Other NI News In Brief

Antrim Bomb Alert Over

Several homes were evacuated due to a fresh security alert in Antrim town this morning. It followed the discovery of a suspicious object in the area of Norfolk Square in the Rathenraw estate where Army bomb examined the suspicious object, which was then declared a hoax. There have been several pipe bomb attacks - blamed on 'dissident' loyalists - in recent weeks in the town.

RUC Officers Want Claudy Probe

A group representing ex RUC officers has challenged the NI Policing Ombudsman's finding into the 1972 Claudy bombing and urged the PSNI's Chief Constable to launch a new inquiry into the atrocity. The Northern Ireland Retired Police Officers' Association claimed that relevant issues had been overlooked and that key sources of information were not researched in Al Hutchinson's report into the outrage which left nine people dead. See: McGuinness Met 'Claudy Bombing Priest'

Fatal Crash Arrest

A man, 31, has died following a road crash in Co Armagh that occurred at Killough Gardens in Lurgan at approximately 2am on Sunday. No other vehicle was involved in the accident and a 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident.

Extinguisher Foils Robbers

An armed robber was foiled by a plucky shopkeeper who defended himself with a fire extinguisher during an armed robbery in north Belfast. It was at about 10pm on Saturday, a man armed with a large kitchen knife went into the shop on the Ballysillan Road and threatened staff. When the duty manager defended himself with the fire extinguisher, the robber fled empty handed.

Erne Alert

Five people have been taken to hospital after a dinghy capsized in Co Fermanagh in an accident close to Enniskillen town centre on Friday evening. Three of the people onboard are believed to have made it ashore unassisted, while the other two were rescued by a passing cruiser. One person was admitted to the Erne Hospital. The other four were discharged.

Fire Probed

Two women have escaped uninjured after arsonists set fire to a garden shed at the back of a property in Newtownabbey. It was at Abbeyhill Way happened at about 2am on Sunday morning. Two neighbouring houses were also evacuated as a precaution. Police have appealed for witnesses and are investigating the incident.

Shooting In Belfast

The PSNI are investigating a paramilitary-style shooting in north Belfast. Two men, aged 23 and 25, were taken to hospital following the incident which occurred at Etna Drive in the Ardoyne area of the city at approximately 11pm on Friday. The victims both suffered gunshot wounds to their left legs, however, their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Seamus Heaney Prize To Be Announced

The winner of the inaugural Seamus Heaney Centre Prize for a First Collection is to be announced this week during NI's biggest ever poetry event. Created by the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queen's University to help publicise new poetry, the winner will be announced during the Contemporary British and Irish Poetry Conference being hosted by the University from the 15 to 17 September. The winner will be presented with the £1,000 prize at a special reception hosted by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland attended by competition judges, Ciaran Carson, Michael Longley and Sinead Morrissey.

Pollution Fine For Farmer

A Co Tyrone farmer was fined £500 plus £25 court costs at Omagh Magistrates' Court last week. Nigel Kennedy, of Glenhordial Road, Omagh, Co Tyrone, was fined for making a polluting discharge to a waterway. On 22 September 2009, a Water Quality Inspector, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) inspected a waterway at Corran Road, and observed the river bed to be heavily covered in sewage fungus. The source of the polluting discharge was traced to a farm owned by Mr Kennedy. 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.

(BMcC/GK)