Protest against the slaughter in Gaza

North Belfast Sinn Féin are holding a protest against the slaughter in Gaza on Saturday January 17th at 1pm. Assemble outside the Glenpark in Ardoyne Avenue

Stop the slaughter in Gaza

By Carál Ní Chuilín
As I write this piece my thoughts are with the besieged people of Gaza. The attacks on them and the people of the Palestinian territories are totally and absolutely wrong. More than 600 people, more than 200 of them children, have been killed and 2,800 wounded since the Israeli army launched its air, sea and missile attacks on Gaza eleven days ago.
After almost a week of aerial bombardment the Israelis have now also sent in heavily-armoured tanks, artillery and soldiers to attack densely populated cities from the ground as well.
More than 75 people were killed on one day, Tuesday, many of them children at the al-Fakhura school situated in a refugee camp.
Of the 600 deaths since the massive Israeli bombardment began all but ten victims have been Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians.
All the civilian deaths in Gaza, including those seeking shelter in a UN school are indefensible and unjustifiable.
The UN has also advised that there is now a growing shortage of basic foodstuffs and fresh water in Gaza because of the damage to the local infrastructure.
Hospitals too are struggling to cope with the massive casualties and there is also a shortage of medicines as the Israelis continue to tighten their blockade of Palestinian towns and cities
The humanitarian cost of the offensive to date has been catastrophic and decisive action is needed now to secure a ceasefire.
It is Sinn Féin's view that the International community cannot allow the situation in Gaza to deteriorate any further.
The International community, including the Irish Government, the EU and the USA, has to intensify its efforts to resolve the situation in Gaza.
There should be an end to all military activity in Gaza from both sides of the conflict but let's be clear - what is happening in Gaza is the slaughter of Palestinian people by an aggressive Israeli regime with high schools and crèches among the buildings targeted.
Innocent children have been killed and maimed and will continue to be targeted unless Israel calls a ceasefire.
All international diplomatic efforts must be focused on persuading the Israeli government to cease its operations in Gaza and end hostilities.
However, tough words alone will not move the Israeli government.
It is clear that the Israeli government is not listening.
The timing of the current Israeli offensive was as calculated as every other aspect of these operations. __
is no accident that these attacks occurred in the last weeks of the Bush presidency.
The Israeli assertion that its operations are in response to Hamas’ rocket attacks is threadbare. The rocket attacks should cease.
However, the timing of their current offensive is directly linked to Barack Obama’s move into the White House on January 20. It comes after a lengthy embargo on Gaza and the closing of border crossing.
Those responsible seem to be about making sure that the ongoing crisis in the Middle East is the new US President’s first foreign policy test.
The Israeli government has also rather cynically chosen to act just before that state is due to go to the polls._
My party colleagues Sinn Féin MEPs Bairbre de Brún and Mary Lou McDonald are calling for a suspension of the European-Mediterranean Association Agreement, which underpins preferential trade with Israel as a way of forcing Israel's hand and bring about a ceasefire and an end to the killing.
The Irish Government has a role to play here and should push this approach at EU level.
I would urge all international leaders to consider this approach and others to bring about an end to the killings in Gaza and to prevent a ground offensive from Israel.
World peace and stability is in the interests and responsibilities of all sovereign nations and that includes peace in the Middle East.
What is required is of course security for Israel and a free Palestinian state but the days of Israel using the excuse of security to slaughter innocent Palestinians must be brought to an end.
Otherwise we will see a continued cycle of conflict, death and destruction in the region.
The Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign has organised a demonstration against the invasion of Gaza for this Saturday assembling at the Art College Square at 12.30pm to march to City Hall.
Come along to add your voice to the thousands all over Europe and the Middle East who are calling for an end to the slaughter in Gaza.

