Accident Girl 'Critical'

Twin sisters are in hospital today with one of the 10-year-old girls described as being in a critical condition while the other is seriously ill after a road accident in Co Armagh. The girls were in a car with their 38-year-old mother when it was involved in a collision with a lorry on the Portadown Road in Tandragee on Tuesday. A woman was also seriously injured and has been transferred to hospital in Belfast with her two daughters while the lorry driver and a three-year-old boy also needed hospital treatment. The police have appealed for the driver of a white van which they say was in the "immediate vicinity" of the accident to contact them.

SDLP Founding Father Dies

One of the best known founding members of the nationalist SDLP, Paddy O'Hanlon, has died. He was aged 65 and passed away on Tuesday night in Dublin's Mater Hospital following a short illness. Current SDLP leader Mark Durkan said Mr O'Hanlon had been a "real champion of civil rights, justice and reconciliation" and noted: "Paddy was one of the best orators of his generation, powerfully reflecting deep democratic convictions," he said.

Young Politicians Target Mental Health

The main political youth wings in Northern Ireland have united to campaign and lobby for an effective youth mental health strategy. The budding political activists have been working together in the past months, alongside St Columbs Park Derry, to bring the broad issue of mental health to the fore, particularly targeting suicide prevention and drug and alcohol awareness. The group comprising youth from Sinn Féin, SDLP, Green Party, Alliance, UUP and DUP launched their campaign for a youth mental health strategy at Belfast City Hall earlier this week.

Top Student Named

Stormont Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey, has congratulated Queen's University student, Miguel Angel Ortiz Perez, on becoming Northern Ireland's Shine International Student of the Year 2009. Miguel is one of 12 regional finalists from across the UK who will challenge for the prestigious title of UK International Student of the Year in the British Council annual Shine International Student Awards 2009 on 22 April. The competition highlights the unique contributions of international students to life in the UK. Miguel described how his passion for computer music brought him to study for a PhD at Queen's.

Fuel Payments Explained

The Department for Social Development has moved to answer numerous enquiries from the public about the Household Fuel Payments. They said that people do not apply for the payment, rather they will receive the £150 payment direct if they are in receipt of Pension Credit, (excluding those in a nursing home) or receiving Income Support with housing benefit or housing loan, during the qualifying period. Payments are being made through the benefits system and eligible households will receive the payment through their bank account, post office card account or by cheque in coming days.

Randox Expansion Gets Green Light

Plans for a new facility at Randox Laboratories Limited's Crumlin base were given the go-ahead this week. The £15m investment proposal will be an extension to its existing facility at Diamond Road to accommodate a manufacturing laboratory, office, storage and associated siteworks. The application was processed by the Strategic Projects Division at Planning Service headquarters in just over five months. NI Environment Minister Sammy Wilson said the granting of the application again demonstrated how the Planning Service was playing its part in fostering economic growth.

Farmers Sign Up

The NI Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew has visited the first farmer to 'sign up' to the new Countryside Management Scheme in Moneymore. The scheme was launched in 2008 under Measure 2.2 of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 and gives financial encouragement to farmers for adopting farming practices that benefit the environment. There are now 1,000 farmers in the process of signing agreements. Moneymore beef farmer Paul O'Hagan is the first in Northern Ireland to complete the process and has been involved in CMS under the previous scheme since 2001.

(BMcC/JM)