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Questions

ROUND 1: INTERNATIONAL AND HISTORICAL POLITICS (15 POINTS TOT)


Q.1: There has been one UK prime minister who’s mother tongue has not been English. What
was his name and which party was he the leader of? For an extra point, what was his mother
tongue?

Q.2: During the mid-Twentieth Century, and in the aftermath of World War II, there were two
hugely important international human rights agreements that were ratified. What are their
names and in what year(s) were they ratified? (1 point for each - will accept abbreviations or
shortened titles)

Q.3: Who was the last emperor of China? (last name will suffice)

Q.4: In what year did Joseph Stalin die?

Q.5: Who was the world's longest serving female Prime Minister? Not necessarily consecutive
terms. Give name of the Prime Minister and the Country of which she was Prime Minister.

Q.6: Name the current ruling party of Canada.

Q.7: Who was the 38th President of the USA? For an extra point, give his middle name.

Q.8: Who was unanimously elected the first Secretary-General of the Union of South American
Nations and in what year was he or she elected?

Q.9: The first half of the 19th Century saw the UK outlawing both slavery and the slave trade. In
what year(s)

Q.10: In what year did Haiti first gain independence and who was the first leader of this
independent Haiti? (1 point for each correct answer)

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ROUND 2: EUROPEAN POLITICS (12 POINTS TOT)

Q.1: How many official languages does the EU have?

Q.2: Name the only Irish President of the European Parliament.

Q.3: Name the current British European Commissioner. Bonus question, what is he or she
Commissioner of?

Q.4: How many seats are there in the present EU Parliament?

Q.5: Name the 10 countries which joined the EU in 2004.

Q.6: Name the capitals of the following EU states: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Q.7: If writing an official list of EU Member States alphabetically, which country comes first?
(trick question)

Q.8: Name the Northern Ireland members (and substitute members) of the Committee of
the Regions? 1 point for correctly naming the members, 1 point for correctly naming the
substitutes.

Q.9: How large was the EU budget for this year?: £60bn, £110bn or £210bn

Q.10: In 2007, the then EU Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, requested what as his official
car?

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ROUND 3: N.I. POLITICS (13 POINTS TOT)

Q.1: In 2008/2009, which Northern Ireland peer was the UK’s most expensive peer despite
managing to speak on just seven occasions in the House of Lords? (By 'most expensive
peer', we mean that he or she claimed more expenses than any other in the UK)

Q.2: Name the editors of the Belfast Telegraph, the Irish News, the News Letter, and the NI
editor of the Daily Mirror? (need to get them all right for a point)

Q.3: The Assembly Public Attitudes Survey 2009, which, although dated March 2010, was
only finally published last Wednesday, October 20 2010. Coincidentally, it was also the day
George Osborne wielded his axe to the Northern Ireland budget when he published the
Government's Spending Review. Cynics might say it was a good day to bury bad news.
What % were fairly or very satisfied with the Assembly? (leeway of 2% point either way).

Q.4: Name the current Mayor of Derry / Londonderry.

Q.5: He reportedly wonders what planet NI politicians live on; while we know that Gerry
Adams doesn't rate him. Northern Ireland voters didn't elect NI Secretary of State, Owen
Paterson, but voters in which constituency did?

Q.6: Name all six leaders of the Alliance Party since its foundation. (This includes an early
acting leader - 2 points if you get all six, 1 point if you get 5 correct).

Q.7: How many of NI's current set of MLAs were not actually elected to their seats in the
Assembly? For 2 bonus points can you name them all correctly?

Q.8: According to the 1998 report by Ken Bloomfield, 'We will remember them', if the UK as
a whole had experienced, pro rata, the scale of killings inflicted in Northern Ireland during
the Troubles, there would have been a total of how many dead?
a) 50,000
b) 130,000
c) 375,000
d) 580,000

Q.9: Name the Chairman and Deputy Chaiman of the NI Assembly Justice Committee

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Q.10: John Larkin QC is the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, the chief legal adviser to
the Northern Ireland Executive. But who is the Advocate General for Northern Ireland, the
chief legal adviser to the UK Government on Northern Irish legal matters?

