19/09/2013 BBC Newsline

Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline. The details on the death

Good evening, the headlines on BBC of a three-year-old boy in Lisburn

which is now a murder enquiry. A warning that a political blame

which is now a murder enquiry. game could distract from vulnerable

youngsters. The Orange Order denies it has been

infiltrated in North Belfast by the PUP and the UVF.

A violin was claimed was laid on board the Titanic goes on display.

-- was played. Calling time on the Sunshine State,

-- was played. top sprinter Jason Smyth on why he

is considering relocating from his warm weather camp in Florida.

And after the deluge last night, it is a good bit drier tonight. But

will it last till the weekend? Join me later for

Police investigating the murder of a three-year-old boy in Lisburn have

arrested two people. Brendan Owens was found dead at a house near the

town centre in July. Conor Macauley reports.

This goes back to an incident in July when police were called to a

house here at Trinity Terrace near to the centre of Lisburn. Detectives

found the body of three-year-old Brendan Owens who was already dead.

found the body of three-year-old A postmortem examination was carried

out on his remains and that appears to have been inconclusive. Today,

police announced they had begun a murder enquiry and had arrested a

27-year-old woman. And this afternoon, detect and said they had

made a second arrest, a 51-year-old man also being held in connection

with the enquiry. The news this is now a murder enquiry has shocked the

people of Lisburn. This is a heartbreaking story, it is very

tragic and my heart goes out to the family that are affected by this.

Anyone who loses a child, particularly in the circumstances,

it is devastating and now there is a police investigation. Police carried

it is devastating and now there is a out door-to-door enquiries in this

area to establish what might have happened to Brendan Owens. Residents

say the woman who lived in her house and was in her 20s had only moved in

shortly before the body of the child was found.

A charity has warned that vulnerable children are in danger of getting

lost in the middle of political squabbling. The warning comes as it

emerged there was an attempt to introduce legislation to protect

missing children three years ago, but it never got off the ground. 30

people have been arrested as part of the investigation into the sexual

exploitation of at least 22 teenagers. Our health correspondent,

Marie-Louise Connolly, has more. Despite being among the most

vulnerable in society, sometimes children, especially those in care,

on that given the best protection. As this week 's news has been

dominated by reports 22 people here were sexually exploited, it is not

surprising questions are being asked whether more could be done to

protect them. Many attempts were made, including three years ago,

when some politicians and charities try to introduce legislation but

money and politics got in the way. This research paper reveals in 2010,

attempts were advanced to introduce a private members bill to protect

missing and runaway children. The NSPCC and the probation board

responded and Barnardos produced a report, but the attempt fell at the

final hurdle, less than a year later. My understanding is that at

the time, the Department of Health had traces to make about budgets and

what it should spend money on. -- choices. Those included spending on

what it should spend money on. -- Accident and Emergency services. The

guest speaker this afternoon said she now regret she did not stick

with the bill. They told me this was not an issue. What I was proposing

would criminalise young people in care. But what I found most

distressing is that during this time care. But what I found most

of debate, with senior officials, was the children and young people

that were being abused and sexually exploited. This afternoon in South

Belfast, the safeguarding board updated charities on the process.

Among them is Barnardos who were at the centre of train to push through

the Private members Bill. We would have supported that Bill. But it is

far better the have supported that Bill. But it is

responsible take that responsibility. Behind the politics,

there are the children, and those who represent them. Today, their

message was clear about the focus. We want to bring the focus back to

children. And considering the messages they are hearing and what

they are reading. Young people are very concerned and angry about the

language being used and it has made very concerned and angry about the

them very upset. We are concerned because that has affected the

relationship between them and the residential worker. Meanwhile, --

Meanwhile, the Chief Constable has told a Stormont Committee today he

would welcome a review into how police investigate child sex

exploitation. The American diplomat Richard Haass

has been told by business leaders of The American diplomat Richard Haass

the costly damage done to the economy by problems over flags and

parades. It has been claimed that disorder and protests linked to the

City Hall flag row were a factor in Belfast retailers losing more than

£50 million in the past year. This Belfast retailers losing more than

report from our business correspondent, Julian O'Neill.

Belfast had a Christmas nightmare which building to 2013. The chamber

of commerce held a summit today as Richard Haas attempts to broker a

of commerce held a summit today as deal on flags, parades and the past.

