NEWCASTLE GETS INVOLVED
Newcastle Co. Down, at the foot of the Mourne mountains
was the recent venue for the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Community Connect “Get
involved – South Down” event. The event which took place on Friday 3rd
October 2014 saw more than 50 people representing over 25 local community and
voluntary groups, gather together to learn more about the Northern Ireland
Assembly and meet their local MLAs.
The event
included “speed networking” sessions which allowed community groups and
individuals to get round the table with their constituency MLAs and put across
their views on local issues and voice their concerns.
Training
workshops and presentations on the work of the Assembly provided advice on how
groups can give evidence to Assembly Committees and contribute effectively to
Committee inquiries.
We spoke to some of the people attending the event to
find out what they thought. Harry Hughes
of The Cabbage Patchers told us
that until he attended the event, he didn’t know that he could have a say on
the way health and wellbeing care was delivered. Pat Ward, from Safe and Well, told us that this kind of engagement
was “the way forward for everyone”, and Nicholas
McCrickard of County Down Rural Community Network told us how the event has helped him to get his
group’s concerns across to local MLAs during the speed networking session.
You can hear more of what they had to say here.
We
also spoke to the local MLAs who took part in the event.
We
also spoke to the local MLAs who took part in the event. Caitríona Ruane MLA emphasised the importance of the community
sector knowing how the Assembly works, so that they can use the Assembly
effectively. Karen
McKevitt MLA told us that events like this are
important as MLAs can take groups’ concerns back to the Committees they sit on.
John McCallister MLA explained how
these events give the public and community groups the chance to interact with
MLAs and put forward the issues that affect each and every one of us, and Seán Rogers MLA told us how he felt
that events like this allowed MLAs to stay connected at a local level, giving
them a real opportunity to help their constituents.
You can listen to the full interviews with our MLAs here.
To find out more about the work of Assembly Community Connect please visit our webpage http://nia1.me/acc
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