Other News In Brief

Proposal To Establish Irish Medium Nursery Turned Down

A proposal to establish a part-time Irish-medium (IM) nursery unit at Gaelscoil na Daróige in Co L'Derry has been turned down by the Education Minister.

Minister Peter Weir said he turned down the proposal because there are three Irish Medium primary schools within a three mile radius.

He said: "There are three Irish Medium (IM) primary schools within a three mile radius, two of which are currently undersubscribed for nursery provision therefore approving this proposal could create sustainability issues for all existing IM providers in the city."

NI Water Urges Public To 'Bin It Not Flush It'

NI Water is calling on the public to 'Bin It Not Flush It' after the firm revealed it spends around £2.5 million cleaning up avoidable sewage spills caused by flushing inappropriate items into sewers.

Every year NI Water retrieves millions of waste items from the sewerage network that "simply shouldn't be there".

Some of the bizarre items that have been recovered include a car driving shaft, a child's bicycle, parts of an old fridge, and builders' mortar spread over 20 metres' length of sewer.

Angela Halpenny, NI Water's Head of Environmental Regulation, said: "Wastewater drains that run from residential properties are only four inches wide and are designed to remove human waste and toilet roll only. Blockages are caused when other rubbish is flushed down the toilet or dumped into the sewers.

"The advice is simple; bin it, don't flush it. Working together, we can ensure that our environment stays in a pristine condition that we can all enjoy."

UUP 'Angry' Over Pay Increase To First Ministers Special Advisers

Ulster Unionist MLA Andy Allen has expressed his anger after it was revealed the total annual salary and pension costs of the eight Special Advisers to the First Ministers have risen by 30% to £820,000. In the year following the restoration of devolution in 2007/08, the total cost was £632,000, almost £200,000 less.

Mr Allen said: "These figures which were revealed to me through an Assembly question are outrageous and further demonstrate how the costs and cult of Special Advisers around the First Ministers have clearly got out of control.

"Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness have an incredible 8 Special Advisers between them in one Department and now the average annual cost for each has reached almost £103,000. In contrast there are only 8 Special Advisers in the whole of the Welsh Government.

"The growth in salaries and pensions costs has come during a time of contracting public expenditure with key services coming under serious pressure, a stagnating economy, a record number of young people not being able to find work, a major streamlining in the number and size of Executive Departments and the biggest shakeup to the welfare system in a generation."

(CD)