´óÏó´«Ã½

The Stormont press pack didn't have a lot of time to analyse last night's investment announcements as the Executive meeting over ran many of our teatime deadlines. A shame, given that ministers wanted to get what they view as "good news" out to their voters. Perhaps in the future the Executive will start their deliberations earlier on Thursdays, although this would mean an earlier start for ministers who are double jobbing as MPs, as most of them are travelling back from London on Thursday mornings.

Now the dust has settled on the Titanic and Rapid Transit announcements, some voices have been raised arguing that these projects should not have been considered the most "urgent". Why no immediate move on Margaret Ritchie's fuel poverty package, or no committment to build the new Women and Childrens' hospital at the Royal?

Fuel poverty is likely to form part of the wider package which the Assembly will be asked to consider next month (although as Stormontspy has pointed out the price of oil has slumped since the package was first mooted).

No doubt the Executive will argue that the justification for the £43.5 million capital spend on the Titanic project is the hope that this will become a great income generator for Belfast. Cynics counter that the project will end up as a "white elephant". To know who's right we'd need a pair of binoculars (an item of equipment distinctly lacking in the Crow's Nest on the fateful night) which could enable us to see into the future.

The question of competing priorities is one I may well raise with the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness who is my guest on tomorrow's "Inside Politics". As usual, the programme will be broadcast on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Ulster at 12.45pm

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Jim Allister released quotations from a document this morning which he claims the DUP has passed to Sinn Fein during their discussions on education. The relevant quote is:

"However none of these matters are sufficiently concerning to force us to feel instinctively that agreement around transfer at 14 could not be found."
"...Fourteen could become the key decision point for the future...We would be flexible about the instrument for matching pupils at 14...The vast majority of the province could move to a transfer at 14 system...However was the executive to indicate clearly that 14 was the key point for making decisions about pupils' futures and the key transfer stage, inevitably the broader system would reconfigure to accommodate that....Fourteen however would be promoted and supported as the key decision point...."

At the time of writing, my colleague Maggie Taggart is still awaiting clarification from the DUP about the status of this document. But this comes after the compromise proposals from the churches and a decidedly dove-ish tone between the two major parties both on last Sunday's "Politics Show" and during Monday's Education Question Time. So this may be one to watch...

UPDATE: The DUP's Mervyn Storey has put out a statement which doesn't confirm or deny whether the quotation is from a party document. However he says that "currently pupils transfer at age 11. The DUP is engaged in discussions on the basis that this will continue to be the case. It is for others to produce papers and ideas to convince us of the contrary. There is not the slightest indication of that happening. The DUP has been willing to listen to the arguments put forward for 14 but remain unconvinced. The idea of transfer at 14 would present huge difficulties, educationally, financially and practically."

A Sinn Fein source confirmed discussions are underway with the DUP on the transfer issue. The source added "we are not going into the nitty gritty. We don't discuss papers swopped with other parties".

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I'm off to Stormont Castle this morning for an Executive meeting on the credit crunch. We are not bracing ourselves for a Kieran McCarthy style mortgage pay off plan, but there may be some announcements on pulling construction projects forward. Other proposals will be worked on over the next fortnight, pending Assembly approval next month.

A report from the Senior Salaries Review Body on MLAs' pay and pensions is expected soon. As I reported on the radio this morning, in the current climate, MLAs aren't likely to accept a rise. In the spring I saw an internal Assembly document which predicted that the SSRB would propose a 16% increase to bring MLAs up to the level of their counterparts elsewhere in the UK. But I haven't heard anyone demur from the view of one Assembly source who told me yesterday it would be "crazy" to accept any increase.

UPDATE: It's 18:47 and I've just finished broadcasting on Evening Extra and making sure Arlene Foster got on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Newsline. The Titanic Quarter Signature Project, which the Executive has decided to fund, is certainly an eye-catching proposal. From the tourist perspective it's a "no brainer", to borrow Lord Rooker's phrase, to get it ready for the centenary in 2012. There remains an extraordinary level of international attraction to the tragic story of the ship that hit the iceberg. So can it provide a lifeboat for our sinking economy?

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The UUP and the Tories have just released statements confirming that David Cameron will attend the UUP conference on December 6th. The statements are identical, apart from the fact that the UUP one gives Sir Reg Empey's quote first "the campaign to promote a UK wide pro-union philosophy is gathering pace", whilst the Conservatives go with their man "my attendance proves my commitment to this new political force".

So apart from working out what to call the new political force, the parties still have to work out which leader gets top billing.

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Journalists were summonsed to a lunch today to meet our 3 MEPs to discuss forthcoming European issues. But how would the MEPs interact, given Jim Allister's frosty relationship with Bairbre De Brun?

