:00:12. > :00:16.Tonight's top stories: Ministers hold urgent talks to discuss
:00:17. > :00:19.the flooding crisis, but what's being done to help those
:00:20. > :00:25.whose homes and businesses have been left in ruins?
:00:26. > :00:34.I don't know, I'd just can't live here like this. You can see all
:00:35. > :00:36.around the country, it's a complete disaster.
:00:37. > :00:38.Ryanair is to begin operating services out of Belfast
:00:39. > :00:42.Bombardier announces further job cuts at its Belfast factory.
:00:43. > :00:45.An expert panel is appointed to help shape the future
:00:46. > :00:53.In this place of historical record I have an extraordinary story
:00:54. > :00:59.of love between an Irish rebel and an Ulster volunteer.
:01:00. > :01:10.Another weather warning in place, this time for ice and snow.
:01:11. > :01:15.Stormont ministers have been holding an emergency meeting to discuss
:01:16. > :01:19.the flooding which has affected low lying areas across Northern
:01:20. > :01:24.The ministers for Environment, Agriculture and Regional Development
:01:25. > :01:30.Rain last night wasn't as bad as had been initially feared but dozens
:01:31. > :01:33.of homes and businesses are still affected.
:01:34. > :01:36.Our agriculture and environment correspondent Conor Macauley
:01:37. > :01:50.The flood is no respect of heritage or history. Here the Walker
:01:51. > :01:57.encircled a 300-year-old listed thatched cottage near Portadown. It
:01:58. > :02:01.is owned by Dan and Kate McQuillan. The water has been sleeping in for a
:02:02. > :02:06.week, bad news for a property the walls of which are made of clay. The
:02:07. > :02:14.walls need a certain amount of damp to stay up but not this much, so the
:02:15. > :02:16.house could fall down. So far at the Rivers agency has managed to save
:02:17. > :02:24.this house by committing men and machinery. The line of sandbags here
:02:25. > :02:28.is keeping the bulk of the floodwaters away from the house but
:02:29. > :02:36.if those pumps were not running 24 is a day, within 20 minutes this
:02:37. > :02:41.house would be ended. On this farm they are pumping to save sheds and
:02:42. > :02:45.livestock. Two brothers farm 50 acres here, 30 of them underwater.
:02:46. > :02:51.The brothers believe salt deposits where the River ban enters Lough
:02:52. > :02:58.Neagh makes the River back up and threatened their livelihoods. We are
:02:59. > :03:03.pumping at over sandbags, circulating the water and keeping
:03:04. > :03:09.the yard dry so it doesn't come in. The option to do nothing is not an
:03:10. > :03:15.option. People are being stressed out, trying to look after families
:03:16. > :03:18.and animals and get on with life. In Cookstown, very ministers met this
:03:19. > :03:25.evening to assess the flood response. ?1.3 million is available
:03:26. > :03:30.to Northern Ireland, the spin off from a Westminster fund, but first
:03:31. > :03:34.the Executive must agree it will be spent on flood relief and then
:03:35. > :03:39.departments must make a pitch for the cash. So far neither has
:03:40. > :03:44.happened. We had some discussions about how to use the money to make a
:03:45. > :03:49.difference to people's lives. We will have a further discussion next
:03:50. > :03:54.week at an executive meeting to decide how to make most effective
:03:55. > :04:00.use of the money. It is the effect on livelihoods that makes this a
:04:01. > :04:04.pressing issue. Adrian had been renovating this cottage for his son,
:04:05. > :04:11.who returned from Australia after three years to move in. Now those
:04:12. > :04:17.plans are dashed. I came home with great hopes for a life here but I
:04:18. > :04:25.don't know, I just can't live here like this. These are tough times for
:04:26. > :04:28.those affected, the lack of answers come pounding their misery.
:04:29. > :04:31.Ryanair is - for the first time - to begin operating out
:04:32. > :04:34.It will start with one route in March.
:04:35. > :04:37.But more destinations will be added before the end of the year.
:04:38. > :04:41.It says to where exactly will depend on action by the Stormont Executive.
:04:42. > :04:45.Here's our business correspondent, Julian O'Neill.
:04:46. > :04:50.This was when Ryanair was at Belfast City Airport
:04:51. > :04:55.before it quit over delays to a proposed runway extension.
:04:56. > :04:59.Six years later, Ryanair is making a comeback.
:05:00. > :05:02.But this time it is going to Belfast International.
:05:03. > :05:05.A Gatwick service will start in March.
:05:06. > :05:11.Where could depend on Stormont acting on air passenger tax -
:05:12. > :05:28.If we get the right level of support from the government, we can see the
:05:29. > :05:33.roots everyone wants, Copenhagen, Madrid, and we will get them if we
:05:34. > :05:35.get the right level of support and get rid of APD.
:05:36. > :05:38.If Stormont wanted to get rid of the ?13 tax on fares it
:05:39. > :05:43.It would add up to tens of millions each year and so far
:05:44. > :05:56.Would it be fair to say you were dangling a carrot in front of the
:05:57. > :06:00.Northern Ireland Executive, if you want those desirable routes then do
:06:01. > :06:05.something on APD? That is overstating it. We will make
:06:06. > :06:10.musician waste on facts available to worse and at the moment there is a
:06:11. > :06:12.high cost, if that changes we will look at that again.
:06:13. > :06:14.Ryanair intends to have three aircraft operating on around half
:06:15. > :06:17.a dozen routes by the turn of the year.
:06:18. > :06:18.The airport anticipates handling an additional one
:06:19. > :06:26.If action on air passenger duty remains too expensive for Stormont,
:06:27. > :06:29.there is an alternative - a government fund to help start
:06:30. > :06:39.routes considered important for inbound tourism and the economy.
:06:40. > :06:48.An air route development fund has been under consideration for some
:06:49. > :06:50.time. Today Enterprise Minister Jonathan Bell said he was close to
:06:51. > :06:52.making a decision. The aerospace firm Bombardier
:06:53. > :06:54.is cutting another 60 jobs. The company, which has been
:06:55. > :06:56.under financial pressure, has made a series of lay-offs
:06:57. > :06:59.over the past two years. Our economics and business editor,
:07:00. > :07:13.John Campbell, is here. These are going from the
:07:14. > :07:16.complementary labour force, temporary contract workers who work
:07:17. > :07:20.alongside her mum staff. Whenever jobs go at Bombardier, they are the
:07:21. > :07:21.jobs that go first. Just put these job
:07:22. > :07:33.losses in some context. The company has been under pressure,
:07:34. > :07:38.developing a new airliner the wings of which are made in Belfast and
:07:39. > :07:43.that object has gone way over budget, it had to be ill died but
:07:44. > :07:47.that Canadian government and cash has been draining out of the
:07:48. > :07:53.business, so when Bombardier said they had to cut costs by 20% in
:07:54. > :07:57.Belfast, the workforce had recently rejected a cost-cutting plan and now
:07:58. > :08:02.they have decided to lay off 60 people. There is no way these 60
:08:03. > :08:07.jobs come anywhere near the size of the saving Bombardier want to make
:08:08. > :08:10.so we will have to see what the company will do over the coming
:08:11. > :08:11.weeks and months. A number of families have been moved
:08:12. > :08:14.from their homes in Londonderry It follows reports of a suspicious
:08:15. > :08:17.object at Southway, The Long Tower Youth Club has been
:08:18. > :08:21.opened for people in the area who are unable to get
:08:22. > :08:24.to their homes. A prominent loyalist has been
:08:25. > :08:28.refused bail at the High Court. The hearing was told that material
:08:29. > :08:32.linked to a proscribed loyalist terrorist organisation was found
:08:33. > :08:34.at Mark Harbinson's property He's been charged with possession
:08:35. > :08:39.of a pistol, a silencer and ammunition with intent
:08:40. > :08:42.to endanger life. Mark Harbinson, who had previously
:08:43. > :08:45.been convicted of sexual offences against a child, also had his early
:08:46. > :08:50.release licence revoked. Our reporter Kevin
:08:51. > :08:55.Sharkey was in court. More details were revealed
:08:56. > :08:57.about what was found during a police search at a barn beside
:08:58. > :09:00.Mark Harbinson's home in December. Along with the gun and ammunition,
:09:01. > :09:04.officers also found three balaclavas and a banner for the banned
:09:05. > :09:08."Orange Volunteers" group. Mark Harbinson told police
:09:09. > :09:10.the banner was displayed during the Drumcree dispute 20
:09:11. > :09:13.years ago and he kept it The police also found
:09:14. > :09:18.what they described as a shebeen, or bar, in the building It was also
:09:19. > :09:34.revealed that Mark Harbinson's car A defence barrister explained Mark R
:09:35. > :09:39.Benson held a fancy dress party in the summer and suggested the
:09:40. > :09:46.balaclava may have been left behind by some of those attending. It was
:09:47. > :09:50.was involved in a high spee ??Transmit d
:09:51. > :10:05.he said he was not driving the car and lent it to a diesel fitter but
:10:06. > :10:06.did not tell them who the diesel fitter was.
