17/01/2017 BBC Newsline

You're watching BBC Newsline, and these are the headlines

Uncertainty whether Brexit could mean the return of customs

checks at the border, after the Prime Minister lays

As a Stormont election looms, the Secretary of State calls

Details are revealed about the locations

Still no permanent GP for this practice.

What needs to be done to persuade someone to take up the post?

That they know they have support to help them through the challenges of

running a business as well as the clinical aspects of general

practice. A mild and cloudy night, some very

settled weather to come, dry and cloudy but getting cooler during the

week. It's unclear if it will mean

the return of customs The Prime Minister laid

out how she sees the UK leaving the European Union,

and said that meant exiting That's the arrangement

which allows for tariff-free But Theresa May also said

she will try to negotiate Our first report is from our

economics and business Thousands of vehicles

cross our border every day That's because the UK

and Ireland are members But could we soon be moving

to an arrangement like this? Here on the border between Sweden

and Norway, lorry drivers must cross They have to hand in their

paperwork, and can also There are tariffs to be paid on some

goods, effectively a tax on trade. That's because Sweden

is in the customs union, Think of the customs

union like a club set up All the members of the club have

agreed they won't charge customs duties or tariffs

on each other's goods. The members also agree

to take a joint approach Imports from outside the EU must

attract the same tariffs no matter In the jargon, that's known

as a common external tariff. But that

joint approach means the members deals, the type of deals

that the Prime Minister I do not want Britain to be part of

a common commercial policy or be bound by the common external tariff.

These are the elements of the customs Union that prevent us from

striking our own, hence its trade agreements with other countries.

But I do want us to have a customs agreement with the EU. Whether that

means we must reach a completely new customs agreement, become an

associate member of the customs Union or remain a signatory to some

elements of it, I hold no preconceived position.

So the Prime Minister hopes that, whatever deal is done with EU,

we will retain the good parts of the customs union, and also make

But in the meantime, there is uncertainty

for businesses, particularly those in border areas.

We have a very complex supply chain here. We produce food and drink on

both sides of the border, what does that mean if we are potentially

looking at customs, tariffs, increasing the cost of doing

business? We are sitting on the periphery of Europe already in

Belfast. Sinn Fein was not

impressed by the speech. They say it means a hard

border is coming. Theresa May is intent on leaving the

single market and customs Union, hard Brexit equals hard border.

We hope a way can be found for dealing with this problem with the

border. Theresa May again promised

there will be no return It's just not clear how much impact

that change will have. The Secretary of State James

Brokenshire has called on the parties to campaign

respectfully during the Assembly election, and do nothing

that would exacerbate His comments came as MPs debated

the political crisis at Stormont and the forthcoming Assembly poll

to be held on March second. The SDLP and Sinn Fein say

post-election the British and Irish Governments should convene

an all-party summit, but that has Our political correspondent

Stephen Walker is in Westminster. James Brokenshire I came to the

House Of Commons for the second time in the week to give a statement on

Northern Ireland and as he looked forward to the Assembly election

campaign, he hoped those on the election trail would behave in a

positive manner. This election is about the future of

Northern Ireland and its political institutions. Not just the Assembly

but all of the arrangements that have been put in place to reflect

relationships through these islands. That is why it would be vital for

the campaign to be conducted respectfully and in ways that do not

simply exacerbate tensions and division.

Those worries are clearly shared by other parties.

We all have great concerns, we have got to get it back to proper,

reasonable argument and lead the people, not frighten them.

Once the election is over, James Brokenshire says devolution needs to

be restored but he was warned today in the meantime talking as to

continue. Let us not waste this six week

period to make sure if we can get people talking. To get where we want

to be, we need discussion. Otherwise it is a recipe for disaster.

The SDLP the aftermath of the election both governments need to

convene a joint summit. They need to bring all the parties

around the table to have discussions about how the institutions can be up

and running again, that means the Assembly, executive, and a British

Irish Council. The DUP has made it clear post

election they see a limited role for the Irish Government.

Other than the Irish and encouraging people to do what their electors

want them to do on the sidelines, that is all they can do, otherwise

it would be interference. Don't be interfering in my country.

