09/04/2014

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:00:08. > :00:12.Hello and welcome to BBC Newsline. The PSNI say they're to

:00:13. > :00:14.reinvestigate gun-running from Florida by the Provisional IRA. It

:00:15. > :00:18.follows last night's BBC Spotlight programme, which claimed a senior

:00:19. > :00:20.member of Sinn Fein was involved in buying and smuggling weapons from

:00:21. > :00:25.the United States. Sean Murray denies the allegations. The police

:00:26. > :00:27.tonight said the reinvestigation will include existing evidence

:00:28. > :00:38.together with any potential new evidence. Gareth Gordon reports. The

:00:39. > :00:45.man on the right is Sean Murray. Months ago he had a ringside seat as

:00:46. > :00:48.a Sinn Fein negotiator. On last night's programme he was named as

:00:49. > :00:51.the brains behind a Florida gun-running operation in which this

:00:52. > :01:03.man, Mike Logan, admitted posting around 200 weapons to the

:01:04. > :01:06.organisation between 1995 and 1999. One of these weapons, it is alleged,

:01:07. > :01:09.was used to murder two police community officers in 1997, five

:01:10. > :01:17.weeks before the second IRA cease-fire. It was also alleged that

:01:18. > :01:20.authorities on both sides sought to distance the IRA and Sean Murray

:01:21. > :01:34.from the operation in order to protect the peace process. They knew

:01:35. > :01:38.that it was run by Sean Murray and was sanctioned at the highest levels

:01:39. > :01:41.by the IRA. I did not talk to them until 2003. The question is how much

:01:42. > :01:45.of this matters. According to unionists, it does quite a lot and

:01:46. > :01:51.they want to see if anything can be done. I don't think it's surprising

:01:52. > :01:55.that a member of Sinn Fein would be involved in criminality such as this

:01:56. > :02:01.and what we now have is someone coming forward, telling us in quite

:02:02. > :02:08.minute detail what was going on. So we want to know, what are the

:02:09. > :02:13.authorities going to do about that? After the On the Runs, we said, if

:02:14. > :02:18.there is more, get it out in the open now. It is a shame we had to

:02:19. > :02:21.hear it from the BBC but if there is more, and I've no reason to doubt

:02:22. > :02:27.there isn't, let's get it out. We have to move on and we have to deal

:02:28. > :02:29.with these issues. Sean Murray says he has never been arrested, detained

:02:30. > :02:33.or interviewed about the allegations, adding that the PSNI

:02:34. > :02:39.would have acted had there been any evidence. A Newry businessman has

:02:40. > :02:45.walked free from court, despite pleading guilty to a multi-million

:02:46. > :02:48.pound money-laundering operation. Rory Trainer, who ran a Bureau de

:02:49. > :02:51.Change on the old Dublin Road in Newry, admitted converting the

:02:52. > :03:03.proceeds of crime for several criminal gangs, primarily drug

:03:04. > :03:11.dealers. Gordon Adair has more. Bundle after bundle after bundle of

:03:12. > :03:15.?20 notes. In two raids on the Hoban Euroleague, Revenue and Customs

:03:16. > :03:19.officers recovered ?150,000 in cash and about half was on this floor

:03:20. > :03:24.safe and the other in this beer cooler and this, they believe, is

:03:25. > :03:29.just the tip of the iceberg. This unassuming office housed his Bureau

:03:30. > :03:35.De Change business. Perched on the side of the old road between he runs

:03:36. > :03:40.nearly and Dublin. It barely warranted a glance from passing

:03:41. > :03:46.motorists. Yet in 2.5 years, Rory Trainer managed to squeeze ?63

:03:47. > :03:52.million into this business. Much of that the proceeds of crime. It is

:03:53. > :03:56.representative of the amount of money that exists in the black and

:03:57. > :04:00.grey economy in Northern Ireland and it is indicative of the amount of

:04:01. > :04:08.money to be made from drugs and of course the facility that he ran was

:04:09. > :04:12.in anonymity in transferring money. Look at this man waiting in a West

:04:13. > :04:19.Belfast curb Ashton Agar car park. This is Kieran Parker. In 2009 he

:04:20. > :04:24.was caught near Belfast's IKEA store with cannabis worth ?700,000 and

:04:25. > :04:28.?5,000 in cash hidden under the spare wheel of his car. Here he is

:04:29. > :04:33.waiting for Rory Trainer, who eventually arrives and handsome a

:04:34. > :04:40.bag of cash. Transactions like this were commonplace and happened in car

:04:41. > :04:43.parks across the country. Rory Trainer was made the subject of a

:04:44. > :04:48.serious crime prevention order and in an unusual move, the judge

:04:49. > :04:51.decided to be first sentencing for a full year to see if he would comply

:04:52. > :04:59.with the conditions contained within that order. The leading prosecution

:05:00. > :05:04.authority is Revenue and Customs and from then there has been no

:05:05. > :05:07.response. It seems clear that anyone close to this investigation, which

:05:08. > :05:11.has been long, difficult and expensive, will be disappointed

:05:12. > :05:19.there was no immediate custodial sentence. Police investigating the

:05:20. > :05:21.death of a baby last month in Belfast have started a murder

:05:22. > :05:25.inquiry. The baby was critically injured in an incident at a house in

:05:26. > :05:28.the east of the city. It's understood the child's mother was

:05:29. > :05:31.arrested at the time under the Mental Health Act. The Irish

:05:32. > :05:34.President, Michael D Higgins, has finished the second day of

:05:35. > :05:38.engagements on his State visit to Britain. Today, the focus was on the

:05:39. > :05:45.contribution of Irish people to life in the UK, as Chris Page reports.

