mikenesbitt.co.uk

Ulster Unionist Education spokesperson, Mike Nesbitt MLA, is calling on the Education Minister to clarify that he will not use the publication of the Viability Audit into Northern Ireland’s schools as a hit list for closures.

The Strangford Assemblyman said: “Even John O’Dowd accepts there is no new information in the results of this audit. That alone must give rise to the suspicion that he is gathering an evidence base to justify school closures. He says he is not, but as the results will inevitably be presented in the media by way of League Tables of stressed and highly stressed schools, it is inevitable that this will demoralise pupils, parents, teachers and school support staff, in those schools at the bottom of the tables. What they need now is support.

“The Ulster Unionist Party accepts there are more school places than pupils, and we take a long-term view of the solution, beginning with Shared Education, leading eventually to a single education system.

“Meantime, it is important that we do not let the statistics contained in this audit, which identify 84% of post-primary schools and 47% of primary schools as ‘stressed’, to be used to label individual schools as failures.

“The challenge is to ensure this information brings resource where it needed, and to allow teachers to get on with what they signed up to when they enrolled in Teaching Training College, which is teach. While the Ulster Unionist Party does not wish to see a return to the old 11-Plus transfer test, we do believe teachers can do their job better with efficient streaming of pupils according to ability. The 11-Plus asked pupils how intelligent they were and measured it by relatively narrow academic criteria. We want to ask pupils in what way they are intelligent, and open our minds to excellence across academic, vocational, artistic and sporting skills. To achieve that, we need to share scare resource, and that means a drive to Shared Education.”

It was an honour to attend the start of the final leg of the Irish Guards Association’s Walk for the Wounded in Lisburn this morning. Tho Guardsmen have spent the last week walking from Dublin to Belfast to raise vital funds to help those soldiers from the Irish Guards who have been injured in Afghanistan. Members from the Repblic and Northern Ireland have supported this great event, and I hope you will as well.
I am pictured with George Spence, one of the two who walked 128 miles, because he cares.
Today, they will have passed many billboards advertising the Tourist Board’s ‘Our Time, Our Place’ campaign. These soldiers engage in quite different campaigns, putting themselves in harm’s way and being harmed so we are safe. The walk represents our time and place (and duty) to say ‘thank you’ and to demonstrate our gratitude in a very practical way, but helping their fundraising. I urge those who have yet to donated to do so now, by emailing the association on Ulster_branch_irish_guards_assoc@hotmail.co.uk’

Monday
• Constituency business
• Spokespeople’s Meeting
• Assembly Group Meeting
• Question to Minister for Employment & Learning re: universities
• Question to Minister for Enterprise re: licences for exploration for natural minerals
• Private Party business
Tuesday
• Constituency business
• Assembly Group Meeting
• Question to Environment Minister re: car insurance
• Question to Finance Minister re: use and cost of consultants
• Constituency business
• Briefing, Evangelical Alliance
• Briefing, Young IoD (Institute of Directors)
• Historical Society, Ards Town Hall

Wednesday
• Constituent advocacy
• Education Committee
• Committee of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, visit to Shakleton Barracks, Limavady
• Private Party business

Thursday
• Front Page, Newsletter re: warning against “undue sympathy” for IRA members http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/ira_do_not_need_sympathy_uup_1_3575082
• Briefing, Chief Executive, Ards Borough Council
• Briefing, Principal, Portavogie Primary School
• Liaison meeting, Strangford Lough Yacht Club
• Schools Science event, Parliament Buildings
• AGM, Cloughey and District Community Association

Friday
• Nolan Show, BBC Radio Ulster re: Sinn Féin statement on dealing with the legacy of the Troubles
• News Release re: erecting a statue in memory of Frank Carson http://www.uup.org/index.php/2011-11-17-14-12-35/news/609-nesbitt-calls-for-statue-of-frank-carson-to-be-erected-in-the-cathedral-quarter.html
• Follow-up interviews, Citybeat and U105
• Briefing, Londonderry Primary School
• Assembly Outreach session, Londonderry Primary School
• Panel member, NASUWT Annual Conference, La Mon Hotel
• Constituency business
• Abrahamic Dinner, Parliament Buildings

Saturday (planned)
• Support Walk for Wounded fundraiser for injured army veterans
• Funeral of Frank Carson, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Belfast
Sunday (planned)
• Sunday Sequence, BBC Radio Ulster
• Thanksgiving Service, for WAVE, St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast

Ulster Unionist Victims Spokesperson, Mike Nesbitt MLA, has cautioned against offering undue sympathy to those perpetrators who are now racked with guilt about their terrorist actions.

