01/04/2016 BBC Newsline

The headlines on BBC Newsline: A new national minimum wage means

a pay rise for nearly 100,000 workers here but is it

We may need to shorten the working then lose staff.

We hear from the boy caught up in the CS spray incident

at an Orange Order march while an officer on duty

at the parade is forced to leave his home.

A Dungannon woman jailed for drug smuggling in Peru

Also in the programme: Dopey Dick, the whale who made headlines

when he visited the River Foyle in the 1970s, is found

Ulster face league leaders Connacht in the Pro12 and only a win will do.

And the weather this weekend is all about the movement

I'll be tracking its progress with a full forecast

Tens of thousands of low-paid workers in Northern Ireland

could see a bit more in their pay packets from today

with the introduction of a national living wage.

It's a move that was announced in last year's budget.

The new ?7.20 an hour rate is for workers aged 25

and above and represents a 50p uplift on the minimum wage.

Economists suggest it could boost the salaries of at least 95,000 full

Its impact will be felt most in the hospitality,

Our business correspondent, Julian O'Neill, has more.

The pace Weidner will be felt in this small bakery and in many other

businesses. Good news on the shop floor but there is concern and this

company is not alone in wondering how it will afford what is a

compulsory rise. We may have to shorten the working day and we may

need to lose staff. But it's very difficult. Where did we get extra

money from? Catherine is a cleaner and one of tens of thousands of

workers who will benefit from a rising wages. She has two jobs and

says this increase does not make up for years of poor pay. You are

already playing catch up anyway so it will not make a big impact and

anybody working 30 hours and getting ?15 a week, what does that get you?

Not much. The local hospitality sector will see the greatest impact,

one in three employees in this part of the labour force will move to the

new rate. This Belfast hotel is part of a larger operation with 600 staff

on its payroll. Costs are going up so it is only

further our staff are rewarded appropriately but it does have an

impact on our business. The financial impact on our sister in

hundred thousand pounds a year the union organised event demanding an

even higher hourly raise was barely noticeable. Pay levels here are

among the lowest in the UK and today will not alter that. Even with this

boost to so many wage packets. Our economics and business editor,

John Campbell, is with me. Julian was telling us

about hospitality. Let's consider the care sector

and the impact on it. Low pay is pervasive and the care

sector. Almost all workers who look after elderly people are on the

minimum wage so this policy will have a big effect on that sector.

There are lots of different providers. But there is only one

customer, which is the state, the Department of Health. What providers

have been saying is, we will need more money from Hugh said that we

can pay our workers more. The residential homes are getting a 5%

uplift in what they're being paid and that should just about cover the

impact of this policy. However, there will be issues in terms of

domiciliary care, looking after people in their own homes, and a

representative in the industry told me about the issues. I have only had

one indication that they are the annual tariff by 5%. There is a need

to increase the reach by 7.5% to make the national living wage so

there will be a major shortfall. At the minute, I can see that services

will have to review the services, whether they are sustainable. Only

one health trust has decided what they would do in terms of the amount

they paid for this domiciliary care so the other trusts may have a more

generous settlement, the executive may decide they need to put more

money into the sector, but this is one area to watch. You could have

problems developing quickly in terms of the National boy living wage.

What's the potential overall impact on jobs?

When this policy was first announced, DOB said it could cost

60,000 jobs by 2020, either jobs not created or jobs lost. The PWC have

crunched the numbers and say could cost between 2000 and 4000 jobs say

by 2020. That's something to keep a close on.

More money in people's pockets - how does that affect living

It is good news for people who do the hardest work for the least

rewards but we need to look at the whole gamut of government policy

because although wages are going up, the people who are getting in work

benefits, it will become universal credits, that will get less generous

over the coming years. Some people may gain in wages but will lose more

in terms of those in work benefits so people could actually end up

feeling worse off over the next four or five years.

You're watching BBC Newsline and still to come on the programme:

Dopey Dick, the whale who made headlines when he visited

the River Foyle in the 1970s, and he's still entertaining

A senior police officer has said those who put the details

of a serving officer on social media were reckless and dangerous

The officer was on duty on the Ormeau Road in South Belfast

on Easter Tuesday when CS spray was used at a junior Orange parade.

