15/06/2016 BBC Newsline

The overtime bill for policing at a controversial County Antrim

drilling operation now stands at almost ?200,000.

The operation at Woodburn near Carrickfergus

The oil company Infrastrata is digging an exploratory well

and protesters have opposed the scheme because it's

Here's our Agriculture and Environment correspondent,

Police and protestors have been here since the

exploratory oil well work began in February.

There has been a constant present at the protest camp and from

time to time larger demonstrations against the drill.

It has emerged that the overtime bill for police

It is hefty, but only part of the story.

The true cost of policing this protest will includes

the use of vehicles and the police helicopter so the cost will be much

Contact between police, protect those and Private security

has become more fraught in recent weeks -- protesters.

Environmentalists have protested against heavy handedness and several

have been protested for alleged breach of

the peace and dark due in

We saw tactical support riot police with assault

rifles and helicopters have been deployed and CS gas has been used

It's not commensurate or proportionate.

Police say it has been proportionate and that the

protest is diverting resources from where

I would rather police were on the ground here policing

Protesters must protest in a way that is lawful and peaceful but

it appears it might not have always been

the case which is why the

The exploratory drilling is expected to

last for another few weeks and the cost of

policing that accompanies it will keep mounting.

The Education Authority has apologised to parents for how

they've handled a plan to cut hours for pupils in special

Members of the Assembly's education committee questioned officials

from the authority today and many were highly critical,

as our education correspondent Robbie Meredith reports.

Disabled children at this specialist school in Belfast

The authority plans to cut their time in school and that

There should be an apology from the Education Authority

to parents for the mishandling of the decision-making process,

how it has been communicated and an acceptance that this has done

serious reputational damage to the educational authority.

They plan to cut the amount of time children spend in special

nurseries to 12.5 hours a week from September.

The plans are now temporarily on hold.

MLAs told senior officials that they were unhappy about how

The approach has been unacceptable and inconsistent.

It has been contradictory and evidentially disputed.

There has been wholly inadequate communication and engagement.

I have huge concerns about a blanket number of hours and it doesn't meet

Parents are very upset and we are upset for them

so there needs to be a slight degree of humility.

In response, the chair did apologise.

I am very sorry for the upset parents continue to experience

because there is a measure of significant uncertainty for them.

Om behalf of myself and the board and the officials are well aware

that we really want this to improve in terms of how we engage

Six special schools' funding has been cut but that is said to be

an interim measure now while the review takes place.

David Cameron warned today that a vote for Leave in the EU

referendum risks having to implement checks for people departing

Well, as the Republic is the only country which has a land border

with the UK, people there are taking a very keen interest

As our Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison reports,

Dublin today is self-consciously European despite the British past.

When both countries joined what was then

the European Economic Community it had no choice but to

That dependency is no longer the case, but the UK remains

Ireland's single biggest trading partner in Europe with an estimated

over 1 billion euros in trade in sellable goods moving

An independent think tank says that overall a Brexit

Our analysis suggests that trade impact on Ireland could be to reduce

total exports on the merchandise side by 3%.

3% would not be catastrophic, but it would be significant.

But potentially catastrophic, people are being told here,

could be the return of a customs post and a hard border

between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

And all the main Northern Ireland parties want the UK

to remain within the EU, saying they are worried

about the implications of a Brexit for the island

At best we will have a huge degree of uncertainty.

At worst, we will have an imposition of a hard border by way of a customs

point and there is also the question of security.

If most political opinion here is in favour of a Remain vote,

there is some support, say in the fishing industry,

One independent MP believes the EU is flawed and unaccountable.

I hope the British people vote yes because if it speeds up the break-up

of the EU it would be a welcome development for all the citizens

of Europe and would allow, particularly on the West Coast

of Ireland, for us to establish our own fishing rights

It has been many years since the vote had such profound

The majority here seem to not want the UK to take

Material for making pipe bombs was found during a security alert

which ended in north Belfast earlier.Etna Drive was sealed off

from lunchtime while army bomb officers worked at the scene.

Controlled explosions were carried out and parts were taken

In France industrial action by transport workers has been

a headache for football fans travelling to the Euros.

Many trains and some flights have been cancelled.

But most of the Northern Ireland fans have made it to Lyon

for their next match, as Mark Simpson reports.

Just getting here is a reason to celebrate.

Amongst those caught in the travel chaos is this retired rugby player,

We ended up flying to Geneva and got the train down yesterday.

Guys were going to Luton and flying to Barcelona.

Everyone has made such an effort and it's all just for the lads,

Many have arrived later than expected.

Our flight got cancelled quite late on so we had to fly into Paris.

Our train was cancelled so we had to go yesterday morning.

Some more conservative predictions were made.

I would like us to win 1-0, but after the game against Poland,

The best defence is attack, so...

The stadium for tomorrow's match holds almost 60,000 spectators and

around 20,000 them are expected to come from Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland had their final training session today before

tomorrow's crunch game against Ukraine, with the manager

admitting he will alter his starting lineup.

The team worked out inside the Parc Olympique in Lyon

Arriving for the most important game of their careers.

The players couldn't help but be impressed by

their first look at the stadium here.

It's a picture perfect venue which will welcome almost 18,000

Northern Ireland fans tomorrow night.

Walking in today, I feel about already and to

..think we will have large numbers, possibly more than we have at

Windsor so it's hard to think the atmosphere can be beaten

but will hopefully give the fans a lot to

cheer about tomorrow and we look forward to the game.

After the opening defeat to Poland the manager

It's an attempt to keep their chances of

qualifying for the knockout stages alive.

designed with people prepared to run forwards a threat to the opposition

and we have two press better than we did in

It's about the ability to want to go and

compete at this level and show you deserve

the opportunity to play at

this level and show why you qualified for a tournament of this

We need more players to play at the highest level.

Big macro by this time tomorrow night we will know if they have

given themselves a chance. Let's get a look at the weather

for the next few days with Geoff. After what has been a pleasant

evening, tonight the sky will cloud over and when that has been falling

over Scotland makes its way south and west. The cloud keeps

temperatures on the mild side. It sets us up for a different feeling

day tomorrow because the blanket of cloud will persist over Northern

Ireland and with the light rain. Feeling much cooler under the cloud.

You can see the breeze whipping around this area of low pressure.

Still some sharp showers across South Wales and Central parts of

England and that persists across Scotland, feeding in on the

south-westerly breeze. Through the day, things will stay pretty dull

and cool with temperatures down a few degrees on today. Towards the

end of week the low pulls out of the way and we get some settled days.

Towards Friday weekend things get brighter and drier with sunny

spells. The wind will ease by Saturday. And improving picture on

Friday will stop by the time we get to the weekend, we could be back up

towards the 20 Celsius mark. Our next BBC Newsline

is at 6.25 in the morning You can also keep updated with

News Online. I work for the Serious Fraud Office.

Is that why you were there?