The Strangford MLA was reacting to news reports that some IRA members in South Armagh are privately seeking help to overcome their feeling of guilt for past actions.

“This is not a criticism of Ian Bothwell and his Crossfire Trust charity, but the fact is that there is a simple remedy – they should present themselves at the nearest PSNI station.

“As a Victims Commissioner, I had the horrific experience of hearing about a would-be perpetrator who approached his intended victim to confess that he had targeted him for murder over twenty years previously. The two men had been at school together, and the victim only survived because he happened to be standing chatting at a street corner, under a bright light when the perpetrator approached. The gunman waited, but the weight of the weapon in his pocket finally forced him to panic and he ran away. Twenty years on, he approached his victim and confessed. The net effect was that while the gunman found some comfort from his confession, the intended target was the one having nightmares, as he struggled to come to terms with the fact his ‘friend’ had actually tried to kill him.

“We cannot allow any displacement of emotion. If former terrorists are feeling like Lady Macbeth whose encouraged murder only to mutter ‘Out damn’d spot’ because her hands were blood-stained for the rest of her life, then that is simply a reflection of the human condition, and the inhumanity of their actions. Their only recourse is the rule of law.”

Dear Strangford Constituency Resident,
Over the last two Saturdays, I have been following the Strangford Lough Roadshow that has been put together by the Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership, to discuss the future of one of Northern Ireland’s greatest natural assets.
What is striking is the number of interested groups that have a say in its future: people who make their living from the Lough; others whose Rest & Recreation is water-based; those who live there; and environmentalists to name but four categories.
The Partnership is asking for views throughout March. If you want to help shape the future, please contact them: www.strangfordlough.org.
I was shocked to hear on the radio of the child abuse that was the murder of a nine year old boy in Londonderry in the 1970s. Gordon Gallagher was playing in the garden of his family home when an IRA bomb exploded; he died later that day. You can read my News Release about the matter later in the Newsletter, but what it highlights is the problem of Dealing with the Past.
There are many former members of the police and army living in the Constituency, and I pledge to do all I can to support them, by resisting the drive by others to re-write the history of the Troubles, and paint the State and its agents as the guilty parties. There are dozens of Coroners’ Courts scheduled for the coming months, many investigating disputed deaths. These must not develop into mini Public Inquiries, with no reciprocal focus on terrorism like the murder of Gordon Gallagher.
We must also remember that many years have passed since the ceasefires and the Belfast / Good Friday Agreement. I meet very few young people who are concerned with Dealing with the Past, but I also meet far too many who are unemployed and have no immediate prospects of a job. This takes me back to the Lough, and my view that there is huge opportunity for Strangford to become a UK Centre of Excellence for exploring the power of Renewable Energies. There are thousands of jobs to be had in this developing economic sector. Why not take a huge slice of the cake for ourselves?
With best wishes

