Other NI News In Brief

Antrim On Alert

An NI town that has been plagued by loyalist pipe bomb attacks and hoaxes was again on alert today as the police evacuated homes in the Firmount Drive area and Army bomb experts examined a suspicious object. A number of people had to leave their homes after a pipebomb was discovered in attached to the letterbox of a ground floor flat. The device has since been taken away for further examination.

See: 'Loyalist Splinter Group' Bombed School

See: Antrim Bomb Alert Ends

Adams Welcomes 'Disappeared' Probe

Sinn Fein President and life-long republican, Gerry Adams has welcomed the announcement from the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains that a search for the remains of Peter Wilson from St. James' will begin in Waterfoot. His comments came as the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) launched a search following a tip-off over the remains of one of he "disappeared". The man believed murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1973 was Peter Wilson, 21, who had learning difficulties and went missing from his home in the Falls Road area of west Belfast. Archaeologists and other experts are now examining a beach at Waterfoot in the Glens of Antrim. It is the first time such a search has been undertaken in NI.

Ford Applauds Women

NI Justice Minister David Ford has praised the work of Women's Aid and the support it provides to domestic violence victims. The Minister was speaking at a Women's Aid ceremony in Antrim where he presented staff with NVQ awards in working with victims, survivors and witnesses. Mr Ford said: "As we work to reshape the justice system, victims must be at the heart of everything we do and the important support role played by organisations like Women's Aid is vital as we move forward."

Kennedy For Executive

It looks like being 'all change' with the Ulster Unionist party (UUP) as there is growing speculation that party leader Tom Elliott will replace the Stormont Employment Minister Sir Reg Empey - the former party leader - with the MLA for Newry and Armagh, Danny Kennedy. Tom Elliott may personally take Mr Kennedy's current post as Chair of the Committee of the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister and the UUP Deputy Leader Danny Kennedy to take over from Sir Reg Empey as Minister for Employment and Learning.

(BMcC/GK)