Other News In Brief

Farmer Convicted Of Pollution Offence

A farmer from Fermanagh has been convicted of a pollution offence.

Victor Armstrong received a conditional discharge after he was found guilty of allowing slurry to enter a waterway causing a major fish kill.

He was also ordered to pay costs totalling £2,642.

On 05 May 2016, Water Quality Inspectors (WQIs) acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), responded to a report of pig slurry in the Ballycassidy/Irvinestown River.

The inspectors proceeded to a farmyard and discovered that slurry had been flowing over the yard and into the waterway from the direction of a slurry reception tank. In accordance with procedures, the Inspector collected a statutory sample of the slurry as it made its way to the waterway via a black pipe.

The next day inspectors responded to a further report that the river was grey in colour and smelled strongly of pig slurry. They noticed a number of brown trout distressed and dying as the plume flowed downstream. Colleagues from DAERA Inland Fisheries walked from Drumgarrow Bridge to the confluence with the Ballycassidy River and counted 183 dead brown Trout, 35 Roach and two Pike. The waterway was impacted for a distance of 10 kilometres.

A sample taken at the time of the incident confirmed that the discharge contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which was potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.

Call for NI Not to Be Left Behind In Drug Treatments

Alliance Health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw MLA will lead a party delegation to meet Health Department Permanent Secretary Richard Pengelly on Friday, 15 September, to seek assurances action will be taken so local people are not left behind on drugs and treatments.

The South Belfast MLA said the latest reduction in the health budget was extremely concerning, as it means Trusts could not break even without a significant impact on patients.

"It is grossly improper Trusts are being asked to make such cuts with almost no notice because we cannot raise the funds elsewhere. Clearly the best solution would be for an Executive to be restored urgently and for it to raise the money from elsewhere to ensure the Health Service can operate to proper capacity and all social care packages remain in place.

"I am also deeply concerned, not least after chairing this week's All-Party Group on Cancer at Stormont, people in Northern Ireland are being left behind on both drugs and treatments. This is not just a matter of finance but also of finding ways to coordinate drugs and treatments more efficiently so everyone has access on an equal basis with the rest of the UK."

Boeing Should Remember Their Own UK Trade Deal with MOD - UUP

Ulster Unionist economy spokesperson, Alan Chambers MLA, has reminded US aircraft maker Boeing that they have been the recent beneficiaries of UK Government defence contracts for their products.

He was speaking in wake of news that Boeing have made a complaint to the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission about government subsidies to Bombardier.

Alan Chambers said: "Boeing may think it is an opportune moment, with President Trump and his ‘America First’ rhetoric, to make complaints about their rivals Bombardier, who are such an important company in Northern Ireland and Canada. However, they should appreciate that this cuts both ways. At last year’s Farnborough Air Show, the Ministry of Defence announced that they had agreed a $2.3bn deal for 50 Apache AH- 64E helicopters. These aircraft will be built in Mesa, Arizona USA….by the Boeing Company.

"These helicopters were acquired by the MOD under a foreign military sales deal agreed with Washington. I sincerely hope, and expect that our Prime Minister reminded the President of the United States of this deal when she made her phone call to him earlier this week.

"Given that Boeing does not even make a plane that competes with Bombardier's C series, their allegation of unfair competition is bogus and malicious. Boeing should withdraw their complaint forthwith."

(CD)