Funny Old Game

Deciding where a sports stadium goes is proving to be a funny old game, as the committee charged with scrutinising the decision making process seem to be as much in the dark about the detail of what is happening as the rest of us.

To shed some light on the matter Edwin Poots, the Minister who makes the call on where the muti-sports stadium is sited is being requested to attend a meeting of the committee for Culture Arts and Leisure for a frank discussion on, as the committee's deputy chair, David McNarry (who chaired the meeting as Barry McElduff is part of the mass-exodus to the Smithsonian festival in the sunnier climates of Washington) calls it, the "nitty gritty" of the debate.

In addition the committee are hoping to see a copy of the business plan for the proposed project for the H-Block/Maze site.
"There seems to be a reluctance of some of the departments to give the full information," Mr McNarry observed, and offered the drastic solution of resorting to issuing freedom of information requests if needed. However, he maintained, "We shouldn't have to go to those lengths."

The Committee is awaiting a response for the Minister's timetable for the progression of the stadium, and David McNarry fired a warning shot saying, "It would be clear to the committee that the Minister would be foolish, and therefore unlikely to progress without consulting this committee, when he reaches his decision of where he is going."
He also said that they were "anxious" that no decision would be made over when the Assembly goes into its month-long recess from July 7.