:00:18. > :00:20.Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline. A new Parades Commission
:00:21. > :00:29.is appointed as the Haass talks witnesses its first row between the
:00:30. > :00:37.DUP and the chairman. Also on the programme.... The Republic's
:00:38. > :00:42.ministers get back and fill control of their spending but there is more
:00:43. > :00:46.austerity to come. A care worker is jailed for stealing more than
:00:47. > :00:54.?100,000 from a pensioner. As doctors warn of a silent epidemic,
:00:55. > :00:57.we hear of a woman's battle against alcohol addiction. Ballinderry
:00:58. > :01:07.shamrocks play the English champions. And if you are heading
:01:08. > :01:17.over the water this weekend it might be a lively trip. A warning of storm
:01:18. > :01:20.force winds in place for tomorrow. There's been a row between the DUP
:01:21. > :01:23.and the talks chairman Richard Haass. Party sources have told BBC
:01:24. > :01:26.Newsline they are "spitting blood." Before going in to meet the former
:01:27. > :01:29.US diplomat this afternoon, the Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson
:01:30. > :01:32.said the party had been what he called "robust." We'll speak to our
:01:33. > :01:36.Political Editor Mark Devenport shortly, but first Gareth Gordon has
:01:37. > :01:48.spent the day at the talks venue in east Belfast. Richard Haass has now
:01:49. > :01:53.been locked in talks with the parties, hour after hour, for almost
:01:54. > :02:06.five days and today is perhaps the most difficult subject of all, the
:02:07. > :02:10.past. Are you staying? Yes sir. He was all smiles after leaving the
:02:11. > :02:16.venue this morning, but behind-the-scenes, the first sign of
:02:17. > :02:21.tension. When they arrived, the DUP delegation was asked if it was true
:02:22. > :02:26.it had a frosty meeting with the former US diplomat yesterday. I do
:02:27. > :02:31.not want to try and characterise the meetings. When it has come to
:02:32. > :02:36.propositions put to us with which we are in disagreement, we have left no
:02:37. > :02:40.one in any doubt about our disagreement. DUP source said it was
:02:41. > :02:44.accurate to say that they were spitting blood and no further
:02:45. > :02:50.details were given, the only clue is that the meeting yesterday with have
:02:51. > :02:53.centred on flags. After their meeting, Sinn Fein appeared
:02:54. > :02:59.optimistic, but said all sides would have to be prepared to give a
:03:00. > :03:04.little. There are compromises to be made. At the core is victims and
:03:05. > :03:09.survivors so I do not want to say anything that would trigger any
:03:10. > :03:14.other speculation before we sums -- come to some sort of conclusion. I
:03:15. > :03:20.am confident that we can crack this. The other party to meet
:03:21. > :03:24.Richard Haass today urged him to be bold. I would prefer it was a five
:03:25. > :03:29.party agreement, but if Richard Haass has to make a call, then I
:03:30. > :03:38.would urge him to do that and to be ambitious. I think the public will
:03:39. > :03:40.be able to judge who has made a constructive contribution. It is not
:03:41. > :03:45.just politicians who are waiting anxiously. We need the Haass talks
:03:46. > :03:53.to succeed, they need to be a more positive signpost on the three
:03:54. > :03:57.issues on which we are spending time and effort. Richard Haass's overseas
:03:58. > :04:02.concerns do not solely centre on this corner of the world, this
:04:03. > :04:06.afternoon he found time to tweet about the latest situation in North
:04:07. > :04:10.Korea. It is clear that Northern Ireland will need all his book is
:04:11. > :04:14.next week as these talks enter their most crucial phase. Our political
:04:15. > :04:18.Editor Mark Devenport is at the talks venue this evening. Mark, what
:04:19. > :04:25.more can you tell us about this row between the DUP and Richard Haass?
