28/10/2016 BBC Newsline

Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline:

A man faces blackmail charges in Romania following a police

investigation into the death of schoolboy Ronan Hughes.

Arlene Foster says online abuse isn't influencing her policy

Could a court decision have catastrophic consequences

Will a long-awaited upgrade get Translink's wifi back on track?

It's a 50-50 thing if it works. Half the time it works and half the time

there is no Internet connection. Sell-out crowd gathers

in Belfast as Ulster and Munster meet in a much-anticipated

inter-provincial derby. And it's an eventful weekend -

lots of Halloween celebrations, the clocks go back and the Dublin

marathon on Sunday. A man has appeared in court

in Romania charged in connection with the death of the schoolboy

Ronan Hughes last year. The County Tyrone teenager

took his life after being tricked into sharing intimate images

of himself online, The suspect was arrested in a joint

operation between the police Our home affairs correspondent,

Vincent Kearney, reports. Ronan Hughes was a victim of what

the police call WebCam blackmail. Tricked into sharing intimate images

online, he took his own life hours after some of the pictures were sent

to his friends when he refused to pay a ransom. Speaking at his

funeral, the parish priest had harsh words for those responsible. Ronan

Hughes, dear people, did not take his own life. But the life of Ronan

was taken from him. And somewhere in the big world today, perhaps very

far from here, there's a man or a woman or a gang who are guilty of a

terrible crime. Ronan's parents said they believed their son had been

targeted by a gang based in Nigeria, but the investigation led in a

different direction. Its specialist cyber crime unit traced the computer

to Romania. They then worked closely with Romanian police and another of

officers flew to the country to arrest a suspect. The 31-year-old

appeared in court in Bucharest today charged with producing and

distributing indecent images of children, and blackmail. The man

will be tried in Romania on the charges brought before the court. We

will take our evidence to them and presented to them. That's led to

this arrest today, and charge. I would ask anybody who feels they've

been compromised online to contact the police. If you don't feel

comfortable contacting the police, please speak to somebody who can

come to us. The police have warned sexual predators are targeting

children and young people in Northern Ireland on a daily basis

for exploitation and abuse. This is potentially a huge success for the

PSNI. At the time of Ronan Hughes death you expected any arrest to be

made. The police will hope this arrest will send a strong message

that distance doesn't protect from prosecution of suspected Internet

crimes. The DUP leader has denied letting

online abuse influence her policy Arlene Foster says she will continue

to veto any attempt to change the law on marriage

in Northern Ireland, while those in favour of the reform say

they will continue their campaign. Here's our political

correspondent, Stephen Walker. Last November, for the first time,

MLAs voted for the first time in favour of lifting the ban on

same-sex marriage, but the move failed because the DUP deployed a

blocking mechanism called a petition of concern. Now their leader Arlene

Foster says her party will continue to use this method. It was a

manifesto commitment and unlike other parties we take seriously what

we put in our manifesto. We made it clear we would continue to support

the definition of marriage and we wouldn't be up for changing it. I

don't know what the surprises about because it wasn't a surprise before

the election or during the election, and certainly not as a prize now.

For some people this is personal. This is a picture from the wedding

of Tony. He's gay and he got married in England. The Sinn Fein politician

wants the law to change here. We all have families, we all have friends,

we all have relatives, neighbours, contacts who want marriage equality

to be brought to this part of the island. Their voice needs to be

heard. The Alliance party, the Green party and the SDLP have also

criticised Arlene Foster's remarks. I'm open to having a discussion with

Arlene Foster about how we can find a way through this because I don't

think it is sustainable to simply block progress because some people

disagree with it. Campaigners say if MLAs won't change the law, the

matter could end up in the courts. If the assembly is incapable or

unwilling on lifting the ban, it will fall to the courts to stand up

for the minority interests and make sure there is a solution to this

ongoing issue. Whilst the legal route is a possibility, politically

this issue will not go away. Stormont has voted on equal marriage

on five occasions. A sixth, it seems, is only a matter of time.

