18/08/2011 BBC Newsline

Good evening. This is BBC Newsline with Donna Traynor and Sarah

Travers. The headlines this Thursday evening. Students

celebrate A level passes, but the number of top grades is down. With

an uncertain economic outlook, we'll look at the options for the

next step. I am live on the Gerona Armagh border were thieves have

left dozens of homes and businesses without by the telephone or

internet connections. A knife attack on a horse leaves its owners

stunned. Any body that would have the notion to come out with the

knife and abuse an animal? What is wrong with them? I'm live with

friends and family of the Fermanagh Gaelic footballer who's beginning a

long road to recovery in the US. isn't too late to catch some

sunshine this evening. Make the most of it - I will tell you why

later... The wait is finally over for thousands of young people and

their families, with the publication of the A level results

today. This year the statistics tell a changing story. We've become

accustomed to seeing grades rise year after year and although the

overall pass rate is the same, the performance in high grades is not

as good as previous years. One principal has told us an end to

inflated grades will make the results more respected. Our

education correspondent, Maggie Taggart, reports. As students

collect their results, statistics show that Northern Ireland pupils

did better than the average across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

84% of exams earned a good result compared to 76% across the regions.

However, after years of improving performances, the higher grades are

slipping. The Education Minister says it is too early to panic.

there is any worrying trend, we have to see what action we can take

but it is far too early to suggest that we are on a downward trend.

the secondary school, all pupils got at least two passes with a

healthy share of top marks but the principle isn't complaining about

the overall slip in grades. I am not disappointed and it does add

value, people then have more faith in the results if there isn't

simply a great number of pupils getting nothing but a and B. A gap

year between leaving school and starting university has been

fashionable recently but with the increase in fees in universities

outside Northern Ireland, 2012 means not many are not taking that

action. This puts pressure on places and some courses are asking

for better grades. The course I went for had a lower grades last

year. I will have to do a lot more work than I had to do. Before I

started a levels, it has moved up a lot. Those going into a level

shortly can be assured the fees in Northern Ireland will not go up

dramatically but it's a different story in England, Wales and

Scotland and they will face higher bills if they go there. I might

stay here because of the fees and the thought of lots of debt scares

me because you have to pay it back. The recession brings another

problem and it affects the choices of programmes. This year and last

year, there have been more vocational courses were at the end

of three or four years at university they will have a career.

I would imagine, that is down to the issue around student fees and

the expense. Good morning... the first time this year, the local

at Sam's body published results online from 7am. 20,000 pupils were

eligible to do that and there was a good response of a song called the

helpline for advice on how to log on. Here, the girls could have gone

online to get their results this morning but there is strength and

comfort in numbers and many opted to come to school to get the news

in the company of friends and teachers. I did not really like

that, I wanted to have the envelope and be able to take it out and see.

I did not want to look at a screen. I came with friends. To have the

experience of meeting the teachers and saying thank you. The website

which tells students if they have been accepted for the first-choice

course was disrupted this morning but has now been repaired. Of

course, not all students want to go to university. Further Education

colleges also offer degree courses and training as the next step.

Hundreds of students have been filing through the corridors of the

Belfast Met to find out what's available there, as Natasha Sayee

reports. The college opened its doors this morning for a special

advice day and there was a steady stream of students who needed just

that. I was disappointed with my results so I applied to get back to

school. I am waiting on the court so I came here to enrol in a couple

of courses to keep my options open. I wanted to see what was on offer

because I am not sure what I want to do it at the moment. I am just

here to find out what they have on offer and hopefully come here

eventually. I want to do more A- levels but I was really nervous so

I had Abbey in drama and a C in media studies, that's the best I

could do. As well as a more stoic, there were plenty of red eyes and

tears and worried parents. The message is that all isn't lost.

have a massive range of vocational courses in the college and that

will train someone for employment in terms of whenever the recession

is over, we have people coming back into employment and in terms of

volume of courses we have, we have courses in catering, hairdressing,

so it's important that people remain in education and they get

that level of support. University isn't always the answer, there are

lots of other options. I underling horticulture part-time next year

and hopefully will go on to do more of that. I just realised that

university isn't the best option for me. The Belfast Met says it has

all sorts of places available and will be holding another advice day

next week. With me now is Michelle Markem, former principal of St

Joseph's College in South Belfast, who's now an education commentator.

