The remaining provisions of the Mental Health Act, 2001, are to come into effect on November 1. This will provide for the establishment of independent tribunals to review the legality of people being involuntarily detained in psychiatric facilities. Announcing the news, Health Minister, Mary Harney, said that the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Mental Health Commission and the Department of Health ‘are currently finalising preparations to ensure the smooth transition of the new arrangements under the Act’.

A children’s charity has welcomed consultation on reforming the law on sexual offences in Northern Ireland. Criminal Justice Minister David Hanson announced a three-month consultation period and said he wanted to provide “modern, robust legislation.” It could mean tough new laws on rape and other sexual offences next year.

One of Northern Ireland’s education boards faces legal action unless it agrees to cost-cutting measures. The South Eastern board has until 1800 GMT on Thursday to implement the cuts, which will affect special needs pupils.

Criminal Justice Minister David Hanson today vowed to take account of the views of thousands of Ulster people demanding an end to the controversial 50% remission for dangerous sex offenders. Petitions signed by over 20,000 Belfast Telegraph readers, concerned that serious sex offenders and violent criminals are walking free after serving half of their sentences, were presented to him today at Stormont. This paper launched the Justice for Attracta Campaign in response to public outrage after retired librarian Attracta Harron was murdered by a convicted rapist who had been released after serving half of his sentence.

Nurses involved in the care of people with learning disabilities converge on the University of Ulster’s Jordanstown campus next week for the National Network for Learning Disability Nurses’ annual conference. Now in its 24th year, this is the first time the conference, which will attract learning disability nursing practitioners from all over Ireland and the UK, has been hosted by the University of Ulster.

The Gardai are investigating the death of a 65-year-old woman in a long-stay Hospital in Cork. 65-year-old Hannah Comber died from asphyxiation after becoming entangled in straps in a special chair.

Community leaders in County Antrim are attempting to steer children away from anti-social behaviour by keeping them busy over the summer holidays. The council-backed initiative aims to keep young people off the street and out of trouble. The scheme is aimed at children living in the Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus and Larne areas. Organiser Elaine Manson said: “The scheme has been developed from good practice in Liverpool.” There, the Summer Splash scheme “engages thousands of young people over the summer months”, she said.

Almost 300 Ulster sex offenders were released from prison over the past five years after serving just half of their sentence, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal today. This means that, on average, 55 sex offenders are being released back into the community each year under Ulster’s controversial 50% remission policy. There are currently 29 sex offenders in Northern Ireland’s prisons waiting to walk free within the next six months after serving just half of their jail term.

A unigue disability awareness project in Ulster – which uses disabled puppets – is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK. One in six of the young people under 25 in Northern Ireland is disabled and Phab NI Inclusion Matters is the principal independent and voluntary youth organisation, which works for inclusion of these young people in society by providing personal development and youth work opportunities for people up to 25-years-old.

With a motto to facilitate improvement in the area of mental health, many Irish groups have joined hands to garner acceptance from stakeholders to petition the upliftment of mental health services.