pup-ni.org.uk Press Releases

Human Rights Commission

Dawn Purvis — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:08:55 GMT

Party Conference Speech - 2009

Dawn Purvis — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:36:33 GMT

Chairman, Party Officers, Delegates, Guests

It is hard to believe that another year has passed since we last gathered for our annual conference. Last year when we met, the Executive hadn’t met in weeks and weeks; we had stalemate over selection; the maze site; Irish language and the devolution of policing and justice. You could ask what has changed? Things have changed in a year. What a year it has been both for the political process and the peace process. We are still not quite there – the processes have not converged, they have not come together. So where are we at?

Let me start with the peace process and loyalism in particular. The complete decommissioning of all weapons by the UVF and RHC and the start made by the UDA was hugely positive for the peace process and I want to pay tribute to a founder member of our party Jim McDonald who passed away earlier this year and who was a key influence in the conflict transformation process. Jim is sadly missed.

Five years ago, the UVF and RHC were involved in a process of conflict transformation that started with a question – how do you want to be remembered? That process was about transforming military mindsets into civilian mindsets. Decommissioning weapons was not part of that process; it was not on their radar. But as the peace process has evolved so has the challenges for loyalism. The UVF and RHC engaged the issue of decommissioning and dealt with it. As with their statement of intent in May 2007, they did so because it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it. It was not easy. As with all processes, there are outside influences that can have negative impact. The criminal murders of Sappers Quinsey and Azimkar and of Constable Carroll could have derailed the process. But the swift actions of the police service on the criminals and the welcome show of unity and solidarity by our First and Deputy First Ministers had a very positive effect that was felt throughout our society. We must continue to support the police in their efforts to pursue and prosecute these criminals. They will not be allowed to destabilise the democratic institutions agreed by the overwhelming majority of people in Northern Ireland and the Republic. This is the settled will of the people – not your warped cause.

And so to the next challenge - dealing with the past. And it isn’t going away you know. As with the question that started the transformation process – how do you want to be remembered? Our future is inextricably linked with our past. In order to build a peaceful and stable future we must deal with the issue of our conflicted past and so loyalism must move to the next stage in the evolution of the peace process. Loyalism needs to engage on this issue and has engaged on this issue and there is now an opportunity for them to get their story out there, to write the agenda, to listen to, and answer those who ask questions in order to meet the needs of a society crying out to move on. The tendency at the minute is to hang all the ills of this society on the people who had the masks and the guns. It’s this notion that ‘Northern Ireland would have been a lovely place if only all the bad people had gone away’. People are not born bad, nor did paramilitaries parachute in or land in a rocket from another planet but if you listen to some in the media and some political parties you get no sense of the social, political or economic context in which the conflict took place. You get no sense of the poverty, the slums that passed for houses, the sectarian rants and rabble-rousing politicians threatening to fight to the last drop of everyone else’s blood. We cannot allow a one-sided narrative to explain the causes of the conflict in Northern Ireland and we need to get to the point where we recognise and acknowledge the diversity of experiences from the last thirty or more years.

The Consultative Group on the Past did a pretty good job of providing us with their honest assessment of what was possible. The ensuing debate over the recommendation for a recognition payment was unfortunate.

And whilst I understand the thinking behind the recommendation and I agree with the sentiment I think recognition or acknowledgment comes at the end of a process when you have been presented with evidence or knowledge that there are different experiences of the conflict, but that all hurt is the same. I think at the start of a process people are poles apart. No one can be compensated for the loss of their loved one but compensation as well as the needs of those injured in the conflict are important matters that remain to be addressed. There is much to consider in the report and we must all focus on the recommendations and consider how we move to the next stage. That includes consideration of what has the ability to get the maximum amount of co-operation from combatant groups and in my opinion, public show trials will not deliver that co-operation. The calls from Sinn Fein for an international independent truth commission are a call for something that is not achievable and therefore their way of avoiding any attempt to deal with the past. The words of poet and philosopher George Santayana ring true, “those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it” (Life of Reason, 1905: 284).

