:00:09. > :00:12.The Secretary of State Theresa Villiers says it's not true to say
:00:13. > :00:14.misconduct by the security forces during the Troubles was rife.
:00:15. > :00:17.At an event about the past held in Belfast today she praised
:00:18. > :00:19.the role of police officers and soldiers -
:00:20. > :00:21.but accepted that some had acted outside the law.
:00:22. > :00:45.Here is our Political Correspondent Stephen Walker.
:00:46. > :00:48.Finding ways to deal with the legacy of the Troubles is complicated and
:00:49. > :00:51.solution remains politically allusive. Today the Secretary of
:00:52. > :00:52.State says when it comes to the past some people are promoting a
:00:53. > :00:56.pernicious counter narrative. She felt the role should be put in
:00:57. > :01:01.context. We have acknowledged that in some isolated cases, the state
:01:02. > :01:05.was at fault, there was wrongdoing and we are prepared to investigate
:01:06. > :01:09.it. I think it will be entirely wrong to say that that conduct was
:01:10. > :01:14.endemic and I am convinced that the vast majority of the security forces
:01:15. > :01:19.in Northern Ireland acted with professionalism. As too much focus
:01:20. > :01:23.been put on state killings? The difference here is that the state is
:01:24. > :01:28.in place to uphold the law and when the state breaks the law, that is
:01:29. > :01:31.something different than when a paramilitary group goes out and
:01:32. > :01:37.breaks the laws of the land. At the heart of the legacy debate is what
:01:38. > :01:42.information should be disclosed. The Secretary of State believes it has
:01:43. > :01:46.to be handled carefully. There are things in use in the 1970s and
:01:47. > :01:50.during the period in which the new bodies will investigate which are
:01:51. > :01:58.still secret and if they were disclosed publicly, would assist not
:01:59. > :02:03.only dissident republicans but also Islamist terrorists. Our worries
:02:04. > :02:08.about national security genuine? It does not really feel to run true
:02:09. > :02:14.that what ever the intelligence methods have been 40 years ago being
:02:15. > :02:19.used here is hardly the same approach to counter-terrorism taken
:02:20. > :02:22.today in dealing with Islamic State and international terrorism. It
:02:23. > :02:28.seems to be something of a diversion. ?130 million has been set
:02:29. > :02:31.aside for a legacy bodies that will include an investigations unit and a
:02:32. > :02:38.commission on information retrieval but some think even that does not go
:02:39. > :02:41.far enough. ?150 million of an allocation and that might seem a
:02:42. > :02:46.vast sum of money to the general public but when we look at that
:02:47. > :02:50.money, 35mm is is said to be what it will look to -- take to look at
:02:51. > :02:55.steak knife, lock all up ?1.5 million for each of the cases in the
:02:56. > :03:01.inquest system. Once the mathematics is done there is ?5 million left and
:03:02. > :03:07.how come that money possibly examine 3000 plus terrorist related murders?
:03:08. > :03:12.If money is the issue, is it time to stop investigating the past? Well, I
:03:13. > :03:17.think that is largely a political question. I think that is a debate
:03:18. > :03:22.that is worth having. The Attorney General perhaps three years ago but
:03:23. > :03:25.that on the table, there was a negative political response to the
:03:26. > :03:29.suggestion. I think it is a debate worth having, I am not advocating a
:03:30. > :03:32.one way or another, but fundamentally how we deal with the
:03:33. > :03:37.past did not sense is for the politicians. Even though a political
:03:38. > :03:48.consensus has not been achieved and we are about to enter an assembly
:03:49. > :03:50.election campaign, Theresa Villiers ended her speech in an optimistic
:03:51. > :03:51.mood saying there was much common ground between the parties and a
:03:52. > :03:54.deal on the pass is achievable. A number of journalists have been
:03:55. > :03:57.told they're under threat from criminal gangs in Dublin
:03:58. > :03:59.following two recent killings. Earlier I spoke to our Dublin
:04:00. > :04:11.Correspondent Shane Harrison. 80 macro issued a statement saying
:04:12. > :04:16.it is working with Gardai to protect their journalists. I N M takes a
:04:17. > :04:22.keen interest in the crime scene and it had a number of reporters present
