MC GILL BELIEVES “RURAL AFFAIRS TASK FORCE” ESSENTIAL

West Tyrone Sinn Fein Assembly Election Candidate Claire Mc Gill believes that the creation of a Rural Affairs Task Force needs to be an urgent priority of the Assembly so as to counteract what she describes as the relentless onslaught by the NIO against the fabric that sustains our rural communities.

Cllr Mc Gill said,
“We presently have 11 NIO departments formulating and implementing policies which impact upon every aspect of our lives yet not one of these policies is being rural proofed. “The reason why policies across the 11 Departments are not being rural proofed is very clear i.e. because the infrastructure and services needed to sustain rural communities are firmly in the sights of the British Exchequer’s strategy to extract as much financial savings as possible from the six counties through forcing as many people as possible into urban settings and so increasingly centralise infrastructure and services.

“The imposition of Rural Planning Policy PPS 14 is part of this strategy as is the onslaught against our rural schools, health facilities and services, post offices and other crucial services, not to mention the perennial lack of investment in rural road, sewage and water infrastructure.

The British Exchequer’s strategy is being administered by the NIO agenda and fronted by the Direct Rule Ministers.

“The creation of a Rural Affairs Task Force, to counteract this onslaught against rural communities and the rural way of life that has existed for generations, must therefore be an urgent priority of the Assembly and its remit must be to devise policy recommendations that give equal weighting to the twin objectives of maintaining and vibrant rural communities while at the same time ensuring environmental sustainability for this and future generations.

Castlederg Policing issue- Doherty seeking Nuala O Loan to attend Public Meeting

West Tyrone Sinn Fein MP Pat Doherty has made a written request to Police Ombudsman Nuala O Loan asking her to attend a public meeting in Castlederg so as to appraise constituents of the complaints procedures available against PSNI officers who they believe to be operating in a partisan political manner.

The local MP has followed up a meeting he held with Nuala O Loan on Friday last with this request saying,

“I had requested Friday’s meeting with Nuala O’Loan to discuss the relentless campaign of victimization being carried out by the PSNI against the nationalist community in Castlederg, and in particular, the campaign being waged against young male nationalist in the area.

“Apart from the PSNI adopting a consistently aggressive approach when dealing with people they clearly recognise as being from the nationalist side of the community in this area, this campaign has seen an unprecedented number of young nationalists being arrested and dragged before the courts- a number that bears totally no resemblance to the demographic make of the local community.

“In December 2005, hundreds of local nationalists were forced to protest outside Castlederg PSNI barracks such was the anger about the overtly partisan nature of policing in the area. However since that time the situation has, if anything, got progressively worse.

“Among the issues I raised with Nuala O Loan were some of the recent examples of this political policing by the PSNI in Castlederg including: interrogating and subjecting two young catholic school boys to a traumatic ordeal after wrongly accusing them of stealing from a local shop in the town in November and arresting nationalist youths at the behest of a loyalist crowd in December.

“I have now also received written confirmation from the Ombudsman’s Office that following an earlier complaint I submitted in my capacity as MP, disciplinary action is now to be taken against a PSNI officer for ‘facilitating’ the progression of an Apprentice Boys parade along a stretch of the Lurganbuoy Road which had been prohibited by the Parades Commission.

“I believe that Nuala was seriously concerned about the situation in Castlederg and I trust that she will take up my request for her to attend a public meeting to appraise constituents of the complaints procedures available against PSNI officers who they believe to be operating in a partisan political manner.

“Perhaps her attendance at this public meeting will carry even more significance in that it will firmly shine the spotlight on what has been going on in Castlederg as will Sinn Fein’s continued representations on the issue at the highest levels of both governments.”

"Boy racer" endangered lives of Clady residents

Sinn Fein Cllr Gerard Foley says that the normal tranquillity of life in Clady (Co Tyrone) was shattered when a young motorist decided that he would turn the narrow streets of the village into his own personal rally circuit on Sunday afternoon last- a completely reckless action which Cllr Foley says almost ended in tragedy when “this boy racer” lost control of the car and as hit a bank at the junction of the Urney/Bellspark Road.

