Browse content similar to 16/04/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Korean ferry capsized. That's all from | :00:00. | 3:59:59 | |
Good evening. The headlines on BBC Newsline. A reprieve for four | :00:00. | :00:21. | |
residential care homes that were earmarked for closure. I'm live in | :00:22. | :00:26. | |
Dublin, where within the last hour former Anglo-Irish bank boss Sean | :00:27. | :00:29. | |
Fitzpatrick has been cleared of fraud charges. The Secretary of | :00:30. | :00:37. | |
State calls for a fresh approach to dealing with the past. As a display | :00:38. | :00:41. | |
of remembering quilts dedicated to people killed in the Troubles is | :00:42. | :00:44. | |
opened, I get reaction from some victims groups to those comments. | :00:45. | :00:54. | |
Criticism of the sentence given to a woman who stole tens of thousands of | :00:55. | :00:57. | |
pounds from people wanting to buy holiday homes in Spain. She never | :00:58. | :01:06. | |
sold me the apartment, she had taken my money and given me false | :01:07. | :01:09. | |
contracts. And we may have lost the sunshine. But there's still some | :01:10. | :01:16. | |
good dry spells in forecast. Relief for many families tonight as several | :01:17. | :01:19. | |
residential care homes which were earmarked for closure have now been | :01:20. | :01:24. | |
told they will remain open. The Health Minister, Edwin Poots, | :01:25. | :01:26. | |
visited residents this afternoon in the Northern and Western Health | :01:27. | :01:29. | |
Trust areas. Marie-Louise Connolly is with me now. What can you tell | :01:30. | :01:42. | |
us? The health minister visited for residential care homes and into | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
Health Trust areas, Westlands, Pinewood and Rosedale residential | :01:48. | :01:52. | |
homes in Antrim. In each care home, he told residents that it was his | :01:53. | :01:56. | |
wish that they should stay there for as long as they so wished and as | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
long as was physically possible. He told staff it was his wish that they | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
should retain their jobs. There was no relation in two of them and the | :02:05. | :02:11. | |
research a public outcry because last year, one year ago, care homes | :02:12. | :02:16. | |
were told there was a very strong possibility that they would close. | :02:17. | :02:22. | |
There were protests and we also met some residents and families who | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
said, whereas where they meant to go if they were to close? You can see | :02:28. | :02:32. | |
on the screens, we attended factory and there we met a woman whose | :02:33. | :02:40. | |
mother turned 100 last week and told me they are so happy and so relieved | :02:41. | :02:44. | |
that her mother will get to stay where she wants for the rest of her | :02:45. | :02:50. | |
life. What about the other homes? We do not know and because alteration | :02:51. | :02:55. | |
process ended in March and my understanding is the Minister will | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
receive this report and he will deliver the rest of the news to the | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
other care homes in due course but the big question is, will any of | :03:06. | :03:10. | |
these care homes take any new admissions? That is the big | :03:11. | :03:14. | |
question. If they do not, there is no change to the policy. Thank you | :03:15. | :03:20. | |
very much indeed. The former chairman of Anglo-Irish Bank has | :03:21. | :03:23. | |
been found not guilty of illegally supporting the bank's share price. | :03:24. | :03:26. | |
The verdict came late this afternoon. Our business and | :03:27. | :03:28. | |
economics editor, John Campbell, joins us from Dublin. Sean | :03:29. | :03:36. | |
Fitzpatrick too many people is simply the most hated man in Dublin. | :03:37. | :03:42. | |
He ran Anglo-Irish Bank and when it went bust it cost taxpayers 30 | :03:43. | :03:45. | |
billion euros and played a major part in the events leading to the | :03:46. | :03:51. | |
bailout and disgrace of the country. He leaves the court an innocent man | :03:52. | :03:55. | |
and he has been fined not guilty of involvement in this illegal share | :03:56. | :03:59. | |
support scheme, closely linked to permanent as this ban Sean Quinn. -- | :04:00. | :04:06. | |
Fermanagh is this man. In the middle of 2008, the bank had a problem, | :04:07. | :04:12. | |
Sean Quinn had taken a complicated financial bet which meant he and a | :04:13. | :04:15. | |
flight controls 25% of the bank shares. His bed had gone | :04:16. | :04:20. | |
