of  ‘old’ symbols and practices continues to cause controversy.  We will want to watch the debate in Spain with close interest here in Ireland.

 Oct 12 is also the day the Nobel Committee announce the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. On that day in 1998 I got up at 6.00am to drive across the Glenshane Pass to John Hume’s house in Derry’s Bogside. I got a call from a Norwegian journalist just as I turned into his street. She told me he would be receiving a call from the Chair of the Nobel Committee at half nine. When Pat Hume opened the door my smile gave it away. John ever the statesman decided to wait for the call which he took in the parlour. A new Nobel Laureate was born and I was there to witness it. Politically, things don’t get much better.

Al Gore got ‘the call’ yesterday morning. Climate and peace and inextricably linked and so many more people know this today because he decided to pick himself up after loosing a  presidential election he actually won and continue to campaign on the issue he has most cared about for thirty years.

My last Oct 12th anniversary is the best. I have two sisters, Sinead and Daire, and when Daire gave birth to her daughter on October 12th 1995 our little family had one of the happiest days of our lives. Polly is now a beautiful, smart young lady. With great grades and her mother’s beauty she will go far. Happy birthday Polly Jean!.

The new Evita

This week’s edition of Time Magazine carries a profile of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, first Lady of Argentina, Senator and if the polls are true its next President. She appears to have captured the public’s imagination in a way Eva Peron did decades ago and will beat Hillary Clinton in the succeed your spouse stakes for the Pink House (in the Latin World everything doesn’t have to be just black or white!).

Dona Cristina is a smart cookie and some politician. She cut her teeth in the newly democratic Argentina with a progressive oratory and responsible economics. Her husband, the current President Kirchner, can claim the credit for having steered his country out of the economic crisis of five years ago. Polling day, Oct 28th. O’Conall St will bring you the result.

Keeping to the Latin theme,  as some of you will know I grew up in the South of Spain where food is king, woman are worshipped and football is more important than life or death. You can imagine how my heart sank this week when ETA continued its pointless war with the attempted murder of a socialist politician’s bodyguard. I owe my education, my politics and my optimism to Spain. And Spain is not a ‘nation’ but a constitutional settlement between several nations. That’s the glue that binds the Andalucian’s with one foot in North Africa with the Northern celts just a boat ride away from ourselves in Ireland. Basque nationalism is a proud tradition and Basque autonomy is a central part of modern Spain. The violence of ETA is as pointless as our’s was. In an increasingly post nationalist world, ETA stand for the past and the people of Euskadi came onto the streets in their thousands on Wednesday to protest against ETA, as they have done for nearly thirty years, to remind them of just that. A proud nation, they will never give in to the men of violence.

Varney report to reject corporation tax cut in NI on dodgey grounds

The report commissioned by the British Government to trash any idea of a reduced rate of corporate tax in Northern Ireland is expected out very soon. Gordon Brown, when still chancellor, asked Sir David Varney to do a good old fashioned hatchet job on the idea and all the suggestions are he will not disappoint his political master.

 There has been a vigorous campaign here on the island of Ireland in favour of a reduction in the rate. The CBI, IoD, Southern Government and the Northern Executive have all lined up in support, meanwhile the British government have mounted quite a fight back. Their most senior diplomats on this island have been expressing their ‘concerns’ to anyone who will listen and a small number of academics and commentators have dedicated themselves to undermining the arguments in favour of the cut.

Weber Shandwick has been working with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland to rebut some of these rumours. During the week at a press briefing in Belfast the ICAI’s Director of Tax, Brian Keegan, said clearly there were no legal or technical reasons  why there could not be a separate rate for NI. And he is right. Varney is reported to have told consultees the Azores Judgement was a huge issue when in fact the British Government defended Portugal’s right to introduce different rates within its jurisdiction and the European court took issue not with the concept of a variable rate but with the fact that the Portuguese had implemented the change without first consulting them.

People close to the Treasury and Varney have also been spreading the word that a reduction in the rate will leave a big hole in tax take. Not so. In the Republic, since its reduction in the mid nineties the overall tax take has actually increased. Fact is the lower tax has been such an incentive for businesses to grow and the public purse is now better off with a lower rate.

Eamonn Donaghy, the ICAI’s Northern Tax Committee Chair, has linked this possible boost in government revenues to the North’s huge over reliance on British Government subsidies. No better way to make the North less of a burden on the rest of the UK in the long term than by creating opportunities for new and increased tax revenues locally.

You can tinker all you like with special incentives for one sector or allowances for another but the one thing that works through the business chain and is open and easily communicated at home and abroad is a low headline rate. That is what people want in NI and to be frank after the past thirty years they deserve a break.

 The ICAI have been lobbying members of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and have secured considerable support for an inquiry into the Varney report when it is published. This is essential if the Varney spin is to be tackled and the campaign kept alive.  

Byrne twitters on the blog

As far as I can see WS UK and Ireland CEO, Colin Byrne is the first of our industry’s bloggers to start a twitter. Not entirely sure what it is but according to Wikipedia, Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send “updates” (text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) via SMS, instant messaging, email, to the Twitter website, or an application such as Twitterrific. Twitter was founded in March 2006 by San Francisco start-up company Obvious Corp.Updates are displayed on the user’s profile page and also instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. The sender can restrict delivery to those in his or her circle of friends (delivery to everyone is the default). Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, instant messaging, SMS, RSS, email or through an application. For SMS, currently three gateway numbers are available: short codes for the USA and Canada and a UK number for international use. Several third parties offer posting and receiving updates via email.

Check it out on byrne baby byrne. Sorry Colin, could not resist the headline!