And so to the political process. I welcome the efforts made by the First and Deputy First Minister to secure an acceptable financial package for the devolution of policing and justice. Now get on with it! Let’s see it happen – its now time for you to move to the next stage. We have heard today from a range of organisations involved with criminal justice. In particular we have listened to some very innovative programmes aimed at reducing offending. Many seek to address the underlying causes of offending; educational underachievement, drug and alcohol misuse, mental ill-health, learning and behavioural challenges. We have heard how in addressing these issues with individuals, not only does it transform their lives, but the lives of those around them, their families, their communities leading to safer and stronger communities. Think about how much more would be possible with a locally elected Minister for Justice.

The need to make progress is abundantly clear.

And whilst I understand there are other outstanding issues to be resolved including the Bill of Rights and the Strategic Review of Parading amongst others, the impact a war of words at Stormont has on the ground in working class loyalist and republican areas should not be underestimated. Out-greening Eirigi or pandering to the dirty dozen to out-orange Jim Allister only serves to destabilise already vulnerable areas. And with an election around the corner are we to expect more of the same? I have a message for the DUP and Sinn Fein – if you engage in out-oranging or out-greening your opponents as part of your election campaign then you make their message relevant and heighten tensions in the community. You need to move away from the politics of fear. Instead you seek to maintain division through fear in order to serve your own interests. You offer no shared future for the people of Northern Ireland; you offer no policies to bring people together in order that we know each other; instead you offer the notion of separate but equal – it didn’t work in the USA and it is certainly not an option for us. Wake up to sectarianism!

These parties have made a mess of education reform, pandering to sectoral interests and offering no clear vision for the future. These parties are presiding over cuts in our public services, crippling our health service and playing hokey cokey with water charges. Parties who say they represent working class people – aye right. How do you represent working class people when you insult trade union representatives at the Health Committee? How do you represent working class people when you hold two or three elected offices? When you claim multiple salaries and expenses from the public purse? When you won’t give up your council seat while waiting on a golden handshake? The other parties don’t fair much better. With the prospect of a Tory Government looming after the next General Election, the interests of working class people are seriously under threat. We have glimpsed Tory policies this past week at their conference and apart from restoring the link between the state pension and earnings, which by the way the severed in the first place, there is no good news for the worst off in our society. Their getting Britain back to Work plan means cuts in already below the poverty line benefits.

Already one in every four child lives in poverty here – there is every possibility that that figure will increase under the Tories.

Is our Executive performing any better? According to our First Minister there is a need to reform a number of things. One is the voting mechanism; he suggests a move away from mutual veto to weighted majority of 65%. A suggestion I think that has some merit and should be explored further given the Progressive Unionist Party proposed a weighted majority of 66% during the GFA talks. Another is the number of departments. I too believe this issue should be explored further given that the SDLP and UUP made a bit of a hash of the carve-up first time round. To have ‘education’ split into two departments with trade and investment in another doesn’t exactly whiff of joined-up government. To have planning spread over three departments doesn’t seem like a good use of resources. To have five departments responsible for some aspect of our economy really explains the state that it is in, not to mention the fact that we still do not have a Regional Economic Strategy two and a half years after the restoration of devolution. Another proposal is a reduction in the number of Assembly members. Let’s look at the rationale behind this proposal. The DUP are arguing we have too many MLAs at an unnecessary cost to the public. Yet they are the party holding most multiple mandates. The DUP want to reduce the number of MLAs in order to reduce the number of parties in the Executive because they are finding it difficult to compromise. What they fail to recognise is that any reduction in Assembly members below 100 means that it fails to be representative of the whole community. We loose mostly women, smaller parties and independents - effectively the only opposition that exists in there at the minute. So their proposals are about making politics exclusive. It didn’t work for the fifty years til 1972 and it is not going to work now. Just like their Private Members Bill on the definition of a victim they know they will not get agreement so they need to move on. The public are disillusioned with their politicians and the parties need to stop the squabbling and offer a positive future for all the people of Northern Ireland.

That’s what this party offers. This party offers a vision for Northern Ireland. A society at peace with itself and its neighbours, where people can live together, go to school together, work together and socialise together. A society that celebrates diversity, promotes human rights and equality and looks after its most vulnerable citizens. We are not idealists but we do have imagination and we do know what can happen when people work together for every section of our divided society. Our policies are based on sound principles and we know that through courage, compromise and vision, we can achieve the type of society that we all want to live in.

