Belfast harbour reports record tonnages in 2011
BELFAST Harbour has reported a record year despite the economic climate as tonnages handled by the port rose by seven per cent to 17,644m tonnes in 2011.The increase was driven by strong performances...
View Article‘During the summer holidays we never knew what boredom was’
AS one of a family of 15 children, growing up in the late 50s and early 60s, belonging to such a large brood was nothing out of the ordinary in the small Co Londonderry community where he was from,...
View ArticleLiving it large: families who love their big brood
Not all families adhere to the ideal of producing 2.4 children to complete their little unit, as a new series on Channel 4 recently highlighted. LAURA MURPHY explores the effects of living with...
View ArticlePoignant memorial for ferry disaster victims
THE UK’s worst-ever disaster at sea in peacetime was commemorated in Larne yesterday, 59 years to the day since the Princess Victoria sank off the Co Down coast.Only 44 passengers survived when a huge...
View ArticleMinister approves one nursery, but turns down two
The Education Minister has approved plans for a 26-place nursery unit in Waringstown Primary School. John O’Dowd said yesterday the Co Down unit will provide for children who travel outside their...
View ArticleResidents warned over ‘radon test’ scam
HOUSEHOLDERS have been warned to be on their guard against letters claiming to be from Health Minister Edwin Poots asking them to move out of their homes for a gas survey.Fraudsters sent out letters in...
View ArticlePrince Edward drops in to open ‘awards’ office
THE Earl of Wessex was in the province yesterday for a round of Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme (DofE) engagements.His first stop was in Belfast where he officially opened a new DofE regional office...
View ArticleSunny Ulster to miss worst of cold snap
NORTHERN Ireland is expected to bask in some bright winter sunshine in the next few days as the rest of the UK bears the brunt of the ongoing cold spell.It is feared that scattered snow showers and...
View ArticleSkin graft surgery for teen savaged by terrier
A BOY who was savaged by a bull terrier in Armagh is to have skin graft operations on his injuries today.Thirteen-year-old Eoin Toal was attacked by what the police said was a pit bull-type dog on...
View ArticleBaby deaths probe will get answers, vows Poots
HEALTH trusts may not have acted quickly enough to prevent hospital outbreaks of a deadly infection that killed four babies in Northern Ireland, the Stormont health minister has said.Announcing an...
View ArticleDon’t take law into own hands, farmers warned
POLICE chiefs in north Antrim have urged farmers to work with them rather than turning vigilante in a desperate bid to keep thefts at their properties to a minimum.John Magill, chief inspector for H...
View ArticleMcGuinness: I’d cheer on NI at Windsor Park
Martin McGuinness has revealed he would cheer on the Northern Ireland football team and hopes to get the chance on a visit to Windsor Park.With many nationalists hostile to the international team,...
View ArticleShock after pensioner’s death in house fire
A PENSIONER who died in a blaze at his home in Newtownabbey yesterday was named locally last night as Billy Meek.It is understood that Mr Meek, who was in his 80s, was killed in the blaze confined to...
View ArticleDilemma a familiar one for me - Jeffrey Donaldson
THE plight now facing David McNarry is one with which I am very familiar.Having left the UUP a number of years ago I am in a position to compare the situation within my former party to the DUP, of...
View ArticleBest way forward is link-up with DUP - David McNarry
FOLLOWING several successive election reverses, a debate has been going on for some time behind closed doors within the Ulster Unionist Party on the future direction of the party.In this context, the...
View ArticleDUP link is only hope: McNarry
THE Ulster Unionists’ only hope is an alliance with the DUP, David McNarry has claimed.Writing in today’s News Letter, the former UUP Assemblyman argues that the talks he was engaged in with the DUP...
View ArticleMan arrested in move against badger baiters
ONE man has been arrested and released on police bail after a joint PSNI/USPCA operation against badger baiting in the Banbridge area.Police yesterday assisted the USPCA with searches in the...
View ArticleOrder hails ‘true heroes’ over awards
MEMBERS of the Orange Order have been hailed as “true heroes in their communities” following a recent awards ceremony.Lodges, individual brethren and sisters gathered in Ballynahinch for the...
View ArticleTourism chiefs rapped for ‘snubbing Twelfth’
THE two main loyal orders have hit out at tourism chiefs for omitting major attractions marking the Province’s marching culture from an online campaign to promote Northern Ireland in 2012.Both the...
View ArticleDogs attacked 1,000 people in Ulster last year
ALMOST 1,000 people were attacked by dogs last year in Northern Ireland, it can be revealed.In the latest attack, a female PSNI officer underwent surgery after a dog bit her during a call-out in north...
View Article