Belfast Telegraph back issues from October 2004:
President McAleese returned unopposed
Oct 01, 2004 ... President Mary McAleese will serve a second seven-year term asPresident of Ireland, it was announced in Dublin today.After a 30-minute delay following the 12 noon deadline for close of nominations,Presidential Nomination Officer Maurice Coughlan said she would bereturned unopposed ...
I'm fine, insists Blair as he gets heart op PM looks forward to pull third term
Oct 01, 2004; ... Prime minister Tony Blair today insisted he felt fine today as heheaded off to hospital to undergo treatment for a heart condition.MrBlair, who is 51, was facing a two-and-a-half hour procedure atHammersmith Hospital to correct an irregular heartbeat.Accompanied byhis wife Cherie, he ...
Best's new hope Doctors in praise for star's efforts to beat the bottle
Oct 01, 2004; ... George Best George Best won praise from doctors and health campaigners todayafter embarking on his most determined bid yet to beat his addictionto alcohol.The football legend, believed to be beginning his 18thconsecutive day without a drink, was applauded by Gordon Cave,chairman ...
McAleese gets new term PUP chief welcomes Irish president's second stint
Oct 01, 2004 ... Unionists would like to see Irish President Mary McAleesecontinuing her outreach work to their community now she will embarkon a second term, she was told today.Progressive Unionist leaderDavid Ervine welcomed confirmation that the Belfast-born Irishpresident will return to the ...
Nixon's envoy idea on Bloody Sunday President thought of sending Cardinal and Billy Graham
Oct 01, 2004; ... Richard NixonFormer US PresidentRichard Nixonconsidered sending acelebrity self-help guru to Northern Ireland to heal divisions afterBloody Sunday, new White House tapes released to the BelfastTelegraph have revealed. Nixon also considered sending fundamentalProtestant preacher, Billy ...
Ahern 'satisfied by DUP's approach'
Oct 01, 2004; ... Taoiseach Bertie Ahern The DUP is not seeking fundamental changes to the Good FridayAgreement, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said in the wake of his ground-breaking Dublin meeting with Ian Paisley.Mr Ahern indicated that MrPaisley and the DUP deputy leader, Peter Robinson, assured him ...
Digger used in tragic road project 'too large' for job
Oct 01, 2004; ... The equipment used in a construction project which went fatallywrong when a teenager was electrocuted was too large and posed a riskto workers, an electricity safety expert has told the trial of one ofhis managers. Robert John Coulter from NIE said the digger was toolarge for the job and ...
Pledge to catch attacker Police chief makes vow after Ulsterman's daughter killed
Oct 01, 2004; ... Britain's most senior policeman today made a personal pledge tocatch the serial attacker who bludgeoned to death the daughter of awell-known Ulsterman.Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir JohnStevens said he was determined to solve the hammer murders of MarshaMcDonnell (18), and French ...
Man who butchered rabbi to die in jail
Oct 01, 2004; ... Thomas McDowell The mother of an Ulsterman who butchered a trainee rabbi was todaydistraught after learning that her son will never be released fromjail.A judge has ruled that Thomas McDowell can never be freed afterhe was convicted of strangling and decapitating German ...
Nixon backed Britain on Bloody Sunday
Oct 01, 2004; ... Richard NixonThe White House sided strongly with the BritishGovernment in the wake of Bloody Sunday, newly released tapesshow.The then President Richard Nixon's administration also wanted toshow that they were listening to the concerns of Irishnationalists.The tapes reveal that President ...
Satellites put brake on racers GPS role in keeping watch on drivers
Oct 01, 2004; ... Satellite-based spy-in-the-sky systems may soon be used in placeof traffic police to catch speeding drivers, an Ulster academic todayclaimed.Professor Alan Woodside, director of the Transport and RoadAssessment Centre (TRAC) at the University of Ulster, said the systemcould also be used ...
Row over ex-IRA man's invite to Brussels seminar DUP man boycotts Ulster reception
Oct 01, 2004; ... Jim Allister, the DUP MEP, has boycotted a Northern IrelandExecutive office reception in Brussels in protest at the inclusion ofan ex-IRA prisoner in a seminar on the province's Peace programme. MrAllister said yesterday he was "appalled" that the day-long seminaryesterday included Tommy ...
