:00:00. > :00:00.Elsewhere, it's time for the news where you are.
:00:07. > :00:09.15 men are still being questioned by the police
:00:10. > :00:12.following the funeral of dissident republican Michael Barr
:00:13. > :00:16.They were arrested on suspicion of membership of
:00:17. > :00:20.a dissident republican group, referred to as the New IRA.
:00:21. > :00:23.Michael Barr was a member of the organisation.
:00:24. > :00:32.Here's our North-West reporter, Keiron Tourish.
:00:33. > :00:40.Around a dozen men in paramilitary style uniform led the cortege as it
:00:41. > :00:47.slowly moved along Strabane. Relatives and friends of Michael
:00:48. > :00:53.Barr help carry his Coffin. It's on the border with Donegal, and this
:00:54. > :00:56.morning. The manned checkpoints. In the town itself, there was a
:00:57. > :01:08.noticeable PSNI presents along the routes. Michael Trabant was shot
:01:09. > :01:12.dead on the 25th of April. Two men described as skinny and wearing
:01:13. > :01:16.masks fired a number of shots at around half past nine in the
:01:17. > :01:20.evening. Michael Barr had been living in the area where he was shot
:01:21. > :01:24.dead. He was known to the Garvey for his involvement with dissident
:01:25. > :01:31.republicans and had appeared in the court in connection. Slavery
:01:32. > :01:38.hundreds more -- several hundred more joined the cortege. Officers
:01:39. > :01:42.maintained a discreet distance throughout the Coffin which had
:01:43. > :01:50.earlier been tricked in a tricolour with a blackberry and gloves on top
:01:51. > :01:55.was then taken in inside the chapel. Later PSNI operated a large
:01:56. > :02:02.operation and arrested many people. The context behind that is that we
:02:03. > :02:07.have had confirmation of the deceased being a member of the New
:02:08. > :02:13.IRA and that the funeral would take place in a fashion in line with
:02:14. > :02:20.that. What we saw this morning on the of an in the local area was what
:02:21. > :02:25.appears to all intents and purposes a paramilitary style display.
:02:26. > :02:29.Resulting from about the subscript policing operation we have arrested
:02:30. > :02:32.15 men in connection with suspected terrorist related offences. There
:02:33. > :02:36.have now been several occasions in which men and women dressed in
:02:37. > :02:38.paramilitary style uniform operated on the streets. There was a large
:02:39. > :02:44.turnout for the veteran republican Peggy O'Hara who died in July last
:02:45. > :02:55.year. They marched along the streets of Derry before the funeral service
:02:56. > :02:59.for. The PSNI released few details of the operation at the funeral of
:03:00. > :03:02.Michael Barr this morning. It is understood the 15 men arrested have
:03:03. > :03:04.now been taken to Osgood Street police station for questioning.
:03:05. > :03:07.The widow of Michael McGibbon, who was murdered in north Belfast
:03:08. > :03:09.last month, has appealed to his killers to explain
:03:10. > :03:15.The father-of-four died after being shot in the legs
:03:16. > :03:18.Dissident republicans were blamed for the murder.
:03:19. > :03:27.BBC Newsline's Mark Simpson reports.
