03/12/2015 BBC Newsline

That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me and on

Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline The former Finance Minister

Sammy Wilson criticises Stormont's investigation into the NAMA sale A

Had I not made the promise, I doubt I would have come along to grace the

Mickey Mouse exercise which has been undertaken.

A man in his 50s dies in a house fire.

This man is found guilty for the second time of murdering his former

partner, who was pertinent. Exclusive details on the new

abortion guidelines. Confirmation that they'd all the tall abnormality

cannot be grounds for a termination. Also coming up:

We focus on the problem of debt in the run-up to Christmas.

We look back to this time five years ago, when December turned into the

big freeze. And after a cool day for many, there

is more light but also windy weather in the forecast. Warnings have been

issued. The former Finance Minister

Sammy Wilson has described Stormont's NAMA inquiry

as "a Mickey Mouse exercise" which has shown incompetence

and bias. The Assembly's Finance committee

is investigating a claim that a politician or party was to

receive ?7 million with the sale of the Northern

Ireland property loan portfolio Our Economics and

Business Editor John Campbell has been listening to Mr Wilson

at a meeting of the committee. Sammy will thin stood down from the

Assembly in August. Today, he was back and in fighting form. I said I

was quite happy to come along in August to give evidence to the

committee. Had I known subsequently the way in which this mighty was

going, and had I not made the promise, I doubt very much if I

would have come along to grace the Mickey Mouse exercise which has been

undertaken. He was finance minister when the

organisation was set up by the double Durrant in 2010. Its job was

to take control of property loans made by the struggling Dublin banks.

He recommended this businessman should advise them on Northern

Ireland matters. In 2013, he arranged a meeting with the US

company Penn Corps, which wanted to buy the Northern Ireland loans. --

Pimco. Later, he went to work for Pimco and stood to gain ?5 million

if the deal went through. The committee chairmen wanted to know

more about that meeting in 2013. Was appropriate for him to be at that

meeting? Stay, of course. Why were NAMA not informed? Day wear. Later

on, I wrote a letter to NAMA telling them I had had this meeting and

outlining the discussions taken at the meeting.

Then he went on the attack, accusing one committee member of having his

own conflict of interest because the paper he controls has taken adverts

from a company connected to a critic of the NAMA deal. Did you make a

declaration that on a weekly basis Gareth Graham takes a 2-page spread

in a paper which you're a director of and pays you money, because I

assume you do not do it for nothing. Can I get back to this question, Mr

Wilson, or will we play games all day? Throughout his evidence, Sammy

stuck firmly to the view that no wrongdoing has been shown by

politicians or anyone else, and he believes the NAMA deal has been good

for Northern Ireland. The next major witness the committee wants to hear

from is another former finance minister, Simon Hamilton.

A man in his 50s has died in a fire at a house in Enniskillen.

His body was found inside the property in Drumgay Close

in the Kilmacormick area of the town.

Our reporter in the south west, Julian Fowler,

has been to the scene and has more details.

The Fire Brigade received a call at around 8:30am this morning. Crews

went into the house and used breathing apparatus and damn imaging

cameras and discovered the man dead in an upstairs bedroom. The only

visible signs of the fire from outside are the blackened upstairs

windows. The victim of the fire had lived in the street for many years

and his family live nearby. Neighbours had been preparing for

Christmas and the sudden death has come as a terrible shock. Those I

spoke to were too upset to be interviewed. 1 resident told me she

could not have asked for a better neighbour. Firefighters returned to

the scene this afternoon to assist with the investigation and the

removal of his remains, as family, friends and neighbours and stood

nearby. The police and forensic scientists had been carrying out an

investigation to try to establish what caused the fire. At the moment,

it is unexplained. There is nothing to suggest this as anything other

than a tragic accident. charged with the attempted murder of

a police officer seven years ago. Gavin Coyle was arrested yesterday

in connection with -- it is alleged he had been

secretly recorded in connection with the attack.

