:00:00. > 3:59:59including a first look at tomorrow's papers. Here, on BBC
:00:00. > :00:00.Hello and welcome to BBC Newsline. papers. Here, on BBC One, it's now
:00:07. > :00:09.Up to 1,000 jobs are going over the next two years at Bombardier.
:00:10. > :00:12.Half the posts will be lost this year.
:00:13. > :00:16.The company has struggled to get orders for its new C Series planes.
:00:17. > :00:18.Our business correspondent Julian O'Neill is outside Bombardier
:00:19. > :00:34.Bombardier posted losses of $5 billion for 2015. Its financial
:00:35. > :00:39.problems have been well chronicled in recent months but today there
:00:40. > :00:41.were consequences for its global workforce including here in Belfast.
:00:42. > :00:45.Uncertainty has hung over the workforce for many months
:00:46. > :00:51.as a financial storm cloud moved in from Canada.
:00:52. > :00:54.Bombardier is going to spread these job losses across a period
:00:55. > :01:02.580 posts will go this year with the potential for the same
:01:03. > :01:09.Delays and cost overruns on the new passenger plane has taken
:01:10. > :01:17.Savings have had to be found and jobs are now set to go just
:01:18. > :01:22.weeks after a pay offer was rejected.
:01:23. > :01:37.We knew it was going to happen but we didn't think it
:01:38. > :01:40.I hope I'm employed next year but I'm 62 so it will affect
:01:41. > :01:49.We knew it was going to happen but we didn't think it
:01:50. > :02:08.The concerns for the future and their children. Massive closures in
:02:09. > :02:14.the the North West and infant manner we've job losses. It's time that the
:02:15. > :02:26.executive stood up and be real about what we do in the future.
:02:27. > :02:33.The permanent staff are concentrated in east Belfast but others are based
:02:34. > :02:40.in Don Murray, new scenario and Newton arts. These Belfast is dealt
:02:41. > :02:55.with in one of those before and some felt the pain of the workforce.
:02:56. > :03:00.We may need to bring jobs into east Belfast.
:03:01. > :03:02.Bombardier has had huge historic levels of government financial
:03:03. > :03:03.support and the executive believes its importance
:03:04. > :03:07.to the economy is not diminished by today's announcement.
:03:08. > :03:11.I've been with the senior management on five occasions and we know it has
:03:12. > :03:14.been confirmed that the long-term future of the Belfast
:03:15. > :03:22.The company had billed 2016 as a year of transition.
:03:23. > :03:26.After months of speculation, its turnaround strategy is now known
:03:27. > :03:38.to involve what was feared - large-scale job losses.
:03:39. > :03:44.The root cause of the problems has been its troubled sea series
:03:45. > :03:48.passenger jet project. It is a project which has taken the company
:03:49. > :03:51.right to the very brink, necessitating a huge bailout from
:03:52. > :03:56.the provincial government in Colback. My colleague now looks
:03:57. > :03:58.behind today's job losses at the problem.
:03:59. > :04:00.The C Series is Bombardier's dream of the future.
:04:01. > :04:02.Cutting-edge technology, great fuel efficiency and the best
:04:03. > :04:07.Its aim - to take on the giants of Boeing and Airbus
:04:08. > :04:16.The Belfast wing factory was officially opened
:04:17. > :04:20.by the Prime Minister a decade later.
:04:21. > :04:22.Developing a new plane is a time-consuming
:04:23. > :04:29.The C Series has been beset by cost overruns and delays.
:04:30. > :04:32.It was originally due to enter service in 2013,
:04:33. > :04:36.it should finally be flying commercially this year.
:04:37. > :04:40.It started out with a development budget of $3.4 billion.
:04:41. > :04:46.It is also entering a fiercely competitive market.
:04:47. > :04:48.Boeing and Airbus have tweaked their models and slashed
:04:49. > :04:53.prices, as a result sales of the C Series have been slow.
:04:54. > :04:59.The launch target was 300 orders but only 243 have been booked,
:05:00. > :05:03.all of this has weakened the entire Bombardier company.
:05:04. > :05:06.They took an enormous risk, they're well out of their comfort
:05:07. > :05:11.zone, they have produced a good aeroplane but it is coming
:05:12. > :05:15.in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
:05:16. > :05:19.All of the major international airlines went on a spending spree
:05:20. > :05:22.for new aircraft last year and thousands of new aircraft
:05:23. > :05:25.were booked by both Boeing and Airbus.
