Other News In Brief

RiverRidge Raise £90,000 For NI Children's Hospice

Northern Ireland's leading waste and resource management company, RiverRidge, has raised £90,000 for its long-term charity partner, Northern Ireland Children's Hospice.

Since 2015, RiverRidge has partnered with NI Children's Hospice, organising a range of fundraising activities for its employees to participate in to raise vital funds for the charity, which supports infants, children and adults with life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses and their families, ensuring that they receive the highest standards of palliative care.

Fundraising events over the years have included cinema nights, the Belfast Marathon, car rallies, raffles, quizzes, sponsored walks, coffee mornings, Christmas Jumper days, the dragon boat race and even an Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal.

In addition, the annual RiverRidge Golf Day is run in aid of the charity and last year, the event which brings together some of the company's suppliers and customers, raised £5,400 which was added to the overall total.

Brett Ross, CEO of RiverRidge said: "We are extremely proud to have reached £90,000 of fundraising for NI Children's Hospice since our partnership with the charity began. This is an incredible amount, and we would like to thank everyone who has supported us – from almost 300 employees across our five sites, in addition to our suppliers and customers, and those who have donated via our online fundraising page, the response has been extremely positive.

"We place a strong emphasis on supporting and investing in our local communities, and this is one of the pillars in our recently launched ESG report. We look forward to continuing our partnership with NI Children's Hospice, and supporting the fantastic work that the charity does, in the months and years ahead."

Lauren Doherty, Interim Director of Commercial and Brand Development at NI Children's Hospice, said: "On behalf of NI Children's Hospice, I wish to thank RiverRidge for its continued support of the work we do. £90,000 is a tremendous amount of money for the charity and will help us to continue to provide specialist care to children and young people with complex needs throughout Northern Ireland. RiverRidge's employees have enthusiastically embraced a wide range of fundraising activities and we are very grateful to them for all the money they have raised."

Mal O'Hara Becomes First 'Northern Green' To Win Seanad Seat

Mal O'Hara, leader of the Green Part Northern Ireland, as been elected to the Seanad Éireann, becoming the party's fifth senator and the first 'Northern Green' to take a seat in the South.

The new Senator was accompanied by his husband and family members, friends and Green Party TDs and Ministers as he was made a senator.

Speaking at Leinster House, Senator O'Hara said: "I am honoured and humbled to become a senator today. I am proud to make history as the first Northern Green to take a seat in Seanad Éireann. It is vital that there is Northern representation, and I am pleased that all parties recognised that need for representation and did not contest me.

"I am a former city councillor, a former Harbour Commissioner, and a former board member of two mental health charities. My two decades in the community and voluntary sector along with a life-long commitment as an activist, means I can represent all traditions from Northern Ireland as a fair arbiter.

"I look forward to joining a strong Green team in the Oireachtas and working with colleagues in Government and cross-party to continue to fight for social and environmental justice."

Senator O'Hara was welcomed by Senator Roisin Garvey, Leader of the Green Party in the Seanad: "As an all-Ireland party, it is great to have a strong voice from Belfast with vast experience in the community sector join our Green team in the Seanad."

Alliance Condemns 'Sinister' Graffiti Attack On Finaghy Home

The Alliance Party has condemned those behind an "appalling and sinister attack" on a home in the Finaghy area of South Belfast.

The graffiti follows an incident, which also occurred in Finaghy back in March, this year, which saw racist posters erected, calling for the Housing Executive to 'stop housing illegal immigrants.'

Alliance South Belfast MLA Kate Nicholl, said: "This is an appalling and sinister attack which was designed to threaten Takura for speaking out. Those behind it do not represent South Belfast which is a community of compassionate, kind and welcoming people.

"However, that does not diminish its impact on those people who are being targeted. It creates fear and it is completely unacceptable.

"I have reported this graffiti to the PSNI and I would urge anyone with any information to contact them urgently.

"It's time for all parties to come together and condemn racism. It is always left to the same people to speak out and if we're serious about tackling this we need to do so together. Our next meeting of the Assembly's All-Party Group on Ethnic Minority Communities will be with key representatives to discuss how we can shut this down."