Some young people have got want they want and know where they are

heading. There is still the impression that university is the

be all and end all? That is a legacy of our high quality

education. And the approach to the value. But we have now established

that there are many other ways to get a good education than simply

going directly to university. The Belfast Met was offering a wide

range of courses and other further- education colleges offer further

and higher education courses which have great baggy and they are a

stepping-stone to university for those people who just cannot go

directly. Yesterday I spoke to graduates who had done mostly arts

degrees and found they are now working in coffee shops and pubs,

they have not got their chosen field. Should the choice of

subjects and the course happen much earlier in school? There is debate

about this because the American model is due to the primary degree

and decide vocational attitudes afterwards but here, my argument is

that any degree for its intrinsic worth and development of thinking

skills, is incredibly valuable and after that you should see what you

really want to do. I am not sure that apart from things in medicine

and dentistry, the argument is about having to be vocational from

the age of 18. I think that gap years are excellent ways of finding

out what your attitude is and gaining life experience and putting

that on your CV. The Bills have to be paid. It is very difficult for

parents to finance their children? It is and this is about how society

views education and its value and the issue of fees in Northern

Ireland is going to indicate whether or not without the

education highly enough. If we want to have a highly skilled workforce,

and that will not be based on how we learnt livings through

manufacturing any longer, it will be intellectual industries and we

need an highly-skilled workforce and if we decide you want that, we

have to encourage young people by working at the minimum fee for

university. The argument about paying us back when they earn isn't

for me a good enough argument. is a big argument that we could

spend a lot of time on but thank you very much for life. Thank you.

We've pulled together a list of some websites that might be useful

in relation to A levels and what comes next. You'll find them on our

Facebook page. You can also get in touch with us on Twitter or by

email. Next to County Tyrone, where there has been serious but unusual

disruption to the telephone service. To explain why, let's join our

district journalist, Gordon Adair. So what's happened, Gordon?

isn't unusual for disruption to the phone service, it does happen but

what is unusual about this is the reason why. Sometime early

yesterday morning it seems that I go the thieves climbed this poll

and everyone like it along the road, cut the cables and made off with it.

It has caused inconvenience with phones and businesses and a minute

or so before we went to air, people said we want Facebook back! And

that's not the only problem. Yesterday, this 300 metre stretch

of quiet rural road on the Tyrone Armagh border became a very

unlikely crime scene. Some time in the early hours, thieves somehow

cut down and made off with the telephone cable that ran alongside

the road. The result has been a busy today is for BT. And a

nightmare for homes and companies. Companies like Muldoon ensuring who

depend on phones and the intranet to keep the business ticking over.

It isn't just the phones, it is the internet for e-mail and faxes. Even

both of our factories, the computer system is linked to the internet

and that has been put to bed. We had to move staff to the other yard

in order to carry out their tasks. Well, you are wondering... Why

would someone steal telephone cables? Copper fetches a very high

price at the moment, and one man I spoke to locally told me that

earlier this week someone had driven into his yard with a trailer

and filled with scrap copper and he wanted the trailer repaired at he

said he would repair that but he said he would come back after

selling the copper and he came back, 6 ft by 4 ft, and he came back with

a cheque for �4,200. So the high price is temptation enough for

thieves to be ever more vigilant. Apologies, I don't know if the

thieves stole part of that report! Sorry about that. You're watching

BBC Newsline, still to come on the programme. 60 jobs go as another

big-name store closes its doors. The Aussies are coming. Northern

Ireland secures its first Olympic team base. There's been another

blow to the local economy with the news that the TJ Hughes department

store in North Belfast is to close its doors this weekend with the

loss of more than 60 jobs. It's the latest big-name casualty on the

High Street, as our business correspondent, Kevin Magee, reports.

This is the latest casualty of the downturn, the TJ Hughes discount

store in North Belfast. It joins a long line of well-known names that

are disappearing from the High Street. The locally owned

electrical goods chain Lisa went under under stiff competition and

the music retailer is Abbey also crashed as consumers and online.

And will Wednesfield as the product range lost focus. 54 TJ Hughes

stores across the UK will close. For have been sold but a reprieve

for the Belfast shop is unlikely. At the 11th hour, we do not know.

