:00:21. > :00:25.Good evening, this is BBC Newsline. The headlines: up to 2000
:00:25. > :00:30.holidaymakers plans are in ruins after a tour firm goes bust.
:00:30. > :00:34.5,000 homes are lying unfinished as a result of the property crash.
:00:34. > :00:40.A major security operation in Londonderry is linked to a
:00:40. > :00:44.republican dissident activity. We take a peek inside our new
:00:44. > :00:48.titanic project as sparks fly to have it ready on time.
:00:48. > :00:58.And once again, rain will replace the blue-sky is this evening but
:00:58. > :01:01.the sun will shine again before the Several thousand people from
:01:01. > :01:06.Northern Ireland could be affected by the collapse of a travel company
:01:06. > :01:12.which operated outside of Belfast International Airport. Holidays 4 U
:01:12. > :01:18.specialised in flights and packages to Turkey. Jim Fitzpatrick is at
:01:18. > :01:25.Belfast International. What is happening to those holidaymakers
:01:25. > :01:31.who are already abroad? They should be fine. They left here yesterday.
:01:31. > :01:35.There is a flight that goes each week to Turkey. We estimate about
:01:35. > :01:39.300 people from Northern Ireland in Turkey at the moment and they
:01:39. > :01:45.should retire on the flight they intended to return on. That is
:01:45. > :01:52.because the insurance scheme, they should be fine. What about those
:01:52. > :01:55.who were planning to go over the next few weeks? That is the bigger
:01:55. > :02:02.problem. With one flight a week with 200 people on board, that
:02:02. > :02:07.could be anything up to 2000 people who are hoping to go from here to
:02:07. > :02:11.Turkey. The company operated at the cut-price end of the market. Now
:02:11. > :02:15.they cannot go with Holidays 4 U, they will get their money back but
:02:15. > :02:20.trying to find another holiday at the same price at the height of the
:02:20. > :02:23.season will be hard work. There are complications. If you book your
:02:24. > :02:27.flight and accommodation separately, you will find your flight is
:02:27. > :02:31.covered by insurance but your holiday accommodation is still
:02:31. > :02:36.there, sitting and waiting for you and you have no means to get there
:02:37. > :02:41.to enjoy it. People who have paid for a package and do not go, will
:02:41. > :02:46.not lose out? That they should not lose out because of the Civil
:02:46. > :02:52.Aviation Authority's scheme. It is a question of whether they get a
:02:52. > :02:57.holiday of the price they hope to and with competition very tough and
:02:57. > :03:02.company is going out of business, then not -- may not be enough spare
:03:02. > :03:06.capacity in the system to get a new holiday with the same money.
:03:06. > :03:11.will be hearing from Dublin later in the programme where there is a
:03:11. > :03:16.row over air passenger duty. Figures obtained by the BBC suggest
:03:16. > :03:20.that up to 5,000 homes are lying unfinished as a result of the
:03:20. > :03:24.property crash. This is the first time the problem of so-called ghost
:03:24. > :03:31.estate has been quantified here. Now the question is what to do
:03:31. > :03:37.about all these eyesores. A symptom of our economic times, a
:03:37. > :03:42.derelict house estate. This site was abandoned four years ago when
:03:42. > :03:46.the developer went past. It is one of many unfinished developments
:03:46. > :03:49.across Northern Ireland, often referred to as ghost estates. The
:03:49. > :03:54.majority were brought by developers who could not afford to finish them
:03:54. > :03:59.where finance dried up and prices plummeted. Others have been
:03:59. > :04:02.mothballed in the hope the market will recover. The Stormont
:04:02. > :04:08.executive should do something to address the issue. What we need to
:04:08. > :04:14.do is recognise there is a problem. We know the cause of it all. Let's
:04:14. > :04:18.deal with the problem we have now. I can fill these houses with people
:04:18. > :04:23.queuing up to get houses and that could be represented all over the
:04:23. > :04:26.country. The executive have to take the lead. I can see ministers
:04:27. > :04:32.sitting round the table, finance, the department that looks after
:04:33. > :04:38.housing, the environmental department, all coming together to
