16/12/2013 BBC Newsline

arrives on Friday. Can't wait! That's all from the BBC News

Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline.

As Richard Haass briefs Downing Street on his draft proposals, they

face criticism from the DUP at home. The if I thought this was the final

paper then there would be steam coming out of my ears but it is not

the final paper and we still have work to do. It is business as usual

here in the Cathedral Quarter after Friday night's bomb. But the anger

and the disgust remains. The police get more time to question

a man about a double murder in east Belfast.

In sport the Linfield manager says sorry for his embarrassing internet

video. And it'll be a fine winter's day

tomorrow but stormy weather is on the way. I'll have the details

shortly. First to the Haass talks and the DUP

leader Peter Robinson has said the proposals put forward so far on the

past, parades and flags are unacceptable to his party. Mr

Robinson said if he thought that the document was the final paper there

would be steam coming out of his ears. In what seemed to be a

response on social media Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness advised, what he

called, the more excitable among us to cool their jets. Today was the

first time all five Executive parties got sight of the draft

proposals put forward by Dr Haass. The US diplomat hopes to have

agreement this week. Here is our Political Reporter Stephen Walker.

The signs of Christmas were hard to avoid at this Belfast hotel. Today

it was home to the five executive parties, but there was little sign

of political goodwill after they all had a chance to read the first draft

of the Richard Haass report on flags, parades and the past. If I

thought this was the final paper then there would be steam coming out

of my ears but it is not the final paper and we still have work to do

and we are up to doing that work. We are committing ourselves to continue

the process so we can have a satisfactory outcome. Other

Unionists had similar concerns. Maggie Thatcher on an occasion like

this once famously said, out, out, out. We are a long way from in, in,

in. That is the challenge and we accept it. We will work positively

over the next few days to try and deliver. Alliance said they hoped

other parties were not playing political games. These are serious

issues, issues with the ability to unlock a different future for

Northern Ireland. The time for playing games is up and the time for

serious work has started. Today Richard Haass was in London to brief

officials in Downing Street and Secretary of State. The SDLP thinks

the British government has distanced itself from the talks process. The

British government has, and continues to be, detached from this

process. It continues to maintain the argument that this is about five

parties and it is not. It is about five parties and to governments. No

one from Sinn Fein was available for interview tonight but Martin

McGuinness did tweak a reference to the First Minister.

Richard Haass had hoped to have a document ready by Thursday that all

the parties could sign up to. This reaction to his first draft

indicates that there is much talking and rewriting to do if an agreement

is to be reached by the end of the week.

Our political editor Mark Devenport is with me now. So, Mark, not a very

positive reaction to Dr Haass's proposals so far. What's the next

move? It is certainly hotting up. I think

we can interpret, as in previous negotiations, all of these

shenanigans outside the table to trying to affect whether compromises

on the negotiating table. The DUP are not spelling out what they are

unhappy about but there is a lot of speculation that flags have been the

most difficult issue and they were not happy about the Richard Haass

interest in a new Northern Ireland regional flag nor about some of the

suggestions from the team about the circumstances in which a trickle

could be flown in Northern Ireland. Potentially one could see it on the

occasion of Irish president 's visit. Whatever has been explored

there, obviously Peter Robinson is unhappy at the moment and Martin

McGuinness has quoted his own words back at him. On another matter it

emerged today that Lord Laird is facing a four-month suspension from

the House of Lords. Remind us why that is happening? The conduct

committee has recommended this suspension and it has to be ratified

by the full house of laws and that is likely to happen. They have

upheld a finding by the Lords standards Commissioner that Lord

Laird broke the standards of the House of Lords by seeking to create

an all-party group at the behest of consultants or carry out

Parliamentary services at the behest of reporters, as it turned out, in

return for a payment of some kind. This goes back to June when he was

the target of two undercover sting operations, one including -- one

involving the Sunday Times who set up a fake energy company and the

other one was the panorama programme of the BBC. He was also asked to

lobby for the South Pacific state of Fiji. He was talking about getting a

trip to Fiji and this is a reminder of what he told Panorama in that

encounter. How embarrassing has this been for

the leadership? It has been a difficult one for the Ulster

Unionists. First of all Lord Laird heads said he had done nothing wrong

and he was originally backed by the party but when those video clips

were seen he said it was on a defying and the parliamentary whip

was removed. This is now a serious matter that there has been such a

serious penalty. It has not been said whether he will be taken back

into the party once this has run its course but it is looking fairly

unlikely on the basis of this report which is very strong in the findings

against Lord Laird. It's estimated ?60,000 was lost by

restaurants affected by Friday night's bomb attack in the Cathedral

Quarter area of Belfast. A small device in a holdall went off as

police officers were clearing the area. Detectives believe they've

caught a suspect on CCTV. Conor Macauley reports.

