A few weeks back we put the call out to people and organisations within the Irish Republican community for interviews on what Irish Republicanism means to them.  We are aware that Irish Republicanism has a wide spectrum of different views from traditional abstentionists to constitutional republicanism.  We have spoke to most Irish Republican organisations and have interviewed some people and still to interview a few more.  This morning we woke to hear the BBC talking with Des Dalton the President of Republican Sinn Fein.  So we decided that our recent interview with Republican Sinn Fein would be very relevant and many will find it interesting.

This first interview is with Geraldine Taylor Vice President of Republican Sinn Fein.

Over the next few weeks we will be releasing more interviews in this series with IRSM, Sinn Fein, éirígí, RNU, Ogra Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail giving you a wide distribution of views and opinions from within Irish Republican politics.  

Inside Irish Republicanism : Interview 1 , Republican Sinn Fein from R8YourPolitician on Vimeo.

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We arrived at Stormont just after midday, the under 10's hurling & camogie games were almost finished.  At 12:30 the Edward Carson Trophy Poc Fada kicked off.  Those taking part included Gerry Adams MP, the Education Minister Caitríona Ruane , Barbara DeBrune , Marty Rogan, Mark Sidebottom, Conor Murphy , Tommy Gallagher and many more.

The sun was shining, it was the first time I had been to Stormont and it was also the first time an event like this was played at Stormont.  It was good opportunity to visit Stormont on this quiet August summer day and meet some politicians. 

Edward Carson it seems played “hurley” during his time in Trinity College. One of the highlights of today’s Poc ar an Chnoc on the Stormont estate was the celebrity Poc Fada, being played for the Edward Carson Trophy or An Corn Eamonn Mac Carsáin. As I got to the top of that long road to Stormont the iconic statue of Carson greeted us. The trophy depicted Carson in his classic pose but with a hurley in one hand and a sliotar in the other.  

The Poc Fada has been a part of Féile an Phobail for years and is run each year by Rossa Gaelic Athletic Club. 

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So the original article wrote was found to have some incorrect facts.  A kind citizen quickly pointed out to us that the parade that was forced through Ardoyne was in fact authorized to go through Ardoyne by the parades commission.  The citizen sent us the link showing the parade had been authorized.  You can view it here.   When we spoke to residents on Monday evening, watched the video that we were sent and watched the mainstream media reports we were under the impression that this march was not allowed to pass but it had been forced through removing residents who were having a peaceful protest.  

R8 Your Politician apologizes for posting an article with facts that were not accurate we believed that we had a good understanding of the whole situation, clearly not.  We have since updated the article now that we are fully informed of the situation from all involved.  

This year for the weeks leading up to this long weekend of the 12th of July all the people in N.Ireland heard was "Orangefest" , "Orangefest" , "Orangefest".  

This Orangefest that the people kept hearing about was none other than the same old 12th of July celebrations, Orange Order marches, marching bands and bonfires. 

We started asking the people the nationalist & republican people would they be attending this years Orangefest ( 12th of July ).  Overwhelming 100% feedback was no they would not be attending.  

On the Sunday morning , while reading the Sunday Paper we discovered that the local council had funded local bonfires which had Irish flags on the top of them ready to be burned.

One of the main Politicians responsible for using rate payers money to buy wood for a bonfire, hire delivery trucks for the wood and hire a forklift truck is none other than Tommy Kirkham. 

Who is Tommy Kirkham?  , this short video will show you.

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Gordon Brown finally bowed to the inevitable pressure and today quit as Labour leader. Sort of. He will resign as leader once the party has elected a replacement, although that will take a few months. Meanwhile Labour have entered into formal talks with the Lib Dems and it looks pretty obvious that Brown's departure is key to any deal being struck. The Conservatives, who fell 20 seats short of becoming the governing party, are apparently furious that Nick Clegg is prepared to talk to a party who didn't get enough seats to govern on their own. Work that one out. To be fair, they seem more upset that an unelected Labour PM might be followed by another unelected Labour PM. That's true, but so is the fact that not enough people wanted David Cameron to become PM, so now he's reduced to pretending he likes the Lib Dems and their policies.

