19/01/2016 BBC Newsline

Thank you. That's all from the BBC's News at Six. Goodbye from me. On BBC

The headlines on BBC Newsline: The police begin a murder inquiry

and reveal this man was tied up and stabbed in his Greenisland home.

Martin McGuinness agrees to give evidence about the IRA at an inquest

into the death of a man shot by the army in 1972.

The funeral takes place of the teenager who died in a fire

I'm live at Belfast City Hall, where councillors have agreed plans

to build more than 1,000 student flats.

A row over car parking could see Belfast International Airport taking

Could Rory Best be named Ireland rugby captain tomorrow?

There's plenty of dry weather over the next day or so,

I'll have your forecast later in the programme.

The police say Eddie Girvan suffered a painful and violent death.

His body was found at his home in Greenisland in Newtownabbey last

His hands had been tied and he had been stabbed.

Detectives have started a murder investigation into the 67-year-old's

death and are questioning two men and a woman.

A murder investigation at the home of the pensioner who lived alone

His body was found in the living room.

The victim was on a chair, stabbed in the chest,

The last time he was seen alive was Sunday afternoon

The police are now trying to find out more information

This sequence of events leading to the discovery of the body last night

began during a routine police operation in Belfast city centre

yesterday morning. We can't get any more details about that operation

but we know that that led police officers to come to Mr Gervin's home

for his body was found at around 9:30pm last night. Shortly

afterwards, neighbours told the blues that his car was also missing.

The police came to the house and discovered his body. What prompted

those enquiries? The police were conducting enquiries relating to an

individual from Belfast and those enquiries led us to call routinely

to the house. We were unaware at that time that Mr Gervin had been

The police have now established that Eddie Girvan's car was seen

being driven dangerously along the mortorway between Rathcoole

and Belfast after 7.00am yesterday morning.

It was found at Verner Street in Belfast in the early hours

Tonight, the police were also carrying out investigations here.

Meanwhile, in Greenisland, the community is still trying

to come to terms with murder in it's midst.

This is an area that looks after its elderly. The like of this has not

been seen in this area before. The like of this has not been seen

in this area before. Tonight, two crime scenes are under

investigation as the police try to find out why Eddie Girvan

died and who killed him. The Deputy First Minister,

Martin McGuinness, has agreed, in principle, to appear as a witness

at an inquest into the death of a man who was shot

dead by the army. Seamus Bradley was killed

in the Creggan in Londonderry in July 1972, during what was called

Operation Motorman. His case is one of 56 cases

that are being reviewed Our reporter Ita Dungan

was in the court. It was the summer of 1972

and the British Army were moving The army's mission was to secure

what were known as "no-go areas". By the end of the day

two people were dead - 19-year-old Seamus Bradley

and 15-year-old Daniel Hegarty. 44 years on, a review into the death

of Seamus Bradley took place Lord Justice Weir is assessing how

much more work needs to be done before a full scale

inquest can go ahead. What is very much part of that

jigsaw is what were the IRA in Derry In order to find out,

the Coroner's Office wrote to Martin McGuinness

and Gerry Adams. In 2001, Mr McGuinness told

the Bloody Sunday Inquiry that he was second in command

of the IRA in Derry What this inquest is trying to find

out is whether or not the meeting took place between members of the

British government and a Republican delegation. They want to know if

that meeting took place, what may or may not have been said and whether

or not the IRA is to decide their operations for the duration of the

operation. In response to that request,

Martin McGuinness' solicitor appeared at today's hearing

promising Mr McGuinness' full Do you think it is likely that

Martin McGuinness will appear before the inquest? That is a matter for

the coroner to determine. Certainly Martin McGuinness has made it clear

he will cooperate with the inquest process.

Giving an update on the MoD's readiness to proceed

with the inquest, the army's legal representative said the MoD

"could not locate any records" of such a meeting."

