Newry and Mourne District Council is considering a scheme for a £250 million development in the city, writes Suzanne Breen. It includes plans to build a huge covered sports stadium with a 35,000 capacity.
The proposal has been forwarded by a group of local businessmen who have been involved in previous regeneration schemes in the area. They envisage extending the commercial development potential of the Albert Basin and private land which is presently occupied by Páirc Esler, the GAA playing field.
The plan includes the provision of a multi-purpose sport stadium/convention centre with a retractable roof. An integrated recreational and leisure centre incorporating a 50m swimming pool is also suggested.
The chairman of Newry and Mourne District Council, Mr Frank Feeley of the SDLP, said he was excited by the scheme. The strategic objectives were to provide a top-class environment for sport. The stadium would be world-class and would have "inbuilt sustainability".
The businessmen said their plan would provide a stimulus to the economy of Newry and its hinterland.
Police seize alcohol and tobacco
Three leading Provisional IRA men have been caught smuggling tobacco and alcohol after telling police they were returning from a Romanian orphanage, according to security sources. They said police seized 45,000 cigarettes and several bottles of spirits from a van at Drumahoe outside Derry on Monday.
They told police they were returning from Romania after delivering goods to orphans.
Officers discovered the contraband goods concealed in a false wall in the van. The men were not arrested, but customs and excise officers have kept the van and the goods.
held after attack on bus-driver
Two men have been arrested in connection with a shooting in Derry a fortnight ago which is widely believed to have been carried out by the Provisional IRA. They are being questioned about the attack on Mr Danny McBrearty, a Catholic. He was driving a coach with elderly passengers on board in the nationalist Creggan Estate when he was beaten with hammers and shot in both legs.
Meanwhile, nationalists have escaped injury in pipe-bomb attacks by loyalists on houses in the Short Strand area of east Belfast. Two devices were thrown into the Bryson Court area on Monday night.