06/03/2017 BBC Newsline

Good evening, this is BBC Newsline and these are the headlines this

Monday evening: MLAs are back at Stormont after Election

2017, but for how long - talks between the parties

We go into these negotiations wanting to promote unionism and the

union and wanting to see a very solid base for Northern Ireland

within the UK. The political landscape has shifted enormously.

This is not Groundhog Day, this is not business as usual.

The votes leave unionists with a lot to think about -

no longer do they have a majority at Stormont.

We're out on the streets to find out what you the voters

make of the results, and what should happen next.

Worry about schools and hospitals and forget about all this other

rubbish. Northern Ireland football boss

Michael O'Neill says he would be tempted by the vacant manager's job

with the Premier League More rain on the way this week, I

will have the forecast. The DUP leader has denied newspaper

reports of a revolt in her party Arlene Foster was speaking after

meeting the Secretary of State - one in a series of talks

at Stormont today. There are three weeks to reach

an agreement to form an Executive. But the first crunch issue is over

the DUP's choice for First Minister. Sinn Fein have said

they cannot support Mrs Foster First a reminder of how the parties

ended up following the election. The DUP remain the biggest

party but only just. Sinn Fein finished just

below them with 27 seats. Their share of the vote

surged by almost 4%. The SDLP is now the third largest

party with 12 seats - The Ulster Unionist Party lost six

of their MLAs and finished on ten, prompting the party leader

Mike Nesbitt to announce Under their new leader, the Alliance

party still have eight seats. The Green party also

held their position with two seats. The TUV leader Jim Allister

retained his seat in north Antrim. The former justice minister

Claire Sugden was returned as an independent unionist in east

Londonderry. Eamon McCann from People Before

Profit lost his seat leaving the party one member

in the new Assembly. He may be big news here

but Gerry Adams has Is he the mayor with Micah is he? He

is called Gerry Adams, he leads a party called Sinn Fein.

Selfies come with success and this was Sinn Fein's day as they paraded

their 27 MLAs including some well-known and new faces.

Elisha McCallion is one of Sinn Fein's

Challenging and opportunity are words that come to mind but I have

been involved in Republican politics all my life so this is just a new

era. There were warm greetings

too for the SDLP's Pat Catney who begins a political career

at Stormont after years in the When they get rowdy in the bar, you

can turn them out. I'm not sure I can tell anybody out there! Lets

hope we don't have that but ring respect.

Another new arrival at Parliament Buildings was John Stewart

who bucked the trend and won a seat for the Ulster Unionists in

I'm giving up two jobs to do this. It's something I always wanted to

do. I take huge pride in working with the people of Northern Ireland.

In his 20s, Jonathan Buckley is another new face on the

It is a daunting experience coming here as 25 years old.

As the new MLAs found their way around, just down the road at

Stormont House, meetings aimed at forming an executive began in

The DUP were first in meeting James Brokenshire.

Afterwards Arlene Foster and Nigel Dodds said

there was no reason for a

I think this is the biggest boat ever cast for any party in an

assembly election. It would be a perverse thing to say as a result of

that, but someone should step aside. Arlene Foster is the leader of the

DUP and the people will decide who leads the DUP. The people have given

a resounding mandate and endorsement to her as the leader of the DUP.

