This election I am urging people to use their vote and vote the sitting councils out and make them fully accountable for their failures to keep election promise in the past, we have the opportunity for a new type of government with the creation of the super councils, the main political parties have littered the elections with the same faces and I ask you if our political make up does not change how can we ever expect government strategy to change.
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On the 22nd May, make the change we deserve and vote the sitting government outMagherafelt DEA Council Election 2014
The fight to keep residential services in Wesltand is over, but for how long. Already being hailed the brave conqueror of the Trusts by stopping them from closing these homes Edwin Poots must have a short memory as these closures were earmarked by a review which he initiated and by the very Trusts he claims to have control of.
While we are starting to see other political parties jump on the blame the Health Trust bandwagon, they must take a measure of responsibility for these themselves.
Magherafelt Council have yet to explain why after stating in the media that they had not given up on Mid Ulster Hospital that they did not even bother responding to Transforming Your Care.
Hi, I will be contesting the election in May 2014 in the Magherfelt DEA. Firstly many thanks to everyone who helped, supported and voted for me in the election. Not much has changed from then and we are still too poorly represented in government on issues that matter, in some areas we are not represented at all. This simply is not good enough There has to come a change of thinking in this country on what we expect of our political representatives, after the election we can either have more of the same or we can have something new. I am offering the new option. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but what I do have is the ability to hold government bodies to account. In the future when we see more cuts and changes in services do you want a politician who will bow down to health trusts and other boards like our previous councils did, or do you want someone you know and can trust in office represent your concerns and make sure your concerns are acted on. At the very basis of my campaign is Health. We have no political representation in health in this area, over the 2 year consultation into health in Northern Ireland despite being able to on two occasions Magherafelt Council did not respond. There was no representation for people in this area from the Council and Magherafelt Council was the only council in Northern Ireland not to reply on behalf of residents in its constituency. We were robbed of our Maternity, A&E and acute services, now we are being robbed of our community and social care services, this reduction of health services must end, and it is quite clear that none of the previous councils or elected parties were willing to fight for residents in this area. I responded to Transforming Your Care for Mid Ulster Hospital, Westland’s Nursing Home and residents across the Northern Trust in the form of 4 reports and attendance as several meetings. Magherafelt Council instead chose to meet with the Northern Health Trust and agree to shut down more services in the Mid Ulster area. In letters between Health Minister Edwin Poots and me he confirmed that Magherafelt Council & the Northern Trust acted outside of the consultation and the changes tabled were not part of the Transforming Your Care Process. This is a gross abuse of power where 2 government departments acted outside of a public consultation on the future of health services in secret, while the public who were not aware of this were responding to the consultation based on the information that was in the public arena. Why was this not brought out more at the time? It was because we had no political Representation as all the parties agreed to this, local and national politicians were able to bypass accountability as no one in office was willing to hold them to account. What we need is Representation in government, and I fully intend to give full representation and accountability in the new council if elected. As I mentioned health is my main issue it is not the only one, with larger councils now in competition with each other for trade, enterprise and tourism we need to build Mid Ulster as a destination for investment. With the new council having more powers than ever before we need people in government who are not part of the political party system that simply rolls over to directions given to them by their party members in the Assembly or can so easily be misled to by government Boards and Trusts Like before this will be an Independent Campaign, the best help that you can give me if you can is your time and your support again. I won’t have the ability like other parties to manipulate the voting process by standing many candidates to get a transfer vote and I won’t be playing up to tribal politics. The issues we face are very real and it will take new people in government to undo the harm that has been done in the past. I hope this reaches you well and I hope to see you all soon, Many Thanks Hugh McCloy “Your Health Is Your Wealth, Everything Else Is Negotiable” Election Poster 2011 |
Hugh McCloyArchives
May 2014
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