:00:00. > :00:00.who do we think we are? That's all from us.
:00:00. > :00:10.Hello and welcome to BBC Newsline. The Irish President, Michael D
:00:11. > :00:14.Higgins, arrived in London ahead of his state visit to the United
:00:15. > :00:16.Kingdom, the first by a president from the Republic. The visit had
:00:17. > :00:19.already been described as historic, a further sign of the closer
:00:20. > :00:22.relationship between the two countries. The decision by Sein
:00:23. > :00:25.Fein's Martin McGuinness to accept the Queen's invitation to a state
:00:26. > :00:28.banquet has been attracting most political attention here. Donna
:00:29. > :00:42.Traynor is in Windsor tonight ahead of tomorrow's state banquet hosted
:00:43. > :00:47.by the Queen. . Good evening from Windsor. Following the visit by the
:00:48. > :00:55.Queen to the republic in 2011, this visit by the president completes the
:00:56. > :01:01.circumstance in Anglo Irish relations. The stamg has been set.
:01:02. > :01:12.-- stage has been set. As you can see, as with protocol union flags
:01:13. > :01:16.and trick tricolours line the route. The Royal Standard is flying above
:01:17. > :01:22.the tower. That means that the queen is in residence and is awaiting her
:01:23. > :01:27.visitor. But today the focus has been on Martin McGuinness and that
:01:28. > :01:35.acceptance of an invitation to a state banquet tomorrow. Our
:01:36. > :01:45.political correspondent reports. The band played Raglan Road, a bitter
:01:46. > :01:49.sweet air on the president's first state visit to Dublin. Now an
:01:50. > :01:54.enchanted way as the dangers of the past are laid to rest. With full
:01:55. > :01:59.military honours for president Michael D Higgins. Also on his way,
:02:00. > :02:04.in very different circumstances, the deputy First Minister, who says the
:02:05. > :02:08.visit is about building peace and reconciliation. Well this is about
:02:09. > :02:13.sending the message to everybody about how things have changed. Werp
:02:14. > :02:18.not just involved in a peace process, we are involved in a change
:02:19. > :02:24.process. And change is good for all of us. We had to move forward and
:02:25. > :02:28.being progressive and positive and constructive. Ofbgt it won't be
:02:29. > :02:36.Martin McGuinness's first encounter with the Queen. But it will be at a
:02:37. > :02:45.state banquet. So what is the view from the banks of the Foyle?
:02:46. > :02:50.#123450i I have no problem with it. Why not, she came here. So he can go
:02:51. > :02:53.there. I think he was being a bit two-faced. I was pleased that he
:02:54. > :02:58.did, because he is going to represent the people really isn't
:02:59. > :03:03.he? He should, yeah, I think it's OK. The deputy First Minister's
:03:04. > :03:09.decision has been welcomed by the Secretary of State. This is another
:03:10. > :03:12.demonstration of the real progress that has been made with respect to
:03:13. > :03:16.Northern Ireland in recent years and in terms of improving the
:03:17. > :03:23.friendliness and strength of the relations between the UK and Ireland
:03:24. > :03:29.and the Republic of Ireland. At the last Westminster and Dail elections
:03:30. > :03:32.over 24 million people voted and 400,000 voted Sinn Fein. It is not
:03:33. > :03:37.just about them, but about everybody in Britain and Ireland. Let's
:03:38. > :03:42.represent it is about the president of Ireland and the Queen of United
:03:43. > :03:49.Kingdom and not about Sinn Fein. This oak Strang from an acorn taken
:03:50. > :03:57.from wind sor castle and planted here to mark the Queen's coronation.
:03:58. > :04:02.It has thrived and as is blot somes again -- blossoms again, so will a
:04:03. > :04:05.new relationship between Britain and Ireland. Even though the security
:04:06. > :04:15.was tight for the arrival of president Higgins. President Higgins
:04:16. > :04:20.spoke about his visit before he left. In an interview with the BBC
:04:21. > :04:25.he explained its significance. I think the visit is very important
:04:26. > :04:30.for relationships between the people of Ireland and the people of of the
:04:31. > :04:38.United Kingdom. I also think it will have a special significance for the
:04:39. > :04:42.Irish community in Britain. It would be hard to match the symbolism of
:04:43. > :04:48.the queen's visit to Dublin. This will be a different visit. I think
:04:49. > :04:56.the Queen's visit here was of great significance. Full of symbolism. And
:04:57. > :05:04.that visit having happened then, we move on then to in this visit to
:05:05. > :05:08.look very much to the future. Like all state visit there is will be a
:05:09. > :05:11.banquet and an address to Parliament. But this one is
:05:12. > :05:17.different. President Higgins will be here for four days and for those
:05:18. > :05:23.staying in the castle, that is not normally the domain of royal guests.
