Crossmaglen woman petitions against Jobs and Benefits Office closure

Councillor Terry Hearty has praised local woman Nicola Byrne for mounting a campaign against the closure of Crossmaglen Jobs and Benefits Office.

Speaking to Newry Times, Hearty explained, “Nicola has collected thousands of names on a petition which calls for the Jobs and Benefits Office in Crossmaglen to remain open following the recent decision by Minister Nelson McCausland to chop this vital service.

“I am going to pass the petition to my colleague Megan Fearon who will present it to the Minister in the Assembly. Sinn Féin has been to the fore in the campaign to keep this office open and following a meeting convened by Conor Murphy and Mickey Brady an extension of two months was secured.

“However we continue to demand that the office be retained and the large number of signatures on this petition illustrates that the local community want the same. I commend Nicola on the work she has done in gathering these signatures and I hope that this campaign is successful.

Hearty added, “The removal of this service will cause hardship and inconvenience to a large number of people who use the office here. These people will be forced to travel to Newry, incurring the expense of doing so themselves. The closure of this office is an attack on the most vulnerable in our community.”

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Posted by Newry Times News on Apr 1 2013. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry