01/05/2014 BBC Newsline

Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline...

I'm live outside the police station where the Sinn Fein leader Gerry

Adams continues to be questioned about the IRA murder of Jean

McConville. Jean McConville's son says he knows who killed his mother.

I hope they see our mother in us and I hope it comes back to haunt them.

A substantial might of explosives is found in North Belfast. A man is

arrested. A County Antrim farmer is sent to

jail for animal cruelty offences. In our series on the entertainment

economy we look at how a hit TV series is now part of the tourist

trail. And what happened to spring? There

were hints of winter in the air today - I'll be back with a full

local weather forecast. Hundreds of people have been

arrested and questioned by the police about Troubles offences. No

arrest has caused as much controversy as that of Gerry Adams

in connection with the murder of the mother of ten, Jean McConville. She

was abducted from Divis Flats in West Belfast and murdered by the IRA

in 1972. Her remains were found over three decades later at Shelling

Hill, an isolated beach in County Louth. The Sinn Fein president, who

is a County Louth TD, has always denied being involved in her death.

Today his party criticised what it referred to as the dark side of

policing. We'll have more on reaction to his arrest in a moment.

First Tara Mills is in Antrim where Gerry Adams is in custody.

Gerry Adams is the first leader of a modern mainstream Irish political

party to be questioned about a murder. He came here voluntarily

almost 24 hours ago. A short time later the police issued a brief

statement saying they had arrested a 65-year-old man. The arrest and

questioning have cost headlines around the world. One of Northern

Ireland's most important politicians... There was no

mistaking the impact of the story. In Northern Ireland police are

questioning Gerry Adams... Gerry Adams is one of the most powerful

Catholic politicians in Northern Ireland... The arrest of Gerry Adams

is a sensitive matter... Shortly before arriving at Antrim police

station with a solicitor last night, Gerry Adams spoke to had he about

his decision to do so. I am going to speak to the PSNI voluntarily

because there has been a malicious campaign against me. I will tell the

PSNI that I am innocent, totally, of any part in the abduction, the

killing or the burial of Jean McConville. Detectives investigating

the abduction and murder of the mother of ten were waiting for the

Sinn Fein leader when he arrived. It had been arranged in advance after

talks between the police and his solicitor. On arrival Gerry Adams

was arrested and interviewed under caution. He spent the night in a

police cell and questioning resumed this morning. Sinn Fein has

complained about the timing of the arrest, offering the party leader

offered to meet the police five weeks ago. What conclusion can I are

any other -- I, or any other person, come to other than a political party

leader finds himself under arrest. First Minister rejected the claim.

He chose it to be during the election campaign and the police

must not allow the election campaign to deflect them from their duty, a

duty they have two the victims. The Chief Constable refused to be drawn

on the issue at a meeting of the Policing Board today. It would be

inappropriate to comment. Police forces have rejected the allegation

that it is causing maximum embarrassment for Sinn Fein. The

police say they had to follow a proper process to be in a position

to put as much evidence as possible to a suspect during interview.

Detectives interview a suspect when they believe the time is right, not

when the person to be interviewed says they are ready. Gerry Adams

offered to speak to police after Ivor Bell was arrested in March and

later charged with aiding and burping a murder. Ivor Bell was

charged on the basis of an interviewee gave as part of an Oriel

-- interview he gave as part of a oral history project. Once a close

friend of Gerry Adams, the two men are seen inside the Maze prison. He

implicated the Sinn Fein leader in the murder. There was only one man

who could give the order for that woman to be executed and that man is

now the head of Sinn Fein. Gerry Adams was asked about the claims in

a BBC documentary last year. Did you give the order for the execution of

Jean McConville? I had no part to play in the adoption or the burial

of Jean McConville or indeed, any of the other individuals and Brendan is

telling lies. The interviews by Brendan Hughes and Ivor Bell and a

number of others were made available to detectives. It is understood the

Sinn Fein leader will be questioned about any claims made about his

involvement. Gerry Adams is being held under the Terrorism Act and

under its terms, he can be held for 48 hours. After that police would

have to seek an extension to the questioning time. If there are any

developments we will bring those to you before the end of the programme.

