21/04/2016 BBC Newsline


21/04/2016

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This is BBC Newsline. The headlines this Thursday evening:

:00:15.:00:17.

The family of murder victim Michael McGibbon are told

:00:18.:00:20.

the community is standing strong with them.

:00:21.:00:23.

There's to be an independent inquiry into the disputes that have

:00:24.:00:26.

We ask why more students from Northern Ireland are choosing

:00:27.:00:32.

to study at universities in the Republic.

:00:33.:00:35.

Celebrating the Queen's birthday, at the party where you had to be

:00:36.:00:39.

I think she's the best one that has been on the throne for a long time.

:00:40.:00:51.

One year on since work started at upgrading the A26 in County Antrim,

:00:52.:01:03.

M here to find out how it's been progressing with a birds eye view of

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the road scheme. From Kerry to Bangor in County Down

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- Roger Casement remembered We hit 17 degrees today but tomorrow

:01:07.:01:19.

it will be colder. I'll have the details later.

:01:20.:01:21.

A priest has assured a grieving family that they don't stand alone

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against "those who live in the shadows".

:01:27.:01:28.

He was speaking at the funeral of 33-year-old Michael McGibbon,

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murdered in a paramilitary-style shooting in an alleyway

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near his home in North Belfast on Friday night.

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The words most important in the life and the family

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of 33-year-old Michael McGibbon - husband, daddy, father, son.

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At Holy Cross, joined by more than 800 mourners,

:02:05.:02:07.

Joanne McGibbon stood with her four children - Seana, Shea,

:02:08.:02:11.

Michaela, Cory-Leigh - and helped them begin the process

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Inside, reassurance that in their grief after the murder,

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the family of Michael McGibbon do not stand alone.

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vast majority of people here in Ardoyne and beyond this parish are

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with them, standing strong with them against those who live in the

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shadows and emerge from the shadows to perpetrate foul deeds which

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deprived a wife of her husband, children of their daddy, a father of

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his son and siblings of a brother. Children from Holy Cross Boys'

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School played and sang, school friends of eight-year-old

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Shea. The death of Michael McGivern marks

:03:08.:03:28.

another block on the road to lasting peace and reconciliation. Thank God

:03:29.:03:37.

for that piece that we had, but remember it is very fragile and

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needs to be nurtured. As the family moved

:03:41.:03:42.

on to the committal in Carnmoney, they took with them the public

:03:43.:03:44.

support of a community bound The Education Minister John O'Dowd

:03:45.:03:47.

has ordered an independent investigation into events

:03:48.:03:56.

at De La Salle College in Belfast. There have been ongoing industrial

:03:57.:04:00.

problems at the college Our education correspondent

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Robbie Meredith is with me. This is a very unusual move. It has

:04:04.:04:19.

been a troubled school recently with disputes between some teaching staff

:04:20.:04:23.

and senior management, periods were a third of teaching staff or off

:04:24.:04:28.

sick and that has had a knock-on effect for pupils, some preparing

:04:29.:04:31.

for exams have helped to prepare with subdued teachers and parents

:04:32.:04:37.

protested at the gate. John O'Dowd was reluctant to sanction an

:04:38.:04:42.

investigation but says he has received new information to take

:04:43.:04:43.

that step. So do we know what form

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the investigation will take? It will look at things including

:04:45.:04:51.

staff relationships, senior leadership, governance in the school

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but we do not know who will head it, although the minister says he wants

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to complete it by early summer. You have been looking at University

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admissions and news that more students from Northern Ireland

:05:07.:05:12.

choose to study in the site. Irish universities give A-level students

:05:13.:05:14.

here points depending on what grades they get. It was difficult for

:05:15.:05:19.

students doing three A-levels to get into popular courses because the

:05:20.:05:24.

points were so low, but those points have not risen and that has given

:05:25.:05:27.

rise to a rise in applications. The students are planning their

:05:28.:05:42.

university future and all are looking south. I need to a stars

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that I think people have a preconception it is almost

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impossible to get in downside. The new A-level points system

:05:51.:06:09.

is already having an impact - so far this year 1,718 school pupils

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from Northern Ireland have applied to study

:06:13.:06:14.

at universities in the Republic. Pupils are now saying they have a

:06:15.:06:22.

chance to get into high-end courses like law, medicine that would have

:06:23.:06:27.

been beyond the reach of students on three A-levels. Northern Irish

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students make up a tiny proportion of students in the Republic so is it

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important that more of her pupils head across the to study?

