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I'm just back from the Europa hotel where I was helping out on our coverage of the Ulster Unionist conference. Inevitably there was less of a buzz about the gathering than last year's event when David Cameron turned up as the special guest. But the turnout appeared high with many left standing at the back, and William Hague's speech went down well.

Sir Reg Empey used his speech to set out his stall on devolving policing and justice. He didn't offer any criticism of Gordon Brown's financial package, which Mr Cameron has already endorsed. Instead he concentrated his fire on the arrangements which look certain to give the job to the Alliance party and the subsequent "sunset clause". He challenged Peter Robinson to open talks on justice, pledging that there should be "no backroom deals".

It's uncertain if that means the UUP will let the transfer process move forwards, whilst sniping at the cross community arrangements, or could open talks lead to a further delay? Certainly Owen Paterson seems to want the transfer to proceed as soon as possible, although he clarified that he also wants the Stormont coalition parties to agree on the details.

Whilst William Hague turned up, the UUP's only MP Lady Sylvia Hermon again stayed away. Her absence, whilst not surprising, pointed to the unresolved questions about the future of the UUP-Tory Force. Sir Reg is confident they will make gains in next year's Westminster election, but it's not even guaranteed that they will be able to hold on to their one remaining seat in the Commons.

Michael McGimpsey kept all his options open when we asked if he would stand in South Belfast - his dillemma may be whether it's credible not just to say you will give up your MLA job if elected, but to fight the campaign whilst holding on to either an MLA or ministerial portfolio. That said, signs that the DUP might sanction more double jobbing than they previously indicated would lessen the pressure on the Health Minister on this score.

Mr McGimpsey quoted Nye Bevan when praising the NHS. When I pointed out that this was a very Labourite source of inspiration he pronounced himself happy with David Cameron's approach on health. Michael's brother Chris makes less of a secret of his left wing sympathies, and again fired a warning shot across Sir Reg's bows by putting his name to a letter claiming the UUP has handed over control of its new movement to the Conservatives.

Certainly there are enough tensions at constituency level to make the continuing saga of candidate selection extremely interesting.

Having returned for the conference, next week I'm away on my half term break proper. Martina Purdy and Gareth Gordon will take up the reins on "Inside Politics" and (unless Martina judges that events warrant a blog or two in the next few days) I shall be back here in just over a week's time.

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I wasn't in the office yesterday so didn't get blogging about It's looking definitely good enough for Martin McGuinness, almost certainly good enough for David Cameron and probably good enough for Peter Robinson.

However today the TUV's Jim Allister thought he had spotted a in the Prime Minister's package. claiming that any cash drawn from the UK contingency fund would have to be paid back, so could a have a negative impact on services such as education and health.

Not so, claims Jeffrey Donaldson. He and insists the assertion that the money is a loan is "plain and simply wrong".

(UPDATE: The NIO has also weighed in this evening insisting that "this claim is without foundation. HM Treasury are not requiring Reserve claims to be repaid in this case".)

With different money matters in mind, brace yourself for more information on MLA expenses. Breakdowns going back to 2003 will be available on the Assembly website from tomorrow. Some of the material will mirror what has already been put in the public domain by Good Morning Ulster, but there may be further details.

Far from having what Sammy Wilson would call with expenses I have to confess I find the business of scanning through page after page of utility bills and photocopying charges pretty mind numbing. So I'm rather glad that some time ago I booked tomorrow off for a bit of half term leave (although I am returning to the hot seat alongside Jim for Saturday's Ulster Unionist conference). But one plea to Sammy - update your Commons register of interests! A regular reader has pointed out to me you still haven't put down your Finance Minister's job or any estimate of how many hours your council, MLA and academic jobs take out of your working week.

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• - What's this?

Congratulations to two of our MLAs, Ian Paisley Junior and Declan O'Loan, who accompanied Habitat for Humanity volunteers on their week in Romania earlier this month.

Participants report that as well as building homes for needy families, the trip proved a great team building exercise. But if anyone is hoping that the experience will lead to a melting in the sometimes icy relations between the two North Antrim MLAs, then I am sad to report that their paths didn't cross, as they worked at the Romanian camp on different days.

Other VIP volunteers included the Methodist minister and decommissioning witness Harold Good, and the veteran Romanian tennis star Ilie Nastase.

