28/07/2011 BBC Newsline

Good evening. This is BBC Newsline. The headlines this Thursday evening.

Cracking down on illegal fishing. With an anti-poaching patrol on the

River Foyle. The chief constable hits out at criticism of a recent

search and arrest operation saying he won't allow any political

influence. More than 50 properties in Northern Ireland are now under

the control of the Irish government. The Orange Order is accused of

trying to raise tensions in Portadown by breaching a Parades

Commission ruling. Jeremy in Coleraine were I have all

the latest from the Northern Ireland Milk Cup football

tournament. And the Irish Open in Killarney.

Temperatures took a bit of a tumble today but will be on the rise again

over the next day or two - does that mean sunshine for the weekend?

I'll have the details. First tonight, the fight against

illegal fishing, which has taken a sinister and dangerous turn. Loughs

Agency staff have had concrete blocks dropped from a bridge onto

their boats, stones thrown at them, and traps with eight inch nails

laid to catch them. There have been seven serious

assaults by poachers in the past few months and two officials have

had to be hospitalised. The crackdown on salmon poaching at

this time of the year means the Loughs Agency is working flat out

during the night to stop the illegal netting. Our environment

correspondent, Mike McKimm, joined a night patrol.

It is dusk and the poachers have been spotted getting into position.

Two men it on on Ireland. They recognise one of the vehicles as

one may have caught year before. But what are they up to? In fact

they're putting nets into the River Foyle. But how to reach them

without being spotted? I have a number of operations on tonight.

serious cat and mouse game is on. First catch the next and then those

who sit and guard them. Many poachers are known to the agency by

their cars. It is of white van. their lives have been deployed in

the pitch-black to find the net. Uniquely, they have the power of

arrest by the sight of the border. Things change as we suddenly

discovered that the Net has been abandoned. This is about 20 metres.

It is the middle of the night on that Donegal side of the river. But

we are operating in both jurisdictions. When the Net is

recovered it is time to bring in the poacher's boat. What you have

here is a typical River Foyle poaching boat. It is the boat of

choice on poachers on the Foyle. Once the boat has been carried to

the road to be picked up, the team is off again. Before long they are

rushing to the aid of colleagues who have spotted people acting

suspiciously by the river in the middle of the night. In the dark

they do not know what might happen next. It is not only stones that

are fired at the bailiffs. And as of today the agency has

seized 101 nets so far this year. The Chief Constable has defended

the way his officers conducted search and arrest operations this

week in relation to Constable Ronan Kerr's murder. Matt Baggott has

signalled clearly that he thinks the criticism from the Deputy First

Minister and other Sinn Fein politicians is inappropriate.

Five men were arrested and later released and a woman is still being

questioned about the police officer's killing in April. BBC

Newsline's Will Leitch reports. This week's search and arrest

operations in the investigation of the murder of Ronan Kerr saw six

arrests in all. Up to 200 officers were involved in Toomebridge,

Coalisland and Ballee Roman and later in Omagh. All of the first

five arrested have now been released without charge. Sinn Fein

says the rest of one of them caused anger in East Tyrone with claims

that it was done it very much in the public eye and with poor

intelligence. Why did they use 200 police officers? Wide where the

cameras there? That must be done on the basis of trying to make it into

a public statement that they were moving on the Ronan Kerr arrest.

