:00:27. > :00:32.Welcome to the programme. The global superstars of pop have gone
:00:32. > :00:38.home after the European Music Awards, but there is so plenty of
:00:38. > :00:45.stock quality here. The St -- the leader of the SDLP tells us how you
:00:45. > :00:51.plans to make his party a power should -- powerhouse. I will link
:00:51. > :00:57.up with all interests in Stormont, in Dublin, in Westminster, and
:00:58. > :01:03.reassert the clout of the SDLP. During questions, at the Enterprise
:01:04. > :01:12.Minister gets upset by gas. We sit in a darkroom with a blanket over
:01:12. > :01:16.our heads and hope it all goes away. Has MTV exposure made any
:01:16. > :01:21.difference to Northern Ireland? Alan Clark, head of the tourist
:01:21. > :01:27.board, joins me. Either you cannot get enough of it, or you are sick
:01:27. > :01:32.to death hearing about it. Either way, the MTV awards left an
:01:32. > :01:36.impression on Belfast. Has Belfast left an impression of any of the
:01:36. > :01:41.stars they came here. It is beautiful. It is one of the
:01:41. > :01:47.country's you always want to go to, but you think you might want to go
:01:47. > :01:51.to the beach. I am glad that I came here. I love the accents! It is
:01:51. > :02:01.beautiful people -- it is beautiful. People have been really nice.
:02:01. > :02:03.
:02:03. > :02:10.Alan Clark, did we make a mark? in a really differ of -- big way.
:02:10. > :02:15.We had a really big weekend. I thought we had enormous support,
:02:15. > :02:25.and every bedroom was filled in Belfast. More than anything else,
:02:25. > :02:28.
:02:28. > :02:38.it began a change in perception of Belfast. Did you have a thing to do
:02:38. > :02:40.
:02:40. > :02:50.with that? It takes Belfast into a new league. I think Belfast
:02:50. > :02:51.
:02:51. > :02:57.delivered in a different way. The NTV people on Saturday night said
:02:58. > :03:07.that they had never seen another scare like it. I guess the spirit
:03:07. > :03:17.but they felt in Belfast was so good. We were starved of the bigger
:03:17. > :03:18.
:03:18. > :03:23.events before. Exactly, but it is about forward thinking. But we
:03:23. > :03:27.delivered on it in a big way. We had Belfast Music Week, and a book
:03:27. > :03:37.sell -- worked so well. I think everyone was ready for it when they
:03:37. > :03:40.
:03:40. > :03:48.came. The winner helped as well! deserves some praise. People came
:03:48. > :03:54.into Belfast who didn't have any of the tickets for the event. They
:03:54. > :04:00.had... One of the most surprising things was the shortage of voices
:04:00. > :04:06.of dissent. Very few people saying negative things about it. Exactly.
:04:06. > :04:13.There were people in the business community and voluntary sector, and
:04:13. > :04:17.the entertainment side. Us in tourism see our link with the arts,
:04:17. > :04:23.culture and heritage sectors. It reflects Belfast being a young,
:04:23. > :04:28.vibrant and bowled City. It takes the City forward, and it will bring
:04:28. > :04:34.a wider role in tourism, changing perceptions. This weekend marked
:04:34. > :04:38.the beginning of that. Stay with us. Plenty more to come. The Enterprise
:04:38. > :04:43.Minister had plenty more to say about the awards during question
:04:43. > :04:49.time. First, the Environment Minister, Alex Attwood. He was
:04:49. > :04:54.asked about the cost of running a national park here. Yes, there will
:04:54. > :05:00.be costs around national park designation, because they would be
:05:00. > :05:06.a retired -- a requirement for national park management groups to
:05:06. > :05:12.take forward the management. There will be costs. Look at the benefits.
