Movement urged on Stormont office accomodation

Sinn Féin Assembly team leader, Newry/Armagh MLA Conor Murphy, has called on the British Secretary of State Paul Murphy to allocate office space and facilities to MLAs at Stormont.

Murphy's refusal to allocate office space to the new Assembly members, he said, is hindering their opportunity to get on with the job they were elected to do. "It is the British Government's suspension of the institutions that is stopping people from working in the Assembly," he added.

"There is a widespread perception that MLAs are being paid to do nothing and a monthly running cost of £2 million for a suspended Assembly is undermining people's faith in the Agreement and indeed the wider Peace Process," said Murphy. "It is madness that it is costing the taxpayer to keep offices closed and Assembly staff unable to serve the people of the Six Counties.