02/03/2014

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:00:00. > :00:00.the evening session still to come. There is more throughout the evening

:00:00. > :00:13.on Welcome to BBC Newsline.

:00:14. > :00:16.Comments by the former Secretary of State Peter Hain suggesting soldiers

:00:17. > :00:19.responsible for the killing of civilians on Bloody Sunday should

:00:20. > :00:22.not be prosecuted, have been criticised by Sinn Fein as

:00:23. > :00:25."ill-judged". The DUP says if it emerges terrorists are not being

:00:26. > :00:28.sought for prosecution, it would be unthinkable the courts would pursue

:00:29. > :00:33.killings related to the state. Martin Cassidy reports.

:00:34. > :00:36.Once again, Peter Hain finds himself embroiled in Northern Ireland

:00:37. > :00:39.affairs. The former Secretary of state saying soldiers involved in

:00:40. > :00:44.the Bloody Sunday killings should not be prosecuted. His latest

:00:45. > :00:47.comments follow the disclosure that almost 200 republican paramilitary

:00:48. > :00:56.suspects were sent letters assuring them they were not being sought by

:00:57. > :00:59.police. And he now says there should be an even handed approach to

:01:00. > :01:07.members of the British security forces as well. If you have, as has

:01:08. > :01:11.been the case, addressed the question of former terrorists

:01:12. > :01:14.involved in activity, then it should apply evenhandedly right across the

:01:15. > :01:17.board to members of the British security forces as well. Sinn Fein

:01:18. > :01:20.says given the ongoing police investigation into the events of

:01:21. > :01:26.Bloody Sunday Peter Hain's comments are ill-judged and ill-timed. I

:01:27. > :01:32.think that he should have reflected the current week -- legal reality

:01:33. > :01:36.and that is there is an investigation into what happened on

:01:37. > :01:45.bloody Sunday that has to be pursued. We are clear that there

:01:46. > :01:48.should be no amnesty form -- for everyone and no one should be immune

:01:49. > :01:53.from prosecution if they have broken the law. But if we were in a

:01:54. > :01:57.situation when it became evident that people involved in paramilitary

:01:58. > :02:02.terrorist activity were not being pursued for prosecution it would be

:02:03. > :02:08.unthinkable that the court would pursue those who were involved in

:02:09. > :02:17.killings related to the state. The justice minister saying -- day

:02:18. > :02:26.before saying that if -- the justice minister says that his comments go

:02:27. > :02:29.against the rule of law. In Dublin, the convicted drug dealer

:02:30. > :02:33.John Gilligan remains in a stable condition in hospital after he was

:02:34. > :02:37.shot in the west of the city last night. He was shot six times by two

:02:38. > :02:39.masked gunmen. Mr Gilligan had been accused of murdering the journalist

:02:40. > :02:46.Veronica Guerin in 1996 but was later acquitted.

:02:47. > :02:50.John Gilligan, perhaps the Republic's most notorious prisoner,

:02:51. > :02:55.was released last year after serving 17 years for drug dealing. But an

:02:56. > :02:59.attempt was made on his life. The would-be killers went to the wrong

:03:00. > :03:05.part but the would-be victim play down the incident. I thought it was

:03:06. > :03:11.a Halloween prank and I have no problem with anybody, no problem

:03:12. > :03:19.with anyone. Has it warned you that you have to be careful? What you

:03:20. > :03:25.think it would happen? I haven't a clue. Was Halloween. Last night, he

:03:26. > :03:32.was not so lucky. He went to his brother's house last night and two

:03:33. > :03:35.gunmen forced their way into the west Dublin home and fired several

:03:36. > :03:40.shots at him in the living room and hallway. He was hit in several

:03:41. > :03:48.places but his injuries were not life-threatening. He was taken to a

:03:49. > :03:54.nearby hospital where he is a stable condition. The gunmen drove a

:03:55. > :03:57.coloured four-wheel drive. There are appeals for eyewitnesses and anyone

:03:58. > :04:01.with information to come forward. Banks and mortgage companies here

:04:02. > :04:04.are being urged to do more to help homeowners who are in negative

:04:05. > :04:07.equity. New figures by mortgage group HML released this weekend show

:04:08. > :04:18.Northern Ireland has the highest rate of negative equity in the UK.