:05:12. > :05:21.You would have better protection of the Environment and the national
:05:21. > :05:26.heritage of any area so designated. At a time when the economic
:05:26. > :05:32.difficulties people face, it would bring economic growth in those
:05:32. > :05:37.areas, and it would protect local interests. It would lead to a
:05:37. > :05:42.situation, in my view, that farmers that farm in a national park would
:05:42. > :05:49.actually have premium produce, simply because they came from a
:05:49. > :05:53.national park. So yes, there would be costs upfront, but you would be
:05:53. > :05:57.creating a national park, and that would be a cost. But there will be
:05:57. > :06:06.many other benefits in terms of the Environment, in terms of jobs, in
:06:06. > :06:13.terms of a premium product coming out of the area. I believe strongly
:06:13. > :06:20.that on the balance sheet, if that's what it comes down to, it is
:06:20. > :06:25.very heavily loaded in favour of it. A world away from Stormont to the
:06:25. > :06:35.glamourous world of showbiz. 1 MLA thinks that we may have missed a
:06:35. > :06:40.
:06:40. > :06:45.trick. Many American tourists carried a picture of Andrew Jackson
:06:45. > :06:55.want their dollar bills. The home of Andrew Jackson was closed. We
:06:55. > :06:57.
:06:57. > :07:03.need to be doing more with councils. Can he give any ideas that we can...
:07:03. > :07:09.Can I say to you, in terms of the many visitors they came, I don't
:07:09. > :07:12.think anyone was disappointed. On the contrary, I thought there was a
:07:12. > :07:20.tremendous opportunity for Belfast and the whole of Northern Ireland
:07:20. > :07:26.to sell themselves to the world. I think they did it very well. I
:07:26. > :07:28.would like to thank everyone involved, Belfast City Council, and
:07:28. > :07:38.particularly the Police Service of Northern Ireland, who are thought
:07:38. > :07:41.
:07:41. > :07:49.From rocking to cracking. A controversial way to getting
:07:49. > :07:54.natural gas. As to the many earthquake, it was felt by one
:07:54. > :08:03.person. There were very few people who felt the earthquake, and I do
:08:03. > :08:09.want to say to him that the select committee in Westminster have had
:08:09. > :08:19.an investigation into shale gas and the process, and a moratorium in
:08:19. > :08:27.regards to the process, which people are asking me about, the
:08:27. > :08:33.same people asking me to find solutions to rising electricity and
:08:33. > :08:38.gas prices. The two do not sit together. It is time that people
:08:38. > :08:43.realised that they have to join the dots in terms of energy policy.
:08:43. > :08:49.Sometimes, they are members in this House to do not join the dots. It
:08:49. > :08:55.is hugely frustrating, I have to say. Can I ask the Minister, firm
:08:55. > :09:01.and that is a tremendous destinations for tourism. What does
:09:01. > :09:06.she perceive as an effect on the industry? Should it go ahead in for
:09:06. > :09:16.a manager? That would be addressed in terms of any environmental in
:09:16. > :09:22.that -- impact. I would -- is the Green party's suggestion that we do
:09:22. > :09:26.not look for alternative supplies? We just sit in a darkroom with a
:09:27. > :09:34.blanket over our heads, and hope they did all goes away? Turned the
:09:34. > :09:39.lights off! Yes, indeed! It is absolutely amazing that people come
:09:39. > :09:45.to this chamber and do not look at what is there and available to the
:09:45. > :09:52.not -- the people of Northern Ireland. People... It is
:09:52. > :09:56.unbelievable. I look at supply solutions for Northern Ireland.
:09:56. > :10:02.Looking at ways to bring an alternative supply of energy to the
:10:02. > :10:10.people of Northern Ireland, and instead, the alternative from the
:10:10. > :10:18.Green Party is to sit in a darkened room with a blanket over their head.
:10:18. > :10:23.The new SDLP leader said that the current MLAs would stay in place.
:10:23. > :10:31.There will be no changes until January, and I will only be
:10:31. > :10:39.reshuffling in the context where I see it as helping the party up it.
