Cross-Border group chief suspended in loan probe

THE head of a cross-Border body involved in distributing grants worth up to €981m has been suspended as police in the North investigate financial irregularities.

John McKinney, chief executive of the special EU programmes body and former chief executive of Omagh District Council, is under investigation as part of a PSNI probe into a €196,000 loan, the Department of Finance confirmed last night.

The EU programmes body, one of six bodies set up under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, handles funding of up to €981m, which is distributed on both sides of the Border.