Other News In Brief

Construction Work To Start On Improvement Project In Co Down

Body Construction work on a £250,000 improvement project is Banbridge, Co Down, is to begin on Sunday, 04 March, and is expected to be completed in three to four weeks.

The scheme on the A1 has been designed to improve safety for motorists. It involves the erection of a central reserve safety barrier between Bannview Road Bridge and Castlewellan Road Bridge on the Banbridge Bypass. To facilitate installation of the barrier, it is necessary to permanently close all crossing points along this stretch of the A1.

This is the third in a number of incremental improvements which may be progressed in advance of the delivery of the full A1 Junctions Phase 2 scheme. The works, when complete, will deliver benefits for all road users for many years to come.

Diversions will be put in place during the works.

Woman Convicted Of Benefit Fraud

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

Sylvia Wallace claimed Jobseeker's Allowance and Housing Benefit totalling £9,340 while failing to declare employment. She was given a four month prison sentence suspended for twelve months.

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

Political Leaders Should Be 'Ashamed' Over Waiting Times - Alliance

Alliance Health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw MLA has said political leaders should be shocked by a new report which shows none of the Department of Health targets for waiting times are currently being met.

Ms Bradshaw said the report, by the Patient Client Council and entitled Our Lived Experience of Waiting for Healthcare, showed the need for restoration of the Executive to deal with health reform.

"Political leaders should be as appalled as I am to find half of people on waiting lists report their health deteriorating merely while they wait for a vital referral, test or appointment. While the statistics alone are shocking, the lived experience of those actually on waiting lists should cause political leaders to cringe at their failure to prioritise these issues.

"Some of the immediate solutions - such as better communication with people on waiting lists - are contained in the report itself. Others, such as the shift towards resourcing primary care and thus reducing waiting lists in the first place, require a reform process led by a Minister.

"Political leaders in the bigger parties should be utterly ashamed."

(CD)