02/02/2016 BBC Newsline

So it's goodbye from me and on BBC One we now join the BBC's

Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline

An apology for an 82-year-old man who waited six hours for an

ambulance. A new law on legal highs comes into effect in spring.

A bereaved mother says it is about time.

If a drug dealer was to sell drugs, they can be arrested.

The Taoiseach is set to dissolve the Dail ahead of a general election

And, all this could be yours, if you have half-a-million

With the tournament just days away, Luke Fitzgerald has been ruled out

of Ireland's Six Nations title defence.

And, Storm Henry may have passed, but it's still windy,

also icy in places with some

The Ambulance Service has apologised to an elderly man and his family,

after he had to wait almost six hours to be taken to hospital.

As Maggie Taggart reports, the service has held up its hands

to admit the service last night in the Bangor and Newtownards area

At ten o'clock last night, a call was made to the Ambulance Service

about an elderly man in Banga, in his 80s, with a fractured hip or

broken leg, it was not known at that time.

The analysis was it was a category C non-urgent call but it should be

responded to within an hour. They were short of cruise last

night, so in response to that call took no less than six hours.

Even the season is -- D ambience group were shocked at the delay and

suffering of that man. I know personally speaking, and

speaking to our staff at headquarters and on the road, that

if this was my father, I would be livid. I would expect an apology.

In a statement, the Northern Ireland anglers service offered a sincere

apology to the family. They said this.

Within the next few days, it said the trust would make contact with

the family. It ended saying, our apology is

unreserved. If you have had a similar

experience, you can share your views New laws to prosecute people selling

so-called legal highs have passed their final

hurdle at Westminster. From the spring, offenders face up

to seven years in prison. Several young people have died

from taking the substances which can often be even stronger

than illegal drugs. Among them was Sean Paul Carnahan,

from west Belfast. Tara Mills has been

speaking to his mum. Sean Paul Carnahan was 22 when he

died, he lost his dad at the age of ten, and his mum says he had always

had trouble coming to terms with it. What age when he had been there?

Ten. Tracie knew he had been to a party but afterwards she found at

what he had taken. If you days later, my oldest boy,

told me Sean Paul had taken legal highs. At that stage, I had never

heard of that in my life. From then, from Sean Paul taking legal highs,

he was in hospital. That is all you were hearing these days. I asked his

friends, his best friend, please tell me. He admitted they had taken

other types of drugs but that was his first time taking legal highs.

Were you able to find out where he got them from?

He got them from a shop which has now closed down.

The drugs are known as psychoactive substances mimicking the effects of

drugs like cocaine. Their effect on mental health can be even more

severe. Seven years is not long enough for

somebody who has lost their life from a legal highs.

They seem to be able to sell them and nothing is happening to anybody.

It has taken a long time to get to this stage.

If a drug dealer was to sell drugs at my door, the police will arrest

them. With the shops, they can continuously do it. Even after Sean

Paul's death. Those working to protect young

people are relieved the legislation has made its way through

Westminster. The current legislation gives the

impression these substances are safe. Through our work with services

that work with young people and adults, it is clear that these

substances have the potential to cause individuals a lot of harm.

Yes, we certainly welcome the legislation today.

The damage that can be caused to mental health by these drugs has

been well documented. What is not so well known is the destination it

causes to the families left behind, to grieve the loss of a young life.

News just in, a body has been discovered on a beach in County

Down. It's understood the remains

are those of a woman found What can you tell us? This grim

discovery was made if you hours ago on to earn a beach by a member of

the public walking their dog. That member or the public lives if you

feet from where I am standing. I spoke to their neighbour who said it

was quite a shock to find this grim discovery this afternoon. We don't

know a lot about the identity of this woman, or the circumstances of

her death. That presumably will be a priority for the police

investigation, and a postmortem will be carried out.

We have already had some community reaction this evening. The local

Sinn Fein MLA said the discovery of a body at Wellow Beach was a tragedy

and the local community has been shocked and saddened by the

discovery. An unfolding story this evening. We will give you the latest

on our radio bulletins and online and our late TV service.

