27/03/2017 BBC Newsline

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

A warning from the Secretary of State

We now have a short window of opportunity

to resolve outstanding issues and

As the deadline for agreement passes, Sinn Fein and the DUP blame

each other for the breakdown in the talks.

We are just disappointed that Sinn Fein did not come to the talks

in the same spirit as we came to the talks.

Unfortunately, the DUP maintained their position

in relation to blocking equality, delivery of equality for citizens.

This woman's death by a scrambler bike -

a teenager is jailed for eighteen months.

An inquest is told a prescription painkiller

is causing more deaths here than any other drug.

He paid the price. I hope and pray no other family has to go through

what we have been through. It has been hell for us.

Northern Ireland keep their World Cup dream alive

And cloudier skies are coming back, some rain at times too

I'll be back with a look at what's coming our way.

The Secretary of State has warned that there's a short window

of opportunity to get Stormont up and running once again.

James Brokenshire said there's no appetite for another election

After weeks of inter-party talks the DUP and Sinn Fein have blamed

each other for their failure to find agreement.

Our political editor Mark Devenport is at Stormont.

Donna, the deadline for restoring devolution expired two

One round of talks may have collapsed, but it looks like another

That's a clear sign of just how reluctant London is to take

back direct control over Northern Ireland's affairs.

My colleague, Enda McClafferty, begins his report with a protest

by Irish language activists outside Stormont.

Outside, they came looking for an act, while inside, politicians

played out the last act in a three-week drama. A drama which

ended with a predictable outcome. We had plenty of time to sort this out

and we're just disappointed that Sinn Fein did not come to the talks

with the same spirit that we came with. We respect everybody's

mandates, let me make that very clear but if we wanted to form an

executive, there had to be a spirit of compromise and unfortunately that

did not exist. We came negotiation with the right attitude, wanting to

make the institutions work and to deliver for all citizens,

unfortunately, the DUP maintained their position in relation to

blocking equality and delivering quality for citizens. That is the

problem. But they did agree to bin today's running order. As the

deadline passed, the focus fell on this man who wheeled out another

snap election and played down the prospect of direct rule. But he had

this one for our politicians. I think there are a short few weeks,

in order to resolve matters. The reason I say that is because of this

issue, this stark issue in relation to public services here in Northern

Ireland and the lack of a budget having been set. But there are some

who feel he is not the man to lead the talks. The times that things get

done here is when somebody outside pools it together. The process was

shambolic. It was all over the place. There was no theatre. That

needs fixed as a matter of urgency. Other party leaders are making plans

to deal with those now in charge. I would like our spokespeople to be

connected with the various permanent secretaries, so we can understand

the scale of the problems and issues we now face. As an unelected civil

servant is about to become arguably the most important man in Northern

Ireland. And this is the man who will hold Stormont's cheque-book,

David Stirling, a top civil servant at the Department of Finance who

will have to decide how to spend the budget. The first suggestion of a

saving came today from this MLA. If teachers are not teaching, health

workers are not in hospitals doing their job, they don't expect to be

paid, so why should be one law for MLAs and another for everybody else?

The Government for Northern Ireland is to make running on autopilot with

no political direction. Civil servants are in charge of the

department and controlling the budget. But for how long? That is

the question. No one here it seems to know what will happen next.

An uncertain period of time. When might this expire? No definite

notion but just within the last hour, the head of the Northern

Ireland civil service has sent out a memo to all staff describing this is

a time of uncertainty and saying he and senior civil servants will do

their best to maintain business as usual. But he says the emergency

powers they got over the budget are a limited measure which will be no

substitute for a full budget passed by the Executive. In terms of the

timescale, the Secretary of State is resisting setting any kind of

deadline but most of the politicians you talk to, they talk about some

time after Westminster comes back at Easter recess in late April, as

potentially putting a crunch period to think about what to do

about this period of uncertainty. If there is no compromise on political

agreement, what about the options, other than Westminster bringing back

direct rule? Not really very many. There is a possibility that some

sources at Stormont have talked to me about, a Westminster legislating

directly perhaps to pass a budget and pass a bill, which would allow

for the collectio n of rates. They could mother of Parliaments to

legislate when they want to. But whether they still do that and keep

this period of uncertainty going, I'm not so sure. At some point, he

will have to probably go for direct rule, given that he seems now to

have ruled out a snap because they see themselves as the mother of

Parliaments and religiously when they want to. But whether they still

do that and keep this period of uncertainty going, I'm not so sure.