Going on to say they would now check, "the National Archives to see

In response, Lord Justice Weir said: "We all know there were meetings

Gerry Kelly may be asked to give evidence into the inquest of the

killing of Gareth O'Connor, the dissident Republican, in 2003. His

family claimed that Mr Kelly told them that they that she had spoken

to the Provisional IRA about the killing and was told that they were

not responsible. The funeral has taken place

of the teenager who died in a fire 18-year-old Ellen Finnegan died

in a flat above her father's butcher's shop in the early

hours of Saturday. Today, the local community

paid its final respects. Castlewellan fell silent to remember

a beloved member of the community. Ellen Finnegan lived

and died in the flat Today, Bartley Finnegan walked

behind his daughter to Requiem Mass at St Malachy's Church,

accompanied by schoolfriends from Assumption Grammar

in Ballynahinch and team mates During the service she was

remembered as bright, vivacious, talented,

full of hope and already making I know Hal Bartley cherishes the

last conversation he had with his beautiful daughter. I believe it is

a special grace for you, Bartley, to be able to cherish that message.

She, Helen, wished you a good holiday and added, I love you, dad.

Afterwards, Ellen was taken through the town before being laid

to rest at the family burial ground in Aughlisnafin.

A number of motorists and pedestrians say they are lucky

to be alive after a stolen car crashed into three other vehicles

Three adults and an eight-year-old girl were taken to hospital

This is where the stolen car came to a halt.

The vehicle came through the lights at the junction of the Falls Road

and Broadway striking three other vehicles just

Eyewitnesses say the car careered along the road on its roof before

Those caught up in the crash say it could have been

I was just standing waiting on the bus. The next thing I heard a bang

and I saw this great car coming towards me, flipping over. I saw

three other cars had been hit. My life flashed in front of my eyes. It

scared the life out of him. He actually jumped into my arms and

head-butted me and started shaking. , the ambulance came.

The police are trying to track down three males in their late teens

or early 20s seen running from the stolen car.

The vehicle was taken during a burglary in nearby Servia

Three adults and an eight-year-old girl who were all in parked

or moving cars struck by the vehicle were taken to hospital

The Falls Road has returned to normal today.

Last night's scene of destruction has long been cleared away,

but people living in this community are concerned that car crime may

Questions need to be asked of the rule of the judiciary system in

relation to the sentences handed down to those involved in death

driving. Those involved in death driving, it is seen as a revolving

door policy that these individuals are arrested, brought in front of a

judge and are either handed a lenient sentence or released on

The police say they want to speak to anyone who can identify the three

males who were seen running from the stolen car.

There's plenty to come on the programme before 7.00pm,

including a plan by two more Catholic grammars

Belfast City Council is expected to vote shortly on a plan to build

more than 1,000 student apartments next to the Ulster University's

Three other student housing schemes have been rejected.

Our Economics and Business Editor, John Campbell, is at Belfast City

What were councillors discussing this evening?

This is all about the major regeneration which is happening on

the northern edge of Belfast city centre. It is being driven by the

new Ulster University campus, were building work is continuing and

behind that by the developers have seen an opportunity to market flats

for students. But we had tonight were two major public agent

approved. We can see the site, which is on the corner of York Street,

currently disused office building and a car park, which is due to be

transformed into a couple of student blocks housing more than a thousand

students. These will be the last applications of these that that

point has to consider. There are another 11 thousand potential

places. Could we have too many of the scheme is being built? Some

people I have talked to have raised that fear. Some residents in these

areas are worried about what happens if you have a really high

concentration of students. I was speaking to one of the developers

who scheme was approved tonight and he's out of every single scheme got

approval it would only bring Belfast up to the average of other UK

universities cities. In Belfast went ahead with all 16 project that are

currently in the planning at the moment, it would only give Belfast

around 23% of student accommodation which was manage student

accommodation has a total of the whole student population. It would

still be way behind other UK cities. I don't see Belfast being any

different than any other UK city. So planning permission has been given

this evening. When will we see the bricks and mortar? The new

university campuses due to be fully operational in 2018, so the

developers want to have the schemes on the ground by them. My

understanding is that building work could begin as early as this summer.

Last year's rows between the politicians over changes

to the welfare benefits system threatened to collapse the Stormont

An expert group was given the job of designing a scheme

what would mitigate any impact of that reform and today it

Our Political Editor, Mark Devenport, is at Stormont.

That group have come in under budget, ?80 million under budget.

Not so much money night has to be spent those negative impacts on

Well, originally, they were meant to help those who lost out

as a result of both the welfare changes and proposed cuts to tax

credits, but then the Chancellor George Osborne abandoned his plans

for immediate tax credit cuts and that changed the calculations.

