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Rev Dr Robert Coulter MLA, Ulster Unionist Assemblyman for North Antrim, said today that the news that the EU Commission had agreed a 6 year scheme backed by £200 million inter-reg money was “great news for North Antrim .”

“The funding is designed to encourage closer co-operation in research, development and promoting tourism and aims to develop a sustainable cross-border region across Northern Ireland and south western Scotland . The historical links between North Antrim and South West Scotland are deep and strong. This will give muscle to the many plans we in North Antrim have been pushing for over a number of years.”

“I want to see the ferry service between Ballycastle and Campbelltown become the anchor for a joint tourism initiative which will target the English midlands car tourism family market which is 43 million strong and will create a tourist routes incorporating North Antrim with the Giant’s Causeway and the Glens and the highlands of Scotland accessed through Argyll.”

“This would bring a lot of tourist spending to North Antrim and make a real difference to the local economy. It would also spread that money across the whole area, creating prosperity in every part of North Antrim .”

Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson has appealed for calm today as the authorities in England attempt to determine the source of an outbreak of bird flu at a Suffolk farm.

Speaking from Strasbourg Mr Nicholson said,

“DEFRA must act swiftly to contain and trace the origins of this latest bird flu outbreak.

“The Government was right to close the area down quickly but they must ensure that the exclusion zone is properly enforced and act ruthlessly to stamp out the disease and identify its source. It is important that this action is matched by increased vigilance and bio – security in the weeks ahead. Allowing it to spread would do untold damage to the sustainability and viability of the entire poultry industry.

“In the event of an outbreak of bird flu in Northern Ireland public communication will be essential to dealing with the problem. Information must be given to the public promptly, efficiently and in an easily accesible manner so that they know what to do should they discover a dead bird. Time is of the essence.

“DEFRA must keep all poultry keepers informed. During the last outbreak, keepers complained that not enough information was being provided and not quickly enough. Farmers must know exactly what they have to do.

“It is unfortunate but it appears that outbreaks of bird flu will become a sad reality across all of Europe. Bird Flu is no respecter of borders and as such requries a strategic and coordinated response to combat it at European level.”

Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott has described the murder attempt on a police officer in Dungannon this evening as cowardly and disgraceful.

Mr Elliott said: “Obviously my first concern is for the well-being of the injured officer. I hope that his injuries are not too severe and that he will soon recover to full health.

“This has all the indications of going back to the dark days of the troubles in this province. At a time when many thought that the new political dispensation would eradicate this type of incident it appears that some republicans want to continue the murderous campaign of the last four decades. This is cowardly, dastardly action of people who are enemies of this province.

“I understand there has been a heightened security threat in the area during the past few weeks and I have concerns that this may not have come from the normal dissident republican source but from a source close to mainstream republicanism. If this is accurate it could have far-reaching consequences for the political situation in Northern Ireland.

“The timing of this incident is important in that Sinn Fein had failed to nominate its members of the District Policing Partnership last month and was due to nominate at tonight’s Council meeting. The shooting took place just a short distance from the Council offices. The Council meeting was postponed following the incident.

“I have spent the last three hours at the scene of the shooting in Dungannon and the local people there are in a state of shock and disbelief. They had clearly hoped that there was an end to this type of incident a long time ago.

“This incident just proves that you cannot trust these republicans who will go to any lengths to destroy the people of Northern Ireland.

“There is an urgent security review required in the province and I will seek an early meeting with the Secretary of State and the Security Minister Paul Goggins.”

Rev Dr Robert Coulter, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and UUP Stormont Commissioner, has said parents and schools should co-operate throughout the constituency to ensure children had a nourishing breakfast at the start of each day.

Assemblyman Dr Coulter, who is party health spokesman, said: “The World Health Organisation found in a study of eating habits there is a direct link between student performance and having a healthy breakfast.

“In Britain, only 65.8 to 66.1 per cent of boys and 60.1 to 60.2 per cent of girls eat breakfast. So significantly fewer school children here eat breakfast before school than in most developed countries, yet nutritionists tell us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” explained Dr Coulter.

“Though the WHO survey did not extend to Northern Ireland, I believe our children’s diet here would be fairly similar to that of Scotland with a similarly high level of junk food,” added Dr Coulter.

