The UK Government needs to step in with a rescue package for local airports, Alliance MLA John Blair has said. Mr Blair was speaking after Belfast International Airport told staff to expect voluntary redundancies, after management warned it did not see air travel ‘returning to pre-COVID-19 levels for a few years’. It is estimated up […]
Alliance Education spokesperson Chris Lyttle MLA has said five Catholic grammar schools have shown welcome leadership after they announced they will not use transfer tests for taking pupils next year. The Co Down schools – Abbey Christian Brothers’ Grammar School, Our Lady’s Grammar School, Sacred Heart Grammar School, and St Colman’s College in Newry, and […]
Tackling rising waiting lists in Northern Ireland needs to receive the same sense of urgency and focus as the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alliance Health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw MLA has said. Ms Bradshaw was speaking after the publication of the latest quarterly waiting lists statistics from the Department of Health. They showed waiting times […]
Alliance Belfast Councillors have called for a clear strategy to be developed to help aid the city’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Councillor Michael Long, the party’s group leader in Belfast, has already raised the issue with other group party leaders, calling for a task force to be established that includes Council, Assembly, Departments and […]
Alliance Finance Spokesperson Andrew Muir has said that while the Coronavirus pandemic has transformed public finances for the foreseeable future, the right recovery strategy must be matched by financial security to back it up with a Regional Infrastructure Panel or Commission needed to secure swift delivery of capital investment projects. Mr Muir made the comments […]
Pressure for the removal of the Prime Minister’s chief Special Adviser will not relent, Alliance MP Stephen Farry has said. Dominic Cummings told reporters in Downing Street he did not regret his breaking of lockdown regulations to travel from London to Durham, adding he had not considered resigning over the matter. Dr Farry said the […]
Alliance Communities spokesperson Kellie Armstrong MLA has expressed her disappointment after an emergency fund for artists has closed only a few days after opening. The Arts Council’s Artists’ Emergency Fund was designed to help support ‘individual artists, creative practitioners and performers,’ however, it has now been closed a week after opening. Strangford MLA Ms Armstrong […]
The Northern Ireland Protocol is an inevitable consequence of of the UK’s hard Brexit, Alliance MP Stephen Farry has said. Dr Farry was speaking after the publication of a paper on the UK Government’s approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol. It confirmed expanded infrastructure at ports in Northern Ireland to carry out checks on animals […]
The charity sector needs financial help to ensure it survives the coronavirus pandemic, Alliance Communities spokesperson Kellie Armstrong MLA has said. Ms Armstrong said opening up grant schemes to include charities and social enterprises would be a major step towards making sure they can continue delivering services after the COVID-19 crisis. “The community and voluntary […]
A discretionary fund to help businesses excluded from grant support should be established to help some companies and sole traders navigate the financial difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Alliance MLA Andrew Muir has said. The North Down MLA said confirmation a number of businesses had been excluded from the Micro-business Hardship Fund set up […]