Sinn Féin want education system based on needs of all our children and young people - Gerry Kelly

By Gerry Kelly
One of my most enjoyable tasks as an MLA in North Belfast are visits to our local schools.
The energy and commitment of principals, teachers and other school staff to provide the very best education possible for our children is inspiring and as a public representative it’s our duty to try to build on their successes.
Despite the successes however, there remains a shocking level of underachievement and the gap between the top achievers and those failed by the system is growing. How can you build a society based on equality when after 12 years of compulsory education around 12,000 of our young people do not achieve the necessary skills in English and Maths?
There are also groups of children who are losing out more than others because of these inequalities and this is particularly relevant to North Belfast given the make-up of the area.
In working-class communities 44 per cent of Protestant males and 41 per cent of Catholic males leave school without five good GCSEs.
Young people who have a disability, or are from ethnic and Traveller communities also suffer from inequalities in education.
Sinn Féin believes it is unacceptable that 4,500 children each year leave primary schools without adequate literacy and numeracy skills.
This simply can’t be allowed to go on. The education system needs radical reform. We can’t build an economy to benefit all our people if educational opportunity is not available on an equal basis to all in the community.
Therefore we fully support Caitríona Ruane’s decision to review the provision for children with additional needs, as well as reviews of the provision for children from the Traveller community and of the growing Irish medium education sector.
This is all part of a strategy being proposed by the Sinn Féin minister to raise standards in numeracy and literacy. The next plank of that strategy to deliver an education system fit for the 21st century is the establishment of the Education and Skills Authority, the most fundamental reform of the education system here for more than a generation.
This single authority replacing nine existing organisations, will streamline administration and make more funds available for schools.
The ESA will have a remit to deliver equality and raise standards for all children, ensuring that schools have the training, support and resources to provide the best education possible.
The ESA will also be democratically accountable as the majority of its members will be made up of local councillors, working on local committees, and it will report back to the minister and the Assembly.
The establishment of the ESA is only one of a number of reforms, which Sinn Féin proposes to modernise the education system.
The outdated Transfer Test has now been taken by primary school pupils for the last time.
It is almost impossible to find anyone who thinks the Transfer Test was a good idea. So why did we subject 10-year-old children to such stress for so long?
Why was the educational future of so many dependent on two one-hour high-pressure tests?
These tests labelled children as failures and denied them access to certain schools.
This test saw 95 per cent of children from Malone Road primary schools, who sat the 11-plus, transfer to grammar schools, compared to 26 per cent from the Shankill and 22 per cent from the New Lodge. This test owed more to social selection than academic ability. This was a postcode lottery in education.
We do not need to subject 10-year-old children to selection tests to put them on an educational route that is best for them.
The vast majority of education systems around the world manage to transfer children without any form of academic selection and produce excellent results. Why can we not learn from the experiences of Europe and the Americas?
It is widely accepted that 14 is a more appropriate age to decide on educational pathways when our young people currently choose their examination subjects.
At 14 they can be matched to educational provision that best meets their needs and abilities, whether that is academic, vocational or a combination of both.
I strongly support academic excellence and want our schools delivering the highest quality opportunities for every child, from their very first day in school.
I believe the reforms proposed by the Education Minister if given a fair wind will deliver a system based on equality, which is modern, effective and responsive to the needs of all our children and young people.

Sinn Féin welcomes key recommendations of the Bill of Right's Forum report

Gerry Kelly has welcomed key recommendations of the Bill of Right's Forum report that was released this week and said he was disappointed that 10 Commissioners had dissented from the report and that the DUP and UUP were continuing to oppose a Bill of Rights.
"The Bill of Rights is a fundamental part of the Good Friday Agreement and I believe it represents an incredible opportunity to make a real and positive difference to the lives of all our people and I welcome the handover of the Human Rights Commission advice as the next stage in this long process," the North Belfast Sinn Fein MLA said.
"But to those members of the DUP and UUP who continue to oppose a Bill of Rights, I would ask them to explain to their electorate, why they reject key rights for the people that they represent.
“If implemented, a Bill of Rights would compel government to take whatever possible steps it can in order to address the economic and social problems which face our people. "This isn't about Republican rights, nationalist rights, unionist or loyalist rights - it is about rights for all."

Kelly welcomes green energy project

North Belfast Sinn Féin MLA, Gerry Kelly welcomed ‘a positive’ green development to North Belfast news that a former landfill site in North Belfast will soon be providing electricity to thousands of homes as part of a multi-million pound green energy project.
Belfast City Council is hoping the unique joint venture, the biggest landfill generating electricity scheme in the north, will be producing five million watts of electricity every single hour by next summer.
“Given the current high price of electricity and its dependency on the price of world oil and energy prices this is a welcome initiative producing electricity from what we all would consider waste,” said Gerry Kelly.
“There has been a debate about the use of the North Foreshore site and the landfill that is situated there has raised a fair amount of controversy over the years but this development now sees a positive, green contribution come from the former landfill which will benefit people locally.”