Away from here, he has been meeting business delegations who told him a

breakthrough can help the economy. We just ask of our political leaders

to be statesmen, to try to raise above some of the issues. If we

to be statesmen, to try to raise can, through the intervention of

Richard Haas, see light at the end of the tunnel, the business

Richard Haas, see light at the end community will do the rest. The

impact on trade is well rehearsed. But it has emerged retail revenue in

Belfast took a clobbering in the past 12 months. It dropped by almost

10%, that is a £55 million hit. Richard Haas was told some of that

is because of the flags. The riots and the roadblocks or only part of

the story, there were horrendous economic conditions on the High

Street last year anyway but retailers will tell you the flag

situation made a bad situation worse. Back in Belfast campaign

helped retrieve some lost revenue and visitors spent £7 million. But

the talks today, if successful, are set to offer the prospect of greater

rewards. The target is to create 50,000 jobs in the tourism sector

alone. People are nervous of investing and we have to have a

stable investment to grow the economy and that will help everyone.

The politicians are back with Richard Haas tomorrow and it is they

who face the hard job of settling festering problems. What business

pointed out today was the easy part. The Orange Order has denied it has

been infiltrated in North Belfast by the PUP and the UVF. The denial

follows claims made by Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness on a number of

occasions, including during his speech in Warrington last night. Our

political correspondent, Gareth Gordon, reports.

As the protest over the refusal of allowing Orangemen to walk a stretch

of the Crumlin Road continues, the PUP has been plagued, but Sinn Fein

has been claiming the relationship goes further than that. This

dangerous combination of the activities of the UVF, the PUP and

the Orange Order in North Belfast activities of the UVF, the PUP and

were there clearly indistinguishable -- indistinguishable and have

clearly been behind the problems. Last night, and Orangemen took to

clearly been behind the problems. Twitter to reject the barrel --

rejected the allegations and after Twitter to reject the barrel --

meeting the diplomat Richard Haas, leadership denied it was in league

meeting the diplomat Richard Haas, with anyone. We are being

infiltrated by no one. As an institution, we embrace people from

various shades of unionism and various shades of pastors -- of

Protestantism. But we take our own decisions and we stand by those and

support each other in those. The PUP in North Belfast say Sinn Fein is

support each other in those. The PUP trying to undermine them. Martin

McGuinness is absolutely wrong. The lies he is telling debases the

political office he holds and that is sad for the political

institutions. We are seeing a very clear agenda from Sinn Fein to try

to attack the PUP and the Orange Order. It is one more example of how

to attack the PUP and the Orange events on the streets of North

Belfast continue to affect the events on the streets of North

political process. You're watching BBC Newsline, still

to come on the programme: The violin that it is claimed was played on the

Titanic goes on display in Belfast. The PSNI is to hold a series of

events to encourage Catholics to apply for jobs as police officers. A

campaign was launched today to recruit 100 new officers, and there

are plans to employ nearly 400 more next year. It is the first

recruitment drive since the abolition of the 50-50 rule, which

meant half of all new officers had to be Catholics. Our home affairs

correspondent, Vincent Kearney, has the story.

It has been more than three years since the PSNI took new recruits

in. There are just under 7,000 officers but around 200 leave each

year because of retirement and other reasons. Within two years, the

number will fall to a level senior commanders say will make it

difficult for the PSNI to do its job. An internal review of future

needs say 7,000 is the bottom line. We need that to deliver a police

service to Northern Ireland, to keep people safe and deal with the rise

service to Northern Ireland, to keep in demand we have seen recently and

potential rises in future years. This is what the PSNI calls a surge

in demand. We swear in the firing line when violence erupted after an

Orange Order parade was stopped on the 12th of July. Hundreds of

officers from police forces in Britain were brought in as

reinforcements at a cost of more than £7 million. A campaign has been

launched to recruit 100 officers before the end of March next year

and the PSNI wants to recruit another 378 for the next financial

year. This is the first recruitment another 378 for the next financial

drive since the end of the 50-50 rule and their concerns in the PSNI

the of Catholic officers had declined during the next few years.

