NI school domestics clean up

THOUSANDS of Ulster school cleaners are in line to share over £20 million, in a back-dated pay increase.

Almost 3,500 domestics, across the five education boards, will receive an additional 83p per hour in pay, which will be back dated from 1 January 2002.

The deal, proposed by the boards, is set to gain agreement from the GMB union, ending a long dispute over job evaluation.

Paisley’s ‘no, nay, never no more’

AFTER ten years and fierce opposition, Ian Paisley has finally put his name to the Good Friday Agreement, although he hasn’t exactly signed up to it as such.

Mr Paisley signed a copy of the document which will be auctioned off for charity, after being asked by local solicitor Charlie Daly during a visit to Cork at the weekend.

Mr Paisley said: “That is the one and only time my signature will be on this.”

Charlie Daly said: “When it was explained to him what it was for – to advance the tennis club so children could play there and so on – there was no problem at all.” 

The document is to be auctioned off in September.

Save the cheerleader, save the show?

BY DONNA MCGARRY – donna@ragazine.co.uk

THIS week welcomes the long awaited return of sci-fi mega hit Heroes to our screens but does disappointment lie ahead for viewers?

After the show aired it’s second series in the States, messageboards were flooded with angry fans slating the show saying it had lost all credibility from the first series.

Confusing relationships, a slow storyline pace and not to mention extremely dodgy accents, the second series hit an all-time low with fans worldwide after the series was cut to only 11 episodes.

Being a bit behind our transatlantic neighbours television-wise and thanks to what seemed to be a never-ending writers’ strike, the series is only making its way to our screens now after fans were left with a distant memory of an exploding man and Hiro in a Kimona.

Ramsay’s Legal Nightmare

THE restaurant manager branded a ‘lazy t*****’ by the celebrity chef on Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares U.S.A. is planning to sue for £500,000 after his career has been left in ruins.

Martin Hyde (53) believes his reputation is in tatters after millions of viewers watched him being at the receiving end of one of Ramsay’s notorious foul-mouthed rants.

The episode was aired recently in Britain, on Channel 4 and saw Ramsay visiting Dillons Indian restaurant in New York just a short walk from Ramsay’s own restaurant in the city, London.

Will curfew curb careless driving?

NORTH Down MLA Peter Weir is proposing the enforcement of a night time curfew on young drivers across Northern Ireland.

The politician is bringing his controversial measure to the tables of Stormont, in the hope the Northern Ireland Assembly will accept it as a necessary step to ending the rising death toll on roads.

He is also recommending a sanction on the number and age of passengers in a car and a blanket ban on newly qualified drivers consuming any alcohol.

Sophie first out of Next Top Model

SOPHIE Roberts has become the first contender to be kicked off the catwalk in Britain’s Next Top Model.

The show, well known for catfights and tantrums among its contestants, has started its fourth season. There were 14 finalists in episode one but now only 13 girls remain.

Norfolk beauty Sophie was told to go home after failing to impress the judges on a topless shoot, published in the Mail on Sunday’s You Magazine.

Host Lisa Snowdon gave the aspiring model a quick hug before sending her on her merry way.

Despite being first off, Sophie said she wants to continue modelling.

Last year blond bombshell Lauren Mc Avoy won the show, although she has rarely been seen since.

McGuinness blasts bomb link

MARTIN McGuinness has today branded a report which claims he knew in advance about the Enniskillen bombing as “completely false”.

Tonight the BBC will broadcast a documentary which claims the Deputy First Minister was in charge of the IRA unit responsible for the Poppy Day bomb in 1987, which killed 11.

Mr Mc Guiness said: “It is entirely based on untrue briefings from individuals within the intelligence apparatus long hostile to Sinn Fein.”

Beckinsale set for Belfast?

HOLLYWOOD starlet, Kate Beckinsale could be Belfast bound this summer to film a new movie.

Movie moguls are currently negotiating with a number of Hollywood stars to come to Belfast to film romantic comedy Yankee Kill,with Beckinsale being discussed for a potential lead role.

Acclaimed director Gerry Lively will be taking to the helm this summer when the production will be filmed in the Paint Hall in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter.

The film is set in Ireland during the swinging sixties and centres around a man returning home to his native Ireland.

Another Death in Bridgend

ANOTHER young person has been found dead in the Bridgend county of South Wales.

   

The body of the man, named locally as Sean Rees aged 19, was found on Sunday in the village of Bettws. He has been described as “happy go lucky” by family.

   

It has been reported that Sean was discovered hung in a wooded lane after rowing with friends the night before.

            

Police have said the death did not occur in suspicious circumstances but have launched an investigation.

Problems on the surface of things…

A MULTI-MILLION pound bypass in County Antrim is scheduled for a major resurface job – just four years after completion.

The Department for Regional Development has announced the Toome Bypass on the main Belfast to Derry route will undergo up to six weeks of extensive repair.

The bypass, which cost £18 million, was constructed to resolve the long traffic delays and tail backs which plagued Toome village.