Category: Uncategorized

Police received a report of a fire at a council store in the Albert Basin area of Newry around 6pm on Friday 28 May. Sergeant Cathy MacDonald said:  “As the building is used only as a storage facility, there were no staff present at the time of the incident.  We believe that the fire was […]

Portugal is to be taken off the travel green list, it is understood. The popular holiday destination is being removed from the green list in England and will be added to the amber list. It follows a meeting between the UK and devolved governments and advice from the joint biosecurity centre, the BBC is reporting. […]

Ministers Naomi Long MLA, and Heather Humphreys TD met to discuss ongoing North-South co-operation in policing and criminal justice issues, under the Intergovernmental Agreement on Co-operation on Criminal Justice Matters.  The meeting was held virtually due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Naomi Long said: “Cross-border co-operation on justice matters is vital to both of our jurisdictions.  […]

Health Minister Robin Swann has highlighted the ongoing work by Northern Ireland’s health and social care system to keep people safe from COVID-19. A range of developed programmes are in place – including vaccination, widely available COVID testing and contact tracing. He said: “The successful roll-out of our vaccination programme continues, with over 70% of our […]

£72.3 million will begin issuing for top up grants to businesses which were allowed to remain open during the most recent restrictions. More than 13,000 businesses, which did not qualify for support during the most recent lockdown period, will now receive top up grants. Over 12,100 businesses will receive a £5,000 top up while over […]

The Revolutionary Republican Party Saoradh have praised the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign [IPSC] for organising a rally at Newry Town Hall on Saturday [May 29th] Speaking after the rally the secretary of Saoradh’s Newry craobh Eadaoin Ui Eidhin said  “Activists based at Saoradhs Newry office played an active part in the rally for Palestine at […]

SDLP Councillor Michael Savage has tabled a Motion aimed at tackling digital poverty and ensuring every child in the North has equal access to laptops, devices and affordable broadband throughout their education.  Cllr Savage said: “Every child has the right equality in education as blended learning looks likely to be with us for some time […]

Economy Minister Diane Dodds has officially opened Southern Regional College’s new £35million campus in Armagh. The project, fully funded by the Department for the Economy, involved demolition of the old building and construction of a new, purpose-built facility on the existing Lonsdale Road site. Speaking after performing the official opening, Minister Dodds said: “I am delighted to […]

A significant package of funding will be provided to schools to help them implement the new SEN Framework. The funding is for the 2021/22 financial year and follows an additional £7.5million which schools received for the period of January to March 2021.  Education Minister Peter Weir said: “I know that schools are under pressure, particularly […]

DAERA Minister Edwin Poots has confirmed that he has secured £12.4million to fund a range of Covid stakeholder support schemes throughout 2021/22, increasing the support level from his Department during the pandemic to over £60million. The Department received the allocation of £12.4million after successfully bidding as part of the Executive’s 2021-22 Final Budget and Covid-19 […]

Whether there had been a pandemic or not, a radical economic strategy for Northern Ireland was always going to be a priority, but perhaps Covid 19 has brought that into sharper focus and added a new sense of urgency. Already the business representatives, the media commentators and MLA’s from most parties have been setting out […]

Economy Minister Diane Dodds joined guests at Belfast’s Grand Central Hotel for breakfast to welcome the reopening of indoor hospitality under the recent Coronavirus guidelines. The Minister was accompanied by Janice Gault of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation (NIHF) and Stephen Meldrum from the Grand Central Hotel to mark the day that licensed and unlicensed […]