Post by Wasp on Mar 24, 2008 0:30:15 GMT
How many civil servants does it take to change a letter? To shift the capital 'D' in Martin McGuinness' title to a lower case 'd', it took 44 - plus the First and Deputy First Ministers, their Junior Ministers, eight special advisers and the Speaker of the Assembly.
That's how many people at Stormont were drawn into a debate about how Mr McGuinness' title should be written out.
Under the previous regime, the Deputy First Minister's title always began with a capital 'D' - the way it was written in the Good Friday Agreement.
But weeks after Mr McGuinness got the job last year, a request went out to start it with a lower case 'd' - deputy First Minister, which is the way it's written in legislation.
A spokesman for Mr McGuinness said neither the Deputy First Minister nor his advisers had asked for the change.
Nevertheless the issue was kicked around for at least six weeks and produced 50 pages of memos. The debate even spilled over into whether Junior Ministers should use a 'j' or a 'J'.
A Freedom of Information release revealed one senior civil servant was concerned that officials might do "silly things" if the issue wasn't handled carefully.
Ultimately, it was decided that Mr McGuinness should be the deputy First Minister, unless all the other letters in the title are in capitals.
Confusion isn't completely resolved, however. If Mr McGuinness writes to the Assembly committee that scrutinises his work, his note will have a letterhead that comes from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.
But he'll get a reply back from the Committee for the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister.
What a fucking joke, while people here are suffering from poor healgthcare, living conditions etc etc etc these wankers argue over a capitol letter. IMO they should have whatever time it took deducted from their wages as this is a waste of time and they should pay all admin costs themselves.
Arseholes.
That's how many people at Stormont were drawn into a debate about how Mr McGuinness' title should be written out.
Under the previous regime, the Deputy First Minister's title always began with a capital 'D' - the way it was written in the Good Friday Agreement.
But weeks after Mr McGuinness got the job last year, a request went out to start it with a lower case 'd' - deputy First Minister, which is the way it's written in legislation.
A spokesman for Mr McGuinness said neither the Deputy First Minister nor his advisers had asked for the change.
Nevertheless the issue was kicked around for at least six weeks and produced 50 pages of memos. The debate even spilled over into whether Junior Ministers should use a 'j' or a 'J'.
A Freedom of Information release revealed one senior civil servant was concerned that officials might do "silly things" if the issue wasn't handled carefully.
Ultimately, it was decided that Mr McGuinness should be the deputy First Minister, unless all the other letters in the title are in capitals.
Confusion isn't completely resolved, however. If Mr McGuinness writes to the Assembly committee that scrutinises his work, his note will have a letterhead that comes from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.
But he'll get a reply back from the Committee for the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister.
What a fucking joke, while people here are suffering from poor healgthcare, living conditions etc etc etc these wankers argue over a capitol letter. IMO they should have whatever time it took deducted from their wages as this is a waste of time and they should pay all admin costs themselves.
Arseholes.
Thus solving the problem of allowing them down any street in one fell swoop!