:10:39. > :10:49.That is not a serious contender -- contender until January. Until
:10:49. > :10:53.January at least? And probably longer. What do you see as the
:10:53. > :10:57.SDLP's role in the executive? would hope that we would have more
:10:57. > :11:05.success. There are meetings from time to time with the First
:11:05. > :11:09.Minister, from a DUP perspective, with the deputy first minister with
:11:09. > :11:18.a Sinn Fein perspective. I would hope to open up more meetings.
:11:18. > :11:24.Whether there is any success with that or not, the proof of the
:11:24. > :11:30.pudding will be in the eating. are looking for more cordial
:11:30. > :11:35.relations? I am looking for a more constructive relationship. White
:11:35. > :11:40.and in Westminster regularly, and what there are wide gaps between
:11:40. > :11:46.the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, they are still able
:11:46. > :11:52.to co-operate in matters of local interests. The problems here are
:11:52. > :12:01.that the barriers are too high. In some ways, do not so work with Sinn
:12:01. > :12:07.Fein? Yes, we need to be on their side, but we need to maintain
:12:07. > :12:13.civilised discussions. I am a keen observer of how that happens in
:12:13. > :12:18.Westminster, and people challenging on issues that are of importance
:12:18. > :12:22.and at the same time, you can sit and have a cuppa tea with each
:12:22. > :12:29.other in the canteen or in the tea room or whatever. That is not
:12:29. > :12:35.happening here. That has to open up here. Personal trusts and
:12:35. > :12:40.friendships need to run cross-party. He said on Saturday when you become
:12:40. > :12:47.leader of the party that the fightback starts straightaway.
:12:47. > :12:55.fightback started this morning. I am on the road. Others with my
:12:55. > :13:00.assembly colleagues. The big issue for me is that it is on the ground,
:13:00. > :13:04.and I will be with the Northern Ireland Select Committee in Dublin
:13:04. > :13:09.over the next couple of the days. I will be meeting the Prime Minister
:13:09. > :13:16.there and the minister for foreign affairs, and and I will be working,
:13:16. > :13:22.and a lot of these things, yes, a lot of them are opportunistic as
:13:22. > :13:28.much to as planned, and I will try to link with all interests in
:13:28. > :13:34.Stormont, in Dublin and in Westminster. I will reassert the
:13:34. > :13:38.clout of the SDLP, and reassert that in a way that brings back
:13:38. > :13:47.maximum advantage to those who are out there without jobs or depending
:13:47. > :13:49.The Health Minister has told the Assembly there was no cover-up into
:13:49. > :13:52.allegations of abuse at Foster Green and Lissue Hospitals. Edwin
:13:52. > :13:55.Poots said his department will co- operate fully with the historical
:13:55. > :14:02.abuse inquiry which has been set up by the First and Deputy First
:14:02. > :14:06.Minister. I am determined that in my department that this behaviour
:14:06. > :14:09.was and remains unacceptable, and all complaints will be dealt with
:14:09. > :14:14.seriously. I want to know what happened, I will demand answers
:14:14. > :14:20.about who was involved to ensure that this kind of there is
:14:20. > :14:23.identified quickly and addressed urgently. That is why I
:14:23. > :14:26.congratulate Peter Robinson and the Deputy First Minister in the
:14:26. > :14:31.courageous steps they took to establish an independent historical
:14:31. > :14:37.abuse inquiry in Northern Ireland, the scope of which makes it clear
:14:37. > :14:42.that institutions like Foster Green are within its remit. My departure
:14:42. > :14:46.will co-operate with the inquiry team and all information gathered,
:14:46. > :14:50.or recorded in two historic abuse, or individuals, or within
:14:50. > :14:54.institutions by the Health and Social Care bought, or trust, or by
:14:54. > :14:58.my department will be shed. I have also committed to working closely
:14:58. > :15:02.with executive colleagues to ensure support so are in place for those
:15:02. > :15:09.who suffered as a result of the abuse and can now come forward to
:15:09. > :15:13.engage with the historic abuse inquiry. I can declare that there
:15:13. > :15:19.will never be, nor has there previously been any form of cover
:15:19. > :15:25.up within the Department, though some individuals who may have been
:15:25. > :15:29.involved with abuse will have tried to cover their tracks. He gave an
:15:29. > :15:32.interview in May to October but to the BBC in which he suggested but
:15:32. > :15:35.some of the people who had been abused might have forgotten about
:15:35. > :15:38.it, and therefore, his department might not have needed to provide
:15:38. > :15:41.them with support. Will the Minister apologise for that remark
:15:41. > :15:51.and clarify exactly what the Department's best practice is in
:15:51. > :15:59.
