24/06/2014 BBC Newsline

Inevitable, I suppose. That's all from the News at Six. Goodbye from

This is BBC Newsline with Donna Traynor.

Another day of history and symbolism, as the Queen visits

He was set to head up the Tourist Board, now the former police chief

at the centre of an investigation He was set to head up the Tourist

Board, now the former police chief we've news on a possible go-ahead

for the police college near It's been planned for a decade - we've

news on a possible go-ahead for the police college near Cookstown.

There is a more unsettled field to the weather over the next few days.

I will have the latest later in the programme.

On her 21st visit to Northern Ireland,

the Queen today went to a film set, a market and Belfast City Hall.

But it was the pictures from the Crumlin Road Gaol in

Belfast with all its history that will likely prove most memorable.

We'll have a report from the former prison in just a moment.

As we speak the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are here

at Hillsborough, the traditional Royal residence, where they've

It's the end of a busy public day for the Royal couple.

Our Political Editor, Mark Devenport,

It was a broad message of encouragement from the Queen,

without becoming embroiled in any of the nitty-gritty of politics here.

As she pointed out in her speech, it's a long time since she was last

It is nearly half a century since the Queen visited Al Fire City Hall.

Since then, the landmark building has been riven with division. Today,

the Queen stressed that societies can only flourish if they are built

on trust, respect and justice. I know there are many challenges ahead

and peacemaking is not always an easy task, but you have come this

far by turning the impossible into the possible. As you face the

future, and difficulties that may appear insurmountable, always

remember that the thoughts and prayers of millions, including my

own, are with you. The Queen told her audience, which included all

additions from across the spec, about the kind of Belfast Jewitt

like to see in 50 years. The world yearns for examples of positive

transformation and of people overcoming differences. I hope and

believe that Belfast will continue to be one such living example. I

want to thank you, all of you, from every part of this city for the hard

work and dedication which you and your families have given to help

reshape the city of Belfast and the lives of all the people who live

here. Whilst the Queen left here for another engagement, many of her

guests (political leaders meeting at Stormont. There were no formal

announcements from that meeting, but we understand their preparations may

be a fit but those intents of talks we have been promised, possibly

getting underway on Wednesday of next week for three days, then

another three days the following week. That would take is right up to

the 11th of July and the height of the marching season. It'll be an

unusual atmosphere for the politicians who will be trying to

come up with compromises within. Let's go back to Hillsborough

Castle, where the guests from It has been a jam-packed day by

anyone's standards. Let's look back at the day

in more detail now. Crumlin Road Gaol's recently been

refurbished as a visitor attraction. This evening at Crumlin Road Gaol,

visit strong in symbolism, with the new lease of life for the prison as

a tourist attraction, similar hopes for North Belfast in Northern

Ireland. When they arrived they were very impressed with the outside of

the jail. It is a very impressive building. She met a number of the

committee organisations who have been helping us over the years in

terms of support for the regeneration. The first time she has

ever been in prison, although some of the rest of us can say that, I

think it was a remarkable experience for her. Her Majesty was well aware

that the Deputy First Minister had also been detained here at

pleasure, but use discretion. She didn't even ask about that. She was

recrimination free! I think that she really enjoyed the visit and she

really enjoyed being talked about... . The way the cells are

configured, it is to show what prison life was like over the

various decades since the jail was first built, so from the very early

days to when it was last used up until 1996. I didn't expect to be

that tiny. On TV she looks quite tall. I love her so much, what a

great legacy she has provided and that was a great honour to meet her

today. So swift was the visit, that some people didn't get the chance to

give flowers. I didn't get the chance to hand over my flowers. It

was nice to see her, anyway. This engagement has been the first in a

busy day for the Queen and the Duke.

It was at St George's Market where the public got closest to the

They spent just over half-an-hour at the market visiting local craft

The Queen even made a purchase, much to the delight of one stallholder.

Before that, they went to the Titanic Quarter to visit

the set of the popular American TV series The Game of Thrones.