:10:07. > :10:09.The defence team told the judge that Mark Harbinson denies the charge
:10:10. > :10:12.he is facing and has no links with loyalist groups.
:10:13. > :10:20.He told the police he is no longer involved with loyal orders and said
:10:21. > :10:27.he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and was having a
:10:28. > :10:28.mental meltdown. He said he has no interest in modern loyalism.
:10:29. > :10:30.The judge refused bail, saying there was a risk
:10:31. > :10:35.of reoffending and a further attempt to abscond.
:10:36. > :10:39.Still to come on tonight's programme: With over ?57 million up
:10:40. > :10:44.for grabs in this Saturday's lottery draw, we've been asking people
:10:45. > :10:55.Anything can happen to you, but it's never going to happen, is it? I will
:10:56. > :10:58.do was on Saturday, yes! A week into the new year,
:10:59. > :11:01.our health service has already been in the spotlight, with managers
:11:02. > :11:04.calling on the public not to attend emergency departments
:11:05. > :11:07.unless they have urgent need. It exposed other problems in getting
:11:08. > :11:10.care packages for patients Today the minister has announced
:11:11. > :11:16.the names of an expert panel which will be tasked
:11:17. > :11:18.with finding some solutions. We'll hear from him in a minute
:11:19. > :11:21.but first, Our health system is under pressure
:11:22. > :11:27.and there are no easy solutions. A report last year said a panel
:11:28. > :11:32.of international experts should be free to take big decisions
:11:33. > :11:34.about reform without having But the Health Minister,
:11:35. > :11:39.Simon Hamilton, has decided His panel is made up
:11:40. > :11:45.of two local doctors, two health service managers
:11:46. > :11:47.originally from Northern Ireland This is where the chair of the panel
:11:48. > :11:54.currently works as an academic. Professor Rafael Bengoa is also
:11:55. > :11:57.a former Health Minister He's previously worked as an advisor
:11:58. > :12:03.to the EU and the current US administration on
:12:04. > :12:19.so-called ObamaCare. We have been centred in the last few
:12:20. > :12:23.years on planning around structures and planning around patient needs
:12:24. > :12:29.and outcomes, so the important thing with the bus to be at the panel
:12:30. > :12:35.thinking in outcome terms and then see whether there is any structural
:12:36. > :12:37.or system restructuring that is needed.
:12:38. > :12:39.The panel's precise remit will be decided at a political
:12:40. > :12:42.Whatever the proposals this panel comes up with, difficult decisions
:12:43. > :12:44.like potentially reducing the number of acute hospitals will
:12:45. > :12:47.still ultimately be down to our politicians.
:12:48. > :12:54.And most experts seem to agree time is fast running out.
:12:55. > :12:56.Well, earlier I spoke to the Health Minister,
:12:57. > :13:00.He said the expert panel has the potential to deliver the ideas
:13:01. > :13:03.which will ensure the highest quality of care.