Another local politician engaging in charity work is the Upper Bann MP David Simpson, who sets off on Thursday on a sponsored walk from Lurgan to Portadown in aid of the Royal British Legion's "Walk for Heroes" campaign which will help injured soldiers.

UPDATE: I'm told his route will cover 50 miles of his constituency, even though the towns are rather closer together as the crow flies.

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Getting to his feet within the last few minutes to talk about the plans to replace the current 26 councils with 11 new "super councils", the Environment Minister Edwin Poots said he wanted to scotch rumours that the shake up might not go ahead.

Earlier this month revealed that the review of public administration has so far cost £90 million. That figure included costs associated not just with the council shake up but also the accompanying reforms of the health and education structures.

An released by the minister today estimates the cost of the council shake up as £118 million. But it argues that the reforms will deliver savings of £438 million over 25 years (which strikes me as quite a long time for such a projection).

So far as paying for the shake up is concerned, aside from grant aid from central government, the latest economic appraisal suggests councils could find the money through increasing the district rate, introducing a business rates supplement, work place parking levies or charges for council services.

All of those suggestions might raise ratepayers' eyebrows.

So far I haven't heard any mention of the proposed severance payments for veteran councillors who choose not to contest the elections for the 11 new councils. I believe the minister has yet to decide on the level of these payments, but as this blog noted back in August the range of expenditure being considered on this scheme is anything between £4,196,000 and £5,247,000.

One Stormont source suggested to me earlier today that the NIO Minister Paul Goggins is not prepared to allow parties here to have a mass co-option of new councillors to replace party colleagues who wish to stand down. the source suggested that veteran politicians will therefore hang on until the election to the new councils and that the minister may keep open the severance package until nominations for the 2011 elections close. If this is the case it would call into question some of the logic of the original severance proposal which was meant to enable new councillors to take up the reins some time before the 11 council model goes live.

Whatever the niceties, I imagine that when the severance arrangements become more widely debated the public may be sceptical about the need for such pay offs.

P.S. Thanks Suzie - have re-inserted the missing zero

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That's the number of issues on which Peter Robinson says the current Executive has agreed. In a speech on the Justice Bill the First Minister claimed this far exceeded the 320 agreements achieved in the old UUP-SDLP led Executive.

So the UUP's George Savage asked Mr Robinson to list the 451 issues and all those matters on which the current Executuve has not agreed. At the start of the month he got the same answer to both questions: "It is not our practice to disclose details of Executive business. The content of Executive papers and all aspects of Executive business are confidential."

Mr Savage is now awaiting a reply to a follow up question wondering whether the First Minister's original comment amounted to a breach of Executive confidentiality.

During a fairly quiet day at Stormont, the First Minister did get in a little dig on the UUP's Danny Kennedy. Mr Kennedy had declared an interest before asking a question about the Presbyerian Mutual Society. The UUP Deputy Leader told MLAs he had a modest investment in the PMS. Mr Robinson responded that this was the only modest thing about him.

In the body of his answer, the First Minister floated the idea of the troubled PMS being linked to a local bank, if the regulatory obstacles can be overcome. So which bank might be in the frame - could it be the Ulster, whose staff appear extremely concerned about management proposals to downgrade their terms and conditions, the Northern, or one of the other High Street banks?

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I am just off air with Inside Politics, where we discussed serious matters like Friday's booby trap bombing and the continuing negotiations on policing and justice. Sinn Fein junior minister Gerry Kelly condemned the attack in East Belfast and criticised the faction responsible as having no support and no strategy.

Together with my guests Seamus Close and the Institute of Directors' Joanne Stuart we also touched on politicians' expenses and the Hillary Clinton visit.

On a lighter note, though, I discovered that Gerry Kelly was the speaker at a recent NI Construction Employers Federation As each winner went to pick up their award, they were accompanied by a rousing piece of classical music.

But when the Junior Minister went to present the overall winner with their prize he got to his feet to the accompaniment of "Land of Hope and Glory". The irony of a former IRA prisoner being beckoned on stage with an anthem which extolls the British empire was not lost either on the North Belfast MLA or the rest of the audience. Much mirth ensued, and perhaps a red face for whoever recorded the backing tape.

P.S. On the topic of "red faces" I see my Dawn Purvis howler made the Sunday Times. Fame, at last!

