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East Antrim Ulster Unionist Assembly candidate Cllr. Mark Dunn has issued a statement focusing on the provision of health care in the local area, and the changes that are already in motion leading up to the implementation of
the Review of Public Administration.

Cllr. Dunn said:
‘Huge changes are presently being implemented in the organisations that commission and deliver medical care in Northern Ireland. The 17 acute (hospital) and community trusts (Homefirst) have been reduced in number
from 17 to 5. The 5 new large trusts will control both hospital and community budgets. United Hospitals Trust (Antrim, Whiteabbey, Mid Ulster and Moyle) has been combined with Homefirst (community care, community nursing and Hollywell Hospital) and Causeway Trust to form the new Northern Trust. These changes will be implemented on 1st April 2007.’

The 4 Area Boards are being abolished on 1st April 2008. They will be replaced by a single Health and Social Services Authority (HSSA). This already has its Chief Executive designate appointed. The HSSA will have 7 local offices – Local Commissioning Groups (LCGs) that will be responsible for commissioning most care for its population. LCGs will be coterminous with the new local councils (presently 7 in number) and will be composed of
GPs and other health professionals and lay representation. This means Larne will be in the North East LCG while Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus will be in the Inner East LCG (with Antrim and Lisburn).

Cllr. Dunn said:
‘While welcoming this long-overdue abolition of Boards and rationalisation of Trusts, there are dangers for care in East Antrim. Whiteabbey Hospital is already under threat and it will remain part of the Northern Trust which
will do most of its business with the Northern LCG. Whiteabbey may be sacrificed if funding is squeezed. The Inner East LCG will also have Lagan Valley Hospital and there is a possibility of conflict between Whiteabbey
and Lagan Valley that could be beneficial to both or could result in services being removed from Whiteabbey.’

Focusing on the future of health care in the Larne area Cllr. Dunn said:‘Larne is in a vulnerable position. It’s LCG will include Ballymena, Ballymoney, Moyle and Coleraine. Coleraine Hospital is vulnerable because its catchment population is too small. If Coleraine is to continue to provide acute services, it is likely it will be at the expense of services in Larne. Larne will need an effective voice to represent the area to ensure we have adequate and equitable medical care in East Antrim.’

The Ulster Young Unionist Council has today presented a £1,000 cheque to the Women’s Section of the Royal British Legion at the launch of the Poppy Appeal at the City Hall, Belfast.

Young Unionist Chairman Cllr Mark Dunn, and Young Unionists Michael Shilliday, Jennifer Dunn, Rebecca Black and Rodney Corrigan attended the event.

The money was raised at an auction held at a dinner in the Europa Hotel to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. Amongst the prizes were a Northern Ireland football shirt signed by David Healy and an Ulster rugby shirt signed by all of the Ulster rugby team kindly donated by Cllr Tyrone Howe.

Young Unionist Chairman and Deputy Mayor of Larne Borough Council Mark Dunn said:

“The Royal British Legion Women’s Section provides an invaluable support network for women throughout the community. Most particularly the charitable and fundraising work which this organisation undertakes throughout the year delivers real benefits and assistance for many. Young Unionists strongly support the aims and values of Royal British Legion Women’s Section and are pleased that we are able to make some contribution to their ongoing work.”

He added: “As the youth of today it is our duty to respect and pay homage to the thousands of young Ulster and Irish men who answered the call of King and country and laid down their lives to safeguard our future and values.

“I was honored to have the opportunity to travel to the Somme on July 1st to attend, on behalf of Larne Borough Council, commemorative services at the Ulster Tower and Thiepval Monument. We also laid a wreath at the Thiepval Monument on behalf of the Ulster Young Unionist Council.”

The Young Unionists have today written and sought a meeting with Queen’s University’s Pro Vice Chancellor Prof. Gerry McCormac to discuss the concerning under representation of Protestants employed by the Students’ Union.