Moving Forward Conference.

UVF & RHC Decommissioning

Dawn Purvis — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:38:06 GMT

This is a truly momentous day in the history of progressive loyalism. The decommissioning of all weapons by the UVF and RHC shows that peaceful, stable, inclusive democracy is the way forward for our country. For those involved, decommissioning was a process, carefully managed and brought to fruition, not an event, and contrary to some reports, not delivered as a result of two meetings in the space of nine months.

The credit for delivering lies with the UVF and the RHC. The Progressive Unionist Party has, through its leadership and Executive Committee provided support and encouragement where necessary and particularly by my Executive colleague Billy Hutchinson, who acting as interlocutor to the IICD, has helped to manage this process every step of the way.

Billy and our Party President Hugh Smyth along with other Progressive Unionists not with us here, have laid the foundations for the UVF and RHC announcement today. And I would like to take a few minutes to pay tribute to them.

On 12th July 1977, Gusty Spence said, “It is fear that makes one people oppress another, and until such times as we abolish fear in our society we are always going to have oppression and misguided persons to implement it…the fears of the [Roman] Catholics will not go away because a bunch of bigoted unionist politicians say so…do they not realise that the IRA was a natural manifestation of Catholic fears just as the UVF/UDA were born from loyalist fear? We in Northern Ireland are plagued with super-[loyalists] Prods who are not content to be ordinary. These people are the witch-hunters – Ulster’s Senator McCarthys – who enter debate and the newspaper columns armed with the tar brush, the innuendo, the lie, and you will find that they can usually shout louder than most. If one does not agree with their bigoted and fascist views then one is a ‘taig lover’ at best or a ‘communist’ at worst. They are adept at labelling those who disagree with them…Eventually loyalist and republican must sit down together for the good of our country if we claim to be patriots.” Gusty’s influence on progressive loyalism is clear.

Hugh Smyth, Billy McCaughey, Billy Mitchell and Jim McDonald who sadly passed away only a few weeks ago were instrumental in shaping the politics of progressive loyalism and the principles and policies of the Progressive Unionist Party including, our Sharing Responsibility document that, although rejected by Paisley and Molyneaux, became the blueprint for the Good Friday Agreement; our socialist principles concerned with addressing the plight of the working class people alongside conflict transformation; advocating dialogue as the way forward, transforming the conflict into peace and transforming our communities in the same process.

Our key influencer in that transformation process was David Ervine, still sadly missed by us all. David believed in doing the right things at the right time in the peace process, in order to help and assist that process to move forward. He would certainly agree that this is the right thing to do and the right time to do it. He thought about the peace process all the time, how to manage it, how to keep it on track, how to help guide people and advise people, while all the time having a vision of Northern Ireland at peace with itself, with stable, inclusive democracy delivering for all of its people.

David saw it coming and a few months before he died he wrote these words…and I would like to thank Jeanette for allowing me to quote from his unpublished thoughts…”The war is over, given that is so manifestly the case then there are consequences that follow, how does one sustain an army and justify that army’s existence against a backdrop where evermore the populace feel less dependent upon the services of that army. The enemy is not now to be feared…The consequences of this is decommissioning and the dissolution of paramilitary structures. It is time to move on, to speed the day when we come of age as a people.”

Peaceful, stable democracy is the way forward for Northern Ireland and the Progressive Unionist Party will, through local councils and Assembly, with the help of the electorate, continue to build peace and represent the interests of the working class people.

Party Conference Speech - 2008

Dawn Purvis — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Party Officers, delegates, guests

Last year when I stood here in front of you I said our priorities in the words of David Ervine were country, party, self – in that order. I said the country was sorted. The political process had culminated in a workable relationship between the main parties. The chuckle brothers offered us the prospect of a better future but what we needed to see was a maturing of their relationship, we needed to see them tackle the difficult issues, the devolution of policing and justice, academic selection, disagree, fall-out and make up. I said at that time and I quote “The country is crying out to be governed as we have been neglected for so long. People have high expectations of what our Assembly can deliver. They are expecting benefits from locally elected politicians. I fear their expectations may not be matched.” I had hoped to be proven wrong – sadly I was not!

