EDUCATION MINISTER Batt O'Keeffe's failure to help sort out the delays caused by Government cuts in County Donegal in processing student grants in time for the university term means many third-level students are unregistered and will be left without access to a host of college services until January, Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty has told the Seanad. Free article

SOUTH BELFAST man John Boyle is challenging the British Secretary of State over his refusal to pay him compensation for wrongful imprisonment. Boyle was framed by RUC detectives and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment in 1977 but in April 2003 his conviction was quashed after it was investigated by the Criminal Cases Review Commission CCRC). Free article

THE funding badly needed to provide intensive care unit beds for life-saving operations at Crumlin Children's Hospital must be released by Health Minister Mary Harney, Sinn Féin Health & Children spokesperson Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has demanded. Ó Caoláin said that the case of two-year-old Joy Lawlor Doyle, who is awaiting heart surgery, has highlighted the plight of many other children whose operations have been cancelled or delayed because of the lack of ICU beds at Crumlin. Free article

THE PSNI have confirmed that computer equipment and other items were seized from the County Antrim home of leading loyalist 'hard man' Mark Harbinson. A spokesperson for the PSNI acknowledged that a number of items, including computer equipment, had been taken away for further examination from the house near Stoneyford, nine miles from Belfast. Free article

SINN FÉIN East Derry MLA Francie Brolly has confirmed his decision to retire from the Assembly before the end of the year. Brolly was elected to Limavady Council in 2001 and the North's Assembly in 2003 and 2007. The 71-year-old Dungiven man retired from teaching in 1998 after 35 years. He was a prominent member of the Assembly Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee and has had a lifelong association with the GAA and the Irish language. Free article

SINN FÉIN Foyle MLA Martina Anderson has said failure to reach a resolution in the dispute between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers' Union will cause serious financial burdens for postal workers and their families and could have devastating consequences for small businesses in Derry and across the North. Her call comes after meeting with postal workers and union officials on the picket line at the Great James Street Sorting Office during last Friday's protest Free article

THE new Meath Joint Policing Committee (JPC) must prove itself to be relevant to the people, Sinn Féin Mayor of Navan Joe Reilly said at its inaugural meeting last week. The Sinn Féin councillor has played a key role in lobbying for the JPC. Free article

SINN FÉIN President Gerry Adams has sent a hearty "comhghairdeas" to the pupils, staff and parents of Gaelscoil Bharra in Cabra who, along with Dublin-based rhythm and roots band Tupelo, have reached number 7 in the Irish charts with 'Cá bhfuil ár Scoil'. And Gerry urged everyone to buy the single online or in the shops to make it an even bigger success. Free article

THE Free the Miami Five Campaign Ireland has thanked everyone who took part in this month's candlelit vigil outside the US Embassy in Dublin in support of Antonio Guerrero. The protest was the culmination of a month of embassy protests around the world which had the effect of forcing the US prosecutor to seek an agreed settlement in the resentencing hearing for Antonio. Free article

SINN FÉIN President Gerry Adams has expressed his deep sense of shock and sadness at the death of Redmond O'Neill in London. Adams extended his sincere condolences to the family and friends of Redmond who died on Wednesday afternoon during surgery, following "a long and valiant battle against cancer". Free article