The solution appears to have drawn on the old "proximity talks" format with the journalists seated at three different tables, and the MEPs shuttling between them. My colleague Martina Purdy had Jim Nicholson for main course, Jim Allister for dessert and Bairbre De Brun for coffee. We always said she had a healthy appetite.

Martina has more on the runners and riders for next year's European election on Good Morning Ulster, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Newsline and the main ´óÏó´«Ã½ news website tomorrow.

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Not the nor the Everly Brothers song, but the thoughts of some of the Stormont Business Committee members on being asked to put off their Christmas holidays?

The Executive meets on Thursday to discuss a local package to combat the credit crunch. A sub committee of ministers is likely to be created to finalise the details. The plan is for the extra £86 million freed up by yesterday's Chancellor's statement to be wrapped up together with any capital sums departments haven't spent. The pot will then be put towards bringing forward some construction projects. Ministers want the Assembly to put off their Christmas recess by one week in order to approve the economic package in special sessions on December 15th.

However some MLAs are objecting to the Executive short circuiting their scrutiny role. They think that, having failed to meet for 5 months, it's a bit rich for ministers to start arguing that the economic downturn is an emergency which must be addressed immediately. They believe they are being used as nothing more than a rubber stamp for the Executive's plans. So today's Business Committee session ended without agreement.

The argument may have its merits but it's a risky one. Voters might easily jump to the assumption that MLAs are more concerned about their Christmas holidays than the credit crunch. For that reason, with no politician wanting to be cast in the Scrooge role, I predict that this Christmas controversy will be sorted out in good time.

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When the Chancellor was on his feet announcing his 2.5% cut in VAT, Stormont MLAs were questioning Arlene Foster about her plans to attract more tourists.

One of our local MPs, the DUP's William McCrea, did get a question in. He wanted to know what the Chancellor proposed to do about "extortionate interest rate premiums that banks are placing on small businesses". The Chancellor said it was important that banks behave reasonably and he was introducing extra scrutiny to ensure that "appropriate action" could be taken if they don't.

The Stormont Finance Minister Nigel Dodds welcomed the VAT cut, but opposed the planned increase in National Insurance contributions. Mr Dodds said the Executive now had the opportunity to "accelerate up to £86.5 million funding for investment in the local economy over the next two years". He hinted that this would enable him to assist the local construction industry,soemthing which we might hear more about at the Executive's meeting next Thursday which is due to concentrate on the "credit crunch".

Whilst Nigel Dodds reckons the package is a bit of a curate's egg ("only time will tell" is his fence sitting conclusion), the Tory NI spokesman Owen Paterson is predictably critical. He says the "tax bombshell" will only make NI's "clearly unsustainable" public sector dominated economy worse.

I haven't yet seen a UUP response, but should we deduce that in this "new political force" era they will repeat the Conservative line?

The Alliance's Stephen Farry has given the Darling package a qualified welcome describing it as decisive. He reckons the Darling approach to the economic downturn contrasts with the "inaction" of the Executive so far. Mr Farry, who spent some time studying in Washington D.C., is also a fan of Barack Obama's planned "Green New Deal".

So far I haven't seen any responses from Sinn Fein or the SDLP, although I'd be surprised if they don't come down on the Keynesian side of the argument.

As the pattern of shopping in border towns shows, price differentials influenced by tax changes and currency movements can have profound implications for us. But with Stormont bereft of tax varying powers you get a sense of being on the sidelines when such statements are made. The UUP-Tory marriage is meant to be one move which might bring local and UK wide politics closer together, but so far as NI and the latest debate is concerned are they on the right side of the argument?

UPDATE: Sir Reg Empey has just told my colleague Gareth Gordon that he would have preferred more help for people paying their fuel bills to a cut in VAT. Mark Durkan says it's not clear if the temporary VAT cut will provide more of a stimulus than a rebate on income tax.

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If you do down to the woods today you might bump into a group of teddy bears. But if you take a stroll in the Stormont estate you are likely to trip over "a group of current and past civil servants" who feed the wild cats on a regular basis. So says the Finance Minister Nigel Dodds. Answering a question from the SDLP's Tommy Burns, Mr Dodds can't give a precise figure for the "small feral cat population" in the estate.

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The DUP may still be against an Irish Language Act, but in a written answer to Daithi McKay, the Culture Minister Gregory Campbell has now confirmed that he is working on a "regional language strategy" which will cover both Irish and Ulster Scots. Mr Campbell expects to present a paper to the Executive "in due course".

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The Culture Minister Gregory Campbell says he's written to the Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe requesting him to draw the British Olympic Association's attention to the need to reflect the full name of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the run up to the London 2012 Games. He's looking for a "suitable re-titling" of the Olympic and Paralympic teams. But after the success of Team GB, will the Olympians want to opt for Team UK?

