Other NI News In Brief

Bomb Alert At Royal Mail Over

A suspect package that was being examined at the Royal Mail facility in Belfast's docklands has been declared 'safe'. The Tomb Street depot had been evacuated while Army experts attended. The area has now returned to normal.

Mitchell On Way To Holylands

The 'peace broker' Queen's University Chancellor George Mitchell is to step down from the post after 10 years. The former American senator, who was appointed US Special Envoy to the Middle East last month, said he was resigning with "deep and genuine regret". His last engagement for the university will be at the end of March.

Charges Follow Assault

Three men appeared in court yesterday charged with the attempted murder of a 28-year-old man in the centre of Londonderry at the weekend. They are Gary Gerard McDermott, 26, from Creggan Heights, Neil James Coyle, 25, from Carrickreagh Gdns and Patrick Joseph Ward, 21, from Rathmore Rd. The court heard that the victim, who was attacked on Friday, is on a life support machine in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. All three were released on bail to reappear in court in May.

Trimble Government Junior Minister Dies

A former Ulster Unionist Assembly Member for North Antrim has died on holiday abroad. James Leslie, 50, was a Stormont Junior Minister having won his seat in 1998, briefly becoming a junior minister in the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister in 2002. He did not contest the 2003 assembly election, and three years later, he left the Ulster Unionist Party to join the Conservatives.

Youth In Focus

Stormont Junior Minister Jeffrey Donaldson has told the Young Peoples' Youth Panel that their opinions are being "listened to and taken on board" by the NI Executive. He recently met with the Youth Panel at the offices of the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) to be quizzed on his role as a Minister and on the work he does in relation to children and young people. The Youth Panel has 42 members aged between 12 and 21 and acts as a consultation committee to provide the Commissioner with views and opinions of children and young people.

Construction Of £2.5 Fermanagh School Starts

Work has commenced on a new £2.6m Fermanagh primary school facility. The controlled educational building will be located in the town of Lisbellaw. Construction work will take place on the site of the existing school and is expected to be complete by the summer of next year. The new building will include eight state-of-the-art classrooms.

(BMcC/JM)