:03:28. > :03:37.Joanne McGivern has been left to bring up her four children on her
:03:38. > :03:42.own. It's a three week since her husband was killed, shot by a
:03:43. > :03:48.paramilitary gang believed to be dissident republicans. The good not
:03:49. > :03:51.explain why Angela and says he she has a right to know. I am just
:03:52. > :03:56.saying I would like to have more answers. I don't know if they can
:03:57. > :04:00.get answers to me, through the post or however else, but just the reason
:04:01. > :04:05.why they have done this to a family, wider digits to Michael. Do you want
:04:06. > :04:08.answers to your own peace of mind or to give them to the police? I've
:04:09. > :04:14.priority now is to get answers for me and my family. I know someone was
:04:15. > :04:21.ordered to shoot him, whatever, but I really don't believe that there is
:04:22. > :04:25.any way of getting any one of them. She has heard one possible reason
:04:26. > :04:31.why her husband was targeted. There was an argument between Michael and
:04:32. > :04:35.I girl in his taxi. She didn't want to pay fair her affair, she had no
:04:36. > :04:39.money to pay for her fur, and I reckon she is related to one of
:04:40. > :04:45.these dissidents, that's what they call themselves, and she turned
:04:46. > :04:51.round said overdue you know who I am? He said that he didn't care, so
:04:52. > :04:58.they have perhaps decided to show him. I could be wrong. Joanne's
:04:59. > :05:04.focus now is on her children. But family life is very difficult. The
:05:05. > :05:08.children made a comment today, saying that McCain was drawing a
:05:09. > :05:13.picture saying how she was going to kill her daddy's Keller. That hurts
:05:14. > :05:17.me. But at the centre and this is reality. This is what my kids are
:05:18. > :05:23.going through. That's the way she feels, side let her draw the picture
:05:24. > :05:27.and explain to her look, love, we're better than these people, they are
:05:28. > :05:33.bad boys. That's not the way to go about it. Joanne and her family will
:05:34. > :05:34.steam be moving out of the area, it has too many painful memories for
:05:35. > :05:35.her. The High Court has been told that
:05:36. > :05:39.a man accused of raping a woman in a park near Dungannon last week,
:05:40. > :05:42.tried to harm himself The details emerged during a bail
:05:43. > :05:59.application by The victim was raped in this popular
:06:00. > :06:03.walking and cycling error in peatlands Park in Dungannon last
:06:04. > :06:06.week. She had been walking her dog and she was subjected to what police
:06:07. > :06:12.described as an ambush of attack. The accused, James Wright from
:06:13. > :06:19.Dairylea Road in Dungannon, appeared earlier this week in court
:06:20. > :06:21.Dairylea Road in Dungannon, appeared with a sexual assault. Psychiatrists
:06:22. > :06:28.said he was fit to be interviewed by police and child. He applied for
:06:29. > :06:31.bail at the court in Belfast. The victim had resigned herself to the
:06:32. > :06:35.sex assault amid fears that she would be killed. It emerged that the
:06:36. > :06:39.men had attempted to harm himself in custody. The High Court was told
:06:40. > :06:43.that the accused man had tried to strangle himself whilst in custody.
:06:44. > :06:49.A defence barrister said the 23-year-old had an IQ of 44, and as
:06:50. > :06:58.a lawyer he had never come across any criminal trial involving someone
:06:59. > :07:01.of an IQ of less than 50. Opposing bail, prosecution said the threat
:07:02. > :07:03.had taken place in the middle a day in an open and public area
:07:04. > :07:09.frequented by cyclists, children and dog walkers. The judge said that
:07:10. > :07:13.while the obligation of the court to protect the victim and the public,
:07:14. > :07:17.there's also an obligation, given his limitations and IQ, to protect
:07:18. > :07:20.the accused. This bail application was adjourned pending further
:07:21. > :07:22.applicants to the judge. The head of a teaching union has
:07:23. > :07:25.come under fire after she described some pre-school staff
:07:26. > :07:27.as "well meaning amateurs". The comments were made
:07:28. > :07:30.following the publication of a report which stated every
:07:31. > :07:34.nursery should have a qualified early years teacher to help toddlers
:07:35. > :07:50.develop speech and language skills. I see a spider, is there one on
:07:51. > :07:55.my... All very happy and according to save the children, they should
:07:56. > :07:59.be. Why? Because the grown-up is a fully qualified teacher. For one
:08:00. > :08:06.teachers union anything less is no good enough. Hundreds of early years
:08:07. > :08:12.teachers have been labelled as well-meaning amateurs. Things like
:08:13. > :08:17.speech and language, teachers are trained to pick up on those things,
:08:18. > :08:22.and this is why they should be allowed to go in and do these jobs.
:08:23. > :08:24.Whatever you are standing by your comments that the teachers in
:08:25. > :08:30.private nurseries are well-meaning amateurs? Not all of them, but
:08:31. > :08:31.obviously if you don't have the qualifications that are necessary to
:08:32. > :08:37.be in those positions. qualifications that are necessary to
:08:38. > :08:42.it run by amateurs? Let's see. qualifications that are necessary to
:08:43. > :08:45.Getting to grips with the basics of every parent wants their child to
:08:46. > :08:48.get their best start in life. The Ulster teachers union says however
:08:49. > :08:53.get their best start in life. The that children's like these say they
:08:54. > :08:58.have been in the hands of teachers lacking skills and knowledge. How
:08:59. > :09:02.many teachers out there which know that a two-year-old had delayed
:09:03. > :09:06.development, or a one-year-old. Not many teachers would be qualified in
:09:07. > :09:11.the early years to spot signs of autism or speech and language
:09:12. > :09:22.problems. Our staff are very highly qualified and skilled in those areas
:09:23. > :09:26.with the to those comments? I think that she needs to go out into the
:09:27. > :09:28.settings and CB valuable and amazing work that is being done with
:09:29. > :09:34.children out there and she needs to work that is being done with
:09:35. > :09:37.attack her statement. They say your schooldays are the best days of your
:09:38. > :09:39.life and suddenly the children here seem to be more than content.
