18/01/2016 BBC Newsline

Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline: A call for urgent action

to help the health service as demand continues to grow.

Firefighters take their funding concerns to Stormont after claims

A review begins of inquests into some of the most controversial

Praise for police officers who rescued five people including

children after a suspected arson attack on a shed at the back

Also on the programme: Thousands of Northern Ireland fans hoping

to go to the Euros could be disappointed with all the matches

Ulster's rugby players are beaten by Saracens but a place

in the quarter finals is still within reach.

And it's set to get milder by the end of the week,

I'll have the weather details shortly.

The state of the health service is once again in the spotlight.

Pressure on resources in the Royal Victoria's emergency

department last night meant it had to divert ambulances

to the Mater Hospital for a number of hours.

And there's been another call from people working

within the system for politicians to take urgent action

Our reporter David Maxwell has been looking at a report

from the Northern Ireland Confederation for Health

and Social Care - it represents dozens of organisations that deliver

Every day the health care system is under huge pressure.

A typical 24 hours sees 1,000 people transported

by ambulance, 5,000 in hospital beds, 24,000 get a care

package at home and 28,000 go to their GP surgery.

Behind all these figures, very human stories.

He has been waiting a year and a half for treatment

He says his eyesight has been deteriorating and he fears he's been

If I had not have liked, nothing would have happened. I am not

knocking the NHS, is a wonderful system but sometimes you fall

between two systems and unfortunately I am one of the

fallen. Today a report by health service

managers called for urgent action It says that the ?4.9 billion

allocated to health in the next year The health budget will get an extra

3% next year however the demand has grown by 6% a year so we're not

keeping pace and despite a lot of tremendous cost saving measurements

going forward in recent times, we're spending 50% of the Northern Ireland

block. The report is supported

by over 50 organisations. It says politicians need

to take urgent action. It calls for a timescale for action,

a transformation fund and strong Some change is already underway

but difficult decisions lie ahead such as reducing the number of acute

hospitals, centralising some services and moving some care out

of the hospital and into the home. This is the man the Health Minister

is looking to for advice. There are solutions. If one just

keeps on working on the margins, one cannot cope with those pressures. We

will have to be able to convince but the population and the patients and

the professionals and the politicians that reconfiguration is

inevitable. This is not about closing hospitals, it is getting the

best configurations of hospitals so we get the best possible outcome for

patients. If we don't have a broad political consensus, will not get

the reforms we need to deliver a world-class help system in Northern

Ireland but the system we love is in serious jeopardy. This report is

essentially a call for urgent action but any changes to staffing or

structures can prove controversial. The question is, are our politicians

willing to weather the storm. Now - more fears about the lack

of money for another MLAs have backed a motion calling

on the Health Minister to ring-fence the budget for the fire and rescue

service, claiming proposed cuts But Simon Hamilton accused some

parties of scaremongering saying no More than 50 firefighters came to

Stormont to support a political cause to protect the service from

cutbacks in a new DUP First Minister was among politicians happy to pose

with them. Behind the smiles, her Health Minister found himself under

attack from across the chamber, accused of planning cuts which will

put the service and those it protects it brisk. Our service is a

matter of life and death and we see that as very important. We are not

going to stand by and allow Fire Service personnel to be put at risk.

MLAs were told the interim chief fire officer recently warned that

proposed cuts between five and 10% would result in unacceptable risk

level. There it is in black-and-white. The most senior

fire officer in the country, a man with nearly 30 years experience of

protecting our community, effectively pleading with government

to show some sense. The DUP 's executive colleagues joined in the

attack. I question, can anybody actually stand hand on heart and say

that a reduction in ?12 million in a budget isn't having a detrimental

impact in relation to the service. Can the Minister give us a guarantee

today, as a result of these budget cuts that there will be no risk to

public safety and firefighter safety with such reductions? The minister

said he had not made any final decisions. They have been some

scaremongering today, talk of a savage cuts and one of the courts

made by one of the members but as I have said before, there are no

budgetary proposals in place by the Fire and Rescue Service or indeed

any other aspect of the Department's budget. A series of proposals are

currently out for consultation. The PSNI has been accused

of obstructing inquests into controversial killings

during the Troubles because it wants to protect the reputation

of the RUC. The claim was made on the first day

of a two week review of 56 legacy cases involving 95 deaths,

including killings by police One of Northern Ireland's most

senior judges, Lord Justice Weir, is assessing what needs to be done

before inquests can be held Ten Catholics are billions were shot

dead by the Army in Ballymurphy in August 19 71. Nearly 45 years later,

some of their relatives arrived in court today for a review of the

case. Judge is assessing what more needs to be done for an inquest to

be held to establish what happened. There is work to be done but this

can be done. We have waited 40 years for this to be done. What we need at

the moment, we need proper resources of the inquest, this is what we have

fought for. Inside the court they heard the Ministry of Defence has

said it cannot identify the soldiers who are on duty at the time of the

shootings. So far, the Army has only managed to trace one soldier.

