The Assembly must invest in education and skills

Workers Party representative in Upper Bann, Damien Harte, has criticised the short sightedness of the Assembly’s  economic strategy saying that it is more likely to lose jobs than it is to either create or attract them.

Damien was speaking following the announcement by Craigavon pharmaceutical company Almac that it was unlikely to be able to recruit up to 300 new staff locally because there were simply not enough people with the relevant qualifications.

“The Assembly is bending over backwards to reduce corporation tax for big businesses and is prepared to pay for that by slashing university places and the skills and training budget“, he said.

“Northern Ireland needs a highly skilled and qualified workforce but the Assembly would rather give tax breaks to the rich than invest in  young peoples’ futures and secure well paid employment. This is short sightedness in the extreme” Damien said.

“The Workers Party has said consistently that only a programme of public investment will turn the economy around and provide the jobs that will sustain and develop it, That investment must start with securing the education, training and skills to allow young people to apply for the jobs such as those being planned by Almac”, Damien concluded

Proud to be part of Pride

To mark the Belfast Pride Festival 2015 the Party will be hosting ‘Celebrate with Pride’ – a panel discussion on the current challenges facing the LGBT community in Northern Ireland .

The panel will include:

Sophie Long – academic researcher at Queen’s University and a member of the LGBT community

Mickey Murray – LGBT activist

Sean Og Garland, Party member and LGBT activist, and

Niall Dunne – Republic of Ireland Same Sex Marriage Referendum campaigner

Date: Thursday 30 July

Time: 8pm

Venue: Lower Falls Social  Club, Grosvernor Road, Belfast.

Gaza still needs support and solidarity

The 8 July 2015 marked the first anniversary of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The 50-day conflict began when Israel launched an intense air and ground assault allegedly to end persistent rocket fire from Gaza.

Damien Harte, the  Party’s representative in Upper Bann says, “a year on and not much has changed for the people of Gaza. The fallout from war keeps knocking on their door. They still endure long electricity shortages due to widespread damage to key civilian infrastructure and reconstruction has barely begun with shortfalls in International donations. We cannot forget these people in their humanitarian struggle“.

The Upper Bann branch will be taking part in a white line picket on Edward St, Lurgan, Friday 17th July at 7pm to  send a message of solidarity to the people of Gaza.

The  Party will also continue to support and raise awareness for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS Movement). The BDS campaign urges various forms of “non-violent punitive measures” against Israel until it “complies with the precepts of international law”.