A police foot patrol in the Cathedral Quarter this morning.

Response to recent dissident republican attacks has walked the

line between and reassurance. The chief comes to the was out in the

Belfast Christmas market this afternoon and afterwards he was

asked about the Cathedral Quarter bombing. We have a minority, a

hard-core minority, who for reasons of their own hatred and their

inability to move on are determined to take the city back but this is a

European city of renown, it is a world city that is making progress.

It is a city that will not be taken back. The menu boards were back out

this morning as businesses at the scene counted the cost of the

incident. A small bomb with petrol attached left in this holdall

exploded just after 6:30pm as the area was thronged with Christmas

revellers. It brought severe disruption to what has become the

entertainment centre of the city. It may have been a small bomb but it

had a big economic impact on this part of the city on Friday night.

There are about 550 restaurant seats in this square and all of them were

cleared out and no one came back in on Friday night. One restaurant said

the cost was something in the region of ?5,000 so broadening that out the

bill for the restaurants alone in this part of the city was something

around the region of ?60,000. This man and his partner have sunk their

life savings into a nearby coffee shop. He left a job in the civil

service to open the business and it had only been trading for four days

when the bomb went off. I just hope that we are going to continue having

a business open here and that people will come in and support us and

support the people of Belfast. We cannot be held to ransom like that,

no more. The Lord Mayor has spent the weekend rallying support for the

city and its businesses. We have confidence in Belfast by people

would like to keep us outside of the city centre and intimidate and

frighten us. They want to have our voices stilled but that all the

carol services I was out over the weekend the message was we will

still love Belfast, believe in Belfast and celebrate Belfast. There

was no sign of a lack of consumer confidence this afternoon. This was

the cue for a shopping centre. Extra security measures are now the norm

again. BBC Newsline's Mervyn Jess is in the

Cathedral Quarter for us this evening. Mervyn.

I am standing here in St Andrews Square, just a few yards from where

the bomb went off on Friday night. The restaurants around me are open

and people are eating and enjoying their evening out. The theatre is

open as well and RPA you can see people using the gym. It has not put

them off coming out tonight. Over here is the man that works with the

development of this area and looks after the whole area. You obviously

are not pleased about what happened but what is the feeling amongst

people like yourself who have been working to try and generate Belfast

-- business in this part of Belfast? On Saturday and Sunday this

place was packed again. People have a perspective and realise that what

happened on Friday night, while it is worrying and concerning, it will

not put them off. A lot of effort is being made in this place by so many

people on the artistic and cultural front from private perspective and

government perspective to stop this happening. It will keep going. This

place is thriving and it is the beating heart of the city and people

will not be put off from coming here and having a good time. The success

of it is more has made it the target? I suspect so but who can

tell how these people think. I suspect that is the reason. They

know it is a successful play so they try to disrupt it and this is what

it is about, disruption. We have to be vigilant and careful but we also

have to get things into perspective. This is a very safe

city centre and a very safe place to come. Everybody is welcome here and

everybody has a good time when they come. He met with the police today

to talk about security, briefly, it is a fine balance. You want to have

security but you don't want people to be put off from enjoying

themselves. Absolutely. It is about being vigilant and working with the

police. I think it is as you say, not about putting people off, it

really isn't and it will not be either. I -- you think it will be a

happy Christmas here? Come and have a beer, I am sure you will have a

good time. It is a chilly night and there are a lot of people about but

it will pick up as the night goes on.

People are still out of their homes tonight because of a bomb alert on

the outskirts of west Belfast. It began at around 11:00am when a

suspect device was found at Glenmeen Close in Hannahstown, off the Upper

Springfield Road. The army were called to examine it and the street

is still cordoned off. Here we are again. I condemned an incident last

week and now people have been evacuated from their homes. People

know they are not going to get back into their houses after coming back

from school. The only people who are being messed with is the community

who live here. The police have been given more time

to question a 33-year-old man about the murder of two people in east

Belfast. The bodies of Finbar McGrillen and Caron Smyth were found

in a house last Friday. The police are treating the motive behind their

killings as domestic. Helen Jones reports.

