01/01/2017 BBC Newsline

A man's been attacked with an iron bar during a break-in

An armed gang targeted the victim's home in Glenarm last night,

A lucky escape, these holes in the front door were caused by men

wielding a sledgehammer. They were ransacking the house when they were

disturbed by the homeowner as he arrived back at just after 11pm last

night. Their victim did not want to appear on camera but he described

how they told him to get back and hit him on the shoulder with a

weapon. He feared they would hit him on the head and believes he is lucky

not to have been more seriously injured. The men made off in a blue

Volkswagen. It was stolen from a house in the Rectory Road area

earlier and was found later burnt out. Police say it is linked to

another attempted robbery and they have appealed for anyone with

information to contact them. A number of people have been

threatened by a gang armed with The men forced their way

into a house in Burneys Mews before No-one was injured but the occupants

of the house were left shaken. The police say nothing was stolen

during the incident. The Archbishop of Dublin,

Diarmuid Martin, has condemned those in the drugs trade and said that

gangland violence must stop. During a World Day of Peace mass

in Dublin, Archbishop Martin said there was a dangerous culture

of violence in Ireland He said that the violence among drug

barons in the city had There were sixteen gangland

murders last year. The fundamental problem is this

nasty, salt death, which is the drug' trade and people are feeling

that to keep their business they have every right to kill and above

all the real victims are those young people who go on drugs and

particularly vulnerable young people.

The mother of Pogues singer Shane MacGowan has died in a car

Therese MacGowan, who was aged in her 80s, died after her vehicle

hit a wall near Silvermines shortly before 3AM this afternoon.

hit a wall near Silvermines shortly before 3pm this afternoon.

Now, reading out loud is part and parcel of this job,

but for some children, it's a terrifying prospect.

One school in County Down has taken a novel approach

Louise Cullen went along to find out more.

These listeners have many attributes. Good girl. Pause,

whiskers and a tail probably aren't the first that spring to mind. From

when she was a young dog she had a placid nature and she loves being

with people and especially children and I think she even picks up, you

know, if you are feeling a bit down or things like that she will come

over to you and I think she picks up on how the children are feeling as

well, which is lovely. They stop and look at all... She might not look

like she is working hard but the teachers believed she is. Re-search

has shown that reading with dogs is a way to help children who might be

reluctant and to give them a confidence of reading to the dog and

dog obviously will not judge the child for any mistakes they make and

it is also a novelty for the children as well pull stop a novelty

it may be but they are already seeing results. Sometimes I feel

scared reading out to people but I feel good reading to the dog. It

gives me confidence. I don't get nervous with that dog. Why is that?

Because she sits and listens. They seem just a bit more self-assured

some of the children are nervous reading aloud but reading to the dog

is very comforting and it is a lovely environment where they are

not intimidated in anyway. And as all dog stories should, this one

ends with a sleep. Hundreds of spectators lined

the harbour at Carnlough today as hardy souls took a New Year's Day

plunge to raise money for charity. The event was first held more

than four decades ago. Today the water temperature

was a not quite balmy 10 degrees. It has been a fine start for many of

us to the New Year and it will be called the night. It could be icy in

places. Especially in the north and west. A warning has been issued for

icy roads and there will be a widespread frost. If you are still

on your holiday this week, not a bad week at all. Dry and cold, Chile,

but some frost and ice at night-time. It is not ready until

the end of the week that things start to turn more unsettled.

Tomorrow morning probably the fastest of the week. A widespread

frost but lots of bright but whether in the day. You just need to wrap up

warm. A risk of ice in places, just bear that in mind if you are on the

road tomorrow morning. And icy start for much of northern Britain, part

of the Republic, too, with some frost but lots of fine, crisp

sunshine to come. Some wintry showers across the North West of

Scotland but one or two of those will affect parts of the north coast

as well and there will be that chilly breeze coming in off the sea.

Temperature is not much higher than six or seven Celsius. It could be

called again tomorrow night and some ice on Tuesday morning. Otherwise,

not a bad day. It will be as funny, still lots of right weather, some

patchy rain across heart of Scotland. A lot of dry weather on

Wednesday, two, just the odd shower in the West. Later on Thursday

things will start to deteriorate from the West and an Atlantic sister

moved in, which will bring wet and windy weather but probably not until

after dark. Between now and then, lots of dry weather ahead.

Our next BBC Newsline bulletin is at 1.15pm tomorrow afternoon.

Until then you can keep up to date with local news on BBC Radio Ulster

or on the local news online service From everyone on the BBC