The suspicion is that it is a publicity stunt. That is no way to

run this investigation. The Chief Constable has responded saying that

the investigation remains methodical and relentless,

absolutely impartial and completely free from political influence. But

a fellow Policing Board member sees the operation and the response of

Sinn Fein quite differently. deputy First Minister has direct

access to the chief constable when he wants it. He could have called

and spoken to him and clarified any points he wanted before appearing

in the media. This will no doubt unsettled the community and this

type of criticism is not a positive way forward for policing on the

whole. The chief constable also pointedly says that the Policing

Board is the appropriate place for scrutiny during alive and sensitive

operation. Clearly signalling his opinion that Sinn Fein's comments

are inappropriate. Details have been given for the

first time of the Northern Ireland properties controlled by NAMA. It's

the so-called bad bank set up in the Republic to take on big

property loans given by Dublin- based banks. Our business and

economics editor, Jim Fitzpatrick, is with me. Just remind us what

NAMA is? It is the National Asset Management Agency. The Republic's

so-called bad bank. When there was the property crash the banks could

not function because on their books ahead billions of loans secured

against property that was worth a lot less. So the Irish government

relieved them of the burden of those loans and passed it to the

taxpayer to allow the banks to function. And then be had this

agency set up his job was to get rid of those loans over a long

period of time. What did we learn today about the Navan Island

Properties? The agency controls a vast array of property. Property

worth �3.5 billion in Northern Ireland. And today they are

released a list of some of those properties, just those connected to

those to ballot because they have put into administration or

receivership. -- those developers. There's an interesting mix right

across the province. We have four properties in County Fermanagh,

seven in Tyrone, six in county Derry, four in Antrim, the same

number in Armagh and Belfast and a whopping 49 in County Down. There

are so many in County Down because of one particular developer. We can

see the consequences of that in today's Belfast Telegraph. Two full

pages of agency connected properties for sale. You can pick

up an apartment which is just a shell for �40,000 or as seven-

bedroom home on the market now for �400,000. Why does all of this

matter to us? It matters because the agency controls such a vast

slice of the property market here. It has said it will not have a fire

sale, will not sell off all the properties on the cheek.

Politicians here are concerned about that. This is probably not in

its interest to do that. But because it controls so much, it

actually sets the market so the impact is not just on these

properties but every home and office in Northern Ireland.

Nationalist politicians have accused the Orange Order of trying

to stir up tension in Portadown. It comes after a group of Orangemen,

who were protesting at Drumcree Church last night, appeared to

ignore the Parades Commission ruling and set off along part of

the route which has been barred to them for more than a decade. Here's

our district journalist, Gordon Adair.

This is as close to the Orange Order has come up to walking on the

Garvaghy Road since 1997. The following year, at the march was

banned and has remained so ever since. The protest here at Drumcree

has never actually stopped. Every Sunday members of the Portadown

district parade down this road. They're normally stopped by a

police officer at the bridge. They make a protest and they leave.

Recently in response to criticism from the parades Commission

apparently, they made the decision to hold a protest here twice a week.

Now they parade on Wednesday evenings and they did that last

night. But this time there was no police officer so they carried on

marching In the wake up hill and write to the edge of the

nationalist Ballyronan estate. the PSNI did arrive, nationalists

were out of their homes. That is what prevented it last night. It

could have turned very nasty and we could have had a serious public

order situation on the streets. Questions have to be asked as to

why the piece and I allowed that to happen. It is clear that the police

should have been there. From the start. But the owners were last

night rests squarely with the Orange Order who are the people who

breached the parade Commission determination. It is the Orange

Order who hold responsibility for what has happened in Portadown at

the moment. In a statement the police said they were aware that

this was an emotive issue. Is that they had been delayed attending the

Parade last night but that everyone had a responsibility to uphold the

law and anyone who broke it would be held accountable. The Orange

Order has not yet said anything about the incident while the area's

MP, David Simpson, himself a high- profile Orangeman, said details

about what happened was still unclear but the issue was the

failure to find a long-term solution to the problem at Drumcree.

Still to come on the programme: Dreaming of competing in one of the

toughest Olympic sports of all. The stage is set for a special

The funeral has taken place of the teenager from Londonderry who

drowned in Donegal almost two weeks ago. Sean McNair, who was 17, was

swept away after he jumped off a pier into Lough Swilly. His body

was recovered at the weekend. The priest told mourners Sean was a

young fellow who loved life. You have heard of a summer camp, a

soccer camp, a boot camp. Some are enjoyable, some are torture. Well,

a group of eight young men have given up their summer holidays for

an app camp, where they are learning how they can make their

fortunes in the mobile phone technology. Our education

correspondent, Maggie Taggart went to see what they were up to.

