19/11/2015 BBC Newsline

This is BBC Newsline. Tonight's top stories:

Peter Robinson is to step down as DUP leader and First Minister

Now, it seems to me, it is the appropriate time to announce the

departure and allow the party to take it forward.

What now for the future leadership of the DUP?

How this teenager with disabilities was left alone for hours

I'm upset about what happened but I am more angry that we have not been

given any answers. A man is shot and critically

injured in West Belfast. How dogs are being used

as alternative therapies at a new rehabilitation regime inside

the re-named Hydebank Wood College. And the next couple

of days look like bringing Peter Robinson has said he decided

to step down as First Minister and DUP leader after - in

his words - stabilising Stormont. He told the BBC it was difficult to

find the right time to step down, but following this week's political

deal, We'll hear more of what he's

been saying in a moment. First,

our political editor Mark Devenport has been examining a political

career that's spanned four decades. When Peter Robinson took over as DUP

leader and First Minister, it might the end of one of the longest

apprenticeships in politics. I am a patient man. The young East Belfast

estate agents join the DUP in the early 1970s, spurred on by the

murder of a school friend in an IRA bombing. He then embarked on a long

career of politics protest. He participated in the protests against

the Anglo-Irish agreement. He was filmed at resistance rallies wearing

a red beret. His most infamous adventure came when he took part in

a loyalist incursion. This episode earned him a fine in the Irish

courts. I will continue to protest against the Anglo Irish agreement. I

will continue to protest against the lack of security. Peter Robinson

built up a formidable reputation as a professional politician. Adept at

speaking at Parliament as an East Belfast MP. He was one of his lead

party's negotiators which paved the way for power-sharing with Sinn

Fein. Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness may have been coming

known as the Chuckle Brothers, but when Peter Robinson took over,

predictions where the chuckling Woodstock. There will be no smiling

for the cameras, no chuckling. Peter Robinson faced questions, not just

about his partner in power, but also his partner in marriage. He married

Iris Collins in 1970. They became a husband and wife team at

Westminster. However, in January 2010, the BBC Spotlight programme

revealed Iris's relationship with a 19-year-old businessman. The First

Minister faced questions with how he responded to his wife's role in

arranging loans from property developers from her teenage lover.

If people feel they must judge Hayek, I hope people can find it

within themselves, as I have done, the gift of mercy and compassion.

Despite the obvious stress he was under comedies First Minister

survived. Further scandal evolved and played a part in Peter Robinson

losing his East Belfast seat to know long and 2010. From a personal point

of view, I had indicated to many people at that I had preferred not

to stand in the selection. You should always be careful what you

wish for in politics. He was no longer an MP, but Peter Robinson

remained First Minister. He was a guest of honour when the Queen

visited Dublin in 2011. He attended a state banquet with his wife by his

side, in her first public appearance since the Spotlight scandal. The DUP

was defined by a large it spent by two dynasty is. The brittle

relationship between Robinson and Paisley came under the microscope in

2014. Ian Paisley referred to his successor with undisguised venom.

There was a beast here prepared to go forward to the destruction of the

party. Away from the DUP's internal tensions, Peter Robinson's

relationship with Martin McGuinness faded from professional coolness and

heated anger. The two men fell out over the development of a jail.

Controversial comments Robinson made about Muslims did not help. If I

said anything that was the rocketry, of course I would apologise, and I

have indicated very clearly that I would be hurt if anyone felt I was

showing disrespect for them or not supportive of them. But it was the

deadlock over welfare reform which threatened Stormont's existence. We

simply cannot afford in terms of welfare reform to lift up the tab of

?1 billion per year when we only have a budget for resource

expenditure of ?10 billion. In May 2015, the DUP celebrated as another

Robinson, having, who is no relation, recaptured East Belfast on

the Alliance Party. But Peter Robinson faced another ordeal. This

time, he was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack,

which he blamed on his diet and lifestyle. If you look at my father,

you would cringe. Lots of snacking and fast foods, all the things you

should not do. Exercise... Picked up from the drawer and dropped at the

door. I blame myself entirely. Once again, the First Minister bounced

back, continuing to lead the DUP in negotiations. But once more, he

faced tough questions, this time about his party's handling of a huge

property deal involving the Irish Republican Army bank. I neither

received, expected to receive, sort zero received a single penny. The

murder of former IRA member sparked fresh crisis at Stormont. Peter

Robinson responded by ordering his ministers to stage a series of

temporary resignations. However, his surprisingly relaxed reaction to an

official security assessment, which concluded the IRA still exists, it

showed the DUP leader was not keen to collapse the default Government.

