03/02/2016 BBC Newsline

The appeal hearing in the so-called gay cake case is stalled after a

dramatic intervention from the Attorney General.

The First and Deputy First Ministers join Scotland and Wales in asking

for any EU referendum to be deferred.

I'm in Dublin where the campaign for election 2016 has begun.

A court orders a Sinn Fein MLA to pay Ulster Unionist MP

Tom Elliott nearly ?50,000 for a defamatory tweet.

The student accommodation block planned for south Belfast that

objectors are calling a "high-rise Holyland".

You will have a development that will be 24 hours, coming and going,

increased noise, students running around the place and it is not in

common with the area. Dubai Desert title -

Rory McIlroy tells BBC Newline "this And rising temperatures

through the next 24 hours but turning cloudy

and damp at times. There's been another twist

in the legal battle involving Ashers Just as an appeal hearing

was about to get under way, the Attorney General intervened

and the case is to be put on hold In the meantime, the Attorney

General's concerns about the case BBC Newsline's Mark

Simpson was in court. Arriving back at court today for

another legal battle. The Bakers and the man whose cake they refused to

make. Ashers does not discriminate. We took issue with the message on

the cake and not the customer. This was the cake in question. A court

ruled that the Bakers should have agreed to bake it and by doing so

they discriminated against customer Gareth Lee. All were set for the

appeal hearing when a solicitor for the Attorney General intervened, and

questioned the legal basis of the original judgment. A spokesperson

for the Attorney General later explained...

But why only intervene at the last minute? The Attorney General pointed

out that in March last year at the start of the original court case, he

raised the issue. Two days ago he raised it again, this time in a

letter. And then today's intervention in court. It meant the

long-awaited appeal hearing scheduled for the next two days had

to be called off. The disappointment is there is an individual involved,

this is Gareth. It will be a number of months before it is presented and

he has to go through this again. We hope to present the case again

today. There is one thing both sides agree on. It is an extremely

complicated case. At one point, one of the lawyers said he was dipping

into these difficult legal waters with some trepidation. The Lord

Chief Justice told him not to worry, he said, we all have life jackets

on. The case now focuses on two hearings adopt one. The first will

be next month when the Attorney General's concerns are addressed and

then a full appeal hearing is scheduled for May, almost exactly

two years after this controversy over a cake first began.

The Ashers case has been attracting media coverage

One of those in court this morning was legal affairs expert Joshua

He said he was surprised by the turn of events.

I did not know, when I walked into court this morning, that suddenly a

solicitor for the Attorney General was to pop up in front of court,

dressed as a solicitor, not wearing robes, and would throw a spanner in

the works. That is unusual and rather interesting. Frustrating

because we came here to hear the arguments. I can see good arguments

on both sides, I can understand the concerns of the gay man who feels he

was discriminated against. I can understand the concerns of the

family who believe they were being asked to do something contrary to

their faith. I wanted to know how the judges would resolve that

dilemma. Fascinating to see these two in conflict. I still do not know

and it will be longer until we find out.

A poll on the UK's place in Europe should be delayed -

that's according to the First and Deputy First Ministers.

Along with their counterparts in Scotland and Wales they've

written to the Prime Minister asking for the referendum to be

But David Cameron, who says he'll visit Northern Ireland before

Arlene Foster says the deal obtained by Mr Cameron on the terms

of Britain's membership is disappointing.

Here's our political correspondent Gareth Gordon.

Cutting ribbons is easy. Cutting Britain's ties with the EU more

difficult. But Arlene Foster, opening a football pitch today, does

not believe David Cameron's renegotiation of the terms of

membership is a game changer. We want to give the Prime Minister his

place and wait until he comes forward until he says this is a deal

and then we can make the final determination. Given where we are

today, it looks as if we will be on the coming out of Europe side. That

view is not shared by the Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister. But they do

agree that June is the wrong time for a referendum, claiming it is too

close to assembly elections. We have co-signed a letter with the First

Minister of Scotland and Wales, to David Cameron, outlining the

objection to the referendum being held in June. That effectively

collates with the running of assembly elections here and the

Scottish and Welsh elections. From our perspective, there is the issue

of the timing of the referendum, and we are totally opposed, from Sinn

Fein's perspective, we are opposed to any withdrawal from Europe. The

timing of the referendum is something else. On the 6th of May,

people in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, take part in devolved