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In case you haven't already seen this, here's Sky News presenter Kay Burley having a democracy-provoked meltdown live on television -
http://bit.ly/aBvpky. The subject of her hysterical ire was David Babbs of pressure group 38 Degrees, who just seemed slightly bemused by the whole episode. The reason for Burley's anger was that 38 Degrees have been protesting in London for voting reform, although during the course of the interview she seems to get confused and think they're protesting about the Lib Dem / Conservative talks and begins shrieking at Babbs like a deranged right-wing banshee.

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Members of the civil rights campaign group, the Real Fathers for Justice (Rffj), today held coordinated protests around the UK.

In Belfast where activists staged a demo last night then back this morning on the West link (the main route into the city from the M1), and in Middlesbrough, where demonstrators held a protest over the A66 into the city during rush hour.



The action is to highlight continuing failures in the family courts and the politician’s reluctance to deal with the problem.

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We had the first ever N.Ireland Leaders debate, who won the debate! Well it looks like they all failed poorly.  Don't know who the host was asking the questions but he fairly drilled them all on some hot topics.  

Peter Robinson fairly got laid into by the host as well as Sir Reg but he could clearly hold his own.  Robinson fairly killed the debate and discussion surrounding anything to do with Fred Frazier, the piece of land sold for £5 and his wifes dealings.  

Gerry Adams fairly laid into Margaret Ritchie and seemed very happy and confident clearly his campaign of non engaging with the electorate is working well.

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All today we will be running a Poll on the leaders debate.

You can view the Poll here > Leaders Debate Poll

R8 Your Politiciain

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In an earlier article I mentioned what I saw as blatant bias in the UK press towards the different political parties. While some papers, such as the Sunday Times, have been clearly more right-wing in their tone in recent weeks the Sun has taken to deliberately misleading it's readers. In an article that can be found on their website they report an exchange between Labour minister David Miliband and a potential voter in Swindon. The same story was also carried on the Guardian's Election Live Blog. According to the Guardian, the voter, John Doyle, owns two pubs and accused Miliband and Labour of not doing enough for publicans. Doyle then told Miliband he would be voting for the Liberal Democrats. Doyle was then invited into a nearby school to speak personally with Gordon Brown, emerging afterwards to say that he was impressed with Brown and had now decided to vote Labour.

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On Saturday R8 Your Politician had the pleasure of interviewing Conservatives and Unionist candidate for south Belfast Paula Bradshaw.  We wanted to start our series of election interviews with candidates who the people may not know much about.  The electorate are used to watching the same Politicians on tv and the news media for years.  We thought we would start off by interviewing those that were not to well known to the electorate or first time candidates.

R8 Your Politician interview : Paula Bradshaw , Conservatives and Unionists Westminster candidate for South Belfast from Patrick Lismore on Vimeo.

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Depressingly, the only answer to this seems to be yes, and for a variety of reasons. For a start, next week is the beginning of the third week of a four week General Election campaign and our politicians are only getting around to letting us know what their policies are. Judging by the incoherent and unworkable manifestos put forward by the main parties for previous elections maybe this is no bad thing. Anyway, we know what the main theme of each manifesto will be - don't let the other side get in, with the exception of the Alliance Party, who'll want to know why we all can't get along.

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I'm typing this and keeping an eye on Twitter, where Paul Lewis is Tweeting straight from the so-called 'Spin Room' backstage at the Leader's Debate. George Osbourne has been trying to convince him that Cameron won, only to get a very public dressing down from Peter Mandelson. In fairness, Osbourne probably has a lot to do to convince journalists not employed by Rupert Murdoch that David Cameron won. I thought Cameron was pretty solid but not brilliant. Brown was better than I think most people would have expected beforehand, while Nick Clegg will be the happiest. He had little to lose going in and will probably have impressed quite a few people. Going back to Paul Lewis, he Tweets that neither the Labour nor the Conservative spin doctors are denying Clegg was the winner.

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David Cameron invited everyone to join his 'Big Society' and take part in government today during the marathon launch of the Conservative Party elecetion manifesto. I thought yesterday's Labour manifesto was pretty solid, if uninspiring; this one seems to be full of good intentions that will inevitably fail. For a start, the Conservatives have been talking it up as 'a Californian manifesto' on the ConservativeHome website. Given the state of California's economy at the present time that might not be the best comparison to make. Cameron's insistance that 'we're all in this together' has been mocked by both Labour and the Lib Dems and been labelled 'DIY government'.

