NEWS

Cullybackey College’s current school premises on Pottinger Street Ambitious plans to completely redevelop Cullybackey College with a new 700-pupil post-primary campus and major road upgrades have moved into the public consultation stage, marking a significant step forward for long-awaited improvements to education facilities and traffic infrastructure in the village. The proposal, centred on lands to the north, south and west of No. 41 Dreen Road and including No. 130 Dreen R

Car enthusiasts, families and local residents are being invited to gather in Broughshane this weekend as Kirkinriola Primary School PTA launches a community fundraising event aimed at helping fund new play and sports facilities for pupils. The Coffee & Cars event will take place on Saturday 18 April at Broughshane Community Centre, 21 Knockan Road, Broughshane, BT42 4JY , with organisers hoping to attract a wide range of vehicles and strong public support to raise money fo

A major suspected cocaine haul worth more than £1.4 million has been seized by detectives in Warrenpoint, with a 53-year-old man arrested following a police operation in Co Down on Thursday morning. The significant drugs seizure was made during a house search in the Mourne Drive area of Warrenpoint on Thursday 16 April , as officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Organised Crime Branch , supported by the Tactical Support Group , carried out a targeted operat

William Irvine, UFU President, Richard King, The Andersons Centre, Ian Stevenson, NI Dairy Council, Colin Smith, LMC, Glenn Cuddy, UFU deputy president, and Michael Haverty, The Andersons Centre. Northern Ireland’s farming families are shouldering an estimated £96 million in indirect costs every year as a result of bovine Tuberculosis, according to a landmark new independent report launched today, laying bare the scale of a crisis that continues to hit farm profitability, fa

More than 300,000 households across Northern Ireland are set to receive targeted support with soaring home heating costs after Communities Minister Gordon Lyons secured Executive backing for a £36.4 million package aimed at easing pressure on families reliant on oil. Under the scheme, eligible households will be able to apply for a £100 prepaid card that can be used directly with heating oil suppliers, offering immediate help at a time when oil prices have surged dramatical

Antrim Police Station A man in his 20s has been taken to hospital with severe facial injuries following a serious suspected assault in Antrim on Wednesday night, with a 27-year-old man arrested as police continue enquiries into the incident. Detectives have issued an appeal for witnesses and footage after the injured man was found in the Dublin Road area at around 10pm on Wednesday, 15 April. The incident is now the subject of an active police investigation, with officers par

Ulster Unionist Deputy Leader and Economy spokesperson Diana Armstrong MLA Northern Ireland’s universities have become increasingly dependent on students from Great Britain and overseas to remain financially viable, new Assembly figures show, with non-domestic enrolments rising sharply over the past five academic years. The newly published figures, released in response to an Assembly Question from Ulster Unionist Deputy Leader and Economy spokesperson Diana Armstrong MLA , re

Noah and Grace have been confirmed as the most popular baby names given to children registered in Northern Ireland in 2025, with fresh figures showing long-standing favourites holding firm while a wave of new and unusual names continues to emerge. The latest Baby Names 2025 statistics, published today by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) , reveal that Grace has retained the number one spot for girls, while Noah has climbed back to the top of the boy

Hundreds of drivers were caught committing road traffic offences across Northern Ireland during the Easter holiday weekend, with police recording 667 speed detections, 43 drink or drug driving arrests, and dozens of motorists driving uninsured or distracted behind the wheel. The figures, released as provisional statistics by the PSNI as of 14 April, relate to offences detected between Friday morning, 3 April, and midnight on Monday, 6 April, during the force’s Easter road saf

Lough Neagh, County Antrim. (Photo by Emmett McGreevy) Commercial sand dredging in Lough Neagh may be causing far more extensive damage to the lake’s fragile ecosystem than previously understood, according to new research from Queen’s University Belfast, raising fresh questions over how Northern Ireland’s most important freshwater resource is being managed. Published today in the Journal of Environmental Management, the first-of-its-kind study suggests the impact of underwate

