Browse content similar to 18/10/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome to BBC Newsline. Here are the stories making the headlines | :00:19. | :00:26. | |
tonight. As protests greet the opening of Northern Ireland's first | :00:26. | :00:30. | |
private abortion clinic, we talk to one woman who travelled to England | :00:30. | :00:35. | |
for a termination P If I stopped and thought about the unfairness | :00:35. | :00:39. | |
and enjustice of it, it really really hurt, I felt very unfairly | :00:39. | :00:45. | |
treated. Stormont's chief legal adviser calls for an investigation | :00:45. | :00:51. | |
into the clinic's operation. Plans to store gas under Larne Lough get | :00:51. | :00:55. | |
the green light. A final plea to the Treasury, but a decision on | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
cutting corporation tax now rests with this man. Have Northern | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
Ireland stopped the trend of players defecting to the Republic? | :01:03. | :01:07. | |
Today this Derry City star says he now wants to play for Michael | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
O'Neill. A warning still in force for outbreaks of rain, but it looks | :01:11. | :01:21. | |
:01:21. | :01:22. | ||
as if it will improve for the weekend. Good evening. Stormont's | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
chief legal adviser has called for an investigation into the operation | :01:25. | :01:29. | |
of the first private abortion clinic in Northern Ireland. The | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
Attorney General's request came as the Marie Stopes Clinic opened in | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
Belfast. Accompanyed by a protest. Marie Stopes says lit only provide | :01:37. | :01:42. | |
abortions within Northern Ireland's strict legal framework. -- it will | :01:42. | :01:46. | |
only provide. Even before the clinic had officially opened its | :01:46. | :01:51. | |
doors to the public, the protesters were outside, making their | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
opposition known. It wasn't a huge crowd of people, but those who had | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
come, were clear about what they wanted. And some were looking to a | :02:00. | :02:05. | |
higher power for help. Step to has done one thing, united communities | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
for too many years who have been apart. That is a positive note. I | :02:09. | :02:14. | |
am sure you will see a bigger and more crowds coming here, drawn from | :02:14. | :02:17. | |
both sec sthoufpbs community. That is positive. But the best thing is | :02:17. | :02:25. | |
to shut this place down. That was a view held by many. Some travelling | :02:25. | :02:32. | |
from as far away as Omar. File they have no need to be here. There is | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
enough to protect women and babies, and I feel that Marie Stopes has no | :02:36. | :02:40. | |
place here in Northern Ireland. Marie Stopes feels differently. | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
Even though women can get boar shouns the NHS here, in very | :02:45. | :02:50. | |
limited circumstances, the charity feels there is a need for a place | :02:50. | :02:53. | |
that offers determinations privately, and insists it will | :02:53. | :02:58. | |
still only be providing them within Northern Ireland's strict legal | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
framework. We know that for thousands of woman who come over to | :03:02. | :03:07. | |
the UK, and to other parts of the Europe, and not just to Marie | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
Stopes Clinics but to many others in England, there are some of those | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
women, who would have been entitled to have had that care within | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
Northern Ireland, but they didn't know where to go to, they didn't | :03:17. | :03:21. | |
know who to talk to. This is not about increasing the numbers of | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
term niefgs pregnancy in Northern Ireland, it is about providing it | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
for the small number of people that will be eligible for it, within | :03:28. | :03:33. | |
their own country. And concerns about the clinic weren't confined | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
to just those standing outside the building. This morning, there was | :03:37. | :03:42. | |
an intervention from this man, John Larkin t Government's most senior | :03:42. | :03:45. | |
lawyer. He told a Stormont committee if it wants to | :03:45. | :03:49. | |
investigation what Marie Stopes is doing, he will help with the | :03:49. | :03:53. | |
process. And even cross-examination witnesses on the committee's behalf. | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
