:00:00. > :00:00.On BBC2 we will be talking to one of the scientists involved
:00:00. > :00:11.Hello and welcome to BBC Newsline. Dissident republicans claim to have
:00:12. > :00:16.used newly-acquired Semtex in a bomb attack on a police Land Rover in
:00:17. > :00:20.west Belfast on Friday night. A family escaped injury when their car
:00:21. > :00:25.was hit by debris from the explosion. The attack is believed to
:00:26. > :00:27.have been carried out by the group calling itself the IRA, which killed
:00:28. > :00:32.prison officer David Black in November 2012. Our home affairs
:00:33. > :00:35.correspondent Vincent Kearney reports.
:00:36. > :00:39.Damaged masonry and mangled metal are the only evidence of what
:00:40. > :00:43.happened here four days ago. A mortar bomb was fired from a tube as
:00:44. > :00:55.a police Land Rover drove along the Falls Road. This was at 10:30pm on
:00:56. > :00:57.Friday night. It was detonated from a command wire from inside the
:00:58. > :01:01.cemetery. Scorch marks suggest the device was fired from a tube
:01:02. > :01:05.attached to these railings. The fact that a chunk of masonry was born
:01:06. > :01:08.from the while suggests it may not have fired as intended. Dissident
:01:09. > :01:12.Republicans say the device contained Semtex. They said both were
:01:13. > :01:18.newly-acquired, in other words not from old supplies under the control
:01:19. > :01:26.of Provisional IRA. If that is true, it will be of huge concern to the
:01:27. > :01:31.police and Security Services. Until now, the police have said all
:01:32. > :01:33.weapons and explosives used by dissident Republicans were
:01:34. > :01:38.previously controlled by the IRA. They included these weapons used in
:01:39. > :01:46.the killing of Ronan Kerr. They were found in an industrial unit. He died
:01:47. > :01:49.when a bomb exploded under his car in Omagh in 2011. The find included
:01:50. > :01:55.a quantity of Semtex, but it was many years old. There is no way to
:01:56. > :01:58.verify the claim. The police will not comment on the nature of the
:01:59. > :02:01.device. If it did acquire newly-acquired Semtex, it will be
:02:02. > :02:05.the first evidence that dissidents have managed to secure a fresh
:02:06. > :02:08.supply. Whatever the nature of the device, one family had a lucky
:02:09. > :02:18.escape after their car was hit by debris. They were coming home from a
:02:19. > :02:22.party. It is not fair, because they might hurt a civilian or even the
:02:23. > :02:27.police that was guarding us. It won't happen again. Hopefully. A
:02:28. > :02:30.west Belfast MP criticised those responsible for the attack and the
:02:31. > :02:39.time it took the police to respond. He lives nearby. The police say it
:02:40. > :02:42.was only through good fortune that officers or civilians were not
:02:43. > :02:46.injured or killed. The police are treating an attack on
:02:47. > :02:50.a home in Newtownabbey last night as a hate crime. A car was petrol
:02:51. > :02:53.bombed and the house windows smashed in the incident in Ballyronan Park
:02:54. > :02:57.in Rathcoole. It's believed a family of foreign nationals had been living
:02:58. > :03:06.in the house. Local politicians have condemned the attack.
:03:07. > :03:10.It is dreadful. We cannot get by these problems. They keep
:03:11. > :03:15.re-occurring and you wonder where it is going to end. The police are not
:03:16. > :03:22.given and not -- getting a lot of heed to this and neither are people
:03:23. > :03:25.around here. Well, up to 30,000 people turned out
:03:26. > :03:28.for the annual St Patrick's Day parade in Downpatrick this
:03:29. > :03:30.afternoon. The crowds were also out in Omagh, Enniskillen and Dublin.
:03:31. > :03:34.Michael Fitzpatrick reports. St Patrick was at the centre of the
:03:35. > :03:37.celebrations on the streets of the ancient town where the patron saint
:03:38. > :03:40.is said to be buried. A colourful mixture of acrobats, musicians and
:03:41. > :03:44.dancers made their way through the town, with the footpaths lined with
:03:45. > :03:48.thousands of people soaking up the party atmosphere. Even the snakes
:03:49. > :03:56.from this local pet shop were allowed to join the party. Brilliant
:03:57. > :04:01.atmosphere, the way I like it! Good and loud! It's fantastic, and the
:04:02. > :04:05.weather is lovely for it. So I'm really enjoying it. It's really good
:04:06. > :04:11.fun. She's loving it, aren't you? It is awesome! Today's parade marks the
:04:12. > :04:20.end of a week-long festival celebrating St Patrick and his
:04:21. > :04:23.connection to the town. It's always draws one of the biggest crowds.
:04:24. > :04:27.This year, it has not disappointed. In Enniskillen, there was a watery
:04:28. > :04:31.theme to the parade. It featured some Vikings. They did not row the
:04:32. > :04:34.whole way though! The organisers were delighted by the turnout. It
:04:35. > :04:39.has been a great success. Brilliant turnout. When you think that there
:04:40. > :04:42.are not many local people and they can organise this, it shows great
:04:43. > :04:45.community support. We are delighted. In Omagh, the theme was celebrating
:04:46. > :04:51.all cultures. A great crowd turned out to watch the parade and enjoy an
:04:52. > :04:54.open-air concert in the town centre. Belfast got its St Patrick's Day
:04:55. > :04:58.celebrations underway 24 hours earlier than usual. They said they
:04:59. > :05:02.wanted to give everybody the opportunity to attend and it
:05:03. > :05:12.appeared to pay off, with one of the biggest crowds in recent years.
