MISSING 18-year-old Sharon Halsall has been found..

She went missing on New Year’s Day and police asked the public for help finding her.

Police say the youngster, from Douglas, is safe and well.

A second person is still missing.

Harry Warwick is 79 years old and suffers from dementia.

Police believe he might be in the Isle of Man.

He has been missing from his care home in Belfast since December 19.

He is described as being fit and able to walk. His family describe him as a gentleman who would talk to anyone.

He was last seen wearing a waxed jacket, bottle green trousers and brown slip-on shoes.

There have been two possible sightings of him on Douglas promenade, near the bottom of Broadway. One was on Christmas Day and the other on December 27.

If anyone has any information as to his whereabouts, they should contact police headquarters.

{http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/specialist-search-teams-scour-city-for-missing-harry-16254718.html|Report from the Belfast Telegraph}

BUS drivers cannot go back to strike when the school term begins next week.

There had been speculation that drivers would go back on strike next week. Their {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/bus-strike-is-going-ahead-1-5235707|three-day strike} co-incided with the end of term before Christmas.

The Department of Community, Culture and Leisure has not received notification from Unite the Union to conduct further industrial action.

Nick Black, the department’s chief executive, said: ‘The union must give the department seven days’ notice.

‘There is therefore no legal basis for a strike to coincide with the start of the new school term.

‘School bus services will be operating as normal on January 7 and will continue to do so unless any further industrial action is taken. If notification of action is received, we will inform the public as soon possible.’

We are currently asking the union for a response to the department’s statement and to ask whether there are plans to strike again.

More on this story in tomorrow’s Manx Independent.

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/bus-drivers-man-the-picket-lines-1-5241906|Drivers on strike last month}

Police are appealing for witnesses after a man sustained head injuries in an incident that occurred on Demesne Road, Douglas.

The appeal comes hours after they asked for help in another investigation, after a different man sustained head injuries in Port Erin, also on New Year’s Day.

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/man-injured-in-pub-car-park-incident-1-5268825|Head injuries in a separate incident on New Year’s Day}

The Douglas incident took place between 1am and 1.30am.

Detective Constable Emily Perkins said: ‘I would like to appeal to anyone in the area at this time to come forward as they may have information to assist the police with our inquiries.’

The man remains in Noble’s Hospital after being admitted with head injuries.

Anyone who has information about this incident should contact police headquarters on 631212.

LAST month was significantly wetter than average for December, the latest figures from the Met Office show.

And perhaps more surprisingly, there was more sunshine than normal.

Total rainfall for December was 156mm at Ronaldsway, significantly more than the long term average of 92mm.

The wettest day was December 20 with 32.4mm measured.

But it was another downpour of 27mm two days later on Saturday, December 22, that caused widespread flooding problems.

The island’s hills saw more than 150mm over those few days.

Despite the rain, there was actually more sunshine than average.

Some 56 hours in total was burned on to the cards – about 10 hours more than the long term mean for December.

The best day was the 10th with 6.5 hours.

Temperatures on the whole were near normal, with an early cold spell balanced by milder weather later.

The average daily maximum temperature over the month was 8.6C.

The mildest day was the 23rd with 11.6C achieved.

On the morning of the 6th temperatures dipped to minus 1.9C in the air and minus 6.9C on the grass at Ronaldsway.

Wind speeds were also near normal, with a mean of 14.9 knots.

There were five days with gales.

The highest gust was on the 23rd with 54 knots (62mph) recorded.

There was no fog or thunder observed at the airport, but there were three days with hail, two with air frost and 12 with ground frost.

A NUMBER of Isle of Man trusts are embroiled in a legal action being brought in the States involving allegations of a multi-million dollar fraud.

Details of proceedings emerged in a Douglas high court judgment involving four claimants – IFG International Trust Company Limited, Trident Trust Company (IOM) Limited, Inter-Continental Management Limited and Kleinwort Benson Trustees (Isle Of Man) Limited.

The four claimants are each trustees of a total of nine trusts, all governed by Isle of Man law, which were set up for the benefit of brothers Samuel E Wyly and the late Charles Wyly and their immediate families.

Proceedings have been brought in the State of New York by the US Securities and Exchange Commission against Sam and Charles Wyly, a Louis J Schaufele III and Michael C French, who was either a protector or a member of the Committee of Trust Protectors of each of the trusts until he retired from that position in December 2000.

