Danny Baker MLA has introduced a Private Member's Bill that will tackle child hunger and poverty during the holidays in the North. The bill proposes that the 90,000 children in Northern Ireland who are in receipt of free schools meals receive financial support during the holidays, including summer, Christmas, Halloween and half term breaks. As the cost-of-living crisis continues, extending these payments for the holidays will be vital for families struggling to make ends meet. We call on every MLA to support and vote for the Education (Holiday Meal Payments) Bill. 

I don't think we should be showing support for Donald Trump. I would like the golfing community to try and get the DP World Tour to move the event to somewhere else.

Peatlands must come first. They are among our most important carbon stores, vital for biodiversity, water regulation, and climate stability. They take thousands of years to form and cannot simply be replaced once damaged. Developers may offer mitigation, restoration, or peat reuse, but this should not be accepted as a justification for destruction. Peatlands are irreplaceable, and damage to them cannot be made acceptable through loopholes or after-the-fact promises. Northern Ireland needs a better approach to climate action. A huge share of household energy use goes on heating homes, yet instead of properly prioritising retrofitting, insulation, and reducing demand, policy continues to push major infrastructure into some of our most sensitive landscapes. We need serious investment in warmer homes, lower energy use, and solutions that work with nature rather than against it. Our protected landscapes were designated to safeguard biodiversity, heritage, wildlife, archaeology, and their wild beauty. They are not industrial sacrifice zones. The Sperrins AONB is already under increasing pressure, and proposals such as the Mullaghclogher wind farm show how easily these places can be opened up to further large-scale development. If this continues, no protected landscape will be safe. Northern Ireland’s peatlands and protected landscapes are ancient, irreplaceable, and essential. They must be protected now.

62.5% of homes in Northern Ireland use oil for heating - the highest proportion in the UK. And the surge in price has left many of the most vulnerable people in our communities unable to heat their homes. Unlike gas and electricity, the heating oil industry is not regulated - and that means there’s nothing to stop prices rising drastically and quickly and local companies from making millions in profit. The recently announced energy payments will do very little to mitigate the price surge and will end up in the pockets of the heating oil companies. LCC group, a Cookstown-based heating oil and fuel company worth over £1.1 billion, who paid nearly £90 million in dividends to its shareholders last year, mostly to the members of the Loughran family who own the company. Head of the company Michael Loughran has an estimated worth of £530 million! It is time for Stormont to regulate the heating oil industry today and stop these crazy price increases once and for all. 

We are inviting members of the public to sign the open letter below to the Executive with a clear message that the draft Disability Strategy is unacceptable. The letter was drafted by Deaf and Disabled people and their organisations who were part of the Expert Advisory Plan and the Co-Design Group between 2020 and 2022.  Deaf and Disabled people have waited over a decade for a Disability Strategy - we deserve better. “Dear Executive Ministers,  The undersigned agree that the Northern Ireland Executive’s draft Disability Strategy does nothing to improve the lives Deaf and Disabled people and will not progress our rights in any way. We are calling for an urgent rethink and significant revisions to the final Strategy. Northern Ireland has been without a Disability Strategy for over a decade during which we have experienced austerity, the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. Deaf and Disabled people are amongst those most impacted by these changes, making pre-existing discrimination and inequalities significantly worse. The Disability Strategy was an opportunity for our Executive to work with Deaf and Disabled people to demonstrate a real ambition and commitment to reduce the barriers we encounter daily and improve our lives. Instead, the draft Strategy, largely developed ignoring coproduction, lacks the strategic and resource commitments required to deliver change. The promise of an action plan, at an unspecified date, does little to reassure Deaf and Disabled people who feel disillusioned and devalued by the draft Strategy. We are urging the Executive to rethink this approach and to engage in an urgent dialogue with Deaf and Disabled people to develop a Disability Strategy with commitments and an action plan containing measurable and time bound targets to address the barriers we face. We are asking for specific resources to be devoted to delivering the Strategy. Finally, we are asking that the Strategy do more to embed coproduction with Deaf and Disabled people at all stages of development and delivery. We are committed to dialogue and working with you to improve the lives of Deaf and Disabled people and progressing our rights. We believe that the current draft Strategy fails completely in this regard. In many ways we believe no Strategy is better than this Strategy.  Deaf and Disabled people and their families, friends and allies deserve so much better. Yours sincerely,”

