17/03/2014 BBC Newsline

On BBC2 we will be talking to one of the scientists involved

Hello and welcome to BBC Newsline. Dissident republicans claim to have

used newly-acquired Semtex in a bomb attack on a police Land Rover in

west Belfast on Friday night. A family escaped injury when their car

was hit by debris from the explosion. The attack is believed to

have been carried out by the group calling itself the IRA, which killed

prison officer David Black in November 2012. Our home affairs

correspondent Vincent Kearney reports.

Damaged masonry and mangled metal are the only evidence of what

happened here four days ago. A mortar bomb was fired from a tube as

a police Land Rover drove along the Falls Road. This was at 10:30pm on

Friday night. It was detonated from a command wire from inside the

cemetery. Scorch marks suggest the device was fired from a tube

attached to these railings. The fact that a chunk of masonry was born

from the while suggests it may not have fired as intended. Dissident

Republicans say the device contained Semtex. They said both were

newly-acquired, in other words not from old supplies under the control

of Provisional IRA. If that is true, it will be of huge concern to the

police and Security Services. Until now, the police have said all

weapons and explosives used by dissident Republicans were

previously controlled by the IRA. They included these weapons used in

the killing of Ronan Kerr. They were found in an industrial unit. He died

when a bomb exploded under his car in Omagh in 2011. The find included

a quantity of Semtex, but it was many years old. There is no way to

verify the claim. The police will not comment on the nature of the

device. If it did acquire newly-acquired Semtex, it will be

the first evidence that dissidents have managed to secure a fresh

supply. Whatever the nature of the device, one family had a lucky

escape after their car was hit by debris. They were coming home from a

party. It is not fair, because they might hurt a civilian or even the

police that was guarding us. It won't happen again. Hopefully. A

west Belfast MP criticised those responsible for the attack and the

time it took the police to respond. He lives nearby. The police say it

was only through good fortune that officers or civilians were not

injured or killed. The police are treating an attack on

a home in Newtownabbey last night as a hate crime. A car was petrol

bombed and the house windows smashed in the incident in Ballyronan Park

in Rathcoole. It's believed a family of foreign nationals had been living

in the house. Local politicians have condemned the attack.

It is dreadful. We cannot get by these problems. They keep

re-occurring and you wonder where it is going to end. The police are not

given and not -- getting a lot of heed to this and neither are people

around here. Well, up to 30,000 people turned out

for the annual St Patrick's Day parade in Downpatrick this

afternoon. The crowds were also out in Omagh, Enniskillen and Dublin.

Michael Fitzpatrick reports. St Patrick was at the centre of the

celebrations on the streets of the ancient town where the patron saint

is said to be buried. A colourful mixture of acrobats, musicians and

dancers made their way through the town, with the footpaths lined with

thousands of people soaking up the party atmosphere. Even the snakes

from this local pet shop were allowed to join the party. Brilliant

atmosphere, the way I like it! Good and loud! It's fantastic, and the

weather is lovely for it. So I'm really enjoying it. It's really good

fun. She's loving it, aren't you? It is awesome! Today's parade marks the

end of a week-long festival celebrating St Patrick and his

connection to the town. It's always draws one of the biggest crowds.

This year, it has not disappointed. In Enniskillen, there was a watery

theme to the parade. It featured some Vikings. They did not row the

whole way though! The organisers were delighted by the turnout. It

has been a great success. Brilliant turnout. When you think that there

are not many local people and they can organise this, it shows great

community support. We are delighted. In Omagh, the theme was celebrating

all cultures. A great crowd turned out to watch the parade and enjoy an

open-air concert in the town centre. Belfast got its St Patrick's Day

celebrations underway 24 hours earlier than usual. They said they

wanted to give everybody the opportunity to attend and it

appeared to pay off, with one of the biggest crowds in recent years.

Increase the Heritage! -- embrace. The biggest parade on the island was

in Dublin, where up to 500,000 people lined the streets in a

celebration of all things Irish. The parade may be long over but for

many, the party is only just starting.

Well, St Patrick's day is also traditionally a day of school sport.

Thousands of people attended finals today in rugby, Gaelic and football.

Stephen Watson reports. Methodist College make sure that sold them

would remember their introduction. They were playing in their first

ever final and up against the competition's most successful

college, who got off to a flying start with two tries by Konna

Reiki. Sullivan responded with a fine score of their own. Alistair

McIver went over for the holder's third try before half-time. Johnny

Betts revived Sullivan's hopes briefly in the second half, before

Josh Jordan and Rory Cairns scored two more tries for Methody for a

decisive 27-12 victory and a third straight win in the competition.

Even when people doubted us, we believed and our coaches believed in

ourselves and it is unbelievable. Words cannot describe what it feels

like. People say that you are lucky to win one of these cups in your

lifetime and to win three is unbelievable. De La Salle

Brotherhood -- De La Salle won the Belfast Senior Cup. They beat St

Mary's Grammar School 3-2 at New Grosvenor, thanks to goals by Nathan

Watters, Liam McKenna and Chris McGuinness. The whole school be

excited. This is the eighth title we have one and hopefully many more.

Saint Patrick's retained the McRory cup with a win over CBS -- Omagh

CBS. This effort helped Saint Pat's to their 14th success in the

competition. Undescribable, that feeling. Words cannot explain it.

This year is really special because it is our last year in the

competition and we won it. Saint Pat's will now trying to defend

their cup title. Northern Ireland's golden girl Kelly

Gallagher got a warm welcome when she flew back into Heathrow this

evening. The visually impaired skier from Bangor, and her guide Charlotte

Evans, arrived home along with the rest of Team GB from the games in

Sochi. There is a lot of flash photography. Together they won Team

GB's first ever gold medal at the Winter Paralympic Games when they

came first in the Super G event. And we'll be hearing more from Kelly

in a special interview on tomorrow night's BBC Newsline, when she'll be

reflecting on her success in the Sochi games. That's at 6:30 tomorrow

evening. And now here's the weather with

Barra Best. It has not been a terribly bad day.

We got a bit of drizzle here and there but most of us, it is dry. For

the rest of the week it is going to be more unsettled. Certainly much

windier. That is the future of the rest of the week. As we go through

the night, the winds will pick up and we will see a Briggs of rain

coming in. Some will be heavy also but not especially chilly. --

outbreaks of rain. That sets us up for a rather disappointing start to

tomorrow. It is going to be great, damp and fairly windy. Through the

day, it is going to turn much drier. -- it will be dull, damp and windy.

The unsettled weather mainly focused around northern areas of Ireland and

through many areas of northern Britain. For Scotland, northern

England and Wales for a while it will be quite unsettled. The best of

the weather towards the south east of England. As they go through the

day, it improves for Wales and much of the Republic. By the afternoon,

it will gradually improve for Northern Ireland also. There one or

two showers lingering but not for everybody. You windy afternoon to,

and cloudy as the entity. -- you windy afternoon also. Wednesday, it

will stay windy but largely dry and bright. Some good spells of

sunshine. The winds will take the edge of those temperatures little

bit. By the end of Wednesday, we are going to see stronger winds coming

in and for Thursday, a fairly wet day followed by cold air and

scattered showers. That's it for now. You can keep up

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Twitter. From BBC Newsline, goodnight.