Stay updated with breaking news from Dermot nicholl. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
NEWS IN BRIEF: Concerns raised over gift card, swimming pools to be refurbished and Causeway employment programme launched News snippets from around the county. One councillor raised concerns about the card s financial viability. Reporter: ); Questions over viability of Gift Card scheme A council-wide gift card scheme promoting a Shop Eat Enjoy Local initiative has come under scrutiny at a recent council meeting. Councillors at Causeway Coast and Glens Leisure and Development Committee were presented with details of the continuing scheme last week, with some raising questions about its viability. Bann councillor, Richard Holmes, felt the idea did not make commercial sense. ....
Objections have been lodged against moves to celebrate Hercules Mulligan in the Causeway Coast and Glens area. It comes after records showed he owned a slave after helping to set up an anti-slavery society. Mulligan s family emigrated to America in 1746, when he was six. He went on to spy on the British during the American War of Independence and in 1785 was a founder member of the New York Manumission Society, which campaigned to abolish slavery. According to official US records, however, he still owned a slave five years after establishing the organisation, with one even living with his family. Alliance councillor Yvonne Boyle, who proposed that Mulligan be recognised through local heritage trails, said she knew he had owned a slave before she put forward the motion. ....
Parents of children in Ballykelly have voiced their disgust that a rat infestation has got so bad the rodents have made the local play park unsafe. Over the past few days children using the facility near Drummond Park have come home with tales of huge rats running alongside where they are playing. Residents in Drummond Park and Kings Lane have reported numerous sightings of the vermin in broad daylight. They fear there is now a major infestation in the area. Emma Young, chair of the Ballykelly Residents Association, said action needs to be taken immediately. She said: Over the past couple of days these rats have been seen by a number of our residents and what is particularly shocking and disgusting is the size of them - they are enormous. ....