12/03/2014 BBC Newsline


12/03/2014

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 12/03/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Hello this is BBC Newsline. Tonight's top stories...

:00:00.:00:19.

People with eating disorders say the hospital care they received was

:00:20.:00:28.

second rate. Most days I just sat in the bed or walked round and round

:00:29.:00:33.

award. A quarter of a billion pounds - the

:00:34.:00:36.

police's final bill for officers' hearing loss claims.

:00:37.:00:41.

Two men admit beating this man to death in an attack four years ago.

:00:42.:00:46.

We shall not be moved - the charity that's refusing to leave

:00:47.:00:52.

Hillsborough Castle. We just have nowhere to go. We have nowhere to

:00:53.:00:59.

go. Two big hitters in Ulster Rugby are

:01:00.:01:04.

nearing a return. A beautiful day to day and not

:01:05.:01:08.

looking too bad for the rest of the week either. The full forecast just

:01:09.:01:13.

before seven. First tonight, eating disorders. We

:01:14.:01:16.

hear from two families who say the care they've received here is second

:01:17.:01:19.

rate and claim that the money spent on treatment could be used more

:01:20.:01:23.

wisely. We'll talk to the father of a teenage girl who is currently

:01:24.:01:26.

being treated in hospital in London. And another patient, who claims she

:01:27.:01:29.

received electric shock treatment for depression associated with her

:01:30.:01:34.

eating disorder. But first, let's look at the figures. 307 adults and

:01:35.:01:38.

109 children were treated for eating disorders here last year. On

:01:39.:01:44.

average, it seems about ten people are sent to England each year for

:01:45.:01:48.

specialist treatment. Funding that is expensive - it costs on average

:01:49.:01:51.

?2 million pounds every year to send them away for treatment. The same

:01:52.:01:58.

amount - ?2 million - is the total spend on the 400 people treated here

:01:59.:02:03.

in Northern Ireland last year. I've been speaking to two families about

:02:04.:02:07.

their experiences. Amanda Gibson is 33 and has spent 20

:02:08.:02:11.

years living with bulimia. 18 months ago, she decided she'd had enough

:02:12.:02:16.

and tried to get treatment. She was admitted to the mental health unit

:02:17.:02:19.

at the Mater Hospital and spent three months there. Amanda, and her

:02:20.:02:23.

twin sister Claire, were surprised at how little treatment she was

:02:24.:02:31.

given. Most days I just sat on the bed or walked around the ward. There

:02:32.:02:40.

was nothing much to do. Sometimes they stopped walking round the ward,

:02:41.:02:48.

because they knew what she was doing, because she was doing it for

:02:49.:02:52.

exercise. They sometimes stopped, thinking it was bad thing. They had

:02:53.:02:58.

said a couple of times they would let her go to the gym, but she never

:02:59.:03:04.

did. All of the activities on the board never happens. There was

:03:05.:03:08.

nothing. Then she was given electric shock therapy or ECT, 12 sessions

:03:09.:03:15.

across six weeks. My memory is really bad. I've forgotten things

:03:16.:03:19.

like where I live. I had to ask a woman Querrey lived. I forgot my

:03:20.:03:25.

last house. I forgot how old I am. After all that, she was sent home

:03:26.:03:29.

with no follow-up care for her bulimia. I was told on the day I was

:03:30.:03:36.

discharged that I would not be seen my therapist any more. What did you

:03:37.:03:44.

think about that? I was surprised, because if anything, I'm worse. They

:03:45.:03:53.

just more or less said she is beyond help sushi is just left to deal with

:03:54.:03:56.

it. There are concerns too about children with eating disorders. One

:03:57.:03:59.

father, whose daughter is now being treated in London, told us the care

:04:00.:04:02.

she received at the Beechcroft unit in south Belfast, that treats all

:04:03.:04:06.

kinds of mental health problems, is completely different than the regime

:04:07.:04:13.

in England. You know, a complete ban on any kind of exercise, any kind of

:04:14.:04:18.

fresh air, any kind of home visit. She was really kept inside for 23

:04:19.:04:25.

months without breathing fresh air, except when she was taken to a

:04:26.:04:28.

different hospital. He believes the time has finally come for a

:04:29.:04:32.

specialist eating disorders unit in Northern Ireland. The staff at

:04:33.:04:40.

