Browse content similar to 15/02/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
How low. This is BBC Newsline. Her the headlines. | :00:21. | :00:25. | |
It has emerged that 26 people have died with the pseudomonas infection | :00:25. | :00:29. | |
over the past four years. The prison services to take on up | :00:29. | :00:35. | |
to 200 new staff in its first recruitment drive in 20 years. | :00:35. | :00:40. | |
The Executive denies trying to bury bad news about its own performance. | :00:40. | :00:45. | |
As Castlecourt is sold, what does the departure of one of the world's | :00:45. | :00:50. | |
biggest retail developers tell us about our local economy? | :00:50. | :00:55. | |
A County Tyrone gentleman's legacy to to -- to charity is finally | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
restored. The weather has been very settled, | :00:58. | :01:05. | |
but it changes on the way. I will have details shortly. | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
Good evening. Until the recent deaths of four babies, not many | :01:09. | :01:13. | |
people outside hospital had heard of pseudomonas. Now we know that it | :01:13. | :01:19. | |
has contributed to the deaths of 26 people in the last four years. | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
Every year, around 85 people are diagnosed as having the infection. | :01:23. | :01:27. | |
We can all carry it on our skin, but it only has a serious impact on | :01:27. | :01:32. | |
those who are very ill. Since last December, four babies have died | :01:32. | :01:36. | |
consider mourners. The first was an Altnagelvin Hospital and three | :01:36. | :01:39. | |
others died in the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital in January. The | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
latest news from the Public Health Agency is that seven babies are | :01:43. | :01:49. | |
being treated for the infection in the Royal Jubilee. Six others have | :01:49. | :01:52. | |
traces of it on their skin and in Altnagelvin Hospital, Creek Tavern | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
and Antrim Hospital, five infants have also been found to have it on | :01:55. | :01:59. | |
the skin. Our health correspondent is following the story and she | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
joins us from Stormont, where the Health Minister Edwin Poots | :02:02. | :02:07. | |
preached his committee this afternoon. 30 people appears an | :02:07. | :02:14. | |
awful lot. How did the Minister explain the figures? While the 30 | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
people on the surface does appear to be quite a lot, as the Health | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
Minister explain to the community this afternoon, that figure should | :02:22. | :02:27. | |
be read in the context that every year in Northern Ireland, between | :02:27. | :02:33. | |
80 and 95 people are diagnosed with the bacterial infection pseudomonas. | :02:33. | :02:37. | |
What the Minister did say, and he was very keen to indicate what the | :02:37. | :02:42. | |
figure highlights, is that pseudomonas is very much on the | :02:42. | :02:47. | |
radar of health professionals with in the hospitals. There were 80-95 | :02:47. | :02:52. | |
people diagnosed with the infection, around 26 people we know over the | :02:52. | :02:57. | |
past reviewers had died with with the infection on the death | :02:57. | :03:00. | |
certificate and then there were the four deaths of the babies. The | :03:00. | :03:05. | |
Minister was keen to highlight that pseudomonas was on their radar. | :03:05. | :03:12. | |
2008, 10 people died as a result of the pseudomonas, 2009, three people, | :03:12. | :03:20. | |
to 20 10th 10 people died and already there are three this year. | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
Therefore, for the trusts to have got a letter highlighting | :03:24. | :03:27. | |
pseudomonas, it is some think they would have been aware off and aware | :03:28. | :03:33. | |
of the dangers. Communication wasn't raised today and the | :03:34. | :03:36. | |
question, did the Chief Medical Officer communicate information | :03:36. | :03:41. | |
about the bacterial infection quickly enough. What was said about | :03:41. | :03:47. | |
that? It is very important. It in dos asked that question, did the | :03:47. | :03:51. | |