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Academics from Trinity College Dublin

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were in Lisburn today to appeal to local teachers for more

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It benefits everybody that we have people from all traditions coming to

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the University, it is beneficial for us as a university and for our

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students from all over the world. And with yearly tuition fees

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in the Republic substantially lower at 3,000 euro a year,

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it's expected that more local pupils Events have been taking place

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across Northern Ireland today There was a 21-gun salute

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at Hillsborough Castle and as BBC Newsline's Mark Simpson reports,

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some people even older than the Queen celebrated

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with a tea party. To be invited to this

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celebration in East Belfast, And anyone aged 100

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was particularly welcome. I was ten when she was born. Oh,

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yes. I think she is the best one that has come on the throne for a

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long time. Everybody loves her. I don't think she has ever been silly.

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She is never silly. I always said the Queen got married before me and

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then I had my son but now I cannot keep up with her. In Magherafelt,

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Louisa Mickey is a special connection with the Queen. She was

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also born this day 90 years ago. I feel proud to be this page and lucky

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as well, and thank God that he has spared me. In recent years the Queen

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has become involved in the peace process, so on the Falls Road in

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Belfast, have attitudes towards her change? What do you think of the

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Queen? Nothing wrong with her, she does us no harm. Do you care that

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the Queen is 90 today? No, my granny was 70 two weeks ago, does anybody

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care about that? Fair play to her. Happy birthday. I shouldn't say that

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on the Falls Road but happy birthday! She's got to 90, fair play

:09:16.:09:21.

to her but as Irish Republican Army we would like to see her gone. Have

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you warm to her more given some of the jesters G has made? Very much

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so. The shank and falls need to come together and she set the example I

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shaking hands with Martin McGuinness. -- with Martin

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McGuinness. A 21 gun salute was held at Hillsborough Castle. She may now

:09:45.:09:50.

be entering her 10th decade but she is likely to be back here soon.

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We will have more on that before the end of the programme. Still to

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come... Northern Ireland's booming film

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industry - work starts The Liberal Democrat peer

:10:01.:10:02.

who was responsible for liberalising abortion law in Britain says it's

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ridiculous that Northern Ireland continues to operate under

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the 1861 legislation. He was speaking in an interview

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for The View tonight. Our health correspondent

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Marie-Louise Connolly By introducing the 1967

:10:22.:10:23.

Abortion Act to Britain, Lord David Steel brought

:10:24.:10:30.

the Victorian Legislation But that doesn't apply to Northern

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Ireland. Instead we continue to operate under

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the 1861 legislation. This is it, written on vellum

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and stored in the archives The Liberal Democrat peer says

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the legislation is outdated I think we have to face up to the

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fact that the law in Northern Ireland is simply ridiculous, 1861,

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and it is time they came up at least as far as 1967 if not 2016. It is

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not unreasonable to ask that. Of course, others disagree,

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including Baroness Nuala O'Loan. You can see all of that,

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including inside the legislation vault, on The View

:11:21.:11:22.

tonight at 10:45pm. Work has started on what will be

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Northern Ireland's second The ?20 million project

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is being financed by Belfast Harbour and aims to be ready by the end

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of the year, as our business correspondent

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Julian O'Neill reports. Planning permission for the studios

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was obtained in February Builders are on site, aiming

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to complete the project by December. The studio complex is off the M2