:04:26. > :04:31.We do not have much detail. There has not been any response from the
:04:32. > :04:36.Haass talks team. We know that the row seems to have happened -- but
:04:37. > :04:41.happened on a day when they were talking about flags, but I am led to
:04:42. > :04:46.believe it was not limited to that issue. In terms of previous
:04:47. > :04:52.negotiations, we have seen rows, things tend to heat up as the stakes
:04:53. > :04:58.get higher, we saw that at the time of the Good Friday Agreement. It is
:04:59. > :05:04.hard to fully assess the significance of this, but it is the
:05:05. > :05:13.first big row. Where does this leave us now as we head into next week? I
:05:14. > :05:17.am sure that the team will want to press forward, they have meeting
:05:18. > :05:22.scheduled tomorrow and they intend to work over the weekend. They will
:05:23. > :05:26.meet the Secretary of State on Monday and we are led to believe
:05:27. > :05:30.that there should be a bigger document presented to the parties
:05:31. > :05:39.early next week and things should come to a culmination by the end of
:05:40. > :05:41.next week. And the new Parades Commission line up has been
:05:42. > :05:47.announced this afternoon, who's on it? These new commissioners will
:05:48. > :05:54.take over next year. Peter Osborne the outgoing Commissioner will be
:05:55. > :06:00.replaced by Anne Henderson and she is an accountant who is a former
:06:01. > :06:05.vice Chair of the Housing Executive. There will be Sarah Howell then, a
:06:06. > :06:08.solicitor who has a legal role in relation to industrial relations.
:06:09. > :06:15.Another commissioner will be: Kennedy, the Chief Executive of a
:06:16. > :06:23.sports charity. Also another lawyer, Frances McCartney, and probably the
:06:24. > :06:27.best-known of this new line-up is Glyn Roberts, who is currently the
:06:28. > :06:33.Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland independent retail trade. He
:06:34. > :06:41.has a background as a former Chair of the Alliance Party. The
:06:42. > :06:44.Republic's Finance Minister has warned that the country can't go mad
:06:45. > :06:48.again. This weekend the government regains control of its budget from
:06:49. > :06:51.the EU and the IMF which have run the country's finances for the last
:06:52. > :06:54.three years. On Sunday, it will officially exit what's been called
:06:55. > :06:57.the Bail-out. That was the 67 billion euro rescue money which the
:06:58. > :07:01.government needed after it made the fatal decision to support the banks,
:07:02. > :07:03.who had run up enormous property losses. For the general public, the
:07:04. > :07:07.bailout's strict conditions have meant tax rises and spending cuts.
:07:08. > :07:10.In a moment we'll hear from our Economics and Business Editor. But
:07:11. > :07:24.first our Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison has been looking at the
:07:25. > :07:30.human cost of the bailout. Playtime with their children. As a family,
:07:31. > :07:34.this couple know all about the swings and roundabouts of the
:07:35. > :07:38.recession and bailout Ireland. During the boom years, they had
:07:39. > :07:47.around 1200 -year-old to spare at the end of each month, these days,
:07:48. > :07:53.with children and with the man being unemployed, they struggle to pay
:07:54. > :08:02.their bills. There has been a lot of times we have had to miss meals.
:08:03. > :08:06.When you have to go through that, as a person, something you never think
:08:07. > :08:14.you have to go through, that is a wake-up call. The family have had
:08:15. > :08:19.enough of Ireland. Ritchie, an electrician, has got a job in
:08:20. > :08:26.reddish Colombia in Canada. Next month, they move. I am not looking
:08:27. > :08:30.for a lot, I just want to have fun with the girls and relax and not
:08:31. > :08:41.have to think every second about money. I just want to stop the
:08:42. > :08:48.stress. This man has got what he is looking for. A deal with his bank to
:08:49. > :08:53.which he says he owes between 200 and 300,000 euros. Last year, when I
:08:54. > :08:57.visited his farm, his friends and neighbours had barricades around the
:08:58. > :09:04.property to prevent his bank from taking over the farm will stop now,
:09:05. > :09:08.after almost a year long stand-off, the two sides have reached an
:09:09. > :09:16.agreement. I want to give people hope that there is a future for
:09:17. > :09:21.people in small farms like this. Paying debts has been the story of
:09:22. > :09:26.the Republic for the last three years, but for individuals and the
:09:27. > :09:30.bankrupt state as well. On Sunday, the bailout ends, but for some,
:09:31. > :09:36.there is little confidence that much will change. The government are
:09:37. > :09:40.pleasing Europe and the banks, but they are destroying this country and
:09:41. > :09:45.destroying the people who cannot save the country. It is a nice news
:09:46. > :09:53.story, but we know that things are quite different in reality.
