04/01/2017 BBC Newsline


04/01/2017

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Tonight's top stories: The renewable heating scandal burns on -

:00:12.:00:15.

the DUP plans emergency legislation to stop a half-billion-pound

:00:16.:00:18.

as Sinn Fein continues to call for her to stand aside.

:00:19.:00:33.

Do I really think that I am going to step aside at the behest of Sinn

:00:34.:00:41.

Fein? No, I am not. I am here because the electorate put me into

:00:42.:00:42.

this position. Also tonight: Under pressure -

:00:43.:00:44.

a plea for people to stay away It's not a happy new year

:00:45.:00:51.

at the petrol pumps as prices look Injury problems for Ulster rugby

:00:52.:00:55.

as star player Ruan Pienaar is set to miss ths months crucial Pro12

:00:56.:01:03.

and European games. Prepare yourself for a chilly night.

:01:04.:01:16.

But on the upside, it decent day tomorrow. I will have the details

:01:17.:01:18.

later in the programme. On a day when Arlene Foster

:01:19.:01:31.

described calls for her to step down as misogynistic, both the DUP and

:01:32.:01:32.

Sinn Fein discussing what they

:01:33.:01:37.

want to happen next. The DUP are calling for the Assembly

:01:38.:01:39.

to be recalled next week, to discuss emergency legislation

:01:40.:01:41.

to try to claw back Sinn Fein say they still want

:01:42.:01:43.

Arlene Foster to step aside while any inquiry into the failings

:01:44.:01:47.

around the scheme gets underway. from our agriculture and environment

:01:48.:01:51.

correspondent Conor Macauley, and from our political correspondent

:01:52.:01:55.

Gareth Gordon at Stormont. , has been speaking to some from a

:01:56.:02:05.

new group who represent the Keating -- who use the heating systems.

:02:06.:02:08.

First, our business correspondent Julian O'Neill is here.

:02:09.:02:11.

We have been waiting to hear about this plan is to save millions. Flesh

:02:12.:02:18.

out details. Well, as the pressure on Arlene

:02:19.:02:21.

Foster has intensified, we appear to have gone from a situation we were

:02:22.:02:25.

talking about having the RHI overspend, to eliminate it

:02:26.:02:27.

altogether. Let's remind ourselves of how the figures that up. This is

:02:28.:02:33.

a 20 year scheme, which at the moment is projected to cost ?1.2

:02:34.:02:39.

billion. Now, more than half of that, about 600 will be coming

:02:40.:02:46.

directly from the Treasury. So not out of the Northern Ireland budget,

:02:47.:02:49.

funded directly from London. Here is where the problem lies, a projected

:02:50.:02:54.

overspend of ?490 million, and it is that which the DUP now intends to

:02:55.:03:01.

eliminate altogether. There plan is this, to introduce emergency

:03:02.:03:06.

legislation which would redraw the highly lucrative tariff rates

:03:07.:03:12.

currently being received by about 1800 RHI beneficiaries. Now, this is

:03:13.:03:17.

in the early stages. It still needs Sinn Fein's endorsement, is my

:03:18.:03:21.

understanding, but the economy minister, Simon Hamilton, believes

:03:22.:03:25.

the plan offers the real prospect of correcting a huge financial mess.

:03:26.:03:30.

We have come up with an idea. It is an option that is being seriously

:03:31.:03:35.

considered. I wanted to develop that further, take some more advice on

:03:36.:03:40.

it, put that to the Executive for approval and the coming days and

:03:41.:03:42.

perhaps in the next week bring it back to the Assembly for approval

:03:43.:03:45.

and get this measure moving forward which will just the cost potentially

:03:46.:03:55.

down to zero. Have they done this past Sinn Fein question mark was

:03:56.:03:58.

Maggie May have, or maybe about to, what is not clear is whether Sinn

:03:59.:04:02.

