NEWS

CAFRE staff, Lori Hartman and James Crawford, welcome visitors to Greenmount Campus, Antrim, for Open Farm Weekend. Enjoy exploring the campus and browse a wide selection of plants available to purchase throughout the event. Families, food lovers, aspiring students and farming enthusiasts are set to get rare behind-the-scenes access to one of Northern Ireland’s leading agricultural campuses later this month as CAFRE Greenmount opens its gates for Bank of Ireland Open Farm Wee

Patrick Grasso, former Belfast Giants forward and 3ICE USA roster member. Belfast is set to welcome a major international ice hockey spectacle next month after the full player rosters for the inaugural 3ICE World Cup were officially confirmed. The two-day tournament, arriving at the home of the Belfast Giants on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 July 2026, will bring together former NHL players, Elite League stars, international prospects, and Stanley Cup-winning coaches in what organi

Ailbhe McCusker, Community Champion at Share Energy, and participants at the Ballymoney Show launch. Agricultural shows across Northern Ireland are facing growing financial pressure, but organisers behind this week’s Ballymoney Show say the events remain vital lifelines for rural communities, small businesses and the local economy. The Ballymoney Show returns on June 5 and 6 at Ballymoney Showgrounds, bringing together farmers, traders, families and rural organisations at a t

Mid & East Antrim Pride has announced details of its 2026 programme, with a series of events planned across Ballymena on Saturday June 20. The annual event will include a morning community programme at The Braid Arts Centre, a parade through Ballymena town centre and an evening after-party event. Organisers say this year’s theme will be “Louder, Prouder, Stronger”, with community groups, local organisations, businesses and individuals expected to take part throughout the day.

Female scientists will step out of laboratories and into the heart of Ballymena later this month as a major public STEM event lands in the town for the first time. Soapbox Science, a free live science event designed to make research accessible, engaging and visible, is coming to the People’s Park on Friday 12 June from 11am to 2pm. The event — the first of its kind to be hosted in Mid and East Antrim — will see female researchers take to literal soapboxes to explain their wor

The Public Health Agency (PHA) and the Republic of Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) have issued a major cross-border warning over dangerous drugs circulating ahead of the busy summer festival and concert season, with officials raising serious concerns about high-strength MDMA, ketamine-related harms and the spread of so-called “pink cocaine” across the island of Ireland. Thousands of people are expected to travel north and south for concerts, festivals and nightlife e

Northern Ireland is preparing for one of its biggest weeks of youth sport of the year after the full fixture list for the 2026 Budget Energy SuperCupNI was officially unveiled — bringing Manchester United, Liverpool, Rangers, Celtic, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland back to pitches across the north this summer. More than 1,200 young players from across Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East will descend on the Causeway Coast and Glens, Mid and East Antrim, an

Countryfile’s Adam Henson, Local chef, broadcaster and Head Judge Paula McIntyre and Sheila Dillon from BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme launch nominations for the awards at The Balmoral Show Northern Ireland’s food and farming industry is set for a major national spotlight after it was confirmed the BBC Food and Farming Awards will be hosted here for the first time ever later this year. The prestigious UK-wide awards ceremony will take place at Titanic Belfast in October 202

Hundreds of thousands of people across Northern Ireland could be living with dangerously high blood pressure without realising it — and a free health event coming to Ballymena aims to change that before lives are put at risk. Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) has launched a public awareness campaign highlighting what it describes as the hidden danger of undetected high blood pressure, a condition linked to one in every two heart attacks and strokes. As part of the

Derry’s riverfront is set to transform into a giant family playground this summer as the 2026 Foyle Maritime Festival prepares to bring four days of circus acts, tall ships, fireworks, science experiences and water adventures to the city. Running from Thursday June 25 to Sunday June 28, the festival will once again take over the quayside and River Foyle with one of the biggest public events in the north west calendar, drawing thousands of visitors to the city across an action

