Other NI News In Brief

Names Quiz At Zoo

Belfast Zoo has launched their latest competition to give someone the chance of naming the two pygmy goats (pictured) and win a top prize. Belfast Zoo welcomed two new pygmy goat arrivals in time for Valentines Day; however the couple remain nameless and the zoo would now like suggestions for the names of their goats, the male and female, and reasons behind the names. Not only will the winning names be with the goats for life, the winner will get to spend an afternoon with a zoo keeper, experiencing behind the scenes of the farm area at Belfast Zoo. They will have an opportunity to get up close and even feed some of the animals. Entries must be received by Friday 19th March at 3pm. See:

www.belfastzoo.co.uk/namingcomp

Belfast On Alert

SDLP Oldpark Councillor Nichola Mallon has said that continuing security incidents over the past few weeks are serving no one and causing nothing but disruption and mayhem to residents in north Belfast. Commenting on today's evacuation of residents living in Rosevale Street, off the Oldpark Road, the local representative said: "This is the second evacuation in recent weeks because of the suspected suspicious activity of a vehicle. As I understand it a member of the public contacted the police around 8.30am this morning to report an abandoned car in Rosevale Street. The PSNI moved in within 10 minutes and as a precaution evacuated the homes along Rosevale Street before Army technical experts carried out a number of controlled explosions," she said, noting that, after last night's events in Newry, the police are operating in a climate of heightened dissident threat and activity. "The PSNI should always respond to suspicious activity with serious caution but it is always a fine balancing act between protecting the community and minimising unnecessary disruption to the daily lives of local people," she concluded.

Railway Body Shock

No crime is suspected as police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding a body being found on a railway line in north Antrim. While a post mortem is still to be carried out, the discovery - at Station Road in Dunloy on Monday night - is not suspicious as a police spokesman said foul play was not suspected at this stage. The line was closed for a time between Ballymena and Ballymoney, but has since reopened.

Petrol Bombers Condemned

Turf Lodge residents don't want trouble in their area. According to Sinn Fein Councillor Janice Austin - who said a petrol bomb attack last night was "disgraceful" - the "people in Turf Lodge do not want this type of activity". The republican representative was speaking after two petrol bombs were thrown into a house in west Belfast. Police said that shortly before 10pm on Monday, a front downstairs window was broken and two petrol bombs were thrown into the property. One ignited in the living room causing damage and the second was recovered intact by police. It is understood the property was empty at the time of the attack.

NI Man Held Over Drugs

The UK Border Agency in Dover has charged a Northern Ireland man with drug smuggling. Nigel Donnelly, 42, of Cookstown, has been remanded in custody until he next appears at Dover Magistrates Court on February 25. Mr Donnelly was arrested after officers searched a lorry and trailer on February 17 and uncovered approximately 350 kilos of cannabis with an estimated street value of £900,400 in a load of frozen chips.

Islandmagee Education Query

East Antrim Ulster Unionist MLA Roy Beggs has condemned the lack of decision making, over an extended period, by the Department of Education, which has allowed school enrolment numbers to decline in Islandmagee, putting into doubt the delivery of a long awaited new Primary School for the district. In an Assembly answer to a question placed by Mr Beggs, the Minister for Education Caitriona Ruane has said that "the long-term enrolment for the proposed new primary school in Islandmagee has declined to a level substantially below the minimum enrolment threshold of 105 outlined in the Department's Sustainable Schools policy for a sustainable rural primary school." Responding to this news, the Ulster Unionist MLA said: "This state of affairs is sadly only too predictable. We have had years of drift and dithering by the Department of Education which has lead directly to this situation," he fumed.

Planning Offence Fines

A Co Armagh father and his son have been fined a total of £300 at Armagh Magistrates' Court for failing to comply with a Planning Service Enforcement Notice. John Mervyn Winter and his son Jonathan Mervyn Winter of Derrycrew Road, Loughgall pleaded guilty to non-compliance of the Enforcement Notice which required them to remove unauthorised mobile homes from a site north west of Derrycrew Road, Loughgall. John Mervyn Winter was fined £200 and £95 costs and Jonathan Mervyn Winter was fined £100 and £95 costs. While the defendants have since removed the mobile homes, this occurred outside the time specified in the notice and an offence had been committed.

Frozen Rates:DUP

DUP MLA for Strangford Simon Hamilton has welcomed a continued freeze in domestic regional rates announced by the NI Finance Minister Sammy Wilson and has also highlighted how devolution compares to the record of Direct Rule rate increases. "The further freeze in domestic regional rates will be welcomed by householders across Northern Ireland as they cope with the difficult economic climate. The 2.7% increase in the non-domestic regional rate is also a freeze for businesses in real terms given the current level of inflation. It stands in stark contrast to the record of Direct Rule Ministers who saddled the people of Northern Ireland with 19% increases in their rates. In the last five years of Direct Rule, Ulster's householders saw their rates bills rise by 65%," he said.

(BMcC/GK)