27/11/2015 BBC Newsline

Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline:

The BBC understands an assault rifle was used in a dissident

republican attack on police in Belfast.

A mother describes her family's terror as their home is targeted

I opened the door and I started to scream. I didn't know what to do. My

girls didn't know why I was screaming. They also started

screaming. The victim of a hammer attack calls

on paramilitaries to leave his This is not good for communities,

not good for your cause and people and young people deserve better.

The farmer whose homemade coastal defence has cost him

It's been a disappointing few weeks for both Ulster and Leinster, which

adds even more importance to the result of tonights Irish derby.

It's going to be perfect weather for a duvet day tomorrow but if you have

to go out, I will have the weather later in the programme.

The police have described a gun attack in the middle

of a residential area as mindless and reckless.

A patrol car's bullet proof glass saved two officers

from injury or death when they came under attack in Andersonstown

The BBC understands the assault rifle fired by the gunman could

have been an AK47, previously been used by dissident republicans.

Last night, a police officer stared certain death in the face in west

Belfast. Two bullets smashed into the passenger side window of the

patrol car he was sitting in. The vehicle was parked just before seven

last night as part of an ongoing investigation into an earlier

shooting in the area. The gunmen opened fire with a heavy calibre

weapon, hitting the unmarked vehicle and number of times. The two

policemen in the vehicle were badly shaken up but an injured in this gun

attacks. But for the armoured plating and the bullet-proof glass

in the vehicle, they would have been badly injured or killed. Police

believe up to eight shots were fired at the car and other bullets may

have missed the intended target. There was significant weaponry to

bring into what was a residential area. Lots of housing and people

trying to go about normal business, but people preparing for Christmas.

Anything could have happened, not just police officers injured or

killed but children walking on the street. Anything could have

happened, this was totally reckless. People here don't want this any

more. They have made that very clear and I am calling on anyone involved

in this to desist. It's not serving any purpose, it is futile. Last

night attack also drew condemnation from the first and Deputy First

Minister 's at today's British Irish Council meeting in London.

Deplorable and fruitless. If anybody is so mindless that they think that

by going out and attempting to kill two policemen, that they will change

the course of the executive and assembly, they really are those. We

are absolutely determined, we have an agreement and we are moving

forward. I believe the whole of Northern Ireland want to move

forward into a new era and we will not be dragged back by these people.

A stolen black BMW car, believed to have been used by the gunmen, was

found abandoned in the Springfield Road area of West Belfast. Police

are appealing dissident republicans for the shooting.

The police are treating as a hate crime an arson attack

Their car was destroyed and the house was damaged.

Two children were in the house at the time along with their mother

Community solidarity for a young mother, did -- victim of a

deliberate attack on her car and home. The woman and her two children

were asleep upstairs when the attack happened at around 6am this morning.

Shortly afterwards, she spoke to me and described her terror. My girls

were sleeping in this room. I was sleeping in the other room and when

I came over here, there was a fire. I opened the door and I started to

scream. I screamed and my girls didn't know why I was screaming. I

got up and they also started to scream. It was a hard time. She did

not have her husband at her side this morning, he is in India

attending his father 's funeral today. Grief in India compounded by

an attack on his family home in Northern Ireland. Members of the

Indian community here in Antrim have been gathering here this morning,

offering support to the family. They say there are about 60 Indian

families in this area and have been here for the last 15 years and most

of them work in local hospitals. We are all nurses or doctors. It's not

we have been here for a few years. Most of our children were born here

and they go to schools and universities. Other neighbours were

also stunned by the attack. All morning, locals looked on,

bewildered. Shocked and disgusted. My neighbours are out working every

day, doing nobody any harm. Why somebody would target them, I don't

know. Just want to live peacefully here. That neighbourly support

brings some comfort to the family and the day they are coping with

both grief and crime. As well as her own very vivid memories of fear and

confusion as neighbours rushed to her aid this morning. I came

downstairs and still the fire was going on. Somebody knocked the door

and I was scared to open it. I told them, whatever you want to do, do

it. They were changed to me to get out of the house but because of the

fear, I said, I am not going to get out. I'm not sure if there are going

to attack me. The most little children, this was a normal morning

heading for school. For the two children in the summer, they were

still being comforted at a neighbours house.

The Royal Children's Hospital in Belfast has had to cancel all

elective surgery because of winter pressures.

