Archive for April 24th, 2007
UUP Deputy Leader Danny Kennedy today said the DUP position about Martina Anderson being on the Policing Board was stomach churning.
Mr Kennedy said with Ian Paisley having a former IRA commander as his Deputy First Minister and having to nominate and sign papers to enable Brighton bomber Gerry Kelly to be a Junior Minister in his department, the cries of foul over Martina Anderson were ludicrous.
In a statement Mr Kennedy said,
DUP outrage at Martina Anderson’s appointment to the Policing Board is stomach churning. The fundamental weakness in their opposition to these appointments is that in just over 2 weeks time Ian Paisley will have a former IRA Commander as his Deputy First Minister and will have to sign and appoint Gerry Kelly as a Junior Minister in his own Department.
You can’t have it both ways by playing to the gallery and feigning mock outrage at Sinn Fein appointments to the Policing Board or Parades Commission Review Team while accepting Sinn Fein figures with strong IRA connections to Ministerial positions at the heart of government.
We all want to move on and make the Executive and Assembly a success and working for everyone in Northern Ireland, but we can do without this kind of stomach churning hypocrisy from the DUP. It is transparently obvious to everyone that their position on this matter is ludicrous.”
Continue Reading E-mail April 24th, 2007
Danny Kennedy MLA
Efforts to deliver better public services will continue to be hampered so long as there is ambiguity over the future configuration of local councils here, according to Ulster Unionist councillor Ald Arnold Hatch.
Mr Hatch, the Ulster Unionist spokesperson on NILGA’s RPA Group, said that vital issues – such how to address anti-social behaviour – are being tied up in bureaucracy.
In a statement, Mr Hatch said: “Regarding RPA proposals, Direct Rule Ministers failed to adopt the consensus view. Ministers ignored the views of four of the five main political parties. The result has been uncertainty and division.
“Now that the Northern Ireland Assembly will be up and running in May it is imperative that RPA issues are resolved as soon as possible so that the groupings of councils can begin to seriously collaborate and modernise.”
He added: “Inefficiencies are frustrating the everyday work of councillors. Antisocial behaviour is a major issue, for example, but too many agencies – like the Community Safety Partnership, the District Policing Partnership, the Education and Library Board’s Youth Service, the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, community groups and social services – are involved.
“What we have is a system that creates logjams. We need a streamlined system that delivers results. Our citizens deserve more than this, and the sooner there is clarity and direction the better.”
Continue Reading E-mail April 24th, 2007
Alderman Arnold Hatch
Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson has said poultry farmers in Northern Ireland and across the UK will not be filled with confidence after the Department for food and rural affairs (DEFRA) in London announced yesterday that they have failed to establish the cause of the outbreak of bird flu in Suffolk this February.
In DEFRA’s final epidemiology report into the outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in Suffolk, the Government have concluded that there is ‘insufficent evidence’ to explain what the cause was.
In a statement Mr Nicholson said,
“The Government’s failure to establish what caused the outbreak of bird flu in Suffolk will not fill our poultry farmers with much confidence and raises serious questions about how satisfactory the Government’s regulations are for dealing with imports of poultry meat.
“The public will be surprised at such a conclusion given the serious breach of bio – security there was at the Bernard Mathews plant. It seems that the Bernard Mathews will be the major winner in all of this as DEFRA are being very generous in the compensation they are paying under existing regulations. DEFRA’s generosity is all the more surprising given how tight fisted they can be when it comes to compensating or paying the ordinary farmer.”
Continue Reading E-mail April 24th, 2007
Jim Nicholson MEP
Ulster Unionist Deputy Leader Danny Kennedy has voiced his dismay over the DUP’s disdainful condemnation of democratic accountability in Stormont.
Following on from comments made today by the DUP which touched upon the National Stadium, incoming Committee of the Centre chair, Danny Kennedy, said: “The merest whiff of power has clearly made the DUP delirious.
“I spoke of democratic accountability, and effective scrutiny and oversight of major matters of public interest. But this has been labelled ‘pathetic’ by the DUP.
“I, and a great many people, will want to explore issues like the National Stadium more fully. Especially when a Sinn Fein representative has stated that both the stadium and the preserved prison buildings projects are joined at the hip and must proceed simultaneously.
“Of course things can get rushed through a lot faster if decisions are predetermined. So maybe scrutiny is somewhat inconvenient to the DUP, but I think a full examination is reasonable in this instance.”
He added: “My desire to deliver oversight and accountability has everything to do with being a democrat. It’s what people expect of responsible legislators. Why does this so unnerve the DUP?
“Government is there to serve the people of Northern Ireland, not the needs of the Democratic Unionist Party.
“If DUP representatives get so confused over the nature of what’s ‘democratic’, why did they put it in the name above their shopfront door? They ought to be more familiar with the concept.”
Continue Reading E-mail April 24th, 2007
Danny Kennedy MLA