:13:04. > :13:06.I asked him if he was confident that it would be up
:13:07. > :13:18.Back in November I set out a range of reforms including taking out a
:13:19. > :13:23.letter of bureaucracy by closing the health and social care abroad, we
:13:24. > :13:29.are consulting on that and this is progress by appointing that panel,
:13:30. > :13:33.so we are making progress on those reforms, I want to see the panel
:13:34. > :13:38.start to work work late and moved to the next stage, we need to have
:13:39. > :13:43.brought the logical support for the changes re-record and the Donaldson
:13:44. > :13:50.report said was needed, and the next report will be to agree on health
:13:51. > :13:55.and social care in Northern Ireland. Is the political will is there to
:13:56. > :14:00.make changes? I have shown willingness by taking the process to
:14:01. > :14:04.the stage and my party will have input into this process, and it is
:14:05. > :14:10.incumbent on other parties to engage in this recess because health
:14:11. > :14:14.belonged to us all and we do not know who the minister will be in
:14:15. > :14:20.future, in many respects that is not the point, we all have to take a
:14:21. > :14:26.collective decision. Do you have the courage to make brave decisions?
:14:27. > :14:30.This is the latest in a series of reforms I have made to bring us to a
:14:31. > :14:38.world-class hosting care situation, and this is the necessary next up to
:14:39. > :14:45.take forward the recommendations put forward, learning from experience as
:14:46. > :14:48.elsewhere, taking expert advice from outside Northern Ireland also
:14:49. > :14:54.listening to clinicians here. All the panels in the world will not
:14:55. > :14:59.help the current 221 people who cannot get out of hospital because
:15:00. > :15:04.there is no home care package. I know the health service is under
:15:05. > :15:08.pressure especially at this time of year with pressures within an
:15:09. > :15:13.emergency Department, last weekend there was an 8% increase in people
:15:14. > :15:18.coming into emergency departments, compared to the previous year, and
:15:19. > :15:23.in those challenging circumstances, it does not take away from people
:15:24. > :15:28.who have been waiting for a bed or a care package, our staff have coped
:15:29. > :15:33.well. But they have to cope well in incredible circumstances all the
:15:34. > :15:40.time, why can they not run a proper service? I put additional money into
:15:41. > :15:43.dealing with winter pressures, getting people back into their homes
:15:44. > :15:50.or into residential homes and we have been learning from lessons in
:15:51. > :15:53.the past. Two years ago there was a major incident declared at the Royal
:15:54. > :15:56.Victoria Hospital, that has not happened this year because people
:15:57. > :16:01.have learnt the lessons and implemented change. It could be
:16:02. > :16:06.argued we have not had a cold weather snap, gloop pressure of
:16:07. > :16:12.previous years, so it might just be luck. Good planning has been put in
:16:13. > :16:17.place all year, trying to learn mistakes and learn those lessons. Do
:16:18. > :16:22.you think this time next year wings will be different, there will be a
:16:23. > :16:27.different service in place across Northern Ireland? We are learning
:16:28. > :16:33.lessons and implementing change all the time. The reforms I hope the
:16:34. > :16:38.panel announced today will look at but take years to implement but that
:16:39. > :16:44.does not mean we are not to win things now, making reforms happen
:16:45. > :16:46.that will improve the care people received and make sure they get the
:16:47. > :16:47.highest standard of care. A veteran civil rights activist,
:16:48. > :16:50.Paddy Doherty, who was better known Mr Doherty was a key figure
:16:51. > :16:55.in the Civil Rights movement of the late 1960s and early '70s,
:16:56. > :16:58.and went on to work with the Irish Foundation
:16:59. > :17:00.for Human Development in the city He received an honorary degree
:17:01. > :17:04.for his services to Already this week we have had
:17:05. > :17:11.a glimpse of the big events that have their centenaries this year -
:17:12. > :17:14.the Easter Rising These are big moments in history
:17:15. > :17:18.and we'll be marking them But history isn't just
:17:19. > :17:22.made from events. Donna is at the Public
:17:23. > :17:28.Record Office. Tara, history is also made up
:17:29. > :17:32.of people and this evening we are going to feature just two
:17:33. > :17:34.individuals who helped shape and who were shaped
:17:35. > :17:37.by those huge events. They were Winnie Carney
:17:38. > :17:40.and George McBride. Theirs is a story of ordinary
:17:41. > :17:45.people, extraordinary passion George McBride did an interview
:17:46. > :17:52.for the Somme Centre in the 1980s and we begin with his words
:17:53. > :18:20.from that recording. Both were socialists, both were in
:18:21. > :18:21.the labour movement and that brought them together.