Threats to community groups are contemptible - Kelly

North Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly has slammed the threats made by Continuity IRA against community groups working with statutory bodies in North Belfast.
Speaking a short while after the threats were made to Ashton Centre in the New Lodge and Wolfhill Community Centre in Ligoniel Gerry Kelly the threats are against the entire community.
"The threats are apparently in relation to the community sector in north Belfast holding multi-agency meetings in order to address pressing issues facing local people,” said Gerry Kelly.
“To have these threats made against them while they are working hard to improve the quality of life for people living in these neighbourhoods is contemptible.
“In short, these groups are now threatening the entire community. These community centres are at the heart of the localities they work in, and offer services that people of all ages and from all sections of the community use.
“They are well established and have on their premises facilities such as crèches, mother and toddler groups, after school clubs and senior citizen groups. Is there anyone who isn't on the target list?
“These threats must be lifted immediately. Those who have made them have no support whatsoever and these threats highlight what we already know, that these groups have no logical political direction or programme,” said the North Belfast MLA.
Community groups from throughout Belfast came together the Friday after the threats were issued in a show of solidarity with those threatened and in a call for the threats to be lifted.
At the meeting in the UNISON building on York Street, JJ Magee called for the immediate withdrawal of the threats.
“The Ashton was driven forward at a time when there was systematic British government denial of opportunity and resources into our community. We however did something about it,” said Magee.
“The Ashton building was financed through a community share scheme, it is owned by the community. We have struggled to access resources while also standing firm against all forms of injustice, coercion and discrimination.
“The Ashton Centre provides services right across the North Belfast community from Whitewell to Ardoyne and from New Lodge to Mount Vernon.
“Presently the Ashton Centre employs over 100 people and provides childcare places for hundreds of young children. This facilitates parents to return to work.
“Ashton also works with victims and the long-term unemployed while also providing educational pathways for thousands of people and contributes significantly to the local economy. On behalf of the Board I want to pay tribute to all our staff and all those community workers who refuse to be deflected from their services to our community at this difficult and challenging time for them and their families.
“Their courage is an inspiration to us all. The Ashton vision stands in marked contrast to the vision of the faceless people who have issued this threat,” said the Ashton Centre representative.
“Ashton will not be detracted from our mission of serving all communities. I stand here today to bring my voice and the voice of the Ashton Community Trust demanding that the Continuity IRA immediately and unconditionally withdraw this threat.”

NíSinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín and Agnes Fraser of Tar Isteach met with th Chuilín tells gas suppliers punitive rate of debt recovery is unrealistic

Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín and Agnes Fraser of Tar Isteach met with the CEO of Phoenix Gas recently to discuss concerns at high rates of debt recovery, in some cases up to £30 a week before a home gets one unit of gas.
Carál Ní Chuilín called on vulnerable people in fuel poverty not to let themselves be exploited by criminals offering to tamper with their gas supply.
“This is an extremely dangerous and lives are being put at risk with this practice,” says Carál.
Carál Ní Chuilín said that utility suppliers such as Phoenix should respond to the cuts in oil prices as many people in North Belfast are been forced to live without heat during the current cold spell.
“We are calling for gas suppliers like Phoenix to cut their bills when the oil prices fall just as quickly as they increase the bills when the oil prices rise,” said Carál.
“We welcome the pilot scheme which Phoenix have introduced to deal with those who have fallen into the trap of tampering with meters.
“However, we told Phoenix’s CEO in a recent meeting that we are concerned at the excessively high rate of recovery of the debt, in some cases people are being forced to pay up to £30 a week before their home gets even one unit of gas.
“We are extremely disappointed that our concerns were listened to but not taken into account. It is right that people should pay for the gas they have used and we would warn people that tampering with the supply is putting people and their kids’ lives at serious risk.
“But if Phoenix Gas think that this punitive rate of recovery of the money is realistic then Sinn Féin and advice workers are saying that you are forcing people into crisis upon crisis and into the hands of money lenders and unmanageable debt.”
Local advice worker Agnes Fraser said she felt that nothing had been achieved in the meeting.
“This is like something from a Dickens novel. I don’t think we achieved anything from the meeting despite making it clear that people in extreme poverty were being exploited.”
NIE have a max rate for those on benefit of £8.5 per week when recovering debt and Carál added:
“We will be raising this issue in the Assembly and it seems logical that there should be uniform regulation across all utility providers to cover these circumstances.”