horrendously wrong and he was sitting on huge and growing losses. | :04:21. | :04:25. | |
There was the prospect of his shares being dumped in the market which | :04:26. | :04:28. | |
would cause the share price to collapse. When the chairman, Sean | :04:29. | :04:34. | |
Fitzpatrick, was told about the bed, he was horrified. The bank was big | :04:35. | :04:39. | |
response was to get customers to buy the Quinn shares. A process managed | :04:40. | :04:46. | |
by the Executive's Pat William. The bank lent the investors the money to | :04:47. | :04:49. | |
buy the shares and did so on very favourable terms. Loans were also | :04:50. | :04:54. | |
provided to members of the Quinn family to take up some of those | :04:55. | :04:59. | |
shares. The deal had the desired effect and Anglo-Irish Bank | :05:00. | :05:02. | |
staggered on for a few more months. The prosecution said the arrangement | :05:03. | :05:06. | |
was a breach of company law. It prevents the firm lending to a | :05:07. | :05:09. | |
customer with the intention of affecting the share price. The judge | :05:10. | :05:13. | |
told the jury they could only deliver a guilty verdict if they | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
were sure the loans had not been made in the ordinary course of the | :05:18. | :05:25. | |
business. Mr Fitzpatrick's barrister argued his client's knowledge and | :05:26. | :05:27. | |
understanding of the scheme was limited. Mr Fitzpatrick left the | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
court tonight a very relieved man and he thanked his family and the | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
Jerry and we heard a little more of what he had to say. I would simply | :05:39. | :05:44. | |
ask that courtesy extended to me and my family during this trial by the | :05:45. | :05:52. | |
media will be maintained. And the privacy of my family, which has been | :05:53. | :05:59. | |
intruded on in the last six years, will cease. There are still two | :06:00. | :06:09. | |
defendants in this case? You saw those earlier men, Pat William and | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
William McAteer, they are also on trial facing a total of 16 charges | :06:15. | :06:17. | |
and the judge said he would take a majority verdict from the jury and | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
they have been considering their verdict for almost four days. They | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
will return in the morning to consider the verdicts in terms of | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
these two men tomorrow morning. Thank you. Is there too much focus | :06:31. | :06:37. | |
on killings carried out by the state in the past and not enough on those | :06:38. | :06:40. | |
committed by paramilitaries? The Secretary of State thinks so but her | :06:41. | :06:43. | |
views have started a major political debate. Unionists have reacted | :06:44. | :06:46. | |
favourably but nationalists have accused her of interfering. Here's | :06:47. | :06:56. | |
our political correspondent, Gareth Gordon Northern Ireland's past | :06:57. | :07:03. | |
continues to infect the present. Policing and justice are making it | :07:04. | :07:07. | |
harder for politicians to agree so the Secretary of State says it is | :07:08. | :07:10. | |
time for a new approach. More focus on the role of paramilitaries and | :07:11. | :07:15. | |
less on that of state forces. It was meant to provide some reassurance | :07:16. | :07:18. | |
for those who are anxious about the process, potentially being | :07:19. | :07:24. | |
one-sided. To say that actually, this is a real opportunity to create | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
a process which is subjective, Alan stands transparent and accountable | :07:29. | :07:35. | |
and which is historically accurate. She outlined ideas for an audience | :07:36. | :07:39. | |
which included for church leaders but news had got out and waiting for | :07:40. | :07:43. | |
her some people whose relatives were among ten shot dead by soldiers in | :07:44. | :07:54. | |
West Belfast in 1971. Why should she single anybody out? It has to go | :07:55. | :08:00. | |
across the board. Her view find favour with unionists. What you do | :08:01. | :08:05. | |
is you make all innocent victims become and at the moment, those | :08:06. | :08:09. | |
victims of paramilitary groups feel they are ignored and forgotten | :08:10. | :08:14. | |
whereas other cases are brought to the fore, millions of pounds spent | :08:15. | :08:17. | |
on investigating the police and the army, so let us have the same | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