He seemed increasingly interested in securing a deal as part of his

legacy, but would not confirm exactly when he plans to retire.

Everybody, when they get to my age, start looking at what is the

appropriate time to move on. I have always argued that events would

determine that. You are looking for where is the end of each chapter.

Where is a sense of the time to hand over. Famously, he relaxed by

keeping quiet car, but he wasn't someone who dipped in and out of

politics. He surmounted challenges which would have ended others''

careers. And his tactical acumen was unrivalled when it came to

conducting negotiations and fighting elections.

That notion of the end of a chapter was a theme Peter Robinson

picked up on when our political editor Mark Devenport asked him

this afternoon about the timing of his departure announcement.

In politics, it is very difficult just to find the exact moment that

Because politics, by its very nature, continues to flow on.

So you never really get to the end of a chapter.

I think probably what we have at the present time with

the agreement that has been reached is as close as you are going to get

I want to get to the end of the process within the party so that

we can have a new leader in place and give them a good time to settle

You have had some well-publicised health problems with your heart. Did

that play any part in your decision-making? No, indeed, that

occurred after I had informed party officers of my intention to stand

down. If it had happened before, it may well have been one of the

factors I took into consideration, because the job is an exacting job.

It is rigorous and at times brittle. So it could well have been a factor

if it had occurred, but I had already taking the decision by that

point in time. You have always been known as a 24-hour politician. How

do you think you will cope with retirement? I do not think the

history of those who have given up. Is pretty good. I am not the kind of

person who will sit idly around the house and get in my wife's way. I am

going to be someone who finds something to do. I suspect it

probably will not be politics. Your predecessor had some harsh words to

say about you after he left. Ian Paisley felt he was pushed out by

you and others in the party. Did that hurt at the time and is it

something you learn from and how you leave the stage? I would not find

myself in the position where I am going to turn on friends and

colleagues who have supported me throughout my lifetime. I will be

there to give support and encourage those who follow. And if the party

wants me to give advice, I will give it, but I will not stick my nose in

and interfere in future decision-making. I will be there to

encourage and to support. Will you endorse any successor? Ireland

Dorset whoever the successor is. But you will not enter any competitive

race by endorsing one against the other? I think it is entirely wrong

front outgoing leader to try to shape that. What I do know is that

all of those who might be considered as main contenders are friends of

mine. They have served me loyally as I have been party leader and they

can expect the same from me. The Deputy First Minister Martin

McGuinness said he had known that Mr Robinson intended to step

down for some time. He said that the pair had built

a friendship with each other during the seven years they had

spent leading the Executive, despite many people thinking this

would never have been possible. Because of the pressures that exist

within the DUP, it was a different approach publicly, but privately,

you know, we have had a very civilised, very core dual

relationship. You cannot an office and work very closely with someone

for that long and not feel empathy or friendship with him.

Peter Robinson's decision to stand down as First Minister and DUP

leader has raised the inevitable question of who will take over.

Our political correspondent Chris Page has been considering what might

White it was here in the 1970s that a young councillor called Peter

Robinson began to forge a formidable reputation. He was so successful

locally that a leisure Centre was named after him. But from here, he

grew the DUP into the dominant force in unionism. After his departure,

what will be the next steps for his party? This academic has written a

book based on a survey of DUP members. He says Mr Robinson has set

a firm, strategic direction. There is an old guard who are still very

suspicious of Sinn Fein and reluctant about power-sharing. Peter

Robinson and the advisers are still very suspicious of Sinn Fein and

reluctant about power-sharing. Peter Robinson and the advisers around him

marginalise those elements. Peter Robinson recognised that very early

on and basically the pragmatists have really marginalise the

fundamentalists within the party. So who will take on that mantle? Who

has been accompanying Mr Robinson to important meetings recently? This

man has already had two temporally stints in office. Nigel Dodds heads

up the party's team of MPs. The DUP talk about this two years ago,

dividing the office between a leader and a First Minister, and it seems

to be Nigel Dodds will be read and Eileen Foster as First Minister.