:04:38. > :04:45.say, what will we do about this? Another ghost estate. The former
:04:45. > :04:49.owners of this side went into administration in 2009 owing the
:04:49. > :04:56.bank �25 million. The extent of the problem has been called a tide --
:04:56. > :05:01.quantified in the Republic for the first time. Data gathered to
:05:01. > :05:06.suggest there are between four and 5,000 homes in various states of
:05:06. > :05:10.construction from foundations upwards lying idle. As one solution
:05:10. > :05:14.to turn them over to social housing where the small number of these
:05:14. > :05:18.private developers have been bought by housing associations, it is not
:05:18. > :05:23.straightforward. We need to check the design of the homes that we are
:05:23. > :05:31.buying, that they match the requirements. We have to make sure
:05:31. > :05:35.they are fully constructed or at least 50 % constructed. On
:05:35. > :05:39.occasions in this kind of property market, the purchase price that we
:05:39. > :05:44.can afford does not make the developers expectations. This side
:05:44. > :05:48.is likely to be developed in the new future as is this one in County
:05:48. > :05:54.Down. But for many ghost estates it is unlikely they will be brought to
:05:54. > :05:58.life any time soon. Now to a property that has been on
:05:58. > :06:04.the market for a while, but this one is costing taxpayers �400 for
:06:04. > :06:12.every day it goes unsold. Ormiston House is owned by the assembly. It
:06:12. > :06:18.was bought for �9 million but its asking price now is a lot less.
:06:18. > :06:23.Martina Purdy looks at how close Stormont is to finding a buyer.
:06:23. > :06:27.This is Ormiston House, once one of the most exclusive addresses in
:06:27. > :06:33.Belfast. It was owned by shipbuilders Sir Edward Holland and
:06:33. > :06:37.its present owners, the Stormont Assembly, are keen to sell for
:06:37. > :06:43.around �2.5 million. They have been offers but there -- is there any
:06:43. > :06:47.sign of a cell? There has been a strong level of interest, there
:06:47. > :06:51.have been offers put in and we anticipate there will be a number
:06:51. > :06:58.of other offers. There is an incentive for us to sell the
:06:58. > :07:03.property because we want to make sure it is not a drain. Whenever
:07:03. > :07:11.happens, Ormiston House will be sold at a loss. Its current
:07:11. > :07:15.valuation of around �2.5 million is well below its 2001 purchase price
:07:15. > :07:19.of �9 million. And every day it remains unsold, it is costing the
:07:19. > :07:26.assembly money. The average weekly bill for items such as security and
:07:26. > :07:31.repairs is around �3,000. The fees totalled around �150,000 last year
:07:31. > :07:36.alone. Provided a buyer is found shortly, the losses could be as
:07:36. > :07:41.high as �8 million. In hindsight, it should not have been brought in
:07:41. > :07:46.the first place, but we have to move from where we are and the
:07:46. > :07:51.assembly is trying to get the best value. But even if they cannot find
:07:51. > :07:55.a buyer, there are other hurdles. Local residents are objecting to
:07:55. > :08:01.the impact on development and those concerned with heritage are worried
:08:01. > :08:05.that the asset is being lost to the community. If they can be some use
:08:05. > :08:11.that meant the building could be restored back to the community, if
:08:11. > :08:17.that was something like a museum or a visitor centre, something that
:08:17. > :08:23.could draw on the upcoming Titanic celebrations, if we could do
:08:23. > :08:27.something like that, that would be fantastic. So far, there has been
:08:27. > :08:32.interest in turning this side to apartments, a nursing home or a
:08:32. > :08:37.boutique hotel. There has also been a potential buyer interested in
:08:37. > :08:42.recreating a private residence. We will have more on the shipyard
:08:42. > :08:46.later in the programme when we take a tour around Titanic Belfast. Four
:08:46. > :08:50.people who were arrested as part of a police operation against
:08:50. > :08:53.dissident Republicans in Londonderry are being questioned by
:08:53. > :08:58.detectives. During a search, and number of people had to be moved
:08:58. > :09:05.from their homes while the Army dealt with a suspicious object.