Spotlight but onto the vast majority of cases where paramilitaries were | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
involved on both sides of the committee. The balance is wrong. We | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
look to the state and what the state aid rather than to the causes of the | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
conflict and the real cause is that some people decided they wanted to | :08:37. | :08:40. | |
undermine and destroy the state through terrorism, bombs and | :08:41. | :08:43. | |
bullets. Among nationalists there is great concern. I find it | :08:44. | :08:49. | |
extraordinary that she would interfere in such a way as to say, | :08:50. | :08:53. | |
do not look at the past in an objective way, victims and survivors | :08:54. | :08:56. | |
as individuals, but she isn't struck from her point of view that they | :08:57. | :09:02. | |
must have bigger emphasis on what she would call paramilitary | :09:03. | :09:06. | |
killings. The distance between both opinions will be difficult to | :09:07. | :09:09. | |
bridge. For Theresa Villiers or anybody else. The Secretary of State | :09:10. | :09:15. | |
says this is her attempt to move politics in Northern Ireland onwards | :09:16. | :09:17. | |
but what represents progress from one side, in this case unionists, is | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
seen as a step backwards by nationalists. An event organised by | :09:22. | :09:31. | |
victims groups has taken place at Belfast City Hall and Donna Trainer | :09:32. | :09:39. | |
is there. This is the opening evening of Remembering Quilt is, | :09:40. | :09:41. | |
full of square is dedicated to people killed during the Troubles. | :09:42. | :09:45. | |
Victims of paramilitary violence and state violence. I will speak to | :09:46. | :09:51. | |
victims groups for their reaction to the Secretary of State's comments | :09:52. | :09:54. | |
but first, the Commissioner for victims and survivors, Kathryn | :09:55. | :09:57. | |
Stone, who announced she was stepping down from her post. She had | :09:58. | :10:05. | |
intended to stay for four years and she is stepping down after 18 | :10:06. | :10:08. | |
months, moving to another post in England. She spoke to BBC Newsline. | :10:09. | :10:15. | |
There is a lot of work to do, there is a lot of things that can continue | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
to be done by the commission, supported by the victim 's Forum and | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
is a work programme in place and that will continue. With the new | :10:23. | :10:28. | |
Commissioner. This has been a very challenging role but very important | :10:29. | :10:34. | |
and a role but I feel uniquely privileged to have played a very | :10:35. | :10:40. | |
small part in. Kathryn Stone. Mark Thomson, what is your reaction to | :10:41. | :10:47. | |
the legacy she leaves behind? I think she did a lot around services, | :10:48. | :10:53. | |
there is a lot of evidence for that. She sided with groups and the | :10:54. | :10:58. | |
victims and she did good work. That said, I wish you well. As any | :10:59. | :11:04. | |
Commissioner, given with the definitions of the past, the | :11:05. | :11:07. | |
contentious and of the governments and the parties cannot sort that, we | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
cannot expect a handful of victims to do that. I wish you well, she has | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
done good work and we need to move on. Do you think that role for | :11:17. | :11:22. | |
victims and survivors is tenable? I do not know, history suggests not. | :11:23. | :11:28. | |
Given me hard for commissioners and then Kathryn Stone and I think she | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
was the right appointment at that time but if you ask about her | :11:34. | :11:41. | |
legacy, she did not finish. I do not know why she felt the need to | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
resign. I wish well. I still think there is a role for a champion for | :11:47. | :11:52. | |
victims and survivors. It is finding the right person. That is the big | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
question. What about the Commons today by the Secretary of State for | :11:59. | :12:02. | |
more proportionate approach to the wrongdoings of paramilitaries and | :12:03. | :12:07. | |
less on what the state did? I think there has to be balanced, at the end | :12:08. | :12:12. | |
of the day, wherever wrongdoings were committed, whether paramilitary | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