South Antrim MP Robin Swann Families, businesses and communities across South Antrim have been left facing ongoing postal delays, with the UK communications regulator now directly acknowledging that Royal Mail’s performance is “not acceptable” following intervention from local MP Robin Swann. The sharp response from Ofcom comes after Mr Swann wrote to the regulator last month raising serious concerns over delayed letters, missed deliveries and employment issues reported by co

Kelli McRoberts, Chief Executive at Carrickfergus Enterprise, Elain Harkin, Strategic Revenue Manager from McKeever Hotels and Christine Barnhiill, Economic Development Officer at Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, pictured with the ladies who attended this year’s Enterprising Women Residential. Female entrepreneurs from across Mid and East Antrim have come together for the fourth annual Enterprising Women Residential, as the fast-growing network continues to expand its sup

A high-energy daytime rave created exclusively for the over-30s crowd is set to bring a Bank Holiday boost to Theatre at The Mill next month, offering music lovers the chance to hit the dancefloor without the usual late-night finish. Taking place on Sunday 3 May 2026, the special event will run from 3pm to 7pm, transforming the venue into an afternoon party space filled with classic tunes, live performance elements and feel-good nostalgia. Headlined by Yeooo DJ , the event pr

Sainsbury’s, Ballymena Two men have been charged following an incident involving ATM machines at Sainsbury’s on the Larne Road Link in Ballymena, after it is understood two cash machines were damaged having allegedly been tampered with. The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed the charges on Wednesday, April 15, after officers investigated reports of men interfering with ATM machines in the Larne Link Road area on Saturday 11 April. A witness at the scene reported tha

The future of non-statutory pre-school provision in North Antrim has been thrust back into the spotlight after TUV MLA Timothy Gaston warned in the Northern Ireland Assembly that community playgroups could be forced to close their doors by September without urgent intervention from the Education Minister. Speaking on Monday (13 April) at Stormont, the North Antrim representative said the long-running issue surrounding pupil allocation numbers (PAN) for non-statutory settings

The Education Authority has confirmed that personal data linked to a small number of schools in Northern Ireland was compromised in a targeted cyber attack on the C2k school network, marking a major escalation in an incident that has already caused widespread disruption across the education system. The development emerged on Wednesday 15 April, just hours after detectives from the PSNI’s Cyber Crime Investigation Team arrested a 16-year-old boy in connection with the ongoing

North Antrim TUV MLA Timothy Gaston A sharply contested debate at Stormont over Sinn Féin’s proposed Irish Language Education Bill has exposed fresh political tensions over the future shape of Northern Ireland’s education system, with TUV MLA Timothy Gaston accusing the legislation of creating a “two-tier” model that would place Irish-medium schools above every other sector. The Bill, brought forward by Sinn Féin, was debated in the Assembly on Tuesday and centres on placin

Public transport fares across Northern Ireland will remain unchanged for a second consecutive year, Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has confirmed, in a move aimed at easing pressure on households already grappling with rising fuel and living costs. The decision means passengers using Translink’s bus and rail services will see no increase in ticket prices, despite what the Minister described as significant financial pressures facing both the transport operator and the wid

A major conference aimed at reshaping how children with special educational needs are supported in classrooms across Northern Ireland will take place in Belfast this week, as the Education Authority pushes ahead with plans to move away from what it describes as a rigid “one size fits all” system. The keynote event, being held at the Balmoral Hotel, Belfast, on Thursday, April 16, forms a central part of the EA’s public consultation on its proposed Enhanced Support Model, a s

Motorists across Northern Ireland faced widespread disruption on Tuesday after a series of protests involving slow-moving vehicles affected several of the region’s key transport routes, with police issuing Fixed Penalty Notices and public order cautions during a coordinated response operation. The protests took place on Tuesday 14 April, impacting major arterial roads including the Sydenham Bypass, Westlink, M2, A1, A4 and A5, while the A6 at Toome was also blocked for a peri