Cllr Foley said,
“People in the area are still in a state of shock about the death of a local woman in the tragic accident on the Urney Road. Given what has happened local people are enraged that this so called boy racer could not only be so insensitive in the extreme, but was so reckless to not only endanger himself but any unfortunate pedestrian who happened to be in his path as he turned the narrow streets of the village into his own personal rally track. His car eventually hit the bank verge at the junction of Urney/Bellspark Road but it just by sheer luck that no one was killed or injured in the incident.

“People in the village have to continually contend with the safety hazards presented by heavy duty vehicles taking a shortcut through the small streets of the town which are totally unsuited to this type of traffic and the last thing we need is incidents like Sundays.

“Roads Service needs to come to its senses about the urgent need for traffic calming measures in the village and I am not prepared to let this matter rest no matter how many times it refuses to exceed to this demand from the local community.”

Journey to redress decades of neglect and inequality must be fully underpinned.

West Tyrone Sinn Féin Election Candidate Barry Mc Elduff says that it is only through the permanent restoration of all the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement and the delivery by the British government of real and meaningful Peace Dividend that locally elected and accountable representatives can begin in earnest to redress the decades of neglect and inequality directed against areas west of the Bann like Omagh and Strabane Districts.

Barry Mc Elduff said,
“Few would disagree with the proposition that if all the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement had of being allowed to operate uninterrupted and to develop to their full operational capacity since 1998, that the journey to redress the decades of neglect and inequality directed against areas west of the Bann like Omagh and Strabane would be now well advanced.

“However, since the British government unilaterally brought down the Good Friday institutions at the behest of political unionism, we have been subject to a particularly vindictive Direct Rule Administration regime.

“This Regime has now overlaid the historical legacy of neglect and inequality in our areas with the attempted imposition of totally unjust and punitive policies against every man woman and child here whether it be through: Rural Planning dictate PPS14; the asset stripping and stealth taxes crusade through water charges and rate hikes; or through the drastic cuts to public expenditure in health, education and other public services.

“It is only through the permanent restoration of all the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement and their operation on a fully functioning basis, including the All-Ireland dimensions, that locally elected and accountable representatives can begin in earnest to redress the decades of neglect and inequality directed against areas west of the Bann like Omagh and Strabane and to reverse the punitive policy crusade of the Direct Rule Administration Regime..

“Moreover, the British government must be made to pay for the legacy of neglect that it has presided over here so that the restored institutions are equipped with the resources to pave the way for positive and meaningful socio-economic change.

“Sinn Fein has been therefore demanding in negotiations with the British government, that to address all these issues that it provides to the restored institutions a real Peace Dividend of £10 billion over 10 years, additional to other measures such as the £16 billion Investment Strategy.

Positive Sinn Féin leadership in contrast to that of DUP

West Tyrone MP Pat Doherty says that the strong leadership shown by Sinn Féin in advancing the Peace Process stands in stark contrast to the complete absence of any signs of leadership from the DUP.

The local MP said,
“Throughout this process Sinn Féin has taken initiative after initiative to advance the Peace Process and our vision of an independent Ireland based on justice and equality.

“It is the easiest thing in the world to remain within ones comfort zone and avoid difficult and painful decisions. However, like so many things in life, the easy option is very rarely the right option and for those of us who want to bring about the maximum amount of political, social and economic change on this island standing still is not an option. Sinn Féin has not been lacking in courage when it comes to making extremely difficult decisions

“In contrast, the DUP has remains fossilised in the same ‘no mode’ which has characterized the party since its inception. Up until this juncture, the DUP has never had to make a difficult decision in its political lifetime.

“However, the historical absence of positive leadership from the DUP is now coming back to haunt it tenfold as it faces the ultimate decision of whether or not it is prepared to share power with republicans and nationalists on the basis of equality and in the context of all-Ireland institutions or whether it wants to consign the constituency it purports to represent to joint administration of affairs in the six counties by both governments under Plan B.

“Because of absence of positive leadership from the DUP, it is a case of their chickens all coming home to roost at the one time. The question is has the DUP leadership got the courage, at even this late stage, to make the right decisions so as to help forge a better future for everyone on this island including the people its purports to represent. We will all find out in the next few weeks.