“It is interesting that in Scotland, which has a high level of academic success in Britain, also has the highest rate of eating breakfast. There the percentage of boys and girls eating breakfasts was well above the national average. The Netherlands had the highest rate, but Britain fell behind Lithuania, Russia and Latvia, which have a far lower per capita income,” added Dr Coulter.

“Research has found that eating breakfast has an effect on children’s energy levels and ability to study. The WHO findings come amid concern over a deterioration in the quality of diet and a rise in obesity, often said to be caused by snacking on unsuitable food.

“The United States, which has an even higher rate of childhood obesity than the United Kingdom, was among the bottom two to five countries for eating breakfast at each age stage.

“I believe that parents and schools should combine forces to ensure that children receive a hearty breakfast before they begin the day’s work.

“A good breakfast would be far more important than a school lunch since most schoolwork is completed in the morning session and since that is when the children need maximum brain-power,” said Assemblyman Dr Coulter, himself a further education lecturer for 18 years.

Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson has taken the row over FIFA’s proposal to allow players born in Northern Ireland the opportunity to play for the Republic of Ireland onto the international stage this evening as he told fellow Members of the European Parliament in a debate in Strasbourg that if FIFA’s proposal went ahead it would be a kick in the teeth for Northern Irish football.

Speaking to MEPs Mr Nicholson said,

“I would like to bring to the attention of the House a proposal by FIFA, the global governing body for football, to allow players born in Northern Ireland the opportunity to represent the Republic of Ireland at international level.

“The Northern Ireland football team has a proud history going back many decades and over the years has produced many great footballers and defeated many great teams.

“Northern Ireland has had many difficulties over the past 35 years and during those dark days soccer was able to bring people together in our community. So I say very clearly to FIFA that they are wrong to go down this road. At a time when I believed that society in Northern Ireland was becoming normal and moving on from the past, this has come as a major shock and may even harm efforts to move society forward.”

Two Ulster Unionist Assemblymen, Sam Gardiner MLA, the Ulster Unionist Planning Spokesman, and Ken Robinson MLA have called for an end to buy to let mortgages which they said were stacking the odds against the first time buyer and for an extension of the shared equity co-ownership scheme to allow borrowers to take out as little as 25% of the equity in a new home.

“The overheating in the housing market has been caused by buy to let mortgages allowing speculators to mop up a high proportion of the properties first time buyers would normally purchase. This has had the effect of pricing first time buyers, especially young couples, out of the housing market. Buy to let speculators should have to depend on ordinary commercial bank loans.”

“This move should be coupled with an extension of the shared equity scheme available for shared ownership. At present, the most anyone can expect the NI Co-ownership scheme to pay out is 60% of the cost. Yet in England this figure is 75%. If this figure were increased to English levels, that would make a huge difference to young first time buyers.”

“Across Northern Ireland, the average price for a terraced house is £177,000 and the average price for an apartment is £183,000. If we take these last two – a terraced house or an apartment - as the entry point for first time buyers and take an average of the two at £180,000, that would mean that the difference between a 40% lower level of equity and a 25% lower level of equity would be £27,000 – the difference between the first time buyer having to find £72,000 or £45,000.”

“We have only one vehicle for shared ownership and that is the Northern Ireland Co-Ownership Housing Association. This compares to 101 shared ownership housing associations across the rest of the UK. Wales - with a population of some 3 million compared to our population of 1.7 million - has 10 shared ownership housing associations. The answer, however, does not lie in the number of associations but in the range of shared ownership options they offer.”

The MLAs also called for recognition that, with current property prices partly driven by population increases, apartments should be considered as suitable first time homes and there needed to be a cultural shift which recognized this. This, they said, was the norm across Europe.

They also argued that the regional development strategy of allowing infill development of apartments and town houses was “sound,” provided that it did not destroy areas of architectural merit. To impose too many restrictions on infill would be selfish and would deny many young people the chance to get a foot on the first rung of the housing ladder.

“We are not saying there should be no restrictions but we are saying that there should be no blanket restrictions. We need to do something for the first time buyer and if we prohibit building in the countryside and in the towns–where is left?”