Other News In Brief

Significant Progress Made On Dungiven Bypass

The Dungiven bypass is to be the next stage of the A6 upgrade.

Sinn Féin MLA Cathal Ó hOisín has welcomed the announcement.

The East Derry MLA said: "This announcement that the Dungiven bypass will be next stage of the A6 road upgrade project is great news.

"It follows on from the recent announcement that the Randalstown to Castledawson will be the first stage of the project.

"This is the largest infrastructure project in the Dungiven for more than 50 years and it is something that local people have fought long and hard for.

"The Dungiven bypass will dramatically cut journey times between Derry and Belfast and help the economy of areas right along the route."

Police Renew Appeal For Missing Man

Police are renewing their appeal for help to trace missing man Sean ‘Smurf’ Diver.

The 39-year-old was last seen in Townsend Street in Strabane on Wednesday evening.

He is described as 5ft 7inches in height, of slim build, with dark brown hair. He has a tattoo on each side of his neck saying 'mum' and 'dad'.

When last seen it's believed he may have been wearing dark coloured tracksuit bottoms with red stripes on each side, dark footwear with white soles and either a dark red coloured hooded top with white writing on the chest, or a dark coloured jacket.

Alliance Submits Amendment On Fatal Foetal Abnormality

Members of the Alliance Party have submitted an amendment to the Justice Bill seeking reform of the law around cases of fatal foetal abnormalities.

The amendment proposes an update to the law which would allow women carrying a foetus with a fatal abnormality to access a termination legally in Northern Ireland. It comes in the wake of the Justice Minister's unsuccessful attempts to get the Executive to agree such legislation and the high profile case of Sarah Ewart.

Mr Stewart Dickson MLA said: "We have long been in contact with Sarah Ewart and her mother Jane Christie, who have campaigned on this matter since Sarah's heart-breaking experience. Trevor and I promised them we would endeavour to do whatever we could to help update the law in terms of fatal foetal abnormalities - I hope this amendment will achieve this.

"Abortion law is a conscience issue for Alliance - the Justice Minister's position on the need to reform the law and his appeal decision against the Horner judgement does not change that. This is a strictly worded amendment, specifically relating to fatal foetal abnormality only and while it may not go far enough for some, realistically, I believe this is the only way forward a majority of the Assembly can support."

(CD)