The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden MP has made his first visit to Northern Ireland after being appointed as Minister for Intergovernmental Relations. He met with Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly alongside NI Secretary Hilary Benn.
Following his exit from party politics, Stephen Farry is taking on a new role at Ulster University, leading their new Strategic Policy Unit with Jodie Carson. The former minister announced in September that he would step down as Alliance Party deputy leader.
Diana Armstrong has been co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) to replace Tom Elliot, who was elevated to the House of Lords in July. She will serve the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency.
Lagan Valley MP Sorcha Eastwood has ruled herself out as the next deputy leader of the Alliance Party, saying her focus is on Lagan Valley and that it is a “special job which I love and is a privilege to do”.
The Alliance Party has released a policy document named ‘No More Time to Wait’, with North Antrim MLA Sian Mulholland saying that a five-week wait for Universal Credit is ‘forcing some people to turn to illegal money lenders’.
The Derry City and Strabane Growth Deal has been signed by the Mayor and Executive Ministers at the Guildhall. More than £250 million will be invested in the region and it could bring up to 6,300 new jobs by 2033.
The leaders of the five main parties at Stormont have written to the Government calling them to restore funding for the remaining two City and Growth Deals, after they were paused on Friday evening by the Chancellor.
Stormont’s Minister for the Economy Conor Murphy is in North America leading a five-day trade mission, aiming to ‘strengthen economic ties and highlight Northern Ireland’s business strengths’.
The Northern Ireland Executive has launched their ‘Strategic Framework to End Violence Against Women and Girls’ in the Assembly today, with £3 million funding ringfenced to be invested in the strategy.
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