Latest news with #Corry
Belfast Telegraph
02-05-2025
- Health
- Belfast Telegraph
‘A remarkable individual': Tributes paid following death of NI Commonwealth Games athlete and school governor
Ian Corry (66) passed away peacefully at his home on Tuesday. As well as his role as a surgeon who specialised in sports medicine and knee surgery, Mr Corry had served on the Board of Governors at The Royal Belfast Academical Institution (RBAI) for more than 20 years. He was a gifted swimmer who represented Northern Ireland at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand at the age of just 14. Four years later, he then reached the 200m medley final at the 1978 games in Edmonton, Canada. "He leaves a tremendous legacy and will be sorely missed' – Janet Williamson, Principal, RBAI The north Belfast man went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh and completed overseas fellowships in New Zealand and Australia. A former RBAI pupil, he joined the Board of Governors in March 2004. School principal Janet Williamson said: 'Ian, as a colleague and friend, embodied the values of RBAI and was an excellent role model. His integrity, commitment and leadership were to his credit and to the benefit of the school. 'To have competed in the Commonwealth Games at such a young age is an inspiration for current and future pupils. He leaves a tremendous legacy and will be sorely missed.' We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Chair of the Board of Governors Michael Howard said Mr Corry was 'an outstanding Instonian'. "He was deeply committed to ensure that RBAI remains at the forefront of education in Northern Ireland. 'Ian was involved in the establishment of the RBAI Foundation in 2013 and chaired the Foundation Committee for the past ten years. Under his leadership, more than £4.5million was raised for pupil bursaries and the development of the School estate. "Our thoughts are with his wife Janet, children Shona, Malcolm and Eve, and wider family at this time.' Mr Corry also served as honorary orthopaedic surgeon to Ulster Rugby for more than two decades. The club paid their own online tribute following his death. "We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mr. Ian Corry, who served as Honorary Orthopaedic Surgeon to Ulster Rugby for over 20 years,' they said. 'Over the years, he treated many players - all fortunate to have received his expert care. He will be truly missed. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and loved ones during this difficult time.' A death notice said a service of thanksgiving would take place for Mr Corry at Stormont Presbyterian Church at 2pm on Thursday May 8.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Local Roundup: Puleio leads Bulldogs at Franklin Invitational
FRANKLIN — Meadville junior Megan Puleio earned a gold medal at the Franklin Invitational on Saturday. Puleio was the only Bulldog to claim the top prize. Her time of two minutes and 16.11 seconds in the 800-meter run was more than 10 seconds faster than the runner-up. Advertisement Also returning home with a top-three medal was Marlaya McCoy and Tatum Gorney. McCoy finished third (13.76) in the 100-meter dash and the triple jump (32-feet and 6.5-inches). Gorney was second in the long jump (16-2.25) and second in the 200-meter dash (28.40). The girls 4x400-meter relay placed third (4:34.46). The team consisted of Puleio, Marley Rodax, Samantha Fronce and Addison Miller. McKayla Roberts placed fifth in shot put (30-5), Maleigha Jolly was fourth in long jump (14-11.75) and Kiki Gongaware was sixth in discus (87-10). For the boys, Brennen Dinsmore was second in shot put (54-6) and fifth in discus (130-6). Asher Johnson placed fifth in javelin (135-0) and Trevor Shetler was sixth in 110-meter hurdles (18.74) and 300-meter hurdles (50.65). Advertisement Beavers top Tigers RANDOLPH TOWNSHP — The Maplewood baseball team lost to Corry 10-3 in a non-region game at Jake Boyle Memorial Field on Saturday. Each team had five errors and Maplewood out-hit Corry 7-6, but the Tigers couldn't convert hits to runs. Landyn Reynolds and Levi Willison each had two hits to pace the Tigers. Maplewood is 7-4 overall. The Tigers are scheduled to play at Saegertown on Monday.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Yahoo
Three chainsaws, generator stolen from Crawford Co. barn: PSP Corry
(WJET/WFXP) – Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) Corry is asking the public for help regarding an alleged burglary that took place in early April. On Sunday, April 6, around 6:20 p.m., PSP responded to a call regarding a burglary. PSP Girard releases Easter weekend DUI checkpoint results According to the police report, a Centerville man reported having three chainsaws and a generator stolen from his barn. It is unknown how many people were involved in the alleged theft. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call PSP Corry at 801-663-2043. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
19-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Why Labour's drive for economic growth risks a green backlash