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When a candidate declares their interest in leading a party, and appears with a phalanx of colleagues behind them, you might reasonably assume that this represents a sense of the backing they expect to get when it comes to decision time.

So it was with Margaret Ritchie, who appeared in the Great Hall this week together with Alex Attwood, Mary Bradley, Dolores Kelly, Carmel Hanna, Tommy Burns and Tommy Gallagher. The MLAs duly nodded in the background as the Social Development Minister declared her intention to succeed Mark Durkan.

The minister claimed to have the backing of "at least 50%" of the SDLP's Assembly party. A supporter later explained that if you counted out Ms Ritchie, Mr Durkan and the other likely candidate deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell that left 13 MLAs, and given there were 6 politicians at Ms Ritchie's launch that was almost half of the team.

However a rumour has been going around Stormont that the two Tommies didn't know they were going to be bit part players in a Ritchie leadership bid and, in fact, might be leaning towards Dr. McDonnell.

In an attempt to get to the truth of the matter, I've been speaking to sources close to the Tommies, who told me that as the phalanx set off down the stairs they did know what the minister planned to announce.

But whilst I understand that Tommy Gallagher is a firm Ritchie backer, I am led to believe that Tommy Burns remains open to persuasion, friendly with both the Minister and Deputy Leader and not yet decided between them.

Let's hope he makes his mind up when it comes to the vote at the party conference in February, although given that it's a secret ballot, will we ever know exactly what he decides?

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A couple of weeks back some readers took me to task for not blogging about the release of Stormont expenses. One reason I held back at that stage is that I had an idea of what might be brewing in relation to the past allowances. Andy Martin's report on "Good Morning Ulster" has now made those matters public.

When we were called into an Assembly briefing on the release of 2008/09 expenses questions were raised about the big round sums paid to some party headquarters. But at that stage officials explained it as a matter of personal choice for the politicians. Some organised their own secretarial and research requirements, whilst others preferred to let their parties provide them centrally.

Andy's figures, putting Sinn Fein at nearly £2 million, well ahead of the Ulster Unionists at £380,000, raise a question about whether the Assembly allowances are being used to support politicians in their necessary constituency work or - in Sinn Fein's case in particular - have been used as a "tithe" to supplement the general party coffers.

Sinn Fein officials point out that the "Office Costs Allowance" is not limited to constituency work but is meant to support their MLAs in their general Assembly functions. So, the argument goes, if MLAs band together to pay for centrally provided research on, say, rural planning then that is a legitimate and effective use of resources.

They also point out that other parties tend to use the bulk of their "Office Costs Allowance", so it's not the case that republicans are costing the taxpayer more on average than their counterparts. There seems to be a hint also that because Sinn Fein workers get lower rates than other employees this has freed up more of the OCA for their general research work.

Nevertheless when you look at, say, and see round figures for £13,400 and £10,800, then, for example, with round figures of £13,300, £11,900 and £6,500, it's hard not to wonder where that cash is ultimately going to.

Sinn Fein aren't "themselves alone" on this one. If you look at last year's top claimer, you can see bills from SDLP HQ of £1,950, £1,500, £2,500 and £900.

Maybe there is nothing awry (although I see that, predictably, ). But it would probably increase public confidence in the assembly if there were some system of secondary auditing so the ultimate use of money paid to party headquarters could be independently verified.

Defending his party, Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd argued that other politicians employ their husbands and wives to do similar work rather than ensuring it is carried out centrally. Andy Martin mentioned the employment of some relatives in building work on MLA offices during his broadcast this morning and tomorrow's "Good Morning Ulster" is expected to have more on that score. The Assembly has just adopted a which will include a register of family members, expected to be published next month. Again, given the level of suspicion around expenses, whether they are at Stormont or Westminster, the publication of this register will not be before time.

Andy also raised the large sums approved for repairing or altering MLA offices. That's something which will raise eyebrows amongst anyone who has been a tenant, and who expects their landlord to pick up the bill for maintenance. I suppose a case can be made for MLAs paying the bill if an office has to be altered to suit their particular purposes (for example by ensuring full access for constituents with disabilities). However there is clearly room for debate about which alterations should be paid for by a tenant and which by a landlord. And if a politician rents from their party or a family member then there is always the potential for a perceived conflict of interest.