According to the high court judgment, the SEC’s case is that the Wylys engaged in a fraudulent scheme to hold and trade tens of millions of dollars of securities in US public companies without disclosing their ownership and their trading of those securities.

The Isle of Man trusts were allegedly used as the apparatus of the suspected fraud and it is claimed they were in practice controlled by the Wylys through the appointment of protectors including Mr French.

In his witness statement, Mr French states: ‘I am accused of aiding and abetting the Wylys’ alleged fraudulent scheme.’

Mr French claims that he is entitled to be indemnified out of the assets of the trusts of which he was formerly the protector in respect of his costs of defending the SEC proceedings.

The trustees sought directions from the island’s high court as to what steps – if any – they should take to comply with Mr French’s demands.

They say that in light of the serious allegations made against Mr French, it would not be appropriate for the trustees to decide now that they will indemnify him, and that any such decision should await the outcome of the SEC proceedings.

The Trustees submit the SEC allegations state that Mr French wilfully acted to defraud investors in connection with the purchase, sale or offer of securities. They say that the SEC do not allege the trustees have committed any violation of US Securities laws and that the majority of the allegations against Mr French have no connection whatsoever with actions undertaken by him in his capacity as protector.

In his judgment, Deemster Andrew Corlett agreed with the trustees’ stance that they a decision as to whether the trustee should be indemnified out of trust funds should properly await the outcome of the SEC complaint.

TALENTED watchmaker Roger Smith has added a new playlist titled Watchmaking Techniques, Dial Making, to his YouTube channel.

There are 10 videos in the playlist which describe in great detail the extraordinary and time consuming process that Roger employs when making the dials for his RW Smith and the Daniels watches.

The videos show Roger using the beautiful Rose and Straight line engines which belonged to George Daniels. These engines were rescued by Daniels from a damp Clerkenwell cellar and were restored to their current glory and used to great effect by Daniels on the engine-turned dials and cases for his watches.

Over the years, George Daniels passed on the knowledge and techniques required to master this notoriously difficult equipment to Roger.

This series of videos is only part of the whole dial making process and Roger will start to film the final series of videos in 2013.

FAMILIES of passengers who died in the Manx2 plane crash at Cork airport are suing the aircraft’s manufacturer.

Four passengers and two crewmen were killed when the twin turbo prop Fairchild Metroliner, on a commuter flight from Belfast, crashed on its third attempt to land in thick fog at Cork on February 10, 2011.

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/manx2-air-crash-in-cork-deaths-confirmed-1-3065814|Related article: Our report on the day of the crash}

The aircraft rolled on to its roof and then left the runway surface, coming to rest with both engines catching fire.

Another six passengers survived the horrific impact.

A lawsuit was lodged last month in Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois on behalf of relatives of Patrick Cullinane, Richard Noble, Michael Evans and Brendan McAleese, a cousin of the husband of former Irish President Mary McAleese.

The families are suing M7 Aerospace, the plane’s manufacturer, and Honeywell International and Woodward Governor Company, the makers of sub-components for the plane, claiming the aircraft ‘contained conditions which rendered it defective and not reasonably safe’.

An interim accident investigation report published on the first anniversary of the disaster found that while no pre-accident defects were identified with the aircraft, an anomaly was found during an examination of engine control components.

Investigators from the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit found there was a small mismatch between the torque being delivered by the two engines of up to five per cent.

They found a defect with the sensor which resulted in incorrect scheduling of fuel flow to the second engine, which had an effect on engine performance.

The AAIU’s ongoing investigation is also examining operational control and regulatory oversight including the ‘complex relationships’ between Manx2 as ticket seller, Barcelona-based airline Flightline BCN, which held the air operator’s certificate, and a second Spanish company, Air Lada, based in Seville, that supplied the aircraft and crew. A final report will be issued in due course.

The girlfriend and parents of newly-qualified co-pilot Andrew Cantle, 27, who was at the controls when the plane crashed, are suing the two Spanish companies involved in operating the flight.

Mr Cantle’s partner, Beth Webster, said his family had suffered ‘severe trauma’.

Following a management buy-out, Manx2 has ceased trading and services are being operated by a new company trading as Citywing which has taken on all the forward bookings made with Manx2.

STAFF at the Department of Education have expressed their delight that Hector Duff has been named in the New Year Honours list, after the war veteran’s tireless work in schools for the last 10 years.

The department said 93-year-old Mr Duff has done more than anyone to bridge the knowledge gap between generations, promoting understanding of the reasons behind, and realities of, world war. He received the British Empire Medal in this year’s New Year Honours list.