Beachcroft were trying their best to help and there were some good people

:04:41.:04:45.

there. There were some people who made meaningful connections with

:04:46.:04:52.

her. But I also feel that it should have been obvious very soon that

:04:53.:05:03.

they were losing this and somewhere with proper facilities and

:05:04.:05:05.

sophisticated treatment needed to be called upon.

:05:06.:05:08.

Earlier I spoke to Dr Stephen Bergin, an eating disorders

:05:09.:05:12.

specialist. I began by asking him if electric shock therapy was normal

:05:13.:05:18.

practice. In that specific case, we would have to approach the trust to

:05:19.:05:23.

find out the circumstances of why any particular treatment was

:05:24.:05:26.

provided. In general, for eating disorders, electroconvulsive therapy

:05:27.:05:32.

would not be standard treatment. I think in that case, there would be

:05:33.:05:37.

unique circumstances that indicated why a particular approach was

:05:38.:05:41.

required. I can assure the public that is not part and parcel of

:05:42.:05:49.

standard treatment approaches. We have taken measures of the last two

:05:50.:05:54.

years to develop the experience of our practitioners across Northern

:05:55.:05:56.

Ireland. We have been undertaking this over the last ten years.

:05:57.:06:04.

Certainly, we need to focus more strongly on developing capacity

:06:05.:06:07.

within our trusts. Only ten days ago we had 100 practitioners in Antrim

:06:08.:06:11.

with a visiting specialist from London. That was on what you have

:06:12.:06:16.

brought up, developing experience and capacity within our local mental

:06:17.:06:20.

health hospitals and medical hospitals in terms of specific

:06:21.:06:27.

expertise on the trading. Mac treatment of eating disorders. -- on

:06:28.:06:34.

the treatment of eating disorders. Would you accept there are

:06:35.:06:41.

problems? . Each year we receive about 500 referrals. About 100

:06:42.:06:46.

people are admitted to our inpatient wards per year and about ten of them

:06:47.:06:49.

would have to travel to England for very specialist treatment. We have a

:06:50.:06:52.

system in place that is developing and we would like to strengthen it

:06:53.:06:56.

and we would like additional resources to develop capacity. What

:06:57.:07:03.

about the resources - ?2 million spent sending a small number over to

:07:04.:07:07.

London and a similar amount treating the other 400 patients in Northern

:07:08.:07:13.

Ireland, is that enough? As you say, we have invested considerably

:07:14.:07:20.

over the last ten years. Ten years ago the rules zero specialist

:07:21.:07:23.

practitioners. As we stand here to date we have 40 specialist

:07:24.:07:26.

practitioners in those teams. I would like to make got stronger than

:07:27.:07:31.

it is. Funding pressures in the public sector are tied at the

:07:32.:07:35.

moment. You are right in saying that we do send people across to England,

:07:36.:07:39.

also the Republic of Ireland, for specialist care. That is around ten

:07:40.:07:44.

people per year. I should say they are unique and complex in terms of

:07:45.:07:49.

their circumstances. Even if we had a local specialist unit we might

:07:50.:07:56.

have to send people across the water because of those complex

:07:57.:07:58.

situations. I except it would be ideal if we had an original

:07:59.:08:03.

specialist unit and it would be something we are thinking about. If

:08:04.:08:06.

you have been affected by anything in this report you can visit our

:08:07.:08:09.

website for details of organisations that can help.

:08:10.:08:12.

More now on a story we brought you about hearing loss claims by former

:08:13.:08:16.

