[MisterMuncher]

They still look upon Ireland as a colony, don't they?

At best, they might recognize that Ireland is currently independent, but only under the understanding it's a bit of a teenage phase that'll pass.

[youngian]

In his latest extract from his biography; ‘Everyone’s fault but mine,’ Nick Timothy blames the Irish and EU for ‘weaponising the Northern Ireland border.’ It can’t be understated what a dismal human being Mr Timothy is.

[spoonman]

Without completely spilling the beans, this is in Ian Paisley Jr's heartland.

If the excrement hits the spinning blades, it's going to be awful news for the employees and contractors. The owners though, there won't be much sympathy for them on the ground.

Boris Johnson will also want to take a deep breath as well, as it's near certain his name will be mentioned in reports along with the word "buses".

[MisterMuncher]

Ooof. That's pretty big.

[youngian]

When I was a young rookie reporter working for a trade magazine for the bus and coach industry older and wiser hands explained to me why a story in the Telegraph about Brussels was banning double decker buses to do down Britain was bollocks (I can guess who wrote it). I was very pleased with the story calling out this nonsense that no one in the industry believed. Accept for one boss who gave the original story legs and wrote a letter of complaint as to how my story was all wrong and flippant as the double-decker banning Brussels bureaucrats were ready to pounce. That was over 20 years ago. You keep getting this stuff wrong don’t you Mr Wright?

[Boiler]

Well, one bus company in Ballymena would appear to be having some financial difficulties:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49095505

[spoonman]

Wrightbus: Now officially fuct.

Wrightbus: 1,200 job losses confirmed as firm enters administration

About 1,200 Wrightbus workers have been made redundant after the company entered administration.

Just 50 jobs will be retained at the firm - the last UK-owned bus manufacturer - administrators said.

The company had suffered cash flow problems and had sought investment or a new owner.

Talks with two potential buyers of the firm, best known for building the New Routemaster, known as the "Boris Bus", failed to reach a conclusion last week.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49818156

A devastating blow for the vast vast majority of workers. The company bosses and some of the management though? They can feck right off, hopefully not to greener pastures.

[spoonman]

Someone's been digging. Twitter thread.

[MisterMuncher]

"Pastor from Ballymena" is fast becoming my euphemism for anabsolutely dreadful bollocks of a man.

The essence of what I've heard is that Wrightbus would be salvageable as a going concern but the rent and other grift and grease being levied by the good Rev. One Wright entity is paying another £1.5m p/afor rent on the old Gallagher's factory, bought at a relative knockdown, and with all the grants and fuckery available, probably for not much more than that flat out.

I suppose it does answer why Boris found them ideal for making his new buses

[Bones McCoy]

The mirror of "Get woke go broke!"

[MisterMuncher]

All this story needs now is an RHI boiler used for evidence disposal.

[spoonman]

While things look exceedingly gloomy across the Irish Sea, in NI it looks a tiny bit brighter, looking like a bad night for the DUP while Alliance & SDLP return to the House of Commons...

South Belfast - Emma Little-Pengelly (DUP) is gone, she might not even finish second. Claire Hanna (SDLP) all but confirmed, with Paula Bradshaw (Alliance) having a chance of taking second place.

North Down - with Syliva Hermon (Independent) standing down, the DUP were favourites to take this seat, but it looks like Stephen Farry (Alliance) will top the poll with a bigger margin than Hermon had against the DUP in 2017.

North Belfast - too close to outright call ATM, but the present signs and bookmaker odds have John Finnucane (Sinn Fein), the current Lord Mayor of Belfast, just about ousting the DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds in what has been the dirtiest campaign this election in NI.

Elsewhere, the SDLP is likely to take back Foyle from Sinn Fein, while in South Down what was a likely outcome of Sinn Fein to retain might end up being closer than first thought.

[MisterMuncher]

Latest word on North Belfast is that it's not close at all, and Dodds is out on his ear.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Wow.

[spoonman]

Latest word on North Belfast is that it's not close at all, and Dodds is out on his ear.

Looks like pissgate** hasn't harmed Finnucane much, if at all.

Meanwhile in North Down, Stephen Farry of Alliance has won North Down by ~3000 votes. Not just a good result for Alliance, but also worth it to see Jwamie Brwyson having a meltdown on Twitter, as Farry is his new MP!

Hanna (SDLP) looks set to win in a landslide in South Belfast, while in predictable news the DUP has held on to Strangford whilst Sinn Fein retain West Tyrone. Some whispers of a possible upset in South Down?



**Not to be confused with the rumblings of a certain permantanned manchild and some alleged prostitutes in a hotel in Moscow.