08/02/2012 BBC Newsline

Good evening. In is BBC Newsline. The headlines. A police officer's

mobile phone falls into the hands of dissident republicans. Scrub it

out in public, the warning for midwives who smoke at work. After

the drowning of a man who went clubbing at the odyssey, a move to

ban cheap drink promotions. Why computer technology will make

learning easier for children at rural Irish speaking schools.

Cleared of foul play. Ulster Stephen Ferris is free to play for

Ireland in rugby Six Nations Championship. And there has been a

wet end to the day but how long will the rain last? I will tell you

shortly. People often lose their mobile phones but it is a different

scenario when the phone belongs to a police officer. It is alleged to

have end up in the hands of dissident republican, the Irish

News today accomplishs photographs from a policewoman's phone and said

the mobile contained text messages with details of police operations.

The Policing Board wants a report on the matter. According to the

Irish News there were hundreds of photographs on the phone featuring

the officer who owned it and her colleagues. This picture shows the

constable on a speed boat during the Tall Ships visit to Belfast

several years ago. There is also a photo of her drinking champagne on

a jet. And another picture shows two officers in the Throne Room.

The newspaper says the phone ended up with a dissident republican

group. We are satisfyed the material is authentic, we are

satisfied it does refer to a serving police officer. I think

some serious issues arise from it. As well as the photos the phone

reportedly contained text messages with details of police operation,

the Policing Board says it is concerned about that, and has asked

the PSNI for a report. I would have thought there would have been a

general ban on using personal phones while they are on duty, as a

police officer. Has there been training round that? I don't know,

these are all questions which we will be clearly ask the Chief

Constable or whoever comes to give us a report. It is understood the

phone went missing while the officer was off duty, and she

reported the loss to her superiors. In a statement the police say as

this was not a work mobile phone, there has been no breech of police

network security. The statement goes on. We expect the highest

standards of our officers and are committed to investigating this

matter thoroughly. The threat from dissident republicans remains

severe. Last month they tried to murder a soldier in North Belfast,

but police will take comfort from the fact that while dissidents may

have had the phone for more than a year they do not appear to have

been target police officers by using the information. A senior

midwife at the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital has told staff

if they are going to smoke at work, they should make sure they are not

seen by the public. An e-mail leaked to the BBC says a comet

plaint was made about a staff member seen smoking while wearing

theatre scrubs, the director of the royal college of midwives says it

is shocking. It is all about striking the right balance.

Healthcare workers are ebb titled to smoke but only on breaks and

only in designated smoking areas, but a few weeks ago during the

pseudomonas crisis when hospital hygiene was making headlines a

member of the public complained after seeing a staff member

smokingout side the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital in theatre you

would be form. That resulted in an e-mail from a senior midwife. Not

reprimanding staff for their actions but instead washing them

about where they should light up. Leaked to the BBC, she advices them

an employee had been seen smoking wearing theatre scrubs and hat. It

goes on the say the woman who lodged the complaint said it was

worrying to think staff would return to theatre in the same

clothes, the e-mail ends in capitals, advising those who smoke

during their break not to smoke in view of the public. Theatre staff

should not leave the hospital premises without either putting on

Joe shoes or t outside clothing, so I think there is a potential but a

small risk of cross infection, in terms of image it is bad enough

people have to run the gauntlet of smoking patients at front door,

without also having to thread their way through groups of smoking staff.

A statement from the Belfast Health Trust says staff who choose to

smoke on breaks mustn't leave the building wearing scrub, the staff

are encouraged to seek help from the smoking cessation team and in a

emergency staff who leave the building wearing scrubs must change

into fresh ones before returning to clinical work. Staff members who

smoke is very small, but we reiterate they are not to smoke

there, there is policies and they must abide by them. According to

this particular e-mail, the problem isn't whether or not they should

smoke in scrubs but they shouldn't be caught by members of the public.

That view will have to change if by 2015 a no smoking policy inied and

outside hospitals is rolled out in Northern Ireland. -- inside. That

one has got you talking on Facebook. Most poem say no-one, staff or

patients should smoke. There is nothing worse than having to fight

your way through a cloud of smoke. You can join the conversation. We

are updating stories throughout the day on Twitter and you can send

your story via e-mail. The pseudomonas bacteria has been found

in neo-natal units at three more hospitals. Tests on water tabs in

Daisy Hill in Newry, the Erne in Enniskillen and Craigavon Hospital

have confirmed the presence of the bacteria. The public health agency

says only sterile water is being used on babys and measures are in

place to ensure they do not come into contact with the water supply.