There is no police activity here at the moment. We will give you the

latest details as we get them. The woman whose case sparked

a debate about abortion in certain cases says she wants to meet

the First Minister. The winter storms led to huge

flooding problems around Lough But it also created another big

issue which is only now The flooded waters have carried

tonnes of rubbish into the lough, and it's now being washed

up along its shores. Our agriculture and environment

correspondent Conor Macauley The winter weather is still whipping

up the swollen waters of Loch Neagh but now there is a new problem after

the unprecedented rainfall that filled it to overflowing.

This bait at rivals town is one of 40 nature reserves in Northern

Ireland. An important habitat which we have pledged to conserve. As you

approach the shoreline, you quickly realise the place is in a shocking

state. As far as I can see in both

directions, there is a long line of plastic, a tide mark, something you

would expect to see at the seaside. A broken basin. An old workman's

helmet, a child's Skrtel. The most concerning thing is this

down here, a box for used needles, and there are needles in it.

Much of this would have been swept up in five flooded rivers flowing

into the Lough in December. 100 miles of shoreline. The problem is

around the river mouth and because of the prevailing wind direction,

the plastic has been pushed into the north-east corner of Loch Neagh

close to Antrim. This would is on the foreshore,

closed to the public now because access is flooded. It is scarcely

recognisable. Much of the land adjoining the Lough

is privately owned. One organisation hopes to get funding to start to

sort the litter problem. To identify, and put a scheduled

clean up, twice a year, three times a year, over the next five years.

And start beginning to address, and take some of the rubbish away. Also

to get a feel for the size and scale.

That is work that badly needs to be done at what is meant to be one of

our most highly protected habitats. The Organisation For Economic

Co-operation And Development, or OECD, has apologised

for publishing the wrong information about the literacy and numeracy

skills of university students here. It had ranked them 22nd out of 23

countries in literacy, Now, it says that local students

are, in reality, in the middle of the list of the surveyed

countries. A radical plan for an official

opposition in the Assembly has been Parties, including Sinn Fein,

the SDLP and the DUP, objected to major parts of a bill

drawn up by the independent unionist Although he says what is left

is still a major breakthrough. Here's our political correspondent,

Gareth Gordon. The highlight of the Westminster

week. We have done more on tax evasion and avoidance than Labour

did. The truth is they are running to catch up but haven't got a leg to

stand on. The Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition doing

battle across a credit chamber. Officially, Stormont doesn't have an

opposition, the parties who share the effective table often share

little else. That may change. John McCallister they get his way. He

proposed a radical plan. As it stands, every MLA has two align

itself to either the Unionist or nationalist community. He wants that

to end. God would be the current system of community designators were

parties also identified. There would be no cross community voting system.

Six or more MLAs could form the opposition. What we are more likely

to end up with are the proposals in the fresh deal worth community

designations with stage, only larger parties can form opposition, and

those that do will receive extra money and speaking rights.

Large parts of John McCallister's bill have been killed off.

We believe the fresh start has provided and I'd missed a basis to

satisfy the demands of those who don't want to be in Government. And

around 20 designation, this is against the principles of the Good

Friday agreement. It is a national evolution this

Assembly will have the proper functions of an opposition with

proper speaking time. We think it is important to maintain the quality in

power-sharing provisions we struggled to achieve. The DUP's also

had problems with other aspects of the bill. It is more significant.

Some would claim it is. Other technical aspects of the bill we

don't think would be prudent to follow through. Most of this bill,

the general thrust, we are supportive of. It is inescapable

that private members bills will only be acceptable if they have the

support of the DUP and Sinn Fein. The man behind the original bill is

not despondent. The important principle will be set

in this legislation, that we will have the rights and parties will

have did take up an opposition role in the Assembly. And provide

scrutiny and choice and challenge to voters. Something which is a huge

step forward. A step forward maybe, but not the

leap he wanted. Once again, this has shown this place changes only at its

own pace. The issue of abortion is set

to return for debate The woman whose case sparked

a debate about abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities says

she wants to meet This evening, and Alliance MLA had a

private meeting with Mrs Foster. Our political editor

Mark Devenport is at Stormont. What can you tell us about that

meeting? Neither side is giving out any details but we do know Stuart

Dickson MLA who is bringing this amendment to change the abortion

law, did have this private discussion with Arlene Foster. We

know he was raising the hope that she would give her MLA is a free

vote on the question. His amendment deals with the

specific issue of fatal fatal abnormalities where women have been

told their babies would not survive beyond birth. This issue was put in

the headlines after Sarah Ewart talked about her tragic case where

she had to travel to England to get a termination. She was at a Stormont

this week and said she wanted to see Arlene Foster, to raise with her the

specific circumstances she had faced.

