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13/01/2023
Other News In Brief
GMcG Chartered Accountants Select Air Ambulance NI As 2023 Charity Partner
GMcG Chartered Accountants has selected Air Ambulance NI as its charity partner for 2023, continuing its tradition of supporting a local charity each year through a range of fundraising activities.
Air Ambulance NI is the charity that works in partnership with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service to provide the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service. The decision to partner with this charity was the result of a voting and selection process involving employees from across GMcG’s Belfast, Lisburn and Portadown offices. This approach is adopted by the firm to ensure the charity partner is the choice of employees.
GMcG Director Stephen Houston said: "Many of our employees have personal interest or experience with a range of local charities and it is with this in mind that we encourage them to provide charity nominations for our selection process.
"All of the suggested charities are of course very worthwhile causes and we are delighted to have partnered with Air Ambulance NI for the year ahead. We are really looking forward to working with the Air Ambulance NI team on a variety of events and fundraising activities, with the aim of raising funds as well as raising awareness of the important and often life-saving work of the charity."
Colleen Milligan, Business Development Project Manager at Air Ambulance NI, explained more about the important work of the charity: "The Air Ambulance team are needed on average twice per day and can be airborne in about 5 minutes and provide interventions at scene that can be the difference between life and death.
"As a local charity that relies so much on fundraising in aid of the service, all support is crucial and we are delighted to have the support of GMcG Chartered Accountants in 2023. Each day, Air Ambulance NI needs to raise £5,500 and all contributions make a difference."
Lack Of Executive Having 'Dangerous Impact' Of Health Service
The longer it takes for the Executive to be re-established the more serious and dangerous the crisis in the health service will become, Ulster Unionist Health Spokesperson Alan Chambers MLA has warned.
Alan Chambers said: "It is absolute madness that we are in the midst of the most difficult winter pressures ever to face the local health service and instead of a having an Executive in place overseeing the response and taking the actions necessary to see us through it, the system and the staff that work within it are being betrayed in the worst possible manner.
"The crisis facing our health service, both in scheduled and unscheduled care, is now costing lives. Thanks to the efforts of Robin Swann we have record numbers of staff in training and the short-term and longer-term plans in place, but now the health system is being denied the leadership it so desperately needs to effectively implement those plans.
"Of course the current problems are not unique to Northern Ireland, but the sheer breadth and scale of the pressures are. At least in Westminster, even with the current Government’s many failings, there are a team of Ministers in place trying to take charge of the situation. The Prime Minister only this week laid out his commitment to try and turn things around in the health service in England. Yet in Northern Ireland the only thing we can be sure of is that the longer the re-establishment of the Executive is blocked the worse things are going to get.
"I challenge those MLAs and the Party responsible to imagine spending one night in an Emergency Department, to watch staff and listen to the real distress from patients, and then try to state that what they are doing is still the best way forward for the people of Northern Ireland. It's not and they know it.
"Instead with each week that passes sadly more and more patients are coming to real harm and yet we have one political party that doesn't seem to care. It is abhorrent!"
NI Talks Will Be 'Missed Opportunities' Without A New Protocol Deal – DUP
Extensive political talks in Northern Ireland this week will be "missed opportunity" if the Protocol is not replaced with arrangements that can command the support of unionists, DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said.
Sir Jeffrey said: "Over recent months there has been a welcome realisation by all concerned that unionists do not support the NI Protocol and that the cross community consensus required for power sharing to function effectively has been lost. Furthermore it is now accepted, albeit reluctantly by some of its original cheerleaders that the Protocol as agreed cannot work in the real world. In light of all these realities it would therefore be important that it is understood any negotiated outcome will only work if it can command the support of the unionist community. If it does not then all the activities, discussions and negotiations of recent months will amount to little more than a missed opportunity.
"During his speech at Queen’s University, Labour Leader Sir Kier Starmer looked back at the importance of the principle of consent to the Belfast Agreement, and successor agreements, but few seem to recognise that the Protocol has eroded the foundations of that central pillar. No unionist MP or MLA supports the Protocol, yet it has been imposed on Northern Ireland with its consequent harm caused to our delicate political arrangements. Progress has only ever been achieved in Northern Ireland when supported by both unionists and nationalists.
"It would be a mistake to think that ‘any old deal will do’ in 2023 and that such an approach and outcome would re-establish the local political institutions. This is not a time for creative ambiguity or sticking plasters. Let us seize the moment and get a durable outcome that can command broad support.
"In July 2021 we sought to set out our policy position in advance of talks between the UK Government and the EU Commission. We published our seven tests and these tests remain the yardstick that we will use to assess any published outcomes or progress reports in the discussions.
"The impact of the NI Protocol on the delicate political balances in Northern Ireland, including its fundamental anti-democratic framework, caused the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive. There will be no basis for local governance until the Protocol is replaced with arrangements that command broad support and which restore Northern Ireland’s economic and constitutional place within the United Kingdom. We look forward to seeing that outcome achieved without further delay."