Today, a 12-year-old boy affected by the spray described

Sitting beside his dad, this is the child who says he was told he was

lucky not to have lost his eyesight after an incident involving the use

of CS spray. He was appearing at a news conference organised by the

Progressive Unionist party. He was with his grandad taking part in the

junior Orange parade. Scuffles broke out during the return leg of the

parade, involving bandsmen and police officers. That is when CS

spray was used. I felt in my face and eyes, it started stinging and

burning. It hurt me. We rang the hospital and they told me to go to

the doctor. They said I was lucky I did not lose my site. The PS and I

say this stage they did not accept the offers made a mistake. We regret

that young people have been caught up with the effect of CS spray. That

would never have been our intention. But officers believed they needed to

defend themselves, CS spray was used, and it is now for the police

ombudsman to determine whether the use of that spray was appropriate.

The 12-year-old's dad would like to continue with the band despite what

happened. I am concerned. It has never happened before. I'm in the

band 23 years. I wouldn't want it to happen again, no matter where they

come from. As for the police man, he has had to move house after his

photograph, name and address appeared on social media. I have

been calling people to take action. Putting police officers's personal

details on social media is irresponsible in the extreme. It's

unforgivable. On the day, 47 recruits graduated, the police say

their job is to protect everyone entry everyone the same. Not

everyone agrees. A Dungannon woman serving time

in a Peruvian jail for drug smuggling has been

released on parole. Michaela McCollum was arrested

with another woman at Lima Airport A court will now determine

when she will be eligible to return Michaela McCollum was arrested

trying to leave the room with cocaine worth ?1.5 million. With

her, Melissa Reid from Glasgow. They both initially said they had been

coerced but later pleaded guilty to drug smuggling. In December 2013,

they were jailed for six years and a month is that yesterday evening, two

years into the sentence, Michaela McCollum was released from prison.

It followed a successful application for parole. Her solicitor previously

described conditions in the Peruvian jail is horrendous. Attempts will be

made to transfer her to a prison in Northern Ireland. This will no

longer be necessary. Her incarceration is now over but it

will still be up to a Peruvian court to decide the conditions of her

release, including when she can return home.

The Sports Minister has written to staff at Sport NI,

assuring them their complaints about bullying and discrimination

It's believed more than 30 members of staff have complained

As BBC Newsline's Mark Simpson reports, it's the latest in a series

of problems to hit the organisation which is the leading public body

What is going on inside Sport NI which-macro to try to find out, the

Sports Minister said in a team of officials to try to talk to staff.

80% agreed to talk. What they had to say was sent back to the Minister.

Today she admitted the findings were shocking. A third of staff have

alleged bullying, discrimination, harassment and they have felt

humiliated. That is damning on anyone's doorstep. What I have done

is I have appointed a new interim chair and vice-chair. I have asked

the head of the civil service to bring in additional civil servants

to give support to board members on the board. The board keeps changing.

Nine members resigned last summer. More than half of the board. At the

time, the chair and vice-chair decided to stay. Now they have

stepped down. In a statement, Brian Henning said he had given Sport NI

total commitment, integrity and passion. He was not available for

interview today. As well as changes in the board, the chief executive

was suspended last year in spite of her insistence she had done nothing

wrong. It's still not known when her situation will be resolved. For the

staff at Sport NI, these are uncertain times. Yesterday the

minister wrote to them. This is a copy of the internal letter. In it

she insisted all the problems within the organisation are being

addressed. She also pledged to meet and talk to staff. That meeting is

expected to take pay cuts on Monday. Action is taken but the problems run

deeper and they won't be solved overnight.

Still to come on the programme: Motorcycle legend Giacomo Agostini

gets the chance to watch some rare footage of his victory

at the Ulster Grand Prix almost 50 years ago.

A former DUP councillor who fraudulently claimed almost

?9,000 for heating oil from the Assembly has been given

Bill Irwin from Newbuildings outside Londonderry admitted more

Our North West reporter, Keiron Tourish, was in the court.

