Trade unionists walk out on Hain

Hundreds attended the industrial rates protest in Belfast

Up to 20 trade unionists have walked out on Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain at a conference in County Down.

The protest in Newry over property rate charges and education cuts, was at a meeting of the NI committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).

It coincided with a separate rally in Belfast by business people angry at the re-introduction of industrial rates.

They came from across Northern Ireland to protest over new rates charges which they say could cost 30,000 jobs.

A motorcade of about 100 vehicles went through Belfast city centre to the Waterfront on Tuesday, where up to 1,500 owners, staff and others held a rally.

After being exempt for the last 20 years, companies in the province will soon have to pay full industrial rates.

The organisers say NI businesses cannot compete if rates continue to rise.

Meeting

On Tuesday afternoon, a business delegation met Mr Hain to voice their opposition to the decision.

The protest was organised by the Northern Ireland Manufacturing Focus Group. Its spokesman, Basil McCrea, said there was widespread opposition to the charges.

"We have a very broadly based alliance of business. We have all of the main political parties, we have our colleagues in the unions, we have big businesses, small businesses, people from the west and east of the province. We have everybody on board," Mr McCrea said.

The decision to phase out industrial derating was announced by the government in April 2003 and began in 2005.

Last year, manufacturing industry had to pay 15% of the projected bill. This year it will be 25%.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan MP has backed the campaign by the NIMFG to retain industrial de-rating.

"By pushing for a full rates burden, Peter Hain has attacked the private sector which we need to grow. We have to find the best ways of supporting the manufacturing base," he said.

There really is no reason why the manufacturing and industrial sector shouldn't pay a fairer share of local government rates Lord Rooker

Finance minister Jeff Rooker defended the move and said the money was needed to pay for services in Northern Ireland.

He said that to raise the £20m that would be gained through industrial de-rating this year the domestic rate would need to have risen by 38%.

Walk out

"Small corner shops, grocers for example, competing against the supermarkets pay the full (business) rate the same rate as supermarkets," he told BBC Radio Ulster.

"There really is no reason why the manufacturing/industrial sector which includes cold stores, bottling plants and abattoirs shouldn't pay a fairer share of local government rates."

At the ICTU conference in Newry, the group of delegates walked out as Mr Hain arrived to deliver a key-note speech.

They said they were angry at property rates charges and cuts in education spending.

More than 150 delegates remained at the conference and Mr Hain addressed the meeting without interruption.

He told them that the government was committed to exploring new ways in which schools could share facilities across the community divide.