:00:16. > :00:18.The father and his children injured in a lightning strike in Lisburn
:00:19. > :00:22.George Allen, who's 37, remains in a critical condition.
:00:23. > :00:23.His five-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter's
:00:24. > :00:25.condition have tonight been described as stable.
:00:26. > :00:27.Today, the Education Minister, Peter Weir, visited
:00:28. > :00:29.Killowen Primary School and praised the efforts of the teachers.
:00:30. > :00:31.As Will Leitch reports, it's now emerged that both
:00:32. > :00:33.the principal and vice-principal worked with the injured family
:00:34. > :00:41.George Allen was doing what any father would have done,
:00:42. > :00:44.collecting his children from school on a wet afternoon.
:00:45. > :00:47.The lightning strike left all three of them seriously ill in hospital
:00:48. > :00:56.and closed the school of 450 pupils for the time being.
:00:57. > :00:58.This school, the classrooms, the playgrounds, the sports
:00:59. > :01:00.areas, really should have been buzzing today.
:01:01. > :01:03.Instead, the school is closed, the corridors silent,
:01:04. > :01:05.save for the teachers working with an independent counselling team
:01:06. > :01:08.to assess the questions the children are likely to ask
:01:09. > :01:23.I found it very sad driving up the driveway.
:01:24. > :01:26.Usually, as you say, there is the buzz and the hubbub
:01:27. > :01:28.of the school situation, obviously some children in class,
:01:29. > :01:31.Just to see the emptiness and to feel the emptiness.
:01:32. > :01:33.Driving up, you think back to what happened yesterday
:01:34. > :01:36.Some children witnessed the incident and saw senior teachers
:01:37. > :01:39.The Education Minister has praised their actions.
:01:40. > :01:42.On the day itself, I think the school behaved in an exemplary
:01:43. > :01:45.fashion and I think the intervention from senior members of staff
:01:46. > :01:50.I really want to commend them for their swift action.
:01:51. > :01:52.Local people have started fundraising for the Allen family
:01:53. > :01:54.and, at lunchtime, pupils brought food for their teachers,
:01:55. > :01:59.Just now, everyone at Killowen Primary School
:02:00. > :02:08.An inquest into the Kingsmills Massacre has been adjourned
:02:09. > :02:13.It's looking into the murders of ten Protestant workmen by the IRA
:02:14. > :02:17.in the County Armagh village in 1976.
:02:18. > :02:20.The coroner said police should be given time to pursue a new lead
:02:21. > :02:25.Gordon Adair reports from the inquest.
:02:26. > :02:38.Before hearing the day's evidence, the coroner talked about last week's
:02:39. > :02:41.development when a partial palm print found on a vehicle at the time
:02:42. > :02:43.of the killings was re-examined and apparently for the first time
:02:44. > :02:48.He said that he understood how the families of those killed felt
:02:49. > :02:53.that they no longer knew who to believe all what to believe
:02:54. > :02:56.-- that they no longer knew who to believe or what to believe,
:02:57. > :02:58.given the circumstances and particularly
:02:59. > :03:01.However, he said this could potentially be one of the most
:03:02. > :03:04.crucial pieces of evidence ever to emerge and that as such
:03:05. > :03:07.the police had to be given the opportunity to pursue that lead
:03:08. > :03:12.He said, however, this would not be an open-ended process and he said
:03:13. > :03:14.they would be putting in place a provisional timetable and keeping
:03:15. > :03:24.It's 22 years since six Catholics were killed
:03:25. > :03:30.Tomorrow, the Police Ombudsman will publish a report
:03:31. > :03:33.into allegations of collusion between police officers
:03:34. > :03:41.Our Home Affairs Correspondent Vincent Kearney reports.
:03:42. > :03:43.The horrific aftermath of an attack that left six men dead
:03:44. > :03:48.They had been watching a World Cup game in The Heights
:03:49. > :03:51.bar in Loughinisland when UVF gunman struck.
:03:52. > :03:53.No one has ever been convicted in connection with the attack.
:03:54. > :03:56.Families of the victims have claimed that is because the police
:03:57. > :04:04.Five years ago, the previous Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson
:04:05. > :04:06.upheld their complaint that the police had not properly
:04:07. > :04:09.investigated the killings, but he said there was no evidence
:04:10. > :04:15.The families took legal action and that report was quashed.
