:00:20. > :00:24.Good evening. This is BBC Newsline. The headlines this evening:
:00:24. > :00:32.republicans have met the IRA were fully responsible for the death of
:00:32. > :00:40.a nine-year-old Londonderry boy it. I accept the apology from the IRA,
:00:40. > :00:46.and they are totally to blame from -- for the murder of my son.
:00:46. > :00:50.University of Ulster by is a swathe of land for its campus. An
:00:50. > :00:55.investigation of the rehiring of retired RUC officers will begin
:00:55. > :01:00.next week. Ireland aim to hit the ground running as they restart
:01:00. > :01:03.their Six Nations campaign. And after a cooler day it'll be a
:01:03. > :01:08.colder night, but what does the weekend have in store? Find out
:01:08. > :01:11.later in the programme. Republicans in Londonderry have admitted full
:01:11. > :01:14.responsibility for the death of a nine-year-old boy in 1973 - and
:01:14. > :01:17.have apologised to his parents and family for the pain and grief
:01:17. > :01:27.caused. Gordon Gallagher died when he triggered a bomb the IRA left in
:01:27. > :01:28.
:01:28. > :01:33.his back garden. Jennifer O'Leary reports. He was playing cowboys and
:01:33. > :01:37.Indians in his garden when he accidentally triggered an IRA bomb.
:01:37. > :01:41.Gordon Gallagher was just nine years old. At the time, the IRA
:01:41. > :01:51.admitted it had left the device, but claimed the detonator had been
:01:51. > :02:08.
:02:08. > :02:15.added by soldiers. 39 years later, I accept the apology from the IRA
:02:15. > :02:22.that they are totally to blame for the murder of my son. There is no
:02:22. > :02:27.blame on anybody else. The apology is accepted. The Gallagher per
:02:27. > :02:31.family had appealed to the deputy first minister to get to the bottom
:02:31. > :02:39.of what happened. Martin McGuinness was in jail at the time and had no
:02:39. > :02:49.information on what happened. have thought about the situation,
:02:49. > :02:50.
:02:50. > :02:57.and they have quite rightly reacted properly. The stadium was released
:02:57. > :03:00.through the centre. I think it is important. All families require the
:03:01. > :03:06.truth. We need to explain to this family what happened, from the
:03:06. > :03:11.point of the queue of the family, and I hope it is meaningful. It is
:03:11. > :03:16.an attempt to say this is what really happened, and there is no
:03:16. > :03:20.talk any more of things being tampered or altered. The
:03:20. > :03:29.Republicans admit full response -- responsibility for the terrible
:03:29. > :03:34.death. The father is still looking for more information. Anyone who
:03:34. > :03:39.has any information, I am not looking for revenge. I am looking
:03:39. > :03:46.for closure for my wife and myself and the rest of my family. I do not
:03:46. > :03:51.want anyone arrested. I just need to know. It is peace of mind.
:03:51. > :03:54.Tomorrow marks the 39th anniversary of chording Gallagher's death. The
:03:54. > :04:04.family say that they always knew that the IRA was always to blame,
:04:04. > :04:08.
:04:08. > :04:11.Another woman motorist has been left traumatised after have her car
:04:11. > :04:13.stolen from her at knife-point in south Belfast last night. This
:04:13. > :04:16.latest incident brings the total number of car-jackings around the
:04:16. > :04:19.city so far this year to 23. Families of those bereaved due to
:04:19. > :04:22.so called joy riding incidents say there's another tragedy waiting to
:04:22. > :04:24.happen. Mervyn Jess reports. This is how vehicles usually end up
:04:24. > :04:29.after a car jacking incident. Burnt-out or badly damaged. It used
:04:29. > :04:33.to be that the these a break into the vehicles, hot wire them, and
:04:33. > :04:38.drive them away. But now the criminals have been targeting
:04:38. > :04:46.motorists with their keys and their cars. Victims say that the change
:04:46. > :04:51.in tactics -- tactics are a tragedy waiting to happen. They were part
:04:51. > :04:56.at people's doors and in a driveway. They drove them away. People have
:04:56. > :05:01.been dragged out of cars and been traumatised. Last night, another
:05:01. > :05:08.woman motorist was forced from her car at knifepoint here in Windsor
:05:08. > :05:12.Road in Belfast. They brought the car to a halt in a collision with a
:05:13. > :05:18.police car. A 28-year-old man has been arrested and questioned in
:05:18. > :05:22.relation to the incident. So far this year, they have been 16 Karl
:05:22. > :05:29.Jenkins and seven attempts at -- attempted hijackings in the greater
:05:29. > :05:33.Belfast area. This evening, a local newspaper said that they have been
:05:33. > :05:43.428 incidents in the last few years. They have been 16 arrests, with
:05:43. > :05:46.four men charged. The task force has its work cut out for it. And
:05:46. > :05:56.the police have set up a special hotline for anyone with information
:05:56. > :05:56.