It's been more than 40 years since Jean McConville, a widowed mother of

ten children, was taken from her west Belfast home, shot dead, and

secretly buried by the IRA. It has become one of the most notorious

incidents of the Troubles. Our reporter Conor Macauley spoke at

length to Jean McConville's son Michael today. He described how, as

an 11-year-old boy, he witnessed his mother's abduction. I remember that

night, between half five and six o'clock, there was a rock at the

door. We answered the door and a group of people came in. Some were

masked and some were not. The people who were not masked, we knew them,

because they lived in the flats complex. These people knew us and

they knew us by name. We had all wrapped ourselves around our mother

and did not want them to take. I want my money back. She was

panicking, she was crying, she was shaking. They put my mother into the

back of the van. One of the cars/off -- one of the car is rules -- drove

away. Certain members of the family know who the people were and I have

never given a statement to the police. The reason for that is

because I know there could be repercussions about this, about the

IRA would not take this lightly and they would probably kill one of the

members of my family. You say you have seen some of the people

responsible for your mother's abduction in the street and have

done from time to time. What thoughts go through your head when

you see these people? I look at these people and I say to them, I

hope you still remember. I hope when they look at us what they still see

is our mother in us and I hope it comes back to haunt them, which it

is doing now. These people shouldn't be in a court in Northern Ireland,

they should be brought to court in the Hague for war crimes because

that's what this is, this is a war crime. This happened in the Second

World War and Bosnia, and the people who took people out and shot them

and Sigrid reburied them was -- secretly buried them work taken

before court and there is no difference. In the interview to RTE

before his arrest, Gerry Adams again denied ever being in the IRA. But in

the course of his remarks he insisted he had never dissociated

himself from the organisation and never would. Some commentators think

that is a shift in language. Our political correspondent Martina

Purdy has this report. Gerry Adams is talking to police

this evening about alleged IRA activities. But for years, this is

the line he has taken with reporters. Have you ever been a

member of the higher rate? Know, and I have to say that is a bit rich,

having to all the time and to this question and continue on this basis.

I have not been in the IRA. At other times, he has not been quite so

polite. I wasn't in the IRA and do not be smart with me. In 1972 the

then Secretary of State released Gerry Adams from internment and

secretly flew the young republican and known IRA leaders to London for

talks about an IRA truce. Images like these have undermined Mr

Adams' denials. Was he a member of the eye array? That is for the

public to decide. When you look at the image of him walking on the

Falls Road in a beret, just yards behind the late Martin Meehan, one

of the most feared gunman in West Belfast at that time, he was not on

his way to a fancy dress party. This former IRA member is among those who

have mocked Gerry Adams' denials. Peter Rogers told the BBC last week

that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness had ordered him to bomb

England in the 1980s and he had this to say about the denials. I would

say that they are suffering from Alzheimer's or something like that.

They definitely were there. In the past, Gerry Adams has said he would

never disavowed the IRA and, of course there was this infamous,

unguarded moment. They haven't gone away, you know. This caused a furore

and four years, the emphasis has been on denials of IRA membership,

even as he delivered the eye array cease-fire and decommissioning.

These latest comments have become a talking point. I have never do so

see you did myself from the IRA and never will this is the my self from

the IRA. -- disassociates itself. For me, it is a shift. He has played

around with those words before. It was clear in that interview where he

said he had never disassociates himself and he never will. That is a

much more definite position. In the ill-fated Haass talks, Sinn Fein put

the emphasis on a truth commission for all sides.

The Prime Minister has rejected claims that the Sinn Fein's

leader's arrest had been politically interfered with. We have an

independent judicial system here in England and in Northern Ireland and

there has been no political interference in this issue. We have

independent policing authorities, independent prosecuting authorities.

Those are vital part of the free country and a free society we enjoy

today. Mark Devenport is with me. What is Dublin's reaction? Enda

Kenny the Taoiseach asked about this and he said the important fact to be

borne in mind was the murder of Jean McConville and he hoped that the

Sinn Fein president won't answer any questions put to him as best he

could in what he termed a live investigation. -- the Sinn Fein

president would answer. How lasting is the bad relationship between

Gerry Adams and the police? They seem to be very angry. Four years

ago, when Martin McGuinness was standing shoulder to shoulder with

Peter Robinson and denouncing dissidents, a different image to day

when they were separately arguing. Martin McGuinness saying that whilst

he believed there were positive elements in policing, he believed

there was a dark side that he blamed for the timing of the arrest. What

impact could this have on the elections? It is hard to be certain

since we still have a continuing situation. You would have to say

that a large number of Sinn Fein voters, particularly north of the

border, will have either said, either we disbelieve these

allegations or it happened some years ago and all things happened on

all sides, so it might not necessarily change voting habits.