The Week at Stormont 30 January – 3 February
Monday
• Constituency business, including individual advocacy
• Spokespeople’s’ Meeting
• Assembly Group Meeting
• Speech re: Marian Price
• Party business
• Speech re: tourism in South Down
• Guest Speaker, Fermanagh South Tyrone UUP AGM
Tuesday
• Constituency business
• Assembly Group Meeting
• Friends of the Earth briefing on planning regulations
• Constituent advocacy (health matters)
• Constituency business
• Consultation meeting re: draft Economic Policy, Belfast
Wednesday
• Constituency business
• Chaired, Committee of Education
• Party business
• Committee of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
• Constituency business
• Consultation meeting re: draft Economic Policy, Ballymena
Thursday
• Support Young Enterprise event, Bangor
• Constituency business (advocacy from community group)
• Meeting re: economy
• Meeting re: Special Educational Needs
• Meeting re: Ulster Community Investment Trust
• Meeting re: Family Fund
• Private meeting
• Constituency business
• Consultation meeting re: draft Economic Policy, Banbridge
Friday
• Radio interviews (BBC, U105) re: Conflict Transformation Centre at Maze
• Opinion piece, Belfast Telegraph
• Constituency office
• Cancelled briefing re: Argyle Business Park
• Briefing re: Belfast MAC
• Emergency meeting re: prison officers
• Constituency business
• Private meeting
• Cancelled consultation meeting on economy
Saturday
• Guest speaker, Ulster Unionist Councillors Association, Cookstown

The Week at Stormont 6-10 February
Monday
• Spokespeoples’ Meeting
• Assembly Group Meeting
• Supported Assembly Tribute to 60th Anniversary of Her Majesty’s Accession
• Briefing on Restorative Justice
• Question Time: question to DETI Minister re: innovation
• Private meeting re: developments in energy generation
• Speech on Home Heating Oil and impact of fuel poverty
• Constituency business
Tuesday
• Nolan Show, BBC Radio Ulster, re: fuel poverty and cost of home heating oil
• Private meeting
• Assembly Group Meeting
• Tourism Briefing, Long Gallery, Stormont
• Meeting UK Government Fisheries Minister, Richard Benyon MP, Portavogie
• Discussion, Ex-Prisoners Working Group, Stormont
• Constituency business
Wednesday
• Constituency business
• Education Committee
• Working lunch, Youth Link NI, Christian youth group
• Committee of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
• Constituency business
• Consultation meeting re: draft Economic Policy, Carrickfergus
Thursday
• Briefing on Special Educational Need, Braniel PS
• Briefing on Shared Education, Stormont
• Briefing on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender issues
• Cancelled working lunch
• Victims’ issues
• Meeting, Eastend Residents Association, Ards
• Meeting, Glen Ward Residents Association
• Cancelled Constituent advocacy meeting
• The Missing Centuries, performance by St Mary’s and Killyleagh Primary Schools
• Draft report, response to Economic Strategy
Friday
• Meeting in Ballynahinch, re: Drumlins PS
• Briefing, SEUPB (Special European Union Programme Body)
• Briefing, Save the Children
• Constituency business & Constituent advocacy
• Private briefing, political issues
• Constituency business

The Week at Stormont 13-17 February
Monday
• Spokespeoples’ Meeting
• Assembly Group Meeting• Private Party business
• Constituency business
• Guest Speaker, Foyle Ulster Unionist Association, Londonderry
Tuesday
• NI Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Briefing
• Assembly Group Meeting
• Question to Education Minister re: cross-border schools issues
• Question to Tourism Minister re: Tourism Ireland
• Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal Launch
• Speech, Budget
Wednesday
• Constituency business
• Education Committee
• Committee of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
• Meeting, Danish Ambassador to Court of St James
• Chaired Ballywalter Community Association AGM
Thursday
• Schools football event, Braniel
• Briefing, Boston University Dublin Group
• Constituency business
• Private lunch engagement
• Constituency office
Friday
• Constituency Office
• Meeting, Cloughey Community Association
• Constituent advocacy
• Meeting, Comber, re: housing issue
• Meeting, Roads Service
• Private meeting, security issues
• Meeting, Comber, NIW (NI Water)
• Constituency business
• Strangford Ulster Unionist AGM, Ards Town Hall
Saturday
• Strangford Lough & Lecale Roadshow, Ards Town Hall
Sunday
• Sunday Sequence, BBC Radio Ulster (Dealing with the Past)