'Rome burned while Nero fiddled' is how I would sum up the state of our political process. While our community is struggling with rising food prices, oil, gas and electricity prices going through the roof and in the grip of what has been termed the credit crunch - the DUP and SF are fiddling about, over issues that whilst difficult to resolve, they will not put food on the table or oil in the tank.

For the last year both the DUP and Sinn Fein have worked really hard. They have worked really hard to make unionist and republican dissidents relevant. The Chief Constable is right when he strays into politics because politics and conflict here are inextricably linked. When police officers are being targeted and the impasse in the political process is a part of the cause, then Sir Hugh Orde is fully justified in any commentary or criticisms he makes of our politicians. He is expressing the frustration of the vast majority of the people in Northern Ireland – and their message is clear - get on with it!

So what is eating the DUP and Sinn Fein…

Let’s start with the DUP. The St Andrew’s Agreement was their comfort blanket – the smokescreen to get them into government with Sinn Fein. This they did very willingly last year – they agreed to share power with Sinn Fein. Let me say that again, in case any of the DUP didn’t get it – they agreed to share power with Sinn Fein. And they formed an Executive with Sinn Fein – no mention of an army council and no sign of them taking the Education portfolio. The Smash Sinn Fein! Campaign of the 1980s (Paisley with the sledge hammer photo) could be described as one of the most successful strategies ever thought of to make your political opponent the second largest party in the country.

So now the DUP are in the Executive and we all thought they would get on with the job of government with Sinn Fein. Not so. We haven’t had an Executive meeting since June because Sinn Fein are refusing to sign the papers to allow the meeting to go ahead. So what’s eating Sinn Fein…well they thought they had an agreement with the DUP that would see the devolution of policing and justice by this year or at least a date for that to happen and proposals for an Irish Language Act. They also wanted to press ahead with the development of the Maze site which was agreed by the panel that included the DUP. Then there is the issue of education. We want to see the end of academic selection – a system that unfairly disadvantages children from working class communities. The Minister comes up with a compromise and the DUP refuse to discuss it. The proposals to end academic selection can’t even get on the Executive table. I will touch on the issue of education later. But for now, here are the difficult issues to resolve and it seems we are no nearer resolution. Why?

Well in my mind there are a number of interlinked reasons. There are those in the DUP that ‘don’t want a Catholic about the place’, those who David Ervine said were culturally incapable of ever sharing power with Sinn Fein, the same people that continue to believe they can smash Sinn Fein, that they can get one over on Sinn Fein by preventing the devolution of policing and justice, by refusing to allow the development of the Irish Language, by blocking a Sinn Fein Minister from bringing proposals on education to the Executive table and by refusing to progress the development of the Maze site which by the way they, the DUP, agreed to.

There are those in Sinn Fein who don’t want a Brit or a British symbol about the place. They are Good Friday Agreement deniers. They refuse to recognise Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom, they shave dot gov dot uk off their email, they use the Irish Language as a barrier, they argue for the removal of the Union Flag, they think they can hide the fact that they are administering British rule by exaggerating their republicanism. They are opposed to the Home Coming parade for the home battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment.

As a matter of interest, who here has a relative, a friend or knows someone serving with the RIR? Whether you agree with the war or not, these young women and men, the majority working class, Catholic and Protestant, from both parts of Ireland are workers, they are doing a job and a bloody tough one at that. A job that could and has meant serious injury or death. One young Ranger who has suffered serious injury is Andy Allen from my own constituency of East Belfast. Andy has shown tremendous courage and strength in coping with his injuries and I would like to pay tribute to him and his comrades and wish him a speedy recovery.

I have a message for Sinn Fein and Barry McElduff – back off! Ok you have an historical problem with the British Army in order to suit your ideology but the IRA killed more civilians than any other combatant group. These young women and men are mine and your fellow countrymen. You can pretend they are not, you can continue to dehumanise them in order to exaggerate your republican credentials. We know why you do it. And you are helping with the advertising so understand this, this community, Catholic and Protestant will turn out en masse to give our troops the home coming they deserve!