The Belfast Trust says the 12 beds in intensive care are

near capacity, and a theatre recovery unit is being converted to

The trust says there's been an early onset of seasonal bronchiolitis -

a respiratory condition which can develop into a serious

Elective surgery will be reviewed daily.

A community worker who was beaten with a hammer in Bangor has said

he's staying in the town despite the attack, and has thanked

Aaron McMahon believes the UDA may have been involved in the attack.

He is back at work and he is not backing down. He and his family have

been overwhelmed by support since Wednesday night's attack. He says he

was targeted after deciding paramilitaries but he will not stop

his community work and he won't be leaving Bangor. If we cower in this

give your body else has done, what does that tell the young people?

Accept your lot, that is not good enough. Who do you think was

responsible for the attack? Evidence and rumour would lead us to believe

that this was carried out by a faction of the UDA in North Down.

But your message to them? That is enough, guys. No more. This is not

good for communities, not good for your cause and young people in

particular, they deserve better. Enough is enough. According to

another community worker and paramilitaries have been flexing

their muscles here over flags and bonfires sometime. They have been a

number of months now and people have been coming into this committee from

an outside area and a faction of the UDA who have been trying to take

over this community. Some white works for a restorative group and he

has condemned Wednesday night's attack. The UDA are being blamed,

what you say? By speaking to certain individuals and Trinity workers

within the Bangor area, this was totally untrue. But organisation had

no part to play in that whatsoever. The other question being asked in

Bangor today was whether the police and politicians could have done more

to resolve the tension in the town. We have had numerous meetings with

the council, the PSNI. I have numerous e-mails which I can show

you right up until last week, trying to organise meetings. My reassurance

to the man and the wider community is that the police are out there day

and dearly. We are on the street every day. We're patrolling this

district and we are protecting the community, keeping people safe. We

are offenders to justice. Aaron says he has heard it all before. He hopes

by speaking out, but this time more will be done.

The First and Deputy First Ministers have said 50 Syrian refugees are

set to arrive in Northern Ireland on 15 December.

The UK is due to accept 20,000 refugees from Syria

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness criticised a planned protest

Mr McGuinness said that the first group to be resettled will

be based in Belfast, with a second group going to Londonderry.

He said half of those due to arrive will be under 15 years old.

We do have a responsibility in terms of our humanity and compassion and

our sympathy for these people to reach at the hand of friendship to

them and make them feel very welcome in our country. I want to join with

Peter and utterly condemn those racist who have organised a protest

rally in Belfast against the arrival of these people. We will not stand

for it. A farmer convicted for having 20,000

tyres on the shores of Lough Foyle, says he was trying to protect

his land from coastal erosion. Greg Allen intends to appeal

his suspended sentence. The issue of rising sea levels comes

into sharp focus with next week's UN conference in Paris where 190

countries will hammer out And as Conor Macaley explains,

no single official body here has responsibility

for sorting out coastal protection. It maybe wasn't the best idea but

the ground is wasting away. Greg shows me the makeshift sea defence

that landed him with a criminal conviction. Limavady farmer got a 4

month suspended sentence for having 20,000 tyres along the shore. He got

-- he says he has lost six acres over three decades, with close to

?50,000. The tyres were put there to stop more land being washed away.

There is still pieces of graph out on the shore. In my lifetime, iron

about as fields. It is speeding up as the year goes on. Where will it

stop? Greg was convicted under waste legislation and now accepts it was

not the best way to do things but he says other farmers further along the

coast benefit from sea defences paid for out of the public purse. In some

places we have decided to build proper sea defences like here are

just around the corner from Greg's farm but no single body has

responsibility for this kind of work. Instead there is a patchwork

approach by different agencies depending on the stuff being

protected. Here it is the Rivers agency protecting hundreds of acres

of agricultural land with this impressive sweep of the wall. But if

it where a road that needed protecting, that would fall to

transport NI and if it was a private house, it's up to the owner to sort

it out. That policy is called the basement principle. It sounds

complex but it sounds complex but it's religious one page drawn up by

a civil servant in the 60s. Our reliance on that 50-year-old rule of

thumb surprised Coastal Communities Fund picking up the pieces after the

winter storms of 2014, like here in barley water. This is like this say

what is needed is a proper plan and a single agency where they can get

answers. Can we build here, can we develop here? What can we do? At

this moment in time, there doesn't seem to be the lead. Planned

reorganisation of executive departments may give 12 of them are

that big lead responsible and safe. As the months slipped away, the

ground slips away. Greg's responsibility is to get these tires

of his land. It will cost him at least ?16,000. The price of a poor

decision on top of the cost to him of coastal erosion.