Currently two babys in the neo- natal unit in Craigavon have it on

their skin. No babies at the Erne or Daisy Hill are infected. The

parents of the teenage girl who was shot dead in Dublin last night say

she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The guard away say the

16-year-old may not have been the intended target of the drive by

shooting. They say the teenager was one of four people sitting in a car

round 10.30 and was taken to hospital where she died in the

early hours of this morning. Drink promotions mean strong alcohol sold

at rock bottom prices but even as a pound a shot bar owners can still

double their money. Stormont minister says he wants to ban the

practice because of the risk, Nelson McCausland met the fan of a

young man lost after a night's drinking. He says people need to

learn from the tragedy. The family are waiting for their son's body to

be recovered. He fell into the river after a night's drinking in

the city a fortnight ago. He had been at the odyssey, for where the

club was serving vodka shots at a pound a time. A Social Development

Minister Nelson McCausland has responsibility for licensing law,

he has met the Murphy family and now he intends to ban certain

drinks promotions. I would like to see a ban on these promotion,

because they are drawing in young people. And introducing them to

vodka, short, and I think it's a good idea what he's doing. There

have been problems at the Odyssey before, b last year the police

spoke to license holders urging them to rethink drink promotion,

when 100 football fans rioted after an Old Firm game. There are only

round eight clubs in the city that go in for cheap drink promotionings,

which the industry has described as irresponsible. We are working to

co-regulate, to put legislation in place that is effective but as a

industry we want to bring in a code of practise, we have been working

on it for some time. It s making it very effective to react to stupid

irresponsible promotions. Those kind of promotions can end in

trouble. The minister says he was shocked to learn ambulance call-

outs increased dramatically on the nights they were on. There were 255

calls to the Odyssey last year although not all were alcohol-

related. Sometimes a simple story best illustrates the point. A young

club goer told me of an experience he had before Christmas, where he

was refused entry because he was wearing trainer, as he left, the

same bouncers allowed two young men who were very obviously the worse

for drink, in. There are fears over possible job losses at the Halifax

bank in Belfast. Staff have been told 80 jobs are being located

elsewhere, as part of restructuring at the Lloyds Banking Group. Staff

have been told that 80 administration jobs at the gas

works site will be relocating. Staff have tot been told where the

jobs will be going. You are watching Newsline and still to come

on the programme. We report on a high tech solution for pupils at

rural Irish speaking schools. As international wheelchair basketball

comes to Northern Ireland we are live with the London 2012

Paralympians. For children outside Belfast, learning in a completely

Irish speaking secondary school has not been an option but that could

change for some in County Londonderry. There is a plan to

give pupils from four primary schools the opportunity to carry on

the lessons in Irish. Saint bridge ets is one of four Irish medium

primary schools which could send pupils to the first secondary of

its kind, a satellite school run by the only completely Irish medium

secondary. Four days within the week the pupils will be taught on

site, one day of the week they will be taught on site in the mother

school in Belfast, the pupils will travel to Belfast one day a week,

the advantages of that is they would have the science facilities

and you would have the home economic facilities on site, plus

those pupils would have a chance to socialise with other Irish speaking

pupil wos. There would be two teachers and about 20 pupils in the

first year and much of the learning could done with computer link ups.

The Irish language culture is to the forehere in south Derry. Even

the local community centre t shop Hoare and the Post Office are

bilingual so they think a secondary school is the next logical step.

There aren't enough pupils to justify a new school but the

parents don't want to make do with a unit in an English medium school.

They want total immersion in the language. The objectstive one for

an Irish medium secondary school in the future. Having said that, the

school would have the benefit of mother school, that has built up

massive expertise over the years. The main planks of the scheme for

us would be this confidence we have from experience, within the primary,

that the quality of education will match at least match what is on

offer in the English medium. parent the site parents have their

eye on is this emtrischool. They think the idea represents value for

money, even with the cost of transporting all the pupils to

Belfast once a week. The cost involved in transport would be

cheaper than the cost of setting up a brand-new stand alone school.

