Monthly Archives: January 2014

Northern Ireland’s health service is to receive an extra £30 million to help cover the cost of a rising number of emergency hospital admissions, it was announced yesterday. Welcoming the cash boost, DUP Health Minister Edwin Poots said: “This money will be used to alleviate significant pressures by directly helping patients, elderly people and children receive the treatment, care packages and services they require more efficiently. “The funding will be focused on frontline services and will directly benefit a large number of patients and other service users.” But Ulster Unionist health spokesperson Roy Beggs MLA said the additional funding announced yesterday was far short of what is required to address the “black hole” in the health budget , adding: “It will only partly alleviate some of the problems that frontline health services face in Northern Ireland.” The extra £30 million was given to the NHS by the Stormont Executive following … Continue reading →

NIE has issued a strong safety warning following a spate of damage to electricity equipment in the Broughshane and Glenarm areas over recent days. There have been four separate incidents where poles have been sawed down in order to steal overhead electricity lines or electricity wire has been ripped off the side of homes. The incidents happened overnight, cutting power to local residents and risking the serious injury of the perpetrators, passers-by or livestock. Sam Gibson, NIE Asset Management, said, “Anyone interfering with electricity equipment is putting their lives at risk. They are also showing a complete disregard for the local community by leaving equipment in a dangerous state and leaving homes without power.” “We are working closely with the PSNI to stamp out this type of practice and would encourage anyone in the local community who has information to come forward. This week we gave evidence at Stormont about … Continue reading →

Ulster Unionists are urging support for a proposed Stormont Private Member’s Bill aimed at making metal theft more difficult. There were just over 300 such thefts during burglaries and robberies in East Antrim in two years. Copper and lead were from plumbing and electrical installations and lead from the roofs of schools, churches, businesses and dwellings. PSNI figures show that in the two years to the end of 2012 there were 182 offences in which metal was stolen in the Newtownabbey area, 76 in Larne and 45 in Carrickfergus. MLA Roy Beggs Jnr is consulting on the proposed Bill, which he says would improve the audit trail for the sale of scrap metal. Mr Beggs MLA said: “Legislation has been passed in the Westminster Parliament which further regulates the sale of metal for scrap in England and Wales: the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013. Legislation has also been proposed in … Continue reading →

Ulster Unionists are urging support for a proposed Stormont Private Member’s Bill aimed at making metal theft more difficult. There were just over 300 such thefts during burglaries and robberies in East Antrim in two years. Copper and lead were from plumbing and electrical installations and lead from the roofs of schools, churches, businesses and dwellings. PSNI figures show that in the two years to the end of 2012 there were 182 offences in which metal was stolen in the Newtownabbey area, 76 in Larne and 45 in Carrickfergus. MLA Roy Beggs Jnr is consulting on the proposed Bill, which he says would improve the audit trail for the sale of scrap metal. Mr Beggs MLA said: “Legislation has been passed in the Westminster Parliament which further regulates the sale of metal for scrap in England and Wales: the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013. Legislation has also been proposed in … Continue reading →