Brown O’Connor Communications Weekly Look Ahead: Week Commencing 27 July 2020

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Forward Look

  • Face coverings in shops could become mandatory from 20 August if most people do not use them voluntarily. The Executive also announced that indoor pubs and non-food bars can reopen on 10 August.

  • A Northern Ireland coronavirus contact tracing app, Stop Covid NI, will be launched next week.

  • The UK and EU have both said they still remain some way off reaching a post-Brexit trade deal following the latest round of negotiations in London.

  • Health Minister Robin Swann MLA has said he intends to hold a consultation into introducing a soft opt-out system for organ donation in Northern Ireland, where adults would automatically become donors unless they explicitly state otherwise.

  • Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots MLA has said introducing a climate change act within three months is an “impossible” timeframe, after MLAs backed a motion calling for the act to be introduced at Stormont.

  • The North-South Ministerial Council will meet on Friday 31 July in Dublin for the first time in over three years.

  • The Chancellor has launched the 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review which will be published in the autumn. The review will set out the government’s spending plans for the parliament.

  • Paul Kennedy has withdrawn himself from the process to be appointed NI Assembly Standards Commissioner after he was expected to be appointed this week. The appointment process continues.

  • A review into the UK’s fintech industry has been launched by the Treasury to identify opportunities to support further growth in the sector.

  • The Department for International Trade has announced new support to help NI’s tech industry bounce back from the impact of Covid-19.

  • The Assembly will sit in plenary on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 July before rising for its summer recess. Business will include the Further Consideration and Final Stages of the Executive Committee (Functions) Bill.  

  • TEDxStormont will go virtual for the first time this year from Monday 27 July to Saturday 1 August. Health Minister Robin Swann MLA and former NI Secretary of State Julian Smith MP will be among those in conversation at this year’s TEDxStormont Summer Camp. To register and for more information, follow this link.

Other Stories this week

  • A Youth Assembly for Northern Ireland will be introduced for young people aged 13 to 21. 

  • The UK Parliament rose for its summer recess on Wednesday and will return on Tuesday 1 September.

  • The SDLP is to establish a New Ireland Commission, a forum to “take forward the work of engaging with people and communities on future constitutional arrangements on the island of Ireland”.

  • The Irish Government has published a list of 15 ‘safe’ countries which are free from coronavirus travel restrictions despite Irish ministers encouraging people to continue to avoid international travel. The US and Great Britain did not make the list.

  • The UK Government “badly underestimated” the threat and potential of Russian interference in British democracy, according to a report by the Intelligence and Security Committee.

  • The first meeting of the New Decade New Approach Joint Board was held this week between the First and deputy First Ministers and the NI Secretary of State. The board is intended to review use of funding provided under the agreement.

  • Independent TD Catherine Connolly has been voted the new Leas Cheann Comhairle of the Dáil, becoming the first woman to hold the role in the parliament’s history.

  • Eamon Ryan has been re-elected as leader of the Green Party, beating challenger Catherine Martin by 994 votes to 946.

  • Plans have been approved for the construction of Phase II of Belfast Harbour’s Giant Studios.

  • The Public Health Agency has identified 16 Covid-19 clusters since the contact tracing scheme went live in May. A small number of employees at a Moy Park site in Ballymena have contracted the virus.

  • Impartial Reporter journalist Rodney Edwards is leaving the Fermanagh paper to join the Sunday Independent.

Consultations