next step is to publish a development proposal at the end of

this month, after consultation it will be the minister for

education's decision whether to go ahead. However, his department

recently lost legal action over its refusal to pay the cost of

Civil servants at Stormont are breaking their own rules when it

comes to employing officials who do not have enough a party. Our

reporter has been looking at the detail. -- authority. There has

been some concern, but how serious are the breaches? They are serious

enough for the department to write a letter to remind them of the

rules. There has been headlines about

spending and bringing in expert advice from outside. What they are

finding is that junior officials are signing off on projects and not

doing proper business cases and many projects are going out without

competitive tendering. The Finance Minister Sammy Wilson spoke early -

- earlier to us. If they are very low of value, the procurement

process could be more expensive than simply just getting someone

off a list. If there is a time constraint it is not always

possible. Even if you look at what has happened with the consultancy

contacts we have had, about half of the fall in value between this year

and last year has been a result of getting better value per project.

But there was a concern that business cases were not being

prepared for. There is a level of �75,000, and below that, a

department found that more than half of the projects did not have

an adequate business case and found that more than one in 10 had no

business case at all. 12 % is simply unacceptable. We are talking

about very little value here. We have to talk about proportions in

the business cases. They just want the civil servants to proper --

Rugby, and after the disappointment and controversy following the match

against Wales, there was a call in Ireland's favour today.

And it is a big relief for the Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris.

Stephen Ferris said today he was a happy man after being cleared of

dangerous play by a Six Nations disciplinary panel. He now is free

to play in Irelands next match against France this weekend.

Ferris was yellow-carded in the last minute of the match against

Wales on Sunday for this tackle on Ian Evans. It led to a penalty with

which the Welsh won the game. But the panel's decision today in

London clears Ferris of any wrongdoing. He escaped a ban after

careful video analysis. But Welsh second row Bradley Davies is now

out of the tournament after he picked up a seven-week ban for his

tip tackle on Ireland forward Donnacha Ryan in the same match.

Following extraordinary scenes at an Ulster rugby media conference

yesterday, the coach Brian McLaughlin has issued a statement

of clarification this evening. McLaughlin was upset to be losing

his current post as head coach at the end of this season and moving

into a role with the Ulster academy. There was clearly tension between

McLaughlin and Director of Rugby David Humphreys. Both men expressed

different views. Here is a reminder of what McLaughlin said yesterday.

I feel that I have been successful in this situation and that I can go

forward. I feel I have been able... But this evening McLaughlin has

clarified his position and apologised for any misunderstanding.

Through a statement issued officially by Ulster rugby he

stresses that although he is leaving the head coach role in June

he is not leaving Ulster's staff and is fully committed to his new

role which he takes very seriously because it indicates the investment

Ulster is making in future players. McLaughlin also says that he

secured this permanent contract with Ulster last season, which gave

him job security. The search for his replacement, underway since

December, continues. Confirmation today of news we

brought you on last night's programme. Northern Ireland manager

Michael O'Neill will bring in Billy McKinlay and Tommy Wright as his

backroom team. McKinlay will take up the post of assistant manager

but will continue to work at Fulham. Wright will be the goalkeeping

coach and combine the duties with his job at St Johnstone, where we

caught up with him. He is a man in demand. This has

been his professional home for the last few months, Lord to Scotland

by his international colleague. Tommy is someone I can work with.

We are similar characters. He might disagree but I think we see things

the same way. We work well together. I can trust him. I think we are a

good team. These two men have formed a dynamic partnership. St

Johnstone is currently a top-four team. Training is focused but also

find, and that is what Tommy hopes to bring to the International Table.

Towards the end, there was negativity about the squad and in

the press, so I think we left the spirit of the players as well

because they have taken a few knocks. Now with a foot in both

camps, Wright will be able to monitor the progress of one of his

new players. He joined from Michael O'Neill's former club, Shamrock

Rovers. I think Michael will do as good as anyone else. He really

knows football and knows what he wants. He wants his team to play a

certain way and the way he wants them to. I think he will do as good

a job as anyone else can. It all makes for interesting times for

both Northern Ireland and St Johnstone.

Derrytresk GAA club in Tyrone has been hit with further sanctions by

the organisations' headquarters in Croke Park. The club had appealed

against playing bans on eight of the team handed out after violence

at an All-Ireland junior club football semi-final against the

Kerry team Dromid Pearses. Last night the GAA's central hearings

committee ruled that Derrytresk be banned from playing in Ulster and

All-Ireland competition for five years. Seven of the player bans

remain but the eight week suspension against forward Joe

McKee has been overturned. Also, the club's original 5,000 euro fine

has been halved. It has three days to lodge a further appeal.

