Naomi Long

The Alliance MLA Danny Donnelly is on with us to talk about health, which we're gonna turn to in a moment or two.

But your party has said that the, the, the, what's on offer, Danny, uh, should be exec- uh, should be accepted, right? Your leader, Naomi Long, has said that as an executive minister.

Um, well, we get it.

We get this, Stephen.

And, and, and finally, Robbie Butler, the health minister, is about to come on th- this program in the next few seconds.

We've recorded an interview with him this morning in which he has said he has not got approval from executive ministers to be able to spend the money to give healthcare workers their pay rise.

Has Naomi Long, your leader, who sits in the executive, has she said she will support Robbie Butler getting the money to make that offer?

I haven't spoken, um, to Naomi about this, but I certainly know that Alliance ministers have demonstrated fiscal responsibility, and they are staying in budget.

It's them who are being essentially targeted by this needless march.

You know, as I pointed out last week, Naomi Long pointed out that there just was no need for this march to travel down the line.

I think it's fair to say that the Garabahi Road residents have conducted themselves with an incredible degree of patience, an incredible degree of, I think, fortitude in terms of how long they've, you know, like essentially having to safeguard their entire road and their homes for two weeks while under so much scrutiny and under so much pressure.

I think, honestly, it's been extremely creditable.

It's been talked about a lot.

I know there, there wa- there was legislation brought in, and Alliance Party under Naomi Long, who's now the justice minister, b- before she was, had pushed really hard to bring legislation to, for, for, for these kinda characters.

But we don't hear an awful lot of the, of the proceeds of crime, people having stuff taken off them.

Um, I don't think it's anywhere, certainly in the public.

Okay.

Well, the UUP has always c- uh, showed f- calm, calm leadership, um, in this from the beginning, calling for mediated resolution.

The Orange Order has secured a significant legal victory, proving their case that they can, they can walk that road.

The Orange Order must take stock right now and decide what they do next.

So we didn't deliberately point it towards the, the network.

We told jokes about, you know, Naomi Long and bonfires and stuff that English people didn't understand.

It's just not gonna work.

But it was, for us-

You know, I think that the residents of drum cree and those who support them have i think really sort of leaned into uh i suppose a sense that it's it's a non-violent protest and they are just trying to protect i suppose their own dignity um i saw an interesting thing posted yesterday by michelle o'neill the first minister and obviously leader of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland, she shared an open letter which had been signed by hundreds of Protestants, sort of essentially advising the Orange Order to give up on this pursuit and stop trying to march down the Garvahy Road.

I also saw Naomi Long, who's obviously the leader of Alliance, she has called on, she basically kind of issued this statement where she said, She acknowledged that the Orange Order may well have a legal right to walk down the Garvahi Road, but she encouraged them to not exercise that right.

Yeah.

And to accept, and she, you know, she pointed out...

One of the notable things about this, which I think, again, just reflects so poorly on the Parades Commission, is that the cost of policing this so far, it's cost Northern Ireland three million pounds in the space of the last, I suppose, eight or nine days.

And I think, you know, that is so shocking.

And this was pointed out by Naomi Long as well, which is that there are, you know, there are very real problems in Northern Ireland.

You know, when it comes to poverty, probation, education, health care, that money could be spent elsewhere.