Other News In Brief

Newry's Mac Group Secures Contracts Worth €90m

Newry-based Mac Group has secured €90 million worth of contracts across the UK and Ireland, creating 50 new jobs.

With offices in Newry, Dublin, London and Birmingham, the company currently employs 140 people.

Mac Group is currently undergoing a 110,000sq ft office space development on Shelbourne Road in Dublin, along with a 200-bed hotel project in Liverpool.

With its host of new contracts, the company is reportedly on track for a forecast turnover of €185 million in 2018.

Woman Convicted Of Benefit Fraud

A woman was convicted at Belfast Magistrates’ Court today for claiming benefits she was not entitled to.

Carol Irwin claimed Jobseekers Allowance and Housing Benefit totalling £431 while failing to declare employment. She was given a Probation Order for one year.

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

Sinn Fein To Meet With RQIA Over Dunmurry Neglect

A Sinn Féin delegation is to meet the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) to discuss the serious concerns identified regarding the care of vulnerable residents in the Commissioner for Older People’s report into Dunmurry Manor Care Home.

The delegation includes Health Spokesperson Pat Sheehan MLA and Carers Spokesperson Colm Gildernew MLA who will raise, in particular, the Commissioner's criticisms of the RQIA's role in regulating Dunmurry Manor.

Mr Sheehan said: "The Commissioners report was damning and highlighted serious issues regarding failings within the system to address grave concerns that had been raised around the standard of care in Dunmurry Manor.

|It raised serious questions about the capacity of the RQIA, and other relevant authorities, to address these issues and we will be putting those questions directly to them.

"We will also be meeting with the Older Peoples Commissioner and the Human Rights Commission over the coming days to establish what measures need to be put in place to ensure the safety and care of vulnerable older people in care homes across the north and that the mistakes of Dunmurry Manor are not repeated.

"We have also requested meetings with Department of Health and other relevant authorities to seek clarification on what significant measures they intend to put in place in response to the Commissioner's findings."

(CD)