Two security alerts that caused disruption have ended

A search in Clady was prompted by claims that a bomb was left

The other alert was at Leighery Road outside Limavady.

Councils have said they're disappointed they won't be given

control over regeneration projects next year,

The Social Development Minister has said he still expects

the eventual transfer of powers to local authorities.

All of Northern Ireland there are areas which are earmarked for a

face-lift. Stormont has laid plans for regeneration projects. Councils

had been due to take over responsibility for those schemes

like one here in Belfast's northside. The new local authorities

have already been given powers for planning and economic development,

powers for regeneration was supposed to follow next year. Now that has

been put on hold. The legislation would go forward for the time being.

People in local government say the delay will cause problems. We are

completing now with other major UK cities Manchester, Glasgow,

Liverpool, Cardiff. They all have these powers. We don't. Investors

simply won't wait until we have these powers. We need to get them

quickly. We really do want to have the resolve to fix this as quickly

as possible. It is another hiccup and it is something that is too

important to leave just to a legislation timetable. Why has the

hold-up happened? The minister says it is not mainly down to the legal

disagreement. I had endeavoured to find Akon promotes position

vertically in relation to the issue of the definition of social need. We

have not and in relation to that however the time issue for me the

bigger concern and I was ready concerned that if we had allowed

this process to continue, that we may have ran out of legislative time

to get the bill through. Basically time has run out to get the assembly

to pass legislation before next year 's elections. The minister says the

executive still plans to give regeneration powers to councils,

it's a case of when, not if. One of the world's most successful

crime novelists is reading from Ian Rankin's best known character is

an Edinburgh detective John Rebus. As our arts correspondent

Robbie Meredith found out earlier It was picked up in a couple of the

books that he served time in The Parachute Regiment and served in

Northern Ireland so that gave me a plot in one of the earlier books. My

wife grew up in Belfast during the troubles. I started coming to

Northern Ireland in 81. Is John's passed in Northern Ireland why he is

such a morose character? In the first couple of books, I was still

getting to know him. I still have to remember that if his story 30 years

on. When I was at high school, I was the first member of my family to go

to university. All my mates who didn't go to university joined the

police or the dockyard. The latest novel is called even dogs in the

wild. There have been TV adaptations of previous books but he has not

been happy with them. What I didn't like specifically was it was

originally two hours per book and then eventually went down to 45

minutes. I got the right bike and you cannot make any more. Until

producer persuades me to be up to 12 hours. He has family from Belfast

but lately he has also worked with the famous local decision. Van

Morrison to know that I was a fan of his music so he asked me to pen the

introduction to his lyrics when he was bringing out a book last year

and then to promote that. I interviewed him on stage in London,

Dublin and Belfast. I interviewed him for 30 minutes in Belfast.

People were crying in the audience, they have never heard him is big

with units before! That was terrific and he invited me across to his 70th

birthday concert that I got to sit and watch him in the sun at the end

of August and it was a memorable night.

Now sport and with news of the big inter-provincial rugby

Ulster face Leinster in Dublin tonight - where the latest chapter

will be engraved on Irish rugby's longest serving rivalry.

Both sides have lost all their European games this season-

which means any realistic chance off success rests with the Pro 12

competition- making tonight's result- even more important

Interprovincial games are always special but this one has the added

spice of two sides licking the winds following heavy defeats in Europe.

Both keen to get back to winning ways. Inter-pro classes are also the

biggest games never mind potentially being the biggest clashes of the

season. We are looking for the win and Leinster will be coming out

looking to get a result after the last couple of games against impish

side. There has been plenty of soul searching around the RDF after those

defeats. Some of our kicking could have been better. Boys up front will

know that they didn't do themselves justice. There are some quality

players up there and I expect them to turn that around quickly. There

are areas we can get better at cricket. Ulster know what is coming.

Very physical, they threw the ball about quite a bit. They have quality

players across the pitch so we expect the attacks to be up there

and it's going to be tough. Defensively we have to be very

sharp. Our players are capable of pulling out plays so we have to be

switched on. The visitors have their own key players, not least Ruane

Pienaar digging his 100th appearance for Ulster. He will need to be at

his very best. And the game will be live on BBC Two

television from 7.30. Four American Colleges are

in Belfast to participate It's called The Friendship Four

and it's the first time competitive college games have ever been played

outside of North America. The quartet will battle it out over

the next two days at the SSE Arena. We have the River Hawks and the

Bears and the Huskies, it is a first for Belfast and we also have Eastern

Cape mission for hockey in the USA. Welcome to Belfast, why this city?

