Latest news with #MidUlster
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'Lack of phone signal is all anyone talks about'
"Unforeseen technical issues" have been causing continuing mobile phone service issues in some rural areas of County Tyrone for almost a month. Local representatives say it has mostly been affecting Mid Ulster's Torrent electoral district in areas such as Coalisland and Clonoe. Members of the community say that areas, which already had poor reception, were in some cases, "complete blackspots with no signal". The problems have been linked to planned upgrade works on a service site that is hosted by O2, but is also used by a number of other mobile phone companies. O2 said the upgrade works in the area were to ensure "fast and reliable connectivity to customers". An O2 spokesperson said, due to "unforeseen technical issues" the work had taken longer than planned. In a statement on its website on Friday evening O2 said it had "completed some improvement work" in the area and that it would continue to "keep a close eye on the network to make sure everything's working as it should". SDLP councillor Malachy Quinn lives in the Washingbay area of County Tyrone. On Friday night he said that while he welcomed confirmation of improvement works, he still had reports of network problems in the area. He said: "It is clear from speaking to residents across my area that many people - particularly those living in more rural and isolated areas - are still experiencing persistent problems with poor or unreliable mobile signal. "In 2025, it should not be too much to ask for people to have consistent access to calls and data, no matter where they live." It is understood the issues were first reported at the end of May. It was raised at a meeting of Mid Ulster District Council last month by independent councillor Dan Kerr. He called for a meeting with the different major mobile networks. During the meeting council chief executive, Adrian McCreesh, stated: "I've [heard] from a number of members around this chamber in recent days about the behaviour of some of our companies, and the lack of ability for people to get connected." Mr McCreesh confirmed he would be organising a meeting with some of the mobile phone companies operating in the areas of Mid Ulster that had continuous reports of poor signal. Brian Kerr owns a barber shop in the Clonoe Village Business Park. He said: "It's all the customers who come into the shop this past while have been talking about, the fact that the phone signal has somehow managed to get worse, and it was already poor. "At my own house, you have to leave the house and go to the top of the driveway to get any signal at all and even then it's patchy." He added: "Something needs to be done about it long-term, because it's affecting a lot of people, not only socially, but they rely on decent phone signal for their businesses as well." Linda Dillon is a Sinn Fein MLA who lives in the Clonoe area and is calling for the issue to be resolved. She said: "Signal problems have lasted a month, and it's caused problems with parents looking to contact their children when they're out and things like that. "A big part of the problem is trying to get information from the phone companies, the communication to the people on the ground and elected representatives has been very poor, which is bad from communication companies." She added: "Unfortunately there are places in this area, like Derrylaughan, that always have had poor signal, but this time it has been more widespread. "At the end of the day it is an equality issue, rural areas should have access to phone signal the same as people living in urban areas." In 2021, three mobile phone networks agreed a deal to build and share masts to improve 4G in rural parts of Northern Ireland. The project was part of the UK government's £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme, external, aimed at improving rural internet access. The issue of phone signal has been in the news recently following a series of arson attacks on 5G masts in west Belfast. During a recent debate in the Northern Ireland Assembly about the attacks, DUP MLA Deborah Erskine condemned the incidents but also pointed to the phone signal issues that impact rural communities all year round. Speaking in the assembly, the Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said: "I would love to have 4G in my area, never mind 5G, and to see improvements made to masts and infrastructure. "Such improvements are needed, not just in west Belfast, but throughout Northern Ireland." In a statement about the connectivity issues in County Tyrone, O2 said: "While these upgrades will lead to improvements in the longer term, we apologise to customers who may have experienced intermittent service issues whilst the works are completed." Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Vodafone said: "We're sorry to our customers who are affected by issues with their services. "Our infrastructure partner is aware of the network issues due to planned work on a mast in the area and is working hard to restore services." Phone networks agree rural 4G coverage boost Frustration for residents as phone signal buckles after 5G mast arsons