There is no revolt at all in the party? Now, there is no revolt, I

have had a very good meeting today with my party officers. I will meet

with my foot team tomorrow morning and I am looking forward to that. I

have talked to a lot of colleagues as well so there is no problem at

all. Sinn Fein also met

the Secretary of State and made it clear that times have

changed politically. The people have had their say, the

political land has shifted. This is not Groundhog Day, this is not

business as usual. If people want equality for all, they want respect

and institutions. The Alliance Party said

if there was a political will to find agreement

across the parties, it could be found but insisted

that they would not join an The depth of the bitterness between

the lead parties is as extreme as it has been for some time. The issues

before us our context. Careers have ended and

some have just begun. There are issues of personalities

and the leadership of the DUP and the UUP and theis election poses

a whole series of questions about power-sharing and the future

of unionism and nationalism. For the first time, there is no

unionist majority at Stormont. The DUP and the Ulster Unionists

were the parties worst There is some flash photography at

the start. It was the story of the election. Sinn Fein with a nod to

celebrate. Unionists with much to contemplate. The loss of seats, the

loss of the big names and in Mike Nesbitt's case, the last of the

Ulster Unionist Party leadership. When all the boats had finally be

counted, the numbers were not what Unionists onto the sea. Here is the

state of the parties in the new chamber. The DUP, the largest party,

with 28 seats but there are only one ahead of Sinn Fein who have 27

seats. In the last assembly, they were tempted to head but the gap has

now closed. Here is what has happened. This assembly is smaller

than the last one. 90 seats and 3108. Let's see where there 18 seats

went. Sinn Fein lost one, people before profit lost one but the SDLP

didn't lose any and neither did the Alliance Party. Unionists lost 16

seats in total. Ten DUP seats and six Ulster Unionist seats. It means

for the first time in the history of Stormont, there is no overall

unionist majority in the chamber. They have 40 seats out of 90, that

is less than 50%. It has never happened before. So what are the

implications of the election result? I think the 3rd of March was a bad

day for unionism. We have no majority in Stormont for the first

time. But I think we need to look at it as a wake-up call as to the

future, how unionism positions itself and its fit for purpose. So,

is unionism is difficulty Sinn Fein 's opportunity? It certainly has

given a boost to nationalists and republicans and I dare say that

pressure for a border poll will increase in the foreseeable future

although I don't think one should overreact in the sense that our

constitutional status here in Northern Ireland is going to change

in the very short run. In the old Stormont parliament, a chamber

without a unionist majority was unthinkable. John Taylor, seen here

on the left, is still involved in unionist politics. Today he said he

was not concerned about last week 's election result. He said Sinn Fein

and the SDLP still have a lot of work to do. United islanders only

got 42%. They were beaten. Are you really telling me you're not worried

about the state of the union? Not in the least, not in the least. The

election may be over but the analysis of what it all means is

only just beginning. So how do people in mainly unionist

and nationalist communities view BBC Newsline's Tara Mills has

been talking to people Westbound fast and lichen Valley,

geographically close but at different ends of the political

spectrum. It was an election like no other in our history. Nationalists

are celebrity a surge no vote while Unionists are looking at a changed

the political landscape. Last year lichen Valley didn't have any

nationalist representation. This time round, there is one SDLP MLA.

Shoppers in the spring this morning were still digesting the outcome of

the election. We've still got the biggest boat, we are only one up but

at the same time, things are going to change. Dramatically. In what

way? Everybody knows where Sinn Fein is heading for, they want a united

Ireland. The SDLP want a united Ireland. I'm 73 and I don't want to

see it in my day. But does annoy me is that they are saying they won't

have an assembly unless Arlene Foster resigns. That is just

ridiculous. What about the Sinn Fein vote, what did you think of that?

Shocked but they are better at getting their people out. For

others, the result is a good thing. It is nice to see a change in this

burn. Now it is slipped down the middle, it is nice to see. How the

campaign was run is something many observers believe the parties need

to reflect upon. I think they will be a lot of soul-searching done

within the two parties, the DUP and Ulster Unionist with questions to

answer about how they run the campaign and more importantly, with

the DUP, how we got here. Unionists are null and in the majority at

Stormont and across Belfast, they now only hold six of the 20 seats.

Changing times across the city. In this west Belfast shopping centre,

many were pleased with the outcome but they also want to see Stormont

up and running again. They need to sit down and get agreements, worry

about the cost of living, schools, hospitals and forget about all this

other rubbish. Do the job they are supposed to do. She should step down

because she has made an horrific mistake but she want knowledge it.

She is trying to do a Margaret Thatcher. Stiff upper lip. I hope

everybody goes well from it. I don't mean any disrespect. Ardoyne shops

has been a flash point of the years. Here there was a mixture of hope and

pessimism. It's going to be the same old story but hopefully they will

show a bit of respect to nationalists people. I believe it is

Arlene Foster's fault from the start. Had she stepped aside for a

few weeks, over the heating scheme, but it never happened. What now for

Republicans? When the surge in support bring renewed

self-confidence? I think this vote coming within ten months of the

lowest return the nationalist parties have received in an assembly

election since 1998, will give the nationalists ablest and certainly, a

renewed energy and feel that their overall objective of trying to

secure Irish unity in the longer term is certainly still on track.