Why not? Were all about educating our athletes and giving them unique

experiences. They asked as to participate in this and we are

bringing the first of the games ever outside of North America and we're

thrilled to be here. It is likely to be the first of many? I believe so.

We are planning on it. We have schools are lobbying to be the next

head of School is coming next year so I believe before we leave town,

it will form the blueprint for future events. This is going live to

most of the north-eastern seaboard and Canada. I guess that the

indication of how committed you guys are? We also want to return the

favour for all that has been done for us, to be able to bring a

glimpse of your city back to North America. The Canadian peace is so

important to us as well because many of our athletes come from the so

this is a great showcase for our game and your city and we feel we

want to make that last piece possible because the hospitality we

have received here is incredible. It has gone down well with the players?

One team will not be too happy but so far they have had a great week

here. The final takes place here tomorrow at 7:30.

And there's live audio commentary with Nigel Ringland and guests

on our BBC Sport NI website tonight from 7:30.

All the Gaelic football clubs in Ulster start the season dreaming

Well, this Sunday it's down to the last two.

Scotstown, four time winners of the competition

The Armagh side are playing in their 11th provincial final-

The best club side in Ulster, that's the prize for either Crossmaglen or

Scots town this weekend. Darren Hughes was on the pitch outing

island to a 3-point win. I would take a 3-point win on Sunday to but

you know how tough it's going to be. Crossmaglen have been the

thereabouts every year for the past 20 years so we will be under no

illusions. We have played well, we have beaten the Ulster champions and

we had a great day against Trillick so we have had the best of both

worlds in the last two games. Now it's the battle of wills on Sunday

and hopefully we'll have that power. Crossmaglen have never lost a

potential title, winner, ten times. Scots town for previous masters of

the Ulster club and that has not gone unnoticed. To have the

tradition, the guys now, the fathers would have been part of the teams in

the 70s and 80s that went on to win four Ulster titles. Inferiority

complex is not going to pop up for those boys! There is no pressure on

any of us, we want them to go and play to their potential. But as roll

the dice and see where it takes is. Everyone expects Crossmaglen to win

so if we give the performance of our lives, I think we will ask a few

questions. Linfield will travel to Portadown

in the Irish Premiership tomorrow, knowing another defeat, will mean

their worst run since March 1997. David Healy's side have lost

their previous three league games, but insists he's not feeling any

extra pressure. There is pressure on every game and

that comes from me. I don't need pressure from supporters or anyone

else. The pressure comes from the and we are not good enough at the

moment and that is something I have to address. Hopefully in the coming

weeks, I will. All tomorrow afternoon's football on

Final Score here on BBC One at 5:00, And we'll have to result

of tonight's game between Ballinamallard and Coleraine

on our late bulletin tonight. some of the scattered showers we

have at the moment could be falling as sleek and snow over mountains

that it's not going to lie. Tomorrow we hold onto the cold beers. We will

have gusty winds and those will be driving across it breaks free in,

courtesy of this weather front. Not settled spell in the forecast at the

minute. Tonight and into tomorrow, we will see out weeks of rain from

beginning of the day. Quite an unsettled start. Some heavy bursts

as well so staying grey and wet. Temperatures at best for us, maybe

six or 7 degrees but with the winds and rain, it will not be like that.

If you're travelling tomorrow, no respite anywhere else. It will be

unsettled right across Britain and Ireland. Windy and scattered showers

almost everywhere. The hills and mountains of Scotland we will also

have several centimetres of snow. Temperatures across the board are

normal for the time of year with the winds and rain, it will feel colder.

For as into the second part of Saturday, we continue to see the

flow of scattered showers coming and going right through tomorrow evening

and tomorrow night so if you're heading out, you will want to keep

the water but Sandy. Thanks to a lot of cloud tomorrow night, it will not

be quite as cold, maybe 5 degrees. Sunday is not going to be as bad as

Saturday but do prepare yourself for some wet weather. We will continue

to see some outbreaks but also some tumours of sunshine. Temperatures

not reacting that much, eight or 9 degrees with the westerly winds. As

we look ahead towards Monday and into next week, we have now settled

spell in the forecast unfortunately so December is going to start off

unsettled.