Ed Carty has been appointed news editor at the Dublin office of the Press Association of Ireland. He joined the news agency’s training scheme in 2003, part of which involved sub-editing at Howden before moving to take up a regional reporter’s post in Cardiff.
When the Dublin office opened three years ago, he transferred to the expanded Irish operation. He began his journalistic career with the weekly North Down and Ards Spectator in Bangor, Co. Down.
Ed takes over from Steven McCaffery who is returning to Belfast to replace Dan McGinn as political editor and deputy Ireland editor. After ten years in the job, Dan is joining the Information Service at the Northern Ireland Assembly, at Stormont. Ex-Belfast Telegraph staffer Brian Hutton has been appointed deputy news editor in Dublin.

Former regional press circulation manager Stuart Newham has died, aged 90. He worked for the Hull and East Riding Daily Mail, and Lincolnshire Times and the Sports Mail (Green).
Colleagues paid tribute saying he worked tirelessly for the company delivering the news onto the streets, and was “a much respected gentleman and friend who will be remembered with great affection by all who knew him”.

The Barking & Dagenham Post has helped a mum with terminal cancer buy an electrical wheelchair and go on one last holiday with her family. Archant London trainee reporter, Karen Moss, visited the mum-of-three who suffers bone and liver cancer and constantly struggles with pain and exhaustion.
The resultant article moved one reader to donate the £500 needed for a wheelchair and many more to give money towards a family holiday this summer.
Editor Barry Kirk said: “Karen was doing a story on a dance group trying to raise money for a mum with terminal cancer. One thing led to another and she discovered the mum, who only has months to go, is planning a last holiday with her three children but was trying to raise almost £1,000 for an electric wheelchair. She was £500 short.”

Magazine journalism courses at the University of Central Lancashire have received a double accreditation by the Periodicals Training Council. UCLan claims it is the only one in the country to have both its undergraduate and masters courses accredited by the body.
The PTC has awarded two-year accreditation to the magazine pathway of the BA Journalism degree and re-accredited the department’s MA in Magazine Journalism.

An enthusiastic team from The Docklands newspaper took advantage of their waterfront patch and made a charitable splash in the world of dragon boat racing. The ten-man team from Archant paddled to a respectable tenth place in the charity event held at the Docklands Sailing Centre, Canary Wharf.
The Docklands also ran popular face painting and penalty shoot-out stalls, manned by Frances Gilbert, and handed out goody bags and copies of the paper.