Latest releases
Searching a long passage? Find similar statements.
191 releases
-
Support For The March For Clean Water In Belfast 3 November
Derry and Strabane Councillor Shaun Harkin backs the March for Clean Water in Belfast on 3 November, organised by Save Lough Neagh, and calls for urgent investment in water and sewage infrastructure. He blames Stormont for failing to tackle pollution in Lough Neagh and the Mobuoy dump, and demands…
Environment and climate Infrastructure and transport Issue: March for Clean Water Belfast 3 November 2024 Original release: Support For The March For Clean Water In Belfast 3 November (opens in a new tab)
-
Interim report on drugs "positive to see progress on saving lives and reducing harm" - Senator O'Hara
Green Party Senator Mal O'Hara welcomes an Oireachtas joint committee interim report on drugs, which recommends a health-led approach, repealing Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1997 and decriminalising possession of all substances for personal use. He urges the Executive parties in Northern…
Health Justice and policing Original release: Interim report on drugs "positive to see progress on saving lives and reducing harm" - Senator O'Hara (opens in a new tab)
-
Green Party Councillor welcomes the first step at Westminster to introduce Assisted Dying in England & Wales
Green Party councillor Barry McKee welcomes the first reading of the Choice at the End of Life Bill at Westminster and urges Northern Ireland MPs to back legal change on assisted dying. He says the Stormont Executive should ensure residents are not left without choice.
-
OEP report "another damning indictment of the Stormont Executive" - Cllr Smyth
Green Party Councillor for Lisnasharragh Brian Smyth says the new Office for Environmental Protection biodiversity report condemns the Stormont Executive, warning that current agri‑industry practices are unsustainable, polluting land, rivers and air, and urging urgent nutrient cuts, habitat recovery
Environment and climate Agriculture and rural affairs Original release: OEP report "another damning indictment of the Stormont Executive" - Cllr Smyth (opens in a new tab)
-
Health Workers Are Right To Protest
People Before Profit backs health workers protesting over the Pay and Numbers Strategy, saying it caps recruitment too low and has effectively abolished over 2,000 nursing and midwifery posts. It says the policy is damaging services despite a budget surplus, and calls for properly funded and…
Health Economy and employment Issue: Pay and Numbers Strategy nursing and health worker protests Original release: Health Workers Are Right To Protest (opens in a new tab)
-
"The people who can’t bring forward a PFG come together to actively make things worse for trans people" - Ash Jones
Green Party NI representative Ash Jones criticises the Executive's decision to extend a temporary ban on puberty blockers to Northern Ireland, announced by Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, calling it a betrayal of trans people and their families.
Disability and equality Health Original release: "The people who can’t bring forward a PFG come together to actively make things worse for trans people" - Ash Jones (opens in a new tab)
-
OEP findings "depressing and concerning" - Cllr Smyth
Green Party councillor Brian Smyth, for Lisnasharragh, says the Office for Environmental Protection's findings that water quality laws are not being implemented properly are depressing and concerning. He accuses the Stormont Executive of giving persistent polluters a free pass and says it may have…
Environment and climate Original release: OEP findings "depressing and concerning" - Cllr Smyth (opens in a new tab)
-
Labour's first King's speech lacks ambition to be bold - Senator O'Hara
Green Party NI leader Senator Mal O'Hara says the King's speech lacks the bold action needed on the NHS, public services, and the climate and nature emergencies. He welcomes the planned scrapping of the Legacy Act but says there is no commitment on votes at 16, AI regulation, or banning extraction.
Environment and climate Original release: Labour's first King's speech lacks ambition to be bold - Senator O'Hara (opens in a new tab)
-
People Before Profit Contests Westminster Election
People Before Profit announces three Westminster candidates for the 4 July election: Shaun Harkin in Foyle, Gerry Carroll MLA in West Belfast and Fiona Ferguson in North Belfast. It says Labour would keep most Tory policies and calls for Palestine to be a key election issue.
International affairs Housing Issue: 2024 Westminster election Original release: People Before Profit Contests Westminster Election (opens in a new tab)
-
Greens join calls for a Wealth Tax in the UK
Green Party NI leader Mal O'Hara calls for a UK wealth tax, aligned with Scottish, English and Welsh Greens, targeting household wealth above £3.4 million and saying it would raise at least £75 billion a year alongside a windfall tax on energy companies.