The genocide in Gaza continues despite a supposed “ceasefire”. International journalists are still not allowed into Gaza or the West Bank because Israel does not want the world to know what it is doing as it tries to exterminate Palestinians.  While the genocide has been livestreamed to the world since October 7 2023, we still do not know how many people have died as a result. We know that at least 70,000 people have been killed by the Israeli army but have no figures for the number who have died because of lack of medicine for chronic conditions like diabetes, epilepsy, heart conditions etc. Nor do we know how many have died of cancer or other curable conditions.  Every step of this genocide has been funded and supported by the United States. Now Trump has launched his Gaza “Board of Peace” and his son-in-law Jared Kushner shared slides at the launch of the “Board of Peace” showing high rise buildings and fancy hotels built on the bones of those killed in the genocide. Netanyahu, who is on this “Board of Peace” was unable to attend the launch as it was in Switzerland where he would be arrested under the International Arrest Warrant issued because of the genocide. The reasons why Irish politicians and political parties should not pay homage to Trump have multiplied since the start of this year – the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Maduro is just one example. We call on all political parties on the island of Ireland to listen to the people and not go to Washington on St. Patrick's Day to shake hands soaked with the blood of Palestinians.

Under the current leadership team, our council has presided over a series of costly failures that demonstrate fundamental governance breakdown: The Mourne Gateway Project • Initial proposal for Slieve Donard rejected by National Trust due to environmental concerns and failure to properly engage with public • Announcement of intention to relocate project to Kilbroney Forest Park made without public consultation or formal approval from elected representatives •  Repetition of fundamental governance errors; e.g., failing to obtain landowner permission before making public announcements or committing budgets • Wasting at least £1.35m on failed attempts, and putting £30m of funding from Belfast Region City Deal at risk • Newry and Downpatrick Flood Response • Inadequate preparation despite known flood risks • Delayed and insufficient emergency response to affected residents and businesses • Failure to distribute financial support to flood victims • No evidence of lessons learned or improved emergency protocols Newry Civic Hub • Ongoing cost overruns beyond initial budgets • Submission of incorrect planning applications by the Council as planning authority • Use of confidential legal advice to bypass public scrutiny • Inability to demonstrate value-for-money or explain site selection process • Repeated dismissal of public concerns, including over 2,600 letters of objection Warrenpoint Port  • Multi-year failure to address documented public health nuisance • Inability to enforce existing environmental regulations • Ongoing impact on residents' quality of life without resolution These project failures are not isolated incidents but evidence of systemic problems within our council, namely: • Lack of Transparency: Routine use of "confidential" designations to avoid public accountability • Inadequate or Non-Existent Community Engagement: Major decisions announced without meaningful consultation or recognition of ratepayers’ needs • Poor Financial Management: Millions squandered on unviable projects without adequate due diligence • Disregard for Expert Advice: Proceeding with projects despite widely documented environmental, technical and governance concerns The current council leadership has demonstrably failed in their duty to manage public resources responsibly and serve community interests. We therefore call upon the councillors of Newry, Mourne and Down to: • Pass a vote of no confidence in the council leadership • Establish an independent investigation into council governance failures, with the final report being made available to the public • Implement urgent transparency measures to prevent future abuse of confidential procedures The time for excuses has passed. We demand action now.