In addition to his long-standing connections with St Ninian’s High School, Mr Duff has worked throughout the education system, with the department’s release saying students across the age range ‘are enthralled by the way he delivers his recollections and truly brings history alive.’

Jo Ewan, head of history at St Ninian’s High School said she estimated Mr Duff had spoken to nearly 2000 students in his time, and has achieved brilliant things.

‘A student asked him “how did Hitler affect you?”, and he answered “I didn’t meet my daughter until she was two”. He makes it real,’ said Mrs Ewan.

‘It’s different every time, because the kids always ask different questions, and he can end up talking about something he hasn’t thought about since the war.

‘He’s been coming here for 10 years and we only found out last year he was at the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, he drove the BBC reporters in. He hadn’t mentioned it before because no one had asked!’

Mr Duff’s military career began after training as a tank driver with the Desert Rats in Egypt. He took part in the invasion of Italy in 1943 where he was wounded, and was given leave to come home to the island to see his wife for the first, and only time during the war. He landed on Gold Beach on the afternoon of D-Day. It was during this Normandy campaign that he was awarded the Military Medal for courage. He later took part in the Victory Parade in Berlin, and was involved in the early work of the Nuremberg Trials

He was demobbed in July 1946 before undertaking a 30-year career with the Isle of Man Constabulary.

Last year Mr Duff agreed to be the subject of a film in which he answered questions from pupils from the DEC’s 39 schools. The result is an educational resource dubbed Hector’s War, available to all schools, that will be a lasting legacy of his service and bravery during World War Two and of the work he has done for education.

Mrs Ewan said Hector has shown no signs of slowing down. As the sole surviving member of a group of five veterans who had initially began the schools project, he is in fact busier than ever.

‘He’s the driving force,’ she said. ‘He started seeing 20 kids a year, now it’s 250 at St Ninian’s alone. It’s incredible, he really did see most of the second world war.’

PLANS to convert a listed mansion house into a children’s nursery have sparked a row.

There was standing room only at a planning committee meeting on Monday as objectors to a proposal for a nursery at Farmhill Manor packed into the meeting.

The proposals attracted more than 30 letters of support but more than 60 letters of objection.

But the actions of Douglas councillors Bill and Carol Malarkey in orchestrating a campaign against the proposals prompted criticism from planning officers.

The report to the government’s planning committee noted that letters of objection generated by the Malarkeys were distributed with a flyer/leaflet using Douglas Council-headed paper.

The committee said: ‘Officers have contacted Mr and Mrs Malarkey raising concern that they as local residents who are also personally objecting should not be also acting in their professional capacity.’

But the Malarkeys took exception to this, stating that as political members who represent residents in Douglas they have every right to use council members’ stationery and pointing out that a footnote on the leaflet said the views expressed were not necessarily those of the council.

Officers had recommended approval of the application (12/01012/B) by Mrs Rose Gowland for change of use of Farmhill Manor to a children’s nursery to cater for 70 to 80 children, together with alterations to the driveway to provide two passing places and widened access on to Upper Farmhill Lane.

Farmhill Manor was registered as a listed building in 2005 as a fine example of a minor country house converted from a substantial Manx farmhouse sometime between 1780 to 1825. A bid by owner Heritage Homes to have the building de-registered was rejected following a planning inquiry in 2008. It has been up for sale for more than a year.

No major works are proposed to the manor to accommodate the nursery.

Supporters said nursery places were hard to come by and with government no longer providing pre-schools there was more need for private facilities.

But objectors said the plan could create major traffic problems in the future. Some said there was no need for a nursery as there were already a number pre-schools in the area.

Recommending approval, planning officers said while there would be a significant increase in traffic, the road network could cope and it would not have a sufficient impact on road safety as to warrant refusal. However, a decision was deferred until the next sitting of the planning committee on January 14.

Mr Malarkey told the Manx Independent after the meeting: ‘Nobody is objecting to a nursery but they are talking about 70 to 80 children and the traffic that would generate is a major issue with residents.’

A NAUTICAL charity in the UK is all at sea after being awarded a prestigious award from Buckingham Palace.

And now the Maritime Volunteer Service (MVS) wants to spread its reach by setting up a unit in the Isle of Man.

The MVS has just been awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award 2012 for volunteer work carried out during the year including marshalling duties at the Olympics and work undertaken during the Queen’s jubilee.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work done in their own communities.

It was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of the Queen’s coronation. It is known as the equivalent of an MBE for volunteer groups.