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This morning we had a European big wig, Hans-Gert Pottering, at Stormont to address MLAs in the Senate chamber. He tried to tread carefully through the terminological minefield, checking at one point whether it was politically correct to refer to Northern Ireland as a "region".

However it's hard not to put your foot in it at some stage. When the EU Parliament President dealt with questions on funding for a conflict transformation centre at the Maze, his warm words went down well with the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness to his left. To his right, the First Minister Peter Robinson looked fairly impassive.

Behind him the Ulster Unionist, sorry, Tory MEP Jim Nicholson looked on approvingly. But then Professor Pottering referred to him by name expressing the view that Mr Nicholson would no doubt work hard for funding for the Maze centre. Come again? That's the "IRA shrine" isn't it? Mr Nicholson's didn't intervene but his eyebrows headed skywards. That was a photo opportunity he probably could have done without. You can watch it on Stormont Live this afternoon.

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Jim Allister and Nigel Dodds spent so much of "Let's Talk" taking jabs at each other that a member of the audience compared them to the two grumpy old men of the Muppets.

Peter Robinson appeared equally keen on getting his punches in on Jim when I interviewed him for Inside Politics earlier today. To hear his thoughts on where the IRA Army Council fits in with devolving justice and David Cameron's courtship of the Tories, tune in at 12.45pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Ulster tomorrow.

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"They called it stormy Monday, but Tuesday is just as bad
Oh, they called it, they called it Stormy Monday,
But Tuesday, Tuesday is just as bad
Oh, Wednesday is worst. And Thursday oh so sad..."

Contrary to the blues lyrics, Thursday is no longer a sad, do nothing day in politics here. But for us hacks it will mean braving the biting wind on the grass outside Stormont Castle. The Executive is set to confirm the deferral of water charges, and agreements on rural planning and a new Education and Skills Authority. Martin McGuinness told us this morning that it should now meet uninterrupted for a long time - which sounded a bit like the rest of this Assembly term, although he didn't give an explicit guarantee.

I'm blogging in the warmth of the Stormont basement, but will now have to return to the cold to get the latest at the Castle. The fact that I can even walk in there is a sign of progress - during the 22 weeks of deadlock cameras weren't very welcome at the fortress. But now we have some new pictures of the current ministerial line up, smiling rather less than the old Paisley team and trying to look as businesslike as possible.

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The Ulster Unionists are reaching a decision making point in their courtship with the Tories. The deal appears to be 95% complete and Jim Nicholson is set to become the first joint candidate in next year's European election. But they are stuck over what to call their new political force. You need a name to stand a candidate and to take your place on the Electoral Commission's At the time of the Tory conference in Birmingham someone told me it would be the "Conservative and Unionist Council". But now it seems the UUP want "Ulster" in the name. Any other suggestions out there?

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• - What's this?

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness weren't giving anything away when they left Downing Street tonight. They described their talks with Gordon Brown as very useful but said they wanted to report back to their Executive colleagues before going into any further detail.

As already reported there are a lot of "tick and turn" papers to be approved at tomorrow's meeting. The title of one is "Retrospective approval of the Northern Ireland Executive element of the written response to the list of issues for the UN Committee on the rights of the child by the Executive."

Now we're clear on that, I would like to make a modest proposal. The joint agreement published at Stormont yesterday is littered with the word "modalities". Can we ban it? If so what do we put in its place?

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So we are over another hump, and without having to fly off to an English country home. Result.

The DUP is pointing to the fact that the process paper published today contains no date for devolving justice as proof of their victory. It makes for strange reading with its groups of activities, bereft of a timescale by which they should be achieved. We shall have to wait for Cilla to pull back a curtain on a date to be determined before we know exactly who our new Justice Minister might turn out to be.

Helpfully, however, informed sources reckon the whole business should play out over a matter of months, not years. That points to the Minister taking office sometime next year.

The only date in the document published today was May 2012 (the "sunset clause" for the cross community appointment procedure). Although the arrangement would then be brought to an end there is nothing in the document to suggest a new Justice Minister will be appointed then, meaning that a candidate chosen by cross community vote will probably occupy the position until the Assembly election after next, which takes us to 2015.

The date which isn't in the document but which undoubtedly has significance is June next year - the next European election. The calculation the DUP will have to make is - is it better to have a Justice Minister either identified or in post before their contest with Jim Allister or afterwards?

The Traditional Unionist MEP has renewed his onslaught on the DUP pointing to the role of Martin McGuinness in appointing a new Attorney General and, should vacancies arise, appointing members of the Judicial Appointments Commission who in turn will select our judges.