:18:22. > :18:23.George McBride, a Shankill Road Protestant,
:18:24. > :18:35.We met in Yarrow Street, then we marched up to
:18:36. > :18:37.Captain Stack's place up at Ardoyne to drill.
:18:38. > :18:40.But on the morning we joined up we all went down
:18:41. > :18:43.Winnie Carney, from County Down, joined the Labour and
:18:44. > :18:51.Republican-orientated Irish Citizen Army.
:18:52. > :18:57.She was a radical, somebody who had very strong views, she stood for a
:18:58. > :18:59.workers Republic. Winnie Carney was one of six
:19:00. > :19:02.children and well-educated. She'd become interested in politics
:19:03. > :19:03.through the women's suffrage movement and then
:19:04. > :19:05.trade union activity. At Easter 1916, at the age of 29
:19:06. > :19:09.she was at the side of one of the leaders of the rebellion,
:19:10. > :19:28.James Connolly, playing a vital role She also had a gun, she knew how to
:19:29. > :19:32.use them and that was there for her protection if it became necessary,
:19:33. > :19:37.so she was known as the typist with the web late but she also played an
:19:38. > :19:39.essential role in terms of communications.
:19:40. > :19:42.George McBride walked a very different path and was in a very
:19:43. > :19:45.different place by July 1st 1916 - the Battle of the Somme in France.
:19:46. > :19:56.Men were being killed and then a kind of disorder set in.
:19:57. > :19:59.It seemed more like a riot that a battle.
:20:00. > :20:02.The following year Winnie Carney, who was one of the founders
:20:03. > :20:05.of the women's IRA, Cummann na mBan, was released from
:20:06. > :20:11.George McBride survived the French battlefields.
:20:12. > :20:14.He was a German prisoner of war and when the fighting
:20:15. > :20:19.He became a member of the Labour movement,
:20:20. > :20:26.and then, as he explains, something extraordinary happened.
:20:27. > :20:33.Well, in the Labour Party I met a Miss Winifred Carney.
:20:34. > :20:38.I came from the Shankill Road and she was a Roman Catholic.
:20:39. > :20:41.And she fought in the Dublin rebellion.
:20:42. > :20:57.I had heard the story that when they got married, George's friends own
:20:58. > :21:00.difficulties he was marrying a Republican and some of Winifred's
:21:01. > :21:12.friends had difficulty because she was marrying a Protestant labour
:21:13. > :21:19.man. A picture of Winifred Carney's headstone, and we have a photo of
:21:20. > :21:20.George McBride sitting beside her headstone in Milltown Cemetery in
:21:21. > :21:25.Belfast. They were separated in death
:21:26. > :21:28.because she is buried in Milltown Cemetery in Belfast
:21:29. > :21:30.while he is in Clandeboye The anniversaries of big events this
:21:31. > :21:34.year will prompt many people to dig into their families'
:21:35. > :21:46.past and to this place. What can people discover here? Many
:21:47. > :21:51.people come here looking for family history and while many sources have
:21:52. > :21:57.gone online, a lot of material you still need to come here for, like
:21:58. > :22:01.church records, births and marriages, the only records would be
:22:02. > :22:07.in those of the churches which we have on microfilm, then school
:22:08. > :22:14.records from the 19th-century own words, primary schools, records of
:22:15. > :22:20.the workhouse, many families ended up using the poor law system, and
:22:21. > :22:25.records of illnesses, landed estates, so there is a range of
:22:26. > :22:29.material. We will have documentaries about the centenary this year, what
:22:30. > :22:35.interest does that generate in people to come and find out about
:22:36. > :22:40.family history? That has been shared by people who had a relative in the
:22:41. > :22:46.war or who was involved in the centenary is and they wanted to look
:22:47. > :22:49.at the wider picture and family are crowned, so there has been interest
:22:50. > :22:51.in family history this year. Ian, thank you.
:22:52. > :22:54.And you can find out more about Winnie, George and so many
:22:55. > :22:57.others involved the big events in 1916 on a new BBC
:22:58. > :23:03.Northern Ireland website - bbc.co.uk/voices16.
:23:04. > :23:09.From the Public Records Office, back to you in the studio.