-- cross-examine. Those behind the clinic say they have nothing to | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
hide. So despite the opposition, Northern Ireland's first private | :04:01. | :04:05. | |
abortion clinic is now open for business. The protesters say they | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
will be back, but the charity Marie Stopes has asked others not to hold | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
a counter demonstration, but to show their support in different | :04:13. | :04:22. | |
ways. Now according to the Health Minister up to 50,000 women have | :04:22. | :04:26. | |
travelled from Northern Ireland, to Great Britain for abortion, in the | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
last 40 years. We have been speaking to two women about their | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
very different experiences. Both ask we do not identify them, their | :04:34. | :04:39. | |
interviews have been voiced by actresses. Every year, round 1,000 | :04:39. | :04:43. | |
women from Northern Ireland travel to England Wales for abortions. | :04:43. | :04:48. | |
Sarah is among those who have made the journey. I felt quite dirty. I | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
felt very ashamed of myself, I felt very disappointed in myself too, | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
for getting into this situation. I wasn't long back from a few years | :04:56. | :05:01. | |
in London, when I was there, these things were normal, and in my head | :05:01. | :05:06. | |
it was normal, but when I was back in Belfast and found myself in that | :05:06. | :05:10. | |
situation, suddenly it wasn't normal any more. It is a very heavy | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
burden on the carry. It really does play with your head, and especially | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
knowing that in the rest of the UK, it is OK, and here it is not, and | :05:18. | :05:25. | |
it is not OK to speak about it. That stigma still hangs. I felt | :05:25. | :05:32. | |
very, very angry. The fiscal and mental effect it has on me has been | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
quite long-term. If I stopped and thought about the unfairness and | :05:35. | :05:43. | |
injustice of it, it really hurt, I felt very unfairly treated. That is | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
one story out of a possibly 50,000. But there are no figures for the | :05:47. | :05:53. | |
number of women from here who have bought or buying abortion pills on | :05:53. | :05:58. | |
line. However, Wendy is one of them. I looked on the web, because I | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
heard you could get the abortion pills on line. There were so many | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
sites and a lot of them don't give instruction, so I heard about women | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
on the we, and they know exactly what they are doing, so they ask | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
you to do through a series of questions before they mitt to | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
helping you at all. The parcel arrives and it is unmarked. It | :06:16. | :06:20. | |
doesn't say where it is from. There are no instruction, so nothing | :06:20. | :06:25. | |
could be traced, and there is no information. It it is all online, | :06:25. | :06:30. | |
you decide when you take the first ones, then you take the next 24- | :06:30. | :06:33. | |
hoursings so you have a crisis situation, and on top of that you | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
have to consider you are breaking the law, you have to make shoe you | :06:37. | :06:40. | |
-- sure you have your story straight. If anything happened when | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
I took the pill, if there was a haemorrhage, anything like that, I | :06:43. | :06:48. | |
would have had to lie in hospital and say well say it miss carriage, | :06:48. | :06:52. | |
so I think on top of a horrible situation, you have all of these | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
other feelings of guilt, and secrecy and feeling you were doing | :06:56. | :07:00. | |
something wrong, on top of your choice about it, so I think it | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
needs to be more accessible and open. Both women say if they had | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
had the support of services like those offered at the Marie Stopes | :07:08. | :07:16. | |
Clinic, they would have felt less isolated, and less like criminals. | :07:16. | :07:21. | |
Gay and unmarried couples are to be allowed to apply to adopt children. | :07:21. | :07:25. | |
After a High Court judge ruled the current ban sun lawful. Mr Justice | :07:25. | :07:29. | |
Tracy said that the rules unfairly discriminated against those in | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
civil partnerships. The ruling brings Northern Ireland law into | :07:32. | :07:36. | |