Stressing the importance of those Army witnesses being found, Lord

Justice Weir said the families wanted to hear about the

circumstances in which it runs had been shot and that those best placed

to do that where those who shot them. The shootings in Ballymurphy

are just one of the D6 legacy cases being reviewed. The judge is being

asked to report on the state of readiness of each and which, if any,

can proceed to inquest hearings. It will then be up to the Lord Chief

Justice to decide what happens next. Likening the inquest to spinning

plates, Lord Justice Weir said there simply are not enough resources to

spend all of the plates all of the time. He said he hoped this review

would lead to an agreement about which plates need to spend more

urgently. The 10-day review started this morning with a discussion about

so-called shoot-to-kill cases in 1982 when RUC officers shot dead six

applicants. The time taken by police to disclose documents was repeatedly

highlighted as a resistance for the inquest being delayed. A lawyer for

the PSNI said it does not have the resources to do with a vast amount

of material living to the cases but a lawyer for the families of two of

the men shot dead said they believed a PSNI was dragging its heels

because it wanted to protect the reputation of the RUC. The judge

said the lack of disclosure of material from the PSNI was the

single biggest impediment to the inquest taking place. He said any

time there was light at the end of the tunnel for the families, the

PSNI extended the tunnel. The judge said he hopes the review will shed

some light on the cases without producing too much heat.

Plenty to come on the programme: Life after redundancy -

we'll hear from some people who've managed to find new careers.

It is a dramatic place to be and an unpleasant place to be but it's not

the end of the world. A senior police officer has praised

the quick reaction of his colleagues who rescued a woman and her young

children from a fire The officers spotted the blaze

which was at the rear of the house The fire started in the shed

in the back garden of a house at Liscloon Drive in Shantallow

at six o'clock on Saturday morning. A mother of three children,

who are aged eight, two and one, She and her children and a nephew

had to be rescued by a passing Lisa Scarlett who didn't

want to appear on camera said it was a terrifying experience

and she now intends to move out All I saw was my babies going down

the stairs in the arms of the policeman and

they were calling for I didn't realise

there was a fire and I was just watching my babies

getting taken out of the house, A local councillor says there has

been a problem with antisocial behaviour in the area with groups

gathering in these alleyways. It is now hoped gates

can be installed soon We are very lucky that we are not

dealing with a tragedy here this weekend. What has happened is an

number of young people have gathered here and as you can see, they have

burned the shed belonging to a young family and they have been terrified.

Thankfully due to the quick actions of the PSNI, they were able to get

the family out of the property and contact the Fire Brigade.

PSNI Chief Inspector Tony Callaghan said it was fortunate

the consequences were not more serious as it is clear in other

instances just how destructive fire can be but usually when oil tanker

He said the oil tank was about ten feet from the shed but the quick

work of the Fire Service kept the blaze contained.

He praised the officers on routine patrol who saw

the flames and got the family to safety.