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
County Tyrone: Rural phone signal issues impacting community
"Unforeseen technical issues" have been causing continuing mobile phone service issues in some rural areas of County Tyrone for almost a representatives say it has mostly been affecting Mid Ulster's Torrent electoral district in areas such as Coalisland and of the community say that areas, which already had poor reception, were in some cases, "complete blackspots with no signal".The problems have been linked to planned upgrade works on a service site that is hosted by O2, but is also used by a number of other mobile phone companies. O2 said the upgrade works in the area were to ensure "fast and reliable connectivity to customers". An O2 spokesperson said, due to "unforeseen technical issues" the work had taken longer than planned. In a statement on its website on Friday evening O2 said it had "completed some improvement work" in the area and that it would continue to "keep a close eye on the network to make sure everything's working as it should".SDLP councillor Malachy Quinn lives in the Washingbay area of County Friday night he said that while he welcomed confirmation of improvement works, he still had reports of network problems in the said: "It is clear from speaking to residents across my area that many people - particularly those living in more rural and isolated areas - are still experiencing persistent problems with poor or unreliable mobile signal."In 2025, it should not be too much to ask for people to have consistent access to calls and data, no matter where they live." It is understood the issues were first reported at the end of was raised at a meeting of Mid Ulster District Council last month by independent councillor Dan called for a meeting with the different major mobile the meeting council chief executive, Adrian McCreesh, stated: "I've [heard] from a number of members around this chamber in recent days about the behaviour of some of our companies, and the lack of ability for people to get connected."Mr McCreesh confirmed he would be organising a meeting with some of the mobile phone companies operating in the areas of Mid Ulster that had continuous reports of poor signal. 'Something needs done' Brian Kerr owns a barber shop in the Clonoe Village Business said: "It's all the customers who come into the shop this past while have been talking about, the fact that the phone signal has somehow managed to get worse, and it was already poor."At my own house, you have to leave the house and go to the top of the driveway to get any signal at all and even then it's patchy."He added: "Something needs to be done about it long-term, because it's affecting a lot of people, not only socially, but they rely on decent phone signal for their businesses as well." Linda Dillon is a Sinn Fein MLA who lives in the Clonoe area and is calling for the issue to be said: "Signal problems have lasted a month, and it's caused problems with parents looking to contact their children when they're out and things like that."A big part of the problem is trying to get information from the phone companies, the communication to the people on the ground and elected representatives has been very poor, which is bad from communication companies."She added: "Unfortunately there are places in this area, like Derrylaughan, that always have had poor signal, but this time it has been more widespread."At the end of the day it is an equality issue, rural areas should have access to phone signal the same as people living in urban areas."In 2021, three mobile phone networks agreed a deal to build and share masts to improve 4G in rural parts of Northern project was part of the UK government's £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme, external, aimed at improving rural internet access. The issue of phone signal has been in the news recently following a series of arson attacks on 5G masts in west a recent debate in the Northern Ireland Assembly about the attacks, DUP MLA Deborah Erskine condemned the incidents but also pointed to the phone signal issues that impact rural communities all year in the assembly, the Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said: "I would love to have 4G in my area, never mind 5G, and to see improvements made to masts and infrastructure."Such improvements are needed, not just in west Belfast, but throughout Northern Ireland."In a statement about the connectivity issues in County Tyrone, O2 said: "While these upgrades will lead to improvements in the longer term, we apologise to customers who may have experienced intermittent service issues whilst the works are completed."Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Vodafone said: "We're sorry to our customers who are affected by issues with their services."Our infrastructure partner is aware of the network issues due to planned work on a mast in the area and is working hard to restore services."
