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Iris Robinsons recent outburst concerning our much loved, highly respected and extremely hard working health professionals really does provide conclusive proof of just how arrogant she has become. We should all be looking for efficiencies within the management of our NHS infrastructure but to lecture some of the most dedicated vocationalists in our province and tell them that they are inefficient compared to their colleagues in Great Britain is down right insulting and this point has been made to me when I have been out and about in the days since her comments were made.

Does she really dislike her husbands ministerial colleague that much to show such arrogant contempt for the magnificent people that have helped us all over the years of the troubles and beyond without fear or favour regardless of our political or religious beliefs? It was also nice to hear Iris quoting from our recent Party Election Broadcast with regards to our pledge to represent the people of Northern Ireland and form an executive after the election.

This was at the same time that many within Mrs Robinsons party were still conning the electorate with visions of “Over My Dead Body” or the liberal wing saying “When they disband the IRA Army Council”. Once again the UUP led the way and the DUP followed, which we all new they would, they just did not have the nerve to tell the people prior to the election. We will be operating an opposition from within the Executive which as Peter Robinson reminded us during the last period of Devolution is our right when the interests of our people is to do so.

We will be holding Sinn Fein/DUP to account when they short change our Health Service or fail to get the balance right between much needed economic provision and equally important social needs. We have not gone away you know, and for Northern Irelands place in the United Kingdom sake, I hope we never do.

Cllr Mark Cosgrove, the UUP Spokesperson on Trade and Tourism has released the following statement on the outrageous spin and bluster of Mr Robinsons budget announcements.

“Freezing” the Regional rate for 3 years comes after Direct Rule ministers outrageously put it up by 18% only last year.At the time Mr Robinson rightly condemned the Government for their unaccountable madness at the time but he has now “pocketed” the millions raised from the hard working people of this province and has the cheek to spin it as a “freeze”. It is day light robbery.

The same applies to freezing Industrial Rates for 3 years at 30%. It is only in the last 3 years that our hard pressed manufacturing sector paid any rates and again in opposition the DUP made it clear that they were opposed to this move. Whilst keeping it at 30% represents a moral victory for the Northern Ireland Manufacturers Group in general and the politician who actually gained cross party consensus for that campaign, my colleague Basil McCrea, it is still the economics of the mad house to have Invest NI running round the world at a cost of hundreds of millions trying to entice Foreign Direct Investment and at the same time creating additional taxation burdens for the companies who are already here.

But of course outside of not telling the voters that they had created the new DUP/Sinn Fein coalition government the biggest con job ever was that concerning the imposition of water rates. They are coming, they were always coming and no amount of dressing up and spin will change that fact.

It is clear that at just over 1% that the Health Budget is seriously under funded and the Health professionals at the UUP conference were disgusted at their allocation and in particular at the disgraceful comments of Iris Robinson. The cynic in me cannot help but wonder whether this was politically motivated after the Margaret Ritchie argument but the fact remains that whilst announcing a lot of goodies for other departments most of which are Sinn Fein/DUP run, the department which employs the most people and is by the far the publics highest priority gets seriously under funded. Are Roads and free travel for our pensioners really more important than helping those citizens in their time of greatest need.

Mr Robinson is beginning to find that the harsh realities of being in perpetual opposition and being in government are two very different jobs and that if you are a minority government you must govern with consensus. By all accounts, including that of his own back bench MLAs, the only consensus that exists in the Robinson household is that of wealth creation and claiming for over £400,000 per annum out of the public purse. How many nurses would that employ?

Following the last minute deal brokered between management and representatives of the Irish Pilots Union (IALPA) Cllr Mark Cosgrove the UUP spokesperson on Trade and Tourism met with a senior member of the IALTA team, Mr Michael McLaughlin, in Dublin on Tuesday night. Mr McLaughlin confirmed that his fellow members were involved in a series of secret ballots to determine a member mandate for the position recommended by the Pilots Unions negotiators but was “hopeful” of a positive outcome.

Cllr Cosgrove confirmed, “Mr McLaughlin was pleased that common sense prevailed and that a crisis had been averted and pledged his Unions full support for the impending Belfast launch. There was a concern that members of the public in Northern Ireland might be under the wrong impression regarding the commitment of the Aer Lingus Pilots to the success of the Belfast operation but I am very pleased to confirm that Mr McLaughlin and his colleagues are fully behind this business initiative”

This was the first in what both parties hope will be an ongoing partnership recognising the role that increased competition and routes has to play in facilitating the vitally important business and leisure travel sector in Northern Ireland and the part that the Pilots Union have to play in fostering close links with the Northern Ireland political establishment.”

Cllr Mark Cosgrove, the UUP spokesperson on Trade and Tourism today commented on the latest escalation of the postal dispute.