Police investigating this attack have appealed for information. They

want to hear from anyone who noticed any suspicious activity at the time

of the attack to come forward. The case of a serving police officer

accused of threatening to arrest a High Court judge has been referred

to the Attorney General. Thomas Anthony Carlin

maintains his innocence despite allegations

of contempt of court The serving police officer

is representing himself in the case against Santander UK plc over

a property in Antrim and it is alleged that last week

in proceedings in the High Court, he approached Lord Justice Gillen

and threatened to arrest him. Today the judge was due to try him

for alleged contempt of court and other offences arising

from those incidents last week. In court, the judge said,

having listened to recordings of what happened, he was now very

limited to the Attorney General and he advised him to

carefully consider his own position because if found guilty,

he could face imprisonment. For his part, Mr Carlin

said he intended to be respectful and lawful at all times

but he challenged the jurisdiction of the court and demanded that

the case against him be withdrawn. Referring the case to

the Attorney General, the judge said simply,

it is not going to be withdrawn. A body has been found in a suitcase

in the Grand Canal It was discovered

yesterday in Arclough. Gardai say it's the body of a man

who may have been in his twenties. It's believed he was killed

elsewhere in the previous five days. Damage estimated at about ?1,500 has

been caused to a school in Newcastle Staff and pupils at All Children's

Integrated Primary School arrived this morning

to find windows smashed. Police said that a significant

amount of cash was stolen from the school's safe

during the weekend. If you're a football fan and hoping

to get a ticket for one of the Euro finals matches in France you're

likely be disappointed. All of the Northern Ireland

and Republic games are heavily The scramble for tickets began

as soon as Northern Ireland qualified but fans have had to be

patient as the complicated Uefa The deadline passed today for fans

wanting one of the tickets allocated to Northern Ireland supporters

and there was a huge interest There were applications

from more than 50,000 tickets but Northern Ireland have

only been allocated 20 5,000. Here is where they are going. But

the match against Poland, there are 6,000 tickets. But the next match

against Ukraine, there are 11,000. For the final group game in Paris

against Germany, there are 8,000 tickets. The question is, who is

going to get them? Anyone who applied will find out before the end

of next month. It promises to be a nervous wait. Priority will begin to

those who have followed the team in the qualification campaign. There

are 11,000 block burglars who support Northern Ireland regularly.

Hopefully all those people will be able to get to the three games if

they want to get to all three. If they have chosen one game, help they

can get to their game of choice. It's important for those who have

loyally supported the team both home and away by the people who received

the tickets and are able to go to France. The Republic's games are

also expected to be heavily oversubscribed. No figures are yet

available. A small number of tickets for all of the matches will go on

general sale soon but the reality is that even before a ball is kicked in

France, some supporters are going to be left bitterly disappointed.

Last week we were told that the local economy is recovering

Among the people helping that recovery are some of the highly

skilled workers who were made redundant but are now

Our reporter Colletta Smith has been listening to some of those who've

Five years ago so many companies are going bust, we couldn't even report

them all but when the carnival group got into trouble it certainly made

the headlines. This was the company that has plans for a huge

development at the old Sirocco works. The work he never got

started. A tumbling housing market and mounting debt meant the company

got into trouble. All 75 staff lost their jobs. Now for the first time,

staff are telling the story of what happened next in their lives. How

did feel that day? Being made redundant from your own company? You

don't feel very smart. It's not a pleasant place to be. Each time you

say goodbye to start you have valued and trained and helped and were

friends as well. It certainly was not pleasant for Jerry. He will

never forget the 10th of December 2010, the day he lost his job. It

was very difficult, being employed for 40 years with the one company

and growing through the company from being an apprentice joiner in 1971

to being technical director and then being out of work was a difficult

position for me. He decided to set up his own business as he felt like

there was no other choice. Companies are looking for new energetic young

people who are probably better qualified than I am. It's more

difficult the older you get. His colleague did manage to get a job

but that was not straightforward. I had to work in the UK for 15 months.

We were travelling Monday to Friday in the UK and it was hell is

building work but it was difficult on your family life. Is that the

important thing, just to keep working rather than waiting for the

perfect job? I would definitely advise to take a job. It may not be

the job you want but if you keep getting experience, the proper job

will come. As for the boss, he is busy constructing a new firm, having

learned lessons from going bust last time. It's a dramatic place to be

and an unpleasant place to be but it's not the end of the world.

Stories of coming through redundancy by trying new things, giving a

little help to others facing what seems as if bleak future.

Stephen Watson is here with the sports news

and it was disappointing weekend for Ulster's rugby players.

Ulster face an uphill struggle if they're to qualify for the knock

out stages of the European Champions Cup.