RUC officers. We revealed earlier this year that more than ?135

:08:17.:08:19.

million had been paid out to settle over 8,500 claims. Now it's been

:08:20.:08:22.

revealed that the final bill could be almost a quarter of a billion

:08:23.:08:26.

pounds. Our home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney

:08:27.:08:28.

reports. The RUC knew from the mid 1960s that

:08:29.:08:31.

officers engaged in firearms training should have been provided

:08:32.:08:40.

with proper ear protection. But they weren't issued with adequate

:08:41.:08:45.

equipment like this for 30 years. It was a costly mistake. The BBC

:08:46.:08:49.

revealed two months ago that up to the end of November last year, more

:08:50.:08:53.

than ?135 million was paid out to settle hearing loss claims by over

:08:54.:09:00.

8,500 former police officers. More than 2,000 claims have still to be

:09:01.:09:03.

settled and David Ford has revealed the estimated cost of doing so over

:09:04.:09:09.

the next five years. The bill in each of the next two years will be

:09:10.:09:13.

over 27 million, and more than 49 million during the next three. The

:09:14.:09:20.

total estimated five year cost is more than ?103 million. That will

:09:21.:09:25.

bring the total payments to just under ?239 million, with nearly half

:09:26.:09:31.

going on legal fees. Legal sources say they still expect significant

:09:32.:09:36.

numbers of new claims to be lodged. The Justice Minister was questioned

:09:37.:09:38.

about the issue in the Assembly yesterday. Is the Minister aware of

:09:39.:09:49.

the level of public frustration that the -- up the cost of the scheme to

:09:50.:09:53.

the public purse? It is an operational issue for the Chief

:09:54.:10:02.

Constable and administered by the police in Northern Ireland.

:10:03.:10:04.

Responsibility lies with the Chief Constable. More than 20,000 RUC

:10:05.:10:07.

officers are believed to have undergone firearms training using

:10:08.:10:09.

inadequate ear protection and so far, more than 11,000 have lodged

:10:10.:10:13.

claims. These compensation payments come on top of the Patten Redundancy

:10:14.:10:16.

Scheme for police officers, which cost almost half a billion pounds.

:10:17.:10:19.

That means the combined bill for compensating officers for hearing

:10:20.:10:22.

loss or early retirement could come to around 750 million.

:10:23.:10:32.

Two men - including a soldier in the Royal Irish Regiment - who were

:10:33.:10:35.

charged with murder have admitted unlawfully killing a man in Armagh.

:10:36.:10:38.

Lee Smyth never regained consciousness after the attack four

:10:39.:10:48.

years ago. Gordon Adair reports. 23-year-old soldier Michael Wilson,

:10:49.:11:00.

who is from Andrew -- Tandragee and a man from Portadown were charged

:11:01.:11:04.

with the murder of Lee Smyth in 2010. The police officer who arrived

:11:05.:11:07.

on the scene the following money described him as unrecognisable. Lee

:11:08.:11:15.

Smyth never regained consciousness, spending two years in a nursing home

:11:16.:11:18.

before his life support was switched off. Just before the trial was due

:11:19.:11:22.

to go into its second day, lawyers for the two men asked for them to

:11:23.:11:26.

be. Rearranged Again they pleaded not guilty to murder, but this time

:11:27.:11:36.

they pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The judge instructed the jury to

:11:37.:11:44.

find them not guilty of murder at guilty of manslaughter by way of

:11:45.:11:47.

confession. They will be sentenced at a later date.

:11:48.:11:50.

You're watching BBC Newsline, still to come...

:11:51.:11:52.

The archaeological dig at the castle that's revealing new information

:11:53.:12:01.

about the past. The former US diplomat Richard Haass

:12:02.:12:04.

has warned that violence could re-emerge in Northern Ireland if

:12:05.:12:07.

progress is not made in dealing with the legacy of the Troubles. Dr

:12:08.:12:10.

