Britton Blog - An American Student in Galway, Ireland

Post-graduate study abroad experiences in Ireland

Northern Ireland Assembly elections

Emblem of Northern Ireland Assembly

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin, the hardline Nationalist party, both gained seats in Northern Ireland Assembly elections yesterday. The DUP is expected to pick up at least 3 seats to end up with 35, while Sinn Féin should add 4 seats for a total of 28. However, unless a power sharing agreement among the government department executives can be reached by 26 March, the Assembly will be dissolved.

The Assembly has been suspended since October 2002 and if reinstated, will give Northern Ireland home rule once again.

I am still learning about the complex political situation between the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland (UK) and at this point still have not formed an opinion one way or the other. It will be interesting to see if the Assembly is reinstated and how it may change the political climate.

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4 very welcomed comments so far...

  1. Bryan Baker March 10th, 2007 12:17 am

    Hey James,
    First time I’ve heard about politics between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. I’ve been following Czech politics loosely…and of course American politics are impossible to truly follow ;-)

    Hope you’re enjoying your post-grad. over seas. I’m a business student here in Corvallis, Oregon at Oregon State University. GO BEAVERS!

    Keep posting.

  2. James Britton March 10th, 2007 9:08 am

    ROI and Northern Ireland have essentially been at peace since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, though there have been a few incidents since then. The Assembly has been dissolved since 2002 so this is a very historic occasion. Prime Minister Tony Blair (UK) and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (ROI) have urged the Assembly to take advantage of this opportunity to restore sharing of power in the executive offices (much like the US president’s Cabinet posts). The clock is ticking to 26 March in order to accomplish this, however.

    I enjoy living in Ireland, but it has been a big adjustment. I think I am finally settled here though and I have another year and a half to go.

    All the best in your business studies. My alma mater is Washington University in St. Louis. Go Bears!

  3. Bryan Baker March 10th, 2007 10:02 am

    No constructive criticism post…so I’ll leave it here.

    BEST
    Colors. Easy to read, great structure for posting comments, and besides the Ireland Google Ads…clean page.

    WORST
    ·Advertisements cluttering posts.
    ·Bottom of posts has so many links!

    I SUGGEST U
    ·Clean up the site, maybe a few advertisements, but nothing intruding. Content must come before ads.
    ·Remove “Yesterdays’ Top 5 Links”.
    ·Remove calendar.
    ·What is twitter? Remove?

    in summary…clean up the ads and un-needed sidebar objects.

    Keep up the great content :-D

  4. […] some of their collection will be on display at the National Gallery in Dublin until September. An Irish peace offering […]

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