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Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson appealed today for Protestant and Unionist communities across Northern Ireland to have the confidence to apply for EU funding and take advantage of the additional EU money that has been allocated for the PEACE programme from 2007 – 2013.

Mr Nicholson made the appeal on the back of a recent seminar he hosted with the Chairman of the UUP’s Councillors Association, Cllr Trevor Wilson on the future of European funding in Northern Ireland.

At the Seminar, held in Cookstown, the party received a briefing from and held a question and answer session with Pat Colgan, the Chief Executive of the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The SEUPB will have a significant and enhanced part to play in the future of PEACE 3 and INTERREG 4.

Speaking today UUP MEP Jim Nicholson said,

“We held, what I thought to be, an interesting and extremely useful discussion on the future of European funding through the PEACE and INTERREG Programme.

“I always welcome the opportunity to engage with the SEUPB on these important issues. The PEACE and INTERREG programmes have made an important contribution to local communities in Northern since their inception but have not been without their fair share of problems or criticisms such as the under funding of projects from the Unionist community.

“The main message coming from the meeting is an appeal for groups from the Unionist community to have the confidence to come forward with proposals which may be eligible for European funding.

“There is much my community can do to help itself but there are also issues to do with the current programme and its operation, which place the unionist community at a significant disadvantage. The open call procedure for distributing funds may appear to be the fairest way of operating but in reality it is disadvantageous to those from Protestant, Loyalist and Unionist communities who lack the community infrastructure, capacity and confidence to compete with others in a process like this. This vicious circle must be broken.

“I look forward to greater east/west cooperation in the new cross border territorial cooperation programmes. Everyone agrees that a programme of cooperation between Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic would bring great social, economic and environmental benefits to the areas concerned. The UUP will be discussing over the coming weeks what its final response to the future of the PEACE programme and future cross border territorial cooperation will be.”

(Letter to the Belfast Telegraph, 26th December 2006)

Dear Sir,

Conservative abstentions in the House of Lords on December 11 led to the defeat of an Ulster Unionist motion to defer the water charges until the restoration of devolved government following the St Andrews Agreement.

The absence of new DUP peer Baroness Paisley was also noted.

Ulster Unionists recognize that water charges are inevitable to bring us into line with Great Britain and as a result of an agreement back in 2001 between the Executive and the Treasury which gave the Executive borrowing powers to upgrade our deteriorating sewerage and water systems .This motion if successful would have deferred the charges to enable the incoming Executive to ensuring a fairer system of charging related to usage through metering.

Ulster Unionists will continue to demand parity with the rest of the UK on fair and equitable water charges .We hear now of secret memos indicating the water service may be privatized .We will continue to demand equality of treatment with the rest of the UK.The Treasury is insisting on a 5.8% rate of return from the NI water company when the equivalent rate for England is 5.1% and for Scotland 4.1%.On privatization the English water companies were paid a large contribution to enable capital infrastructure investment.As equal citizens and taxpayers in UK we demand the same treatment to make up for lack of government investment after years of direct rule under unaccountable civil servants in underspending departments of temporary direct rule Ministers .

While some of us may like and flirt with the idea of a style of politics more like the rest of the UK, the reality is we are a long way of this ideal ,our priority is to make Northern Ireland work within the UK while ensuring our rights as equal citizens of the UK .

Once again we see lack of engagement by local Tories on a serious local issue where we were within grasp of defeating one of the planks of Hain’s draconian direct rule.While Conservative spokesman Lord Glentoran claims to have obtained concessions from the Government ,he admits they are only technical.Once again we see the Conservatives complicit in their support of this colonial vice- regal style rule and reverting to bipartisan policy under Government pressure as one day they might be the Government in power.

yours faithfully,

Johnny Andrews
Party Officer
Ulster Unionist Party

UUP Leader Sir Reg Empey has used his Christmas Message to the people of Northern Ireland to share his hopes for progress in 2007 and to draw attention to the ongoing scandal of child poverty in our society.

In a statement Sir Reg said,

“As 2006 draws to a close, Northern Ireland does seem to be edging closer to the restoration of devolution.  Power-sharing government and support for the police service are being accepted across the political spectrum as essential for normality and stability in our society.  It is to be hoped that the opening months of 2007 will see remaining obstacles overcome, and that the siren voices wanting Northern Ireland to remain mired in its painful past will not have the last word.

The season of Christmas reminds us of the shared values of our society – rather than what divides us.  Many of those in our society whose background is from beyond the United Kingdom will be celebrating Christmas.  Those from other religious traditions also share the values celebrated at Christmas – in particular, a recognition of our obligations to the vulnerable amongst us.

