A former West Tyrone MLA has been banned from driving and fined £500 after being convicted of drink driving for a second time.

Strabane District Councillor and Ulster Unionist member Derek Hussey of Garvetagh Road, Castlederg admitted driving while twice the legal limit at Strabane Magistrates Court this morning.

It had been indicated that the 62 year old father or two would contest the charge however he changed his plea prior to today’s hearing.

The court heard that on November 26 last year, police were called to a single vehicle incident on the Orchard Road, Strabane. At the scene they found a Nissan Qashqai in a ditch and Hussey standing at the side of the road.

Officers detected a smell of drink from the defendant and he admitted that he had been drinking whiskey in a nearby hotel earlier in the evening.

A subsequent breath test revealed a reading of 76mg in breath, 41mg above the limit.
Representing Hussey was Micahel Neeson of Orr and Roundtree Solicitors, Omagh. He explained that the road had been frosty on the night in question and that this may have contributed to the vehicle ending up in the ditch. He added however that the decision to drive was “foolish in the extreme”.

Handing down sentence, District Judge Mr Liam McNally warned the former MLA that if he gets behind the wheel again while under the influence of alcohol, a jail sentence could be on the cards.

Hussey was banned from driving for three years and fined £500.

Strabane Councillor Eugene McMenamin has resigned from the SDLP.

In a statement, an SDLP spokesperson confirmed the party has accepted the resignation.

The statement adds that in recent years, the SDLP has invested a significant amount of time and energy in revitalising organisational structures in West Tyrone.

The Government’s preparing to announce a major overhaul of our banks – as tens of billions more Euro are going to have to be pumped into them.

Stress tests will show up to 25 billion being needed, and mergers into just two banks are possible.

The Tánaiste’s told the Dáil this evening’s announcements will show the true crisis the Government has inherited.

But Sinn Féin says the banking policies of the new coalition are wrong and that losses have to be imposed on un-guaranteed bondholders.

Finance spokesman, Pearse Doherty says the Government needs to force Europe’s hand on this:

Donegal Deputy Padraig Mac Lochlainn has attacked the Labour party in the Dail, accusing them o9f betraying the people who voted for them.

Deputy Mac Lochlainn closed Sinn Fein’s Private Member’s Motion calling for the scrapping of the Universal Social Charge.

As expected, Fine Gael and Labour rejected it, voting instead to review the charge, while Fianna Fail abstained.

In his speech, Deputy Mac Lochlainn said Fine Gael and Fianna Fail should merge and form one right wing party, but he reserved the bulk of his ire for Labour……

A senior eye doctor in Donegal says the campaign to secure an OCT machine for the eye clinic in Letterkenny may help save the sight of people with diabetes.

Complications as a result of diabetes are among of the leading causes of blindness in Ireland, and a specialist screening service has been rolled out to ensure that diabetics have regular eye screening sessions.

Dr. Margaret Morgan runs the screening service in Donegal, and was instrumental in developing the pilot service in the North West. She’s now involved in a fundraising campaign to secure funding to buy an OCT machine

She says the machine will help diagnose problems and begin treatment a lot sooner……….

An independent advisor has told the family of Kieran Doherty in Derry that MI5 had no connection to his death.

Lord Carlisle investigated concerns about the shooting of the former Real IRA member 13 months ago.

The body of 31 year old Kieran Doherty was found on Baraehead Road in Derry in February of last year. A few  before he was killed, Mr Doherty, a former member of the Real IRA told the Derry Journal that MI5 had tried to recruit him as an agent.

Lord Carlisle, an independent government advisor on the activities of the security services agreed to investigate.

He will submit a formal report to the Northern Secretary, but Lord Carlisle has now written to Foyle MP Mark Durkan, telling him that having looked at claims of MI5 involvement, he believes that there was no misbehaviour by anybody connected directly or indirectly with the public service in connection with the murder.

Mr Doherty’s family say they were disappointed with the finding, saying they reject the claim of the Real IRA that he was involved in drugs, and that’s why they killed him.

