Anti-Brexit Alliance Party offices targeted for graffiti in NI
Naomi Long described the campaign of intimidation as ‘futile’ (Niall Carson/PA)
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North Down MP Stephen Farry and Strangford Assembly member Kellie Armstrong were targeted.
The vandalism included “RIP Good Friday Agreement” in a reference to the 1998 peace deal which largely ended decades of conflict.
Alliance leader Naomi Long said: “This campaign of intimidation against the Alliance Party is as futile as it is despicable.
Submitting.
“We will not be deflected from that by bomb hoaxes and graffiti.”
There were calls for cool heads and language to be tempered in the Northern Ireland Assembly following the threats against staff at Belfast and Larne ports.
Alliance representative Stewart Dickson said they were unacceptable.
DUP Assembly member William Irwin urged those behind the “sinister activity” to desist immediately.
He was contacted by police on Saturday and informed of “social media misinformation” and a threat against him.
Sinn Fein representative Linda Dillon reminded those speaking at Stormont to watch their tone.
“We need to have cool heads, we need to temper our language, we need to know that the tone that we set in this place is what will happen outside, and for us not to take full responsibility for that is disingenuous,” she said.
January 28, 2021 7:06 am
Westminster has refused to step in to replace a £15.3 million EU fund ring-fenced for TB eradication efforts in Northern Ireland, according to a departmental response penned by Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Poots.
The question, seeking to quantify the shortfall in funding anticipated as a consequence of the exit from the EU, was put to the region’s Agriculture Minister by SDLP agriculture spokesman Patsy McGlone.
In response, Minister Poots wrote: “In relation to future Rural Development funding, Northern Ireland will lose out on £34 million of funding over the 2021-22 to 2023-24 period.
HM Treasury has further advised that there will be no separate funding to replace the income DAERA has received for many years from the EU Fund for Disease Eradication to support the Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) Programme.
BBC News
By Conor Macauley
Published
image captionA decision to introduce the scheme for Lough Neagh fishermen was taken six months after it was first talked about, a Stormont committee heard
There has been criticism over the delay in implementing a £300,000 Covid-19 support scheme for Lough Neagh fishermen.
A decision to introduce the scheme was taken six months after it was first talked about, a Stormont committee heard.
The SDLP s Patsy McGlone said he was contacted by extremely frustrated fishermen who had no income last year.
Officials accepted that the development of the scheme had been tortuous .
They said it had been difficult to agree eligibility criteria and it had required legal advice.
New tractor registrations down 27% in NI
There were 382 new tractors registered in NI during 2020, equating to a 27% decrease year on year, according to data from the Agricultural Engineers’ Association (AEA).
In Scotland, new tractor registrations were down 17.5%, with 1,252 machines registered during 2020.
Overall in the UK, AEA figures indicate that new tractor sales fell by 14% last year, as 10,380 new registrations were recorded over the period.
The average horsepower (hp) of new agricultural tractors registered in the UK stood at 171hp last year, representing a rise of nearly 30hp over the past 10 years.
DAERA loses £5m in annual TB fund
Over £5m of annual funding that came from the European Commission for bovine TB control in NI, will not be replaced by the British Treasury, Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots has confirmed.