At some point, he'll have to probably go for direct rule, given

that he seems now to have ruled out a snap election. The Secretary of

State also told the media that culture and identity matters proved

particularly difficult. What can you tell us about that? Well, there are

certainly indications that the DUP, while they had pulled out during the

election campaign and Irish language act, was suggesting some kind of

wider legislation which would cover matters of identity and respect,

including Irish, Ulster Scots, and according to some sources, even

including matters like the military covenant. That was ruled out by

nationalists and indeed I think by the Alliance. And that certainly has

the Secretary of State also told the media that culture and identity

matters proved particularly difficult. What can you tell us

about that? Well, there are certainly indications that the DUP,

while they have ruled out during the election campaign and Irish language

act, was suggesting some kind of wider legislation which would cover

matters of identity and respect, including Irish, Ulster Scots, and

according to some sources, even including matters like the military

covenant. That was ruled out by nationalists and indeed I think by

the Alliance. And that certainly has proved a crunch issue. Although, it

is by no means the The failure to agree a political

deal means that no budget will be passed for the new financial year

which begins next week. Emergency powers will allow a senior

civil servant to take control of Stormont's

finances from Wednesday. We'll hear from our economics

and business editor shortly but first Tara Mills has been

talking to some voluntary and community groups

about what it means for them. on which the parties could not

resolve their differences. Thank this community Association has

developed community. But its future is now uncertain. The sky for club

is one of many using the building, they need five days a week. Its

members have learning difficulties and have responsibility for running

the club with some mainstream report. Joanna McGuffin says she

would sit in the house if it did not exist. I just like it. What he you

like to do? Reading the paper. And word search and jigsaws. And see

your friends? And my friends. The association is already making one

member of staff redundant this week. Everyone is worried about the

future. We don't know what kind of cuts will come from above. Will it

be 6%? 20%? 2%? You know, this is just too much uncertainty. It's a

sentiment shared in Dungannon. English-language classes and a

creche at just two of the services they offer here. Service is now

under threat. There is many money for childcare. Women cannot come

along and learn English, mathematics, IT, I mean, at this

stage, we are looking at the edge of a cliff. Regular users had a message

for Stormont politicians. It is an absolute disgrace that they cannot

agree and unfortunately, the reality is that everybody suffers. The

things they're disagreeing about, I think there should be good side and

look at the important thing is that we all need to worry about, like

education, health and all these other things. Uncertainty cuts to

services and possible redundancies, one overriding feeling here today.

Our economics and business editor John Campbell is with me.

Explain what will happen on Wednesday. The Block Grant, the

money Stormont gets from Westminster, is still there and

available to spend. Normally you have to pass a budget act that goes

through the Assembly to spend money. Clearly that has not happened, so

instead there is a special piece of legislation called section 59 of the

Northern Ireland act and that gives the senior civil servant immediate

access to some money, equivalent to 75% of this year's budget. So, he

has a big chunk of money to run services, pay salaries and keep the

lights on. That should mean there is no real impact on public services in

the short-term. But over the past few weeks we have spoken to

voluntary community projects, some of whom have had money can't already

and some who are fearful they will face cuts in funding. Why is that

particular sector concerned? Some of those voluntary groups get a project

from Stormont on a yearly basis. Every year, the budget is renewed

and reviewed. In this uncertain situation, people who fund may say

they need to be cautious and will not review funding. So, some of

these groups should be worried but hopefully this can all be clarified

by the end of this week, once the civil servants have control of the

money. The other thing to be aware of is that prices are no crisis, the

amount of money Stormont has to spend on day-to-day services is

bowling anyway. So, whether there is an executive there or not, budget

are still under pressure. It is a difficult and worrying time for many

people. How can this go on? How long for? Well, we get to July and then

David Stirling, that senior civil servant, he has access to 95% of

this year's budget and that must be spent over the entire year.

If we hit July, there will definitely be cuts of 5% which will

affect the whole of the public service. I don't even get that far

because there are other computations about collections of rates and so

forth and that would push budget under real pressure, within a matter

of a few weeks is up to a couple of months. It may be that the

Westminster Government has to step in earlier than that and pass off an

emergency budget in some form. Thank you.

If you are a community or voluntary groups and would like to share your

thoughts on the budget problems we'd like to hear from you.

Join the conversation on our Facebook page.

You're watching BBC Newsline - still to come...