There are others who have held high-profile roles. Peter has not

gone yet. It is important to reflect that as a party and we will discuss

what is best not just for the party, but from Northern Ireland as well.

Those discussions inside Stormont's largest party will decide who gets

the keys to the most powerful office in Northern Ireland. Tomorrow, the

DUP's annual conference begins. There will be talk about who takes

on Peter Robinson's jobs as First Minister and DUP leader.

And there'll be more on Peter Robinson's decison to step

down on The View tonight at 10.35pm on BBC One.

A man is in a critical condition in intensive care

after being shot in the head in West Belfast this morning.

The man, who is in his 40s, is believed to be a member

Two men have been arrested. Julie McCullough reports.

The car the man had been travelling in was brought to a stop at this

pedestrian crossing, where the woman driving a raised the alarm. I saw a

man getting attacked in the car by three men. Then as soon as the

anglers came, it just drove him off. There was blood everywhere. One

local politician was taking his daughter to nursery school at the

time. There were literally hundreds of children on their way to school

at this time of the morning. Any one of them could have been a victim of

this particularly indiscriminate type of shooting. Although the car

was abandoned, the actual shooting happened here, a couple of hundred

yards away at Rossnareen Avenue, close to the victim's home. A woman

who has lived nearby from more than 50 years could not believe what had

happened. I was shaking. I was shocked. On our street! Nothing ever

happens on our street. I could not take it in. The principle of a

school nearby said counselling would be made available for any staff are

children who require it. The father of a teenager with

disabilities who was left alone on a school bus for almost three hours

has said his daughter now rarely The driver and a special needs

escort failed to drop her off Instead,

she was left on the bus at a depot. The Education Authority is

investigating what happened, but her family say they are still

waiting for a formal apology. Our south west reporter

Julian Fowler has the details. 17-year-old Sophie Kerr uses a

wheelchair and is unable to speak. Four weeks ago,

she was picked up by a bus to take her to Willow Bridge Special Needs

School, but she was left on the bus, which was then driven to

a depot and parked up for nearly As far as the school was concerned,

she was maybe As far as we knew,

she was at school. So there was a grey area that nobody

knew where she was Sophie was left called and upset by

what happened. With Sophie,

we're lucky that she doesn't have as But some of the children,

it could have been life-threatening if they had been left

in that same situation. It is understood the bus driver and

an adult who is scored the pupils have been suspended while an

investigation is carried out. The Education Authority said it took

immediate action and contacted the parents to offer

an unreserved apology. They also said they had written

a letter to provide assurances that all steps would be taken to prevent

such an incident occurring again. But the family say they are still

waiting to receive the letter I am upset about what has happened,

but I am more angry that we have not been given any answers, because this

does not just affect Sophie, it affects every special-needs child in

Northern Ireland. They want procedures put in place to alert

parents if their child does not arrive in school. Now that they have

lost trust in the bus transport arrangements, Sophie is instead been

taken to school by taxi. of Northern Ireland's biggest arts

organisations have been reversed. The groups had been told they

would lose 7% of their planned funding from the

Arts Council of Northern Ireland. But after this month's budget,

?620,000 will be restored. Yesterday we looked at how a new,

very different prison regime. The first of its kind in Britain or

Ireland, it has been introduced to Following suicides and incidents

of self harm, there is now a particular emphasis on addressing

the welfare of those detained at Donna Traynor focusses this

evening on women inmates. Women are here in Hydebank either

because they are on remand or have been found guilty of a crime and

sentenced two months or years in jail. Two years ago, inspectors

voiced their concern about prisoners' welfare and in particular

mental health issues. As part of a rehabilitation programme, new

innovative ways of helping vulnerable prisoners have been

introduced. Things like art therapy and pet therapy, where vulnerable

prisoners are taught to work with dogs, teach them obedience tricks

and agility exercises. Earlier, I spoke to one prisoner and asked her

how she had benefited from the pet therapy. Up! Good boy. It is just

great to get out with him. It clears my head and they are fun to work

with. It has given me some responsibility and I look forward to

it every day. Every morning, to get them out for a good run. It is just

really good to clear my head. For me, it is like therapy, to be

honest. It gives me a focus. The dog gives me unconditional love. Arts

and crafts are also been used any therapeutic way. You put it on

thick. Heather, you were a prison officer for 15 years before you

began to teach craft here. What was your reaction from your colleagues?

