Bombers are 'morons' – Maskey

Sinn Féin Councillor Conor Maskey has slammed the 'morons' who planted an explosive device in the Lepper St area of the New Lodge at the start of the week.
The PSNI have cleared residents from their homes in the area after finding what they have described as a 'viable device' .
"Families have been cleared from their homes in Lepper Street following the find," said Conor Maskey.
"The only thing the morons who planted this device have achieved is to have people evacuated from their homes on a Sunday and disruption to the local area.
"I condemn this stupid act.
"There can be no justification at all for this type of activity which inflicts suffering on the whole of the community.
"No one wants this nonsense and it should stop now."

Children have run up serious debts with drugs dealers - Sinn Féin Councillor

“I have been approached by a number of mothers whose children have run up serious debts with drugs dealers,” said Sinn Féin Councillor Tierna Cunningham.
“These mothers are worried sick and very afraid for their teenage children.
“I am urging people to go to the police and give them any information on drug dealing in the area.
“I am also working alongside local community workers to bring in services to the area which will help any child who has been caught in the dealers’ web.”
Seán Mag Uidhir of Community Restorative Justice Ireland has urged people in Whitewell to “out the dealers”.
“The dealers can only ply their trade if they are allowed to remain in the shadows,” he said.
“The community needs to out the dealers, shine a spotlight on their activities and they should give the police any help needed to take these people out of circulation.”

Bairbre de Brún acceptance speech

“I would like to thank all of the Sinn Féin election workers and supporters and the team that has worked with me in the European Parliament in the last five years.
“The vote that I received in this election and the vote that my other party colleagues received throughout the country is a loud and clear endorsement of the work we have been doing at local, national and international level to build a society in which the politics of partnership, equality and accommodation has primacy.
“It is also an endorsement of the vision of an Ireland of equals in a Europe of equals which we have presented to the electorate and the work we have been doing to bring this about.
“Throughout the election campaign I said that as a society we have a choice - whether we want to move forward or to go back, whether we want division or whether we want to work together.
“We face many challenges - on jobs and the economy, on public services, on the environment and climate change and for our local communities our agriculture industry and our farm families.
“We must tackle the evil of sectarianism. We need decisive and positive political leadership from all parties - now more than ever.
“We in Sinn Féin will continue to provide such leadership, I can promise that.”

Welcome for green solution – Cunningham

Councillor Tierna Cunningham said she was delighted at the result of last night's Belfast City Council vote to reject incineration and opt instead for MBT (Mechanical Biological Treatment).

"I am delighted at the result of last night's vote firstly on behalf of my constituents in the Castle, Shore Road and Whitewell areas who would have had the proposed incinerator dumped on their doorstep.

"However, Sinn Féin are opposed to incineration schemes all over this island and indeed our MEP Bairbre de Brún has voted against incineration in the European Parliament.

"So our stand against the proposed North Foreshore incinerator was totally consistent nationally and internationally.

"Incineration is a lazy option in dealing with waste management and in supporting MBT we have gone instead for a positive green solution to the problem.

"There are no quick fixes to the problem of waste management but we believe that green energy solutions combined with reduced waste and increased recycling and reuse of materials is the way to go."

Polling station decision is height of nonsense - Ní Chuilín

Sinn MLA Carál Ní Chuilín has described a decision by the electoral office to force more than 400 voters in the New Lodge area to travel past their local polling station in next week's European election as "unreasonable and inflexible" and said it was yet another attempt to rob people of their right to vote.
“A polling station will be open next Thursday in the New Lodge Long Streets area," said Carál Ní Chuilín.
“However, the Electoral Office is insisting that hundreds of voters living in those streets have to go to another station at the other end of the area.
“I contacted the Electoral Office on behalf of my constituents as this is the height of nonsense.
“These people will actually have to walk by their local station on the way to vote. The Electoral Office have remained totally inflexible on this issue despite our efforts to reach a compromise.”
Ní Chuilín said that this is the latest in a series of attempts by the Electoral Office under the stewardship of Douglas Bain to make it as hard as possible for people to vote.
“The Electoral Office has already denied thousands of people postal and proxy votes, voter registration remains a mess and this latest bit of gerrymandering points up that there is either incompetence at work here or something more sinister.
“I am calling on people to come out next week and not allow the Electoral Office to rob them of their vote.”

Vote for change - Vótáil Sinn Féin - Vote de Brún