Category: Uncategorized

Hospital waiting lists and the future of health and social care services here have been one of the most covered news topics in recent weeks. Unfortunately, many of the discussions, the radio phone-in shows, the newspaper columnists, the letters to the editor and the contributions in the Assembly have generated more heat than light. We […]

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon has set out the changes needed over the next decade and beyond for transport delivery. The Minister published the Department’s priorities for the future of transport – Planning for the Future of Transport – Time for Change,  which is about refocusing and reprioritising the aims of the Department for Infrastructure to meet […]

SDLP Assembly Member for Newry and Armagh Justin McNulty MLA has pressed Communities Minister Deidre Hargey MLA on the need to provide more capital funds to boost sports facilities.  Mr McNulty explained, ‘Our sports clubs are the backbone of local communities and in the last eighteen months we have seen the true value of them […]

Mr Kieran Downey (34) of Railway Road, Newry, was today fined £2,000 at Newry Crown Court for breaches of waste management legislation, and ordered to pay costs of £506.40. Officers from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) found that the defendant had knowingly permitted controlled waste to be deposited on land which did not have […]

Justice Minister Naomi Long has praised the vigilance of Border Force staff as 15.12 million cigarettes and 4.44 tonnes of tobacco were seized in two separate operations.  If the smuggling attempts had not been detected, it would have cost the Treasury approximately £7.24 million in unpaid duty and VAT. In the first operation Border Force […]

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon has outlined high level budget commitments for the new financial year. The Department has a capital budget of £722.5m and a resource budget of £429.9m, which includes a £9.2m allocation specifically for Covid. Outlining how she plans to spend the capital allocations this year, Nichola Mallon said:  “The budget allocations I have received […]

SDLP Assembly Member for Newry and Armagh Justin McNulty MLA has said more must be done to increase physical activity in school-aged children following the publication of research by the Education Committee at Stormont.  Mr McNulty explained, ’The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends 60 minutes of physical activity a day for children and yet the […]

There has been a lot of speculation in the media about former DUP leader Arlene Fosters resignation and the election of Edwin Poots as the new leader of the DUP. South Down DUP MLA Jim Wells has recently made the news allegedly regarding a letter from him to party members in the constituency asking them […]

Minister Poots, has announced a delay to the introduction of pet travel checks at NI points of entry until at least 1 October 2021.  As a result of the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol, pet travellers moving from Great Britain (GB) to NI are now required to adhere to the pet travel rules for third countries. […]

Officers from Belfast District Support Team, assisted by Armed Response Unit and Air Support Unit, have arrested two people and seized quantities of class A and B drugs following a proactive policing operation on Sunday 6th June. An Audi car was stopped as it was driving northbound on the A1 carriageway near Newry on Sunday […]

The South Down branch of the DUP is licking its wounds tonight following a few high profile splits from the party. Two DUP councillors, a former Westminster election candidate and members of the South Down association have resigned from the party. Newry, Mourne and Down councillors Glyn Hanna and Kathryn Owen have quit along with constituency […]

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council is supporting the Public Health Agency (PHA) call for asymptomatic people to get COVID-19 tested in selected, targeted neighbourhoods within the Kilkeel area as a precautionary measure. The Public Health Agency (PHA) has identified a small number of probable cases of the Delta variant (VOC-21APR-02, first detected in India) […]