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Criminals Tighten the noose

Jesus what a shite day I am having. Woke up this morning as bright as a button only to read to my dismay about the passing of the Digital Economy Bill. What is the Digital Economy Bill? The Digital Economy Act 2010 is an Act of Parliament which includes provisions about:

the online infringement of copyright, including copyright and performers’ rights and about penalties for infringement
the functions of Ofcom
internet domain registries
the functions of the Channel Four
the regulation of television and radio services
the regulation of the use of the electromagnetic spectrum
the Video Recordings Act 1984
public lending right in relation to electronic publications
the bill proposes adding a clause to the Communications Act 2003 with the effect that Internet Service Providers could be forced to disclose details of their customers who repeatedly infringe copyright, on production of sufficient evidence, to copyright groups or face a fine of £250,000 for non-compliance.
ISPs to be required to block access to sites that allow "substantial" infringement.

Right browsing through all that Jargon you may think that seems fair enough it is Government trying to protect company's and artists against piracy but this is actually more sinister. This Bill will allow the unelected secretary of state for business, currently Peter Mandelson, to order the blocking of “a location on the internet which the court is satisfied has been, is being or is likely to be used for or in connection with an activity that infringes copyright”.

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Gordon Brown launched Labour's manifesto today and was immediately accused of being a Blairite by some of the more blue-tinged press. My initial reaction, after getting over a front cover that looked like something from the 1950's Soviet Union, was that it was actually pretty good. Granted I haven't read all 76 pages, but the main points look like the work of a party that has finally realised that it needs to to reconnect with an electorate disillusioned with politicians and politics. Depending on the political outlook of the paper you read it'll either be be a disaster or the first significant step in the Labour Party retaining power. If I get a chance I'll get a post up about the approach the newspapers in the UK have taken to this year's election later in the week. If they continue as they have started this campaign, the press here will never be able to criticise their US counterparts on the grounds of blatant bias again.

Back to the manifesto. To start with, I prefer the Labour election slogan of 'A Future Fair For All' to the Conservative message of 'Vote For Change', which sounds like something rejected by the Obama campaign in 2008. Labour's slogan should appeal to their grass-roots socialist supporters while remaining popualist enough for ordinary voters. I know the slogans were unveiled a while ago but I just thought I'd throw that in!

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As you would expect R8YourPolitician has been watching UK Politics now for the last year and now that the election has finally came, what a let down.  After watching that massive 2 year campaign to see Obama get elected and observing the amazing political campaign leveraging of social networking, social media and engagment.  

Things looked very promising in the UK, election had to happen in 2010.  A chance for the electorate to stand up, be counted and vote.  Remember the promised Lisbon Treaty ReferendumS, remember that War based on lies of Weapons of mass destruction.  Who can forget in a western democratic capitalist free market country the government stepping in and nationalising Northern Rock, pumping billions of the country's money into banks, bailing them out because they failed.  We will not even mention the expenses and lobbying scandals. 

This article is not about the above its about the trend data that we can see on the public searching for these common terms, Parliament, House of Commons and Westminster.

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 Thank God For the Tory's

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British Adams and McGuinness Attack Free Press in Ireland

BY BFClarkeNUJ 

Dublin : Ireland | Apr 05, 2010

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THE PATRIOT GAME - Ireland

BY BFClarkeNUJ 

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  Robinson Out

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 Today I launched my pamphlet, Lost labours, with Nick Clegg.

As somebody who has a long involvement with the Labour party, including editing the New Statesman magazine, I have been able to give a frank and honest appraisal of a decade and a half of New Labour. And in it I explain why I can no longer support them, and am instead turning to the Liberal Democrats. You can read a more condensed version in an article I wrote for the Guardianhere.

Alongside one million other voters, I deserted Labour in 2005 in protest at Iraq in favour of the Liberal Democrats, the only party to oppose the war. My decision to back the Lib Dems in 2010 is based in a more fundamental appraisal of Labour’s record together with a positive assessment of the Liberal Democrats’ platform.