Save the Children have recently challenged us all to address the sobering reality of child poverty in our society.  The UK has one of the worst child poverty records of the 27 Member-States of the EU, ranked 21 st.  On Christmas Day 2006, 35,000 children in Northern Ireland will be living in severe poverty – having lives blighted by want, a lack of opportunity, and social exclusion.

This is not the society we – all of us, across political, religious and national traditions – want for Northern Ireland .  The restoration of devolved government will give us an opportunity to begin to face the challenge of building a fair and just society, reflecting our shared values.

On behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party, I wish all the people of Northern Ireland a Happy Christmas – and trust that together, in 2007, we can rise to the challenges faced by our society”.

UUP East Belfast MLA Michael Copeland last night staged an all-night sit out outside his Constituency Office to highlight the lack of social housing in East Belfast.

Mr Copeland said 6,500 people are on the waiting list for this type of housing in the east of the city.

In a statement Mr Copeland said,

“The need for social housing has increased dramatically since developers started paying enormous sums of money for land. This has led to a shortage of social housing that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

I have been calling for an audit of existing Housing Executive properties in East Belfast and was delighted to be informed that one is to be carried out and be completed before the end of the financial year.

At least when we can adequately see the scale of the problem we can begin to put a proper, effective plan in place to solve it.”

Ulster Unionist South Antrim assembly member Jim Wilson has voiced his deep disappointment that Conservative Peers failed to support a fatal amendment on the Water and Sewerage Services Order submitted by UUP Peer Lord Trimble last week.

In a statement, the UUP MLA said: “I am sure that the people of Northern Ireland will feel sorely let down by Conservative peers. If householders here had hoped that the Tories would see sense and back our motion of deferment, they will now see how misplaced those hopes truly were.

“Due to the Tories’ failure to support our amendment, householders could now see bills arriving on their doormats in April – an outcome which was easily avoidable.”

He added: “Water charging is a critical issue. This is the bread and butter politics that Tories are fond of talking about. But sadly, they could not translate their warm words into firm action.

“Conservatives now stand complicit, alongside the Direct Rule administration, of denying people here a proper say on this issue. Having lectured people about involvement in grassroots politics, they should instead hang their heads in shame.”

Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson warned today that the only guarantee which would come from this week’s crucial Fisheries meeting in Brussels where European fisheries ministers gather to set the total allowable catches and quotas for the fishing industry in 2007 is that neither fishermen nor conservationists will be happy with the result.

Northern Irish prawn boats are currently allowed 220 days at sea but fishermen fear that number may now be reduced.

Jim Nicholson is meeting Northern Ireland Fisheries Minister, David Cairns MP tomorrow to discuss the outcome of the Fisheries Council and the impact it will have for the fishing industry.

Speaking as the talks get underway Mr Nicholson said,

“I have witnessed this destructive process every year for the past 17 years and without any shadow of a doubt the result for Northern Ireland’s fishing industry gets worse as each year passes. Northern Ireland’s fishing industry can not sustain the imposition of any further quotas or days at sea reductions.

“What I want to see is the end of this annual charade. Every year, the European Commission promises to settle this ridiculous situation, yet every Christmas we find ourselves facing drastic quota cuts.”

Mr Nicholson also challenged the system whereby fishermen are forced to dump healthy fish back into the sea in order to stick to agreed quotas.

He said that, “out of all the problems contained in the Common Fisheries Policy, discards has to be the craziest of all. The EU needs to end the discards madness and
allow fishermen to land everything they catch.

Mr Nicholson also added that the fisherman’s hand would be significantly strengthened if a local Assembly, with a local Minister in charge of fisheries was in place.

“Just look at what happens in Scotland”, he said. “Back in September an action plan aimed at securing the long-term future of Scotland’s fishing industry was launched by the Scottish Executive, which brought together representatives of all the key interests in the sector, including industry and environmental leaders.

“Whitehall and Brussels may have more of a say over fisheries policy, but nonetheless Northern Ireland needs such a plan to highlight our regional circumstances and reinforce our case.”

UUP Leader Sir Reg Empey today welcomed the latest figures showing that support for the PSNI in Northern Ireland was at around 80%.

In a statement Sir Reg said,

“These figures simply re-inforce our message that the provos have lost the argument on Policing. They have nowhere to go other than to sign a pledge of office supporting the police or they cannot take their Executive places. It is that simple.

The figures show how the Catholic community is voting with its feet. The provos are totally isolated and they should be given no further concessions for supporting the Police.

The UUP remains concerned that a major effort to placate and possibly but off republicans with further concessions is on-going, which would be a massive mistake given that they have no where else to go.”

