:00:27. > :00:31.Good evening. This is BBC Newsline. The headlines.
:00:31. > :00:35.And Antrim food chemical company is under investigation after the death
:00:35. > :00:39.of a woman in Italy. Gorse fires on the hillsides
:00:39. > :00:43.bringing a multi- million-pound clear-up bill.
:00:43. > :00:47.Revealed. The lawyers paid the biggest fees out of the public
:00:47. > :00:51.purse. The world's largest Titanic visitor
:00:51. > :00:56.attraction is now complete and we are inside to show you how it got
:00:56. > :01:01.here. Also on the programme we will look back to what was happening in
:01:01. > :01:06.Belfast in 1912, when the famous liner was launched.
:01:06. > :01:13.Sunshine is fading and temperatures are falling. I will have at the
:01:13. > :01:17.weather live from Belfast Titanic later in the programme.
:01:17. > :01:22.First tonight. There will be an external review of children's
:01:22. > :01:26.congenital cardiac services in Belfast. A report by the audit data
:01:26. > :01:29.base has revealed higher-than- expected number of deaths among
:01:29. > :01:35.children for one particular procedure. Our health correspondent
:01:35. > :01:38.is with me now. What can you tell us? The Health and Social Care
:01:38. > :01:44.Board is to carry out an external review of congenital cardiac
:01:44. > :01:49.services among children. Congenital heart disease is rare, but it is
:01:49. > :01:52.very serious, particularly for children. It is inherited and
:01:52. > :01:56.normally children would be born with that. This review has been
:01:56. > :02:03.triggered as a result of the UK database which is now what
:02:03. > :02:08.monitoring figures between the 2007 and 2010 which show an unexpectedly
:02:08. > :02:16.high rate of deaths among children here. It follows one particular
:02:16. > :02:22.procedure and it is for an abnormality, and it is a strange
:02:22. > :02:25.name. It is a procedure that is carried out for these heart
:02:25. > :02:32.operations and this is what specifically this review is looking
:02:32. > :02:36.at. It is only on those operations carried out between 2007 and 2010.
:02:36. > :02:41.I understand that three children from Northern Ireland died during
:02:41. > :02:46.that time. Is this a sign that someone think something has gone
:02:46. > :02:50.seriously wrong? I absolutely. You do not call for a review unless
:02:50. > :02:54.there is something serious. It is external and they understand that
:02:54. > :03:00.the Royal College of Surgeons are involved. There is a helpline
:03:00. > :03:07.number for concerned parents and that number is a weight hundred
:03:08. > :03:11.9178226. That number will be on the online service.
:03:11. > :03:15.At and Antrim company is at the centre of an investigation into the
:03:15. > :03:19.death of the one at clinic in Italy. Mistral Laboratory Chemicals has
:03:19. > :03:22.not yet made a statement on this. The Food Standards Agency said the
:03:22. > :03:26.woman was being tested for a food intolerance. Staff administered
:03:26. > :03:30.what was labelled as an artificial sweetener, but it turned out to be
:03:30. > :03:33.a chemical used to preserve the meat. Police and environmental
:03:33. > :03:36.health officials are now investigating traceability and
:03:36. > :03:42.labelling at the company which has stopped distributing its good grade
:03:42. > :03:47.products. Local environmental health officers went into the
:03:47. > :03:52.company and we have not been provided with the assurances that
:03:52. > :04:00.we need that that company is carrying out the checks it needs to
:04:00. > :04:05.carry out on these chemicals. As a precaution, we would like customers
:04:05. > :04:11.to contact their local environmental health office and the
:04:11. > :04:14.chemicals will be collected by in their mental health officer in your
:04:14. > :04:18.own district. All that is left is a thick coating
:04:18. > :04:23.of ash and a huge bill for the public purse. That is the result of
:04:23. > :04:26.last night's gorse fire on Camlough Mountain. Dozens of acres of heath
:04:26. > :04:30.were affected, which wiped out the habitat for small animals and
:04:30. > :04:36.insects and averted fire crews from nearby towns to an isolated
:04:36. > :04:44.mountain top. The back end of Camlough Mountain bore the scars of
:04:44. > :04:48.the place. It broke out around in tune and burned for up to 12 hours.