:09:54. > :09:58.Individual stories that reminders of the human cost of an economic
:09:59. > :10:01.failure. Our Economics and Business editor John Campbell is here.
:10:02. > :10:09.Looking at the Republic's economy now, what sort of shape is it in?
:10:10. > :10:13.There are still some years of pain to come. There are some initial
:10:14. > :10:18.signs that things are covering, if we look at the housing market in
:10:19. > :10:22.Dublin, it has been improving, up 15%, at the last thing that it needs
:10:23. > :10:29.is another housing bubble. If you have got a rise in prices, that
:10:30. > :10:32.might feed into better consumer confidence. We can look at how much
:10:33. > :10:37.tax the government is taking and in November, it was 214 million euros
:10:38. > :10:44.ahead of target, suggesting that businesses are improving. In terms
:10:45. > :10:49.of borrowing course, the Irish government will do some amount of
:10:50. > :10:53.borrowing. Before the bailout, the costs became too high, now they have
:10:54. > :10:59.come down again and if the Irish government wants to borrow over ten
:11:00. > :11:07.years, they can do it at just 4%. That looks positive, where are the
:11:08. > :11:12.negatives? There are some problems, there are problems with mortgage
:11:13. > :11:18.arrears. One in five mortgages, 20% are in some sort of trouble. That
:11:19. > :11:22.also feeds through to other things, because it puts household finances
:11:23. > :11:27.under pressure and means retail sales are flat. There is not enough
:11:28. > :11:31.money to go around and if we look at one of the biggest problems, the
:11:32. > :11:36.total government debt, it is still absolutely enormous and will take
:11:37. > :11:40.years to get that down. Those austerity policies, tax rises and
:11:41. > :11:44.spending cuts, are going to continue. Why is the economy
:11:45. > :11:52.situation south of the border important for us? They are single
:11:53. > :11:57.biggest export partner. We sell a lot of goods and services, silver
:11:58. > :12:00.are economy to be strong, we need their economy to be strong. You're
:12:01. > :12:07.watching BBC Newsline and later we hear of one woman's battle with
:12:08. > :12:17.alcohol addiction. An alcoholic lives a lonely life. A woman jailed
:12:18. > :12:21.for stealing from a 90-year-old man she looked after has been ordered to
:12:22. > :12:23.sell her home to pay back the money. Lesley Boyd, a 56-year-old
:12:24. > :12:26.grandmother from Chippendale Avenue in Bangor, took advantage of a
:12:27. > :12:38.vulnerable and confused pensioner. Kevin Sharkey was in the court in
:12:39. > :12:42.Downpatrick. Lesley Boyd is 56 and Jock McAllister was in his early 90s
:12:43. > :12:47.when they come into contact with each other at a care home. Over 16
:12:48. > :12:54.months, when he was a resident here, she took cheques from him. The
:12:55. > :12:59.amount of the checks and vary from ?100 to ?15,000, totalling over
:13:00. > :13:03.?100,000 and mostly spent on renovating her home. The court heard
:13:04. > :13:10.that Jock McAllister was elderly, fun rubble and bereaved. The judge
:13:11. > :13:18.said that at times he could be cantankerous -- vulnerable --. The
:13:19. > :13:22.court accepted that Lesley Boyd never looked for the money and Jock
:13:23. > :13:26.McAllister was not coerced, the judge was told that the pensioner
:13:27. > :13:30.was infatuated with the younger woman and had written love letters
:13:31. > :13:34.to her. She had been warned by management that any gifts from
:13:35. > :13:40.residents must be declared, but she never declared them. The judge told
:13:41. > :13:45.Lesley Boyd, you knew what you were doing was wrong and dishonest. He
:13:46. > :13:50.said you yielded to greed and temptation. He sentenced to four
:13:51. > :13:54.months on jail -- in jail. The fraud was discovered when a relative of
:13:55. > :13:59.Jock McAllister became suspicious and investigated the matter. I
:14:00. > :14:05.cannot explain how I feel. It is a relief that it is all over. There is
:14:06. > :14:09.no winner here. I am not walking away a winner, Lesley Boyd is not
:14:10. > :14:13.walking away with anything. Lesley Boyd will have to sell her home to
:14:14. > :14:19.pay back the money which was originally destined to to charities.