Chief Medical Officer act quickly enough when he heard from | :03:51. | :03:55. | |
Altnagelvin Hospital that a baby had died from the pseudomonas | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
infection? Of course, nearly every day more information emerges and as | :04:00. | :04:03. | |
it emerged today, we know that pseudomonas was on their radar and | :04:03. | :04:08. | |
they were aware of the infection. The Chief Medical Officer said | :04:08. | :04:10. | |
there had been numerous communications over the years and | :04:10. | :04:15. | |
once again, on 22nd December he alerted his staff that each side | :04:15. | :04:20. | |
had died. One dyke -- one child had died, but does not constitute an | :04:20. | :04:27. | |
outbreak. He says he was perfectly right in the action he took. | :04:27. | :04:36. | |
identified to a wide range of staff that -- both with in the | :04:36. | :04:39. | |
organisation's - the risks to babies and the actions required to | :04:39. | :04:46. | |
be taken. We did not wait. We were very keen to get out the | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
information as early as we possibly could. What is the latest on the | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
independent review? The independent review is underway and we know the | :04:54. | :04:59. | |
remit. It is to investigate the action taken as soon as the | :04:59. | :05:06. | |
outbreak was announced, to identify the reasons behind the outbreak, to | :05:06. | :05:10. | |
report on the experiences of all the families involved. We should | :05:10. | :05:15. | |
report that at this stage, there have been no new cases reported of | :05:15. | :05:18. | |
pseudomonas since 24th January. Thank you. | :05:18. | :05:22. | |
The Health Minister has other problems on his plate. Health | :05:22. | :05:25. | |
promotion targets set by the Executive have proved challenging | :05:25. | :05:28. | |
and Mr Poots will be under pressure to ensure targets and have missed | :05:28. | :05:32. | |
in the last term I met in this session. Our political | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
correspondent has been examining how well the Executive is | :05:35. | :05:41. | |
delivering on its pledges. Moving forward. The DUP's big slogan at | :05:41. | :05:45. | |
the last election. The party, along with Sinn Fein, have been in the | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
driving seat at Stormont for some time, pledging improvements in | :05:48. | :05:55. | |
schools, hospitals and jobs. So, where are they heading and how fast | :05:55. | :05:59. | |
I they delivering? I think we have done exceedingly well, much better | :05:59. | :06:04. | |
than was the case under direct rule in meeting targets. Others have not | :06:04. | :06:09. | |
been prepared to set targets, in case they might be found lacking. | :06:09. | :06:16. | |
We have set a challenging target. Well, he would say that with 90? | :06:16. | :06:20. | |
What do others say? Success is measured by the First and Deputy | :06:20. | :06:26. | |
First Minister's economic policy unit which has just published his | :06:26. | :06:29. | |
report, which uses the traffic analogy to measure targets. When it | :06:29. | :06:34. | |
comes to measuring government success, green is good. Targets are | :06:34. | :06:39. | |
on time were have already been met. Amber means progress is slower than | :06:39. | :06:44. | |
expected and red means the target was missed. So, how did the | :06:44. | :06:50. | |
Executive do last term? There were successes, promoting safer roads | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
and flatter management, but other targets were missed. Reducing the | :06:53. | :06:58. | |
number of smokers, halting obesity and cutting suicide rates. There | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
has been criticism about these failures and how the information | :07:02. | :07:06. | |
came to light. MLAs were given a report yesterday when they were | :07:06. | :07:12. | |
busy discussing good news. A �600 million spending programme by the | :07:12. | :07:17. | |
Executive. 1 MLA claims this was a deliberate attempt to bury bad news. | :07:17. | :07:20. | |
The normal protocol for such a statement of such importance would | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
be to bring it to the floor of the Assembly, to give an opportunity | :07:24. | :07:27. | |
