16/02/2016 BBC Newsline

Police documents have revealed that a member of the INLA held someone

hostage and questioned them at length about the disappearance

of the Castlederg teenager Arlene Arkinson 22 years ago.

On the second day of the inquest into her death, lawyers

for the Arkinson family objected to some information from police

The police have a Public Interest Immunity Certificate

from the government which allows them to withhold details.

Our reporter Colletta Smith was in court.

This is a row about a file full of documents. The coroner has with the

file but the lawyer acting of the half of the family has a copy of the

file that has sections blacked out. Today the coroner decided that he

would hear behind closed doors the arguments about why they don't want

that information to be made public but before the members of the

public, the family and the media were asked to lead the court room

the lawyer acting and a half of the family said he wanted specific

information on some of the issues that were hinted at around those

blacked out sections. Arlene Arkinson disappeared

from Castlederg in 1994. Today the court heard about police

documents saying that someone was abducted by the INLA

and questioned about her murder. The police have asked for the name

of that person to be withheld. Another new revelation was that

early in the investigation police thought there might be a link

between Arlene's disappearance and the murder of the teenager

Sylvia Fleming four years later. She was 17 and pregnant

when she was murdered Her former boyfriend was found

guilty and sent to prison. The Arkinson family want to know why

police eventually decided there was no credible

link between the cases. In 1996 police and the media arrived

at the same time to dig up The family's lawyers want to know

why the person who made the call leading to the search isn't named

anywhere in the documents. That will all remain a mystery

if the public interest immunity The judge will announce tomorrow how

much if any of that file A major student housing scheme has

been given the go-ahead The 476-bedroom accommodation

will be built on the site of the old College of Business

Studies. It will be used by Queens University

and should be completed Two other housing applications

were deferred pending site They are for a 407-unit scheme

on York Street and a 156-unit scheme The council has also given approval

for a new hotel in the Cathedral The ?8 million development will be

at the former War Memorial Building Completion is expected

towards the end of next year. The body which runs Stormont,

the Assembly Commission, will meet tomorrow to discuss

the issue of MLAs' expenses. Today the Westminster watchdog,

the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority,

said it had concerns about the way some Assembly members have been

overturning refusals Our Political Correspondent

Gareth Gordon reports. How should MLAs conduct themselves

on the difficult issue of expenses? The First and Deputy First Ministers

watched the Ulster Orchestra make They know the issue of money is back

in play because of claims made by the independent panel

that sets MLAs' pay. I'm sure there's not one MLA

in the place who would object to having a fresh look at how we can

remove from the public mind any suggestion whatsoever

that there are people up here feathering their nests,

and that isn't happening. We have always said there is a need

to be as open as possible. Indeed, we had suggested when this

came up the last time that we should move to a model that they have

in Westminster and they are happy to operate in that model

and so are we. IPSA is the Independent

Parliamentary Standards Authority which sets MPs' pay

and expenses at Westminster, the body behind the report leaked

to the BBC as new questions over how MLAs at Stormont challenge

the authorities when expenses They said they were told of one

or two cases in which MLAs having had a claim refused approached

a senior member of Assembly staff. Often these approaches

were successful. In one case, a Stormont staff member

requested justification value bill incurred

while the MLA was on holiday. The unnamed politician escalated

the issue to the senior management They concluded this informal,

ad hoc approach is not a robust mechanism for reviewing

refusals of claims. The body has now said that

Stormont's review system should be strengthened so it becomes entirely

formal, documented and consistent. The idea seems to have struck

a chord with the executive's leaders, will a change

of tune now follow? In an unusual compensation case,

a pigeon fancier in County Armagh A court found his birds had been

killed by hounds from a hunt, This is Mr Weir at the Avery where

59 of his birds were killed and up to 15 hunting dogs that forced their

way into this pigeon loft in February 2009. It happened on the

day to club is holding a hunt. It was like being hit with a sledge on

the head the day that when I came out having my lunch seeing all the

pigeons lying dead on the hounds in the Avery and in the loft and it has

been a nightmare to say the least. Mr Weir took the Countryside

