20/10/2011 BBC Newsline

And exclusive report on the people under threat from vigilantes in

Londonderry. One man speaks out about his abuse

at their hands of four brothers. They have had a devastating effect

on the entire community. The First Minister says there is no

evidence the police on but man has failed in his duty. -- police

ombudsman. 10 libraries run under threat of

closure but even those that have BBC Newsline has been told that 36

people in Londonderry are under threat from vigilantes. According

to a police source, 20 have been forced out of the city in the past

year. They say that they will end up killing somebody if they

continued their attacks and intimidation. Our correspondent

spoke to re form were drug dealer who fled, feeling he was in

imminent danger. This man says he is taking no

chances. A Republican vigilante group burst into his family home on

Tuesday night and ransacked it. Luckily the 24-year-old was not

there. The armed and masked gang shouted a warning before they left.

I just heard this from neighbours and people on the street. I do not

know much more because they are only saying that but I want answers

about who it was. I know I have had drug issues over the years. But my

home was attacked since last year I have got things sorted.

The police said that 36 people are still under threat from vigilante

groups. 20 young people have been ordered to leave the city since

last August. There are enough few idiots who will drive us back to

old times but the vast majority support the police and will work

with the police. Crime is at the lowest level in 13

years in this city. It has been a record year in terms of catching

drug dealers. We are making people safer without having to turn to

vigilante Fox. That view was echoed by church leaders. Showing

solidarity, the Bishop of Derry he also said that vigilante groups had

no constructive role. I think it is dangerous, divisive,

intimidating and it is the sort of thing that should not happen in a

civil society, a society that wants to move forward. We have a to get

that out of the ether in this city. People are suffering, people are

afraid, people are anxious. That man remains anxious as well but

hopes that he will be able to return from exile.

He is adamant that he has put his drug-dealing past behind him and

has called for the death threat against him to be lifted. A man who

was sexually abused by four brothers has spoken publicly for

the first time in order to help other victims.

Survivors of abuse in the village were presented with a community

award by Stormont, for helping to stop generations of abuse from the

brothers. Maicon Connolly has been on a

journey from hell. Growing up here in the 1960s, he was targeted and

abused by the McDermott brothers. The a just my life but the entire

community, it has been a devastating effect.

There are many now in counselling from what they did.

Following the trial last year, one of the abusers was sent to jail for

nine years. The sentence was extended by six months earlier this

week for the abuse of another school boy. Two other brothers were

deemed mentally unfit to stand trial and were allowed to return

home to their home in the village. Survivors have demanded a change in

the law. We were promised a review of the Mental Health Act.

I have lost sight of that, there is no sign of what is going on. They

are not communicating with us. He of staff by waving anonymity, other

victims will not stay silent. And a have taken my life back, I

have taken control of my own life. I would like survivors of abuse,

those who have not had to justice, and those who have come forward and

not at justice, I would like them to look at me and think, that man

has lived his life. I have a lovely family at home. I'm happily

studying for a law degree which I am thoroughly enjoying. I hope when

I get to the end of as I can put it to good use.

The fight to change this law goes They First Minister has refused to

back the acting Deputy First Minister's call for the police

ombudsman to go. He says there is no evidence that the police

ombudsman has not performed in his duty. It comes in the wake of a BBC

programme that uncover significant failings in the office.

The his protest came within hours of the BBC revelations about the

police ombudsman's office. Families of victims picketed the office

insisting they had no confidence in the police ombudsman.

Spot light revealed that a report had been rewritten, information had

been withheld from a victim's family, and a case was not followed

up. It is damaging enough for Sinn Fein's most senior minister.

think the public have lost confidence in his role.

He is in danger of damaging confidence in the police

ombudsman's office. But he is not convinced, branding the problem

superficial. I will not be involved in party

political slanging on this issue. Nobody has come to me in the street

and said this is terrible, I have no confidence in the ombudsman's

office. They are facts are that al

Hutchinson announced weeks ago that he would quit next June, after a

report said his office was dysfunctional and questioned his

independence. BBC Northern Ireland stands by its journalism. In a

statement, it said that BBC Spotlight was responsible,

rigorously researched and in the public interest.

I think the race committee should recall them. It is vital that he

can present his testimony so that he can explain himself.

committee is considering be issued. After this afternoon's executive

meeting, the justice minister met the first and Deputy First Minister

has to make arrangements to the place Mr Hutchins and when he goes

next June. The serial killer Robert Black's

defence opened and closed this morning. He is accused of abducting

and killing a nine-year-old in 1981. He chose not to take the stand

himself. A forensic pathologist gave evidence from a video link

from Malaysia. He said in his opinion it was not possible to say

for sure whether Jennifer was strangled or drowned, or if she was

sexually assaulted. It of the 10 libraries that had

been marked for closure have been given a reprieve, at least

temporarily. The two that will be close to our Moneymore and Moy.