:05:56. > :05:59.about car hijackings. The number is 0800 028 1111. That's 0800 028 1111.
:05:59. > :06:02.The University of Ulster has been taking advantage of the property
:06:02. > :06:05.slump. It has bought up a large swathe of land in Belfast's north
:06:05. > :06:08.inner city to house its new planned �250m campus. If the scheme goes
:06:08. > :06:10.ahead as planned, it will mean extensive redevelopment and most
:06:10. > :06:20.students from Jordanstown moving to Belfast. Our business correspondent
:06:20. > :06:26.Kevin Magee reports. The university has been quietly buying up land,
:06:26. > :06:30.planning for its expansion. It now owns this building, once the
:06:30. > :06:36.headquarters of the department of culture and leisure. It also owns
:06:36. > :06:40.the building next door, and acquired these three buildings. Its
:06:40. > :06:44.spending spree has been held by the property slump. Land became
:06:44. > :06:47.available which would not usually become available. The collapse in
:06:48. > :06:52.the price of property made it financially viable to do things,
:06:52. > :06:57.and now they have a very big part of that. It reduced to take years
:06:57. > :07:01.to build up. The plan is to demolish the newly acquired
:07:01. > :07:09.buildings and replace the tower block with this, a 10 story
:07:09. > :07:18.purpose-built campus, which will house the 10,000 students. A plant
:07:18. > :07:24.has been given a mixed reaction. is quiet - but quite awkward
:07:24. > :07:31.getting to Jordan's town. I prefer Jordan's town, because we are
:07:31. > :07:35.living up there. It is more likely that you will actually go to class
:07:35. > :07:41.when it is out of the way of distractions. For me, I am not
:07:41. > :07:47.bothered one way or the other. Staff says -- staff say the move
:07:47. > :07:51.makes sense. It will regenerate the place. ITT in this city. I want to
:07:51. > :07:55.see this city go well. The university building this building
:07:55. > :07:59.will bring employment and opportunity on the educational
:07:59. > :08:09.front and on the social side of things, it will bring regeneration
:08:09. > :08:12.to the city centre. The University believes the building can be
:08:12. > :08:19.financed privately. This project will be lost with the planning
:08:19. > :08:29.authorities next month. If approved, construction will begin not long
:08:29. > :08:30.
:08:31. > :08:34.after, radically altering this part In Dublin the son of a man
:08:34. > :08:36.acquitted on charges of causing the Omagh bomb in 1998 has been found
:08:36. > :08:39.guilty of possessing explosives. Conan Murphy, who's 25 and from
:08:39. > :08:42.Dundalk is the son of Colm Murphy. Another man, Philip McKevitt, from
:08:42. > :08:44.Aghaboy in County Louth was also convicted. Still to come on the
:08:45. > :08:50.programme... All the latest on Ireland's preparations for their
:08:50. > :09:00.Italian showdown tomorrow. A special tribute for a local blues
:09:00. > :09:02.
:09:02. > :09:04.Now an update to a story we've been following... The investigation by
:09:04. > :09:07.the government's spending watchdog into the PSNI's rehiring of retired
:09:07. > :09:11.officers as civilian staff will begin next week. The audit office
:09:11. > :09:14.hopes to have a draft report ready by the end of May. The BBC has
:09:14. > :09:16.learned that the police have paid more than �60 million to a
:09:16. > :09:26.recruitment agency overduring the past five years. Our Home Affairs
:09:26. > :09:26.
