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Ken Robinson MLA, Ulster Unionist Assembly Member for East Antrim, has welcomed the news announced at the North-South Ministerial Council meeting in Armagh today that the A8 would become a dual carriageway along its entire length from Belfast to Larne.

“As someone who has campaigned for the A8 to be dualled over its entire length for the past nine years, this is very welcome news. Sections of the A8 have been dualled over the past few years after pressure from campaigners like myself but now that this is to be done comprehensively from Belfast to Larne, that will make a real difference. This shows that there are tangible benefits from running our own affairs rather than being badly governed under direct rule.”

“Larne needs this to help it compete in the future, especially with the new threat posed by the planned new all-Ireland Port at Bremore between Drogheda and Dublin. This new road must become a part of the strategy to help the Northern Ports survive.”

“Today’s news also means that action is being taken to complete trans-european routes to a minimum standard which equates to elsewhere in Europe. It must be emphasised that this is a minimum requirement to keep the port of Larne viable in the long term.”

Senior Ulster Unionist Alan McFarland today welcomed the fact that the DUP have finally and completely rubberstamped the Belfast Agreement by attending the North South Ministerial Council meeting.

The North Down MLA, while welcoming the move, said however that this latest u-turn was categoric proof that the DUP is not a party of principle but a party of power.

In a statement Mr McFarland,

“We welcome the fact that at last the DUP have finally, completely and irreversibly signed up to all 3 strands of the Belfast Agreement, thus vindicating the UUP’s position.

In fact the DUP have gone further than we would have by agreeing to a North-South Parliamentary Forum, something that to us was firmly beyond the pale.

In January 2001 Peter Robinson indicated that he would allow DUP Executive Ministers to meet their Dublin counterparts “as long as it is not in the context” of NSMC. He went on to explain his refusal to accept the NSMC: “The NSMC structure was set up for political reasons and structurally the two parts of the country are working under one political entity and that we will have nothing to do with”. (Sunday Tribune 28th Jan 01.)

The DUP’s 2001 Westminster Manifesto described the NSMC as “an embryo united Ireland government” (p. 9).

The DUP’s 2003 policy paper “Towards a New Agreement” stated, “the NSMC is the central element of North/South co-operation negotiated in the Belfast Agreement” (p. 19).

The St. Andrews Agreement merely provided for NSMC papers to be circulated to all Executive members prior to the meeting of NSMC. It also noted that the Executive Committee should agree relevant matters - ironically this is exactly the situation criticised in the DUP’s 2003 paper: “only the Executive parties have any vote on decisions … power is vested in Ministers”

What we have as a result of today’s u-turn by the DUP is categoric proof, if it were needed that, that they are a Party of power and not of principle. The people of Northern Ireland have been kept back from 10 years of progress until the DUP decided to get its act together. What a waste.”

Speaking after today’s British-Irish Council Meeting, UUP Leader Sir Reg Empey said,

“When the Ulster Unionist Party was negotiating the Belfast Agreement we wanted a meaningful East-West dimension to counterbalance the North-South bodies.

The British-Irish Council, which was our brainchild, was developed as an opportunity for representatives from across the Union to share ideas and network. I will soon be travelling to Edinburgh to meet with my Ministerial counterpart in the Scottish Assembly to discuss our respective portfolios.

Transport links and improved infrastructure across the United Kingdom are vital to our trade, economies and tourism sectors and it was good to exchange views with our counterparts across the UK in front of the Prime Minister.

However, unlike other parts of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland is only really coming into its own and after years of neglect due to the troubles we need a helping hand to play catch up with other areas. That is why I and others are keen to see the much mooted financial package not brushed under the carpet by those who promised it was a make or break pre-requisite for devolution and have since let it slip.”

County Grand Master for County Fermanagh Orange Institution, Tom Elliott, has called on Republican and Nationalist politicians to openly condemn those who were involved in last night’s removal of bunting and damaged a union flag in Enniskillen.

In a statement Mr. Elliott said: “It saddens me that people should have taken it upon themselves to tear down bunting in the town and rip the union flag at the District Hall. This achieves nothing and is not indicative of the tolerance shown to the Twelfth celebrations by all sections of the community in Fermanagh.

“The Orange Institution in Fermanagh prides itself on good community relations with orange brethren having made real efforts over the past number of years to ensure that demonstrations are a spectacle that everyone can enjoy.

“I feel that all public representatives, particularly Republican and Nationalist politicians, must openly call on their communities to resist involving themselves in such activities, such actions only succeed in raising tensions that can spiral out of control.”

In conclusion Tom added: “Recent political advancements must not be negated by the actions of a small minority, I ask those who were involved in last night’s actions to stand back and think about the consequences of their actions and I reiterate my invitation to everyone to attend the county demonstration in Enniskillen and to play their part in ensuring that it is a day for the family to enjoy.”

