Waringstown Branch - Ulster Unionist Party

01/09/2026

🇬🇧Lest We Forget. 🇬🇧

01/09/2026

One commissioner, Billy Gamble, who had attracted criticism, resigned from his post on Thursday.

01/09/2026

We look forward to celebrating the success of the 2026 season at our Awards Night at the end of Sept.

Book on our website or through the link below:

https://waringstowncricketclub.clubforce.com/products/membership

01/09/2026

Northern Ireland has the talent, resources and potential to be one of the best places in these islands to live, work, raise a family and build a business. But for too long, our politics has focused on managing division rather than delivering success.

In this article, I set out the work ahead: reforming Stormont, fixing our skills system, unlocking housebuilding, improving health and justice, growing tourism and ensuring our young people can build their futures here.

Decline, delay and dysfunction are not inevitable. Our people and businesses are ready for Northern Ireland to fulfil its massive potential. It is time for ambition, new leadership and real change.

01/09/2026

And what a contrast !!!

A really disappointing response and example of selective outrage from Sinn Fein.

When the Fleadh came to Belfast, Unionists embraced it. Many attended, participated and enjoyed a celebration of Irish music and culture. On this very page we shared photos and videos of our own Upper Bann members proudly bringing our tradition to those celebrations.

Yet when it is Unionist culture being celebrated, we hear that it is “absolutely atrocious” and “totally unacceptable”. Unionist culture has every bit as much right to be seen, heard and celebrated as Irish culture.

Unionism embraced the Fleadh and their inclusion made the whole event all the better for it. Is it really too much to expect from Sinn Fein that our right to cultural identity and expression is respected in return?

A shared society makes space for both traditions. Rights, equality and respect work both ways.

01/09/2026

𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆

Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA has welcomed the Secretary of State's decision to order an independent judge-led review of the Parades Commission, but called for its terms of reference to be widened significantly.

Jon Burrows MLA said:

“An independent, judge-led review is the right course of action. It is what Portadown District itself requested, and I support that call. However, the review's terms of reference must extend beyond processes and procedures.

“It must examine the Commission's working practices, training and culture, and be explicitly tasked with recommending any necessary legal changes, including the creation of an appeals mechanism for Parades Commission determinations. It should also establish whether other flawed determinations have been made.

“The terms of reference should therefore be widened, the judge should be granted full access to the Commission's documentation, and the final report must be published in full within a clearly defined timescale. Reporting privately to the Secretary of State on procedural matters alone would not be sufficient.

“On the commissioners, I have been clear that confidence has been lost. Steps should now be taken to appoint fresh commissioners in a timely and orderly manner.

“There is a pattern here that extends beyond the present Secretary of State. Successive governments have shored up the Parades Commission and defended its processes, despite failures that were apparent to many of us long before they were identified by the courts. We now need a proper reset to ensure that the Commission commands confidence across the community.

“What has been exposed is not simply an isolated error. For years, there has been a perception that the Commission arrived at determinations it had already settled upon, regardless of the representations made to it. We now know that a commissioner privately described mediation on this parade as a non-starter. The Parades Commission is supposed to make decisions objectively, not engage in predetermined rubber-stamping.

“I encourage the Secretary of State to meet promptly with Portadown District. These are the men at the centre of this matter. They pursued their case through the courts and were vindicated.

“Finally, this is a time for cool heads and a clear focus on solutions. This parade needs to be resolved permanently and peacefully. Twenty-eight years of litigation and stalemate has served nobody, and another twenty-eight would serve nobody either. Northern Ireland has made great progress in recent years, and it is vital we never return to the dark days of the past. We must all work within the law, and in a spirit of mutual respect, to find a lasting resolution to this and to other sensitive issues.”

31/08/2026

On Monday evening we said a heartfelt farewell to our friend Ryan Harris.

We are wishing Ryan all the very best as he begins his journey towards ordination in the Methodist Church.

After 14 years of ensuring everything runs smoothly behind the scenes at the Civic Centre, Monday night’s council meeting saw him carry out his familiar duty as Mace Bearer for the final time.

Ryan was always quietly getting on with things, reliable and a good friend to all of us in the UUP.

Every blessing for this new chapter, Ryan. We look forward to following your journey.

🌟

31/08/2026

30/08/2026

The political and media noise in Northern Ireland has been getting worse in recent weeks, not better.

Meanwhile, the issues that will actually determine our future rarely receive the passionate attention they deserve.

The cost-of-living pressures and lack of affordable childcare that leave working families wondering whether their effort is genuinely rewarded.

The prospect of a falling and ageing population, and what that means for our economy, public services and future.

A failing wastewater system that prevents homes being built in more than 100 places, forcing people away from their families and driving up house prices and rents. The same infrastructure crisis is stopping businesses from expanding and creating jobs.

A painfully slow planning system that frustrates investment and prevents businesses and farmers from growing.

A brain drain caused by the lack of a proper skills pipeline and enough university places for our own young people. Leaving Northern Ireland should be a choice, not a necessity - and those who leave should have opportunities worth returning for.

How we harness artificial intelligence, with the right ethical guardrails, to create wealth, improve productivity and secure good jobs.

A justice system so slow that it lets down those who need it most, with victims losing hope and dropping out.

An economic inactivity rate of around 26%, the highest in the United Kingdom and entirely unsustainable. It also means limited support is stretched more thinly, making it harder to help those who genuinely cannot work.

A properly connected transport system - and the basic assurance that, if you choose the train, there will actually be somewhere to park.

I could go on.

Northern Ireland has achieved a great deal. We have world-class businesses, outstanding workers, thriving industries and enormous potential.

But too much of that progress has happened in spite of our politics over the past 20 years, not because of it.