It's over to the parties negotiating teams now to see what they can

deliver the voters. Our political editor

Mark Devenport is at Stormont. A change in the make-up of the

assembly but the same problems that collapsed it. Any sign of a

compromise or agreement? Not really but I suppose it is just day one. If

you want to look on the upside, the parties are at least talking to each

other. Sinn Fein and the DUP met this afternoon which was described

as businesslike. They have agreed to meet tomorrow. On the essential

sticking point that we are facing, this problem that Sinn Fein say they

want share power with Arlene Foster if she is First Minister, she did

not roll out completely putting forward a summary else as they

nominee for that job but neither did she say she would do it. Says, that

is a matter for negotiations. Standing aside temporarily, what is

the sense of the mood within the DUP? She is not going to stand aside

as DUP leader, there is a possibility she may stand aside as

First Minister but she is adamant she will not stand aside as DUP

leader, adamant there is no revolt within the party. Things may be

clearer after a full meeting of the party's assembly group tomorrow. I

do think there are some senior members of the party who were shaken

by this result, not just the results of the DUP at the result for

unionism in general and they're beginning to ask questions both

about Arlene Foster and some of her backroom staff. The new MLAs will

have their first formal session next Monday, what will be involved in

that and how does that fit in with the talks tangible? That will be a

session at which they will find the role, as Unionists or nationalists

or others which is what they tend to do, it has been set for very late on

Monday next, 4pm in the afternoon and that is to give them the maximum

amount of time because once they have that session, it sets a clock

running for a fortnight which gives as a deadline of Monday, March 27

for the appointment of a first and Debbie First Minister. If they don't

achieve that, it is over to the Secretary of State once again. On

the issue of MLAs pay, you have news on that? Is, there was a letter

written by the three former members of the panel which oversaw MLAs

wages and allowances and occasionally made some quite reports

about it. Critical Neither of those three people are still in the job

because they were replaced and that has been left the air but they have

written a letter to the Secretary of State saying the three-month

deadline should be set to any payments to the new MLAs if they are

not carrying out their jobs. They also see any restoration of

devolution should involve setting up a panel with strong powers to ensure

there is no further abuses of the allowances system at Stormont.

A police officer who was injured in a shooting in North Belfast

in January has spoken publicly for the first time.

The man was wounded in the arm when a filling station

For tonight's BBC Crimewatch programme he described

what happened saying he thought he was going to die.

The officer who was wounded in the shooting on the Crumlin Road is

fortunate to have escaped with his life, as are others who were using

the busy station at the time. The morning after the attack, a strike

marks of the bullets that sprayed the forecourt were clear to see and

there was widespread condemnation of those who carried it out. We had a

number of high velocity rounds fired across the Crumlin Road, a main

arterial route out of Belfast, into a filling station that had members

of the public going about their business. Is just very fortunate

that we are not standing here today making an appeal around a murder

investigation. He attended murder will feature in an appeal for

information on the BBC Crimewatch programme this evening. But the

first time, the wounded officer has been talking publicly about being

shot. His words are being spoken by an actor. I felt something hit me,

everything slowed down. Blood was pouring out and I thought that was

me. I thought I was going to die in that forecourt. He is a recovering

from his injuries. The republican dissident group calling itself the

IRA had admitted carrying out the shooting.

There's a concern that other energy companies will follow SSE Airtricity

It was announced on Friday that its 140,000 gas customers

in the greater Belfast area will see their bills rise by more

Our economics and Business Editor John Campbell is here.

Why is it happening? Is all about the price of gas on the wholesale

global markets. We have had a few years where energy prices have been

very low but in the last 12 months, those prices have started to

increase. If we look at some figures, back in the summer it cost

gas 30 for PR unit in the UK wholesale market. By November, it

was up to 48p. That is a rise of 40% and prices have continued to rise

since then. It is the atrocity are reacting to that rise in the

wholesale prices. What about other energy prices, what is the prospect

of those rising as well? Anybody who uses heating oil will now prices

have already been rising and firmness energy to provide gas to

towns outside Belfast are likely to announce a rise as early as this

week and this is all against an overall backdrop of rising prices

generally across the economy. We know that commodity prices are

rising in global markets and the fact that the pound has weak and

against other currencies since Brexit aims the cost of goods were

importing are also going up so I afraid a big story through the whole

of this year is going to be rising prices in many areas of the economy.

Northern Ireland Manager Michael O'Neill has admitted that the vacant

post at Leicester City would be tempting and he has been flattered

to be linked to the Premier League champions but he is not actively

looking for a move from his present role.