Fein will sign up up to this puzzle. Simon Hamilton will take it to the

:04:03.:04:06.

Finance Minister and if he gets his approval, it will be endorsed under

:04:07.:04:12.

emergency procedures by the Executive, raising the possibility

:04:13.:04:16.

of the recall of the Assembly as early as next week in order to vote

:04:17.:04:21.

on this proposed legislation. Now, legal opinion has been sought within

:04:22.:04:26.

the Department for the economy. They feel that they can do this, but the

:04:27.:04:31.

equally acknowledge sources I am talking to, that is could very well,

:04:32.:04:35.

if it passes, be subject to legal challenge.

:04:36.:04:43.

OK, we will leave it there. Conor, you have been speaking to

:04:44.:04:46.

people who may have taken those challenges, what have they been

:04:47.:04:49.

saying? I am told a discussion today lasted

:04:50.:04:53.

about two and hours and between the feature of organisations in the room

:04:54.:04:57.

represented a very significant number of installations. They are

:04:58.:04:59.

only interested in presenting those who have been using the scheme

:05:00.:05:02.

legitimately and there are two essential outcomes. They are opposed

:05:03.:05:07.

to the publication of the names of the participants, from being

:05:08.:05:09.

proposed by the Department of the economy, because they do not like

:05:10.:05:12.

some of the publicity that those companies have already been shown to

:05:13.:05:19.

have, these boilers, have received. But more significantly is this line

:05:20.:05:21.

that they are prepared to take legal advice in relation to any proposed

:05:22.:05:24.

changes to their contracts. As Julian has just been sent, these 20

:05:25.:05:28.

year contract, lucrative schemes, Arlene Foster wrote a letter to the

:05:29.:05:32.

banks, you will remember, think that the tariffs were grandfathered and

:05:33.:05:35.

could not be changed by any future review, so that area is going to

:05:36.:05:39.

form the central bases of any legal challenge if indeed they do come.

:05:40.:05:44.

And the total Ulster farmers union has some advice for some of its

:05:45.:05:46.

members involved? That is right, lots of farmers are

:05:47.:05:51.

involved, particularly poultry farmers. The union says those using

:05:52.:05:54.

the scheme legitimately should not be scapegoated or penalised for

:05:55.:06:01.

failures of the schemes. The names should not be allowed to be

:06:02.:06:04.

published on to the authorities have done and audits so that the farmers

:06:05.:06:06.

can then save they were entirely within the parameters of the scheme.

:06:07.:06:12.

With the chief Executive of the union, he says his view is that this

:06:13.:06:17.

is not about transparency but an effort to shift the focus from those

:06:18.:06:21.

who failed to safeguard the taxpayer money. He says what cannot happen

:06:22.:06:25.

here is that changing the scheme, as Julian has described, it cannot just

:06:26.:06:31.

be about shovelling stuff under the carpet to avoid embarrassment for

:06:32.:06:31.

people. The First Minister Arlene Foster has

:06:32.:06:35.

again rejected calls for her to step aside over

:06:36.:06:37.

the renewable heating scandal. In an interview with Sky News,

:06:38.:06:39.

she claimed her political rivals were trying to remove

:06:40.:06:48.

a strong unionist leader. And that they were trying to remove

:06:49.:06:52.

a woman. But the claim has been heavily

:06:53.:06:54.

criticised by political opponents. This afternoon she and her

:06:55.:06:57.

deputy leader met senior Sinn Fein figures including

:06:58.:06:59.

the Deputy First Minister Here's our political

:07:00.:07:01.

correspondent Gareth Gordon. It is more than a fortnight since we

:07:02.:07:08.

saw Arlene Foster in public. Since then, calls for her to step aside

:07:09.:07:12.

have become louder and louder. Today, she said much of that was

:07:13.:07:17.

down to the fact she is a woman. Oh, I think there is a lot but personal,

:07:18.:07:21.

sadly misogynistic as well, because I am a female, the first female

:07:22.:07:25.