:09:26. > :09:31.Correspondent Vincent Kearney reports. Hundreds of former RUC
:09:31. > :09:36.officers have been rehired by they PSNI on temporary contracts after
:09:36. > :09:41.retiring with a generous redundancy packages. This Belfast-based
:09:41. > :09:47.employment 88 -- agency have employed many staff over the past
:09:47. > :09:52.three years. It is the sole provider of temporary staff for the
:09:52. > :09:56.PSNI. The money it was paid includes salaries for those Staffs
:09:56. > :10:01.-- staff as well as a dizzy fees. Members of the board have
:10:01. > :10:04.questioned whether the policy offers valued for money, and asked
:10:04. > :10:08.the Audit Office to investigate. A number of current and former
:10:09. > :10:14.officers have raised similar concerns to the BBC. I think that
:10:14. > :10:19.is some indication but senior staff within the PSNI could influence the
:10:19. > :10:26.creation of positions that they were themselves able to fill after
:10:26. > :10:29.they were -- retired. This should be subject to some open competition.
:10:29. > :10:35.I can't see why 10 years down the road, we cannot do that. And is not
:10:35. > :10:45.just about a short-term fixed. It is about be a -- building the PSNI
:10:45. > :10:46.
:10:47. > :10:52.for the future. The PSNI is doing a value-for-money review. There are
:10:52. > :10:56.currently 300 former RUC officers on temporary roles. The
:10:56. > :11:01.investigation intends to look at how many retired officers have been
:11:01. > :11:05.retired since the scheme was -- since the PSNI it was introduced 10
:11:05. > :11:12.years ago. It will also be looking at the contract with the
:11:13. > :11:22.recruitment agency. The investigation is expecting to have
:11:22. > :11:26.unfettered access to any documents Now Scandinavia is a region not
:11:26. > :11:28.short of a forest or two, but that hasn't stopped a County Antrim firm
:11:28. > :11:31.from winning a million pound export order for woodchip. McKinstry Skip
:11:31. > :11:35.Hire is sending a first shipment of thousands of tonnes of recycled
:11:35. > :11:38.chippings to a Swedish paper mill where it'll be used as fuel. Our
:11:38. > :11:42.District Journalist Ciara Riddell was on hand. This would has been
:11:42. > :11:46.dumped in a amenity sites across Northern Ireland. Normally, a lot
:11:46. > :11:51.of it will end up in landfill, but at this plant in Antrim, it is
:11:51. > :11:56.being tended to woodchip to ship a broader. McKinstry Skip Hire won
:11:56. > :12:04.the contract along with an English export company to supply it to
:12:04. > :12:10.Sweden. The generation -- it is expected to generate many jobs.
:12:10. > :12:15.Over the past couple of years, we have struggled to get a secure
:12:15. > :12:19.outlet. This will do that. It it is here at Belfast docks where the
:12:19. > :12:24.first consignment of 2,500 tons is being loaded onto the ship bound
:12:24. > :12:29.for the Swedish paper mill. It will be used as fuel for the factory.
:12:29. > :12:38.Any excess energy will supply it electricity for thousands of homes
:12:38. > :12:42.by it. It means when people take their waste to the local recycling
:12:42. > :12:47.centres, instead of going to landfill as it would have done in
:12:47. > :12:52.the past, this company has found another use. It will be exported
:12:52. > :12:57.off. The only problem is we don't have a market place for this in
:12:57. > :13:02.Northern Ireland. We shivered into that. As the drive continues to
:13:02. > :13:07.bring down the amount of waste be put into landfill, it is hoped that
:13:07. > :13:17.other firms will follow suit and be more creative about how they
:13:17. > :13:18.
:13:18. > :13:27.Northern Ireland has been a magnet for film-makers in recent years,
:13:27. > :13:34.but now a home-grown drama it will show a student life in Belfast.
