:00:00. > 3:59:59Frost. That's all from us. Now it's time
:00:00. > 3:59:59for That's all from us. Now it's time
:00:00. > :00:16.for Good evening and welcome to BBC
:00:17. > :00:19.Newsline. 300 jobs are to be lost here after government plans to
:00:20. > :00:22.centralise the Driver and Vehicle Agency got the go-ahead. Seven local
:00:23. > :00:25.offices will be closed along with the regional headquarters in
:00:26. > :00:30.Coleraine. It will take effect from July. Conor Macauley reports.
:00:31. > :00:34.And had been hanging over their heads for months, but the news that
:00:35. > :00:40.from July of 300 jobs were going still left staff stunned when they
:00:41. > :00:45.turned up for work this morning. I have three young kids. I am the
:00:46. > :00:51.only worker in my house, so it has a big impact on what the future holds
:00:52. > :00:54.for myself and my family. Vehicle licensing is being
:00:55. > :00:59.centralised to Swansea. It means seven regional offices like here in
:01:00. > :01:04.Enniskillen as well as the headquarters in Coleraine will
:01:05. > :01:07.close. It will affect especially elderly people because they will
:01:08. > :01:11.have to go to the post office and maybe ask a friend to fill in the
:01:12. > :01:13.form comment will be more inconvenient.
:01:14. > :01:17.The government says the move will improve things.
:01:18. > :01:20.Customers will be able to tax vehicles online. There will be
:01:21. > :01:27.over-the-counter services at 175 post offices and for the first time
:01:28. > :01:31.the chance to pay by direct debit. It is providing online services in a
:01:32. > :01:36.way we have not been able to do before and it is about making
:01:37. > :01:40.efficiency savings, of which there are significant savings for the
:01:41. > :01:43.taxpayer. There has been a vigorous campaign
:01:44. > :01:48.locally and in Westminster to save the jobs. Staff now want to know
:01:49. > :01:52.quickly whether they are facing redeployment or redundancy.
:01:53. > :01:55.Four men from east Belfast have been given suspended prison sentences for
:01:56. > :02:03.what the USPCA has described as among the worst cases of animal
:02:04. > :02:06.cruelty it has come across. Jeremiah, Chris and Wayne Kirkwood,
:02:07. > :02:12.and their co-accused, Jamie Morrow, could have been sentenced to up to
:02:13. > :02:17.two years in jail. This report from Chris Page features some very
:02:18. > :02:23.disturbing pictures. Autumn 2011 and the joint USPCA and
:02:24. > :02:28.police raid on the home of Jeremiah, Chris and Wayne Kirkwood
:02:29. > :02:33.in Ireland Street in East Belfast. In the backyard they found a number
:02:34. > :02:38.of cages, some containing dogs. And some animals had signs they had been
:02:39. > :02:42.involved in fighting. The police came here after they found horrific
:02:43. > :02:46.videos on a mobile phone belonging to another man, Jamie Morrow from
:02:47. > :02:52.McAllister caught. We will show you some of that fitted but we should
:02:53. > :02:57.one you it is very disturbing. This caged cat is probably a pet. I
:02:58. > :03:01.dog is set on it and pulls the cat from the cage. The rest of the
:03:02. > :03:05.pictures are too distressing to broadcast, and all four dogs were
:03:06. > :03:12.allowed at the cat which remain alive for some time. A man shakes a
:03:13. > :03:16.tree to bring down a cat, again probably a pet. When the cat hits
:03:17. > :03:25.the ground to dorks are on it. Again, the rest of the video is to
:03:26. > :03:30.graphic to show. -- two dogs. The Kirkwoods pleaded guilty to several
:03:31. > :03:37.offences. Jeremiah is highlighted here and is 43. Beside him were his
:03:38. > :03:42.sons, Chris, 23 and Wayne, 20. The man in the dark blue top is
:03:43. > :03:46.19-year-old Jamie Morrow. He admitted one charge. The judge
:03:47. > :03:51.sentenced all four men to six months in jail but suspended the sentence
:03:52. > :03:54.for two years. She also banned the accused from keeping animals for ten
:03:55. > :04:01.years. The police say the cruelty was dreadful. The injuries were
:04:02. > :04:04.horrific, and our colleagues in the USPCA have confirmed it is the worst
:04:05. > :04:11.they have seen, certainly the worst I have seen.
:04:12. > :04:17.On leaving court, Kirkwood and Jamie Morrow seemed relieved, Kirkwood
:04:18. > :04:20.even jumping on a friend's back. The First Minister has described as
:04:21. > :04:23.unhelpful a claim by the former talks chairman Richard Haass that
:04:24. > :04:26.Northern Ireland is at risk of returning to daily violence. Peter
:04:27. > :04:29.Robinson and Martin McGuinness are in Washington where they will meet
:04:30. > :04:32.the Vice President. Mr McGuinness brushed aside speculation that
:04:33. > :04:35.President Obama may snub that first formal meeting with Joe Biden.
:04:36. > :04:39.Tonight the two ministers are attending an American Ireland fund
:04:40. > :04:47.dinner. Our political correspondent, Martina Purdy, reports from
:04:48. > :04:52.Washington. Here in Washington, the flag is
:04:53. > :04:55.everywhere, a symbol of unity for Americans. But emblems remain
:04:56. > :04:59.problematic for these political leaders who failed to agree a deal
:05:00. > :05:05.on flags, parading and the past. But they have challenged a claim by
:05:06. > :05:10.Richard Haass that this risks a return to violence.