:04:48. > :04:53.Fire crews fought the blaze, but it was difficult work. They had to
:04:53. > :04:56.walk for 45 minutes before they could even begin to tackle the
:04:56. > :05:00.flames by hand, beating them out. It is only when you get close that
:05:00. > :05:05.you get a sense of the scale of the damage. The vegetation on the
:05:05. > :05:10.entire side of this mountain has been burned away, everything has
:05:10. > :05:15.been reduced to a fine powdery ash. It will take at least one year for
:05:15. > :05:21.this hillside to restore itself. Munton fires had become an annual
:05:21. > :05:27.problem and the cost in these times when money is tight is pretty hefty.
:05:27. > :05:34.�8 million was spent last year on tackling this. �28 million over
:05:34. > :05:42.three years. That is in hard cash. Also, we would have groups visiting
:05:42. > :05:48.these mountains and I had a group from London at three weeks ago and
:05:48. > :05:52.they were still looking at the format and the environment which
:05:52. > :05:58.was recovering from the last fire. Last night, it is estimated could
:05:58. > :06:05.have cost �40,000, and Bill which will be picked up by the taxpayer.
:06:05. > :06:12.We have had contracts going on and we take the branch of the side of
:06:12. > :06:17.the trees and then we plant the trees again. It is expensive. It is
:06:17. > :06:22.expensive dealing with the planting again and any other work on top of
:06:22. > :06:26.that. It is quite substantial. Environmentalists say if the local
:06:26. > :06:34.community wants to be that the tourism benefits, it is going to
:06:34. > :06:37.have to help police at the course fire problem.
:06:37. > :06:42.They were paid to nearly �70 million from the public purse for
:06:42. > :06:46.one year of criminal legal aid work, but we do not know who they were
:06:46. > :06:49.until today. The identities of the top earning 200 barristers and
:06:49. > :06:57.solicitors firms have now been revealed, despite objections from
:06:57. > :07:02.the small number of lawyers. The legal aid system here is the most
:07:02. > :07:07.generous in the world. Who gets paid what is the sensitive subject.
:07:07. > :07:12.In May last year, it was revealed that 200 barristers and solicitors
:07:12. > :07:17.firms had been paid almost �70 million during a 12 month period up
:07:17. > :07:21.to the end of March, at 2011. The sums paid were published, but not
:07:21. > :07:27.their identities of those who receive the money, because a small
:07:27. > :07:31.number of barristers and one firm of solicitors objected. That all
:07:31. > :07:36.changed today. Figures released today reveals that the top earning
:07:36. > :07:42.a legal aid barrister in Northern Ireland during that time was this
:07:42. > :07:50.man. He was paid almost �900,000. Also named were three other
:07:50. > :07:55.barristers who earned over �500,000. A further 16 who were paid upwards
:07:55. > :08:04.of �250,000. The top 20 barristers received more than �8 million. When
:08:04. > :08:08.it comes to solicitor's firms, the top earner was this company. They
:08:08. > :08:13.received over �2.5 million. Another seven firms also received more than
:08:13. > :08:19.�1 million. A further 29 firms were paid over �500,000 and 40 other
:08:19. > :08:22.firms received more than �250,000. Those figures do not include what
:08:22. > :08:26.the barristers and solicitors were paid for the private legal work.