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on the fringes of Belfast Docks in a redevelopment area known

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as Giant's Park. Belfast Harbour is funding

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the scheme and has consulted with film companies

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on the building's This project will clearly make

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Northern Ireland number two in Europe in terms of film location,

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number two only to the south-east of England, which is dominated by names

:12:21.:12:21.

such as Pinewood. Northern Ireland is developing

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a reputation as a cost-effective venue for major film

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and TV productions. Demand for specialist space

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is strong, with the only other major venue in Titanic Quarter usually

:12:28.:12:30.

tied up doing HBO's Game of Thrones. Belfast Harbour is seeking to

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capitalise on recent growth in the film sector, helped by grants and UK

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tax breaks, Belfast is on the movie map, supporting jobs and generating

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millions of pounds worth of spent by international production companies.

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We are talking to some of the major studios, there is some great

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interest at the way the studios work is due to what they call cancel

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booking, they are close to the first one of those, and then we firm up as

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we go along. Newry firm O'Hare and McGovern has

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been awarded the construction contract and it says the project

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will provide work for 200 people. Still to come... The colt of the

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Curlew was once common in wild places like this, it is rarely heard

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now but one woman is on a 500 mile odyssey to try to bring it back.

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The Green Party leader Steven Agnew says he will be disappointed

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if his party does not win three seats at

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Launching his party's 19-page manifesto,

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entitled Zero Waste Strategy for Northern Ireland,

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the Green Party leader said a vote for the Greens would

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Steven Agnew predicted success in May's election.

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If I'm honest, I'd be disappointed if we

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did not see at least three Green MLAs in the next Assembly.

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We are confident, we are right to be confident.

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We had a trebling of our membership, a doubling of our vote,

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it's now time to take that opportunity and get an increase in

:14:15.:14:17.

The Arlene Arkinson inquest has been told the decision to search this

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home of her sister Kathleen was prompted by hearsay. The information

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based on an overheard conversation was passed to police by an unnamed

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source that the senior investigating officer at the time described as

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sincere. Nothing was found in the search, which took faced two years

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after she disappeared in 1994. Counsel for the family put it to the

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constable that she could be as honest as the day is long but

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overhearing something you hear other peoples they does not vote for its

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credibility. Next, the latest on the upgrade

:15:02.:15:03.

of the A26 part of the main road It's being made into a dual

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carriageway and work began One year on, Donna has been on site

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to see how it's progressing. Strategically this is one of our

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most important roads, linking Belfast to the north coast and its

:15:20.:15:25.

popular tourist attractions. Every day 18,000 cars and lorries use this

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road and that number is growing all the time. This upgrade focuses on an

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eight kilometre stretch of the road and as you can see, the scheme runs

:15:35.:15:40.

between Blackford and the Ballycastle fork, closely following

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the existing road route. The development is aimed at improving

:15:47.:15:50.

congestion and safety, although there have been et al at his along

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this road. I have been speaking to the Project manager to see how it's

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progressing. It's a massive investment in this corridor, ?55

:16:02.:16:07.

million is great, currently we're on programme, we have hit challenges

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with the weather, a wet summer and winter and we are standing here

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today on a lovely draped and we will hope we get more of those and if we

:16:19.:16:25.

get more of those we will hopefully open earlier. One of the areas is

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lined with trees. What is happening to that part of the road. They were

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subject to debate as to whether we would keep believed them. They have

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deteriorated over the roads and only a small number of trees are still

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planted there but we decided to keep that feature and they will become

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rest areas where people can stop under the trees and enjoy that

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feature. Never mind the difficulties that scheme has encountered, let's

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hear about business in this area. How difficult will it be for your

:17:05.:17:10.

customers to access your business given this new dual carriageway that

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will bring traffic flying past you? It is hard to tell. You can see the

:17:15.:17:20.

visual impact of the construction on the site but conversations have

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continued. We now have what we believe are suitable access and

