Can Leinster House learn from the assembly at Stormont? Three members of the Oireachtas who took a day trip up there earlier this month certainly think so - and they are not referring to the fisticuffs. Deputy Michael Bell and Senators Maurice Manning and Joe O'Toole, told the Subcommittee on Members Interests that what they found was one of the most high-tech and best-resourced parliaments in Europe and that the sooner Leinster House catches up the better. They said they were greatly impressed with the research facilities and the strong central role of committees - and they dispelled the old jaundiced view of Stormont as an institution from another era.
The Oireachtas trio was full of praise for Lord Alderdice and not just for the usual thing of keeping the opposing sides from each others throats, at least in the chamber, but because he has made the assembly independent of the civil service. And, incidentally, they reported great inter-party cooperation behind the scenes and quiet relief all round, even among the diehard DUP, that the assembly survived earlier this month. No politician, no matter what they say, yearns for an election.