The Week at Stormont 20 – 24 February
Monday
• Private Meeting re: Dealing with the Past, Hillsborough
• Spokespeople’s’ Meeting
• Assembly Group Meeting
• Speech, in support on teaching Emergency Life Support Skills in schools
• Question to Minister for Culture, Arts &Leisure:
MrNesbitt: Does the Minister think that an Irish language Act or a minority languages Act would be more likely to advance good relations?
MsNí Chuilín: I honestly do not see how it would not.
• Question to Education Minister re: SEN provision
• Constituency business
• Unveiling of Assembly portrait of Lord Trimble

Tuesday
• Constituency business
• Assembly Group Meeting
• Question to Junior Minister Anderson re: Programme for Government
• Constituency business
• Private meeting, Dealing with the Past

Wednesday
• News Release re: IRA murder of Gordon Gallagher, aged 9. http://tinyurl.com/6p6jafb
• Follow up interviews, BBC Radio Foyle, and Citybeat
• Constituency business
• Education Committee
• Committee of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
• Private Party business

Thursday
• Private Party business
• Advocacy work for victim and survivor
• Private Party business
• Briefing, NI Film and creative industries
• Private briefing, victim and survivor issues
• Public Meeting re: Regeneration of Portavogie

Friday
• Constituency & Party business, all day
Saturday
• Strangford Lough & Lecale Roadshow, Killyleagh Bridge Centre

NEWS RELEASE
Nesbitt calls on IRA to come clean about Gordon Gallagher bomb death
Ulster Unionist Victims and Survivors spokesperson, Mike Nesbitt MLA, has applauded the courage of Billy and Pat Gallagher from Londonderry, who have publicly challenged Martin McGuinness to help them find closure over the death of their son, Gordon.
Gordon Gallagher lost his life when a bomb the IRA had left in the garden of his home exploded in 1973. He was nine years old.
Mr Nesbitt said: “It has taken 40 years to put on record that Bloody Sunday was wrong, and I know many in my community have found the truth very uncomfortable. Now it is time to establish the truth about how Gordon Gallagher died. At the time the IRA claimed a passing Army patrol found the device and attached a detonator. How pathetic! Is Mr McGuinness, who was the self-styled Second in Command of the IRA, content to stick with an excuse that is the equivalent of ‘a big boy did it and ran away’? Is that the best these so-called ‘Freedom Fighters’ can come up with?
“The HET have reviewed this case. They say the IRA lied. Gordon’s parents know they lied. We all know they lied. Here is an opportunity for a leading member of Sinn Féin to do the decent thing, and set the record straight. Republicans are making the loudest calls for the truth to be told. Let them walk the walk and tell the truth about their own actions.”

Nesbitt expresses disappointment regarding failure of Commission for Victims and Survivors appointment process
The Ulster Unionist Victims’ spokesman, Mike Nesbitt MLA, has expressed disappointment that the Commission for Victims and Survivors (CVSNI) will not hold an open appointment process to form the new Victims Forum.
The Strangford MLA, who served as a Commissioner from 2008 to 2010, said:
“Bringing forward a Forum where the Commissioners can consult victims is a statutory duty of the Commission. The forum is also a key foundation stone for the delivery of better targeted support and services for victims. I am surprised and disappointed that the Commissioners intend deciding among themselves who will be invited to serve on this important public body that should have influence on how victims’ funding is allocated.
“I understand the reasons the Commission articulated to justify using this ‘laying on of hands’ approach to appointing the members of the Pilot Forum. Essentially, it was the only way to achieve the objective in the available time frame. But the Commission is now in its fourth year, so there has been plenty of time to undertake a Pilot forum, review its operation, and bring forward a plan to advertise places at the proper Forum itself.
“The Commission gave evidence regarding their plans to the Committee of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister today, and when challenged, they admitted they had been given legal advice that their plan was at risk of a legal challenge. This would be a regressive step for victims, entailing further delay to the creation of the forum, at a time when OFMDFM is so far behind with the Victims and Survivors Service (VSS) which is the third leg of the support stool, alongside CVSNI and the Forum.
“I remember reading plans to have the Service operational in 2009. Now it is clear it will be 2013 before it is fully up and running. I note the plans for this April are simply to have it “established”, quite a different thing from operational. All this will be deeply frustrating for victims and survivors, many of whom have been waiting decades, never mind years, for targeted support, and have no interest in officials who explain delays in terms of securing agreement of business cases. There was no business case to make them victims in the first place, just a sudden, brutal act of violence, that requires support and now.”