line with the rest of the UK. The Health Minister Edwin Poots says he | :07:36. | :07:43. | |
will appeal the judgment. The challenge to adoption laws was | :07:43. | :07:50. | |
taken by the nierlt Human Rights Commission. -- Northern Ireland. | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
Still to come on tonight's programme. A call to ban fiical | :07:55. | :08:04. | |
contact with visitors for prisoners caught with drugs. -- physical. A | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
storage facility that could hold half a billion cubic litres of | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
natural gas a mile below Larne Lough has been given the go-ahead | :08:13. | :08:20. | |
by the planning minister. I am on the edge of the Loch and behind me | :08:20. | :08:23. | |
is Ballylumford power station. In the future it could be using | :08:23. | :08:28. | |
natural gas that has been stored in a series of caverns under the water. | :08:28. | :08:31. | |
Stormont ministers told us today that the gas could be bought when | :08:31. | :08:36. | |
it is cheaper, stored in the kaverns, and sold to suppliers when | :08:36. | :08:40. | |
the import price is high. Kevin McGee can tell us more about what | :08:40. | :08:45. | |
was approved today. Gas is normally stored above ground, but this novel | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
technology aims to keep it a mile under ground in a series of | :08:49. | :08:55. | |
resevoirs, ex ka Kateed from salt deposit well below the surface of | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
Larne Lough. If built the well head would be here beside Ballylumford | :09:00. | :09:03. | |
power station. The environment minister says it will mean more | :09:03. | :09:07. | |
security of supply, as well as potentially lower prices. We are at | :09:07. | :09:14. | |
the end of a very long pipeline, and if we have storage on the "for | :09:14. | :09:20. | |
gas which is a green fuel, the better we are, in terms of energy | :09:20. | :09:26. | |
supply, energy cost, and support for the customer. The idea is to | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
create seven huge underground caverns or caves where imported gas | :09:29. | :09:34. | |
can be stored a mile deep inside the earth's crust. Creating an | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
energy bank from where gas can be extracted to meet demand. The salt | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
deposits were crated millions of years ago when a sea evaporate and | :09:43. | :09:49. | |
the salt was trapped between layers of rock. And this is what it looks | :09:49. | :09:57. | |
like. It tastes like salt. And when this is dissolved it leefts an | :09:57. | :10:02. | |
empty space. Any remaining salt forms a sealed cavity. The waste | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
salt water will be deposited into the sea north of Islandmagee which | :10:06. | :10:10. | |
has led to objections from environmentalists. There is with | :10:10. | :10:14. | |
all major probgs and projects a serious environmental impact. We do | :10:14. | :10:22. | |
not feel that the issue has been satisfy -- satisfactorily address | :10:22. | :10:26. | |
by the planning service because there is a key objective to bring | :10:26. | :10:31. | |
in investment. The petrochemical giant BP has committed �8 million | :10:31. | :10:36. | |
to the development of the project, which could cost �400 million to | :10:36. | :10:41. | |
complete. Test drilling is expected next year. With me is Paddy Larkin | :10:41. | :10:46. | |
from the company behind the storage facility. Pady environmentalists | :10:46. | :10:51. | |
have been most concerned about the salt debris that will come out of | :10:52. | :10:55. | |
the cavern, that it will concentrate the salt content in the | :10:55. | :11:00. | |
water and will damage the habitats here. How do you defanned that? | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
is just salt that has come from the sea originally, so there is no | :11:04. | :11:08. | |
particular nastys or anything in there It is highly concentrated. | :11:08. | :11:13. | |
Yes, the sea water becomes much more salty and it becomes brine, | :11:13. | :11:19. | |
then we discharge that, out into the other side of Islandmagee into | :11:19. | :11:26. | |
the Belfast Loch end where the larger body of water and the tides | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
disperse and dilute the brine back to, you know, very low levels of | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
concentration. I know you have consuled with residents in | :11:33. | :11:36. | |
Islandmagee, they have been voicing their condition Serb, in particular, | :11:36. | :11:40. | |
when this is all in the construction period, and the | :11:40. | :11:45. | |
disruption it will cause to their daily life. We have had a lot of | :11:45. | :11:50. | |
dealings with the council and environmental wholth have placed | :11:50. | :11:53. | |
