02/10/2012 BBC Newsline

Good evening. The headlines on BBC Newsline.

Whole horse boxes like these were used to hide a huge drug smuggling

operation. The Ulster Unionist leader

Defence's decision to sack his deputy. The police in the dock over

a jobs contract. More pupils are skipping school in

Protestant areas. But why? And what's being done to tackle the

problem? Join me live later in the programme.

We've an interview with Europe's other hero in Chicago - Rory's

Ryder Cup cop. And thundery downpours will

continue for a while this evening, but there is some autumn sunshine

on the horizon. Two men from Northern Ireland,

described as being near the top of the drug dealing tree, have been

convicted in Scotland of attempting to smuggle cannabis worth up to

three quarters of a million pounds into Belfast. The men were using a

horse trading operation as a cover for the drug smuggling. Our

District Journalist Gordon Adair reports from Scotland.

Horseboxes by this are a common sight on ferries to and from

Northern Ireland. But when Scottish police searched this particular one

in April they found more than animals. In the back police found

four hessian bags containing more than a quarter of a million pounds

worth of cannabis. It had been divided into 25, one kg packages.

They were switched with molasses to help mask the smell. Through it

lorry was owned and driven by Kieran Murphy, a plaster from South

Armagh. He and his accomplice, Lawrence McAllister from County

Antrim, when near the top of the tree when it came to drugs

smuggling. In a statement issued at the time the pair were caught

Dumfries and Peloponnese said drugs would have been worth �250,000. But

that figure would have crept up and indeed tripled so that here in

Northern Ireland the drugs would have a street value of three

quarters of a million pounds. Murphy's accomplice was Lawrence

McAllister. This was his second appearance in a Scottish court in a

matter of weeks. A fortnight ago in a separate case, McAllister was

convicted of cruelty to animals. On that occasion he was again stopped

at Cairnryan, this time with a lorry-load of forces being

transported in appalling conditions. He was also convicted of moving

horses without passports and with having unlicensed drugs for animals.

McAllister was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling almost �7,000

for trying to sell an injured animal at a horse market in England.

But both he and Murphy are now been held in the Scottish Prison whilst

they await sentencing on these offences.

The Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has defended his decision

to sack John McCallister as his deputy leader. He argues that the

timing and content of the South Down MLA's speech on unionist unity

was inappropriate. Another Ulster Unionist MLA, Basil McCrea, has

described Mr Nesbitt's handling of the disciplinary action as brutal.

Here's Our Political Editor Mark Devenport.

Mike Nesbitt and Peter Robinson together at this weekend's re-

enactment of the signing of the Ulster covenant. A step towards

unionist unity? Or an engagement no unionist leader could avoid?

11 days ago John McCallister got a rousing reception for a speech on

health to the Ulster Unionist conference. But another speech last

Saturday went down rather more badly with his party leader.

Mr McCallister said reasonable observers might conclude the Ulster

Unionists are sleepwalking towards unity with the DUP. That enraged

Mike Nesbitt, who responded by sacking Mr McCallister as his

deputy. There was a section in the speech when he talks about the

Ulster Unionist Party walking blindly into Unionist unity. That

is not the case. It was not appropriate to say that as there is

no evidence to suggest the that is going to happen. And to do it at

that time when we were celebrating the centenary of the Ulster

Covenant was wrong. John McCallister maintained his

silence at Stormont today. But his close friend Basil McCrea described

the sacking as brutal. Basil McCrea was not in the room,

John McAllister was. John McAllister has put out a statement,

he did not call it pulled off. Stormont the continuing divisions

made the Ulster Unionists the butt of jokes from other parties.

The Ulster Unionists need to be involved in a process of cohesion

themselves! The Ulster Unionists have been

struggling with internal divisions ever since the heady days when they

had to make some of the biggest decisions during the peace process.

This latest row shows that, even in their more diminished state, the

party has yet to close the gap between its traditional and liberal

wings. Our largest public sector union is

taking legal action to try to stop the police hiring around one

thousand temporary staff in a contract worth up to 180 million

pounds. NIPSA claims the use of external contractors to provide

support staff services is unlawful. The union also says retired RUC

officers are not entitled to be rehired as temporary agency staff.

