Brown O'Connor Communications Weekly Look Ahead: Week Commencing 6 July

Forward Look

  • The Executive parties are to meet later today to discuss deputy First Minister’s Michelle O’Neill’s attendance at the funeral of Bobby Storey.

  • Hotels, bars, restaurants and cafes in Northern Ireland can reopen from today provided they adhere to social distancing measures.

  • Finance Minister Conor Murphy MLA has allocated a further £250m to departments as part of the June Monitoring Round, including £90m for the health service, £12m for Free School Meals, and £20m for business start-ups and tourism.

  • A contact tracing app is expected to be released in Northern Ireland before the end of July. 

  • West Belfast MLA Pat Sheehan has started initial work on a soft opt-out organ donation Bill in the Assembly.

  • The wearing of face coverings on most buses, trains and ferries will be mandatory in NI from 10 July.

  • The Department for Infrastructure and 10 local councils have jointly awarded a contract for a new regional planning IT system, worth £14m. 

  • Fianna Fáíl leader Micheál Martin was appointed Taoiseach on Saturday and is expected to visit Northern Ireland in the coming week. For a full list of Cabinet ministers and Junior minsters, visit this link.

  • A landmark £13.25m funding package and commissioning agreement for community pharmacy in Northern Ireland has been announced by Health Minister Robin Swann MLA.

  • Oral Questions to the First and deputy First Ministers and the Health Minister will take place on Tuesday 7 July.

  • The Committee for Infrastructure will bring a motion to the Assembly on Tuesday 7 July on the concerns over Covid-19 guidance and financial support to industry sectors, including the taxi, haulage, driving instruction, and private hire bus and coach sectors.

  • Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon MLA will brief the Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday 8 July.

  • Department of Education Permanent Secretary Derek Baker will brief the Education Committee on Covid-19 issues on Wednesday 8 July. 

  • Invest NI Chief Executive Kevin Holland will brief the Economy Committee on Wednesday 8 July.

  • Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín MLA will brief the Communities Committee on Wednesday 8 July.

  • Officials from the Department for Infrastructure and Department for Communities will give evidence on the inquiry into major capital projects to the Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday 8 July.

  • The All Party Group on Social Enterprise will meet on Monday 6 July.

  • The Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee will meet in private session on Wednesday 8 July.

Other Stories this week

  • Data company AquaQ Analytics is creating 123 new jobs in Belfast in an £8.3m investment.

  • Margaret Kelly has been appointed the new Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman.

  • Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín MLA has announced the appointment of six new members to the Board of the Arts Council of NI, including former Sinn Féin MLA Máirtín Ó Muilleoir. The Minister also allocated £4m to the arts sector to deal with Covid pressures.

  • Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon has announced that the planning application for the Dalradian gold mine in County Tyrone is to be the subject of an independent public inquiry.

  • Belfast City Council has completed a research paper on the Dublin-Belfast Economic Corridor and submitted it to the North South Ministerial Council for further consideration.

  • The UK’s top civil servant, Cabinet Minister Sir Mark Sedwill, has confirmed he plans to stand down from the role in September.

  • MLAs have voted to give the Assembly Commission the authority to set the allowances paid to cover assembly members’ office and staff costs.

  • Former Lord Mayor of Belfast Niall Ó Donnghaile has been appointed Sinn Féin’s Seanad group leader. 

  • Phil Hogan, Ireland’s European Union commissioner, has pulled out of the race to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation.

  • International Trade Secretary Liz Truss MP has announced the establishment of a Trade and Agriculture Commission to advise ministers on the UK’s approach to post-Brexit trade agreements.

  • Green Party Councillor Hazel Chu has been elected Lord Mayor of Dublin.

  • An additional 40 AHP undergraduate training places at Ulster University have been announced by the Department of Health.

  • Planning permission is being sought for a €150m film, studio and media campus on an almost 50-acre site in Greystones, Co Wicklow, which could create more than 1500 jobs.

Consultations