:00:00. > :00:08.The prominent republican Thomas "Slab" Murphy has been
:00:09. > :00:13.sentenced to 18 months in prison in the Republic for tax evasion.
:00:14. > :00:17.The 66-year-old from Hackballscross in County Louth is alleged to be one
:00:18. > :00:20.of the most influential figures within the IRA.
:00:21. > :00:22.He denied the nine charges against him.
:00:23. > :00:32.Our Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison reports.
:00:33. > :00:39.He walked into court this morning but he would later leave in a prison
:00:40. > :00:45.van. He evaded tax on his cattle dealings between 1996 and 2004, even
:00:46. > :00:46.though we received state grants. -- he received.
:00:47. > :00:48.When officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau raided
:00:49. > :00:50.his family's farm, right on the border, in 2006,
:00:51. > :00:53.hidden in black plastic bags covered by hay.
:00:54. > :00:57.Over 250,000 euros, over ?110,000 and
:00:58. > :01:03.cheques and drafts totalling over 670,000 euros.
:01:04. > :01:05.A detective had previously told the court the bureau
:01:06. > :01:09.estimated Murphy's tax bill to be over 5.3 million euros,
:01:10. > :01:12.with the farming income on which he was tried coming
:01:13. > :01:20.to nearly ?190,000 when interest and penalties are taken into account.
:01:21. > :01:29.-- 190,000 euros. The court said it took into account
:01:30. > :01:32.a number of factors, including his age and lack of premieres
:01:33. > :01:36.convictions but the three judges also noted there had been a lot of
:01:37. > :01:40.media coverage about his alleged past, which they said would have
:01:41. > :01:42.prejudiced a jury. That, I said, was not a matter for them and so was not
:01:43. > :01:43.taken into account. Shortly after his sentencing,
:01:44. > :01:45.a statement was issued on Murphy's behalf in which he
:01:46. > :01:47.maintained his innocence and said he would
:01:48. > :01:49.appeal the verdict. The Criminal Assets Bureau has
:01:50. > :01:51.decribed the conviction as a good outcome that was not in
:01:52. > :02:07.any way politically motivated. The bureau has established
:02:08. > :02:13.independently, it conducted business in a particular way, to remit is
:02:14. > :02:16.very clear. Never is there any political consideration in terms of
:02:17. > :02:17.what cases are taken on or what investigations are pursued.
:02:18. > :02:19.A loyalist and a victims' campaigner who was in court said
:02:20. > :02:21.he and his supporters were over the moon
:02:22. > :02:33.This man can put his hand up in Northern Ireland to all that he had
:02:34. > :02:38.taken part in under the Good Friday Agreement, he would not got as long
:02:39. > :02:42.as what he has got today. Now perhaps we can move on, because the
:02:43. > :02:44.South of Ireland is no longer a safe haven for terrorism.
:02:45. > :02:46.Thomas "Slab" Murphy is tonight beginning a sentence behind bars.
:02:47. > :02:48.Not the first man with a reputation to be
:02:49. > :02:52.Shane Harrison, BBC Newsline, Dublin.
:02:53. > :03:00.Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd is to stand down as Education Minister
:03:01. > :03:03.Mr O'Dowd has been in the role since 2011.
:03:04. > :03:06.He has been an Assembly member for Upper Bann since 2003 and says
:03:07. > :03:08.he will run for re-election as an MLA.
:03:09. > :03:10.He says he fully supports his party's policy of
:03:11. > :03:17.Polls closed in the Republic's General Election at ten o'clock.
:03:18. > :03:20.The election count is expected to last over the weekend.
:03:21. > :03:30.Our political editor Mark Devenport joins me now from Dublin.
:03:31. > :03:40.I am at the Dublin counting centre where we are waiting for the ballot
:03:41. > :03:44.boxes to arrive. As an educated guess at what kind of secrets they
:03:45. > :03:51.might yield, I'm joined by Professor Gary Murphy of Dublin city
:03:52. > :03:55.University. It looks like Fine Gael will still be the biggest party but
:03:56. > :03:59.not of the same can size that they have had so far. Yes, at the
:04:00. > :04:04.beginning of this campaign it was assumed that Fine Gael would get
:04:05. > :04:07.close to 70 seats. Putting together a Government pretty quickly but they
:04:08. > :04:12.have had a disastrous campaign and we now expect them to get some in
:04:13. > :04:16.the mid-50s. That is a long way of forming a government with either
:04:17. > :04:21.their coalition partners or whatever other parties. So we are in a fluid
:04:22. > :04:25.situation, a very volatile situation, anything could happen
:04:26. > :04:29.tomorrow, the polls have been all over the place, during a downward
:04:30. > :04:34.trend for Fine Gael, an upward trend for Sinn Fein and lots going to
:04:35. > :04:38.independents and small parties so interesting times tomorrow. You
:04:39. > :04:44.mentioned Sinn Fein, how do you think they might feature? They are
:04:45. > :04:50.expecting to make significant advances. All the polls suggest they
:04:51. > :04:57.could get into the high 20s and a doubling of their seats and the
:04:58. > :05:03.percentage from nine in the last election, I think they will be
:05:04. > :05:08.disappointed. Even at 30, they could get to 30 seats and they would be in
:05:09. > :05:11.a strong position to be the Stalinist party in opposition foster
:05:12. > :05:16.maybe that is what they would prefer once all the votes are counted. --
:05:17. > :05:19.the strongest party. The big parties have been reluctant to go into
:05:20. > :05:28.coalition with them. Indeed Sinn Fein ruled it out at the recent Ard
:05:29. > :05:32.Fheis. I think this is one of the troubles we have here, in the
:05:33. > :05:36.Republic at the moment, it is difficult to see how a government
:05:37. > :05:43.will be formed when Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have ruled out working
:05:44. > :05:46.with each other. It is the big question in Irish politics. I think
:05:47. > :05:50.the government will be very difficult to form. Professor Murphy,
:05:51. > :05:52.I give very much and we will have some of those answers over the
:05:53. > :05:53.course of the weekend. -- thank you very much.