:08:26. > :08:32.They also cover a period when many of the top barristers refuse to
:08:32. > :08:35.take on the most complex and highly paid cases in a protest at a move
:08:35. > :08:39.by the Justice Minister David Ford to introduce new lower fees for
:08:39. > :08:43.legal aid work. The new fees have now been introduced and the
:08:44. > :08:48.minister says that the move will result in much lower payments in
:08:48. > :08:51.future years. I am confident that the new rates will be significantly
:08:51. > :08:58.less. They will still represent fair payment for the work being
:08:58. > :09:01.done, but they will no longer be significantly higher. Barristers
:09:01. > :09:04.and solicitors have said they believed the reduced fees will
:09:04. > :09:11.damage the quality of legal representation on offer to those
:09:11. > :09:16.who qualified for legal aid. You are watching BBC Newsline and
:09:16. > :09:19.still to come. He is from Northern Ireland and he is elected. The
:09:19. > :09:29.doctor making a difference in Uganda.
:09:29. > :09:30.
:09:30. > :09:33.Why take the ferry to Scotland when you can paddle your own surfboard?
:09:33. > :09:38.Sat today sees the opening of Titanic Belfast, a visitor
:09:38. > :09:40.attraction that has taken three years to build at a cost of �97
:09:40. > :09:46.million. BBC Newsline has been following its progress and tonight
:09:46. > :09:50.Donna Traynor is there. Yes, we are inside this massive building, what
:09:50. > :09:53.has been described as a visitor experience were people will be
:09:53. > :09:57.taken on the Titanic journey. The official opening is on Saturday,
:09:57. > :10:01.but this is our first opportunity to broadcast from inside and this
:10:01. > :10:07.is the start of our coverage of the Titanic Festival which runs right
:10:07. > :10:12.through until 22nd April. This is the area and the spot with that
:10:12. > :10:17.famous ship was built by Harland and Wolff 100 years ago. One of the
:10:17. > :10:21.galleries inside here takes us back to that time, 1912, when the City
:10:21. > :10:29.of Belfast was described as Boomtown Belfast. Julie McCullough
:10:29. > :10:38.explains why it got that name. Belfast 1912. This is what it look
:10:38. > :10:43.like and this is what people were listening to. And they were
:10:43. > :10:47.travelling from as far away and further to get work from what was
:10:47. > :10:52.then Ireland's biggest city. The wages were high and industry was
:10:52. > :10:55.booming. Belfast was a world leader when it came to manufacturing,
:10:55. > :11:02.famous for its linen mills and shipbuilding. Despite the
:11:02. > :11:07.prosperity, cracks were already beginning to show. Belfast was in
:11:07. > :11:15.many ways a divided city and the political temperature was certainly
:11:15. > :11:21.rising in 1912. You had the support for and opposition to home rule and
:11:21. > :11:27.that was really the political fault-lines in the city were
:11:27. > :11:32.clearly defined in 1912. It did create a... The atmosphere was more
:11:32. > :11:38.tense. It in 1912, these divisions spilled over into places like the
:11:38. > :11:45.shipyard, which was beginning to get a bit of a reputation.
:11:45. > :11:49.Prosser's work here, but so did Catholics. The census shows us that
:11:49. > :11:54.people work different religions and spoke different languages and my
:11:54. > :12:03.generation might have believed it was a Protestant shipyard, but it
:12:03. > :12:07.wasn't. There were Catholics there. 100 years ago, employment practices
:12:07. > :12:12.here were not the main focus of Harland and Wolff. Nearly one
:12:12. > :12:18.million people were leaving Europe each year to make a new life in the
:12:18. > :12:22.United States. There was a demand for bigger and better ships. Ships
:12:22. > :12:27.like the Titanic, the record- breaking piece of engineering that
:12:28. > :12:31.the people of Belfast could be proud of. The most famous ship in
:12:31. > :12:40.the world sit -- soon became something this city and the
:12:40. > :12:46.shipyard wanted to forget about. There was not so much shame as
:12:46. > :12:52.shock and dented pride. It was not talked about in the yard or by the
:12:52. > :12:59.people of Belfast. We are not very good at blowing our own trumpet.
