Other NI News In Brief

C-Diff Strikes Altnagelvin

A so-called 'super bug' - that was mentioned on the death certificates of 77 people last year overall - has been discovered at the North West's major hospital. Specialist 'deep cleaning' of the intensive care unit at Altnagelvin hospital in Londonderry has been undertaken after the major Ulster hospital discovered C-Difficile. Staff at the facility became concerned when they noticed an increase of diarrhoea among patients. The hospital-acquired infection can multiply quickly and cause symptoms such as a fever, with elderly people in particular more at risk.

Police Pay Out Millions Over Ear Damage

The PSNI will have to pay out £87m because officers were not offered ear protection during firearms training, a member of the NI Policing Board has said. More than £5.5m has already been paid out to 515 former and serving police officers and a further 1,236 claims have been lodged. Basil McCrea said the Government should pay the compensation and that it should not have to found from within the existing PSNI budget.

Dublin Landing Alert

A British Midlands flight from London has made an emergency landing in Dublin airport. The alert took place on Wednesday night after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit. Flight BD133, flying from London Heathrow, was loaded with 94 passengers when its pilot was forced to make an emergency landing shortly before 8.50pm. A Dublin Airport Authority spokesman said the aircraft was given priority on the runway, and the emergency services were on standby as the plane approached Dublin airport. An investigation into the incident by the Air Accident Investigation Unit of the Department of Transport is under way.

Do You Want Onions With That?

The humble but very versatile onion has it when it comes to our favourite beef burger topping in Northern Ireland. A survey carried out by the Livestock and Meat Commission confirms that the onion is the crowning glory to a beef burger with almost half of the people surveyed choosing it as a favourite. However, it was a hotly contested competition with 40% of those surveyed stating cheese as their favourite topping. Naomi Waite LMC Marketing Director commented: "We still very much love a beef burger in Northern Ireland but we seem to be quite traditional in our tastes with onions and cheese toppings clearly coming out on top. We didn't appear to find any new trends during our survey and this could be due to the sheer quality of Northern Ireland beef– it is very difficult to improve on!" she enthused.

Organ Donation In Focus

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has encouraged the public to register on the Organ Donor Register. The Minister was speaking following the publication of the UK-wide Organ Donation Taskforce's second report which looked at the measures required to introduce a system of opting out or presumed consent, and whether this would increase the number of organ donors. "I fully support the work of the Organ Donation Taskforce and the UK-wide work which is underway to implement the recommendations of their first report and increase donor numbers. While on balance, it is not felt that an opt-out system is the way forward at this time, many other initiatives are underway to increase awareness of the importance of organ donation and to raise the number of donor organs available," he said.

Gulf Targeted In Trade Drive

Top executives of 23 Northern Ireland companies are taking part in two Invest NI initiatives in the Arabian Gulf region over the next 10 days. The initiatives have a strong construction industry focus and include the Big 5 building showcase in Dubai, from 23-27 November. Sixteen companies are visiting Dubai, Oman and Qatar on an Invest Northern Ireland trade mission from 17-24 November. The mission is the second to the oil-rich Gulf region in the past three months. The group includes companies across a broad range of business sectors which have a longstanding commitment to international trade and have already been active in the Gulf.

(BMcC)