Commenting upon the report that the attempt by Lord Cranborn to bring about cross-party Unionist agreement has failed, Alliance Spokesman Dr Philip McGarry has said that the last thing that Northern Ireland needs is either pan-unionism or pan-nationalism.

Dr McGarry said:

“The only way we shall achieve a real and lasting peace is to bring about an agreement that heels the bitter divide in our society. For this to come about moderate Unionists have a duty to come to an accommodation with moderate Nationalists and vice-versa. However, if instead nationalists continue to line up together and Unionists seek further Unionist Unity then all that will be achieved will be a deepening of division.”

Councillor David Ford, Alliance General Secretary, has described the procedures for the privatisation of Belfast International Airport as ‘disgraceful’.

David Ford, who is Councillor for the Aldergrove area, said: “It is clear that the sell-off was carried out in the interests of Conservative dogma, not in the interests of local people. The procedures which cost the public purse £50 million were disgraceful.

“I am also worried about the attitude of the present Government I don’t want to hear Lord Dubs blame the Treasury, rather than the DoE. I want to hear him say that Labour will stop all such sales.

“Lord Dubs is responsible for a huge range of public services including water. Will he give a commitment to stop the policy of selling of such assets?”

Alliance leader, Lord Alderdice, has paid tribute to Dick Spring, who has just announced his resignation as leader of the Irish Labour Party.

Lord Alderdice said, “I have worked with Dick Spring on and off for about ten years now, and find him a man of great ability and energy. I very much enjoyed his wry sense of humour and inevitably found meetings with him interesting, enjoyable and worthwhile. I have the greatest of respect for him and his ability and his loss as Labour leader will undoubtedly be the gain of wherever he chooses to take his future career. I believe that history will judge him not only one of the most influential but also one of the more positive influences in Irish politics in his generation.”

East Antrim Alliance Forum Member, Alderman Sean Neeson, has condemned the weekend attack on the home of SDLP councillor Danny O’Connor.

Mr Neeson says, “Any such attack must be condemned as an attack on democracy itself, which was undoubtedly carried out by mindless thugs. I would appeal to the local community to assist police in ending this type of sectarian attack that has surfaced in the Larne area.”

Peninsula Alderman, Kieran McCarthy has welcomed the Minister for Political Development’s forthright assurances given to Councillors at last week’s meeting with Ards Borough Council members. Even though Mr Paul Murphy is not long in office, he seems to have a real grasp of the problems associated with Northern Ireland, from the underfunding of health and education, to the need for more local involvement in running Northern Ireland’s affairs.

Alderman McCarthy, as the Alliance representative for Strangford constituency at the Castle Buildings talks, has been in regular discussion with Mr Murphy, and said that the Minister’s response to the varied questions put to him set out in clear terms what we all have to do to reach an agreement. Mr Murphy explained that the most important part of the present political discussions is the agreed setting up of a Northern Ireland Assembly, representative of all parties where locally elected people can have responsibility for running the affairs of Northern Ireland.

There also has to be a good constructive and workable arrangements between Northern Ireland and the Republic, and the third element of the discussions must be the relationship between Ireland and Britain.

Mr Murphy reiterated once again that the Principle of Consent of the people of Northern Ireland was paramount and it is up to the elected representatives of the people to work together to bring about consensus. If and when that agreement comes about, Mr Murphy and his other ministers and go home, and Northern Irish politicians can exercise their responsibilities by running the affairs of Northern Ireland in a fair and equitable manner.

Alderman McCarthy hoped that all council members will play their part in supporting Mr. Murphy and his colleagues to bring about a resolution of our problems.

EDITORIAL

The Belfast Telegraph recently ran an article on the allocations of positions on Belfast City Council which started with the sentence “A secret deal aimed at ousting Sinn Fein from all Belfast City Council positions for the next four years can be revealed today.” A document showing proposed allocations of Chairmen and Deputy Chairman over the next four years was printed. The article went on to say that the Alliance Party, the Ulster Unionists and the DUP had a secret pact.