He joined goalkeeping legend Pat Jennings at the opening today

of a new education and heritage centre at the National

I asked O'Neill about the recent speculation linking him

It's always nice to be linked with jobs come about is the nature of

football and the media that surrounds football but I suppose the

reason I am meant with a job like that is because of the work we've

done here and the success we've had here with Northern Ireland. I

focuses purely on the game against Norway and then going on to the game

against Azerbaijan and meeting sure as a team, we do the country proud

and give ourselves the opportunity of going to Russia. Would a job like

that tempt you? You're always tempted, you have to consider these

things if the opportunity is presented to you. If so, the

sensation and myself will sit down and look at it and see where we go

from there. The draw for the Irish cup

semi-finals sees Glenavon face Coleraine while Linfield

will take on Dungannon. David Healy's side won two-nil

at Seaview to sweep past Crusaders on Saturday,

Nial Quinn's late header clinching victory while Dungannon progressed,

winning 2-1 after extra-time against Warrenpoint -

Douglas Wilson with the winner It was a bit easier for Glenavon

as they cruised to a 5-0 win over Portadown at Shamrock Park

while Coleraine beat rivals Ballymena 4-0 at the Showgrounds,

including this cool Slaughtneil's Camogie team won

the All-Ireland club title for the first time ever

at Croke Park yesterday. That sets up the potential

of an historic double for the County Derry club if the men

can win the football But, as Nigel Ringland

reports, for now it's Heroin is returning with the spoils,

Slaughtneil's, please with a rousing reception with their silverware. All

of our supporters and family and friends here to welcome us, as all

Ireland Champions, we have to keep saying it to believe it. It is

crazy. One goal and ten point 211 points was the final score. Mary

Kelly with the only goal early in the second half. I think we started

well at the start of the match. We got a bit of control and maybe

didn't get enough scorers but we felt it at half time. We were in a

good place. Somehow we always seem to find that bit extra and create

the scorers. It was fitting that there was a wonder points scored

near the end. Playing at Croke Park would be the highlight of any body

's career. I didn't know how near we were two injury time so I just hit

it and hoped and platelet between the two posts. You get the

impression that the celebration is this victory will go on for some

time yet. In the National Football League

action there were two all-ulster ties in Division One at the weekend,

Tyrone lie second in the table after their win over Monaghan

by 14-10 at Healy Park while Donegal are just a place behind

after their eight-point Down and Derry were the other Ulster

counties to win at the weekend but Fermanagh's woes continued

with a heavy defeat to Kildare. VJared Payne is unlikely to be

drafted into Joe Schmidt's Ireland team for this Fridays Six Nations

game with Wales. He missed squad

training this morning. Fellow Ulsterman Tommy Bowe

was recalled to the squad to replace He picked up a hand injury

during Ulster's win against Treviso. Payne played the full 80 minutes

of that match and was feeling It felt pretty good on the weekend

and pretty sharp but he has been a long time out of the game so for

him, the bruising is nothing more than that. He has been out for a

long time and some players will take a little bit more to recover from

games, especially when they have been out for so long. He is hopeful

that he will train on Wednesday. On his return to competition

after injury, Rory McIlroy finished in a tie for seventh place

at the WGC championship in Mexico. He ended up four strokes behind

eventual winner Dustin Johnson, The weather is next.

We had good weather today but some of us ending on a wet note as rain

makes its way out towards the Irish Sea. Eventually it will clear away

as we make our way through this evening. A very chilly night in

store as temperatures for many of us fall to freezing and perhaps below

in the countryside. With wind light enough, we could see the odd pocket

of rest and folk early in the morning. After a chilly start

tomorrow, it will be a dry one but we have really ready to come in

again from the Atlantic. To begin with, a frost which will burn away

in the early morning sunshine. I didn't have sunshine to come right

through until the middle of the afternoon. The further west, the

cloud is going to creep in and it is eventually going to bring in rain to

Fermanagh, Tyrone and Donegal. Some of that will be happy by the middle

of the afternoon. Widespread rain by the middle of the day and that is

going to gradually push its weakest words, affecting us all. By 22 in

the East Coast. Temperatures about eight or 9 degrees. Further south,

up to about 12. By tomorrow evening rush-hour, it will be very wet out

there some surface spray columns on the roads would eventually the rain

clears tomorrow evening and the good news is, behind the rain, milder air

so tomorrow night will not be quite as chilly temperatures at 67

degrees. After Wednesday, a wet start but that will clear away and a

fair amount of dry weather following. Temperatures up to 11 or

12 degrees. The threat of a few showers later on in the day. By

night, right through to the end of the week.

Finally as the political parties start talks

on the future of the Assembly - we leave you with a reminder of some

of the moments captured by our cameras as the election

Be warned there is some flash photography at the start.

We had the winners, the losers, the delighted, the disappointed.

The election was in many, many ways, a watershed election.

This is a poor day for unionism. A day that needn't have had to happen.

It means that there is a life beyond politics. The buck stops here. Does

Arlene Foster, as leader of the DUP, enjoy your full confidence tonight?

Yes. Let us move forward with hope and with hope that common good will

be able to prevail. When he was defeated he said he was too tired to

laugh and too old to cry.