:04:19. > :04:22.Kevin Sharkey reports. 2005 - the year home owners here saw

:04:23. > :04:26.their property prices starting to rise at a rapid rate. Peaking two

:04:27. > :04:29.years later in 2007. Then, it all started to go drastically wrong for

:04:30. > :04:32.home owners with mortgages. The boom went bust and property prices

:04:33. > :04:36.crashed. The end of last year brought some slight signals of

:04:37. > :04:40.growth, and a small chink of light at the end of a dark few years for

:04:41. > :04:43.house prices. But, the property price collapse was so big, and the

:04:44. > :04:46.recent improvements so slight - the impact on negative equity has been

:04:47. > :04:48.minimal. Leaving Northern Ireland home-owners facing much bigger

:04:49. > :04:59.struggles that home owners in the rest of the UK And, for homeowners

:05:00. > :05:06.here, that a big problem. To get. -- to get an idea of the problem, here

:05:07. > :05:11.in Northern Ireland, it is 41% compared to 16% or 1% in London.

:05:12. > :05:16.That is thousands of homeowners whose homes are less than the value

:05:17. > :05:20.of their mortgage. And for homeowners yeah, that is a big

:05:21. > :05:23.problem. We have been told by mortgage providers that there are

:05:24. > :05:28.some bright spots and prices are starting to rise and we will have to

:05:29. > :05:31.wait and watch. These latest figures confirm that the storm clouds of

:05:32. > :05:37.negative equity are still loom large on the Northern Ireland horizon.

:05:38. > :05:40.In golf, Rory McIlroy tees off shortly at the Honda Classic in

:05:41. > :05:45.Florida confident that he can win his first PGA tour event since 2012.

:05:46. > :05:49.McIlroy is two shots clear of the field after shooting a one under par

:05:50. > :05:53.69. It was at the same tournament a year ago that led him to walk off

:05:54. > :05:57.the same course at Palm Beach Gardens, saying he was suffering

:05:58. > :06:00.from toothache. In Gaelic football, Tyrone scored a

:06:01. > :06:04.dramatic two goals in the last two minutes to deny Kildare. In the

:06:05. > :06:06.National Football League in Newbridge this afternoon, Ronan

:06:07. > :06:10.O'Neill's goal with seconds to go was followed by another from Mark

:06:11. > :06:14.Donnelly - giving Tyrone a one point win. Final Score Kildare one goal

:06:15. > :06:20.and 21 points, Tyrone three goals and 16 points.

:06:21. > :06:25.Now with the weather forecast here's Cecilia Daly.

:06:26. > :06:33.It will be a frosty one tonight and an ice warning will come into effect

:06:34. > :06:36.soon. The frost will be particularly sharp in rural areas. And because

:06:37. > :06:46.many services are wet, untreated services will be slippery. Some

:06:47. > :06:50.pocket around tomorrow morning. A chilly start of the week. Overall,

:06:51. > :06:58.not particularly wet and much milder. Tomorrow, it is far from

:06:59. > :07:04.mild. Cold and icy to begin with. Once temperatures start to rise, it

:07:05. > :07:12.will be quite nice for a while with sunshine and pleasant early March

:07:13. > :07:16.sunshine. Moving into the West of Ireland later, some rain. Also rain

:07:17. > :07:21.and hail snow over Scotland slowly moving away into the North Sea. This

:07:22. > :07:27.area of cloud and showery rain moving away from south-east England.

:07:28. > :07:30.So in the afternoon, still mostly dry but then the cloud and

:07:31. > :07:35.eventually some rain moves in. Tomorrow night, that could linger.

:07:36. > :07:38.There could be wintry showers over high ground. Temperatures will not

:07:39. > :07:44.be as low but there will be enough for ice. Some quiet conditions

:07:45. > :07:52.coming on Tuesday and Wednesday. A loss of dry whether into Wednesday.

:07:53. > :07:58.There will be some rain as we get to Thursday but temperatures will be in

:07:59. > :08:00.double figures. That's it. Goodbye.