or the British state, or the Irish state, these things need to be | :12:17. | :12:20. | |
looked at and investigated and I think there needs to be a process | :12:21. | :12:22. | |
and one of the things we really suffer from here is that there has | :12:23. | :12:26. | |
been no real joined up thinking in terms of this and we had two major | :12:27. | :12:30. | |
consultations and nothing has happened and it is time to get back | :12:31. | :12:34. | |
around the table and work out how we can go forward because the most | :12:35. | :12:37. | |
important thing is we have a society which is peaceful and just and fair | :12:38. | :12:44. | |
and we can take that forward together and I think that means that | :12:45. | :12:47. | |
everybody and those affected by the conflict must other cases look at. | :12:48. | :12:53. | |
There is a perception among victims that the focus is too much on state | :12:54. | :12:56. | |
violence and there are thousands of people who need their concerns | :12:57. | :13:02. | |
addressed? Of course. But Theresa Villiers, that statement is at odds | :13:03. | :13:06. | |
with the reality in communities, loyalists and republicans are being | :13:07. | :13:09. | |
pursued and arrested and taken to holding centres whilst state | :13:10. | :13:13. | |
forces, British soldiers and people in the civil service, who made | :13:14. | :13:17. | |
policies such as collusion, and cover that up, they are not being | :13:18. | :13:23. | |
investigated so those comments do not reflect reality and I think it | :13:24. | :13:27. | |
is highly political and I think there are obligations that the state | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
has in terms of addressing killings they have been involved in and they | :13:32. | :13:35. | |
have not done that and we have lived with impunity and they have still | :13:36. | :13:39. | |
not been addressed. But we need to find a process for everyone equally | :13:40. | :13:43. | |
and across the board and the Haass talks or the framework for that. | :13:44. | :13:47. | |
Thank you very much for your comments. Victims groups can share | :13:48. | :13:53. | |
opinions and they can differ. Consensus really is as far away as | :13:54. | :14:00. | |
ever on a process for victims. A high-profile republican accused of | :14:01. | :14:03. | |
murdering 29 people in the Omagh bomb was being sought by police for | :14:04. | :14:06. | |
five years, the High Court heard today. Prosecutors claim that Seamus | :14:07. | :14:09. | |
Daly had been living under the radar close to the border before being | :14:10. | :14:13. | |
arrested last week in Newry. Julian Fowler reports. Seamus Daly faces 29 | :14:14. | :14:16. | |
counts of murder and other charges connected to the Omagh bomb and an | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
attempted bomb attack in Lisburn in 1998. Today he sought bail from the | :14:21. | :14:27. | |
High Court. He has denied any involvement. He was named as a | :14:28. | :14:32. | |
suspect in a BBC Panorama programme. Today, a judge was told that a | :14:33. | :14:35. | |
former business associate, Denis O'Connor, is a pivotal prosecution | :14:36. | :14:40. | |
witness. He says he spoke to Seamus Daly on a mobile phone believed to | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
have been used by the bomb team that travelled to Omagh. Cell-site | :14:45. | :14:48. | |
analysis also allegedly links him to the earlier bomb plot in Lisburn. A | :14:49. | :14:53. | |
prosecution lawyer confirmed that the information was not new but that | :14:54. | :14:57. | |
police had been trying to find Daly for five years. A defence lawyer | :14:58. | :15:02. | |
said Seamus Daly had been living a normal family life in Jonesborough | :15:03. | :15:05. | |
in South Armagh for nearly three years. He said there was no new | :15:06. | :15:10. | |
evidence and that over the last 14 years this had undoubtedly been | :15:11. | :15:12. | |
analysed and conclusions reached previously that it was insufficient | :15:13. | :15:15. | |
to bring a prosecution, and nothing has changed from that. The judge | :15:16. | :15:21. | |
pointed to Daly's decision not to appear at any stage of the civil | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
case which found him and three others liable for Omagh bomb. | :15:26. | :15:28. | |
Refusing bail, he said the prosecution had established a | :15:29. | :15:42. | |
reasonable suspicion. A group of people from here who were swindled | :15:43. | :15:47. | |
out of thousands of pounds in a Spanish property fraud say they're | :15:48. | :15:50. | |
unhappy about the sentence given to the woman who took their money. | :15:51. | :15:52. | |