In a statement Mr Cosgrove said,

“Following confirmation of several further strike days I think it is vital for industry across the United Kingdom but specifically in the SME dominated market in Northern Ireland that there is an early resolution to this increasingly dangerous dispute. Most small business rely on the post to generate their cash flow and also to pay suppliers and a lot of business people have grave concerns over the outworkings of these strike days. It takes the postal service several days to get back to normal following only one day of strike action let alone several in a short space of time. In today’s ever increasingly competitive markets the term “Cash is King” has never been more poignant. More small businesses fail for reasons of poor Cash Flow than any other single factor. This dispute has the very real potential of costing Northern Ireland PLC jobs and lost business.

Of course the Post Office itself is a large and important employer and there has to be recognition of the very real concerns of staff with regards to the ongoing cost cutting programme that management are clearly embarked upon. I would urge both sides to step back from the brink as previous disputes have only weakened the company’s position and led to some of the largest customers voting with their feet and strengthening the hand of the Post Offices competitors. This of course leads to further redundancies as the supply v demand factors are worked through the business.

It is vital that this vital service is maintained and that working practises reflect world class norms otherwise the future for the service which is part of the fabric of British society will cease to exist as we know it. The UUP believe that doomsday scenario must be avoided at all costs.”

Commenting on the 2p per litre increase today in the Governments fuel duty Cllr Mark Cosgrove the UUP Trade and Tourism spokesperson said that this punitive tax will continue to have profound implications.

Cllr Cosgrove, a major shareholder in a multi million pound logistics business said,

“Within the Road Haulage sector which has had numerous business causalities due to the unfair competition of cheaper foreign operators, today’s increase and the three further planned increases will leave the transport sector with little option than to pass on these costs to customers who in turn will be forced to pass them on to the consumer. This will have the effect of forcing our supermarkets and others to look at cheaper foreign competitors or reduce already tiny margins for hard pressed manufacturing sector”. Calling for the decoupling of the general consumer (normal car users) from the main industries that depend on fuel for their actual survival Cllr Cosgrove added ” this tax and spend Labour Government has caused massive damage to Northern Irelands competitiveness with a further unnecessary increase in Fuel Duty. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom with a land border to a cheaper EU competitor and these increases will again affect the ability of Northern Ireland to attract fuel dependant industries to come here.

In addition to the entire Transport Industry I call on all politicians and business leaders in positions of influence to lobby this government on this issue. Linking people who depend on fuel for their financial survival and the thousands of jobs that are linked to this to the continued assault by this government on the take home income of the average citizen is economic madness and must be stopped.”

Ulster Unionist Party Leader Sir Reg Empey has appointed Carrickfergus Cllr. Mark Cosgrove as Trade and Tourism spokesperson.

Speaking on the on-going Giants Causeway fiasco Mr Cosgrove said,

“Following last weeks daily DUP pantomime which dragged Northern Ireland’s prime natural tourism asset into disrepute, I would call on all parties to start providing some much needed transparency.

Firstly and critically, it now appears that far from being a casual acquaintance as was suggested, Ian Paisley Jnr knows the potential private sector developer Mr Sweeney well. It also appears that he has put his DUP colleague and fellow Northern Ireland Executive minister Arlene Foster in a very difficult position because it appears she knows nothing of her party colleagues relationship with her party member Mr Sweeney. With open war fare breaking out within the DUP over this issue and some Councillors rejecting their own ministers statements it is now time for answers as opposed to spin and bluster. We have all seen only too well how such matters can affect public confidence as has happened in the Republic of Ireland and it is now necessary for Ministers Foster, Dodds and Paisley to answer some fundamental questions.

DETI ran an International competition to appoint the architects to build the Causeway visitor centre. The public have already outlayed a significant seven figure sum. How does the minister propose the private developer gives the people of Northern Ireland their investment back or is it simply going to be written off? Mr Sweeney himself must be completely disgusted at how his good name has been dragged through the gutter at a time when we are all trying to encourage entrepreneurial spirit and help build up our private sector. Let me make it clear I believe that him lobbying his local elected representative is perfectly acceptable.

What is unacceptable is that a representative he has had many dealings with indicated that he hardly knows his own party colleague that he has done business with. Mr Sweeney must be seething.

This project it has to stay in public ownership. As part of the new Northern Ireland the UUP started in 1998 we have seen our tourist figures continue to grow at record levels. This growth has already benefited and will continue to benefit private sector business in all parts of our province but I do think that selling of the profits of our Jewel in the Crown - the Giants Causeway - is short sighted and simply not in the public interest.