However this is likely to have less resonance with voters than the simple message: Gerry Kelly = Maze escaper = Justice Minister. It's arguable that if the public is exposed to the notion of, say, David Ford, Naomi Long or Stephen Farry as Justice Minister they will increasingly shrug their shoulders and wonder what all the fuss was about.

Sinn Fein were less visible than the DUP today in spinning the deal (and in the spirit of open government which pervades the Executive neither the FM nor the DFM hung around for questions after their announcement). Was that because republicans are sheepish about failing to get a definite date? They may take solace in the thought that the transfer of powers would never have been advanced so far by now without their pressure tactics.

Shaun Woodward warned on "Stormont Live" that just because a local politician asks for more cash after doing a deal does not mean they are going to get it. However tonight came the first sweetie with the news that the shortfall in the Historical Enquiries Team is to be made up (it was handy that shortfall was advertised so close to the point of the agreement).

The HET required only £1.5 million, whereas other Executive demands will be far more expensive. Making up for a civil service equal pay claim stretching back decades and compensating for the continued failure to introduce water charges will cost hundreds of millions of pounds. Still we are now in an era of tax cuts and massive government borrowing. Let's just get the banks to print some more money and worry about the consequences later. If Gordon can do it for the UK, why not for Northern Ireland?

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At one point during the Assembly proceedings today, the SDLP leader Mark Durkan suggested it was the ´óÏó´«Ã½ 'wot done it'. Not me, but the fact that "Question Time" is being broadcast from Northern Ireland on December 4th. Mr Durkan reckoned this had embarrassed the DUP and Sinn Fein into doing a deal.

Influential though ""Question Time" is, I'm not entirely convinced by this argument. Maybe it was just combat fatigue, as both republicans and unionists got tired off hearing us hacks running out of synonyms for the word "gridlock".

Tomorrow Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness are expected to give the Assembly Executive and Review Committee a joint letter, with a fairly hefty annex. The way forward will involve the election of a future justice minister by cross community support.The DUP say they haven't agreed a definite date for devolving justice. But republicans will point to 6 or 7 action areas for future legislation designed to culminate around April of next year.

On Thursday the Executive is expected to meet, focussing on the economic downturn (including, potentially, what can be done for the construction industry and ideas to tackle the problem of fuel poverty).

Besides justice other elements of the package are thought to include a minority languages protocol ( instead of an Irish Language Act), parking the Maze stadium proposal and finding other ways to fund a Conflict Resolution Centre at the Maze (probably through European money).

Some sources suggest there could be a "review" of the academic selection controversy. Other policies - such as the future regulation of rural planning - stand ready to be approved.

So a lot of movement in a short time. After the first meeting on Thursday, though, Executive ministers will have to work hard to overcome the public antipathy which they have allowed to build over recent months.

P.S. Another source tells me that the educational element is not a review of the transfer procedure, but rather the unfreezing of legislation on the creation of an Education and Skills Authority. What's likely to be unveiled tomorrow will deal with the devolution of justice - the other elements may follow as officials are freed up to move them forward.

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Gerry Adams demonstrated how sprightly he is when he hopped over the Stormont fence this morning whilst making his getaway from a senior citizens protest. His party colleague, Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy, is promising to show how fit he is in March of next year when he takes part in a "Between the Bridges Run" marking the completion of the improvement works on the M1/Westlink. The event will be in aid of the Northern Ireland Hospice.

The minister is challenging his fellow MLAs, and anyone else, to join him. To participate you need to log on to the website.

It's billed as a run, but given the history at the underpass, particpants might want to bring along a snorkelling kit.

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That's what we have in store for you on tomorrow's Inside Politics. Alasdair McDonnell attacks the "problem parties" but isn't the system the SDLP created inside Castle Buildings back in 1998 to blame for the vetoes and logjam? And given all the indications that Sinn Fein and the DUP want Alliance to take the justice job, will Naomi Long or one of her colleagues oblige?

That's Inside Politics on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Ulster at 12.45pm

On Sunday Shane Harrison has a report on the Politics Show on ´óÏó´«Ã½1 at noon. Shane has been looking at whether Brian Cowen's response to the credit crunch could put the squeeze on Protestant schools south of the border.

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I am told that the Assembly is going to shortly move away from a system where people are called to speak on the basis of being on a list and towards the Westminster style bobbing up and down trying to catch the Speaker's eye. In the previously Assembly the more spontaneous method of calling Speakers fell into disuse. Some are concerned that a system which relies on legislators being quick to their feet might discriminate against the disabled or the elderly. However, officials appear confident they can take into account any discrepancy in how fast different MLAs are on the draw.