Northern Ireland's footballers keep their World Cup dream alive with an

emphatic win over Norway. A teenager who caused the death

of a mother of three children has told a court anything other

than a jail sentence would be The eighteen year old lost

control of a scrambler bike at Colin Glen Forest in West Belfast

and hit Valerie Armstrong. He's been jailed for 18 months,

as Helen Jones reports. Sally Armstrong, 35, was walking her

dog along this public pathway on the 19th of July, 2016. She was struck

by a scrambler bike. The writer of which the court was told, lost

control. Mrs Armstrong died from a brain injury the following day. The

youth court was told that Gary Lewis, now 18 and from Colin Vale in

Don Murray, asked for a loan of his friend's bike but lost control when,

according to an eyewitness, he swerved to avoid hitting the dog.

One eyewitness said he could have been as 40 mph but this was disputed

by the defence which showed tests showed he wasn't going any faster

than 20. The prosecutor told the court that when the victim was

struck, Gary was heard to shout, she is dead, that's me away. And that he

stood there with his head in his hands and sobbing and asking, what

have I done? Gary Lewis was seen by another witness holding the victim's

hand until an ambulance arrived. It was said he should be jailed because

community service would be disrespectful to Valerie Armstrong.

He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment disqualified from

driving for five years. Sentencing Gary Lewis, the district judge said

that human life, the life of Valerie Armstrong, cannot be restored, nor

can of course be measured by a custodial sentence. The court was

told this was a tragic case in which there are no winners.

The search continues off the coast of north Mayo and south Donegal

for the bodies of two crew members missing since an Irish Coastguard

rescue helicopter crashed nearly two weeks ago.

The main section of wreckage is about thirteen kilometres off

shore and efforts are being made to lift it to allow

divers to carry out more inspections of the crash site.

It's understood to be the final phase of the recovery effort.

Yesterday the body of Captain Mark Duffy

An inquest into the death of a west Belfast man has been told that

a prescription painkiller is causing more deaths in Northern Ireland

The coroner has called for Tramadol to be made a Class A drug,

rather than a Class C drug following the death

He died after taking a number of prescription drugs.

Our reporter Richard Morgan was in the court.

Aaron Strong was 18 when he died, he had taken tramadol and diazepam at a

party. Today, the coroner ruled the mixture of prescription medication

caused his death. Outside court, his family had this message. These drugs

are on the streets. Every time somebody dies, somebody dies with

them. He paid the price. And I hope and pray no other family has to go

through what we went through this year. It has been hell for us. It

really has. The pathologist told the inquest there has been a significant

rise in the number of deaths related to tramadol. He told the court that

it is responsible for more deaths in Northern Ireland than any other

drug. The coroner said it was his view that tramadol should be a class

a drug and not a class C drug. The court heard Aaron's organs were

donated, resulting in at least six people's lives being saved. His

family hope the inquest. Young people from abusing prescription

medication. Coming up, Tyrone's hopes of making

the National Football League final are dashed by the men of Mayo.

With the good weekend weather a lot of people

But one group of canine owners stepped up a gear as Sara Neill

Almost 250 fairy competitors getting ready at the starting line. They're

raring to compete in this special five K run alongside their owners.

Wacky races is the first run organised for dogs and humans in

Northern Ireland and was started by a couple from Lisburn and they're

happy. We wanted to take her opening and thought it would be great to do

this as a sport. We didn't think it existed. Runners with dogs came on

board at the start and then it was the ideal situation, casual runners,

and word has spread. And spread it has, with dogs almost as far as the

eye can see, this is the biggest run they have had so far. For the most

athletic talks, there were medals up for grabs. He comes out for 30

kilometres each week, so he does a fair bit. It has paid off, all be

training. Running with the dog, it can restrict our movement, and it

doesn't help if she is going backwards! Were running slightly

behind. This. Missed out on a podium place but is just back from Crufts.

He screams with excitement. He loves it. I am a member of a dog club and

a running club, so to get out here and have both hobbies and do them

any group is fantastic. After all the activity, it was time for wacky

tales to rest their wee reports. Sport, but not as we know it.

Northern Ireland's footballers kept their World Cup

Stephen Watson is here with tonight's sport.

It was an impressive two nil win against Norway

A red sky at night was Michael O'Neill's delight.

The Northern Ireland manager thrilled with the performance.

One which puts Northern Ireland in second place in the group behind

runaway leaders Germany at the half way stage of qualifying.

Eight of the nine group runners ups will get the chance to play off

This was as comfortable and international winners Northern

Ireland have recorded in many years. Helped by a perfect start, when

Jamie Ward's scored. That was just after two minutes. Half an hour

later, it was 2-0, one Washington keeping his record intact of scoring

a goal in every game he has started at Windsor Park. Nor are we rarely

troubled Northern Ireland. Michael McGovern with just one second-half

save. And the manager, very content with his nice work. The result

builds confidence and momentum and belief and we have carried out on.