:13:34. > :13:38.Belfast in the 1970s on screen. How things have changed. This is 6
:13:38. > :13:43.Degrees - the first major drama series Tim be made for BBC Northern
:13:43. > :13:50.Ireland three years. It follows the lives of six freshers as they
:13:50. > :13:55.embark on their first term of university. It is about
:13:55. > :14:00.relationships, making mistakes and growing up. But for one of its
:14:00. > :14:06.stars, what is significant is it is not about the Troubles. It was one
:14:06. > :14:11.of the things very appealing - it is just about the youth in Northern
:14:11. > :14:20.Ireland and Ireland at the minute. It is nothing to do with the past.
:14:20. > :14:25.It is not very current, really. show has been a filmed in and
:14:25. > :14:31.around Belfast. But the themes it tackles a universal. The show, for
:14:31. > :14:39.me, is about friendship, life learning. It does not focus on the
:14:39. > :14:42.academic side of university. This is just the first term in
:14:42. > :14:50.university, so they have a long way to go. But they learned a lot by
:14:50. > :14:56.the end of the first series. Degrees begins next Tuesday at
:14:57. > :14:59.9:30pm on BBC Two. I clearly missed out!
:15:00. > :15:02.Now sport - and there was a gathering of Olympic Boxing greats
:15:02. > :15:12.in Belfast today, but the heavyweight clash of the weekend is
:15:12. > :15:13.
:15:13. > :15:17.tomorrow at the Aviva Stadium. Island are facing Italy in Dublin
:15:17. > :15:20.tomorrow After a cold snap postponed their match in France,
:15:20. > :15:26.the Irish are now keen to fire up their campaign with a victory, as
:15:26. > :15:30.Phillip Coulter reports. The players might look relaxed, but
:15:30. > :15:35.they know they are expected to win it against the team who gave
:15:35. > :15:45.England a fright in their last six Nations encounter. Let us see if
:15:45. > :15:54.they take the lead again. What you expect is a big physical challenge
:15:54. > :15:58.with Italy. It will probably be a tough challenge all round.'s home
:15:58. > :16:08.the advantage will be keep Ireland, who have not played since their
:16:08. > :16:09.
:16:09. > :16:15.defeat to Wales for three weeks ago. We take the positives out of the
:16:15. > :16:25.disappointment we felt. Weekend kind of turning to each other, but
:16:25. > :16:26.
:16:26. > :16:36.there is a bit more contact than they usually with. Last year,
:16:36. > :16:36.
:16:36. > :16:41.against Italy, it went right down to the wire. A more convincing
:16:41. > :16:44.performance would be welcome, but a first Six Nations when it is the
:16:44. > :16:47.priority. Remember, it's an early kick-off in
:16:47. > :16:52.Dublin tomorrow: 1:30pm. Ulster are in action shortly in a
:16:52. > :16:55.Pro12 game against the Ospreys. The match - live on BBC2 from 7pm - is
:16:55. > :17:05.a must-win if Brian McLoughlin's men are to keep in the play-off
:17:05. > :17:06.
:17:06. > :17:12.hunt. Gavin Andrews is at Ravenhill. The main talking point is that...
:17:12. > :17:18.With me is the former Ireland coach. Do you fancy are also's chances?
:17:18. > :17:28.is hard to say. They need to probably win every game in the
:17:28. > :17:30.
:17:30. > :17:40.running. We have seen the combination before, probably later
:17:40. > :17:42.
:17:42. > :17:48.the game. It is an interesting dynamic. They are looking for a
:17:48. > :17:56.coach this summer. Have you expressed an interest? Yes, we will
:17:56. > :18:02.see what happens. In a word, will Ireland when? No question. Kick-off
:18:02. > :18:05.it is that seven of 5pm. Rory McIlroy will become the
:18:05. > :18:07.world's number one golfer this weekend if he wins the World
:18:07. > :18:10.Championship event in Airzona. He's playing Spain's Miguel Angel
:18:10. > :18:20.Jimenez for a place in quarter finals. That match begins in about
:18:20. > :18:23.