re-- restrictions on the noise level, but beyond that we are keen | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
to work with the residents on an ongoing bay to minimise the | :11:58. | :12:03. | |
disruption. A project of this scale and size is inevitable there will | :12:03. | :12:08. | |
be some disruption, but we are there to minimise that. | :12:08. | :12:13. | |
planning permission has been given as Paddy said, if all goesing a | :12:13. | :12:17. | |
according to ta plan this mo reject will be up and running in five | :12:17. | :12:23. | |
years' time, in 2017. -- goes according to plan. The police | :12:23. | :12:27. | |
investigating the circumstances surrounding the sudden death of a | :12:27. | :12:31. | |
newborn baby girl in East Belfast. It is understood the infant was | :12:31. | :12:34. | |
found in the boot of a car last night. Police have forensically | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
examined the scene and the car was taken away. The results of a | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
postmortem examination are being assessed. Business leader says | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
allowing Stormont to cut corporation tax is the key to | :12:47. | :12:52. | |
revieving our economy. Now we know it is the Prime Minister's decision | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
about whether local politicians will get that power. It follows a | :12:56. | :13:00. | |
meeting in London, between the first and demty First Minister and | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
the Treasury. Early I asked our economics editor about the | :13:04. | :13:09. | |
significance of the meeting. Well, it was never going to be a case of | :13:09. | :13:14. | |
Deal or No Deal today, but we always anticipated we would get an | :13:14. | :13:18. | |
indication of where it was going. The indications now are more | :13:18. | :13:21. | |
positive than many of us thought beforehand. However, this is now | :13:21. | :13:25. | |
simply the end game. This is where the real negotiation takes place, | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
what they have agreed is an options paper which means they haven't | :13:30. | :13:34. | |
agreed everything, the Treasury, the Stormont ministers, the | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
Northern Ireland office. They have agreed an option paper that will be | :13:37. | :13:42. | |
put to the Prime Minister. The decision rested with him. | :13:42. | :13:44. | |
Nevertheless Peter Robinson was welcoming the develops. They said | :13:44. | :13:48. | |
it is decision time for the Government. We have shown I think | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
through the work we have done it can be done. Now we have rooked | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
what the the mechanisms are and what the cost will be. We have a | :13:56. | :14:00. | |
paper which has been agreed to go to the Prime Minister, which has | :14:00. | :14:05. | |
different options on it. It will require a meeting between Peter and | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
myself. We always knew in the final analysis it would be a political | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
decision. So the Prime Minister has the final say, what is going to | :14:13. | :14:16. | |
persuade him one way or another? First of all, there are a few | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
practical things that will happen. That options paper will be | :14:20. | :14:24. | |
finalised. It will be pasted on to Downing Street and David Cameron | :14:24. | :14:29. | |
has big things to consider. One of the things he will think about is a | :14:29. | :14:32. | |
vote,? Scotland, for or against independence, which takes place in | :14:32. | :14:36. | |
2014. He won't want to do anything in relation to Northern Ireland | :14:36. | :14:40. | |
which strengthens the case for independence, that Alex Salmond | :14:40. | :14:45. | |
will be arguing, it has long before thought this issue over devolving | :14:45. | :14:48. | |
corporation tax in Northern Ireland has been delayed because the | :14:48. | :14:53. | |
Government has fears about how it would play north of the border in | :14:53. | :14:55. | |
Scotland. I asked the Northern Ireland Secretary what she felt | :14:55. | :15:00. | |
would be the big issues waying on David Cameron's mind. I am sure | :15:00. | :15:03. | |
when the Prime Minister takes his decision, he will look at the | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
practical issues, and he will look at the wider constitutional | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
implication for the UK as a whole. And that is code from the Secretary | :15:11. | :15:15. | |
of State, to the fact that the Prime Minister will be keenly aware | :15:15. | :15:18. | |
of that independence vote in Scotland, and the Northern Ireland | :15:18. | :15:21. | |
politicians are now aware of that themselves, and they are trying to | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