:04:23. > :04:26.at the weigh in on Friday were David Byrne was murdered. His death was
:04:27. > :04:31.followed by the death of Eddie Hutch. All of this is happening on
:04:32. > :04:36.the 20th anniversary of the death of the other investigators report
:04:37. > :04:42.Veronica Guerin. The editor in of IMM issued a statement saying this
:04:43. > :04:45.is a threat to press freedom. Nielsen said that his organisation
:04:46. > :04:49.would not be deterred from reporting on the crime scene in the public
:04:50. > :04:53.interest. The newspaper group owns the Belfast Telegraph and the Sunday
:04:54. > :04:58.world in Northern Ireland as well as a number of titles south of the
:04:59. > :04:59.border. This development has been widely condemned across the
:05:00. > :05:01.political divide. A dispute between lawyers
:05:02. > :05:04.and the justice minister over cuts to legal aid payments
:05:05. > :05:05.has been resolved. It follows fresh talks
:05:06. > :05:07.which began yesterday. Lawyers had claimed the cuts
:05:08. > :05:09.would undermine their ability to properly represent clients
:05:10. > :05:12.who could not afford pay legal fees. The row had resulted in delays
:05:13. > :05:15.in more than 900 court cases, including charges ranging
:05:16. > :05:21.from murder to drink driving. The DUP has denied using delaying
:05:22. > :05:23.tactics over decisions about abortion in the cases
:05:24. > :05:26.of fatal foetal abnormality. The Health Minister Simon Hamilton
:05:27. > :05:28.told BBC Newsline the issue is too important to be bound
:05:29. > :05:30.up in party politics. Last night MLAs rejected an attempt
:05:31. > :05:33.to allow terminations in such cases through an amendment
:05:34. > :05:51.to the Justice Bill. This is too important an issue to be
:05:52. > :05:55.bound up in electoral poll tax or party politics. I hope we were
:05:56. > :05:59.moving away from that with the tone of the debate and unfortunately the
:06:00. > :06:00.comments of some today has probably taken it back into that area and I
:06:01. > :06:03.think it is disappointing. And the Justice Minister David Ford
:06:04. > :06:06.will be talking about the issue on The View which is straight
:06:07. > :06:08.after this programme. The Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry
:06:09. > :06:10.is to reopen this summer after it was confirmed by Ards
:06:11. > :06:13.and North Down council that a 1.5 million pounds refurbishment
:06:14. > :06:15.will begin after Easter. The aquarium and seal sanctuary
:06:16. > :06:18.will be run by the company It has been funded by the department
:06:19. > :06:22.of the Environment along with the council
:06:23. > :06:23.and the new operator. A campaign was launched
:06:24. > :06:25.to keep Exploris open after it was threatened with closure
:06:26. > :06:33.nearly three years ago. A man with a terminal brain tumour
:06:34. > :06:36.says he believes cannabis oil has Even though it is illegal 38 year
:06:37. > :06:40.old Kieran McCrory says he's A new campaign is underway today
:06:41. > :06:44.for medical cannabis to be legalised Around 28,000 people
:06:45. > :06:47.here are using it for medical reasons - but critics maintain
:06:48. > :07:05.there is NO evidence Kieran McCrory this week celebrated
:07:06. > :07:10.a birthday he was not sure he would say. The 38-year-old was diagnosed
:07:11. > :07:15.with the terminal brain tumour in 2014. He was given at most five
:07:16. > :07:20.years to live, he had brain surgery and radiotherapy but it is cannabis
:07:21. > :07:25.oil that he credits with helping him come back from cancer. I am
:07:26. > :07:31.confident about the future. I have got something, the term he is
:07:32. > :07:35.fighting cancer or she is fighting cancer, I have something to fight it
:07:36. > :07:41.with, not tablets, which is fair enough for some people, but I am
:07:42. > :07:45.terminal, I want to stay alive. It is illegal in the UK to use cannabis
:07:46. > :07:52.for medical reasons. The government calls it harmful while Cancer
:07:53. > :07:56.Research UK says there is no evidence can safely treat the
:07:57. > :08:00.disease. It is a Class B drug, you are breaking the law and leaving
:08:01. > :08:04.yourself open to prosecution, is that a worry? I understand I am
:08:05. > :08:12.breaking the law. I understand all that. What would anyone do? What
:08:13. > :08:22.would anyone do? I have got back, I had lost him. Sorry... He is back.
