Missing Person

An appeal for information about missing Ballycastle woman Karen Coyles has been made. The police want to find Ms Coyles, 47, who has not been seen since the night of Sunday, 11 September. They said that her car was found outside the camogie club in Ballycastle at about 7.45am the following day. Specifically, the PSNI want anyone who was jogging, or saw anyone else jogging, along the Clare Road or Whitepark Road in Ballycastle between 6am and 6.30am on the Monday to contact them.

President McGuinness?

The debate on Martin McGuinness's controversial past links with the IRA is ongoing as Fintan O'Toole of the Irish Times said today that the Stormont Deputy First Minister should not be President because he could be arrested for 'war crimes' and former Justice Minister Michael McDowell has condemned Mr McGuinness for his connections with the IRA. However, broadcaster and journalist Eamon Dunphy has hit out at critics of the Presidential candidate. Mr Dunphy has said he will be voting in favour of the Sinn Fein candidate.

Action Station

The NI Environment Minister Alex Attwood today visited a multi – agency emergency planning exercise that has been organised by Belfast City Council to ensure preparations for severe weather emergencies. The Minister met the Belfast Lord Mayor and City Council officers as well as representatives from the River's Agency, Roads Service and other partner agencies to test the effectiveness and responsiveness of their emergency plans. This included an inspection of the Council's emergency operations suite. Minister Attwood said: "We have had an increasing number of severe winters therefore I am calling on local government to ensure that preparations are in hand for the onset of winter. The effectiveness of council emergency management was tested during last winter's weather crisis and the subsequent thaw. It is important that we learn from previous experiences and continue to make plans that improve our performance. I was impressed with the spirit of cooperation and collaboration across all emergency agencies at this Belfast City Council led initiative. Partnerships are vital to making robust responses in emergency situations," he said, adding that with winter only weeks away I am urging all councils to continue with their preparations and in doing so ensure communication links are maintained with local communities.

Clean Bill Of Health

Alliance MLA Kieran McCarthy has welcomed the news that all of NI's 24 beaches have passed European clean bathing water tests to be able to fly a blue flag in 2012. But he stressed that we must do more to ensure we continue to pass these tests. "Many tourists have stated that our beaches have made Northern Ireland a very attractive place to visit. We should be doing all we can to make sure we continue to have the some of the cleanest beaches possible," he said. "What we need is a Marine Management Organisation to ensure that all users of our waters from the shoreline to far out at sea use it responsibly and do not do anything to affect water quality. Our beaches are still at risk from pollution so should not rest on our laurels after this great achievement, we should be looking to repeat these results year after year."

(BMcC/GK)