Other NI News In Brief

Tasting Floral Belfast

The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Cllr Pat Convery, is pictured launching the forthcoming Taste Northern Ireland Garden Party with the help of three-year-old Adam Webb and Amy McIlwaine from Tesco. The event is taking place in Botanic Gardens on Saturday and Sunday, September 18-19 and admission is free.

Court Date On Murder Charge

A 53-year-old man, Paul Stockman, has been accused of murdering his fiancee in Belfast. The accused lived in Elm Court in the south of the city with his partner, Patricia Bardon, whose body was discovered on Monday. A detective told Belfast Magistrates Court he believed he could connect the accused to the charge. It is understood the couple were to have been married on the day Ms Bardon's body was found, which was also her 51st birthday.

Aussies Warned Off NI

Australian people have been told to be wary when travelling to Northern Ireland following recent trouble. Its Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is due to an upsurge in dissident republican attacks and parade related riots. Their citizens have been told they could inadvertently get caught up in violence.

IFA Chaos 'Sad'

Sports Minister Nelson McCausland has expressed his disappointment at the situation at the IFA. Last weekend, four members of its executive, including President Raymond Kennedy and Vice-President David Martin resigned with immediate effect. Mr Kennedy will now remain on the IFA's executive board so it has a working quorum, but will offer his resignation at a council meeting in September. Yesterday, the DUP Executive Minister described the events as "sad". "Over the course of the week I have been stopped by people in the street that I have been talking to and they have just shaken their heads, people are lost for words," he said. "If it wasn't so ridiculous, it would at times be funny, but it is not. "It is a sad situation." Mr McCausland had already made it clear that substantial government funding for football would be put at risk if Mr Kennedy and Mr Martin remained in their jobs at the IFA.

Trio Face Exhaust Firm Charges

Three men have been charged in connection with the burglary of a Co Fermanagh car exhausts business. The 23, 19 and 22-year-old men were arrested by police in Enniskillen on Wendesday afternoon, following the robbery which took place in the early hours and will face charges of burglary and the handling of stolen goods when they appear at court in September.

Wilson Slams Law Regulations

The Stormont Finance Minister Sammy Wilson has stated his belief that the regulation of the legal profession in Northern Ireland is not consistent with best practice. He was speaking after meeting with the 'Victims of the Legal Profession Society', a cross-border support organisation for individuals who have suffered at the hands of their lawyers. "Meeting with this group of individuals, who have bad experiences of their dealings with the legal profession, has crystallised in my mind the need for changes to be made to the way in which the legal profession is regulated," he said. The Minister indicated that he shared some of the group's concerns, in particular the view that there is currently a lack of independence in relation to the investigation of complaints made against solicitors. In recent months, the Minister has been considering the report presented to Government by the Legal Services Review Group, chaired by Professor Sir George Bain and the Minister indicated that while he believed the recommendations to be a step in the right direction, he had some reservations that they did not go far enough. "It cannot and must not be left to solicitors to regulate themselves. Given that complaints have been made about the performance of one in five solicitors' firms the current arrangements cannot be kept as they are," he insisted.

Fuel Laundering Probed

One man was arrested after a diesel laundering plant capable of producing 1.5 million litres of illegal fuel was discovered in a Co Tyrone home this week. The illegal operation was dismantled after Revenue and Customs officers raided the property in Clonmore on Tuesday morning when 10,000 litres of laundered green diesel was removed from the premises as well as vehicles, storage tanks and laundering equipment.

Irish Driver Charged Over Death

A 20-year-old Letterkenny man has been charged with drink driving and dangerous driving causing the death of a female passenger earlier this year. Letterkenny District Court in Co Donegal charged Matthew Gallagher, of Skerry, Kilmacrennan, with the offences along with having no insurance at Main Street, Kilmacrennan, in the early hours of February 21. The BMW he was driving crashed, resulting in the death of Elaine Brady, 29 of Rosemount, Kilmacrennan. Sgt Peter Duffy told the court he arrested Mr Gallagher by arrangement on the morning of the hearing. He said that when cautioned in relation to each charge, Mr Gallagher replied: "Nothing to say." Judge Conal Gibbons granted legal aid. He adjourned the case until October 5 and released Mr Gallagher on his own bail of €300.

Ballymena Fire Station Bid

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has submitted plans for a two-storey, four-appliance fire station in Co Antrim. However, it has been noted that these plans are at the very earliest stage of the planning process and approval is being sought for the site in the first instance. The complex - to include welfare, office and community facilities will be in Ballymena with outline plans just submitted to the local council in mid for the project at the playing fields on the town's Antrim Road. The plan also incorporates a training yard, tower and car parking with site curtilage. The architect is HLM Architects.

(BMcC/GK)