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ROUND 4: VIDEO ROUND (17 POINTS TOT)

Show VIDEO A

Q.1: The Unsolicited Services (Trade and Business Directories) Bill passed its consideration
stage in the NI Assembly on October 11. How many minutes did this important assembly
business take, and how many members were in the chamber? One point for each correct
answer: Was it - a) 4 minutes; b) 8 minutes; or c) 12 minutes? i) Less then 10 MLAs; ii) 11 to
20 MLAs; or iii) 21 to 30 MLAs?

Q.2: A follow-up question. In contrast, the following day on October 12, how long did the
Assembly spend on the consideration stage of Dawn Purvis’ private members bill, the Local
Government (Disqualification) (Amendment) Bill? And how many members voted? 1 point
per correct answer. Was it - a) 3 hours 10 minutes; b) 4 hours 10 minutes; c) or 5 hours 10
minutes? i) 72 MLAs; ii) 75 MLAs; or iii) 78 MLAs?

Q.3: For the next clip, I want you to name the film, the screenwriter (who also authored the
original book) and the party that the politician, Michael Brinn (about to be elected NI Prime
Minister), belongs to. So, that was the FILM, the SCREENWRITER, and the POLITICAL
PARTY to which Michael Brinn belongs. One point for each correct answer.

Show VIDEO B

Q.4: When speaking in the video clip you have just seen, how old was newsreader Christine
Bleakley?

Q.5: What is unique about the following contribution?

Show VIDEO C

Q.6: In what democratic structure or group was the question in this next clip being asked?

Show VIDEO D

Show VIDEO E (Clip from Yes Minister)

Q.7: How many civil servants worked directly for the Office of First Minister and Deputy First
Minster on 1 October 2010?; and, how many civil servants worked directly for the
Department of Finance and Personnel on 15 September 2010? (includes both industrial and
non-industrial staff but excludes staff out on career break, outposted or on secondment).
(One point for each correct answer and a leeway of 10% on either side is permitted)

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Show VIDEO F

Q.8: Which ex-TD, now businessman and bookie, was Brendan O'Connor interviewing on
RTE’s The Saturday Night Show, and which political party was he associated with? (One
point for each correct answer)

Q.9: The next clip is from a film adaptation of a TV mini-series. Name the mini-series and its
original author.

Show VIDEO G

Q.10: Helen Mirren plays the newspaper editor in the film you just saw a clip of. Who played
the newspaper editor in the original TV version?

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ROUND 5: PICTURE ROUND (10 POINTS TOT)

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ROUND 6: POLITICS IN POPULAR CULTURE (10 POINTS)

Q.1: In Orwell’s Animal Farm, which animal is said to depict Trotsky?

Q.2: The title of Nick Broomfield’s documentary, “His Big White Self”, refers to which
infamous right-wing Afrikaner?

Q.3: What was the name of the DA portrayed by Kevin Costner in Oliver Stone’s movie JFK?

Q.4: Name the actors who played the Republican and Democrat nominees to succeed
President Bartlett in The West Wing.

Q.5: What was the full name of the PM in the 1980’s series, “Yes Prime Minister”?

Q.6: In the film, “Missing”, what actress plays the wife frantically searching for her
“disappeared” husband in a Latin American dictatorship?

Q.7: What 2009 alien film satirised Apartheid and post-Apartheid South Africa?

Q.8: The film, “Scandal”, depicted the Profumo Affair – but what was the name of the main
theme song sung by Dusty Springfield?

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ROUND 7: WHO SAID THAT (12 POINTS TOT)

Q.1: "They misunderestimated me."

Q.2: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in
every difficulty.”

Q.3: “Politics is the art of postponing decisions until they are no longer relevant.” Bonus
point: This was said by a Prime Minister of France; how many times did this person hold this
office?

Q.4: “Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by
those who are dumber.”

Q.5: “Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.”

Q.6: “I think it's about time we voted for senators with breasts. After all, we've been voting
for boobs long enough”

Q.7: “Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it
bears a very close resemblance to the first.”

Q.8: “He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.”

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