:04:16. > :04:17.The current Police Ombudsman Michael Maguire reopened the investigation.
:04:18. > :04:24.The families are hoping for a very different outcome.
:04:25. > :04:30.It is quite simple, they seek an independent, impartial,
:04:31. > :04:34.robust analysis of the facts and where there are failings
:04:35. > :04:37.that they be highlighted as failings and where there requires to be
:04:38. > :04:42.accountability that the appropriate censure is made.
:04:43. > :04:45.The ombudsman's findings will be published tomorrow morning.
:04:46. > :04:50.Michael Maguire's report will contain thousands of words
:04:51. > :04:55.but for the families of those killed here 22 years ago,
:04:56. > :05:02.the focus will be on whether he uses one word - collusion.
:05:03. > :05:04.Public housing here has received a major boost,
:05:05. > :05:07.following a big loan from the European Investment Bank.
:05:08. > :05:09.It is providing ?280 million towards the cost of building
:05:10. > :05:18.Here's our business correspondent Julian O'Neill.
:05:19. > :05:21.The money will bankroll a future pipeline of projects.
:05:22. > :05:23.In all, 4,700 homes in the social housing sector.
:05:24. > :05:33.Two housing bodies, Choice and Apex, will also get top funds
:05:34. > :05:45.from Stormont in an ongoing drive to cut waiting lists
:05:46. > :05:48.-- Two housing bodies, Choice and Apex, will also get top
:05:49. > :05:50.up funds from Stormont in an ongoing drive to cut waiting lists
:05:51. > :05:54.There is a huge need for housing in Northern Ireland.
:05:55. > :05:56.The waiting list has over 40,000 people on it,
:05:57. > :05:59.I think this investment and the thousands of new homes,
:06:00. > :06:02.affordable homes that will be built as a result, will make a start
:06:03. > :06:06.The European Investment Bank is based in Luxembourg and makes low
:06:07. > :06:10.It has been involved in many roads projects in Northern Ireland
:06:11. > :06:12.as well as providing ?150 million worth of capital
:06:13. > :06:14.towards the University of Ulster's new Belfast campus.
:06:15. > :06:17.Run by the EU, the bank is a nonprofit and the outcome
:06:18. > :06:20.of the referendum will not affect this deal.
:06:21. > :06:24.It has no bearing on existing loans, loans we have already agreed,
:06:25. > :06:27.where obviously a contract is a contract.
:06:28. > :06:28.There may well be implications for the future.
:06:29. > :06:32.It is difficult to say at this stage what those will be.
:06:33. > :06:34.The construction sector will join in the celebrations,
:06:35. > :06:38.such is the scale of this announcement.
:06:39. > :06:40.Spread over five years, it will deliver on sites
:06:41. > :06:57.The electoral registration problems for the vote on whether to stay
:06:58. > :07:00.in or out of the EU which have affected other parts of the UK
:07:01. > :07:04.That means, according to the Electoral Office Northern Ireland,
:07:05. > :07:06.that the deadline to register will not be extended
:07:07. > :07:10.Now, if you are feeling a bit squeamish, this might be
:07:11. > :07:14.Because if you've a morbid hatred of creepy crawlies then our next
:07:15. > :07:17.Our Agriculture and Environment Correspondent Conor Macauley has
:07:18. > :07:19.been out to investigate reports of an infestation of
:07:20. > :07:24.caterpillars attacking ash trees in south Belfast.
:07:25. > :07:28.A plague of green bugs munching their way through these
:07:29. > :07:32.They have stripped them almost bare in just over a week.
:07:33. > :07:40.It is enough to make you itch...a lot.
:07:41. > :07:43.If you listen really closely, you can actually hear
:07:44. > :07:46.the larvae eating the leaves in the tree above me.
:07:47. > :07:48.The problem with that is that you are then so close
:07:49. > :07:52.they are constantly falling on your head.
:07:53. > :07:55.It is a bit disconcerting, certainly.
:07:56. > :07:57.We have posted videos on social media and our friends are enjoying
:07:58. > :08:06.The Ulster Wildlife's Moth Man comes up with one.
:08:07. > :08:17.-- As they are flies, not moths, well, he is a little disappointed.
:08:18. > :08:19.Everything in the insect world goes in cycles.
:08:20. > :08:23.The heat we've been having in the last couple of weeks,
:08:24. > :08:26.you will get these plagues and infestations so it is uncommon
:08:27. > :08:33.Experts are to be sent out for a look but locals say this
:08:34. > :08:37.happened last year, too, and the trees did not suffer.