This is what she said. This is a medical procedure. We are not

looking for anything else. We do not agree with full abortion for any

reason. We are asking for her to let her party have a free vote so we can

have these procedures in our hospitals.

So, where is this likely to go next week?

We are expecting it to be discussed on Tuesday and it could be the early

hours before the MLAs get to it. The DUP continue to be opposed to the

1967 Abortion Act, and not giving guidance on whether they will

consider a free vote. The TUV will oppose it. Sinn Fein

may back it. The SDLP and DUP are keeping their powder dry.

This mood did not get through to the effective when David Ford was

looking at this. And, today, MLAs have been

debating issues around how We heard the bell ringing behind

you. Any conclusion? That spell means

they are still voting on the opposition bill. That will go on

through the night. There are a few amendments to them to decide on. We

are expecting the voting to continue on Monday next week. At the last

minute, the Nationalist party, Sinn Fein and SDLP put their names on a

petition of concern and that cannot be voted on until the next working

day which will be Monday when the Assembly chamber resumes.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny will announce tomorrow that he's

calling a general election, and the date is expected to be

Our Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison joins me

It had been thought that he would seek a dissolution

In fairness to the Taoiseach, he personally never indicated the

election would be called today. By not dissolving this afternoon, he

allowed the punditry committee to investigate a horrific case of child

sexual and physical abuse in a foster home in the south-east,

overseen by the health service. It has led to Gerry Adams saying not

only is this Government is incompetent as he sees it in the

running of the economy, but in confident in the calling of a

general election. What are the issues likely to be

in the run-up to the election? It is going to be all about the

economy. The Fine Gael edition said they have turned it around, as

evidenced by tax return figures issued today. They will say a vote

for us is a vote for stability over uncertainty. But Fianna Fail, Sinn

Fein and the hard left party say there is an economic recovery but

not everybody is benefiting, and there are still huge social issues

around, like homelessness, the threat of homelessness, the lack of

social housing being built. The current poll, we know you can't

rely on them all the time, what are they indicating?

The polls suggest that Fianna Gael and Labour are both going to lose

seats, particularly the Labour Party which could see two thirds of its

seats going. They also suggest Fianna Fail will improve, Sinn Fein

could double the 14th seats it has. The current Government could well be

returned. If it is, it will be dependent on the support of a

growing number of independent TDs. It is all to play for, the election

hasn't even yet been called. With Sinn Fein heading into that

election, on BBC Spotlight this evening,

the programme investigates what the impact of the recent tax

conviction of prominent republican Thomas Slab Murphy means

for the party, as it prepares And that programme can be seen

on BBC One tonight, at 10.45. Darren Clarke says he's hoping

the Ulster rugby team can help him in his quest for golfing glory

as the Ryder Cup captain. Stormont is selling off its biggest

and most important relic of the Cold War, and the asking

price is just over half-a-million The Regional Government Centre

was a nuclear bunker It was meant to be a refuge for VIPs

if there was a nuclear war. Now, it could be yours,

as Will Leitch reports. for sale, three acres of cold War

history sitting in an industrial estate outside Ballymena. This is

what is on offer, opened in 1990, one of 1600 built across the UK from

the 1950s. This regional Government nuclear

bunker was finished just after the Berlin Wall came down. By then,

global politics had changed. If you buy it, you could put it to

commercial use, or make a very unusual private residence with one

heck of a front door. There are three blast doors, thick

and airtight. The bunker was to be home to over 200 people, VIPs and

support staff. It has its own dormitories. The bedding is still

waiting for its first use. Plenty of power for the well-stocked kitchen

which comes ready with tinned food from another era. There are several

ideas for putting the site to use. We're not ruling anything out. The

film industry in Northern Ireland, secure data storage, even a museum.