spin this in their favour what they are saying is give Northern Ireland | :15:25. | :15:29. | |
the power over corporation tax, show people in Scotland the benefit | :15:29. | :15:33. | |
of devolution. If you don't give it tos us Alex Salmond will have | :15:33. | :15:37. | |
something to talk about. A what they have achieved is pushing it | :15:37. | :15:40. | |
into the Downing Street intray, it's the end game for this I don't | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
mean they have the power, but the political negotiation now happen | :15:45. | :15:48. | |
for real and perhaps you could say it's a small win but not the final | :15:48. | :15:55. | |
victory. Now, prisoners caught with illicit drugs should be banned from | :15:55. | :15:58. | |
physical contact with family and friend during visits. The chairman | :15:58. | :16:01. | |
of the justice committee at Stormont says the move is needed to | :16:01. | :16:06. | |
reduce the risk of drugs being smuggled into jails. It has been | :16:06. | :16:12. | |
revealed there were more than 1100 drugs found in prisons in the last | :16:12. | :16:15. | |
three years. Our Home Affairs correspondent reports. Prisons are | :16:15. | :16:19. | |
designed to keep criminals in, but fail to keep illegal drugs out. | :16:19. | :16:24. | |
Cricket says it can be easier to get drugs behind bars than on the | :16:25. | :16:30. | |
streets outside. -- critics. The extent of problem has been exposed | :16:30. | :16:36. | |
in response to a the Justice Minister. During the past three | :16:36. | :16:46. | |
years, there were 245 drug find at a prison. Just over 100 more at | :16:46. | :16:51. | |
High Bank women's prison and young offenders association and 568 at | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
Mag Gavry. Northern Ireland's high security prison near Lisburn. That | :16:55. | :17:02. | |
is a total of more than 1100. The drugs found including cannabis. | :17:02. | :17:08. | |
Steroid, heroin, and stockpiles of prescription tablets I is believed | :17:09. | :17:14. | |
many are smuggled into Ron by advice to, the DUP's Paul given is | :17:14. | :17:19. | |
chairman of the justice committee. He wants prisoners caught with | :17:19. | :17:23. | |
illicit drugs to be denied physical contact. If a prisoner is found to | :17:23. | :17:30. | |
have drugs in their po se, dealing in drugs they should be prevented | :17:30. | :17:35. | |
from having that fis physical contact. That requires the support, | :17:35. | :17:38. | |
to be given to staff and the management, to seriously say we are | :17:38. | :17:42. | |
going to address this and we will have to take tough approaches to do | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
that. He also says prisoners caught with drugs should be segregated | :17:46. | :17:52. | |
from other inmates. The head of the prison service says there will be a | :17:52. | :17:55. | |
zero tolerance approach to drugs that tackling the problem is a key | :17:55. | :18:00. | |
priority. Yesterday we learned that the numbers joining the dole queues | :18:00. | :18:08. | |
are still growing. The unemployment total is over 63,000. Francis | :18:08. | :18:13. | |
Gorman reports on how joblessness is hitting one community. This | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
butcher says not a week goes by when someone isn't leaving town in | :18:17. | :18:23. | |
search of work. Here, unemployment can equal immigration. There are | :18:23. | :18:26. | |
hundreds and hundreds of peopler who WHO have left our town, from | :18:26. | :18:32. | |
all walks of life, all young, well educated and they are away to | :18:32. | :18:36. | |
Australia, America, Canada but mostly Australia. Left behind is | :18:36. | :18:41. | |
this 24-year-old. After leaving school at 16, she was in regular | :18:41. | :18:45. | |
work, until two years ago. I don't know what to do with myself. It is | :18:45. | :18:49. | |
boring, you have no money. You dofpbt have money to save to get | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
out of the country, to go to the likes of Australia. You are stuck | :18:53. | :18:57. | |
here to do nothing. Have you many friend or relatives in the same | :18:57. | :19:02. | |
position? Loads. Lots of friend, lots of relatives aren't working. | :19:02. | :19:09. | |
Here at the Jobcentre nearly 500 people are registered un employment | :19:09. | :19:14. | |
uneeemployed. They are suffering from the same problem. The figures | :19:14. | :19:19. | |
are higher than they were but steadying off somewhat. But the | :19:19. | :19:22. | |
local development association the unemployment figures might only | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
tell half the story. In terms of the official jobless figures, that | :19:26. | :19:30. | |
only record people who have been made unemployed. There are a | :19:30. | :19:34. | |
massive number of self-employed people that would have been in the | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
construction sector and would be self-employed and registered or | :19:37. | :19:40. | |