:12:59. > :13:06.Here we have a global icon, which belongs to Belfast and we are
:13:06. > :13:11.taking pride in that. We must never forget that 1,500 people died and
:13:11. > :13:20.that is the reason why we are talking about it. Let us use the
:13:20. > :13:25.hook of the Titanic to bring people, to bring you like to this area. I
:13:25. > :13:33.think this building behind us and what is then it will energise this
:13:33. > :13:37.area and will bring life back to what was a hiding place in 1912.
:13:37. > :13:42.Despite the tragedy, Harland and Wolff remained in hiding place for
:13:42. > :13:47.many years. The First World War brought big orders and the Yard
:13:47. > :13:52.remained one of the main employers in Belfast. It is a different story
:13:52. > :13:58.today. While once there were more than 30,000 people working here,
:13:58. > :14:04.now there are around 700. Looking down from one of the great cranes
:14:04. > :14:08.that stands here, you can see just how much this place has changed in
:14:08. > :14:14.the last century. Although the company still carries out ship
:14:14. > :14:19.repairs, it has not built a ship in nearly ten years. Unlike many of
:14:19. > :14:25.its contemporaries, it has survived, although any different guise, and
:14:25. > :14:30.now making wind turbines. But it will always be famous for ship
:14:30. > :14:34.building and it will always be famous for building one ship. It is
:14:34. > :14:44.just taking 100 years for us to accept that this is something to be
:14:44. > :14:50.
:14:50. > :14:54.This is where the Titanic was launched, behind me. We are about
:14:54. > :14:58.to meet the man who led the team of builders later.
:14:58. > :15:03.A doctor from Northern Ireland made the headlines last year when he
:15:03. > :15:09.stood for election as the mayor of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Dr
:15:09. > :15:16.Ian Clarke won a landslide victory. His role tonight will be recognised
:15:16. > :15:19.in an awards ceremony at Stormont. Uganda has adopted him as one of
:15:19. > :15:24.its own. Ian Clarke calls himself the Irish
:15:24. > :15:29.Ugandan. He felt it was his duty to try to fix the problems that he saw
:15:29. > :15:34.around him, like filling in the potholes, so he stood for election
:15:34. > :15:39.and one. I am a dual citizen and I have a responsibility not just to
:15:39. > :15:46.talk about problems but to put myself forward to do something. The
:15:47. > :15:52.only position was to be mayor, the person who has responsibility for
:15:52. > :15:58.emptying toilers and collecting garbage. He has lived in Uganda for
:15:58. > :16:03.25 years, first as missionary, later as businessmen. An
:16:03. > :16:07.international hospital in Kampala or caters for the needs of Uganda's
:16:07. > :16:11.middle-class and expat community. It is part of a group of healthcare
:16:11. > :16:15.committees which employed around 800 people. This ward provides
:16:15. > :16:20.charitable services for children from poor families with complex
:16:20. > :16:25.medical conditions. It is the second hospital Ian has builds in
:16:25. > :16:34.Uganda. His first says a larger rural population. It is a legacy
:16:34. > :16:39.which has transformed the lives of Uganda's -- Ugandans. A I hope to
:16:39. > :16:43.do what I can in terms of sustainable development. I want to
:16:43. > :16:53.have an influence as a role model. Ian Clarke has adopted Uganda as
:16:53. > :16:56.his home, and in turn, Uganda has adopted him.
:16:56. > :17:00.UUP leadership candidate John McAllister was forced to play
:17:00. > :17:05.midwife this morning when his wife went into labour one week early.
:17:05. > :17:10.The South Down MLA is buying with Mike Nesbitt 40 party leadership
:17:10. > :17:14.election on Saturday. Mr McAllister's wife Jane went into
:17:14. > :17:18.labour at 7am today. The ambulance crew talking through the procedure
:17:18. > :17:23.on the telephone and he developed - - delivered Harry James on the
:17:23. > :17:29.bathroom floor. We spoke to him outside Craigavon Hospital. There
:17:29. > :17:36.was so much happening so quickly and there was no time. It is only
:17:36. > :17:41.when you are looking back that you think about it. A lovely experience
:17:41. > :17:46.to look back on. Something I will treasure for a long time.