55-year-old Bill Irwin admitted 23 charges of making a full Saqlain to

the Assembly for heating of expenditure between March 2009 and

February 20 14. The fraud involved having heating or delivered to his

home but it was invoiced by the DUP constituency office. A prosecution

lawyer said it was paid for out of the public purse to the Assembly.

The total involved was ?8,939. The fraud came to light after BBC

Spotlight made Freedom of information requests about expenses

and heating costs. Former DUP MLA and assembly Speaker became

suspicious about oil claims and contacted the Assembly. He informed

the PSN is who launched an investigation. A defence barrister

said Bill Irwin took the heating oil because he believed he was owed

expenses from the DUP for working from home and travelling. He

accepted that his actions were wholly wrong and in complete

contrast to his previous good character. The judge said he was

guilty of a gross breach of trust and sentencing to six months in jail

suspended for years. If you're of a certain age,

you may remember this killer whale that took up residence in

the River Foyle for a week in 1977. You can imagine Dopey Dick,

as he was named, attracted Well, believe it or not,

he's alive and well and scientists BBC Scotland's environment

correspondent, David Scotland's West Coast. These waters

off into an extraordinary population of killer whales known as the West

Coast community. They are bigger than the killer whales and they are

something of a mystery. For anyone who wants to discover more about

Scotland's unique population of killer whales, the best place to

start is right here on the Isle of war. The killer whales which make up

the West Coast community can be individually identified. Their

dorsal fins of the giveaway. Floppy and is the most distinctive and

lives up to his name. Then there is Moneypenny with the tallest dorsal

fin of all the females and John Coe with an obvious Nick and his fin.

The River Commissioners set up to date to direct Dopey Dick to the

sea. That explains how scientists have managed to identify this animal

which achieved celebrity status in Northern Ireland in 1977. This is

Comet, node to you as Comet as Dopey Dick. That is the nickname given at

the time. There are photographs and footage taken which have allowed us

to match the pictures of this individual who is well known from

the catalogue. You can tell he was an adult male back then. He is still

going so we reckon he's at least 50 years old. These animals may be

unique but they are also in trouble. Only eight remain. No one knows for

sure what they have stopped breeding. Pollution may be a factor.

The killer whales of the West Coast are facing the threat of extinction

in our lifetime. I wonder why you got the name of

Dopey Dick? Sport and Ulster's rugby players

are facing a very important match Thomas Niblock is here

and the opponents are Connacht! Really big game. They don't come

much bigger. November 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected as US President.

November 1960 - John Kennedy was elected as US President,

Diego Maradonna was born and it was the last time Connacht

But the class of 2016 is a different Connacht side.

They're top of the Pro12 and confident of success.

It's a massive game for both sides and Gavin Andrews is at

Conditions could well be a factor as Ulster aim to keep their play-off

hopes alive. Alongside me, Tony. Not exactly an eye for free-flowing

rugby. It's pretty atrocious, it's raining heavily but the pitch looks

in good condition. Some big players back for Ulster tonight. It's

massive. Rory Best will hopefully lead from the front. The conditions.

A lot of injuries and a young player for Connor. We have lost big

players. If you back up, we have questions to be asked of Connacht.

Plenty of experience. A long time since they had been up here, the

last time they won was the 1960s. Hasta favours? I would. Connacht

Denton to do all that well here. Positivity is needed not negativity.

Thanks for your time. Kick-off here is 7:35pm and live coverage is on

BBC Two from 7:30pm. It's Irish Cup semifinal weekend

with Crusaders taking on Glenavon The North Belfast side

are still on for the league and cup double and we have live radio

commentary on BBC Radio Tomorrow's second semifinal sees

Linfield take on this year's giant But the Minnows have a fundamental

problem going into the biggest game in their club history -

they don't have a goalkeeper! They have been this year's surprise

package and Irish Cup. But Lurgan Celtic headed towards a semifinal

without a recognised goalkeeper. The club had rearranged league game this

week to free up the suspended first choice. After being given permission

to play him, that was then withdrawn. Also the back-up keeper

has a broken wrist so that left us in difficulties. We are aggrieved.

