11/01/2017 BBC Newsline

This is BBC Newsline with Tara Mills.

Prime Minister Theresa May calls on all parties to work as hard

The progress that has been made in Northern Ireland has been hard won

and we must all recognise that we don't want to but that progress in

jeopardy. But already Sinn Fein say

it's too late for talks. What needs to happen next is an

election. We are not interested in trying to get into negotiations.

What we need is fundamental change. An RHI cost saving plan has been

finalised, but will the finance The school caretaker who's admitted

having thousands of pictures Plans for a woodland burial site in

the County Down countryside. Rory McIlroy wants to be

golf's world number one And with warnings in force for wind

and snow, we can expect some disruption. I will have the forecast

later in the programme. It's been a day of talks at Stormont

as the Westminster government tries But the Secretary of

State James Brokenshire has conceded an election now looks highly likely

after Sinn Fein said they weren't interested in any more negotiations

in advance of a poll. From Stormont here's our political

correspondent, Gareth Gordon. This is the man whose job looks less

like Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and more like ocean

impossible. I do see the situation here as being grave. I think an

election is likely to be divisive and the issues of bringing parties

together again at the end of that election but I am also very clear on

the responsibilities that I hold and that if there is no reappointment by

the start of next week, it is incumbent upon me to call an

election within a reasonable period of time and that is what I will do.

And after that... If an election does not lead to an executive being

formed within a relatively short period of time, around a week that

follows on from that election for the assembly to meet, another two

weeks to form an executive within that time period, the potential

option at that stage would be another election. Never mind a

second election. They first one would not be James Brokenshire 's

first option but it may be his only one after hearing what Sinn Fein had

to say to him this morning. We made it clear to him in terms of what we

believe needs to happen and what needs to happen next is an election.

