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Ulster Unionist MLA for East Londonderry David McClarty speaking in the Assembly today during a debate on the closure of the Seagate plant in Limavady called on the DETI Minister to give special attention to the North West Area

In a speech Mr McClarty said,

“The afternoon of 29th October 2007 was a black day for the Limavady and Northern Ireland economy, when the employees at Seagate’s Limavady plant were informed that they were to lose their jobs.

This was truly devastating news for Northern Ireland’s economic ambitions, and has led to considerable concern for the economic future of Limavady and the surrounding North West region. Unfortunately the news got worse for an already beleaguered Limavady community when Huco Lightronics, an electronic firm, announced its intention to close in January 2008, with a loss of 70 jobs.

The economic consequences for Limavady and the North West continue to be of serious concern. It is estimated that unemployment could double in the area. Furthermore, it is also reported that these latest redundancies could mean that

So what do we need to see happen in terms of a governmental response?

I know already that the work of assisting the Seagate workforce to re-engage with the labour-market, having regard for their skills profile and geographical location, is already underway. This is extremely important. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, along with Invest NI, and the Department of Employment and Learning must work diligently to find alternative employment for the Seagate employees who want to remain economically active.

These workers are extremely talented and must be given every opportunity to avail of retraining and educational programmes to enable them to remain in employment. In addition to this, I would be grateful if the Minister could inform the House if there are any renewed plans, as a result of the Seagate job losses, to highlight and promote the north-west region of Northern Ireland as a prime location for investment at the Investment Conference being hosted by the Executive in the spring of next year.

I believe that the North West must be given special attention by DETI, and I look forward to the Minister’s response on this point.

I want to see this Assembly and the Executive act now, so that we can offer a future of hope and economic prosperity for this already beleaguered and fraught community.”

Ulster Unionist Education spokesman Basil McCrea today asked the Education Minister whether she agreed with CCEA that the latest date for a decision on a transfer test is January 2008 and whether she intended to address the issue or merely run down the clock so that no discussion is possible.

Mr McCrea posed the question during Ministers question time in the Assembly today amid growing concerns from parents and teachers that the question of what will replace the transfer test is still hanging in the air with only 73 days to go before academic selection becomes obsolete.

In a statement Mr McCrea said,

“We need to know if the Minister agrees with deadline set by CCEA. There are few things more important to parents than the educational future of their children and the Minister’s delay in making a decision is causing worry and distress to many.

Minister Ruane is putting everyone in a very unfair position by refusing to enter into a debate on this. It is very unreasonable, with just 73 days to go before academic selection is consigned to the dustbin, to ask people to be patient.

Either the Minister knows exactly what she is going to do and that she is so confident about her plans that she doesn’t need to tell anyone or she is being driven by a political agenda to do away with academic selection but doesn’t have a clue what to replace it with. All this stalling leads me to believe that she is not on top of her brief.”

Ulster Unionist Environment Spokesman, Sam Gardiner MLA, has said that the setting up of a world seed conservation bank in a mountain cave close to the North Pole on the Svalbard Islands was another indicator that massive climate change was anticipated.

“A doomsday vault has been carved into a frozen mountainside in the archipelago of Svalbard, a few hundred miles from the North Pole. Over the next few weeks, the huge cavern - backed by the Norwegian government and the Bill Gates Foundation - will have more than a million types of seed deposited in it. It will be officially opened in February next year.”

“The Rome-based Global Crop Diversity Trust which is building the vault plans to preserve old strains of crop which are likely to be needed as climate change kicks in and makes it impossible to grow existing new strains in affected areas.”

“The site, close to the North Pole, was chosen so that it did not matter if refrigeration equipment failed. There are three vaults and scientists have been cooling the inside to the -16degres necessary. Many of the older varieties stored there are less productive than new strains of crop but are much hardier and resistant to climate change.”

“This is another sign that key organisations are preparing for significant climate change. This seed project could prove vital to counteract starvation if new crop varieties fail.”