O'Neill Welcomes Debate

The Agriculture Minister Michelle O'Neill has welcomed the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee's decision to have a motion in the Assembly next Monday on [EC farm subsidies] disallowance. "I am grateful that the Committee is taking such an interest by having this motion on disallowance. I believe that debate around this important subject can help to provide solutions to what is a technical and complex issue requiring the cooperation of the farming industry. I will be in Brussels at the Agriculture Council and meeting with the Commissioner for EU Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Ciolo regarding the recently published Common Agriculture Policy proposals. I welcome that the Committee recognise the importance of my attendance at this meeting, which has huge implications for the future of our farming industry," the Sinn Fein Minister said, adding that she would be making a statement to the Assembly on Monday 21 November on the current programme of work that is underway to minimise the risk of future disallowance.

Wedding Album Returned - 17 Years On

One NI couple got the best silver wedding anniversary gift they could have hoped for when their wedding album, that went missing nearly two decades ago, was returned to them. When Nigel and Gillian's caravan was stolen 17 years ago their wedding album was lost with it – and while the couple released television appeals for its return – they had given up the notion that they would ever see it again. Mrs Stewart said:"Our photographer had no replacement photographs. I didn't care about the caravan as the insurance covered it - I just wanted the album back." Now in a remarkable twist of fate, precious photographs of her special day with husband, Nigel, were left on the doorstep of their home following a mysterious delivery on Tuesday afternoon. Mrs Stewart, who said she has been left "speechless" by the development, is now keen to make contact with the individual or people who returned the album. The couple said: "The album is in the same condition as we last saw it in the mid-1990s. There is not even a fusty smell of it or anything. Everything is perfect." The Stewart family are now determined to find out why the photographs were returned and who was responsible.

Delivery Scam In Focus

The Sinn Fein MLA Raymond McCartney has called on people to be aware of a postal scam that is circulating at present. "We have been made aware of a scam involving a card being posted through the doors marked PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and that people should ring a premium number 0906 6611911. This is a scam that originates in Belize and people who ring this number are left with a large phone bill of £315 for the call. If people receive this card they should contact the Royal Mail and the PSNI immediately and not phone the number under any circumstances," he said.

Sign Of The Times: Poots

The Minister for Health Edwin Poots has unveiled new 'Emergency Department' signs at Craigavon Area Hospital as part of an initiative to raise awareness of appropriate use of the hospital's emergency service. This is aimed at raising awareness that Emergency Departments must prioritise those who are seriously ill or injured and need to be treated immediately. The initiative has been implemented by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust in response to the fact that a high number of people attending its Hospital Emergency Departments are not seriously ill or injured and do not require emergency treatment. "The public can play a significant role in helping to ease the burden on busy emergency departments by assessing their own needs. If you feel your case is an emergency, then you must attend the Emergency Department. If it is not an emergency, then you should consider seeing your GP, your GP out of hours service, your pharmacist or attending the minor injuries clinic," the DUP Executive Minister said.

(BMcC/GK)