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With speculation around that tonight's DUP executive meeting could be a stepping stone towards a resolution of the Stormont stand off, Jim Allister has published his sceptical at what a deal might contain. He is predicting academic selection at 14, a Maze conflict resolution centre (something Bairbre de Brún referred to in a , a date for a date on devolving justice and an Irish language "strategy" rather than an act.

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Unlike Fr. Reid he didn't use the "Nazi" word, but Gerry Adams has stirred the pot by talking about the "Afrikaner wing of unionism". He told US supporters at a New York fund raiser that "few human beings of my acquaintance are as petty and mean-spirited and
negative as those in the Afrikaner wing of unionism."

Remember this is on the eve of a DUP Executive meeting at which those alleged "Afrikaners" are due to be briefed on the latest state of the negotiations inside Stormont Castle.

The DUP's Robin Newton has countered by accusing the Sinn Fein President of indulging in a "hopelessly sectarian outburst, which bears no semblance to reality."

Now, as I was saying earlier, the mood music inside the Castle WAS improving recently...

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I dropped in to David's Barber Shop on the Antrim Road this morning to witness not one, but two MLAs getting a close shave for Children In Need.

Alban Maginness was the trendsetter, dispensing with his 37 year old moustache for charity. Then Daithi McKay took up the gauntlet, sacrificing his much younger 'tache and beard. I asked him where Gerry Adams was, and he told me the party still needed its grey beards for the current complex negotiations.

At one point I applied a shaving foam and brush to Alban's upper lip, but balked at the chance of wielding the cut throat razor. However attractive the prospect might be of drawing blood from our MLAs, I decided that David McGreevy, who has more than fifty years experience in the trade, would make a safer pair of hands than me. Even so, Alban ended up giving a bit if blood, as well as a lot of bristles, for the cause.

As viewers of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Newsline will see, David McGreevy came up with the best one liner. "These boys might not be able to share power" he mused "but at least they share the same barber." And watch out for Alban's reaction when it is suggested that we might call for Alasdair McDonnell to tend his wound...

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Last month I told you all to keep your diaries free for upcoming Executive meetings. Sadly, but predictably, we've been stood up for our first two assignations. Today another meeting is being cancelled, bringing the gap since the last ministerial gathering to 147 days. I have penned a piece reminding readers of the roots of the problem.

Neither the DUP nor Sinn Fein were interviewed for a companion report going out on tonight's ´óÏó´«Ã½ Newsline at 6.30pm. Is that because

a) they are embarrassed talking about it or
b) their secret talks are on the brink of a breakthrough?

Perhaps we will know more after the DUP Executive on Friday night, or after the "behind closed doors" briefing Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness are set to give the Assembly Executive and Review Committee on Tuesday. Yesterday the FM and DFM were in London talking to Gordon Brown about devolution and various financial concerns, another sign that a resolution may be on the cards.

Next week the Ulster Unionists have an Assembly motion for debate "requiring" the Executive to meet immediately. So if this is passed, will it have a more binding impact on the Executive than last week's 11 plus vote had on Caitriona Ruane?

I'm told that even though the Assembly may "require" a meeting there's still a contrasting requirement for the FM and DFM to agree to call one. So whilst the legislature can pass laws and hold the Executive to account via committees it cannot instruct ministers to meet. Instead, they only have to be "mindful" of its decisions.

Whilst compiling my Newsline report I visited the Belfast Telegraph to interview its News Editor, Ronan Henry, about its daily reminder of the time which has elapsed since the last Executive meeting. Whilst I was there I asked about the paper's "guess the date of the next Executive" competition. Noone seemed to know much about it, but for those who missed it here's

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According to the Assembly in a tight 47-45 vote on the future of the transfer test yesterday, the PUP's Dawn Purvis wasn't counted because she voted in both lobbies. And it wasn't even a multiple choice question.

P.S. It has since been brought to my attention that under the current rules of the Assembly, you cannot abstain from a vote, Dawn wanted to prove she was present and to abstain, so the only way to do that was to go through both lobbies. Assembly sources are telling me the abstention issue is something they are looking at.

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I wasn't at Stormont today, but I have just heard my colleague Martina Purdy regaling listeners to Evening Extra with the details on the charity recipe book released today to raise funds for Cancer Research. As promised here's some more on our MLAs culinary habits.

Eighty of them contributed to the book. Gerry Adams favourite recipe is Poached Irish Samon; Alex Easton's favourite dessert is Angel Delight. Iris Robinson supplied a recipe for Peter's favourite ....Chocolate Balls.

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Last week at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Gregory Campbell questioned Sir Hugh Orde's assertion that dissidents may be exploiting the vacuum. The Chief Constable responded by insisting he had intelligence to back up his remarks.