:05:54. > :05:56.A nine-year-old boy witnessed last night's murder in South Belfast.
:05:57. > :06:00.He was in the house at Walmer Street when a gang forced their way in.
:06:01. > :06:02.The police believe the killing of 28-year-old Stephen Carson
:06:03. > :06:11.It was a quiet family meal that ended in murder.
:06:12. > :06:14.Stephen Carson was at home with his son and partner
:06:15. > :06:19.when a gang of men carrying hammers and a shotgun forced their way in.
:06:20. > :06:22.As he ran to the bathroom, he was shot through the door,
:06:23. > :06:27.in the head, in front of the terrified nine-year-old boy.
:06:28. > :06:29.Police say his family have been left traumatised.
:06:30. > :06:38.They believe he was killed as part of a criminal feud.
:06:39. > :06:42.He had previously been involved in drugs and other criminal activity
:06:43. > :06:44.and had a conviction for robbery. They are also investigating
:06:45. > :06:46.a possible link to the murder The pizza delivery driver was shot
:06:47. > :06:55.dead on Kennedy Way in 2013. Stephen Carson had only recently
:06:56. > :06:58.moved to Walmer Street. But today, the community
:06:59. > :07:01.there was shocked to wake up to a murder investigation
:07:02. > :07:12.on their doorstep. It is disgusting. We had just moved
:07:13. > :07:14.into the area. For that to happen to the family. It is disgraceful.
:07:15. > :07:16.Earlier today, a house in Sunnyside Street,
:07:17. > :07:19.just yards from the murder scene, was raided by armed police.
:07:20. > :07:24.No arrests were made, and the PSNI say their investigations continue.
:07:25. > :07:26.Police say Mr Carson was known to them and
:07:27. > :07:32.Setting up home here in South Belfast, they say,
:07:33. > :07:35.he had been trying to get his life together.
:07:36. > :07:38.A life that has now come to a violent end.
:07:39. > :07:46.A bullet found in the exhumed body of a man killed in shootings
:07:47. > :07:49.in Ballymurphy in 1971 was not sent for forensic examination
:07:50. > :07:56.The tests confirmed that it was fired from a military-issue weapon.
:07:57. > :08:04.Joseph Murphy's family has criticised the delay.
:08:05. > :08:12.We are waiting to bury my dad. We can't do that until everything has
:08:13. > :08:17.been done. And I just come I would like to know why or who was
:08:18. > :08:23.responsible, why they sat on this bullet for over three months before
:08:24. > :08:26.even handing it over to be tested. The Belfast Giants had beaten the
:08:27. > :08:28.Nottingham Panthers 5-1 away tonight.
:08:29. > :08:31.Now finally, on to the weekend weather forecast,
:08:32. > :08:44.This weekend is the last weekend of the winter season. Spring starts on
:08:45. > :08:48.the 1st of March, at least in meteorological terms. It will be
:08:49. > :08:52.cold this weekend but brighter. Winter sunshine but also some frost,
:08:53. > :08:57.particularly on Saturday night. Some pockets of frost tonight, it will
:08:58. > :09:02.end up largely dry with a few gaps in the cloud. Temperatures will drop
:09:03. > :09:06.slightly below freezing in a fuse box. There are maybe a touch of
:09:07. > :09:11.frost first thing on Saturday. But brighter day compared with today. In
:09:12. > :09:15.most places, most of the showers tomorrow will be to the server boss.
:09:16. > :09:21.Even here there will be moving away. Drying up down South. 12 showers
:09:22. > :09:26.towards the East coast doing that. Otherwise a fine day. There could be
:09:27. > :09:30.the odd shower across Northern Ireland tomorrow but the bulk of
:09:31. > :09:36.places will stay dry. Temperatures around six or seven Celsius. Cold on
:09:37. > :09:41.Saturday night, some sharp frost on Sunday morning. Lots of winter
:09:42. > :09:44.sunshine, the rain is back on Monday, the last day of February.
:09:45. > :09:46.Then march comes in with temperatures in double figures. Have
:09:47. > :09:46.a great weekend. Our next BBC Newsline is at
:09:47. > :09:50.six o'clock tomorrow evening. In the meantime, you can keep
:09:51. > :09:53.updated with News Online. From all of us here
:09:54. > :09:56.on the programme, goodnight