Now, instead of spending ?585 million as set out

in the Fresh Start deal, the proposal is for ?501 million

in flexibilities over a four year period.

If you do lose out for example as a result of the phasing out of,

say Disability Living Allowance, you may well be eligible for help

from the Stormont top up fund for a period of one year.

To qualify you must lose out more than ?10 a week and the Stormont

cash you get should be equal to three-quarters of the money

you would otherwise have lost out on.

The chair of the working group Professor Eileen Evason explained

This is a four-year scheme to the lot of to help people as much as we

can over the coming years. I much emphasised that with the Bedroom Tax

and other things we're not just helping people on benefits and the

disabled, but people who are in work as well, working poor.

Whilst Professor Evason was setting out her plans to deal with welfare

reform, elsewhere in Stormont MLAs were debating

They are about to vote on an ?11.5 billion pound budget,

which was agreed in principle by the DUP and Sinn Fein before

Gloom around Stormont, but light on the horizon as well. And new

minister of finance facing the same old problems but he at last was a

budget. This represents, I trust, a balanced budget with no level of

overcommitment for the first time in many years. That is an improved

situation from where our opponents and critics had us last year. The

budget takes account of the fact -- of the fact that three departments

will disappear after May, leaving us with nine. The winners, the

communities Department, up 6.2%. Health up 2.7%, and justice up 2.6%.

The losers, agriculture, the environment and rural affairs than

5.7%, the executive office 95%, and the new economy Department, which

had responsibility for higher education, down 3%. The budget

document what's the competitive funding levels can't be maintained

for at universities, Northern Ireland will end up with a

second-rate higher education system. There were those that hold us in the

past that we would not be able to get to the point where we are today.

It was going to be a phantom budget, the figures wouldn't add up. Today I

am announcing ?133 million additional money for the health

service. ?40 million additional for education. While voting for the

budget, the Sinn Fein chair of the health committee had questions.

While the committee welcomes the additional money to health we are

disappointed that the level of detail available on how the

department's budget will be spent. Others were much harder. This is a

budget which is depressingly familiar. There is no fresh start

here. It is a budget characterised by its lack of ambition, lack of

creativity and lack of ideas. It is a budget cobbled together by two

parties whose only interesting is to be... He was interrupted but he made

his point. It is not to the liking of everyone, but this is a budget

that for much of last year we thought would not happen.

The debate is continuing here in the Assembly chamber, but given the

support for the budget by the two main parties, the outcome is a

main parties, the outcome is a foregone conclusion.

Belfast International Airport is threatening to take a council

to court over a competitor's car park.

The car park has been operating without planning consent

The local council backtracked on a move to force its immediate

closure, so the airport is now considering legal action.

Here's our business correspondent Julian O'Neill.

Car parks are a money machine and the International says the revenue

is vital to run and improve the airports. There is little

competition across the road at some other operators are not and when

planning enforcement power was past the Council the airport expected

action. We have been dealing with the unlawful and parasitic operators

since 2006. When it was devolved to the council last April we were

ensured there would be robust action taken against these operators, but

it turns out not to be the case. This car park has been running for

ten years of planning approval. Last August it was served the stop notice

from the council. Only for the notice to be withdrawn months later.

The council says it is continuing with other enforcement action

addressing breeches and planning control. But that avenue crucially

allows this business to keep operating in the meantime. One

week's parking here can be ?10 cheaper than the airports. Its

operator says he can I demonstrate its need and intense filing for

planning. We have lived here locally all our lives. The Prince Rono from

a house on my life. I have tried to have meetings with the airport and

they have refused. People like our customer service, that is what they

tell us. The patients of the airport could be wearing thin. They have

told the council that they will launch a judicial review and claim

launch a judicial review and claim for damages.

Two Catholic grammar schools in County Tyrone are planning

to remove the use of academic selection.

Christian Brothers School and Loreto Grammar in Omagh

want to phase in the move over a four-year period.

