Northern Ireland news: M2 closure, political talks and firefighter ballot

M2 CLOSURE

Four people have been taken to hospital after a four vehicle crash on the M2 motorway on Sunday. The north and south bound carriageways have been closed between Templepatrick and the junction at Sandyknowes. Diversions are in place.

POLITICS

Talks with political parties are set to take place this week to give more detail on the Windsor Framework and how the Stormont Brake will work. The mechanism was revealed last week by the UK and EU as part of the agreement to deal with concerns around the Northern Ireland Protocol. Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris has said it would act as a veto if EU law would affect Northern Ireland 'in a significant way'.

OMAGH

Two men arrested by detectives investigating the attempted murder of a senior police officer have been released. The pair aged 33 and 57 were being questioned after Detective Chief Inspector John Calwell was shot in the Killyclougher Road area of Omagh last month. He remains critical but stable in hospital.

FIREFIGHTERS Firefighters are to vote on whether or not to accept a revised pay offer from Fire Service Employers. The Fire Brigades' Union said it will ballot members and has postponed strike action pending the outcome. If strikes were to take place they would be the first nation-wide fire strike over pay in twenty years. since 2003.

CINEMA

A new type of cinema is to open in Belfast this week. Based at CastleCourt Shopping Centre it has nine, 60-seat auditoriums with state of the art projection technology. It opens on Friday. The £5.2m investment has created 50 jobs.

WEATHER

A cloudy morning with a little rain at first. Mainly dry on Monday afternoon with some brightness in the north and east together with odd wintry shower. Fermanagh may remain cloudy until late afternoon. Cold. Maximum temperature 7 °C.

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