13/03/2018
Other News In Brief
Man Convicted Of Benefit Fraud
A man has been convicted for claiming over £31,000 in benefits he was not entitled to at Downpatrick Crown Court.
Donald Ireland claimed Income Support, Carer's Allowance and Housing Benefit totalling £31,044 while failing to declare student income. He was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years. The fraud was uncovered following an investigation by the Department for Communities.
He is also required to repay any outstanding money wrongfully obtained to the Department.
Call For Needs Of People Living In The Holylands To Be A Priority
Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw has called in advance of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Belfast for those people who do not live or have any business in the Holylands areas to stay away over the weekend.
She added: "The needs of the settled community of the Holylands must take precedence over those people who believe the Holylands to be the desirable destination for their St. Patrick's Day celebrations.
"This year, there needs to be a zero tolerance approach to the perennial problems with criminal damage, on-street drinking, excessive noise and rude and aggressive behaviour from congregated youths in the Holylands, and the only way for this to happen is for all stakeholders to pro-actively monitor activity and deal with any negative behaviour, and for those who have no business being in the area to stay away."
Dept Of Education Urged To Extend Funding For Sports Development Programme
Sinn Féin sports, culture and arts spokesperson, Sinéad Ennis, has called on the Department for Education to extend the funding for the sports development programme.
The South Down MLA said: "Sinn Féin led a cross party delegation that was successful in ensuring the programme was extended until the end of March 2018.
"This date is fast approaching, Sinn Féin is strongly calling on senior civil servants to ensure this programme is extended once again.
"Removing this programme would have a severely damaging effect on schools and the thousands upon thousands of school children who benefit from this programme.
"This programme is extremely important and beneficial as it teaches the importance of living an active and healthy lifestyle along with increasing children's confidence and social and interaction skills."
(CD/LM)
A man has been convicted for claiming over £31,000 in benefits he was not entitled to at Downpatrick Crown Court.
Donald Ireland claimed Income Support, Carer's Allowance and Housing Benefit totalling £31,044 while failing to declare student income. He was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years. The fraud was uncovered following an investigation by the Department for Communities.
He is also required to repay any outstanding money wrongfully obtained to the Department.
Call For Needs Of People Living In The Holylands To Be A Priority
Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw has called in advance of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Belfast for those people who do not live or have any business in the Holylands areas to stay away over the weekend.
She added: "The needs of the settled community of the Holylands must take precedence over those people who believe the Holylands to be the desirable destination for their St. Patrick's Day celebrations.
"This year, there needs to be a zero tolerance approach to the perennial problems with criminal damage, on-street drinking, excessive noise and rude and aggressive behaviour from congregated youths in the Holylands, and the only way for this to happen is for all stakeholders to pro-actively monitor activity and deal with any negative behaviour, and for those who have no business being in the area to stay away."
Dept Of Education Urged To Extend Funding For Sports Development Programme
Sinn Féin sports, culture and arts spokesperson, Sinéad Ennis, has called on the Department for Education to extend the funding for the sports development programme.
The South Down MLA said: "Sinn Féin led a cross party delegation that was successful in ensuring the programme was extended until the end of March 2018.
"This date is fast approaching, Sinn Féin is strongly calling on senior civil servants to ensure this programme is extended once again.
"Removing this programme would have a severely damaging effect on schools and the thousands upon thousands of school children who benefit from this programme.
"This programme is extremely important and beneficial as it teaches the importance of living an active and healthy lifestyle along with increasing children's confidence and social and interaction skills."
(CD/LM)
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