ALLIANCE Assembly member Kieran McCarthy (Strangford) has said that Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) should be used if fireworks prove to be a nuisance again this year. Mr McCarthy, who proposed a motion in the Assembly in 2001 dealing with fireworks misuse and control, said that while regulations introduced afterwards had reduced misuse, ASBOs could […]
Responding to yet another attack upon the Independent Monitoring Commission, Alliance Party Justice Spokesperon, Stephen Farry has stressed that the body is critical to the implementation of the Agreement. Dr Farry stated: “The IMC builds on the Agreement, and is consistent with the Agreement. Indeed, its work is critical to the implementation of the Agreement. […]
ALLIANCE East Belfast MLA and Councillor, Naomi Long, has said that offers of a ‘hardship payment’ to people who have fallen foul of a overpayments by the Inland Revenue are adding insult to injury. People receiving the Working Family Tax Credit who have been overpaid are having to pay the money back, even though they […]
ALLIANCE Victims Spokesperson Eileen Bell MLA has said her party will be raising the subject of paramilitary child abuse at its next meeting with the Independent Monitoring Commission. Mrs Bell was speaking after she had been “shocked” by the level of violence perpetrated against young people by paramilitaries in Prof Liam Kenndy’s report yesterday, entitled […]
EAST Belfast Councillor and Assembly member Naomi Long has congratulated the PSNI for an operation to crack down on counterfeiting in her constituency today. Cllr Long also criticised unionist politicians for their comments about the Police operation, in which it was claimed there was an “exceptionally heavy police presence”. Cllr Long, who chairs East Belfast […]
Alliance Party Leader David Ford MLA has accused the SDLP of being disingenuous in how it has presented the debate on the future of the Agreement. Mr Ford stressed that any proposals coming from the British and Irish Governments would be directed at bridging the gaps between the parties rather than conceding to one party’s […]
By Councillor Tom Ekin Lord Mayor of Belfast I recently came across a quote from David McKittrick, the Independent’s Shankill-born Ireland correspondent, which neatly summed up the state of Belfast 10 years on from the first paramilitary ceasefire. He wrote: “Belfast is no longer a metaphor for the intractable but an example of how, slowly […]
Responding the comments from Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly that the Independent Monitoring Commission is discredited in the aftermath of the O’Hare case, Alliance Party Deputy Leader has claimed that the episode actually strengthens the credibility of the organisation. Eileen Bell stated: “The eagerness of Gerry Kelly to have a go at the IMC is […]
THE Alliance Party has selected Margaret Mathews to run in the upcoming bye-election in Larne Lough. Mrs Mathews, who has worked as a dentist for 30 years in the Larne area, said she is looking forward to the challenge of running for election for the first time. Speaking after her selection, Mrs Mathews said: “While […]
Castlereagh Alliance Councillor and Alliance Youth & Sports Spokesperson, Michael Long, has condemned an attack on teenage members of a youth group outside the Council’s Dundonald International Ice Bowl in east Belfast which Police have described as sectarian. In the incident on Saturday evening, two windows in their minibus were smashed and four members of […]