:05:46. > :05:49.The sumptuous splendour of the State visit continued this evening.

:05:50. > :05:53.President Higgins was guest of honour at a banquet in Guildhall -

:05:54. > :06:01.the ceremonial centre of the City of London. The President also had his

:06:02. > :06:04.lunch in a famous setting - Downing Street. This was the first formal

:06:05. > :06:13.meeting between an Irish head of state and a British Prime Minister

:06:14. > :06:19.on English soil. An extremely warm welcome to the President. Welcome to

:06:20. > :06:25.Downing Street. It is remarkable how Anglo Irish relations have not only

:06:26. > :06:29.been transformed but I see them on an ever increasing gradient. But the

:06:30. > :06:32.main purpose of today was highlighting how people from Ireland

:06:33. > :06:34.contribute to everyday British life. At University College Hospital,

:06:35. > :06:43.President Higgins met Irish doctors and nurses. Some took the chance to

:06:44. > :06:47.have a conversation in Irish. And at the Royal Society, the President

:06:48. > :06:56.chatted to young scientists. He said it was important that academics from

:06:57. > :07:00.the UK and Ireland worked together. It would be so valuable and it is

:07:01. > :07:04.valuable to see these national dialogue is expanding and maturing

:07:05. > :07:07.alongside the strengthening of scientific cooperation between our

:07:08. > :07:10.countries and people. Tomorrow, the main events will be a Northern

:07:11. > :07:13.Ireland-themed reception with the Queen at Windsor Castle and a

:07:14. > :07:18.cultural evening at the Royal Albert Hall. HBO, the makers of hit

:07:19. > :07:22.television series Game of Thrones, has announced it has commissioned a

:07:23. > :07:25.fifth and sixth series to be filmed mainly in Northern Ireland. The

:07:26. > :07:31.First Minister, Peter Robinson, says it'll be worth more than ?20 million

:07:32. > :07:36.to the local economy. Rory McIlroy has warmed up today for the start of

:07:37. > :07:39.golf's US Masters by playing in the traditional Par three competition at

:07:40. > :07:41.Augusta. His fiancee, tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, donned the

:07:42. > :07:52.famous white overalls to caddy and before they teed off they reflected

:07:53. > :08:00.on their recent engagement. Rory did very well! How could I say no? Can

:08:01. > :08:08.we get a closer look? Sure. Big surprise? It was, yes! I need to

:08:09. > :08:16.play well at the end of the year! Yes! How are the wedding plans? Yes,

:08:17. > :08:25.we are working on it. Here's Angie Philips with the weather.

:08:26. > :08:30.After a decent evening things will change overnight and we have a

:08:31. > :08:33.weather system approaching from the north-west so that will bring

:08:34. > :08:37.thickening cloud and eventually it will bring spells of rain,

:08:38. > :08:40.particularly across northern and western areas. Not particularly

:08:41. > :08:45.heavy but it could be persistent and the breeze eases and it is another

:08:46. > :08:50.fairly mild night with temperatures no law than six degrees. Tomorrow,

:08:51. > :08:54.things will cheer up but it will be a very slow start with lots of

:08:55. > :08:59.cloud, dampen places, particularly across central areas and that rain

:09:00. > :09:03.sliding across the south and east. It could be late morning before it

:09:04. > :09:07.finally clears out of the way and we get something brighter. In the

:09:08. > :09:12.meantime, that band of rain is increasingly patchy and moves into

:09:13. > :09:18.the Republic of Ireland and parts of northern England. Aside from that,

:09:19. > :09:21.it is mainly dry and we will get brightness coming through and it

:09:22. > :09:26.will feel quite warm. To the north of that, it also brightens up with

:09:27. > :09:30.sunshine for the second half of the day. Still some sharp showers over

:09:31. > :09:35.Scotland and some might be quite thundery. It is a bright afternoon

:09:36. > :09:40.for all of us in Northern Ireland, if you showers around but not all

:09:41. > :09:43.parts will catch them and many places staying dry for the

:09:44. > :09:49.afternoon. Temperatures at around 11 degrees the wind is very light. Into

:09:50. > :09:52.Friday, it starts chilly but a fine day with sunshine, damp to begin

:09:53. > :09:56.with and Saturday but the rest of the weekend looks dry. That's it for

:09:57. > :09:58.now. You can keep up-to-date online and follow this programme on

:09:59. > :10:00.Facebook and Twitter. Goodnight.