Shoppers support cigs ban
Oct 01, 2004; ... Yet another well known shopping centres is ordering smokers tostub out their cigarettes.Connswater shopping centre in east Belfastis throwing out its ashtrays and declaring itself a smoke-freezone.Most centres in the Province have now banned smoking insidetheir premises.Gerry Monaghan, ...
Adams' Iraq hostage plea welcomed by Ahern
Oct 01, 2004 ... The Republic's new foreign minister Dermot Ahern today welcomedmoves by Gerry Adams and other Irish political leaders to secure therelease of hostage Ken Bigley.In a radio interview,he welcomed theappeals made by politicians and members of the public in Britain andIreland through Arab ...
UUP's first fundraiser in US was 'sabotaged' Campaign by nationalists asking people not to attend.
Oct 01, 2004; ... Nearly half the guests expected at the Ulster Unionist Party'sfirst US fundraiser failed to show up after a letter and phone callcampaign by Irish nationalist groups linked to Sinn Fein, the UUP hasclaimed.The $$1,000 event, with a speech by UUP leader David Trimble,was expected to ...
Inmate sets cell alight
Oct 01, 2004 ... A fire started by a prisoner in his cell this morning atMaghaberry Prison had a knock-on effect at the courts.A PrisonService spokeswoman said a loyalist prisoner in separatedaccommodation in Bush House started a small fire in his cell, whichwas extinguished quickly by prison staff.But ...
BBC man Jackie to undergo heart op
Oct 01, 2004; ... One of Northern Ireland's best known presenters is to undergomajor heart surgery after suffering a suspected heart attack lastmonth.BBC sports presenter Jackie Fullerton, known affectionately inlocal sporting circles as Smiler, is facing bypass surgery. TheBelfast Telegraph revealed ...
Women to take the lead
Oct 01, 2004 ... A new programme aimed at developing the potential of womendecision makers was due to be launched at the Queen's University,Belfast today.The programme, entitled 'Empowering the Next Generationof Women Leaders', has been ...
Special service
Oct 01, 2004; ... A special service in Spanish for the Latin American community inNorthern Ireland will be held in Fitzroy Presbyterian church,Belfast, on October 17 at 3pm.The initiative came from Fitzroy memberDario Leal, who is studying for the Presbyterian ministry. Dario, a Chilean, came to ...
City shooting probe: six coffee jar bombs found Devices uncovered in shed.
Oct 01, 2004; ... Police investigating the attempted murder of a 22-year-old todaydiscovered six coffee jar bombs following the search of a house.Armybomb experts were called to the house in Lincoln Courts where ahandgun, two pipe bomb type devices and ammunition were found earlierin the week during a ...
DUP and UUP setfor North Down clash
Oct 01, 2004; ... A new DUP-UUP electoral battleground emerged in North Down todaywith an appeal to Bob McCartney to stay out of the race.The DUP hasselected Peter Weir to fight for the seat in the next Westminsterelection - the first time the party has fought a general election inthe constituency for ...
Gault: i tried to save our marriage Murder trial told of affair ending.
Oct 01, 2004 ... A mother of triplets accused of the love triangle murder of herhusband has begun giving evidence in her own defence.Lesley AnnGault, (37), told Omagh Crown Court that she tried to save hermarriage after confessing to her husband Paul about her two-yearillicit affair with fire chief ...
Hunt for duo after attack
Oct 01, 2004 ... Police in Lurgan are hunting two men who confronted a parkedmotorist brandishing a handgun and then smashed the rear passengerwindow.The man was sitting in his Ford Fiesta close to a graveyard onthe North Circular Road.The pair, described by police as aged 18-20and around 5ft ...
Bands set to rockUlster school
Oct 01, 2004; ... Carrickfergus is to host a special one night only performance byrock bands Crowded House and Supertramp.On Friday, October 8, foundersax supremo, and MC John Helliwell from Supertramp (The Logical Song,Breakfast in America) brings his new six-piece jazz line-up'Crème Anglaise' to ...
Rathlin poets in residence
Oct 01, 2004; ... The first ever Rathlin Island writers' residencies have beenawarded to Irish poets Paul Perry and Iggy McGovern.The posts wereannounced by the Rathlin Co-operative Society. Arts co-ordinatorDesima Connolly said: "The Irish talent stood out and the co-operative is thrilled to announce the ...
Funding boost for projects in Larne
Oct 01, 2004 ... Almost [Pound]1m worth of funding is helping to build a betterLarne.The figure was revealed as Larne Local Strategy Partnershipannounced that seven community groups in the borough are to receivemore than [Pound]65,500 from the latest round of Peace II funding.Theannouncement brings the ...
