:00:00. > 3:59:59extended interview with her. But now on BBC One, it's time for the news
:00:00. > :00:12.Good evening and welcome to BBC Newsline. A father accused of
:00:13. > :00:17.sexually abusing his children and allowing other men to do the same
:00:18. > :00:21.says he was numb with shock when he first heard the allegations. His son
:00:22. > :00:27.and daughter allege he raped them and sexually abused them frequently
:00:28. > :00:30.during the '90s. Their uncle and another man, described as a family
:00:31. > :00:34.friend, are also facing charges of abusing the girl. David Maxwell
:00:35. > :00:37.reports from Coleraine Crown Court. Nearly two weeks on, this trial has
:00:38. > :00:41.now heard from all of the accused. Today, the father of the two alleged
:00:42. > :00:44.victims, who faces around 40 charges of sexual abuse and cruelty, told
:00:45. > :00:48.the court he only ever had overnight access to the children for a brief
:00:49. > :00:56.period after he separated from his wife. He said they never stayed over
:00:57. > :01:03.after 1994 because he was a party animal who liked to go out with
:01:04. > :01:08.friends. A prosecution lawyer described that as a pack of lies. It
:01:09. > :01:11.was put to him that for years he had used his daughter as a sexual
:01:12. > :01:15.plaything and allowed other men to rape her. He replied that was
:01:16. > :01:18.absolutely untrue. The father of the alleged victim said he was numb with
:01:19. > :01:22.shock when he first heard some of the allegations in 1998. He said he
:01:23. > :01:26.thought the whole matter would be cleared up in ten minutes. He says
:01:27. > :01:29.he didn't even ask for a solicitor. Asked why his daughter would make up
:01:30. > :01:33.such serious allegations of sexual abuse, he said he did not know and
:01:34. > :01:37.described her as having a good imagination. The uncle of the
:01:38. > :01:44.alleged victims also gave evidence today. He faces charges connected to
:01:45. > :01:47.his niece. He said she was either lying or mistaken because he has
:01:48. > :01:54.never attended parties where children were abused. He said, I
:01:55. > :01:59.never in my life touched that wee girl. I hardly knew her. Both men
:02:00. > :02:03.were asked about sexually abusing her sister when she was a child.
:02:04. > :02:06.Earlier this week it emerged that they had pleaded guilty to charges
:02:07. > :02:15.of abuse carried out in the 70s. One has admitted attempting to rape his
:02:16. > :02:18.sister. Four police officers received minor injuries and two
:02:19. > :02:22.police vehicles were damaged when fireworks and other missiles were
:02:23. > :02:25.thrown at the Skainos Centre in East Belfast as one of the Brighton
:02:26. > :02:29.bombers arrived at an event. Patrick Magee was brought in through the
:02:30. > :02:34.back door of the building on the Newtownards Road after a crowd of
:02:35. > :02:37.about 60 gathered outside. He was speaking alongside Jo Berry, who
:02:38. > :02:42.lost her father in the IRA attack in 1984. Some protestors attempted to
:02:43. > :02:46.get into the building and threw fireworks and eggs at police. They
:02:47. > :02:54.were kept back by a police cordon and continued to protest on the
:02:55. > :02:57.street throughout the event. The DUP says it has made a formal complaint
:02:58. > :03:01.against an academic who wrote an email claiming the party may have
:03:02. > :03:05.been responsible for a number of gay and lesbian young people taking
:03:06. > :03:12.their own lives. Here's our political reporter, Stephen Walker.
:03:13. > :03:16.The e-mail was made public during a meeting of the Justice Committee,
:03:17. > :03:21.which was discussing the bill on human trafficking. Jim Wells
:03:22. > :03:27.confronted Doctor Graham Allison of Queens University. He said he had
:03:28. > :03:30.seen an e-mail written by him to a woman who had given evidence in
:03:31. > :03:40.support of the bill. Equal to what it had said. In terms of gay and
:03:41. > :03:43.lesbian politics, they're one of the most repressive and socially
:03:44. > :03:49.backward parties you could imagine. The next word is deeply offensive.
:03:50. > :03:53.Who knows how many gay and lesbian people have committed suicide
:03:54. > :03:57.because of this bloody party? I could also remember not long ago,
:03:58. > :04:02.five or six years, that the party was claiming rape within marriage
:04:03. > :04:09.was impossible. They are simply latching on to ideas about sex that
:04:10. > :04:12.prescribes to biblical teaching. The doctor denied it was abusive and
:04:13. > :04:19.said he was trying to reason with the woman. I thought I was trying to
:04:20. > :04:23.reason with them. There are a number of issues I feel strongly about and
:04:24. > :04:26.I thought I could maybe talk her around or whatever. There are a
:04:27. > :04:33.number of fundamental issues where she and the DUP do not agree. You
:04:34. > :04:40.may agree on the criminalisation of paying for sex, but there are other
:04:41. > :04:47.issues where you do not. The DUP say it has made a formal complaint to
:04:48. > :04:51.Queens University. Five people have been rescued from a fire in a block
:04:52. > :04:54.of flats in Newry. The emergency services were called at 6.30pm this
:04:55. > :04:58.evening to the building in St Mary's Street in the town. It's believed
:04:59. > :05:00.the fire started in a mid-terrace house that had been converted into
:05:01. > :05:05.flats. Two people were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene. The
:05:06. > :05:08.Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, has said he'll give his support to calls for
:05:09. > :05:12.an independent inquiry into the Ballymurphy massacre in West
:05:13. > :05:15.Belfast. Earlier today in Dublin, Mr Kenny met with the families of
:05:16. > :05:25.several of the victims who were killed by soldiers from The
:05:26. > :05:28.Parachute Regiment in August 1971. The families were there to ask for
:05:29. > :05:31.his help in setting up an investigation into the deaths of
:05:32. > :05:35.their loved ones. That is the first light at the end of the tunnel we
:05:36. > :05:40.have been given and it is just so emotional because our loved ones are
:05:41. > :05:45.innocent. They deserve this. But they are not giving us anything we
:05:46. > :05:48.don't know. Detectives investigating the deaths of 13 unarmed civilians
:05:49. > :05:51.by soldiers on Bloody Sunday are looking for statements from more
:05:52. > :05:54.than a thousand witnesses to the Saville Inquiry. The police say it
:05:55. > :05:57.is necessary to re-interview witnesses because they cannot use
:05:58. > :06:05.testimony given to the inquiry in a criminal investigation. New life is
:06:06. > :06:08.being breathed into a former Presbyterian Church in the centre of
:06:09. > :06:15.Londonderry. The listed building is being used to help the growth of
:06:16. > :06:27.Irish language and culture. Here's our North West reporter, Keiron
:06:28. > :06:30.Tourish. The cultural and opened in 2009 to promote Irish culture and so
:06:31. > :06:37.far, thousands have attended its classes. We should be able to pass
:06:38. > :06:44.it onto the next generation so I decided to come back and take
:06:45. > :06:48.classes here and it been brilliant. With almost 400 people now studying
:06:49. > :06:53.Irish each week and 200 learning instruments, the centre needed to
:06:54. > :06:58.expand. It bought the former Presbyterian church next door. We
:06:59. > :07:02.have been in touch with the Presbyterian community who left here
:07:03. > :07:06.in 1982 and they are well pleased that somebody is going to breathe
:07:07. > :07:09.life into this building, and we have no bones in saying that the
:07:10. > :07:19.Presbyterians played a vital part in bringing the Irish language back to
:07:20. > :07:21.life. The centre says the success of the All-Ireland fly last summer led
:07:22. > :07:26.to a resurgence in interest in Irish. It is also providing
:07:27. > :07:32.bursaries for members of the Protestant committee to study the
:07:33. > :07:36.language. The former Presbyterian church has hosted the highly
:07:37. > :07:42.successful music Festival which returns next weekend. And in the
:07:43. > :07:45.years ahead, this listed holding will house a new academy for
:07:46. > :07:50.traditional Irish music. Those behind this project leave the future
:07:51. > :07:53.of the Irish language and culture in the city and the greater north-west
:07:54. > :07:57.has been secured for generations to come. And they say that the idea of
:07:58. > :08:02.turning this part of the city centre into a cultural quarter has been
:08:03. > :08:13.greatly enhanced. Now the weather for the day ahead with Cecilia Daly.
:08:14. > :08:19.They might be some frost and ice around but that will not last ride
:08:20. > :08:22.through the night. The breeze will pick up on the cloud will thicken to
:08:23. > :08:26.bring bits and pieces of rain through the night.
:08:27. > :08:32.We have a weather warning for heavy rain tomorrow, up to 30 millimetres
:08:33. > :08:37.could fall, particularly across Antrim, dine and Armagh and gale
:08:38. > :08:41.force said easterly winds developing in the east coast. Along with that
:08:42. > :08:46.high tide could mean large waves onto the East Coast. There is a risk
:08:47. > :08:49.of coastal flooding and it is a broad area of rain affecting the
:08:50. > :08:53.Republic of Ireland also and Apple continue to move eastwards into
:08:54. > :08:56.Great Britain during the course of the day, falling snow over the high
:08:57. > :09:00.ground in Scotland and some further heavy rain across the South of
:09:01. > :09:03.England, leading to more flooding and severe gales developing over the
:09:04. > :09:08.north-east of Scotland. What's going on tomorrow. The rain gradually
:09:09. > :09:12.clearing from the West, around the middle of the afternoon, some
:09:13. > :09:15.showers following behind and those showers will turn increasingly
:09:16. > :09:19.wintry tomorrow. The wind eases tomorrow afternoon but it picks up
:09:20. > :09:25.again on Saturday with severe gales likely gust up peak gusts of around
:09:26. > :09:30.70 mph on Saturday, especially in the North and West. Airey: showery
:09:31. > :09:34.on Saturday but it will improve on Sunday. Some showers falling on
:09:35. > :09:38.Saturday will be asked sleek and so, especially over higher ground
:09:39. > :09:41.and we're looking at strong gust, especially in the north coast and in
:09:42. > :09:46.parts of the West but it improves on Sunday. That said - goodbye. -- that
:09:47. > :09:50.is it.