Parents may think this is what the young people to constantly, hanging

out playing games or checking applications on their phones, but

this has a purpose. These undergraduates have been selected

for a summer camp to help them invent their own money-spinning the

phone taps. - - phone applications. It is so with that. I'm so glad I

have come here. The company involved in this has more than 200

computing staff in Belfast. It has recruited 70 this year and there is

fear competition from the high flyers. A hopefully it is a win,

win situation. The company will benefit because we get early access

to some of the cream of first-year students. The students will benefit

because we have given them an eight-week training course.

Hopefully that will help make their name. It is a full day five days a

week for two months. Her ideas won them a place. It is a finance

manager called Budget buddy. It will allow people to income - - in

put their incomes and outcomes. This is really tailored for your

needs. They are always there to help you with any problem. So, now

I can check what time did tide goes out in Port Rush, or bomb macro I

should really check the safe I'm going to be out of money but the

end of the month. Maybe I should just sharpen up by Matt skills.

Even better, how to navigate the Galaxy. Such a choice of bright

ideas. One of the world's finest baritone

singers staged a special performance on the Peace Bridge in

Londonderry today. It was at the start of a music festival which

hopes to promote new classical talent. With more, here's our North

West reporter, Keiron Tourish. MUSIC.

Now in its third year, the walled city Music Festival tries to

inspire a new generation of classical musicians, as well as

attracting some of the top names from around the world. There is a

strong emphasis on masterclasses for students. We are trying to find

artists who are willing to work within their community and break

the stereotype of classical music being stuffy. We want classical

musicians who will be able to work with people in workshops. Sir James

Galway has pledged his support to the Festival and will be performing

here, too. He is probably the most famous name in music in general,

and he'd just so happens to be from Northern Ireland's. He contacted us

to express his interest in taking part. He wants to make a difference

to young musicians in Northern Ireland. This man is one of the

emerging world talents. The baritone had a special request when

he heard about the new Peace Bridge in Londonderry. A wanted to choose

something that maybe is what the Peace Bridge is. It is about unity

and pride and giving thanks for what we have, looking after each

The walled city festival officially starts tomorrow.

In a moment a tribute to a footballing genius called the

Cheeky Chappie. First, to Stephen Watson who you would expect to be

at the Irish Open in Killarney and at the Milk Cup, but he couldn't be

in two places at once! So, tonight, he's in Coleraine.

I will make it to Killarney for the weekend. Here we are getting ready

for the Milk Cup semi-finals this evening. We start with golf and

Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington,

with six Majors between them, were all in action in Killarney today.

Yesterday, a member of the public walked into a Magherafelt

bookmakers and placed a �50,000 bet on McIlroy to win. As Mark

Sidebottom reports, he'll be a Rory McIlroy, referred to his

second shot at the 14th hole, as one of the best he has ever played.

As he bent the ball around the trees and on to the green. The US

Open champion went fishing at the par four. To finish with the six at

the last was tough to take, but I am not too far off the lead

disallowable go out tomorrow and should a good one. There was also a

spat with the golf commentator, J Townsend. He had tweeted that Rory

McIlroy's Golf Management with some of the worst he had ever seen. Rory

Mackle Roy - - Rory McIlroy tweeted back that he should just shut up.

Graham McDowell is one over par. If a pair of footballing brothers

have been lighting up the Milk Cup. Both qualify for Northern Ireland

through their mum. It is not just their surname they

have in common. Brothers Matthew and Dominic ball had been scoring

goals at this year's Milk Cup tournament. My brother is playing

in the Premier Section four Tottenham Hotspur, and I'm playing

for Northern Ireland. I always asked my mum and dad and my brother

has got on. For the parents, it is a case of divided loyalties.