:18:23. > :18:31.15 minutes. Rory McIlroy says he needs to cloud mistakes in this
:18:31. > :18:37.competition to keep progressing. But he never looked like losing.
:18:38. > :18:45.And with much of the focus in Arizona focusing around Tiger would
:18:45. > :18:49.defeat, Rory McIlroy is getting the job done in the desert. He may be
:18:49. > :18:58.operating underneath the radar, but still produces some trademark
:18:58. > :19:05.moments of brilliance. And if he does continue his winning streak,
:19:05. > :19:10.all eyes will be on the 22-year-old this weekend. His dream of being
:19:10. > :19:13.world No. 1 could become a reality. Jonathan Rea has picked up where he
:19:13. > :19:15.left off last season and today posted the best time of the first
:19:15. > :19:21.qualifying session at Phillip Island, site of the first races
:19:21. > :19:24.this weekend of the World Superbike Championship. But not so good news
:19:24. > :19:30.for Eugene Laverty who is riding with a broken bone in his hand - he
:19:30. > :19:32.finished 22nd in the timings. League leaders Linfield are away to
:19:32. > :19:36.third-placed Cliftonville in the pick of the weekend's Carling
:19:36. > :19:39.Premiership matches. Cliftonville's Liam Boyce is enjoying his return
:19:39. > :19:49.to the local scene following his time last year with Werder Bremen
:19:49. > :19:49.
:19:49. > :19:56.in Germany, and believes he's come back a better player. I am fast and
:19:56. > :20:00.strong a. I feel like I am a better player all round, and more mature.
:20:01. > :20:09.I feel more dependent on myself. I don't have to rely on so many
:20:09. > :20:18.people as much. I am a better person for it as well. It we
:20:18. > :20:20.believe we will challenge anyway, we want to win the game is. We will
:20:20. > :20:24.see where it takes us. The Ulster Gaelic Football manager
:20:24. > :20:27.Joe Kernan admits his team may be playing for the future of the
:20:27. > :20:29.Interprovincial football series - as well as a trophy - in Sunday's
:20:29. > :20:32.final against Munster in Armagh. Ulster have won this competition
:20:32. > :20:35.more times than any other province, but falling attendances in recent
:20:35. > :20:45.years have threatened its future. But Kernan believes it can still
:20:45. > :20:46.
:20:46. > :20:50.survive. If we sit down and look at the Cup, we need a bit of pain, we
:20:50. > :20:58.need to look at the venues, and give it a proper chance. After
:20:58. > :21:02.three years, if it doesn't work, we go home with our hands up. I still
:21:02. > :21:04.think there is a future. Belfast has been celebrating its
:21:04. > :21:07.success in the boxing ring today. Local fighters who competed at
:21:07. > :21:10.Olympic Games were honoured at a reception in the City Hall. Boxing
:21:10. > :21:20.is Ireland's most successful Olympic sport, having provided 12
:21:20. > :21:21.
:21:21. > :21:31.medals - most of them won by Belfast fighters. We had some
:21:31. > :21:39.
:21:39. > :21:43.scrappers in Ireland. It comes down to cultures. I think we still have
:21:43. > :21:45.the best coaching system. It's emerged that Irish Olympic
:21:45. > :21:48.boxing hopeful Tommy McCarthy was hospitalised after being assaulted
:21:48. > :21:51.during a night out in Belfast just over a fortnight ago. The
:21:51. > :21:59.heavyweight suffered concussion and a cracked bone in his neck during
:21:59. > :22:06.the assault. It has only been two and a half weeks, but it has had a
:22:06. > :22:12.very bad effect on my training. The impact has been completely negative,
:22:12. > :22:17.but I am sure that in the next two weeks, I was start recovering and
:22:17. > :22:27.be able to get straight back to where I left off.
:22:27. > :22:28.
