Issue 84 - Belfast BT4 • BT5 • BT16
BELFAST EXPENSIVE AREA FOR YOUNG DRIVER INSURANCE
Young motorists in Northern Ireland are facing hair raising car insurance premiums of £1470, just £8 off London, the UK’s most expensive region.
Ulster Wildlife has deployed 2,000 adult European oysters (Ostrea edulis) and 30,000 juvenile oysters in a bid to restore oyster reefs in Belfast Lough.
THOUSANDS OF OYSTERS DEPLOYED IN BELFAST LOUGH TO HELP REVIVE ENDANGERED SPECIES Thousands of European oysters have been placed on the seabed of Belfast Lough, marking a major step in efforts to revive this near-extinct native species. In a first for Northern Ireland, local nature conservation charity Ulster Wildlife has deployed 2,000 adult European oysters (Ostrea edulis) and 30,000 juvenile oysters, called spat, attached to shells.
This marks the next step in plans to restore oyster reefs – vital habitats that support the recovery of this endangered species and deliver wider benefits for people and the marine environment. European oysters
disappeared from Belfast Lough more than a century ago, due to overfishing, pollution and habitat loss. A small surviving number were discovered in 2020, inspiring Ulster Wildlife to establish a
network of protected nurseries, including one at Belfast Harbour’s City Quays, to help bring the native species back from the brink.
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Using data from Q4 2025, car insurance experts at CompareNI.com reviewed the insurance costs of teenage drivers both locally and across the UK to try and discover ways to reduce costs. While most UK regions saw premiums for young drivers drop, prices in Northern Ireland rocketed by £152 over the previous quarter – the biggest jump anywhere in the UK. London tops the list of most expensive regions in the UK for young drivers, with Northern Ireland coming a very close second, followed by Yorkshire in third place.
Across Northern Ireland, seven of the District Council areas saw teenagers facing premiums of over £2000, with Belfast, Lisburn & Castlereagh and Fermanagh & Omagh the worst affected. Not surprisingly, the youngest drivers, 17 and 18-year-olds, were the most expensive to insure – with 18-old-drivers in Belfast facing eyewatering costs of more than £3000. The average cost of car insurance in Northern Ireland is currently £626, which is £19 higher than the overall UK average.