:09:05. > :09:10.The dramatic scenes when I witnesses said police rammed a red
:09:10. > :09:18.Peugeot. The instant happened last night around 80 Clarke as the P S M
:09:18. > :09:23.I investigated suspected dissident activity. Some people describe it
:09:23. > :09:33.as something out of the Sweeney. You had police vehicles colliding
:09:33. > :09:38.with other vehicles. The three men arrested are aged 54, 42 and 23.
:09:38. > :09:43.They have been taken to the serious crimes week for questioning along
:09:43. > :09:47.with a 16-year-old youth. The 23- year-old man was arrested in a calf
:09:47. > :09:52.at 8:20pm and police say a suspected rifle was discovered. It
:09:52. > :09:56.is be examined by forensic experts. In an immediate follow-up, the two
:09:56. > :10:02.other men and the teenager were detained. They were not in the car.
:10:02. > :10:07.As part of the operation, an object was discovered. It was removed for
:10:07. > :10:15.examination by the army. Police asked people in several thousand
:10:15. > :10:21.homes to move out last night. whole row behind me was affected.
:10:21. > :10:28.It was a fair amount of disruption. A lot of upset for older people.
:10:28. > :10:33.would think so. During this major operation, the police carried out
:10:33. > :10:41.other searches. They took away plastic bags containing a number of
:10:41. > :10:47.objects. This rate has now been opened to traffic.
:10:47. > :10:55.Still to come: the board game of fantasy that has come true for two
:10:55. > :11:05.County Down man. And find out why this GAA club believes it is backed
:11:05. > :11:06.
:11:06. > :11:12.The chief Executive of Ryanair has backed calls for the UK's air
:11:12. > :11:17.passenger duty to be scrapped. The departure tax adds from �12 to �170
:11:17. > :11:24.to a flight out of local airports. Michael O'Leary also says the
:11:24. > :11:30.Republic is losing out because of its 3 euros travel tax. Our
:11:30. > :11:34.reporter is in Dublin. Ryanair operates out of the City of Derry
:11:34. > :11:40.airport. What else did Michael O'Leary have to say about the UK
:11:40. > :11:45.duty? He was talking on the publication of his latest passenger
:11:45. > :11:50.numbers but he was looking more at the disparity between the levy and
:11:50. > :11:54.what -- on what passengers leaving the Republic pay on passengers
:11:54. > :11:58.leaving Northern Ireland. There have been calls for the air
:11:58. > :12:06.passenger duty to be abolished and Michael O'Leary agrees.
:12:06. > :12:10.Is should be scrapped in the UK. It causes huge damage. The UK tourism
:12:10. > :12:16.industry has declined because it is losing visitors to France, Spain
:12:16. > :12:21.and Italy. It is doing untold damage to air travel in the north
:12:21. > :12:26.of Ireland, it should be trapped -- scrapped and we think there should
:12:26. > :12:29.be no tax. For it was thought that the 3 euros
:12:29. > :12:35.tax in the Republic was to be scrapped altogether. That was the
:12:35. > :12:38.plan but there was a quid pro quo. The Minister for Transport said to
:12:38. > :12:43.the art -- Airlines, increase the number of passengers coming to
:12:43. > :12:51.Ireland and we will remove the tax. The minister said there had not
:12:51. > :12:57.been sufficient commitment from the airlines. If it does happen it ups
:12:57. > :13:00.the ante in what air passengers in Northern Ireland are currently
:13:00. > :13:03.paying. It is hoped tens of thousands of
:13:03. > :13:08.visitors will be attracted to Belfast next year when the sides
:13:08. > :13:13.and sounds of shipbuilding are recreated in the Titanic Quarter.