Psychological thrillers, contemporary romance and emotionally driven fiction are continuing to fly off the shelves at Waterstone’s Ballymena, with the latest weekly Top 10 revealing the books currently capturing readers’ attention across the town. As Father’s Day approaches, the Ballymena store is also encouraging shoppers to browse its growing range of books and gifts, while community book clubs and family storytime sessions continue to draw in readers of all ages. Top 10 th

SDLP leader Claire Hanna MP SDLP leader Claire Hanna MP is set to visit Cushendall next week for a public discussion event focused on the future of Northern Ireland, rural communities and the party’s vision for a “New Ireland”. The event, titled “In Conversation with Claire Hanna”, will take place at Tír na nÓg in Cushendall on Thursday 4 June at 7pm and is expected to centre on growing public frustration around political deadlock, pressures on public services and the challen

Jonathon Fulton (CCP Chair), Dr Paul Roelle (US Consulate), Richard Hanna (CCP) Cullybackey Community Partnership has unveiled a major new exhibition exploring the remarkable role ordinary people from the local area played in the events surrounding American Independence — uncovering stories that stretch from rural Mid and East Antrim to the inner circle of George Washington himself. The project, titled Ordinary People Extraordinary History – Cullybackey and American Independe

Women across Northern Ireland are being encouraged to explore a career in firefighting as Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service prepares to launch a major recruitment drive for Wholetime Firefighters next month. Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) has announced a series of hands-on “Come and Try Days” aimed specifically at women interested in joining the service, offering a rare behind-the-scenes look at the demands, realities and opportunities of modern firefig

Cullybackey Orange Hall and arch stand proudly in the village Cullybackey is set to host a landmark moment in the local parading calendar next month as Ballymena District LOL No. 8 brings its first-ever District Mini 12th parade to the village in what organisers are describing as a major community celebration. The historic event, taking place on Saturday 27 June 2026, is expected to draw families, supporters, bands and spectators from across the wider Ballymena area for a day

Miss NI Carly Wilson (bottom right) recently joined NI Hospice staff to launch Purple Dash Northern Ireland Hospice is calling on families across Northern Ireland to “dash for a cause” this June as the charity launches a major public campaign to celebrate 25 years of Children’s Hospice care — while also confronting the harsh financial reality facing one of the region’s most vital services. The charity is turning the entire month purple as part of a large-scale awareness and f

Love Island is back — and ITV has revealed the first Islanders preparing to enter the Mallorca Villa for a new summer of romance, rivalry and reality TV chaos. The 13th series launches on Monday 1st June at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX, with Maya Jama returning as host as a fresh group of singletons couple up, clash, flirt and fight for a connection. New faces, big personalities and Villa tension This year’s line-up includes a quantity surveyor and DJ, a detective, a West End perform

Ballymena boxer Ella McDonald A Ballymena woman who only started boxing in her mid-twenties is preparing to make her professional debut next month after an extraordinary rise through the amateur ranks that has already seen her claim major titles, win international medals and train alongside some of the best fighters in Ireland. At just 28 years old, Ella McDonald will step into the professional game for the first time at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall on June 26 — a moment she onc

L to R: Ralph McLean (BBC Radio Ulster), Daniel Coulter, Luke Bell and Páidí Muldoon (last year’s winners, 4AM Club), Chris Nelmes (The Boulevard Banbridge), and Alderman Stephen Moutray, Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council. Musicians, singers and street performers from across County Antrim are being invited to battle it out on the streets of Banbridge this summer as Buskfest 2026 returns with its biggest-ever prize fund and a brand-new youth ca

Springwatch will broadcast its main live hub from Northern Ireland for the first time when the BBC’s flagship wildlife series returns from the National Trust’s Crom Estate in County Fermanagh this week. The much-loved BBC Two programme will go live from one of Northern Ireland’s most important nature conservation areas, placing Crom’s ancient woodland, wetlands, islands and freshwater habitats at the centre of three weeks of national wildlife storytelling. Crom takes centre s