Chairman of the Young Unionists Cllr Mark Dunn said: “We have been made aware that the most recent information* available to Queen’s University confirms that year-on-year the Students’ Union staff are around 75% Roman Catholic. The Young Unionists have concerns that the University’s Equality Affirmative Action strategy may be failing the Protestant community at Queen’s.’

“The Young Unionists have obtained information for the year 2004-05 which shows that 28.5% of applications for jobs in the Students’ Union were from Protestants and 71.5% from Roman Catholics.

“However, despite the University’s attempt to achieve fair participation for Protestants only 24.7% of appointees were Protestant and 75.3% appointed were Roman Catholic.”

Cllr Dunn said: “We appreciate that Queen’s are attempting to tackle this anomalous situation, but we believe that more could and should be done on the Equality agenda. We have compiled a list of equality concerns for the Pro Vice Chancellor and we look forward to meeting him, learning of the University’s activity, timetables and goals in this field. We hope that the University can go some way to address our equality concerns and rectify this religious imbalance.

“The Young Unionists in Queen’s will be actively involved with encouraging Protestant students to apply for jobs within the Students’ Union. In a University where** 41.5% of full-time under graduate students are Protestant and 52% are Roman Catholic we believe that the disproportionate over-representation of Roman Catholics in Students’ Union employment contributes to the ‘chill factor’ felt by Protestants and Unionists at the University.

“By working with the University we aim to help address these equality concerns so as to make Queen’s a welcoming place for all students.’

Larne Deputy Mayor and Young Unionist Chairman Mark Dunn played host to young delegates from around the Commonwealth at Stormont this week as they visited Northern Ireland as part of the Royal Commonwealth Society’s Nkabom Project 2006.

Mark met with a group of young people who are working on community-based projects in Bristol, Belfast, Newcastle and Cambridge. Whilst in Belfast, the delegates explored “Conflict resolution” in partnership with the Corrymeela community, which promotes reconciliation and peace-building and works towards healing the social, religious and political divisions in Northern Ireland.

Commenting on the visit, Mr Dunn said:

“I was delighted to meet with the delegates from the Royal Commonwealth Society and I’m glad they enjoyed their visit to Stormont. Any initiative which promotes multi-culturism and diversity should be applauded and I hope the delegates found their trip to Northern Ireland an informative experience.

“For unionists, the Commonwealth is a living expression of British values.  In the words of the Commonwealth Declaration of 1991, the Commonwealth stands for ‘equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender, race, colour, creed or political belief’.  In an age when various forms of bigotry seek to disfigure societies throughout the world, the values of the Commonwealth stand as a reminder of a better way”.

Current Young Unionist Chairman and recently elected Deputy Mayor of Larne, Cllr. Mark Dunn, has said that stories of a Conservative Party coup ring hollow and that the views aired by former Chairman Peter Bowles are not representative of the UUP youth.

25 year old Cllr. Dunn has been elected as Larne’s Deputy Mayor for the year 2006/07 and is currently the youngest Larne Borough Councillor and the youngest person to hold the post of Deputy Mayor.

Cllr. Dunn said:

“Firstly, the Young Unionists would add to expressions of regret over Peter Bowles’ chosen course of action in defecting to the Conservative Party.  The Young Unionists, and myself personally, would wish Peter well for his career and political future.  As the Conservative’s only elected representative in Northern Ireland Peter faces a difficult task in continuing the uphill struggle faced by Tories over 2 decades to establish any credible presence in this part of the United Kingdom.

“Having spoken to many members of the Young Unionists in recent days, I have yet to hear of any approaches made to members regarding the possibility of their joining the Conservative Party in Northern Ireland.  Young Unionists are obviously Unionists and would have severe objections to joining a party that refuses to designate itself as Unionist in Northern Ireland Assembly elections.

“Members of the Young Unionists are drawn from all parts of Northern Irish society.  We are committed to working to alleviate alienation and to promote stability in loyalist communities, which have for too long felt left behind and under represented in the political process.  The community still suffers under the legacy of a society divided, and the YUs are prepared to play our part in restoring confidence, tackling sectarianism, crime and paramilitarism within our community.”