Gavin Coyle was arrested yesterday in connection with

the booby trap car bombing near Castlederg in 2008.

An off-duty officer suffered serious leg injuries in the attack.

The defendant is charged with attempted murder,

causing an explosion, and membership of the IRA.

The 38-year-old, who is currently serving a sentence in Maghaberry,

during the hearing at Strabane Magistrates court this morning.

A man has been found guilty for the second time

of murdering his former partner,

who was pregnant and the mother of four children.

Stephen Cahoon from Londonderry had three trials.

He successfully appealed a conviction several years ago.

Today a new jury found him guilty by a unanimous verdict.

You may find some images in Helen Jones's report disturbing.

Stephen, guilty for a second time. A jury at the Central criminal Court

in Dublin took just under four RS to reach their verdict and the woman he

murdered, a pregnant mother of four, his ex-partner. This CCTV footage

shows the last images of her before she was killed. She was 30 years old

and ten weeks pregnant with Stephen's child. Her body was found

naked and bruised at her home in Derry in 2008. He has a history of

violence against women. This is an image of the then 18-year-old Lin

McCall. He beat her beyond recognition in 1997. Describing

events leading up to miss quickly's death, he told the jury that he saw

red when she told him the baby she was expecting was not his. So he

said he grabbed and pushed her and put his hand on her throat he

admitted strangling her button not murder. There was evidence of

violence and beginning to end at the scene. There was evidence heard or

had been broken and under were defensive injuries and bruising to

her arms scalp and head, which were utterly inconsistent with his

version of events. Arrested in the Republic, he opted for a trial in

Dublin. The first jury failed to reach a verdict. A subsequent

conviction was quashed on appeal because of a technicality. Today,

another jury, the third, found him guilty. He has been sentenced to

life in prison, backdated to his arrest in 2008.

New draft guidelines on abortion drawn up by the Health Minister

continue to advise doctors that fatal foetal abnormality

is not in itself grounds for a lawful termination.

The guidelines have been circulated to the Executive

and a copy has been seen by the BBC's The View programme.

Our Political Editor Mark Devenport is with me.

a High Court judge ruled that the current abortion law

is a breach of European human rights legislation.

Explain what these draft guidelines mean in relation to that judgement.

Well, this was a ruling by the High Court judge at the start of this

week and he said that particularly in cases where women have

pregnancies with cetyl foetal abnormalities or pregnancies which

were the result of sexual crime, that the current law is in breach of

the European Convention on Human Rights. Whilst these headlands from

the Health Minister were circulated around the same time as that

judgment came out, they have obviously been prepared prior to

that. They do not necessarily reflect that judgment. In fact, this

is the outcome of a long process going back to the guidelines of

years ago and fresh advice when Edwin Poots was the minister. This

is a long-running story where medical professionals have been

looking for better advised on clarifying the law.

What do the guidelines seen by the BBC actually say?

Just like advice issued two years ago, they repeat that in Northern

Ireland, for an abortion or termination to be lawful it must be

necessary to preserve the life of a woman or doctors must judge that

there is a serious long-term or permanent risk to her physical or

mental health. Two years ago, when advice was issued, there was a

fairly bald statement that foetal abnormalities were not grounds for

termination. In this latest advice, it clarifies that the impact of such

a foetal abnormality on a woman's physical or mental health may be a

factor to be taken into account when health professionals recommend

options for her clinical care. So it is essentially saying but still

there must be a fear of long-term damage, potentially, to a woman's

mental health but that may be taken into account.

So ultimately, changing the law would be up to the the Assembly.

What do you think is going to happen?

It is quite complex because first of all, the judge who ruled that the

current law is in breach of the European Convention is going to

decide whether he will read down his judgment to change the law, or

simply say that the current law is incompatible. But that particular

judgment may well go to appeal, which, given the way the courts

work, could last for some time. If it does come back to the

politicians, even though we have these guidelines, abortion remains a

very controversial topic and one can imagine they will argue about it for

some time to come. Separately, there is another legal case where a woman

is seeking to get a copy of these guidelines, which so far has only

been circulated to Executive ministers.