Sinn Fein insists Dublin does have a key role in the weeks ahead.

It has to be all inclusive negotiations ensuring all the issues

are on the table and all the people are around.

Including the Irish and British? They has to be part of it.

Politically, the next six weeks are mapped out and in March it is clear

there is much talking to be done. And we'll be speaking

to the Secretary of State A former Defence Minister has used

parliamentary privilege to allege that Barra McGrory is what he called

a "Sinn Fein supporting' Director The Conservative MP for Aldershot,

Sir Gerald Howarth, May I make a really firm plea to him

that he should protect the interests of former British soldiers currently

being charged by the Sinn Fein supporting Director of Public

Prosecutions in Northern Ireland for murders which took place over 40

years ago? In response, a spokesman

for the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland said

it was wholly independent of all political parties

and the political system. "We would never seek

to influence political debate Equally, we must take

all appropriate steps to ensure that our decision-making processes

are protected from political This is necessary both to safeguard

the integrity of prosecutorial decision-making within the wider

criminal justice system, and to ensure that PPS staff

are able to carry out difficult but important functions strictly

in accordance with applicable law The Public Prosecution Service only

applies the law as it currently stands in Northern Ireland,

and does so without fear, MLAs were back at Stormont today,

as the parties are now preparing for the election

on March the 2nd. They debated the flawed

renewable heating scheme But the vast majority

of Sinn Fein MLAs stayed away. Our political correspondent

Enda McClafferty reports. After a day of frantic activity,

the pace dropped down The institutions are rolling

slowly towards collapse, and politics here will soon be

at a standstill. Even the ministerial dress code

in the chamber was different. But at least Sinn Fein's

Ministers showed up. the rest of their

colleagues stayed away. I think it is bordering on farcical

that Sinn Fein haven't bothered to show up today. They are being paid

to be here and be part of an executive and Assembly.

But they want to play politics. As we have seen yesterday, the

assembling was heading towards an election and the public will have a

say on what is happening. In the Assembly today we had pointless

motions from the opposition, they were talking to themselves. The

people waiting for the election. Pointless or not, the Assembly did

back a call for an inquiry And they also debated the failure

of the Executive to function. This is the way the Assembly ends,

not with a bang but with a diminuendo of interest.

I thank the member for his comments and if that is an invitation to be

joining your party I will be standing as an independent in the

next election. And if re-elected,

the Justice Minister may well play If anything I take part in politics

out of any concessions we have and in my role as Justice Minister I

have a clear role and a stronger ship with all executive parties

until this scandal. Assembly business will grind

to a halt next week, with no timetable as to

when the institutions might return. The PSNI says it is considering a

request for the Chief Constable to investigate allegations of fraud in

the renewable heat scheme. There are at least 14 suspected cases. Also

today the BBC has been passed a detailed breakdown of where the

boilers are located and it shows two main clusters in Ulster and Northern

Antrim. BBC presenter Stephen Nolan

got his hands on the regional We can reveal the full geographical

spread of applications to you today, It showed two main clusters

of boiler installations around They are areas that are close

to the main processing plant. Poultry farmers are heavily

represented with 871 They use the heat in chicken houses

where birds are reared. Last night, the former DUP minister

talked about the scheme. He named two special advisers

with links to the poultry But it was vigorously

denied by them. Any families they had were not

beneficiaries of the scheme. I will not go into the speculation

of which special advisers did But, make no mistake,

what I said in the House yesterday, I will tell a judge under

oath the exact same information. The DUP said the suggestion that any

special adviser had eight RHI 14 suspected cases are known but no

criminal investigation yet to root it out. Here is how the economy

minister fielded that question at committee.

For clarity, that is fraud? That is from people gaming the

system. Fraud, exploiting the process.

Not good enough for the opposition who have written to the Chief

Constable asking him to get involved.

When you have a Minister of Northern Ireland saying there is potential

fraud or likely to be fraud and it hasn't been contradicted, I would

think that would be enough evidence for the PSNI to be involved.