Teams among the best in the world are training and competing this

week in Antrim at the International Wheelchair Basketball challenge. It

forms part of their preparation for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London

this summer. Our reporter is live at the Antrim Forum.

I am in the middle of the Italian team who are about to take on

Polland. I have managed to retrieve a few men who had been in action

from Team GB. We have a player from Belfast. What does it mean to have

this tournament here? In it is fantastic. It is great to have men

of this standard in Northern Ireland. It is the first time I can

remember a wheelchair basketball being held here. This has brought

you right around the world. Yes, I have been a lot of places, Sweden,

Israel, with the Great Britain team in the last few years. It is great

to travel. Let's continue on the international theme. This is the

coach. He is a native of Washington USA. He has been here for 30 years.

The boys are about to take the cord. They are enjoying themselves. It

has been a well organised competition. We always like to play.

The Paralympics in London are just around the corner -- corner.

think it is great. There is just eight months left until the

competition and that gives us enough time to prepare. Last dip

down to you. You are the man who has been putting this all together.

What sort of state is sport for a disabled people in? I think there

will be a bit of a legacy in Northern Ireland. This is one of

four training camps and competitions that will be held in

Northern Ireland. This is such a high standard of wheelchair

basketball. It is fantastic and I hope it inspires some young

disabled people to get into the sport. We have a legacy programme

where we are getting some young kids involved in sport. I will

leave at the last word to the Italian. Who do you think will win?

Great Britain! Eugene Laverty from Toomebridge

says he wants to be Northern Irelands first World Motorcycling

Champion Joey Dunlop. He has signed to ride for the factory Aprilia

team in this seasons prestigious World Superbike Championship. He

was officially introduced at the teams launch in Italy last night,

alongside five times champion Max Biaggi. Laverty's first race is in

Australia later this month. I am really looking forward to 2012.

Last year was by rookie season. I learnt many things that could be

important to help me fight for the title for 2012. I believe I have

the package that will allow me to win races and ultimately the title.

I think he might just do it, you know.

As you can imagine the Stephen Ferris story is causing plenty of

debate. He has been cleared today of a dangerous tackle so was it a

yellow card offence? Was it a foul? Did it deserve a penalty on Sunday?

Remember Ireland lost the game in the last minute to Wales because of

the referee's decision. It has kept us talking in the office this

afternoon. If you can enlighten us, join the discussion on our Facebook

page. We are all armchair professionals, of course! There

should be 10 men on the Welsh side. Even though it hurts me, I think

Wales deserved to win. Surrey Brian and Stephen. Sacrilege! Let's take

It has already become very wet across Northern Ireland and the wet

weather has been edging its way in from the West. It has been sweeping

across. It has just started raining in County Down in the last 15

minutes. A very wet end to the day. Some heavy rain this evening. The

rain we do have will become much lighter. Many parts of England and

Wales are expecting temperatures at below minus ten degrees. There will

be a lot of unsettled weather but we will avoid the frost.

Temperatures will settle later on. It will be a fairly damp day

tomorrow and a wet start for many of us. Very little bright mess for

many of us tomorrow. Outbreaks of rain will come and go through the

day. There will be times where it will be quite dry at -- quite dry.

Temperatures will be up on D-Day, - - up on today, maybe eight or nine

degrees, but you will still want to wrap up. Further outbreaks of rain

to come but it will become drier in the West. Another mild night with

temperatures of six or seven degrees and we will be avoiding

frostbite there will be some hill mist and fog as we go into Friday.

We will still hold on to the messy weather continuing to linger as we

head into Saturday. Friday will stay fairly wet and grey and no

real sunshine and temperatures could get up to around ten degrees,

several degrees above average for this time of year. The weekend will

stay unsettled and rather grey with some further patchy rain to come.

It will get a little bit drier but very little in the way of sunshine.

No frost to come at night. The one thing we will have his hill fog and

missed. There is more on our weather website. -- mist.

A reminder of the stories making the headlines. Police say an

officer who lost her mobile phone did not breach security. The police

say this was not a work phone and it was headed into Irish News by a

-- dissident republicans. A complaint has been made from a

member of the public about smoking in front of hospitals.

And a ban on cheap drink promotions has been proposed. The story comes

after a man drowned on a night out in Belfast.

And Harry Redknapp has been cleared of charges of tax evasion.