Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 12 December 2022.

Ulster Unionist Communities spokesperson Andy Allen MBE MLA has written to the Energy Minister, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland calling for the release of at least £200 of the £600 committed by Westminster to households in Northern Ireland before the end of December.

Speaking as confusion continues to grow on when and how the energy support payments would be delivered to households in Northern Ireland, Mr. Allen said:

“It is a complete failure that, while households across England, Scotland and Wales have been receiving financial support since October, the Government at Westminster is still debating how and when equivalent support will be delivered to Northern Ireland households.

“As temperatures continue to drop, families throughout Northern Ireland – many who were expecting support to arrive last month – are struggling to heat their homes or put food on the table with many having to ration food, electricity and heating.

“I have already highlighted that local energy companies have indicated that they can deliver the original scheme to every household with an electricity account – a model that seems to no longer be preferred by Westminster – although I have no idea why they have changed their mind at the 11^th hour.

“I have today written to the Energy Minister, Grant Shapps, copying in the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, asking them to urgently release at the very least £200 of the energy support for each household in Northern Ireland, to be distributed by local energy companies before the end of December. While this is less than people are expecting, it could provide some support for those families and individuals facing the bleakest winter imaginable, whilst the Government works with the utmost urgency to deliver their alternative model.

“This would place Northern Ireland in a similar position to the rest of the UK, who will have received just under £200 for energy support by the end of this month. It is the least Westminster can do to help alleviate increasing hardship. Of course, this should be complemented by an Executive to deliver further short-term support measures alongside the development of medium to longer-term intervention.

“It is imperative the Government acts with urgency to deliver the support which was promised.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 8 December 2022.

The Former Ulster Unionist Minister of Health Robin Swann has welcomed the decision from the Department of Health to implement the independent pay review body’s recommendations for health staff.

Robin Swann said:

“This is very welcome but belated confirmation that our health workers in Northern Ireland will receive the same rate of pay as their counterparts in England and Wales. Earlier this year when the recommendations were announced, I made it clear that I accepted the increases and stated I wished to see them implemented as quickly as they could legally be delivered.

“Restoring pay parity was the very first decision I took as Minister in early January 2020 and it’s been shameful that due to lack of a functioning Executive, a gap in pay had  developed once again over recent months.

“Whilst I fully appreciate that the national pay recommendations of at least an extra £1,400 per year or a 4.5% increase still falls short of what many HSC staff are seeking in the midst of the current cost of living crisis, it’s an outrage that they had to wait so long into the year for even the basic increase to be implemented.

“I wrote to the Secretary of State over a month ago urging him to intervene and so I very much welcome the recent clarity on public sector pay policy which has now legally allowed this decision to be taken.

“I am concerned however that given the ongoing budgetary uncertainty at Stormont and the fact that the budget for 2022/23 has only just been agreed four months from the end of the year, that the funding for this essential pay award may come at the expense of investing critical resources at the continued efforts underway to tackle waiting times. I really hope it isn’t an either-or situation, but if necessary, the Department of Health locally must be provided with the additional funds. Patients and key service improvements in areas such as cancer & mental health mustn’t be allowed to fall victim to the damaging political and budgetary delays outside of their control.

Robin Swann concluded: “Given we are now only a couple of weeks away from Christmas it’s my sincere hope that the increases in pay, backdated to April 2022, can be included in the December pay of our health workers.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 30 November 2022.

The Ulster Unionist Party’s East Antrim MLA John Stewart said:

“On television on Monday night Mary Lou McDonald was asked if she believed IRA violence was justified. In response she said ‘I believe what was justified was the right of the Irish people to stand against British Imperialism and to fight for our freedom.’

“Her comments encapsulate perfectly the parallel universe in which those who endorse or seek to justify physical force republicanism operate.

“The IRA were not acting on behalf of the Irish people – no matter how you might choose to define the term ‘the Irish people.’

“The Irish people did not endorse the IRA campaign because their political wing – Sinn Fein – received a very small vote during the 1970s and 1980s and was so small it could not be said to constitute an endorsement of anything.

“The Irish people did not authorise or carry out atrocities such as Bloody Friday, Claudy, Birmingham, La Mon, Enniskillen or Warrington. Nor did the Irish people ask for the murder of Garda Jerry McCabe, Garda Gary Sheehan, Private Patrick Kelly or Prison Officer Brian Stack let alone the many RUC officers, Prison Officers and Soldiers murdered in Northern Ireland.