Nesbitt rejects Hutchinson’s notion of “amnesty”
Ulster Unionist MLA Mike Nesbitt has rejected the call by outgoing Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson that an amnesty should be considered to deal with the past.
The Strangford MLA, himself a former Victims Commissioner, said:
“Mr Hutchinson thinks families should have the say as to whether perpetrators should be offered an amnesty in exchange for information about what happened to their loved one. But that is to ignore the fact that families do not operate as a unit, all neatly agreeing on the best way forward. It also fails to take into account the fact that there is little or no evidence that perpetrators are willing to engage in such a process. The IRA, for example, did not speak to the Eames Bradley Consultative Group on the Past.
“The Ulster Unionist Party supports the rule of law, and that means ensuring every evidential lead is taken up, and all possible prosecutions are pursued. After that, we need to decide what we mean by Dealing with the Past, because beyond the search for truth and justice there is a huge legacy of physical pain and mental health and well-being issues. Then we have to agree for whose benefit we wish to deal with the legacy of the Troubles. Is it for the victims, or is it to help society move forward? These are not necessarily parallel tracks, and we need clarity on the aims and intended outcomes before we begin.
“Beyond that, there is the question of the willingness of people to tell the truth. For us, the bottom line is that the people who shout loudest for the truth must demonstrate a greater willingness to speak the truth. Gerry Adams says he was never in the PIRA, but he allowed himself to be flown to London as part of an PIRA delegation engaging in secret talks with the Government in the 1970s. There is a credibility gap that needs closed before we can even begin to think of dealing with the past.
“I am sure Mr Hutchinson is well intentioned, but he has got this one wrong. It’s neither moral nor practical.

Monday

· Private Meeting re: Dealing with the Past,Hillsborough

· Spokespeoples’ Meeting

· Assembly Group Meeting

· Speech, in support on teaching Emergency LifeSupport Skills in schools

· Question to Minister for Culture, Arts &Leisure:

MrNesbitt: Does the Minister think that an Irish language Act or a minoritylanguages Act would be more likely to advance good relations?

MsNí Chuilín: I honestly do not see how it would not.

· Question to Education Minister re: SEN provision

· Constituency business

· Unveiling of Assembly portrait of Lord Trimble

Tuesday

· Constituency business

· Assembly Group Meeting

· Question to Junior Minister Anderson re:Programme for Government

· Constituency business

· Private meeting, Dealing with the Past

Wednesday

· News Release re: IRA murder of GordonGallagher, aged 9. http://tinyurl.com/6p6jafb

· Follow up interviews, BBC Radio Foyle, andCitybeat

· Constituency business

· Education Committee

· Committee of the First Minister and DeputyFirst Minister

· Private Party business

Thursday

· Private Party business

· Advocacy work for victim and survivor

· Private Party business

· Briefing, NI Film and creative industries

· Private briefing, victim and survivor issues

· Public Meeting re: Regeneration of Portavogie

Friday

· Constituency & Party business, all day

Saturday (planned)

· Strangford Lough & Lecale Roadshow,Killyleagh Bridge Centre

Ulster Unionist Victims and Survivors spokesperson, Mike Nesbitt MLA, has applauded the courage of Billy and Pat Gallagher from Londonderry, who have publicly challenged Martin McGuinness to help them find closure over the death of their son, Gordon.

Gordon Gallagher lost his life when a bomb the IRA had left in the garden of his home exploded in 1973. He was nine years old.

Mr Nesbitt said: “It has taken 40 years to put on record that Bloody Sunday was wrong, and I know many in my community have found the truth very uncomfortable. Now it is time to establish the truth about how Gordon Gallagher died. At the time the IRA claimed a passing Army patrol found the device and attached a detonator. How pathetic! Is Mr McGuinness, who was the self-styled Second in Command of the IRA, content to stick with an excuse that is the equivalent of ‘a big boy did it and ran away’? Is that the best these so-called ‘Freedom Fighters’ can come up with?

