The leader of the UK Unionist Party, Mr Robert McCartney, has been expelled from the Assembly chamber for one day after repeatedly talking to a colleague during a speech by an SDLP MLA.
Mr McCartney had been in conversation with a DUP MLA, Mr Sammy Wilson, during an education debate when he was warned to be quiet by the deputy speaker, Mr Donovan McClelland. After entering into a verbal exchange with Mr McClelland, Mr McCartney was told to leave the chamber amidst taunts of "naughty schoolboy" by some MLAs.
The UKUP leader described his expulsion as "absolutely ridiculous". "It was a stage whisper, there were no big interruptions . . . To give someone like that [Mr McClelland\] the powers of speaker is like letting a 10-year-old loose in the playground with a Kalashnikov," he added.
In other business, the Trade Minister, Sir Reg Empey, announced a joint European Union/District Council funding initiative which will lead to the North's 26 district councils benefiting from a £52 million sterling development package over the next four years.
"The money will encourage and foster entrepreneurship, while injecting fresh economic impetus into broadening the business base in local communities," the Minister insisted.
The Minister for Regional Development, Mr Peter Robinson, told MLAs that his department was closely co-operating with its Southern counterpart on compatible legislation to improve rail safety in both jurisdictions. He also announced the construction of a £35 million waste water treatment plant in Donaghadee, Co Down, to be completed in 2007.