Other NI News In Brief

UCF Tops 40th

Celebrating 40 years of Ulster Cancer Foundation (UCF) services are, from left, Amy Cushnan, Joyce Savage, Head of Appeals and Marketing, UCF, David Cushnan, Alex Lineham, John Curran and Michael McAuley. Joyce said: "As part of our celebrations we are seeking support for our special digital Mosaic Appeal – a quick and easy new way to support UCF online at www.ulstercancerfoundation.mosaicappeal.com and follow the easy step-by-step guide to donate and reveal a mosaic tile on our special anniversary image. Each tile can be purchased for a minimum donation of £5 and you can dedicate the tile in memory or in support of a loved one who has been diagnosed with the disease. Businesses can also lend their support by purchasing a corporate tile for £100 each.

Reserve 'Stays'

A PSNI spokesperson has confirmed more than 200 officers from the full-time Reserve are to be temporarily retained to help combat the dissident republican threat. The move affects a total of 225 officers who were due to enter a nine-month period of training in June to prepare them for losing their jobs when their unit is formally wound up in March next year. But Chief Constable Matt Baggott will now ask them to remain on front line duty right up to the disbandment date, and then enter the training programme - a move that will cost around £6 million. Yesterday, six police officers were slightly injured after two blast bombs and a number of petrol bombs were thrown during a hoax bomb alert in Lurgan, Co Armagh after riot police were called in after trouble erupted during the alert in Lake Street. Families had been evacuated after a suspicious object was found outside a derelict house near the railway line in the early hours of Monday morning.

Money Laundering Charges

A 55-year-old man has been charged with three money laundering offences, two counterfeit offences and one charge of evasion of excise duty. He was arrested by detectives from the PSNI's Organised Crime Branch in Lurgan on Saturday. A police spokesman said a number of items, including a substantial amount of cash, were recovered during a search of a house in Lurgan on Thursday. It has also emerged that a woman arrested on Thursday was released pending report to the PPS.

Club Licensing Reviewed

The NI Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie has revealed proposals that will improve the trading environment for many of Northern Ireland's Registered Clubs. "These new measures reflect a strong desire to remove some of the barriers to club development that arise from overly restrictive and prescriptive regulation. These will allow clubs greater freedom of operation with a measured increase in opening hours entitlement, and a lifting of overly heavy accounting requirements. I will be permitting an increase in the number of 'late' licences from 52 to 120 per year, but," she said, "this will be accompanied by tough measures to counter underage drinking and disorderly behaviour."

Ash Halts Play

The U23 International Challenge Trophy - Northern Ireland v Poland soccer match - which was due to be played at The Showgrounds, Coleraine today has been postponed as Poland are unable to travel due to the latest disruption to flights as a result of volcanic ash.

HSE Contract Won

A Co Down company has won a £1m contract to supply poultry, pork and bacon products to the Health Service Executive in Dublin over the next three years. Crossgar Foodservice secured the lucrative contract with support from Invest Northern Ireland after taking part in its pilot programme on public procurement. The local firm, which employs over 250 people, took part in the Invest NI programme to strengthen its ability to compete for public procurement contracts in the Republic. The programme included expert guidance on a one-to-one basis on how to develop a winning tender. In addition, Crossgar Foodservice also used Invest NI's unique contract alert service that provided early tip-offs to companies as soon as tenders were posted by public procurement agencies in the Republic and Great Britain.

Coleraine Litter 'Top Priority'

An SDLP East Derry constituency worker Roisin Loftus has promised to make tackling litter problems in rural areas a top priority as she replaces John Dallat as the party's councillor for Coleraine Borough. Mr Dallat resigned from Coleraine Borough Council to focus on his Assembly work as Deputy Speaker and SDLP Environment Spokesperson.

Ms Loftus comments: "My ten years of experience in John Dallat’s constituency office have given me a great insight into the work of a public representative and have motivated me to take on this role of public service. Over the past decade I have dealt with many constituency problems and have obtained a great deal of satisfaction working with people who contact the SDLP offices in Kilrea and Limavady. As a councillor I want to see what can be done to create new partnerships within our community to deal with local problems including litter and fly-tipping," she said.

(BMcC/GK)