Nominations are in!

Last Thursday our two East Antrim MLA candidates for the NI Assembly at Stormont were officially nominated. A number of Council candidates and Party members joined the candidates and their Election Agents at the Newtownabbey Electoral Office. Roy Beggs, our current MLA, and Rodney McCune will be two excellent representatives and I wish them all the best on 5th May.

Later that night, two teams set out to begin putting up the posters for the campaign. The posters look great and we managed to get over 100 posters up before 1.30am!

On Monday morning, our Carrickfergus Council candidates were nominated (John Stewart, Andrew Wilson, Beryl McKnight, Cathy Vizard and Cllr. Eric Ferguson) and 3 of our Larne Council candidates were nominated that afternoon (Alderman Roy Beggs, Cllr. Andy Wilson and Maureen Morrow). Again, I wish the best of luck to this excellent group of candidates on 5th May!

I was finally nominated yesterday with Darin Ferguson, and the campaign has now officially started, exactly one month before election day. I was greatly encouraged by the words of support given to me when speaking to the 10 people who nominated me, and I am looking forward to a very busy month ahead.

Election leaflets should be arriving tomorrow, and posters by the weekend. Remember to contact me or any of the team if you have any questions or suggestions. On May 5th vote UUP, dedicated local voices listening to local people and working for YOU!

Connecting YOUR Council

As a Candidate for Larne Borough Council, one of my aims is to engage more people with the Council, especially young people. I want more people to take an interest in what the Council is doing in their name, since the Council represents the people of Larne.

There are many  ways in which this could be achieved: through better use of the Internet and social networking sites to keep people up to date and connected with the Council, working closely with the schools and other organisations in the borough to allow young people to experience the Council Chamber when it is sitting. 

Ultimately, I would like to see Larne Borough Council leading the way with a Youth Council. This would not only engage young people with the Council hopefully into their later years, but it would also give them the platform to express their concerns and ideas in a way that would help the Council to connect with the youth, making the communication two-way.

Currently, the main ways for people to know what is happening in the Council Chamber are to attend meetings in person, or to read the minutes online. Since it has been exactly 2 months since the last set of minutes was uploaded to the website, I have written the following letter to Geraldine McGahey, the Chief Executive of Larne Borough Council. I await her reply...

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24 March 2011

FAO: The Chief Executive

Dear Geraldine,

I am writing to enquire about Larne Borough Council’s procedures for publishing Council and Committee minutes on its website. As of today, the last available minutes are from 24^th January 2011 – exactly two months ago. During this period, two separate organisations in which I am involved have been the subject of business in various meetings, yet we are unable to view the relevant minutes.

Being the Secretary of several organisations, I know the importance of preparing official minutes as soon as possible after a meeting in order that all action points may be dealt with. I assume that the minutes of Council and Committee meetings for February and March have been prepared but not uploaded to the website.

I myself have previously made use of the availability of Council minutes online, and I know others who do the same. Publishing all minutes on the LBC website is not only good practice in making the proceedings publically available, but it also helps to engage members of the general public and those organisations affected by and with an interest in Council proceedings.

I should be grateful if you could advise me as to the procedure followed by those concerned with the taking and preparation of minutes, and would urge you to encourage prompt preparation and publishing of these documents as soon as possible after the meeting takes place.

Looking forward to receiving your reply, and awaiting the publication of the minutes,

Yours sincerely

Mark R W McKinty

Building Strong Leadership in Ballycarry!

I am pleased to be one of 5 members from Ballycarry Community Association (along with David, Carla, Lesley, and Carol) taking part in the Community Leadership Programme (CLP) organised by NICVA and funded by the International Fund for Ireland. This is the third (and final) year of the course, which will be a huge boost for the Ballycarry community.

Through training, facilitation and workshops the CLP will empower our group to make real differences in the local community. It will help the local community to take ownership of our  development and offers external support from NICVA and the University of Ulster. This programme will build the capacity of Ballycarry Community Association so that we will be able to work together to address issues, network with others and influence policies that effect local people’s lives. More importantly, however, we will be able to run a Community Association which is a vibrant group, organising events which matter to the people of Ballycarry.

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago at the first Round Table event, held in Galgorm, at which we met our facilitator, Bernard Black, got to hear from other successful groups in the programme, and had a really useful brainstorming session about what areas we need to improve on. I am looking forward to taking part in the workshops over the coming year, which will no doubt compliment the encouraging work of the revitalised Community Association over the past year.

 Our first session with our facilitator will be held in the Community Centre later this month, and then NICVA will carry out a governance survey on how the Association is actually run, making suggestions for improvement. The programme will also give us the opportunity to test our new and improved skills in organising a project in the Village, funded by the IFI.

Thanks must go to Dr. David Hume MBE for his hard work in securing this fantastic opportunity for the Ballycarry community. I'm sure I will update in the near future with more information on how we are all getting on...

Pleased to support the Ulster Cancer Foundation

Despite all the snow and cold weather, we still managed to get out and about a bit over the Festive period to play Christmas carols. Magheramorne Silver Band do this every year, choosing a different charity every year. This year we decided to support the work of the Ulster Cancer Foundation and were glad to have raised the sum of £700, despite the various cancellations due to the snow and bad road conditions.

Well done to all members of the band who came along to the various events at such a busy (and cold!) time of the year - but an even bigger thanks to all those who donated to this very worthwhile cause. Thank you!

This is the article that I wrote for this week's Larne Times following last week's cheque presentation to the charity. (Click on the image for a closer view.)

Selection as Council Candidate

On Friday 7th January 2011 I was honoured to have been selected by the Larne Division of the Ulster Unionist Party to stand as a candidate at the forthcoming Local Council elections in May 2011. I am delighted with the support which has been shown to me by my colleagues in both the Larne Division and the East Antrim Association of the UUP. 

Last Saturday,  5th February, saw the UUP Party Executive ratify my candidature for the Larne Lough District Electoral Area of Larne Borough Council. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Larne Lough, the current Mayor, Andrew Wilson, and the former East Antrim MP, Roy Beggs. The Larne Lough DEA has been my home for most of my life, and I look forward with excitement to meeting and interacting with constituents and finding out what issues really matter to them in their daily lives.

I plan to use this blog for that very purpose; to communicate with readers, letting you know what I am up to, what I think and believe in, and how I am getting on out and about with the canvassing team. I would really appreciate if you could share your views and ideas with me about what matters to YOU, and how the Ulster Unionist Party and our team in East Antrim and Larne Borough can help out.