for MLAs to reference the good points and some of the bad points | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
and also to include the relevant committee in the process. That, as | :07:31. | :07:37. | |
far as I'm aware, has been overlooked. This is nonsense, says | :07:37. | :07:40. | |
the Deputy First Minister. The is impossible to very bad news. Let us | :07:41. | :07:45. | |
put it in perspective, the music overall is good. Two-thirds of the | :07:45. | :07:48. | |
target reach. There is a problem with in health and that will | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
require attention over a longer time frame. We will know in a few | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
months when a new report is published, if there has been more a | :07:57. | :08:02. | |
green lights. The Indian owned group which is | :08:02. | :08:07. | |
closing a call centre in -- Armagh is opening a new one in the Irish | :08:07. | :08:14. | |
Republic. But -- earlier this week, HCL announced the loss of 170 jobs | :08:14. | :08:19. | |
it is part of a programme of redundancies that will affect about | :08:19. | :08:23. | |
255 staff in Belfast and Armagh. The countries in the two | :08:23. | :08:25. | |
developments were unconnected. The Prison Service will tomorrow | :08:25. | :08:30. | |
launch a recruitment drive for up to 200 new staff. They will replace | :08:30. | :08:33. | |
the officers leading as part of the redundancy scheme. The new custody | :08:33. | :08:39. | |
officers will start on the salary of �18,000. It is the first | :08:39. | :08:45. | |
recruitment campaign for 20 years. There are more than 1,700 prison | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
officers in Northern Ireland and the Prison Service wants 540 of | :08:49. | :08:54. | |
them to retire early, to make way for new recruits on lower salaries. | :08:54. | :08:58. | |
A redundancy scheme has been introduced for officers aged over | :08:58. | :09:03. | |
50. Many qualify for lump-sum payments of more than �100,000, | :09:03. | :09:11. | |
plus an annual pension of �18,500. So far, 371 officers have | :09:11. | :09:16. | |
volunteered to leave and that number is expected to rise by the | :09:16. | :09:19. | |
time applications close on Friday. The Prison Service will tomorrow | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
launch a recruitment drive to bring in new staff to replace those | :09:23. | :09:30. | |
leaving. Up to 200 jobs will be available for custody officers, who | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
will be responsible for maintaining security and supervising the | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
movement of prisoners. Prison officers to take redundancy can | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
apply to be re-employed in the new roles. Sources say that is unlikely | :09:43. | :09:47. | |
to happen, because the new jobs will not be as financially | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
attractive. Custody officers will start on a salary of �18,000, | :09:51. | :09:57. | |
rising to a maximum of �23,000. The officers targeted in this | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
redundancy scheme can earn up to �38,000 per year. Applicants will | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
also have to pass a number of test to be shortlisted for an assessment | :10:05. | :10:10. | |
centre. Those appointed, will undergo regular, on the job | :10:10. | :10:14. | |
training and testing to move up the salary scale. Unlike the Patten | :10:14. | :10:19. | |
reforms of policing, they will not be a 50-50 recruitment process, but | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
advertisement will welcome applications from Catholics, who | :10:22. | :10:27. | |
currently make up 10% of the Prison Service workforce. They will also | :10:27. | :10:33. | |
target women, who account for 22% of staff. The redundancy scheme and | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
the recruitment of new staff are key parts of a programme of radical | :10:37. | :10:41. | |
reform of the prison service that has been widely criticised in | :10:41. | :10:49. | |
recent years. The aim, as a new approach as well as new faces. | :10:49. | :10:53. | |
The giant retail developers Westfield has sold the stake in | :10:53. | :10:55. | |
Castlecourt shopping centre in Belfast to their Investment | :10:55. | :10:58. | |
