Friday 20 December 2013  New party NI21 offers opposition outlet
Northern Ireland's newest political party is certainly different
in one respect, its name. NI21 is not a title which immediately
resonates of politics. Some wags suggest it is more like the
name of a road in the Republic or a scientific term for some
horrible virus. But then given all the current party titles,
perhaps it is a name which will connect with the young and the
previously disenchanted.  Like everyone else we will have to
await some flesh on the bones of the new party before gauging
whether it stands a good chance of survival or will become just
another seven-day wonder. There is no doubt that John
McCallister and Basil McCrea are very able politicians and will
each bring a cadre of support to the new party, not necessarily
from the same constituency.  They pitch the party as confident,
pro-union and progressive. They also intimate that it will be
non-sectarian and should be positioned somewhere alongside
Alliance. In the new Northern