We're not interested in trying to get into negotiations now. What we

need is fundamental change. The public need to have their say. This

has now gone beyond just Stormont. Last night, the Prime Minister

spoke. The progress that has been made in Northern Ireland has been

hard-won. And we must all recognise that we don't want to put that

progress in jeopardy. That is why I think it is so important for the

government and for all parties to work as hard as we can to see a

resolution to this issue so we can see a return to the power-sharing

institutions and ensure as we say that the progress that has been

hard-won can be continued. And if that cannot happen... We need to see

at that point joint authority in Northern Ireland, the Dublin

government having a key role in the future of this place. The Secretary

of State said speculation that type was unhelpful. The tensions were all

too obvious at a meeting of Stormont 's Public Accounts Committee this

afternoon. This whole place is falling to pieces... There is no

First Minister. I have done it before and I will do it again,

enough. It is a year to the day since Arlene Foster was sworn in as

First Minister. I am tired of Stormont being a watchword for

arguing and that is not why our people elected us. They did so to

produce a better future for us all. Now she is fighting for a better

future and after that who knows? The DUP Economy Minister Simon

Hamilton has sent a fresh plan to the Finance Minister Mairtin

O'Mulleoir aimed at sorting out the costs associated with

the renewable heat incentive scheme. Our Business Correspondent,

Julian O'Neill, is at Stormont. Julian, what do we know

about the details of this plan? My understanding is that the plan

which is now being formally submitted to the Department of

Finance was essentially the same proposals that Simon Hamilton and

Mairtin O'Mulleoir discussed last week. Although it has now been

formalised, finalised and presented to Mairtin O'Mulleoir as a business

case seeking his approval. It is a solution to the massive overspend in

two parts. Stage one would be the amendment of the higher tariffs

enjoyed by about 1800 recipients, that those who were on this scheme

before November 20 15. Alongside that, there would be a consultation

on a longer term fix. It could be that that longer term fix sticks

with the initial reduction of tariffs for a year over that longer

period of the entire scheme. I am told that it is instructed in this

2-stage way on the basis of legal advice, although the Department for

the economy still fully anticipates that if this plan gets off the

ground, it could well still face a legal challenge. Any idea of the

time frame? We know that it landed in the entry of the Finance Minister

this afternoon and he has been on the airwaves saying that it will be

assessed by his officials and he will make a decision free from

politics. I suppose it all comes down to timing. Mr Hamilton would

like this sorted at the assembly on Monday, get this dealt with as soon

as possible. It then begs the question, when can a decision be

made by Mairtin O'Mulleoir for his approval? And if it is a positive

decision, when could it get to the assembly for a vote and would it get

to the assembly while it is still in session if there is to be an

election? You are also hearing there might be some sort of delay to the

rates bills. This issue was raised earlier on today because of course

we don't have a Stormont budget and part of that Stormont budget

involves the regional rates, part of our rates bills. Now, I did get a

statement just before I came on air from the Department of Finance and

it does confirm that there could very well be a delay to the rates

bills which are normally issued to all of us in April. The statement

says the minister met today with officials to look at a number of

options in relation to the rates bills and is actively exploring ways

to avoid any losses to the public purse. Rates bills will still fall

due for the coming year, whatever the outcome of the current political

difficulties. There may be a delay in us getting the bills but we will

still have two ultimately pay them. Up to 30,000 households may have

to pay the so-called bedroom tax from next month as a result

of the political crisis. The Executive had agreed a policy

which meant that, in effect, However the legislation

which would allow that policy to take effect has not been

passed by Stormont. But Sinn Fein insists

the Communities Minister still has the power to make payments

to mitigate the tax. Here's our Economics

and Business Editor, John Campbell. It is the tenants of social housing

schemes like these who are in line to lose out. The so-called bedroom

tax is a regulation which cuts housing benefit for tenants deemed

to have too much living space. It has been implemented elsewhere in

the UK. But the local welfare reform deal meant it was not supposed to

apply here. But that arrangement needs legislation, legislation which

has not been passed and with the crisis is now unlikely to be. As it

stands, the 20th of February, bedroom tax is being introduced into

Northern Ireland. We needed a parallel scheme to be in place and

that requires a regulation to be put through in order to compensate the

individuals impacted by this. 34,000 people will now not have that

compensation. There is no way to provide the support that we all

wanted to provide. My party was opposed to the bedroom tax. And now

those people are going to suffer. The housing right service says the

average loss for hard-pressed households will be ?20 per week.

People are under very, very tight budgets at the minute. We -- it is a

huge reason why people contact our advice line. Anything which could

further weaken people's position and their ability to stay in their homes

is of huge concern to us. Could the housing associations help by

temporarily cutting rents? It would be very difficult for associations

to absorb these costs. We are trying to build more homes as government

has asked us to do. Whilst we do want to protect tenants, we do have

to collect our rent. Sinn Fein says the answer lies with the

Conservative government. It has the power to tackle the issue in

Westminster. We are opposed to the bedroom tax. All of the parties in

this institution are opposed to the bedroom tax. It is the British

government to legislating for the bedroom tax. Late this afternoon,

the Sinn Fein Finance Minister, Mairtin O'Mulleoir, took a different

tack. His officials has told him the communities minister already has the

authority to make those payments which effectively cancel out the

bedroom tax. We are yet to hear what the Department of communities makes

of that analysis. If an election is called

soon, there will be 90 seats up for grabs, not the 108

in the current Assembly. The change was agreed

before the current crisis. So what impact will the reduction

in numbers have on the parties? BBC Newsline's Mark Simpson

has been taking a look. Winning a seat here isn't easy and

it may be about to get even harder. Let's take a look at the state of

the parties after last year 's election. 108 seats in total and the

biggest party was the DUP. They had 38 of them. Sinn Fein got 28. The

SDLP got 12. Alliance got eight and the Ulster Unionists over in the

corner had 16. If there is an election, there will not be enough

room in here for 108 MLAs. There were only be 90 seats next time.

