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Commenting in response to today’s court ruling which allows former RUC officers to proceed with claims relating to the trauma they suffered during the Troubles, UUP Policing Board member, and Lagan Valley MLA, Basil McCrea said:

“In his ruling, the judge rightly identified the emotional stress of serving in the midst of a terror campaign as being every bit as devastating as the physical effect of bomb and bullet. So many of us will never know the stress experienced by those who served in Northern Ireland during the murderous heights of terrorist violence.

“We presently enjoy a period of peace which owes much to the commitment and dedication shown by men and women of the RUC down through the years. This court ruling recognises their pain and trauma in standing tall against the forces of terror. I trust today’s judgement goes some way toward offering some solace and restitution for former officers.”

UUP Spokesperson on Victims Issues Derek Hussey welcomed the determination as it would “enable those officers who undoubtedly have suffered extreme stress and trauma to seek what they are entitled to”.

He added: “Throughout the period of our ‘Troubles’ there were those who claimed to be victims and now the courts have recognised the victimisation of our security forces.”

Commenting on a spate of attacks suffered by a resident in South Belfast who is originally from Nepal, Ulster Unionist South Belfast Assembly Member, Michael McGimpsey, has said:

“Racism is a blight on society that hinders our progress towards peace and prosperity. We ought to embrace the cultural differences of others and acknowledge the benefits and advantages that diversity can bring into our community.

“Whether through tougher penalties, such as hate crime legislation, or through education and public awareness raising of the issues involved, it is vitally important that we confront the thuggish, racist minority.

“Racism is an assault on our values and cannot be tolerated. Those who have targeted this lady and her family do not represent the majority views of the community and they do nothing but bring shame on society.

“I condemn these attacks utterly and would urge anyone with any information to come forward.”

New rules being suggested by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) supposedly simplifying the procedures governing how farmers work with uncultivated land, have had a number of glaring problems raised by the vice chairman of the Assembly’s Agriculture committee, Tom Elliott MLA.

Speaking after the weekly meeting of the committee at Stormont the Ulster Unionist assemblyman said: “The matter of uncultivated land has been a grey issue with there being considerable ambiguity surrounding the number of years that land needs to be unworked to even qualify.

“It was also normal practice for farmers to seek permission from the department prior to work on such land, which was not an ideal situation, particularly when nobody was entirely sure as to the criteria of uncultivated land.”

Tom continued by outlining how the new proposals governing uncultivated land could work by adding: “We now have some clarity in that a piece of land is ‘uncultivated’ if it does not receive improvements such as ploughing, reseeding or drainage during a period of 15 years. Farmers will also be able to carry out work without seeking DARD’s authorisation if the parcel of land is less than two hectares, or if the work involves the removal of ditches then up to 4km can be removed.”

“On the face of it these developments are of benefit to farm businesses, however if a business is in receipt of SFP, which is the vast majority of farms, then they are already precluded from removing ditches, without seeking permission.

“Furthermore if a farmer does commence work on a piece of uncultivated land under 2 hectares in size, which these guidelines allow, and someone reports his activities, this triggers an investigation into the nature of the work by the authorities.

In conclusion the Fermanagh and South Tyrone representative added: “I would imagine that farmers will continue to declare their intentions with DARD as a precaution against investigation. And as for removing ditches well for most farms that’s a non-starter, as is often the case with farming it’s three steps forward, two steps back”

Commenting on the departure of Peter Hain from the Northern Ireland Office, UUP MEP Jim Nicholson said,

“Peter Hain may go down in history as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who oversaw the long overdue return to devolved Government in the Province but he will be remembered by many in Northern Ireland as someone responsible for the introduction of a host of damaging policies. Our elected representatives will be dealing with his legacy for quite some time I suspect.

“His successor, Shaun Woodward still has many important responsibilities to discharge in the Province, not least working with the Executive to ensure that Northern Ireland receives a financial package from the new Chancellor, Alistair Darling and from Europe.”

Rev Dr Robert Coulter MLA, Ulster Unionist Assemblyman for North Antrim, has called for increased penalties for attacks on teachers similar to his proposed new law to increase penalties on those who attack health workers.

In Minister’s Question Time at Stormont, Dr Coulter proposed the idea to Education Minister Catriona Ruane who responded by promising to put this matter on the agenda of her meetings with Health Minister Michael McGimpsey.

The Minister continued: “My Department is currently reviewing the available guidance on security and personal safety in schools and the support available to staff, and I have asked that the review should include consideration of protocols, particularly in the Health Service, but also in other organisations.”

Dr Coulter commented : “We must recreate a new culture of respect in society and deal with people who are out of control and breaking the normal rules of a civilized society. The days of anything goes are well and truly over. This means that thugs who attack health workers and hooligans who attack teachers should get sharp and instant punishment. I am pleased with the Minister’s positive response because I know Minister McGimpsey is already working seriously on my proposals for attacks on health workers.”

Ulster Unionist Party Leader Sir Reg Empey, speaking from America, today congratulated Shaun Woodward on his appointment as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

In a statement Sir Reg said,

“I extend my congratulations to Mr Woodward on his appointment. He is no stranger to Northern Ireland and is a strong supporter of Policing and Justice.

I have already been in touch with his office seeking an early meeting to discuss a raft of policing and criminal justice matters.”

Ulster Unionist Member of the European Parliament Jim Nicholson MEP has said today that the Northern Ireland Executive must do everything it possibly can to ensure that both Ryanair and Aer Lingus open new routes from Belfast to the rest of the UK and Europe.

Mr Nicholson was speaking after speculation emerged this week that Ryanair were in talks with Belfast City airport about expanding their air routes from Northern Ireland.

Recently Aer Lingus announced it was considering Belfast International airport and Birmingham as a UK base for the airline.