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RURAL AFFAIRS AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
AGENDA
4th Meeting, 2010 (Session 3)
Tuesday 23 February 2010
The Committee will meet at 1.30 pm in Weigh Inn Hotel, Thurso, Caithness

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Public Petitions Committee Official Report 9 February 2010

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Public Audit Committee Official Report 10 February 2010

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Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee Official Report 10 February 2010

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Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee Official Report 10 February 2010

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Helping the emergency services to save the lives of at-risk rural patients

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Over the past few weeks R8YourPolitician has been aware of potentially damaging allegations and accusations that were brought to our attention by citizens regarding senior members of the DUP.  

When we first came across the alarming statements we put them to the side as the usual Mourne Mountain fairy dust sprinkled lies aimed at spreading rumors and slandering public servants which is very common there is at least one a week from each political background.  We regularly get political rivals, political foot soldiers trying to slander the political opponents and use R8YourPolitician platform to push their ludicrous claims.

One of the sources came to us weeks before the Iris Robinson scandal, weeks before the media got any sniff of it.  However unlike the Iris Robinson saga we could not verify the claims and so refused to push it.  Weeks later when it all broke in the media the source came back saying "told you so".  

So when this source came forward again with these new revelations set to rock the DUP, revelations that have nothing to do with Peter or Iris but other high profile public servants in the DUP we set out to see if there was any validity to these claims.  We tried to find other points of reference that could verify the claims being made.  Much to our surprise we were contacted via Skype from a citizen expressing extremely similar allegations regarding the same DUP member.  So now we have two citizens different parts of the country, different age groups and totally opposite in many ways coming through with the same revelations.  Further more scratching the surface it seems that there is definitely something brewing.  Two credible sources in our eyes validating the same story is starting to ring alarm bells that something is up.

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Rural Affairs and Environment Committee Official Report 10 February 2010

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Public Audit Committee Report

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Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee Official Report 9 February 2010

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Local Government and Communities Committee Official Report 10 February 2010

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Official Report 11 February 2010

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11 February 2010 Forth Crossing Bill at Stage 1

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Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1

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Official Report 10 February 2010

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THIS WEEK IN THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

Summary

Week beginning – 8 February 2010

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Official Report 4 February 2010

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Scottish newspaper industry

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The decision on Abdelbaset al-Megrahi

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Official Report 3 February 2010

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Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill

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كثيرا من الحكومات في العالم تضع ضمن اولوياتها توفير الحماية لمواطنيها من اي هجوم ارهابي قد يتعرضون له، كما انها تسخر كافة امكانياتها المادية واجهزتها الامنية بكافة تشكيلاتها للحيلولة دون تعرضها لمثل هكذا هجومات ارهابية قد تؤدي بارواح مواطنيها والممتلكات العامة والخاصة، ويكون الجانب الاستخباراتي هو العامل الرئيس الذي تعتمد عليه الحكومات في العالم لكشف اي محاولات او نوايا لهجوم ارهابي يستهدفها داخل اراضيها.

Many governments around the world make it a priority to protect its citizens from any terrorist attack might be exposed, as they harness the full potential of physical and security apparatus in all configurations to prevent exposure to terrorist attacks like so may lead lives of citizens and public and private property, and have the intelligence is the main factor upon which governments in the world to detect any attempts or intentions of a terrorist attack target inside its territory.

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Morning Mark

Open Question for you

You need to convince the public that climate change is happening and not just a reason to raise taxes. There is little if any proof that the global warming is anything other than what was going to happen anyway.

There have been many articles by respected authorities and scientists actually showing in the last 10 years the earth has ACTUALLY COOLED.

Globally what Britain does when China, Africa, Asia etc etc go unfettered is going to have such a minimal impact. 

Rate Mark Durkan

Letter was asked to Mark Durkan by John Davidson on Facebook 

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R8YourPolitician (Rate Your Politician) is a newly established reputation based E-Democracy rating platform for the public to rate and review Politicians.  It is an innovative new E-Democracy web platform that engages and empowers ordinary citizens through effective use of Internet technology.  Citizens can actively take part in rating politicians on a scale of 1 – 5 and leave a review.  Citizens can also put forward topics and questions for Polls.  Citizens no longer have to wait to the next election let Politicians know how they feel, they can now contribute to a Politicians reputation on a daily basis 24 hrs a day 7 days a week.  As Politicians are debating in Parliament or talking on the news citizens can be rating them and leaving a review.     Constant engagement and real time rating can now be integrated into daily political life.  Opinion polls are mentioned every week in the newspapers and the media.  The media does not tell you that these polls can range from a few hundred pounds to almost £12,000 per poll, possibly more how many citizens have that kind of money to spend on a Poll.  On the R8 Your Politician website citizens can put forward topics and questions for Polls and we can run them scientifically so that they can be used to support issues and causes that citizens are involved in.  That empowers not just citizens but the many pressure groups and community groups across the country that lobbies government; they can now have opinion polls to support their campaign and cause while they are rating their politicians.