:05:13. > :05:15.Increase the Heritage! -- embrace. The biggest parade on the island was
:05:16. > :05:19.in Dublin, where up to 500,000 people lined the streets in a
:05:20. > :05:22.celebration of all things Irish. The parade may be long over but for
:05:23. > :05:30.many, the party is only just starting.
:05:31. > :05:33.Well, St Patrick's day is also traditionally a day of school sport.
:05:34. > :05:43.Thousands of people attended finals today in rugby, Gaelic and football.
:05:44. > :05:46.Stephen Watson reports. Methodist College make sure that sold them
:05:47. > :05:51.would remember their introduction. They were playing in their first
:05:52. > :05:55.ever final and up against the competition's most successful
:05:56. > :05:58.college, who got off to a flying start with two tries by Konna
:05:59. > :06:05.Reiki. Sullivan responded with a fine score of their own. Alistair
:06:06. > :06:08.McIver went over for the holder's third try before half-time. Johnny
:06:09. > :06:11.Betts revived Sullivan's hopes briefly in the second half, before
:06:12. > :06:14.Josh Jordan and Rory Cairns scored two more tries for Methody for a
:06:15. > :06:26.decisive 27-12 victory and a third straight win in the competition.
:06:27. > :06:29.Even when people doubted us, we believed and our coaches believed in
:06:30. > :06:32.ourselves and it is unbelievable. Words cannot describe what it feels
:06:33. > :06:36.like. People say that you are lucky to win one of these cups in your
:06:37. > :06:48.lifetime and to win three is unbelievable. De La Salle
:06:49. > :06:51.Brotherhood -- De La Salle won the Belfast Senior Cup. They beat St
:06:52. > :06:54.Mary's Grammar School 3-2 at New Grosvenor, thanks to goals by Nathan
:06:55. > :06:57.Watters, Liam McKenna and Chris McGuinness. The whole school be
:06:58. > :07:07.excited. This is the eighth title we have one and hopefully many more.
:07:08. > :07:15.Saint Patrick's retained the McRory cup with a win over CBS -- Omagh
:07:16. > :07:18.CBS. This effort helped Saint Pat's to their 14th success in the
:07:19. > :07:26.competition. Undescribable, that feeling. Words cannot explain it.
:07:27. > :07:29.This year is really special because it is our last year in the
:07:30. > :07:34.competition and we won it. Saint Pat's will now trying to defend
:07:35. > :07:37.their cup title. Northern Ireland's golden girl Kelly
:07:38. > :07:40.Gallagher got a warm welcome when she flew back into Heathrow this
:07:41. > :07:44.evening. The visually impaired skier from Bangor, and her guide Charlotte
:07:45. > :07:47.Evans, arrived home along with the rest of Team GB from the games in
:07:48. > :07:54.Sochi. There is a lot of flash photography. Together they won Team
:07:55. > :08:00.GB's first ever gold medal at the Winter Paralympic Games when they
:08:01. > :08:04.came first in the Super G event. And we'll be hearing more from Kelly
:08:05. > :08:07.in a special interview on tomorrow night's BBC Newsline, when she'll be
:08:08. > :08:12.reflecting on her success in the Sochi games. That's at 6:30 tomorrow
:08:13. > :08:13.evening. And now here's the weather with
:08:14. > :08:23.Barra Best. It has not been a terribly bad day.
:08:24. > :08:28.We got a bit of drizzle here and there but most of us, it is dry. For
:08:29. > :08:31.the rest of the week it is going to be more unsettled. Certainly much
:08:32. > :08:35.windier. That is the future of the rest of the week. As we go through
:08:36. > :08:38.the night, the winds will pick up and we will see a Briggs of rain
:08:39. > :08:44.coming in. Some will be heavy also but not especially chilly. --
:08:45. > :08:48.outbreaks of rain. That sets us up for a rather disappointing start to
:08:49. > :08:53.tomorrow. It is going to be great, damp and fairly windy. Through the
:08:54. > :09:00.day, it is going to turn much drier. -- it will be dull, damp and windy.
:09:01. > :09:02.The unsettled weather mainly focused around northern areas of Ireland and
:09:03. > :09:06.through many areas of northern Britain. For Scotland, northern
:09:07. > :09:10.England and Wales for a while it will be quite unsettled. The best of
:09:11. > :09:14.the weather towards the south east of England. As they go through the
:09:15. > :09:18.day, it improves for Wales and much of the Republic. By the afternoon,
:09:19. > :09:23.it will gradually improve for Northern Ireland also. There one or
:09:24. > :09:30.two showers lingering but not for everybody. You windy afternoon to,
:09:31. > :09:34.and cloudy as the entity. -- you windy afternoon also. Wednesday, it
:09:35. > :09:37.will stay windy but largely dry and bright. Some good spells of
:09:38. > :09:42.sunshine. The winds will take the edge of those temperatures little
:09:43. > :09:44.bit. By the end of Wednesday, we are going to see stronger winds coming
:09:45. > :09:47.in and for Thursday, a fairly wet day followed by cold air and
:09:48. > :09:51.scattered showers. That's it for now. You can keep up
:09:52. > :09:54.to date with News Online and follow this programme on Facebook and
:09:55. > :10:00.Twitter. From BBC Newsline, goodnight.