Other NI News In Brief

Bomb Scare

It has emerged this afternoon that a bomb alert which caused a number of homes to be evacuated in Londonderry has ended after having been declared an elaborate hoax. Army bomb experts were this morning sent to the scene of the security alert in Dunluce Court, Ballymagroarty, which was closed off following the discovery of a suspect device. Yesterday, a Sinn Fein office in north Belfast was sealed off after a suspicious object was discovered outside the building on Oceanic Avenue, off the Antrim Road on Tuesday morning while a second alert at Law Society House in Belfast city centre also saw a number of buildings evacuated. Both were later said to be groundless as nothing was untoward was found.

MoD Refuse Parade

DUP Deputy Leader and North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds has raised the refusal by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to accept an invitation extended by Belfast City Council to hold a homecoming parade for members of the Royal Irish Regiment and Irish Guards to mark their return from Afghanistan. In Westminster Mr Dodds said: "The decision to refuse a homecoming parade has been greeted with incredulity and anger across Northern Ireland. It was clear on the last occasion that a parade was held, just how strong the support for our troops was with tens of thousands of people lining the streets of Belfast. The very least we should expect from the Secretary of State for Defence is for him to come before the House of Commons and explain his decision. However what should happen is that he would announce a reversal of this decision and allow these brave men and woman their moment of appreciation," he said.

Sands Of Time

A sculpture of one of Northern Ireland's most famous landmarks, the Giants Causeway, made entirely out of sand has been destroyed by vandals. The work of art was created by renowned sculptor Paul Hoggard and had been on display at the Victoria Square shopping complex in Belfast for just over a week but was vandalised on Saturday afternoon.

Nomadic Honoured

A commemorative plaque has been unveiled on board Titanic's 'little sister', the Nomadic, a small ship launched from Hamilton Dock on 25th April 1911. The Nomadic was the tender ship for the Olympic class transatlantic liners. Denis Rooney chairman of the Nomadic Charitable Trust said: "This was a very special day as Nomadic is celebrating her centenary birthday. The Nomadic has played a very important role in the Titanic history and it is nice to honour her as she is the last remaining White Star Line vessel to have survived in the world," he said.

Girls On Top

The East Belfast Alliance Assembly candidate Cllr Judith Cochrane has expressed delight that the Alliance Party is 'leading the way' out of the five main parties in terms of the percentage of women candidate who are running in the Assembly elections this year. Seven of the party's 22 candidates are women making up 32% of the total. She said that women make up 28% of Sinn Fein candidates, 16% of the DUP's, 14% of SDLP candidates and only 10% of UUP candidates approximately.

(BMcC/GK)