On the face of it, the government's shake-up of planning rules to boost housebuilding and infrastructure projects makes sense and should encourage economic growth. The Office for Budget Responsibility fiscal watchdog has acknowledged it in a rare piece of good news for Rachel Reeves. Yet there is another side to this story. The government's narrative is that it is on the side of the 'builders' and taking on 'the blockers' holding the country back. A chief villain is 3,500 environmental regulations. When ministers published a review of these rules this month, they promised 'no more bat tunnels' – a reference to the infamous £100m tunnel in Buckinghamshire for the HS2 project. But, not for the first time, Labour's rhetoric was not matched by reality. The review, by Dan Corry, who headed the Downing Street policy unit under Gordon Brown, opposed the 'bonfire of regulations' pro-growth campaigners wanted, instead calling for the rules to be streamlined to avoid needless duplication. Crucially, Corry found: 'We have only rarely had instances suggested to us where development was stopped by environmental regulation alone.' You wouldn't have known that from the spin with which the government launched the report. It garnered headlines by promising to cut 'archaic green tape' harming growth. Ministers insist their planning shake-up is a 'win, win' that will both protect nature and grow the economy. Indeed, Corry suggested the current system is not working for either. But green groups fear the playing field has been tipped decisively against the natural environment even though the UK has a poor record on protecting it. Ministers claim a new nature restoration fund, allowing builders to finance nature projects away from the site being developed, will enhance the natural environment more quickly. That is doubtful: many schemes will take years and some things, like ancient woodlands, are irreplaceable. The green lobby is right to be worried. Reeves recently summoned the heads of bodies including Natural England and the Environment Agency and warned them they would be abolished or merged unless they put growth first. 'The regulators are on notice; they have got a year,' one Whitehall insider told me. It seems the Treasury wants to water down targets set by the previous Conservative government to improve nature by 2030 by turning them into vaguer aspirations. There's a parallel battle going on over net zero. As part of the government-wide spending review, Whitehall whispers suggest the Treasury wants to cut the £8bn budget of GB Energy – a blow to Labour's promised green energy revolution. Some Labour figures are pressing Keir Starmer to lift the government's ban on issuing new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, which would be a huge U-turn. There's a whispering campaign against Ed Miliband, with some Starmer allies wanting him moved out of his job as energy secretary at the next cabinet reshuffle. Miliband allies point to figures showing the net zero economy is growing three times faster than the overall economy. The 'go for growth' lobby counters that the current planning regime holds up green infrastructure projects like wind farms. True, Labour will be judged on its record on growth and living standards at the next election rather than the number of bats or newts. Yet some Labour MPs worry that the government risks throwing out the baby with the bath water and provoking a 'green backlash' from voters. Although Downing Street strategists view Nigel Farage's Reform UK as the main threat to Labour, Starmer's party has lost more support to the Green Party and the pro-environment Liberal Democrats since last year's election than to Reform. Climate change and the environment was the third most important issue why people backed Labour last year after the cost of living and the NHS, according to More in Common. Some 44 per cent of 2024 Labour voters say slowing action against climate change would be a deal-breaker that would stop them voting for the party. Labour's stance on green issues could alienate young adults in particular. The Greens are already in second place behind Labour among 18-24 year-olds. Starmer aides insist the next election will be decided in the North and Midlands red wall, which explains the PM's recent shift to the right to combat Farage who, like Kemi Badenoch, opposes the 2050 net zero target. However, there are growing rumblings of concern inside Labour that it is ignoring the threat to its left flank. These critics point out the party's wide coalition last year includes middle-class, southern 2016 Remainers, as well as voters in the red wall. Many Labour MPs have small majorities; one estimate suggests a 1.5 per cent swing to the Lib Dems would take enough votes from Labour to allow the Tories to win 80 seats without raising their own support. Diluting Labour's green credentials, as the party is now doing, will make such a swing more likely. As one Labour backbencher put it: 'We shouldn't ditch our environmental commitments to take on Reform. We can't ignore the green vote.'