So back to the political impasse. Who is benefiting from all this instability. Northern Ireland is not benefiting – our First Minister said the other day that our international credibility has been damaged. Who would want to invest in our economy when we don’t have a functioning executive? The people in the community are not benefiting, they are crying out for government, the political parties are not benefiting – politicians are as popular as a nettle rash at the minute. I will tell you who is benefiting – the dissidents on both sides. The DUP and Sinn Fein are working their socks off making Jim Allister on the one hand and Mickey McKevitt and Co on the other the next popular choice for sectarian politics. Follow it through to its logical conclusion. First we had the UUP and the SDLP, Trimble and Mallon, then the DUP and Sinn Fein, Paisley and McGuinness and now Robinson and McGuinness. If the DUP and Sinn Fein cant get it together are we facing round 3, Allister and McKevitt?

So how do we resolve the outstanding issues in a way that the DUP can assure themselves they are doing the right thing and in a way that the Sinn Fein can show their constituency that politics does work.

The Maze – the Progressive Unionist Party wanted the Maze bulldozed, flattened, nothing left and not particularly in favour of a stadium there. The Panel on the Maze which included the DUP and Sinn Fein wanted a stadium and a conflict transformation centre. A few buildings from the site including the hospital and a Nissan hut have been listed and cannot be bulldozed. The DUP have now backtracked. They are making all sorts of excuses as to why the site should not have a stadium. Meanwhile Northern Ireland is a laughing stock in the eyes of the rest of the UK. An opportunity to play a role in the London 2012 Olympics squandered. It may not be what we want but I say build the centre and develop the site to bring benefit to the people of Lisburn and beyond.

The Irish Language – Edwin Poots said that unionists have nothing to fear from the Irish language. It was Presbyterians that preserved the language for future generations. I know party colleagues like Gusty Spence and Plum Smith learnt the language. We have nothing to fear from the Irish Language. How Sinn Fein have used it to exaggerate their republicanism is damaging to the language itself. I think we need to see the DUP bring forward proposals for a language act and one that recognises and encourages the development of all our minority languages.

The devolution of policing and justice – what’s so scary about it? Sinn Fein in charge of policing? What does it mean – does it mean the police would be infiltrated by fifth columnists, that republicans would control and use the police to suit themselves. Lot of nonsense – the only thing a policing minister has control over is the budget. The Chief Constable has day to day operational control over the police. And what of justice? Sinn Fein in charge of the courts, the PPS, the judiciary? The system works as a number of independent agencies not centrally controlled but accountable nonetheless through the Criminal Justice Inspectorate. The parties have agreed that the minister in charge must be agreed by cross-community vote. Sinn Fein will not get it and neither will the DUP. The Alliance Party should take it for the life of this assembly and they have a very capable woman who could do the job very well.

The end of academic selection – this is probably the most controversial for the PUP. We have long argued for the end of academic selection. It is a discriminatory tool that unfairly disadvantages working class children in general and Protestants in particular. It is beyond comprehension that the DUP, a party that purports to represent working class Protestants, can support the retention of a system that discriminates against the very people they say they represent. But the most influential and the most articulate have swayed the DUP. Let me tell you why. Behind all the nonsense about Northern Ireland having the best education system in the UK, lies elitism, snobbery and closet comprehensives. The non-academic criteria that the Minister has proposed to use for children transferring to post-primary has sent the closet comprehensives into a spin. Let me explain. Top of the list of criteria is geography – catchment area or nearest suitable school. Another criteria is socially disadvantaged – looked after children or those on free school meals. Now I will not draw any inference you can draw your own. Just say you were the principle of a grammar school in the centre of town, so elite that you were able to pick the cream of the crop from all over the country, including a mixture of 11+ grades, and all of a sudden you are hit with this new criteria. This would mean taking children from Sandy Row, Lower Falls, Donegall Pass and the Markets. Just say you were the principal of a grammar near Stormont, what would the new criteria mean for you – children from knocknagoney or ballybeen. And say you were the principal of a grammar school near the Cliftonville Road, you would be expected to take children from the New Lodge or the Shankill. I will let you draw your own conclusions from that scenario.

The only compromise I can see in this debacle – not one I like or can absolutely hand on heart say I am in favour of – was that which was proposed in the Burns report a number of years ago. Burns proposed a collegiate of schools within a defined geographical area with different schools providing different specialisms including academic, technical and vocational. Where children could attend the best school suited to their talents. Not an ideal solution but one which accommodates all the party positions and allows the elites to come out of the closet. Speaking of closets…

I see Bob McCartney is back. He has reinvented himself as the chair of the grammar schools association. He is like the Peter Mandelson of Northern Ireland politics. I think the only people glad to see him are the BBCs Folks On The Hill!