More discussion on this issue at 10:35pm. 90. -- thank you.

A man from Londonderry has pleaded guilty

to a number of terrorism offences,

including involvement in the murder of a police officer

He will be sentenced later in the month.

This from our north west reporter, Keiron Tourish.

Christopher Paul, seen here on a previous court appearance, was due

to stand trial today on a total of 17 Provisional IRA related offences.

He has now admitted five of those charges. He pleaded guilty to

assisting offenders in the murder of 21-year-old constable Michael

Ferguson. He was shot dead by they are in the city centre whilst on

foot patrol on January the 23rd 1993. The defendant accepted he

impeded the capture of the perpetrators by ensuring there were

no fingerprint on a vehicle he believed he had touched directly

after the murder. Deals are pleaded guilty to firing mortar bomb at a

police vehicle in 1993 and planting a bomb at the railway line at

barracks two-month letter. He also admitted placing a bomb in February

1994 on the windowsill of the home of an assistant chief on there. The

final charge, he admitted, was planting a bomb at an army base,

likely to endanger life or damage property. 12 remaining charges are

to be left on the books and will not be pursued without the leave of the

court. Before the trial was due to get underway, there was told that

rest of the changing his plea. -- Christopher or cane. He was

rearranged for by the fences and -- rearranged for five offences.

And a motorcyclist has been killed in a crash in County Down.

It happened at Lisbane near Killinchy this morning.

A mother and her adult daughter have been held hostage

during an abduction and robbery in Dublin.

Three masked gunmen forced their way into a house in Artane,

in the north of the city, early this morning.

The woman's husband, who is a cash in transit employee,

and then hand over almost 200,000 euros

near a business park at Dublin Airport.

A legal case challenging the ban on same-sex marriage here

It's being brought by two gay couples, who were

the first to enter into civil partnerships ten years ago.

the ban was having a corrosive effect on society.

The money loaned to students to pay for university tuition fees

But it's not putting them off applying for higher education.

Our education correspondent Robbie Meredith has been looking at

new figures from the Student Loans Company,

the government body which distributes funding.