Partners in the centre. The company said the property was no longer | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
core to their business. So what does that say about the retail | :11:02. | :11:06. | |
scene in Northern Ireland? Our correspondent is at Castlecourt. | :11:06. | :11:13. | |
Why should we care who owns Castlecourt? First of all, because | :11:13. | :11:16. | |
Castlecourt has been very important to the regeneration of Belfast. In | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
the 1980s, the government put money into the centre to get the city | :11:20. | :11:24. | |
back on its feet. In recent years it has had different owners, most | :11:24. | :11:30. | |
recently it has had two owners, one of them West filled and the others | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
effectively at pension fund called Hermes real estate. Weston -- West | :11:34. | :11:36. | |
could have sold to Hermes real estate and that means the retail | :11:36. | :11:41. | |
specialists are gone. These people develop a huge shopping centres in | :11:42. | :11:45. | |
London and asked a commercial estate agent earlier why was that | :11:45. | :11:49. | |
Belfast was not seen at that kind of development. Belfast, like | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
anyone UK, is going through difficult times from a property | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
perspective. Belfast is a city within the retail hierarchy of the | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
UK and it isn't a London, a Birmingham and the pecking order of | :12:01. | :12:06. | |
things means that Belfast is having to wait its time it as far as | :12:06. | :12:11. | |
recovery is concerned. Now, we know that Hermes real estate have got a | :12:11. | :12:16. | |
rock-bottom price for this. Be paid �107 million for a stake in three | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
shopping centres, so they got a good price and Westfield have said | :12:21. | :12:24. | |
that Castlecourt was no longer core to its business, in other words | :12:24. | :12:29. | |
Belfast did not really matter. Those close to Westfield are saying | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
that these guys were here, had a lot of money to spend and wanted to | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
develop the place, but they were thwarted by planning policy in | :12:36. | :12:39. | |
Northern Ireland and effectively they are gone and that kind of | :12:39. | :12:44. | |
development we will not see. Be unemployment figures came out | :12:44. | :12:49. | |
today, by one measure thereat, by another they are down, can you | :12:49. | :12:55. | |
explain? I will try. It is a bit of a head knelt to. The official | :12:55. | :12:59. | |
figures first of all, in terms of the Labour Force Survey, it is down | :12:59. | :13:04. | |
not 0.1%, which means unemployment here officially is less than the UK | :13:04. | :13:08. | |
average. If we look at the dole queues, the number of people | :13:08. | :13:14. | |
claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, but has gone up by 600 to 61,500 people. | :13:14. | :13:18. | |
Some economists prefer to use the claimant count, because it is a | :13:18. | :13:22. | |
hard figure and those are real people. The lesson here is do not | :13:22. | :13:27. | |
rely on one figure. We know that we have the highest level of economic | :13:27. | :13:31. | |
activity here, according to the jobless claimant count figure, we | :13:31. | :13:35. | |
are the second worst in the UK. If you take the whole picture as a | :13:35. | :13:39. | |
whole, it is much more complicated than same we are better than | :13:39. | :13:49. | |
:13:49. | :13:54. | ||
Catching a taxi at the weekend could cost you more. | :13:54. | :13:58. | |
A major shake-up in taxi fare regulations could see customers | :13:58. | :14:05. | |
paying more for their cabs. Some operators say the proposals by the | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
Department of the environment could be disastrous. | :14:08. | :14:13. | |
The proposals apply to all taxes, public or private hire. By | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
increasing the maximum basic rates, which is what you see on the knee | :14:17. | :14:22. | |
to when you get into the taxi, it will cost more to travel by taxi at | :14:22. | :14:32. | |