This seat of power in the fictional Game of Thrones. He bettered to

visit the set than a real-life monarch? The Queen was not tempted

to sit on the iron through, forged from a thousand enemies towards.

Instead, she got to meet Crewe and others working in the studios. Next

it was Saint Georges market, were crowds got the chance to get up

close and personal. It is an amazing for our Lady of over 80. I'm so

delighted they came today. I love the Royal family. They are great for

Northern Ireland and the UK. Even if I could just to glimpse of her. I

could see the lemon hats! There was no shortage of food graphs. It was

worth the wait! She was gorgeous. Both she and the prince met local

craftspeople. It was really surreal. It happened so quickly. She was

intrigued with my drawing style. She was particularly interested in

Georgian doors printed on linen. There was a purchase! To tea towels!

I think I will be framing them. She asked me about my product and how

many days a week I spent making it. She commented on my colours. That

was really it. It was really exciting. I'm thrilled. A successful

visit for all those involved. She said she was very impressed with the

market and the atmosphere and the buzz that has created but it felt

very cosmopolitan. Three-year-old Jack Morgan took centre stage when

he presented the Queen with a gift. There was another present for a

special member of the Royal family. Baby George got one of these.

Hopefully, we will see him in the T-shirt. We will be keeping a close

eye for that picture. So, his granny came to Belfast and you got him a

T-shirt! The Royal Visit continues tomorrow,

when the couple will see the preparation for the

Antiques Roadshow, and then it's on to Coleraine, where they will attend

a Royal British Legion event. You are watching BBC Newsline

and still ahead on the programme: The teachers who were looking

forward to their last day of school, only to be told they'll be back

next term. BBC Newsline has learned that the

former Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland was expected to

become the new Chairman of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, but

he has asked for a leave of absence about the awarding of police vehicle

contracts. He says he will be fully exonerated. The former officer has

also decided to temporarily step aside from other public bodies. Our

political reporter Stephen Walker For many years, Duncan McCausland

was one of the most high-profile senior officers. He retired three

years ago. He has joined a series of public bodies and leaving the force,

including the Northern Ireland tourist board, and the me is long

cash organisation. Last week he was investigated by detectives over

contracts for the police fleet of vehicles. Afterwards, she made this

comment. Obviously I will have to consider many positions that are

currently holds as to ensure that they are protected in relation to

what may be forthcoming in the next few weeks and months. Duncan

McCausland has been a member of the tourist board since 2012. He applied

for the position of chairman and after a rigorous selection process

was successful. He received a letter from Arlene Foster who said she was

minded to appoint him. His opponent was due to be made public next month

but we can reveal those plans are now on hold. Duncan McCausland has

now sent the letter to the Northern Ireland tourist board. He wrote:

Mr McCausland has sent a similar letter to other bodies that he sits

on. Tonight a spokeswoman for the Department of enterprise, trade and

investment said Duncan McCausland had voluntarily stepped down from

the tourist board until the outcome of the ongoing police

investigation. She made no further comment.

A team in charge of a plan to build a new training college

for the Police, Fire and Prison Services will next week recommend

There's been a lot of speculation that the plan for Desertcreat, near

Cookstown, first proposed ten years ago, would be scrapped because of

escalating costs, but BBC Newsline understands the board is set to

Our Home Affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney reports.

This was the grand plan, what was billed as one of the best police

training colleges anywhere in the world. It was later changed also

includes the fire and prison services. A huge complex of

accommodation for more than 300 people, 40 classrooms and

purpose-built villagers to train police officers and firemen in a

variety of real-life situations. Instead, not a sword has been turned

on the site at Desertcreat. The plan was put on hold in April when it was

decided that the preferred bidder selected could not do so for the

specified budget of ?114 million. A board in charge of the project has

spent the last two months reevaluating the plan. There has

been much speculation that the board with the clear the project dead and

recommend refurbishing existing training facilities or building a

much smaller college at a new location. We understand that is not

the case and that no other potential locations have been considered. It

is understood the board will tell the Justice committee next week it

released that the Desertcreat project should continue. Escalating

construction cost is mean the estimated bill for building the

college would be almost ?140 million. That is ?26 million within

allocated, so the board is revising the plan making changes to the

overall design, the number of buildings and construction materials

used. Sources say more work is needed but they've believe the

project can be delivered close to the original budget.