:15:59. > :16:04.The member may, or may not be aware but I have a brother who was in at
:16:04. > :16:08.the hospital and this has been an issue which has caused me great
:16:08. > :16:17.vexation because we have our own concerns about war went on and that
:16:17. > :16:22.facility. I visited it over 1000 times in my lifetime, I know many
:16:22. > :16:26.of the young people are worried that facility. I know their
:16:26. > :16:31.capacity issues and many of them would not be capable of remembering
:16:31. > :16:38.what went on given their mental capacity issues. There was the
:16:38. > :16:45.context of the response to the BBC. But it makes me very certain as to
:16:45. > :16:50.what my attitude is on this issue. It is clear - we must ensure the
:16:50. > :16:55.maximum protection of children who were in our care, or adults in our
:16:55. > :17:00.care, these people deserve it and it is the least we can do as a
:17:00. > :17:03.society, therefore, I want to ensure that is the case.
:17:03. > :17:09.Enterprise Minister wasn't at last night's MTV awards but the Culture
:17:09. > :17:15.Minister was and she's with us now. How was it? It was brilliant, an
:17:15. > :17:22.experience of a lifetime. Belfast was buzzing all week. Yesterday and
:17:22. > :17:27.last night Belfast outshone itself, it was brilliant. The for anybody
:17:27. > :17:32.who is a bit cynical about it, how do you assess that we get the �10
:17:32. > :17:41.million back for the �1 million that it cost us? We will always
:17:41. > :17:46.live with cynics on the results and benefits of all this. You needed to
:17:46. > :17:49.be there to feel the atmosphere, even in the city centre yesterday.
:17:49. > :17:56.Belfast was buzzing, shops were full, people were down to see what
:17:56. > :18:06.was happening. Last night and even this week Belfast will capitalise
:18:06. > :18:07.
:18:07. > :18:11.on what happened yesterday for a long time. Alan Clark, is there any
:18:11. > :18:16.sense of it being Belfast centric and if you live somewhere else,
:18:16. > :18:24.what is in it for us? That was shown by how much public transport
:18:24. > :18:28.was put on to come into Belfast. We got a really exciting range of
:18:28. > :18:32.event taking place next year on the north coast, Belfast and Derry, so
:18:32. > :18:37.it is the start of a story, but next year will be even more
:18:38. > :18:43.exciting. MCB gave us a great start but over the next couple of years
:18:43. > :18:50.all of Northern Ireland will benefit. City of culture for 2013
:18:50. > :18:55.coming up, too. I was in Derry when the bridge opened and the bus was
:18:55. > :19:00.palpable. What we witnessed last night is the start of an experience
:19:00. > :19:04.for Derry, the City of Culture. It will be great, local as well as
:19:04. > :19:14.international acts as well. It is all to work for and look forward to.
:19:14. > :19:16.
:19:16. > :19:19.It is a good news story. Let's be There was a sense from a lot of the
:19:19. > :19:23.visit is that we heard from after the event that they did not realise
:19:23. > :19:29.Belfast was so pretty. Not even that, they did not realise we could
:19:29. > :19:36.do it, and we did, and we did well. We have left a legacy. I think MTV
:19:36. > :19:42.could not be but impressed with how Belfast reacted. Thank you for
:19:42. > :19:45.joining us. The murder of the solicitor Pat Finucane has lingered
:19:45. > :19:48.in the public consciousness for more than 20 years. It's often been
:19:48. > :19:51.in the headlines and most recently the government's refusal to hold a
:19:51. > :19:54.public inquiry despite conceding there was collusion put it back on
:19:54. > :20:02.the front pages. Today MLAs got to have their say with a motion
:20:02. > :20:10.proposed by the SDLP in a debate where tensions ran high at times.
