Other News In Brief

Borough Prepares For SuperCupNI Girls Tournament

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough is gearing up for a week of football action with the start of the 2024 SuperCupNI Girls' Tournament.

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council will host 14 Premier and Junior Girls' teams in the Girls' sections of the prestigious international youth tournament, with Manchester United being the star attraction in an impressive line-up of top teams from around the world.

The 2024 SuperCupNI, celebrating its 41st year, commenced with the traditional parade and opening ceremony in Coleraine on Sunday 21 July.

Joining Manchester United in the Premier Section are the Northern Ireland international team, Premier League clubs Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers, USSSA and Surf Select from the USA and Galway United and Athlone Town from the League of Ireland.

The Girls' Junior Section will feature local teams Linfield, Crusaders, and Larne, competing against USA-based clubs FC America, USSSA, NE Rush and Surf Select.

The Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Councillor Neil Kelly said: "We are incredibly proud to host the SuperCupNI girls’ tournament across the Borough. This year, the girls’ tournament has expanded significantly, attracting top-tier teams from around the world, including Manchester United, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and leading clubs from the USA and the Republic of Ireland. This exceptional tournament provides our local female players with opportunities to compete at the highest level and gain invaluable experience in their football journey, and I wish them all the very best of luck. It’s going to be an exciting week of football action, and I encourage everyone to come out, enjoy the matches, and show their support for these talented young footballers."

The group stages and knockout rounds of the Girls' Tournament will be held at venues across Antrim and Newtownabbey: Cloyne Crescent, Monkstown; The Diamond in Rathcoole; Chimney Corner, Antrim; Mossley Park, Mossley and Dixon Park, Ballyclare.

The Cup Finals for the Girls’ Premier and Junior section will take place at Ballyclare Comrades' new 3G pitch at Dixon Park on Friday 26 July.

Antrim Forum Invests £1.5m In Facilities

Antrim Forum has invested £1.5 million to completely renovate and modernise its two swimming pools and changing facilities, creating a state-of-the-art facility for its members.

The investment includes a complete relining of the pool tank, new flooring and fully refurbished changing rooms. The updated changing facilities include designated areas for families and individuals requiring larger, more accessible spaces and showering amenities.

Additionally, a new sensory room has been introduced at the Forum, offering a calming environment for individuals, families and children with learning disabilities or specific needs. This is the second sensory room in the Council's Leisure Centres, following the one opened at the Valley Leisure Centre last month. Speaking at the launch, the Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Councillor Neil Kelly, said: "The Antrim Forum has served the community for over 50 years. It is an outstanding centre offering activities for the entire family under one roof. With the recent pool refurbishment, along with the new fitness suite and studios introduced last year, the centre now provides a thriving environment for the Borough’s residents to enjoy high-quality physical and mental health programmes and facilities.

"While the centre has greatly improved its core offerings, namely swimming, the fitness suite, and classes, it’s also diversifying its offering to include a new sensory room for people feeling overwhelmed or anxious."

A further investment has been made to resurface the Athletics Track, which is expected to be completed later this year.

Green Party Reacts To Newly Approved Lough Neagh Action Plan

Green Party Councillor, Brian Smyth, has described the newly approved Lough Neagh Action Plan from the Stormont Executive as grim reading for the future welfare of the Lough.

Mr Smyth has criticised the action plan as a "monumental failure" by the Executive and the Alliance Party Minister. He remarked: "It was the Alliance Party who courted and told Green voters over the past few years they could be trusted with the environment. They have fallen at the first hurdle."

In a statement Councillor Smyth said: "The first thing that stands out is that there is no mention of the Going for Growth Strategy, which has contributed massively to the increase in levels of pollution that have entered Lough Neagh in the past decade. 62% of the phosphorus pollution in Lough Neagh comes directly from agricultural discharge.

"The Stormont Executive has encouraged industrial agriculture to ramp up levels of pollution to unsustainable and dangerous levels, which are now poisoning our land, rivers, and air. Despite Green Party warnings on the Going for Growth strategy, the entire Stormont Executive championed this at the behest of big agri-food. There needs to be an immediate reversal of the Going for Growth Strategy towards a model of regenerative farming.

"The Action plan is very short on tangible actions, full of weak, vague government language, designed to confuse the public into thinking that Stormont is delivering on the long-term recovery of the Lough. The plan speaks mainly around voluntary measures, education, ‘raising awareness’, ‘consultation’ and training, but less on urgent need for regulation and greater enforcement of existing regulations and laws. Persistent polluters don’t need educated; they need the full force of the law for their continued illegal actions.

"Northern Ireland is crying out for an Independent Environmental Protection Agency to hold polluters to account. Again, this has been left out of this supposed Action Plan.

"There urgently needs to be a moratorium on slurry spreading to give the Lough breathing space, instead the action plan uses language such as 'Consult on restricting the use of chemical fertilisers containing phosphorus on grassland', when the science is clear that we need to massively reduce phosphorous use on the land and leaching into waterways. The minister previously stated that 'The Action Plan is not a wish list - it is a detailed, science-led, proportionate, and ambitious set of actions.' If that is the case, then there is little to be seen of ambition and more of kicking the can down the road.

"Finally, there is also no commitment by Stormont to acquire the bed of Lough Neagh from the Earl of Shaftsbury and moving towards community ownership, with a Rights of Nature model at the centre of it."