Yesterday, we looked at the Irish government inquiry into how society

dealt with infant deaths at mother and baby homes, especially

This evening, we focus on how infant deaths on this side of the border.

At a council cemetery in County Down,

the bodies of babies were buried in unmarked graves right up to 1992.

Our reporter Kevin Sharkey has spoken to a mother who waited

for years to find out what happened her child.

The baby was born and they took her away. I never saw her after that.

Never saw her again. It was 1970 and a baby girl was Margaret's

first-born and only child. The baby died just after birth at the local

hospital injured in Ards. If took three decades to that her baby was

buried here in an unmarked grave. It was devastating for me. I carried

the baby for nine months spanning every new set must or anything. For

the baby to die at that particular time, I just could not believe it.

Many is a time I went into that graveyard and I saw that plots, but

I never knew what it was. Never knew that that is where my daughter was

buried. After Margaret find her baby's burial ground, the council

erected a small memorial, but even today the unions, no markings and

nothing to say that the bees are buried here. There are hundreds of

babies buried here in unmarked graves, stillbirths, babies who were

days old or even sometimes older. Burials started here in the 1800s

and continued up to 1992. Safely secured at the local council

officers, records of the children buried in the common ground. Those

born dead, those who live a short time, babies with health problems or

tragic circumstances. While these details are recorded in files,

Margaret Little believes that the names of babies like a room should

now be recorded where they are buried. I think maybe if there was

some sort of lack with the names on it, the way he would have in a war

memorial type of thing, it would be nice for the people who are left.

Some destitute adults were also buried here and the borough council

said that while Villa had at Common ground like so many cemeteries

across the country. The Parades Commission is to review

its decision on a contentious march Orangemen had been granted

permission to walk along Victoria The Parades Commission ruling has

said this part of the route is Nationalists, including the

Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition, have objected to the march,

describing it as provocative. Unionists claim that

Victoria Terrace is not part The Democratic of that area is

mixed. There are areas of Victoria Terrace, just off Cassells Terrace,

that are still full of Unionist families and to live there in peace.

Even in the worst years, the barriers were much further back.

There are people living on both sides of the large and their help

and safety is put at risk eye this parade and any controversy that may

surround it. As schools prepare to close for the

summer holidays, 120 staff including teachers have been rejected for

redundancy deals. Our education correspondent Maggie Taggart is

here. Yes, with only days to go to the end

of term, at this late stage, principals are having to wrestle

with budget deficits and timetable It's all because of a shortage

of money and last-minute decisions School sent the Department of

education and list of teachers who had volunteered for redundancy. They

expected a decision by the end of April, but it only arrived

yesterday. Schools are winding down and next year's timetables are set,

so the last-minute news is disruptive. Schools had applied for

167 redundancies. 46 of them were approved, 20 year teachers met the

criteria but will reject it because of a cash shortfall, and the

majority of applications, 93, were reject did. Banker Grammar applied

for to voluntary redundancies to try to save money, but despite taking

all of the boxes, they were refused. The repercussions are

serious. We had been looking to ensure that we were not managing

-actually bad situation and had hoped that these two redundancies

would assist with that. The fact that neither have been granted means

that we are in a difficult financial situation and we will be having a

deficit of ?45,000 next year. The minister answered witticism in the

Assembly today saying he has only been able to fund redundancies in

closing or amalgamating schools because of a difficult financial

situation. Teachers unions don't lobby for redundancies, but their

members are disappointed that they cannot start a new life. I am

flabbergasted by the timing. There has been engagement throughout the

year over these redundancies. We were given no indication that there

was a problem with the funding of redundancies at any time during the

course of these discussions. We have this on us on Monday morning.