leader of Northern Ireland, so I firmly believe that is the case as

:07:26.:07:31.

well. But, you know, so be it. I have come through a lot worse than

:07:32.:07:36.

venomous attacks from my political opponents and I intend to continue

:07:37.:07:40.

to lead. All of the other parties in the Assembly have called for her to

:07:41.:07:43.

go, but she singled out the Executive partners, Sinn Fein. It is

:07:44.:07:48.

no secret that during my childhood the IRA tried to murder my father,

:07:49.:07:53.

it is no secret that in the past the IRA put a bomb on my school bus. So,

:07:54.:07:59.

do I really think that I am going to set the state -- step aside at the

:08:00.:08:05.

behest of Sinn Fein? No, I am not. I am here because the electorate that

:08:06.:08:09.

me into this position. I take the responsibility very, very seriously

:08:10.:08:13.

and I intend to see it through. Why would I stand aside? I have done

:08:14.:08:16.

nothing wrong. There has not even been an investigation into this

:08:17.:08:18.

matter. The Public Accounts Committee have not finished their

:08:19.:08:22.

investigation, I want an inquiry take place so that we can deal with

:08:23.:08:27.

all of the transparency issues. Meanwhile, Sinn Fein on a party

:08:28.:08:32.

political mission to get me to step aside, to weaken Unionism, which I

:08:33.:08:37.

will never allow to happen. So, what did her critics make of that? The

:08:38.:08:42.

SDLP's response to this financial fiasco would be exactly the same

:08:43.:08:45.

regardless of whether it was a woman or a man involved. It is about

:08:46.:08:49.

getting to the truth, establishing the facts, establishing who is

:08:50.:08:52.

responsible and holding them accountable. Gender or Unionist

:08:53.:08:55.

persuasion comes nowhere near into it. There is misogyny in politics,

:08:56.:09:01.

there is sexism in politics. They are very serious issues that many of

:09:02.:09:04.

us base but when you actually use that had to try to escape and evade

:09:05.:09:09.

your F1 responsibilities, I think that he demeaned the struggle that

:09:10.:09:12.

other women have a nontraditional sectors who are facing these

:09:13.:09:16.

challenges the in, day out. The buck stops with Arlene Foster. It is

:09:17.:09:19.

because she has nowhere to hide that she is now trying to drop off the

:09:20.:09:23.

stuff about gender and nonsense. It would suit suit a better if she came

:09:24.:09:29.

forward with a bit of humility and contrition. Late this afternoon, a

:09:30.:09:34.

development. Both myself and Martin McGuinness met with Arlene Foster

:09:35.:09:38.

and Nigel Dodds today. We restated the Sinn Fein position in relation

:09:39.:09:42.

to what needs to happen. We made very clear that Arlene Foster needs

:09:43.:09:45.

to step aside to allow for that school, independent investigation to

:09:46.:09:49.

happen. That investigation needs to be robust, it needs to be

:09:50.:09:53.

transparent and we need to get all of the answers into the public area.

:09:54.:09:58.

Anything could still happen, but a day which began with the parties

:09:59.:10:01.

shouting across the airwaves and ended with them meeting across a

:10:02.:10:06.

table. No signs to note of any breakthrough, but if the sun is

:10:07.:10:10.

sitting on Stormont, it may yet do so slowly.

:10:11.:10:12.

And Gareth Gordon joins us now from Stormont.

:10:13.:10:16.

