Other News In Brief

Woman Convicted Of Benefit Fraud

A woman has been convicted for claiming benefits she was not entitled to at Craigavon Magistrates' Court.

Jill Cochrane claimed Income Support totalling £22,202 she was not entitled to. She was given 200 hours community service.

She is also required to repay any money wrongfully obtained to the Department.

Council Approves Plans To Improve Promenade Area In Bangor

Ards and North Down Council has approved plans to improve and enhance the Ballyholme Promenade area in Bangor.

The plans are part of the wider Coastal Masterplan from Pixie to Ballyholme.

Alliance Councillor Karen Douglas said she was "delighted" with the announcement.

She said: "Ballyholme has been neglected for too long, something all parties have been able to get behind as my campaigning on the issue has received cross-party support.

"Ballyholme Promenade is an area of natural beauty which many local residents and visitors enjoy, and must be sensitively managed with any proposals in sympathy with the surroundings. Consultation and engagement with local people and businesses concerning these proposals and the wider Coastal Masterplan is therefore essential to ensure all views are garnered.

"I look forward to seeing the plans being progressed as soon as possible."

SDLP Pays Tribute To John Robb

SDLP South Belfast MLA Claire Hanna has paid her condolences to the family of former Senator John Robb

She said: "I was very sorry to learn of the death last night of John Robb, a very distinguished surgeon and a former member of the Irish Senate. I offer my condolences to his family.

"John was a friend of my family, indeed he was staying in our family home in Galway in 1982 at the time when the then Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, asked him to come to Dublin to inform him of his Senate appointment.

"John Robb was an outstanding representative of the liberal Presbyterian tradition in the North, which was willing to engage with all traditions on the island, through his New Ireland Group. He was probably the leading trauma surgeon in the Royal Victoria Hospital in awful years of the early seventies and was a doughty defender of our hospitals."

(CD)