Finally an admission. The headline for this entry is plagiarised from the I am reading it at the moment and would recommend it to anyone looking for - in Anthony Howard's words - a "racy, pacy" read.

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I have just returned from the Stormont Great Hall, where Margaret Ritchie threw her hat in the ring for the SDLP leadership. She is promising an as yet unspecified comprehensive plan for the future renewal of the party. I thought I ought to ask a question about whether having a female leader would make any difference either way to voters, but totally put my foot in it as I said (live on Talkback) that no other party here had a female leader.

How could I forget the PUP leader Dawn Purvis, my live guest on Inside Politics just on Sunday, or indeed the Women's Coalition's Monica McWilliams? Or going back even further Anne Dickson of the

Apologies to all. Dolores Kelly laughed about my gaffe and told me she was glad I was getting a taste of my own medicine.

So far as Margaret Ritchie's bid is concerned, her supporters appear to believe they have strong backing not only from her home patch in South Down, but up in the North West, in West Belfast and even from the Balmoral branch in South Belfast (Carmel Hanna was one of the MLAs who stood beside her). The minister reckons she has at least 50% of the SDLP's Assembly team on side.

This may give Alasdair McDonnell food for thought. I understand he will continue his internal consultations and is unlikely to announce his intentions publicly for a week or so.
One source questioned whether Ms Ritchie will hold on to her ministerial job if she becomes leader. I asked her but didn't get an answer.

On the margins of the Ritchie announcement, the minister's advisor was trying to take photos for the party's in house magazine. But half way through the photo shoot, one of the snappers present pointed out it might be better to take the lens cap off.

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Stormont officials are busy preparing for Monday's visit by the US Secretary of State. Hillary Clinton will get to us via London, Dublin and Switzerland. Is she trying to broker peace between those fractious Swiss Germans, Swiss French and Swiss Italians? No, she is witnessing the signing of an accord between the Turks and the Armenians.

Either way it reminded me of the old "Third Man" quote "In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they have brotherly love. They had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? - the cuckoo clock!"

Maybe one of the potential US investors could set up a cuckoo clock manufacturing plant in our neck of the woods (the Swiss later told Orson Welles they didn't make cuckoo clocks).

On the topic of quotes I noticed a good one in Robert Harris's review of a new book about the former US President called The book quotes Bill Clinton's view as being that "the Middle East is an abscess, Northern Ireland is a scab", and whereas an abscess "inevitably gets worse without ­painful but cleansing intervention", a scab is best left to "heal with time and simple care".

After inspecting how our scab is healing up, the US Secretary of State will head to Moscow where the main topic of discussion will not be the devolution of justuce, but what to do about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Before Hillary arrives, I have an "Inside Politics" programme to broadcast. Last night's talks in Downing Street appeared to be fruitful so far as both the First and Deputy First Ministers were concerned. Martin McGuinness told the Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce he now regards the financial negotiation over justice as at an end, and will be recommending Sinn Fein's acceptance of Gordon Brown's latest offer.

On "Inside Politics" I shall hear Peter Robinson's view of the financial offer, and will also talk to live guests Dawn Purvis and Brian Feeney. As usual the programme will be broadcast on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Ulster on Sunday just after the one o'clock news.

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My whistle stop visit to the Tories is coming to an end - Dave has spoken and the travelling circus is already pulling up its tent poles and getting ready to move out of town.

"Bono" who ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳NI interviewed a few years ago as he was 'bigging up' Tony Blair and Gordon Brown appeared here in the form of a video greeting. Paying tribute to people's charitable instincts he argued that was what put the "Great" in "Great Britain". So maybe he didn't read the last blog....

The Cameron speech, as predicted was a fairly sombre address designed to convince people he is a fit leader for tough times. He drew on his bereavement with the death of his son Ivan to reflect on his personal committment to the tests ahead. On the link with the Ulster Unionists, there was nothing new (he has used the line about being a passionate unionist before) but the UUP activists here will be glad to have got a mention.

As I prepare to leave Manchester, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness are heading in the opposite direction for yet more talks at Downing Street. With the DUP leader pledging to stop negotiating on the future policing budget, hearing loss and legal aid, and implying that Sinn Fein are prepared to settle for less than the DUP on these topics tonight's trilateral meeting could prove difficult.