“Those were solely the work of the Provisional IRA. They were terrorist acts by people who had no mandate and who operated under no lawful authority.

“To claim that those responsible were in any way acting on behalf of the Irish people is to insult the Irish people and try to make them complicit in foul and brutal murders.

“No normal democratic political party would find itself in the position Sinn Fein chooses to place itself in time and time again, where it can’t condemn terrorist murders without trying to caveat or equivocate.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 29 November 2022.

Armagh Ulster Unionist councillor Sam Nicholson has hit out at a ‘disgusting’ attack on his local Orange Hall at Crosskeys Road, Keady.

Mr Nicholson said:

“I am totally disgusted at the low life thugs who under the cover of night have sprayed sectarian and offensive slogans across the front of my local Orange Hall, which is the home of Crosskeys LOL 88.

“It is a despicable act and abhorrent that anyone could stoop so low. Our local community feels violated by this incident and people in the area are shocked and saddened that there are those who would seek to inflict misery and heartache upon our lodge and our band. We simply want to be respected and be able to celebrate our Orange culture but clearly our very existence is too much for some who are so insecure in their own culture and identity that they feel the need to attack the symbols of others.

“This is nothing less than narrow-minded bigotry. It is not just an attack on bricks and mortar, this is an attack on Unionists and the Orange Order and the many people in the community who use this facility. I utterly condemn those responsible. There can be no place in society for this bitterness and hatred and it speaks volumes about the perpetrators.

“I have been in contact with the police to report this matter and also share the views and distress of the local community.

“I also call on all political leaders to condemn those who continue to attack Orange halls. It speaks volumes that this hall has to have security shutters across all its windows and doors in the first place.

“I appeal to anyone with information to report it to the PSNI by contacting them on 101.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 23 November 2022.

Londonderry Ulster Unionist Councillor Ryan McCready has described the people behind the spate of recent attacks in Londonderry and Strabane as absolute cowards and warned that local people will not be intimidated.

Alderman Ryan McCready said:

“Over this past week there have been a number of attacks in Londonderry and Strabane. These have been attacks on the entire community and the one heartening thing is the outright condemnation that has resulted from right across the political spectrum and from every shade of opinion.

“My message to the people responsible is very straightforward. You are absolute cowards, nobody wants you in society, you are the dregs of society and the people of this City and district will stand up to you and won’t be intimidated.

“The days of the men and women of violence using intimidation, threats or real violence are long gone. People want the chance now to live in peace with their neighbours. They know that violence is futile and only ends up creating misery and filling prisons and graveyards.

“They want their children to be able to go to school and receive their education that opens the pathway to jobs and opportunities. They want to be able to go to work and provide for their families. And they want their elderly relatives to live in their own homes free from fear. All that was disrupted by security alerts and bomb attacks this past week.

“If anyone has a problem with policing or politics then let them stand for election and seek the support of the people of Londonderry, Strabane or anywhere else in Northern Ireland. That is how change is achieved, with the support of the people.

“Once again I would appeal to anyone who can help the police to catch these gangsters to come forward with information and get these people removed from society so we can return to living without fear.”

The press release issued by the Ulster Unionists on 18 November 2022.

The Ulster Unionist Party’s Policing Board representative Mike Nesbitt MLA said:

“Last night’s attack on police officers in Strabane was an attack on the entire community.

“In addition to the widespread disruption caused to the local community in that area of Strabane, two police officers will have been traumatised and my thoughts and best wishes are with those officers, their families and their colleagues at this time.

“Every single community in Northern Ireland is entitled to a police service. Nobody has the right to attack anyone, least of all police officers whose role is to keep us all safe and to solve crime. The bravery of our police officers is in total contrast to the cowardice of those who skulk in the shadows and plot to attack them.

“Whether you want a new Ireland, a united Ireland or a partitioned Ireland, you have no right, no authority and no mandate to murder police officers or anyone else.

“Whoever was responsible for this attack is trying to drag this country back to a past we have long since left behind. They have nothing positive or of any use to offer and they need to be caught, brought before the courts and punished to the full extent of the law.”