:13:13. > :13:17.A massive building called Titanic Belfast is to be ready in time for
:13:17. > :13:21.the 100 anniversary of the ship's sinking. Maggie Taggart has been to
:13:21. > :13:27.see the work in progress. 100 years ago Titanic floated
:13:27. > :13:31.proudly before its tragic end in 1912. Around 3,000 workers
:13:31. > :13:37.constructed it in Belfast and to date thousands of workers are
:13:37. > :13:42.constructing this building. The signature project is calling �97
:13:42. > :13:47.million and promises to be on time. Estate agents say that location,
:13:47. > :13:51.location and location of the most important factors and this location
:13:51. > :13:54.is the unique selling point of Titanic Belfast.
:13:54. > :14:01.When you face out northwards from the building, that is where the
:14:01. > :14:06.Titanic was built. To your left is the river where it first set sail.
:14:06. > :14:11.To the south was where the workers came every day.
:14:11. > :14:17.From its windows, workers will have a better view Dundee's present-day
:14:17. > :14:21.tourists. They will be able to look down on the dry dock and the slip
:14:21. > :14:29.away. What you see before us is one of
:14:29. > :14:33.the ship's holes. People can get an impression of exactly what it would
:14:33. > :14:40.have been like. This is the first time use cameras
:14:40. > :14:47.have been allowed in. The opening is in 20th April 12, 100 years
:14:47. > :14:53.after it sank on its maiden voyage with the loss of 1500 lives.
:14:53. > :14:58.Exhibitions will chart the life of Doug -- Belfast at the time, and
:14:58. > :15:03.discovery of the ship on the bed of the Atlantic.
:15:03. > :15:08.You can get a feel of the story itself and there is a shipyard
:15:08. > :15:14.where you get on a car which takes you through the centre of the
:15:14. > :15:20.shipyard, the smiles, sights and sounds.
:15:20. > :15:26.-- the smell ofs. They say it will be finished in
:15:26. > :15:30.April of next year, eight months away. Despite the fact that there
:15:30. > :15:37.is so much construction going on, the building is becoming a talking
:15:37. > :15:41.point a round the Titanic quarter. Two County Down men have put
:15:41. > :15:46.themselves on the worldwide board game map. They take the players on
:15:46. > :15:52.a streak -- strange journey, you are in a strange world balanced on
:15:52. > :15:56.the top of four elephants which sits on the back of a giant turtle.
:15:56. > :16:00.Fans of Sir Terry Pratchett will recognise this as the Discworld and
:16:00. > :16:04.the game "Guards! Guards!" has been based on the fantasy novels. It has
:16:04. > :16:08.been given official approval but it has taken a long time to get to
:16:08. > :16:12.this stage. But 20 years the two men who
:16:12. > :16:16.designed this board-game have been working towards the day when people
:16:16. > :16:20.all over year it -- the world will be playing at.
:16:20. > :16:27.It was just something we thought about ourselves but as people
:16:27. > :16:32.started to enjoy it we thought it could become something. Being a big
:16:32. > :16:39.fan of Terry Pratchett's work, it means a lot that he liked it. The
:16:39. > :16:43.last prototype we looked at, he said this is what it should like --
:16:43. > :16:47.look like. It was one thing for the author to
:16:47. > :16:52.say he liked it, another to get a games company to produce it.
:16:52. > :16:57.We did several designs over a year and a half and came back with the
:16:57. > :17:02.5th or 6th version of it and tried to take all the boxes that the
:17:02. > :17:12.company wanted us to take. We wanted to mix that up with the
:17:12. > :17:13.
:17:13. > :17:18.Discworld magic. "Guards! Guards!" is based on Sir
:17:18. > :17:22.Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and it comes -- the name comes from
:17:22. > :17:27.one of the titles. The game features 90 characters from more
:17:27. > :17:29.than 20 of the books but I have been told you do not have to be a
:17:29. > :17:39.fantasy fiction fan to enjoy playing at.
:17:39. > :17:42.
:17:42. > :17:47.At by have got it spot on -- they have got it spot on. It is quite
:17:47. > :17:52.easy to dip in and I think I will read quite a few of the books now.