Chris Todd, area volunteer officer for the North of the UK, working from Warrington and covering the Isle of Man, is eager to see a Manx unit become part of an organisation which features more than 30 units across the UK.

Each unit trains their members in valuable maritime skills, both on and off-shore, that can be called upon by the community in times of emergency.

MVS members are trained in handling boats, seamanship, basic marine engineering and operational support skills including radio and telephone communications, all of which can be put to good use in times of natural disaster or emergency.

‘This award is a great recognition of the hard work our members are doing quietly all the time,’ said Chris. ‘As a uniformed organisation, the MVS has a big part to play in the community. We have a proud history, formed from the ashes of the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, with a training programme second to none.

‘It is wonderful to get positive recognition by gaining such a prestigious award and we are already looking forward to operating a full training programme in 2013.

‘I’d recommend anyone who is interested in boats and maritime activities to visit us – you don’t need any previous experience, as our training programme takes all abilities into account”

Contact Chris by calling 07885 448382 or email {mailto:avonorth@mvs.org.uk|avonorth(at)mvs.org.uk}

AS PEOPLE celebrated the start of 2013, it also signalled the start of many New Year’s resolutions.

Many people set themselves personal goals to achieve, whether it is giving up a habit or to get fit and eat more healthy food.

iomtoday went out on the streets of Douglas to see what your opinion is.

New mum Voirrey Mairs, 26, from Douglas, said: ‘They are a good idea but you don’t tend to keep to them. I might stick to it this year because I want to lose my baby weight.’

Mark Edwards, 50 and his wife Wendy, 45, from Douglas, said: ‘You don’t need the new year to change your life, you can do it any time.’

Alvin Harding, 67, from Baldrine, is looking forward to more family time. He said: ‘Resolutions are not something you stick to. This year I plan to travel more than last year and spend more time with my grandchildren. I think a lot of people do New Year resolution’s because the gym is normally full for the first two weeks. Maybe my resolution should be to avoid the gym for the first two weeks of the new year, because people go rushing down there.’

Geoff Corkish MHK is planning on getting fitter. He said: ‘I am going to walk more and use the car less – at my age you need to keep more active. I also want to eat less and be healthier. I enjoy my food, although I don’t eat sweets, so I’m going to have smaller meals. Resolutions are a good way to start the new year. I don’t normally stick to them, each year the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Although one resolution I stuck to was, when at home, never drink before 9pm.’

Claire Shaw, 24, from Douglas, said: ‘I think people have good intentions but I never stick to it. I’ve not bothered having one this year, but in the past my resolutions included going to the gym more, but it never works. I think some people take them seriously until around February, I don’t know anybody who has stuck to one.’

James Horton, 22, from Onchan, said: ‘I don’t really do them, but I think it is a common thing for people to do each year. I don’t see any point in doing a new year’s resolution because I have thoughts and goals on what to do throughout the year. I’ve never started the year with a resolution.’

Sylvia Nicoletti, 22, from London, said: ‘This year I do have one, but I don’t normally. I have two this year: one is to go to the gym every week and the second one is to work extremely well at work. I work as a broker for a model agency. This year I will stick to it because I want to follow up on them, so it just avoids the pain of not doing it. I kind of have the determination to do it this year and I feel I won’t let myself down, hopefully.’

James Haggas, 55, from Douglas, has previously tried out the same new year resolution. He said: ‘It has not crossed my mind to have one this year. For about 10 years I did have one, which was to stop drinking. I stuck to it for about a month but I didn’t feel any better for it. If you want to do something, you can do it if you want. It is a bit like anything else in life. A new year’s resolution only crosses my mind when there it is something I want to do.’

This week, Isle of Man Friends of the Earth secretary Cat Turner reflects on a Christmas with a difference.

This Christmas was a slightly different one for us at Rhencullen House: even less money about than usual. ‘And how can THAT be possible?’, squawk those long-suffering friends who’ve put up with my low-carbon (for which read pennypinching) ways in the past year or so….well, mostly it’s a case of ‘planned poverty’.

I’ve just resigned my comfy job in the finance sector, to go freelance and focus on writing about things closer to my heart.

So, having a fair idea what that might mean (instant penury, followed with luck by a gradual climb into relative comfort) it seemed foolish to indulge in the traditional all-out splurge.

Plus, I’m a big fan of ‘unconsumption’ – the movement aimed at encouraging us all to stop making, buying and then trashing ever more stuff and in the course of it, polluting the earth and using up its diminishing resources.