elections. Mr Cameron is believed to favour the 23rd of June and he is

not for turning. I respect the electorates of Scotland, Wales and

Northern Ireland. On the basis that people are capable of making up

their mind in a Scottish election, Welsh election, and then making up

their mind all over again on the vital question of the EU. It seems

June is the likely referendum date. David Cameron has promised to visit

Northern Ireland beforehand to make the case for Britain remaining in

the EU. A leading academic said the UK exit from the EU would not have

much effect on the economy. The Economist, a former adviser to David

Trimble, gave evidence to a Westminster committee. He is saying

that the Brexit debate is nothing to get excited about. Graham Gudgin

says the numbers are not exciting, some studies saying it would cause

the economy to grow a little bit and some saying it would shrink a little

bit. And if you look at Northern Ireland, he said the effect would be

the same and if there was Brexit, we could cope. He picked up on comments

made by Enda Kenny when talking about the potential downsides.

Brexit will not have much effect on the Northern Ireland economy, it is

hard to see it would have much effect on the peace process. I found

Enda Kenny's comments on this rather scurrilous. Is there consensus? Not

everybody shares his opinion and the Financial Times newspaper polled 100

UK economists this year and the majority said if we were to leave

the EU, it would have a negative impact on the UK economy. Another

thing we kept coming back to in Westminster today was the idea of

uncertainty. Nobody knows what the impact will be. One uncertainty is

on farm subsidies. Another columnist, he said those subsidies

would have to be replaced and the big question is, what would come in

their place? It would be devastating for the Northern Ireland farming

industry were it up to be replaced in some form. There are those who

would argue there are changes needed to farm structures and sizes

required in Northern Ireland, but the support is so significant that

that transition if not replace would be hugely damaging to Northern

Ireland. What other risks were flagged up? Lee Gibson looked at

corporation tax. We know at the moment in Northern Ireland it will

be cut from 2018. Lee Gibson said, companies might save, we like the

corporation tax cut, but there is so much uncertainty around Brexit, what

will Northern Ireland's trading relationships be like for the rest

of the world? We might wait and not invest, which he said could blunt

that tax cut. What we have to come back to uncertainty. Nobody knows

the economic impact if we were to leave.

The Republic is to hold a General Election on the 26th of

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny announced the date this morning.

The Irish President has now dissolved the Dail -

our Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison is there.

It is official, what was the worst kept secret in Irish politics, that

the people of the Republic will go to the polls on the last Friday of

this month. Before the starting gun in election 2016 was fired. The area

that once returned Unionist MPs is one of the 40 constituencies where

the parties will try to rally their supporters and to appeal to the

floating voters. Some of those seeking election already had posters

up. This morning, the Taoiseach went to the Dail to announce he would

seek a dissolution of the 31st Dail. We shall inform the house is a

matter of courtesy that I am proceeding immediately, to advise

the President to dissolve and some of the incoming Dail to meet at

10:30am on Thursday, the 10th of March, 2016. A show of unity from

the Taoiseach. Both leaders before Enda Kenny went to where President

Higgins formally signed away the outgoing Dail. With polling day

fabric the 26th, the next three weeks of campaigning will probably

be dominated by one issue, the economy. But on the streets of

Dublin, it seems some of the electorate and some of their

politicians are not exactly in tune with each other. I don't know what

to do. If I vote independent you kind of lose a vote, if you know

what I mean. What am I going to do? Who are you going to call?

Ghostbusters. I vote for the left-wing parties who are

progressing more and they have proper and good ideas, stable ideas

that will work. The government have done a good job in making us the

fastest-growing country in Europe. I think stability is best. I will be

sticking with stability. It is go mode for the parties. Posters are

going up, campaigns beginning and the manifestos will shortly follow

in this very short three-week campaign. You heard a young woman

use the word stability, which is the key message. Fina

Fer left-wing parties not everybody is gaining from the recovery and

they counter argue that a vote for them is a vote for fairness.

The County Down village with plans to become a no-go area for lorries.

A man in his 40s has died following a collision

It happened on the New Road at the junction with

The incident was reported to police shortly after twenty to six.

The man attacked in Newcastle last night is in a stable

The victim, who is in his forties, was stabbed five times outside

a supermarket on the Castlewellan Road at around half past seven.

