Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie has announced her intention to stop
a loyalist initiative which was to get £1.2m of government funding.

However, at the Northern Ireland assembly Finance Minister Peter Robinson
accused her of being in breach of the ministerial code.

A 60-day deadline for the Ulster Defence Association to begin giving up guns
expired last Tuesday.

The deadline was set in August after repeated violence linked to the UDA.

However, the UDA said it would adhere to its own timetable for getting rid of
its weapons.

	The CTI project can no longer be justified and I propose to end it
immediately
Margaret Ritchie
Social development minister
In a statement to the assembly, Ms Ritchie said the actions of the UDA had meant
the retention of the Conflict Transformation Initiative originally proposed by
Peter Hain could not be justified.

"The UDA's fractious nature means, at this time the organisation is unable to
meet the objectives of the CTI (Conflict Transformation Initiative).

"The CTI project can no longer be justified and I propose to end it
immediately," she said.

After Ms Ritchie finished her statement, Mr Robinson claimed she had "ignored"
the government's own legal advice and "might be acting beyond her legal powers".

The assembly suspended its sitting for about half-an-hour whilst legal advice
was sought on the matter.

BBC Northern Ireland Political Editor Mark Devenport described the scenes in the
chamber as "extraordinary".

	What you have is the minister pulling the rug from under our feet,
saying that by reducing funding in these communities she will reduce
paramilitarism - the exact opposite is the case
Chris McGimpsey
Farset
"After its honeymoon period," he said, "there have been a number of rifts within
the executive, over issues like the Irish language and gay rights.

"However, the evident division between the SDLP minister and her colleagues is
the most bitter and personal split within the executive since devolution was
restored."

Ms Ritchie has said she came under pressure from direct rule ministers to
compromise on her deadline.

However, Security Minister Paul Goggins said the final decision on whether to
redirect £1.2m from the Conflict Transformation Initiative to other loyalist
projects was hers.

Chris McGimpsey of Farset, the organisation which was administering the project,
said Ms Ritchie's decision would be counterproductive.

"It's not a UDA issue - what we have here is a number of loyalist working class
communities which are suffering from social deprivation," he said.

"I have no love of the UDA - they've threatened to kill me twice - but Farset
has been going for 25 years and has a fairly good press in both communities,
trying to administer funds into areas where the UDA and other paramilitary
groups are strong in an effort to seduce people away from paramilitarism.

"What you have is the minister pulling the rug from under our feet, saying that
by reducing funding in these communities she will reduce paramilitarism - the
exact opposite is the case."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7044060.stm

I have to say, I was wrong on this...  I was expecting the money to go
through...  I was very happily surprised and delighted that this is no longer
the case!  

Good news and a good move!

What say you?

Ray

"Il Lupo Bianco (WhiteWolf) <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote in
message news:789ah3tf9ju82jp036llps1e7g19fut7bd@4ax.com...
> Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie has announced her intention
to stop
> a loyalist initiative which was to get £1.2m of government funding.
>
> However, at the Northern Ireland assembly Finance Minister Peter Robinson
> accused her of being in breach of the ministerial code.
>
> A 60-day deadline for the Ulster Defence Association to begin giving up
guns
> expired last Tuesday.
>
> The deadline was set in August after repeated violence linked to the UDA.
>
> However, the UDA said it would adhere to its own timetable for getting rid
of
> its weapons.
>
> The CTI project can no longer be justified and I propose to end it
> immediately
> Margaret Ritchie
> Social development minister
> In a statement to the assembly, Ms Ritchie said the actions of the UDA had
meant
> the retention of the Conflict Transformation Initiative originally
proposed by
> Peter Hain could not be justified.
>
> "The UDA's fractious nature means, at this time the organisation is unable
to
> meet the objectives of the CTI (Conflict Transformation Initiative).
>
> "The CTI project can no longer be justified and I propose to end it
> immediately," she said.
>
> After Ms Ritchie finished her statement, Mr Robinson claimed she had
"ignored"
> the government's own legal advice and "might be acting beyond her legal
powers".
>
> The assembly suspended its sitting for about half-an-hour whilst legal
advice
> was sought on the matter.
>
> BBC Northern Ireland Political Editor Mark Devenport described the scenes
in the
> chamber as "extraordinary".
>
> What you have is the minister pulling the rug from under our feet,
> saying that by reducing funding in these communities she will reduce
> paramilitarism - the exact opposite is the case
> Chris McGimpsey
> Farset
> "After its honeymoon period," he said, "there have been a number of rifts
within
> the executive, over issues like the Irish language and gay rights.
>
> "However, the evident division between the SDLP minister and her
colleagues is
> the most bitter and personal split within the executive since devolution
was
> restored."
>
> Ms Ritchie has said she came under pressure from direct rule ministers to
> compromise on her deadline.
>
> However, Security Minister Paul Goggins said the final decision on whether
to
> redirect £1.2m from the Conflict Transformation Initiative to other
loyalist
> projects was hers.
>
> Chris McGimpsey of Farset, the organisation which was administering the
project,
> said Ms Ritchie's decision would be counterproductive.
>
> "It's not a UDA issue - what we have here is a number of loyalist working
class
> communities which are suffering from social deprivation," he said.
>
> "I have no love of the UDA - they've threatened to kill me twice - but
Farset
> has been going for 25 years and has a fairly good press in both
communities,
> trying to administer funds into areas where the UDA and other paramilitary
> groups are strong in an effort to seduce people away from paramilitarism.
>
> "What you have is the minister pulling the rug from under our feet, saying
that
> by reducing funding in these communities she will reduce paramilitarism -
the
> exact opposite is the case."
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7044060.stm
>
> I have to say, I was wrong on this...  I was expecting the money to go
> through...  I was very happily surprised and delighted that this is no
longer
> the case!
>
> Good news and a good move!
>
> What say you?
>
> Ray

The north of Ireland needs to watch out for proposals for initiatives like
this in future and it's good to see that steps were taken to take away the
funding on this matter. Community initiatives such as "Ulster Scots" get
togethers (which I saw something about on the BBC one evening) can't be
trusted because all this is to fund terrorism within the Island of Ireland.





James
aka
Commander Hughes

>