Danny Kennedy: I am grateful to the Minister, and I join her in paying tribute to her staff at the Newry office. Given the public statement by the Irish Republic’s Defence Minister, Mr Michael Smith, and the accurate and highly commendable public comments of Mr Fee, can the Minister explain why there is still no large-scale RUC presence in south Armagh to help prevent the illegal movement of livestock,...
Danny Kennedy: I am glad to hear the Minister respond to any criticism of Newry. Was consideration given at the trade meeting to the continuing crisis in the fuel industry and the ongoing problem of illegal transportation of petrol and diesel from the Irish Republic? Can the Minister update the Assembly on what progress, if any, has been made with Her Majesty’s Treasury on this issue?
Danny Kennedy: I am grateful for the opportunity that my Colleague Derek Hussey has provided to the Assembly. I am somewhat nonplussed at having to speak after the previous Member. The honourable Lady gave us a hysterical analysis, but it certainly was not historical. It was the usual Republican rant, which the House is now used to hearing from the Member. It has no basis in history at all, and the real...
Danny Kennedy: I welcome the opportunity to participate in this important debate. It is clear that many Members are interested in having a say on where money ought to be spent and how it should be made available. We welcome the opportunity this presents to us, in that spending priorities can now be made by a locally elected Assembly. There are a range of issues that Members have already mentioned, such as...
Danny Kennedy: On a point of order, Mr Speaker. My Colleague Joan Carson and I tabled private notice questions in relation to job closure announcements in Newry and Enniskillen last week. Why have they not been included in today’s order of business?
Danny Kennedy: On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Is it not the case that the mover of the amendment should have an opportunity for a winding-up speech?
Danny Kennedy: For the benefit of the Assembly, to my recollection the only Member wearing a dress at the Education Committee earlier this afternoon was Eileen Bell.
Danny Kennedy: I welcome the opportunity to participate in this important debate. I am speaking as the Ulster Unionist Party’s spokesperson on education, but I will also be saying a little in my role as the Chairman of the Education Committee. The whole issue of school performance tables has, from time to time, been shrouded in controversy. It is clear that there are conflicting views in the education...
Danny Kennedy: 3. asked the Minister of Education to clarify the current position on the Classroom 2000 private finance initiative (CPFI) (AQO 782/00)
Danny Kennedy: What action is the Minister taking to minimise the undue delays and inevitable disadvantages that this will impose on schools and pupils?
Danny Kennedy: On a point of order, in relation to your ruling against Mr McCarthy, Mr Deputy Speaker. Outside Question Time, how can Back-Bench Members ask important questions about issues affecting their constituencies?
Danny Kennedy: Will the Minister undertake to provide more resources to Roads Service engineers in Newry and Armagh to address the unacceptable condition of roads, especially minor roads, in my constituency?
Danny Kennedy: Wrongdoing by rogue garda officers should not, and must not, be covered up.
Danny Kennedy: In spite of what Mr Maginness said, Members have had a reasonably informed debate. I am grateful to those Members who made contributions endorsing the motion. I wish to make a number of points about them. Mr Maginness criticised the motion because there was no specific detail. I was conscious that, given the confines of this important debate, it would be unwise, and not permissible, to...
Danny Kennedy: Mobile phones ought not to be in the Chamber. They ought to be taken out of service — "decommissioned" is another word for that — and we look forward to that and other matters too. Ian Paisley Jnr did bear out the point — and the representations made by Nationalists here also bear it out — that they are in denial. Nationalism and the Nationalist political viewpoint are in denial of...
Danny Kennedy: I am inclined to say that the Member for Newry and Armagh has compounded the earlier boast made by Mr John Kelly by confirming what Mr Kelly said, but no doubt Hansard will bear that out. I share Mr Poots’s criticism of the gardaí. While they have found arms and ammunition on many occasions, they have apprehended few terrorists, and that has been a concern for many years. They were happy...
Danny Kennedy: I beg to move That this Assembly calls on the Secretary of State to make representations to the Government of the Republic of Ireland to conduct a public inquiry into suspected collusion between members of the Garda Síochána and the Irish Republican Army in the planning and execution of acts of terrorism. I am grateful for and welcome the opportunity to raise this important topic. It is...
Danny Kennedy: We will take your word for that.
Danny Kennedy: Does the Member not accept that the 1944 Butler Education Act, which was extended to Northern Ireland by the Stormont Parliament, enabled all classes of people here to get a higher standard of education? The crucial factor in education throughout that period was the insistence of the Roman Catholic Church on total responsibility for the education of its children — an insistence that remains...
Danny Kennedy: I am grateful for the opportunity for this important debate and accept Mr Wilson’s contrite apology. I will address the Assembly as Chairperson of the Education Committee and as the Ulster Unionist spokesperson on education. I will attempt to keep within the time constraints. The Education Committee is concerned about the condition of the school estate. The Committee has received from...