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THE Belfast-born former head of Manchester’s fire service has broken his silence to defend its response to the arena suicide bombing which killed 22 people. Peter O’Reilly, from the Andersonstown area of west Belfast, was chief fire officer at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) at the time of the terror attack. A report into the emergency response, published in March, was critical of the service’s actions in the immediate aftermath of the blast. It said communication problems meant crews took two hours to attend the scene of the bombing at an Ariana Grande pop concert on May 22 last year. Mr O’Reilly served in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service for more than two decades including tense periods during the Troubles. He moved to GMFRS in 2011 and became chief fire officer in 2015. He retired this year. Mr O’Reilly said he thinks every day about the 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena attack and will “always … [Read more...] about Belfast-born ex-fire chief breaks silence on Manchester Arena bombing

SONIA O’Sullivan was crowned queen of Europe last night after a stunning 10,000metres debut at the European Championships in Budapest. O’Sullivan, who scored a unique double at the World Cross Country Championships last March, ran the perfect race. The Cobh athlete will now set her sights on another historic double by chasing the 5,000m crown on Sunday – and few would bet against her after the performance last night. “There were times in the race when it got a little bit tough,” said the former world 5,000m champion, whose form had been in doubt. “But everything fell into place when I got to half-way. “I thought: ‘Right you can’t lose form here. This is my area now’. “But I never thought about winning until I was in the last 1,000 because you can get distracted. “People said I was crazy doing the 10,000m. But people have doubted my ability before, but not now. “It was like a training session.” The … [Read more...] about The Irish News Archive: Aug 20 1998: Sonia O’Sullivan crowned queen of Europe

QUESTION: I own a property which I have rented out for many years. It's become a burden as there are endless maintenance issues to deal with and it's becoming increasingly difficult to find reliable tenants. Ideally, I'd like to sell it as soon as possible. It was bought at the peak of the property boom so I will certainly make a loss on the sale. My husband also has a couple of apartments which he bought a few years ago in an area which has recently seen quite a significant rise in property prices. He wants to hold on to the properties for another few years, but he would sell one of the apartments now if it was possible to offset the loss on the sale of my property against the profit on his sale. If we can do this should we sell both properties in the same tax year?ANSWER: The members of a married couple or civil partnership are taxed separately. Their income is taxed separately and each spouse or partner is entitled to their own personal allowance. Capital gains are also taxed … [Read more...] about Tax planning could bring financial rewards