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 […]
East Antrim Assembly member Sean Neeson has said that any attempt to abolish the full-time reserve at this time would be “non-sensical and diabolical”. Mr Neeson said: “As a former member of the Police Authority, I am only too much aware of the major contribution the full-time reserve make to policing in Northern Ireland. “It […]
ALLIANCE Assembly member Sean Neeson has expressed his shock at the speculation that 300 jobs could be lost at Nortel’s plant in Monkstown. Mr Neeson said: “This news is devastating, bearing in mind the decision by Solectron to close its plant at Carrickfergus, despite the fact that there has been an upturn globally in the […]
Alliance Party Justice Spokesperson, Councillor Stephen Farry, has expressed amazement that the UUP Chief Whip has attacked Professor Ronald Goldstock for highlighting the need to tackle the paramilitary symbols that proliferate in many areas of Northern Ireland. Cllr Farry stated: “I am stunned that Roy Begg’s is so dismissive of the need to tackle paramilitary […]
Alliance Party Seamus Close has strongly criticised the SDLP, after it published its proposals for reinstating devolution in the upcoming review of the Agreement. Mr Close stated: “While there is some merit in a few of the SDLP’s proposals, it is a weak paper that fails to address the core issue – the absence of […]
An Alliance delegation met the Chair and senior officers of the Northern Health and Social Services Board last week to discuss the provision of services for people in South and East Antrim. The delegation was led by Alliance leader David Ford, MLA for South Antrim, and included Cllr Lynn Frazer of Newtownabbey and Cllr John […]