Ireland: Day 10
Day 10 consisted of another trip to Belfast, for Bobby and myself to get a more up close and personal look at the inner workings of Stormont and the Northern Ireland Assembly. As always, we caught the bus to Downpatrick at 8:00 AM.
We then headed to the Oakley Fayre, the official favorite breakfast joint among Young Ambassadors in Downpatrick. The classic toasted bagel with scrambled egg and bacon was the bird in the hand selection for me this morning...guaranteed declisiousness!
Bobby and I went to Margaret Ritchie's office to hitch a ride with Maria to Stormont again. We arrived around 9:00 AM and then hopped in Maria's car to head up to Belfast. We had the chance to meet Katherine, Margaret Ritchie's niece who majored in Political Science and Accountancy.
I told the ladies the story of me almost missing the bus this morning. So I was just hanging out near the apartment wating for Bobby to come downstairs. Jim had left with his laundry basket and I just assumed he was coming back to the apartment...so I left the door wide open so Jim wouldn't get locked out. As Bobby and I left, we walked by the laundry room to see if Jim was there, but the door was closed. So we continued on, figuring he just went back to the apartment. Anyways, Bobby and I finally get to the bus and as we walk up Bobby goes, "Hey Kyle...isn't that Jim in the front of the line."
I did a double take and realized that our door was wide open with no one to close it for 10 hours. I had to sprint back through the town of Dundrum in a blue shirt and tie in order to shut the door of our apartment. Remember how I had mentioned that school kids just litter the bus lines in the morning for their ride to school...yeah well that was embarassing sprinting in dress clothes through a bunch of kids dressed like Harry Potter. (In Northern Ireland...all school children where uniform suits to school). Thankfully the bus driver stuck around for me...I think mainly because he felt so bad for me!
Nevertheless, I really didn't need much for coffee because my heart was beating pretty good after the all out sprint.
So Maria, Bobby and I headed on the Ireland back roads to Storemont. We had a great conversation with Maria on the way up. We talked about lots of different things including my story telling ability...which apparently is pretty poor ;-)...we also talked about the phrase "We gotta book it out of here..." We told her that it's normally a phrase that is used when you're in trouble and need to run away...so I doubt Maria will need to use it anytime soon ;-)
We showed up to Stormont and went through the security checkpoint once again...I think the security guys are starting to get to know us! Next, we went into the SDLP party office and met Ashley who is the party treasurer that arranged our day. Maria then left us like a mom at a grown up day-care and for Bobby and I it was like an entire day of recess!
Starting our day was a visit to the Committee of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. We had the chance to meet with Jim and Soey, and ironically Soey is a graduate of UW-Milwaukee and calls Milwaukee home. These two are committee staffpersons who work with MLA's to make the committees as efficient as possible. Jim and Soey do research on policy as well as work with Assemblypersons that want to develop legislation within the committee.
Jim gave us an overview of the committee including the agencies, boards and comissions that the committee works with. Some of these different government groups include Invest NI, Energy Regulators, Toruism Ireland, Consumer Council and Northern Ireland Tourist Board. We also had a great lesson on committee structures as well as where committees derive their power.
One of the things that I wondered about throughout my time here in Northern Ireland was how the country utilized currency within the United Kingdom. Many of the banks offer bank notes through their own bank (Ulster Bank, Bank of Ireland, etc.) Essentially, as Jim said, the currency created by these banks are not even legal tender. They are essentially backed by their own bank but not accepted in England, as the Bank of England provides the only legal tender in the United Kingdom.
Lunch followed the tour and Minister Ritchie bought lunch for Bobby, Ashley and myself. After all of the controversy over expense accounts Bobby and I joked about being subpoened to testify after accepting a meal from politicans. See this website to understand a little bit about the MP Expense Account controversy... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/
After lunch, we went to see Stephen from the communications department of the SDLP. Stephen is in charge of press releases within the party and talked with us a little bit about working with the press in Northern Ireland and the rest of Great Britain. He said that according to the Northern Ireland Act of 1998, all political parties must be equally represented within the media.
He also talked about the importance of developing and maintaining solid relationships with journalists throughout the country. He said that the newspapers, whom have a unionist or nationlist bias similar to conservative or liberal slants in American media, heavily control what type of coverage is given to the politicians. Also, politicians are only allowed a certain amount of space per year within the newspapers so Stephen's job is to utilize that space as effective as possible. He said that he also must conduct some damage control when something bad comes out about the members of their party.