Any developments? I suppose the fact that the

:10:17.:10:22.

participants begin face-to-face on Saturday will be taken as a sign by

:10:23.:10:25.

some at one of Stormont was 's famous last-minute deals is being

:10:26.:10:30.

hatched. But tonight, where are we are being heavily steered away from

:10:31.:10:33.

that notion. We are being told that nothing has changed. Sinn Fein say

:10:34.:10:38.

her private possession is that theme of the public position, but the

:10:39.:10:41.

bottom line remains Arlene Foster must set aside to allow any

:10:42.:10:45.

investigation to take place. And of course, Arlene Foster, you heard it

:10:46.:10:48.

there, then in the strongest possible terms that she has no

:10:49.:10:52.

intention whatsoever of stepping aside, at Sinn Fein or anybody else

:10:53.:10:58.

for that matter's behest. The danger is that the longer this runs the

:10:59.:11:00.

sides could talk themselves into positions from which there is now

:11:01.:11:03.

recruiting. One Stormont insider told me that if there is a way out

:11:04.:11:08.

of this, he cannot see it. Gareth, no sign of any terms of

:11:09.:11:13.

reference being agreed for any investigation?

:11:14.:11:15.

Arlene Foster said today that the head of the civil service had worked

:11:16.:11:21.

up terms of reference for an investigation in conjunction with

:11:22.:11:23.

the Attorney General and that those terms had been passed to Sinn Fein,

:11:24.:11:28.

but as yet there had been no reply from that party. Conor Murphy at

:11:29.:11:31.

Sinn Fein then said that the terms were insufficient in Sinn Fein's

:11:32.:11:35.

opinion, and this evening we are told that they have worked up their

:11:36.:11:38.

own terms of reference and have sent them back to the DUP on the head of

:11:39.:11:43.

the self-service and in time they were publish those terms of

:11:44.:11:45.

reference. Whether or not agreement can be reached on this issue, again,

:11:46.:11:50.

we just do not know. Martin McGuinness also met the

:11:51.:11:54.

Secretary of State today? Yes, it is interesting, Martin

:11:55.:11:57.

McGuinness has been at Stormont all day. He has a well-publicised health

:11:58.:12:00.

problems which is get away. He did not appear in front of the cameras

:12:01.:12:04.

today. He was on the way home when Michele O'Neil spoke to the earlier

:12:05.:12:07.

but he did meet James Brokenshire, among others, at Stormont House down

:12:08.:12:14.

the hill. He says that among other issues, he talked to James

:12:15.:12:17.

Brokenshire about legacy but also briefed on the current situation

:12:18.:12:23.

over the cheating scandal and he said that once again public

:12:24.:12:26.

confidence in the institutions was badly damaged. -- over the cheating

:12:27.:12:30.

scandal. He repeated once again that Arlene Foster must set aside before

:12:31.:12:34.

any investigation can take place. -- must step aside.

:12:35.:12:37.

only to attend their hospital Emergency Department

:12:38.:12:39.

As we reported last night, some people are experiencing

:12:40.:12:43.

The Health and Social Care board say people should

:12:44.:12:48.

consider attending their out of hours GP instead.

:12:49.:12:54.

Meanwhile the Health Minister has told the BBC that she intends

:12:55.:12:56.

to visit a hospital to see the situation for herself.

:12:57.:12:59.

Our Health Correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly reports.

:13:00.:13:05.

Understaffed and overstretched, it has been a tough time for many of

:13:06.:13:09.

those working on the front line of the health service. This Christmas

:13:10.:13:14.

saw a spike in the number of Norovirus cases right across

:13:15.:13:17.

Northern Ireland. This place additional pressure on hospitals,

:13:18.:13:21.

with many wards having to close, creating a shortage of hospital beds

:13:22.:13:27.

right across the system. Whilst all emergency departments are feeling

:13:28.:13:29.

the strain, some are feeling at more than others. Too many patients and

:13:30.:13:34.

ward closures caused a major incident to be declared at one

:13:35.:13:38.

hospital on Monday. A member of staff told the BBC that it was

:13:39.:13:43.

horrendous. She said experienced nurses are leaving while many others

:13:44.:13:47.

are talking about going. She told me that stars are at breaking point,

:13:48.:13:50.

and that management do not care about patient safety or staff

:13:51.:13:55.

