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Price: 75p (IR 1.05 EURO) Tuesday, August 14, 2012

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Unnamed caller set up legal deal, claims Hain

See page 9

News Letter, Tuesday,

August 14, 2012

29

Olympians Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes show off their bronze medals during a stop-off at Titanic Belfast following their arrival back in the Province PICTURE: Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker yesterday

Ulster basking in sporting glory

BY STAFF REPORTERS
newsdesk@newsletter.co.uk

TWO SUPER PULL-OUTS

Business
food firms shatter Great Taste records
PAGE 27

News Letter, Tuesday,

August 14, 2012

23

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Business home and away

PAGES 28 & 37

Tesco sweeps into the mortgage market

PAGE 41

OlymPIC and international golfing success is lifting the mood of people across Northern Ireland today, with five medalists returning home from the 2012 london Games. Bronze medal winning boxers Paddy Barnes and michael Conlan will tour Belfast city centre on an open-top bus today and while the pair arrived back in the city yester-

day golf fans were celebrating Holywood man Rory mcIlroys stunning golf success after he became one of the youngest ever double major winners. Tomorrow a homecoming celebration is to be held in Coleraine for the three Olympic rowers Alan Campbell, who is returning with a bronze, and brothers Richard and Peter Chambers, who both won silver. meanwhile, there have been calls to harness the latest sporting

success for wider economic benefits. Former UUP leader Sir Reg Empey said Northern Ireland should learn from the can do attitude which prompted so much of our Olympic success and to bring that same attitude to bear in economic terms. Regarding the Olympics, he said Northern Ireland was, as usual, punching above its weight. See pages 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 and Sport Rory shows off the silver

package bus kits in Business corresponden Ballymena, SBS Transit is a leading which are shipped t to transit innovative r.sherriff@newsletter.co.uk where local assemblySingapore operator with a global presence manufacturing firms and and secures workers we are again trained Wrightbus as the honoured and supported by by SBST to provide to be chosen primary suppliers of Wrightbus staff will build double-deck them. vehicles tailored to world-class buses for SBS Transit into 2015. BALLYMENA bus Designed to Singapores maker the meet the demanding operations, The Wright Group has secured company requirements of the undertook he said. local climate a 41 a research million contract to The supply 550 and high capacity transport Transit relationship with SBS project with and development double-decker buses the support of Invest started in 2009 to Singapore demands of Singapore, the 40ft the the firm announced yesterday. announcement of an with Northern Ireland, to develop long, fully air-conditioned a initial new low export order, won emission Wrightbus The pioneering design in tandem with This knocked down (CKD) kit. Gemini 2 and double-decker innovative approach manufacturing company buses are built on a Volvo, for Wrightbus to supply the opened has will be Volvo bodywork for new up new export markets the main supplier of the chassis. double deck for the buses in kit form. business. The firm the Asian city states vehicles to Gan Juay Kiat, CEO is SBS of SBS clearly reaping the The until 2015, Wrightbus Transit Transit, said: Our benefits of buses ferry service first bus officially entered its continued managing director Mark group more than 2.6 million in Singapore in 2010 investment in new commuters to date and Nodder to work confirmd. a total of 450 Wrightbus product development and cutting and school edge design. With the new buses, every day. bodied double deckers This contract rewards we hope we already have the can make Mrs Foster said the been sold to SBS Transit, Wright those journeys that Groups Wright continual little bit Groups continuing all of which will investment in innovation, more success in and the commuters. comfortable for our the end of 2012. be in service by winning contracts determination of our reflected the company companys Welcoming news of Business development to become global leaders the latest and exportfocus on innovation director in bus for the Wright design, he said. Enterprise Group Steve Harper contract Minister has resulted marketing which Arlene Foster said: said the company in it becoming a The company will produce and have secured the was delighted to substantial contract This is a significant player across a range of order. for one international of Northern Irelands markets. most See Morning View, page 14

BY richArd ShErriff

Wright Groups 41m Singapore bus deal

One of the several hundred Wright Group buses already in service on the streets of Singapore

THERE is little sign the Northern Ireland of a turnaround in housing market as experts today warn said the region is the mostly likely in the UK to see property prices fall further. The housing market years old and is likely downturn is five the coming months, to continue over according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Around 68 per cent prices during recent recorded reducing months. Prices fell for 60 months as the economic gloom in succession worsened, the surveyors said. RICS Northern Ireland housing spokesman Tom McClelland said: After a large price correction since mid-2007, we are now seeing examples of properties selling at prices last seen in the early 2000s. On average, the price reduction from the peak is between 50-60 per cent, with properties sometimes selling at prices which have dropped even Most housing experts more. believe prices will fall further in the three months ahead, although the majority predict the number of transactions will rise. Mr McClelland added: Despite this dramatic improvement in affordability, however, activity in the market remains constrained by wider economic and fears about job security. conditions The eurozone has been for months over currency in turmoil worries and there have been local increases in unemployment. House prices began 2007, although growth to fall in August for several months, had been slowing the RICS said. Since then the descent has picked up momentum. Greater affordability makes it easier for first-time buyers to get into the housing market, while mortgage payments are taking up a lesser proportion of peoples salaries. Efforts have been made to encourage banks to lend and more than a third of those asked said transactions increased the number of last month. New house prices in fell by almost a tenth Northern Ireland in separate research revealed. the last year, The average property sold for 138,500, a nine per cent decrease, according to the Northern Ireland Housing published by the Department Bulletin for Social Development.

House price decline set to continue

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