Very little is known about the circumstances surrounding these

murders. What happened in this flat, when or why, is under investigation.

It is a very quiet street and we are very sad that it has happened.

Nobody seems to know who it is. Between us and our next-door

neighbour we ask if anybody knew who it was but everybody keeps

themselves to themselves in this street. 40-year-old Karen Smith has

family coming from Southdown and Finn Margaret McGreal in -- Finbar

McGrillen is understood to have come from Castlewellan. The police say

they were killed between Wednesday the 11th and Wednesday the 13th of

December. Police received a report from a member of the public who

advised police that he found the door of the flat had been quite

badly damaged. Police attended and in the living room of this flat they

discovered the body of a man and a woman. They were pronounced dead at

the scene. A postmortem will be carried out in the coming days to

determine the exact cause of death however we are treating this at the

moment as a suspected domestic homicide. They believe the person

who killed the couple may well have been in a relationship with one of

them. The result of postmortem examinations have not been released

yet and detectives have more time to question a 33-year-old man who was

arrested on Saturday afternoon. Still ahead on BBC Newsline before

7:00pm. Ballinderry's footballers book their

place in the all-Ireland club semi-finals. A 24-year-old man has

died after his motorcycle crashed in County Down yesterday.

It happened on the Katesbridge Road in Moneyslane. The name of the man

who died has not yet been released. A postmortem examination is being

held on the body of a 30-year-old woman found in north Belfast. Her

remains were in an alleyway close to the Antrim Road on Sunday morning.

The man cleared of murdering the Castlederg teenager Arlene Arkinson

will find out next week if he will get legal aid for her inquest. The

jury in Robert Howard's trial was not told he is serving life for

murdering and raping a girl from London. The body of the 15-year-old

Tyrone girl, who went missing in 1994 after a night out in Bundoran,

has never been found. An inquest into her death was ordered after the

family asked the senior coroner to examine how the RUC had conducted

its investigation. The man known as the Black Santa has

begun his annual Christmas sit-out for charity at St Anne's Cathedral

in Belfast. The Dean will be collecting money until Christmas

Eve. The vigil started in 1976 and has raised millions of pounds for

charity since then. This year, the target is ?200,000 and there will be

a separate collection for the Philippines Appeal. And that the

people out of work, it is a real struggle. But there are some people

with money learned people that can manage, they appreciate that people

who receive the money also needed to keep going. There are also a lot of

volunteers in the community. There's balance there. People are very

generous. The Linfield football manager has

landed himself in trouble after a fan posted a video on the internet.

Coming up, the latest weather forecast.

David Jeffrey could face internal disciplinary action within the club

following the release of a video in which he sings about a Glentoran

player Jimmy Callacher. He is set to leave Glentoran after turning down a

new contract and has been linked with a move to Linfield. In a

statement, the Linfield board of directors said that the content of

the video was deplorable, deeply embarrassing and contrary to the

best traditions of the club. The most successful current manager in

Linfield apologised unreservedly and said he was embarrassed by this

video. The stark reality is that when I

look at it, I am totally embarrassed. Regardless of the

context, which I can assure you was of the most innocent nature. I would

apologise both to Glentoran football club, their manager and Jimmy

Callacher the player, plus of course, our own board and the

players for any embarrassment that was caused. As Linfield went to the

top of the table, Jimmy Callacher was not part of the side. He has

said he will not play for them again. He has had the temptation of

an offer with Linfield and decided to go there. Some other players have

done the same thing. The boxing the derby between the two clubs is one

of the highest profile fixtures in the calendar and this will only add

further spice to the fixture. The draw for the fifth round of the

Irish Cup was made earlier today. Holders Glentoran have a tough

start, with a trip to Shamrock Park to take on Portadown, who beat

Coleraine 2-0 in the league on Saturday. Coleraine have been drawn

against last season's beaten finalists Cliftonville. Linfield

will host Dergview at Windsor Park. Full details on the BBC Sport NI

website. Ballinderry's Gaelic footballers

have a Valentine's Day date with St Vincents of Dublin. The teams will

meet in the All-Ireland club semifinal on February 14 after

defeating London champions Kingdom Kerry Gaels. Ballinderry, the Ulster

champions, survived a late scare from the underdogs. At the final

whistle, it was all fairly relaxed. A win is expected and a chance for

good friends on both sides to catch up with each other. His good friend

at the right was essentially the difference between the sides. He

scored the first goal. He also helped set up the second. He coolly

scored the third to give them an eleven point lead and game over.

