Northern Ireland News for April 2003

UK National News, Apr 30, 2003
Gun amnesty nets over 17,200 firearms
As the deadline on the national gun amnesty runs out today, the Home Office has reported that over 17,000 firearms have been handed over to police. Its first three weeks of the campaign, 17,216 guns...
UK National News, Apr 30, 2003
Man in court over Longhurst murder
A 35-year-old man has appeared in court today charged with the murder of music teacher Jane Longhurst. Graham James Coutts, 35, from Waterloo Street in Hove, appeared in Brighton Magistrates Court t...
UK National News, Apr 30, 2003
London braced for May Day protests
London is preparing itself for the now traditional May Day protests, with tens of thousands of anti-capitalism marchers expected to sweep into the capital's financial and commercial centres. Over 50 ...
UK National News, Apr 30, 2003
Milburn defends foundation trust hospitals
The health secretary has today moved to defend the government's controversial plans for foundation trust hospitals. Health Secretary Alan Milburn said today that the measures locally administered tru...
UK National News, Apr 30, 2003
Talks progress derails RMT strike plans
Rail strikes planned for next month have been called off by the RMT, after progress was achieved in talks with employers. The strikes, scheduled for May 6 and 7 and 27 and 28, have been called off a...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 30, 2003
Adams declares IRA will not 'undermine' peace process
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has today moved to clarify the IRA's intentions, saying that the paramilitary group would not engage in any activities that will "undermine the peace process". His sta...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 30, 2003
Police shooting to be investigated by Ombudsman
The Police Ombudsman's office has begun an investigation into the death of man who was shot by police in Lisburn last night. Police opened fire on the car in which the man was travelling after it fai...
UK National News, Apr 30, 2003
Tories go on the offensive in election battle
A leading Conservative has accused Labour of presiding over the "slow death of local government", and has promised that a new Conservative administration would restore power to local people and commun...
Recruitment News, Apr 30, 2003
Arklow investment creates 200 jobs in healthcare sector
US healthcare company Inamed Corporation is to create over 200 jobs through a €7.4 million investment over the next five years in the expansion of its operations in Arklow, Co. Wicklow. This new inve...
UK National News, Apr 30, 2003
Accidents in NHS rise by a quarter
The number of reported accidents in acute, mental health and ambulance NHS trusts has increased by a quarter, according to the findings of a new report. The National Audit Office (NAO) found that the...
UK National News, Apr 30, 2003
WHO lift Canadian travel warning
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that travel advice warning people to avoid Toronto due to SARS have been lifted today. WHO Director-General Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland said yesterday t...
UK National News, Apr 30, 2003
UK house prices stagnate
The latest house price survey has revealed that UK property prices were unchanged in April. The Nationwide building society’s latest figures put the average house price at just under £122,800, a clea...
UK National News, Apr 30, 2003
Can fish feel pain? Scientists float new angle
Fishing enthusiasts have been put in their plaice after a team of experts from Edinburgh claimed to have evidence that fish can feel pain. Research by a team of scientists from the Roslin Institute ...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 30, 2003
Trimble warns of election 'nightmare scenario'
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble has warned that large gains for extreme unionist and nationalist parties in the forthcoming elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly could lead to a "nightmare s...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 30, 2003
Man questioned over McGuinness bugging allegations
A man has been arrested in connection to alleged transcripts of telephone calls between Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness and a number of leading Government ministers including former Secretary of State, ...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 30, 2003
Shots fired at Adair's Manchester bolthole
The Greater Manchester home of Gina Adair - wife of notorious loyalist paramilitary Johnny Adair - has been shot at. A number of shots were fired through the window of the house at around 2am on Wedn...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 30, 2003
£25,000 worth of cannabis seized in Co Antrim
A man has been arrested after more than £25,000 worth of cannabis was seized during a search of a house in Co Antrim. More than thirty cannabis plants and 0.5kg of cannabis resin worth an estimated w...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 30, 2003
One in two fifth-formers are regular drinkers
A recently commissioned survey has revealed that a staggering 50% of teenagers aged between 15 and 16 in the Greater Belfast area regularly drink alcohol. The survey, undertaken by researchers from t...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 30, 2003
Man suffers fractured skull in Portrush attack
A 22-year-old man is in hospital with a fractured skull following an attack in Portrush overnight. The man, had been in a nightclub before the attack in Eglinton Street at about 2.30am this morning, ...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 30, 2003
Enniskillen hotel embarks on £4m expansion plan
The Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen is to invest over £4 million in increasing its accommodation capacity and enhance its conference facilities. The investment, which is being backed by Invest NI, i...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 30, 2003
Trading Standards warn on sale of counterfeit goods
The Trading Standards Service has warned shopkeepers today to sell genuine designer clothing or risk prosecution and fines after counterfeit goods were seized from a Co Antrim retailer. Trendyzone Lt...
UK National News, Apr 29, 2003
1,150 jobs under threat at Corus
Up to 1,150 jobs are under threat in England after steelmaker Corus announced measures to "restore market confidence" in the troubled company. As part of the rationalisation process, the steelmaking ...
UK National News, Apr 29, 2003
Britons held hostage on Nigerian oil rigs
Hostage negotiations are under way in an attempt to secure the release of around 100 oil workers being held captive on four oil rigs located in the Niger delta. The trapped workers, thought to includ...
UK National News, Apr 29, 2003
Two British soldiers return after Syrian detention
Two British soldiers who were being held by the Syrian government have been released today, following a visit by a Foreign Office official to Damascus. The soldiers, serving with elite special force...
UK National News, Apr 29, 2003
Longhurst murder suspect re-arrested
The man who was arrested and bailed last week over the murder of music teacher Jane Longhurst has been re-arrested. The 35-year-old man, from Hove, was arrested at his home last night and taken to Br...
Recruitment News, Apr 29, 2003
Minister opens £700,000 Derry business park
Social Development Minister, Des Browne, has opened a £700,000 business park in the south Londonderry village of Swatragh today. The project, consisting of eight work units housed in two buildings, i...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 29, 2003
12-year-old boy charged with pensioner mugging
A 12-year-old boy has appeared in court charged in connection with the mugging of a pensioner in west Belfast on Easter Monday. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Lisburn Mag...
Northern Ireland News, Apr 29, 2003
NI political parties begin election campaigns
Northern Ireland's political parties have begun campaigning ahead of next month's assembly elections at the end of May. Notice of the elections was published in Northern Ireland newspapers on Tuesday...
UK National News, Apr 29, 2003
Government and NUT dispute teacher numbers
Government claims that it has succeeded in recruited 10,000 more teachers - ahead of the 2006 target date - have been rubbished by the National Teachers Union (NUT). Schools Minister David Miliband s...
UK National News, Apr 29, 2003
Blair sets sights on public service reforms
The Prime Minister yesterday used his monthly conference before the national press to set out a robust government agenda on public service reform. In an assured performance Mr Blair did not dodge dif...