The North South Ministerial Council headquarters in Armagh
An important North South meeting on rural development and agriculture had to be cancelled while DUP members grappled over the party’s leadership.
Writing online, Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill revealed the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) meeting was cancelled as DUP politicians would not attend.
The party ousted its leader Arlene Foster following days of speculation and internal struggle.
In a statement, pushed on Friday (April 30) Foster said she would step down as the party’s leader on May 28, and as First Minister at the end of June.
“The scheduled meeting of ministers North South on rural development and agriculture was cancelled as no DUP Minister would attend,” O’Neill said.
A5 costs spiral to £80million
Over £80 million has now been spent on the delayed A5 dual-carriageway since the scheme was first developed just over a decade ago, with a total of £51 million of this going towards consultants.
The figure has been described by one local Assembly member as ‘alarming’ in light of the fact that work on the major infrastructure project has been delayed again following the publication earlier this year of the latest Planning Appeals Commission report.
It comes after the Department for Infrastructure instructed its staff to prepare further reports on the topics of flood risk and possible alternatives in line with the recommendations put forward by the PAC.
A £3.5 million support package has been agreed for farmers in the Sperrins, almost four years after their land and farms were devastated in the August 2017 landslide.
The landslides took place in the Glenelly and Owenkillew valleys on the night of August 22nd, the same night many parts of Donegal, and particularly Inishowen, were devastated by floods.
Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots confirmed the payments this week.
The announcement has been welcomed by local MLA Declan McAleer, who chairs the Stormont Agriculture Committee.
He says the political impasse in Northern Ireland at the time is the reason for the delay...
Flooded land near Plumbridge, Co Tyrone, in August 2017.
An aid package worth £3.45m has been approved for farmers who were impacted by floods and landslides in the Glenelly area of Co Tyrone in August 2017.
Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots made the announcement at the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) AGM on Wednesday and it was officially confirmed in a public statement on Thursday morning.
“I am pleased to announce a ‘one-off’ payment of almost £3.5m in assistance to these farmers, as a contribution towards the losses experienced in 2017,” Minister Poots said.
Scheme details
Exact details of the scheme will be announced when it opens for applications in the summer.
The floods and landslides, which took place on August 22, 2017, during Storm Lorenzo, were described by Met Éireann as a “once in a 100-year event”.
It saw livestock washed away, farmland buried under feet of silt and debris, and fences destroyed across the Glenelley and Owenkillew valleys.
Around 230 farmers filled out ‘Force Majeure’ forms at clinics run in Plumbridge and Drumahoe by the department and UFU.
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A scheme was up and running within five weeks in the Republic of Ireland. However, more than three years on, farmers on the Northern Ireland side of the border are still out tens of thousands for the cost of damage to their farms.