the weekend and evenings. The price will rise to �3.40 on week nights. | :14:32. | :14:38. | |
It will rise to �4.20 from 8pm on Friday night until 6am on Monday | :14:38. | :14:48. | |
:14:48. | :14:49. | ||
morning. The weekend rate is a high of 40% -- hike of 40%. Some taxi- | :14:49. | :14:56. | |
drivers have slammed the door on the proposals. It is going to be a | :14:56. | :14:59. | |
disaster to the taxi industry across Northern Ireland, not just | :14:59. | :15:06. | |
Belfast. What you think of it? put it up to �4.20 over the weekend, | :15:06. | :15:11. | |
you are going to chase business away. Those who resisted, those who | :15:12. | :15:18. | |
do not want regulation, especially some of these large firms, they | :15:18. | :15:22. | |
have to ask themselves serious questions about why they resist | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
good regulation to protect taxi- drivers and to protect consumer | :15:26. | :15:32. | |
rights. What do those people who would be using taxi during premium | :15:32. | :15:37. | |
and hours think? I think for the students that live here, it will | :15:37. | :15:44. | |
match them a bit. It is disgraceful. This proposes to set a maximum fair | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
level that the taxi driver can charge. There will be no problems | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
with the taxi driver charging less than that, and we believe that | :15:51. | :15:56. | |
brings competition into the market and clarity for consumers. | :15:56. | :16:01. | |
consultation will continue into of February 17th. | :16:01. | :16:03. | |
The First and Deputy First Ministers have revealed they both | :16:03. | :16:07. | |
suffer from hearing difficulties. At the opening of a new support | :16:07. | :16:10. | |
services office for the charity Action On Hearing Loss, Martin | :16:10. | :16:14. | |
McGuinness said he suffers from to knitters in his right ear. Peter | :16:15. | :16:20. | |
Robinson has less than 20% hearing in his left ear. Could not hear | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
anything at all with my left ear. Worker in the morning, no illness | :16:24. | :16:34. | |
:16:34. | :16:35. | ||
or accident associated with it, and my first reaction was alarm. Then | :16:36. | :16:43. | |
you start to work round it, I saw a specialist. It requires you to work | :16:43. | :16:47. | |
around the issue, made sure that you are facing people and if they | :16:47. | :16:54. | |
are speaking save - Maxi can pick it up properly. We sit together at | :16:54. | :17:03. | |
the Executive table. His left ear is better side -- decide my right | :17:03. | :17:12. | |
here. Sometimes I haven't got a clue what he is saying! | :17:12. | :17:17. | |
That's why they get on so well! There are a lot of potential jokes | :17:17. | :17:22. | |
there. A positive outcome to a problem we | :17:22. | :17:25. | |
highlighted just before Christmas. Two charities claimed that Derry | :17:25. | :17:29. | |
City Council owed them thousands of pounds in unpaid ground rent. They | :17:29. | :17:39. | |
:17:39. | :17:43. | ||
Raymond Saville Conolly de Montmorency Lecky-Browne-Lecky from | :17:43. | :17:46. | |
County Tyrone spent his life raising money for those less | :17:46. | :17:53. | |
fortunate than him. This flamboyant gentleman, won a violin's most | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
renowned female impersonators, was passionate about the arts. When he | :17:57. | :18:02. | |
died 50 years ago, he wanted two charities you helped actors and | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
musicians to benefit after his death. He left them a number of | :18:06. | :18:12. | |
ground rents in Londonderry, with the council to pay �600 here. More | :18:12. | :18:15. | |
than a decade ago, the payment stopped and the charities gave up | :18:15. | :18:20. | |
hope of getting the money. When I last talks to Richard and she | :18:20. | :18:27. | |
Attenborough, who are in charge of the charity, they told me I should | :18:27. | :18:31. | |
not expect to get anything. Things changed after Christmas, following | :18:31. | :18:36. | |
a report on BBC Newsline. The council and the charities got | :18:36. | :18:42. | |
talking. We did receive correspondence from Derry City | :18:42. | :18:49. | |
Council. We replied to that and gave them the information in detail | :18:49. | :18:59. | |