BBC Newsline has been told that a decision by the Supreme Court

in Dublin could have "catastrophic consequences" for part

The court ruled that a 40-year-old agreement allowing cross-border

access to inshore waters for mussel fishermen was unlawful.

Here's our agriculture and environment correspondent,

Northern Ireland's mussel fishermen get a lot of their baby or seed

stock from waters off Dublin Bay and Wexford. It's relayed on the sea bed

here and harvested when they are grown. A cross-border deal was cut

by civil servants in the 60s. Under it, fisher men from both

jurisdictions could access each other's inshore coastal waters for

juvenile mussels. But now that is under threat. It's a big problem for

men like Brian Cunningham, who make a living from the industry. That

decision is catastrophic to our industry because without the

additional seeds, resource in the south waters of Ireland we can't

exist. The Irish Supreme Court judge that the practice of harvesting

mussel seed by Northern Ireland registered boats in the Irish pub --

republic was not lawful. It said it amounted to an exploitation...

In essence, the gentleman 's agreement drawn up by civil servants

40 years ago was not enough. Around ten Northern Ireland companies

wasting Carlingford and Belfast locks, and Lough Foyle, would have

gone south for seed. They are not sure how this will play out. The

Department of agriculture and environment says it is aware of the

ruling and its legal advisers are carefully considering it as it works

out what it's going to do next. While the mussel fleet is directly

affected, there are concerns also about how prawn boats, which

operated under the same agreement, might be left. And a small chink of

light this evening. The Irish Department of agriculture saying

that as the Supreme Court had made no order about what should happen

next, current arrangements should continue. The Supreme Court should

direct what will happen at a later date.

Translink is upgrading its free wi-fi service after complaints

Almost ?500,000 worth of updated technology is being fitted to trains

and buses and the company saying passengers should already be

Our business correspondent, Julian O'Neill, reports.

Free wi-fi is promoted heavily by Translink, but more customers mean

more gadgets and the system has struggled under weight of use. But

over past months Translink has been updating wi-fi technology on all

trains and buses at a cost of ?400,000. It's a move prompted by

customer feedback about the services's poor reliability. It's

good they are providing free wi-fi, but a lot of places provide it so if

you want people to use the train, you need a better service to make it

more of a selling point. Since they got the new buses, it's better. It's

not as a -- as good as it would be in your house. It's a 50-50 thing if

it works. Half the time it's OK and half the time there is no Internet

connection. Sometimes it is quicker but it depends how many people are

on the train. If there is a Haida mind, it can be quite slow.

Translink first introduced free wi-fi on its trains in 2012 and it

is a service which costs it around a quarter of ?1 million a year, but

the company says it has been a contributing factor in more and more

people travelling by train. Translink monitors Wi-Fi usage and

it says there is evidence of recent improvement thanks to additional

SIMM card is being fitted to carriages and turning up the

bandwidth. If I can use a similarity to water flowing through a pipe.

We've increased the diameter of the pipe by increasing the bandwidth and

providing more Sim cards and up-to-date equipment. But just as

before the system is not designed for video streaming and remains

broadly for web browsing. Translink wants it to remain free for

passengers and is looking at putting adverts on the wi-fi service to

cover annual operating costs of ?250,000.

The Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities says it's

The organisation, which has been in operation for 22 years,

said in a statement that it has been forced into the move

after failing to gain two grants which would have been worth ?90,000.

A West Belfast residents' group which successfully stopped

the redevelopment of Casement Park stadium two years ago has vowed

On Monday, the GAA announced proposals for a smaller stadium

This afternoon, the Mooreland and Owenvarragh Residents

Association announced its opposition to the project.

A short time ago, one of the residents spoke to BBC

GAA generally are a good organisation with good support and

most of our people around here are really behind them in the provision

of a stadium. It's the size. It's a provincial stadium in a place that

doesn't suit. Is it straight no or maybe? It's a straight no until we

get something more suitable involved for the area.