After losing to Saracens by 33-17, Ulster, who today signed New Zealand

born Rodney Ay You from Connacht, will need to beat French side

Oyannax - probably with a bonus point -

It all started so brightly for Ulster. They took the lead against

the English champions with a superb try after just five minutes. It is

critical times, Ulster errors crept in. Here, trying to put the pressure

on Saracens, they lost their own possession. Then Paddy Jackson Field

to take advantage of another penalty. Saracens should Ulster hell

it should be done. They rumbled over for a half-time lead. They never

looked back in the second half as they dominated, scoring three more

tries for a very comfortable victory. Saracens safely through to

the quarterfinals but Ulster must win this weekend and hope to teams

in the best runner-up positions in the other groups lose. A tall order

and if Ulster do make the knockout stages, they may have to face

Saracens again. Darren Clarke captained Europe

to victory at the Eurasia Cup. His side beat Asia in

Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Europe led 9-3 heading

into the final day of singles and extended that advantage

in style, winning the tournament An encouraging win for the man

who will also be Europe's Ryder Cup I think the guys played

fantastic today. The quality of their golf

was amazing considering a lot of the guys have had

a nice break off over Christmas and had not

practised too much. To come here and to play

in the manner in which they did, to beat a very strong Asian team,

was very impressive. Tyrone remain on course to retain

Gaelic football's Bank Mickey Harte's side defeated

Fermanagh in yesterdays semi final - Whenever Derry scored,

Cavan responded but it looked as if the semifinal would be

a tight and close 70 minutes Once Ryan Bell Centre

goalkeeper the wrong way, Derry were comfortable

ahead at the break. Damian Barkingside continued

their dominance after the interval, It's just all about confidence

as much as anything else and I wanted the boys

to express We have to get them to a position

in terms of condition they can express themselves

and that is I am very happy with

some of the scores because it is

an expression The lead is starting in a few weeks

which is the most Derry will play Tyrone in the league

but before that they will play Tyrone in Saturday's

McKenna Cup final. The holders to control

during their second-half performance against Fermanagh but their

first-half display was very We were very sluggish at the start

and we took a long time to get off the ground. Fermanagh where the

superior side in the first 20 minutes. You're happy to be only

level at half-time because at one stage it looked as if we would be in

a worse position than that. We gathered ourselves at the end of the

first half and going in level at half-time we would be happy enough.

Tyrone did end up winning by a comfortable 7-point margin.

They now play Derry in Armagh on Saturday night.

Ireland's Women's hockey team produced an impressive display

Before a ball was kicked on Saturday, Jordan Owens picked up his

first award of the season. At 158 goals to his name, Crusaders

recognise their all-time league scorers. It's great for him, he has

been at the club for a long time and he is scoring goals. Not

disappointed but titles are made to be broken. It was Glentoran who

raced into a deserved 2-0 lead. The champions battled back though. This

stunning strike made it 3-2. Who else but the ones making the three

points secure? Six goals at Seaview and six at one view Park. James

Knowles opened the scoring for Cliftonville. One Bradley equalised.

The Reds went 3-1 up but badly's string position in front of goal and

Templepatrick and the Lurgan blues share of the points. Bottom club ?1

-- Warrenpoint Town. There had a convincing when Bubba Coleraine

town. Ireland's Women's hockey team

produced an impressive display to beat Spain 3-2 in the third

of their four friendly Trailing 2-0, the Irish mounted

a late comeback, pegging the Spaniards back to two-all -

before eighteen year-old Zoe Wilson from Antrim,

earning only her third cap, Ireland will face Spain once

more in the final match The weather is next.

Over the next 24 hours, fairly uneventful. We do have a lot of

cloud around at the moment. Like today, it continues to give off a

fuse spots of light rain or drizzle. With a lot of cloud around tonight,

not especially chilly. Most places will stay at three or 4 degrees but

where we do get some breaks, it will be lower than that. Perhaps a little

frost is some places tomorrow morning along with some pockets of

fog. Otherwise the cloud stays with us tomorrow but it will be a mini

Friday. A fuse spots of wet weather likely for Antrim and Down first

thing. By the afternoon, largely a picture. The cloud should rake and

allow some sunshine to come through in a few places. Temperatures at six

or 7 degrees, about normal for this time of year. Travelling tomorrow,

the rest of the sunshine will be across southern areas of Britain and

to the far north. Quite chilly here with temperatures struggling to get

to two or three degrees. Across Ireland, a lot of cloud around.

Imagine a picture, we are looking at seven or 8 degrees. In Northern

Ireland tomorrow evening, a few spots of light rain here and there.

Hospices will end the day on a drying out. Tomorrow night, turning

quite chilly. That will allow some frost to develop and perhaps the odd

stretch of ice as well. That sets us up for a better day on Wednesday.

We're expecting that cloud to give way and that will allow the sun to

come out. Temperatures fibre 6 degrees. Fresher to put the County

Down coast. Overall, not a bad day for Wednesday. Towards Thursday and

Friday, with the temperatures. Right up into double figures. Maybe 12

degrees on Friday, well above average for the time of year. We

also have the stronger winds and rain heading this way. We will keep

you up-to-date. You can also keep in contact with us

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