:22:28. > :22:31.Just a reminder that Ulster-Ospreys starts on BBC2 at 7pm. She was one
:22:31. > :22:37.of the most famous blues singers of her days, but when Ottillie
:22:37. > :22:47.Patterson died in last year, her death went unnoticed. Some of her
:22:47. > :22:52.fans have got together to insure her memory does not fade. In the
:22:52. > :22:58.'50s, Ottillie Patterson was the bigger name. She performed in the
:22:58. > :23:08.Morecambe and Wise Show, along with her husband. They extensively
:23:08. > :23:12.
:23:12. > :23:18.toured Europe and the US. She was signed up to big labels. One blues
:23:18. > :23:23.singer recently performed in a tribute night. She was a
:23:23. > :23:33.trailblazer. She went out there, we got from Northern Ireland. It was
:23:33. > :23:33.
:23:33. > :23:38.unheard-of - Mac. Her influence on other people was priceless. One of
:23:38. > :23:47.her fans is cataloguing her private collection. She was such a massive
:23:48. > :23:52.star. To be a blues singer in a white country is unbelievable. Her
:23:52. > :23:58.voice may have been related to the fact that her mother was flat being.
:23:58. > :24:04.She can never explain it has up. Was he lured to hear, a plaque has
:24:04. > :24:14.been unveiled her bare house where she was born. At least there will
:24:14. > :24:15.
:24:15. > :24:23.be a permanent reminder of this local staff. At times, it was a
:24:23. > :24:28.very hard work. Different towns, one every night. As she got older,
:24:28. > :24:35.and her health failed, her voice thrilled as well. But these things
:24:35. > :24:39.cannot go on for ever. After 22 years together, Ottillie Patterson
:24:39. > :24:49.and her husband divorced. She retired to live a quiet life in
:24:49. > :25:02.
:25:02. > :25:07.Scotland, where she died in a It has been a decent enter the week,
:25:07. > :25:14.and all be a decent start to the weekend as well. This is the
:25:15. > :25:18.picture you can see today - a lot of cloud is sticking around. The
:25:18. > :25:22.cloud will stick around for some places tonight, but where it
:25:22. > :25:30.doesn't, or we could see temperatures dipping to two or
:25:30. > :25:37.three degrees. Still,., it will be a chilly start the weekend. But
:25:37. > :25:42.tomorrow, it will be a dry bright and sunny day. There will be cloud
:25:42. > :25:47.around, but it will break at times. If you are heading to Dublin for
:25:47. > :25:55.that six Nations game tomorrow, it will be cloudy but dry with
:25:55. > :26:00.temperatures of ten Celsius. For ours, the cloud continuing to thin
:26:00. > :26:05.out. Further east, more likely to see the sunshine coming out.
:26:05. > :26:12.Temperatures for us all at nine Celsius with light winds. A fairly
:26:12. > :26:17.decent day. Tomorrow evening and overnight, it will be just like
:26:17. > :26:23.tonight. There will be clear spells, and that will allow for a touch of
:26:23. > :26:28.grass a frost to form. But where the cloud stays around,
:26:28. > :26:35.temperatures will be three or four Celsius. A chilly start to Sunday.
:26:35. > :26:41.More on the way of cloud around. A dry and bright start, at chilly
:26:41. > :26:48.tonight and tomorrow night with a chance of frost. By the end of the
:26:48. > :26:53.weekend, the cloud roles in an all become damper. But the Sunday, at
:26:53. > :27:00.the temperatures are on the rise. That will continue as we go into
:27:00. > :27:03.next week - 13 Celsius by Tuesday. The compromise for the higher
:27:03. > :27:13.temperature that - it would be more unsettled on Monday with outbreaks
:27:13. > :27:16.
:27:16. > :27:19.of rain. A cloudier date to come on Finally, a reminder of the stories
:27:19. > :27:25.making the headlines: Republicans have admitted the IRA was
:27:25. > :27:28.responsible for the death of a nine-year-old Londonderry boy.
:27:28. > :27:33.There's been a warning that people will die unless carjackings are
:27:33. > :27:42.stopped. The University of Ulster has bought
:27:42. > :27:44.up a swathe of Belfast land for its �250 million campus.
:27:44. > :27:49.A 65-year-old retired British businessman has been extradited to
:27:49. > :27:52.the United States, accused of supplying missile parts to Iran.