Meeting Details

This meeting will be webcast for live and subsequent broadcast on the Council's You Tube site Live Broadcast Link

That this Council: 
(i)   Expresses its deep concern at the lack of equitable distribution of funding for the arts across the North; with particular concern that while Belfast City Council received 71% of all Arts Council funding in the year 2023/24, Mid-Ulster Council received a mere 1.4%; and
(ii)  Further expresses its support for local creative artists, and agrees to write to the Communities Minister Gordon Lyons MLA calling on him to review the current allocation of resources to deliver a more equitable distribution of resources, and to better help support and sustain the arts across the North regardless of geographical area".

This Council:

•            Notes that under current Northern Ireland road traffic law, there is no legal requirement for other vehicles to stop when a school bus is picking up or dropping off pupils.

•            Recognises that child safety is of paramount importance and that measures akin to the U.S. “stop-arm” system—requiring traffic to halt while schoolchildren board or alight—could significantly reduce the risk of accidents and injuries.

•            Highlights the growing public concern and the desire of parents, educators, and local communities for stronger safeguarding measures at school bus stops, especially in rural areas where road layouts can pose additional risks.

•            Believes that introducing legislation mandating vehicles to stop when a school bus is actively loading or unloading students would enhance road safety and offer additional protection to schoolchildren across Northern Ireland.

This Council Resolves To:

(i)          Call upon the Northern Ireland Assembly to develop and pass legislation requiring vehicles to stop for school buses that are picking up or dropping off pupils, in line with best practices observed in other jurisdictions.

(ii)         Write to all other local councils in Northern Ireland, urging them to support and pass similar motions, thereby demonstrating widespread local government backing for this measure.

(iii)        Write to the Minister for Infrastructure and the Minister of Education, highlighting the need for such legislation and requesting that they prioritise this issue within the Executive. And

(iv)        Undertake any additional measures within Mid-Ulster District’s remit—such as awareness campaigns or pilot schemes—aimed at strengthening school transport safety until statutory changes are in effect.

'This Council is deplored by Israel's recent attacks on the defenceless populations in Gaza and the West Bank, that were barbaric, inhumane and flagrant breaches of international law and human rights.

This Council affirms that world leaders can no longer turn a blind eye, and that the international community must unite against these acts against humanity.

This Council will write to the British and Irish governments, calling on them to ensure that measures are adopted to safeguard the fragile ceasefire and that sanctions must be enforced against Israel's war crimes.'

This Council strongly opposes the proposed Welfare reforms as part of the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper from the UK government, which will have disproportionate impacts on vulnerable people in the North; commits to writing to the First and Deputy First Minister asking them to lobby the UK Government to reverse changes that will negatively impact vulnerable people; further commits to writing to the Minister for Communities to prepare a business case for a mitigation package which provides protections for current and future claimants from reductions in social security entitlements outlined in the Pathways to Work Green Paper