So, the unions describe themselves as shocked and flabbergasted.

I should say the Minister is now stressing everything's not yet

signed and sealed and he is still negotiating to find

the extra money to pay at least that 28 who ticked all the boxes.

The message seems to be watch this space.

There is more money for school buildings? Yes, the annual

announcement about who will get a new school came out today. 15

schools will get ?170 million between them. The minister is not

being very flash with his cash and he is prioritising schools with

social problems. Even if your school is one of the 15 schools that has

been did, two years after the previous announcements, only one of

40 schools has been built so far. The list of schools is on our

website. A shake-up of apprenticeship schemes

has been announced by the Minister A review has found that current

schemes are suffering from low take-up rates and there's

a focus on low skilled jobs. With the details, our Economics

and Business Editor, John Campbell. These are young chefs are an example

of apprenticeships working well. The owner of this restaurant is

expanding this scheme. He is planning to take on it more

apprentices in September. It is the way to go. It is the way I was

trained. For me, it is the quality of what you're trying to do, a buddy

system. We are trying to get these kids did think your way, to pick up

your skills. But those in the scheme, it means hands-on training

with one-to-one support. I have experienced so many different

things. I have done weddings, hen parties, I have learnt a lot of new

things. On the whole, apprenticeships need a shake-up. I

reviewed at Stormont discovered there was a lack of information

about what was available and that employers didn't have a very active

role and that apprenticeships were targeted at law school jobs. There

will now be an applications Portal, a bit like the one used by students

applying for university. There will be a greater focus on higher skilled

jobs such as engineering. For smaller businesses there will be

financial sentence -- financial incentives to take part. We looked

at the schemes in different countries and have tried to learn

those lessons and put them into place. There are some cultural

differences, but we have tried to take what we can from that. There is

a paradox in labour market. Many young people can a job, get many

employers said they can't find young people with the right skills.

Improved apprenticeships should go some way to tackling that.

The weather is next with Cecilia Daly.

Recently we have been so used to dry weather. There have been bits and

pieces of rain around today. I think we will find we will need the

umbrellas and coats. You can see the cloud that has been sitting on top

of us throughout the day. It has been misty on the north coast. It

has been thinner over the site, there could be some brightness this

evening. A warm night to come. It looked as if the cloud will thicken

up towards morning to bring more in the way of damp, drizzly weather.

Tomorrow it is likely to be grey and misty in a lot of places to start

with. There will be low cloud and missed over the hills and along

parts of the north coast. There will also be some rain and drizzle on and

off throughout the morning. It will not move away particularly quickly.

Although it will not be raining all the time, we will not be too far

away from damp weather. As a result of the thick cloud, temperatures

will not be that high, generally around 70 degrees. It will feel

heavy and muggy. It will be damp at times, too. Tomorrow night, one area

of rain and drizzle moves away, and another area of rain moves up from

the south. This is an area of low pressure. It will move towards us

over the next couple of days and it doesn't go anywhere particularly

quickly. Until it moves away, we will not the dry weather back. On

Thursday, more rain for a time, particularly in the morning. On

Friday, the further north you are at the dryer and brighter it will be

with some heavy showers likely to break out over southern counties.

There will be heavy showers around for Saturday, but hopefully someday

will become drier with more sunshine around.

In a symbolic visit, the Queen has toured the refurbished Crumlin Road

Gaol in North Belfast, accompanied by the first and Deputy First

Minister is. She also met members of the public at the historic Saint

Georges market. The royal couple have more engagements on the final

day of their three-day visit tomorrow.

We could not resist showing you this, what do you do if you find

yourself next to the Queen during her visit to Saint Georges market?

One young mild you exactly what -- knew exactly what to do, when he got

up close and personal. It was just the moment to secure a selfie.

Something I am sure he will never forget. One for the family album.

Our late summary is at the later time of 11.40pm,

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