These sixth formers in west Belfast are currently deciding whether and

where to go to university. But costs are rising. New figures show more

than students were lent a total of ?173 million for tuition fees alone

last year. An average of ?4350 per person. I want to study law in

Queens and I certainly have had to consider tuition fees. I am

determined to do further education so whilst it has always been a

factor, I have always wanted to put onto it and I have always had the

support of my family. One of the big factors for me and my family was

money and moderately wanted to go to Edinburgh, but costs and other

things, it is not going to sit. Tuition fees are ?3805 per year in

Northern Ireland. But in England, Scotland and Wales, they can rise to

?9,000 per year. Despite this, around one third of Northern Ireland

students will to universities elsewhere in the UK and pay the

students will to universities elsewhere in the UK and pay the

higher fees. I am looking to go to Glasgow to study medicine. It has

always been a name for me and I believe that you will always be in

debt, no matter where you go. Their teacher is worried. The bigger

challenges those who have to travel because they cannot get a place here

and those fees will escalate and it will deter a number of students from

travelling. Student leaders say that given higher education's importance

to our economy, ratepayers should be putting more of the bill. It is

important that we recognise the public value that our education

system has and we need to make sure that we reflect that and is some

kind of levy that those who earn the most and benefit of higher education

later in life that they pay into a system that ensures our education

system is funded in the way it should be. There is no evidence so

far that these have put young people of taking a degree but with

universities cutting places, more may have to look elsewhere in

future, despite the cost. Debt is something most

of us live with all year round. But Christmas shopping

can push some to a level Research commissioned by the

Irish League of Credit Unions shows about half of shoppers in

Northern Ireland expect to borrow to get through

the festive season. it's a time when many people

feel under pressure. This Christmas, more and more of as

will use different forms of credit to pay for presence and food. But

for those who are already struggling with their finances, the pressure of

the festive season drives many even deeper into debt. For the

youngsters, it must be terrible. The youngsters on benefits, it must be a

nightmare because you want to be able to get your youngsters things

and if you have not got it, you have not got it. That is the people I

would feel sorry for. That would be under terrible pressure I would

imagine. In our day, you didn't... You didn't go into that. But now

they presume they have to. Not then all but I would say a lot of them

have to do it today. The first thing I would be thinking as whether I

could afford it because some people buy things that they cannot afford.

And Christmas is just one day, when you think on it. It is when the

bills come in in January that people realise they cannot afford to pay

back what they have agreed to because often the most accessible

forms of credit are also the most expensive, from store cards to

payday loans. If you were looking for ?500 over a three-month period,

you could go to a payday lenders and you might end up paying an extra

?350 on top of the 500. You could go and get an overdraft and pay an

extra ?70. You could use your credit card and pay ?40, or indeed you

could go to your credit union and it might only cost you ?10. You can see

there is a wide variety of different paybacks.

Shopping around for a burger that Christmas is second nature to many

of ours but no finance experts say we should apply that same principle

to any borrowing we do to ensure we get the cheapest rates .

With me everywhere presented of of a credit union. How bad do you think

the debt problem is? The results of a survey showed that 270,000 people

in Northern Ireland have used moneylenders, to date. A staggering

84% of them did not realise the charges, the interest charges, being

applied. Even worse, 11% have had the threat of physical violence

shown to them as a result of dealing with moneylenders.

For many people, a payday loan, going into a money lender, is an

easy, quick access to money. If they pay it back, surely it is not a bad

then. The loans are instantly available and that is what people

fall into the cycle of the problem. But if you go beyond the terms of

the agreement that you made with the payday lenders, that is where the

problems start. If you go to a credit union, we offer instant

loans... Or a bank or other financial institutions. Readily

accessible but we do not pray on the form above. We can offer reasonable

rates of interest capped by the law. What responsibility do you think the

retail sector has at this time of year? They are offering store cards

and people can pay the debt, that is fine, but what is the danger?

Whenever time passes by and the debt is not cleared in time, the

temptation is so high for people to just readily take the credit that is

their, often the instant credit is the most expensive kind.

People feel under pressure to buy from their friends, from family to

stop what advice would you give them, those who are under quite a

bit of financial pressure at this time of year? We would say to make a

list, look at what you can afford to spend and then plan your Christmas

shopping according to that, rather than shop and then worry. Make a

list, when you go shopping stick to it... It is easier said than done.

Of course, but discipline has to be there. The other thing to remember

is that Christmas is more than just buying presents, it is about

spending time with friends and family.

Thank you for joining us. On BBC Radio Ulster's On Your Behalf

programme, they are getting more debt advice at 9:45am on Saturday

morning. The DUP says a Culture Arts

and Leisure Committee hearing today Hundreds of mourners have attended

a funeral mass for Father Gerry Reynolds

in wet Belfast. The 82-year-old Redemptorist priest

was at Clonard Monastery Among the congregation, the

First Minister Martin McGuinness, the Republic's Foreign Affairs

Minister Charlie Flanagan, representatives

of Protestant churches alongside family,

friends and parishioners. They were there to pay

their respects to a man who had championed the cause

of peace and reconciliation. During the homily,

Father Gerry was described both as an idealist

and a visionary. Of course there was the 80 minute

call one. And his Redemptorist brothers can testify that he missed

no opportunity to talk about his dream for unity. Indeed, from

suspected that he was secretly a Protestant! Ken said last night that

no Catholic priest in Ireland was in so many Protestant churches.