This leads me on to my final point and it is crucial. The DUP had told us all that no longer could ministers act on their own and that all such matters would have to secure a vote in the Assembly. All of the stakeholders including DUP Councillors in the area, the National Trust and Moyle District Council say one thing, two DUP ministers say another, the property developer is an acquaintance of another DUP minister and this is all supposed to be a system with a lot more checks and balances than its predecessor!! No wonder so many constituents simply vote with their feet and stay at home on election days.

I call on the Executive to convene urgently to restore some public confidence to this process.”

There are many aspects of Dr Paisleys behaviour since becoming first minister that have shown a lack of “bigger picture Unionism” but none more so than the so called “Celtic Alliance” with the Scottish and Welsh Assemblies to produce a coherent strategy to get more money out of Westminster. When you hear the leader of UNIONISM praise our foreign neighbours whilst castigating our own British Government over a lack of investment, it beggars belief and further alienates Northern Ireland in the minds of our fellow British citizens across the water. Does Dr Paisley seriously believe that a region of the UK that receives in excess of NINE THOUSAND MILLION POUNDS is really not being treated fairly whilst praising the Irish Government for a few hundred millions of investment in our infrastructure that will directly benefit the economic competitiveness of THEIR regions.

As Unionists we should be congratulating our neighbours for the strides that their economy has made but making it clear that compared to the UK it is still behind in many significant areas. Our employment legislation, our rates of personal taxation, our OVERALL company taxation (especially for the majority SME companies), and crucially the fact that we can control our own inflation by not being in the single currency adding to the fact that we are one of the best regulated markets in the world give the UK clear competitive advantage over most of the other EU countries. That is why we still receive more Foreign Direct Investment than any other single EU country.

Other things which Unionists never say, or maybe do not recognise, is the massive difference in the quality, accessibility and cost of our public services which are miles ahead of our neighbour. Try having an accident in Ireland that requires significant rehabilitation care and you will soon see why over 50% of the population subscribe to private health care plans.

But of course our Britishness and the strength of the Union can never be taken for granted. One of Mr Paisleys colleagues, Mr Salmond, is pushing for a referendum in Scotland to break up the U.K. Since that has always been his stated position I wonder why the leader of Unionism is forming alliances with him but since he has now started putting the wheels in motions to try to split the Union up, Mr Paisley should stop, or be stopped by colleagues, from further developing links with Scottish Republicans. The United Kingdom is a wonderful place to live, work and play and it is about time that all Unionist politicians started selling the tangible benefits of our participation in it to counteract the spin and bluster of those who would let us believe that our neighbour is about to take over the world!

Carrickfergus Ulster Unionist Councillor Mark Cosgrove has made an appeal to the UDA /Beyond Conflict group to urgently engage with the decommissioning body with a view to full decommissioning in the very near future.

Councillor Cosgrove said, “the ordinary people of Carrickfergus and the rest of South East Antrim do not want people being shot in our communities. They want jobs, peace, affordable housing, quality leisure facilities and general prosperity, not mobs of young men roaming the streets.

“In Carrickfergus we have completely turned our economy around following the unemployment disasters which beset our local industry in the relatively recent past. It is ironic that at a time when we have our lowest ever unemployment, have invested £millions to produce a world class leisure complex for our town, created the Carrickfergus Development Company to implement a vision of an historic family day out, that we appear on the regional and national news with scenes of sinister mobs and the forces of law and order being shot at.

“The people of Carrickfergus do not want to return to the days of despair, death and destruction. The people of Carrickfergus and Northern Ireland have moved on. If those involved in loyalist paramilitarism genuinely want to share in creating much needed community infrastructure, they should be encouraged to do so – as long as they decommission and disband their paramilitary structures. The basic rule of any democratic society applies – anyone who wants to can work for the people within the law. We cannot promote Carrickfergus in the way we need to if the scenes of violence continue.

“Along with my colleagues I am determined to continue to seek to realise the massive potential of our beautiful, historic town.”

“Following the recent proposed agreement and the ensuing consultation process within Unionism I feel it is vital that a strong pragmatic Unionist position is argued. There is a fundamental question which all who support a strong Northern Ireland at peace with itself within the United Kingdom MUST ask themselves. Are Unionisms and Northern Ireland PLCs best interest served via an Devolved inclusive mandatory coalition including Sinn Fein or should we stick with Direct rule? Anyone who thinks that there is any other possible outcome (i.e. one that excludes Sinn Fein) should now finally realise as a result of St Andrews that the exclusion of Sinn Fein is a complete non starter from our governments perspective.

The positive side of Direct Rule is that we do not have former IRA terrorists in ministerial positions of power within Northern Ireland but I passionately believe that the negatives are of far more of a threat to our citizens than that of a defeated Republican idealism who have lost the only thing that ever really mattered to them, a United Ireland.