Haass, who chaired six months of talks on flags, parades and the

:12:11.:12:13.

past, made the remarks in Washington. In a moment we'll hear

:12:14.:12:19.

from our political correspondent Martina Purdy, who's in the US

:12:20.:12:22.

capital. But first, our political editor Mark Devenport reports on Dr

:12:23.:12:26.

Haass's words of warning. The White House doesn't hold its

:12:27.:12:29.

official St Patrick's reception until Friday, but the US Congress

:12:30.:12:32.

got in early, with a special committee meeting to examine the

:12:33.:12:35.

challenges posed by the legacy of the Troubles. The star witness -

:12:36.:12:42.

Richard Haass. He insisted the blueprint which emerged from his New

:12:43.:12:44.

Year's negotiations remained viable and warned of the potential

:12:45.:12:56.

consequences of doing nothing. It worries me, and that kind of

:12:57.:13:00.

environment, particularly where politics is not making progress,

:13:01.:13:06.

alienation will fester and violence will re-emerge as a characteristic

:13:07.:13:13.

of daily life. It is premature to foot Northern Ireland, as much as we

:13:14.:13:17.

would like to, into the outbox of a problem solved. I would love for it

:13:18.:13:21.

to be there and I would look forward to that day, but it is not there

:13:22.:13:25.

yet. Dr Haass acknowledged the controversy over government letters

:13:26.:13:28.

to republican On The Runs has halted attempts to bridge the continuing

:13:29.:13:34.

differences at Stormont. The letters did not offer amnesty. I know of

:13:35.:13:38.

nothing in their content that would justify anyone walking away from the

:13:39.:13:42.

process we are discussing here today. The committee also heard from

:13:43.:13:50.

Geraldine Finegan, widow of Pat Finucane, and Eugene Devlin, who was

:13:51.:13:53.

injured in a drive-by shooting carried out by an army undercover

:13:54.:13:57.

unit called the Military Reaction Force. We can go now to Washington

:13:58.:14:05.

where we're joined by our political correspondent, Martina Purdy, who is

:14:06.:14:08.

there to cover the the annual St Patrick's Day events in the US

:14:09.:14:11.

capital. First of all, how have Haass's remarks been received?

:14:12.:14:18.

Well, I think Dr Haass's comments will be a big talking point here in

:14:19.:14:23.

Washington this week. They sharply contrast in some ways with what

:14:24.:14:26.

former US President Bill Clinton said in Northern Ireland last week

:14:27.:14:32.

that the conflict resolution process in Northern Ireland was a model for

:14:33.:14:35.

others trying to make their way out of conflict and that we are an

:14:36.:14:38.

inspiration. Although President Clinton did say we needed to finish

:14:39.:14:44.

the job. The DUP are unhappy with the way this Congressional hearing

:14:45.:14:47.

was handled. They felt that congressmen held -- heard a very

:14:48.:14:53.

one-sided view of dealing with the past and that IRA victims should

:14:54.:14:57.

have been heard from. Diane Dodds, the MEP, has written to the

:14:58.:15:01.

committee asking for the chance to give evidence. I have speaking to

:15:02.:15:05.

the Ulster Unionist Party is to, Danny Kennedy, among the first to

:15:06.:15:09.

arrive in Washington, and I asked him what he made of the comment that

:15:10.:15:12.

Northern Ireland was at risk of returning to violence.

:15:13.:15:16.

We were interested in that comment and clearly we would like to perhaps

:15:17.:15:22.

pursue with Dr Haass who made that comment to him or whether or not he

:15:23.:15:27.

had gained that by his own instincts, but if Republicans were

:15:28.:15:31.

in some way trying to bully either Dr Haass or indeed others involved

:15:32.:15:36.

in the process by using that thinly veiled threat, that is a huge

:15:37.:15:39.

mistake. Martina come is this failure to

:15:40.:15:41.

agree overshadowing the trip? I think in some ways it has. The

:15:42.:15:51.

local media interest in this and the annual st patrick's Day event is

:15:52.:15:55.

