28/05/2014 BBC Newsline

The First Minister Peter Robinson is facing criticism

after he defended the north Belfast Pastor who made controversial

A spokesman for the local Muslim community said Mr Robinson's remarks

The pastor delivering his controversial sermon ten days ago.

Peter Robinson has attended the church in the past and says he will

do so again. The First Minister defended the remarks of the pastor

on Islam and said that the pastor had not an ounce of hatred in his

bones. When you are preaching a sermon, you are not defining a legal

document where you enter all the conditions and qualifications, you

are taking a broad stroke at issues, and therefore you have to ask, what

do you not trust that those who follow Islam are doing? I would not

trust them in terms of those who have been involved in terrorist

activities, I don't trust them if they are fully devoted to Sharia

law, and would not trust them for spiritual guidance. What I'd trust

them to go down to the shops for me? Of course I would. I would trust

them with day to day activities. The comments provoked a strongly worded

response from the quality commission. When the First Minister

entered into the debate, we expected him to say that what the pastor said

about Muslims not being able to be trusted, that should have been

challenged, and when he did not, we were disappointed. His partner in

government, the deputy First Minister, called on Peter Robinson

to show leadership by promoting equality, tolerance and mutual

respect for all. Peter Robinson responded on Twitter, saying he

would not take lessons in tolerance from what he called a self-confessed

leader of a bloody terrorist organisation. Rather ironically, the

two men have officially welcomed the Turkish ambassador to Britain, who

was opening a new consulate in Belfast today. A diplomat from the

country with an overwhelmingly Muslim population. Muslims here feel

badly let down by their First Minister. An unfortunate comment. He

is supposed to represent all the people of Northern Ireland, and we

feel as a Muslim community part of this country, so he is representing

us, and his comment definitely is not helpful. It really hurt and many

people have taken offence. The sermon continues to reverberate.

Tonight, the pastor arrived at the BBC studios in Belfast to take part

in a television programme. And there will be more

on that story on Good Morning Ulster tomorrow when the former

Pakistani High Commissioner to The union that represents police

officers here has criticised the response of the PSNI's command team

to loyalist violence last summer. The Police Federation that

more should have been done Our Home Affairs Correspondent

Vincent Kearney reports. Police officers spent much of last

summer in the front line and in the firing line. The union that

represents today that their commanders should have done more to

protect them. 120 officers have been injured on duty. As a result, many

of the flag protests orchestrated... That is a shocking

statistic. Almost a quarter of a front-line officers injured. The

Police Federation has launched a formal complaint, claiming that

operational commanders failed in their duty of care to officers

assigned him to deal with violent street disorder. Those in command

who did their need to understand that the safety of officers is being

jeopardized while those same officers struggled to prevent

anarchy on our streets. He said that water bullets should have been

deployed sooner to the tech officers, but the Chief Constable

said that that could not have -- that could have made the situation

worse, and he said that police commanders did not do enough to

protect those in the front line. I am determined that we will do

everything we can for the safety of our colleagues. We have a strong

track record of doing that. We will make sure we explore every

possibility and eye will welcome the Health and Safety Executive here,

because when Officer injured is one too many. Matt Baggett will soon

step down as Chief Constable. Terry Spence today spoke of the challenges

of replacing him. The task any Chief Constable will face is nothing short

of monumental. He or she will have to do mistreat streetwise awareness,

be able to resist undue political pressure, fight all corners of

resources, and to be able to make tough calls when it comes to tackle

-- tackling disorder. The successor will be chosen tomorrow, and three

candidates will be interviewed. He Chief Constable is regarded as one

of the most difficult jobs in UK policing. The identity of the next

person to hold up that position is expected to be known tomorrow

evening. A man has been stabbed in

East Belfast. The police say that he was attacked

around half past three this He has been taken to hospital

for treatment to his injuries. More than 100 jobs are to go

at Northern Ireland Electricity. Consultations are underway with

staff about voluntary redundancies. The company says it needs to cut

costs after it was prevented A Stormont Minister

in the mid 1960s believed that nuns in Londonderry were saving the state

money by caring for children The Historical Institutional Abuse

Inquiry was today shown letters between the government of the time

and the Sisters of Nazareth. Kevin Sharkey reports

from Banbridge. These are the final days of the

public hearings at the two homes run by the nuns, and this morning, the

inquiry was presented with historical correspondence between

the Sisters of Nazareth and state bodies. The letters that with an

application for a grant in the 1960s to carry out building improvements.

They revealed that the government was seeking details before approving

funding. Central to the application at the time was the home affairs

minister. In his memo, written in 1964, he said, it could be safely

assumed that at voluntary homes where there is available, quite a

large number of children would have to be accommodated by the welfare

authorities at a much greater expense. He also said that the

standards felt well greater -- well below what his department expected.

The inquiry is now hearing closing statements at the end of the public

hearings into the two former homes. This inquiry is dealing with events

in 1922. Today, the health and social... It was the 1980s before

sex abuse was identified in signposted. It was 1988 before

guidelines were published to residential homes. The Council for

the board also said that any attempt during that period to admit children

into state care would have been regarded as significant state

interference into the private lives of the families and arrangements

And now for a look ahead at the weather, here's Geoff Maskell.

We have a change in the weather overnight tonight. Rain is starting

to move its way in from the East Coast and we have some cloud

thickening things up overnight. That means it is going to be a reasonably

mild night. Tomorrow, a very different feel. Cloudy and drizzly

picture as we go through the day. The worst of the rain will clear out

of the way through the morning, but the result persists as we go through

the day, and that will have an impact on the temperatures. What is

driving that is this low pressure system as it sinks down through the

rest of the UK. We will get the weather Tron and that will have an

impact on the temperatures. What is driving that is this low pressure

system as it sinks down through the rest of the UK. We will get the

weather run -- rain across Wales. It could be warmer for London in the

South East. As we go into Thursday afternoon, it is a drizzly, murky

kind of afternoon. There will be a few brighter spells in there by the

time you get to Friday. Friday is going to be a much better day. Still

not a lot of sunshine around, but certainly a better day. By the time

we cast our eyes to the weekend, I think that today is going to be the

pick of the weekend. Not a lot in the way of brightness, but

certainly, the temperatures are on the up, so picking up once we head

towards this weekend. You can keep up to date with

News Online and follow this