http://allianceparty.org/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland en-GB The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland http://allianceparty.org/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2008 The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 2008-05-14T01:57+01:00 United Kingdom http://allianceparty.org/news/003780/alliance_delivers_petition_to_boost_post_office_ltd.html East Belfast Alliance representatives, Cllr. Naomi Long MLA and Cllr. Máire Hendron have met with representatives of Post Office Ltd. to lobby against the proposed closures of three local Post Offices at Belmont, Summerhill and Orangefield. They also delivered a petition gathered from local people which has been signed by over 1100 people. 2008-05-13T14:25+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003779/hendron_praises_bravery_of_man_who_save_neighbour_in_fire.html Local Alliance Councillor Maíre Hendron has praised the courage of a man in East Belfast who saved his neighbour from a house fire. The man was rescued from the fire in his home in Avoniel Road last night. 2008-05-13T11:20+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003778/alliance_condemns_tyrone_bomb_attack_on_police_officer.html Alliance Chief Whip Kieran McCarthy MLA has expressed shock and disgust at a bomb attack on a police officer in Spamount, Co. Tyrone last night. 2008-05-13T10:04+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003777/fitzpatrick_condemns_arson_attack.html Alliance Coleraine Councillor Barney Fitzpatrick has condemned the arson attack in Portballintrae at the weekend. A Bulgarian man's car was set on fire which then spread to another car parked close by. 2008-05-12T17:18+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003776/ford_welcomes_ministers_assurances_on_bluetongue.html Alliance Leader David Ford has welcomed an assurance from Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew that she is now taking seriously the potential need for the provision of bluetongue vaccine in Northern Ireland. This assurance came when she responded to a question from Alliance MLA Kieran McCarthy in the Assembly. 2008-05-12T15:34+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003775/liberal_international_president_looks_forward_to_welcoming_li_congress_to_his_irish_home_town.html When the 55th Congress of Liberal International gathers liberal activists and politicians together from across the world in Belfast this month, the LI President, Lord Alderdice, could be forgiven for taking particular personal pleasure in giving them a warm Irish welcome. Belfast is his home town and this year is the 10th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement which he and others negotiated together in 1998, bringing to an end not just 30 years of terrorism in this beautiful island, but arguably hundreds of years of violent political division. The Congress will take as its theme "Our Shared Future", and will explore not only the problems of addressing long-standing violent political conflict, but also the increasingly acute global problems of movement of people, minority rights and environmental degradation and threat. However given the venue and the anniversary, conflict resolution will of course attract much of the attention of delegates. 2008-05-11T12:25+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003774/new_fujistu_jobs_are_big_boost_for_northern_ireland.html Alliance Enterprise Spokesperson Seán Neeson MLA said that the creation of 150 new jobs by IT giants Fujitsu is very significant for the region. 120 of these new jobs announced today will be based in Derry, and the other 30 in Belfast. 2008-05-11T12:20+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003773/ford_says_antrim_library_is_exciting_project.html Alliance Leader David Ford has hailed plans for Antrim's £3 million new library as exciting and he hopes that it is a sign of things to come for the town. 2008-05-11T12:05+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003772/lo_praises_bravery_of_police_officer_who_saved_man_in_fire.html South Belfast Alliance MLA Anna Lo has commended the courage of a police officer who saved a man in a house fire in South Belfast. The fire happened on India Street at around 9pm last night. 2008-05-11T10:03+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003770/lunn_praises_efforts_of_police_in_averting_dumurry_road_disaster.html Lagan Valley Alliance MLA Trevor Lunn has praised the efforts of the police in stopping a car allegedly being driven erratically from Lisburn to Dunmurry this morning. Several police officers and a member of the public were injured in the incident. 2008-05-09T12:17+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003769/lunn_says_independent_selection_tests_will_cause_massive_problems.html Alliance Education spokesperson Trevor Lunn MLA has slammed the proposed independent 11-plus tests stating they will increase social exclusion and heap even more pressure on young people. A fortnight ago, more than 30 local grammar schools under the umbrella of the Association for Quality Education stated they would hold selection tests in maths and English across Northern Ireland. 2008-05-09T11:12+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003768/lo_says_thugs_who_planted_suspect_devices_will_not_stop_progress.html Alliance MLA Anna Lo has attacked the thugs who created suspect devices which were found in Northern Ireland over the past 24 hours saying they cannot destabilize peace and progress. Suspect devices have been found in Invest NI Headquarters in Belfast city centre and on the Newry - Portadown railway line. 2008-05-09T10:16+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003767/bloombergs_comments_on_division_are_a_wakeup_call_to_executive.html Alliance Enterprise Spokesperson Seán Neeson MLA said that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's speech is a wake-up call to the Executive to act to end segregation. Mayor Bloomberg said in his 'people don't want to live in a society defined by division' and stated that a united community is necessary to attract investors. He spoke in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings today as part of the US Investment Conference. 2008-05-08T15:55+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003766/itv_phonein_quiz_fine_not_big_enough.html Alliance Antrim Councillor Alan Lawther has stated that the £5.7 million fine imposed on ITV by OFCOM over phone-in quizzes is not big enough to send out a strong message against the type of programmes that generate massive amounts of money at the expense of the public. Cllr Lawther has campaigned locally with considerable success for a long time against these quizzes. 2008-05-08T12:17+01:00 http://allianceparty.org/news/003765/alliance_hails_bombardier_and_wombat_investment_boosts.html Belfast Alliance Councillor Mervyn Jones has hailed news of the creation of 75 jobs locally by Wombat and the £70 million boost for Bombardier. He said that this news was even more significant given that fact that the US Investment Conference is taking place this week. 2008-05-08T11:15+01:00