:09:40. > :09:40.Polling has closed in the Assembly election.
:09:41. > :09:44.Counting begins tomorrow and will last two days.
:09:45. > :09:45.Our political correspondent Stephen Walker reports on
:09:46. > :10:02.Polling stations opened at 7am this morning and voting will end at ten
:10:03. > :10:06.o'clock tonight. The parties hope the good weather will enhance
:10:07. > :10:09.turnout. Early reports from a number of polling station said voting for
:10:10. > :10:14.study and election officials expected turnout to pick up in the
:10:15. > :10:18.final hours. Party leaders and senior politicians voted early in
:10:19. > :10:23.the day. UUP leader Arlene Foster voted close to her home in Fermanagh
:10:24. > :10:27.will stop Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness went to his local polling
:10:28. > :10:33.station in Londonderry as did the SDLP Colum Eastwood. The UUP Mike
:10:34. > :10:37.Nesbitt voted in Belfast and the Alliance party leader David Ford
:10:38. > :10:46.cast his vote at a polling station in Ballyclare. 276 candidates are
:10:47. > :10:53.competing for 108 seats across 18 constituencies. And 2200 counting
:10:54. > :10:57.staff have been recruited. This is one of eight counting centres in
:10:58. > :11:02.operation and tomorrow this will be a hive of activity. Two days have
:11:03. > :11:04.been set aside to get the results and they should come through the
:11:05. > :11:07.tomorrow afternoon. It will be Saturday before a full picture
:11:08. > :11:09.emerges of the new assembly looks like.
:11:10. > :11:12.And for a full breakdown of the results as they happen tomorrow,
:11:13. > :11:15.including the Northern Ireland-wide picture,
:11:16. > :11:19.and a stage-by-stage outlook in your own constituency, go online to:
:11:20. > :11:27.And on The View tonight Mark Carruthers will be asking
:11:28. > :11:30.what it's like to run an election campaign and how does this one
:11:31. > :11:36.That's the View, straight after this bulletin here on BBC One.
:11:37. > :11:45.Now finally onto the weather forecast, and here's Angie Phillips.
:11:46. > :11:54.Hello, good evening. After that fine day we have a dry nights coming up.
:11:55. > :11:56.Variable cloud Antaeus bells. Some high cloud around particularly
:11:57. > :12:00.towards the east. Inland and towards the west, is where we were likely to
:12:01. > :12:02.get the clearer skies and temperature dropping close to
:12:03. > :12:07.freezing. That will likely lead to rule grass frost, may be patchy mist
:12:08. > :12:11.and fog as well. That will go very quickly tomorrow morning, fine day
:12:12. > :12:14.coming up, dry weather, a fair amount of sunshine albeit rather
:12:15. > :12:19.hazy. Particularly in eastern areas in the morning. This much of Britain
:12:20. > :12:23.and Ireland it is much the same story. This much fine weather,
:12:24. > :12:27.although cloudy across parts of Scotland with a fuse showers, and
:12:28. > :12:34.later some of pockets of mist and sea fog with the north east coast of
:12:35. > :12:41.Scotland and England. Other than that it is a fine day, more cloud
:12:42. > :12:44.around compared to today. Sunshine hazy, continues to warm in the
:12:45. > :12:48.south, temperatures of 22 or 23 degrees. For Northern Ireland there
:12:49. > :12:53.is more northerly drift to the wind, along the northern coast which is
:12:54. > :12:58.not as high as today. 11, 12 degrees. Inland particularly towards
:12:59. > :13:04.the south, temperatures of rise in the sunshine to 14 or 15 degrees.
:13:05. > :13:06.Into Saturday we see a change, the weather front moves in from the
:13:07. > :13:12.south, isobars packing tightly together so gusty wind and eventual
:13:13. > :13:15.showery rain from the south. This is the risk of some thunder mixed in.
:13:16. > :13:17.The answer that it's drier and warmer.
:13:18. > :13:21.Our next BBC Newsline is at 6.25 in the morning during Breakfast
:13:22. > :13:24.You can also keep updated with News Online.
:13:25. > :13:26.From all of us here on the programme,