21/10/2013 BBC Newsline

rain sweeping across the British Isles, so basically, the week is

summed up by wet, windy, but at least it is mild.

This is BBC Newsline. Tonight's top stories... After 20 years, clash is

finally released for a brand-new building in the grounds of the RVH.

Campaigners give their reaction. More money for roads too - we'll be

asking how we're paying for all this.

As the cost of living continues to rise for families, a new survey says

the part of the UK hardest hit is Northern Ireland.

Families of those killed in the Shankill bomb reject an apology from

one of the bombers. After a memorable win for Ulster's

rugby players in Europe, coach Mark Anscombe joins me live in the

studio. A soggy start to the week, and for

some it could still be quite wet through tonight.

It will improve tomorrow. Belfast is to get a new children's

hospital. It'll cost ?250 million and replace the existing Royal

Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. The announcement was made by the

Finance Minister Simon Hamilton as part of a series of projects funded

by the Executive. Most of the money is coming from the cancelled a five

road project. -- A4 project. As our health correspondent Marie-Louise

Connolly reports, the building of the hospital has been a long running

saga. Back in 1973, staff and patients

marked the centenary of the Children's Hospital on the Royal

Victoria site - but even then, there was talk of the need for a new

hospital. It will remain on this site, maybe it will be moved nearer

to the Royal. We will have to get a new hospital very soon. A new facade

has helped to spruce up the building but the main part has remained the

same since Gloria Hunniford reported on the Sid Taylor in 1973. When you

look back at all of the campaigns we have been through, it has been quite

draining and quite tiring to realise that 20 years later, we are only

getting the money released today. To make room for the new building, the

present Children's Hospital will eventually go while housing stock

adjacent will also be demolished. It is practically doubling in size, the

Children's Hospital is a tragedy exists. We will be dealing with a

wide range of children. We currently do with up to age 14, we will go up

to 18. By 2021, the new regional Children's Hospital will have come a

long way since its beginnings here in Belfast. While it may be the

A5's class, at least the Royal Victoria Hospital, its staff and

patients are about to gain a new building, a project first talked

about 20 years ago. The new hospital was just one of a

number of spending projects announced today. There are several

major roadworks schemes including an improvement plan for the notorious

A26 Frosses Road north of Ballymena. The single lane section of road is a

well known bottleneck and an accident hot spot. Now it will be

turned into a dual carriageway. Here's our north east reporter,

David Maxwell. The trees on the Frosses Road are

well known - around 20,000 vehicles pass under them every day. But if

you meet a slow moving vehicle on this single lane road, the journey

north can be a slow one. It's one reason why there have long been

calls for improvement work. Another is the number of accidents. Upgrade

work to this section of road has been in the pipeline since 2005, and

for those who live and work alongside it, it can't come soon

enough. At rush hour, peak times in the morning and evening Times, this

road is chock-a-block. Then we have agricultural vehicles on it as

well, so you can get a lot of bottlenecks and hold ups. When you

use the road, you realise there is no quiet times or anything that is

going to improve that will be a bonus. ?8 million will make a start

- that's what's been released today to get this project underway next

year. It will make a big difference to safety for people with kids in

the car dominantly to the north coast. We hope it will make it

convenient for our customers. As well as the A26 funding, 30 million

has been released for the A8 road from Belfast to Larne. Work there is

already well underway. And ?13 million is has been released towards

the A31 Magherafelt bypass announced earlier this year - that work is to

start next autumn. Let's go live to our business and

economics editor John Campbell at Stormont.

Where has this money come from? The vast bulk of this money has, from

the A5 project. That was the big road project which was to create a

fast group from Derry to Dublin. Because of planning reasons, that

has stalled. Most of the money has been sucked back into the central

pot and distributed back to the other projects. What is going on is

that the Treasury in London, which ultimately decides these things,

thinks there needs to be more infrastructure spending. By that, I

mean roads and hospitals. The Treasury seems to be acknowledging

that it cut infrastructure spending too far and too fast just a few

years ago and it is increasing the amount of spending on those sorts of

projects. There have been hard years in Northern Ireland when it comes to

infrastructure spending, but that will increase over the next two

years and we will see the benefits coming through. Is this spending at

the expense of other areas? Yes, public finances are still under

enormous pressure. If you increase spending on one side of the balance

sheet on infrastructure, day-to-day spending pressures will become

greater. That is spending on things like services and salaries. Those

day-to-day budgets are due to fall in real terms in 2015. The Finance

Minister says that does create some serious implications. We are going

to see some significant pressure moving forward. That presents a

challenge for us. There will be some concern that it may manifest in

crude cuts. What we are doing within departments, we need to look at how

we can reform things. The Finance Minister's big idea, what he has

talked about before, his public service reform, getting more out of

the public services for the same money. What the public service

reform means for public sector workers remains to be seen. ? Well

that's how the Executive is spending its money, but how are you spending

yours? The average household here is

surviving on ?60 a week disposable income, according to a new economic

survey. That's down from last year and almost ?100 below the UK

average. And all this at a time when we're being told Northern Ireland's

economy is on the way up. So what's going on? Mark Simpson reports.

