ALLIANCE Assembly member Sean Neeson has said the Treasury must take seriously the threat to small businesses in Northern Ireland from crippling insurance costs. Mr Neeson, the former Deputy Chair of the Assembly’s Enterprise, Trade and Industry committee, said: “The cost of public liability insurance in Northern Ireland is sending small businesses to the wall, […]
ALLIANCE Assembly member Seamus Close has said that a new report commissioned by the Policing Board backs his view that rioters are being treated far too leniently by courts in Northern Ireland. The research by Dr Neil Jarman into public disorder was published in the NIO’s latest report on the replacement of plastic bullets. Mr […]
AN Alliance councillor has said that the decision to close Minnowburn House Elderly Persons’ Home will have a disastrous effect on the lives of elderly people in Castlereagh. Yesterday’s decision by the South and East Belfast Trust means that residents will be moved to Willowfield in East Belfast. Councillor Sara Duncan said: “This unsettling move […]
THE International Monitoring Commission has been urged to look into loyalist involvement in racist attacks. Alliance Leader David Ford said the attacks on ethnic minorities should be included in the International Monitoring Commission’s first report. The Commission was set up to report on the state of paramilitary ceasefires and whether the governments and parties live […]
A Return to the Centre by Stephen Farry The outcome of the Northern Ireland Assembly Election does not provide much hope for the speedy restoration of the political institutions. The scale of the swing to the two extremes may have come as a surprise to some, but was in fact quite predictable. The principle cause […]
Alliance Party General Secretary, Stephen Farry, has accused Sinn Féin of not facing up to the need for changes to the Agreement in its priorities for the review of the Good Friday Agreement. Councillor Farry stated: “At present, the Good Friday Agreement is broken and needs fixing. People want to see their political institutions and […]
Alliance Party Education Spokesperson Naomi Long MLA has given her initial response to the Costello report on post-primary education. Councillor Long stated: “This is a very broad ranging report and contains some very positive and constructive proposals, many of which were first put forward by Alliance in its response to the Burns Report. We particularly […]
Alliance Party Justice Spokesperson, Dr Stephen Farry, has strongly criticised Sinn Fein’s proposals for an all-Ireland Charter of Rights. Dr Farry stated: “The Sinn Fein proposal for an all-Ireland Charter of Rights raises interesting questions. Of course, it should be noted that the Agreement already provides for such a Charter, and both the Northern Ireland […]
ALLIANCE Councillor Tom Ekin has accused DUP councillor Ruth Patterson of “gross hypocrisy” after she invited representatives of parties linked to loyalist paramilitaries to her swearing in as High Sheriff of Belfast. Cllr Patterson refused to invite Sinn Fein representatives, but justified inviting the loyalist representatives on the grounds that “I don’t know if these […]
ALLIANCE Assembly member and Spokesman on Culture, Arts and Leisure, Kieran McCarthy, has said that the Department of Education needs to explain why millions of pounds of funding for school sports is not being spent, four years after it was first allocated. In Northern Ireland, none of the allocated £33.75m from the New Opportunities Fund […]