:08:23. > :08:31.And this is what we all want. His daughter... And myself and his
:08:32. > :08:36.family and friends. It is a crime that it is a crime. His long-term
:08:37. > :08:39.prognosis remains unchanged, for now, his focus is on looking forward
:08:40. > :08:41.to future birthdays. Cancer Research UK has urged caution
:08:42. > :08:57.about using cannabis oil. The evidence we have so far on
:08:58. > :09:01.cannabis and its derivatives is far from convincing. It does not mean it
:09:02. > :09:05.is interesting, we are still carrying out research, but the
:09:06. > :09:09.research we have at the minute has been carried out on sales grown in
:09:10. > :09:11.laboratories or in mice and there is very little evidence that actually
:09:12. > :09:14.it will have that cancer patients. Over the past few months motorists
:09:15. > :09:17.in Belfast have endured some very In many cases, relatively minor
:09:18. > :09:20.accidents in one area have caused Traders say the problem is damaging
:09:21. > :09:24.small businesses and some believe it could be linked
:09:25. > :09:36.to the new bus lanes. Waiting for the lights. On a good
:09:37. > :09:42.day that is all that causes delays but on a bad day one crash is all it
:09:43. > :09:48.takes. Delays last much longer. Sometimes for hours. The crash is
:09:49. > :09:52.still blocking one lane towards the M1 and also affecting traffic on the
:09:53. > :09:58.other side of the Westlake... That is something that has been repeated
:09:59. > :10:03.regularly in recent times in and around Belfast. Gridlock. The
:10:04. > :10:05.concern is that if you do not have proper public transport
:10:06. > :10:10.alternatives, then all you're doing is damaging business. The big
:10:11. > :10:14.problem earlier this week began here on the West Link. Seven o'clock in
:10:15. > :10:19.the morning and a car and a lorry crashed and the accident was not
:10:20. > :10:23.deemed to be serious or major, but it caused serious and major
:10:24. > :10:28.disruption all across the city and it lasted four hours. In fact, up
:10:29. > :10:32.until 10:30 a.m., people who are trying to get a bus into town from
:10:33. > :10:35.places like the Ormeau road were being told that the service was
:10:36. > :10:42.delayed because of a crash in another part of the city, 3.5 hours
:10:43. > :10:46.earlier. If there are more and longer delays after accidents, what
:10:47. > :10:49.is the problem? Difficult as it is to believe, sometimes the bus lanes
:10:50. > :10:53.are supposed to be part of the solution because the problem is we
:10:54. > :10:56.do not have the space in Belfast to put that many cars into the city
:10:57. > :11:02.centre. When you're squeezing almost every vehicle through a small number
:11:03. > :11:05.of roads, when you have 90,000 vehicles on the West Link everyday,
:11:06. > :11:31.it only takes a single smash for that whole
:11:32. > :11:35.thing to come grinding to a halt and perhaps what we need is some way of
:11:36. > :11:38.making sure that crashes when they occur are cleared as quickly and
:11:39. > :11:41.safely as is practical. That is something drivers would well, if it
:11:42. > :11:42.means less of this and more of this on the city's roads.
:11:43. > :11:45.Now looking ahead to what's coming up on BBC Newsline tomorrow -
:11:46. > :11:46.here's Kevin Magee with the details.
:11:47. > :11:50.I have been on the streets of Belfast finding out. My report
:11:51. > :11:52.begins on BBC Radio Ulster in the morning and I will have more on BBC
:11:53. > :12:00.Now the weather with Angie. Newsline at 6:30pm tomorrow evening.
:12:01. > :12:06.Still some clear spells for the first part of tonight, temperatures
:12:07. > :12:10.falling away, particularly in the West getting towards freezing. We
:12:11. > :12:14.are looking at frost and a few patches of mist and fog although
:12:15. > :12:17.they may not hang around as generally speaking we have
:12:18. > :12:22.increasing cloud from the east. That will bring a few showers which could
:12:23. > :12:25.be wintry especially but not as exclusively on the hills and were
:12:26. > :12:30.therefore logical ground it could lead to an icy patches. Something to
:12:31. > :12:42.bear in mind for the morning. A cold start tomorrow but the
:12:43. > :12:46.emphasis is on dry weather, generally speaking it will be
:12:47. > :12:48.cloudier than the last couple of days but there will still be some
:12:49. > :12:50.bright spells during the morning, in particular towards the North, some
:12:51. > :12:52.showers, particularly in the south-east. Some bright spells on
:12:53. > :12:55.offer for the West of Scotland, South West Scotland and North West
:12:56. > :12:58.England but in the Republic of Ireland and Britain, a lot of cloud
:12:59. > :13:03.and a scattering of showers. Those showers in the north-east of
:13:04. > :13:06.Scotland falling as sleet and snow and accumulating in places and there
:13:07. > :13:11.could be some travel disruption, though showers coming in on a brisk
:13:12. > :13:16.breeze. As I mentioned, the breeze will pick up for Northern Ireland,
:13:17. > :13:20.continuing to feed in areas of cloud, some bright spells at one
:13:21. > :13:31.order two showers in the east.