Alliance Mayor of Newtownabbey Cllr Billy Webb and local South Antrim MLA David Ford have condemned the trouble in Ballyclare on Saturday night in which a number of vehicles were burned and six police officers were hurt.

The announcement by the Health Minister that there would be a new build Psychiatry Unit on the City Hospital site has been greeted with dismay by Assembly Candidate Councillor Billy Webb ‘’
Minister Mc Gimpsey announced,  along with cancellation of the Radiotherapy Unit in Derry, that the new build acute psychiatry unit is to go ahead.  What was missing from thi sannounncement was that in Belfast there are presently 105 acute beds, and every one of these is constantly being used; Community Services are at full stretch.  It is my understanding that the new facility will only be able to cope with 60 beds, a reduction of 45.  With a rising rate of attempted suicide there is a rising need for acute bed facility yet this announcement will lead to a reduction.  I will seek a revision of this decision in the next Assembly.’’

Alliance Assembly candidate Councillor Billy Webb has said that growing the green economy and increasing the use of renewable energy are two key changes Alliance will deliver which are vital to protect the environment and create jobs in Northern Ireland. “Developing our green economy and increasing our use of renewable energy are two key changes which are vital for our environment and for job creation. Alliance will deliver these changes and continue to lead they way for a Green New Deal. An Alliance motion was successfully passed in the Assembly late last year calling for the creation of a Green New Deal for Northern Ireland and aspects of this plan were included in the recent Budget. Alliance campaigned hard for this progress on home insulation schemes to save energy, keep household bills low and create jobs in construction sector. We will continue to strive for more emphasis on the green economy in future. Thousands of jobs can be created in this sector and we can genuinely become a world leader on sustainability if we are ambitious in the coming years. Alliance is also leading the way in pushing for more use of our renewable energy potential. We have a largely untapped wealth of resources like wind and the tides which simply must to be used. We will push for progress on this and drive innovation in renewable energy technology to create research and engineering jobs. Alliance will lead change to protect our environment while growing our economy.”

The first anniversary of the devolution of justice to Northern Ireland was 12 April and Alliance Assembly candidate Councillor Billy Webb has praised the work done by Justice Minister David Ford since the devolution of these powers.  “A year ago justice was devolved to the Assembly and it is worth recognising all that David Ford has achieved as Minister over the past year. David, through strong negotiation, secured an extra £245m of funding to tackle terrorism over the next four years. He also successfully introduced arguably the most substantial and important piece of legislation this Assembly has ever seen in the Justice Bill. This Bill helps put greater emphasis on the needs of victims of crime and provides new alternatives to prosecution to enable us to deliver justice more effectively. He has also worked to deliver important reforms to legal aid to make the system more cost-effective whilst maintaining excellent access to justice for all. David also commissioned a review of prisons to help deliver further value for money and improve the prison system here. He also oversaw a programme of work through the Criminal Justice Board to tackle unnecessary and wasteful delays in the justice system. Within the past year he also introduced a consultation into sentencing guidelines to help ensure that the framework for sentencing is clearer, more transparent and more consistent. David has also started working on a strategy to reduce offending and has launched a consultation to secure safer, shared communities. All this perfectly illustrates what can be done with an Alliance Minister at the heart of government. On 5 May people have the chance to have a second Alliance Minister in government by voting for the party that is leading change and returning more Alliance Assembly Members .”

Alliance Assembly candidate Councillor Billy Webb has said that fuel poverty simply has to be one of the biggest issues of the election because of the need to protect the most vulnerable in our society people against rising fuel prices.  “Fuel poverty is one of the key reasons why Alliance has been campaigning for a government home insulation scheme as part of a Green New Deal. This type of initiative will not only boost the construction sector but also help to lower people’s home heating bills. This is a time of very high oil prices, given instability in some oil producing regions and I believe that it is vital that we tackle fuel poverty and look at how we can conserve energy. It is staggering and simply unacceptable that 44% of people in Northern Ireland live in fuel poverty. That simply cannot continue and that is why radical solutions are needed. The Green New Deal proposals that Alliance has campaigned about for years not only includes an insulation scheme but would also look at further use of renewable energy, which is extremely important to help keeping home heating costs low. By producing energy naturally without the cost of oil we can have more environmentally-friendly and more affordable ways of heating homes. We need to more effectively harness the wind and wave power that we have in abundance in Northern Ireland. With oil prices rising and little indication that this trend is likely to change in the near future, parties need to make tackling fuel poverty a key priority. Alliance leads the way with ideas and solutions. Northern Ireland needs a radical vision to address this widespread problem.”

Alliance Assembly candidate Councillor Billy Webb has said Alliance would rebalance the transport budget to help deliver improved public transport. A rebalancing of the budget would mean more investment in buses and trains, a better service for everyone and greater efforts to protect our environment.  “It is vital we improve our public transport services in Northern Ireland and that is why Alliance would rebalance our transport budget. Given the fact that fuel prices are rocketing and people are facing tough economic times, more people will want to use public transport to get around. These factors make it all the more vital that we ensure more of the local transport budget goes towards buses and trains. Politicians really do need to do all they can to get people out of their cars. This can only happen however if we invest to improve our public transport services to extend the network to more areas and make services more frequent. This not only makes sense in infrastructure terms, it would also enable us to better protect the environment. Northern Ireland historically commits one of the the lowest proportions of its transport budget to public transport out of all the regions of Europe. This is shameful and this situation has to change. Alliance has the vision and ambition to transform our public transport for the better.”