:05:26. > :05:30.The C Series didn't join in that party.
:05:31. > :05:32.The state government in Quebec has effectively given the C Series
:05:33. > :05:38.a $1 billion bailout and more public money could follow.
:05:39. > :05:43.It's not forecast to turn a profit until 2020 at the earliest.
:05:44. > :05:47.The company needs to cut costs and conserve cash.
:05:48. > :05:55.That's what today's job losses are about.
:05:56. > :05:59.Today of all days, a glimmer of hope.
:06:00. > :06:02.There was some better news for Bombardier today when Air Canada
:06:03. > :06:04.signed what's call a letter of intent to buy a number
:06:05. > :06:14.The type of news this company needs going forward and were not talking
:06:15. > :06:19.about the survival of jobs here at Bombardier. We also talking about a
:06:20. > :06:25.supply chain. As many as 3000 other jobs in smaller aerospace companies
:06:26. > :06:29.throughout Northern Ireland who supply this company with parts, they
:06:30. > :06:33.have a vested interest in the survival and the prosperity of this
:06:34. > :06:36.company as does the Northern Ireland economy for this is one of our most
:06:37. > :06:38.important manufacturing companies. But Bombardier needs a lot more
:06:39. > :06:40.orders like this. The head of Bombardier locally,
:06:41. > :06:43.Michael Ryan, told our Business and Economics Editor John Campbell
:06:44. > :06:47.why today's move was necessary. Bombardier announced
:06:48. > :06:48.today their year end results which if you look at it was close
:06:49. > :06:54.to a $5 billion loss. They also announced some good news
:06:55. > :06:57.on the sales of the C Series but fundamentally the sustainability
:06:58. > :07:01.of the company needs to be addressed because it is not possible
:07:02. > :07:04.to continue, and part of that is a transformation
:07:05. > :07:07.which is underway and part of that transformation is optimising
:07:08. > :07:11.the workforce and that is at When we look at the aerospace side
:07:12. > :07:17.in Belfast, it's the single largest what kind of assurances can you give
:07:18. > :07:32.that the long-term future of this The global aerospace world
:07:33. > :07:41.is looking at optimising and it was going to what we call
:07:42. > :07:43.lower cost countries and if we want to compete
:07:44. > :07:46.in a global marketplace we need I have to say the technologies
:07:47. > :07:50.we are investing in, the value-added processes,
:07:51. > :07:52.the programmes we're looking at, are a key part of Belfast's future
:07:53. > :07:55.and will continue to be. If I read that correctly,
:07:56. > :07:57.you are saying the high-value work around wings, composites,
:07:58. > :08:02.that will stay in Belfast, some of the more basic processes,
:08:03. > :08:05.there's every chance that work will have to go to
:08:06. > :08:10.lower cost locations. We have factories in Mexico
:08:11. > :08:16.and Morocco and we have a world-class supply chain
:08:17. > :08:18.and that is based Earlier, I spoke to the Canadian
:08:19. > :08:24.Broadcasting Corporation's business He told me the jobs losses
:08:25. > :08:30.at Bombardier here were making Even though we have the headquarters
:08:31. > :08:36.here, you do a lot of the assembly, the important and core work,
:08:37. > :08:39.and we as a country as well are concerned about that
:08:40. > :08:42.and that is why the government has been funding a lot of money
:08:43. > :08:45.into Bombardier to make sure it stays in Canada with those high-tech
:08:46. > :08:48.jobs, not just important here but in Northern Ireland
:08:49. > :08:51.as well, so we share similarities as far as the concern of the health
:08:52. > :08:56.of Bombardier going forward. 2,000 jobs to be slashed
:08:57. > :09:02.in the Montreal office. This is as part of the 7,000
:09:03. > :09:06.job loss announcement. What is interesting
:09:07. > :09:09.is in the C Series division they are saying no jobs will be cut,
:09:10. > :09:13.they'll be increasing that division, but head office jobs
:09:14. > :09:19.are losing the lion's share, but rail jobs are losing
:09:20. > :09:21.the lion's share, 3,200 jobs, so we are
:09:22. > :09:23.affected here as well. Is the view in Canada that people
:09:24. > :09:26.should be happy to keep the jobs there and not worry so much
:09:27. > :09:29.about the jobs elsewhere, We have an affinity
:09:30. > :09:33.with Northern Ireland but people in Montreal,