well-being. A spokesperson for the Western Health Trust said the

:13:56.:13:58.

emergency plan was enacted following a particularly busy and challenging

:13:59.:14:02.

day, but was quickly stood down. Those in charge of managing the

:14:03.:14:05.

health service accept it is not good enough. I am very mindful of how

:14:06.:14:13.

distressing it is, how uncomfortable it is. It is not the servers I want

:14:14.:14:17.

for my family or the servers I think anybody should expect. But I would

:14:18.:14:19.

reassure people that are Health and Social Care Act professionals right

:14:20.:14:22.

across the system are working exceptionally hard. Their focus is

:14:23.:14:25.

on maintaining Safeco, providing dignity and good care to patients.

:14:26.:14:29.

The Health Minister intends to visit a hospital in the next 24 hours to

:14:30.:14:34.

see the situation for herself. I think that there has been major

:14:35.:14:37.

improvement in terms of some of the initiatives they have been able to

:14:38.:14:40.

take the Mike Burton plays but as the current picture good enough? No.

:14:41.:14:44.

Is it acceptable to wait over 12 hours? Absolutely not. Paul Beales

:14:45.:14:49.

trusts prepared for the winter pressures, at no point did they

:14:50.:14:52.

expect the 9% rise in the number of people seeking emergency help. At

:14:53.:14:56.

one hospital, that figure was 14% more than this time last year. But

:14:57.:15:01.

that arise in the default is not being matched by more nursing.

:15:02.:15:06.

Certainly, we know the figures would sure there are still around 1000

:15:07.:15:11.

vacancies within the hospital trust. Additional to that, we have nursing

:15:12.:15:15.

home vacancies in the independent sector of 500 or 600. There are

:15:16.:15:20.

significant vacancies within the nursing workforce. Such a surge

:15:21.:15:24.

meant more than 400 people had to wait at least 12 hours at emergency

:15:25.:15:29.

departments over the Christmas week. While health unions accept that

:15:30.:15:33.

winter pressures are unavoidable, they say building up the local

:15:34.:15:40.

workforce both in hospital and in the community must become a

:15:41.:15:41.

priority. Meanwhile, more than 5000 people

:15:42.:15:48.

could be a without a servers in Portadown. A medical practice is at

:15:49.:15:52.

risk of closure in just two weeks because its last remaining doctor

:15:53.:15:56.

has resigned. Other surgeries in the town have said they cannot take on

:15:57.:15:58.

any new patients. The footfall never stops at

:15:59.:16:05.

Portadown health centre, but for more than 5000 patients, any journey

:16:06.:16:09.

here may soon proved to be a step in the wrong direction. There are seven

:16:10.:16:14.

GP surgeries here, one, bad view, had seen three of its four doctors

:16:15.:16:18.

already leave. They have not been replaced. The last doctor tried to

:16:19.:16:21.

struggle on on alone but the ratio of 5000 patients to one doctor, more

:16:22.:16:27.

than twice what is agreed as a safe figure, not surprisingly proved too

:16:28.:16:31.

much to there. She resigned. Faced with the prospect of having more GP,

:16:32.:16:35.

some of the surgery's patients have planned a demonstration for Friday.

:16:36.:16:40.

The thing is, the doctors here in this practice warned of this two

:16:41.:16:44.

years ago. They had a notice on the screen in the waiting room saying

:16:45.:16:50.

the GP services in crisis. That was two years ago. Now, if they were

:16:51.:16:53.

telling the patients, you can sure they were telling the board, and the

:16:54.:16:57.

board seem to have sat on their hands and waited until something

:16:58.:17:00.

happened before they acted. It was too little too late now.

:17:01.:17:04.

This afternoon, the Health and Social Care Act board issued a

:17:05.:17:10.

statement assuring people but the surgery will not close, at least not

:17:11.:17:14.

in the next two weeks. However the DMA, which are present doctors,

:17:15.:17:17.

believes this is a sticking plaster and that what is actually needed if

:17:18.:17:22.