The DUP says a Culture Arts and Leisure Committee hearing today

at Stormont has vindicated safety expert Paul Scott,

who first raised concerns about Casement Park.

Mr Scott told a Stormont committee in April that

the emergency-exiting arrangements in the proposed design were flawed.

Representatives from the Sports Ground Safety Authority today

gave evidence to the committee and said the organisation,

which regulates stadia in England and Wales,

are willing to work with developers in a consultative role.

Afterwards, DUP MLA William Humphrey

said Paul Scott had provided a huge service to the public

In a few minutes, we will have the latest weather forecast

But before that, we head back five years ago

to the coldest December on record.

The temperature plummeted to a low of 19 degrees Celsius.

Many inland areas experienced a seven day period

when it didn't get above zero during the day.

Our weather presenter, Barra Best, looks at the big freeze of 2010.

The first hint came around this time when temperatures wanted to eight

chilly minus 10 degrees. Over the next month, we would see disruption

to our lives. Roads and pavements became treacherous. This morning, we

paced ourselves when we were walking because of the icy conditions. When

you are carrying a child to school, it is a bit harder.

Your reports and public transport -based disruption. Schools were

closed, rural families were cut off and sports clubs had to, but

inventive ways to clear their pictures. It is probably a very

large canvas sheet which covers the entire rugby pitch, which is lifted

up a few feet and then hot air is pumped into it for 48 hours.

Leaks froze over and proved life-threatening for I man when he

tried to save his two dogs. The cold left my legs and arms and I just

stopped feeling it, and that was worrying me, because without feeling

it, I knew my body was closing down. There was a brief respite from

biting temperatures early in December, but the arctic conditions

returned by the middle of the month. And it was to get worse. For some,

it was a case of the show must go on. We wished for a white wedding

but this is pushing it a bit too far! It was just days before

Christmas and on the 22nd of December, Northern Ireland recorded

its lowest temperature. It reached a finger numbing minus 18.7 degrees in

County Tyrone. In fact, for a whole week, the town did not get above the

law by day. Of course, a big thaw forward, bringing upon problems with

burst pipes. Many people had to queue every day for water for simple

things like renting and washing. There is no suggestion that we are

about to have things like this in the near future, but the

unpredictability of Irish weather in the long term means we cannot say

for certain if we will avoid them all winter.

Thankfully, those temperatures did not come along very often, certainly

not in the next five days. We did have some contrasting weather today,

depending on where you are, or where. I Weather Watchers captured

nicely. Lashing down, cold as well, some snow over the higher ground.

But completely different in this picture. A lovely sunset a couple of

years ago. It will depend on where you were as to how much horrible,

wet, cold weather you so. Thankfully, the rain is moving away

and tonight looks quiet. A few showers, and a breeze, but it could

still it quite chilly and temperatures could drop low enough

for one or two icy patches. And temperatures could drop low enough

for one or two icy patches. I knew not too much rain during the day.

The wind is the 1st thing we will notice. It is down to a deep area of

low pressure, both of lines together telling us it is going to be windy

and the main ring system comes in after dark tomorrow from the

Atlantic. We have warnings that have been issued for both wind and rain

across Northern Ireland. The rain itself will continue into Saturday,

and the build-up could lead to flooding. First thing tomorrow,

fairly dry in most places. Just one or two showers around. Not too cold

either. The breeze will pick up but the air is getting milder because

the wind is coming in from the south-west. Not too bad weather wise

during the day. Just bits and pieces of rain, maybe even some glances of

brightness towards the East Coast. The wind kicks in in the afternoon.

Peak gusts of 60 mph, it could cause damage and destruction. There is the

rain sweeping and and a very wet and windy evening and night. Pretty

horrible if you're heading out for Christmas parties, although on the

plus side temperatures will be on the rise. That rain continues into

Saturday, still some lively winds around. The rain paling up to give

two inches worth in the hills and West. Thankfully, it is looking

drier on Sunday. Rain or snow, what would you prefer?