Other News In Brief

NI Engineering Firm Wins £150,000 Deal

NI engineering firm Water Tecnik has scooped a £150,000 contract in England.

The firm, based in Banbridge, secured the deal with specialist plastic recycling facility, PlasRecycle.

Water Tecnik has benefited from over £50,000 of Invest NI support for a range of assistance including R&D support and marketing.

Water Tecnik Company directors Adam Mackin and Dean Church said: "We are delighted that PlasRecycle selected us to design, manufacture and install a dedicated wastewater recycling system on its site. What helped us to secure this growth is our commitment to innovation, including investing in R&D to develop specialist products that improve wastewater efficiency.

"The support we have received from Invest NI has been instrumental in our growth to date. Through its support we gained access to a marketing consultant to complete research in the GB and Rol markets and we hope this research will identify new opportunities and lead to a further increase in sales internationally."

UUP MP Wins Legal Case Took Against Sinn Fein MLA

Ulster Unionist MP Tom Elliot has won a legal case he took against Sinn Fein MLA Phil Flanagan. Mr Elliott served with the UDR from 1982 until 1992 and then served in the RIR from 1992 until 1999.

Mr Elliott said: "I have been totally vindicated and Phil Flanagan has admitted that the comments he made were totally untrue. I am very disappointed that it has taken so long to get to this stage. This could have been resolved 19 months ago, but unfortunately I was forced to go down this route. Despite that, I am delighted with the result."

Over 260 Dungannon Residents To Benefit From Extra Funding

Around 263 people in Dungannon have more money in their pockets today than they did last year.

Announcing the success of his Department's Benefit Uptake Programme for 2014/15, Minister Storey confirmed that 263 people in Dungannon gained an additional £1,051,932 in benefits they were entitled to, but were not claiming.

The Minister also confirmed that in total, 4,702 people across Northern Ireland gained an additional £15.9million in benefits they were entitled to, but not claiming.

Minister Storey said: "This is the second year of my Department's Benefit Uptake Programme which is tailored to ensure that people in Northern Ireland receive all the benefits they are entitled to. The results are impressive; not only are thousands of people receiving extra help with their household bills, but this additional £16million also benefits our economy with people spending the extra cash in their local communities.

"I am delighted with the continued success of this programme. My Department had set a three year target to ensure that £30million in additional benefits was claimed by our customers by March 2016."

(CD)