:14:20. > :14:23.At this time of year, beer and spirits are never far away so it is
:14:24. > :14:25.perhaps a more difficult time for people who struggle with alcoholism.
:14:26. > :14:28.Health professionals are increasingly concerned about older
:14:29. > :14:31.people and women. Chris Page's report begins with Brenda Monaghan,
:14:32. > :15:09.who lives in County Fermanagh and has been treated for alcohol abuse.
:15:10. > :15:23.Brenda is frank about what alcohol addiction to did to her. She found
:15:24. > :15:27.it hard to go for help, but she did. At the age of 50, I asked for help,
:15:28. > :15:32.but I needed that help. It is a disease I have got. I didn't ask to
:15:33. > :15:37.be born with this disease. The disease which Brenda speaks is a
:15:38. > :15:44.very common one, but every individual story is different.
:15:45. > :15:47.People working in the field a alcoholism is something that affects
:15:48. > :15:52.men and women of all ages and backgrounds and walks of life. The
:15:53. > :16:01.reality is, no matter what age gender you are, alcoholism affects
:16:02. > :16:04.everything, you meant a health and people have to become more aware of
:16:05. > :16:10.what they are drinking. The last time there was a survey of drinking
:16:11. > :16:17.habits here, 23% of people reported drinking more than recommended. Last
:16:18. > :16:23.year, there were 270 alcohol-related deaths, 92 were women. The most
:16:24. > :16:27.common place to drink is at home. The chief medical officer warned of
:16:28. > :16:31.the dangers of that at a Stormont committee this week. People don't
:16:32. > :16:35.get as drunk when they are about, when there are other people around,
:16:36. > :16:41.for obvious reasons. But thinking in the home, there are less controls
:16:42. > :16:45.and it is a less safe environment. The vast majority of children and
:16:46. > :16:51.start thinking in pubs, they start thinking either in their own home or
:16:52. > :16:56.somebody else's home. Alcohol abuse is widespread, yet often remains
:16:57. > :16:58.hidden and even unrealised. Brenda has spoken in the hope she might
:16:59. > :17:03.encourage people who drink too much to get help. She has been doing
:17:04. > :17:08.programmes with mental health groups and she says it has saved her. I am
:17:09. > :17:14.learning something about myself every day, but I am not beating
:17:15. > :17:26.myself up any more. As long as I don't pick that drink up, that is
:17:27. > :17:32.the difference. Still to come for seven. I am going to take you to a
:17:33. > :17:57.whole new level. Watch later. As we come to the end of the
:17:58. > :17:59.inaugural UK city of Culture year Londonderry's Chamber of Commerce
:18:00. > :18:02.has said there's a new found confidence in the city. But that
:18:03. > :18:05.will only continue to prosper economically if the city's road and
:18:06. > :18:09.educational needs are met. Thousands of people are again expected to
:18:10. > :19:01.descend on Derry for the seasonal festivities. Here's our North-West
:19:02. > :19:05.reporter, Keiron Tourish. Business leaders say it has been up
:19:06. > :19:11.popular year, but the city can't stand still. The two next pieces of
:19:12. > :19:16.intervention we would like the government to do is to see
:19:17. > :19:23.substantial increase in the undergraduate population and also to
:19:24. > :19:27.see investment in roads between Delhi and Belfast and Derry and
:19:28. > :19:31.Dublin. Back at the ice rink, novices caterers are getting to
:19:32. > :19:36.grips with the challenge. The Maestro will run over the Christmas
:19:37. > :19:42.period and ends on the 19th of January. But be careful, it is
:19:43. > :19:44.rather slippery. He was not brave enough to get his
:19:45. > :19:49.skates on. Ireland's cricketers are celebrating
:19:50. > :19:52.a unique hat trick. Here's Stephen. Ireland have already won the World
:19:53. > :19:56.Cricket League Championship and World Twenty20 titles this year. Now
:19:57. > :19:59.they've clinched the fourth Inter-Continental Cup title after
:20:00. > :20:02.beating Afghanistan in the final Afghanistan were eventually bowled
:20:03. > :20:10.out in their second innings with the victory margin for Ireland 122 runs.
