A look at the Stormont side of life

By Jim Fitzpatrick BBC NI Politics Show

MLAs are packing their bags and heading for the sun

We've had our last Politics Show before the summer recess. Politicians, and journalists, need their taxpayer-funded holidays after all.

But neither BBC journalist nor politician can head for the hills without the extra weight of expenses in their baggage.

It's a heavy burden for some that makes the break more of a convalescence than summer celebration.

And in a development that many could interpret as a refreshing burst of normality, the issue has dominated politics here in Northern Ireland as much as at Westminster.

Policing and justice, parades, and Irish language may be keeping Sinn Fein and DUP leaders awake at night, but it's still expenses which dominate public discussion.

So, in lieu of my normal missive, here are a few quotes that sum up the past few months, beginning with some timely advice from the Sinn Fein president on how to keep one's spirits up…

When I was in prison, after a very, very brutal incursion into the prison wing and the prison officers beat everybody and the wing was deadly silent, from way down the wing we heard this little voice going, 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life'. Then within about five minutes there were about 100 men playing that at the top of their voices

Gerry Adams telling a heart-warming tale of how republican prisoners kept their spirits up during internment. Curiously, Monty Python's Life of Brian, where the song appears, wasn't released until 1979 - a year after Mr Adams was himself released. The Sinn Fein president didn't even get a credit on the movie!

I think if MPs slept on a park bench and starved themselves that would still be too much for some people

DUP leader Peter Robinson accurately reflects the public mood in the wake of the expenses scandal.

I am the deputy first minister and an elected MP. I get roughly over £300 per week from Sinn Fein, the exact same money as the person who drives me to my work at Parliament Buildings or Stormont Castle every week

Martin McGuinness explains how the equality principle works in Sinn Fein. Who says you need big salaries and bonuses to attract talent?

I have just had a cup of tea in the green room getting ready for this programme, and there were biscuits next to the make-up tray. The BBC is funded by the taxpayer. Those biscuits were actually paid for by a taxpayer. I have, in my office, claimed for biscuits for my constituents. So my constituents should not have biscuits, but someone coming on this programme should?

Secretary of State Shaun Woodward expresses his frustration at being pilloried for claiming back the cost of Family Circle biscuits while the BBC munches its way through publicly-funded custard creams like there's no tomorrow. That's just the way the cookie crumbles, Shaun.

Mr Donaldson has been asked to pay back any expenses which have not been properly incurred and I understand that he intends to do so. In the light of his categorical denials, Mr Donaldson is clearly entitled to a presumption of innocence. If any evidence to substantiate the allegations can be provided we would of course wish to consider it

Peter Robinson, again on the expenses issue, offering unqualified support to Jeffrey Donaldson, now dubbed the DUP's film buff after he claimed hundreds of pounds for in-room hotel movies.

Why does it always have to be a competition?

Education Minister Caitriona Ruane, heard complaining about the format for an assembly members' cycle race round Stormont to promote green travel.

On Sunday's programme, on the eve of the Twelfth demonstrations, we took a look at the state of the Orange Order today and spoke to one of its fiercest critics, Martin McGuinness.

All the best,

Jim