When the Northern Ireland Assembly met for the first time under the new administration last Monday, as well as granting members a salary increase, it agreed that MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) could call themselves Teachtai Dala or TDs. The initiative came, not surprisingly, from Sinn Fein and was agreed as the official translation of MLA.
The move is seen as a another step by Sinn Fein towards its long-term strategy of a united Ireland. If legislators all carry the same title and they gain a few Dail seats in the next general election in the Republic, it is being said that party leader Gerry Adams has his eye on the constituency of Louth - the reality of the Border gets thinner and thinner.
At present, parliamentarians from other jurisdictions are allowed access to the restaurant, bar and library in Leinster House. Now there is serious discussion, at Brian Lenihan's Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, on the thorny matter of allowing MLAs, of all persuasions naturally, rights of audience, i.e. to speak but not vote, in either or both the Dail and Seanad. A motion in the 1950s to allow Northern nationalist MPs speak in the Dail was defeated in both houses. Less contentious are proposals to invite two former senators, now Northern Ministers, Seamus Mallon and Brid Rodgers, as well as David Trimble, to address their old forum.
Most advance is expected on Oireachtas committees, where Northern members are almost certain to be included. Now that Articles 2 and 3 have been changed the move is toward blurring the divisions and increasing Northern participation in the institutions of State. Consequently, expect ructions from certain parties in the North.