25 year old councillor Mark Dunn has been elected as Larne’s deputy Mayor for the year 2006/07. The Ulster Unionist representative for Larne Town and Chairman of the Young Unionists is currently the youngest Larne borough councillor and the youngest person to hold the post of Deputy Mayor.

Commenting, Cllr. Dunn said: -

“I am grateful for the confidence that my Ulster Unionist and Council colleagues have placed in me by electing me Deputy Mayor of the Borough. I look forward to working with the Mayor, Aldermen and the council officers in pushing forward the ambitious capital works programme that had been laid out for the year.

The voluntary agreement between the parties to share responsibility in Larne Council after last year’s election is setting a positive example of civic leadership. Our borough has been unfairly maligned in the past, but we are trying to move forward into a shared and prosperous future. Larne still has problems, and in that sense it is no different from many other areas in Northern Ireland, but it is only by including all sections of our community, some of whom may in the past have felt excluded, that we are better able to find local solutions.

As Councillors we have very limited powers, but we need to concentrate on what we can achieve. I hope that as Deputy Mayor I can live up to the expectations of the post and my colleagues on Larne Borough Council and assist both in the delivery of Council projects and in building stronger, healthier and more sustainable communities.”

Young Unionist Chairman, Cllr. Mark Dunn, has queried the sincerity of Sinn Fein Youth’s current campaign for a suicide prevention strategy while concurrently glorifying the acts of the 1981 hunger strikers.

In a statement Cllr. Dunn said:

‘In February Sinn Fein Youth launched a campaign for the Government to effectively tackle the tragedies that are the current rates of suicide among young people in Northern Ireland. Given the worrying trends in recent years of suicides among young people, which involve a plethora of issues including poverty, alienation, bullying, paramilitarism and mental health, any campaign to address this situation would be broadly welcomed.’

But there appears to be an amount of confusion over Sinn Fein’s commitment and sincerity to the suicide prevention campaign. At the launch of the campaign, which was attended by Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein members sat at a table draped with a banner calling for a suicide prevention strategy. Although behind the young Sinn Fein members were pictures of what appears to be dead hunger strikers, who committed suicide twenty five years ago this year.

There seems to be a bit of Orwellian ‘double think’ behind the rationale of Sinn Fein Youth’s twin campaigns. On the one hand Sinn Fein have lent their voice to a campaign with broadly commendable objectives. On the other hand, Sinn Fein are glorifying men, who regardless of anyone’s political or historical view of the hunger strikes, committed suicide. Sinn Fein members have talked about young republicans being ‘constantly inspired by the sacrifice of these ten brave men’ and how it is an ‘encouraging sign to see them (young people) being so fascinated by the sacrifice of Bobby Sands and the hunger strikers’.

For Sinn Fein as a political party and its youth movement, to seek to influence young people in this way is quite disturbing. This commemoration looks back to the past and seems to elevate the hunger strikers to role models of sorts. It is rather erroneous for Sinn Fein Youth to pursue a campaign against suicide among young people while deifying suicide victims.”

The Young Unionists submitted their response today to the Consultation on the Draft Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 stating that the Government’s proposals are fundamentally flawed, dangerous and pose a serious threat to the education of future generations.

“Last week the Young Unionists wrote to the Education Minister Angela Smith requesting a meeting with her to explain why we feel these proposals are so wrong. Unfortunately six days later she declined. The Minister must understand that the Young Unionists will not rest on this issue. We intend to take our message to Rathgael House in the near future. If the Minister will not meet us then we will bring our proposals to her.”

Larne Borough Councillor and Young Unionist Chairman Cllr Mark Dunn, speaking at the launch of the Electoral Commission’s report on young people and political participation in Northern Ireland today, said that a return to devolution was an essential ingredient in increasing youth participation in the political process.

“I welcome the report as a valuable piece of research into how young people view politicians and politics in Northern Ireland. I do feel however that it will be difficult to keep many people interested in real politics until local politicians are given some real power. That is why devolution is so important to Northern Ireland.”