because there are problems in the process. Instead of focusing on

:15:56.:15:59.

cultural ties and trying to build tourism and investment possibilities

:16:00.:16:04.

we are once again talking about our problems and I think the message of

:16:05.:16:07.

finish the job is something that Peter Robinson and Martin McGuiness

:16:08.:16:12.

will hear from the US vice president, Joe Biden, when he meets

:16:13.:16:16.

them in Washington this week. They are en route from California this

:16:17.:16:20.

evening, they are hopeful about making investment announcements in

:16:21.:16:23.

the week ahead but in the meeting they will have to deal with the

:16:24.:16:26.

fallouts from these Dr Haass remarks.

:16:27.:16:36.

A soldier has been remanded in custody charged with murdering a

:16:37.:16:39.

County Antrim soldier at his base in England. Corporal Geoffrey McNeill

:16:40.:16:42.

from Ballymoney was serving with the Royal Irish Regiment. Lance Corporal

:16:43.:16:45.

Richard Farrell appeared in court this morning accused of killing

:16:46.:16:47.

Corporal McNeill at the weekend. Sarah Falkland was at the court in

:16:48.:16:49.

Shropshire. It was a very brief hearing this

:16:50.:16:53.

morning, just the committal to the Crown Court. Richard Farrell stood

:16:54.:16:57.

in a black sweatshirt with his hand held loosely in front of him. He

:16:58.:17:01.

spoke to confirm his name, his age, 23, and his address, near market

:17:02.:17:08.

Drayton in Shropshire. The charge of murder was read out to him, there

:17:09.:17:13.

was no plea and he was remanded in custody, handcuffed and led away. He

:17:14.:17:19.

will now appear before Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday. We have heard

:17:20.:17:24.

no more from the army yet this morning but having spoken to one of

:17:25.:17:28.

the military police here in court I understand that the annual st

:17:29.:17:31.

patrick 's Day parade which is held every year on the barracks will go

:17:32.:17:34.

ahead as scheduled for this Saturday, but understandably the

:17:35.:17:43.

atmosphere is quite muted. On the programme before 7pm...

:17:44.:17:47.

The beach is a great place to walk the dog when the sun is shining, but

:17:48.:17:51.

amongst the seaweed and shelves, this has been found - it is a deadly

:17:52.:17:56.

toxic plant. I am in County Down to find out

:17:57.:18:04.

more. The Northern Ireland Office want a mental health charity which

:18:05.:18:09.

runs a coffee shop in the grounds of full Castle to leave.

:18:10.:18:13.

But today the charity told them "we're not moving". Praxis Care say

:18:14.:18:17.

they have nowhere else to go, and today their supporters staged a

:18:18.:18:20.

protest outside the Castle. Mark Simpson was there.

:18:21.:18:25.

Demonstrations outside Hillsborough Castle over the years have been a

:18:26.:18:31.

lot bigger and louder than this one. But behind the polite protest was a

:18:32.:18:35.

real depth of feeling. My message to Theresa Villiers is to

:18:36.:18:39.

keep the cafe open if she has a bone of compassion in her body. If she

:18:40.:18:46.

does not, shame on her. Seven staff under 16 people with learning

:18:47.:18:49.

difficulties worked in the cafe at the back of the castle.

:18:50.:18:52.

The coffee shop and garden are part of a project run by the mental

:18:53.:18:57.

health charity Praxis Care, but they have been told to leave. A new

:18:58.:19:01.

body, historic Royal palaces, is taking over the running of the

:19:02.:19:06.

castle and meets the premises. For the moment, the secret Garden

:19:07.:19:09.

coffee shop is open and remains busy, but its days are numbered. The

:19:10.:19:15.

charity knows this, but they have spent ?400,000 on these premises,

:19:16.:19:19.

and they are not moving. The Secretary of State has said she

:19:20.:19:23.

really wants us to leave within four weeks, and we have said to her that

:19:24.:19:28.

we are just -- have just absolutely nowhere to move to.