Public finance and taxation Economy and employment Original release: Greens join calls for a Wealth Tax in the UK (opens in a new tab)
-
Green Deputy Leader welcomes court ruling on no gas caverns campaign
Green Party Deputy Leader Lesley Veronica welcomes the Court of Appeal ruling that DAERA's decision to allow gas storage caverns under Larne Lough was irrational, crediting the No Gas Caverns campaign and Friends of the Earth.
Environment and climate Original release: Green Deputy Leader welcomes court ruling on no gas caverns campaign (opens in a new tab)
-
Green pressure forces Muir to move on pollution fines
Green Party Cllr Brian Smyth welcomes DAERA Minister Andrew Muir's change of policy to restore heavier financial penalties for persistent agricultural pollution, calling it a first step. He says the Executive's Going for Growth Strategy and the Lough Neagh pollution reflect wider failings by the…
Environment and climate Agriculture and rural affairs Original release: Green pressure forces Muir to move on pollution fines (opens in a new tab)
-
Major breaches of environmental law "obscene and deeply disturbing" - Cllr Smyth
Green Party Councillor for Lisnasharragh Brian Smyth says it is obscene that Moy Park has breached environmental laws in Northern Ireland more than 500 times without prosecution, following a BBC investigation. He blames the Going for Growth strategy and a broken planning system, and calls on the…
Environment and climate Agriculture and rural affairs Original release: Major breaches of environmental law "obscene and deeply disturbing" - Cllr Smyth (opens in a new tab)
-
Election gives voters the opportunity to vote for real climate action with the Greens
Green Party NI leader Mal O'Hara welcomes the Prime Minister's call for a General Election on 4 July 2024, saying Greens will offer a green economy programme on bills, jobs and apprenticeships. He says voters will choose between real climate action and what he calls climate dodging by the…
Environment and climate Economy and employment Original release: Election gives voters the opportunity to vote for real climate action with the Greens (opens in a new tab)
-
Green Party Deputy Leader responds to the final days of the covid inquiry
Green Party deputy leader Lesley Veronica responds to the Covid inquiry's closing days, saying the failings at Stormont have worsened the NHS and calling on all parties to be accountable. She also says the Assembly lacks a budget, Programme for Government and legislative schedule.
-
Councillor Brian Smyth has voiced his concerns over the language used by DAREA Minister
Green Party Councillor for Lisnasharragh Brian Smyth says he is worried DAREA Minister Andrew Muir is shifting responsibility for Lough Neagh by citing possible lack of funds. He calls for stronger action against polluters and an independent environmental protection agency.
Environment and climate Original release: Councillor Brian Smyth has voiced his concerns over the language used by DAREA Minister (opens in a new tab)
-
Senator Mal O'Hara welcomes cross-border rail funding
Green Party Senator Mal O'Hara welcomes a €165 million investment in Belfast-Dublin cross-border rail services, linked to the PEACEPLUS programme, and calls on a Northern Ireland Transport Minister to match Dublin's shift of spending towards public transport.
Infrastructure and transport Environment and climate Original release: Senator Mal O'Hara welcomes cross-border rail funding (opens in a new tab)
-
No Congestion Charges – Free Public Transport
People Before Profit opposes congestion charges, which it says would create class barriers to city centres, and calls for free, frequent public transport in urban centres instead. It responds to a proposal by Green Party leader Eamon Ryan that councils prepare traffic plans by 2026 and consider…
Infrastructure and transport Environment and climate Issue: Eamon Ryan congestion charges proposal Original release: No Congestion Charges – Free Public Transport (opens in a new tab)
-
Mal O’Hara is likely to be successfully elected to the Seanad
The Green Party welcomes news that party leader Mal O'Hara is likely to be elected unopposed to the Seanad, making him its fifth sitting Senator. O'Hara says a Northern Ireland voice must remain in the Seanad and pledges to amplify voices from across the north.
Other Environment and climate Original release: Mal O’Hara is likely to be successfully elected to the Seanad (opens in a new tab)
-
Junior Doctors Are Right To Strike
People Before Profit backs Northern Ireland's Junior Doctors on their first 24-hour strike over pay, and calls for a consolidated 10% pay increase for health and social care workers. It lists picket locations at Craigavon, the Royal Victoria and Altnagelvin hospitals.
Health Economy and employment Issue: Northern Ireland junior doctors 24‑hour pay strike Original release: Junior Doctors Are Right To Strike (opens in a new tab)