:09:34. > :09:35.where the company is based, would be concerned about keeping it
:09:36. > :09:38.in Montreal and there are 34,000 jobs reliant on Bombardier staying
:09:39. > :09:43.in Quebec so I wouldn't say we're dismissive of Northern Ireland
:09:44. > :09:48.but we are sharing the pain. What do you think the long-term
:09:49. > :09:50.prognosis is? This is where it gets tricky
:09:51. > :09:54.because they are in a negative cash flow position, this has cost them
:09:55. > :09:56.$5.5 billion to get 2 billion in over-costs and what it
:09:57. > :10:00.comes down to is this single-aisle It goes directly against Boeing
:10:01. > :10:04.and Airbus and those are very large-pocketed companies
:10:05. > :10:06.and there is concern with analysts saying they have taken a bit off
:10:07. > :10:09.more than they can chew? Does it have the resources to be
:10:10. > :10:12.able to go up against those competitors or are we going to be
:10:13. > :10:15.in a spiral of continuing The First Minister Arlene Foster has
:10:16. > :10:21.attended a Church of Ireland event in Dublin this evening to mark
:10:22. > :10:36.the centenary of the Easter Rising. A smile and a handshake between the
:10:37. > :10:40.First Minister and the teacher. They came face-to-face at Christchurch
:10:41. > :10:45.Cathedral in Dublin at a church of Ireland events debating the 1916
:10:46. > :10:49.rising. There was only last month and Kenny expressed his
:10:50. > :10:53.disappointment after Arlene Foster said she would not attend any
:10:54. > :10:58.centenary commemorations of the very violent Irish rebellion. The DUP
:10:59. > :11:02.leader said people needed to understand the Unionist position.
:11:03. > :11:05.One of the things I think that concerns people in Northern Ireland
:11:06. > :11:10.about what happened there are 100 years ago at Easter is the fact that
:11:11. > :11:14.it was used then in the 70s and 80s to justify what happened in Northern
:11:15. > :11:18.Ireland at that time and I think a difficult thing for unionists to
:11:19. > :11:22.come to terms with and is something people here in the Republic have two
:11:23. > :11:27.reflect on as well. Enter Kenny took time out from the campaign ahead of
:11:28. > :11:32.next week 's general election to attend the debate. The nice
:11:33. > :11:37.presentation included contributions from leading historians across
:11:38. > :11:41.Ireland and focused on the ordinary people in extraordinary
:11:42. > :11:44.circumstances in Dublin in 1916. The First Minister says this is the type
:11:45. > :11:48.of event that she was always happy to attend. A conversation, not a
:11:49. > :12:01.celebration. Police things brightened up today.
:12:02. > :12:04.After this morning 's rain sleet and snow but still a distinct chill in
:12:05. > :12:09.the air and with the clear skills were lingering into the night we
:12:10. > :12:12.will get a widespread frost the voting. Temperatures drop to
:12:13. > :12:18.freezing leaving to of reading greaves below. Showers in the North
:12:19. > :12:21.and West with rain, sleet and snow and it will become quite icy so the
:12:22. > :12:27.Met office has a warning in place through the night and into tomorrow
:12:28. > :12:30.morning. There could be some minor disruption, quite slippery and an
:12:31. > :12:35.untreated roads and pavements. Take extra care. Tomorrow, not a bad day
:12:36. > :12:40.again for many. Sunshine again, good dry spells around. Wintry showers in
:12:41. > :12:45.the forecast and those could be a mix of sleet and snow in places in
:12:46. > :12:53.the morning in the north and west. Away from there, spans of sunshine.
:12:54. > :12:57.Wintry showers in the West. In the opposite corner, it could be quite a
:12:58. > :13:03.wet and sleet start. Cloud to the course the day but some very decent
:13:04. > :13:07.spells wintry sunshine. Again, that chill hanging in the air. That is
:13:08. > :13:13.what we have tomorrow. And more breeze tomorrow, one or two showers,
:13:14. > :13:16.hill snow, rain and sleet to low levels in the afternoon. Mainly in
:13:17. > :13:22.the north and west, not too many in the east. Temperatures of 6 degrees.
:13:23. > :13:27.On Friday, the next Atlantic weather system is in. That has the effect of
:13:28. > :13:28.bringing the temperatures are up but bringing spells of rain and more of
:13:29. > :13:29.a breeze.