:18:59. | :19:00. | ||
regarding how the ground rent was paid. They responded by paying the | :19:00. | :19:05. | |
outstanding ground rent for a period of 12 years. We had no idea | :19:05. | :19:10. | |
at all that anyone was owed anything, so when the BBC ran the | :19:10. | :19:16. | |
story, I asked people to have a look and we had to research our | :19:16. | :19:19. | |
files and to liaise with the legal team acting on behalf of the | :19:19. | :19:26. | |
charities, because we cannot pay out money without invoices. We | :19:26. | :19:30. | |
subsequently substantiated the claim, and repaid the charities | :19:30. | :19:36. | |
what they were due. In total, the two London based charities each | :19:36. | :19:42. | |
received nearly �3,500. Immediately, I'm thinking that we have an | :19:42. | :19:46. | |
actress's has the two has died and she has three small children. We | :19:46. | :19:52. | |
want to help them intensively. She cannot drive them to school at the | :19:52. | :19:57. | |
moment, so we are transporting them. That money does a huge amount to | :19:57. | :20:02. | |
help. It is wonderful. It has come at a fantastic time for us, because | :20:02. | :20:09. | |
last year we had 80% more people apply to was in crisis, | :20:09. | :20:14. | |
professional musicians who while or have experience an accident. This | :20:14. | :20:21. | |
Czech means -- this cheque means we can help people at a difficult time | :20:21. | :20:31. | |
:20:31. | :20:33. | ||
in their career. Not only have these charities both received money, | :20:33. | :20:38. | |
but both charities are going to continue getting money, several | :20:38. | :20:44. | |
hundred pounds the year, for many years to come. That is what Browne- | :20:44. | :20:51. | |
Lecky wanted. Tomorrow, we'll be taking a closer | :20:51. | :20:56. | |
look at ground rents in general. It is still months away, but the | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
organisers of this year's Irish Open Golf Championship were hard at | :20:59. | :21:05. | |
work at Royal Portrush. They had a familiar face helping them. | :21:05. | :21:09. | |
I was up at Portrush today with a delegation of senior European Tour | :21:09. | :21:12. | |
officials. Who better to show them round the Dunluce course on the | :21:12. | :21:21. | |
North coast then our Open champion Darren Clarke. He lives in Portrush. | :21:21. | :21:27. | |
The venue has been stepping up his preparations for this year's | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
championships. The man who will be in charge of | :21:31. | :21:36. | |
running the Irish Open was very impressed today. Tournament | :21:36. | :21:41. | |
director was given a guided tour of the spectacular Royal Portrush | :21:41. | :21:49. | |
links. It was given by Darren Clarke. This is one of the best | :21:49. | :21:53. | |
golf courses in the world, and I have not been here for 13 years | :21:53. | :22:03. | |
:22:03. | :22:03. | ||
since the last British Open. It is just fabulous. They have a lot of | :22:04. | :22:09. | |
new facilities. It is one of the hidden gems, one of the best golf | :22:09. | :22:15. | |
courses in the world. Those who know the golf course are going to | :22:15. | :22:20. | |
love it, and those who do not know it will be amazed. Darren Clarke is | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
one of Royal Portrush's official ambassadors for the Irish Open, | :22:25. | :22:28. | |
which is coming to Northern Ireland for the first time in 65 years. | :22:28. | :22:33. | |
They wanted somebody's opinion for the golf course, and I am at home | :22:33. | :22:41. | |
at the moment. I can show them the obvious short cuts, had to cut | :22:41. | :22:51. | |
:22:51. | :22:54. | ||
corners. A massive teams of green keepers is already working round | :22:54. | :22:59. | |
the clock to make sure the causes in pristine condition. Nothing will | :22:59. | :23:05. | |
be left to chance. This is the basic way of repairing bunkers on a | :23:05. | :23:12. | |
links course. It is all stacked up on top of each other at a nice | :23:12. | :23:19. | |
angle. It could be a week to do one bunker. Not a day goes by when the | :23:19. | :23:25. | |
phone is not winning, inquiring about tickets and what is going on | :23:25. | :23:30. | |
with the golf course. Everybody is talking about it. There is a real | :23:30. | :23:34. | |