:20:11. > :20:12.It was a special day for Instonians player Andrew White who equalled the
:20:13. > :20:18.record number of appearances for Ireland. And the focus will be on
:20:19. > :20:21.two Ulster rugby players tomorrow for the Heineken Cup game in
:20:22. > :20:26.Treviso. Andrew Trimble equals David Humphreys' record of 57 European
:20:27. > :20:30.appearances. Dan Touhy earns his 100th provincial cap. Both men
:20:31. > :20:34.scored tries in last week's win against the Italians. Coach Mark
:20:35. > :20:42.Ascombe has named the same team for Saturdays return fixture. At the
:20:43. > :20:45.stats of these two games, if you said you would get a win away and
:20:46. > :20:53.possible wins at home that would be great. But I was quite surprised to
:20:54. > :20:57.scores seven. If we consider ourselves a top time in Europe, that
:20:58. > :21:03.and we do, we have to look at getting a win away from home. I
:21:04. > :21:05.think the win is first and foremost in our minds.
:21:06. > :21:08.Ulster Gaelic football champions Ballinderry travel to London this
:21:09. > :21:10.weekend to play their All-Ireland club quarterfinal. They take on
:21:11. > :21:16.English champions Kingdom Kerry Gaels. Practically the entire County
:21:17. > :21:19.Derry village will travel to England for Sunday's game. Live for us this
:21:20. > :21:27.evening in Ballinderry is Thomas Niblock. Some people still rare,
:21:28. > :21:31.Thomas. There are actually more people
:21:32. > :21:39.travelling from the village than there are houses. That shows you
:21:40. > :21:47.just how serious they are taking it. As you can see, the players are
:21:48. > :21:55.getting their last-minute tomb talk. We have some mothers and wives and
:21:56. > :22:02.children here. This is Adam and Adam's daddy is in the team. As your
:22:03. > :22:07.daddy's team going to win? Yes, no doubt.
:22:08. > :22:12.You're not going, you are staying at home? No, we have three kids, so I
:22:13. > :22:17.think it would be a bit too much. We're hoping for a progression to
:22:18. > :22:25.the semifinal, they deserve it. Paula, you are also a wife. Your
:22:26. > :22:37.pregnant with a couple of kids. Their daddy is Michael Conlon. Do
:22:38. > :22:48.you think they will win? Definitely. We have a couple of special guests.
:22:49. > :22:54.The German and the manager. How will have the last couple of weeks been?
:22:55. > :22:58.After the euphoria of winning the championship, we were faced with the
:22:59. > :23:03.prospect of organising 40 lads to travel to London. You good problem
:23:04. > :23:07.to have. We started the fundraising initiative last week and within a
:23:08. > :23:11.week we had all the costs towards the players covered. It has been a
:23:12. > :23:17.fantastic response. The whole community is behind us and we're
:23:18. > :23:27.looking forward to London. Can you explain briefly to people at home
:23:28. > :23:33.how important this is. Everybody involved in the community, we are a
:23:34. > :23:39.small and rural community. It means everything to us, is the long and
:23:40. > :23:47.short of it. Thank you very much. The game is live on BBC radio Ulster
:23:48. > :23:52.this Sunday. Who's going to win? Alan Daly!
