Tag Archives: funding

Swann calls for DEL backing for NRC

Posted on April 22, 2013 by rsmla

Mr Robin Swann, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and Chairman of the Stormont Employment and Learning Committee, has called on the Alliance Employment and Learning Minister to “unreservedly guarantee”that funding will be made available to develop the various campuses of the Northern Regional College (NRC). Assemblyman Swann, who is also North Antrim UUP Chairman and Party Chief Whip, said the Department of Employment and Learning must use its capital, due to lack of NRC reserves, in this budget period to commence design, planning permission and procurement of Coleraine Campus, which will be£30 million in 2014/15. “DEL must also bid for resources for NRC in next budget period. The DEL minister must ensure that capital works on the Ballymena campus will commence, subject to funding in 2014/15. Mr Swann said: “While these are very welcome announcements and I hope the DEL minister will stick to his guarantees … Continue reading →

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Swann urges Farming Minister to “declare war” on BVD

Posted on April 5, 2013 by rsmla

Mr Robin Swann, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and Chairman of the Stormont Employment and Learning Committee, has called on the Sinn Fein Farming Minister to “declare open and relentless war against the threat posed to the agricultural sector by Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD). Assemblyman Swann is also North Antrim UUP Chairman and Party Chief Whip as well as a Past President of the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster movement. Mr Swann said: “The Sinn Fein Farming Minister must ensure that all financial and physical resources are provided to local vets to combatthe impact of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) in the North Antrim constituency and she must give a guarantee that efforts are currently underway to combat the viral disease. “BVD causes a variety of clinical outcomes that range from the inapparent (sub-clinical) to the more severe including abortion, infertility, and immuno-suppression that underlies calf respiratory … Continue reading →

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Swann urges cash boost for pipe band scheme

Posted on January 27, 2013 by rsmla

At a presentation hosted by North Antrim UUP MLA ‘Promoting the Advancement of Pipe Band Music’ held in Parliament Buildings, Stormont are, Left to Right: Ray Hall (Chairman, RSPBNI), Arlene Graham (Vice Chairman, RSPBNI), Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster MLA, George Ussher (President of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association) and Robin Swann MLA. Mr Robin Swann, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and UUP Chief Whip, has challenged the Sinn Fein Culture Minister to “prove she is genuinely interested in equality by ear-marking specific funding for the Ulster-Scots pipe band fraternity in Northern Ireland. Assemblyman Swann, himself a keen pipe bandsman and a member of the Stormont Culture Committee, threw down the gauntlet to the republican minister after hosting a reception at Parliament Buildings to commemorate the world-wide success of Northern Ireland Pipe bands. Mr Swann said: “I was honoured, not just because of my own personal … Continue reading →

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Arthritis ‘at crisis level’, warns Swann

Posted on January 14, 2013 by rsmla

Mr Robin Swann, the Ulster Unionist North Antrim Assembly Member, has warned that specific funding needs to be given to the development of new drug treatments for arthritis as well as the provision of rehabilitation support services for sufferers. Assemblyman Swann, who is a member of the Stormont Culture and Agriculture Committees, warned if the health department did not follow this course of action, the illness could become the silent health crisis of the decade. Mr Swann said that after recent talks which he had had with arthritis support organisations and charities, he has been left in no doubt that arthritis in all its forms “is a major disease which affects a very significant proportion of people to some degree or other. In its most serious form, it is a major cause of absence from work and loss of employment. It can destroy the quality of life for many individuals … Continue reading →

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Swann calls for probe into DARD investigators

Posted on November 16, 2012 by rsmla

Mr Robin Swann, the North Antrim Ulster Unionist Party Assemblyman and member of the Stormont Culture and Agriculture Committees, has called for the Department of Agriculture’s Central Investigation Service (CIS) to appear before the Assembly’s Committee for Agricultural and Rural Development. Assemblyman Swann is a Past President of the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster and a past Chairman of the influential Rural Youth Europe organisation, as well as Chairman of the North Antrim UUP and Party Chief Whip. The North Antrim MLA spoke out following the leaked report of an independent review, which was entitled ‘Project Rainbow’ and which was instigated due to three of the unit’s five investigators making a series of “whistle-blowing allegations” in 2010. Mr Swann said: “When 60% of the staff involved in one department find it necessary to use whistle-blowing protocols to report concerns, it shows as the report states, ‘a severely fractured working relationship … Continue reading →

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