:17:46. > :17:52.From a new baby to a new visitor attraction. Titanic Belfast in the
:17:52. > :17:57.docks area of the city cost �97 million with most of that coming
:17:57. > :18:02.from taxpayers. I had a walk around this massive structure and it
:18:02. > :18:06.really is huge. So much work has gone into it. Behind me is the
:18:06. > :18:10.largest escalator in Ireland. It is not turned on now, but it will be
:18:10. > :18:15.ready to rock and roll for the official opening on Saturday. From
:18:15. > :18:22.outside, this building looks a bit like a diamond, other people say it
:18:22. > :18:32.looks like an iceberg. You can make up your mind. We take a look at its
:18:32. > :18:39.
:18:39. > :18:49.It has taken six year to plan. It has taken three years to build. Now,
:18:49. > :19:23.
:19:23. > :19:31.Parcel the idea was to fracture the facade. I sold it to the client on
:19:31. > :19:41.the basis of a cat diamond at -- Kurtz diamond and that whichever
:19:41. > :19:46.
:19:46. > :19:50.direction the sun was coming from, The outside is absolutely stunning.
:19:51. > :19:56.It is definitely an iconic symbol for Belfast, symbol of ambition,
:19:56. > :20:03.challenge, symbol of hope for the future. It is often referred to a
:20:03. > :20:07.ship's hull. It is quite nice that is not too literal. Some people
:20:07. > :20:17.refer to the iceberg itself, B Sharpe like appearance of the
:20:17. > :20:18.
:20:18. > :20:21.cladding. It is a special building. More than 1000 people worked on
:20:21. > :20:28.site during construction, and those who did say it is more than a
:20:28. > :20:31.building. It is a statement. strength of this building is the
:20:31. > :20:36.largest Titanic exhibition in the world. It will teach people about
:20:36. > :20:41.the artisans and shipbuilding magnates and the great leaders who
:20:41. > :20:46.are concentrated in Belfast. This will restore Belfast as a
:20:46. > :20:56.centrepiece of one of the finest areas of shipbuilding all over the
:20:56. > :20:58.
:20:58. > :21:02.Very impressive. The man who managed the construction, Noel
:21:02. > :21:06.Molloy, it is the end of your journey. It is on time, but how
:21:06. > :21:12.difficult for you was this construction process? It was not
:21:12. > :21:16.difficult, but complex. It was intense in the way we did it. The
:21:16. > :21:20.difficulty was taken out of it by the attitude we had from everybody
:21:20. > :21:23.building it here. One of the first principles we wanted when they came
:21:24. > :21:29.here was that everybody knew what we are trying to deliver, not just
:21:29. > :21:38.a building, but a experience. People from far and wide and will
:21:38. > :21:42.come to see this. It was just a matter of getting the job done.
:21:42. > :21:47.it was not just a place of work. Did people take on the significance
:21:47. > :21:51.that it was to do with the Titanic and its history? Absolutely. When I
:21:51. > :21:56.see a painter painting a wall, I know and he knows he is not just
:21:56. > :22:00.painting a wall. He realises what he is part of. It is similar to 100
:22:00. > :22:05.years ago when everybody was part of building a should. There is an
:22:05. > :22:14.intense pride it in all the steelworkers, Elettra she's,
:22:14. > :22:19.painters and concrete workers. -- elections. Congratulations. Thank
:22:19. > :22:22.you for joining us. We are back inside the titanic building
:22:22. > :22:31.tomorrow, when we will give you a closer look at the galleries and
:22:31. > :22:35.the visitor experience here. Also tomorrow, life, -- we go live with
:22:35. > :22:44.our special Titanic website. If you are interested in before school, or
:22:44. > :22:54.for history, visit our website. That goes live tomorrow morning. We
:22:54. > :22:54.
:22:54. > :23:00.also have a special Twitter name you can follow. From the fantastic
:23:00. > :23:04.visitor attraction here, back to the studio.