An arsonist who burned the home of his neighbour escaped jail on condition that he do 240 hours community service.

Judge John O’Hagan told 22-year-old Reginald Greene it was not a defence to claim provocation but at the same time he was aware “of extreme provocation over a period of time which was a mitigating factor.”

The judge said Michael O’Shea, whose home was burned, provoked Greene in the most extreme way.
O’Shea chewing Greene’s food and then spitting it at him in a Chinese restaurant was “utterly contemptuous.”

The judge added that it was not an isolated incident because there were issues over a long period of time.

Donegal Circuit Court heard of a litany of unsociable behaviour by 42-year-old alcoholic O’Shea on the Emerald Drive council estate where both men lived in Killybegs.

When Greene and girlfriend Pauline Friel married O’Shea even tried to gate-crash the wedding party.

The court heard the final straw was when O’Shea and another man, both drunk, pestered Greene and his girlfriend when they were in a Chinese resteraunt.

O’Shea chewed a piece of Greene’s Chinese chicken and spat it at him.

Later that night, Greene went to O’Shea’s house and, after checking that nobody was in, threw a lighted paper on a duvet-covered bed and another on the front-room sofa.

Greene, who now lives in Stranorlar, pleaded guilty to arson on May 7, 2009. The council have accommodated O’Shea in a new home in Killybegs.

The court heard the blaze caused €14,130 damage to O’Shea’s old council house and another €5,000 to furniture.

Detective Garda John Breslin said that when Greene saw smoke bellowing out of the front door he raised the alert with the fire brigade on his own mobile phone.

Greene told the court that he was drunk that night and he was angry. He was very sorry for what happened as it was not the right thing to do.

Judge O’Hagan sentenced Greene to four years jail, suspended on condition that he do 240 hours community work.

A coroner has questioned the materials being used to make mobile homes after a man  was burned to death in a fire in Gweedore.

Columba Doherty had been celebrating a 21st birthday party when he returned home to his mobile home in Brinaleck on January 31st, 2008.

Only the shell of the mobile home belonging to the 29 year old handyman was found the next morning at 7.30am after it had burned to the ground.

An inquest into Mr Doherty’s death at Letterkenny Coroner’s Court heard how it was likely that the blaze was caused by a cigarette which had fallen onto bedclothes.

Mr.Doherty’s injuries were so bad that he could only be identified by his dental records and by a watch on his hand which his sister Ann McFadden identified.

Pathologist Dr.Gerry O’Rourke said death was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning brought on by smoke inhalation as a result of a fire.

Garda Forensic Crime Scene Investigator John Harkin said there was only a shell left of the mobile home.

Coroner John Canon said he did not mind if the ten person jury added ‘a ryder’ to their verdict making suggestions on the materials used to make mobile homes.

He said it seemed like these homes offered very little protection in the case of a sudden fire.

The jury returned a unanimous verdict of accidental death in accordance with the findings of pathologist Dr Gerry O’Rourke.

The creation of a Britsih-Irish tourism visa in time for the London 2012 Olympic Games is a priority for the Government.

At present, citizens from many countries such as India and China must acquire separate holiday visas when visting Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Minister for Transport and Tourism, Leo Varadkar  says he wants to simplify that system.

The Chairperson of Fine Gaels Border Forum, Donegal North-East Deputy, Joe McHugh, welcomed the annoucement……

A man charged in connection with the murder of Michaela McAreavey has been released without charge after agreeing to turn state’s witness.

Hotel room attendant Raj Theekoy had been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

Mrs McAreavey, the daughter of Tyrone GAA boss Mickey Harte, was murdered on her honeymoon in Mauritius in January.

Two employees of the Legends hotel have been charged with the murder of the 27-year-old schoolteacher.

Inspector Ranjit Jokhoo of the Mauritius police said Theekoy “heard and saw a lot of things and his evidence would be important to the prosecution”.

Theekoy heard the victim’s screams from outside her hotel room but failed to raise the alarm.

Inspector Jokhoo said he was confident it would not take long for the case to come to trial.