Our Home Affairs Correspondent Vincent Kearney reports.

NIPSA members on the picket line at Stormont. The union also represents

more than 1,200 civilian staff who work for the PSNI. It has described

the policy of rehiring hundreds of retired RUC officers as temporary

agency staff during the past 10 years as "jobs for the boys".

Now it's opposing a plan by the Chief Constable to use an

employment agency to supply around 1,000 temporary staff for a range

of support roles. NIPSA says it believes many of those jobs will

also go to retired officers and is seeking a judicial review of the

decision. We can find no statutory provision that allows these roles

to be outsourced. The roles that are included in his contract are

not specifically referred to in the legislation.

This is the second legal challenge to the PSNI's policy of employing

temporary agency staff. Last week, the mother of a loyalist murder

victim was granted permission to challenge the rehiring of retired

RUC officers to assist investigations into unsolved

murders. The police say their recruitment policy is fully

compliant with the law, and they'll robustly reject the NIPSA challenge.

News of this latest legal challenge comes at a critical time for the

PSNI. The government's spending watchdog, the Audit Office, will

tomorrow publish the findings of an investigation into the PSNI's use

of agency staff. Now in a few minutes, children

skipping school. Sarah Travers is in Monkstown.

Yes, absenteeism is higher in Protestant areas. I'll be hearing

about projects trying to tackle under-achievement, but also asking

why so many children still slip through the net.

A relative of David Mills has appeared in court charged with his

murder. He was killed following incident in Ballynahinch at the

weekend. John Stanley Foster in -- of Dundrum spoke only to confirm

that he understood the charge. A police officer told the court she

believed she could connect him with the murder. 47 year-old David Mills

received serious head injuries during an incident a long Dromore

Street in Ballynahinch in the early hours of Sunday morning. The former

Irish League player later died in hospital. A number of relatives of

David Mills sacked along the back of the court room. They remain

silent throughout the entire proceedings. No application for

bail was made and Foster was remanded in custody to appear

before Downpatrick magistrates' court by a video link later this

month. New figures show that the problem

of absenteeism from post primary schools is concentrated in

Protestant areas. The statistics were discovered by an Ulster

Unionist MLA, who is calling for urgent action. The issue was also

debated today at Stormont. Sarah Travers is at Monkstown Community

School for us this evening. Yes, the under achievement of

youngsters, especially of Protestant young boys, has been

worrying a lot of people for a long time. And now this - figures which

reveal the number of children skipping school is higher in

Protestant areas. Let us take a closer look at the figures. School

attendance rates are over all very good. 95 percent for primaries and

93 percent for post primaries. But it appears schools in Protestant

areas aren't getting their gold stars. Out of 30 electoral wards

with high levels of absenteeism, 26 of those have a mainly Protestant

population. So is there a reason for this trend? We no control

schools get a lower levels of performance. Low unemployment can

have a disruptive effect on house holds. We know that unemployment is

going up and perhaps factors that that could have an impact.

Experts say more statistics are needed before the experts can drill

down the reasons for lower school attendance in Protestant areas. At

this school, they've worked hard to bring their attendance rates up to

the average, with a number of measures including putting parents

in the picture. If the pupil is absent we can immediately text the

parent if we have not heard from them. That has thrown up

difficulties where parents have not known that the child was not at

school. This school is in the middle of three of the electoral

wards where absenteeism is an issue. They're tackling it by rewarding

good attendance. At present our attendance rate is 92%. That has

risen from around 88% a few years ago. We're offering incentives in

terms of prizes and rewards if pupils are hike attenders. This

afternoon at Stormont there were calls for urgent action. There is

no quick fix solution to this but I have to say there has been a 7%

decrease in absenteeism. But we still have 3881 pupils referred to

the education welfare service. So there is a lot of work done, a lot

more to be done moving this forward. Missing school does lead to under-

achievement. Many projects are running throughout the country

tried to tackle this issue. One project runs in schools operated by

the Prince's Trust. You're the principle here at Monkstown

Community School. The figures today show that more people in Protestant

areas are skipping school. Is that a surprise to you can smack it is

not a surprise. My experience is that there are a number of children

skipping school. So did not as surprised. What other reasons

behind this? Sometimes it is lack of interest, sometimes social

reasons. All we can look that is what we can do with around

curriculum. To try to make it more interesting and that them see the

value of of education. We used one programme as part of a wider

curriculum. Within that we try to teach children were low achievers

for various reasons. Some of them would have particular learning

needs but others would be disaffected from the entire

education system, basically lack of interest or lack of confidence.

