Hi °C | Lo °C And so to Stormont to see the Treasury Select Committee get to grips with the impact of the credit crunch on Northern Ireland.
And although the Assembly is supposed to make government accessible to the people of Northern Ireland, the same could not be said of Parliament Buildings.
The only parking space was a good half mile from the house on the hill — which necessitated an energy-sapping hike up the driveway to the security hut.
Anyway, anyway, around 50 people shuffled into the public gallery for their hearing from the cross-party delegation of MPs.
In the hot seat was John McFall, a one-time Northern Ireland Office Minister who is now gaining a reputation for his tenacity, when it comes to bank bosses at least.
Microphone problems meant his welcome was somewhat inaudible.
But it seemed that history was being made because this was the first time the committee had taken evidence anywhere other than London.
McFall said he had been asked by the BBC whether he anticipated the hearing turning into a “riot”, but he said he was confident the proceedings would be handled with civility.
And so it proved. Several small business people set the tone by telling of the problems they were having in accessing credit from the big bad banks.
But truth to tell, the hearing was dominated by some heart-rending tales of hardship being endured by the hapless investors with the Presbyterian Mutual Society.
One moving story was of a woman who had sold the family farm and put the proceeds in the PMS, where they were now frozen.
The problem was not only that she could not proceed with her plans for a new house close to her parents, but that the taxman had come knocking in January with a demand for capital gains tax on the farm sale.
Another story was about a woman who was looking after her aunt’s affairs and had been drawing from her own reserves month by month to pay her nursing home bill.
Now the money was inaccessible and the carer was having to find the funds from her own resources.
And a rather good suggestion from Fr Tim Bartlett, who wondered if the co-ownership scheme could apply retrospectively.
All in all, lots for the committee to mull over back in London. Great to see democracy in action.