The SDLP, like all the other parties in Northern Ireland, actually have a party office right inside Stormont. I asked the staff about campaigning materials being stored in the office and basically they said it wasn't legal but it wasn't enforced...so many offices utilize their state office space for campaign purposes. I wonder if people are upset about the tremendous amount of overhead that the government has in the Parliament Buildings.
The next area that we went was the ground floor where the Library is held. The Library is utilized as a member resource and has a staff of 14 individuals that mostly work on collecting information for members of the Assembly to make an informed decision on legislation. They produce about 12 reports each month on legislative issues. Ingrid, one of the Senior Librarians at the Assembly Library, showed us the members room as well as the records of chamber meetings since 1921 when the Assembly met in Belfast's City Hall.
The next place we went we met Maureen and Shareene who work for the Business Committee. The Business Committee is in charge of the Order Paper (Agenda) for the Assembly and decides what types of legislation the chamber will take up. The staff members from the business committee serve as assistants to the Speaker's office with parliamentary procedure and the Standing Orders of the Assembly (governing rules of the body).
Lastly, we walked down the hall to the Speaker's Office, an elected member of the Assembly that is only given a vote in the event of a tie among the 108 members of the Assembly. All the ministers (9) and the first and deputy first ministers are elected members of the Assembly and are then placed in their post as executives. We were given lapels with the symbol of the Northern Ireland Assembly by the Chief of Staff in the Speaker's office. We were then given a tour of the office as well as a litle background on the furnishings of the office including paintings, sceptors and a dispatch box that was saved from the fire in the House of Commons in January of 1995.
Some interesting random history on the building - in WWII the British Government had the building painted black with a tar and cow manure mixture to hide the building from invading Axis forces. Belfast was the 3rd hardest hit city throughout the war and as our tour guide kindly mentioned to us, the Northern Irish obviously didn't predict Stormont to ever be hit as they designed a large white building on a hill with roadways in the shape of an arrow pointing at the building...a fairly easy target for any invading enemies.
The tar/manure mixture took workers seven and a half years to remove and return to it's "original" state as a white building...they used only wire brushes and elbow grease. Many have commented that you can still see remnants of the mixture on the building and it could never be refurbished to it's original state.
Our final destination was the Bill Office where Ellis, one of the senior drafters works with legislators, staff and committees to develop bills and help them propose amendments. She gave us a very detailed understanding of what takes place when a bill is written as well as the politics behind bill writing before, during and after introduction in the chamber or committee.
We ended up back in the SDLP office to meet Maria for our ride home. We had a great ride home with her and talked about my fear of rollercoasters (which I proudly overcame as a sophomore in college ;-)), Wisconsin Dells as the waterpark capitol of the world and Maria's trip to Greece this summer. She mentioned that she might be overdoing her holiday visits...with 5 vacations this year alone ;-). If anyone deserves it, it surely is Maria. I was talking to Ashley and Katherine at the SDLP office in Stormont and they mentioned how dedicated Maria is to her work and how she has a great work ethic. I'm so extremely appreciative of the opportunity I've had this trip to work with her.
Maria dropped us off at the bus station where Bobby and I caught the bus home with the rest of the Young Ambassador gang. Jimmy Mac had mentioned how this was the first time that everyone placed in Downpatrick rode the bus home together...very ironic that it was one of our last days together. Our group has certainly come a long way in a week and a half!
Our night ended with a visit from Dr. Campbell in Dundrum, a couple of us napping and some laundry.
As all of us sit here we're contemplating recent news around Wisconsin and the rest of the States. We just read about the two police men shot in Milwaukee as well as the security guard killed at the US Holocaust museum. We take our home protection for granted and being here in Northern Ireland I spend a lot of time talking to people who have lived through a time period that they weren't safe in their home. Today our tour guide commented that, "When you've grown up with tanks on your roadways and military checkpoints on your way to school...you don't know anything else." Our civil servants, police officers, security officers, firefighters and medical staff keep us safe each and everyday...yet we take their services for granted.
One of the girls from the group, Meghan, was in the Holocaust Museum almost three times a week last summer as she studied Holocaust Studies. She commented how, "She probably walked past that guy everyday..." I think it hit some of us how we think more about these individuals as enforcement officers instead of peace officers. We complain about speeding tickets, airline checkpoints and smoke alarms...yet we take our homeland security for granted and don't realize that the purpose of these agencies is to protect our society.
The people of Northern Ireland have had to readjust their lives because of their inability to be secure in their own homes. This isn't distant history...it just ended in 1998. This can happen anytime and anywhere. We don't think about those that protect us in our own homeland...so for all the times I've never said it...thank you.