Alliance to the High Court. He claimed his plans to a small pigeon

breeding business were ruined. His barrister claimed the hunters were

negligent because they didn't control their dogs. The defence

insisted none of the hounds from the hunt came into contact with his

birds on that day. At the High Court in Belfast, the judge backed Mr

Weir's account of what happened describing him as an honest and

straightforward witness. She ruled that the hounds had been on the

property, gained entry to the coop and in all probability they had

killed the pigeons. She awarded Mr Weir more than ?62,000 in damages to

cover the physical damage and the distressed that he suffered. The

Countryside Alliance now has six weeks to decide if they want to

appeal that verdict. A group of teachers were at Stormont

today to express their anger over a Department of Education scheme

to replace 500 older staff Our Education Correspondent Robbie

Meredith was listening as some experienced teachers

voiced their concern After seven years of teaching

on temporary contracts, Katrina wants a full-time teaching

job but she has a fight At half term, she's brought

her plea to Stormont. Every year around this

time I start to worry. I have to save throughout the year

to create myself a wage The problem is that she has too

much experience to apply The department said they will only

be open to those who have graduated Today she and some of the teachers

who are also affected are in the room behind me

telling their stories to members Give us more funding to support

smaller class sizes, better education for children

and a better future Many of the stories

they heard were the same. I would love a full-time

teaching job. At the end of the day,

I'm not asking anybody to give me a job but we just want the chance

to be able to go for jobs. In the next two years there will be

huge decisions for my family To actually move to somewhere like

Australia. The final decision rests

with the education minister. What I'm doing is creating new jobs,

new employment opportunities. When you look at the employment

statistics, it shows those teachers who are qualified most recently,

within the last three years, find it most difficult to obtain

permanent employment. Katrina won't be alone in hoping

John O'Dowd has room for manoeuvre. World War II veterans

from Northern Ireland have been honoured for the part they played

in the liberation of France. The medal ceremony was in Lisburn

but the award was given There's some flash photography

in Mervyn Jess's report. They may not be just as able

as they once were but there is no denying the strength of bond that

still unites these D-Day veterans. More than 20 former servicemen

from Northern Ireland gathered at the barracks in

Lisburn this morning. They receive the highest

distinction France can bestow. The Honorary Consul from France

pinned the award on regimental blazers already straining

with World War II medals. The decision to give the highest

distinction the country can offer to all those involved in D-Day

and the liberation of France was announced in 2014 on the 70th

anniversary of the landings. You've got a lot

of medals below that! I always wondered, it must have been

terrible to arrive there and I never thought I would have spoken and met

some of the soldiers who came there. Former commando George landed

in France before the I landed before the assault

group and guided them in. There was 100-odd of us and only

four of us came back. Their numbers may be dwindling

but today the people of France officially recognised what they did

more than 70 years ago. There's some snow

on the way overnight. With the details,

here's Angie Philips. Good evening. After a fine start the

week yesterday all downhill today the wet and windy weather. Now we

have some snow in the forecast as well. Through the night, as the wind

eases and that rain starts to slide out of the way the temperatures will

fall with cold air digging in behind. Those tempered as close to

freezing so the back edge of the rain and showers that follow will

have a tendency to turn to sleet and snow. Especially but not as close of

the over hills of Antrim. They snow warning is in place, that lingers

into tomorrow morning 's rush hour. To be slushy and some roads and I

see in a few spots. It is a dull start to the day tomorrow. Wintry

showers around and potentially quite icy. Things will improve and it will

turn drier and brighter as we go through the day. Indeed, it will do

across the Republic of Ireland and it will brighten up across Scotland.

There will be some wintry showers around here too. In the meantime

that band of rain slide into England and Wales with sleet and hill snow.

Not reaching the south-east until the evening and by tomorrow evening

we may see some wintry nurse in the levels. For Northern Ireland, it's a

crisp in fine afternoon. Lots of wintry sunshine. By the winds today

but temperatures back down at five or 6 degrees. We could see wintry

showers towards the north-west. Frost and icy patches tomorrow night

and if you wintry showers on Thursday but sunshine away from

those, milder towards the weekend but more subtle. -- and settle.