GP care is to survive is major surgery. They have not trained

:17:23.:17:26.

enough GPs in Northern Ireland over the last ten years, and now we have

:17:27.:17:30.

come to the point that unfortunately some morning were going to wake up

:17:31.:17:33.

and the surgery will be closed and there is no GP to manage. That is

:17:34.:17:38.

not about to happen in Portadown, but it is only the tip of the

:17:39.:17:41.

iceberg and this is where we are going across Northern Ireland. We

:17:42.:17:45.

feel very strongly that the Minister and old Stormont need to waken up to

:17:46.:17:48.

what is happening and we need to get something done right now. The fear

:17:49.:17:54.

remains among the patients and the demonstration will go ahead.

:17:55.:17:57.

Extra funding for marching bands while money for an Irish language

:17:58.:18:00.

scheme is cut has been described as a 'disgrace' by the SDLP

:18:01.:18:03.

The comments follow confirmation that a government scheme to fund

:18:04.:18:09.

musical instruments for bands cost ?98,000 - more than was

:18:10.:18:11.

Our arts correspondent Robbie Meredith reports.

:18:12.:18:23.

Marching bands are familiar sight, and sound. But they are not cheap to

:18:24.:18:31.

run. Silver band, for example, an instrument might cost up to ?3000

:18:32.:18:37.

per instrument. Last year, the communities minister resurrected a

:18:38.:18:39.

scheme to help them out. Getting bands grants of up to ?5,000 to get

:18:40.:18:47.

new instruments or replace old ones. But the scheme cost more than

:18:48.:18:50.

planned. The initial budget set aside was ?200,000, but the final

:18:51.:18:58.

cost to give grants to 68 bands was 200. In a statement, -- 200. In a

:18:59.:19:07.

statement, they said... The minister was not available for interview, but

:19:08.:19:11.

this story says the money will not helped bands from all backgrounds.

:19:12.:19:17.

The cost of instruments and the amount of money that requires to

:19:18.:19:21.

keep a band on the road, I think, has to be balanced. There is a

:19:22.:19:24.

social capital issue here as well. These bands are providing few Ms --

:19:25.:19:29.

free musical tuition for young people particularly, and it is not

:19:30.:19:32.

just bands from one community. They are probably largely from one

:19:33.:19:36.

community but there are bands across the board. But the chair of

:19:37.:19:41.

Stormont's communities come wants to know why an Irish language bursary

:19:42.:19:44.

scheme was cut but more money was found for bands. They have taken

:19:45.:19:47.

?50,000 of children who want to go and learn their native language and

:19:48.:19:53.

all of a sudden he finds ?100,000 for Orange bands. I think it is a

:19:54.:19:56.

disgrace, I think it is wrong and I think he has a lot of work to do to

:19:57.:20:01.

show the community that he is a minister for all others, not just

:20:02.:20:05.

just one community. All given merely restored a scheme which has been

:20:06.:20:09.

suspended by his predecessor, but at a time when Stormont's finances are

:20:10.:20:14.

under intense scrutiny, even decisions about relatively small

:20:15.:20:18.

amounts of money can be highly contentious. -- the Minister merely

:20:19.:20:19.

restored. The cost of petrol at the pumps has

:20:20.:20:22.

hit a two year high - according to figures compiled

:20:23.:20:25.

by the Office of Our reporter Will Leitch

:20:26.:20:27.

is at a service station Not a happy for for motorists?

:20:28.:20:41.

Indeed now. The last time unleaded petrol cost as much at forecourts

:20:42.:20:46.

just like this one was December 20 14. The Office of National

:20:47.:20:50.

Statistics crunches the numbers on a weekly basis and calculates the UK-

:20:51.:20:55.

wide average price. Based on data it gets from the supermarket and oil

:20:56.:20:58.

companies, and this is a UK has acquired average price. But during

:20:59.:21:02.