The PSNI said the letter had been received and its contents were being

considered. The Health Minister says the Health

and Social Care Board is still trying to get a permanent

GP to take over Bannview Medical And, in a new development,

the possibility that the Southern Trust will take over the contract

and employ GPs directly Our health correspondent

Marie-Louise Connolly reports. According to locals the difficulties

at Bannview were well signposted which meant the current instability

could have been avoided. Patients feel we have been ignored.

The board seem to have got on the ball when faced with a protest.

What has led to this which is being felt in other surgeries? Currently

there are 343 GP practices in Northern Ireland. With 1370

registered GPs. Of those, 411 are Lowchens, that means they have

temporary posts. Part of the problem is an increasing number of doctors

choose to remain as Lowchens as they do not want the pressure that comes

with either managing or owning a general practice, and that is only

adding to the issue. What the Lowchens would like is to

know there is some control over workload, guaranteed holidays, that

they have financial investment in the practice to guarantee their

income, and that they know they have mentoring and support to help them

through the challenges of running a business as well as the clinical

aspects of general practice. The health minister told the

Assembly a solution to Bannview could be the Southern health trust

takes on the contract and employs GPs themselves, that is an unusual

move but one that the health board says could be a solution so many

struggling practices. It would help to stabilise care and

provide that within practices, it would be helpful for the doctors in

that they are working consistently with a group of patients and they

can follow those patients over time and see their development. That

would be a very positive development.

Amidst this is politics. GPs say their allocation of money does not

reflect the amount of work they do. The distal budget the help is ?5

billion. This works out at ?127 per patient or 6% of the total budget.

In the rest of the UK, it is ?141 or 8% of total budget. The BMA wants

10% of the total budget to go to GP health services.

Next week, GPs are being asked to vote on whether their practices

should leave the NHS. If that boat is a resounding yes, that could mean

patients being asked to pay to see their GP. A move that goes against

the very ethos of the National Health Service.

Back to Brexit and the Assembly election.

The Irish Government has welcomed what it called "the clarity"

Theresa May had brought to the UK's position on certain issues relating

Our Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison joins us now.

Shane, what more had Enda Kenny to say on Brexit?

The Taoiseach said it is deeply regrettable the Assembly elections

are taking place at a time when Northern Ireland faces the gravest

of issues, Brexit. The Irish movement has its own bracelet

concerns, the type of border, the retention of the Common travel area,

the future of the peace process, the 1 billion euros plus trade between

both islands. Ideally Ireland would like to see the UK state in the

single market. Theresa May said that would not happen. Dublin would like

to see the UK state in the customs Union. She was more ambiguous about

that but relatively negative. The Taoiseach welcomed the relative

certainty on clarity in her comments on wanting to retain the Common

travel area and avoiding the hard borders of the past. That said, the

Leader of the Opposition party was not impressed.

It is one thing to welcome clarity. I don't think we should be welcoming

a negative clarity because that is what the essence is of today's

speech by the Prime Minister. We needed more than clarity but real

signs of sensible and logical engagement with Europe but not a

case of we want our cake and eat it as well.

On the Assembly election, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny has called

for a civil election campaign, words echoed by the

Enda Kenny is looking beyond the elections towards the inevitable

negotiations that are going to follow and he does not want the

atmosphere between the parties to be overly poisoned.

He is worried about the future of the Good Friday agreement

institutions at a time when the Brexit negotiations are probably

just weeks away. The Taoiseach and I have spoken

about this on many occasions and confirmed our commitment to work

with the Government of the Republic to ensure the results we have in

terms of the customs arrangements is as frictionless as possible. I also

said in my speech and we want to continue with the Common travel area

which existed long before either of us were members of the EU.

Theresa May speaking to our TE earlier. We hope to speak to the

Secretary of State James Brokenshire are before the end of the programme.

That is good to Stormont. Our political editor Mark Devenport

joins us now from Stormont. Could this conflict matters the

triggering of Article 50 soon after the elections?

The DUP and Sinn Fein have been pulling in different elections and

were on different sides over Brexit. They have been managing their

differences because they had to, they were both together in the

executive and able at least to stand together at Downing Street. And able

to unite on a two page letter setting out common goals in

maintaining the free movement of people and goods within the island

of Ireland. Now they are no longer lashed

together in the executive, Brexit could feature in any negotiations

after the election and the fact it will be high on the UK agenda

because it will coincide with the triggering of Article 50 I think

could make it a difficulty in those negotiations.