There is a possibility of discussions and decisions, I am not

aware of those at this moment. Today's retail spending figures

give further evidence that consumers remain under pressure.

When prices and costs rise, shoppers do not have as much money

to spend. The much more careful about how they spend that and when

confidence is low, the retail sector is the first to suffer. The

chain failed in its aim to dominate the discount end of the market.

Some say it had passed its sell-by date. They were reaching the 100

your point in their life cycle and some retailers these days are able

to risk -- exist that long. Marks and Spencers and Sainsbury's have

exceeded that but like humans, retailers have a life expectancy,

and very few reach 100. 64 people will be let go in the shutters come

down this weekend. It'll be a jobs blow that North Belfast cannot

A 24-year-old man has appeared in court charged with raping a man. It

used to cannot be identified for legal reasons was arrested in

England on Tuesday. The charges relate to incident so that took

place in hotels, private addresses and secure locations. The judge

reported restricted reporting for genuine concerns of the accused.

Bail was refused and he was remanded in custody.

The owner of a horse which suffered serious knife wounds says he was

threatened by the teenage gang who carried out the attack in

Londonderry. The vet he treated the horse says he is appalled at what

happened but says cruelty to animals is becoming more and more

common. Patches a five-year-old mare is now

recovering from her horrendous injuries. She was graining on her

owner's land when a dozen young people with hooded tops called her

over to a fence and cut her with a knife. The owner says the youths

also be threatened him. challenged them. One had a knife on

him. God knows what they would have done to May. If they can do that to

an animal, what would they do to a human. The vet was unable to stitch

the card. He is currently treating the horse with iodine to cleanse

the area infected. The course will also receive regular injections.

is becoming more common. I cannot understand why young people have

nothing better to do. Cruelty to animals is becoming more common. I

have not seen that many horses, but we have seen a few dogs mistreated.

In my experience, almost 40 years in practice, cruelty is becoming

more common. The owner's mother says patches is popular with local

children who regularly feed her through the fence. Anybody would

have the notion to come out with a knife and abuse and animal, what is

wrong with them? What is wrong with them? Residents of this area say

there is an ongoing problem with anti-social behaviour. They say

every weekend, groups of young people gather here to drink and

cause a general nuisance. They want something done about the situation

urgently. Now to the story we have been

following of the young Fermanagh footballer who was in a coma for

more than a month one injured in a match in San Francisco. An incident

left Mark McGovern with serious head injuries. This evening,

friends and family in his home village are holding an event as he

continues his recovery in the US. Thomas Niblock is live in Blacklion.

I am here where there is a fund raising event taking place here to

nine. A couple of Gentleman would bite to speak to. Sean, you are

organising the fund raising. Mark was a very -- very close to death.

How is the recovering? Mark lay motionless for five weeks in the

hospital in San Francisco and is now out of the coma. He is starting

to talk slowly and starting to learn to walk again, but it is a

long way off, a full recovery is a long way off. Brain injuries, the

best of care is a century -- essential. It is a fund-raising

event tonight. I have heard the figure of $1.2 million to help mark.

How difficult is it to raise that? It is a big amount but the amount

of good will we have had from all sections of the community, the fact

that Mark has got this far based on the support of the community is a

plus. But we need everybody support in order to garner as much money as

possible. Tim, you are the chairman of the club. Everyone has been

trying to chair this fund-raising effort. It is the occasions like

this that we have really come into our own. There could well has been

unbelievable. Also the local clubs have been very good to us. And

clubs outside the county have been brilliant also. We appreciate their

support. All the best for tonight's fund-raising efforts. Now on to

athletics and it has been a long time coming but the Australian

boxing team will use Belfast as their base for London 2012. As the

sports minister revealed, there may be more to follow.

Over the past 20 years, the Australian Olympic team have

consistently been in the top 10 medal count at the Games. They take

their sport very seriously and today, it was announced that their

boxing team from Down Under for the use Belfast as their base before

London 2012. Australia have said they intend to be here next summer,

which is really good news. Sports Northern Ireland, in conjunction

with others, had tried so insecure pre-Games training for here. I am

confident they have done well so far and I am confident they will do

a good job. Are there any other nations that make use of Northern

Ireland as a base? There will be others but you'll appreciate that

this is a competitive arena and we do not want to reveal our cars. We

will play them close to our chest and try to secured games here.

