Much of the publicity associated with today's publication of the Bill of Rights Forum's final report has concerned the boycott by some Forum members, such as the Catholic representative Fr. Tim Bartlett and the DUP elected representatives. I have to confess that I did my own little bit to disrupt the launch of the Forum report, by telling my colleagues it was happening at Hillsborough rather than the Belfast Hilton. Fortunately Martina Purdy discovered the truth in time to divert.
Having failed to black out the Bill of Rights launch, I think it's only fair that I should point those of you who saw the draft document on this blog over the weekend to the final report, which you can find on this website. Bill of Rights Forum
We had a distinctly catty exchange in the Assembly this afternoon between Jeffrey Donaldson and Basil McCrea during discussion of the new Commission for Victims and Survivors Bill. Jeffrey lectured Basil on being a latecomer to politics here. Basil responded by claiming that some of those who had spent longer in politics than him had delivered nothing. He then called Jeffrey "an expert in hypocrisy". This prompted an intervention from the Deputy Speaker John Dallat who ruled that calling a member a hypocrite was unparliamentary. I can hardly wait until the next Lagan Valley election.
Arlene Foster has disappointed Jim Shannon. She has assured her party colleague that we have no wildcats here. According to the Environment Minister, the Wildcat (Felis sylvestris) is a native species of the British Isles but is restricted in its range to the North of Scotland. Advice to Scottish wildcats - stay where you are, Jim is asking about you...
I'm 
