Meeting Details

This Council condemns the British Secretary of State’s failure to order a full Public Inquiry into the assassination of Pat Finucane.

This Council believes that it is now time for the Finucane family to be told all the facts behind the assassination of their beloved husband and father and calls on the British government to immediately order a full Public Inquiry.

This Council believes that the Finucane family should be told the truth about the extent of collusion in Pat’s assassination and the cover up that followed and calls on the British government to immediately order a full Public Inquiry.

This Council demands that any Public Inquiry must be truly meaningful and not restricted under the terms of the Inquiries Act 2005 which Judge Cory criticised as making ‘a meaningful inquiry impossible’.

The failure to order a full public inquiry is no longer simply about one man but rather about the wider issue of truth and justice and so this Council calls on the British government to fully implement the Stormont House Agreement’s legacy mechanism so as everyone who lost a loved one can get the truth of what happened to them.

This Council notes the centenary anniversary of the Westminster parliament’s Government of Ireland Act.

We note that the Good Friday Agreement caused this act to be revoked. [we welcome this]

We note the deep and wide divisions this has sustained and entrenched both within Irish society and in the relationships between the islands of Ireland and Britain, not least of those consequences has been the multi-layered generational conflict our society has endured.

We welcome and support the agreed framework provided by the peace process to address and deal with all of this by peaceful and democratic methods.

We recognise that the outworking of this – the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in all is aspects – remains a work in progress.

This includes – its core requirements for equality of treatment, parity of esteem and mutual respect and the provision for a referendum to give full effect to the exercise by the people of Ireland to the right to self determine our future destiny and the centrality to this of both the British and Irish governments.

In the first instance in respect of rights throughout the island.

and in the second the particular responsibility on the British government to set a date for the referendum.

This Council further recognises that a stark choice is opening up between the narrow, inward-looking vision of Brexit Britain and the open inclusive vision of a new Ireland.

Therefore we call upon this council to encourage space for debate to present experiences and perspectives, big ideas and a public discourse on our constitutional future which threatens no one. and; this council call on both governments to expedite the delivery of their respective responsibilities contained within the Good Friday Agreement.

“This Council notes with concern figures showing that over a quarter (27.5%) of those who died from Covid-19 were people living with dementia and this is the most common underlying health condition associated with deaths from the virus.  This Council welcomes the Minister for Health’s stated commitment to reforming Adult Social Care and urges his Department to heed Alzheimer’s Society’s “The Fog of Support: An inquiry into the provision of respite care and carers assessments for people affected by dementia” to ensure those living with dementia are better protected now and into the future, specifically allowing loved ones of care home residents to be given key worker status.  This Council will commit to build on the work of Alzheimer’s Society of creating Dementia Friendly Communities by hosting a virtual ‘Dementia Friendly Workshop’ which will increase the awareness and confidence of our staff to better relate to, support and communicate with people with dementia to help tackle stigma, establish best practice and reduce barriers for our ageing population within our Council area.

That this Council notes at Mid Ulster Council Meeting 30^th June 2016 we unanimously endorsed a motion moved by Ronan McGinley which asked the Minister for Communities to give consideration to putting in place arrangements that would assist councillors who required extended periods of leave due to maternity, paternity or sickness.

The current arrangements put unnecessary pressure particularly on women and those who are vulnerable due to illness.

This Council resolves to write to the current Communities Minister, Nilga and the NAC to restart the conversation on this issue so that our citizens continue to receive full representation and ensure that the health and wellbeing of Members is given due regard.