27/12/2016 BBC Newsline

Good evening and welcome to BBC Newsline.

A man has died following a crash on the M2 near

A section of the motorway was closed in both directions

In a separate incident a pedestrian is in a critical condition

after he was hit by a vehicle in Crossmaglen this morning.

Several cars were involved in this serious crash.

It led to the closure of the motorway in both directions

The collision took place half a mile from the Templepatrick offslip.

The 30-year-old driver of a Seat Ibiza lost his life.

Two other men were hurt but their injuries aren't thought

The collision which led to the closure of this major road

Police have appealed for anyone who witnessed it to come forward.

Road closures were also in place in Crossmaglen this morning

A pedestrian was struck by a car in the main square.

The man, who's in his 20s, is in a critical condition.

Police have recovered a car they believe was involved.

A man is seriously ill after he was stabbed in the back

The incident happened after an altercation near the town

The police say a family group were chased by others

A man has been rescued after falling onto rocks while playing

Emergency services were called to the scene in Ardglass at lunchtime.

The coastguard helicopter flew him to the Royal Hospital in Belfast,

where his injuries are not thought to be serious.

It was all change in education in 2016, with DUP ministers taking

over responsibility for both schools and universities.

As our education correspondent, Robbie Meredith, reports,

they made some big decisions but face tough choices over

Following the Assembly elections in May, Peter Weir became the first DUP

Education Minister says the Assembly was re-established nearly two

decades ago. Almost immediately,

he changed his Sinn Fein predecessor's policy in the transfer

tests, allowing primary schools The tests were based around

where the curriculum is anyway There has always been

the option to opt in or out. Everyone wants the best

for their children but the best and a shared future for everybody

so you don't have a system of haves Mr Weir also came under pressure

from the teaching unions over pay. The union strapped in November and

plans more stoppages in the New Year. -- abstract.

He responded by calling the striking action futile.

Meanwhile, the education authority ran into controversy

over its decision to cut hours from pupils in bursaries,

a move opposed by some parents, principals and the former

They need to make sure they are providing the proper

facilities for young people's educational needs.

There was plenty to celebrate with rises in GCSE and A-level

results and primary school pupils declared the best in Europe

At the other end of the education scale, more young people

from Northern Ireland have entered university this year

And though a minority headed off across the Irish Sea.

But paying for their education remains a problem.

A document from Queens obtained by the BBC called for significant

rises in government funding for student tuition fees.

Like his school counterpart, the DUP Universities Minister Simon Hamilton

has plenty in his injury in the New Year.

Parents who bought their children internet devices at Christmas

are being urged to talk to them about online safety.

It's after Childline took more than 150 calls about online

The charity says it's vital for parents to talk to children

about being safe online, spotting the signs of inappropriate

Ireland's oldest citizen has died at the age of 108.

Sarah Clancy from Connemara in County Galway was born in May 1908.

She spent much of her life in the US before returning home in 1988.

Now just time to see what the weather has in store.

Some decent wintry weather and dry weather because of high pressure in

charge, keeping the Atlantic weather fronts at bay. But we're on the

periphery of that high pressure with those isobars gathering a little

through tonight so the breeze will be picking up in a few spots,

particularly towards the north-west and more cloud he also and it might

bring the odd spot of drizzle but generally it is a dry night and

still fairly clear towards the east and south-east and this is where we

shall see the lowest temperatures getting close to

freezing in some rural areas giving us a touch of frost. A chilly start

tomorrow for some but a decent day with dry, bright weather and if you

are in the North and West, breezy and we might start with some cloud.

The best hazy sunshine likely to be towards East. That band of cloud and

brisk wind extends into Scotland with drizzle for Northern and

western parts but other than that a lot of dry weather, brightening up

across the Republic, much of England and Wales after a frosty start but

where we have had fog overnight some of that could be slow to clear and

quite stubborn and could affect some airports and it will also feel quite

cold by that lingers but in the sunshine, 7-9 . Northern Ireland for

the afternoon, dry, bright and even the north and west seeing the cloud

breaking up to give bright spells and highs of around seven or 8

degrees. Through the rest of the week, a lot of cloud in the

forecast, as south-westerly breeze but mainly dry and temperatures

rising a little. Our next BBC Newsline

is at 6.25am in the morning You can also keep updated

with News Online.