A short time ago, Ulster GAA said the proposed

design reduces the height, scale and capacity of the stadium.

It said, following positive feedback, it's very disappointed

The Prime Minster, Theresa May, has welcomed a High Court ruling

in Belfast which rejected an attempt to stop Northern Ireland's exit

The arguments of two separate groups failed to convince the judge,

How European does one man feel? British European or Irish European?

The victims campaigner Raymond McCourt showed campaigners at the

High Court he is now hedging his bets. He did so minutes after a

judge threw out his argument that a Brexit for Northern Ireland would

contravene the Good Friday agreement. I believe what we are

doing is correct. We live in a democratic system. 56% of the people

of this country voted to remain. We are right in what we are doing for

the people of this country. The other challenge came from across

party group of MLAs. Their claim that despite the referendum result

the government must get Parliament's approval to trigger Article 50 again

rejected. It's clear that it's not going to be resolved easily here or

in London. Meanwhile, every day we see further evidence of the threat

to our economy, our society, our business and agriculture from the

potential of Brexit, which makes it all the more important

that we establish that matters are dealt with in accordance with the

law both here and in London. Throughout his judgment, Mr Judges

-- Justice McGuire said triggering Article 50 is merely the start of a

lengthy process that may lead to changes in UK law. There is clearly

great disappointment for those behind the challenge today but it's

not over yet. There's likely to be an appeal to the Supreme Court and

Westminster is still watching. The old warship HMS Caroline,

which has been stationary in Belfast for decades,

was on the move today. As Sara Neill reports,

it was towed out into the open water A piece of history on the move. HMS

Caroline edges out of the Alexandra Dock in Belfast Titanic Quarter for

the first time in almost 30 years. The only surviving ship from the

Battle of Jutland, she's in need of repair. It's a wonderful sight to

see a World War I Kruse finally moving through Belfast. This ship

has a lot of history. Yes. She is fascinating, she is most probably an

iconic ship because she's the last survivor of all those who fought at

Jutland, 250 ships. She's the last one. And she has survived. Her life

is one of survival. A lot of it, overnight years, is here in Belfast.

Now a tourist attraction, choose undergone a multi-million pound

renovation inside, now it's time to make sure the hull is shipshape.

She'll be inspected at the Harland and Wolff drydock. She's a bit

creaky at the seams. It's time for her to have a bit of love and

affection. We really need to understand what the underwater hull

looks like and this is the purpose of the dry docking at Harland and

Wolff. Caroline will spend around six weeks being cleaned and repaired

in the dry dock before this 100-year-old ship makes her slow

journey back to Alexandra Dock. The Munster rugby team

is in Belfast this evening Yes, not a ticket to be had -

all 18, 000 snapped up. Ulster v Munster in the Pro12,

always a massive occasion. The match, of course,

coming less than a fortnight since Munster coach Anthony Foley's

sudden death and that will make for an emotional evening,

as Gavin Andrews reports. This derby is a big test for Ulster,

who haven't beaten Munster for over two years. There's always a bit of

extra spice to these games. The teams get quite emotional about

these games so a massive challenge, but good to play in front of our

home crowd and hopefully they'll come and support us and we can put

in a good performance. Maintaining that unbeaten home record could

prove crucial. You look at last season, we lost two home games

against Scarlets and Munster and that cost us a home semifinal. We're

not looking too far in the future. We are looking one game at a time.