:17:52. > :17:56.The game goes on sale next month and already the pair are working on
:17:56. > :18:01.ideas for the next stage. It is a bit more complicated than
:18:01. > :18:08.drafts! Next to the jockey who is riding to the rescue of his GAA
:18:08. > :18:12.club. Austin O'Callaghan is speaking from
:18:12. > :18:18.County Down. If you look at any sports club,
:18:18. > :18:26.times are not easy, so when you have this man to lend a helping
:18:26. > :18:32.hand, Tony McCoy. Does this mean you are coming out of retirement?
:18:32. > :18:41.Definitely not. It would be nice if I could play football though!
:18:41. > :18:45.to play for this club as a child. - - you used to. Yes, until I was
:18:46. > :18:50.pretty much 15. It is nice to be able to give something back.
:18:50. > :18:58.Obviously my brother and sister are still playing for the club and my
:18:58. > :19:08.nieces and so on. We have your old coach, Raymond. Do you remember
:19:08. > :19:11.
:19:11. > :19:17.Tony playing? Was he any good? was, but very demanding. He said to
:19:17. > :19:22.me, sorry, I won't be there for the match because I am learning to ride.
:19:22. > :19:31.I did not think he would be such a success as today. How did you lose
:19:31. > :19:39.him to racing? He thought it would be better than playing football.
:19:39. > :19:46.This is the shirt, in the colours of Moneyglass. It is the blue and
:19:46. > :19:52.yellow. Do you want to do the needful? Have I think there will be
:19:52. > :19:57.a round of applause. We might be able to put on the boots. Who
:19:57. > :20:02.knows? The Carling football despite Carling Premiership football season
:20:02. > :20:07.has got under way. Linfield manager David Jeffrey has been giving an
:20:07. > :20:14.enough -- in-depth interview to BBC Newsline. After a decade and a half
:20:14. > :20:21.in charge at Windsor Park, by highs, the lows and the new appointments.
:20:21. > :20:25.David Jefferies -- David Jeffrey is Linfield's longest serving manager.
:20:25. > :20:32.He continues to divide opinion. For I do not know what people think
:20:32. > :20:35.of me. In some ways I do not take it personally because it might be
:20:35. > :20:45.that other teams don't like Linfield so they don't like the
:20:45. > :20:47.
:20:47. > :20:54.manager! But nobody can take away the time that I and the staff
:20:54. > :20:58.around me have been at Linfield. We have won 29 trophies, 5 doubles. We
:20:58. > :21:03.have won a clean sweep. They will never take that away.
:21:03. > :21:10.He has just appointed a successor to Noel Bailey, one of the few
:21:10. > :21:14.Catholics took captain the club. -- to captain.
:21:14. > :21:20.Michael's religion has nothing to do with it. He is a Linfield player
:21:20. > :21:26.and a very good one. He has matured phenomenally well. He was very much
:21:26. > :21:31.the natural candidate. But clean sweep in 2006 was a high
:21:31. > :21:37.point for Jeffrey but during his time as manager he has suffered a
:21:37. > :21:42.marriage breakdown. Did the job contribute to this? It would be
:21:42. > :21:48.wrong to say that the pressures of football do not affect your life,
:21:48. > :21:55.but it would also be wrong, very wrong, to say that the journey
:21:55. > :22:00.which my life has taken has been influenced so much by football.
:22:00. > :22:06.As he embarks on a new season, it is the same old goal - more
:22:06. > :22:11.silverware. Linfield away on Saturday. Full
:22:11. > :22:16.coverage on BBC Radio Ulster at 3 o'clock.
:22:16. > :22:21.There is a rumour that in a few minutes Tony McCoy is going to try
:22:21. > :22:26.to kick a few points over the bar. I will believe it when I see it.
:22:26. > :22:30.Enjoy the rest of your evening! Sporting moments and even the
:22:30. > :22:36.simple things in life can be preserved forever in a photograph
:22:36. > :22:37.and from tomorrow at a whole array of those images will be on show at
:22:37. > :22:42.Belfast's first photography festival.