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This blog has previously discussed the correct geographical description for these islands we live in. I got myself in hot water even before I had my first bowl of Mancunian cornflakes when I mentioned on Good Morning Ulster that the session of the Conservative conference which Sir Reg Empey is addressing today was headed "Great Britain". I'd taken that from the agenda linked to this However it's been pointed out to me that in official handbook the session is entitled "the Union".

Having been pulled up by Sinn Fein's Barry McElduff for apparently saying, when in New York, that Gordon Brown, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness would have another meeting when they got "back home to England", I'm not going to get too pedantic about geography (the statement turned out to be wrong in more ways than I imagined).

Anyway whatever the session was called it was marked by Owen Paterson re-emphasising the Conservative pledge to end dual madates and to fight all 18 seats (tell that to the Ulster Unionists in South Belfast).

Ian Parsley was welcomed on board as a featured questioner from the floor. Then Sir Reg took to the platform at his allotted time of 10.53 am precisely. He didn't touch on the nitty gritty of devolving justice or executive deadlock - instead he stuck to the broad message of the two parties building a new inclusive, pluralist politics.

He ended by paraphrasing Casablanca - "David, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship", and then (two minutes early) the first speech by a UUP leader in a decade and the first of a leader of a conjoined party since Brian Faulkner was over and done with.

The conference organisers switched to a tape of Muses's Starlight. "Our hopes and expectations, Black holes and revelations". No doubt the UCUNF Westminster candidates will hope the first line of the chorus turns out to be more apt than the second one.

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The DUP's Robin Newton is annoyed with Alliance's Naomi Long for choosing to toast the people of Belfast at her installation dinner as Lord Mayor of Belfast next Saturday. Many of Ms Long's predecessors have toasted the Queen. Personally I've always been more interested in what's in my glass than what is said before I drink from it, but this isn't the first time toasts have caused political fall out. According to this the refusal of the Governor General of Canada to toast the Irish President back in 1948 led to Dublin's declaration of a republic a year later.

UPDATE: Alliance sent me this comment from the Mayor: "I have previously visited Buckingham Palace and welcomed a range of Royal visitors to Belfast , and I look forward to doing so again. I have also previously proposed the loyal toast at functions; however, as this particular event is a celebration of the civic life of Belfast , I feel it is most appropriate on this occasion that my toast is to the citizens of this great city."

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The puzzling thing about yesterday's trip by Gordon Brown to Stormont was why he was there at all. Yes, we know that the government is keen to get a justice deal done before the next Westminster election. But the parties traipsed in talking about narrowing the gap on the justice budget and they traipsed out saying much the same. Surely if this is a work in progress it could be left to officials? Don't Prime Ministers (even ones who may be approaching the end of their period in power) come in to seal the deal, not just to beaver away at the details?

Perhaps this is too harsh and today's Downing Street discussions will prove more decisive than is apparent on the surface. But the revelation that the DUP is looking for a series of confidence building measures, not all of which would be welcome so far as republicans are concerned, gives a sense of the complexity of the discussions. Retaining the full time police reserve, reviewing the withdrawal of personal protection weapons or replacing the Parades Commission may build confidence amongst unionists, but is it a price nationalists and republicans will want to pay for the transfer of policing powers?

On a separate matter, the move by South Belfast Ulster Unionists to propose a unionist unity candidate in the constituency has the potential to unravel the UUP's understanding with the Conservatives. The DUP warmly welcomed the initiative but I suspect the UUP leadership will knock the association back.

It's just one of a number of headaches Sir Reg Empey will face in the coming months, as the UUP and the Conservatives try to divide up the electoral spoils. One UUP source suggested to me that the Conservatives were looking for an even 9:9 split of the 18 available seats and accused the Tories of asking for too much.

A number of UUP selection contests have been pushed back - the official explanation is that this will allow candidates diappointed in one seat to enter the fray in another. But I can't help thinking that the UUP's approach right now resembles that of Mr Micawber, living in the hope that if you push off hard decisions (most notably in North Down) "something will turn up."

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Anyone who watched Portsmouth overcome Wolves at the weekend may feel convinced of the need for referees to be able to consult video replays after what commentators refer to as a "stonewall" penalty was denied Wolves when the ref. failed to spot a seemingly obvious handball.

This morning I wondered whether the Stormont ref. Willie Hay should be able to consult a slow motion video replay after he ruled the DUP MLA Alex Easton out of order for not being in his seat in time to move a debate on the exodus of Protestant students from Northern Ireland universities.

