23-Year-Old Arrested In Connection With Shotgun Incident

A 23-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the firing of a shotgun in residential street in Ballygowan.

A round struck a garage window at a property in Oakdale at around 7.45am this morning, Sunday 9 June.

Responding officers detained the male after he was located on a rooftop in nearby Meadow Avenue.

The suspects remains in custody at present and police are continuing to investigate the incident.

Greens Welcome Heavier Fines For Persistent Agricultural Pollution

Green Party Cllr Brian Smyth has gained the support of Belfast City Council for the reinstatement of heavier financial penalties for persistent agricultural pollution.

Environment Minister Andrew Muir, has not change policy on pollution fines.

Cllr Smyth said "It was only 2 weeks ago that Minister Muir said he had no plans to reverse Edwin Poots’ decision to reduce the sanctions imposed on farmers who pollute. Due to pressure from the Green Party, environmental activists and the wider public concerned about water pollution, Minister Muir has changed tack."

Cllr Smyth continued: "Whilst this is a welcome first step by the Minister, there are wider issues at play here. The Executive unanimously pushed through the Going for Growth Strategy, which incentivises industrialised and unsustainable factory farming, polluting our soil, water and air. We see the disaster of Lough Neagh which provides forty percent of the drinking water in Northern Ireland. This is directly caused by the policy decisions, poor governance and disinterest in environmental matters of these executive parties.

"There can be no compromise with the quality of our drinking water."

Public Urged To Help Inform NI's Equality Legislation

Alliance have called on the public to participate in improving Northern Ireland's equality legislation, by making their views known to an Assembly Committee inquiry comparing equality law in Northern Ireland with that in neighbouring jurisdictions.

Executive Office Spokesperson and South Belfast MLA, Paula Bradshaw, who chairs the Executive Office Committee conducting the inquiry, stated: "This is a cross-party inquiry, and we want the public's help to determine the impacts of different equality provisions in different jurisdictions and to give us ideas for improvement taking into account the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland.

"It was already the case that the Equality Act introduced in 2010 by Great Britain did not extend to Northern Ireland, and arrangements after the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union may lead to further divergence. It would appear that this has led to gaps in legislation to the detriment of people here.

"We wish to use this survey as part of the Committee's work to investigate these gaps and to examine whether it would be in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland to proceed with legislative change to enhance equality and human rights.

"At the end of the process, we will make recommendations for change on a cross-party basis, which reinforces the importance of people participating in the survey at this early stage."