Alliance Finance Spokesperson Andrew Muir MLA has welcomed the establishment of a Fiscal Council for Northern Ireland with a Fiscal Commission also to commence specific programme of work. The Fiscal Council was announced recently by the Finance Minister will be a permanent, independent body charged with bringing transparency and scrutiny to the Executive Finances. Mr […]
Alliance Councillor Sorcha Eastwood has met with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), after a recent pollution incident at the River Lagan in Dromore. Earlier this month the NIEA confirmed oil was entering the river from a drainage pipe further downstream, following a report to its hotline regarding a spill of a quantity of red […]
Alliance Finance spokesperson Andrew Muir has cautiously welcomed new business support grants but said concerns remain over who receives the money. Finance Minister Conor Murphy announced the £178 million for the almost 200,000 local firms eligible for it. The money is expected to be paid next month. “There is much to welcome in the schemes […]
Alliance South Belfast MLA Paula Bradshaw MLA has urged everyone to abide by the current public health regulations over the St Patrick’s Day holiday and to stay at home where possible. The Alliance MLA said non-residents should avoid the Holyland area over the holiday in particular, saying parties would not only be a nuisance to […]
Men need to ask themselves what they can do to be better allies to women and to challenge problematic behaviour from fellow men, Alliance MLA John Blair has said. South Antrim MLA Mr Blair was speaking during an Assembly debate following the murder of Sarah Everard in England. The 33-year-old’s remains were found in woodland in […]
Alliance Health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw MLA has welcomed the additional allocation of £875,000 to 65 voluntary and community sector organisations. Health Minister Robin Swann announced the financial package for the organisations which are directly funded by the Department, saying it recognises the vital contribution they have made during the pandemic. “As someone who used to […]
Alliance Economy spokesperson Stewart Dickson MLA has welcomed a major support package which has been announced for travel agents. The £1.175 million scheme will provide support to travel agents for eventual reopening, and adjusting to the challenges of the pandemic. It will include a flat payment of £10,000 for businesses operating from retail premises and […]
North Belfast Alliance Councillor Nuala McAllister has branded the attack on a memorial to the 1971 IRA killing of three Scottish soldiers on the 50th anniversary of the murders as a “despicable act of vandalism”. The memorial, in the Squire’s Hill area of north Belfast, was placed in memory of three members of the Royal […]
Alliance MLA John Blair has called for further funding to tackle the climate crisis. Mr Blair made the call after the latest meeting of the DAERA committee, adding the DAERA allocation in the Draft Budget document for 2021-22 is not enough to tackle the climate crisis, adding that ahead of COP26 we need to provide more funding and […]
Alliance Councillor Eoin Tennyson has said he is extremely disappointed a continued poster campaign focused on the Northern Ireland protocol has taken a sinister turn. Eoin was speaking after posters of masked men appeared in the Banbridge area yesterday, a move he says will do little to calm tensions in the area. He added: “The […]