Other News In Brief

Family Of Gerard Lawlor Deserve 'Truth And Justice' - Sinn Fein

Sinn Féin MP John Finucane has said the family of Gerard Lawlor deserve truth and justice.

The North Belfast MP was speaking after the Police Ombudsman found there were 'significant failings' in the PSNI investigation into the 2002 murder.

He said: "19-year-old Gerard Lawlor was murdered by Loyalist paramilitaries on 22 July 2002.

"His family have continued to campaign for the truth of what happened that night and raised concerns about how the PSNI investigation was conducted.
 
Today the Police Ombudsman has ruled there were ‘significant failings’ in the PSNI investigation stating ‘I have concluded that a number of the complaints, allegations and concerns made by the family about police actions and omissions are legitimate and justified’.

"This catalogue of failings included the failure to link the murder with a series of sectarian attacks; failure to conduct searches, arrests and interviews in a timely manner; failure to maintain CCTV viewing logs; failure to obtain all relevant telecommunications data; as well as a failure to fully consider the dissemination of all relevant intelligence to the Senior Investigating Officer."

NIFL Pledges To 'Share Road To Zero'

The Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) is preparing to kick off conversations about road safety by pledging to 'Share the Road to Zero'.

NIFL is a high profile signing for the initiative, which aims to reduce road deaths by encouraging all of us to think about our shared responsibilities, to be aware of our surroundings, and take more care when out and about.

Tragically, 46 people have lost their lives on our roads so far this year, compared to 32 this time last year.

Lynda Hurley, Head of Road Safety Promotion at the Department for Infrastructure said: "Every road death is unexpected and traumatic and behind every loss of life are grieving families expecting their loved ones to return home; their lives have now also changed forever. Sadly, too many people are losing their lives on our roads. Evidence shows that more than 95% of road deaths are due to human error. That being the case, we can all play our part in reducing road deaths by taking personal responsibility to be the best road user we can be. Together we can make a difference and move towards zero deaths on our roads.

"The Northern Ireland Football League’s backing for the ‘Share the Road to Zero’ pledge is a significant step in raising awareness of what we can all do to change our behaviours when we use our roads. Sadly, careless or inattentive driving, inappropriate speed for the road or the conditions, as well as drink and drug driving account for the majority of deaths and serious injuries on our roads so as a society, we need to have more conversations about what we can all do on a personal level to be the best road users that we can be, whether we are travelling on foot or on wheels."

Fibrus Announces Significant Milestone

Northern Ireland company and Full Fibre broadband provider Fibrus has announced it has now over 50,000 customers on its network.

The figure covers the Fibrus network in Northern Ireland and Northern England and comes as it continues to invest heavily in building its brand presence in these regions.

The company has also released its network coverage data to the end of August confirming it has passed 300,000 homes of which 273,000 are ready for service.

The penetration rate of customers per ready for service premises now stands at 19%, compared to 15% when it last updated the market in March 2023.

To fund this continued growth, the company this week received an additional £35m tranche of equity funding from its shareholder Infracapital bringing its total investment in Fibrus to £150m. Fibrus’ network roll out is also financed by its existing £220 million loan facility and in excess of £300m in government funding.

Colin Hutchinson, Fibrus Chief Financial Officer & Chief Revenue Officer, said that growth in customer numbers has been driven by growing confidence and increasing momentum in the Fibrus brand: "Connecting 50,000 customers is an important milestone in our mission to bring Full Fibre broadband to homes and businesses to rural and regional areas of the UK. It shows the momentum we are building in the market, having tripled our customer base in just one year. Our journey has become synonymous with bringing Full Fibre broadband to every corner of Northern Ireland, and our growth is accelerating as we continue our rollout and build our brand in northern England."