You lot were apprehensive. A lot said I should be doing my own job

along with them. But then eventually, surprisingly, it's

turned around. Alarms were not going off, there were less fights, so I

proved them official. What kind of issues do these women face? Long

time away from their families. Isolation. Behind the door at night

time, and their memories, they start to think. They have this fear of

jail as lonely place. It is not like that at all. We are a big family, we

are here to help people and that is why the get them involved in all the

70s. It does work. Some prisoners say these classes provide far more

than just learning new skills. I have three children and was doing

really well. It was always working. I was always supporting myself. This

support is fantastic. To do crafts, to do the joinery, you can just

paint. In the cell, I can paint in myself. No matter what women have

done here or what they are here for, they are all mums and I can see how

emotionally they are as regards to family and children. Everybody has a

different story. With me is Reverend Nixon, one of the chaplains here at

Hydebank. How do you balance in your mind caring for the prisoners here

and those victims of crime, many of whom could be your parishioners? The

first thing I would say is when I commend to Hydebank on a Monday

morning, I do not always find people who initially have a sense of

remorse. I find people who are troubled by the separation from

family, friends and home. But with time, often the residents in

Hydebank begin to think about the people on the outside. They begin to

reflect on the lives they have disturbed and upset. It is good for

the community to know it is not all about bad people, it is often about

troubled people who are trying to find a way of saying sorry but who

do not have the mechanism to do so. Thank you. Also with me is Richard

Taylor, the deputy governor here at Hydebank. Crime and punishment,

where does we are bullish on coming to play there? Those are the three

key elements. All of the people we have at Hydebank are committed by

the courts. For many years and many decades, we have worked with people

here. Where are outcomes have not been where they needed to be in

regard to society... People are coming here because of whatever

background they have had or crimes they have committed. The

rehabilitation creates opportunities and the skills once released to lead

a law-abiding life. Richard, thank you. Hydebank will continue to be a

place of detention. Only in time will we find out if this new

programme for education and learning will make any difference in the

community. And if you'd like to share your view

on the new regime being implemented at Hydebank or view last night's

report, check out our Facebook page. Doubt has been cast over

the future of a multi-million pound regeneration

scheme in Belfast city centre. Plans for the ?360 million pound

Royal Exchange project included However, the Department of

Social Development said it had ended its agreement with the developer,

Leaside Developments, because they had failed to demonstrate it could

deliver the scheme. U2 played their first gig in Belfast

last night They put on quite a show at the SSE

Arena. Holding Belfast in the palm of their hand. After more than a

decade and a half, U2 began only strips downstage with some of their

earliest hits and a message for local fans. You are heroes to us, on

this stage. Thank you for your patience. Thanks for sticking with

us. But it wasn't long before the full U2 concert experience kicked

in. Later, there were messages of solidarity with people in Paris. And

tonight, they do it all again for another sold-out gig.

Time for the weather now and Angie is here. What is in store? Cold

weather. We will get a taste of winter of the next couple of days.

As if it is not chilly enough already. Today was really just an

average November day. Quite breezy with some showers running west to

east. They have eased off through the course of the afternoon, so just

ate few remaining through the evening. That Breeze continues to

ease throughout the night, so mainly dry with clear spells and quite

chilly in places as well, particularly chilly in the

countryside. Later on, we get a band of showery rain approaching the

north coast. That is the first sign of a transition to Calder weather.

It will flood southwards across the country into the weekend. A called

wind started to pick up tomorrow and eventually, showers, which are

likely to turn increasingly wintry. But to begin with, that showery band

edges as we southwards through the morning rush hour. It mainly Falls

as rain. The wind starts to strengthen from the north-west. It

does brighten up, that we have more showers. They will increasingly turn

it to a wintry mix of rain, sleet and hill snow. It will feel very

cold in that wind. Highs of 6-7 C. We are watching the wind for

tomorrow night. We have a warning for severe gales in place. There

could be some disruption. Gusts as high as 60 mph along the north coast

and through the North Channel. Hazards of sleet and snow showers.

That will settle above and is also likely to become quite icy in places

as well as temperatures drop towards freezing. A wintry start to the

weekend. Showers increasingly turning to sleet over the hills, but

a cold and windy day. Quite a widespread frost, I think, for

Saturday night. Not as windy on Sunday and drier and brighter.

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