News in Brief

£500 offer to UDA victim

A compensation offer of £500 to man shot three times by the UDA has been lambasted by Sinn Féin MLA Kathy Stanton. Stanton said the offer to Jason O'Halloran exposed the compensation agency's practice of creating a hierarchy of victims. She called for the NIO and British Government to review how victims are being treated by statutory agencies.

CS gas used again

Reacting to reports that the PSNI fired CS gas on three occasions over the weekend, Sinn Féin MLA Caitriona Ruane said that it was clear that predictions made by Sinn Féin that the PSNI would enthusiastically use the gas had unfortunately come true. Ruane also criticised SDLP members on policing boards for their support of the gas.

Deportation delay welcomed

The temporary injunction against the deportation of Nigerian woman Kate Bamidele from Ireland has been welcomed by Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaígh. The Dublin TD has now called on Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to rescind the deportation order and allow the women and her children to remain in Ireland. Kate faces being stoned to death if she returns to Nigeria.

An Post mismanaged

Sinn Féin TD Arthur Morgan has demanded the Minster for Communications Dermot Ahern urgently investigate allegations of mismanagement at An Post. Morgan said there had been an inexplicable decline in the company's profits in recent years and asked if management were running it to the ground with the intention of a buy out.

He also criticised the "sinister interpretation" of the An Post recruitment ban by management in Drogheda, who are refusing to allow workers who have been on long-term sick leave to return to work, citing the ban as a reason.

Flats sell-off worry

A Dublin City Council plan to sell off all its council flats will have grave implications for the city, Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan said last week. Doolan said Dublin City Manager John Fitzgerald had many questions to answer, including how he intends to sell off the flats and at what cost to residents; how he intends to manage the complexes into the future; and whether there will be a mix of public and private ownership.

Doolan also asked what impact the proposals will have on those who are currently on the housing and transfer lists or who are homeless.

"This sell off appears to be in complete contradiction to Minister Mary Coughlan's policy indicating that rent allowance will now only be issued to a recipient for 18 months, at which point they will be put on Local Authority lists with a view to being housed," Doolan said.

"Local authorities have a direct responsibility to house those living in their areas. How are they going to achieve that if they sell off all of their current stock and have no plans to build sufficient homes in the future?"

Doolan has also blasted a scheme that will see Dublin councils lease properties from private landlords for up to 20 years to alleviate the chronic housing shortage in the city.

Doolan said the public-private partnership move was a dereliction of the state's responsibility to provide safe and affordable housing to people who need it and called upon the government to provide the necessary funding for local authorities to supply adequate social housing.