Til tomorrow,
- Kyle
We then headed to the Oakley Fayre, the official favorite breakfast joint among Young Ambassadors in Downpatrick. The classic toasted bagel with scrambled egg and bacon was the bird in the hand selection for me this morning...guaranteed declisiousness!
Bobby and I went to Margaret Ritchie's office to hitch a ride with Maria to Stormont again. We arrived around 9:00 AM and then hopped in Maria's car to head up to Belfast. We had the chance to meet Katherine, Margaret Ritchie's niece who majored in Political Science and Accountancy.
I told the ladies the story of me almost missing the bus this morning. So I was just hanging out near the apartment wating for Bobby to come downstairs. Jim had left with his laundry basket and I just assumed he was coming back to the apartment...so I left the door wide open so Jim wouldn't get locked out. As Bobby and I left, we walked by the laundry room to see if Jim was there, but the door was closed. So we continued on, figuring he just went back to the apartment. Anyways, Bobby and I finally get to the bus and as we walk up Bobby goes, "Hey Kyle...isn't that Jim in the front of the line."
I did a double take and realized that our door was wide open with no one to close it for 10 hours. I had to sprint back through the town of Dundrum in a blue shirt and tie in order to shut the door of our apartment. Remember how I had mentioned that school kids just litter the bus lines in the morning for their ride to school...yeah well that was embarassing sprinting in dress clothes through a bunch of kids dressed like Harry Potter. (In Northern Ireland...all school children where uniform suits to school). Thankfully the bus driver stuck around for me...I think mainly because he felt so bad for me!
Nevertheless, I really didn't need much for coffee because my heart was beating pretty good after the all out sprint.
So Maria, Bobby and I headed on the Ireland back roads to Storemont. We had a great conversation with Maria on the way up. We talked about lots of different things including my story telling ability...which apparently is pretty poor ;-)...we also talked about the phrase "We gotta book it out of here..." We told her that it's normally a phrase that is used when you're in trouble and need to run away...so I doubt Maria will need to use it anytime soon ;-)
We showed up to Stormont and went through the security checkpoint once again...I think the security guys are starting to get to know us! Next, we went into the SDLP party office and met Ashley who is the party treasurer that arranged our day. Maria then left us like a mom at a grown up day-care and for Bobby and I it was like an entire day of recess!
Starting our day was a visit to the Committee of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. We had the chance to meet with Jim and Soey, and ironically Soey is a graduate of UW-Milwaukee and calls Milwaukee home. These two are committee staffpersons who work with MLA's to make the committees as efficient as possible. Jim and Soey do research on policy as well as work with Assemblypersons that want to develop legislation within the committee.
Jim gave us an overview of the committee including the agencies, boards and comissions that the committee works with. Some of these different government groups include Invest NI, Energy Regulators, Toruism Ireland, Consumer Council and Northern Ireland Tourist Board. We also had a great lesson on committee structures as well as where committees derive their power.
One of the things that I wondered about throughout my time here in Northern Ireland was how the country utilized currency within the United Kingdom. Many of the banks offer bank notes through their own bank (Ulster Bank, Bank of Ireland, etc.) Essentially, as Jim said, the currency created by these banks are not even legal tender. They are essentially backed by their own bank but not accepted in England, as the Bank of England provides the only legal tender in the United Kingdom.
Lunch followed the tour and Minister Ritchie bought lunch for Bobby, Ashley and myself. After all of the controversy over expense accounts Bobby and I joked about being subpoened to testify after accepting a meal from politicans. See this website to understand a little bit about the MP Expense Account controversy... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/
After lunch, we went to see Stephen from the communications department of the SDLP. Stephen is in charge of press releases within the party and talked with us a little bit about working with the press in Northern Ireland and the rest of Great Britain. He said that according to the Northern Ireland Act of 1998, all political parties must be equally represented within the media.
He also talked about the importance of developing and maintaining solid relationships with journalists throughout the country. He said that the newspapers, whom have a unionist or nationlist bias similar to conservative or liberal slants in American media, heavily control what type of coverage is given to the politicians. Also, politicians are only allowed a certain amount of space per year within the newspapers so Stephen's job is to utilize that space as effective as possible. He said that he also must conduct some damage control when something bad comes out about the members of their party.
The SDLP, like all the other parties in Northern Ireland, actually have a party office right inside Stormont. I asked the staff about campaigning materials being stored in the office and basically they said it wasn't legal but it wasn't enforced...so many offices utilize their state office space for campaign purposes. I wonder if people are upset about the tremendous amount of overhead that the government has in the Parliament Buildings.