For that reason, it is launching a series of events to encourage

applications from Catholics as well as women and young people. The 50-50

campaign was controversial but also very successful in attracting

Catholic applicants and we are now sitting at over 30% Catholic police

officers. We want to maintain and build on that success through this

engagement and outreach programme. New recruits will start on a salary

of just over £23,000. A court in Belfast has heard a woman

denied for the second day running she invented claims that her father

denied for the second day running raped and sexually assaulted her

more than thirty years ago. 40-year-old Aine Adams was giving

evidence at the trial of 58-year-old Liam Adams, of Bernagh Drive in West

Belfast. He denies ten charges Liam Adams, of Bernagh Drive in West

dating from the '70s and '80s. Ms Adams also told the court she had no

faith in the Police or the Police Ombudsman investigations into her

claims. We are in danger of becoming a

backwater when it comes to libel laws, according to a top newspaper

executive. Lord Black of Brentwood was speaking at the launch of a

private member's bill at Stormont. Here is our political editor, Mark

Devenport. Published, but do not necessarily be

dammed, that is the happy position for newspapers in England since a

new Westminster act reformed the law on libel, raising the threshold for

people wanting to go to court. But on libel, raising the threshold for

in Northern Ireland, the Stormont executive chose not to rubber-stamp

the new law. That could mean courts here will apply very different rules

to courts in London which will prove a big headache for Fleet Street

editors. They would have to produce sanitised copy, which means people

here would never get the full story about what was going on, or if the

worst came to the worst, which I hope it will not, they would have to

take the decision if they want to continue publishing here. Mike

Nesbitt, a former journalist, has brought forward a new bill that

would change the law here. It is important for Northern Ireland and

for universities and for our economy that we bring in modern laws that

acknowledge the fact there is something called the Internet. At

acknowledge the fact there is one celebrated libel lawyer scoffs

at the idea Fleet Street papers might boycott Northern Ireland. The

definition moors in Ireland are very similar to our current laws and it

has not stopped the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, various English

newspapers from distributing in Ireland, that is absolute nonsense

and there is no evidence to support that contention. A public are being

asked to submit their views on changing the libel law before the

end of November -- the public. And staying with politics, The View

is back for a new season tonight. Mark Carruthers will be discussing

the Haass talks with guests including the DUP and Sinn Fein.

That is on BBC One after the late news.

A violin which its claimed was news.

played onboard the Titanic has gone on display at Titanic Belfast. Out

of all the artefacts put on display at the exhibition centre, the

instrument has generated the most global interest. But some sceptics

have questioned if it really was on board the ship. BBC Newsline's

Mervyn Jess has the story. Many good tunes have been played on

an old violin but one instrument has a sour note among historians of the

Titanic. It surrounds voracity of the violin it is claimed was used to

play as the ship sank in the North Atlantic. And this is the instrument

of controversy. It has gone on public display at the Titanic centre

in Belfast where it has been the focus of close inspection and

debate. Just to look at this, and to believe it is the genuine article.

It is a fairy tale thing and you want it to be like that so you will

believe, I think. It is amazing it survived, how did it survive in that

sea water? How did it get to hear? The violin will go to public auction

next month and the centre 's management are in no doubt it is

genuine. The violin belonged to Wallace Hartley, the band leader,

and he was given the violin by his fiancee as a present. And he was

last seen cajoling and encouraging the people on board the Titanic,

trying to cheer them up as the tragic events unfolded. But some

historians here and further afield tragic events unfolded. But some

have cast doubt on whether this is tragic events unfolded. But some

the violin played by Wallace Hartley as the ship went down. Anybody who

is a Titanic fan, it is the hope, but there is no absolute proof or a

paper trail from our side of the water to your side of the water that

indicates it is indeed that violin. But there is nothing to disprove

that it is indeed that violin. Seven years after the violin was

discovered in an attic in Yorkshire, it will be up to collectors to

decide if a believe that days after the tragedy, it was plucked from the

Atlantic. And if so, how much they are prepared to bid for it.

Atlantic. And if so, how much they Still to come, why this outdoor

theatre production has been described as one of the most

ambitious projects in the UK City of Culture calendar.

One of our top athletes is agonising over his choice of venue for a

winter training camp. More on that shortly, but first, breaking news

from France and a certain Ulster rugby player. Mark Sidebottom is

here with the sport. We heard it last night that Ruan Pienaar might

be on the move. Yes, Ulster remain tight-lipped on

the matter, but the French sports daily L'Equipe are claiming tonight

that Ruan Pienaar has agreed to move to the Heineken Cup champions Toulon

at the end of this season. The South African international is due back at

Ulster at the beginning of next month, with his contract with the

province set to expire in June next year. L'Equipe tell us that the

World Cup winner will then be heading to France next season on a

two-year deal. It is a tough call for sprinter

Jason Smyth. The Eglinton man says he is "undecided" about whether to

return to Florida this winter to resume training under athletics

return to Florida this winter to coach Lance Brauman. Brauman leads

the training group which includes the US sprinter Tyson Gay, who

failed a doping test last July. Austin O'Callaghan has spent today

in Dublin with Jason Smyth. Jason Smyth was in Dublin city

centre to promote a new drive to attract more visually impaired

people into sport. His vision for the next step in his athletics

career is less clear. For the last couple of years, his winter training

base has been with the US sprinter Tyson Gay in Florida. But Tyson Gay

's positive test for it planned steroid casts doubt over whether he

should mix in that company any longer. In life, you can only be

sure about yourself and you can only know what you are doing or rocketing

into your body. So for me, I know everything about myself -- -- or

putting into your body. I know how I go about trying to be the best I can

be. And no matter what anybody does anywhere in the world, you cannot

worry about them because that is a distraction. You were never offered

anything? No, I have never been anywhere, I have never heard or seen

anything to do with that. Despite winning double Gold in France this

year, Smith -- Jason Smyth says persistent knee and back injuries

have hampered his form and the lack of commercial opportunities has also

affected morale. Being a Paralympic athlete has not got cheaper, he

says. That he is energised by the prospect of running in a Northern

says. That he is energised by the Ireland vest in the Commonwealth

claims in Glasgow. -- Commonwealth Games. We do not get the opportunity

often and winning -- missing the last one makes it more desirable to

have the opportunity to compete for Northern Ireland, that is something

I am looking forward to. He has been training in recent weeks at the

I am looking forward to. He has been University of Ulster and he plans to

spend time at home before finalising his winter plans.