Instead of six members per constituency, there will only be

five. The big question many people are asking is, how many seats could

each party lose? It is impossible to predict. But for what it is worth,

the election number cruncher Doctor Nicholas White dog figures from last

year, put them into a 90 seat assembly and he worked out that the

DUP could lose up to five seats. Sinn Fein could also lose up to five

seats. And so could the Ulster Unionist Party PS DLP might lose

only one seat and the Alliance party no seats at all. But of course, that

doesn't take into account a range of factors, everything that has

happened since the last election, how the campaign goes and which

candidates actually run. Henry Bell says the first challenge for all

politicians at Stormont is to make sure they get on the ballot paper.

The big names will stay because of course what will happen is that...

There has got to be a fewer number of nominations obviously. The first

thing is they will have to bring down the number of nominations. If

they don't do that, they are in trouble because you are fishing in a

much smaller pond. Clearly it is going to be a slightly different

kind of election. The earliest dated could be, wait for it, is Thursday

March two. That is not too far away but as the past two days have proved

that Stormont, nothing is certain. How this woman has been left in a

wheelchair by a hit and run driver. A primary school caretaker has been

given a three year sentence for having more than 28 thousand

indecent images of children 35-year-old Gary Carruthers

of Victoria Street in Belfast will Gary Carruthers was arrested in

September 2015 after National Crime Agency officers uncovered images and

videos stored on more than 20 devices hidden in a safe in his

bedroom. They also found what were described in court as paedophile

manuals which gave advice on how to groom children. The judge told Gary

Carruthers that the harm was all too obvious. She said downloading such

images from the Internet maintained the industry which exploits and

abuses children for the sexual gratification of adults. The court

heard Gary Carruthers abused his position of trust by superimposing

pictures of children from the school at which he worked on to images of

children being abused. The judge told him that entering guilty pleas

would normally earn substantial credit but in this case, she said

that the end -- evidence against you is overwhelming, you were

effectively caught red-handed. She said the methods set out in the

manuals and the images depicted in them were utterly shocking. He has

been put on the sex offenders register indefinitely and because of

time already served, he is now due to be released.

A woman is in a wheelchair with leg and back injuries following a a hit

The victim has just been discharged from hospital and the police say

enquiries are continuing into the crash which happened last

An afternoon drive began with a trip to the shops. It ended with these

injuries. My husband says to me, they are going to hit and then just

bang. I felt parts of my body shoot out of place. The crash happened

here on this country road on the edge of the city. There were three

cars involved than six people including a child were taken to

hospital. But three people from one of the cars ran away and the police

are still trying to find them. The impact of the crash still evident at

the scene. Debrief on the cars damaged the land bank. Back at the

family home, the impact of the injury is all too evident. I have

nuts and bolts in my legs. I have a broken back. These are the things

that you can see. But the body is all bruised and battered. Still

hurting from her injuries, she is also angry about the people who fled

the scene. Anybody who can have an accident, that is not the point but

when they saw my husband pulling out of the car and they didn't even

help, I think that's despicable. The six people injured in the crash have

all been discharged. Six homes were evacuated in west

Belfast overnight because of a fire The blaze was at this property

on the Stewartstown Road 45 fire-fighters, six pumping

appliances and an aerial appliance dealt with the incident

which was contained An investigation has started

into the cause of the fire. When the crews arrived, they were

faced with a well-developed fire. They had to work very quickly. It

was a very windy night. The wind was fanning the flames. They had to work

to contain the fire. Through their hard work, they were able to stop it

spreading to adjacent premises and private housing to the rear.

The fire service says the cause of a fire in Enniskillen

which destroyed eight boilers and a large quantity

It happened in the early hours of last Friday at a former quarry

Firefighters from Enniskillen, Irvinestown and Lisnaskea spent more

The shed, which contained 14 tonnes of woodchip was badly damaged.

