UUP leader on tour of town

Mr Gardiner said: “The visit is part of a series of visits the UUP leader is paying to all the Northern Ireland constituencies. I wanted to give Mike a flavour of the things that matter to the people of Lurgan and that is why I chose the Chamber of Trade, the successful firm Alwoods and Ceara School as the main focuses of his visit.

“Mike heard the concerns of the Chamber of Trade, which I share, over the future of our town centre and the way in which the position of town centre traders could be improved during these difficult financial times. He also heard about the importance of developing the Millenium Way.

“His visit to Ceara School echoed my own special interest in health as a serving member of the Assembly’s Health and Social Services Committee. Ceara is a beacon of best practice in special education right across Northern Ireland and Lurgan is very proud of its achievements.”

Mr Gardiner added: “Mike thoroughly enjoyed his visit ,which was a great success and gave him a hands on feeling for the issues which mattered to Lurgan.

“As a firm believer in community politics and in constituency service, Mike also saw the operation of my constituency office which is always busy with a high success rate of satisfied constituents who have brought us their problems to sort out. He said he was very impressed with the standard of my office and my staff and he complimented me on the good organisation of what was a really interesting day.”