There are examples throughout the UK where they have converted older

bunkers into museums, mainly because it has original fixtures and

fittings. And residential use. People could live in it. One

drawback, there might be a map like this somewhere in the former Soviet

bloc with this bunker marked on it. And Ireland's rugby team has been

hit by injury to one of its players, ahead of the start

of the Six Nations Leinster's Luke Fitzgerald is set

to miss the tournament with a knee injury, as Ireland aim for a third

successive Six Nations title. Fitzgerald will be out

for up to eight weeks, and joins Tommy Bowe,

Peter O'Mahony and Iain Henderson It is just doing an attacking drill

at the Aviva at the opening session, his foot got caught in the grass and

twisted his knee. Fairly innocuous but very unfortunate and unlucky to

be out of the Six Nations. He was very upset and feared the worst.

He has had a very good run, injury wise, since the end of last season.

A great World Cup. Flying for Leinster up until the opening

session on Friday. One of those things, very unfortunate.

Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke, and Graeme McDowell are all

in Dubai, to compete in the Desert Classic tournament

For Clarke, in particular, this is an important season.

He'll captain Europe against the USA in the Ryder Cup later this year.

And, today, he told Stephen Watson how he's been seeking advice

from an interesting source, the Ulster Rugby team.

Having fun in the Middle East son. But, for Darren Clarke, the serious

business of the Ryder Cup is never far from his thoughts. He is

determined his preparation for the autumn event will be perfect. As

part of his meticulous planning, he has been to see the Ulster rugby

captain Rory Best and director for some advice.

Dispense a bit of time with layers and the backroom team, and Rory as

well, picking their brains. It was great, I enjoyed it. I am a huge

rugby fan. To see how they prepare for big matches was an eye-opener

and something I will learn from. One golfer hoping the Ryder Cup is

on his horizon is Graeme McDowell. The only European player to have

automatically qualified for the last four. After finishing 2015 on a

tournament high in Mexico, he is now practising hard on being on the

European team once more. Of course I want to be part of the

experience. Motivation is 100%. A lot of reflection last year when I

wasn't playing well. We're dedicating myself to the game, doing

what I want to do. I love it. Just a case of making sure I played as well

as I know I can play. He also hasn't given up hope of

qualifying for the Olympics this summer when golf returns to the

Olympic Games in an even busier than usual year for our golfing stars.

Linfield have the chance to go second in the Danskebank Premiership

We'll have the result of that match, and Carrick versus Glenavon,

Still pretty windy but Henry delivered 75 mile an hour gusts

yesterday. Some were contending with the disruptive wins but others were

being treated to sightings of this rare and beautiful clouds high up in

the stratosphere with an iridescent Mother-Of-Pearl Trophy appearance. A

couple of the many photographs that have been sent in, thank you.

Storm Henry is heading to Scandinavia. Not as Wendy but plenty

of ice bars packed in -- windy. We do get a squeeze again so we are

likely to see those winds picked up, 30 miles an hour around the coast,

as a band of rain, sleet and snow moves south, settling on the hill

tops. Temperatures are close to freezing. Likely to become quite

icy, ice warnings are in place. Through the night, that sleet and

snow moves southwards. As it clears, the winds will ease.

Temperatures might creep up a little. That means snow and ice will

become patchy. We need to content the Sun ice

tomorrow morning in the rush hour. Then, is bright and breezy day.

Still a few showers from the north-west in the morning.

Still a line of showers moving through in the afternoon but

probably more dry. Some sunshine but not particularly warm in the breeze,

temperatures of seven Celsius. The cloud will gather in the

afternoon, spells of rain moving in towards the west. They could

initially fall as snow over the hilltops tomorrow evening. A wet and

windy night, much milder, temperatures actually rising.

A mild day on Thursday. Breezy and cloudy, with patchy rain. Wet and

windy weather to come on Friday. Alex summary is at 10:30pm on BBC

One. You can always keep in contact with the programme on our Facebook

page and we are on Twitter. From BBC Newsline, enjoy the rest of your

evening, thank you for watching. Goodbye.