This is as big as it gets. We are really up for this game and looking

forward to it. But it's the night the composure given the context of

this match. You can't escape the motion. It's something you have to

take an bundle and internalise and use it as something you can put

forward in your game. You can't get distracted, you can't let it hijack

you, you have to use it properly and that's what we've spoken about this

week. It is a special week, playing Munster two weeks after they lost

their greatest son. We will feel it, to stand here with Munster. I've no

doubt the crowd will be great. There will be tears, but when it comes

down to it, we will have 15 men against 15. I think they will go

with each other. That's why it's expected to be one of the games of

the season. By this time tomorrow, Jonathan Rea

will, in all probability, have He needs just two more points

in Qatar and has been speaking to Stephen Watson about his title

defence and what, at times, has been He's about to step into the

Superbike record books. Along with his Kawasaki team, Jonathan Ray is

set to become the first rider since 1999 to win back-to-back World

Championships. And he's slowly started to realise how big an

achievement it is. I took it a little bit for granted how naturally

it came. This season I've felt like I'd had to work harder. I really

needed to earn leading the championship. Now we're on the brink

of winning, it's surreal. We've put a great season together. But away

from the track, and unknown to his adoring fans, was a personal family

problem which caused much distress this season. I broke down

emotionally at the start of the year after having our second child. We

struggled with him at the beginning, his condition. I was thinking if I

can never be world champion this season, it will be a miracle. Now

he's in great health and he has an amazing personality. It makes this

season even more of an achievement. It's not something I shouted about

at the time. We had so many sleepless nights. It's nice I can

look back on these moments that I've shared them with the people closest

to me and that means a lot. And he's thrilled to be able to add his name

to Northern Ireland's illustrious sporting role of honour. You only

have to look at golf. I'm not a massive football fan, but I jumped

on the bandwagon this year and bought myself and my sons football

shirts. We can be proud. It's David and Goliath. We are a very small

population but we produced the best in all sorts of sports. I'm happy to

fly the flag for motorsport, but I won't get ahead of myself.

Down-to-earth but supremely talented, Jonathan Rea is on top of

the world again. In Gaelic games, it's

the quarterfinals of the Ulster Club Championship this

Sunday. BBC Radio Ulster will have live

coverage of all four matches Among those in action,

Slaughtneil, provincial football champions two years ago,

take on Derrygonnelly of Fermanagh. Several of the Slaughtneil players

picked up Ulster hurlings Finally, it's Paul O'Connell,

it's gone viral and it's been hailed as the greatest ever answer

on A Question of Sport. Here's the former Ireland

captain mesmerising Goran Ivanisevic was winning the

Wimbledon singles title, Bob what nationality is a? Croatian. He is.

Well done. So... They've put it in for us. Shall we move on? Have you

got it? It's a really long second word! It is. Borussia

Monchengladbach. Borussia Monchengladbach? Let's see if you're

right. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. The full programme is

on BBC One at 7.30pm. The rugby is live on BBC Two

shortly. Cecilia Daly has the weekend

weather forecast. There's a lot happening. Fireworks

going off all weekend and it's the start of school holidays for a lot

of people. This is how we expect the weekend to sum up. Basically mild.

The mild weather will continue. Lots of cloud, but some brightness at

times, especially in the east. Some rain, but most of the noticeable

grain will be on Saturday night and through the early hours of Saturday.

Celebrations going on all weekend. It looks like a lot of dry weather

to come, not particularly windy. Halloween on Monday could bring a

few bits and pieces of drizzle, but we'll have more on that over the

weekend and on Monday. Some rain this evening that could affect the

match at Ravenhill. It is a mild night with temperatures in double

figures. To begin with tomorrow, likely to be a bit damp and dull,

but it's a Saturday so perhaps you'll have my year in an Denny

early-morning drizzle will move away quickly. Quite cloudy, quite liked

wins, but some brightness is possible here and there. Whether

brightness comes through, temperatures lifting to 14 or 15

Celsius. The bets chance of seeing sunshine will be in Belfast and

Armagh. In the West it could brighten up, but more likely to be

cloudy. Just about dry everywhere through Saturday. If you're heading

out on Saturday evening, it's initially dry but we're expecting

rain to move in from about midnight. A wet spell coming in on Saturday

night. That will linger for a while into Sunday and many places will dry

out with some brightness coming through. Further west on Sunday,

still some thicker cloud and dues leave rain at times. We have the

Dublin Marathon on Sunday. Looking pretty mild. Still mild on Halloween

itself.