“The HET have reviewed this case. They say the IRA lied. Gordon’s parents know they lied. We all know they lied. Here is an opportunity for a leading member of Sinn Féin to do the decent thing, and set the record straight. Republicans are making the loudest calls for the truth to be told. Let them walk the walk and tell the truth about their own actions.”

Mr Nesbitt: Does the Minister think that an Irish language Act or a minority languages Act would be more likely to advance good relations?

Ms Ní Chuilín: I honestly do not see how it would not. I do not know what the issue is for people around languages. It is certainly not something I would put in CSI, so I am not really too sure what the Member’s point is. I do believe, however, that advancing an Irish language Act, which I intend to bring forward proposals on, will be good for the people who need and are waiting on an Act. I do not believe for one minute that the Member is genuine with regard to his concern about language rights for people from the Irish language community.

All clear?

Monday
• Spokespeoples’ Meeting
• Assembly Group Meeting
• Private Party business
• Constituency business
• Guest Speaker, Foyle Ulster Unionist Association, Londonderry

Tuesday
• NI Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Briefing
• Assembly Group Meeting
• Question to Education Minister re: cross-border schools issues
• Question to Tourism Minister re: Tourism Ireland
• Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal Launch
• Speech, Budget

Wednesday
• Constituency business
• Education Committee
• Committee of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
• Meeting, Danish Ambassador to Court of St James
• Chaired Ballywalter Community Association AGM

Thursday
• Schools football event, Braniel
• Briefing, Boston University Dublin Group
• Constituency business
• Private lunch engagement
• Constituency office

Friday
• Constituency Office
• Meeting, Cloughey Community Association
• Constituent advocacy
• Meeting, Comber, re: housing issue
• Meeting, Roads Service
• Private meeting, security issues
• Meeting, Comber, NIW (NI Water)
• Constituency business
• Strangford Ulster Unionist AGM, Ards Town Hall

Saturday (planned)
• Strangford Lough & Lecale Roadshow

Sunday (planned)
• Sunday Sequence, BBC Radio Ulster (Dealing with the Past)

The Ulster Unionist Victims’ spokesman, Mike Nesbitt MLA, has expressed disappointment that the Commission for Victims and Survivors (CVSNI) will not hold an open appointment process to form the new Victims Forum.

The Strangford MLA, who served as a Commissioner from 2008 to 2010, said:

“Bringing forward a Forum where the Commissioners can consult victims is a statutory duty of the Commission. The forum is also a key foundation stone for the delivery of better targeted support and services for victims. I am surprised and disappointed that the Commissioners intend deciding among themselves who will be invited to serve on this important public body that should have influence on how victims’ funding is allocated.

“I understand the reasons the Commission articulated to justify using this ‘laying on of hands’ approach to appointing the members of the Pilot Forum. Essentially, it was the only way to achieve the objective in the available time frame. But the Commission is now in its fourth year, so there has been plenty of time to undertake a Pilot forum, review its operation, and bring forward a plan to advertise places at the proper Forum itself.

“The Commission gave evidence regarding their plans to the Committee of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister today, and when challenged, they admitted they had been given legal advice that their plan was at risk of a legal challenge. This would be a regressive step for victims, entailing further delay to the creation of the forum, at a time when OFMDFM is so far behind with the Victims and Survivors Service (VSS) which is the third leg of the support stool, alongside CVSNI and the Forum.

“I remember reading plans to have the Service operational in 2009. Now it is clear it will be 2013 before it is fully up and running. I note the plans for this April are simply to have it “established”, quite a different thing from operational. All this will be deeply frustrating for victims and survivors, many of whom have been waiting decades, never mind years, for targeted support, and have no interest in officials who explain delays in terms of securing agreement of business cases. There was no business case to make them victims in the first place, just a sudden, brutal act of violence, that requires support and now.”

ENDS