Or so we thought and this penalty just left one goal between the

sides. However, they steadied the ship and stumbled to the wind. They

lost a man in the first-half and aerially to regain tillers. They got

that penalty and we were looking around at each other, thinking what

was going on. But it is not the first time this that team has done

this to as, and nations as the character the side. This was our

main objective and we set out what we wanted to do. They have been in

the final once before and could the class of 2013 emulate them? It may

not have been the prettiest game, but sometimes the most ugly ones are

the most important. Ulster are the only unbeaten team in

rugby union's Heineken Cup after round four. They emerged from the

thick Italian fog with a bonus point win over Treviso on Saturday.

In very challenging conditions, Luke Marshall scored the first try of the

game late into the first half. Despite the low visibility at ground

level, Paddy Jackson continued his great form with the boot, kicking 15

points, to keep the Italians well out of reach throughout the game.

The bonus point try came in the final stages of the game, when Jared

Payne was put through by Andrew Trimble to score in the corner. The

win keeps Ulster firmly at the top of Pool five.

18-time champion jockey Tony McCoy came third in last night's BBC

Sports Personality of the Year in Leeds.

The Moneyglass man finished behind runner-up, the Wales and Lions rugby

player Leigh Halfpenny, and the overall winner, Wimbledon champion

Andy Murray. But he says he now has other prizes in mind. Every year,

you set out to be champion jockey. You try and when races than everyone

else. To be champion jockey as the main aim and then take it from the.

Ireland's cricketers returned home today, fresh from completing an

unprecedented treble of trophies, after adding the Inter-Continental

Cup on Friday to their wins in the World T20 and World Cricket League.

And for the retiring Trent Johnston, who is to take up a new dual role as

academy bowling coach and boss of the Ireland women's team, it was the

perfect send-off. I am over the moon. I am so excited me finish this

off with these three titles and now a new chapter starts. I am very

grateful for for the opportunity that Cricket Ireland have given me

over the past decade. Guys have stepped up at the most important

times throughout the year. There has always been one person who has

stepped up. It is great testament to the spirit in the side.

The Belfast Giants sit seven points clear at the top of the Elite League

table, following a 5-2 win at the weekend over rivals the Sheffield

Steelers. Two goals in the space of 20 seconds put them in control of

the match, which was played in front of a crowd of just under 5,000 at

the Odyssey on Saturday. Arguably, the best goal of the night was

Robbie Sandrock's shot from behind his own goal into the Steelers'

empty net. Kick boxer Gary Hamilton failed in

his attempt to win the world light-welterweight title at a

sold-out Ulster Hall on Saturday. He lost to the champion Daniel Zahra of

Malta. There, there was certainly a bike in the year today.

The weather is next, with Barra. We are back into winter with a bit

of a pain. Today has been not a bad day, with plenty of tried weather.

As we go through this evening, we will have one of two showers pushing

from the West along the country. Prayer that is surface water

remaining, we could see some eyes forming. There could be some mist

and fog early tomorrow. But tomorrow will be the best day of the week.

Some nice tranny and great deals, with sunshine during the course of

the day. You will not need an umbrella, but I would still

recommend taking gloves and a scarf, because it is going to be still

really great called. In some sealed sheltered areas, it will not feel

too bad in the sunshine, but high temperatures of eight Celsius.

Tomorrow night, more rain coming in from the west across the country,

but temperatures staying up because of the cloud and rain. Rain on and

off during the course of the day throughout Wednesday. Temperatures

up a couple of degrees on today. As Wigan into the second part of

Wednesday, the rainbow cleared away and the isobars are going to pack it

in, which means wind. Gusts of up to 80 mph on Thursday. Already, the Met

office has put out and nearly warning for that and there could be

some disruption. We will be keeping an eye on that.

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