Maybe different down south. Martina referred to the Haass talks. It

raises the issue of dealing with the past. We had a peace deal in 1998

but we did not have an amnesty or an end to prosecutions. That became a

matter of controversy when the Attorney-General suggested a line

should be drawn under those prosecutions. We have had the Haass

talks, which were not able to agree on any limited immunity for the

politicians. We still have a situation where when you get a

murder investigation of this kind, there is still the possibility of

prosecution, albeit that anybody who would face charges would only serve

two years in jail. You're watching BBC Newsline and

still ahead on the programme... In our series of reports on the

entertainment economy, we hear from people attracted here by the

international TV series Game Of Thrones.

The police have found what has been described as a substantial quantity

of high explosive during a search of a block of flats in north Belfast.

Officers arrested a 47 new old man during the operation in the new

Lodge area. -- 47-year-old. Police said the storing of the explosives

in a block of flats where hundreds of people live beggars belief.

The funeral has taken place of the County Antrim soldier Corporal

Geoffrey McNeill, who was killed in a barracks in England in March. The

32-year-old served with the Royal Irish Regiment. He was found dead at

Clive Barracks in Shropshire and another soldier in the regiment has

been charged with his murder. Corporal McNeill was given full

military honours during a service at Ballywillan Presbyterian Church near

Portrush. A County Antrim farmer has been sent

to jail for animal cruelty offences. It's the first time someone in

Northern Ireland has received a custodial sentence under new animal

welfare legislation which came into effect in 2011. Michael Agnew of

Ballynease Road near Portglenone was given a six month term for a range

of offences. You may find some of the pictures in this report

distressing. Michael Agnew was already banned

from keeping animals when officials find this horrific scene at his farm

near Port Glenlola - dead animals left in enclosure is with live ones.

Pigs and calves with no access to food or water. Some animals left

lane because they had been trampled in cramped, dark conditions. A

number had to be put down to prevent further suffering. The 43-year-old

farmer was convicted of 16 or fences and today appeared before Ballymena

magistrates. His defence team say this is not a case of wilful

mistreatment but rather one of management. The court was told his

intellectual ability meant he didn't fully understand his

disqualification order. The judge said Agnew had ignored previous

orders and had 115 previous convictions, some for animal welfare

or fences. He imposed a six month prison term and a fine of ?2000.

These were appalling offences. This is one of the worst cases I have

dealt with in my 15 years of enforcement. We are delighted with

the outcome. This is the first person who has gone on to prison

under this new law. The court also banned Agnew from keeping livestock

for ten years. There has been recent criticism from some quarters about

the sentences handed out to those convicted of animal cruelty or

fences. The decision to jail Michael Agnew today makes this a landmark

case. A lorry has crashed into the garden

of a house in Enniskillen. It happened this morning in the Tempo

Road area. The lorry had been parked on a steep slope opposite the house.

It crashed through a fence and down a six foot drop stopping just short

of a conservatory. The driver had tried to stop it but had to jump

clear before the crash. The owners of the house were shocked but not

hurt. The Green Party Northern Ireland has

launched its manifesto for the European and council elections at

the end of the month. Green Party policies include helping to build

better neighbourhoods, tackling waste and transport issues,

supporting the local economy and job creation through sustainable

strategies and protecting the most vulnerable by defending health and

social services. The Greens say they already have a strong voice in

Europe and voters here should move away from traditional voting to

embrace new cleaner, greener ideas. If people want change they need to

vote for it. We have voted for the same politicians over and over again

and we expect something different. If people want to vote for a

political party that is a broad family across Europe, where identity

politics is a nonissue for us because we represent all over

Europe, then go for something different and think about going with

the fourth biggest group in the European Parliament and the biggest

party in European Parliament. The Game of Thrones TV series,

filmed here, has been such a huge hit and has repaid the government

investment many times over in movie-making jobs. That success is

also filtering down to local spin off businesses. For the second in

our series on the entertainment economy, our arts correspondent,

Maggie Taggart has been talking to some tourism entrepreneurs and

visitors who are keen to recreate scenes they have viewed on

television. For the Cassidy family, now based in

Scotland, a trip home was the chance to learn a new skill spotted on Game

Of Thrones episodes in the many spot where many scenes were spot. The

arrow has got a pointy bit and a not so pointy bit. The pointed this --

pointy bit should always face towards the bots. It has been

excellent. The family has enjoyed themselves. It's been great fun.