We oppose the current move to privatise 2 Royal Avenue as a profit making venue.  In recent years community organisations in Belfast have hosted free events in 2 Royal Avenue because it is a child friendly, accessible and affordable city centre space. Our organisation Reclaim the Agenda have held events from meetings to exhibitions, dance workshops to children’s story time - bringing people from all walks of life together.  Many people also use 2 Royal Avenue as individuals, calling in for a catch up with friends or a safe place for children to play during a break from shopping.  We welcome the plans for an LGBTQIA+ Hub in 2 Royal Avenue, and commend MayWe for the diverse range of events they have facilitated. Belfast City Council must now build on this work, and ensure 2 Royal Avenue remains as a community hub in the centre of Belfast. 

Soon, landlords in England will no longer be able to evict people from their homes without reason. This is already the case in Scotland, but this protection will not be extended to us here in Northern Ireland. That’s because Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has dismissed the idea of introducing a no-fault evictions ban here. Instead, he has proposed to extend the amount of time a landlord must notify the tenant before chucking them out for no reason. All of us deserve the right to be safe and secure in our homes, but no-fault evictions are a major driver of homelessness. With skyrocketing rents, increasing housing shortages and Stormont routinely missing their building targets, banning no-fault eviction is needed more than ever.

Tens of thousands of women in NI are suffering from the unbearable pain of endometriosis - where cells similar to those in the lining of the womb are found in other parts of the body - and will have to wait years for surgery. This is a crisis. Nearly 60,000 women and those assigned female at birth in the North are now on gynaecologist waiting lists - an 18% increase in the last year and the highest waiting time in the UK. Nobody deserves to be in this much pain and wait years to get the right treatment. We call on Health Minister Mike Nesbitt to bring down gynaecologist waiting lists and expand services to treat endometriosis properly. 

The new rules include: • huge income and salary thresholds that will separate thousands of families, • restrictions on dependants, • temporary refugee status that must be renewed every 30 months, • retroactive ILR changes that break the rule of law, • expanded deportation powers, and • a ban on settlement for anyone who has ever accessed “public funds” — including emergency housing after racist attacks, riots, or domestic violence, and legal aid for cases against abusive employers or hate crime. These measures put entire communities at risk and undermine the human rights protections guaranteed under the Good Friday Agreement. We are calling for: • protection for everyone already living in the UK, • reversal of the 11 November changes, • an end to retroactive immigration rules, • an end to temporary refugee status reviews, • and the dismantling of the Hostile Environment. Sign now to stand with families, workers, and communities — and stop these harmful changes. Signed by:  • Queerde Palestine  • Progressive Politics NI • My Way Access • United Against Racism Derry & North West • Fridays for Future NI • Rainbow Refugees NI • Comitato Informales 25 Aprile  • Croí for Change  • North West Migrants Forum • Save the Moat • Melted Parents  • Causeway Pride • IPSC Belfast • People Before Profit • Green Party NI • Gerry Carroll MLA • Parents for Inclusive Education  • Socialist Party NI • ROSA • Plot Twist Film Club • Plot Twist Craftivism Communities • United Against Racism Belfast 

We care deeply about this issue because every day we — along with hundreds of other parents, carers, and children — must cross a road that becomes heavily congested at school times. This road serves two primary schools, a nursery unit and two private childcare businesses. At that specific morning time, the combined activity of school traffic, childcare drop-offs, and through-traffic results in exceptionally high road usage. This crossing point is dangerous. Visibility is severely limited: the road sits at the top of a hill on one side and bends on the other, making it difficult for both drivers and pedestrians to see what lies ahead. There have already been multiple near-miss incidents, many caused by cars dangerously overtaking slow-moving or even stationary school traffic — clear evidence that the risk is both immediate and escalating. Families repeatedly tell us they feel unsafe — not occasionally, but every single day — during school drop-off and pick-up times. The combination of heavy school and childcare traffic, general traffic, speed, and poor visibility creates conditions where an accident feels not just possible, but imminent. A safe crossing is no longer simply a reasonable request; it is an urgent and essential measure needed to protect our children and our entire school community. LVPC Lough View Parents' Council