Today the asserted that the one possible reason for the increase in Continuity IRA and Real IRA activity "may be a perception that the absence of progress on the devolution of justice and policing has created a political vacuum, or may have caused disaffection among republican supporters, which the dissidents think they may be able to exploit".

The argument has prompted another trenchant response from the DUP, in the shape of a statement from Willie McCrea, who says he wants "to nail the falsehood being peddled by some that dissident republican criminality is connected to the devolution of policing and justice. I cannot agree with anyone who suggests that dissident Republicans are rioting in the streets, shooting at the police and planting bombs because they want to see the immediate devolution of policing and justice powers to the Stormont Assembly. Such a suggestion is absurd and those who peddle such a line simply make themselves look foolish."

The IMC also tried to advance another argument about devolving justice by suggesting that it would allow for more joined-up government, by enabling, for example, maximum effort to be made to ensure criminals don't defraud industrial or agricultural subsidies or welfare benefits.

Fair enough, although given how magnificently unjoined-up our local departments generally are, one wonders whether devolution would make that much difference.

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Today's IMC report once again concludes that no early steps are expected towards loyalist decommissioning. But the SDLP's Euro candidate, Alban Maginness is taking a lead of sorts by decommissioning something which has been a fact of political life here for around 30 years - namely his moustache. The North Belfast MLA is due to get it shaved off at the end of this week to raise money for Children In Need. The challenge is now on for all those other hirsute MLAs out there - Messrs Mccausland, Ford, Maskey, Brady, Molloy, Wilson, Shannon, and Adams take note...

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He was very much the "absent friend" at last weekend's DUP Conference - someone who Peter Robinson referred to as one of those who "once walked with us" but "strayed when the heat came on".

This weekend Jim Allister gets his chance to return fire at the TUV's first conference. The TUV will have its own absent friend, though. The party president, former East Londonderry UUP MP Willie Ross, booked his holiday long in advance of the conference. So he will be making his speech via video.

Last Tuesday on "Stormont Live" we had to make do with video version of the DUP's Nelson McCausland as the Speaker's one day ban on the North Belfast MLA prevented him from joining us in our Stormont studio. However for this weekend's "Inside Politics" both Jim Allister and Nelson McCausland apperaed in the flesh in front of me to argue the toss over the future of unionism and whether there is an alternative to the current mandatory coalition. You can listen to their debate on Inside Politics on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Ulster tomorrow at 12.45pm, or after that via the programme website.

My colleague Maggie Taggart has just handed me today's eleven plus paper, which begins with a comprehension piece about how to make bruschetta (do I detect a middle class bias, there?)

I predict a cooking theme in the coming days. Jim Allister's conference agenda comcludes with an advert for a recipe book "What's Cooking? Tempting and Unusual Variations of Traditional Recipes". Next week, at Stormont, another recipe book will be launched with contributions from our MLAs. It's in aid of Cancer Research. Who likes Angel Delight and who likes Chocolate Balls? More next week.

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The Ulster Unionist party officers are due to get an informal report later today on the work of the internal group which has been examining the scope for closer cooperation with the Tories. I'm told this isn't the group's final report, but the party officers may be updated on the results of research on how voters might react to the advent of a "new political force".

No great decisions are expected, but the clock is ticking. The party's postponed annual conference has now been organised for December 6th and if David Cameron is to be persuaded to attend he will want some evidence that the talk of greater cooperation is going somewhere.

If the UUP wanted to approach this on a step by step basis then the least contentious first move would be to confirm that Jim Nicholson will be a joint UUP-Tory candidate in next June's European election. Mr Nicholson already sits in the same European Parliament group as the Conservatives so it wouldn't be a big step for him. A UUP Executive is pencilled in for November 15th and if they approved this incremental approach it might pave the way for a Cameron appearance at the conference in December.

However there are UUP members who remain sceptical about the wisdom of the Tory link. The views of Chris McGimpsey have already been well documented, and the position of the party's only MP, Lady Sylvia Hermon, remains opaque.

In recent days, rumours have been rife at Stormont about a "triumvirate" of UUP MLAs allegedly so disenchanted about the Tory talks that they might be considering their position. Getting to the bottom of this is difficult.

Some sources suggest at least one of the MLAs might be considering talks with the DUP. A fortnight ago, other sources claimed one politician had contacted the Speaker's office about changing party affiliation. More recently, another politician was reported to be unhappy, not so much about the Tories but more about not being high enough up the order of those due to speak on the topic of the 1859 Evangelical revival!

When we contacted the MLA who had supposedly been in contact with the Speaker's office he denied it. Others don't seem to be in any rush to talk. But some party sources confirm they have been firefighting discontent whilst insisting that "noone is taking any baby steps, let alone giant steps away from the party".

