Latest releases
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2,932 releases
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Final Anti-Poverty Strategy must be delivered without delay – Gildernew
Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew raises concern about delays to a final Anti-Poverty Strategy, after Communities Committee officials said it could slip to after April 2026. He calls on the Communities Minister to set a clear timeline for a robust strategy.
Social security and welfare Original release: Final Anti-Poverty Strategy must be delivered without delay – Gildernew (opens in a new tab)
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McGlone welcomes £100k funding to save Scoil Spreagtha scheme
SDLP Irish Language Spokesperson Patsy McGlone MLA welcomes £100,000 in funding to keep the Scoil Spreagtha Irish language lessons scheme running for another year, followed by an evaluation, and says he will keep pressing for future funding.
Education Disability and equality Original release: McGlone welcomes £100k funding to save Scoil Spreagtha scheme (opens in a new tab)
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Breaking Barriers in Agriculture and Championing Women Farmers
UUP MLA Diana Armstrong urges DAERA to implement the recommendations of the 2022 Breaking the Grass Ceiling report, saying women farmers are vital to NI’s agri‑food economy and the party will lobby for equality.
Agriculture and rural affairs Disability and equality Original release: Breaking Barriers in Agriculture and Championing Women Farmers (opens in a new tab)
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Confidence in the Belfast Trust must be restored urgently, says McAllister
Alliance health spokesperson Nuala McAllister MLA says the Belfast Trust must urgently rebuild staff confidence after a Health Committee session on a report into culture and oversight in its Cardiac Unit. She calls for whistleblowing reform and a statutory candour duty, and welcomes the new Trust…
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McGuigan comments on Belfast Trust report
Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan welcomes publication of a report on the Belfast Trust, commissioned after the trust's performance accountability process was raised to Level 5. He says serious issues remain unresolved in the cardiac surgery unit and will scrutinise the recommendations in full.
Health Original release: McGuigan comments on Belfast Trust report (opens in a new tab)
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Immense potential for development of All Island Healthcare discussed at Good Friday Agreement Committee – Pat Cullen MP
Sinn Féin MP Pat Cullen says an all-island, centrally funded healthcare model is a party priority, after a Good Friday Agreement Committee session on all-island healthcare with academic witnesses. She backs a call for data-led research to integrate services across both jurisdictions.
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Oireachtas na Samhna opportunity to showcase Irish as vibrant and flourishing language – Kearney
Sinn Féin MLA Declan Kearney says Belfast's hosting of Oireachtas na Samhna, running 29 October to 2 November, shows Irish is vibrant and flourishing, citing the city's new Irish language policy and upcoming Gaeltacht and Fleadh hosting.
Disability and equality Local government Original release: Oireachtas na Samhna opportunity to showcase Irish as vibrant and flourishing language – Kearney (opens in a new tab)
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Winter Pressure Plan too little, too late, and lacking real solutions…
DUP Health Spokesperson Diane Dodds MLA says the Department's winter pressure plan, raised in an urgent Assembly question to Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, is too late and underfunded. She calls for a fully resourced plan tackling domiciliary care shortages that delay hospital discharges.
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Delivering Rural Health and Care in a New Ireland – Pat Cullen MP
Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP Pat Cullen announces a public conference on rural health in a united Ireland, to be chaired by Cullen at the Westville Hotel on 26 November. He argues that island-wide health planning and a single national health service would better serve citizens than two separate…
Health Constitutional affairs Original release: Delivering Rural Health and Care in a New Ireland – Pat Cullen MP (opens in a new tab)
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Winter Preparedness Plan meets targets on paper but won’t tackle real pressures, says Donnelly
Alliance Health spokesperson Danny Donnelly MLA says the delayed Winter Preparedness Plan offers no new action to ease mounting health pressures, repeats past measures and fails to deliver real change, and he has raised an Urgent Oral Question urging fresh ideas for winter.