We've got a big age range. The youngest is 13 and my dad is 79 but

we thought, we can all do this. Clearsky operates out of Castleward

in County Down, which was transformed by HBO. The bookings are

coming in thick and fast. We have got coach trips coming in most days.

The numerous locations where the series has been filmed are sprinkled

across Northern Ireland, like this old quarry knew the Glens of Antrim.

They spent over ?1 million creating the castle. A number of bus

companies are taking customers on guided tours. These caves near

Cushing Don will resonate with fans, if some are sheepish about admission

it -- admitting it. -- Cushendun. You can see naturally how it is.

There are different water scenes with rocks and dark places that

stand out in my memory and this is one of them, so to walk on it and

recognise it immediately was exciting. The Dark Ages is a row of

trees near Ballycastle and now it is a photo opportunity. There has been

investment in buses to meet demand. We have been involved in the new

Dracula film in Northern Ireland so we could expand this into a movie

location tour, not just Game Of Thrones. There are other films like

The Line Of Duty TV show was said here as well. Ballin toy harbour is

easy to find and they have put up a poster to show how it is featured.

The fifth and sixth series are now confirmed and Northern Ireland will

be involved in number five at least with the support of Northern Ireland

Screen and invest NI. Next week we will find out about the

cartoon and special effects industries.

It has just been announced more than 2000 extra bike parking spaces are

being made available in Belfast next week for spectators watching the

Giro d'Italia cycle race. 1000 spaces will be at the Department

regional development in the city centre, where staff car park is

being converted into a bike park. It is not just the professional

cyclists who will be looked after when the Giro d'Italia comms,

everyone else want to wheels will be, too. We have over 2000 bike

parking spaces in Belfast city centre including 1000 in the DRG

headquarters. The Minister has closed the staff car park for a week

and converted it into bike parking. Come to Belfast, come see the event,

but use public transport or come by bike. Given the number of road

closures it is likely to be the easiest way to get around. If in

doubt, where pink. Everywhere else seems to be pegged at the moment.

The collar is really catching on. As for the riders, they begin arriving

in Belfast next week. The big race is only eight days away. It seems

everything is almost ready, including this new paddock area

beside Titanic slipways. More than 3000 tonnes of tarmac have been used

to ensure that when the cyclists arrive next week they have a smooth

start to their race. This time next week, jeered Italian

Fever will be up on us and hopefully the weather will be better than it

was this morning. -- Giro d'Italia fever. These sheep were captured in

a field near the giant 's Causeway today. We are going to keep the pink

theme between now and next weekend. Send them to the e-mail address or

tweak them. It has been a dismal day for the start of May, particularly

over North Antrim. Under the cloud, temperatures were not any higher

than six degrees. That is more typical of February. You were right

to say it felt like winter. Most of the rain has gone. It will stay dry

but it could get chilly weather cloud breaks, especially over County

Antrim. It could be low enough for frost on the grass. A chilly start

tomorrow and coldness in the air. It will be much drier and writer,

particularly across eastern counties. -- brighter. That is where

we will see the best sunshine. Cold if you're heading to work or school

tomorrow morning. No real frost around and it should not be misty

and at least it is dry. You will not need the windscreen wipers or get

splashed by car is. -- cars. Tomorrow, a small chance of rain but

the breezes in the south-east. That will keep it cool towards the east

coast. Temperatures getting back to what they should be for the time of

year. There is rain sitting behind me. It will be slowly coming towards

us from the Atlantic. It is tied up to a couple of areas of low

pressure. Over the weekend it is a battle between the low pressure

coming towards us and the high pressure over Britain. Hopefully the

high will get rid of most of the rain but it will probably mean some

grisly weather for a time on Saturday before it turns drier and

warmer on Sunday. Our late summary is 10:25pm, where

we will have the latest on the detention of the Sinn president

Gerry Adams. We are on Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for watching.

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