considered to be economically inactive, and they don't really | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
appear in the figures. I would say they could be doubled. | :19:44. | :19:50. | |
recession has hit the local GAA. James Cunningham is also chair of | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
the Kingdom football club this is a picture of the Division One | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
champions five years ago. Many have sense gone abroad in search of work. | :19:59. | :20:06. | |
In 2007, the Kingdom football club, won Division One. We had three | :20:06. | :20:10. | |
senior teams and a Under-21. Now, we are in Division Two, with just | :20:10. | :20:15. | |
two senior teams and we haven't got a Under-21 team. We have lost so | :20:15. | :20:19. | |
much through immigration. 35 players have gone from the squad | :20:19. | :20:24. | |
that was here in 2007. Going overseas to get work can be an | :20:25. | :20:30. | |
increasingly attractive option. Across Northern Ireland, there are | :20:30. | :20:34. | |
63,000 people registered unemployed. On the official Government job site | :20:35. | :20:43. | |
there are 1600 vacancies. Well, much has been made of Northern | :20:43. | :20:47. | |
Ireland football manager Michael O'Neill superb tactic tons pitch | :20:47. | :20:54. | |
against Portugal in that World Cup qualifier. Off the field of play it | :20:54. | :20:57. | |
looks like Michael O'Neill's persuasive powers are working. | :20:57. | :21:01. | |
There has Bansteady flow of players transferring to the Republic in | :21:01. | :21:07. | |
recent time, but the trend seems to be turning. Two weeks' ago senior | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
republic player Alex Bruce was called up by Neil. Now the Northern | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
Ireland manager has convinced would be of the Republic's best young | :21:14. | :21:19. | |
players to switch allegiance, he has achieved a family double. There | :21:19. | :21:24. | |
are currently divided loyalties in this household but that is about to | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
change. Centre half Shane played at under age level for the Republic | :21:28. | :21:32. | |
but is a Northern Ireland Under-21 international. His 20-year-old | :21:32. | :21:35. | |
brother pat reck, one of the outstanding young players in the | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
league of Ireland is now about to switch allegiance too. Michael | :21:40. | :21:44. | |
O'Neill spoke to both and his powers of persuasion obviously | :21:44. | :21:49. | |
worked I am still only 20 still young, like. As I say, Michael told | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
me about his plan, and that is what I have to do. I have to work hard | :21:52. | :21:56. | |
to get there. Are you looking forward? I can't wait to get there. | :21:56. | :22:00. | |
Shane says the decision to opt for Northern Ireland was the right one | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
for him. For me personally u it is nothing do with politics, it is to | :22:04. | :22:07. | |
play football. I made the switch because I want to play more | :22:08. | :22:14. | |
football. It is good for your CV. I am happy to play for them as well. | :22:14. | :22:20. | |
There have been some high profile defebg shuns. James MacLaine who is | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
at Sunderland, left Northern Ireland to declare for the Republic. | :22:24. | :22:31. | |
But with the heroics of Michael O'Neill's side in Portugal and his | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
difloem si behind the scenes it could be that more players will be | :22:34. | :22:43. | |
enlisted for Northern Ireland. To rugby and despite a marathon match | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
performance against Castres last week Paul Marshall has been | :22:46. | :22:49. | |
replaced by Ruan Pienaar in the starting 15 for tomorrow night's | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
clash with Glasgow. The South Africa whon came off the bench to | :22:53. | :22:58. | |
score a vital late bonus point try against Castres has returned from | :22:58. | :23:03. | |
international action and is one of two changes in the side. Difficult | :23:03. | :23:08. | |
one, you have two quality players and Paul had such an outstanding | :23:08. | :23:13. | |
game made it harder. That is the way we have to look at it. We are | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
fortunate to have two good players in that position. It is about using | :23:17. | :23:22. | |
them both in 80 minutes and we think the way we want to use Paul | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
this week will be off the bench. European action tomorrow night, at | :23:26. | :23:30. | |
the Belfast Giants. They are off to Germany to represent British ice | :23:30. | :23:34. | |
hockey in a competition between the best sides on the continent. Their | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
