Other News In Brief

Man Convicted Of Benefit Fraud

A man has been convicted for claiming benefits he was not entitled to at Ballymena Magistrates' Court.

Samuel Adair claimed Jobseeker's Allowance totalling £4,132 while failing to declare employment. He was given a three month prison sentence suspended for 12 months.

He is also required to repay any outstanding money wrongfully obtained to the Department for Communities.

Minister Urged To Progress Plans For York Street Interchange Project

The Infrastructure Minister is being urged to progress the York Street interchange project in Belfast "as soon as possible".

Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong made the call after new figures revealed the area sees more traffic daily than many other busy roads combined.

Figures released by the Department for Infrastructure shows the peak daily traffic flow at the interchange area is 111,800 vehicles. This is compared to 20,704 on the A5 Western Transport Corridor, 20,630 on the A6 Randalstown to Castledawson and 26,720 on the A6 Derry to Dungiven.

Ms Armstrong said: "Even though York Street is in Belfast, the investment to improve the traffic flow at Northern Ireland's busiest junction will reduce emissions from commuters and freight from counties north and west of the city.

"Alliance wishes to see investment outside of Belfast too but we need to be realistic. The figures show congestion is heavier at the York Street junction, so it makes more sense to resolve the issues there, rather than do what the Minister is currently doing, which is prioritising his and his party's infrastructure objectives instead of what is in the greater good."

Minister Slammed For Abandoning Businesses In North Belfast

SDLP North Belfast MLA Nichola Mallon has said that the Finance Minister's decision to deliberately omit North Belfast from a new business empowerment zone pilot once again demonstrates the Executive's paper thin commitment to developing the area.

Ms Mallon said the fact that North Belfast has been overlooked again is a real disappointment to businesses throughout the constituency.

She said: "Once again North Belfast has been abandoned. This time by the Finance Minister Mairtín Ó Muilleoir who has announced business 'empowerment zones' in West and East Belfast with no mention of any support for areas in North Belfast which continue to be neglected by this government.

"Mairtín Ó Muilleoir says he has chosen West Belfast and East Belfast because this special rates relief project is aimed at areas in need of a greater peace dividend. There is no community that has suffered from the devastation of the troubles more than North Belfast. By any measure – human suffering, economic stagnation or social division – it is this community which has lost the most and which now needs to be supported to grow again.

"I am calling on the Finance Minister to explain to the business community in North Belfast why they have been overlooked and why he's made the choice he has, given for example that East Belfast received almost double the per capita financial assistance that North Belfast received from the government’s investment agency Invest NI last year."

(CD)