Clarke welcomes excellent visitor figures for Castlewellan mountain bike trails

Alliance Down Councillor Patrick Clarke has welcomed the figures released by Down District Council that revealed over 4,000 mountain bikers are visiting Castlewellan Forest Park mountain bike trail centre each month. Cllr Patrick Clarke stated: “I am very pleased that the figures regarding visitor numbers for the mountain bike trails at Castlewellan Forest Park have […]

Lo welcomes intervention by Environment Minister to resolve issues over Statutory Transition Committees

Alliance Environment spokesperson Anna Lo MLA has welcomed the intervention of the Environment Minister, Mark H Durkan, who has called on a number of Councils to resolve issues over nominations to Statutory Transition Committees. He has written to Ballymoney, Belfast, Castlereagh, Lisburn and Strabane Councils. These committees will help the transition to the new merged […]

McCarthy says England should follow Northern Ireland model instead of badger cull

Alliance Agriculture spokesperson Kieran McCarthy has said that England should adopt the Northern Ireland method for combating bovine tuberculosis instead of a badger cull which has begun in parts in of England. In Northern Ireland, badgers are tested, the healthy ones are vaccinated and released while the infected animals are humanely euthanised. Kieran McCarthy MLA […]

Long comments on recall of Parliament to discuss crisis in Syria

Alliance East Belfast MP Naomi Long has commented on the recall of Parliament to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria. Naomi Long MP said: “I will be returning from holiday to be in Parliament on Thursday for the debate. “I had already joined with other MPs in signing an Early Day Motion calling for a […]

Lyttle to host Stormont event on anniversary of Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech

Alliance East Belfast MLA Chris Lyttle will host an event at Stormont on Wednesday 28th August on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech. The event will take place in Parliament Buildings, Stormont from 18:30. Chris Lyttle MLA said: “Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech was the defining […]

Lo says £26million cost of cleaning up litter shows why we must tackle this problem

Alliance Environment spokesperson Anna Lo MLA has said that the £26million that was spent by Councils last year cleaning up litter shows why we must tackle this problem. Anna Lo MLA said: “I think people will be shocked that such a large sum of money was spent cleaning up litter last year. I hope that […]

Mayor Muir extends Céad míle fáilte to Holywood Irish Society

Alliance Mayor of North Down Councillor Andrew Muir hosted the Holywood Irish Society at Bangor Town Hall on Wednesday 21 August 2013 extending a Céad míle fáilte by delivering most of his speech in Irish. In existence since 1921, their aim is the non-political promotion of the Irish language through a range of events and […]

Alliance Youth hails the success of their ‘Employability, For Everyone’ conference

Alliance Youth have hailed the success of their ‘Employability, For Everyone’ conference which discussed the issue of youth unemployment. Employment and Learning Minister, Stephen Farry MLA attended the conference which took place at the MAC in Belfast on Saturday. Alliance Youth Chair James McClure said: “Alliance Youth’s ‘Employability, For Everyone’ conference was a tremendous success. […]

Rice praises Police action following discovery of guns and ammunition

Alliance Castlereagh Councillor Geraldine Rice has praised the actions of the Police after they discovered 16 handguns and around 800 rounds of ammunition near the Manse Road in Castlereagh. Cllr Geraldine Rice said: “I would like to praise the actions of the Police who have taken such a large number of guns and ammunition off […]