Daily
Dispatch Tuesday 3rd October 2006
MAGINNESS:
NIO MUST GUARANTEE NEEDS-BASED COMMUNITY FUNDING
SDLP North Belfast MLA Alban Maginness said the British government
needs to give a clear commitment that community bodies will be
funded solely on the basis of need.
He said: “Sharp suits and slick PowerPoint presentations
can’t hid the reality that a gang deeply involved in murder,
drugs and racketeering is looking for £8 million of taxpayers’
money. These are the people who broke away from the UDA because
it expelled the Shoukri brothers. It was the East Antrim UDA that
killed Gavin Brett, Danny McColgan and Gerry Lawlor among many,
many others.
“A couple of years ago they were extracting protection money
from ice-cream sellers in Carrickfergus, now they are ready to
take on the Northern Ireland Office. What sort of community would
emerge if they were allowed to control its development? The last
time they got their hands on public money, £800,000 ended
up in the hands of Belfast bookies.
“The NIO cannot escape its own responsibility. It has debased
the concept of community development by making funding available
as party-political payoff, by ignoring accepted measures of deprivation
and going for an explicitly sectarian approach to combating poverty.
Ministers can hardly be surprised that the UDA wants a little
bit of the DUP’s action. It is now time for the government
to pledge that community funds will be dispensed strictly on need.
The UDA and all its offshoots should be given a clear and simple
choice: cease and desist from crime and racketeering or face a
long jail sentence.
CONVERY;
FUNDING NEEDED TO COMBAT DRUGS MISUSE
SDLP
Cllr Pat Convery said there is a need for the government to invest
more money in the services that would provide support, treatment
and rehabilitation for those who have become involved in substance
misuse and may have debts accumulated to feed their habit.
Councillor Convery said: “While we have to welcome the possible
end paramilitary criminality, we will have to deal with the consequences
for a long time. They include those people who have become addicted
and the many who have accumulated considerable debts as a result
of their addiction. They need treatment for the addiction and
support in dealing with debt if they are to break out of the addictive
environment.
“The Secretary of State must invest in the services that
can and will help these people: the Mental Health services, the
drug and debt counselling services which will be required to support
the victims of this criminality and assist them in getting their
lives back to normal.
“However these services must be improved and maintained
as we all know that these people will be vulnerable and will remain
so for a long time if not lifelong.
MAGINNESS:
PUBLISH WATKINS REPORT ON COURTS SERVICE
Commenting on the controversy surrounding the Courts Service,
SDLP Justice Spokesperson Alban Maginness called for the publication
of the Watkins report prepared by a senior civil servant.
He said: “We must have all possible transparency in the
operation of the Courts Service, and people have a right to know
all the facts behind the current controversy. The SDLP has already
put down parliamentary questions to the minister, but the simplest
way to let people know what is going on is to publish the Watkins
report.“