Clear as mud? Well as the Tory-UUP experiment inches forward, maybe the picture will become clearer.

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From the most powerful politician in the world to a wee timorous beastie. I am told that politicians in the North West were upstaged by a rodent when they had a tour of a new £6 million prison complex within Magilligan jail last week. My informant tells me that as they prepared to tuck into their buffet lunch, all the attention was taken by the unit's solitary inmate, who scuttled around the shiny new floor to the consternation of the VIP guests. Alcatraz had a bird man. Maybe Magilligan should get a mouse man.

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Well not quite, but the US Consul Susan Elliot did organise a breakfast event at the Stormont Hotel this morning. Some of you may have heard my colleague Wendy Austin broadcasting on Good Morning Ulster from the event.

The Consul is reassuring anyone who asks that the new administration will continue to appoint a US Special Envoy to succeed Paula Dobriansky. During the campaign Senator Obama questioned the need for an Envoy, but later went back on that stance after running into opposition from Irish Americans.

The President Elect will now work on his policies and personnel in the run up to his inauguration on January 20th. There are rumours that Caroline Kennedy could be his ambassador in London, which would represent pay back for the Kennedys' support during his battle against Hillary Clinton. At the same time it might be a little ironic, as the to occupy this post was associated with isolationism and appeasement, a stance which Senator Obama roundly attacks in his book "The Audacity of Hope".

Flicking through the book overnight I was struck by how the President Elect's belief in multilateralism and "soft power" might draw him towards a greater emphasis on conflict resolution. Here are a few quotes. "We have an obligation to engage in efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East, not only for the benefit of the people of the region, but for the safety and security of our children as well". "We will have to go beyond a more prudent use of military force. We will have to align our policies to help reduce the spheres of insecurity, poverty and violence around the world". And finally "the struggle against Islamic based terrorism will be not simply a military campaign but a battle for public opinion in the Islamic world, among our allies and in the United States".

The First and Deputy First Minister have joined just about every other politician in the world in congratulating the President Elect. On Monday, the DFM was talking about conflict resolution when he answered questions about the future of the Maze site. The location remains highly contentious but the kind of work he envisages for dovetails with some of the President Elect's analysis.

So could our future relationship with the United States involve more emphasis on what me might be able to give the rest of the world, rather than what we might take? One barometer of how far down the agenda of the new administration we are will be how the new President chooses to play his first St Patrick's Day, just a couple of months after he takes office.

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Like him or loathe him, there's no denying that our Environment Minister usually provides plenty of entertainment when he gets to his feet in the Assembly chamber. yesterday he suggested he might fall foul of equality legislation through protecting the but not the English brown hare. He suggested that he was greener than his Irish counterpart and several hares had already sought asylum north of the border.

Today he answered Daithi McKay's call for a levy on plastic bags by pointing out that the North Antrim MLA was using a non biodegradable plastic water beaker, whereas the minister was relying on a re-usable glass.

The minister told MLAs he had just bought some books and declined to take the bag proffered by the assistant. He denied (but did he refute?) the suggestion that he might have required a brown bag for his books.

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Stormontspy told me off yesterday for reflecting a sense of optimism. Today it looks like normal service has been resumed with the Assembly and Executive Review Committee failing to meet, and Ian Paisley Jr. and John O'Dowd tearing strips off each other over what their two parties did or did not agree on devolving policing and justice.

We talked to David Simpson about his plans for a commemoration of the 1859 evangelical revival, which according to the Oxford Companion to Irish History involved a great deal of fervour including visions, prophecies and stigmata. I'm not sure that anything like that is scheduled for next year, but asked about the chances of the Executive being revived anytime soon, the Upper Bann MP told us he did believe in miracles.

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Following in the foot steps of Iris Robinson, who was thrown out of the Assembly chamber over comments about the Health Minister Michael McGimpsey, the DUP North Belfast MLA Nelson McCausland walked the Stormont plank this morning. His sin, in the eyes of the Assembly Speaker Willie Hay, was to make an "unfounded allegation of criminal behaviour" about the Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams. Mr McCausland used a speech on the disappeared yesterday to accuse Mr Adams of being the IRA leader who set up two special units to murder informers and dispose of their bodies. Mr Adams denied it and, speaking in Irish, called Mr McCausland " a foolish man".

Today the Speaker said Mr Adams had "directly refuted" the allegation and called on Mr McCausland to withdraw his comments. The North Belfast MLA pointed to Ed Moloney's "Secret History of the IRA" as his source, and refused to comply. He then made his way out of the building and its precincts.

Not for the first time, this episode has left me pondering the meaning of words. Has Mr Adams "refuted" the allegation? Well if you go with one definition then he hasn't, but if you choose another "to deny the truth or accuracy of the allegations", then he has. But then one kind of refutation is generally much more easy to pull off than another.