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Yahoo
Farm animal thefts linked to organised crime
More than 3,000 animals were reported as stolen in Northern Ireland between 2019 and 2024 in a pattern that is being linked to organised crime. New figures obtained by BBC News NI show that the vast majority were farm animals such as sheep and cattle. Most of the reported thefts took place in rural council areas like Mid Ulster and Causeway Coast and Glens. Police said the high value of livestock suggests that some of the cases will have a link to "organised crime and cross-border criminality". And an Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) representative said the amount of planning involved in stealing large numbers of animals suggests a link to organised crime. PSNI Rural and Wildlife Crime lead, Superintendent Johnston McDowell, said police had been working to decrease the number of animal thefts and in some cases were working alongside An Garda Síochána in the Republic of Ireland. John McCleneghan from the UFU told BBC News NI that livestock theft is something they hear about a lot. "When you look at some of the cases of dozens of cattle or sheep being taken, that takes planning, so that alone is evidence of some form of organised crime being involved. "The reality is that as the value of livestock has increased in recent years, the value to the criminal and the incentive to the criminal has also increased." He added: "That's why we would say to farmers to take all the steps they can in terms of security to try act as a deterrent, to protect their livestock, so things like tags on their animals locks on gates, regular checks and things like that, CCTV or tracking devices. "But we appreciate that all this is also an added cost and financial burden to the farmer in already tough times." In January 2024, 50 lambs were stolen near the village of Park in Londonderry in what farmer Dermot Mullan said was a "well-planned operation" that would cost him up to £7,000. "I received a call from my brother that the sheep weren't in the field, but I honestly just thought they had escaped", he said. Later that day the scale of the theft would become apparent to Dermot and his family. He said: "I was in shock, it took a while to sink in, for 50 sheep to be taken in one go without detection would take a lot of planning. "They came in the middle of the night, it was very stormy so we wouldn't have heard much, they must have rounded the sheep up and had a large trailer waiting and away they went." Dermot said the whole incident has had a huge impact on his family. "It's been tough, it's a big financial loss, but there is also an impact on your mental health, not just on me but on the whole family. "Yes you have the animals to make money, but you get attached to them, especially with the lambs, my two sons looked after them on a Saturday and things like that, so it was a real loss." Dermot said the figures on the overall number of animal thefts across Northern Ireland are "shocking". He said: "Unfortunately, I know of other farmers who have had livestock stolen, it happens lot. "But a lot of them are men who don't want to come forward and talk about it or in some cases to even report it, for a whole lot of reasons like fear and stigma, but we need to shine light on this issue, because it can have a devastating effect on people" BBC News NI previously reported that that the Mid Ulster farming community were left "traumatised" following a string of burglaries related to agricultural equipment last year. The cost of rural crime in Northern Ireland decreased last year, according to new figures from the rural insurer National Farmers Union (NFU) Mutual. It fell by 9% to an estimated £1.8m in 2024 compared to 2023, in what NFU said is a result of co-ordinated action against organised and serious crime in the countryside. But the new report suggests that livestock theft remained high across the UK at an estimated cost of £3.4m in 2024. The PSNI said there was no evidence to suggest that there had been an upsurge in animals being actively targeted. But Supt McDowell gave some advice to farmers and other animal owners. He said they should: close and lock yard gates at night to deter drive-through thieves lock outbuildings at night that hold livestock check lighting, alarms and cameras are working microchip or tag animals to help with recovery if they do get stolen In a statement the Department of Agriculture said it took the theft of farm animals "very seriously". A department spokesperson added: "Rural crime, in particular the theft of farmed animals, is a direct threat to the livelihood of our farmers and to the integrity of the traceability system which is vital in providing assurance on the safety, integrity and quality of our food." Farming community 'traumatised' after burglaries Farmer describes theft of 50 lambs as 'shocking'
