Northern Ireland News for March 2002

Northern Ireland News, Mar 28, 2002
Belfast Agreement monitoring group meet for first time
Progress talks on the Good Friday Agreement have started between the British and Irish governments and the pro-Agreement parties in Hillsborough. This is the first meeting of the Implementation Group...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 28, 2002
IRA Easter message says support for united Ireland is growing
In their annual Easter message, the IRA have said that support for a united Ireland is growing. In a statement published in Thursday’s edition of ‘An Phoblacht/Republican News’ the IRA said that the ...
Business News, Mar 28, 2002
Woolworths chief hopeful despite £46m loss
Woolworths boss Gerald Corbett has said he remains hopeful despite reporting a full-year loss of £46 million. Full-year pre-tax losses hit £46.4 million and the company's pre-tax profit before except...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 28, 2002
Belfast pays tribute to designer of Titanic
Belfast is to pay formal tribute next week to one of the men responsible for what is regarded as Belfast’s greatest achievement – the Titanic. The Lord Mayor of Belfast Jim Rodgers will unveil a plaq...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 28, 2002
Motorists urged to slow down over the Easter holidays
The minister responsible for safety of Northern Ireland Roads, Dermot Nesbitt has appealed to motorists to slow down over the Easter holiday period. The message from the Department of Environment Min...
Business News, Mar 28, 2002
RTÉ Authority meet with strategic review consultants
The RTÉ Authority have held a special meeting with consultants from KPMG and Logical who have been undertaking a strategic review process of the broadcaster's operations. In a carefully worded statem...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 28, 2002
Robber’s gun jams during Castlewellan hold-up
During an armed robbery in a County Down shop, a 19-year-old woman has had a gun held to her head and the trigger pulled several times without the gun firing. The incident occurred when a masked man ...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 28, 2002
Policing Board publish targets for new Police Service
The Northern Ireland Policing Board has published its three-year vision for the future of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland. The Policing Plan, published on Thursday March 28 sets out polici...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 28, 2002
Pensioners urged to claim all their benefit entitlements
The Minister for Social Development, Nigel Dodds, has urged pensioners to go out and claim all the social benefits to which they are entitled. The Minister said that may pensioners could be missing o...
Business News, Mar 28, 2002
NTL offer debt-for-equity deal to creditors
Cash-strapped NTL are set to offer creditors a deal which it is hoped will allow the cable company to stay afloat as it tries to reduce its £17 billion debts. It is believed that NTL may have only £5...
Business News, Mar 28, 2002
Troubled ITV Digital goes into administration
An administration order made by Carlton Communications and Granada in relation to ITV Digital has been granted by the High Court in London. Not only does the judgment throw a shadow of the future ITV...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 28, 2002
Minister welcomes £26m IT investment for primary schools
An investment of £26 million in computers and support services for local primary schools across Northern Ireland has been welcomed by the Education Minister, Martin McGuinness. The contract, which wa...
Recruitment News, Mar 28, 2002
Future EU directive may include workplace bullying and violence
The EU Commission has announced its new strategy for health and safety at work for the period 2002-2006 may include workplace bullying and violence. The plan seeks to modernise EU health and safety p...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 28, 2002
Police consider DNA testing to find mother of Carryduff infant
A police spokesperson has said a mass screening of women is an option they may have to explore if they want to find the mother of the baby girl found dead on the outskirts of south Belfast earlier thi...
Business News, Mar 28, 2002
Postal union vows to resist depot closures
The postal workers union CWU have said the closure of three Parcelforce depots announced by Consignia, the company formerly known as the Post Office, at the start of this week is “unacceptable”. On W...
Business News, Mar 28, 2002
NI Technology stand in Hanover gets royal visit
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York has given his support to the Industrial Development Board and the Industrial Research and Technology Unit (IRTU) in Germany where they were promoting Northern Ireland’s...
Business News, Mar 28, 2002
CARA Group adds Cisco VPN Security Specialisation
CARA Group, one of Ireland's leading indigenous providers of IT solutions, has added Cisco VPN (Virtual Private Network) Security Specialisation to its existing voice access and IP telephony Cisco spe...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 28, 2002
BT invest in NI while jobs go across the UK
Northern Ireland is to benefit from a £100 million UK wide investment by BT in the next generation of call centres. The centre in Enniskillen, which employs 266, will be upgraded to a multi-functiona...
Business News, Mar 28, 2002
Local recruitment agency ‘commended’ for excellence
Aptus Personnel, which has a branch in Pottingers Entry, Belfast, has taken the runner-up award in a prestigious industry scheme only after its first year of operation. The company was commended in t...
Business News, Mar 28, 2002
'Green' electricity provider welcomed by NIE
Up to 50 jobs may be created in Northern Ireland by Dublin based Airtricity, who plan to build environmentally friendly electricity windfarms in Counties Fermanagh and Tyrone. The jobs should come ov...
Business News, Mar 27, 2002
Ulster Carpet Mills voted as one of the best UK companies
Ulster Carpet Millshas been voted by employees as the top 100 best UK companies to work for in a survey conducted by The Sunday Times. While hundreds of major companies and organisations entered for ...
Business News, Mar 27, 2002
Lost aircraft deal will have “no impact” say Bombardier
Bombardier Aerospace Belfast have lost a deal, potentially worth millions, they signed last year to supply 57 Learjets to an American airline subsidiary Avolar. Last December at the New Orleans air s...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 27, 2002
Row erupts over Garda Commissioner's visit to passing out parade
The departure of Sir Ronnie Flanagan as head of the PSNI seems destined to be marred by political controversy, and this time the presence of the Gardai Commissioner at a PSNI passing out parade has ca...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 27, 2002
Parcelforce workers meet union for crisis jobs talks
Urgent talks are due to take place between Northern Ireland Parcelforce workers and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) about the devastating jobs cuts announced by Consignia this week. The meetin...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 27, 2002
Post mortem carried out on newborn baby
A post mortem carried out on the body of a newborn baby that was found abandoned outside Belfast has revealed that the infant was a girl. Two schoolchildren, aged 10 and 11, found the body wrapped in...
Business News, Mar 27, 2002
Online CVs find favour as “paper prejudice” hits jobseekers
Employers are rejecting paper CVs in favour of electronic ones, according to a survey of over 400 recruiters by a top online job site. Seventy-eight percent of recruiters responding to a recent reed....
Northern Ireland News, Mar 27, 2002
Troubled primary schools in north Belfast receive fresh funding
The Minister for Education, Martin McGuinness, has announced a further batch of funding programmes for primary schools across North Belfast. £370,000 has been freshly allocated to 13 primary schools,...
Business News, Mar 27, 2002
Marks & Spencer’s helping hand for the homeless
In partnership with business in the community, Marks & Spencer is set to reinforce its commitment to the community with the nationwide launch of an initiative to help the homeless find jobs. Stores i...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 27, 2002
Irish Bonding Company to invest £9 million in packaging centre
Irish Bonding Company Ltd (IBC), the Diageo plc subsidiary, is to invest £9 million over the next few years to create a "world-class packaging centre of excellence" for Guinness and other Ready to Dri...
Northern Ireland News, Mar 27, 2002
Minister unveils 10-year plan to improve our health
The Minister for Health Bairbre de Brún has launched a new vision to improve the health and well being of Northern Ireland’s population. The ‘Investing for Health’ 10-year strategy was launched by th...