16 May 2011

Other NI News In Brief

Rural Matters

Dr David Llewellyn, Principal of Harper Adams University College in Shropshire, and Stephen McKean, Chairman of the Harper-Ireland club for students from Ireland, welcome Jim Dobson centre, Group Managing Director, Dunbia Ltd. to Harper Adams. Dunbia sponsors jerseys for Harper - Ireland club members and awards an annual scholarship to a student from Ireland studying at Harper. Stephen McKean, from Ballymagory, Strabane, Harper-Ireland Club chairman, is a past student of Strabane Grammar School. Before entering Harper on the BSc (Hons) Agricultural Engineering degree course, Stephen completed the National Diploma course in Agricultural Technology at Greenmount. In March Stephen chaired the Harper-Ireland Club dinner at which Matt Dempsey, Editor of the Irish Farmers' Journal, was the guest speaker. Harper Adams is the only centre in the UK offering degrees in agricultural engineering.  

Scrambler Tragedy

The PSNI has appealed for information after a 12-year-old boy, Daniel Mooney died after falling from a scrambler bike. The accident happened at the junction of Mountcoole Park and Mountcoole Gardens, in Ballysillan, at about 9pm on Sunday evening. He was taken to hospital where he died a short time later and it is thought he was a pillion passenger on one of two scrambler bikes being ridden in the area at the time.

Walk The Walk

DRD Travelwise NI is setting the pace for sustainable travel at the launch of this year's Walk to School Week today. The Department for Regional Development Travelwise NI's Walk to School Week, which is supported by Airtricity, a new home electricity supplier in Northern Ireland, encourages more people to consider the health, financial, social and environmental benefits of walking.  Launching Walk to School Week, (16-20 May 2011) at St Joseph's Primary School in Belfast, Aileen Gault, Head of TravelwiseNI, said: "This is the perfect opportunity to make a real difference to school travel patterns by empowering school children to see for themselves the benefits of walking. Incorporating walking into the daily travel to and from school will keep children fit and healthy by contributing to their one hour of recommended daily exercise. It also encourages the younger generation to consider their impact on the environment by connecting with the world around them and allows them to gain valuable road safety skills and general awareness."

Farmer Fined

A Co Tyrone farmer was fined £200 plus £31 court costs at Omagh Magistrates Court last week. Patrick McCallan, of Inishative Road, Carrickmore, was fined for making a polluting discharge to a waterway resulting in a fish kill. On 18 June 2010, a Water Quality Inspector (WQI), acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency inspected the Altanagh Burn, Carrickmore. The waterway was grossly polluted with sewage fungus and closer to the source of the pollution covered almost 100% of the riverbed. A number of fish mortalities were observed and approximately two miles of waterway was affected by the discharge. The source of the polluting discharge was traced to a farm owned by Mr McCallan. A sample taken at the time of the incident confirmed that the discharge contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter, which was potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.

Dunbar Waxing Lyrical

Renowned Ulster actor Adrian Dunbar is making a return to the newly opened Lyric Theatre directing and playing Irish National Treasure Brendan Behan in Brendan at the Chelsea. The play will open the Naughton Studio, a flexible performance space that accommodates up to 172 audience members within the producing theatre. Written by Behan's niece Janet, Brendan at the Chelsea runs from Saturday 21 May and runs until 19 June. Adrian, who played at the old Lyric Theatre in Conversations on a Homecoming, has also acted for The Abbey, Almeida, the Royal Court, the Young Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has established a successful acting career on TV and in film, notably in classic Irish films such as Hear My Song, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA for co-writing, My Left Foot, The Crying Game and most recently in the ITV movie drama Mo, in which he played David Trimble against Julie Walters as Mo Mowlam. Adrian leads a cast of five in Brendan at the Chelsea featuring Renée Castle, Pauline Hutton, Richard Orr and Chris Robinson. Pauline and Richard return to the Lyric: Pauline appeared in The Cavalcaders while Richard has appeared in over 20 productions at the Lyric in as many years. Renée and Chris both make their Lyric Theatre debut. Renée is a renowned stage actress in her native Canada and London-based Chris, originally from Carrickfergus, who trained at Bretton Hall, returns home especially to perform in the play.

(BMcC/GK)