Stephen Nicholl

The death of Dr John Hinds in a motorcycle accident was a tragedy for his family, the motorcycling fraternity and indeed the wider community through the loss of a talented medical practitioner. His passing has led to renewed calls for the introduction of an air ambulance to Northern Ireland, a cause he had championed for some time. It is a cause which in the right circumstances will provide additional benefit to the delivery of pre-hospital emergency care in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately at this time those circumstances do not yet exist. Amongst the circumstances required is the need for a sustainable ambulance service capable of meeting the existing requirements in terms of service delivery. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service requires additional funding and resources in order to meet these requirements. In a response to Kathleen Torney of The Detail published on 26 June 2014 NIAS Chief Executive Liam McIvor highlighted some of the difficulties facing the servic...

I never really got the fascination with Giant Hogweed until I actually saw it in person. It's big, really big and from what those who have touched it tell me very, very nasty. I've asked Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to take action wherever this is growing on council property and to engage other landowners where it is an issue. I've also asked for warning signs to be put up warning people of the dangers.

The news of the collapse of the proposal for a world class police and fire service training college at Desertcreat comes as no surprise to those of us who questioned the need and financial sustainability of the project in the first place. While local politicians, rightly, sought the investment, any investment in their area those at a higher level were distracted by all that glittered and failed to realise the proposal was not gold. Strategic planning must be about more than considering which papers carry the photo of the cutting of the first sod. 

The comments below were first made on a previous blog I had in 2012 but are, I think just as relevant. Instead of just reforming the institutions, reducing the number of departments, reducing the number of MLA’s Councillors and MP’s why don’t we take a further step and change the way we think about politics and politicians. For many people inside and outside the system politics is about power, yet such a term sums up the inadequacies within the current system. Power can be used for good or bad, in fact it doesn’t have to be used all it can just be held onto to prevent others from getting access to it. Do power politics meet the needs of society, not if that power isn’t used to generate the changes needed to improve society. If we are to change society we must start by changing the concept of politics from being about taking power to one of taking responsibility. What difference would we see if those who were elected were held personally responsible for every child growing up in poverty...

I had a thought the other day about what I wanted to achieve in politics, be a councillor or did I want to be an MLA, was being a MP the ultimate achievement. After thinking about the options I came to the conclusion it was none of these. I want to change the world. That's not the mad ranting of a megalomaniac it may seem, I'm no Bill Gates, I haven't found a cure for something nasty but I do want to change the world. Maybe not the whole world but each day I try to change someone's world for the better. I might help someone with a welfare appeal, get a house, a planning issue, an issue with a school and many more. For each person I help I change their world, sometimes substantially. So why politics? Well, instead of changing the world one person one day at a time I want to make bigger decisions for more people all at once. Instead of one appeal, make the assessment process fairer so that more people get what they are entitled too without the trauma of an appeal. I...

Today we learned of the passing of Lord Molyneaux, Jim as he was widely known. I first met Jim through his nephew Ian, a friend from school. Once we were old enough to drive a group of us would regularly head out the road to Crumlin to Ian's home farm. Nestled behind high hedges was Jims home and at that time stalking the farm buildings were the police guards ever present. Frequently as we tucked in to Ian's mums home baking Jim would drop in to say hello. His quiet demeanour and ways in keeping with the dignity with which he served the constituency. I learned then that politics was not about shouting, it was and remains about talking, with the quiet confidence of being right. I last spoke to Jim a few years ago at the local agricultural show as he sat at the UUP stand enjoying the weather and the craic. Already showing the signs of the illness that would dull his sharp mind he still focussed intently when the conversation turned to Westminster and politics. As an Ulster Unioni...

Delighted to say that the creation of a healthy community has been recognised as a key objective in the corporate plan for Mid and East Antrim Council after the consultation on the draft flagged up that it was not given a high enough priority.