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UUP MLA Billy Armstrong today extended his condolences to the family of Conor Devlin, the Randalstown teenager who was killed in a road accident near Bellaghy last Saturday.

The Mid-Ulster representative said;

“I was shocked to learn that yet another life has been lost on our roads and I wish to extend my condolences to the family of Conor Devlin.

The toll of death and destruction on our roads is horrific, and I urge all road users, particularly drivers, to heed the warnings from the DoE Road Safety unit and the PSNI Traffic Branch.

Tragically, this young man was the 80th victim of our roads this year. One death is one too many, and we must all do more to reduce the casualty rate on our roads in order to spare other families the heartbreak and anguish caused by the loss of a loved one.

The Police have appealed for witnesses to the accident to come forward, and I would re-iterate that appeal.”

Mid Ulster UUP MLA Billy Armstrong has welcomed the Government’s announcement that it will provide the funding for an integrated training college for the Police, Prison Service and Fire Service.

Mr Armstrong said

“I welcome the announcement from Westminster that as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review a total of £1.2 billion is to be spent on policing and criminal justice in Northern Ireland, including £130 million for the new Integrated Training College.

The saga of the new Police Training College has dragged on for far too long. It is four years since a site was identified near Cookstown, and it is long past time that some progress was achieved.

This is good news for Cookstown and the whole Mid-Ulster area and will be a huge boost to the local economy.

I trust that no further obstacles will be put in the way of this project which is urgently needed by the emergency services in Northern Ireland.”

Ulster Unionist MLA Billy Armstrong has called for the Giant’s Causeway Visitors’ Centre to be rebuilt by Government and the Public Sector in order to ensure that both the Causeway site and the surrounding area are safeguarded for future generations.

The Mid-Ulster MLA and member of the Assembly’s Environment Committee said;

“The Giant’s Causeway is recognised as a World Heritage site by UNESCO and is one of the jewels in the crown of Northern Ireland tourism. There is no doubt that the site both deserves and requires a world class visitors’ centre.

While I am normally a supporter of private sector involvement, I believe that in the case of Northern Ireland’s only World Heritage site an exception has to be made in order to safeguard the site and its surrounding area for future generations.

I have long held the opinion that the best solution is for the key stakeholders to get together and agree a way forward whereby the National Trust, Moyle District Council, the Department of the Environment and DETI work in partnership so that this vital asset remains wholly in public hands.

It is clear that this view is shared by Moyle and Coleraine Councils and the National Trust. I therefore call upon the relevant Ministers to work in partnership with these bodies to ensure that the integrity of the Causeway site and its surrounding area is protected both now and for the future by retaining ownership in public hands. This is an early test for new Ministers, a new Executive and a new Assembly. It is a test we must not fail.”

Ulster Unionist MLA Billy Armstrong has welcomed comments made in a written response by OFMDFM regarding the recent spate of attacks on Orange Halls.

The Mid-Ulster MLA said;

“The OFMDFM’s strategic departmental objectives include ‘promoting better community relations, a culture of equality and rights, and promoting social inclusion’.

“I recently wrote to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister asking them what assessment has been made of the impact of the recent spate of attacks on Orange Halls on their strategic objectives.”

“In their response they say that they ‘totally deplore these acts and condemn utterly those people who carry out such attacks which are a scourge on our society.’

I fully endorse these comments and would especially urge those politicians from the republican community to use their influence to ensure that attacks on Orange Halls are halted.

We must all work to develop a society in which Halls and Churches of all denominations are given due respect and left well alone.

Attacks on these Halls are nothing more than hate crimes and must be condemned by all right-thinking people.”

UUP MLA for Mid-Ulster and farmer Billy Armstrong today took the Agriculture Minister to task for refusing to champion Northern Ireland Beef during Minister’s Question Time in the Assembly today,

In a statement Mr. Armstrong said,

“In her statement today in the recent Foot and Mouth outbreak, Minister Gildernew disappointingly decided not to take the opportunity to act as a champion of Northern Ireland beef. Northern Ireland’s farmers and consumers are confronted by the reality of cheap, inferior Brazilian beef imports. I raised this matter with the Minister in early August and was hoping she would in today’s statement become a persuader on behalf of Northern Ireland beef. It was disappointing too that even today in her speech she could not bring herself to refer to Northern Ireland, instead using ‘the North’.

Everyone is fully aware that the Northern Ireland Assembly cannot legislate to prevent the importing of Brazilian beef. However, the Minister could and should use her position to encourage supermarkets to offer consumers quality beef, guaranteed by the highest food traceability, environmental protections and animal welfare standards.