But what do you get for the child who wants everything?

Surprisingly, ‘not much’ wasn’t as big a disaster as you might think. Catherine and Lizzie are fortunate in having a pack of godfathers, godmothers, god-buddies and god-knows-who-else, who furnished them with a few of life’s real essentials.

These included a pogo stick and a hairdressing doll so Christmas morning still began with a happy interlude of unwrapping.

And our lovely friend Sam made up stockings of cheap but thoughtful mini-trinkets for the girls to find on their beds on the day (thanks Santa-Sam, we love you!).

What I really wanted to see, though, was whether we could manage to have a lovely, festive holiday here at Rhencullen House – whilst not at the same time trashing both the planet and my threadbare wallet.

Here’s what I learned:

1. Prioritise, and appreciate the choosing.

Whenever the girls went into a frenzy of shrieking ‘I want that’ at the TV, we had a brief and initially unedifying conversation about the merits of choosing ONE THING only…this was hard for them, because cleverer minds than mine are hell-bent on convincing them that life’s unliveable without more bright plastic toys.

Not for nothing do the big manufacturers hire child psychologists to help them create feelings of ‘need’ in your child!

So of course, that ‘one essential thing’ changed at every ad break. But then something surprising happened. Lizzie decided, without prompting, to make a list of all those ‘essential items’ she’d spotted.

Her sister joined her in this little project.

The lists grew long, but after a few days and a lot of debate, they were each able to isolate their ‘favouritest favourite’ and stick with it. So I learned that with not much help, youngsters can work out for themselves how to prioritise, choose what few items they’d most appreciate, and even better – really enjoy the process.

Lizzie even noticed out loud that she was a lucky girl to be in a position to choose (‘I like choosing, it’s like shopping without going out and getting cold’).

2. Think hard about others, and enjoy trying to delight them.

A week or so before Christmas, Catherine informed me that there were ‘insufficient’ presents under the tree (she actually used that word: she’s six. Darn education!).

So we sat down together and chatted about what we’d each most like to be given by each other, if we couldn’t have ‘things’.

Catherine knew that Lizzie loves stories, so with a little help, she made her a ‘voucher’ for one story of Lizzie’s choice, to be told to her by Catherine at a time of her choosing.

Lizzie knows that Catherine covets her best blue dress, so Lizzie made a voucher to give her first choice of wearing it, at the next party they get invited to.

They went into a bit of a huddle over what to give me, and made me wait till Christmas Day to find out what they’d bestowed. I was blown away by it – from Catherine I got a voucher for a hug ‘for when you next need it, like when you’re tired and shouty’ (oops…..).

And Lizzie made me a drawing, which turned out to be a promise of breakfast made by her, ‘because you live on our leftovers’.

As do lots of single mothers, I guess… anyway, it was a thoughtful and loving gift and I’m looking forward to it!

So what was the upshot of all that? In pursuit of a greener, more meaningful Christmas this year I got taught a few good lessons by my girls. I learned that:

•You can help the planet and cut your carbon footprint, by refusing to submerge yourself in yet more pointless stuff (though a little stuff, well-chosen, is nice).

•You can save some money by choosing kind thoughts over cash;

•But most of all, you can rediscover the simple pleasure of giving, and being given, what everyone really wants: the gift of being known, thought about and understood.

The gift of being appreciated and loved.

MORE than 90 per cent of Manx rivers were of good or better quality this summer, results released by the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture show.

This trend is encouraging compared to recent years, when a gradual decline had been noted in the island’s better rivers, based on measures of organic chemical water quality, which reflect pollution such as sewage, farm waste and slurry.

The majority of Manx rivers are not polluted and are capable of supporting diverse and sensitive wildlife, such as caddis flies, shrimps, snails and brown trout.

This improvement indicates that some rivers which were only of moderate or poor quality and could only support tolerant animals such as worms, hog-lice and midge larvae, have gradually increased in quality to the point that they are now capable of supporting more sensitive insects and, in some cases, fish.

Despite these largely positive results, problems do, however, remain.

In the 10 years up until 2008, summer monitoring indicated that 70 per cent of the island’s rivers fell into the highest water quality class of ‘very good’, which meant they were unspoilt, pollution-free and capable of supporting animals such as sensitive mayfly and salmon and trout.

However, there was a sharp decline in this water quality class in 2009 and since then the number of pristine rivers has hovered around the present 61 per cent.

