Other News In Brief

Bangor Body Probed

The police have are investigating the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body of a man in Co Down. It was found in a street in Bangor, at Braeside Close in the Whitehill estate at about 5.20am on Thursday.

Adams Meets Orangemen

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has met with representatives of Portadown Orange Order. The meeting came after repeated requests by Mr Adams to meet with the loyal order to discuss the issue of contentious parades. Mr Adams said afterwards: "It is and always has been the Sinn Féin position that the issue of parading can only be resolved through dialogue between the loyal orders and local communities. For a number of years I have written to the Orange Order offering dialogue around the issue of contentious parades. Recently representatives of the Portadown lodge sought to meet with me. I met with the delegation last week. We had an informative and useful discussion about Orangeism and its place in modern Ireland. I also made it clear to them that it was our firm view that there is no rational for an Orange Parade along the Garvaghy Road. Furthermore I urged them to involve themselves in a process of inclusive dialogue with the representatives of the Garvaghy Road community," he said.

Red Alert On IRA Dissidents

Republican dissident activity is at its highest level for five years, the NI Secretary of State has said. Mr Woodward said that even though they found "no support in the community, it does not mean that they are not dangerous". However, Shaun Woodward, speaking in the Commons yesterday, said that he was confident that dissidents were "not recruiting in the community".

Dentists Down In The Mouth

Career prospects are not looking too good for newly qualified NI dentists. Many are down-in-the mouth over news that, in 2008, only 32 of the 45 graduates who applied to work in Northern Ireland were able to find training posts. Claudette Christie, of the British Dental Association, said the Department of Health had to do more to allow graduates to work in NI. "We are seeing high quality graduates having to leave the country," she said. "It costs £178,000 to train a dental student and if you look at the number of graduates who are forced to exit the country, clearly more has to be done to enable dental graduates to work in Northern Ireland."

M&S Should Support Local Producers

A major national retailer - Marks & Spencer - has been urged to increase its emphasis on 'buying local'. Speaaking at the new M&S Simply Food store in Cookstown Agriculture and Food Minister Michelle Gildernew told senior representatives of the company that she remains firmly committed to helping farmers develop strong and profitable relationships with their supply-chain partners. Speaking afterwards she said: "From our discussions we have made steady progress towards that goal. It is not in the interest of retailers to squeeze producers to the point of elimination. The links in the food chain are dependent on one another and to ensure continued sustainability they all need to share the profits." The meeting involved M&S Head of Foods for Ireland, Stewart Nisbet, NI Area Manager, Nigel Gray and the Cookstown General Store Manager, John Donnelly.

(BMcC)