:19:29.:19:32.

We have also said to her that the 16 learning disabled people who depend

:19:33.:19:37.

on this site for their jobs are very distressed at this point in time. In

:19:38.:19:43.

effect, you are refusing to move? We just have nowhere to go. We have

:19:44.:19:49.

nowhere to go. But the Northern Ireland Office say

:19:50.:19:51.

they must move. In a statement they said...

:19:52.:20:02.

Behind the scenes, some efforts are being made to reach a compromise. In

:20:03.:20:07.

this highly unusual version of Hillsborough talks.

:20:08.:20:14.

People are being warned to be on the lookout for a plant which is highly

:20:15.:20:20.

toxic and can kill dogs. The Hemlock Water Dropwort has been found on

:20:21.:20:23.

beaches for a couple of weeks now. It is not uncommon but Donna was in

:20:24.:20:27.

County Down this afternoon where more has been washed ashore.

:20:28.:20:33.

With the sunshine need here in County Down, this beach is a magnet

:20:34.:20:40.

for dog walkers, but there are potential dangers if you are walking

:20:41.:20:43.

your pet at the moment. And dangerous toxic plant has been

:20:44.:20:47.

located on the shoreline here in 20 down and also in County Antrim.

:20:48.:20:51.

Hillary Mayne was walking her dog yesterday and found this poisonous

:20:52.:21:01.

plant. It is called, Nelly -- commonly poisonous parsnips and I

:21:02.:21:05.

can see why. Did you know what to look for? I had an idea, but because

:21:06.:21:09.

of the party name it was easy to associate this with what I was

:21:10.:21:13.

looking for. -- because of the parsnip name. I

:21:14.:21:17.

think it is because of the storms and coastal erosion this has ended

:21:18.:21:22.

up on shore with the tide coming in and out, watching bits in and along

:21:23.:21:26.

the shore, as well, leaving it deposited along the beaches.

:21:27.:21:30.

It has been all along the course line.

:21:31.:21:34.

In fact a dog died near Laugharne in County Antrim and they reckon it is

:21:35.:21:42.

because the dog tried to eat that poisonous parsnip. Not everyone

:21:43.:21:45.

would recognise it and see possibly do not know the dangers. Craig

:21:46.:21:51.

Reilly is a local vet. Dogs will have a rummage for seaweed, how

:21:52.:21:55.

dangerous is it for those animals? If they eat it is very dangerous,

:21:56.:22:00.

like threaten -- life-threatening. It is a neurotoxin so it will cause

:22:01.:22:04.

seizures, coma and death quite quickly. What sort of symptoms

:22:05.:22:09.

should dog owners beyond the lookout for?

:22:10.:22:13.

The symptoms would be very fast, it would happen very quickly.

:22:14.:22:18.

The nerve system would be aggravated and therefore they would be chomping

:22:19.:22:21.

at the mouth, maybe forming, collapsing with twitching. It would

:22:22.:22:24.

be very obvious something is happening.

:22:25.:22:29.

If you have any worries at all, check out our news online website

:22:30.:22:32.

for more information. Check out Facebook and also on

:22:33.:22:35.

Twitter a lot of people have been talking about this poisonous

:22:36.:22:41.

parsnip. Let's hope no dogs -- other dogs are casualties of it.

:22:42.:22:50.

A wealth of new information about Carrickfergus Castle is coming to

:22:51.:22:52.

light through an archaeological dig. Experts from Queen's University and

:22:53.:22:55.

the Environment Agency have been excavating sites within the walls of

:22:56.:22:58.

the Anglo-Norman castle for the past month. They have found pottery

:22:59.:23:01.

fragments, uniform buttons and the foundations of medieval walls that

:23:02.:23:04.

have never been seen before. David Maxwell reports.

:23:05.:23:07.

It has stood on the shores of Belfast Lough for 800 years, and why

:23:08.:23:14.