The Sinn Fein MLA Phil Flanagan has been ordered to pay almost ?50,000

in damages to the Ulster Unionist MP Tom Elliot

over a defamatory message posted on Twitter.

It's still not clear if taxpayer-funded insurance used

by Stormont Assembly members will ultimately end up

Almost two years ago Phil Flanagan said this after hearing Tom Elliott

on BBC Radio Ulster. Mr Elliott launched libel proceedings against

the Sinn Fein MLA. Last month an agreed statement was read out in

court in which Phil Flanagan apologised for offence caused, I

accepted his tweet was untrue and without foundation. It ended with Mr

Elliott declaring himself vindicated and his reputation restored.

Awarding over ?47,000 in compensation, the judge said...

Any pay-out has effectively been frozen until Phil Flanagan resolves

his legal action against insurers used by the assembly. That insurance

company has refused to cover him for compensation or costs in this case.

A primary school in Antrim has had to close following a break

in where thousands of pounds of computer equipment was stolen.

It happened at St Joseph's on Greystone Road some time

between midnight and two o'clock in the morning.

About 50 iPads and 30 laptops were stolen.

The school was shut so that police officers could search

Parents of pupils have offered to help with the clean-up

and the school is due to reopen tomorrow.

I don't know why they would target children. Their education is so

important, and we work so hard, particularly in this climate of

uncertainty in finance, to provide opportunities for children. They

should be ashamed of themselves. Plans for an eight-storey student

accommodation block near Belfast city centre have been met

with opposition by residents who have called it

a "high-rise Holyland". Today the developers have been

publicly defending their plans Shaftsbury Square is the gateway

to south Belfast and a popular place Developers want to build an eight

story student accommodation block But residents say

they don't want it. You will have a development which

will potentially be 24 hours coming and going, increased noise, students

running about the place. It is not in common with the area.

Locals say they fear it could attract scenes like these

and increase community tensions if students from the nearby Holyland

They call it the new Holyland in the sky. There is no sense in hedging

this. They will come down, going down to City Hall. If the students

come down, what are these fellas going to do down here? You are in

between two loyalist areas. And the students in the middle.

In their first public interview the developers have defended

It is not a flash point area, it is a city centre site, a ?7 million

regeneration scheme, a main arterial route into the city centre and we

think it will improve development. The planning application is expected

to go before Belfast City Council in a fortnight. Given recent approval

for student blocks elsewhere in the city, councillors could be

discussing just how many more developments like this the city can

absorb. A High Court bid to stop

the amalgamation of two grammar A student at Collegiate Grammar had

challenged plans to merge her school with Portora Royal to form

Enniskillen Royal Grammar School. Mr Justice Colton said that

an initial split site arrangement should not be permanent,

and that it would be "nothing short of a scandal" if a new

school was not built. The County Antrim firm Wrightbus

is set for another order for London buses worth in the region

of sixty million pounds. London Mayor Boris Johnson has been

given financial approval to buy 195 of the Routemaster double-deckers

before he steps down. The buses will be the last under

a contract Wrightbus won in 2009. There are plans to limit the number

of heavy goods vehicles driving It's partly because of the concerns

of local people, partly because it's But haulage companies are worried

this could lead to growing numbers Many lorries go though

Hillsborough each day - The new limit suggested

by the Department of Regional Development is for HGVs

over 7.5 tonnes. This resident agrees

with Transport NI - that most of the through

journeys needn't happen. We get a large number of big

commercial lorries coming through the village, which do not have to

come through the village. There is a thing called the Hillsborough

bypass, but they use the village to bypass the bypass and every time a

large lorry goes past, our houses shake. We have people whose windows

break, plaster falls off walls and it wakes us up.

Some haulage companies have already changed their routes -

There is not a problem with Hillsborough as most hauliers do not

need to go through Hillsborough, my concern is the idea would spread to

other villages and towns. A knee jerk reaction. And towns you need to

go through you won't be able to. Sometimes you are put on devotions

and end up in an area or you have two deliver in the town itself and

go through it. The hope is that any ban

would ease traffic - but still allow local

businesses to trade normally. The regional development minister

says she is committed to improving the management and safety of the

traffic network in the village. The proposal will go to consultation.

Rory is defending his Desert Classic title and aiming to join Ernie Els

In a revealing interview the world number two told Stephen Watson

of his desire to dominate the game for the next decade or more.