:05:24. > :05:31.President Higgins will be at the Irish embassry tonight and then he
:05:32. > :05:36.will be staying here. We will bring you full coverage of the visit. And
:05:37. > :05:43.I'm back here tomorrow afternoon for his ceremonial arrival. Back to the
:05:44. > :05:46.studio. Thank you. A row has erupted over posters in south and east
:05:47. > :05:48.Belfast claiming hundreds of overseas workers are receiving
:05:49. > :05:51.higher wages and denying local people jobs. The UKIP MLA David
:05:52. > :05:54.McNarry says the posters represent community frustration over 500
:05:55. > :05:57.foreign workers being employed on an oil rig contract at Harland and
:05:58. > :06:07.Wolff. The Alliance Party has condemned the posters as racist. I'm
:06:08. > :06:13.outraged by it. I think this is ridiculous putting up these
:06:14. > :06:19.unsubstantiated lies, accusations of immigrants coming into Northern
:06:20. > :06:26.Ireland. Particular ly when we have seen recent racist incidents in
:06:27. > :06:31.Belfast. I know who is responsible and it is nothing but a reaction as
:06:32. > :06:37.to what they think is happening to workers, men losing jobs, men not
:06:38. > :06:43.being offered jobs in east Belfast, where the shipyard was born and
:06:44. > :06:45.bred. More than two dozen towns and cities across Northern Ireland are
:06:46. > :06:49.to benefit from lower parking charges. From next start, 93 roads
:06:50. > :06:52.service sites will charge ?1 for five hours parking. As Mark Simpson
:06:53. > :06:59.reports, Belfast is not included in the scheme. The idea behind the
:07:00. > :07:05.scheme is to try to get more shoppers into towns and cities
:07:06. > :07:08.across Northern Ireland like Hollywood here. In fact 25 towns and
:07:09. > :07:14.cities will be part of the scheme and under the scheme it will be ?1
:07:15. > :07:19.for five hours of parking. And the scheme begins on Saturday morning.
:07:20. > :07:25.The question is - will it work? I think it is a perfect compromise.
:07:26. > :07:31.Five hours for ?1 doesn't sound like a lot. In an ideal world you would
:07:32. > :07:35.be able to park free, but those days are long gone with so many cars.
:07:36. > :07:39.Anything that encourages people back into the towns has to be a great
:07:40. > :07:44.thing. This one obvious place missing from the long list of towns
:07:45. > :07:49.and cities benefitting from cheaper parking and this a Belfast N terms
:07:50. > :07:55.of price of parking there, there is no change. Preparations for the
:07:56. > :07:59.first major golf tournament of the year - the US Masters - have been
:08:00. > :08:02.disrupted due to thunder storms. Stephen Watson is reporting from
:08:03. > :08:11.Augusta all this week for BBC Newsline. First light at Augusta and
:08:12. > :08:14.Northern Ireland's champions had already arrived. They were all
:08:15. > :08:20.trying to squeeze in some practice before the bad weather set in. But
:08:21. > :08:28.it wasn't long until day one was brought to a premature end. There
:08:29. > :08:33.are storms approaching the area. Accompanied by dangerous lightning.
:08:34. > :08:40.The former open champion was taking it in his stride. I have been here a
:08:41. > :08:44.few times, so I know course well. I have got a few holes in yesterday.
:08:45. > :08:49.Disappointing for the people that come to watch. They travel from all
:08:50. > :08:55.over America and they have got a day where they won't see any golf. The
:08:56. > :09:00.course was evacuated and practice cancelled for the first time since
:09:01. > :09:09.2003. Thankfully there is better weather forecast for tomorrow. Now
:09:10. > :09:14.the local weather. We have had some hefty showers today, but once we get
:09:15. > :09:18.beyond today there isn't as much rain in the forecast. There will be
:09:19. > :09:22.some, but mainly patchy and light. Maybe the odd bright interval. I
:09:23. > :09:26.think we are going to see increasing amounts of cloud as the week
:09:27. > :09:30.progresses and temperatures are heading back to average after a mild
:09:31. > :09:35.spell. Coming back to tonight, although the showers are moving on
:09:36. > :09:40.there will still be some to come on a brisk breeze. But not as heavy and
:09:41. > :09:46.not as many as today and clear spells in between. Maybe some grass
:09:47. > :09:52.frost, but most places should be frost-free. Tomorrow, a bright and
:09:53. > :09:57.breezy day. Mainly dry too, although there will be one or two showers. It
:09:58. > :10:02.is a similar start across the republic, although that breeze will
:10:03. > :10:09.bring more cloud in the afternoon, as it will in western Scotland. For
:10:10. > :10:15.eastern Scotland, England and Wales, mainly dry and bright. Also quite
:10:16. > :10:19.breezy and feeling cool in the breechltz temperatures up to 15 in
:10:20. > :10:22.the south-east. For Northern Ireland, near average temperatures
:10:23. > :10:26.tomorrow. 11 degrees or so. Still bright in the south and east at
:10:27. > :10:31.first. But cloud will increase later and that will threaten some light
:10:32. > :10:36.rain for northern and western parts tomorrow night. Through the rest of
:10:37. > :10:42.the week, a good deal of cloud. Some patchy rain on Thursday. Otherwise
:10:43. > :10:44.largely dry. Have a good night.