Other News In Brief

Man Convicted Of Benefit Fraud

A man has been convicted for claiming benefits he was not entitled to at Antrim Magistrates' Court.

Christopher Dickinson claimed Job Seeker's Allowance totalling £7,708 while failing to declare employment. He was given a four month prison sentence suspended for three months.

He is also required to repay any outstanding money wrongfully obtained to the Department for Communities.

SF Hits Out At UK Govt Over Nuclear Waste

Sinn Fein has hit out at the UK Government after it announced a consultation, which includes Northern Ireland, to find a site to develop a geological disposal facility (GDF) to store nuclear radioactive waste.

Spokesperson on Energy, Environment and Climate Change Cathal Boylan rejected any suggestion that such a facility could be built in NI.

He said Ireland will "not be used as a dumping ground for Britain's radioactive waste".

He said: "These proposals would allow the British Government to bypass appropriate local decision making structures locally and in Britain.

"There is still no permanent solution for the problem of nuclear waste and this issue will continue to increase as more of the planned nuclear plants are built. The British Government should do the responsible thing and phase out their use of nuclear power."

Further Arts Cuts will Cause Unrecoverable Crisis In The Sector - SDLP

SDLP Community Development Spokesperson Justin McNulty MLA has said that further Arts cuts of up to 8% will force a severe and for many unrecoverable crisis in the sector.

He said: "After years of significant cuts to Arts Council budgets and top slicing from the pool of resource available to Arts festivals and community arts programmes, there are simply no savings left in the system.

"Any further cuts will be directed at service delivery and organisations working in communities across the North. That will cost jobs and it will make this a poorer place.

"Arts are seen as an easy target. However the truth is, an enormous amount of community development work and reconciliation is done through the medium of Arts, whether it’s in music, dance, film or any other Programme bringing people together.

"Before applying significant additional cuts to these organisations and programmes, we have to seriously ask ourselves what kind of community we’re trying to create."

(CD)