domestic rivals have been exploiting the current strike by | :23:37. | :23:46. | |
players in North America. Head coach Doug Christian seven leads | :23:46. | :23:50. | |
the celebrations at the Belfast Giant win the Elite League title | :23:50. | :23:56. | |
last sfpblt now the reward is to play in the continental cup. The | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
European equivalent of the Champions League. It's a fantastic | :23:59. | :24:02. | |
opportunity for to us play against the champions from different | :24:02. | :24:05. | |
countries. It is something I wanted to be part of since I got the job | :24:05. | :24:10. | |
here in Belfast. It is a exciting opportunity. A lot are North | :24:10. | :24:12. | |
Americans who have never been to Germany. It's the first time the | :24:12. | :24:18. | |
Giants have been in Europe for a decade. It is exciting. While the | :24:18. | :24:22. | |
Giants are away on the Continent all their domestic rivals have been | :24:22. | :24:26. | |
exploiting the current player strike, or lock out Stateside in | :24:26. | :24:30. | |
the national hockey league, offering short-term contracts to | :24:30. | :24:36. | |
striking player, like Antony Stewart of the Carolina Hurricanes, | :24:36. | :24:40. | |
current bli the Nottingham pan sthers. I was one of the first guy, | :24:40. | :24:45. | |
the first wave of guys to come to Europe. It is great that Nottingham, | :24:45. | :24:50. | |
you know, give me an opportunity to come and play. I am having a great | :24:50. | :24:54. | |
time. Belfast haven't followed suit. Yet. It It will make our job more | :24:54. | :25:00. | |
difficult but it is still hockey. Maybe it two player, at the end of | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
the ice they are not they are not on the ice for the whole game. I am | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
happy with what we have. We have a great group. We have looked to see | :25:08. | :25:13. | |
what they are going to cost what the actual realistic acquisitions | :25:13. | :25:17. | |
would be, and at the minute we are happy with where we are and | :25:17. | :25:23. | |
hopefully we can continue that. Giants leave Belfast for Germany | :25:24. | :25:31. | |
top of the domestic league. Now to take on Europe's best. And finally | :25:31. | :25:35. | |
tonight, boxer Katie Taylor who won gold at the Olympics has confirmed | :25:35. | :25:39. | |
she intend to remain amateur and defend her title in Rio in four | :25:39. | :25:46. | |
years time. She turned dound a six figure offer to turn professional. | :25:47. | :25:54. | |
figure offer to turn professional. A gold medal guaranteed in braz. | :25:54. | :26:00. | |
More to come with the weather? We have seen the worst. No gold far | :26:00. | :26:04. | |
for the weather we had. But good weather on the way. As we go | :26:04. | :26:08. | |
through the rest of this evening there is heavy rain to come. We do | :26:08. | :26:13. | |
is a weather warning remaining in force. Especially for the north | :26:14. | :26:17. | |
coast and down through Antrim and down. But good news through the | :26:17. | :26:21. | |
night, most of that will clear away, leaving us a dry night. A lot of | :26:21. | :26:25. | |
cloud round, it won't be especially chilly temperatures staying at | :26:25. | :26:30. | |
seven or nine. Into tomorrow, then, we can all look forward to a better | :26:30. | :26:35. | |
day. It will be brighter. There will be cloud round, a few spots of | :26:35. | :26:39. | |
rain, along the Antrim coast that. Will clear away. For us all it will | :26:39. | :26:43. | |
be a dry afternoon. Cloud will come and go through the day, but it will | :26:43. | :26:46. | |
break up nicely allowing the sunshine to come out. Temperatures | :26:46. | :26:52. | |
may be below average at 11 or 12, but in any sunshine, with the light | :26:52. | :26:56. | |
wind it won't feel too bad. The good news is for the second part of | :26:56. | :27:00. | |
the day, not very much is going to change. We will end up on a bright | :27:00. | :27:05. | |
note. Some ending on sunshine, so a decent evening to come. With the | :27:05. | :27:10. | |
clear skies it will be chillier. The temperatures will fall to two | :27:10. | :27:17. | |
to five grie degrees in the towns and cities. So a touch of frost at | :27:17. | :27:21. | |
the weekend possible. But after that, Saturday will be much like | :27:21. | :27:26. | |
today. Plenty of dry weather round, bright as well. The best chance of | :27:26. | :27:29. | |
seeing any light rain will be to the north-west. But for most it is | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
going to be a dry start to the weekend. Looking ahead to Sunday, | :27:32. | :27:37. | |
not very much is going to change. Right through the weekend, plenty | :27:37. | :27:41. | |
of good weather for getting out and about outdoors. Do try to enjoy it | :27:41. | :27:45. | |
because as we go to next week it is going to change. More low pressure | :27:45. | :27:50. |