Leading victims campaigner Alan McBride has called on people to vote Alliance saying they are the party of a shared future. He said he wants to see Alliance’s Billy Webb being elected to the Assembly by the people of North Belfast.

Alan McBride said: “I strongly support Alliance’s Billy Webb in his election campaign and I hope that he gains a seat in the Assembly. I also support the rest of the North Belfast Alliance team in David McKechnie, James McClure and Mark Long, who are standing for Belfast City Council.  North Belfast has been blighted by sectarian division for far too long, so it is time for a new kind of politics.  In my view the Alliance Party offers this, demonstrated by a proven track record both within the Assembly and at local council level.  Other parties merely pay lip service to the notion of a shared future, whilst continuing to operate out of an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mindset, which reinforces the status quo and does nothing to tackle the division that cost this society big time.

“Northern Ireland has come a long way since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, but we still have some way to go before we realise the kind of shared society that people like myself voted for.  I believe it’s time for a change, so that sharing and integration replace the ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality that has dominated the political landscape for years.  There is much more to be gained from working together than standing apart, and more to be saved too, especially in these days of austerity cuts.  The Alliance Party is the party of ‘Shared Future’ and I would urge people to vote for them on 5 May.”

Former Alliance European election candidate Ian Parsley has called for a strong Alliance vote in Newtownabbey in both the local and Assembly elections.

Cllr Parsley, who is stepping down from North Down Council in part because he is moving to Jordanstown, stated: “I have been privileged to join the Alliance Party’s campaign in Newtownabbey and delighted by the reception the Alliance Council and Assembly candidates have been receiving on the doorsteps.”

Commenting on his support for the Conservative Party at the last General Election, Cllr Parsley stated: “It was a personal decision of mine to do all I could to get rid of Gordon Brown from Downing Street - the man who sold the gold, raided the pension funds, and left us paying taxes 25% of which go towards paying off interest rather than towards the vital public services we need.

“Regardless of that, however, it is plain to me that at this Assembly Election that if people want value for money, for example through tackling the costs of segregation, they should vote Alliance; if they want sustainable public services and appropriate investment in our infrastructure, they should vote Alliance; if they want more Ministers in the Executive who serve Northern Ireland as a whole and not just one side of it, they should vote Alliance. Most particularly, in the candidacy Stewart Dickson and Gerardine Mulvenna in East Antrim, David Ford in South Antrim and Billy Webb in North Belfast, they have four stauch advocates of their local community who have a proven record of selfless service to constituents across South and East Antrim.”

Discussing the local election, Cllr Parsley added: “I have been out on the doors with Tom Campbell, who also presents that value for money proposition. Like-for-like domestic rates in Newtownabbey are a sixth higher than they are in North Down, and I know Tom is determined to bring down the cost of services to Newtownabbey ratepayers. He, Lynn Frazer and the rest of the Alliance Council team in Newtownabbey offer the clear value-for-money proposition locally, as well as at Assembly level.

“We now have four Conservatives and Unionists General Election candidates endorsing Alliance candidates at this Assembly election, and one who has even become one! Whatever our view on Gordon Brown and David Cameron, we can recognise collectively that only Alliance can take forward the values of a shared future and a prosperous Northern Ireland that we hold dear, and only Alliance will work power-sharing efficiently for the benefit of all. It is plain to me and, increasingly, to many others that the Alliance candidates at both Northern Ireland Assembly and Newtownabbey Council level are the ones to trust with our first preference votes to lead the change we want.”

The election on 5th May gives the electorate of North Belfast the chance to break the mould of sectarian politics which has plagued the constituency. I have been a Councillor for 14 years and my driver in politics has always been to make sure everyone can live free from sectarianism and bigotry in a society which cares about the vulnerable.

The Alliance Party has shown that we can represent the whole community, not just one section of it. We concentrate on leading change, dealing with day-to-day social issues, and working for everyone.

The maths for North Belfast show there are only 2 Sinn Fein seats, 2 DUP seats, 1 SDLP seat and 1 other, with the UUP in meltdown. If those who voted for me in the Westminster election last year give me their number 1 vote this year, and if Sinn Fein and DUP voters give me their number 3, and SDLP give me their number 2, I know I can be an MLA for North Belfast.

When elected I will work to end petty party squabbling, and point scoring in Stormont, by bringing together other North Belfast MLAs to address the social and economic blighting our constituency. We have too many in our constituency living in the most socially deprived areas of the North of Ireland, unemployment is higher here and we still see sectarian trouble here.
 

I will work to make sure that money wasted on division will be redirected to:-
·         Protecting the vulnerable
·         Education and Health Services
·         Job creation
·         Building new housing
·         Creating partnership working between Community Groups
 
Naomi Long broke the mould in East Belfast when she won the Westminster seat last year; I intend to follow her lead in North Belfast.

North Belfast Alliance Assembly Representative Billy Webb and Alliance Belfast Council Oldpark Representative James McClure have condemned those behind an ongoing security alert in the Oldpark area of North Belfast, which is expected to continue into Wednesday.

Billy Webb said: “The disruption caused by this ongoing alert is absolutely appalling. Those seeking to cause fear and mayhem in our society are simply a disgrace. People are sick of this and are sick of thugs who get involved in such activities.”

James McClure said: “Those who want to disruption in people’s everyday lives should reflect on their actions and realise that they will never and can never destabilise the peace that we have built here. I would appeal to anyone who can help police with their investigation into this to contact them immediately.”