Other News In Brief

Call For Minister To Ban Wild Animals In Circuses

The Alliance Party is calling on the Agriculture Minister to introduce a ban on wild animals in circuses.

East Belfast MLA, Chris Lyttle, brought up this issue with the Minister during a recent question time in the Assembly.

Mr Lyttle said: "A travelling circus is no place for wild animals. It is time that the Agriculture Minister introduces a ban on circuses coming to Northern Ireland with wild animals.

"A ban on wild animals in circuses will shortly come into force in England and Wales, so it is imperative that Northern Ireland does not fall behind the rest of the UK.

"East Belfast MP Naomi Long has campaigned on this issue in Westminster and has previously worked at a Council level to prevent circuses with wild animals using Belfast Council property. The Agriculture Minister should be looking to introduce a ban across Northern Ireland."

Transport NI To Maintain Roads At Mounteagles

Transport NI has confirmed it will be adopting and maintaining the roads at Mounteagles Glen and Mounteagles Lodge.

Residents have been left with unfinished roads after a developer declared bankruptcy and abandoned the project.

SDLP Belfast Councillor Brian Heading welcomed the news.

He said: "I, along with Mounteagles residents, have been waiting for this development for some time now. Transport NI has announced that it will now take responsibility for finishing and maintaining the road with surfacing due to be finished hopefully by the end of April."

Work Begins On £350,000 Improvement Project

Construction work on a £350,000 road improvement scheme on the A509 Derrylin Road at Derryallen in Fermanagh has started.

Work to resurface and widen the road is expected to be complete by Tuesday 31 March.

Transport Minister Danny Kennedy said: "This is an additional scheme on to earlier work on A509. It will remove a narrow bottleneck on the road and improve the running surface of the carriageway."

(CD)