December, petrol rose by about ?3. In the first week of January, one

:21:03.:21:08.

litre of unleaded was an average of ?1. Diesel stands at ?1. The last

:21:09.:21:15.

time it cost that much was in the summer of 2015. -- ?1.20. It is not

:21:16.:21:21.

just petrol prices. Almost three quarters of household use hall

:21:22.:21:25.

meeting hour and a 900 leader Phil was around 300 in December. That is

:21:26.:21:31.

about 100 more expensive than this time last year.

:21:32.:21:38.

And all to do with the rising cost of oil?

:21:39.:21:40.

Yes, it is about global conditions. Oil trades in dollars, so we had the

:21:41.:21:45.

rising price of wholesale crude oil, combined with the weaker pound

:21:46.:21:48.

against the dollar. You have to factor in something else, a decision

:21:49.:21:52.

by Opec, the big oil producing countries, who decided to cut supply

:21:53.:21:56.

for the first time in eight years, resulting in an increase in the cost

:21:57.:22:00.

of a barrel of crude. Worth remembering, however, fuel prices at

:22:01.:22:12.

the pumps these ones behind me are still below what it was in 2013 and

:22:13.:22:15.

2014, but frankly I doubt that will be much comfort. The analysts are

:22:16.:22:17.

forecasting more rises, further increases, the question is how much.

:22:18.:22:20.

A lot of it will be down to a sterling performance and how much

:22:21.:22:22.

they influence the likes of you and I have over that.

:22:23.:22:23.

We will leave it there, thank you. After problems on the pitch

:22:24.:22:25.

at the weekend - problems for Ulster Ulster's injury list

:22:26.:22:28.

continues to grow. Director of rugby Les Kiss will have

:22:29.:22:31.

to plan the next coupLe of games at least without star player Ruan

:22:32.:22:34.

Pienaar. He's set to miss this Friday's Pro

:22:35.:22:36.

12 game against the Scarlets and possibly the next two games

:22:37.:22:40.

in Europe with a knee injury. Ulster have been stung by some heavy

:22:41.:22:43.

criticism after last Today Luke Marshall responded

:22:44.:22:45.

to those who question The comments about lack of effort

:22:46.:23:04.

and hard and what not, obviously for any man to get all that is quite

:23:05.:23:08.

demoralising. Those comments probably had quite a lot, but they

:23:09.:23:12.

are motivating as well, so they are. You are going to get criticised

:23:13.:23:17.

throughout your life, it is how you take the criticism. We are going to

:23:18.:23:21.

take it on the chin and hopefully get better for it.

:23:22.:23:23.

Irish internationals Paddy Jackson, Rory Best and Ian Henderson

:23:24.:23:25.

are expected to be available for this Friday's game

:23:26.:23:32.

while Ulster head coach Neil Doak is being linked with

:23:33.:23:34.

The defending Pro 12 champions will lose coach pat Lam to Bristol

:23:35.:23:38.

Today, Doak didn't rule himself out.

:23:39.:23:41.

It is always nice to get your name in certain rolls, but I am here to

:23:42.:23:49.

do a job with Ulster and we are focusing on Scarlets this weekend

:23:50.:23:52.

and making sure that we can get four bonds this weekend. Is that a job

:23:53.:23:58.

that would interest you if offered? You have got to keep options open.

:23:59.:24:04.

But as I said, I am with Ulster here and we are trying to concentrate on

:24:05.:24:05.

beating Scarlets this weekend. In local football league champions

:24:06.:24:08.

and leaders Crusaders started They beat Ards 4-2 bouncing back

:24:09.:24:10.

after a New Years Eve defeat Crusaders now haven't

:24:11.:24:14.

lost two league matches Ards looks like because another shop

:24:15.:24:31.

at the top of the table when they took a 2- goal lead over Crusaders.

:24:32.:24:38.