But we're still looking forward to the Irish Cup. We are still

positive, we still go there, we do not want to feel sorry for

ourselves. Less than 24 hours before kick-off, the manager is still

reviewing his options. Tactically, he also has little choice. There's

no point in time to keep the scoreline. The boys are not in a

frame of mind. Let's have a go and see what they are made of. We're

proud of what we have achieved so far are getting past the

quarterfinals and into the semis. Whatever comes our way, they will

just have to take it. If Lurgan Celtic without a recognised

goalkeeper can't beat Linfield, that really would be a cup fairy tale.

PJ O'Mullan has decided to step down from his post

The former Loughgiel coach managed Antrim for just five competitive

games in the National League - a disappointing campaign

in which they failed to gain promotion back up to Division 1.

A big weekend ahead also in Gaelic Football.

In tomorrow's Hogan Cup Final, St Patrick's Maghera from Derry

will take on St Brendan's Killarney from Kerry at Croke Park

while Sunday will see the final round of matches

in Gaelic Football's Allianz National League with plenty

still to be decided across all four divisions.

In Division 1, Donegal will look to secure a semifinal place

but they face a Monaghan side currently battling to avoid

relegation from the top tier while in Division 2,

a similar fate could await Armagh, who face Derry, or perhaps

There's plenty of permutations and full live coverage

on BBC Radio Ulster on Sunday from 1:30pm.

Now, back in the 1960s and 70s, he was one of the world's most

Italian Giacamo Agostini created quite a stir when he came to compete

He won the World Championship an incredible 15 times.

Recently, Agostini was back in Northern Ireland,

and we gave him on a trip down memory lane.

With the famous motorsport commentator ringing in his ears,

Giacomo Agostini relived his Ulster Grand Prix victory for the first

time in almost 50 years. You have just been watching some of the

footage from 1968. What are your memories from back then? Fantastic.

It's very dangerous track but when you win, it's different than the

other one because when you win here, it's because everything is perfect,

the bike, the writers. It is a long circuit. Our super Stardust bought

back then, he says he lost the passion for bikes in Northern

Ireland. Many years I don't come to Ireland, so there are a lot of

people who love motorcycling. I remember there were many fans, many

people who love motorcycling. I also always had a good time here. As he

did on this occasion with a DVD of his archive to take home from BBC

newsline. Some fabulous old archive

there of Giacamo Agostini Probably fair to say

he's a bit of a legend. Good evening. What a difference 24

hours makes. Yesterday I was a year younger and today, Rodney Harris was

out taking beautiful pictures of the sunset and banker. Elsewhere,

horrible! That rain coming down and it has all been driven by an area of

low pressure sitting out in the Atlantic and this front has been

sacked over is pretty much throughout the daylight hours. It

syncs away this evening but it is only saying farewell not goodbye. It

will be back. Let's look at some of the detail. That rain moves at south

and east but it does not go far. Behind it, colder air and that will

help temperatures get down to two or three degrees. That rain has not

moved of too far. Overnight, it sits out over the Irish Sea, ready to

make a return tomorrow morning. We start the day on a reasonably dry

note. It will not take long for that rain to return and take the day down

hill. The chance of mist and fog to begin the day but the skies will

cloud over and done that rain moves in, pushing north and west as we go

through the day. Temperatures will feel chilly too so single figures.

Eight or 9 degrees and the rainbow moving to take the edge of the day.

It goes downhill as we had to Saturday. Very little chance of

seeing a beautiful sunset like this. The good news is that through the

day on Sunday, things will start to improve. A few remnants of that

front around so showers to begin. They push off to the north and

finally, we are into some of that warmer air. Tom temperatures on

Sunday of 11 or 12 degrees and decent spells of dry and bright

weather. That improving picture is one that continues as we head into

the start of next week as well. It gets warmer. It stays reasonably

cloudy. All I want for my birthday is in Ulster win tonight. Fingers

crossed for that. We haven't had one in Belfast since 1960. Happy

birthday! You can also keep in contact with us

via Facebook and Twitter. Grabbing a lot of attention are

pictures of six lambs on our Facebook page in County Tyrone.