Anyway what I am trying to explain is that there is a way to reach agreement on these issues if the political will is there on both sides – set a date for devolution, compromise on the other issues and stop giving the dissidents a leg up!

Poverty and disadvantage

Our community is struggling. It is struggling with poverty. Food poverty and fuel poverty. Rising food prices mean many families are struggling to make ends meet. We have been hit with mega fuel prices this year. Oil has gone up – you can now pay up to £600 for 900 litres. Electricity has gone up nearly 50% and gas has gone up 40% in the last six months. I know many people who cant afford a fill of oil. They are surviving on the small drums from the garage which actually cost a fortune in the long run. There are many more families who are debating their priorities, food or fuel.

When the fuel prices started to go up, what did the Executive do – they capped rates for the property rich and gave rates concessions to businesses, nothing for those struggling. Two weeks ago the minister for enterprise gave £5million to help businesses over the credit crunch, and she would look at ways of making the enery market more competitive. Socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the poor – a sign of the times at the minute. Around the world, billions and billions and billions of pounds are found to bail out irresponsible banks and amoral money markets while the victims of poverty are innocent.

Our Executive is not meeting and the social development minister cannot do anything with her proposals to address fuel poverty until they are approved by the Executive. Over 80% of deaths this winter will be as a result of the cold – Rome burned while Nero fiddled. Cold-related deaths and illness cost the Health Service over £40million every year – Rome burned while Nero fiddled. Nearly 140,000 homes have insufficient heating and nothing will change this winter – Rome burned while Nero fiddled. Analysis shows that even if these homes were given efficient heating systems and insulated to the highest standards the household will not necessarily be brought out of fuel poverty. The cost of fuel and household income remain critical factors in the rising incidence of fuel poverty.

Over 12,000 young people are leaving post primary schools every year with no qualification in Maths or English. That’s after ten years in an education system. That means little hope of a job and reduced earning capacity – what sort of a future is that!?

You have heard today about the failings of our education system, and what needs to happen to address the needs of our young people. You have heard today about community safety and policing and what needs to happen so our community can enjoy a decent quality of life.

We, the Progressive Unionist Party, know the issues, live the issues and more importantly know how to resolve the issues. There are our party principles on which we base all our policies and dealings with each other as fellow human beings. Empowerment, participative democracy, community ownership, equality and social justice and mutuality. The Progressive Unionist Party is the only party standing up for the working class and for women’s equality. We have something that none of the other parties have – a conscience. We are proud of our policies, proud of our representation and we will continue to fight the social and economic injustices that prevent each and everyone of us from having and enjoying that better future we so desire.

Moving Forward conference.

Purvis on Ahern Announcement

Dawn Purvis — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

After the announcement today that Bertie Ahern would be stepping aside as Taoiseach in May, Progressive Unionist Party Leader Dawn Purvis MLA had the following to say.

“I would like to pay tribute to Bertie Ahern and the contribution he has made towards bringing peace and accountable democracy to Northern Ireland. As Taoiseach Mr. Ahern has sacrificed both his time and also his self in forwarding our peace process.”

Dawn continued “Not afraid to make difficult decisions or recommendations including removing articles 2 and 3 from the Irish Constitution, Mr Ahern has played a valuable and constructive role in our history, helping to broker and now implement the Good Friday Agreement.

“He sought to understand Loyalism and to ensure they played a role in creating peace, the PUP and the late David Ervine certainly appreciated his efforts.”

Dawn concluded, “This announcement comes at a poignant time, so close to the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. It is my firm belief that history will be kind to Bertie Ahern’s political role and to all of us who supported and advocated on behalf of the Agreement as the basis for a political solution in Northern Ireland.”

Smyth present at Remembrance Service

Cllr Hugh Smyth — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

PUP Cllr Hugh Smyth was one of a number in attendance who led a wreath during the partaking of a Remembrance Service on Sunday, 9th March. The service was marked to remember the 3 Scottish soldiers who were murdered by the IRA up on Squire’s Hill in Ligoniel.

