03/02/2016 BBC Newsline

There has been another twist in the legal battle involving Ashers

Just as an appeal hearing was about to get underway,

the Attorney General intervened and the case has been put on hold

Arriving back at court today for another legal battle -

the bakers and the man whose cake they refused to make.

Ashers does not discriminate against anyone.

We took issue with the message on the cake and not the customer.

A court ruled last year that Ashers should have agreed to bake it

and by not doing so they discriminated against customer

All sides were set for today's appeal hearing when a solicitor

for the Attorney General intervened in court and questioned the legal

A spokesperson for the Attorney General later explained: But why

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

Then came today's intervention inside court.

It all meant the long-awaited appeal hearing scheduled for the next two

The disappointment is there is an individual involved,

It will be a number of months before it is presented and he has to go

We had really hoped to hear the arguement and present

There is one thing both sides agree on -

that 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, Sir Declan Morgan, told him not

to worry, he said, "We have all got life-jackets on."

The case now focuses on two hearings, not 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.

A 37-year-old man has been arrested in Dublin in connection

with the murder of a mother-of-three in Belfast.

Jennifer Dornan was found stabbed to death in her burning house

in the Lagmore area of West Belfast last August.

Raymond O'Neill was arrested in Dublin today on a European Arrest

He appeared at an extradition hearing in the city and was remanded

A referendum on the UK's membership of the EU should be delayed,

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 poll to be

Here's our political correspondent Gareth Gordon.

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

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

Given where we are today, it looks as if we will be

That view is not shared by the Sinn Fein

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 Ministers of Scotland

and Wales, to David Cameron, outlining the objection

to the referendum being held in June.

That effectively collides 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

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

I respect the electorates of Scotland, Wales and Northern

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 53-year-old has been charged after a man was stabbed five times

outside a supermarket in Newcastle last night.

The victim was attacked on the Castlewellan Road.

He's in a stable condition in hospital.

A man has been charged with grievous bodily harm,

threats to kill and possession of an offensive weapon.

Several hundred people have attended a rally in West Belfast

to demonstrate their opposition to a spate of violent robberies.

It took place in Albert Street, off the Falls Road, close

to where a pensioner was attacked last Friday.

76-year-old Maureen Shepherd suffered a broken jaw

Organisers say this evening's rally was intended to reassure older

people and inform the community about proposed 'pensioner kits',

which could include panic alarms and front door chains.

Edge issues that the supporters here. I would say there are 400 500

people here tonight. There are people here from all over Belfast.

We have some friends here from the Shankill Road. This is an issue for

the whole of Belfast and other areas.

The Republic is to hold a General Election on 26th February.

A brief statement in the Dail by Taoiseach Enda Kenny launched

what will be a very short election campaign.

Our Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison reports.

Dun Laoghaire, before the starting gun in election 2016 was fired. The

area that once returned Unionist MPs to Westminster is one of the 40

constituencies with the parties will be trying to rally their supporters

and to appeal to the floating voters. Some of those seeking

election already had posters up, but this morning the Taoiseach and night

that he would be seeking a dissolution of the 31st Dail. I will

inform the house that I will proceed towards advising the president to

dissolve the Dail to meet at 10:30am on Thursday, the 10th of March 2,000

16. As show of unity from the Taoiseach. President Higgins

formally signed away the outgoing Doyle. With polling day Friday, 26

February, the next week's of campaigning will be dominated by one

issue in particular, 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 really don't know what to do. I feel

effect votes independently kind of laser vote, if you know what I mean.

But what to outvote? Who are you going to call, Ghostbusters? They

are all Mafia as far as I'm concerned. They have proper, stable

ideas that will work. I think the government have done well in making

us again the fastest-growing country in Europe. I think stability is best

we will stick with stability. So it is no mood mouth of the political

parties. The manifestos will shortly follow the posters going up in this

very short three-week campaign. The Sinn Fein MLA Phil Flanagan has

been ordered to pay almost ?50,000 in damages to Ulster Unionist MP

Tom Elliott over something Mr Flanagan posted this tweet two

years ago after hearing Mr Elliott The judge described it

as a most serious libel. It's not clear if taxpayer-funded

insurance used by MLAs Plans for new student flats

near Belfast city centre are being fought by residents who've

called them a "high rise Holyland". Today, the developers publicly

defended the project 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 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. They will come down,

going down to City Hall. If the students come down,

what are these fellas You are in between

two loyalist areas. In their first public interview,

the developers have defended It is not a flashpoint area,

it is a city centre site, a ?7 million regeneration

scheme, a main arterial route into the city

centre and we think it The planning application is expected

to go before Belfast City Council 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. The Portaferry Hotel in County Down,

which closed abruptly last October with the loss of 20

jobs, is to re-open. It's been taken over by a couple

whose family run other businesses They say they hope to attract

visitors back to Portaferry, which has suffered with the closure

of the Exploris aquarium. The weather outlook now

with Angie Philips. Good evening. It has turned into a

chilly, wept and breezy evening. Overnight the more persistent rain

will slide away, but even then it will be cloudy with further pulses

of rain and drizzle is virtually later in the night, especially in

the north and west. Temperatures are rising. Tomorrow will be cloudy and

breezy and still some rain around, especially in the morning. The rain

will slide its way eastwards through the morning rush-hour. Most of it

will be light and patchy. The rain is a bit more persistent as it edges

into Scotland, northern England, tapering down to the East of

England, as well. Across Scotland are to stay wept for a good part of

the day. Dried towards the north-east but they are still in the

chilly air. Further south, in England, Wales, the Republic of

Ireland, the rain will be more patchy and showery, maybe Apache

bright spells, but temperatures will be in the troubled -- double

figures. In Northern Ireland for the afternoon it will be drier than it

was first thing in the morning, generally cloudy, low cloud and

missed all studied will be mild, temperatures getting up to ten or

11. The winds will pick through tomorrow night. Heading into Friday,

the isobars are packing an indication of the strengthening

winds as weather from -- however weather front approaches. It will

bring a wet spell. Breezy and cooler for the weekend, then for a time

late Saturday into Saturday night, try either side of it.

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