Ulster Unionist Fermanagh & South Tyrone, Tom Elliott, has said that a functioning assembly must make “dramatic changes” in order to alleviate the plight of our elderly.

Mr Elliott made his comments in the Assembly yesterday during debate on a successful UUP motion calling for the introduction of free personal care for the elderly here.

Addressing the Chamber, Mr Elliott said: “As the ‘baby-boom’ generation moves from the world of work to retirement it is only but right that they receive personal care from the state if they require it, and not be forced into selling their homes to fund it. This generation has contributed to building a prosperous nation that we all benefit from.”

Noting Age Concern statistics suggesting that the proportion of over-65s among the population here will almost double from 13% to 24% between 1996 and 2036, he said: “We in this assembly are lucky in that we have the opportunity to learn from the experiences of the provision of free personal care in Scotland.

“In June of this year the Scottish Health Committee reported on the care legislation, the committee concluded that the introduction of free personal care was “broadly successful”, pinpointing increased dignity and security for many elderly citizens, allowing home care to be more readily available and taking pressure off NHS resources.

“The provision of good personal care is likely to reduce costs in the long term by reducing the likelihood of prolonged and often avoidable hospital stays that arise from a lack of care.”

Concluding he said: “As we now go back to the drawing board to redesign public service in Northern Ireland I feel that now is the time to provide the type of personal care that our elderly deserve.

“It will of course require funding, however as is the case for prescribing drugs for Breast Cancer or Alzheimer’s disease or Multiple Sclerosis, committing the funds and tackling the problem early on is beneficial to the patient, their family and the health service.”

Following the adoption of an Ulster Unionist motion advocating a free personal for the elderly package in the Assembly yesterday, Ulster Unionist Health spokesperson Rev Robert Coulter MLA has said that the issue must now be high on the to-do list of any incoming Executive.

Addressing the Assembly, the North Antrim MLA said: “The pensioner population is a very significant and, in my view, undervalued segment of society. Society is ageing. By 2025, the number of people in Britain over the age of 60 will outnumber those under 25 for the first time. This trend will accelerate as the large post-war baby-boomer generation enters retirement.

“On sheer population terms, therefore, public policy will need to focus significantly more on the older population than it does at present. Political establishments will also have to sit up and take notice of older people, as the number of older voters increases.

“Free Personal Care for the elderly is an aspiration which we in this Assembly must work towards in the most practical and fiscally responsible way possible. We advocate that the incoming Executive urgently commission an independent review to establish the cost and the resources required to implement a programme of free personal care for the elderly in the Province.”

He added: “Free personal care for the Elderly has to be very high on the must-do list for this Assembly and its incoming Executive. Financial considerations aside, this policy surely is an acid-test of any truly civilized society.

“As long ago as July 2002 the Scottish Executive introduced free personal care for the elderly. This was a move supported by all political parties in the Scottish Parliament. I suspect that will also be the case in this Assembly.”

Rev Coulter noted that in 2005-06 free personal care cost a mere 1.73% of the Scottish Health budget. According to evidence provided to the Assembly’s Health Committee in May 2002, the cost of free personal care in Northern Ireland would be between £40m and £50m – which equates to 1.85% of the £2.7bn Northern Ireland health budget for the year 2004-05.

Concluding he said: “In 2003 and 2005 we in the Ulster Unionist Party made Manifesto commitments to work for the introduction of free personal care and we intend to work hard to honour those commitments. To introduce free personal care for the elderly would therefore be intrinsic to the way we develop social policy in this country. It would be entirely consistent with the principles which underlie the concept of a National Health Service and the Social Services we provide. It is an idea whose time has not only come – it is long overdue.“

Following today’s successful UUP motion in the Assembly today, Ulster Unionist Health spokesperson Rev Robert Coulter has voiced his hope that free personal care for the elderly can be introduced once devolution is re-established.

Speaking after today’s debate, the North Antrim MLA said: “By backing this UUP proposal, a marker has now been set down that a free personal care for the elderly package can be made a reality once a devolved executive is re-established here.

“In December last year, the UUP launched its policy paper on the issue. The case for free personal care for the elderly that we have put forward is strong, affordable and deliverable. It has the support of a great number of organisations and charities that deal specifically with the elderly and we believe it will get support from the public.

“This is an issue of dignity for older people – it’s about doing what’s right, and I am pleased that the Assembly has sent out a strong message on the issue.

“The current practice of people being forced by the State to sell their homes to pay for care is simply inappropriate for any decent society.

“The welfare state was never intended to penalise the many of modest means who have worked, paid their taxes, owned their own home and sought to pass on that inheritance to their children. Free personal care is a reform that will therefore return the welfare state to one of its key founding values – providing security and dignity in old age.”