Welfare information session coming to Newry this Thursday

Sinn Féin Assembly member Mickey Brady will be a panelist in an upcoming information session on changes to the benefit system. The Sinn Fein MLA Brady said, “I recently took part in a similar event to this organised by Coiste na n-Iarchimi, the republican ex-prisoners group, held in Tar Isteach, Belfast. I thought it was something which would be of great benefit to the people of Newry and for this reason I am delighted that the Confederation of Community Groups in Newry has come on board to host this session.”

Mr Brady went on to explain the type of changes which the Tory government is currently making to the welfare state and how this could impact on people’s lives. “These planned changes are the largest cuts ever to the benefit system and will affect almost everyone in one way or another and in particular those in receipt of benefits. The information session which will take place in Ballybot House is open to everyone and the aim of the event is to share the information with those who will be directly impacted by these cuts.”

Mr Brady also commended the Confederation of Community Groups in their efforts to bring information on these cuts to the people who will be most affected. “I would like to commend the Confederation of Community Groups for recognising the potential hardship that ordinary people are going to feel due to these drastic cuts to benefits. Newry consistently ranks highly on indices of poverty and social depravation so its fair to say that any cutbacks in benefits or changes to the procedure of claiming benefits will impact more in Newry. For this reason it is vitally important that information is circulated widely among those who will bear the brunt of these cuts.”

Brady added, “I hope that a large number of people come along to the event on Thursday night and pose their questions to the panel which will include experienced welfare advice workers. I understand that there will be a number of leaflets available on the night which people can take away and study which will explain how these cuts will be rolled out. This event is a non-Party and non-political meeting which is open to anyone who feels that the information available will be of interest to them and their families.”

The event takes place on Thursday 8th December at 7pm in Ballybot House Newry. For more information, contact Aiden Mathers on 028 3026 1693.

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Posted by Declan McAteer on Dec 5 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry