Omagh town UUP Councillor Ross Hussey has been questioning our abstentionist Member of Parliament Pat Doherty for some time now for answers in relation to his claims for substantial second home allowances in London and has not been able to receive replies. Councillor Hussey said ‘Since the question of MPs expenses came into the glare of the public light some time ago I have been questioning Mr Doherty publicly as to how often he flew to London to represent the people of West Tyrone. I questioned the legitimacy of substantial second home allowances which amounted to £18000 in the years 2007 and 2008 and £21000 in 2009 a total of £57000. I asked how many times Mr Doherty actually flew to London to make representations on our behalf and again my questions were met with a stony silence from Sinn Fein, I asked the House of Commons under Freedom of Information legislation and they were reluctant to reveal ‘regular expenses’ incurred by Members and I appealed the decision and have now been advised that Mr Doherty travelled to London 4 times during 2006/7, 4 times during 2007/8 and finally 5 times during 2008/9 – a total of 14 visits in 3 years. If we were to assume a 2 – 3 night stay we have paid over £1000 a night for Mr Doherty to stay in London. Perhaps Sinn Fein will be changing their ideal of a 32 county socialist Republic to a 32 county Champagne Socialist Republic’