Recently this blog's old friend DUP MLA Jim Shannon provoked some mirth for asking the Environment Minister "to detail the number of incidences of dog fouling, and the resulting number of prosecutions, broken down by district council area, in each of the last two years."
But just to show that the subject of natural deposits is a cross community concern, we need look no further than Sinn Fein's Councillor Philip McGuigan whose recent statement on bird fouling deserves quoting at length.
"This is and has been a serious ongoing problem for the people affected. Large numbers of birds congregate on NIE electricity lines above peoples gardens and property with the result that gardens, cars and other property are covered in bird foul"
"In these circumstances, people are unable to hang washing out, or indeed permit their children to play in their own gardens."
"I have, over a period of time, made contact with NIE on behalf of a number of constituents in Dunloy and other local villages but I feel the response of NIE has been unsatisfactory."
"Their only solution is the ludicrous suggestion of the homeowner continually making noise to scare the birds off, or for the people to purchase rollers for the overhead cables at a price of £500."
"In my opinion NIE should be shouldering the responsibility of addressing this problem. This means incurring any associated costs to ensure that the positioning of their cables is not having a detrimental impact on the quality of life of their customers."
Some of my colleagues aren't taking this seriously. But as the resident of a house where the birds gorge themselves on blackberries before doing an impression of Guy Gibson's Dambusters, I am cheering Councillor McGuigan on from the sidelines.
During questions to the Assembly Commission the SDLP's John Dallat suggested that the oil painting depicting King Billy arriving in Ireland with the Pope apparently blessing him should be put on display in a public place in Stormont "to intrigue visitors and put another slant on our previously beleaguered history". Alliance's Sean Neeson said the Commission had received a request for the painting to go out on loan, but would consider Mr Dallat's idea. Neither politician mentioned that last time it took pride of place at Stormont it provoked a frenzied act of vandalism by some enraged Scottish loyalists, as we documented on BBC News Online back in 2006.
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That's how long the assembly parties took to approve £160,000 more money for themselves. The money will be used to fund support for the Stormont party whips. Noone spoke against the proposal which did not go to a formal vote. The politicians dealt with the matter so quickly that the Education Minister Caitriona Ruane did not manage to get to her seat in time for the next debate on the Classroom Assistants Dispute, which caused some confusion in the Chamber.
The Executive's draft budget isn't far off and many of our ministers have spent the last few days locked in meetings about projected Departmental spending. The Finance Department's best guess about what we are likely to get from London in the Comprehensive Spending Review due in early October is a 3.7% increase. Given that inflation is running at 2.7% that's around 1% real growth.
If the executive parties want to stick to their previous manifesto committments that consumers should not pay twice for their water, they may opt to offset any future water charges by reducing the rates. They are also facing a delay in hoped for cash infusions from projects like Workplace 2010, the sell off of many government offices. Either way there's likely to be less money around.
So the Executive's first budget could end up being a belt tightening exercise. Certainly some are already engaged in lateral thinking about how the Executive might raise some extra revenue. There are limits to what can be achieved by raising the regional rate (which would be an unpopular move anyway). So in the medium to long term watch out for other ideas, such as a tax or charge on developers, increased payments for planning services and more sell offs of government land. Road tolling appeals to some politicians but may be a toll booth too far for others.
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