:05:11. > :05:14.The overwhelming view in Northern Ireland is that we want progress, we
:05:15. > :05:18.never want to go back to the dark days of the past and it is probably
:05:19. > :05:22.unhelpful for us to start talking in those terms. You do not want to
:05:23. > :05:26.clock up violence, you want to talk up the prospect of stability and
:05:27. > :05:28.peace. I am optimistic about the future.
:05:29. > :05:32.I have no sense whatsoever that the city will slip back to the past and
:05:33. > :05:36.I have come to that view primarily because of the commitment I have
:05:37. > :05:41.seen among all of those in government and those who are working
:05:42. > :05:47.within the police to ensure that extremists do not destroy the peace
:05:48. > :05:52.we have here. Others in Washington say that Richard Haass's assessment
:05:53. > :05:57.is realistic. There is a very urgent need for us
:05:58. > :06:00.to get a grip of things in Northern Ireland, get control of things and
:06:01. > :06:04.sauteed continuing differences. Later this evening, the vice
:06:05. > :06:07.president of the US is due to receive a piece of the US is due to
:06:08. > :06:11.receive a peace award year at the Ireland fund dinner.
:06:12. > :06:14.In the morning he will meet the first and Deputy First Minister is
:06:15. > :06:23.at the White House. What do our ministers make of the suggestion the
:06:24. > :06:26.president may snub the meeting. We have already met the President eight
:06:27. > :06:32.times and it would not be a snub if he did not meet us for the ninth.
:06:33. > :06:38.We are delighted to meet the vice president, who was more actively
:06:39. > :06:44.involved in the Richard Haass talks and will have a more direct
:06:45. > :06:47.involvement with this. We have met with all three
:06:48. > :06:51.presidents who have been involved in the peace process and I have no
:06:52. > :06:57.doubt that will continue. What ever spin is put on tomorrow's talks, it
:06:58. > :07:00.is not all high-level politics. Stormont's Road Minister Danny
:07:01. > :07:03.Kennedy has been checking out a cycle lanes with a view to making
:07:04. > :07:07.changes back home. Tony Blair's chief negotiator during
:07:08. > :07:10.the peace process says he stands by his claim that the DUP knew about
:07:11. > :07:15.concessions made to Sinn Fein over IRA "on the runs". In his book,
:07:16. > :07:19.Jonathan Powell said the DUP could accept the scheme as long as Tony
:07:20. > :07:23.Blair wrote to Ian Paisley, making it clear it had been agreed under
:07:24. > :07:26.David Trimble's watch. Peter Robinson described that as nonsense
:07:27. > :07:33.but Mr Powell says he stands by what he wrote.
:07:34. > :07:42.That book was written in 2008, and I don't now want to go into new
:07:43. > :07:46.suggestions about who knew what and when. The book is based on my
:07:47. > :07:50.diaries and the number ten papers for the decade we were in government
:07:51. > :07:54.and I stand by everything in the book, but I don't want to cast blame
:07:55. > :07:57.now because it is unhelpful. We wanted to get Northern Ireland
:07:58. > :08:01.politicians on solving the problems of the past, not digging them up and
:08:02. > :08:03.beating each other over the head with them.
:08:04. > :08:05.And you can see more of that interview on The View, coming up
:08:06. > :08:09.after this bulletin. Rugby, and Joe Schmidt has named the
:08:10. > :08:12.starting line up for Ireland's Six Nations match against France at the
:08:13. > :08:15.weekend. Ulster's Paddy Jackson is out of the squad and the return of
:08:16. > :08:19.Peter O'Mahoney sees Iain Henderson back on the bench.
:08:20. > :08:25.Here's Geoff Maskell with the forecast.
:08:26. > :08:28.Good evening. It has been a mild and cloudy day today, meaning that this
:08:29. > :08:37.evening and overnight things are a bit more mild than recent mates lost
:08:38. > :08:41.-- than recent nights. As we head towards morning a little bit of mist
:08:42. > :08:45.and fog creeps in. Having lots of cloud around has made for a
:08:46. > :08:51.fantastic photography. Into tomorrow it is a similar setup. 20 of cloud
:08:52. > :08:56.around, but little more breezy, I think, the westerly wind may bring
:08:57. > :08:59.some light rain to the west and along the north coast. That is
:09:00. > :09:04.reflected across the UK and Ireland. In the north we see more showers and
:09:05. > :09:10.cooler temperatures, further south it is drier and brighter. It is of
:09:11. > :09:14.course Gold Cup day at Cheltenham. If you are there you are very
:09:15. > :09:18.lucky, it will be a really nice day for the racing, staying mainly dry
:09:19. > :09:22.for the big event. For us through the afternoon, a little bit of rain
:09:23. > :09:27.starts to work its way in but it will only be liked and patchy.
:09:28. > :09:31.Elsewhere decent brighter spells. High pressure remains largely in
:09:32. > :09:35.charge, setting the tone for things, but we do get a few tail ends of
:09:36. > :09:43.some weather fronts coming through meaning we get a little more
:09:44. > :09:46.unsettled through the weekend. Temperature is quite decent on
:09:47. > :09:51.Saturday, maybe some showers with Tehran, but generally it is looking
:09:52. > :09:55.good right through the weekend. You can keep up to date with News Online
:09:56. > :09:58.and follow this programme on facebook and Twitter.
:09:59. > :09:59.From everyone on the BBC Newsline team, have a very good evening,
:10:00. > :10:00.goodbye. The Six Nations
:10:01. > :10:02.goes down to the wire. Can England keep their championship
:10:03. > :10:05.hopes alive against Italy? Will Wales or Scotland
:10:06. > :10:09.end their campaign on a high?