Author Archives: admin

Ulster Unionist Party Health spokesperson Roy Beggs has learned that several staff members in the Royal Victoria Hospital have reported coming under pressure to ‘stop the clock’ to avoid breaching targets at the Accident and Emergency department. The revelation was made to the East Antrim MLA by the RQIA Director of Reviews.   Roy Beggs MLA said;   “It is unacceptable that staff working in the RVH Accident and Emergency unit should have to report to the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) that they have felt under pressure to ‘stop the clock’ to avoid twelve hour breaches at the hospital. These are extremely serious allegations.   “The Health Minister admitted in his recent statement to the Assembly about the A&E in the Royal that ‘it appears that concern about the 12 and 4 hour targets have led to some unacceptable behaviour by some staff.’   “During the Health Committee … Continue reading →

Ulster Unionist MLA for East Antrim, Roy Beggs, has joined Party Leader, Mike Nesbitt, in expressing his disappointment that the Secretary of State will not move to add the birthday of the Prince of Cambridge, son of the Duke of Cambridge, Baron Carrickfergus, to the list of designated days for flying the Union Flag at Stormont. Commenting Roy Beggs said; “I am aware that the Ulster Unionist Party Leader has been pressing the Secretary of State for additional official days which have been added in other parts of the United Kingdom since the deaths of senior members of the Royal Family. Since the passing of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret additional dates have been added in GB but none at Stormont resulting in a two day deficit on the original number of days that the flag was to be flown. “It seems only logical that the Secretary of State … Continue reading →

Ulster Unionist Party representative for East Antrim, Roy Beggs MLA has praised the new food partnership between Asda and the food redistribution charity Fareshare, following his site visit to Asda’s main NI distribution site in Larne. Roy Beggs MLA said “I was pleased to learn of the benefits of the FareShare partnership scheme in which pristine food which had been over supplied to Asda’s NI distribution centre in Larne is donated to the food charity, FareShare.  I would urge local charities in Carrickfergus, Larne and Newtownabbey to investigate the benefits of the FareShare scheme so that local East Antrim people can also benefit from the scheme. In the past because of logistical issues such as the cost of collection, over supplied food may have simply gone to waste.  Now Asda, with the support of their suppliers are redistributing surplus deliveries to the food charity FareShare.  The food is collected and … Continue reading →

East Antrim Ulster Unionist Party MLA, Roy Beggs has been encouraged when reading the new train timetable for the Larne Line, taking effect on Sunday 6th January.   Commenting, Beggs said;   “Following fears that there may be a less frequent rail service supplied to Larne Town, I am encouraged that this has not been the case. In the new Larne Line timetable, Translink indicate they will run a service from Larne Town on a largely hourly basis. This is very welcome news for commuters from Larne who may have been anxious in regard to the provision of train services in future. ”   During previous consultations Translink had indicated that the early morning train from Larne and the frequency of service away from the busy commuter times were under threat of being removed. The Larne Line Passenger Group lead a Use It or Lose It campaign to encourage more … Continue reading →

Ulster Unionist Party MLA Roy Beggs Jnr has commented on the latest unemployment figures which have been released today. They show that over the latest twelve month period there were a total of 4,311 proposed redundancies, an increase of 86% from the previous year (2,315). Currently there are 1,839 outstanding redundancies (that is, proposed but not confirmed), which is 141% higher than this time last year (762). East Antrim MLA Mr Beggs said: “For the month of October, more people (85) were made redundant in East Antrim that in any other constituency in Northern Ireland. This is undoubtedly related to the job losses at FG Wilsons in Larne kicking in. http://www.detini.gov.uk/deti-stats-index/stats-surveys/stats-redundancies.htm It is a sobering thought that as bad as the current figures are, they are likely to get worse once the impact of job losses at Pattons in Ballymena work their way through the system. Earlier this week I … Continue reading →