In addition, a few rivers persistently show very poor quality, indicating signs of pollution and stress.

Rivers are good reflectors of the state of the natural environment. Although the Manx government’s freshwater biologist monitors many rivers regularly and the environmental protection unit seeks to regulate discharges and resolve pollution problems, it is ultimately the responsibility of the public, industry and the farming community to minimise any impacts on the island’s rivers.

Brenda Cannell, MHK, member for the Environment Directorate, said: ‘This is an encouraging report but we must not be too complacent.

‘I would urge businesses and individuals to think long and hard about the type of material finding its way into our drainage systems and ultimately our rivers and the impact that material may have on our environment.’

A copy of the report is available on the Government Laboratory website {http://www.gov.im/daff/enviro/govlabs/riverwater.xml|gov.im/daff/enviro/govlabs/riverwater.xml}

A CONTROVERSIAL election trust that apparently bankrolled a candidate’s campaign in a scandal-hit by-election only actually existed for one month – and contained just £100, it has emerged.

Island lawyer James Quinn, who was a trustee for the Manx Election Trust (MET), revealed the trust was established just a week before the by-election in May 2010 but was formally wound up the following month after the promised significant funds never materialised.

The by-election, on May 27, 2010, was rocked by scandal following the arrest of Charles ‘Buster’ Lewin, campaign manager for candidate Kevin Woodford, on suspicion of proxy vote fraud. Mr Lewin was subsequently jailed last month for three and a half years for his part in a scheme to obtain fraudulent proxy votes.

Mr Quinn this week told iomtoday: ‘There was a trust called the Manx Election Trust. It was established on May 20, 2010. It didn’t exist before that date. It was settled with £100 cash. I was a trustee.

‘I was told there was going to be a substantial amount of money settled in the trust. The promised funds never materialised and as a result I gave notice of resignation on June 4, 2010, and the trust was formally wound up on June 22, 2010.’

Meanwhile, leading island accountant Clive Dixon has said he was ‘shocked’ to have been wrongly named as a trustee of the Manx Election Trust by businessman and celebrity chef Mr Woodford at the Douglas East vote-rigging trial.

Giving evidence for the prosecution at the trial, Mr Woodford testified he understood the MET to be the source of funds used in his election campaign. He said he had been told that Mr Dixon was one of three trustees of the MET – the others being former Chief Minister Donald Gelling and former banker Douglas Elliot.

In fact, none of those three was ever a trustee. The MET had one other temporary trustee apart from Mr Quinn.

Mr Dixon said he had been approached to become a trustee in April 2010 by James Quinn. But he subsequently turned down the invitation the following month, telling Mr Quinn it was a ‘distinctly unattractive proposition’ which had ‘the potential to damage the reputation’ of his firm.

Mr Dixon, a partner in chartered accountants Moore Stephens Isle of Man, told the Independent: ‘I was concerned to find that my name has been associated with the so-called Manx Election Trust. After I declined the offer to be involved, I simply assumed that they found an alternative trustee.’

Mr Woodford declined to comment when approached by iomtoday.

He has always insisted that he has never known, or had wanted to know, the identities of the group of business people behind the blind trust.

‘I had no idea who was funding the trust but I was given names for the trust directors,’ he told the election fraud trial. He said he had ‘assumed’ some of the ‘socially-conscious’ businessmen behind the MET were ‘connected’ with building firm Dandara.

In an interview with Isle of Man Newspapers ahead of the Douglas East by-election in May 2010, he said: ‘I am aware of who the trustees are. I’m not aware of who the financial backers are and nor do I want to be.’

Mr Woodford said he had been approached six months earlier by Mr Quinn, who had been requested to set up a trust by ‘several business people from the island’ whose concern was to seek funds to put forward election candidates that were ‘perhaps of different calibre to the ones we’ve had in the past’.

He said he had faith in the ‘professionalism, honesty and integrity’ of the trustees. ‘Those are the ones who are aware of who the backers are,’ he claimed.

But Mr Dixon said he had never known who the backers were – or indeed had ever asked because he had rejected the approach before it had got that far.

He said he had not disagreed with the principle behind the trust, so long as it was ‘fully accountable and fully transparent’.

But Mr Dixon said alarm bells began ringing when he heard the then Chief Minister Tony Brown referring to MET as a ‘blind trust’ and when he heard Mr Woodford claiming in an interview that the trust had already been set up.

He said that after declining the approach he had assumed others had taken on the role of trustees for the MET.