Did the campaigning have an effect? I think they were impressed by the

amount of campaigning. In many cases it at the effect of

increasing membership, increasing the amount of hours that computers

were used and increasing lending of books and CDs. Five other libraries

have a hurdle to get over in that they need to find new premises. But

I think the messages they want these libraries to continue working

for the committee. They will have to get local councils are community

bodies to help them. That must be done within a year. They must at

least have their proposals down, to prove themselves. Most of the

decisions were made unanimously in the board meeting today. One was

not, which affected Guildford Library, which is surviving

nominally but will survive in a different way. That will be viewed

by some people as a euphemism. It will have to provide library

services from one room many community centre.

I am worried and I would be afraid that library services would be

greatly reduced and that the service will be affected. I will

work to ensure that does not happen. Moneymore and Moy are the unlucky

ones because they are just outright closures. Partly because of low

usage and also because the buildings are sub-standard, needing

new grooves and damp and faulty electrics. Have spoken to the

chairperson of the library's Agent say. They allowed the the day's

board is not at all happy to take up this recommendation but we

believe with the state of the building and the level of use, we

could not sustain the operations in Moneymore and Moy.

It is with some sadness we do that but we do undertake to provide

mobile services to those two villages. In next hurdle for the

library's, consultation going on just now it's about opera --

opening hours. Still to come, going crazy for the quad bikes.

And what made an entrepreneur. We talk to this mother who decided

to invent a new car seat. The chief electoral officer has

apologised to those inconvenienced by the lengthy delay in May's

election and referendum counts. He told the BBC that lessons have been

learned after an independent watchdog strongly criticised the

planning of the counts. Pollak sang tables, hairdryers used

to dry out ballot papers, at times, may's account generated --

degenerated into farce. The fall out reached London, where Northern

Ireland's verdict in the referendum on how MPs should be chosen came in

four hours later than anyone else's. It is a of ten men much later than

anyone else in the rest of their United Kingdom and it is a shame

that the vote for the people of Northern Ireland was something of

an afterthought. Today's report lays the blame in

different directions. Staff dropping out, poor planning

and inadequate communication. Do you think he what the

politicians or the general public an apology? It's is important to

point out to people we were dealing with the Belections. There were

more than 2 million ballots which is far in excess of what was

counted before. I would like things to be done more quickly than they

were. People were kept hanging around Count venues for longer than

they should have been and I apologise. The Electoral Office

acknowledges that lessons must be learnt. They plan to speed up the

counting process by counting votes Martin McGuinness' suitability for

the office was question, while Dana Rosemary Scallon has been

threatened with legal action. The query about Martin McGuinness came

from the family of the murdered Garda officer Gerry McCabe. Yes, in

a statement they claimed that Martin McGuinness had met one of

the IRA men convicted of the killing of Detective Jerry McCabe,

Kevin Walsh, while he was on the run. The family claimed that Mr

McGuinness knew the whereabouts of two other IRA members being sought

for the killing. They say that because of his refusal to assist

the authorities with their investigations that he was not a

suitable candidate for the office of President. Mr McGuinness denied

ever meeting Kevin Walsh whilst he was a wanted man and said he had no

information about the whereabouts of any other suspects. He

unreservedly condemned the killing of Jerry McCabe, which he said was

unjustifiable, and he said he would never stand over attacks on the

members of the Garda. Last week we had Diana considering legal action.

Now we hear about possible legal action against her. That is right.

The whole issue stems from comments made on a broadcast on television

last Friday on which she spoke of false and malicious accusations. A

solicitor acting for Dina's niece and sister issued a statement in

which he said he had been instructed by them to issue libel

proceedings and less totally unfounded and defamatory statements

were retracted immediately. There has been no response from Diana.

Finding out your child has autism can result in emotions like shock,

anger or even denial. There is confusion about where to turn. This

week two initiatives were launched. For this week's family focus I am

joined by a parent of a child with autism and Dr Stephen Bergin, the

chair of the Regional Autistic Spectrum Disorder Network. Stephen,

what difference will be his make? If I can take you back to 2007 if

you were a young man and you were worried about your child. The last

thing you wanted to find out is that you would have to wait two or

three years to see a specialist. On the back of considerable investment

to put in place a raft of specialist practitioners, we have

brought that down to just a few weeks. Because we have put a lot of

practitioners into the trusts, we have a whole raft of diagnostic

services in place. We have standardised diagnostic methods in

place. And this is a joined-up approach? Yes, two years ago the

board wanted to bring together the trusts and the voluntary sector and

other agencies such as education to work collaboratively. Laura, you

have a son, David. One of these guides is a guide for families. How

useful would this have been for you? It would have been brilliant

to have something because 28 years ago when my son was diagnosed there

were not even voluntary organisations in Northern Ireland.