Firstly Direct Rule is not as we have always known it. It is joint rule and the economic and cultural pain that would be hoisted on us all should we not agree to govern ourselves needs to be spelt out. The current line being spun by Government is that we are top of the UKs dependency table, that our subsidised existence will be brought to a shuddering halt and that we are all going to have to start paying far more for everything. Of course like a lot of Blair and Hains spin the truth lies somewhere else. Mr Blairs own constituency of Washington lies within the worse performing region of the UK, the North East. Mr Hains, South Wales is only marginally above us. Can you even begin to imagine the political and civil fall out if they raised Council Taxes in those labour heartlands by 19% as they did here last year with our regional rate. There would be wide spread civil disobedience. Unfortunately there is a lot more were that came from if we don’t get our collective act together.

Business is being crippled by the removal of Industrial Derating at a time when we are already seeing interest rate rises and significant rises in company National Insurance contributions. The differences in Corporation Tax rates between us and our cross border competitor is also a big issue although I do not believe this to be the answer to all our economic investment woes. Firstly the real Corporation Tax the majority of NI companies pay is significantly less that the much bandied 30% rate and also personal taxation is also still higher in the Republic. That said, and this is the reason why I believe movement is possible on the Corporation tax issue, it is the headline lower rate that will attract inward investors and probably wont cost the treasury that much. Water rates, fuel costs, electricity costs are all overheads that are critical to the success of Northern Ireland PLC and whilst we divorce ourselves from the difficult choices that lie ahead by staying out of Devolution, there is an argument to say “don’t then bleat about the outcomes you don’t approve of”. Of course if we do return to a local administration all of the issues above would have to be prioritised as suddenly WE would have to make the tough decisions to balance the books rather than picking on every populist issue and cry, more, more, more without saying how we propose to pay for it. This is the politics of the playground that have seen nearly 50% of our electorate not bother to vote.

We need a mature, costed, programme of Government that rewards innovation and entrepreneurial sprit at the same time as looking after societies most needy and vulnerable citizens. That is real politics were difficult choices are debated and a hard fought consensus is reached and stood over.

Our education system DOES need a major overhaul. Lets retain and be proud of the best via the retention of academic selection and some of the UKs best Grammar schools and remember we are now the only part of the UK were this is available to all citizens on the basis of ability alone and not your ability to pay. Unfortunately at the other end of the spectrum we are failing children, parents and Industry by not equipping them with the much in demand secular skills that society and business are crying out for. This will require radical action and for me could turn our economy round in a far more sustainable way that mere fiscal measurers. Northern Ireland has by far the most economically inactive working age population of any UK region. 500,000 of us, of working age, are not looking for work. What a massive untapped resource. What are WE going to do about it? Do you think that an English minister here a few times a month will give that as much focus as a local minister?

Over a decade ago we in the UUP mapped out a vision for a Northern Ireland secure within the Union and striding confidently forward into the 21st Century. A Northern Ireland were all sections of our people were respected and in turn were society demanded core British values of decency and cherishing diversity in return. All of us in general but the two main Unionist political parties in particular have reached the point of no return. Do we simply lobby and carp from the sidelines while Stephen from Sussex does what ever he wants or do we get stuck into the massive array of issues that our people voted us all in to resolve. Peace, prosperity and safeguarding OUR fellow Ulster citizens must surely be THE major priority for us all, regardless of colour, creed or religious affiliation. The time is now to finally to take the decisive move forward.”

Following the recent body blow in Antrim with the loss of 200 jobs at Daewoo it once again has brought Northern Irelands manufacturing competitive edge into very sharp focus. When members of the Northern Ireland Manufacturing Group have mentioned figures of 30,000 job losses if Industrial DeRating is abolished, there were noticeable chuckles of disdain in some senior government circles. I think that these people miss the point. The outworking of this illogical policy will take around 10 years to be fully realised. Of course by then it will be too late and would take a similar amount of time to get us back to were we are now. (Which in itself is not good enough)

As I stated at the outset the GB ministers that are responsible for this policy will be long gone, when this policy’s full effects will be felt. Newry or Dundalk, Strabane or Riga, Carrickfergus or Casablanca, these are options facing companies NOW for projects that may take MANY YEARS to realise their full employment opportunities. Existing businesses when faced with expansion opportunities will have to ask them selves the same questions. This policy will only be fully felt in 10 years and I again make a further appeal to the Peter Hain to STOP THE PAIN. Let us nurture and celebrate our manufacturing sector not burden and butcher it. Of course the retort to those of us in local Politics may well be to “get the assembly up and running and sort it out yourselves”. Let’s hope we do, so we can bring some local accountability and passion before it is too late.