In a statement Mr Nicholson said,

“The ongoing development of our air routes, both domestically and internationally, is essential if we are to maximise Northern Ireland’s economic and tourism potential.

“In terms of air routes Northern Ireland needs greater accessibility into our region if we are to attract more visitors from abroad and grow our tourism industry.

“There are 7 Executive Ministers in the United States this week promoting Northern Ireland and I sincerely hope that on their agenda is the creation of more transatlantic flights to North America from Belfast.

“The Executive must commit to do all it can to encourage air route development from Belfast. Putting all their effort into ensuring Ryanair open up further routes from Belfast would demonstrate this commitment.

“It should be a priority of the new DETI Minister, Nigel Dodds to look at creating a new air route development fund, similar to the one that worked well in the past, which would strengthen existing air routes and develop others.”

Ulster Unionist Agriculture spokesman, Tom Elliott MLA, has called for a rethink on the way that DARD assesses farm businesses with respect to planning permission, so that the process more accurately reflects the “modern realities of farming”.

In a statement Mr. Elliott, vice chairman of the Assembly’s Agriculture and Rural Development committee, said: “The crackdown on new dwellings in the countryside that came into force last year with Draft PPS14 has a number of caveats, one of which permits dwellings for farmers following an assessment of the viability of the business by DARD officials.

“At present for an application to qualify for one dwelling, the farm business must be assessed to require at least 2,200 man hours, or one labour unit, to manage the business over the course of a year. To qualify for two dwellings the requirement is 4,400 man hours, however in addition to this there must be a minimum of 80 dairy cows or some 250 suckler cows.

“Such high livestock levels occur in few cases meaning that this unrealistic prerequisite is rarely met and effectively renders the supposed exceptions contained within PPS14 almost non existent.

“In my view this lack of flexibility shows a lack of regard for, and knowledge of, the agricultural sector and stifles the development of sustainable rural communities.”

In conclusion the Fermanagh and South Tyrone assemblyman added: “Many farmers put every waking minute into their business, indeed on most enterprises there are also many hours of unpaid work from the wider family circle. In a growing number of cases farmers are forced to seek alternative employment such is the state of the industry.

“Irrespective of what changes may be made to this legislation by the Minister for DRD there needs to be an immediate injection of reality into this process from both DARD and the Planning Service, the current system is far too restrictive, against the supposed exceptions in PPS14 and against the long term interests of the countryside.”

Ulster Unionist Assembly member for Fermanagh & South Tyrone, Tom Elliott MLA has accused Sinn Fein of being very selective in their calls for public inquiries for only nationalists who were killed during the troubles and have shown a total disregard for Protestants who were killed by the IRA during their 30 year campaign of terror in Northern Ireland

Tom said: “Following the announcement this week by the Public Prosecution Service that no one was to be charged in connection with the murder of Pat Finucane in 1989, Sinn Fein is demanding a fully independent inquiry. The announcement of the appointment of Al Hutchinson as the new Police Ombudsman, which I welcome was tempered by certain nationalist politicians that he must not draw a line under the past.

Sinn Fein have an insatiable demand over so called state murders but seem to forget the thousands of Protestants that were killed by the IRA but do not demand inquiries for those victims. The Enniskillen Remembrance day massacre in 1987 which killed 11 people , the Teebane massacre in 1992 which killed 8 people , the La Mon massacre in 1978 when 12 people were incinerated and the countless other forgotten innocent Protestant families who were victims of the IRA- but never have received any closure or convictions for those who were responsible.

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry has lasted 8 years and has cost £400m and we still await the outcome, of which Sinn Fein may not accept the findings. This £400m would have paid for more than 15,000 nurses or replaced or antiquated water infrastructure. The two things about any public inquiries are that they are very expensive and rarely satisfy anybody!

Protestant victims deserve the same level of justice and closure as Nationalists and are still pleading for justice over many years and feel they are not treated with the same seriousness that they deserve. Sinn Fein were elevated to power in the Stormont Executive on 8 May 2007 and still found time on this date to glorify the terrorists who died at Loughgall 20 years prior and whose mission was to kill security forces .

Lord Tebbitt, himself a victim of the IRA at Brighton posed a relevant question in the House of Lords, asking how many terrorists are in the NI Executive and would they ever admit their part in a murderous campaign to a public inquiry, I think highly unlikely!

The Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister has the responsibility for the victims unit and perhaps our First Minister, Dr Paisley should ask his “new friend”, Martin McGuiness would he advocate a public inquiry into Enniskillen, Teebane and La Mon massacres and many more, as these victims have a right to know the truth.

Sinn Fein is not in the politics of condemnation of the IRA but of course they condemn everyone else.”

Ulster Unionist Environment Spokesman, Sam Gardiner MLA, today called for a second world heritage site for Northern Ireland. His comments come as the UN’s cultural organisation UNESCO meet in Christ Church New Zealand to decide if new sites should be added to the 830 long list.

“Northern Ireland has just one site – the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast. Denmark, for example, which has a population of 5.4 million just over three times the population size of Northern Ireland, has four sites. If you take the population of Northern Ireland and Denmark, Northern Ireland could expect to have one more site. I am not saying these things are done on a pro-rata basis but I think this points to the need for at least one more site here in Northern Ireland.”

“The key point about world heritage sites is their tourist potential. To be a world heritage site says that a place is special. It is a draw for tourists.”

“The obvious candidate is the Mountains of Mourne area which is to be our first National Park. I think, however, we need to have an open competition to choose a site managed by a commission specially appointed for the purpose. Then the best bid could go forward to the next UNESCO meeting which is in 2008. The site is then assessed by a UNESCO expert team. One of the things they look at closely is the planned management of the heritage site. About 45 sites are in contention to be added to the list this year.”