Maybe they cannot deal with the subjects. So we bring them in to

the programme to give them projects that they take ownership of. And at

the end of the day they can achieve credits. One of those who has left

school is Corey Murphy who used to be in his classroom. Is it fair to

say that when you're at school you did not come very often? I didn't

come too often. There was better things to do outside school, as I

thought at the time. Now I have left I have realised that there is

not under should have attended more, I wish I had. He took part in this

programme, what did it do that major changes Roundabout School?

Welt it just made it more fun, and I did stuff that I did outside of

school but inside school. You're studying retell at the moment. If

you have not done the course, where would you be at the moment? Won the

qualifications that I got have helped me get my place in the

technology college. What are your hopes for the future? If I do not

own my own shop I would like to be high up in somebody else's shop or

in betrayed. If you could give a message to other young people

watching who do not go to school at the moment, what would you say to

them the? I would say go to school, it is really worth your time. Do

not leave it until later when you go to Technology College.

Thank you for joining us on BBC Newsline. Back to the studio.

Still to come on the programme. Get me to the tee on time - the

speedy cop who got Rory to the Ryder Cup.

Officers are said I should have taken him somewhere else! But we

take care of everyone. The imminent closure of ten JJB

Sports stores means shoppers are benefiting from their closing down

sale. Almost 150 people are to lose their jobs here with the demise of

the UK company. Our North-West reporter, Keiron Tourish discovered

that in his area youth employment will be hit hard.

The closing down sale of JJB Sports up on the Strand Road prompted a

frenetic reaction. Long queues formed last night and this morning

as people bought many products that were heavily discounted. It is

quite chaotic, everything is half price. A lot of bargains. �220

worth of bargains! It is good to get a bit of a discount. I had been

queuing for the past 30 minutes. This store and another in Antrim

and Lisburn have been bought over by sports direct and will continue

trading, providing jobs for 65 people in Northern Ireland. But 133

JJB Sports stores are closing in the UK with the loss of 2200 jobs.

Some analysts believe the demise of JJB Sports was inevitable. They

point to the fact that the company grew too quickly in what was

already in a saturated market place. One business experts says the

continuing closure of high-street stores such as JJB Sports will be

acutely felt in cities like Derry where youth unemployment is at its

highest. JJB Sports was one of those stores that did employ young

people. And we have a particularly bad situation for use on employment

in Derry. It is certainly assigned of the times. Last year over 1000

traders here closed and the trend could double this year.

Well the company is also well known for its sponsorship links with the

Irish Football Association. Austin O'Callaghan is here. What about the

sponsorship deals already in place? Are a information at this evening

is that the Irish Football Association is waiting to speak

with the administrators of the group. A commercial deal has been a

place for more than a decade and the company is still the main

sponsor of the Irish Cup competition. On the field of play,

Belfast rivals Linfield and Glentoran were in County Antrim

Shield action. Glentoran lost for the first time this season, against

bitter rivals Linfield in the County Antrim Shield. And it was a

familiar face who was the hero for David Jeffrey's side, in a 3-2

victory as Thomas Kane reports. Football matches can change in an

instant. Less than 20 seconds after conceeding an equaliser away from

home, this happened. When Linfield need a goal, Peter Thompson usually

delivers. In the 89th minute, the striker did what he does best.

did not really think I was going to get to it but I just decided to

take a gamble and tried to get on the end of it.

Glentoran have been Linfield's bogey side over the last season and

a half. The champions have failed to beat them in their last six

meetings. And they couldn't be separated for most of this game.

