{"id":7606,"date":"2016-02-04T15:53:36","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T15:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=7606"},"modified":"2016-02-04T15:53:36","modified_gmt":"2016-02-04T15:53:36","slug":"we-must-unite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=7606","title":{"rendered":"We must unite"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Actor James Nesbitt has added his voice to calls for investment and jobs in his home town Ballymena ahead of a rally there this coming Saturday (Feb 6).<\/p>\n

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Almost 2,000 jobs in the town \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with a population of 30,000 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will be lost in the near future after two of the area’s biggest employers – Michelin tyres and JTI Gallaher tobacco \u00e2\u20ac\u201c announced plans to close.<\/p>\n

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In a personal message of support Nesbitt \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who found fame in \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Cold Feet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c backed the campaign for Investment and Jobs, saying \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwe have highly-skilled and dedicated workers, great infrastructure, and the heart\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..we just need to Unite.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The star said he \u00e2\u20ac\u015bshares the pain of the loss of so many jobs.”<\/p>\n

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Devastating impact<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhile my career has taken me far from home, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always had a great affection for the town and its people,” he said. “The loss of these well-paying and stable jobs not only threatens those affected directly and their families, but will have a devastating impact on the wider economy and community.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe must seize this moment to show Ballymena and Northern Ireland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ambition to be a highly sought after centre for international business\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Last month Hollywood star Liam Neeson also backed the campaign saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u015burgent action needs to be taken by the government to focus attention on the devastating loss of employment in our area.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

People unite<\/strong><\/p>\n

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“I believe that nothing less than the future of Northern Ireland is at stake here. Unite, people, elected Ministers and political leaders: UNITE!”<\/p>\n

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Neeson has now recorded a video message calling on people to attend the rally in the town, proclaiming himself \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba proud Ballymena man.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/a><\/p>\n

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Unite secretary for Ireland Jimmy Kelly welcomed the support for the demand for investment and jobs saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe Rally For A Future campaign was launched by workers in Michelin and JTI-Gallaher factories who faced redundancy when it was announced that their factories would close.<\/p>\n

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Secure investment<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey chose not to be bystanders to that fate but to do campaign to demand real action for secure investment and jobs for their town and to safeguard a better future,” he noted.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTheir initiative has been met with widespread enthusiasm and support from across the community.<\/p>\n

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Strongest message <\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is clear that Rally For A Future continues to gather momentum as we move towards Saturday,” Kelly added. “It is vital that everyone in the local community makes the effort to join with us in sending the strongest possible message to our political leaders.”<\/p>\n

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  Actor James Nesbitt has added his voice to calls for investment and jobs in his home town Ballymena ahead of a rally there this coming Saturday (Feb 6).   Almost 2,000 jobs in the town \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with a population of 30,000 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will be lost in the near future after two of the area’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[122,219],"wps_subtitle":"Star joins call for future plan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7606"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7606"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7612,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7606\/revisions\/7612"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}