Carrickfergus Castle -- while Carrickfergus Castle is now a

:23:15.:23:18.

tourist attraction it was a military Arison up until the 20th century.

:23:19.:23:22.

Inside, evidence of those who lived and worked here is being uncovered.

:23:23.:23:26.

The excavation started at the beginning of February and a lot has

:23:27.:23:30.

been found, including dozens of these flints and guns that would

:23:31.:23:33.

have been used in the 17th century. It has been so productive they have

:23:34.:23:37.

extended their work here by three weeks.

:23:38.:23:40.

It is slow, painstaking work but the ward -- rewards have been great. I

:23:41.:23:46.

am on one of the most exciting parts of the excavation.

:23:47.:23:50.

We have 750 years of garrison life in the castle. This will hear dates

:23:51.:23:55.

to the 12th century, can temporarily with the keeper. This is a munitions

:23:56.:24:03.

rail that brought munitions in from the pier to the ward.

:24:04.:24:09.

This team is unearthing the Great Hall which hosted feasts and held

:24:10.:24:13.

firearms. This is something special.

:24:14.:24:16.

Where it came from is a question, maybe Scotland, there is some from

:24:17.:24:21.

the Bristol area and quite a lot from France.

:24:22.:24:26.

The environment minister, Mark Durkan, believes work like this will

:24:27.:24:30.

increase the visitor offered, and after viewing the work for himself

:24:31.:24:33.

he decided the public should have free entry to the castle during the

:24:34.:24:38.

last week of the day so as many as possible can witness our history

:24:39.:24:39.

Sport now. It's day two of the Cheltenham Festival, and it has been

:24:40.:24:50.

another good one for the Irish. Mark's here with the sport.

:24:51.:24:52.

It certainly has. I'll wager there are a few happy

:24:53.:24:56.

punters in the village of Newton hamilton this evening as County

:24:57.:24:59.

Armagh jockey Brian Hughes landed his first festival winner in the

:25:00.:25:02.

Juvenile Handicap Hurdle on the 33-1 priced Hawk High. Meanwhile, Ruby

:25:03.:25:06.

Walsh, leading jockey last year, is in irrepressible form.

:25:07.:25:12.

Ruby, who won the opener yesterday, also took today's curtain raiser in

:25:13.:25:15.

emphatic style on the the heavily backed, Willie Mullins trained 6-4

:25:16.:25:20.

favourite, Faugheen. There he is crossing the line. And celebrating.

:25:21.:25:24.

AP McCoy continues to have a frustrating festival. The champion

:25:25.:25:29.

jockey came with surge on the 12-1 priced Get Me Outta Here only to be

:25:30.:25:32.

beaten in a photo finish in the Coral Cup. To the Winter games.

:25:33.:25:41.

The Paralympic champion Kelly Gallagher and her guide, Charlotte

:25:42.:25:44.

Evans, have failed to finish their second race in as many days at the

:25:45.:25:47.

Sochi Winter Games The visually impaired 28-year-old from Bangor

:25:48.:25:50.

wasn't due back on the slopes until Friday, but the Slalom event was

:25:51.:25:54.

moved forward and for the second consecutive day she fell in the

:25:55.:25:56.

sticky snow. Kelly, who won gold in the Super G

:25:57.:26:00.

event on Monday, has one more chance of a medal in the Giant Slalom,

:26:01.:26:10.

which is scheduled for Sunday. AS Ulster prepare to meet the

:26:11.:26:13.

Scarlets in Belfast this Friday the squad has been boosted by the

:26:14.:26:16.

inclusion of return of long term injured Stephen Ferris. The players

:26:17.:26:19.

have also welcomed the return of the recently disciplined Nick Williams.

:26:20.:26:23.

