26/03/2014 BBC Newsline

in a moment with analysis of that debate between Nick Clegg and Nigel

Farage. Good evening. A six-year-old boy is

in a critical condition in hospital after being struck by a car in

Railway Street in Lisburn this afternoon. Another boy who was also

hit by the car is in a stable condition following the incident.

Railway Street remains closed. The BBC understands that two

patients were waiting on trolleys in the Royal Victoria hospital's

emergency department for more than 29 hours from yesterday morning

until tonight. One member of staff says the pressure hasn't lifted

since the weekend. Our health correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly

reports. I understand the chairman was

included in an e-mail sent earlier today by staff members who described

their chaos within the emergency department. The information included

that at lunchtime two patients had been waiting on trolleys for over 24

hours. By this evening, that time had increased to over 29 hours.

Clearly, the chairman had not had time to read that e-mail before

leaving to appear before the health committee. The chairman put the team

under the spotlight while receiving light texts from inside the

emergency department. As we are here, I am being contacted by staff

who are indicating that the department has not stopped since

Sunday. There are patients who have been waiting for 25 hours for a bed

and their patients have actually e-mailed the Minister. I am

reflecting on what I've been told and I am putting that to you. Surely

that is a crisis and it needs intervention now. And there will be

intervention. I don't have the information you have. Other patients

have also been waiting for more than 24 hours. That means they have had

to sit through for meal breaks, in the middle of a busy emergency

department. The former IRA member Ivor Bell has

been released from jail after being granted bail on a charge of aiding

and abetting the murder of Jean McConville in Belfast in 1972. The

High Court hearing was told he gave advice that Mrs McConville should

not be spared from being shot because she was a woman. Dan Stanton

reports. Ivor Bell leaving prison this

afternoon after being granted bail at the High Court. The prosecution

opposed bail but the judge granted it after he said to Ivor Bell "If I

release you on bail, do you promise me you will keep to your bail

conditions?" He replied, via video link from Maghaberry Prison, "You

have my word, my Lord". Those conditions are two sureties of

?10,000 each. Ivor Bell must also report to a police station three

times a week, surrender his passport and give 48 hours' notice of any

intention to travel outside Northern Ireland. The prosecution told the

High Court that based on evidence it was convinced that Ivor Bell was the

man who said about Jean McConville, "Well, she's a tout, and the fact

she's a woman shouldn't save her". It also alleged that conversation

was had while the mother of ten was still alive and before Jean

Mcconville was seized by the IRA from her Divis flats in 1972. Her

body was later found buried at a beach in County Louth. Researchers

had agreed that transcripts of former paramilitaries were not to be

published until after their deaths, but last year a US court ruled that

the tapes should be handed over to the PSNI investigating Mrs

McConville's killing. There are fears that up to 200 jobs

could be lost at the Teletech call centre in north Belfast after the

firm lost a major contract. A company memo said the firm, which

employs 600 people ,had lost its contract to provide customer support

services for the car maker Nissan to the French company B2S. The company

is yet to comment. This is a blow to the local community and the workers

who are affected and over the next few days the local MP has already

met and spoken to them. We will be seeking meetings with them and the

management from Teletech to make sure we can do all we can for those

who may be affected. 15 female senior prosecutors have

successfully sued the Public Prosecution Service for sex

discrimination. Their claims of discrimination on basis of age and

religious belief were also upheld. Eunan McConville reports.

This is the BBC's ground-breaking documentary Barristers, a look

behind the scenes of the legal profession. But behind the scenes of

the Public Prosecution Service, 15 young lawyers were far from happy.

The 15 lawyers are all women, mostly Catholic. All senior public

prosecutors. The Fair Employment Tribunal found in their favour,

saying that they were getting paid less for doing the same work as male

colleagues. That was because of a change in the lawyers' pay structure

when policing and justice powers were devolved to the Northern

Ireland Assembly in 2010. So they sued the PPS, as well as the

Department of Finance and Personnel. The department and the PPS admitted

that the change in pay structure did amount to indirect discrimination,

but said that there was what's called "objective justification" for

that discrimination - effectively, that there was a good reason. The

Fair Employment Tribunal disagreed and found in favour of the female

prosecutors taking the case. The decision referred to the fact that

the reason given for the difference in pay was entirely misinterpreted

and, in fact, their claimants in this case had been misrepresented.

The tribunal said... It was held that the discrimination

went back as far as debris 2006. A spokesperson for the Department of

Finance and Personnel said they and the public prosecution process were

considering the decision and it would not be appropriate to comment

at the moment. The tributes told both sides in the case that they

would have to meet to negotiate a deal on the back pay now owed to the

15 lawyers. This is to include pension contributions. If they

cannot agree, there is to be another legal hearing. Conservatively, it'll

cost the PPS more than half a million pounds. Possibly more than a

million. That doesn't include any potential damages or legal costs.

And the tribunal decision could still cost the PPS even more. The

BBC has been told that there are a number of senior prosecutors in the

same boat, but who weren't party to these legal proceedings.

The Irish Justice Minister has apologised to two whistle-blowers

who reported senior police officers for wiping penalty points from the

driving licences of well connected people. Alan Shatter told the Dail

he had not intended to mislead the house when he said Sergeant Maurice

McCabe and retired Garda John Wilson had not co-operated with the

O'Mahony Inquiry, which had been set up to look into the penalty points

controversy. Antrim Forum played host to many of

our sporting stars tonight at an event celebrating some of the

outstanding achievements of last year. Among those present was the

popular rugby player Tommy Bowe. He's hoping Ulster can add to that

sporting success in 2014 as his team chases silverware in the Pro12

league and Heineken Cup. After the success of the Irish team in the six

Nations I think that rugby is on a high. We have a match against

Saracens and the match in Cardiff. Ulster and Ireland rugby star Andrew

Trimble will be live on Good Morning Ulster tomorrow morning and there'll

be a special interview on BBC Newsline tomorrow night.

Glasgow Celtic are champions for the third year in a row. Now the

weather. Tonight, a few showers remain but

many places are dry. Temperatures getting close to freezing so we

expect some frost and maybe some icy patches. In the east, not as cold.

There is another weather front moving west tomorrow morning so that

will bring more showers and a brisk, chilly easterly breeze. There

could be some hail before they start to ease away. Turning quite showery

across the East of Scotland and England and those strong easterly

winds from the North Sea will drive those showers inland towards Wales

by the afternoon. Those showers could have hail and thunder. The

best brightness for the north-west of Scotland and in the afternoon

Northern Ireland brightens up as well but not particularly warm. It

will fuel chilly. Into Friday and it is still quite chilly with the

easterly wind. Not quite as cold during the weekend but dismal on

Saturday.