Other News In Brief

Rory Best Appointed Captain Of Ireland Rugby Union Team

Ulster's Rory Best has been appointed captain of the Ireland Rugby Union team.

Head coach Joe Schmidt made the announcement.

Sports Minister Carál Ní Chuilín said: "Rory is fully deserving of this great honour and I feel that he is a wonderful choice to take over from the great Paul O'Connell.

"He has shown great leadership qualities in his role as captain of the Ulster Rugby side and having won 89 international caps he is well placed to lead the Irish team forward. His appointment is well merited."

Craigavon Firm Completes 400,000th Yale Forklift Truck

A Craigavon based firm has announced it has completed building its 400,000th Yale forklift truck.

Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister, Jonathan Bell, congratulated the the Hyster-Yale plant and said for many years it has been a "world leading" brand.

Minister Bell said: "To be here to see the 400,000th forklift truck roll off the production line at Craigavon is a proud moment for everyone here and represents almost 35 years of continuous production from this very factory.

"Hyster-Yale is a company which has invested and reinvested in Northern Ireland and we have enjoyed a very rewarding relationship which has resulted in real benefits for the local economy.

"We often talk about world class manufacturing but here we can see it clearly and, like all world class manufacturing centres, it never stops making improvements in everything it does. We recognise the importance of manufacturing in Northern Ireland, which is why Invest NI has, over the years, provided support towards re-equipping aspects of production and in making critical process improvements. This has enabled the Craigavon plant to be more versatile and complex in its manufacturing and thereby safeguard aspects of production here in Northern Ireland."

Alliance Opposes Stormont Budget

Alliance has voted against the latest Stormont budget, with MLA Trevor Lunn stating the proposals were not strategic enough to help fix Northern Ireland's finances.

The move followed Alliance Ministers David Ford and Stephen Farry voting against the proposals at the Executive last month.

Mr Lunn said: "This Budget was circulated to Executive Ministers at 9pm on December 16 ahead of the Executive meeting at 11am the following day. That is clearly not enough time to discuss, debate and formulate ideas around what is a vital document regarding the future finances of Northern Ireland.

"One of the main issues is around the decision to set a date and rate of Corporation Tax. That means the requirement to invest in skills takes on an increased urgency, but this Budget actually places further pressure on our skills base, which is already being hollowed out through budget cuts."