POLICE are investigating the cause of a fire in Port Erin on Friday night.

A number of people rang 999 after seeing smoke coming from a derelict guest house in Bay View Road.

Firefighters from the village had difficulty getting into the property because large items of furniture were blocking the entrance.

Once they got in, they found a well-established fire and called for reinforcements from Castletown and Douglas.

They feared youths might be in the property because they’d had reports of young people frequenting the premises.

Firefighters attacked the fire from the front and rear of the premises. It took more than an hour to control the fire.

They also faced added dangers such as holes in the floors.

A fire service spokesman said: ‘Fire crews had to use their experience, expertise and training to prevent this incident from escalating.and spreading to the adjoining premises and developing into a major incident.

‘Fire crews were on scene for nearly five hours dampening down and cutting away burnt material. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time and is currently under investigation by the police.’

A MAN ‘acted suspiciously’ in Douglas Cemetery, Glencrutchery Road, on Friday afternoon.

Police haven’t said what he was doing, but said he left a woman who disturbed him ‘upset and frightened’.

He was white, in his late 40s, had short, thinning hair which was longer at the back. He also had a paunch.

The man was wearing dark trousers, dark jacket and a grey T-shirt.

When he left the cemetery, he made off towards Willaston.

FORMER Ballakermeen High School student Siobhan Walshe is the winner of the 2013 Ella Olesen Scholarship.

Siobhan, 21, of Fairway Close, Onchan, will follow a long line of local students in spending nine months among the 12,000 students at the University of Idaho in the USA from this summer.

The scholarship is named after the late Miss Ella Olesen, a former registrar of the university who died in 1985.

Her Manx ancestry – her mother Margaret Teare was born in Ballaugh and emigrated to America in 1890 – led her to gift the scholarship in 1971.

It is awarded annually to a female degree student who has been supported through her studies by the Department of Education and Children.

Forming the interview panel for this year’s scholarship were Tim Crookall MHK, Minister for Education and Children, and John Gill, head of legal and administrative services. They short-listed and interviewed six applicants before selecting Siobhan. Candidates also chatted by Skype with 2010 scholar Katie Taylor, who has returned to Idaho to study for a PhD.

Siobhan is working towards an MA in history at Edinburgh University and graduates this summer.

A former team Isle of Man swimmer and qualified lifeguard, she captains her university’s water polo second team and works with teammates to coach primary school children in the sport. She is looking forward to all the sporting opportunities Idaho Vandals will offer.

Siobhan has volunteered for Hospice in the island and, in Edinburgh, is taking part in a global partnership project in which she and six friends are raising £10,000 towards improvements to a primary school they will carry out next summer.

She’ll have the chance to do similar charity work in America.

Once at Idaho, she plans to enrol on credits in political science, public administration and international studies and further her interest in literature, which she’s combining in her dissertation, taking advantage of the fact the American university covers American Indian writing and greats such as Virginia Woolf.

Siobhan said meeting students from all over the world at Edinburgh, and visiting Thailand and Cambodia during a summer break, had confirmed she wanted to travel and experience new cultures.

She said: ‘At first I could not believe I had been chosen as the Ella Olesen scholar to go to Idaho. It was an amazing early Christmas present. To live and study abroad is a long-held personal aspiration and I cannot wait to live in such an international setting and make the most of everything Idaho has to offer.’

The current scholarship holder is Melissa Bell, 22, of Onchan. She began studying in Idaho last August and will be there until May 2013.

During the autumn semester, the former King William’s College student, who graduated in criminology and psychology from the University of West England, has studied addiction counselling. She is an intern for two charities and is training to be a mentor for those with Asperger’s syndrome. She volunteers at a warehouse that supplies a food shelter. She will learn sign language in the semester ahead.

She also spent a day teaching at a school, teaching four to nine-year-olds about the Island. She has attended her first rodeo and her first ice hockey match and has featured in the local newspaper, dancing at homecoming games.

Melissa wished her successor well and said: ‘It has been incredible to meet so many people from some many different countries and to be involved in their cultural celebrations and rituals. I was overwhelmed by how friendly people are out here and how generous they can be, too.

‘The tiny town of Moscow, Idaho, and the university take pride in being a close community.

‘The university offers such a huge variety of courses to enrol in, you are spoilt for choice when narrowing down to just the few credits it’s necessary to take.

‘I would like to offer huge congratulations to the privileged new Ella Olesen scholar. It is an achievement and an honour to be picked to represent such an incredibly fascinating little island.’