Making ends meet is getting tougher and tougher. The overall economy may

have turned the corner, but consumers are still feeling the

pinch. A new study was released today on disposable income - that's

the money left over when we've paid all our taxes and our bills. In

Northern Ireland, on average, we're left with ?60 a week, well below the

UK average, which is ?157. And in London, the figure is ?235. The

survey was carried out for the supermarket chain, Asda. It is a

reality check as to the state of the economy. Whilst we are seeing other

indicators which are positive, for families it is tough going,

especially in Northern Ireland. Given that people have less money in

their pockets, there are more careful about how they spend it.

Steak for dinner? Maybe not tonight. New TV, maybe not at the moment.

More and more families are trying to find ways to come back. Bringing up

children is not cheap. So how does Kathy Hill cup? We have had to cut

down a lot on eating up and take aways, we do not do that. We are

trying to stay local when we go to places to try and cut down on the

price of fuel. We make picnics and things. This retired nurse does not

shop like she used to. I buy only what I need. I do not throw food

out. If it smells good I eat it. I cannot afford to do otherwise.

According to one economist, the challenge facing the consumer is not

going to change any time soon. What you will have to seek is wages

rising at a faster rate than inflation. -- what you will have to

see. There is still no sign that is going to take place. So, for

hard-pressed shoppers with Christmas only two months away, it is

difficult to find reasons to be cheerful.

Plenty to come before Seven including...

The desperate measures being taken to save our forests.

Relatives of those people killed in the Shankill Road bombing 20 years

ago have rejected the apology given by the surviving bomber, Sean Kelly.

He made his remarks yesterday at an unveiling ceremony for a plaque

dedicated to IRA man Thomas Begley, who was killed carrying the bomb.

Eunan McConville reports. October 1993. An IRA bomb at

Frizzell's fish shop on the Shankill Road exploded killing nine

Protestants. Also killed was this man, Thomas Begley, one of two IRA

men who carried the bomb in to the shop while posing as delivery men.

Begley was holding the bomb when it went off prematurely. 20 years

later, and a plaque commemorating Thomas Begley has been unveiled in

the area in which he grew up - Ardoyne in north Belfast. The main

speaker at the unveiling was the other IRA man involved in planting

the bomb, Sean Kelly, seen here on the right. He told the few hundred

people gathered... "I offer no excuse that will change how any of

these innocent people and families will think about myself, or Thomas,

or the IRA as a result of this operation. I am truly sorry for the

loss of life and the injuries that were suffered that day, and for the

suffering the families have endured." Yesterday, a protest was

held on the nearby Crumlin Road in opposition to the unveiling

ceremony. Prior to yesterday's event, Unionist politicians

criticised the commemoration, with the MP for the area, Nigel Dodds of

the DUP, calling it grotesque. Both this plaque to Thomas Begley and

Sean Kelly's apology have been criticised by those people who lost

loved ones in the bombing. I do not think any apology will bring back

the dead. Speaking yesterday, Gerry Kelly defended the decision to erect

this plaque, saying that republicans have the right to remember their

dead. A scheme to employ new teachers and

help pupils with reading, writing and maths is still trying to recruit

staff. A quarter of the 270 jobs have not yet been filled and they

will be advertised again. Our education correspondent Maggie

Taggart reports. Teachers who graduated in the last

three years get a fresh course before they are sent to the new

schools. Of 270 jobs, almost 200 have been appointed, but many were

not in time for the beginning of term. David is delighted to get a

job for two years after earning a living as a substitute teacher with

part-time work in a chemist. It is not a long-term fix but it is great

to give young teachers a chance to develop their skills and to have the

work for two years. It puts us in a better position to apply for

permanent jobs. This school is delighted with the extra teacher.

More money, the governors and my staff -- myself at interview. On

this occasion we did not know who we were getting, but this teacher has

been with us for a week and has been an excellent asset. There are enough

unemployed teachers to fill the posts, but this school is still

waiting and it is not happy. Some schools will get two teachers, some

will share one between five. Unfortunately, we are two months

into the project and in our case, though he has been appointed. We are

still waiting to hear about the appointment and hopefully, when we

get that news, we will be able to get the young person in and get them

trained. A quarter of the jobs have not been allocated and there will be

more advert in November. We only got word at the end of me that the

project would commence, so a huge amount of work has been completed

over the summer. In July and August, we were interviewing the young

teachers and we are in the position to have so many people employed and

taking up posts. The jobs are time-limited and funding will end in

August 2015 no matter when the teachers arrive at the school.

