uuptoday.org

With less than 2 weeks to go until the start of the 2007 rugby world cup, Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson is this week hosting a major exhibition at the European Parliament in Brussels called, “Rugby - a sport for all.”

The Chairman of the International Rugby Board, Dr Syd Millar will be attending the exhibition. The Ballymena rugby hero will of course be no stranger to Ulster and Irish rugby fans.

In addition to Dr Millar former England rugby international, Rob Andrew, now Head of elite rugby at the RFU and the European Commissioner for Sport, Jan Figel will also be attending.

Speaking from Brussels this evening Mr Nicholson said,

“I am absolutely delighted to be involved in hosting this event, especially at a time when, because of the rugby world cup, there is an immense amount of interest in rugby. Through this exhibition we will be able to demonstrate the role rugby plays at community level throughout the EU and beyond in improving health, social inclusion and equality.

“The RFU is taking the lead in the exhibition with the support of a number of other national rugby federations. The exhibition includes participation by a number of rugby-based charities: Touraid, Kitaid and Wooden Spoon who are involved in various projects aimed at helping children in both the EU and the developing world.”

(l - r) Jim Nicholson MEP, Lord Maginnis, Martyn Thomas Chairman of the Rugby Football Union and Syd Millar Chairman of the International Rugby Board try out a Rhino Scrum Machine at the recent exhibition, “Rugby - A sport for all” hosted by Jim Nicholson at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Rev Dr Robert Coulter, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and UUP Stormont Commissioner, has said everyone in the community has a responsibility to keep the constituency’s roads safe.

Rev Dr Coulter made his appeal to coincide with the start of the new school year when thousands of pupils and adults will be on the move across North Antrim and the constituency will see a large increase in the volume of traffic.

The UUP Health Spokesman also called on the community to support the “excellent advice” being provided by the police on road safety.

Rev Dr Coulter also praised the work being done by the Environment Minister Arlene Foster and her department in trying to cut the carnage on Northern Ireland’s roads.

He added: “Across our Province, the roads are claiming victim after victim. Such is the toll of carnage on our roads that we must not become side-tracked by any temptation to point the finger of guilt and indulge in the blame game.

“The hard fact is that the death rate on our roads is beginning to spiral out of control and it will require a collective effort by the entire community to put an effective end to this carnage. It must be a total end, not a reduction to an acceptable level of death, because all deaths on the roads can be prevented in one way or another.

“This places a moral responsibility on all of us in the North Antrim constituency, whether driver, cyclist, motor-cyclist or pedestrian, to do all in our power to combat the carnage on our roads, and especially now that the new school term has begun.

“The police and other organisations have been to the fore in making appeals for people to exercise greater care on our roads. We, as a community, need to give our full support to these campaigns.

“”I would also applaud those schools in our constituency which have integrated road safety as part of the curriculum. Indeed, numerous youth organisations have also been instructing their members about the vital importance of care on the roads.

“And it is not just the young people who need to fully understand the dangers on the road; adults, too, need to ensure they exercise proper care when using the roads.

“We should also remember the victims’ families who are left to grieve because of the tragedies of the present carnage on our roads over the years.

“As a community, we should also not forget the families of road victims in North Antrim over the generations who still live with the pain and memory of these terrible events.

“Whilst every death on the road is totally regrettable, I appeal to the local community to really concentrate when they are using the local roads so that North Antrim never gains the terrible tag of the constituency of carnage” said Assemblyman Dr Coulter.

UUP MLA Billy Armstrong today condemned the latest in a long line of attacks on Orange Halls, following recent attacks at Seagoe in Portadown and Newcastle.

The Mid-Ulster, Ulster Unionist MLA said

“In the period around the Twelfth of July there were a number of attacks on Orange Halls in my own constituency in parts of South Londonderry and east Tyrone. Since then further attacks have taken place on Orange Halls in Counties Armagh and Down.

We have long suspected that these incidents are not isolated or random, but are part of a co-ordinated attack on visible representations of Protestant and Unionist culture.

The news that a member of Sinn Fein’s youth wing appears to have fallen from the roof of the very hall in Newcastle where flags were removed will come as little surprise to many.

This is a test for the boast that Sinn Fein are now fully supportive of the police. Here we have the perfect opportunity for Sinn Fein to demonstrate that they do support the police by calling on anyone worthy information relating to these attacks to come forward with information.

These attacks also present a challenge to the Deputy First Minister who’s Department is charged with overseeing equality issues. There is no doubt that attacks on Orange Halls are meant as attacks on the Protestant community and should be classed as hate crimes. The Orange Institution and its members are entitled to the protection and rights as anyone else.”