Bernadette McGeary from Carntall Road in Dungannon was given a | :15:53. | :15:55. | |
two-year suspended sentence last week after admitting eight counts of | :15:56. | :15:58. | |
theft. Kevin Magee reports. These men's dreams of buying holiday homes | :15:59. | :16:01. | |
in the sun have been shattered. Donaghmore businessman Chris Faloon | :16:02. | :16:04. | |
handed over ?48,000 as a part payment for a property he thought | :16:05. | :16:11. | |
he'd bought in Spain. But when he came to inspect it he couldn't | :16:12. | :16:17. | |
believe his eyes. I got into the building and went to the left, up to | :16:18. | :16:21. | |
where my penthouse was supposed to be, I'd knocked the door and | :16:22. | :16:27. | |
outcomes as Spaniard. I said, what is happening? And he looked at me, I | :16:28. | :16:34. | |
said, do you live your? He said yes. Do you own this? Yes, I boarded 12 | :16:35. | :16:41. | |
months ago. -- bought it. He was one of eight people who Bernadette | :16:42. | :16:44. | |
McGeary from Dungannon admitted stealing from at a court hearing | :16:45. | :16:47. | |
last week into a property scam she ran on the Costa Blanca. Another who | :16:48. | :16:51. | |
alleges he lost money says he asked him to go to Spain to meet her when | :16:52. | :17:00. | |
he raised concerns. The two flights were organised by Bernadette McGeary | :17:01. | :17:03. | |
to speak to people to get the money back and that led to add her not | :17:04. | :17:07. | |
turning up in Spain and at one stage I was left for hours on the street | :17:08. | :17:11. | |
waiting for her to appear and she never did. The money Bernadette | :17:12. | :17:15. | |
McGeary took as never been recovered. According to the | :17:16. | :17:20. | |
authorities here, it disappeared in the Spanish property crash. And no | :17:21. | :17:23. | |
one who lost money will get a penny back. Sentencing her, the judge said | :17:24. | :17:28. | |
she had a clear record and there was no evidence that McGeary - seen here | :17:29. | :17:32. | |
in Spain - had gained a lavish lifestyle from the fraud. But today, | :17:33. | :17:35. | |
one of the victims criticised the two-year suspended sentence. I have | :17:36. | :17:43. | |
mixed emotions. At one moment you are angry, the next you feel | :17:44. | :17:49. | |
cheated. By the court service. Someone steals ?200,000. And they | :17:50. | :17:55. | |
get a slap on the wrist? It does not make sense. If I went into a bag and | :17:56. | :18:00. | |
store that money, what would happen to me? Or Tesco's? And still from | :18:01. | :18:05. | |
the shelves? What would happen to me? I would go to jail. Those | :18:06. | :18:10. | |
affected by the scam say they want to warn others thinking of buying | :18:11. | :18:13. | |
property abroad to use only a reputable, well- established | :18:14. | :18:20. | |
company. The local economy continues on the road to recovery, according | :18:21. | :18:24. | |
to new figures, which also record another fall in unemployment. The | :18:25. | :18:27. | |
improving business climate is being felt at one of Northern Ireland's | :18:28. | :18:30. | |
best-known companies, Ulster Carpets, which is investing ?30 | :18:31. | :18:32. | |
million in its operation in Portadown. Here's our business | :18:33. | :18:38. | |
correspondent, Julian O'Neill. Carpets made here travel all over | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
the world. From casinos in Las Vegas to hotels in Paris. The business is | :18:43. | :18:48. | |
about to invest ?30 million rebuilding its entire factory. | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
Ulster Carpets hope it will be a springboard to further growth of the | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
kind which has already led to new jobs. This will grab primarily is to | :18:58. | :19:09. | |
protect. It is taking a very long-term look at where we need to | :19:10. | :19:13. | |
be and that is securing the jobs we already have. In the last year, we | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
have added around 40 jobs on the back of very strong export market. | :19:18. | :19:24. | |
This family business employs 250 people and has seen good times and | :19:25. | :19:28. | |
bad. So, too, has the broader economy. But today did bring some | :19:29. | :19:30. | |
encouraging data. Local unemployment dropped by 700 last month. The total | :19:31. | :19:35. | |
number claiming jobless benefit is now 57000. Our unemployment rate of | :19:36. | :19:41. | |
7.7%, though, remains above the UK average. Other statistics showed a | :19:42. | :19:53. | |
recent rise in economic activity. The overall Northern Ireland Economy | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