buzz at the moment. Portrush is confident that it will stage one of | :23:34. | :23:36. | |
the best sporting events in Ireland this year. | :23:36. | :23:42. | |
You can see the full interview with Darren Clarke on the BBC sport | :23:42. | :23:48. | |
website. The address is bbc.co.uk/sportni. | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
Eugene Laverty suffered a fractured hand in a crass during World | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
Superbike testing in Australia today. The Toomebridge rider he was | :23:56. | :24:00. | |
practising for his new Aprilia team tweeted afterwards that he came off | :24:00. | :24:06. | |
his back at just under 200 mph. He hopes to recover in time for the | :24:06. | :24:11. | |
start of the 2012 series next week. It is only a matter of months | :24:11. | :24:15. | |
before the start of the Olympics in London. The demand for tickets has | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
been huge, but 18 local people will get in for free. But there is a | :24:20. | :24:24. | |
catch. They are building the showjumping circuit and have to | :24:24. | :24:29. | |
raise �35,000 to pay their own way. We caught up with them as they | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
prepared for a fund-raising exhibition in Belfast. | :24:33. | :24:38. | |
Rehearsing for the gig of a lifetime, these local volunteers | :24:38. | :24:44. | |
known as the Mossvale Arena party get to build the jumps for the best | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
riders in the world. They beat off competition to get to the Olympics. | :24:49. | :24:54. | |
The course designer insisted on having a team from Northern Ireland. | :24:54. | :24:58. | |
They are first class, not only are they quick, but they are good, | :24:58. | :25:03. | |
experienced. Some of the guys are designers in their home right. I | :25:03. | :25:07. | |
have worked with them around the world, and they are the best. | :25:07. | :25:12. | |
Needless to say, the team are delighted to be going to the Games. | :25:12. | :25:16. | |
Everybody aims to get to the Olympics. I am very honoured to | :25:16. | :25:20. | |
work with Bob. I am glad to have the privilege of working with him | :25:21. | :25:24. | |
that such a prestigious event. There is a lot of hard work going | :25:24. | :25:29. | |
into it. Will volunteers, and we have a lot of money to them to pay | :25:29. | :25:35. | |
our way. The need to raise �35,000. At other such events, the teams get | :25:35. | :25:40. | |
expenses, but not at the Olympics. A spokeswoman said there was not | :25:40. | :25:44. | |
the money to pay all 70,000 volunteers. But the Olympic Games | :25:44. | :25:51. | |
could not happen without them. Certainly cannot fault their | :25:51. | :25:55. | |
commitment. Good luck to them! Now with the | :25:55. | :26:05. | |
:26:05. | :26:06. | ||
A mixed day, largely settled it with some spots of light rain here | :26:06. | :26:16. | |
and there. This evening and overnight, the cloud sticks with us. | :26:16. | :26:22. | |
It will be six or seven Celsius, so no frost to worry about. The high | :26:22. | :26:26. | |
pressure has begun to shift southwards, and as it does so, it | :26:26. | :26:31. | |
will be followed by rain from the West. That will be from the | :26:31. | :26:39. | |
beginning of the day, concentrated on the North and West. Into the | :26:39. | :26:44. | |
afternoon, it looks like much of Antrim and Belfast and County Down | :26:44. | :26:49. | |
will stay dry, but rather cloudy. The rain moves over during the | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
second part of the day. The West has a wet today, with temperatures | :26:54. | :27:04. | |
at about ten Celsius, above average for this time of year. Parts of | :27:04. | :27:11. | |
County Down will stay dry for most of the day. Friday will be cooler, | :27:11. | :27:17. | |
but there will not be any frost to worry about. Eventually, the rain | :27:17. | :27:22. | |
begins to merge its way in again. Temperatures will stay up, possibly | :27:22. | :27:29. | |
11 degrees Celsius. Enjoy those figures, because it is all going to | :27:29. | :27:35. | |
change. Wild Air pash -- pushes southwards, and it will become | :27:35. | :27:40. | |
Calder. You will notice it if you are out and about. Sunday is | :27:40. | :27:46. | |
shaping up to be drier, brighter, but perhaps a bit crisper. For the | :27:46. | :27:51. |