Investigators returned to the scene today and said the fire

The board of governors at De La Salle College in west

Belfast has sent a letter to its 76 teachers inviting them

The board says it's because of criticism

of the recent school inspection, the acting principal and

Our Education Correspondent, Robbie Meredith, reports.

The inspection highlighted poor working relationships at the school.

This 3-page letter appears to be further evidence of that. They did

from Monday, this makes reference to a previous letter in December,

signed by 28 teachers, which the governors allege was critical of

both the Inspectorate and the vice principal and acting principal of

the school. The governor 's letter in response accuses some staff of

making totally unacceptable and potentially libellous comments about

the acting principal and vice principal. It says there is a

resistance to improvements by a small group and that criticises

those teachers with the post of responsible at Uni management

structure who signed the earlier letter for failing to see their

involvement in shaping the current situation. The letter concludes by

saying that any teacher that is not committed to addressing the issues

should carefully consider their position. The governors also right

that they do not expect to see their letter revealed in the media.

Now, do you have strong views about where you end up when you die?

Well if planners give the go ahead we may soon have a new option -

Northern Ireland's first woodland burial site.

And as our Agriculture and Environment Correspondent, Conor

Macauley, has been finding out, there'll be no headstones and no

traditional coffins, just some GPS technology to help

It's not something we tend to dwell on but what becomes of us when we

die is something that well-known artist Katherine McWilliams has

given some thought to. She is in no hurry but she'd like to end up in

what could be Northern Ireland's first woodland burial site. We

arranged to meet on the hillside where its proposed. And as someone

who has drawn on the landscape for inspiration, she tells me she is

happy to return to it in time. Lovely little graveyards that are

antique and ancient are lovely to visit, people take great pleasure in

them. Nature is already trying to recapture the earth but there aren't

any more graves like that available. You have to go to a bigger graveyard

and I don't want that. Proposed on this site outside Downpatrick is a

nature reserve. Thousands of trees and wild flowers would be planted.

Standard coffins will be allowed. If you want to be buried here, it will

have to be in a cardboard or wicker one. There will be no headstones or

graves. GPS technology will be used to identify plots so that loved ones

can be interred together. One of the key considerations was to protect

the integrity of the lake. To that end, a buffer zone of trees will be

planted along the shore to act as a natural filtration device. Planning

permission is now being sought. If approved, around 750 burials could

be accommodated here in the first phase, with more later. This kind of

thing is already popular in Britain. And its backers think it could catch

on here too. Rory McIlroy tees off tomorrow

in South Africa for his first It's the first of eight tournaments

on a globetrotting schedule as he prepares for the year's first

major, the Masters at Augusta. Mcilroy must start the season

with new equipment after his main sponsor withdrew

from golf manufacturing. But the World number 2 told

Stephen Watson in an exclusive interview in Johannesburg,

he thinks he'll make the switch easily -

and is planning an exciting 2017. New Year, new clubs, renewed focus

for Rory McIlroy. He's promising some changes this season, but one

thing remains the same, his drive and passion to win. I need to start

major is better and maybe that starts with me putting a little bit

less pressure on myself and going out and freewheeling a little bit

more and just playing my game. I have felt the last year or so

opening rounds of majors, a little bit tight and tentative, instead of

just playing my game. What would make 2017 successful for you? World

number one, green jacket,? All of those. I have a great chance to

regain the world number one spot. And then it would be getting ready

for the Masters. The hype around the Masters has been huge because I am

going for something not a lot of golfers have been able to achieve.

They are my primary focus is to start the year. The Masters is the

only one of golf 's major titles that Rory McIlroy hasn't won. As the

27-year-old starts his tenth season, as a professional. It is amazing to

think it is a decade that I have been on tour. The thing I have

learnt most is what works for me. I think whenever you are learning, you

are looking at other players and seeing what they do, instead of

focusing on yourself and focusing on what makes you do what you do best.