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Assembly business began today with the Finance Minister Nigel Dodds spelling out unspent money he was able to allocate to various departments. This was the allocation which the Minister originally said he could not make because of the Executive stand off, and which he then processed via an urgent written procedure.

The context for the statement was the down turn in the property market, which is having an impact on departments which had been hoping to sell off land or houses to raise cash. The Department of Social Development is particularly hit as tenants are either unable or unwilling to buy their properties. Neverthless Margaret Ritchie inists she will still make her target for building more than 5000 homes over the next three years.

At these times of credit crunch some eyebrows were raised about the £70,000 which has been spent on a house for the Speaker on the Stormont estate. But Willie Hay said he needed the overnight accommodation, the house would be available to future Speakers, and the move represents better value for the taxpayer than renting on an ad hoc basis.

Sure what's £70,000 these days, anyway? If you are the Secretary of State, and the has got its estimates right, it would barely cover a couple of birthday parties.

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Now the DUP Conference is over and the Army's Homecoming Parade has passed off without the trouble some had forecast, there seemed to be a sense of optimism about Stormont that the stand off might be nearing resolution.

There's not a lot of detail to base this perception on. However the word is that the DUP Sinn Fein talks inside Stormont Castle have been lengthier and more intense in recent days. Then there was the section of Peter Robinson's speech which talked about an economic package being brought to the Executive in the next few weeks. Did that presuppose the Executive would be sitting by then?

Today, in the Assembly Chamber, Martin McGuinness expressed his hope that the difficulties would be overcome "in the not too distant future". And appearing on "Stormont Live" Nigel Dodds didn't demur.

We shall be watching to see if the the Assembly Executive and Review Committee meets tomorrow and whether there's an indication of any staging posts on the way to devolving justice. Other straws in the wind appear to be renewed talk of a Minority Languages Act as the answer to the Irish language logjam and money going to individual sports as a temporary alternative to the Maze stadium. Martin McGuinness talked up the proposed Conflict Transformation Centre at the Maze today but played down the notion of it as a republican shrine.

The only person who might have an interest in prolonging the stand off is Michelle Gildernew, the Agriculture Minister, who could do with about six months more inactivity to look after her new daughter seventeen day old Aoise. In fact she has taken nothing like the normal duration of maternity leave. Mother and baby were both guests on "Stormont Live" today and Aoise was so quiet I accused the Agriculture Minister of feeding her poteen. The minister was at Stormont to promote breast feeding, but also took her seat in the Assembly chamber to answer a debate on the maintenance of waterways in Upper Bann.

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I've just come off air, after our live coverage of Peter Robinson's speech. It struck me as a confident address in which he made the best of the Stormont bad job, trying to sell the advantages of devolution whilst acknowledging its current difficulties.

Predictably enough, he began with a tribute to Ian Paisley, but then followed with pen portraits of his wife ("she shuns media attention and rigorously avoids controversy") and all his ministerial team, past and present. It struck me that here was a leader intent on ensuring every member of his party felt appreciated and thereby avoiding some of the pitfalls which befell the UUP when they traversed similar ground.

The boo boys and girls here have been Gerry Adams, Caitriona Ruane and Jim Allister. The barbs against the UUP have been delivered more in mock sorrow than in anger.

In the absence of Sammy Wilson, the best one liners have come from the Leader and Deputy Leader. Nigel Dodds reckons the Executive deadlock pits "Gerry versus the Pacemakers". Peter Robinson says republicans protesting against tomorrow's Homecoming Parade will get the chance to "see what a real army looks like". And on the topic of Sammy, the First Minister claims he turned down his Environment Minister's suggestion that the Environment and Heritage Service new logo should be a JCB. That was a joke, wasn't it?

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When I arrived in Armagh for today's DUP conference I thought I'd got the wrong weekend. Heading into the City Hotel, I drove past a sign advertising a "Fortune Tellers Conference" due to take place later this month. If I'd waited for that event I could tell you with certainty how long the Stormont deadlock would last instead of just analysing the possibilities.

Another sign informed me that "hypnosis is the answer". Unfortunately it did not illuminate me as to what the question might be.

I'm currently camped at the back of the conference hall, listening to Michelle McIlveen talking about literacy and numeracy in our schools. She followed Mervyn Storey, who told delegates that he was walking in the footsteps of Sammy Wilson as education spokesman, which he acknowledged was a hard task. Sammy was at the conference last night, but is missing this morning because the RIR are being honoured in Larne. The question is not who steps into Sammy's shoes as education spokesman but who tries to take on his role as DUP Conference Court Jester? So far the position appears vacant.

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