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Communities Minister must ensure Anti-Poverty Strategy is strengthened – Gildernew
Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew calls on the Communities Minister to strengthen the final Anti-Poverty Strategy and address concerns raised about the draft, after a Joseph Rowntree Foundation roundtable marking World Poverty Day.
Social security and welfare Original release: Communities Minister must ensure Anti-Poverty Strategy is strengthened – Gildernew (opens in a new tab)
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If Government Don’t Achieve Families’ Scoliosis Demands Aontú will Table a Motion of no Confidence Within Next 6 months – Tóibín
Aontú's Peadar Tóibín says the party will not table a no-confidence motion next week, but will do so within six months unless the government meets scoliosis demands on an inquiry and CHI reform. He also says Aontú will table a motion on presidential voting rights for northern Irish citizens and…
Health Constitutional affairs Original release: If Government Don’t Achieve Families’ Scoliosis Demands Aontú will Table a Motion of no Confidence Within Next 6 months – Tóibín (opens in a new tab)
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Hughes writes to British government over incorrect Child Benefit letters
Sinn Féin MP Dáire Hughes says he has written to British Treasury minister Daniel Tomlinson and Secretary of State Hilary Benn, signed by all seven Sinn Féin MPs, over HMRC wrongly sending Child Benefit stop letters to families who had travelled abroad and returned in time. He calls for an…
Social security and welfare Original release: Hughes writes to British government over incorrect Child Benefit letters (opens in a new tab)
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Communities Minister should set a date for the delivery of the Irish Language Strategy – Gildernew
Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew urges the Communities Minister to set a delivery date for the Irish Language Strategy, or failing that a clear publication timeframe, after a Communities Committee session heard from Irish language community members.
Disability and equality Original release: Communities Minister should set a date for the delivery of the Irish Language Strategy – Gildernew (opens in a new tab)
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O’Toole: Executive must stop chaotic contradictions and pay healthcare workers
SDLP Leader of the Opposition Matthew O'Toole MLA calls on the Executive to find funding for healthcare workers' overdue pay rise, after the First Minister said the money was available and the Health Minister said he still lacked £100m. He describes the situation as dysfunctional and warns of…
Health Economy and employment Original release: O’Toole: Executive must stop chaotic contradictions and pay healthcare workers (opens in a new tab)
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McGuigan praises work of Finance Minister to help deliver nurses’ pay uplift
Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan welcomes Finance Minister John O'Dowd's securing of £100 million toward a nurses' pay rise, announced after an Executive meeting. He calls on the Health Minister to find the remaining funding quickly.
Health Economy and employment Original release: McGuigan praises work of Finance Minister to help deliver nurses’ pay uplift (opens in a new tab)
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Hargey condemns suspected south Belfast racist attack
Sinn Féin MLA Deirdre Hargey condemns a suspected racist assault on a young woman in Botanic, south Belfast, on Wednesday night, and urges anyone who saw it to contact police. She says the woman has been discharged from hospital.
Justice and policing Disability and equality Original release: Hargey condemns suspected south Belfast racist attack (opens in a new tab)
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Brolly launches multi-step policy to support bereaved families of baby loss
Aontú Deputy Leader Gemma Brolly launches an All-Ireland strategy calling for a cross-border paediatric pathology and bereavement service, so bereaved families in the North no longer have babies and children sent to Liverpool for post-mortems. The plan seeks a national bereavement care standard…
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Any reduction in patient waiting times step in the right direction but long-term planning and investment needed to ensure progress – McGuigan
Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan, Chair of the Health Committee, welcomes reductions in waiting lists noted by the Health Minister at the NICON '25 conference, but urges more progress on red flag cancer waits and long-term investment planning.
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O’Toole: Winter health plan confusion failing patients and staff
SDLP Leader of the Opposition Matthew O'Toole MLA warns of a looming winter health crisis after the Health Minister's winter pressures plan remained unfinalised in mid-October, with trust-level plans still outstanding and the timeline unclear.