Ulster Unionist Member of the European Parliament Jim Nicholson MEP has backed farmer’s calls for the European Commission to scrap set aside for next year which places up to 10% of their land out of production.

The National Farmers Union made the demand this week amid concerns over shortages of wheat and other cereals due to the floods in the UK and drought in other areas of Europe.

Mr Nicholson also called on the agriculture Minister to Michelle Gildernew to support the move.

Speaking from Brussels Mr Nicholson said,

“Given the expected shortfall in wheat and other cereal crops next year I think the idea of scrapping set aside for next year makes perfect sense and I would urge our local agriculture Minister to lobby DEFRA in London and the Commission in Brussels over this issue.

“EU Farm Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, in discussions about the CAP Health Check due next year, has already indicated her intention to look at ending set aside on a permanent basis.

“The benefits to the environment that came from the original scheme are now covered, to a large extent, by rural development schemes and cross compliance and I see no reason why in this current context that the Commission would not allow an end to set – aside for next year to ensure continuity of supply.”

Sam Gardiner MLA has raised the need for a corporate manslaughter bill again in the Northern Ireland Assembly. In a debate on accident rates in the construction industry, the Upper Bann MLA has said that only the introduction of a comprehensive corporate manslaughter bill with an additional offence of secondary liability for corporate manslaughter would lead to real improvements in safety standards in the construction industry.

Mr Gardiner said : “My interest in the subject was kindled in 2005 when one of my constituents, a young man from the Lurgan area who was just starting out in life, tragically lost his life on a construction site on the M1 motorway. That needless death, and all the human suffering that came with it, was a watershed for me. From that day on, I was determined not to rest until I had effective corporate manslaughter legislation in place in the Province.”

“After my demands in 2005 for corporate manslaughter legislation, in January 2006, I also called for the introduction of a new offence of secondary liability for corporate manslaughter, where it could be shown that a company’s failings were provably caused by the culpable negligence of one or more individuals in the firm. Only individual responsibility for the death of a worker because of the company’s negligence will make management take this matter seriously and give worker safety sufficient priority.”

“Many building firms are big corporations, and they have broad backs. They may simply have to pay financial penalties, but that is not enough to change attitudes in the construction industry. For people to take the death of workers on site seriously, they will have to feel that they will actually and individually face a manslaughter charge, if they are proven to be negligent. Juries should be asked to consider whether management failure had caused or contributed to the death. On the basis of that finding, the Public Prosecution Service should determine whether individuals in a company should also be prosecuted for manslaughter.”

“The average number of work-related deaths in Northern Ireland stands at 20 a year. We must keep that figure in mind when dealing with this matter. Once justice powers are devolved, the Assembly will have a duty of care to our people. In relation to the construction industry especially, that duty must be anchored in corporate manslaughter legislation with teeth.”

Ulster Unionist Environment Spokesman, Sam Gardiner MLA, has called on Environment Minister Arlene Foster to set up a climate watch unit in her Department.

“Recent flooding episodes in Northern Ireland have convinced many reasonable people over climate change. I am asking the Minister to follow the climate scoping study which was completed after I pushed her predecessor Lord Rooker on the subject. I believe the effects of climate change are with us now and not in hundreds of years, as the Minister appeared to suggest when I quizzed her on the subject in the Assembly.”

“The one thing we must guard against is complacency. A climate watch unit would collate all the evidence of climate change on an on-going basis and could alert us to new patterns emerging. Cliamte change also needs to be actively built into government planning.”

“I believe the establishment of such a unit would help to reassure people that government is taking this seriously. We need to develop a planning culture which plans responses before flooding and other climate events happen and not just responds after the event when people’s homes are full of water.”

Ulster Unionist Member of the European Parliament, Jim Nicholson MEP has been appointed by his political grouping in the European Parliament to help oversee a key Parliament report into the sheep sector in Europe.

Mr Nicholson was appointed by the EPP – ED to be a shadow rapporteur for the report which will be carried out by Liam Aylward, an MEP from the Republic of Ireland.

Recently Mr Nicholson expressed some concern about the impact the flood of New Zealand lamb into UK supermarkets would have for local lamb producers in Northern Ireland.

The sheep sector is worth 3.5 billion Euros to the European economy alone per annum.

In a statement Mr Nicholson said,

“This is a fantastic opportunity to be involved in the Parliament’s own initiative report about the future of the sheep sector in Europe and is very timely given the recent surge in imports of New Zealand lamb into UK supermarkets.

“EU lamb producers currently provide 78% of all lamb consumed within Europe and whilst we do rely on a certain amount of imports, it is important that when sheep meat is imported it does not drive down the prices for farmers. It is this down turn in prices in sheep meat that I am worried about and which we will be able to investigate in this report.

“We have a quality product on offer in Northern Ireland available to supermarkets at a competitive price. If supermarkets stock more and more New Zealand lamb on their shelves at the expense of local produce all they are going to do is drive local producers in Northern Ireland out of business.”