:22:42. > :22:46.It is about creating a stage for local and international talent and
:22:46. > :22:51.there will be a host of exhibitions. Our reporter has been to take a
:22:51. > :22:56.look at one of them. This is one of a number of places
:22:56. > :23:03.where you can check out some really fantastic photographs. With me is
:23:03. > :23:08.one of the festival's organisers. Give me a flavour of what it is
:23:08. > :23:13.about. The whole idea is to create an event which will have wide
:23:13. > :23:16.appeal but what we are dealing with is a unique event, in that this is
:23:16. > :23:20.the first ever international photographic festival to take place
:23:20. > :23:25.in Northern Ireland. It was the dream of one individual two years
:23:25. > :23:29.ago and it has taken two years to put together. The idea is that we
:23:29. > :23:36.have a history of photography in Northern Ireland and we need to
:23:36. > :23:40.make people aware of that. We have people like Donovan Wylie and what
:23:40. > :23:46.we wanted to do with the festival was create a platform. We brought
:23:46. > :23:50.not only local talent but fresh new talent from university accompanied
:23:50. > :23:58.with international talent. These photographs are at surely from
:23:58. > :24:05.Chicago, aren't they? A day are. -- they are. This was one of the
:24:05. > :24:09.surprises for me. Probably this is in my top five. Really stunning.
:24:09. > :24:13.The presentation alone really does them justice. This is what we are
:24:13. > :24:19.trying to do throughout the festival is reach out to a wider
:24:19. > :24:24.audience with images like this that people can think, I can do that.
:24:24. > :24:33.But everybody will have their own favourites. So lots going on. If
:24:33. > :24:42.you have an eye for nice pictures and a head for numbers, -- are 36
:24:42. > :24:51.events over 10 days. -- and there are 36 events.
:24:51. > :24:55.Time to find out if a change is on We had a nice day today, the sun
:24:55. > :25:01.made a return, and we know how brilliant the local photographic
:25:01. > :25:06.talent is because we have so many pictures sent in. It sounds like
:25:06. > :25:10.some of those venues for local photographs will be something to do
:25:10. > :25:14.if we had some rainy weather, which we will have tomorrow. Sunshine has
:25:14. > :25:23.been the main thing, particularly across eastern areas. This is the
:25:23. > :25:31.satellite picture at the moment. We are likely to catch some nice
:25:31. > :25:35.sunset. This was last night. It will turn increasingly damp, the
:25:35. > :25:41.cloud thickening up. Not too much rain initially but by morning it
:25:41. > :25:45.will be more persistent and it will be quite wet. Look at the
:25:45. > :25:55.temperatures, marched milder compared to last night and it will
:25:55. > :25:59.probably feel quite sticky. -- much milder. It may make for some
:25:59. > :26:05.interesting scenes in the morning. This is how it looked a couple of
:26:05. > :26:09.mornings ago. Tomorrow morning, if you are driving over the hills, it
:26:09. > :26:19.is likely to be quite misty with some hill fog are round. Persistent
:26:19. > :26:19.
:26:19. > :26:26.rain mainly down into the Belfast area. There will be some surplus of
:26:26. > :26:30.water around if you are driving. Not particularly cold, though,
:26:30. > :26:36.temperatures of 14 or 15 degrees in the morning. The rain gradually
:26:36. > :26:43.peters out from the South, but it will be dull and gloomy, especially
:26:43. > :26:48.over the moors. It changes later in the day, gradually brightening up
:26:48. > :26:54.from the south and west, the rain turning more to showers, but those
:26:54. > :26:59.becoming fairly few and far between as the afternoon wears on. Probably
:26:59. > :27:04.quite a close field today. Some fresher weather for Friday,
:27:04. > :27:08.temperatures of 17 or 18 degrees, but it is dry. A great start if you
:27:08. > :27:17.are taking part in the walking Festival. At the weekend it will be
:27:17. > :27:21.. Several thousand people from Northern Ireland could be affected
:27:21. > :27:25.by the collapse of a holiday company which operated out of
:27:25. > :27:30.Belfast International Airport. Up to 5,000 homes are lying
:27:30. > :27:35.unfinished as a result of the property clash forced.
:27:35. > :27:38.Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is wheeled into court
:27:38. > :27:44.charged with the killing of protesters.
:27:44. > :27:48.More have -- more phone hacking allegations - Heather Mills says