:23:10. > :23:11.Last night's National Lottery draw went unclaimed which means
:23:12. > :23:14.there's now a huge ?57.8 million up for grabs this Saturday.
:23:15. > :23:17.It's gone through the roof because no-one has won the jackpot
:23:18. > :23:35.The chances of winning the Jack what are 45 million to one, slim to say
:23:36. > :23:41.the lead, but here last year a woman once ?13 million in the lottery.
:23:42. > :23:42.Maybe it is a lucky garage. We didn't think we were lucky until
:23:43. > :23:44.Mary. Since that big win, Mary spends
:23:45. > :23:55.a lot of time Imagine how you would feel if you
:23:56. > :23:58.want a fortune, she was shaking, we all work, we had to take into back
:23:59. > :24:01.and make a cup of tea. Seems to have a bit
:24:02. > :24:08.of a winning streak. Did you win some money? Three quid.
:24:09. > :24:24.It's a start. My mates and I bought lottery
:24:25. > :24:26.tickets every week but won a tender, and that finished me.
:24:27. > :24:29.Whilst many of us would take the money and run and more
:24:30. > :24:32.than likely hide, this woman's happy to spread it around anonymously.
:24:33. > :24:41.I wouldn't tell anybody but I would do things with it, good deeds but
:24:42. > :24:47.hopefully very anonymously. Anything can happen to you that it will never
:24:48. > :24:50.happen, will it? I will do with on Saturday, yes, and to the Euros
:24:51. > :24:52.tomorrow night. Your chances of winning this
:24:53. > :24:54.weekend are improved. The money can't be rolled over any
:24:55. > :25:09.longer and that means Well, one thing money cannot change
:25:10. > :25:12.is the weather. Geoff is here. It will just buy you a flight to
:25:13. > :25:18.somewhere warmer, which would not be a bad thing tonight because it is
:25:19. > :25:22.chilly, we already have reports of black ice on some high routes, so
:25:23. > :25:28.with good reason the Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for
:25:29. > :25:31.snow and ice. We expect the coldest part of the night to come through
:25:32. > :25:39.the early hours of darkness, dropping 2-3 in some rural areas.
:25:40. > :25:43.Temperatures will recover later on as this rain moves in but with that
:25:44. > :25:49.rain falling as sleet or snow on high ground, so it will be a chilly
:25:50. > :25:53.start to Friday. There will be brightness later on but wintry
:25:54. > :25:59.showers continue for a time over high ground in the early part of
:26:00. > :26:04.Friday and as we get into the day proper, once the sun comes out there
:26:05. > :26:08.will be more cloud around so that will restrict temperatures, some
:26:09. > :26:13.brightness but wrap up if you are heading out because we will see
:26:14. > :26:17.highs of five or 6 degrees, so a cold end to the week. Where we have
:26:18. > :26:23.clear skies that will help the temperatures to drop again, another
:26:24. > :26:26.cold night, some brain working its way up through the Arab Seacoast
:26:27. > :26:33.into County don't in the early part of Saturday morning. We also have an
:26:34. > :26:39.unsettled picture over the weekend, this area of low pressure, decaying
:26:40. > :26:45.fronts and fragments of rain so a messy picture. We do not expect the
:26:46. > :26:50.volume of rain we saw in recent days so that should let the ground dry
:26:51. > :26:54.out, there will still be showers around across the east coast on
:26:55. > :26:59.Saturday. There will be a cold feel to the day. Temperatures not
:27:00. > :27:06.recovering much about four or 5 degrees, but I Sunday it will be
:27:07. > :27:09.more of a chilly theme to the weather, four or five Celsius and
:27:10. > :27:15.the few showers but not the volume of rain we have seen. At the start
:27:16. > :27:20.of next week, hopefully the ground will have a chance to dry out but
:27:21. > :27:25.those temperatures are heading down and next week seems like the coldest
:27:26. > :27:29.week of the winter so far. Geoff, thank you, I will take you up on
:27:30. > :27:30.that flight if your numbers come up at the weekend.
:27:31. > :27:50.You can also keep in contact with us via Facebook and Twitter.
:27:51. > :27:54.Welcome back to the extreme world of Irish dancing.