Dubai has been a happy hunting ground for Rory McIlroy and he has

been crowned the best player in Europe here twice, and under the

dramatic skyline has won this week's tournament on two occasions. The

first time was his memorable maiden professional victory. Back in 2009,

19 at the time. I can remember everything. Like it was not seven

years ago. A lot has happened since and life has changed a lot. Those

memories will stay with me for ever. Since then he has added another 18

wins worldwide, but he admits he feels he is now in the prime of his

career and wants to capitalise. It is a time for me to make the most of

what I have. I have cemented myself as a top player in the world and

this is my time. I will be competing against the guys I am playing with

the next ten, 15 years, and if I play my best I can beat them. There

will be times they beat me, but if I dedicate myself to this sport to

next ten, 15 years, there is no reason why I can't have one of the

best careers ever in golf. As Rory McIlroy embarks on a ninth season as

a professional he seems more determined than ever to deliver more

success for Northern Ireland, and he is the favourite to lift this trophy

in the Middle East. "He was a superb footballer,

but most of all a thoroughly The words Derry city chose to honour

the memory of Brandywell The Candystripes' all-time leading

goal scorer died today Here's our Northwest

reporter Kieron Tourish. Fans gathered at Brandywell to paid

tribute to Mark Farren, one of the finest strikers to play for the

Candy stripes. He was a lovely person.

Mark Farren was diagnosed with a brian tumuor,

He got great support, he said, from his wife and wider footballing

family. He overtook the record,

to become the Football Club's At that time he was the best centre

forward. He was a legend and top player. A top seller, as well. Mark

Farren brought joy and delight to thousands at the Brandywell. The

club said, not only was he a great player, but a gentleman off the

pitch. Mark Farren's former club Glenavon

sit fourth in the table after a big And Paul Smyth turned on the style

as Linfield hit Dungannon Andy water with's goals sent

Linfield to a comfortable win over Dungannon. Paul Smyth grabbed the

second and was literally head over heels with his efforts. Michael

McLellan rounded off the scoring as they made it six wins in a row.

There was an easy victory for Glenavon at Carrick Rangers. Cooper

shot the Logan 's side into an early lead. --

you can find all the goals and reaction to those games on the

website. The Belfast Giants lost

for the third time in four nights as they were beaten 2-1 at home by

the Sheffield Steelers last night. And player-coach Derrick Walser

was not impressed. It is in Paris Singh, the effort.

They came on the third period and wanted it. They deserve the overtime

goal. They wanted it and we sat them and watched them. I will clean

house. I am not scared to retire guys. I want a team that has effort

and desire. To be a fly on the wall in the dressing room.

Finally, despite sitting our training today with a tight

hamstring, Sean O'Brien remains in contention for a place

in the Ireland team to face Wales in their Six Nations opener

We can get the weather now. Some blue skies and sunshine today?

It was nice to have a quieter day after the storm. We had a chilly

start after overnight rain, sleet and snow. There were hilly areas

that woke to seems like this. -- scenes. This evening we have a warm

front approaching from the west. Having said that, it is still quite

cold with temperatures potentially getting down to three degrees in

low-lying areas. We might see the leading edge starting out wintry.

Generally a wet and breezy evening coming up. More persistent rain will

move away. But there will be further patches of rain and drizzle later

tonight. Especially in the north and west. At the temperatures are

rising. Tomorrow, a cloudy and breezy day and more rain to come. It

will move west to east during the course of the morning. Not

particularly heavy and quite patchy across parts of the South. The rain

will clear and there will be pockets of drizzle as we head into the

afternoon, but generally it will be drier. We are left with the legacy

of low cloud and missed. But a milder day. Tomorrow night, a mild

and cloudy night. The wind will pick up. If you look for Friday, the

isobars tightening up and a cold front will move in, moving quite

slowly. Looking at wet and windy spells on Friday with heavy bursts

of rain. It might turn wintry on the hills. Generally cooler for the

weekend. Just time for a recap of the stories

making the news tonight. An appeal hearing by a Christian

bakery in the so-called gay cake case has been put on hold for three

months after a last minute intervention by

the Attorney General. The Prime Minister has rejected a

call by the first and deputy ministers and counterparts in

Scotland and Wales to delay the EU referendum.

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