10 September 2009 Edition
NAMA highlights need for all-Ireland planning
10 September 2009
AS Finance Ministers Sammy Wilson and Brian Lenihan met on Wednesday to discuss the implications of Dublin's NAMA (National Asset Management Agency) finance legislation, Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly said the meeting highlights the fact that the DUP can no longer ignore the reality of an all-Ireland economy. Gerry Kelly said that NAMA will see the Irish Government taking on up to €70 billion of toxic assets accrued by the banking sector but is incapable of meeting the twin objectives of achieving the best value for citizens or reducing risk. Free article
UDA says it will decommission... in another six months?
10 September 2009
THE mainstream UDA and its breakaway faction in south-east Antrim have given a commitment to The Independent International Commission of Decommissioning to decommission its weapons before legislation protecting them from prosecution ends early next year. The announcement was made by the British Government on Monday. Sinn Féin's Alex Maskey, however, while welcoming the belated indications, said the issue of loyalist weapons should have been resolved long ago. And he questioned the role of the UDA in ongoing sectarian provocations. Free article
Dublin City Council calls on Tánaiste to move on dockers deadlock
10 September 2009
DUBLIN City Council has endorsed an emergency motion at Monday night's meeting calling on Tánaiste and Employment Minister Mary Coughlan to intervene in the 10-week-old dispute between dockers and SIPTU at Dublin Port and Marine Terminals Ltd (MTL) over compulsory redundancies and changes in work conditions. The motion - the result of separate Sinn Féin and Labour Party motions merged to ensure solidarity with the dockers - was moved by Labour Mayor Emer Costello and seconded by Sinn Féin Group Leader Cllr Larry O'Toole. Free article
Sinn Féin meeting PSNI to challenge use of plastic bullets
10 September 2009
THE use of plastic bullets in Ardoyne and the Short Strand in recent weeks should never have occurred and such a use has breached the guidelines set by the PSNI themselves for their deployment, Sinn Féin MLA and Policing Board member Martina Anderson has said. Plastic bullets were fired by the PSNI in Ardoyne on 13 July and the Short Strand on 30 August. Free article
Government 'sucking life out of marginalised communities'
10 September 2009
OVER 1,300 people from marginalised communities across the 26 Counties gathered at Liberty Hall in Dublin this week before marching on the Department of Finance in support of the Community Development Programme. 180 Community Development Projects (CDPs) have already seen up to 20 % cuts so far this year. The McCarthy Report states that these projects 'show no evidence of value' and should be axed - a claim strongly contested by protestors from as far afield as Cork, Donegal, Galway and Limerick. Free article
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Visteon: Adams calls for full investigation
10 September 2009
WEST BELFAST MP and Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams called on Tuesday for a full and thorough investigation into the pensions scandal at Visteon and into the management and handling of company assets. New documents have been obtained by Sinn Féin which Gerry Adams believes confirm the existence of corrupt practices by Visteon and of efforts by them to destroy company records and conceal their involvement in the displacement of jobs and investment, especially from Belfast (under their so-called 'Cummins D3' project). Free article
Falls residents challenge Ritchie
10 September 2009
MEMBERS of the Falls Residents Association staged a protest outside the Radisson hotel on Belfast's Ormeau Road on Tuesday 8 September, before a 'Public Forum' meeting held by the North's Department for Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie. The residents carried posters demanding that the SDLP Minister overturn her decision not to demolish Ross Road flats in the lower Falls area. Free article
No support for those behind reckless Forkhill bomb
10 September 2009
SINN FÉIN MP for Newry/Armagh, Conor Murphy has condemned those responsible for planting a huge bomb on the Carrive Rd in Forkhill in South Armagh which was made safe on Tuesday. The 600lb bomb was a viable device and resulted in a number of families being evacuated from their homes while it was dealt with. Free article
Need before greed - Cowen confronted
10 September 2009
SINN FÉIN TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh joined Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins and Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit at the Treasury Building in Dublin on Wednesday, where they confronted Taoiseach Brian Cowen over the injustice of the government's proposed NAMA legislation. Free article
End the siege of Gaza, says Adams
10 September 2009
SINN FÉIN President Gerry Adams has once again called on the Israeli Government to immediately end its siege of the Gaza Strip after an appeal by the United Nations and international agencies to Israel to allow urgent repairs to be carried out on the water and sewage system in Gaza. According to these agencies, more than 13 million gallons or 50 million litres of raw or partially treated sewage is flowing into the Mediterranean Sea each day. This has been caused by bomb damage caused by Israeli forces to Gaza's sewage and water treatment systems which are now totally inadequate. The damage is compounded by the refusal of Israel to allow the necessary repairs and investment essential to service and upgrade the sewage and water systems. Much of this pollution finds its way back onto the coast of Gaza and Israel. Free article