Speaking ahead of a weekend of planned disruption across Northern Ireland, Ulster Unionist Party Deputy Leader and MLA for Lagan Valley, Robbie Butler, has made the following statement.

“Today’s announcement by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust to cancel vital Community Services around Belfast due to planned protests in the City Centre should be a stark reminder to those who are at the centre of organising or participating in the disruption that their actions are hurting absolutely everyone, particularly the most vulnerable, and it needs to end.

“The loss of these services will mean hundreds of missed GP appointments, missed day centre respite for learning disabled clients and many missed appointments for things like speech & language or physiotherapy, adding to an already dangerously backlogged health service.

“This week I have been contacted by elderly constituents afraid to go to the shops, parents who are fearful for their children’s safety when school returns and community health workers who are frightened about doing their jobs in certain areas.

“Whilst Northern Ireland is not suffering these race hate tensions alone, we really should know better and be able to react to what really should be called political failure.

“After decades of conflict, where paramilitaries ruined the lives of thousands of lives, young men in particular, we once again see our young people being manipulated and bombarded with false and hateful words, being drawn into a conflict which is not theirs. Those who are responsible for ruining these young lives need to be held to account.

“I urge everyone to take a pause and consider that the failings we are all impacted by are not the fault of migrants, but of politics in many jurisdictions. The failure to have a government here for 5 years from the past 8 has infinitely had more of a negative impact on the housing waiting list and our crumbling health service, than any other issue.

“Let’s put our children first, not on a protest line or filling their minds with hate, but by doubling our efforts to fix what is broken and to build a Northern Ireland that we can all be proud of and that they will want to be part of!”