Sunday Trading Proposal Defeated At Belfast City Council <\/b> <\/p>\n
Green Party Councillor for Lisnasharragh, Brian Smyth, has welcomed Belfast City Council’s rejection of an Alliance Party proposal to extend Sunday opening hours for large multi-national stores in Belfast city centre.<\/p>\n
Councillor Smyth stated: “I am delighted to see that the Alliance Party’s dead horse flogging idea that our city centre will be saved by allowing large multi national stores to open longer on Sundays has been defeated at Belfast City Council today.”<\/p>\n
He highlighted the widespread opposition to the proposal, noting: “Trade Unions and small businesses have already expressed their opposition to this and it is positive that Sinn F\u00e9in have moved back from initially supporting this deeply unimaginative idea.”<\/p>\n
Councillor Smyth further articulated his vision for Belfast’s city centre, moving beyond a focus on large retail. “Smaller shops can open, but many choose not to because of the limited offering on Sunday mornings,” he observed. “The vision for Belfast should not be soulless shopping large multi nationals, instead it should be a distinct cultural offering that attracts families, visitors and tourists alike.”<\/p>\n
Man Charged Over South Belfast Security Alert And Islamic Centre Attack <\/b> <\/p>\n
Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland\u2019s Serious Crime Branch have charged a man in connection with a security alert in the University Street area of south Belfast on Friday, 20 June. The incident involved an attack on the Belfast Islamic Centre.<\/p>\n
The 34-year-old man has been charged with a number of serious offences, including attempted arson with intent to endanger life, attempt to cause an explosion, making explosives with intent to endanger life, and criminal damage.<\/p>\n
He is expected to appear before Belfast Magistrates\u2019 Court today, Monday, 23 June 2025.<\/p>\n
As is standard procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service. <\/p>\n
![\"News](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1_320222_briefs.jpg\")
\nThe security alert on Friday night led to the evacuation of the Belfast Islamic Centre after a viable explosive device was thrown through a window of the building during evening prayers. Police and Ammunition Technical Officers attended the scene, and a 34-year-old man was arrested shortly after the incident. Police have stated that they are exploring a number of potential motivating factors for the attack, including the possibility that it was a hate crime.<\/p>\n
Assembly Approves New Anti-Spiking Law<\/b> <\/p>\n
Alliance Justice spokesperson Connie Egan MLA and Balmoral Councillor Micky Murray have welcomed the Northern Ireland Assembly’s agreement on a new anti-spiking law, brought forward by Justice Minister Naomi Long.<\/p>\n
The Assembly has approved Minister Long’s legislative consent motion (LCM), which will integrate the new spiking offence from the UK Government’s Crime and Policing Bill into law in Northern Ireland. This move will make spiking a standalone criminal offence here, addressing a gap in current legislation.<\/p>\n
Ms Egan emphasised the severity of the issue: “Spiking is a truly abhorrent act. Delivering this new criminal offence is an important part of Minister Long’s work to keep our communities safe and tackle violence against women and girls, who make up the majority of spiking victims.”<\/p>\n
She expressed hope for the legislation’s impact: “In making it a new stand-alone offence, we hope this will act as a powerful deterrent against spiking, help reverse the under-reporting of spiking, and improve police data collection and understanding of the prevalence of spiking.<\/p>\n
“Everyone should be able to go out and enjoy our nightlife without having to fear the night could end in them or someone they care about being spiked, and I’m grateful to the Justice Minister for bringing this legislation forward,” Ms Egan added.<\/p>\n
Councillor Murray highlighted the importance of safety for the night-time economy. “If we want to have thriving night-time economies in Belfast and in towns and cities right across Northern Ireland, people have to be reassured that they’re safe and that measures are in place to protect them from harm while they’re out,” he said.<\/p>\n
“To see the Justice Minister prioritise extending this legislation here is incredibly welcome. Having previously brought a motion to Belfast City Council calling for spiking test kits to be made available in licensed venues here, now is the time to see this roll-out progressed at last, and I and my Alliance colleagues will continue working to see it done,” Councillor Murray concluded. \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sunday Trading Proposal Defeated At Belfast City Council Green Party Councillor for Lisnasharragh, Brian Smyth, has welcomed Belfast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-208085","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-northern-ireland","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114733602784894762","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}