Editor 2013 on the up, with a third successive quarter of growth. | :19:59. | :20:01. | |
Generally, the economy is back to read was in 2010, which are still | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
below the peak in 2007. But it's a move in the right direction. And | :20:07. | :20:13. | |
Ulster Carpets see positive signs. The home market in retail, even | :20:14. | :20:18. | |
though it is much smaller than it was, we have seen in the last six | :20:19. | :20:23. | |
months of very strong pick-up and we have been increasing production in | :20:24. | :20:26. | |
that area. For the first time in six years, people have got used to such | :20:27. | :20:32. | |
tough times and we never thought we would see the light of the last six | :20:33. | :20:34. | |
months have seen a marked improvement. This is a 75-year-old | :20:35. | :20:37. | |
business about to modernise. The knock-down and rebuild will be | :20:38. | :20:40. | |
gradual - a bit like Northern Ireland's recovery. Benfield | :20:41. | :20:54. | |
football club has warned supporters that all variations of the Billy | :20:55. | :20:59. | |
boys songs are deemed unacceptable. It said if a song is aired at | :21:00. | :21:02. | |
matches in the future it would lead to severe unit of sanctions. -- | :21:03. | :21:09. | |
Billy Boys. Last year's spring blizzard didn't only cause problems | :21:10. | :21:12. | |
for farmers in the Glens of Antrim, it wiped out access to a key tourist | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
attraction in Glenariff Forest Park - the waterfall walk. It's been | :21:17. | :21:20. | |
closed for over a year but now after ?100,000 of work it's once again | :21:21. | :21:23. | |
open to the public and there are plans to further enhance visitor | :21:24. | :21:26. | |
facilities in the area. Here's David Maxwell. Tonnes of snow wreaked | :21:27. | :21:34. | |
havoc on the landscape last year. After the blizzard, the priority was | :21:35. | :21:38. | |
to help people and livestock. But once the thaw setting, this | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
committee realised access to its major tourist asset had been | :21:44. | :21:47. | |
destroyed. The waterfall walk is what many came here for. But torn | :21:48. | :21:51. | |
apart by heavy snow, it had to be closed. One of the trees beside here | :21:52. | :21:57. | |
had punched a hole through the decking and unfortunately it was not | :21:58. | :22:01. | |
a case of replacing the wooden boards, underneath it had | :22:02. | :22:04. | |
destabilised the foundations and you can see that in several places where | :22:05. | :22:08. | |
the concrete foundations were completely pushed away. They had to | :22:09. | :22:15. | |
be rebuilt. These waterfall is or in a landscape which is inspired tales | :22:16. | :22:19. | |
of fairies and ghosts. But restoring public public access has taken time | :22:20. | :22:27. | |
and cost ?100,000. The difficulty is walking up the path, you cannot get | :22:28. | :22:32. | |
at it from anywhere, and you have to carry everything. Then we are also | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
in the river, we are dealing with the current, and we had a very wet | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
winter. That played havoc with the work. They work on site to three | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
months but the walkway has been closed for one year. During that | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
time, many pathways which were once hazardous have been replaced. The | :22:52. | :22:55. | |
work as part of an investment programme to improve the tourist | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
offering in the Glens of Antrim. It is repaired and that is great but we | :23:02. | :23:04. | |
are looking forward to further developments here, with the new | :23:05. | :23:13. | |
visitor centre and exhibition rooms and a caravan park. A one-stop shop. | :23:14. | :23:22. | |
The ?750,000 that has been set aside for the development of that caravan | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
and camping site means it should be complete by next summer and a new | :23:27. | :23:29. | |
visitor experience should be opened within the next five years. Looking | :23:30. | :23:39. | |
lovely. The High Cross in Downpatrick stood outside the | :23:40. | :23:42. | |
cathedral for over a century until December, when it was removed for | :23:43. | :23:45. | |
preservation. Today, a replica took its place, just in time for Easter. | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
Louise Cullen reports. It's not easy lifting a tonne weight into place. | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