The next area that we went was the ground floor where the Library is held. The Library is utilized as a member resource and has a staff of 14 individuals that mostly work on collecting information for members of the Assembly to make an informed decision on legislation. They produce about 12 reports each month on legislative issues. Ingrid, one of the Senior Librarians at the Assembly Library, showed us the members room as well as the records of chamber meetings since 1921 when the Assembly met in Belfast's City Hall.
The next place we went we met Maureen and Shareene who work for the Business Committee. The Business Committee is in charge of the Order Paper (Agenda) for the Assembly and decides what types of legislation the chamber will take up. The staff members from the business committee serve as assistants to the Speaker's office with parliamentary procedure and the Standing Orders of the Assembly (governing rules of the body).
Lastly, we walked down the hall to the Speaker's Office, an elected member of the Assembly that is only given a vote in the event of a tie among the 108 members of the Assembly. All the ministers (9) and the first and deputy first ministers are elected members of the Assembly and are then placed in their post as executives. We were given lapels with the symbol of the Northern Ireland Assembly by the Chief of Staff in the Speaker's office. We were then given a tour of the office as well as a litle background on the furnishings of the office including paintings, sceptors and a dispatch box that was saved from the fire in the House of Commons in January of 1995.
Some interesting random history on the building - in WWII the British Government had the building painted black with a tar and cow manure mixture to hide the building from invading Axis forces. Belfast was the 3rd hardest hit city throughout the war and as our tour guide kindly mentioned to us, the Northern Irish obviously didn't predict Stormont to ever be hit as they designed a large white building on a hill with roadways in the shape of an arrow pointing at the building...a fairly easy target for any invading enemies.
The tar/manure mixture took workers seven and a half years to remove and return to it's "original" state as a white building...they used only wire brushes and elbow grease. Many have commented that you can still see remnants of the mixture on the building and it could never be refurbished to it's original state.
Our final destination was the Bill Office where Ellis, one of the senior drafters works with legislators, staff and committees to develop bills and help them propose amendments. She gave us a very detailed understanding of what takes place when a bill is written as well as the politics behind bill writing before, during and after introduction in the chamber or committee.
We ended up back in the SDLP office to meet Maria for our ride home. We had a great ride home with her and talked about my fear of rollercoasters (which I proudly overcame as a sophomore in college ;-)), Wisconsin Dells as the waterpark capitol of the world and Maria's trip to Greece this summer. She mentioned that she might be overdoing her holiday visits...with 5 vacations this year alone ;-). If anyone deserves it, it surely is Maria. I was talking to Ashley and Katherine at the SDLP office in Stormont and they mentioned how dedicated Maria is to her work and how she has a great work ethic. I'm so extremely appreciative of the opportunity I've had this trip to work with her.
Maria dropped us off at the bus station where Bobby and I caught the bus home with the rest of the Young Ambassador gang. Jimmy Mac had mentioned how this was the first time that everyone placed in Downpatrick rode the bus home together...very ironic that it was one of our last days together. Our group has certainly come a long way in a week and a half!
Our night ended with a visit from Dr. Campbell in Dundrum, a couple of us napping and some laundry.
As all of us sit here we're contemplating recent news around Wisconsin and the rest of the States. We just read about the two police men shot in Milwaukee as well as the security guard killed at the US Holocaust museum. We take our home protection for granted and being here in Northern Ireland I spend a lot of time talking to people who have lived through a time period that they weren't safe in their home. Today our tour guide commented that, "When you've grown up with tanks on your roadways and military checkpoints on your way to school...you don't know anything else." Our civil servants, police officers, security officers, firefighters and medical staff keep us safe each and everyday...yet we take their services for granted.
One of the girls from the group, Meghan, was in the Holocaust Museum almost three times a week last summer as she studied Holocaust Studies. She commented how, "She probably walked past that guy everyday..." I think it hit some of us how we think more about these individuals as enforcement officers instead of peace officers. We complain about speeding tickets, airline checkpoints and smoke alarms...yet we take our homeland security for granted and don't realize that the purpose of these agencies is to protect our society.
The people of Northern Ireland have had to readjust their lives because of their inability to be secure in their own homes. This isn't distant history...it just ended in 1998. This can happen anytime and anywhere. We don't think about those that protect us in our own homeland...so for all the times I've never said it...thank you.
Til tomorrow,
- Kyle
posted by Kyle T. O'Brien @ 10:20 AM
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