Alliance Councillor Barney Fitzpatrick has welcomed news the Irish Open is set to return to Northern Ireland, with Portstewart announced as the venue for 2017. Councillor Barney Fitzpatrick said: “The North Coast is now a well-known golf venue and this announcement further cements its status as one of Northern Ireland’s leading golfing areas. “This positive […]
Alliance MLA Stephen Farry has stressed the importance of the Executive properly funding local universities, saying it can be achieved without increasing tuition fees as long as inefficiencies in public spending are addressed. Dr Farry, the former Employment and Learning Minister, was speaking in response to news regarding a Queen’s University paper that explores a […]
Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong has praised the ‘fantastic community spirit’ across Strangford, as the area plays host to the Skiffie World Championship, running until July 30. The only local MLA to attend the official opening, the event is part of summer-long programme of events aimed at attracting tourists into the Strangford Area. Following shortly after […]
Alliance Councillor Neil Kelly has said he’s delighted his years of campaigning have paid off, with the Antrim Forum now set to open from 9am on Sunday mornings. Proposed by Councillor Kelly, the change was approved at the latest Antrim and Newtownabbey Council meeting, bringing the centre in line with Sunday opening at the Valley […]
Alliance Councillor Neil Kelly has said a viable pipe bomb discovered in Crumlin on Saturday could have killed. The discovery of the incident caused widespread disruption, with nearby shops and 15 homes being evacuated. Councillor Neil Kelly said: “Those behind this viable pipe bomb clearly have no regards for the lives of others in the […]
Alliance Councillor Stephen Martin has said he is ‘shocked and saddened’ that a local Church congregation has had to cancel its Sunday services due to an overnight arson attack. The Lisburn and Castlereagh Deputy Mayor was speaking after Saintfield Road Presbyterian Church and its neighbouring hall suffered fire damage for the second time within a […]
Alliance MLA Naomi Long has said our thoughts and prayers should be with everyone in Munich tonight, after a number of people were killed and many others wounded during a shopping mall shooting. With police now classing the incident as ‘an acute terror situation’, the Alliance Party’s Deputy Leader said she hoped those responsible would […]
Alliance Councillor Emmet McDonough Brown has welcomed a Parades Commission determination that will see restrictions placed on a South Belfast parade scheduled for next weekend. The South Belfast representative – who last week outlined his concerns over the parade to the Parades Commission – called for cool heads ahead of the annual Ballynafeigh and Annadale […]
Alliance Councillor Emmet McDonough-Brown has criticised Leave campaigners for not removing their posters a month after the EU referendum. Scores of Leave posters remain attached to lampposts and other locations, weeks after polls closed in the referendum. Cllr McDonough-Brown said it was a poor example for those involved in politics to set. “Here we are […]
A pregnant Alliance Councillor has hit out at the DUP’s Sammy Wilson, after he described a recommendation allowing mothers to breastfeed in the House of Commons as ‘voyeuristic’. Later changing his remarks to refer to it as ‘exhibitionism’, Belfast Councillor Sian O’Neill said she was ‘disgusted’ at the comments, adding she was planning on breastfeeding […]