NSPCC welcomes Republic's new vetting rules
Oct 01, 2004; ... The NSPCC in Northern Ireland has welcomed a move to extend Gardacriminal record vetting to all those who work with children orvulnerable adults in the Republic.Ian Elliot, the NSPCC'sdivisionaldirector here, said: "We have campaigned for some considerable timewith our sister ...
RNLI walk duo reach the end of theirroad Fund-raisers set to complete trek
Oct 01, 2004; ... Two RNLI fund-raisers were set to be greeted with a hero's welcometoday as they complete a 110-mile sponsored walk around lifeboatstations on the Antrim and Down coast.George Thompson and LesleyHackworth are scheduled to finish a gruelling five-day trek whentheir journey ends in ...
Teenage drug and drinks parties in town
Oct 01, 2004 ... Police in Banbridge say they are aware of areas in the town whichare frequented by teenagers indulging in drug taking and drinkingsessions.A senior officer was commenting on reports that drug takingand alcohol abuse were getting out of hand and that young peoplebetween 13 and 17 used ...
Council rapped on land sale Watchdog slams authority over the plot it did not own
Oct 01, 2004; ... A Co Antrim council has been rapped by a watchdog for selling aplot of land that it did not own, it can be revealed today.And theLocal Government Auditor said it was "disappointing" thatCarrickfergus Borough Council had gone ahead with the sale at EllisStreet - despite already being told ...
Ulster clothes go to help Afghans
Oct 01, 2004 ... A Ballymoney couple have sent life-saving aid to helppeoplesuffering in war-torn Afghanistan.Stephen and Elsie Wilson, whoare representatives for World in Need, sent a lorry full of clothes,hospital equipment and toys to Central Asia recently. As volunteersof the Christian Relief and ...
Flyingof flags puts 'chill factor into communities' Dramatic rise of emblems in Enniskillen, claims report
Oct 01, 2004; ... A dramatic increase in the number of flags flying in Enniskillenhave given real cause for concern, a report on the issue hasrevealed. Permanent flagging is being erected without the support ofthe community, impeding economic development and sparking confusionamong official agencies which ...
Council hosts water charge debate night
Oct 01, 2004; ... Ards councillors have unanimously backed a motion to hold ameeting in the town aimed at giving ratepayers a chance to voicetheir opinions about water charges.The motionwasproposed byKieranMcCarthy and Linda Cleland.MrMcCarthy said a date had yet to be fixedfor the meeting, which he feels ...
[Pound]1M Investment boost for Belfast's Holiday Inn
Oct 01, 2004; ... A Belfast hotel will next month open a 300-seater new conferenceand banqueting facility costing [Pound]1m.It's a timely investmentfor the Holiday Inn as demand for quality conference and banquetingvenues in the city centre is on the increase,The city has undergoneametamorphosis in recent ...
Refuse collection putting the case for bin bag chic
Oct 01, 2004; ... A fashion show with a difference is to be staged during thisweekend's Fostering Network conference which is taking place inBelfast's Europa Hotel.The "refuse collection"has been designed tohighlight the custom of "bin-bagging" - moving fostered children'spossessions from home to home in ...
Land plan row SF councillor faced action Housing Executive was setto seize site
Oct 01, 2004; ... Belfast's Deputy Lord Mayor, Joe O'Donnell, would have faced aHousing Executive bid to seize his land if he had proceeded withcontroversial development proposals for his garden, it can berevealed today.The Sinn Fein councillor withdrew his planningapplication for three town houses ...
Budding artists urged to show work
Oct 01, 2004; ... Budding artists, young and old alike, from Northern Ireland weretoday urged to enter one of Ireland's biggest art projects, organisedby the Credit Union.The 21st annual poster competition, run by theIrish League of Credit Unions (ILCU), was launched earlier this week.Entrants in two ...
Arts festival celebrates its 30th birthday
Oct 01, 2004 ... About 2,500 competitors will have entered more than 100 classes bythe time the Banbridge Performing Arts Festival opens to celebrateits 30th birthday on November 8.Patricia Mulligan moved to Banbridgeand decided to set up the first festival in 1975. It was staged inthe Belmont Hotel and ...