The qualify for France and the finals and it is credit to the

players they have not let standard strop and we still have the dream of

Russia and with every game, you're closer to reality. We expected a

result and it is changed days. It is brilliant for Northern Ireland just

now. Long may it continue. Obviously, we're very pleased of the

position we're in. It carries the momentum for and sets up the game

and Azerbaijan in June and nicely. Before that, a friendly against New

Zealand in Belfast. The Republic of Ireland

face Iceland tomorrow On Friday they maintained

their unbeaten run in qualifying Although Martin O'Neill says

that the result was secondary to the serious double leg break

sustained by Captain Seamus Coleman. I saw him yesterday and he is still

pretty down, really, not in as much pain, obviously, the operation went

well, it's just a matter of coming to terms with it. It's difficult, it

depends how quickly the first few weeks go. I don't think anyone's

putting a timeline on it. The race for local football's Danske

Bank title is well and truly on. The gap at the top of the table

between Crusaders and Linfield is down to just four points

with five games remaining. Crusaders were defeated one nil

by in form Coleraine. Eoin Bradley with the only goal

of the game and Linfield took advantage of the Champions slip

up...as Stephen Lowry's hit late winner away to Ballinamallard to put

pressure on the Champions. A great goal. We still believe we

can win the league. We won 12 out of last 13 games. We will look forward

to playing Crusaders. Having been successful in five games, will keep

them Boyd part I have been in the game too long to worry about which

way results have shaped up. It's another game of football. We look

forward to it. We had to handle the pressure last year and we got

through. And if Linfield beat us, it will get even hairier for everybody.

In Gaelic football's national leagues, Down,

In an Ulster derby, there was nothing to separate

And Tyrone's hopes of making a league final were dashed,

A mixed weekend for Ulster sides in Gaelic football's Alianz leagues.

Defeats for Derry, Down and Antrim mean they are fighting relegation.

Armagh won in division two but it was bad news for Tyrone.

Mickey Harte's team faced last year's all-Ireland

finalists, Mayo, who were hoping to avoid a third successive defeat.

This first half goal from the visitors put Mayo in front.

The criticism of Tyrone is there a lack of scoring. As Tyrone's count

went to double figures, it looked like a draw but in the second

minutes of injury time, Mayo hit the winner. Two defeats in two weeks,

Tyrone's probable final league appearance has turned probably not.

That is because both Donegal and Monmouth and are low in the table.

It looked like a comfortable Donegal win. Nobody to help Connor McManus.

Jack McCarron with five points might just be the help. It was McManus who

salvaged a draw in the last minute. Finally, congratulations to local

gymnasts Ewan McAteer The two 17-year-olds won Gold medals

at the British Men's Master's Championships in Liverpool

over the weekend. Well done to both. Great talents.

Earlier, we saw the dogs and owners running on the beach at the weekend.

Among them was a dog called Pedro and his human money, called Cecilia

Daly. It looks like you had a great time there. It was fantastic. I am

not one very proud mammy on Mother's Day. And the weather has been very

good. Weather watchers have been loving it. It wasn't our warmest

day, it was warmer over the weekend, temperatures peaking at 18 degrees.

Despite the words flow levels, still snow on the mountains, but some

stunning sunsets. We saw the one at Windsor Park and it was like that

for much of Northern Ireland. Still some snow on the tops of some hills.

Lots of sunshine across the island. It doesn't get dark for nearly

another hour because clocks have come forward. Because of clear

skies, it will get chilly, especially in parts of the West.

Tomorrow, cloudier skies are coming back and bringing rain. You may well

need an umbrella. Try to begin with, so you should get to work or school

OK. There will be a lot of cloud but still some nice sunrises and some

low cloud which should quickly left. But then the rain comes from the

south from about mid-morning. Gradually, thickens up. Some bright

gaps in the afternoon. Temperatures could reach 15. Some showers

tomorrow afternoon could well be quite pokey, with even a rumble of

thunder. More rain tomorrow night. And then the beginning of more

unsettled weather. No frost tomorrow night, so feeling mild. The wind is

staying in the south. It can be blustery at times. Weapons they

start but then it dries up. More rain to come later in the day and

temperatures reaching the mid-teens. Although it is more unsettled, no

day will be a complete wash-out. But there will be some rain on most

days. You will need to keep your raincoat handy. And we're loving

those sunsets.