BBC News
15-06-2025
- BBC News
Farm animal thefts in Northern Ireland linked to organised crime
More than 3,000 animals were reported as stolen in Northern Ireland between 2019 and 2024 in a pattern that is being linked to organised figures obtained by BBC News NI show that the vast majority were farm animals such as sheep and of the reported thefts took place in rural council areas like Mid Ulster and Causeway Coast and say the high value of livestock suggests that some of the cases will have a link to "organised crime and cross-border criminality".And an Ulster Farmers' Union representative says the amount of planning involved in stealing large numbers of animals suggests a link to organised crime. PSNI Rural and Wildlife Crime lead, Superintendent Johnston McDowell, said police had been working to decrease the number of animal thefts and in some cases were working alongside An Garda Síochána in the Republic of Ireland. 'They are more than just livestock' John McCleneghan is from the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU). He says livestock theft is something they hear about a said: "When you look at some of the cases of dozens of cattle or sheep being taken, that takes planning, so that alone is evidence of some form of organised crime being involved."The reality is that as the value of livestock has increased in recent years, the value to the criminal and the incentive to the criminal has also increased."He added: "That's why we would say to farmers to take all the steps they can in terms of security to try act as a deterrent, to protect their livestock, so things like tags on their animals locks on gates, regular checks and things like that, CCTV or tracking devices."But we appreciate that all this is also an added cost and financial burden to the farmer in already tough times." In January 2024, 50 lambs were stolen near the village of Park in Londonderry in what farmer Dermot Mullan said was a "well-planned operation" that would cost him up to £7,000."I received a call from my brother that the sheep weren't in the field, but I honestly just thought they had escaped", he that day the scale of the theft would become apparent to Dermot and his said: "I was in shock, it took a while to sink in, for 50 sheep to be taken in one go without detection would take a lot of planning."They came in the middle of the night, it was very stormy so we wouldn't have heard much, they must have rounded the sheep up and had a large trailer waiting and away they went."Dermot says the whole incident has had a huge impact on his family."It's been tough, it's a big financial loss, but there is also an impact on your mental health, not just on me but on the whole family. "Yes you have the animals to make money, but you get attached to them, especially with the lambs, my two sons looked after them on a Saturday and things like that, so it was a real loss."Dermot says the figures on the overall number of animal thefts across Northern Ireland are "shocking".He said: "Unfortunately, I know of other farmers who have had livestock stolen, it happens lot."But a lot of them are men who don't want to come forward and talk about it or in some cases to even report it, for a whole lot of reasons like fear and stigma, but we need to shine light on this issue, because it can have a devastating effect on people" BBC News NI previously reported that that the Mid Ulster farming community were left "traumatised" following a string of burglaries related to agricultural equipment last cost of rural crime in Northern Ireland decreased last year, according to new figures from the rural insurer National Farmers Union (NFU) fell by 9% to an estimated £1.8m in 2024 compared to 2023, in what NFU says is a result of co-ordinated action against organised and serious crime in the the new report says that livestock theft remained high across the UK at an estimated cost of £3.4m in 2024. Security measures The PSNI said there was no evidence to suggest that there had been an upsurge in animals being actively Supt McDowell gave some advice to farmers and other animal owners. He said they should:close and lock yard gates at night to deter drive-through thieveslock outbuildings at night that hold livestockcheck lighting, alarms and cameras are workingmicrochip or tag animals to help with recovery if they do get stolenIn a statement the Department of Agriculture said it took the theft of farm animals "very seriously".A department spokesperson added: "Rural crime, in particular the theft of farmed animals, is a direct threat to the livelihood of our farmers and to the integrity of the traceability system which is vital in providing assurance on the safety, integrity and quality of our food."