Monday they said they were going to go and watch Matthew. I was

delighted to see them at the game. When I celebrated for my second

goal, I ran towards them and they were just leaving to go and see

Matthew. He scored as well, so it was a good day! One man believes

that's he could join his brother in the Northern Ireland set-up. Two or

three years down the line, I could see him getting into some Northern

Ireland representative teams. brothers Johnny Evans and Corey

Evans established in the Northern Ireland team, the Paul brothers

could soon be joining them. You can see highlights of the Milk

Cup on the red button. All this week BBC Newsline is profiling some

of Northern Ireland's Olympic hopefuls with the London Games now

one year away. This evening we introduce you to a young Derry

woman who has dreams of competing in one of the toughest Olympic

sports of them all - the triathlon. Austin O'Callaghan reports now on

Aileen Morrison. If you enjoy an morning lie-in,

then the triathlon probably isn't the Olympic sport for you. I could

alarm clock is just one of the ingredients going into Aileen

Morrison's preparations for London. Her sport is the 1500 metres swim,

followed by the 40 kilometre cycle, not to mention the 10 kilometre run.

Morrison is 29 years old, but a relative newcomer to this event.

have only been taking it seriously for three years. I did do some

races at school level, but on a borrowed bike and often no cycling

training whatsoever. Then it was baby steps along the way. Buying a

bike at a birthday money, maybe cycling its once a week, then

getting into it that way. I realised I was good and begins a

more effort and got a coach. As an indication of how good, last

summer's World Championship event in Hamburg provided her with with

the best month of her career, and the most frightening. There were so

many people and arms and legs are you getting hit in the face, and

you have got a tight turn with 60 girls trying to get round it at the

same time. I thought I was going to die! I made it through and came out

of the water in 14th. She won a bronze medal, the best-ever

performance by any Irish try athlete. Today those working with

or see the potential. Looking at the world rankings for women's

triathlon, she is well placed in the top 15 in the world at the

moment. She has got the right attributes, in regard of training

ability. She has got a lot of the skills required. When you're

thinking about London and the Olympics, it is a big goal and

achievement. I do want to get predicted as the excited about it.

- - ridiculously excited about it. Now to a tribute to a local

footballing hero, 40 years after his death. According to one former

team-mate, Charlie Tully would have been worth �50 million on the

transfer market today. Fans honoured the former Celtic winger

at his grave in West Belfast last night. Chris Page has more.

This is what Glasgow's Celtic's supporters sing in the terraces.

Back in the 60s, one player in particular got them in the mood for

the song, demand that these people - - the man whose create these

people were gathered around last night. Charlie Tully was A*. He

moved from Belfast Celtic to Glasgow Celtic in 1940 it. At tea

made too little on the European Cup said that the world's biggest clubs

would be tried to sign him if he was playing now. I would think that

at the minutes he would be worth about �50 million. You just love

playing. He loved the sport. Charlie Tully's runs and passing it

and hugely popular. He was nicknamed the Cheeky Chappie

because of his daring style on the pitch. Charlie had everything. In

the game against England, he took the corner kick straight into the

net. The referee disallowed it so Peter could again, same thing again,

straight into the net. That is what I call skill. Sadly he died in 1971

the age just 48. His family said the ceremony means a lot to them.

To think that 40 years on the fans to remember him and idolise him. He

is a legend. I suppose the great thing is the respect they have for

That is it from the show grounds. I will be back on the late news with

more from the Milk Cup. You will have noticed that a little

bit cooler and fresher today. There is hope for more sunshine and

better temperatures in the next few days. This is a nice photograph of

Portrush. The sunshine has been further Easter Day, across in

England. Bits of the coast that they have managed to get some nice

sunshine today. For most this is this evening the cloud will break

up, so there will be some evening sunshine around. It will be a dry

night and clear at times. Tomorrow will be a warmer day and so sunnier.

- - and sunnier. There will still be a slight northerly breeze so

part of the north coast will be cool tomorrow. The temperatures

will be a couple of degrees higher than today. The dry and bright

weather will continue into tomorrow evening, so a fine into the working

week. The weekend will start off with plenty of dry weather, too.

The winds will be found this out on Saturday. For most this is it will

be a fine day. Unfortunately it does not stay like that the whole

way through the weekend. We are looking at cloudier skies for the