As the recent Ulster Farmers Union – Irish Farmers Association joint statement made clear, our hard-earned and closely protected FMD-free status is threatened by Brazilian beef imports. FMD is endemic in Brazil and traceability standards are, to say the least, incredibly poor. Boasting about our bio-security standards while failing to challenge supermarkets who import Brazilian beef is nonsensical.

I fully support the call by Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson for an EU-wide ban on Brazilian beef imports. Europe’s consumers deserve nothing less than quality beef”.”

Ulster Unionist MLA Billy Armstrong has thrown his support behind the campaign by the Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland to start up “Green Gym” sessions on Saturday mornings.

These are planned as an alternative to more conventional gyms, and will involve will involve a few hours work doing important activities such as woodland management, seed collecting or tree planting.

The Mid-Ulster MLA said,

“As a member of the Assembly’s Environment Committee, I am pleased to support this initiative by the Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland.

“It is ideal for those who wish to improve their general fitness and who are concerned with environmental issues and the world we live in.

Not only will it get people out in the fresh air taking exercise and relieving the stresses of daily life, which is of course very important in itself, but it will also have a positive visible benefit on the natural environment. Even better, it’s all absolutely free, and no experience is required.”

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.”

Billy Armstrong, the Ulster Unionist MLA for Mid Ulster has demanded that the Department of Regional Development takes urgent action to ensure that all correspondence issued by them, and the Water Service to constituents in County Londonderry uses the County’s correct title.

“My constituency of Mid-Ulster incorporates part of County Londonderry and part of County Tyrone. I have received numerous complaints from constituents in County Londonderry who are most unhappy that correspondence and bills received from the Water Service are addressed to ‘County Derry’ rather than the proper and full name of County Londonderry.

County Londonderry is the official name of the County and it is right and proper that all Government bodies and especially Departments within the Northern Ireland Assembly use its correct name.

I have already written to Conor Murphy the Minister for Regional Development demanding that action be taken to immediately rectify this unacceptable situation.”

Billy Armstrong, the Ulster Unionist MLA for Mid Ulster said that he was alarmed to learn that yet another planning application has been submitted for development in the area close to the Boyne Battlefield site.

“I understand that the latest land to be targeted for development is an area on the southern shore of the Battlefield site at Oldbridge Co. Meath.

I was astonished to learn that full planning permission has been granted for 745 housing units in Oldbridge, Donore.

The historical importance of the Boyne Battlefield site is well known, and while it has a particular resonance for those of us who come from the Orange or Unionist traditions, its has a far wider historical importance and value than the division between Orange and Green on the island of Ireland.

I shall be writing to Bertie Ahern on this matter, given his recent public interest in the Boyne Valley as evidenced by his meeting with Ian Paisley at Oldbridge House on the 10th May this year. I certainly don’t recall any mention of 745 housing units being made then.

There is much talk these days of a shared future, but the Battle of the Boyne is part of a shared past. This is a test for the Government of the Republic of Ireland. If all the fine words about new beginnings and new relationship are to be more than hot air, I urge the Dublin Government to take steps to preserve this historic site and its surrounding area.”

Mid Ulster UUP MLA Billy Armstrong has today reacted to the news that the Savile Row Shirt Company has announced a total of 70 redundancies at their Castledawson plant due to loss of orders. The company has already entered into consultations with trade union representatives over the issue. The redundancies will lead to a staff of 23 being maintained at the factory, employed mainly in the mail order department.

Billy said: ‘‘I’m obviously very sad to hear of this move being taken, but this is an unfortunate result of increasing international competition. Savile Row has been committed to the Mid Ulster area for over forty years, from their old factory in Tobermore, and their newer plant in Castledawson. In all that time, they have been an important employer and a lynchpin of the local economy, with a good deal of family connections down through the years, which makes this decision all the more emotional. It says a great deal for their confidence in this area that their mail order, alterations and monogramming services are all based in Castledawson. It is also positive to hear that the company plans to relocate its call centre to the local plant. The loss of a very important contract to a rival-manufacturing firm has been a blow, and I’m sure the company imparted the sad news to their employees as early as they could.

However, none of the company’s plans for the future are of any real benefit to the 70 individuals who will potentially find themselves unemployed quite soon. This decision marks the end of a manufacturing era in Castledawson. I know that all the staff at the Savile Row factory are very enthusiastic, but unfortunately, even that virtue cannot compete with increased competition from elsewhere in the European Union. I trust the company will do whatever it can to make this blow as painless as possible, and take any opportunity that may arise to limit these redundancies. Their consideration for their employees will be very important at this stage. To those who face redundancy, let me assure them that if I can assist in any way to contact my office.