Cllr Smyth said: "I was deeply moved by this service and I want to congratulate the local Royal British Legion branch for taking the initiative in organising this memorial service. It is very sad that it has taken so long for the sacrifice of these young boys to be remembered officially.”

The service was led by Reverend Robin Moore of St Marks Parish, Ligoniel.

Trespassers will be Prosecuted

Cllr Hugh Smyth — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A sign saying not much more than “Invest NI Property, Trespassers will be Prosecuted” is about all there is to show for the once proposed 600 new jobs and industrial units for the old Mackies site. Six years on from the announcement, the people of north and west Belfast are still waiting for this area to be developed into a job creation zone once again.

Cllr. Smyth is appalled at the lack of action and will be raising it with the Ministers in question: “I warned at the time that the people of the Greater Shankill and West Belfast would watch this situation carefully. Now almost six years on what have we got? Unemployment is still at similar levels, no jobs have been forthcoming and apart from the demolition of the old buildings and the building of the road all that has been erected is this ‘No Trespassing sign.’ I think it is disgusting that once again people have been made false promises. I and my colleague Cllr. Frank McCoubrey will be raising this with the appropriate Ministers at the Executive and we will not give up until we see some action on this site.”

Photo: courtesy of the shankillmirror.com

"People before profit on the Shankill" says Hugh

Cllr Hugh Smyth — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

PUP Councillor for the Shankill area, Hugh Smyth, has voiced his outrage at the betrayal of government agencies allowing property developers the opportunity to start flooding the Shankill with somewhere in the region of 1,000 apartments. A deluge of apartments always leads to a feeding frenzy of speculators who by and large have little interest in being part of a settled community.

Speaking recently, Councillor Smyth (right), along with neighbouring Councillor McCoubrey said: “We, like many others are deeply concerned about these developments and will do everything we can to support the people of the Greater Shankill. It is vital that we all work together, political representatives, community leaders, church leaders and the people themselves.”

Petitioning has already begun across the Shankill in protest at what many would describe as a profit making obscenity at the hands of the local needs of the local community.

Photo: courtesy of the shankillmirror.com

Where are the Repairs?

Cllr Hugh Smyth — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Shankill Councillor Hugh Smyth is outraged that the chronic need for essential housing repairs is being ignored, despite the additional monies being provided to the Housing Minister.

Smyth said: “I am angry that many of my constituents cannot get any repairs carried out unless they are deemed urgent, emergency or are a risk to health and safety. Even tenants who have been given the go ahead for OT referred shower installations are being stalled because of a lack of resources within the Housing Executive. I have spoken to councillors the length and breadth of Northern Ireland and they are telling me the same story. This is apparently down to the significant decline in buy back of Housing Executive properties.”

“The Greater Shankill has a disproportionately high level of older properties so therefore the repair bill is significantly higher. This is a totally unsatisfactory situation and once again those who are most in need are disadvantaged.”

Cllr Smyth is lobbying the Minister to make her aware of what is happening and to take action on this area of housing neglect in his local Shankill and also across Northern Ireland.

Photo: courtesy of the shankillmirror.com

Purvis Fights to Avoid Strike Action

Dawn Purvis MLA — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Progressive Unionist Party leader Dawn Purvis MLA is putting forward an amendment today in the hope of avoiding Wednesday’s strike action across Northern Ireland.

NIPSA, the union representing the classroom assistants, called yesterday evening for all political parties in Northern Ireland to get behind the PUP’s amendment.

The 13 year long pay dispute has reached this critical stage, due to the decision of the education boards to make a final offer in June of this year, which would actually reduce the classroom assistants pay.

Ms. Purvis said, “These skilled workers deserve a fair pay structure to be put in place. If the issue of strike action is not resolved soon, it could escalate to an all out strike which would be incredibly detrimental to the education and well being of our children”.

“Skilled classroom assistants are going to be forced to leave the educational system due to what has now become not only a lack of fair pay structures, but proposed cuts to their current pay”.

“These people play a key role in both the educational and social development of our children and it is offensive that the boards should not pay them the wages that they are due”.

“I hope that the other MLA’s support today’s amendment as not to do so would be an infringement of these workers basic rights”.