Twice Linfield took the lead, Daryll Fordyce putting the visitors

2 -1 up with just six minutes left. But twice, Glentoran struck back,

Jimmy Callacher thought that he had forced the game into extra time,

only for Thompson to pop up with the winner. That is football. We

had a great passage has played during the game from start to

finish. It is a sign of things to come with this Cup. We switched off

after getting the equaliser. Despite dominating local football

in recent years, Linfield haven't won the County Antrim shield since

2006. The police officer who rushed Rory

McIlroy to the Medinah golf club just in time for his crucial Ryder

Cup singles match has admitted to having some regrets about helping

out the European team. Pat Rollins was on hand to drive McIlroy from

his hotel to the course, after the Ulsterman made a mistake with his

tee-off time. Rollins, who's a deputy Police Chief and a keen golf

fan, has been speaking to Stephen Watson.

Back to work today, the American police man who helped Europe win

the Ryder Cup. He rushed Rory McIlroy to the course after the

world number one had got the time- zone and tee-off times mixed up.

checked to make sure all the golfers had left the hotel. And was

surprised to hear no one had seen Nouri leaves. So we were trying to

locate him. -- no one had seen Rory McIlroy. So we got a bit worried

when we could not find him at the hotel were stopped it is not the

first time that Rory McIlroy has been in a police car. After winning

the US Open last year, he got an escort on the way home. But this

journey was a little faster and a lot more important. It was

certainly an unforgettable experience for the Chicago cop for.

I used my radio to call ahead to the command centre the course to

let them know that we were on the way. I mentioned to him that if he

got motion sickness, I wanted him to be healthy when he jumped out of

the car! No danger that you may have diverted him to somewhere

else?! I have already been teased a bunch of times already by fellow

officers that I should have taken him somewhere else! Well if it is

good enough for Rory McIlroy, it is good enough for me. I have got a

flight to catch! Put your foot down, please.

As work experience placements go, a stint with a Formula One team is an

unlikely ambition for most of us. But a Belfast student has done just

that, up close alongside reigning F1 champion driver Sebastian Vettel,

team-mate Mark Webber and their Red Bull Racing team. Denise Watson

reports. Sebastian Vettel celebrates his

triumph at the Singapore Grand Prix. But it takes a massive team effort

behind the scenes to ensure a Formula 1 driver takes the

chequered flag. A mechanical engineering student from Queens

University has experienced it first hand. He won a placement out of

thousands of hopefuls. There's a lot of new talent coming through

and they want to pick people who maybe have had ideas they haven't

considered. And as F1 is always changing, it's a development race

and about who can adapt the quickest. So did the "access all

areas" pass give Christopher a taste for life in the pitlane?

All the fans were queuing to see Sebastian and Mark and it was weird.

For years I've been on the other side of the barrier, but I was in

the pitlane looking out! It's just not a normal thing. It was quite

extraordinary to be on the team side. They will do whatever it

takes to go quicker. And it's that creative thinking and getting the

right people that makes all the difference. As work placements go,

it certainly was fast track! And Celtic are currently leading in

their game against Spartak. It's been a mixed bag weather wise

today - Cecilia is here with the today - Cecilia is here with the

latest forecast. We had some really heavy

thunderstorms at times especially across the West and still some

downpours around for a time tonight. You can see those on the road or

picture. -- radar. And it is still raining in quite a few areas. Some

thundery downpours around in the next couple of hours especially

across Northern Counties. This picture from the Glenshane area

just some time ago. But after midnight it begins to dry up. And

because there is still a breeze around it will not be especially

chilly either. Still some showers to come in the morning rush-hour

tomorrow but the day does improve as it goes on. The sun breaking

through from mid-morning onwards. Any showers are tending to ease the

way as the afternoon goes on. And an improved picture especially in

western areas. Temperatures around 12 degrees. Slightly more of a

breeze tomorrow as well. So a definite Clones in the air. --

coolness. Tomorrow like a little cooler as well, possibly some frost

in some rural spots. The wind changes direction on Thursday and

it begins to feel a little milder. And as we head towards the weekend,

pressure is building. So the showers become fewer and lighter

and there will be more in the way up sunshine. But of course it is

autumn so we will have some colder autumn so we will have some colder