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What is Social Media?

Here is some definitions;

1 : A category of sites that is based on user participation and user-generated content. They include social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook, social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us, social news sites like Digg or Reddit, and other sites that are centered on user interaction.

Source

2 : Online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other.

Source

3 : An umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words and pictures.  This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and "building" of shared meaning, as peoples share their stories, and understandings.

Source

I came across this video which prompted me to write this article.  The video is titled "Social Media in plain English"..................

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R8 Your Politician would like to take this opportunity to make Politicians aware that this website is here for them just as much as it is here for the public.

R8 Your Politician welcomes feedback from Politicians on how to better improve the website content and quality.  Politicians are invited and welcomed to submit articles for publication on the site and request changes and updates to their profiles and rating pages.  If you have an important issue or piece of legislation you are trying to create awareness about please send us the articles.

R8 Your Politician also welcomes and invites all Politicians to record and submit a short video so that we can add it to your public profile.

Politicians make sure we have all your official, updated profile information.  Emails will be sent to all Politicians asking for profile information.  Make sure to include links to everything you want added.  Blog links, Website links, Twitter & Facebook links. 

Lastly Politicians spread the word amongst your colleagues in your party.  Encourage your constituents to engage, rate you and leave a review of your work.

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The Heat is on Awards is a competition for entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland

Source: www.theheatisonawards.com

The Heat is on Awards is a competition for entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland that have an exciting new business idea. £3000 is up for grabs for the most imaginative and also feasible idea. Only business ideas that have not started up yet can be considered.

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UK poll: Afghan war is ‘unwinnable’

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 All hail Diana Rusk! Diana is a Journalist for Belfast’s Irish News, yesterday she wrote an article which I must say inspired me. The title of the article was The Practice of burying bad news is ‘alive and well’.  

What was Diana referring to or implying one may ask? It’s quite simple Diana is merely exposing the Government practice of releasing sensitive information otherwise known as bad news on a busy news day. 

Diana disclosed how it was 4pm on the last day of the assembly before the summer recess and on the day of a high profile murder case where the murderers of Harry Holland were being sentenced.

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 After more revalations regarding Politicians Expenses the latest Politician to make the headlines is the DUPs Jeffrey Donaldson. It has been revealed that the Lagan Valley MP racked up £555.54 movie bill in various London Hotels between 2004 and 2005. Unlike other M.Ps it thus far hasnt been proved that it was of the Pornographic kind. 

This will come as a bitter blow to the DUP after Ian Jnrs latest slip up. Jim Nicholson must be rubbing his hands with glee as the DUP is caught up in scandal after scandal.

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 A member has asked R8 Your Politician could they nominate Tom Elliott MLA for Politician of the Month.  R8 your Politician were not considering starting the Politician of the month section until we had a resaonable size of Politicians on board.  

However this evening while browsing Twitter, infact when responding to a tweet from Sadiq Khan MP.  The link to Mr Elliott's profile was sent to Mr Khan as an example of a Politician who has endorsed his profile.  

Then when browsing Mr Elliotts profile I noticed on his latest twitter feed a message to his constitutients asking them to "Please let me know how you think I am doing - " 

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First of all congratulations to Naomi Long on her new appointment as the new Lord Mayor of Belfast although it’s a pity it were not in different circumstances.  We have all heard the old saying that only women can multi-task, it’s sad to see that Naomi is a firm believer in this.

After the recent public outcry in regards to Politicians expenses which hasn’t gone away you know, and multi-jobbing in Northern Ireland one must question Naomi Longs decision to accept this post.

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This year marks the 30^th Anniversary of the Northern Ireland Youth Forum, and today there was great excitement when they got a visit from Northern Ireland’s first minister Peter Robinson.

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