It would have been great to have an idea of what would be ahead. We

have outlined from the time of diagnosis right through to when the

child starts university, so it is a broad range of information about

what it is like to live with autism. We have put what we have learnt

into this book to give families an idea of what is ahead. As we said,

your son David is 30. There is a bit of a disparity with what

happens to older people with autism, adults. When you have been in the

situation of having funding, now be focused will be on adolescents. -

the focus. We will shortly be starting to write the adult guide.

Thank you very much for joining us. To find out more and if you would

like to download these documents, checkout our Facebook page.

Tonight at an awards ceremony in Dublin one person will win the

accolade are Entrepreneur of the Year. There are seven Northern

Ireland people in the 24 finalists in the prestigious and Stan yum

competition. -- Ernst and Young. Entrepreneurship is a hard concept

to define. It is somebody who found a gap in the market and exploited

it. Somebody who can make money for themselves, who can take an idea

and develop good. Somebody who is willing to take a risk for

something they believe in. In fact, an ultra nap -- entrepreneur can be

a mother of two who do and -- designs car seats for children.

Since she can't buy them the way she wants, she decides to make a

run. Grainne Kelly has just signed a contract to create these seats.

We have launched an application as well for children, to add a bit of

street credibility. Children don't want to ride on a baby seat. We are

trying to inspire children by letting them have their own cool

product. Perhaps an entrepreneur is somebody who's company makes parts

for boats. This man, makes such products. We spend over 11 % of our

turnover on product development. That is about getting an advantage.

Do we have enough entrepreneurs here? I think there are a

phenomenal number in Northern Ireland but they are not given the

recognition they deserve. Just two of the 24 -- the 23 finalists

competing for the title of Entrepreneur of the Year. But there

are hundreds or even thousands more out there and they are keeping the

economy running in these difficult times.

If you have an entrepreneurial story to tell us, let us know.

There will be great Britain football teams at the London

Olympics but well Northern Ireland players be involved?

Very possibly. Stuart Pearce and Hope Powell were named as the

prospect -- respective head coaches. The Irish Football Association has

constantly stated that they oppose the concept of Team GB but at a

press conference at Wembley Stadium today Stuart Pearce was adamant

that he will select Northern Ireland players. As a manager, I

would want to pick from the biggest pool of players possible. I think

it is vitally important, it is Team GB, and on the back of that we need

to pick the best players possible to have the best opportunity of

winning the tournament. As far as I am concerned, it is not just

English players by any means. It is open to anybody and I think, if I

was a player, trying to put myself in their position, trying to get

myself forward to be part of this tournament and this occasion would

be fantastic. There is a long way to go but if Europe's and Ryder Cup

team was being selected two Northern Ireland players would be

assured of their places, Rory Mackle Roy -- and Rory Michael Royd

and Stephen Hoey. He has captained the Ulster rugby

team so far this season and today Chris Henryk signed a two-year

extension. Down through the years Northern

Ireland has produced many motor cycling champions, mostly on two

wheels. But the four-wheel kind is growing in popularity. We caught up

with our quad racing stars of the future.

This is a rider's are a view of quad racing. Over 80 children from

all over the country travel here to race every week.

It keeps them away from the street, stops them running up and down the

streets of their neighbours. They thoroughly enjoy it and there are

prizes at the end of the year for them. It is really, really good fun

for all of the children. Each of the competitors enjoy it

for different reasons. I like to hang off, when you go

around the corner has. Getting good positions is fun. -- corners.

good to meet new people. One parent knows the real reason that children

love to race. He loves it because of the martyr! It gives him a sense

of achievement. -- because of the mud.

With moves like this, it is pretty competitive as well.

It looks like a lot of fun. Now let's get the latest on the

The wet weather from the west made its way across the whole province

and we are in for a pretty damp evening. But the cloud is helping

temperatures to creep up to just above average. Looking at the rest

of the UK and Ireland on the satellite picture, this is that

weather front that was moving in earlier, affecting Ireland and the

west coast of Scotland, where there was persistent brain for a time.

The best of the weather was in the south-east and the South of England.

As far back home, but rain is going to stay with us for the rest of the

evening and into the first part of the morning, but it will start to

fragment and break-up, so we should be left with a fairly dry evening.

Temperatures dipping to just eight or nine degrees. It should feel

noticeably milder than last night. Friday, a mild start, but it will

be a cloudy and breezy day. Some showers developing in parts of

County Fermanagh, County Londonderry. The winds will pick up

all the time but it is pulling in warm air from the South stoic

should have an noticeably milder field tomorrow. -- so it should.

Those showers eventually fizzling out so, by the late afternoon and

early evening, it will be dry for just about everyone. As we head

overnight and into Saturday, that is when the weather changes. It

will become wet and windy. There is a bit of uncertainty about when the