We've heard a lot about the tree disease ash dieback lately, but

another infection is now having a devastating effect on our woodland.

Sudden oak death does not, as its name suggests, hit our oak trees

particularly hard. It is, however, hitting larch trees and other

species to the extent where it's feared it may soon be impossible to

eradicate it. It could even hit the rhododendron in your garden. Here's

our district reporter Gordon Adair. Despite the damp weather of late, or

forests look as stunning as ever. Here and there, the woods are

becoming a little less woody. With frightening efficiency, this machine

is felling larch trees in Castlewellan, and it is doing so in

a bid to somehow stop so-called sudden oak death. This is a

difficult disease to deal with and nobody can give absolute guarantees.

We are felling to reduce the amount of disease around. It will not deal

with everything. At the moment we are felling larch trees because that

is one species that produces lots of sports. A hectare is roughly the

size of a rugby pitch. Each year, the forestry service fills about 800

hectares. This year, half of those trees will be large. That is a lot

of timber from a species that makes up only about 4% of the forest

service's estate. This timber is valuable. It is going off to

sawmills and they will deal with the bio-security. They know where the

stuff goes. Once they have made it into planks, those planks can go

anywhere because they are safe. All of us, it seems, have a role to

play. Or forests are still open for business but a few simple actions on

the part of visitors could make a big difference. Clean your boots and

clean your bicycles. When you're in the forest, if you see people

working, do not go into that area not because of bio-security but

because of your own safety. If you see the machines, respect the man,

he cannot see you, keep away. With sudden oak death thriving in damp

conditions, it seems all of us who work in or use our forests have a

fight on our hands. The Northern Ireland Milk Cup is one

of the world's best youth football tournaments. But today it was dealt

a serious financial blow. The Dairy Council, which has supported the

Milk Cup tournament for the last 30 years, today ended its annual

sponsorship of the tournament. The decision was taken following a

strategic review of activities. The Dairy Council has sponsored the

tournament since 1983. The NI Milk Cup attracts teams from all over the

world to the North Coast every summer. Organisers insist the future

is secure. The tournament is solid in Northern

Ireland, it is really solid. We have the six county format and the most

talented young boys in the province playing teams from across the world,

big names. 2014 is looking even bigger and better than before and

the outlook of the tournament four years to come will be very much part

of the province and the events of the province.

Ulster's rugby players won for just the second time in France at the

weekend. And what a stunning victory it was. A 25-8 win in the Heinekin

Cup over Montpellier, who were unbeaten at home this season.

Joining me live in the studio is Ulster coach, Mark Anscombe.

Delighted to have you with us. Some are saying that it was Ulster's best

ever away performance, where does it rank in your coaching career? Pretty

high. They are a leading -- Montpellier are leading the Top 14

competition in France. We knew we had a big job ahead of us. It was

really pleasing that we stuck in the game. The execution of the try in

particular was fantastic, Andrew Trimble and Tommy Bowe combining.

Trimble is Ulster's top try scorer in Europe, are you surprised he has

been overlooked by Aaron and so often in the past? He was

outstanding last year. He played so much rugby for us and he is our

leading try scorer. He had a huge year. He has come into his own. I

have got a huge amount of respect for Andrew as a winner, he is top

class. And this from Paddy Jackson was superb. How have you been

impressed by how he responded to criticism? There was criticism from

international, but we have always backed him and what he is capable of

doing. It is about giving him the confidence and belief in himself and

not getting caught up with what a couple of people, who are maybe not

as well in form, make of those judgements. He is top quality. The

way he controlled the game and the way he helped us get our win. Will

your success this season be measured on silverware? It is a long way off

and we have got to keep our feet on the ground. We had a good win and

have had a couple of good ones on the road and we are back into the

Pro12 this week with formidable opposition in the Welsh team. There

is a lot of work to do before we worry about silverware.

Belfast boxer Carl Frampton says that he's ready for a world title

fight in his next bout. He defended his European super-bantamweight

crown on Saturday night. In front of a sell out Odyssey crowd, he knocked

out Frenchman Jeremy Parodi in the sixth round. Thomas Niblock reports.

The report has/lights and flash photography.

-- strobe lights. A 9000 sell-out created one of those

special guides in sport as Carl Frampton took another step closer to

becoming world champion. The atmosphere at the Odyssey Arena,

sibling credible. That is spying kindling. As for the fight, Carl

Frampton used a combination of head and body shots. He was simply too

good for the Frenchman, who has only lost once in 35 fights. In the sixth

round, a left-hander the body was the blow Jeremy Parodi would not

recover from. -- a left hand to the body. Yahoo! Frampton has got the

win he craved. I am grateful for the support of the fans, they are

fantastic. They are loud and proud. I am not even world champion yet.

