Other NI News In Brief

Lifeline Scores Support

NI soccer boss, Nigel Worthington, has called into the offices of local charity Lifeline to lend his support to a campaign to encourage young people to stay healthy in body and mind. The international boss was given a tour of the Lifeline premises and saw at first-hand the range of services available, from counselling to play therapy, before chatting to staff and young people about the importance of keeping fit. "A healthy body really can lead to a healthy mind and taking part in a sport can help everyone keep a positive outlook on life. Exercise not only leads to physical fitness but it can also help to promote mental wellbeing," said Nigel. "Playing a sport, in particular a team sport such as football, can boost self-esteem and can give people a sense of belonging and comradeship with their team mates so it can be very useful in combating feelings of stress and isolation. I am very pleased to be here representing the Irish FA in support of the valuable work that Lifeline carries out," he added, noting that Lifeline is the Northern Ireland crisis response, telephone helpline service for people of all ages who are experiencing distress or despair.

NI Water Fined For Pollution

Northern Ireland Water (NIW) was this week fined £1,000 plus £73 court costs at Limavady Magistrates' Court, following a pollution incident at Greysteel Wastewater Treatment Works. On 7 November 2008, a Water Quality Inspector acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) found that a stream beside the Wastewater Treatment Works at Greysteel, Co Londonderry was visibly polluted. Further investigation showed that the stream was grey in colour and smelled of sewage, with discoloured effluent visible for some distance downstream. This stream eventually flowed to Lough Foyle. The pollution was traced upstream to Northern Ireland Water's Greysteel Wastewater Treatment Works, where a storm tank was found to be overflowing. Northern Ireland Water pleaded guilty to the charge of discharging sewage effluent to a waterway.

Voices Of Youth On UTV

BoldVoices, a new half hour programme being made by 68 local young people exploring social issues as diverse as joy riding and homelessness, will be shown on UTV on Thursday 4 August at 11.05pm. BoldFace Productions which is producing the programme for UTV linked up with the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland Voices Initiative based in Londonderry and Belfast to give local young people the chance to voice their concerns on current issues. Six groups of young people aged 14-25 worked together to produce the short films which make up the programme greatly assisted us in producing these films. BoldFace brought all their expertise and skills to bear and their film professionals were inspirational to many of the young people involved in making films. Michael Wilson, Managing Director, UTV, said: "As a public service broadcaster UTV is keen to represent all sections of our community. We are delighted to give these talented young people the opportunity to show their films to a mainstream Northern Ireland audience. BoldVoices will give our viewers a real insight into the issues these young film makers are concerned about and we are proud to showcase their work and nurture future talent."

If The Cap Fits

The NI Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Michelle O'Neill has met the EU Commission to discuss the ongoing Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. She was in Brussels meeting Georg Haeusler, Head of Cabinet of the EU Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner. The Minister said: "The meeting with Mr Haeusler took place at a very opportune time with the publication of the EU Budget proposals at the end of June and the upcoming CAP reform legislative proposals which are expected on 12 October. I took the opportunity to put our views on CAP reform directly to the Commission, with a particular focus on the importance of a sufficient CAP budget and the potential changes in relation to direct payments. In relation to the CAP budget, I made the point that while the recent budget proposals would see a freeze in the CAP budget at the 2013 level, this represents a significant reduction in real terms. I stressed that it is very important that future budget negotiations do not result in any further reductions. I explored the issue of the future shape of the Single Farm Payment Scheme and emphasised the importance of regional flexibility so that we are able to design a payment structure that best suits our industry," she said.

Benefit Bandits

Two people were convicted at Limavady Magistrates' Court yesterday for claiming benefits they were not entitled to. Stephen McCloskey (38) of Rossnavanna, Limavady was given six months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to pay court costs of £121 for failing to declare employment while claiming Income Support totalling £925. Liam Carton (54) of Glenroe Park, Dungiven was fined £200 and ordered to pay court costs of £61 for failing to declare employment while claiming Job Seekers Allowance and Housing Benefit totalling £3,510. Both are also required to repay any outstanding money wrongfully obtained to the Social Security Agency.

(BMcC/GK)