Perhaps more to come. The Chinese gymnastics team have already stated

that they are very interested in basing themselves in Lisburn,

although they have to confirm that indefinite. But the coach has no

doubt why the Australian boxers want to come here. The they are the

number one boxing team in the Commonwealth. They are certainly

higher up their. Additive that respect factor as well as

facilities that has Lord the Australians to Belfast. Three A's

in your AS-levels? That is what Ian Sloan received this morning in

Germany. The reason why he is there is because he is the youngest

member of the men's hockey squad taking part in the European

Championships which start this weekend.

England, France, Holland - bring them on. Ian Sloan is ready. He is

the Cookstown High School pupil who led his team to victory in several

prestigious competitions, including the McCullagh Cup this year. But he

has made the transition from minor to major league and is focusing on

his performance in the green jersey for the Europeans. They had made me

feel very welcome. It will be a tough challenge but the defeated

Argentina and South Korea. We have the belief we can go and do it.

European Championships have fallen at a fortunate time for Ian because

he is still a schoolboy but it will not be a conflict between the pitch

and the books. Because he gets time off. The principle of his school is

his mother also. Possibly some might have raised an eyebrow when

he was called into the squad to play the matches against Australia

and Korea, but after five minutes of playing, he slotted in perfectly.

He stands out now. And Ireland will need stand-up performances at these

championships. The top three Finnis and an automatic place in the

London Olympics a massive incentive. Good luck to Ian and the boys.

Ireland's rugby team are currently taking place. They're playing their

third warm-up game against Connacht. They are leading. Back to the

studio. Now to the search to discover more

about the huge asteroid behind us called Vesta, which is deep in

space. Scientists are spending millions of dollars trying to find

out more about it but you do not have to go that far to see what it

is made of. These are some of the latest NASA

pictures of Vesta. They were sent by the spacecraft dawned that is

now in orbit around the asteroid. Vesta is a huge asteroid, more than

300 miles across but over the millions of years, it has been

repeatedly hit by space debris. It is that debris that fell to earth,

including this that is in the Ulster -- Ulster Museum. This fell

in October 1960 and two ranch hands saw it come down. Subsequently,

people went to retrieve it. latest photo showed there is a huge

crater at the top of Vesta, the result of a massive collision with

another asteroid a billion years ago. What happened is that greater

spat out vast chunks, some kilometres across, and there is a

whole chain of small asteroids spreading along from Vesta, which

recalled the best rates. This is probably a chip of one of those.

the spacecraft closes in on Vesta, the pictures get better. But you do

not need a computer or a spacecraft to see a bit of the action. It cost

half-a- billion dollars to send the space shuttle to Vesta and it took

about three years to get there. To come to the Ulster Museum and see a

piece of Vesta is free except for the cost of a bus fare. However, it

is a bit smaller than Connacht -- Vesta itself.

Right on our doorstep. Let's see if the weather is fascinating.

I should mention that it is not a bad night for stargazers as they

should be some clear skies. A few showers around today, some

showers around today, some lingering tonight. Scenes such as

this one were commonplace today. The battle between sunny skies and

cloudier conditions. A bit of sunshine to enjoy this evening and

the showers will tend to fade away. The clouds melt away during the

course of tonight. Another chilly night, barely a puff of wind.

Temperatures of four or five Celsius and the chance of the odd

pocket of mist. Tomorrow, a very different day in store. Cloudy,

damp and breezy. We will say goodbye to their sunny skies.

Difficult conditions tomorrow for holidaymakers and farmers. No let

up for tomorrow. First thing, a bit of mist lingering in places. A bit

of sunshine to begin, especially towards the east, but you can not

depend on it. The sunshine will not last. The breeze will bring in

plenty of cloud and outbreaks of rain. Raining across parts of

Londonderry, Fermanagh and Tyrone and this band of rain will work its

way eastwards. Turning cloudy and damp across most parts by lunchtime

tomorrow. It will not be raining all day long, we are not expecting

heavy pulses of rain, at worst, we are talking of the odd, moderate

burst. A damp and drizzly day. Breezy as well and as a result, it

will feel rather fresh - temperatures around 17 Celsius. A

different feel tomorrow. Generally sunshine and showers for the