Since 1737
Price: 72p (IR 1.05 EURO) Monday, May 23, 2011
What now for
the North West?
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RIR soldiers at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast yesterday
Heroes remembered
BY STAFF REPORTERS
newsdesk@newsletter.co.uk
MEMBERS of the Royal Irish
Regiment yesterday honoured
comrades who gave their lives in
Afghanistan at a poignant church
service in Belfast.
At St Anne’s Cathedral yesterday,
the three Ulster soldiers killed
while on duty in Afghanistan were
HOMECOMING REPORTS AND PICTURES: PAGES FOUR TO SEVEN
remembered.
As members of the families
looked on, a wreath was laid and
three candles were lit in memory
of Rangers Aaron McCormick and
David Dalzell and Lance Corporal
Stephen McKee.
At earlier events, thousands
lined the streets of Ballymena
and Lisburn to honour troops
returning from a six-month tour of
The pride of Northern Ireland
Total Golf:
Hoey delight
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Afghanistan.
The Royal Irish Regiment
received the freedom of the city of
Lisburn on Saturday amid cheers
from the waiting crowds.
However the Ministry of Defence
was condemned by thousands
more in Belfast yesterday at a rally
against the decision not to hold a
homecoming parade in the city,
which was addressed by unionist
politicians.
In response, the MoD said Belfast
would still host ‘an event’ .
A spokesman said: “The MoD are
consulting with Belfast City Council
and there will be an event both for
the RIR and the Irish Guards.”
Last night, the MOD would not
elaborate on what the ‘event’ was
or when it would be taking place.
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New ash
fears for
flights
Ash could begin to drift across
the UK towards the end of the
week after a volcanic eruption
in Iceland sent a plume of
smoke 12 miles into the air,
forecasters said.
The Met Office and
the aviation industry are
monitoring the situation
closely after the Grimsvotn
volcano experienced its largest
eruption in 100 years.
It comes a year after the
Eyjafjallajokull eruption sent
clouds of ash across Europe,
closing airspace and grounding
flights.
But scientists have said the
latest Icelandic eruption is
very unlikely to have the same
result.
A spokesman for the Met
Office, which runs Europe’s
Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre,
said: “This is a very different
situation to last April. The
weather is much more
changeable and there’s a lot
more uncertainty.
“There’s no risk of the ash
moving across the UK in the
next day or so.
“But there is a possibility
that we’ll see some volcanic
ash towards the end of the
week.” See page 10
Two killed
on roads
TWO more people have lost
their lives on Ulster’s roads
over the weekend.
Jack Duffy, 19, from
Ballymena was killed when
he was hit by a vehicle
as he walked along the
Castledawson Road in
Magherafelt around 3.50am
on Sunday. It is understood
the teenager was returning
from a night out.
Around two hours later,
22-year-old Aidan Toal from
north Belfast died in a one-
vehicle accident in the
Newtownabbey area.
Mr Toal was driving his
silver Ford Focus car on the
Mallusk Rd in Mallusk when
the incident occurred around
5.40am.
The area between the
Scullions Road and Hightown
Road junctions was closed
for several hours while
crash experts carried out an
investigation.
See page 8