Thomas Niblock reports. Following an internal investigation

:26:24.:26:26.

into Nick Williams's alleged absence without leave, he is back for

:26:27.:26:30.

selection this weekend. Roger Wilson will earn his 150th cap for Ulster

:26:31.:26:35.

and he is delighted Williams is back on board. Nick is one of the most

:26:36.:26:41.

popular memories of the squad. You know, not just within the

:26:42.:26:45.

players but within the management and the supporters. He is a real fan

:26:46.:26:51.

favourite. We are delighted that we are drawing a line under it and we

:26:52.:26:54.

can move on. He will have a huge impact for the rest of the season,

:26:55.:27:00.

and whatever remaining years he has at Ulster. Stephen Ferris has been

:27:01.:27:05.

out of action since November 2012. On Friday the main make a substitute

:27:06.:27:09.

appearance against the Scarlets, testament to his dedication at

:27:10.:27:12.

overcoming a career threatening ankle injury.

:27:13.:27:17.

I think we have all come in here every morning and he has been busy

:27:18.:27:21.

for a couple of hours already. He has had to do so much rehab and

:27:22.:27:26.

extra sessions. To see him back hopefully playing again we are all

:27:27.:27:29.

excited, what a great talent he is and what a brilliant player he has

:27:30.:27:34.

been for us in the past. To see him back at his best will be great for

:27:35.:27:39.

us as a club and I think all of Ulster will just be excited to see

:27:40.:27:43.

him running onto this pitch again. Ulster lost to the Scarlets earlier

:27:44.:27:47.

in the season but the possible return of two key players will help

:27:48.:27:49.

the Sidekick -- add yet another -- at yet another sell-out Ravenhill.

:27:50.:27:56.

And the Ireland team to take on France in Paris in the final game of

:27:57.:28:00.

the Six Nations will be named tomorrow. BBC Newsline will be in

:28:01.:28:03.

Paris for that. Now for the weather.

:28:04.:28:08.

Wasn't that an absolutely lovely day?

:28:09.:28:11.

It started off a little bit grey and foggy, but it got better. Whether

:28:12.:28:15.

you were out on a motorbike or just out and about a really lovely

:28:16.:28:19.

afternoon across Northern Ireland. The clear skies we saw this

:28:20.:28:23.

afternoon mean that this evening drop away markedly through the first

:28:24.:28:28.

part of the night for the cloud works away in from the west later

:28:29.:28:34.

on. The spread of overnight temperatures, down to one or two

:28:35.:28:39.

Celsius before they pick up towards the morning. Tomorrow will be a

:28:40.:28:43.

decent day, mainly dry and break just about everywhere but with a lot

:28:44.:28:46.

more cloud around courtesy of this little weather front working its way

:28:47.:28:52.

across to the north of us. It does not bring much rain but fills in

:28:53.:28:55.

more cloud through the day. The upside of that is it does help

:28:56.:28:59.

temperatures started to work their way up a bit, so we could see highs

:29:00.:29:04.

of 12 or 13 Celsius tomorrow, and we could catch a break in the cloud for

:29:05.:29:11.

a very nice afternoon. If you are lucky enough to be handing --

:29:12.:29:14.

heading to Cheltenham for the reasons you are in for a good day,

:29:15.:29:18.

12 Celsius, light breeze, the perfect day to go racing. The big

:29:19.:29:22.

difference between this evening and tomorrow night will be the overnight

:29:23.:29:25.

temperatures, because all of the cloud we will see tomorrow keeps

:29:26.:29:30.

things more mild-mannered we head into Friday. The weather has been

:29:31.:29:33.

regulated by this high-pressure system which is giving us a good

:29:34.:29:37.

deal of protection from the lows coming from the Atlantic. On Friday

:29:38.:29:41.

we could see some rain working its way into the west later on, but with

:29:42.:29:47.

that those numbers -10, 11 Celsius, a similar picture on Saturday,

:29:48.:29:51.

really not bad. As the high pressure remains in charge we are looking at

:29:52.:29:54.

pretty decent weather towards the end of the week.

:29:55.:29:57.

That is it from us, have a good evening.

:29:58.:29:59.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS