:00:16. > :00:22.Good evening. The headlines on BBC Newsline: Five patients may have
:00:23. > :00:25.died in the Royal due to staff shortages.
:00:26. > :00:28.The Belfast Trust's medical director is here in the studio.
:00:29. > :00:34.How safe is your child when they're on the internet?
:00:35. > :00:37.We hear one mother's story. I then realised this was something very
:00:38. > :00:39.serious and very worrying. I remember sitting thinking, I am
:00:40. > :00:44.going to be sick, I could have lost my daughter.
:00:45. > :00:55.The growing problem of the fatbergs that are clogging up the sewers.
:00:56. > :01:01.Also coming up: Hi, I am Paul Mike ael Glaser, you probably know me, if
:01:02. > :01:08.you can see me without the beard as Starsky.
:01:09. > :01:15.Snow has arrived in many areas tonight. I will be back with the
:01:16. > :01:18.latest details. The Health Minister says he didn't
:01:19. > :01:22.know until today that delays might have been a contributory factor in
:01:23. > :01:25.the deaths of five patients at our biggest hospital casualty
:01:26. > :01:28.department. In medical terms the circumstances surrounding these
:01:29. > :01:33.deaths are referred to as Serious Adverse Incidents. These don't
:01:34. > :01:36.always involve death but in this instance the Minister's comments
:01:37. > :01:38.follow a BBC Spotlight investigation into conditions in the emergency
:01:39. > :01:46.department at the Royal Victoria Hospital. In a moment, we'll hear
:01:47. > :01:54.from the Belfast Health Trust's medical director. First Declan Lawn
:01:55. > :01:57.charts what Spotlight has found. Last month's major incident at the
:01:58. > :02:01.Royal Victoria Hospital's emergency department has been the cat alist
:02:02. > :02:04.for a number of startling revelations -- catalyst. At the
:02:05. > :02:08.time, the health Minister was keen to point out that it had been an
:02:09. > :02:14.unusual and unpredictable event that didn't point to a system that was in
:02:15. > :02:17.crisis. Well tlas 100 people in and 42 on trolleys. The response was to
:02:18. > :02:22.get more staff there to deal with the backlog. It was dealt with. We
:02:23. > :02:26.had an unusual spike. An unreasonable spike in the numbers
:02:27. > :02:28.that were coming through. But BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight's
:02:29. > :02:31.programme has been speaking to doctors and nurses working in the
:02:32. > :02:36.emergency department of the Royal Victoria Hospital who say that the
:02:37. > :02:40.system is at breaking point. The medical staff we spoke to didn't
:02:41. > :02:45.want to appear on camera but we have been shown e-mails from a range of
:02:46. > :02:49.senior doctors to managers at the Belfast Trust. These e-mails date
:02:50. > :02:52.back several months and they specifically point out how
:02:53. > :02:57.understaffing and excessive trolley waits have been, at times,
:02:58. > :03:00.compromising the safety of patients. The emergency department consultants
:03:01. > :03:04.have also issued a statement to Spotlight in which they point out
:03:05. > :03:09.they've been repeatedly raising concerns about patients' safety and
:03:10. > :03:14.dignity at the highest levels of the Belfast Trust. Spotlight can also
:03:15. > :03:18.reveal disturbing new evidence that patients have been affected. This
:03:19. > :03:23.internal document describes how two patients died in serious adverse
:03:24. > :03:25.incidents where one of the significant contributory factors was
:03:26. > :03:29.how long they had to wait for treatment. Yesterday the chief
:03:30. > :03:34.executive of the Belfast Trust admitted to us that there were more.
:03:35. > :03:38.How many more serious adverse incidents have there been where
:03:39. > :03:44.people have waited too long? Well, it's difficult, but it would be
:03:45. > :03:47.single figures. Would it be - we have been told it could be nine?
:03:48. > :03:51.It's not as high as nine, no. I think at this point it's about four.
:03:52. > :03:55.But I don't have those figures in front of me. How long in the last
:03:56. > :03:58.six months, the last year? That would be over the last couple of
:03:59. > :04:02.years. That's in the context that over that period of time we would
:04:03. > :04:06.have had about 160,000 attendances. Today, however, the Belfast Trust
:04:07. > :04:09.amembereded that number, stating that there have been five deaths in
:04:10. > :04:14.case where is waiting times has been one of the factors in the last year
:04:15. > :04:17.alone. -- amended. The doctors and nurses we spoke to stressed that
:04:18. > :04:21.most of the time the emergency department of the Royal Victoria
:04:22. > :04:25.Hospital is safe, but that during out-of-hours periods and at weekends
:04:26. > :04:33.that is not always the case. What they want now is urgent action.
:04:34. > :04:37.The man in charge of the medical staff at A at the Royal is Dr
:04:38. > :04:42.Toney Stevens. Let's clarify the confusion here. How many people have
:04:43. > :04:48.died in the past year with a waiting times may have been a contributory
:04:49. > :04:52.factor? In the last year we have identified five cases where a
:04:53. > :04:56.factor, only one factor, may have been a length of time people waited.
:04:57. > :05:00.It's a contributory factor which indicates there was a system
:05:01. > :05:06.failure. How recent were those deaths? They were spread out
:05:07. > :05:10.throughout last year. 2013. Would they have been after August last
:05:11. > :05:14.year? Would any of those deaths have been after that month? I think two
:05:15. > :05:20.were after August. Could those two deaths have been avoided because in
:05:21. > :05:23.August the Trust was given a report by the College of Emergency Medicine
:05:24. > :05:29.which was very worried about safety. It said the system wasn't working.
:05:30. > :05:34.It put forward ten priorities to be addressed to resolve the crisis. If
:05:35. > :05:38.it was a contributory factor in two deaths could those lives have been
:05:39. > :05:41.saved? I think the first thing to say is that irrespective of the
:05:42. > :05:44.college report we are not saying those lives would definitely have
:05:45. > :05:50.been saved if patients had been seen more quickly. But let me pick up...
:05:51. > :05:54.But it was a contributory factor so it indicates it may have been the
:05:55. > :05:57.case and does indicate a system's failure. I accept that. We have
:05:58. > :06:01.taken it very seriously. One of the reasons we know about this is
:06:02. > :06:05.because the Belfast Trust now reviews all deaths in its hospital
:06:06. > :06:09.and including the emergency department. Whether a person comes
:06:10. > :06:12.in and is expected to die, or whether it's an unexpected death we
:06:13. > :06:16.review that to see if there is any learning. This isn't evidence of -
:06:17. > :06:20.picking up on the college report which is an important report to us,
:06:21. > :06:23.there were a number of actions recommended, the most important of
:06:24. > :06:29.which was an expansion of the medical staff. They recommend that
:06:30. > :06:33.we appoint I think 11 additional consultants between the Royal and
:06:34. > :06:36.the Mater. We have already moved to do that. Moved to do that? How many
:06:37. > :06:40.recommendations have been implemented to solve this crisis? A
:06:41. > :06:45.number of them have been. What's a number? One, two? Four, five?
:06:46. > :06:49.They're all in train along with a lot of other recommendations. The
:06:50. > :06:52.important thing in this report, the absolutely important thing was the
:06:53. > :06:55.number of medical staff that we have. Now we recruited six
:06:56. > :06:59.consultants at the beginning of this week. We hope they'll all take up
:07:00. > :07:05.the posts. That's a move towards the 11 we need. These people are not
:07:06. > :07:10.readily available. Either in Northern Ireland or the UK. Sorry to
:07:11. > :07:13.interrupt, we are short of time. Consultants have told the BBC, I
:07:14. > :07:18.have a press release from consultants at the Royal, that at
:07:19. > :07:24.times, especially at out-of-hours and at weekends, it's not safe for
:07:25. > :07:27.patients at the A at the Royal. Do you believe that? It's not safe at
:07:28. > :07:32.times? Nor do I believe they said that. Are they making that up? At
:07:33. > :07:36.times, they didn't say out-of-hours it was unsafe. Let's face it, if I
:07:37. > :07:40.am going to the accident and emergency department at all times I
:07:41. > :07:45.want it to be safe. Well, I believe it is safe. We come under pressure
:07:46. > :07:48.at key moments and at those times there is some increase in risk and
:07:49. > :07:53.we have identified that. The fact that we have reviewed these cases
:07:54. > :07:58.has helped to identify and confirm what the college is already saying
:07:59. > :08:01.and we are working to fix that. The public have - it's really important
:08:02. > :08:05.the public have confidence in the Royal's emergency department. I
:08:06. > :08:11.agree. How can you allay fears that more people will not die because of
:08:12. > :08:15.contributory factors relating to waiting times? How is the Belfast
:08:16. > :08:19.Trust performing over all? When you compare its performance with other
:08:20. > :08:22.Trusts in the UK... We are looking at accident and emergency, not the
:08:23. > :08:25.Trust in total. That fits in with our totality of mortality, the
:08:26. > :08:29.number of people who die in our hospitals and the Trust performs
:08:30. > :08:33.very well. We tend to take longer to see patients than they do in
:08:34. > :08:36.England, but actually the outcomes for the vast majority of patients
:08:37. > :08:40.are as good if not better. How much of this do you take on board as your
:08:41. > :08:46.personal responsibility that the system is not working? It's a
:08:47. > :08:50.failure on your part? It's a fail failure for every patient. You are
:08:51. > :08:53.the medical director. I take my responsibilities seriously as do all
:08:54. > :08:56.the other directors in the Trust and we are held to account by our board
:08:57. > :09:00.of directors and by the public health agency and the health and
:09:01. > :09:02.social care board. We are very clear about our accountabilities and we
:09:03. > :09:06.are working hard to improve things. We are working very hard with these
:09:07. > :09:14.consultants to deliver the service. I was working side by side with them
:09:15. > :09:17.last week during the incident at the Odyssey when we did a fantastic job.
:09:18. > :09:21.We recognise challenges and we are working hard with our colleagues to
:09:22. > :09:26.make things better. Thank you for joining us on BBC Newsline.
:09:27. > :09:36.You can see that Spotlight programme at 10. 40pm tonight after our late
:09:37. > :09:40.Newsline. The mother of a teenage girl who was
:09:41. > :09:43.groomed by someone on the internet says she felt sick to the stomach
:09:44. > :09:46.when she found out. A survey published today shows only half of
:09:47. > :09:49.parents have safety settings on their children's computers and
:09:50. > :09:54.tablets. BBC Newsline's Tara Mills reports.
:09:55. > :09:56.Stranger danger used to be something parents had to warn children about
:09:57. > :10:02.when they went outside. These days that danger is much more likely to
:10:03. > :10:05.be in their hand, and with access to the internet 24/7 some parents say
:10:06. > :10:09.they're finding the whole thing pretty hard to deal with.
:10:10. > :10:14.Parents like Samantha Shaw. She was shocked when she realised her
:10:15. > :10:17.daughter was being groomed online. I then realised this was something
:10:18. > :10:21.very serious and worrying. I remember thinking, I am going to be
:10:22. > :10:26.sick. Coy have lost my daughter. Her -- I could have lost my daughter.
:10:27. > :10:31.Her daughter didn't want to appear on camera but said the man wanted to
:10:32. > :10:36.meet up. I added him on Facebook. He asked us to put up photos and meet
:10:37. > :10:40.up, pup we didn't meet up with him -- but we didn't meet up with him.
:10:41. > :10:43.My mum got involved. I think it was somebody random trying to contact
:10:44. > :10:46.girls our age and meet with them. I was afraid about it because I
:10:47. > :10:54.wouldn't like a man trying to stalk my profile or anything. I was
:10:55. > :10:57.afraid. It's something the police are taking seriously too. Coleraine
:10:58. > :11:03.High is one of the first schools to see a new campaign highlighting the
:11:04. > :11:05.dangers. We look at sexting in the first instance and issues around
:11:06. > :11:10.that and legislation around that and how important it is for the kids to
:11:11. > :11:13.actually know that it's illegal. Fundamentally it's the possession
:11:14. > :11:16.and distribution of indecent images of children which few of them
:11:17. > :11:23.actually know. The students realise they are at risk. At this aiming --
:11:24. > :11:28.age we are vulnerable to this. I know many friends who have been
:11:29. > :11:32.targeted and it's not very nice and sometimes I feel that we haven't got
:11:33. > :11:35.a very good education towards it so it's been very good to get this
:11:36. > :11:40.presentation so we can learn more about this issue. Despite repeated
:11:41. > :11:44.campaigns and warnings, experts say children don't have the emotional
:11:45. > :11:48.maturity to realise the dangers involved. Samantha Shaw says she's
:11:49. > :11:52.now watching her daughters like a hawk. I know it's a bit of, you
:11:53. > :11:56.know, I am going to stalk my children on Facebook! But to me it
:11:57. > :11:59.makes me go to bed with peace of mind knowing they're not active at a
:12:00. > :12:06.certain time of night because they know mummy is still watching. But
:12:07. > :12:09.those are measures I have to take. Today's survey shows half of all
:12:10. > :12:15.parents here have no safety settings on their children's computers and
:12:16. > :12:18.the majority admitted their children know more about technology than they
:12:19. > :12:21.do. If that's something you are
:12:22. > :12:36.concerned about, the BBC has some tips on its website.
:12:37. > :12:39.Next we have another twist in the dispute between the Justice Minister
:12:40. > :12:42.and the Policing Board over the way the next Chief Constable is to be
:12:43. > :12:45.appointed. Board members have now been asked to provide their legal
:12:46. > :12:49.reasons for rejecting the Minister's proposal. David Ford wants to remove
:12:50. > :12:52.a rule stating applicants must have served at the rank of Assistant
:12:53. > :12:54.Chief Constable or above for at least two years outside Northern
:12:55. > :12:57.Ireland. Our home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney
:12:58. > :13:01.reports. The Policing Board appoints and
:13:02. > :13:05.holds the chief executive to account. The rules to be used to
:13:06. > :13:09.appoint the next person to hold the post are the subject of a tussle
:13:10. > :13:12.between the board and the first and Deputy First Ministers on one side
:13:13. > :13:18.and David Ford on the other. Members of the board last week shoet voted
:13:19. > :13:20.to reject the -- last week voted to reject the Justice Minister's rules.
:13:21. > :13:25.That flew in the face of legal advice from the board's chief
:13:26. > :13:29.executive. In a paper to board members he pointed out that similar
:13:30. > :13:32.two-year rules have been dropped by other police forces in England,
:13:33. > :13:36.Scotland and Wales. He said senior PSNI officers who
:13:37. > :13:40.wanted to apply for the chief executive's position would be
:13:41. > :13:45.uniquely disadvantaged if the two-year rule is retained. He said
:13:46. > :13:49.his advice was of such a position would be indefensible.
:13:50. > :13:54.The day after the board's decision, David Ford wrote to it asking
:13:55. > :13:56.members to justify their actions. He attached core respondence to his
:13:57. > :14:00.department from the equality commission which said the two-year
:14:01. > :14:05.rule may be indirectly discriminatory unless it could be
:14:06. > :14:08.objectively justified as an essential requirement for the post.
:14:09. > :14:11.The chairman has written to individual members asking them to
:14:12. > :14:14.justify their decision. That means they're being asked to spell out the
:14:15. > :14:19.reasoning in detail and not simply say they don't want change. The
:14:20. > :14:24.deadline for responses was lunchtime today. David Ford will bring his
:14:25. > :14:27.proposed rule change to the executive on Thursday having been
:14:28. > :14:31.told that the first and Deputy First Ministers will have the final say.
:14:32. > :14:34.The Ministers and their legal advisers will want to closely study
:14:35. > :14:41.the response from the Policing Board.
:14:42. > :14:44.A bomb has been found during an alert in Craigavon. The device was
:14:45. > :14:48.in the Carrigart Manor area this morning and was made safe by the
:14:49. > :14:50.army. The police have condemned those responsible saying they have
:14:51. > :14:57.little regard for human life. The local economy has been through
:14:58. > :15:00.tough times during the past few years. But new figures suggest
:15:01. > :15:03.Northern Ireland was the UK region hardest hit in the recession. With
:15:04. > :15:11.the details, our economics and business editor John Campbell.
:15:12. > :15:16.Linda Smith has a typical recession story. She lost her job in retail,
:15:17. > :15:22.found it hard to get new work and is now retraining. That experience has
:15:23. > :15:24.meant some big changes in lifestyle. It's difficult, obviously I have
:15:25. > :15:31.been working in full-time work for over ten years and now I am back at
:15:32. > :15:35.home and live living on benefits and it's difficult. It's hard as well
:15:36. > :15:40.with the negative press. You see a lot of these programmes where people
:15:41. > :15:45.on benefits and we are not all like that. Like some of us are really
:15:46. > :15:50.looking hard to find work. Linda is not alone. Research by a think tank,
:15:51. > :15:53.The Resolution Foundation, compared economic output per person in each
:15:54. > :15:58.part of the UK. The measurement is known as GVA per
:15:59. > :16:01.head. It allows for a rough comparison of living standards
:16:02. > :16:08.across different regions. At the start of the recession in 2008, here
:16:09. > :16:13.it was just under ?18,000. Five years later, it had slipped to
:16:14. > :16:18.just over ?16,000. That's a 10% fall. In the UK as a
:16:19. > :16:22.whole, the drop was closer to 6%. In the prosperous south-east of
:16:23. > :16:28.England, the fall was just 3. 3%. How come things got so bad here?
:16:29. > :16:33.Obviously we experienced our fair share of the UK recession but allied
:16:34. > :16:37.to that we had a housing boom, more like that in the Republic of Ireland
:16:38. > :16:40.and also Northern Ireland has experienced austerity measures from
:16:41. > :16:45.the UK disproportionately compared to other UK regions. There are still
:16:46. > :16:48.signs of recession around us, like boarded up shops or repossessed
:16:49. > :16:52.building sites. The economy is recovering but today's figures
:16:53. > :16:56.remind us just how much damage was done in the recession, damage which
:16:57. > :17:04.we still -- which will still take years to repair.
:17:05. > :17:08.While the economy fights back, there is perhaps an even greater battle
:17:09. > :17:11.going on in the sewers that run beneath us. Huge blobs of congealed
:17:12. > :17:14.fat and waste called fatbergs are clogging up the drains. They can
:17:15. > :17:18.cause flooding. Some are so difficult to remove the roads have
:17:19. > :17:21.to be dug up to deal with them. As Helen Jones reports, millions of
:17:22. > :17:25.pounds are being paid out to combat this growing problem. I have to warn
:17:26. > :17:29.you that if you're of a delicate disposition or eating your dinner
:17:30. > :17:32.right now, you may want to look away.
:17:33. > :17:40.Deep under the feet of the people in Newtownards something is stirring. A
:17:41. > :17:44.monster is growing. It was pretty pungent, I have to say. The gag
:17:45. > :17:49.value was about ten. If it's not taken out, the fatberg will cause a
:17:50. > :17:55.right stink. Not to mention flooding. Here's one, a 15 ton solid
:17:56. > :18:00.lump of congealed fat and waste such as wet wipes. The size of a double
:18:01. > :18:04.decker bus in the sewers of London. Northern Ireland's full of them.
:18:05. > :18:09.With 9,000 miles of sewers, NI Water has a battle on its hands What we
:18:10. > :18:12.see in this one man-hole, all the sewers in this street are basically
:18:13. > :18:17.going to be the same. We are going to have to put in a big exercise to
:18:18. > :18:21.clean this all out and get this restored back to an operation again.
:18:22. > :18:25.This operation isn't a one-off. It happens every day somewhere in
:18:26. > :18:34.Northern Ireland. Here's a man relieved to get this particular
:18:35. > :18:38.fatberg out of his system. The toilet area has been - gassy smells
:18:39. > :18:42.coming up through the drains and it's not really acceptable for
:18:43. > :18:45.anybody in the health profession. It's a dangerous job but someone's
:18:46. > :18:51.got to do it. What happened? You were down the
:18:52. > :18:55.hole and then you came up quickly. The gas monitor went off showing
:18:56. > :19:02.levels that it's not right for anybody being there. Just get out.
:19:03. > :19:07.You see that smell, it's putrid. Do you like doing this? You get immune
:19:08. > :19:14.to it, does you no harm. Probably got the best um immune system of
:19:15. > :19:17.anybody -- immune system. They're The Dirty Dozen, things you should
:19:18. > :19:26.not put down your loo. Nappies, other bits and pieces, cotton buds.
:19:27. > :19:32.It's like Supermarket Sweep. Face wipes will clog it up. Cotton buds.
:19:33. > :19:37.And even razor Blades. The advice is to think twice before
:19:38. > :19:43.you pour grease down the sink or flush those dirty dozen down the
:19:44. > :19:52.loo. Some news just in: The Education and
:19:53. > :19:55.skills Authority - EESA - moved a step closer today with the
:19:56. > :19:59.announcement of backing from grammar schools. EESA has been blocked by
:20:00. > :20:05.politicians for seven years and one reason has been the opposition of
:20:06. > :20:08.grammar schools. Now the Governing Bodies Association, which represents
:20:09. > :20:12.52 voluntary grammar schools, says it no longer has any objections and
:20:13. > :20:19.has called for the umbrella body for education to be formally created as
:20:20. > :20:23.soon as possible. He's best known for leaping into his
:20:24. > :20:27.Gran Torino car in the 1970s cop show Starsky and Hutch. Now, at 70
:20:28. > :20:30.years of age, Paul Michael Glaser is dancing and singing in a gruelling
:20:31. > :20:32.run of a musical show. Our arts correspondent Maggie Taggart has
:20:33. > :20:40.this exclusive television interview for BBC Newswline.
:20:41. > :20:44.Paul Michael Glaser has lived his life, triumphs and tragedy in the
:20:45. > :20:51.spotlight. His most famous role was 40 years ago in a TV series Starsky
:20:52. > :20:55.and Hutch alongside David Soul. People seemed to really appreciate
:20:56. > :21:00.Starsky or what I did on that show. So, that's a nice thing to whatever
:21:01. > :21:06.extent I can help people's lives, give them a little joy. Now he is
:21:07. > :21:16.touring the UK as the lead in the musical Fiddler on The Roof. When it
:21:17. > :21:26.was offered to me I didn't know how well I could do it. I knew I wanted
:21:27. > :21:34.to try. So... Now you are singing and dancing. Singing and dancing and
:21:35. > :21:39.having a good time. His CV covers many film and television roles but
:21:40. > :21:44.he has a strong link to Fiddler. He played a different role as a tutor.
:21:45. > :21:47.He is a writer, director, author, artist and a campaigner for Aids
:21:48. > :21:52.research and treatment following the death of his first wife Elizabeth
:21:53. > :21:54.and his daughter. Elizabeth contracted Aids from a blood
:21:55. > :22:00.transfusion and it was then passed on to her two babies. It was a hell
:22:01. > :22:04.of a thing to find one self's dealing with in the public eye on
:22:05. > :22:09.one hand, and on the other hand, to the extent that Elizabeth needed to
:22:10. > :22:13.and wanted to accomplish the things that she accomplished. The show is
:22:14. > :22:17.completely booked out all week and with seven performances it doesn't
:22:18. > :22:20.need much time -- leave much time for sight-seeing. The most I get to
:22:21. > :22:25.do is look at the beautiful Irish women. As I am right now. Oh, you
:22:26. > :22:32.have made my day! You are sweet. He will have to come back and see
:22:33. > :22:35.around the place! Ulster's rugby players are flying
:22:36. > :22:50.high in the league and the cup but now the future of both competitions
:22:51. > :22:53.is in doubt. Stephen Watson is here. We've been hearing consistently
:22:54. > :22:56.about the uncertain future of the European Heineken Cup because of a
:22:57. > :22:59.dispute between the clubs, the organisers, and the governing
:23:00. > :23:02.bodies. But now it's the Pro 12 league which is also in doubt.
:23:03. > :23:05.Italian club Treviso have said they are they pulling out of the
:23:06. > :23:08.competition from the start of next season. The four Welsh clubs are
:23:09. > :23:10.also undecided whether they will continue to take part. Thomas Kane
:23:11. > :23:13.reports. 12 has become 11, and may yet be
:23:14. > :23:25.made up of ten should Italy's involvement in the league end. A
:23:26. > :23:29.statement on Treviso's website said: They cite indecision over the
:23:30. > :23:32.organisation, participation and regulations of the Pro 12 as their
:23:33. > :23:38.main reason for leaving. The organisers of the Pro 12 have
:23:39. > :23:41.refused to comment on the statement but it's understood they're
:23:42. > :23:45.continuing to speak to the sports governing body in Italy. It seems,
:23:46. > :23:49.though, that the biggest threat to the league's future lies a lot
:23:50. > :23:53.closer to home. The club game in Wales could hardly be more different
:23:54. > :23:57.than the model here. Three of Ireland's four provinces are amongst
:23:58. > :24:02.Europe's top eight sides and are battling it out for top spot in the
:24:03. > :24:07.current Pro 12. While disagreements over player contracts, funding and
:24:08. > :24:11.the potential Anglo Welsh league breakaway have left the domestic
:24:12. > :24:16.game in Wales in total turmoil. So much so, that it led to a Question
:24:17. > :24:21.Time-style debate broadcast last month. I think the understanding we
:24:22. > :24:27.have with the English clubs is quite solid. Whilst not underestimating
:24:28. > :24:35.the enormous hurdles in the way of that happening. The cross-border,
:24:36. > :24:41.etc. What other option do we have playing in this, all respects, much
:24:42. > :24:46.reduced European competition, and the Rabo, it's not going to be,
:24:47. > :24:50.don't have a sponsor, the Italians claimed they were pulling out, so
:24:51. > :24:55.what competition do we have? Is your preferred option to stay in Wales? I
:24:56. > :25:01.would love to see a solution sorted. It does become difficult from a
:25:02. > :25:07.planning point of view. Obviously, from recruitment, as well. To bring
:25:08. > :25:12.players in and go - we don't know what competition we are playing in.
:25:13. > :25:17.Ulster's next two games are against The Scarlets and Treviso twoshgs
:25:18. > :25:20.fixtures that might not -- two fixtures that might not be taking as
:25:21. > :25:26.frequently next season. That's a story that will run.
:25:27. > :25:29.Now to a story that we had hoped to bring you, but we are running out of
:25:30. > :25:34.time. Tomorrow we will hear from a local swim swimmer who is training
:25:35. > :25:38.in Texas in preparation for the Commonwealth Games later this year.
:25:39. > :25:45.The weather has got to be better in Texas than here. Guess what,
:25:46. > :25:55.tonight's local football game with Warrenpoint and Glenavon is off.
:25:56. > :26:04.There's one game this evening. Ballinamallard take on Crusaders.
:26:05. > :26:10.Some of our pictures, snow has been falling this afternoon. These are
:26:11. > :26:13.our latest pictures from the Glennshame Pass in the last hour or
:26:14. > :26:20.so, tricky conditions for any drivers out there this evening --
:26:21. > :26:25.Glenshane. The latest forecast is snow.
:26:26. > :26:30.Yeah, snow is moving south and east. It won't be as heavy as in other
:26:31. > :26:34.places earlier today. There is a snow warning in force at the moment.
:26:35. > :26:36.Twitter has been going mad the last couple of hours, we have loads of
:26:37. > :26:44.pictures if you want to see them. There is even a picture of two
:26:45. > :26:47.snowmen. There is enough snow in places to make things very
:26:48. > :26:53.difficult. Several centimetres on the hills by the end of the night.
:26:54. > :26:59.Icy in many places, too. Roads do bear that in mind -- do bear that in
:27:00. > :27:03.mind. It will be nasty on the roads, particularly this side of midnight.
:27:04. > :27:07.By the end of the night a lot of the snow showers will have eased.
:27:08. > :27:10.Temperatures will be subzero. Tomorrow we are starting cold with
:27:11. > :27:15.frost and ice. Then we are waiting object the next area of wet and
:27:16. > :27:21.windy -- on the next area of wet and windy weather. During the rush hour
:27:22. > :27:24.the next area of rain and snow will move northwards and eastwards across
:27:25. > :27:29.many parts of Northern Ireland. Temperatures will below. It's likely
:27:30. > :27:33.to be icy in many places. Again, some tricky travelling weather
:27:34. > :27:36.through the rush hour tomorrow. The snow initially will befalling over
:27:37. > :27:39.the hills. It could get down to lower levels for a time. Then it
:27:40. > :27:43.retreats northwards by the end of the morning. Also strong winds to
:27:44. > :27:48.come tomorrow, especially in eastern counties. Winds could gust in excess
:27:49. > :27:52.of 60mph. A lot going on in the forecast tomorrow. Stay tuned
:27:53. > :27:55.through BBC breakfast. During the later part of the day the rain will
:27:56. > :27:59.turn back to sleet and snow in places, so again we could have snow
:28:00. > :28:04.in some areas tomorrow evening through the rush hour. A lot going
:28:05. > :28:08.on tomorrow. Snow, ice, heavy rain and strong winds. A quieter day to
:28:09. > :28:16.come on Thursday with things becoming dryer before we head to
:28:17. > :28:18.Valentine's Day on Friday. That was BBC Newsline. Bye.