:17:25.:17:30.

accommodation works for the complex that we believe will not impinge on

:17:31.:17:36.

the businesses. Wesley Johnson, from a motorists's point of view, how

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will this new dual carriageway add to the motoring experience? There

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are almost 20,000 vehicles a day using this road, people travelling

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just a few feet from each other. People know what it's like when you

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get to the end of the dual carriageway and it gets more

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stressful, traffic slows down, but this new road will allow much more

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reliable sustained higher speeds and safer travelling with no right

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turns, no gaps in the central reservation, three sets of junctions

:18:13.:18:16.

with flyovers and slip roads and a much safer experience. The DRD says

:18:17.:18:24.

when this road is completed, that stretch of eight kilometres that

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normally takes ten minutes in the evening rush-hour will be five --

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had to five minutes. The road will be heated by this time next year.

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He was born in Dublin but always regarded himself as an Ulsterman.

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100 years ago today, Sir Roger Casement was arrested

:18:41.:18:42.

by British authorities as he returned to Ireland

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from Germany, where he'd been seeking support

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He was later hanged for treason at London's Pentonville Prison.

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His arrest at Banna Strand in County Kerry was marked today

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with a special ceremony, as Mervyn Jess reports.

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The Irish President was among those who gathered at Banna Strand

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near Tralee today to remember Sir Roger Casement, who was arrested

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shortly after coming ashore from a German U-boat

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He was later executed for treason and his part in the Irish rebellion,

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Years later, Casement's remains were returned to Ireland

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and buried in Dublin with full military honours.

:19:25.:19:26.

The Dublin-born Protestant grew up in County Antrim and was a former

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British diplomat who sympathised with the Irish nationalists.

:19:30.:19:32.

Through his life Roger Casement always thought of himself as an

:19:33.:19:40.

Ulster man. When he and a small number of friends, including Erskine

:19:41.:19:49.

Childers, took the initiative of the Kilcoo will don runnings in the

:19:50.:19:55.

summer of 1914, they had in mind the example of the Ulster volunteers who

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had imported tonnes from Germany a few months earlier. This World War I

:20:00.:20:07.

U-boat gun have been cited in bank for the best part of a century,

:20:08.:20:11.

given to the town in memory of a local sailor who won the VC, but it

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has a connection with another part of Irish history. It is from the

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German submarine which Lord Roger Casement back to Ireland from

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Germany. It is no coincidence that the U-boat which carried Roger

:20:27.:20:33.

Casement to Ireland, its gun was presented to a town in Ireland, and

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when I refer to Ireland I refer to it as it was before 1922, went

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everybody referred to it as Ireland. Today, Sir Roger Casement was

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remembered with a wreath laying near the place where he was arrested.

:20:53.:20:54.

The curlew was once common here and its call has long been

:20:55.:20:57.

associated with wild places like moors and mountains.

:20:58.:21:00.

But the bird has been in decline for years.

:21:01.:21:03.

Now a conservationist is walking 500 miles from Fermanagh to England's

:21:04.:21:07.

Our agriculture and environment correspondent Conor Macauley went to

:21:08.:21:13.

In her distinctive curlew-emblazoned jumper, I meet conservationist

:21:14.:21:22.

Mary Colwell at a Fermanagh wetland where the birds are known to nest.

:21:23.:21:28.

This kind of boggy place provides them with food and cover,

:21:29.:21:34.

but drainage schemes to improve farmland have seen habitat diminish

:21:35.:21:39.

and that's hammered numbers of this once-common bird of moor

:21:40.:21:41.

and mountain, with its evocative call.

:21:42.:21:50.

To raise awareness, Mary plans to walk 500 miles from Enniskillen

:21:51.:21:53.

to the east coast of England, through places

:21:54.:21:55.