Our South West reporter Julian Fowler has been getting

The last official 11-Plus test took place in 2008,

but since then many grammar schools have used unregulated transfer tests

Last June, a consultation was carried out by Christian

Brothers School and Loreto Grammar in Omagh seeking the views

of governors, staff, parents and pupils on a proposal

The schools say that having carefully considered the responses

to the consultation, they remain of the view

that they should embark on a phased transition away from the use

It has proposed to begin the process for admissions to Year Eight

from September 2017, with a view that the schools

will have a totally non-academically selective intake by September 2020.

Parents collecting pupils at this Omagh primary school this afternoon

I am delighted that it is going. But I don't agree with the phased out

approach. I think it should be all or nothing because it is not there

and some kids to go to the experience of the tests and other

kids to just sail through under different circumstances. Honestly, I

think it is not on their exam. They are too young at that stage for

selection and continuous assessment would be my preference. It is good

that the Jews. -- and that it goes. There will now be another

period of consultation. Now sport and there's a sleepless

night ahead for some Several Ulster players will be

nervously awaiting tomorrow's news Coach Joe Scmidt will reveal his

panel for this year's tournament at lunchtime tomorrow,

and also name his new captain. Favourite to replace Paul O'Connell

is Ulster skipper Rory Best, and there's expected to be a strong

Ulster representation. It has been a season when all the's

youngsters have stood right. But it was the return of one of the more

seasoned campaigners that caught the eye against Saracens at the weekend

and just in time with the six Nations looming large. If you take

Kevin picked for an international team likely you'd be getting a bit

cocky. I would be lucky to get picked for not playing much rugby

lately. There are a lot of young guys putting up their hands. Joe

picky pics, but I'm sure there will be a few surprises. Hopefully we can

get together and do the job. It would be no surprise of his

team-mate was chosen to lead the side. It would be a massive honour.

I enjoy captaining the team. First and foremost for me the most

important thing is Ulster and making sure we can better selves in a good

position. We want to be any European knockout. If it doesn't happen, it

would not make a difference to the impact they want to make with the

team, going for three in a row. That hasn't been done for over 100 years

We'll have the results of tonight's two Irish Premiership games

on our late bulletin, as well as the two rearranged fifth

round matches in the Irish Cup, including the holders Glentoran

It is a banana skin for us against law opposition, who have watched and

here good team. They work hard. As ever in the competitions there are

no bad teams and we have to be at our best.

Popular road racer rider Guy Martin has confirmed that he will miss this

year's NorthWest 200, as well the Isle of Man TT.

Martin sustained serious injuries in this huge crash while leading

the Dundrod 150 Superbike race last summer.

He also caused controversy at last year's NorthWest,

criticising the course, saying he was "bored to the back

teeth of riding through chicanes", comments for which he later

He will opt to concentrate on the Tour Divide, a major mountain

Over the next 36 hours it will be quiet. We have had a lot of glide

around today. There was the odd bit of sunshine today, this was County

Tyrone. Getting into tomorrow, more of us will see some of that

sunshine, but before then we will hold onto a lot of cloud, keeping

temperatures just above freezing. The sky breaks temperatures will

fall to freezing and below, allowing for a light frost. By tomorrow

morning, some of the fog will be quite thick, workers cause

visibility problems for commuters first thing. Overall, the day will

be dry. A foggy staff are quite a few, but the sun will quickly burn

the way. Not a bad afternoon. The winds will be barely noticeable.

Temperatures reaching 67 degrees in the east, maybe five or six in the

West. If you are travelling tomorrow it be a dry picture across and

Ireland. It will be cold across Britain after a cold and frosty

night. Temperatures will struggle after four or 5 degrees. For

Northern Ireland tomorrow evening we will see some sunshine before

nightfall but because of a lack of cloud it will be cold for tomorrow

evening and overnight in the Thursday, allowing temperatures to

fall back quickly. Through the night we have an unsettled weather system

coming our way, lifting temperatures. It will still be quite

calls. The could be the odd stretch of ice in the countryside. For

Thursday, it will be rather cloudy with outbreaks of rain and the winds

will pick up. It will feel quite blustery along the County Down

coast. But look at the temperatures, ten, maybe 11 degrees. Looking

towards Friday on the weekend we will hold onto the milder air, above

normal for the time of year with the temperature, avoiding any frost.

First he seems to be the wettest, dryer on Friday and into Saturday.

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