GMcG Chartered Accountants has selected Air Ambulance NI as its charity partner for 2023, continuing its tradition of supporting a local charity each year through a range of fundraising activities.
Air Ambulance NI is the charity that works in partnership with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service to provide the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service. The decision to partner with this charity was the result of a voting and selection process involving employees from across GMcG’s Belfast, Lisburn and Portadown offices. This approach is adopted by the firm to ensure the charity partner is the choice of employees.
GMcG Director Stephen Houston said: "Many of our employees have personal interest or experience with a range of local charities and it is with this in mind that we encourage them to provide charity nominations for our selection process.
"All of the suggested charities are of course very worthwhile causes and we are delighted to have partnered with Air Ambulance NI for the year ahead. We are really looking forward to working with the Air Ambulance NI team on a variety of events and fundraising activities, with the aim of raising funds as well as raising awareness of the important and often life-saving work of the charity."
Colleen Milligan, Business Development Project Manager at Air Ambulance NI, explained more about the important work of the charity: "The Air Ambulance team are needed on average twice per day and can be airborne in about 5 minutes and provide interventions at scene that can be the difference between life and death.
"As a local charity that relies so much on fundraising in aid of the service, all support is crucial and we are delighted to have the support of GMcG Chartered Accountants in 2023. Each day, Air Ambulance NI needs to raise £5,500 and all contributions make a difference."
Lack Of Executive Having 'Dangerous Impact' Of Health Service
The longer it takes for the Executive to be re-established the more serious and dangerous the crisis in the health service will become, Ulster Unionist Health Spokesperson Alan Chambers MLA has warned.
Alan Chambers said: "It is absolute madness that we are in the midst of the most difficult winter pressures ever to face the local health service and instead of a having an Executive in place overseeing the response and taking the actions necessary to see us through it, the system and the staff that work within it are being betrayed in the worst possible manner.
"The crisis facing our health service, both in scheduled and unscheduled care, is now costing lives. Thanks to the efforts of Robin Swann we have record numbers of staff in training and the short-term and longer-term plans in place, but now the health system is being denied the leadership it so desperately needs to effectively implement those plans.
"Of course the current problems are not unique to Northern Ireland, but the sheer breadth and scale of the pressures are. At least in Westminster, even with the current Government’s many failings, there are a team of Ministers in place trying to take charge of the situation. The Prime Minister only this week laid out his commitment to try and turn things around in the health service in England. Yet in Northern Ireland the only thing we can be sure of is that the longer the re-establishment of the Executive is blocked the worse things are going to get.
"I challenge those MLAs and the Party responsible to imagine spending one night in an Emergency Department, to watch staff and listen to the real distress from patients, and then try to state that what they are doing is still the best way forward for the people of Northern Ireland. It's not and they know it.
"Instead with each week that passes sadly more and more patients are coming to real harm and yet we have one political party that doesn't seem to care. It is abhorrent!"
NI Talks Will Be 'Missed Opportunities' Without A New Protocol Deal – DUP
Extensive political talks in Northern Ireland this week will be "missed opportunity" if the Protocol is not replaced with arrangements that can command the support of unionists, DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said.
Sir Jeffrey said: "Over recent months there has been a welcome realisation by all concerned that unionists do not support the NI Protocol and that the cross community consensus required for power sharing to function effectively has been lost. Furthermore it is now accepted, albeit reluctantly by some of its original cheerleaders that the Protocol as agreed cannot work in the real world. In light of all these realities it would therefore be important that it is understood any negotiated outcome will only work if it can command the support of the unionist community. If it does not then all the activities, discussions and negotiations of recent months will amount to little more than a missed opportunity.
"During his speech at Queen’s University, Labour Leader Sir Kier Starmer looked back at the importance of the principle of consent to the Belfast Agreement, and successor agreements, but few seem to recognise that the Protocol has eroded the foundations of that central pillar. No unionist MP or MLA supports the Protocol, yet it has been imposed on Northern Ireland with its consequent harm caused to our delicate political arrangements. Progress has only ever been achieved in Northern Ireland when supported by both unionists and nationalists.
"It would be a mistake to think that ‘any old deal will do’ in 2023 and that such an approach and outcome would re-establish the local political institutions. This is not a time for creative ambiguity or sticking plasters. Let us seize the moment and get a durable outcome that can command broad support.
"In July 2021 we sought to set out our policy position in advance of talks between the UK Government and the EU Commission. We published our seven tests and these tests remain the yardstick that we will use to assess any published outcomes or progress reports in the discussions.
"The impact of the NI Protocol on the delicate political balances in Northern Ireland, including its fundamental anti-democratic framework, caused the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive. There will be no basis for local governance until the Protocol is replaced with arrangements that command broad support and which restore Northern Ireland’s economic and constitutional place within the United Kingdom. We look forward to seeing that outcome achieved without further delay."
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