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stop bending over backwards to protect bats, Defra told
Defra is over-interpreting EU rules on protecting bats that are blocking development, a Government-backed review has found. A review of environmental regulation commissioned by the Government has recommended that EU-derived legislation be reformed to make building projects easier. This includes the Habitats Regulation that was the basis of the 1km bat tunnel that added more than £100million to the cost of HS2 in an effort to protect 300 bats in Buckinghamshire. The review by economist Dan Corry is part of the Government's push to reduce red tape that slows development of housing and infrastructure. The Government has now said it will consider all of his recommendations, with nine swiftly implemented. These include giving 'trusted bodies' such as the National Trust the power to bypass regulations for projects such as wetlands, and giving major projects such as Heathrow a single responsible regulator. The review found there were more than 3,000 pieces of environmental regulation, much of it inherited from the EU. It said there was a view that EU rules were being more cautiously applied by Defra bodies such as Natural England and the Environment Agency, than in many European countries. Regulators continue to apply the 'precautionary principle' – insisting on preventative measures even for a small risk of harm –despite it being abolished by UK legislation after Brexit, the review said. The Government will not consider changing the regulations, but is understood to be looking at how they are applied. Other regulations that could come under scrutiny include those that resulted in the so-called 'fish disco', underwater speakers to deter marine life, that could delay construction of Hinkley Point C. A new Defra infrastructure board will also be introduced to speed up delivery of major projects, for example by working with developers at an early stage and ensuring decisions are proportionate. The Government has already introduced its Planning Bill, which will make it easier for councils to compulsory purchase land to build homes and hospitals, and pay communities near new electricity pylons. Britain Remade, which campaigns to make the planning system easier for developers to build, welcomed the Government's response to Mr Corry's review. 'For far too long, environmental charities and quangos have been allowed to stand in the way of development, acting as roadblocks to growth by insisting on hugely expensive and project delaying measures like bat tunnels and fish discos,' said Sam Richards, Britain Remade's CEO. 'With these measures, along with changes to the statutory consultee system and the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, hopefully Britain will finally be able to get building.' Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have been criticised by green groups for dismissing protections for species such as newts and spiders as blockers to growth. Mr Corry said a streamlined system would be better for nature and long-term economic growth and said the two should not be seen as a zero-sum game, although he acknowledged there would be 'short term trade-offs'. Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link said: 'The Government's planning reforms fall far short of the win-win approach ministers want and Corry seems to support. 'For too long, environmental regulators have been too poor and too weak to enforce the law. Their environmental duties have been too soft and vague to drive environmental recovery.' A Defra spokesman said: 'The current system is not working for nature or for growth. That's why we will deliver a more streamlined, modern approach to regulation. 'This government will uphold environmental protections, not scrap them. Our reforms will focus on improving how environmental protections are implemented to get Britain building and restore nature at scale.' By Dan Corry Our current system of environmental regulation is not working as anyone would want. While it was set up in good faith, time and factors like resource constraints, legal findings, case law, the UK leaving the European Union and climate change mean it does not deliver well enough for nature or for our long-term economic growth. That's why we need a new approach to find ways to protect and enhance our natural world, while allowing development to take place. All parties, whether that's housebuilders, nature conservation charities or farmers, need to have a better experience of environmental regulation than they do now. The current system fails them all. My review into environmental regulation and regulators at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) – like Natural England and the Environment Agency – focused on guiding activities in the right direction and preventing significant harm, without being antithetical to growth. Growth and nature should not be seen as in direct conflict – it is not and must not be seen as a zero-sum game, even if short run trade-offs will sometimes need to be made. This review has made clear to me that our environmental regulation is overly complex, fragmented and difficult to navigate. Defra oversees over 3,500 pieces of legislation, enforced by various bodies with different approaches. While comprehensive, the system is bureaucratic and inefficient, with many laws out of date or overlapping, leading to unnecessary red tape. A shift is needed; from rigid processes to a system that focuses on clear, outcome-driven goals. To improve the system, my report has put forward 29 recommendations. These are focused on streamlining and modernising regulations that I believe would lead to better outcomes all round. To name but a few, I recommend the following actions. We need to support better cooperation between regulators and appoint a lead regulator for all major infrastructure projects in which multiple have an interest. This should be agreed by regulators at the outset of projects, particularly those that represent significant growth and economic potential. This will stop the endless loop of developers for developers seeking planning approvals from multiple authorities who often disagree with each other – speeding up approvals and potentially saving businesses millions in time and resource. Furthermore, to accelerate the delivery of significant projects, Defra should establish an Infrastructure Board. This board should help ensure that regulatory decisions balance costs and proportionality as well as look to the future to see what's needed. This will improve oversight within the department and overcome barriers to development at an early stage. Another recommendation which is key is allowing trusted nature conservation and environmental partners and other organisations with good track records greater autonomy for nature-positive projects. This approach will enable them to move fast on restoring habitats without applying to regulators for multiple permissions, delivering improvement quicker and easier. Understandably, environmental groups may be nervous about some of the recommendations. And of course, we must not stop being concerned about the wellbeing of our precious nature be that about protected species of bats or rare flora. But everything I have learned during this review suggests that the current system does not work as well as it could for nature and the environment, let alone for growth. The temptation to 'always keep a hold of nurse for fear of finding something worse' is natural but is surely not the right approach to be taken to deliver positive change. Defra needs to up its game and get more on the front foot to execute these recommendations, but I am encouraged by the fact that the department has already begun to implement several of these reforms. The prize of better protection for the environment with growth is now in reach. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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