28/07/2014 BBC Newsline

of a radical plan to shake up the student loan system,

A man in his sixties has drowned tonight in county Armagh.

It's understood the victim was swimming towards

a small island on a lake in Bessbrook to remove two flags.

Our reporter Claire Savage is at the scene for us this evening.

The man got into difficulties swimming in the wake behind me

around 5pm. Locals tell me that a teenage boy went into the water to

try and rescue him. He managed to bring him back to the banks on the

lake where people try to resuscitate him. The fabulous crew then arrived

and took him to detail hospital where it was announced he had later

died. The man has been named locally as Oswald badly from the village, he

used to run a chip shop in the village and he is said to be a well

known local character. It is understood he had been trying to

swim to an island in the lake were recently to Irish tricolours had

been placed. Last week there were calls made for the flights to be

taken down, including by Sinn Fein who said that the flags would be

intimidating to Protestants. Earlier I spoke to two local MLAs who knew

the victim personally. The was popular, outgoing, well-known. He

was very likeable and a great character within the village. He was

involved actively in the life of the village and he will be missed but

the tragedy that surrounds his death will also leave its mark. Fairly

sad, that this tragedy has occurred, the deceased person was very

well-known in the area. -- very sad. At this point in time I would like

to express my deep condolences to his family and friends. In a

statement, Danny Kennedy added this evening that this was a very tragic

outcome to the controversies surrounding flags in the village. He

said this was too high a price for any family and community to pay.

While the breeze were still in attendance at the scene this

evening, the two flags were taken down off the island.

An inquest has been told that a drug which caused the death

of a 21 year old Banbridge man and 19 other people here is principally

The 20 deaths have been linked to pills known as Green Rolex

They are thought to have originated in the Netherlands but have only

The coroner said it is a matter of grave concern.

A senior DUP politician has strongly condemned the arson attack on

Sinn Fein's main constituency office in Londonderry.

Gregory Campbell said it was an attack on democracy and he linked

Other political parties said there can be no justification

Sinn Fein said the repair bill would run

into thousands of pound but it would not be deflected from its work.

It has happened to other parties, it has happened to our party, the

Alliance party and now to Sinn Fein. It could if it is not eliminated, if

people do not give the information to the breeze to secure convictions

against those responsible, it could end up in a worrying cycle of

violence. Engineers are still working to

repair one The Ravenhill Road was shut to

traffic last week after large holes or voids were

discovered beneath the surface. It's still not clear how

long it will take to fix. Louise Cullen has been watching

the repair operation. On the surface, drivers deal with

the destruction of a closed road. Underneath, this. Engineers captured

these images after 1000 cubic feet of gaps were discovered during sewer

replacement works. Voids have formed. Gaps of varying sizes

beneath the wheels of our cards. Each and everyone to be filled in,

hence the indefinite partial road closure. The actual rodeo riding on

is a reinforced concrete slab so even if a void or a hall opens

underneath it the slab is holding the integrity together. We have a

competent contractor and designer here who have come up with a

solution to repair this. The solution is pumping form concrete

into the holes. These are not uncommon in Belfast. I would

describe Belfast geology as late a bowl of porridge. It is soft

underneath but has a nice crust that you can put your spin on top. If you

break that crossed will sink into the porridge. It is here. We have

soft sands and when you break the crust the material underneath is

soft. The Victorian paperwork under our feet is nearing the end of its

life. The sewer replacement project is in everyone's interests but

commuters will hope that all of this is filled in before the schools go

back in one months time. Time now to head to Glasgow

and to the Commonwealth Games, where Stephen Watson can update us

on how Team Northern Ireland has Northern Ireland won another medal

today, a silver in Lawn Bowls which I'll tell you about in a moment, but

first to our impressive boxing team. 9 fighters are now just one fight

away from securing Tonight saw the first appearance of

Team NI's double Olympic medallist. Nial Foster was ringside

in the SECC. This is the moment the fans have

been waiting for. The charismatic captain of the Northern Ireland

boxing team Paddy Burns take his way towards the ring to start his

defence of the Commonwealth title. After four days of waiting he has

more than he is himself into Commonwealth action. The light

flyweight is known for his frantic pace and the Belfast man landed

combination. Look at the workrate. After C standing counts the referee

awarded the win to Barnes on a technical knockout in the third

round. It was my fourth fight this year and I have been waiting for a

long time. I had to fight in the Commonwealth and that is my first

one. It earlier today, fellow Olympic medallist Michael Conlon

also made the last eight after a unanimous points victory. Getting

over the landmark today, I was beaten in the wind -- in the last

game, so it was good to get over that. Now I can focus on winning. A

beautiful 12 commendation. Stephen Jolly joins the quarterfinal party

after a powerful performance as a Northern Irish boxing team continued

their dominance in the ring. Michaela Walsh will become NI's

first ever female fighter to box Ruairi Dalton is the first

in action tomorrow. Northern Ireland has won two medals

at the games so far thanks to Lisa Bradley in Judo

and the silver won today For Neil Bush, this was another

memorable games moment. His fourth medal in five appearances. But it

was a first medal for his team-mates. The silver medallists

for Northern Ireland. We did not expect this, but I am delighted with

it. You can only do it with the players you play with. There will be

a new crop of players coming along after myself. It will give them the

chance to get more medals along with the experience of these guys. On the

track, Amy Foster ran alongside two of the world 's fastest woman but

missed out on a place in the final of the 100 metres. One athlete did

make the final, hammer or Dempsey McGuigan. Our netball team set a

pre-game target of a top eight finish and after a win today against

English at the can still achieve that. But Northern Ireland must beat

the hosts, Scotland, on Wednesday. In shooting, David Beattie is still

on the hunt for a medal in the men's trap. And Northern Ireland 's

gymnasts were in action today, the tent at the halfway stage with Sarah

Beck on course for a place in the individual final.

Finally tonight away from the Games The Milk Cup Football

In the Elite section Northern Ireland have beaten China

in their opening game at the Ballymena showgrounds.

Two goals came in the first half from set-piece.

Josh Donnelly heading home from close range for one-nil.

Before a neat turn and shot from Sean Mullan double the advantage.

We'll be back live on tomorrows BBC Newsline.

Now for the weather forecast here's Cecilia Daly.

We have some rain on the forecast tonight, not a great day but just

enough to dampen the ground. A sprinkling of light rain across our

gardens. It means a mile and, temperatures now lower than the

mid-teens. Tomorrow there will still be damp weather lingering in places

but a good part of the day should be dry. We will not see too much

sunshine but brightness should come through from time to time especially

across the East. A lot of drizzly rain initially, leading to the West

as the morning goes on. It is likely that the farther east you are the

better chance you have of sunshine. In the south there will be

brightness and sunshine and there will also be some brightness over

south-east Scotland, north-east England, the Midlands, East Anglia

and the South of England. There will be light rain or some light showers

from the entertainer. The sample, identical fuel war model in Northern

Ireland there will be more of a breeze converge to today, so maybe

not feeling as close as it did today. Temperatures reaching 19 or

20 degrees. On Wednesday we are expecting showers initially in the

North, and there will still be a fairly noticeable breeze as well.

Generally the latter part of the week will bring more unsettled

conditions. Low pressure will be close by which will mean heavy

showers and perhaps a rumble of thunder.

That's all from others. Good night.