:23:05. > :23:08.In sport, the Northern Irish ice- skater Jenna McCorkell has posted a
:23:08. > :23:12.season's best at the World Championships in Nice. She is on
:23:12. > :23:17.course for their best-ever overall performance.
:23:17. > :23:23.Jenna McCorkell was the winner of the qualification programme Indies.
:23:23. > :23:29.She took that form into today's short programme. These data showed
:23:29. > :23:35.poise and confidence and concluded her performance with a smile.
:23:36. > :23:40.is very happy with that. Good reason! That is as well as she has
:23:40. > :23:45.stated in a short programme. judges seemed to agree. That'll be
:23:45. > :23:50.fine. She is not just in the top eight. She is up to second.
:23:50. > :23:56.season's best and a credible 12th overall. Next is the free programme
:23:56. > :24:00.on Saturday. If you travelled to Scotland, you
:24:00. > :24:04.decide between the plane or the ferry. Now there is another form of
:24:04. > :24:11.transport. A Coleraine man has completed the crossing on a
:24:11. > :24:15.surfboard. He went from the Giant's Causeway to the island of Islay.
:24:15. > :24:21.Al Mennie is one of Northern Ireland's best-known big wave
:24:21. > :24:24.surfers. But this see Jenny was a little different. At 25 -- a 25
:24:24. > :24:29.mile paddle across the Irish Sea. He planned for freezing
:24:29. > :24:36.temperatures, but was soon wishing he had packed the suncream. I set
:24:36. > :24:46.of thinking it would be too cold. I am actually sweating buckets. It is
:24:46. > :24:46.
:24:46. > :24:52.so warm! The crossing was not all smiles. Accompanied by friends in
:24:52. > :24:56.two safety beds, conditions and sea currents cause difficulties. It
:24:56. > :25:03.made progress slow. It was tougher than I thought. I ended up doing
:25:03. > :25:07.the whole thing in nine hours 25 minutes. It was tough for me. I'm
:25:07. > :25:14.glad I had all the boys here. The guys in the boat were really good.
:25:14. > :25:18.They all helped me and egg to be on. One of the reasons for making this
:25:18. > :25:21.crossing was to raise money for a local charity, but Al Mennie has
:25:21. > :25:27.developed a reputation in recent years for unusual stance on the
:25:27. > :25:31.open water. What would he come up with next?
:25:31. > :25:40.A brave man. They are looking for a nickname for the new statue in a
:25:40. > :25:45.titanic building. Now we look at It is a bit chilly here right now.
:25:45. > :25:48.The wind is coming down the block. And outside the main entrance. It
:25:48. > :25:53.will breezy -- be breezy on Saturday if you are coming down to
:25:53. > :25:58.the opening. At least it will be dry. Temperatures were falling
:25:58. > :26:03.today. That will continue over the next few days. For the weekend, it
:26:03. > :26:09.will stay largely dry, but with a lot more cloud around. Temperatures
:26:09. > :26:19.are falling. Two years ago at this time of year, the critters were out.
:26:19. > :26:20.
:26:20. > :26:24.There was snow and ice. A big contrast for this time of year.
:26:24. > :26:28.This evening, cloud increases, moving southwards tonight. There
:26:28. > :26:34.may be a spot of drizzle tonight in the North West, but for most places
:26:34. > :26:38.it is dry. No frost or fog. That cloudier weather will continue into
:26:38. > :26:44.tomorrow. Not a pretty start tomorrow with no lovely sun rises
:26:44. > :26:48.likely at this morning again. In fact, it will be dull. There will
:26:48. > :26:56.be a hint of dampness at first. As we going to be afternoon, it will
:26:56. > :27:03.brighten up. The best temperatures I'm sure until -- sheltered areas
:27:03. > :27:08.of Arman and County Down. It will reach 14 Celsius on the North coast.
:27:08. > :27:13.The cloud gathers again tomorrow night, and on Saturday, it is