And it's important to know which way it should face. The scenes on the | :23:54. | :23:56. | |
stone tell the story of Christianity, culminating in the | :23:57. | :23:59. | |
crucifixion and resurrection, seen at the top of the cross. A lot of | :24:00. | :24:05. | |
work has gone into making this stone look 1000 years old. It is a | :24:06. | :24:12. | |
scripture cross and it has very special symbols on it. Stories from | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
the presentation in the temple right through to the crucifixion and | :24:18. | :24:22. | |
Testament scenes from Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, through to the last | :24:23. | :24:27. | |
judgement. It tells the entire story of biblical history, really. The | :24:28. | :24:30. | |
original cross has been ravaged by the elements in its 1100-year life. | :24:31. | :24:34. | |
This replica is made from the same stone but the carving methods are a | :24:35. | :24:40. | |
little bit different. Tenth century stonemasons would have painstakingly | :24:41. | :24:43. | |
carved the biblical images by hand and although it's an exact copy, | :24:44. | :24:46. | |
this cross wasn't touched by a human being. We had to scan this and the | :24:47. | :24:58. | |
computer was able to reconstruct the drawing and it was able to create it | :24:59. | :25:06. | |
through computerised abilities. It was a time cross, it was lower down | :25:07. | :25:09. | |
the street and was outside the cathedral for over 100 years. A | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
resident came up as are putting it back up and said it was great to see | :25:15. | :25:18. | |
the cross back. People are very proud to have a piece of history on | :25:19. | :25:21. | |
their doorstep. Safely packed away in Down County Museum, the original | :25:22. | :25:24. | |
will be the centre of a new exhibition telling the story of | :25:25. | :25:27. | |
Downpatrick's Christian roots. The hope is, like its predecessor, this | :25:28. | :25:30. | |
stone will stand for another 1000 years. | :25:31. | :25:37. | |
Sunshine in Downpatrick. Let's get the weather forecast. Some eastern | :25:38. | :25:48. | |
areas did get whiteness but generally, the cloud has been piling | :25:49. | :25:51. | |
in. Still very picturesque with those daffodils. Every look the | :25:52. | :25:58. | |
satellite, cloud has been edging into the north and west with showers | :25:59. | :26:01. | |
were western Scotland trailing in parts of Northern Ireland through | :26:02. | :26:05. | |
today and there is a risk of more of those this evening, initially moving | :26:06. | :26:11. | |
into the North and West and pushing eastwards but fragmenting as they do | :26:12. | :26:14. | |
so. They will eventually move away so by the end of the night it is | :26:15. | :26:18. | |
largely dry and mild flows between six and eight degrees. We are left | :26:19. | :26:22. | |
with a legacy of cloud for a good part of tomorrow, still some showers | :26:23. | :26:26. | |
on the scene but perhaps not many first thing. They will drift into | :26:27. | :26:30. | |
the north and west and as a day progresses, a few of those will come | :26:31. | :26:34. | |
further inland. Light as well scattered, and staying mainly dry | :26:35. | :26:40. | |
but we have quite indivisible north-westerly breeze tomorrow so | :26:41. | :26:45. | |
even in those dry slots it will feel chilly temperatures are around 11 or | :26:46. | :26:49. | |
12 degrees. Tomorrow evening, things look cheery, it will be cold but it | :26:50. | :26:54. | |
will be brighter to end the day as a cloud clears away to the south and | :26:55. | :26:57. | |
we are left with clear spells through tomorrow night and that | :26:58. | :27:01. | |
means it is going to be very cold one, temperatures getting close to | :27:02. | :27:07. | |
freezing so quite a bit of grass frost around and there is a risk of | :27:08. | :27:10. | |
some mist and fog patches. Cold start for Good Friday but a fine | :27:11. | :27:16. | |
day, dry with sunshine and particularly for eastern areas | :27:17. | :27:20. | |
because we have high pressure and it looks like it will hold well into | :27:21. | :27:24. | |
the weekend. England and Wales, low-pressure moving in to bring wet, | :27:25. | :27:29. | |
uncertainties about the position at this point but it looks like we will | :27:30. | :27:34. | |
avoid the worst of that and it will stay largely fine and dry. Good | :27:35. | :27:38. | |
news. Our late summary is at 10:25pm. You can keep in contact | :27:39. | :27:42. | |
with us via Facebook and Twitter. From BBC Newsline - goodnight. | :27:43. | :27:45. |