City set to fight back in public jobs shake-up
Thursday, 9 October 2008
LOCAL Assemblymen and senior officials from Armagh Council will meet at Stormont today (Wednesday) for the start of a campaign to bring public sector jobs to the city.
The move follows last week's announcement by Sir George Bain that 5,000 positions would be moved to six locations outside Belfast.
But Armagh - despite its reputation as a hub for public administration - has been ignored in the departmental shake-up, it has been claimed.
Danny Kennedy - the Ulster Unionist Assembly Group Leader - said all six MLAs for Newry and Armagh were being invited to take part in today's talks at Stormont.
Indeed, Mr Kennedy has already requested a meeting with Finance and Personnel Minister Nigel Dodds to discuss the fall-out from last Tuesday's announcement by Sir George.
Also attending today's discussions will be Armagh Council chief executive John Briggs and other senior officials, together with councillors who serve on the local authority's executive committee.
While Newry was one of the six locations earmarked as a new base to which jobs would be relocated, Mr Kennedy said all were far from happy that Armagh - the other half of this twin-city constituency - was being overlooked.
With the Bain report - 'A Review into the Location of Public Sector Jobs' - now open to consultation, the Ulster Unionist told the Gazette it was "very important to keep the political pressure at a maximum" in a bid to overturn the recommendations.
Said Mr Kennedy: "I am extremely disappointed at the exclusion of Armagh City from Sir George Bain's report on the decentralisation of public sector jobs in Northern Ireland.
“I strongly believe the City of Armagh has the necessary infrastructure in place to be worthy of consideration and I very much regret that a real opportunity for the Armagh area - to harness the potential and energy of its community - has been lost as a result of its omission from the decentralisation report.
“I, along with other MLAs, will be meeting with senior officials and local representatives of Armagh City and District Council to devise a plan of action on this matter.
“The exclusion of the City of Armagh from Sir George Bain's report is a very important issue to the local area and is one that all local representatives will want to work together on to achieve a successful outcome".
SDLP Assemblyman Dominic Bradley said the team tasked with compiling the report - as headed by Sir George Bain - had failed to recognise the huge importance of public sector jobs for the future of Armagh City and District.
He stated: "As we move into the Review of Public Administration, Armagh faces many challenges and I am extremely disappointed that it has not been identified as a location under this review.
“I will continue to work with my colleagues on Armagh City and District Council to lobby for public sector and, indeed, private sector jobs for Armagh.
“I firmly believe that Armagh has the capacity, the facilities and the workforce to offer any employer, in both public and private sectors, as it draws its workforce from across Armagh City and District, as well as large parts of Tyrone and County Monaghan".
But the independent review by Sir George Bain said the relocation would create a "better economic balance" in Northern Ireland overall.
The report said up to 5,000 jobs should be moved from Belfast, with the north west a key relocation target.
The review recommends decentralisation to six locations - Ballymena, Coleraine, Craigavon, Londonderry, Newry and Omagh.
Sir George said an improved geographical spread would bring economic benefits.
“Our primary consideration is better regional economic balance, to ensure and sustain employment over time to create a coherent career structure for public servants in local areas," he stated.
Any relocation should be introduced on a phased basis.
“Implementing our recommendations will be challenging and require strong leadership, but I believe that by doing so we will help to enhance the sustainable economic and social development of Northern Ireland," added Sir George.
“We believe that these locations and organisations provide this, not only for the towns and cities selected but, importantly, the surrounding areas".