:08:38. > :08:40.Now for news from the Northern Ireland camp at the European
:08:41. > :08:51.The news emerging from the Northern Ireland camp today
:08:52. > :08:54.is that Kyle Lafferty says he's had the results of a scan on his injured
:08:55. > :08:57.groin and will be fit to play against Poland on Sunday.
:08:58. > :09:00.The pictures today perhaps tell a different story.
:09:01. > :09:02.Lafferty didn't train and simply spent 15 minutes on an exercise
:09:03. > :09:05.bike as his team mates prepared for the game.
:09:06. > :09:07.Lafferty was all smiles for the cameras but was still
:09:08. > :09:11.walking very gingerly and it remains to be seen whether he will win his
:09:12. > :09:16.race to be fit in time for the game in Nice.
:09:17. > :09:18.There are four sets of brothers playing in the Euro 2016.
:09:19. > :09:20.One set will line up for Northern Ireland.
:09:21. > :09:23.Joel Taggart has been talking to Jonny and Corey Evans,
:09:24. > :09:25.and started by asking Corey about his first memories
:09:26. > :09:30.Just out in the street, kicking a ball about.
:09:31. > :09:34.He was a bit older and he was playing with a few kids and I would
:09:35. > :09:39.Once I got a bit older I was allowed to to join in.
:09:40. > :09:47.Corey was a fast centre forward at that stage.
:09:48. > :09:54.He always scored the goals, and I would have a position at the back,
:09:55. > :10:10.The first ever brothers to appear for Northern Ireland
:10:11. > :10:17.How nice will it be to be able to share it with Corey?
:10:18. > :10:22.Usually when we come away, we always share rooms.
:10:23. > :10:25.We enjoy all the experiences together.
:10:26. > :10:32.It would be great to go into the tournament,
:10:33. > :10:35.something we are both very proud of, representing our country.
:10:36. > :10:43.The only thing that would top all of this would be two
:10:44. > :10:46.of you on the pitch at the same time celebrating a goal at
:10:47. > :10:53.You set me up, I'll have a wee tap in.
:10:54. > :10:55.That'd be brilliant, that'd would top it all off.
:10:56. > :11:09.The Republic of Ireland squad arrived in France today ahead
:11:10. > :11:13.of Monday night's opening fixture against Sweden.
:11:14. > :11:15.Earlier, the team had an official photo call at Dublin Airport before
:11:16. > :11:20.Martin O'Neill's side play Sweden on Monday in their Group E opener.
:11:21. > :11:22.Another lovely day today, but will it stay for tomorrow?
:11:23. > :11:26.Here's Cecilia Daly with the weather forecast.
:11:27. > :11:38.It is more tonight but also miss Steve. Some fog around as well. Also
:11:39. > :11:44.some low cloud on the north coast. A little uncomfortable at times. It
:11:45. > :11:50.will be a warm day eventually tomorrow with sunshine but there
:11:51. > :11:53.will be mist and low cloud probably brightening up more quickly towards
:11:54. > :11:59.the north coast but the mist and fog will linger on the County Down coast
:12:00. > :12:13.longer. Mist and low cloud affecting North Sea coast,. Otherwise it is a
:12:14. > :12:16.lovely day eventually for many parts of the UK and Ireland. Temperatures
:12:17. > :12:20.in Northern Ireland putting into the low 20s. A couple of showers
:12:21. > :12:26.breaking out mainly across the Northwest. After our warm weather
:12:27. > :12:30.tomorrow it will feel cooler and it will be wet at times on Friday.
:12:31. > :12:34.Quite a change is our weather starts to come in from the Atlantic and it
:12:35. > :12:37.is the start of more unsettled weather which will linger through
:12:38. > :12:41.the weekend and probably into next week. That will not be raining all
:12:42. > :12:46.the time this weekend. It looks like Saturday will be the driver one of
:12:47. > :12:49.the two days. Most of the showers will have moved on before Northern
:12:50. > :12:54.Ireland kicks off with their first match in the Euro 2016 competition.
:12:55. > :12:56.The forecast for Sunday in Nice is warmer and sunny.
:12:57. > :12:59.Our next BBC Newsline is at 6.25 in the morning
:13:00. > :13:04.You can also keep updated with News Online.