NEWS IN BRIEF

Seven-year delay for Irish TV funds

East Derry MLA Francie Brolly said last Thursday that the delay in getting the resources from the £12 million fund for Irish language television and radio programming was a result of willful incompetence. The commitment to fund Irish programmes was made in 1998, however it will be 2005 before the allocated money is made available.

Government must deal with housing price increase

Dublin Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan demanded on Friday that the government get off its backside and start dealing with the housing crisis in the 26 Counties.

Doolan was speaking after news broke that house prices in Dublin have risen by 8% since January and that people in the south are now €80 billion in debt due to mortgages. Doolan reiterated the call for housing to be enshrined in the constitution.

Pressure for smoking ban

Upper Bann MLA John O'Dowd has said that pressure to introduce a workplace smoking ban in the Six Counties has become impossible to ignore. He called on NIO direct rule Minister Angela Smith to enter into discussion with local politicians, practitioners from the health field and representatives of the business and hospitality trade to begin to work out the details for a ban.

Proposed electoral legislation change not enough

Sinn Féin Chairperson Mitchel Mc Laughlin said on Thursday that reports that the British Government is to amend the requirement for annual electoral registration reflects a necessary change but is still not good enough.

McLaughlin pointed out that 211,000 people lost their vote as a result of the restrictive legislation and added that Sinn Féin would continue to campaign for a complete reversal of controversial measure such as photo ID.

Elements within PSNI oppose acceptable policing

Sinn Féin spokesperson on policing Gerry Kelly has blamed elements within the force committed to thwarting change for the recent decision of the PSNI to suspend the requirement for its members to disclose membership of secret societies. Kelly said that the RUC's aversion to progress still exists in the PSNI.

Relocation of Rathfriland RIR base criticised

Speaking after the announcement last Thursday that the UDR/RIR base in Rathfriland is to close, with 90 part-time soldiers being relocated to Armagh, South Down MLA Caitríona Ruane said that the move amounted to nothing more than reorganisation of the British military. She said it was time the British Government honoured its commitments and actually demilitarised, instead of engaging in cynical PR exercises.

Sinn Féin meets Education Minister

A Sinn Féin delegation met with NIO Education Minister Barry Gardiner this week to discuss the ongoing dispute over teachers' pay; the delay in purchasing the site for the all-Ireland Centre of Excellence for Children with Autism in Middletown, County Armagh; progress on the Costello report on the 11+; and the difficulties facing rural primary school principals. Davy Hyland MLA said that while Gardiner was new to the job, he had to get to grips quickly with the outstanding issues in the department.

SIPTU opposed to privatisation of Aer Lingus

SIPTU has expressed serious concern at media reports of proposals to privatise Aer Rianta and stated its opposition to the measure. The union's Industrial Secretary, Michael Halpenny, said last Friday that the commercial viability of Aer Lingus had been delivered by the sacrifices of the workforce under the survival plan, and called for the government to come clean on its agenda for Ireland's aviation industry.

Anger at Enterprise price increase

All-Ireland integration spokesperson, Barry McElduff MLA, has criticised the price increase on the Enterprise train service between Belfast and Dublin. The cost of a day ticket on the train has gone up 19% since January. McElduff said it was bad for all-Ireland trade, particularly after the withdrawal of the all-Ireland freight service earlier this year.

Dutch Presidency must pursue Europe of equals

Sinn Féin Dublin Mvictims by suggesting only some victims were 'innocent'. McCartney also said that despite the media fanfare surrounding Paul Murphy's visit to South Africa, nothing further had been heard from the British Government about truth recovery. He added that the only way forward in the Six Counties was to establish an independent and international truth consultation process.

Commission must reflect lack of approval for GM

Kerry TD Martin Ferris called on the European Commission to reflect the lack of support for the introduction of Genetically Modified food by refusing to authorise the import into the EU of GM maize. Ferris also slammed Fianna Fáil's recent decision to support GM food.

Adams anger at brewery announcement

Gerry Adams expressed anger on Monday at the news that Interbrew is to place the Glen Road Brewery up for sale and is threatening to close the plant if a buyer is not found. The brewery is the largest private employer in West Belfast. Adams held discussions with Interbrew management recently and said afterwards that it was clear that the Glen Road site had fallen victim to a policy of a large multinational company wishing to get rid of small sites.

Welcome for Civil Service dispute talks

Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew has welcomed the news from Nipsa that the British Direct Rule Minister Ian Pearson has finally agreed to enter talks to find a resolution to the long running civil service pay dispute.

"At last it seems that public and political pressure on Ian Pearson to enter into talks with the civil service union has paid some dividends," she said.

"This step should have been taken months ago. It is a disgrace that both the public and the workers have had to suffer because of what can only be described as intransigence from the Minister and civil service management.

"It is vital that the Minister approaches these talks with the firm intention of finding an equitable resolution."