The Isle of Man Government has welcomed the news that the fisheries patrol vessel it donated to Sierra Leone in September last year has made its first arrest.

Speaking at a press conference held in Freetown, the Sierra Leone minister for fisheries and marine resources, Dr S. Kabia, confirmed that the patrol vessel ‘Isle of Man’ had detained a vessel suspected of fishing illegally in Sierra Leonean waters.

The vessel was picked up during a routine patrol, and was displaying a false identity and call sign.

Further investigations are continuing to ascertain the identity of the vessel in question.

Dr Kabia said: ‘Sierra Leone will be consistently tough on illegal operators.

‘They are undermining our country’s economy and development. I have not hesitated to use the full force of the law against them, and the donation of the patrol boat by the people and government of the Isle of Man has given us a powerful resource to do just that.’

Environment, Food and Agriculture Minister Phil Gawne MHK, who is also chair of the Isle of Man Overseas Aid Committee, said: ‘I was absolutely delighted to be contacted by Minister Kabia confirming this news.

‘The ex-Isle of Man customs vessel, which was donated by the Isle of Man government in September, is already acting as a notable deterrent to illegal poaching.

‘This detention will send a clearer message to those wishing to plunder Sierra Leone’s fisheries that the days when they could get away with this are numbered.

‘I am very pleased to hear that the vessel continues to perform well. Healthy fisheries are the most important source of protein for Sierra Leone’s people, and this donation is clearly having a benefit to the nation as a whole that is worth many times the value of the vessel itself.

‘Recent improvements in fisheries policy and enforcement in Sierra Leone have resulted in more than $30 million a year in increased legally-caught fish sales and a large proportion of this increased economic value is as a result of Isle of Man support.’

THE island’s director of public health has raised his concern that cases of the sickness bug norovirus could increase as schools re-open for the start of term today (Monday).

Dr Parameswaran Kishore is urging parents to take precautions to ensure that the spread is reduced.

‘My real worry at this stage is normally norovirus virality reduces around Christmas time with schools being shut,’ he said.

‘But with schools opening on Monday cases will start increasing as people go in and pick up the virus there.’

He urged parents not to send their children to school if they showed symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea.

And they should not return to school until 48 hours after symptoms have stopped.

He said: ‘I understand it’s difficult for parents to take two days off to look after children who are perfectly well.

‘In the past we have had to close one or two schools, and that affects all parents then.’

In addition, good hygiene, in particular, thorough hand washing is essential.

Dr Kishore said in the UK reported cases of norovirus increased by 72 per cent from 2011 to 2012. And he said it was estimated that for every confirmed case, there were 288 unrecorded ones.

He said that while norovirus figures were unreliable in the island as most people did not seek medical attention, it was clear there had been ‘a lot more’ cases last year than in previous years.

Dr Kishore said the rise was due to the ‘virulence’ of the stomach bug, saying: ‘It’s very easily transmitted.’

The Departments of Health and Social Care are hosting a free day to raise awareness about dementia on Thursday, January 31, in the Villa Marina’s Royal Hall.

The afternoon session from 2pm to 5pm is aimed at those who have or care for people with dementia.

The session is free and there is no need to book.

Those who attend will be able to hear from Dr Chris Jagus, consultant psychiatrist with the Older Persons Mental Health Service in the Isle of Man, who works extensively to help people with dementia.

Dr Jagus will open the information session describing the work he is involved in and the impact that dementia has on those affected, as well as those who support and care for them.

The departments have been fortunate to secure a second speaker for the session, Dr Ann Johnson, who has more experience than most of dementia.

Dr Johnson originally trained as a nurse and then moved on to become a lecturer in nursing at the University of Manchester before being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease seven years ago at the age of 52.

Dr Johnson is an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society, working tirelessly for them as well as being involved in national TV and radio coverage, giving lectures and speaking at many events, describing the cause of dementia and her own personal journey.

In recognition of Dr Johnson’s work she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bolton for her outstanding contribution to health care. Dr Johnson will bring both her personal perspective, as a person living with dementia and her wealth of knowledge to this information session. This in turn will help to demystify dementia and demonstrate that life doesn’t just stop once a diagnosis is given.

Following the information session there will be an opportunity to look around the exhibition stands, where a range of information will be available both in written material and through the knowledge of those manning the stands.

If you want to attend the information session, but the person you are caring for would need support in your absence contact 685645 and your needs can be discussed and possibly support provided, to enable you to attend.