Charities putting need before creed
Oct 01, 2004; ... Two major Northern Ireland charities which have served the wholecommunity for over 100 years came together recently to celebrate 25years of co-operation in putting 'need before creed'.Belfast CentralMission and the Society of St Vincent de Paul first bonded in acommon purpose at the ...
Ulster model's girl scoops title Kiera Knightley voted sexiest film star
Oct 01, 2004; ... Ulster model Jamie Dornan is dating thesexiest movie star of alltime- and that's official.For Jamie's actress girlfriend KeiraKnightley has just won the title in a poll carried out by Empiremagazine.Keira (19), star of the new King Arthur film, outshone suchmovie greats as Julia Roberts, ...
Pressure on to open up Croke Park
Oct 01, 2004; ... The GAA faces intense pressure to open Croke Park to other sports,such as soccer and rugby, after the Republic's Government ploughedanother €40minto the famous stadium. This means the Exchequerhas now funded the ground's development to the tune of €109.3m.The latest tranche ...
Car park raiders snatch store cash
Oct 01, 2004; ... Detectives were today investigating a robbery at a car park in theAbbey Centre inNewtownabbey in which a substantial sum of money wasstolen.The incident happened around 9pm yesterday when two members ofstaff from a nearby store were in the process of taking a lodgementto a nearby bank ...
Man escapes prisonover 'yobbish' attack
Oct 01, 2004; ... A man who ran across the road in front of a police vehicle tolaunch a "yobbish" Halloween attack on another man has escaped a jailsentence.Michael Anthony Hynes, (22), of Vicarage Road in Portadown,was convicted in Belfast Magistrates' Court yesterday of assaultcausing actual bodily ...
Comic Norton is reunited with uncle
Oct 01, 2004; ... Zany TV presenter Graham Norton (right) will be reunited with hisuncle Ivan when he appears on the UTV Gerry Kelly chat showtonight.Ivan Walker - a brother of the outrageous funnyman's mum inKilkenny -and his wife Christine who live in east Belfast, will beVIP guests in the studio.They ...
Ulster scots goes on hotline But urgent calls must still bemade in English
Oct 01, 2004; ... A special Ulster Scots voicemail service has been set up fortelephone calls to Northern Ireland Government Departments.Anyonewith a query for officials who wants to speak in Ulster Scots can nowbe re-directed to a special number - 028 90 258924.Messages leftthere by members of the public ...
Lucky escape as car ends up in lough
Oct 01, 2004; ... A woman was lucky to escape serious injury after she crashed hercar into Carlingford Lough.The accident happened on the Newry-bounddual carriageway close to Warrenpoint at around 8pm yesterday whenthe driver swerved to avoid a horse and cart and crashed her carthrough a fence and into ...
Candidates offer voters no choice on Iraq policy
Oct 01, 2004; ... Last night's presidential debate pitted George Bush against JohnKerry on the issues of national security, terrorism and Iraq - issuesthat, almost certainly, will decide the election. Yet, for all theclaims of deep differences, in many respects the foreign policies ofthe two candidates ...
Torture still an obstacle to Turkey's EU membership
Oct 01, 2004; ... Two reports on Turkey's application to join the European Unionpoint to potential benefits from its membership, but highlightcontinuing human rights violations and Ankara's failure to prevent"numerous" cases of torture and ill treatment.The carefully balanceddocuments, to be released next ...
We were framed, claim Chechen murder suspects
Oct 01, 2004; ... Friends and lawyers of the two Chechen businessmen accused ofRussia's most notorious contract killing of the year - the drive-byshooting of the American investigative journalist Paul Klebnikov -claimed yesterday that the pair had been framed by the police.MrKlebnikov, the editor of the ...
Army of a million volunteers pitches in to tackle bird-flu
Oct 01, 2004; ... A massive army of volunteers wearing protective plastic bags overtheir flip-flops is taking the Thai Prime Minister's battle againstbird flu to its source: Thailand's chicken coops and livemarkets.More than a million people pitched in to disinfect farms andbury dead chickens yesterday ...
Former Pitcairn islanders tell of rape as a way of life
Oct 01, 2004; ... Former residents of Pitcairn, an apparently idyllic semi-tropicalisland in the South Pacific, yesterday painted a picture of acommunity in which young girls were used as sexual playthings andrape and violence were a way of life.One man, Dave Brown, allegedlyassaulted a series of girls ...