I feel like I know myself better. I know how I think. I know what to

think when I feel a certain way. I have a little bit more experienced

and I am a bit more in touch with who I am and how I think and who I

am as a golfer. That can only be of benefit. And do you think that the

balance of the golf course, it does that help you be successful in your

job? If I am really comfortable in myself, I am comfortable with

everything that is going on and off the golf course, then it only makes

it easier for me to go and play and know that no matter what happens on

the golf course, I can go home and be very happy outside of that. So

yes, it is a big year for me personally, I am getting married,

that is going to be the biggest thing that has ever happened to me.

Regardless of whatever happens on the golf course. This will be ten

times bigger than that. One of my New Year 's resolutions was to get a

little bit more involved in part of the decision-making process. It is

exciting with everything that is happening. 2017 is going to be a big

year for me. Ulster scrum half Ruan Pienarr

will be out until of action for four to five weeks after knee

surgery last week. The province must defeat Exeter

on Sunday to stand any chance It is an opportunity to focus

on a different competition, after the frustration of the Pro 12

defeat to the Scarlets This was the moment that turned the

pro 12 game in the Scarlets' favour. Davis tackled high and in the

opinion of the referee, a foul worthy of a yellow card and a

penalty try. That put the spotlight on the interpretation of the rules

regarding high tackling. The incident was discussed after the

game with the independent referee Commissioner. The conclusion won't

make Ulster fans happy. It was agreed by all parties that it was a

penalty try. We are not going to moan about it. We understand that

these things happen and we had to be better than those decisions and

learn from them. They looked at where the contact point was and it

was agreed. That comes from a lot of areas of the game. Experts in the

game agree with that. We have done it and we have dealt with it. We

need to move on. The Scarlets were also yellow carded for a high tackle

in the game. Our players struggling to understand what is legal and what

isn't? We have had a couple of meetings about them and things like

that but generally, there is not a lot you can do. It is not big

changes. I think it is more just referees interpretations change more

than anything and it will take a little time for referees and players

to get used to it. And while that process continues, there is likely

to be more controversy in the weeks ahead.

It is good to be very cold. We have had some reports of snow. This was a

short time ago. These are scenes we could see over the next two days.

The Met office has issued a weather warning right through until Friday.

You will want to wrap up warm. Over the coming day or so, we are

expecting snow. Mainly for the high ground. But even for some low level

areas, we will see some snow. As we all know in this part of the world,

even a small amount of snow is enough to cause some disruption.

Through tonight, the temperatures will quickly fall to freezing and

below. Showers turning wintry as we make our way into tomorrow. There

may be some problems on the road listing. As tomorrow itself, staying

bitterly cold. We hold onto a strong north westerly wind which will be

driving wintry showers our way from the beginning of the day. In between

the showers, there will be some sunshine. That won't really help in

terms of temperatures. At best tomorrow afternoon, three degrees.

Factor in those winds and the wintry showers, it is going to feel much

more like it is below freezing. As we make our way through the

afternoon, across the island, if you are travelling, most of the wintry

showers will be across Ulster and into Munster. One thing for sure, no

matter where you are, it is going to feel bitterly cold with those chilly

Arctic winds. Tomorrow night, they begin to change direction and start

to come in from the north, driving in yet more snow showers as we make

our way overnight into Friday. Even for low level areas, temperatures

will fall and on Friday morning, we have the hazards of ice and some

snow out there. Potentially for rush hour on Friday morning, treacherous

driving conditions to bear in mind. Fewer showers in the forecast on

Friday. Still feeling quite chilly. But we will lose those warnings come

the weekend as temperatures edged their way back to double figures.

The communities minister has responded to the suggestion from the

Department of Finance that existing legislation would allow him to pay

compensation for the so-called bedroom tax. Responding on Twitter,

the minister says he is engaged with his officials and it is in his words

regrettably not a way forward and that he continues to explore

emergency options. You can also keep in contact with us

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