The actual facts of the case are somewhat different. The document printed was a proposal emanating from the Ulster Unionists in May 1997, in the immediate aftermath of the Local Government Elections. This of course pre-dated the most recent IRA cease-fire and was produced at a time when the IRA were still involved in a terrorist campaign.

At that time, there were a lot of meetings between various party groups on Belfast City Council to discuss the allocation of posts on the Council. We turned down a Sinn Fein request to meet us and told them that, in the absence of a true and lasting cease-fire, we would not be supporting Sinn Fein for any position within the Council. We have also refused to support the PUP and UDP for any such position.

What the Alliance Group did do at the time was to try to reach agreement with the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists as to the allocation of positions within the Council. This did not prove possible, primarily because the SDLP were not prepared to agree to anything that did not involve Sinn Fein. The Alliance Party were, and still are, committed to ensuring the rotation of senior positions amongst all parties fully committed to the principles of democracy. As part of this commitment, we voted against the Ulster Unionists and the DUP to ensure the election of Alban Maginness as Belfast’s first nationalist Lord Mayor. Indeed, the year before, we supported the election of Alisdair McDonnell as Deputy Mayor, in spite of the opposition of some of his SDLP colleagues.

There was no formalised deal and we did not vote in accordance with the Ulster Unionist proposals on every occasion. Alliance have had no discussions or negotiations on this matter at any time with the DUP.

We are currently living in an evolving situation, with the advent of the second IRA cease-fire and the instigation of a Talks process involving Sinn Fein. The Alliance Party attitude to Sinn Fein is not cast in stone, and indeed it would be our wish that events develop in such a way that Sinn Fein reject their links with the IRA and become a purely democratic Party. At this time, however, I think that it is too early to determine this, and the Alliance Party would need some ‘confidence building measures’ from Sinn Fein to convince us that they have left the Armalite behind for ever, and are wedded to a non-violent future.

Once we feel that this has happened, we would be prepared to support Sinn Fein for positions with Belfast City Council. The timescale for change is difficult to predict at this stage and is more in the hands of Sinn Fein than ourselves.

To conclude, the Alliance Party has not entered into a secret pact with anyone and has not done anything in its dealings in Belfast Council that it has not been publicly advocating for several years.

Mervyn Jones
Leader Alliance Party Group
Belfast City Council

Alliance Leader Lord Alderdice has criticised the administration of the Peace and Reconciliation Urban Regeneration Fund.

Nearly £13 million has been allocated toward Urban Regeneration in Belfast and Derry under the Peace and Reconciliation Programme but it appears that more has been allocated to date.

Lord Alderdice said:

“This money was allocated two years ago, in 1995, yet it appears that not a penny has been spent so far. It is extraordinary.

“The Urban Regeneration Fund was designed to improve the environment in run down urban areas. Dozens of good projects have been submitted. Local communities are getting very frustrated that their determination to improve their local environment is being met with the bureaucracy and lethargy which is delaying the distribution of funds.

“I want to see Making Belfast Work and the DoE release funds immediately, at the very least to some of the better applications.

“Movement is needed to stave off community disillusion, and make proper use of the resources.

“Wouldn’t it be ridiculous if we have the 1997-1999 phase of funding available but hadn’t allocated any of the 1995-1997 phase?”

Alliance Party, Chief Whip, Alderman Sean Neeson, has asked the government to consider Belfast as a permanent home of the Royal Yacht Britannia after she is decommissioned next month. Mr Neeson says, “I made the appeal when I met the Prime Minister on Monday, and did not receive a negative response. Obviously to make such a bid would require significant financial backing, as well as manpower resources. Time is important and it is my intention to contact relevant individuals and organisations in the near future.

“Belfast is the natural location because of the Waterfront Development, and our maritime heritage, and I believe that a vast number of people in Northern Ireland would back this development.”