NEWS

Ballymena Town Hall Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s interim chief executive was paid £151,725 in 2024-25, placing the borough among the higher-paid councils in Northern Ireland as the latest Town Hall Rich List records a new UK-wide high in six-figure local authority remuneration. Across Northern Ireland’s 11 councils, 59 employees received total remuneration of more than £100,000 in 2024-25, up from 51 the previous year, while all Northern Ireland councils also increas

North Antrim TUV MLA Timothy Gaston Fresh questions have been raised over spending at Stormont after newly revealed documents showed the refurbishment of the Assembly’s Blue Flax canteen cost almost £200,000 more than originally budgeted, prompting sharp criticism from TUV MLA Timothy Gaston. The final bill for the renovation of the canteen at Parliament Buildings came to £530,532, according to documents obtained by BBC News NI through a Freedom of Information request. The Bl

Tens of thousands of road openings carried out by utility companies each year are contributing to the deterioration of Northern Ireland’s road network, Stormont’s Public Accounts Committee has warned — raising concerns that taxpayers may be footing the bill. In a critical report, MLAs said the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) cannot currently determine how much of the growing maintenance burden is linked to utility reinstatements, nor confirm that companies are covering t

The scale and human impact of a major Police Ombudsman investigation into alleged historic sexual offences by a former police officer are now becoming clear, as investigators confirm multiple potential victims, numerous witnesses and a large body of evidence. The former officer was arrested by Police Ombudsman investigators in December 2025 on suspicion of committing more than ten non-recent offences, including rape, other sexual offences and misconduct in public office. The

Senior officials from the Department for Communities will face further scrutiny at Stormont this week after a key Assembly committee criticised the department’s latest update on tackling child poverty as “wholly inadequate”. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has recalled departmental representatives to provide fresh oral evidence on Thursday, 12 March, amid mounting concern about the pace of progress on the Child Poverty Strategy in Northern Ireland. The move follows a stro