Not world champion yet. The aim is clear and the plan next? He is going

off to get married next week, he is going to have some downtime and

enjoy himself, back into training, February, March, back into Belfast

into the Odyssey Arena. Mrs Frampton seem to be was at ringside. For the

meantime, it is wedding bells for Carl Frampton. You get married on

Saturday. -- he gets married. Belfast boxers Michael Conlan and

Tommy McCarthy are through to the quarter finals of the World Amateur

Championship in Kazakhstan. They're now one win away from a medal.

There were no medals for this next sporting highlight, but perhaps

there should have been for Northern Ireland international footballer

Paddy McCourt. Take a look at this amazing goal. He scored this

brilliant effort for his club Barnsley against Middlesborough,

beating half a dozen defenders on the way. Locally, Linfield are four

points clear at the top of the Irish League after a scoreless draw with

second placed Crusaders. Ards celebrated their first game at the

new look Clandeboye Park with a 3-1 victory against Portadown. Glentoran

recorded an impressive 3-1 win away win against Coleraine. And the

champions Cliftionville needed this late goal to earn a draw with

Warrenpoint. -- Cliftonville. To sport on two wheels now. And it

was a very successful weekend for Northern Ireland. There were

celebrations in the World Motorcycling Championships, with

Eugene Laverty a double winner, a medal in the European Cycling

Championship for Martyn Irvine and plenty of drama in the British

Championship too. Here's Gavin Andrews.

Eugene Laverty finished the world Superbike season with nine wins, but

it still was not enough to clinch the Crown. It was nice to finish the

season with a double win. These last nine races have been great and we

have been on the podium every time. In the middle of the season we had

some problems, but we finished strong and that is always important.

We gave, Psyche everything we could all stop they have been too strong

for us lately but it was nice to bounce back with victories. -- we

gave, Psyche -- the other teams everything we could. For Alastair

Seeley, an improbable comeback looked on the cards until fate

intervened. He went into the last race trailing the leader by just

four points but when the race had to be stopped he still claimed the

title for the Northern Ireland team. Martyn Irvine produced another

stunning performance in a breakthrough season. He picked up a

bronze medal at the European Championships to add to his world

title. It comes after he's broke his hip in a crash in March.

It was a busy weekend for Gaelic footballer Michael Murphy. Yesterday

he was man-of-the-match as Glenswilly won the Donegal club

title. 24 hours earlier, Murphy captained Ireland to victory in the

first International Rules test against Australia. He got the

opening seven points at Breffni Park. Ireland were never behind in

the match, eventually romping home to win 57 points to 35.

Ballinderry led from start to finish to see off Clonoe by 14-10 in

yesterday's Ulster Club Championship. They will now face

Scotstown of Monaghan in the quarterfinals at Clones. Elsewhere,

Kilcoo became the Down champions, while Crossmaglen secured a 17th

Armagh club title in 18 seasons. Rory McIlroy shot a final round of

67 to finish tied in second place at the Korean Open. The world number

six carded five birdies in an impressive four-under-par round to

end up just one shot behind the eventual winner, Kang Sung-Hoon. It

was a strong finish for McIlroy, who had started the day ten shots off

the lead and was playing in his first tournament for a month. He had

the flag with this excellent shot. -- he hit the flag.

Hello, it has been a pretty gloomy and soggy start to the new week.

It is a changeable outlook, and there will be drier spells through

the middle of the week with a few showers, before heavy spells of rain

on Friday. It will turn an little bit cooler from mid week onwards as

well. It is mild, moist air at the moment, I deal conditions for

mushrooms and toadstools. The mild air has been bringing this weather

front, the cloud and rain working northwards through the day. Rain

through the north and west at the moment. There should be another

batch moving in from the south for a time. Towards the east coast we need

to keep an eye on things. There are doubts about the track of this next

batch of rain, but it could clip counted out and County Antrim,

becoming breezy as well. -- County Down. Some places could remain murky

overnight and it is a mild night. Into tomorrow, a much more cheery

date. We should see bright spells and mainly dry conditions. First

thing, if you are close to the east coast near the Ards Peninsula, you

could find you are clipped by some of the rain. It will move out of the

way quickly and then the sun will come through. It should feel quite

warm with light southerly winds and highs of 16 or 17. It could spark of

heavy showers here and there but most places will avoid that and stay

dry. We start tomorrow evening on a dry note. We have another batch of

white weather tomorrow night, some of that heavy and persistent before

it moves away. As it does so, cooler westerlies on Wednesday.

Temperatures coming down, nearly dry on Thursday.

Have a good evening, goodbye.