Paul pulled one back before the break, and in the second half, it

:24:39.:24:43.

was one-way traffic. Keitel grabbed the equaliser, and an own goal edged

:24:44.:24:50.

the trees in front. McMillan was sent off for Ards late on for this

:24:51.:24:55.

tangle with Andrew Mitchell. Before he duly sealed the three points for

:24:56.:25:00.

the 17th goal of the season. -- before one player sealed the points.

:25:01.:25:06.

At Windsor Park, George Allen is scored the only goal for Coleraine

:25:07.:25:09.

as Linfield slipped to seven points behind the league champions and

:25:10.:25:15.

Portadown were hammered 5-0 at Shamrock Park, a result of will war

:25:16.:25:21.

manager described as embarrassing. It was scoreless at Solitude,

:25:22.:25:25.

despite Cliftonville's best efforts against Carrick Rangers.

:25:26.:25:30.

Dungannon swifts lost a late lead home to bowl the a large United. Did

:25:31.:25:37.

Wilson had made it 2-1 before a -year-olds all wins in style in

:25:38.:25:45.

stoppage time. And Glenn Aven scored three unanswered goals in the second

:25:46.:25:49.

half to beat Ballymena United at the Showgrounds. My house scored a

:25:50.:25:51.

hat-trick on a 4-3 win. -- my house. Finally, Blaenavon were docked one

:25:52.:26:03.

weak pound and fined ?350 for fielding an ineligible pair against

:26:04.:26:09.

Portadown, who were awarded a win. -- one point.

:26:10.:26:13.

Plenty of clear blue skies today. On the downside, if chilly night as a

:26:14.:26:19.

result. Those temperatures fall Whately to freezing and below. In

:26:20.:26:24.

the countryside. We can expect some frosty conditions and possibly the

:26:25.:26:27.

odd stretch of ice by tomorrow morning as well. And although it

:26:28.:26:30.

will stay cold tomorrow, it is going to be done a fine day for the

:26:31.:26:33.

outdoors. It will be mainly dry and there will be some sunshine. A

:26:34.:26:37.

frosty start, but it should not take too long before that clears away

:26:38.:26:48.

and we sunny gaps coming and going. By lunchtime, the sunshine will come

:26:49.:26:53.

and go. It is not going to be clear blue sky all of the time but it will

:26:54.:26:56.

be dry and the whims of daylight. Seven or 8 degrees for County Down,

:26:57.:26:59.

further west maybe 7 degrees. Apart from parts of Connaught and maybe

:27:00.:27:01.

edges South West Munster will be good if spots of wet weather, it is

:27:02.:27:04.

a dry weather for us all. The winds coming from the side, temperatures

:27:05.:27:06.

may be be named degrees. Into tomorrow evening, it stays dry at

:27:07.:27:09.

least for another few hours but then the cloud begins to push on from the

:27:10.:27:13.

West. With that, there will be some wet weather for the likes of Sir

:27:14.:27:17.

Tyrone, Donegal and Derry. Patchy at first, but overnight we will have a

:27:18.:27:21.

bigger bulk of rain coming in, some of which will be heavy. It stops it

:27:22.:27:26.

from becoming too chilly. Temperatures tomorrow night, 45

:27:27.:27:29.

degrees, will upon on tonight. Misty, murky conditions behind the

:27:30.:27:34.

rain the rain. -- four or 5 degrees. A cloudy day, with wet weather to

:27:35.:27:40.

provide it, prepare yourself for on Friday. Little change over the

:27:41.:27:43.

weekend. Miles, cloudy, dry up gaps but some rain.

:27:44.:27:44.

I will be back at 10:30pm. of our local hospitals and

:27:45.:27:51.

clinics... There's a very large team of people

:27:52.:27:55.

needed to make this all work. ..following the people who dedicate

:27:56.:27:59.

their lives to saving ours.

:28:00.:28:04.

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