One way or other, he will no doubt his winter plans.

feature at the Commonwealth Games. But that is not the case for this

man. Lisburn gymnast Luke Carson had told BBC Newsline that its very

probable he will never compete in the vault again. The Commonwealth

Games hopeful remains in hospital with a badly broken leg, sustained

during a recent training session. He has been speaking to us from his

bedside. If you days ago, he was tipped as a

medal prospect for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow -- a couple of days

ago. But his world has come tumbling down. A broken leg saw him miss out

on the London Olympics and after a long rehabilitation process, he was

back performing when this happened. I felt an horrific snap of my tibia

and I knew straightaway my leg had broken. The pain, I never saw

anything like it in my life. Where are you regarding your future? A

difficult question and I am really not sure, I am not sleeping, I am

just sitting up thinking about everything, Wayne got everything. I

am not sure whether it will be possible for me to do for fault

again. -- Wayne got. His tibia had broken in precisely the same ways as

previously. Only at a full consultation with medical experts

will Luke Carson decide if he will ever compete again.

We hope it is not all over for Luke ever compete again.

Carson, and we will have oxen for you. We will hear from Barry

McGuigan and Carl Frampton. It is one of the most ambitious

projects in the entire UK City of Culture Year, an open-air theatre

production which focuses on controversial events like the

Vietnam War, 9/11 and Bloody Sunday. controversial events like the

It is called the Conquest of Happiness and it opens in

Londonderry tomorrow night. Here is our North-West reporter, Keiron

Tourish. It is certainly not lacking in

ambition. A multinational cast has taken over this square for an

open-air performance which will examine conflicts like the Vietnam

war, was near and the Middle East. -- Bosnia. There is a strong local

dimension as well, the moment this Bloody Sunday Vic and was shot and

lost his life in 1972 is dramatically re-enacted. But there

is a poignant twist. In this drama, dramatically re-enacted. But there

Jackie does not pass away on the streets but goes on to marry a

beautiful bride. As a family, at certain times of the year,

Christmas, but days, weddings, we would talk about, what if Jackie had

lived? Would he have married? What would he be doing? It is a question

we ask ourselves and this play, they are answering a question for us. The

Conquest of Happiness draws its inspiration from world renowned

pacifist Bertrand Russell who wrote the book in 1930. The Bosnian

director says his message is as relevant in 2013. Bertrand Russell

's words of wisdom, but also bravery, and a moral stand and

ethical voice that he had and still has and I think without ship --

without doubt, he speaks to our time.

One leading Northern Ireland composer admits it is a challenging

production. I have never done anything on this kind of scale, of

this size, outdoors. The chorus that we have, three choirs from Derry,

ten actors, it is a massive scale, massive undertaking. Unusually in

this the epochal performance, the audience is in the Open air and

amongst the actors. The intention is you become immersed in the drama

around you. Let's hope the weather improves.

Let's find out now. It just might. What a difference a

day makes. After the rain last night, it is a

clearer picture this evening. The chance of a shower here or there but

much better than last night. Temperatures tonight down to around

seven degrees. This is what we had last night, rain coming in over. At

4am, wide awake, could not get back to sleep as that rain hammered down.

As we head into tomorrow, it is a much better day. Dry and right. Just

about everywhere. This is the picture tomorrow morning. -- dry and

right. Occasional showers, but a dry picture everywhere. And some breaks

in the cloud. That will help temperatures. Highs of 15, 16,

through the day on Friday. Not a bad day. And into the evening, it is a

quiet Friday night weather-wise. Temperatures will be a bit warmer,

ten, 11 degrees. We have more cloud on the way wrote in by the tail end

of this tropical storm -- brought in. The chance of some rain for

Saturday. But the upside is we have this warmer air. Temperatures of

around 17 degrees. That is not bad for the middle of September. As we

head into the weekend, the trend of temperatures being on the rise will

continue. Into Sunday, you can see plenty of cloud around. But where we

get wakes in that cloud, temperatures could be on the rise --

breaks. Up to 20 on Sunday, very pleasant for the middle of

September. We will take that! You pleasant for the middle of

can stay up-to-date on Twitter. We will have any updates on there.

Something to look forward to. Our late summary is at 10:25. You can

Something to look forward to. Our also keep in contact with us via

Facebook and Twitter. From BBC Newsline, goodnight.