:23:53. > :23:58.The Belfast Giants ice hockey team are flying high at the top of the
:23:59. > :24:01.Elite league - this weekend they have back-to-back games at the
:24:02. > :24:09.Odyssey. The atmosphere could be extra special over the next two
:24:10. > :24:13.nights. Gavin Andrews reports. Cameron Hughes is no ordinary fan.
:24:14. > :24:23.This is a supporter who gives just a little bit more to get the crowd
:24:24. > :24:28.going. I was basically at a game in my hometown of Ottawa in Canada and
:24:29. > :24:34.I got up to dance and get the fans going wild. They asked me to come
:24:35. > :24:39.back and keep going crazy and getting fans going wild. 19 years
:24:40. > :24:45.later and a lot of those on sporting events later, IM and Belfast. It's
:24:46. > :24:58.crazy. They even have the world 's top players involved. Tennis players
:24:59. > :25:10.have called me out and dance with me. They look up and see me going
:25:11. > :25:15.crazy. I am a focused player, but during the changeover, I have time
:25:16. > :25:24.to watch what is going on this guy really amazing. From New York to the
:25:25. > :25:29.Titanic Quarter of Belfast. Cameron will be strutting his stuff at the
:25:30. > :25:33.games on Friday and Saturday night. Be prepared. It is going to be
:25:34. > :25:42.absolutely crazy this weekend. Rest up, take a nap. It ready to cheer,
:25:43. > :25:45.get ready to be nuts. While new level. Good luck with your sitting
:25:46. > :25:58.beside you. If you are going, don't forget to watch the game.
:25:59. > :26:03.Quite a character. News just in, we have a report of a small explosion
:26:04. > :26:07.close to Belfast city centre in the Cathedral Quarter area. There is no
:26:08. > :26:09.news of injuries at this moment, but we will have more news at a late
:26:10. > :26:22.religion. The weather is next. After a week of mild weather,
:26:23. > :26:27.everything changes tomorrow. There is a warning for strong winds.
:26:28. > :26:40.Before that, a cold night to get through. Temperatures drop away
:26:41. > :26:45.tonight. Tomorrow, everything changes. It is being driven by this
:26:46. > :26:48.developing low-pressure system in the Atlantic. It is heading in our
:26:49. > :26:56.direction and tomorrow morning it will be here. The tightly packed Isa
:26:57. > :27:02.buyers are an indication of how strong the wind will be. Tomorrow
:27:03. > :27:07.morning, the band of rain moves its way in. A wet and windy stacked to
:27:08. > :27:11.the weekend. If there is a silver lining, it is that the brain is
:27:12. > :27:16.moving through quite quickly, so as it clears to the east, we might get
:27:17. > :27:24.and are both decent weather behind it. But the clearing skies mean
:27:25. > :27:28.there will be another cool night. Temperatures dropping away again on
:27:29. > :27:35.Saturday night. Close to freezing in rural areas overnight Saturday into
:27:36. > :27:40.Sunday. Into next week, a much more unsettled picture. We have lower
:27:41. > :27:45.pressure after low-pressure system heading in our direction, so it is
:27:46. > :27:50.going to be windier and colder as we go into next week. Sunday its self
:27:51. > :27:55.is not looking like to bad a day. We have a little bit of brightness to
:27:56. > :27:57.look forward to before the rain comes in, then it is downhill all
:27:58. > :28:02.the way. Our late summary is at 10.25. You
:28:03. > :28:03.can also keep in contact with us via Facebook and Twitter. From BBC
:28:04. > :28:06.Newsline, goodnight.