First, background: Over the last few years grannymar has been worried by the introduction of water charges/rates in Northern Ireland in 07/08. The plan was not to install water meters and she would have ended up being charged as much as a family of four!
Today she sent a mail with some good news, sourced from the BBC:
Proposed new water charges will not be introduced in 2007-2008, First Minister Ian Paisley has said.
The £75m cost of the move will be paid for from extra funds negotiated from Chancellor Gordon Brown.The decision was taken as the new power-sharing executive met for the first time at Stormont in Belfast.
Mr Paisley said the executive had decided to conduct a review to address financing water and sewerage services, to be completed by the autumn.
He said not imposing the charges would save the average Northern Ireland household £100 in the year ahead.
(snip for length)
There was a wonderful image that ran alongside the article, I have to say that growing up in Northern Ireland I never thought that I would EVER see anything like this…
Gerry over at UnLaoised also had a good image of the new Assembly members today – it made me laugh and reminded me of the (slightly) sick sense of humour that we have in NI…
Every time I drive home to see grannymar, on the run into Belfast you pass the infamous Milltown Cemetery on the left (where Michael Stone killed 3 people and injured 60 during an IRA in 1988). What always makes me grin however, is that on the opposite side of the road in an industrial estate fringing the motorway is a business called Armatile – an obvious play on the Armalite weapons manufacturer, whose guns have figured heavily in the history of NI… but then no matter how bleak it got, we could always poke fun at ourselves.
Still, it’s good that those dark days seem to be pretty much behind us now…
Bonus link: The Armalite and the ballot box strategy
Elly in the second picture above take note of the floral arrangement.
It contains greenery, white and yellow flowers but no ‘orange lilies’!
Maybe next we will get rid of the old torn flags on poles all over the countryside.
Posted on May 10, 2007 at 9:23 pm.
I, too, never thought I’d see pictures like that in my lifetime, truly miracles have been performed. My grandparents lie in Milltown, the headstone was blown up by Mr.Stone (Granny wasn’t in it at the time, Grandad was).
Posted on May 18, 2007 at 2:22 pm.