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Hate crime low in Dungannon but stats may show underreporting
The impact of targeted hate crimes often leaves victims feeling traumatised, bereft, fearful and intimidated in their own homes and workplaces – that's according to Victim Support NI Hate Crime Project Manager, Michael Avila. On a visit to Reach food bank in Dungannon last week, Mr. Avila and his colleague, Dawn McCartney, met with volunteers and service users to discuss the effect of hate crimes on victims and their families, and how to access support. Despite Dungannon being one of the most diverse towns in Northern Ireland, the rate of hate crime per capita in the Mid Ulster policing area is among the lowest in Northern Ireland, with the lowest rate in the Fermanagh and Omagh policing area. However, Mr. Avila believes the statistics may not tell the full story. 'In many ways, Mid Ulster is one of NI's councils exhibiting best practice when it comes to integration and fostering good relations between different communities,' he told The Impartial Reporter. 'In the last three financial years, we have had 41 referrals with a Dungannon address. This amounts to 13.7 referrals per year from Dungannon. This is very good when we compare it to other areas with high ethnic diversity. However, I don't doubt that there is underreporting.' He added: 'When we see a spike in referrals, it could either be that hate crimes have increased or that more crimes are being reported. When it's lower, it could be that people feel less likely to come forward.' Language barriers, education levels, service gaps and understanding of local laws could all contribute to underreporting. 'In an area where many migrants are working in factories, people may find it harder to report crimes. Whereas in other parts of NI, more migrants may be working in health or the private sector, which may attract migrants with higher English and education levels who may find the reporting process easier,' he said. Hate crime is defined as any incident perceived to have been committed against a person or property on the grounds of a person's ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, or disability. Victim Support NI recognises that these crimes can happen anywhere – at home, in public, or at school or work – and may involve threats, verbal abuse, arson, robbery, violence, or damage to property. Mr. Avila explained that hate crime often begins with 'a slur or a small act of intimidation' but the effects can be long-lasting, particularly if someone has been repeatedly targeted. 'Paranoia is something we see often, but it's a realistic paranoia. If someone is being intimidated in their own home, where most people find peace, they can't experience that. It always plays on their minds,' he said. 'Hate crime leaves people feeling frustrated, fearful, and it can affect their mental health. These types of crimes can be very traumatic, especially as people are likely to be targeted repeatedly because of their identity. In 2023/24, Victim Support NI received 1,013 referrals across Northern Ireland. That rose to 1,369 in 2024/25. Of the 356 increase, more than 300 were racially motivated. Mr. Avila said: 'The riots in Belfast last August accounted for some of the increase but, even if you were to remove that month, racial hate crime has seen a vast increase in the last 3–5 years.' He added: 'Hate crimes have officially been recorded since 2004 and, because of the peace process, we've seen sectarianism decrease over time but as Northern Ireland has become more diverse, race has taken its place. 'Immigration is blamed for a lack of housing, but there would still be a housing crisis without immigration. Minority ethnic businesses remain vulnerable, with housing intimidation and anti-social behaviour on the rise, sometimes orchestrated by paramilitaries. Michael said depleted PSNI neighbourhood teams, alongside a need for education and restorative justice, add to the problem. Support Available Victim Support NI offers assistance regardless of whether an incident has been reported to police. Mr. Avila said: 'From the moment they report an incident to the charity, to all the way through the criminal justice system, victims can receive practical and emotional support. From follow-ups with police, housing issues, signposting to other organisations, after-court support, including complaints, compensation claims, we can help. We are able to move things for people, and we've seen hundreds of people re-homed from extreme situations. 'We see things from the victim's point of view. The criminal justice system is interested in justice and concentrates on the perpetrator, so we focus on the victim and help them navigate the justice system, which can be quite a cold process. 'In the 1,013 referrals we received last year, only 34 were being considered for trial and, only at the point of conviction does the judge ask if there is hate motivation. We don't really have hate crime laws here, we have hate sentencing laws though new legislation is to be tabled at the end of this year with a new statutory aggravation model which should open things up a bit.' Reach food bank manager Ally Moore added:'It is essential that anyone who has been a victim of hate crime has access to this free service that provides guidance and reassurance through all the police and court proceedings. The people from the hate crime advocate service have a wealth of knowledge that can help put the victim's mind at ease and enable them to know that they are not on their own.'