:20:10. > :20:19.The current British Government has rejected a public inquiry and has
:20:19. > :20:24.now opted for an independent review, no doubt by a distinguished lawyer,
:20:24. > :20:30.to conduct an independent review to produce a full public account of
:20:30. > :20:35.any state involvement in the murder. I am sure that Sir Desmond is an
:20:35. > :20:42.honourable man, and is an independent-minded jurist, but his
:20:43. > :20:48.review will simply be Corry number two. It is no substitute for a full
:20:48. > :20:55.independent judicial inquiry into this notorious murder. People seem
:20:55. > :21:02.to talk about collusion as if it all happens in republican cases.
:21:02. > :21:06.And it didn't. When collusion was used by the British Government and
:21:06. > :21:13.the state forces it was used across the board. Therefore, I would argue
:21:13. > :21:19.they should not be afraid of the truth coming out of and I had to
:21:19. > :21:25.say, we are being approached as a party by some people on the
:21:26. > :21:32.Unionist side because Unionism will not take up their cases. There are
:21:32. > :21:37.9256 when a stay was, the 1 million pages, 16,000 exhibits, one of the
:21:37. > :21:41.largest police investigations in UK history. Mr McGuinness also mention
:21:41. > :21:47.the purse has been asked to look into this, a distinguished QC with
:21:47. > :21:51.the UN, a man of absolute integrity and the purpose put forward by the
:21:51. > :21:55.Prime Minister on this is to bring the truth out, that is a commitment.
:21:55. > :22:01.Many people have said to me in the past we took too long to reach
:22:01. > :22:07.these conclusions. He does not do any of us any good to spend a lot
:22:07. > :22:12.of money to discover what we already know. It is clear there are
:22:12. > :22:15.many concerns about what appears to be a partial interest in a small
:22:15. > :22:25.number of victims in the Troubles, yet that is not what this motion is
:22:25. > :22:25.
:22:26. > :22:31.about. It highlight on the basis of what was agreed at Weston Park the
:22:31. > :22:36.particular concerns of the family. This has to recognise the concerns
:22:36. > :22:45.which were expressed by that family in the light of promises made,
:22:45. > :22:49.whilst also recognising the Commons that have also been made as we look
:22:49. > :22:53.at the needs of all victims and this society as a whole. But that
:22:53. > :22:57.does not alter the fact that a promise was made to the Finnegan
:22:57. > :23:04.family, and that is fundamentally where they have every right to feel
:23:04. > :23:07.they were treated badly by the current government. The name was
:23:07. > :23:15.very well known within the period of the Troubles, in fact, during
:23:15. > :23:19.the period there was a famous family member who wanted to be
:23:19. > :23:29.extradited from the Republic of Ireland, there was a famous case.
:23:29. > :23:53.
:23:53. > :23:58.But transpired to be the brother of Our last members to keep on the
:23:58. > :24:04.point of debate when speaking. -- I would ask members. Not surprising
:24:04. > :24:14.members do not like it when things are not going their own way. Let's
:24:14. > :24:18.
:24:18. > :24:20.I accept the condemned -- condemnation of the death of
:24:20. > :24:29.Patrick Finucane, but he is suggesting he was perhaps engaged
:24:29. > :24:33.in something else and it was very clear at the inquest into the death
:24:33. > :24:41.that the investigation said there was no evidence to suggest he was
:24:41. > :24:46.involved in any paramilitary organisation, in particular the IRA.
:24:46. > :24:50.It is accepted by almost every objective observer that he was
:24:50. > :24:55.simply a lawyer carrying out his work on behalf of clients, albeit
:24:55. > :25:05.that some of them, or many of them were connected with the IRA, or
:25:05. > :25:10.