The US Government has made its views known this evening.

It says it remains committed to a peaceful and prosperous Northern

Ireland and it has urged local politicians at Stormont to work

together to try to restore devolved Government is as quickly as

possible. These are changing sides -- Changing

times on both sides of the Atlantic, one of the last statements from the

Barack Obama administration given Donald Trump is coming.

That is not to save the attitude of the new rich region will change

radically. -- the new Administration.

There was no Sinn Fein presence at Stormont today, effectively the

election campaign has started. A couple of ministers turned up to

answer questions about the infrastructure, and for an urgent

question in relation to GP services around Portadown.

But no Sinn Fein backbenchers took part in debates. Obviously a sign

that they believe the election is now effectively already underway.

The question will be whether the fact Sinn Fein politicians have been

clearing their desks in their offices here turns to be a signal of

a longer absence, or whether they will be tempted back. It is a

three-week timetable set aside for talks after the election. Otherwise,

the Secretary of State will have two move at that point to calling a

fresh election or potentially bringing back suspension powers.

There still seems to be that talk there will not be the agreement

after the election to form a functioning executive. So direct

rule looks pretty likely among many of the pundits.

James Brokenshire is refusing to be drawn at this stage on whether he

would contemplate direct rule. I think that is simply him not wanting

to comment beyond this point. Three weeks does not seem to be a on which

the parties could look at big issues like a new language act,

alternatively what the DUP has been talking about, the potential need of

a structural change, changes to things like the coalition system we

have at the moment. All of that will be a big ask to achieve in three

weeks which is why most commentators think it is plausible we could be

looking instead at some kind of return to suspension powers even

though that would require some sort of emergency law to be pushed

through Westminster. Thank you for your analysis.

A woman golfing professional is hoping to share more of the

limelight, Stephanie Meadow competed at the Olympics last year and is

about to start another season on the tour in the United States.

Stephanie Meadow's short career has had ups and downs. 11 months after

finishing third at the 2014 US open, tragedy struck as her father Robert

passed away after a short battle with cancer.

2015 was really a pretty bad year personally. And professionally. To

be on the end of that is nice. It took a lot of hard work, I've worked

harder than I ever have. I haven't seen results for a long time. It was

tough to keep battling through. But I did it. Hopefully I can keep

improving and be up there. Testament to her hard work, last

year she represented Ireland at the Olympic Games in Rio.

Everything from the Olympic Village to the golf course to sing other

events, I saw Michael Phelps swim. It was really good fun. Paul

McGinley did an amazing job of being team captain. The first Olympics, I

never thought I could do that, it was special.

Ranked 259 in the world, Stephanie has her sights set on high for the

year ahead. I want to be in the top 60, played

25 events, I can make some money and get out there. Long term it is

improving every year. My main goal is to be number one in the world

like Rory McIlroy. That always has been my dream. Raw

talent, confidence and the desire to win. 2017 could be her year.

We have tried to link up with the Secretary of State before the end of

the programme but quiet on the weather desks down to

an area of high pressure. We will see lots of still water and scenes

like this. Miles, cloudy conditions, not a lot of breeze. It will get

colder through this week. It is down to this big area of high

pressure sitting out there over Central Europe, protecting us from

all of these systems as they tried to come in through the next few

days. Overnight, because we have had

ploughed through the day, we hold on to that, very mild, seven is the

average daytime temperature in January.

For a night-time temperature, that is very mild. Tomorrow, another

cloudy day. Tomorrow won't be as mild, 10 Celsius through the day.

A few breaks in the ploughed through the afternoon helping things feel a

little bit brighter for a time. Certainly not too bad. Overnight,

Wednesday, again, a very mild night, temperatures staying well above

freezing. Thursday is the brightest of the

next few days, more sunny spells but we have cooler temperatures to go

with that. Not a bad day. Into Friday, a bit

more brightness but feeling a little bit cooler. Look at those numbers,

not too bad at all. The View holds politicians to

account and we ask