At the start of today's business Mr Easton (referred to by the Speaker, Barry McGuigan style as "Mr Eastwood"), apparently wasn't in his seat in time to move his motion. The Ulster Unionist Robert Coulter raised an objection and after hearing that the North Down MLA had been doing a radio interview (with U105) Willie Hay ruled that the motion should not be debated.

However a disconsolate Mr Easton feels hard done by. First he was operating off an old "indicative timings" sheet, which originally scheduled his debate for 11.30 am not an hour earlier. Then he reckons that an appeal to the Video Ref (otherside known as Assembly Broadcasting) would reveal that he was in fact in his seat at 10:34:21, a good 39 seconds before his motion was due to be heard. He is suggesting the referee blew up early.

I suggest an independent tribunal on timings which could first clarify the Easton case before moving on to a survey of Manchester United goals scored after the allotted period of extra time has expired.

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The Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has taken on Shaun Woodward over his assertion that devolving justice is the key to attracting further US inward investment. She says that, having met hundreds of potential investors, "not one single business figure has ever said to me: 'I am holding off investing in Northern Ireland because the devolution of policing powers to the Assembly has not happened yet'."

I spoke to the US Economic Envoy Declan Kelly a couple of hours ago and he tried to steer a middle course through the matter by arguing that political stability and progress in the Stormont institutions was important, whilst adding that there is no reason progress cannot be made on the economic front as the political process continues.

Incidentally we had expected the Envoy to announce Hillary Clinton's visit, but by the time he spoke to us he'd already been beaten to the punch by the UK Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward. Maybe Mr Kelly should announce when Gordon Brown is likely to visit here as a tit for tat.

So do you buy the "devolve justice, get investment" argument?

Here's another one I'm not entirely convinced by. If we don't devolve justice then dissident republicans will fill the vacuum by intensifying their violence.

At the margins I suppose you could argue that achieving the transfer of powers might bolster Sinn Fein and therefore stop some leakage of support to dissident groups. But set against that aren't the dissidents more interested in ending partition and following the example of 1916 than analysing which areas Stormont exerts power over? Much as I might hope that having a local Justice Minister might dampen down any dissident violence, I cannot convince myself that it will make such a great difference.

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A confession. The first time I heard Dublin's Assets Management Agency, NAMA, referred to at a North South ministerial summit, I couldn't understand why the politicians had been discussing fascinating although the South American pack animals might be. I was therefore glad to see that a herd of llamas took it upon themselves to reassert their importance to the Irish national debate today, by running amok near the Red Cow roundabout on Dublin's M50. All the animals were later removed from the road.

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On his way in to the Labour conference, Lord Mandelson experienced some difficulties with By Sinn Fein's Mitchel McLaughlin had no such trouble, even though, according to my spies, his pass identified him as "Northern Ireland Labour Party".

A real local Labourite - Boyd Black - has been trying to get into the party for years. Now he's a member he found himself in the inner sanctum at the conference as an scrutineer on the votes. In this guise I am told he had to show Jeremy Paxman the door when a Newsnight crew tried to grab a few shots of a count in progress.

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Apologies to Spinspamspun and any other readers who are cheesed off with me for not blogging in a few days. One of my problems is that the busier I get on our airwaves the less time I have to regale you with my thoughts here. Right now my trusty colleague Gareth Gordon is doing sentry duty over at Stormont Castle in case the internal rows erupt on to the lawn (the Executive is meeting) and I am tapping away in our dingy basement in Parliament Buildings.

I shall treat you to my thoughts on expenses and the latest spat soon, but first here's a bit of light relief. Last week my ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Newsline colleague Ciara Riddell was preparing for a live broadcast about the unveiling of the She planned a short piece to camera before turning to the sculptor Dan George for his thoughts. But she was informed that if she wanted the sculptor she must also interview Margaret Ritchie, the minister whose department had provided the funding.

Ciara explained that because of time constraints she could only have one interviewee. the answer cam back that if there was only room for one person then that must be the minister. No minister, no artist.

I'm not sure what the appropriate cliche for this is. How about "it's my statue so I'll talk if I want to"? Or maybe "she who pays the sculptor calls the coverage"? Either way, Ciara went to air on her own.

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• - What's this?