I love the way they look, the long bill, it makes me laugh, it looks

:21:56.:22:12.

quite comical, and combine that with its call, which is evocative and

:22:13.:22:16.

beautiful, especially this time of year when they are breeding and you

:22:17.:22:21.

have a collection of characteristics which do something special for me.

:22:22.:22:24.

This area is managed to help the bird.

:22:25.:22:26.

And with just a couple of hundred breeding pairs left

:22:27.:22:28.

in Northern Ireland, they're badly in need of assistance.

:22:29.:22:30.

In the mid-1980s we know from survey work that there were about 5000

:22:31.:22:39.

pairs of Curlew in Northern Ireland and the most recent figures suggest

:22:40.:22:44.

we have something between 250 and just over 700 pairs. A big part of

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the problem Curlew 's face is that predators take their eggs and

:22:51.:22:55.

chicks. And this reserve a solar powered electric fence has been run

:22:56.:22:59.

around the perimeter to keep out foxes and badgers.

:23:00.:23:02.

It'll take Mary six weeks to complete her trek.

:23:03.:23:04.

She says she feels she must do something to help a bird

:23:05.:23:07.

Good luck to Mary on her walk. Let's get the weather. That's a very blue

:23:08.:23:29.

sky. You may be forgiven for thinking this was the Mediterranean

:23:30.:23:32.

but it is Belfast Lough scene from Green Island. Please keep your

:23:33.:23:38.

photos coming in. We have some fine evening sunshine but because of

:23:39.:23:41.

those clear skies it will turn chilly to night. Towns and cities

:23:42.:23:48.

should stay about four or 5 degrees but some countryside areas will be

:23:49.:23:52.

lower than that, which sets us up for a cool start on Friday but

:23:53.:23:55.

another fine day to look forward to, but it will be colder as we tried in

:23:56.:24:02.

arctic air, so not quite as warm but tomorrow morning a fine start, dry

:24:03.:24:08.

and sunny weather, winds are light and in the afternoon we hold onto

:24:09.:24:13.

sunshine although for coastal areas with northerly winds it will feel

:24:14.:24:17.

the pain. Today we hit 17 in Fermanagh, tomorrow we are likely to

:24:18.:24:23.

hit 11 or 12 at best, still above average. It is a north-south split

:24:24.:24:28.

tomorrow, rain scattered across the south coast of Ireland, into Wales

:24:29.:24:35.

and England, north of that sun dry weather, maybe some showers for

:24:36.:24:39.

Scotland but we will have plenty of dry and sunny weather in Northern

:24:40.:24:44.

Ireland. We end the week on a high note, sunshine tomorrow evening but

:24:45.:24:49.

a cold end to the day because of arctic air so tomorrow night it will

:24:50.:24:53.

turn chilly, many seeing temperatures falling to two or three

:24:54.:24:57.

but some countryside areas could see frost by Saturday morning. For

:24:58.:25:04.

Saturday itself there will be a fair amount of dry weather, cloudy at

:25:05.:25:08.

times with sunshine, the cloud could give some isolated showers, most of

:25:09.:25:14.

us stayed dry but quite cold, eight or nine the highs in some areas, ten

:25:15.:25:20.

or 11 inland and with northerly winds it will feel colder. Sunday

:25:21.:25:26.

and Monday we hold onto cold feeling conditions as arctic air stays with

:25:27.:25:31.

us but we can expect lengthy of dry weather, so don't put away the big

:25:32.:25:32.

coats just yet. Finally tonight, we'll leave

:25:33.:25:34.

you with a look back at some of the many visits the Queen has

:25:35.:25:37.

made to Northern Ireland over the years and her ground-breaking

:25:38.:25:40.

trip to the Republic. This city hall in Belfast is another

:25:41.:25:49.

scene of gaiety and enthusiasm as the Royal car approaches the

:25:50.:25:50.

building. You can also keep in contact with us

:25:51.:26:29.

via Facebook and Twitter. This is the story of the year

:26:30.:27:03.

that changed Ireland...

:27:04.:27:24.

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