:25:10. > :25:15.I accept the member makes the case for Patrick Finucane and his family,
:25:15. > :25:19.none the less, if he is accepting that information was done at that
:25:19. > :25:24.time, is excepting all the information and will bring it --
:25:24. > :25:27.and clearly he is not. That motion will be voted on tomorrow after
:25:27. > :25:29.what's known as a petition of concern was lodged with the
:25:29. > :25:34.speaker's office. It will need cross-community support to be
:25:34. > :25:37.endorsed so that's not likely to go through. The past was the focus of
:25:37. > :25:46.debate, there were legal developments have a different kind
:25:46. > :25:51.outside as our political editor explained. Outside we have a new
:25:51. > :25:54.Director of Public Prosecutions. is interesting that if you went on
:25:54. > :25:58.what you saw in the chamber you might think in terms of the legal
:25:58. > :26:04.and political worlds nothing had changed because of that controversy
:26:04. > :26:10.was a reminder of Commons back in 1989 by Douglas Hogg when he said
:26:10. > :26:15.some lawyers were overly sympathetic to the IRA and those
:26:15. > :26:19.comments came before the murder of Pat Finucane. So we had a repeat of
:26:19. > :26:26.arguments that have done over the years. Outside the chamber we had
:26:26. > :26:31.the appointment of Mary McGrory, a well-known defence lawyer whose
:26:31. > :26:35.father back in the 1980s was being targeted by loyalists. It is a sign
:26:35. > :26:39.of how much things are changing that a defence lawyer could now
:26:39. > :26:44.have moved over and will be the public face of the Prosecution
:26:44. > :26:50.Service in Northern Ireland. Change at the SDLP as well, a pretty
:26:50. > :26:53.inauspicious start for the new leader. Yes, it was a bad one for
:26:53. > :26:57.Alastair Macdonald. All the energy being generated by the SDLP
:26:57. > :27:01.leadership election, the triumph Alastair Macdonald had of getting
:27:01. > :27:06.his leadership he had lost previously, followed by the
:27:06. > :27:11.disaster when he had an autocue malfunction in his first formal
:27:11. > :27:16.speech as leader and everything went quiet. He spent much of the
:27:16. > :27:24.time asking for the likes to be turned out. Could somebody turn-off
:27:24. > :27:29.those like supplies. I am blinded. -- turn off those might so please.
:27:29. > :27:32.There was a sombre mood around after that. Today Alastair
:27:32. > :27:38.Macdonald was trying to put this behind him, saying it was a
:27:38. > :27:43.technical glitch -- Alasdair McDonnell. There is no doubt it is
:27:43. > :27:48.not the start he would have wanted. A new job for the SDLP leader, but
:27:48. > :27:53.back to the old job for Martin McGuinness? He and the first
:27:53. > :27:56.minister have been in London attending a dinner organised by
:27:56. > :28:02.invest in Northern Ireland, meeting with people from the banking
:28:02. > :28:06.sectors. I am told Martin McGuinness was meeting Ed Miliband
:28:06. > :28:11.and the shadow spokesman of Northern Ireland, so he has been
:28:11. > :28:14.doing that, but the two men will be around and about Stormont tomorrow
:28:14. > :28:24.with the first public engagement since he mounted his unsuccessful
:28:24. > :28:30.
:28:30. > :28:33.It makes your job easy. It adds up to her becoming more mainstream in
:28:33. > :28:37.the economy. We believe tourism could play a wider role. If people
:28:37. > :28:42.feel good about where they live and work there are more likely to
:28:42. > :28:46.attract people here. Tourism can play a wider role than it has in
:28:46. > :28:54.the past and I guess with MTV this weekend shows the potential for
:28:54. > :28:57.that. Thank you. That's it from Stormont for this evening. We're
:28:57. > :29:00.back tomorrow with highlights from questions to the health minister