Nigeria starts talks with rebel leader as fears over oil grow
Oct 01, 2004; ... Threats against foreign oil workers have brought the Nigeriangovernment to the negotiating table with the self-styled Nigerianwarlord Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, whose band of 2,000 poorly armedfighters in the mangroves of the Niger Delta sent shockwaves throughinternational oil markets ...
Dozens of Iraqi children die in Baghdad bomb attack
Oct 01, 2004; ... Last night's presidential debate pitted George Bush against JohnKerry on the issues of national security, terrorism and Iraq - issuesthat, almost certainly, will decide the election. Yet, for all theclaims of deep differences, in many respects the foreign policies ofthe two candidates ...
Russia finally backs Kyoto. Does it matter?
Oct 01, 2004; ... It's not enough, but it's a start. Politicians andenvironmentalists around the world cheered yesterday when after along period of vacillation, Russia finally moved to ratify the KyotoProtocol, the international treaty on countering climate change.Thedecision by President Vladimir Putin's ...
Reviving sick baby is futile and cruel, doctors tell court
Oct 01, 2004; ... An NHS trust asked a High Court judge yesterday to grant doctorsthe right to let a severely ill baby girl die in defiance of herparents' wishes.Charlotte Wyatt was born three months premature andsuffers from profound physical and mental handicaps.Now 11 monthsold, she has never left ...
Blair accused of union 'stitch-up' in conference vote on troops pull- out
Oct 01, 2004; ... Tony Blair was accused of a "stitch-up" yesterday after Labouravoided a damaging defeat on Iraq that would have wrecked its lastannual party conference before the general election.Ian McCartney,the Labour Party chairman, played a crucial role in the behind-the-scenes arm-twisting to ...
Labour holds on but Tories collapse to fourth place behind UKIP
Oct 01, 2004; ... Labour held on in the Hartlepool by-election early today in theface of a Liberal Democrat surge, while the Conservatives crashedinto a humiliating fourth place.Iain Wright saw off a LiberalDemocrat challenge by 2,033 votes - a fraction of the Labour majorityat the previous general ...
Heart surgery and 3.5m house purchase cast doubts over Blair's future as PM
Oct 01, 2004; ... Tony Blair will go into hospital today for heart treatment aftersuffering a health scare while on holiday in August.The freshquestion mark over the Prime Minister's health comes as TheIndependent can reveal that he has bought a Georgian house for about£3.5m in an exclusive part of ...
Call to reform agreement
Oct 01, 2004; ... The Good Friday Agreement does not work in the way it was plannedand must be changed, the leader of the Alliance Party warnedtoday.David Ford said while the principles of the Agreement remainsound, new structures of government are needed.With the progressachieved at Leeds Castle a ...
Seven convicted for car tax evasion
Oct 01, 2004; ... Seven people have been convicted and fined for evading the new cartax rules introduced in January this year.The cases related tooffences committed in the first three months of this year and finestotalling [Pound]8,000 were imposed under the new ContinuousRegistration rules in Belfast ...
Family in mourning after girl dies of overdose
Oct 01, 2004; ... A Belfast family were in mourning today after a 13-year-old girldied of an overdose.Denise Hill, from Canmore Street, in theShankill, left a note saying she thought she was "fat and ugly".Buther family, distraught by her death, said today that she had been a"happy go-lucky" girl.Denise, ...
Library board to lobby for funding
Oct 01, 2004; ... The South Eastern Education and Library board today refused totake cost-cutting action which would prejudice the education orsafety of children.Board members are to lobby the Department ofEducation for further funding to help tackle its financialcrisis.Meanwhile, the Board's chief ...
News in brief
Oct 01, 2004 ... Woodland plan takes rootA new initiative aimed at urging people inthe Belvoir area of Belfast to take more of an interest in theirenvironment is beinglaunched by the Woodland Trust.The trust, inpartnership with Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland, haslaunched the community woods ...
Disability law may lead to legal actions
Oct 01, 2004 ... Shops, restaurants and other businesses could face court cases oreven direct action from disability campaigners after a newlawrequiring them to make sure that disabled people can use theirservices comes into effect today.Part Three of the DisabilityDiscrimination Act requires all service ...
Protest overmobile phone mast proposal
Oct 01, 2004 ... People living near Armagh's newest hotel are angry over plans toerect a telecommunications mast on the rooftop.Local councillors havereceived protest calls and letters from residents of the Newry Roadarea about the proposed installation by Hutchinson 3G.Now the councilis to arrange for ...