12/05/2017 BBC Newsline

and on BBC One, we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.

Good evening, the headlines on BBC Newsline.

Tony Blair warns a hard border would be a disaster as the EU's

chief Brexit negotiator says he's still looking for ideas.

There is always an answer and always a road.

years for murdering the young Belfast student Eamonn Magee.

Prince Charles lays wreaths honouring the war dead and those

A unique solution to help people suffering from the affects of brain

injuries. Join me on the north coast for all of the latest ahead of

tomorrow's north-west 20. I will be back with the weather forecast

later. Tony Blair has warned that

a hard border after Brexit But the former prime minister

has said he believes there is a consensus in British

politics to avoid that outcome. Mr Blair was addressing a group

of MEPs in County Wicklow, a meeting also attended by the EU's

chief Brexit negotiator He travelled to County Monaghan

where he said everyone needs Our economics and business editor

John Campbell is at the hotel venue for that MEP meeting at Druid's Glen

in County Wicklow. As we know, the European union want

to deal with Irish border issues in the first phase of the Brexit

negotiation issues. MEPs from the European Parliament, they have been

here for the last couple of days to learn more about those issues. The

invited along Tony Blair to give his views. Few Prime Minister 's have

devoted as much time to Ireland as Tony Blair. His policies culminated

in the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Now he says he is

extremely anxious to make sure Brexit does not appear that

agreement. My presence here today is to say I think there is a common

desire, but ever other issues that are in relation to Brexit, to make

Northern Ireland a special case and make sure we do everything we

possibly can to protect the Good Friday Agreement and the peace

process and protect that strong relationship to beam the Republic of

Ireland and the UK going forward. Among Mr Blair's audience with the

EU negotiator Michel Barnier. Michel Barnier went to hear the concerns of

border businesses. Yesterday he said they would have to be some form of

custom controls after Brexit. Nobody wants to see the return of

destructive checks like these. There are hopes a smart border, using

technology that number plate recognition can be put in place.

Michel Barnier says he does not have any answers yet and are still

listening to ideas. Let us work. Let us work. I need to do work and have

people on the ground to find solutions. I do not want to give

today... The negotiations have not begin. -- not begun. He appreciates

how important Brexit is for the agriculture and food businesses. One

of the food exporters he met said his concerns appeared to have been

taken on board. You certainly appealed open-minded and he engaged

fully with the participants and he was not to offer solutions but he

was listening to the people and he wanted us to engage with him and

offer solutions are people in Ireland and particularly in the

border region. Michel Barnier's visit has entered without us

learning much about what Brexit will mean for the border. We will be

hearing a lot more from him over the next couple of years. When will we

learn something more tangible about the future of the border? Well,

Michel Barnier cannot remain in listening mode for too much longer

because the negotiations are due to get underway in the next couple of

months. We have the UK general election to get out of the way and

the German election in September. Once these borders have been

overcome then we can expect intense negotiations to start. The Irish

element of these negotiations have to be sorted and the phase. So

really before Christmas people will have to come up with solid

positions. It has been the rhetoric of no hard borders but at some point

people are going to have to put their cars on the table and tell us

exactly what they think can be achieved along that order. Thank

you. The man who killed this

student and amateur boxer, Eamon Magee Junior, was today

sentenced to 14 years The court had been told that

Orhan Koca who is Turkish, stabbed the 22-year-old

because of jealousy and anger. Our reporter, Aileen Moynagh,

was at Belfast Crown 34-year-old Orhan Koca, originally

from Turkey, had pleaded guilty to Eamonn Magee. His estranged wife's

boyfriend, just as the trial was about to begin. On passing sentence,

the Justice said he was satisfied this was a premeditated and planned

merger which was both brutal and sustained and worthy intention was

to take life. The judge concluded that Orhan Koca armed himself in

advance of the murder and went to the house with the intention to

kill. He inflicted multiple stab wounds on Eamonn Magee and the

attack was unprovoked and the underlying motive was jealousy.

Eamonn Magee's family and friends were in court for the sentencing.

Nothing will bring back my son. We have a long way to go. That is all I

have to say in this case. The superintendent said it was a brutal

murder. We know he armed himself with a substantial size of a knife

and brought it to the murders seen. This premeditation and use of such a

lethal weapon, such as the knife, goes some way to showing the level

of violence that Orhan Koca was capable of. Orhan Koca must serve a

minimum term of 14 years before he can be considered for release.

The Public Prosecution Service is considering if charges -

including murder, attempted murder and perjury - should be

brought against 18 soldiers over their involvement in

13 people were shot dead by members of the parachute regiment

during a civil rights demonstration in Londonderry in 1972.

The DUP's Gregory Campbell has criticised the suggestion

He said a decision to prosecute would show the PPS as one-sided

and the move would help those who wanted to rewrite the past.

He's also called for prosecutions against those who may have been

The SDLP's Colum Eastwood said the Bloody Sunday deaths

People in Derry have done an awful lot to move forward and reconcile

with each other. The idea that people can merger with impunity I do

not think should stand and I hope that there are charges are brought

to those people who, as we have seen through the enquiry, where murdering

with impunity on the streets of Derry. -- the idea people can merger

with impunity. You're watching BBC

Newsline and still ahead: We are looking at some of the

contenders. The Prince of Wales has laid wreaths

in honour of those who died in the two world wars and the Easter

Rising. The prince and the Duchess

of Cornwall also toured the Republican plot in Glasnevin

cemetery in Dublin - on the third day of their visit

to Ireland north and south. Our Dublin correspondent

Shane Harrison reports. Reconciliation and respecting the

dead of the two Irish traditions. Prince Charles this morning with the

Republic's arts minister laying wreaths that honours those killed

during the two world wars. The Prince also unveiling site patient

stones remembering for Irish soldiers who were awarded Victoria

Cross is 100 years ago. -- citation stones. After honouring those

Irishmen who died in British uniform, the Prince and the Duchess

paid tribute to those who fought for Irish freedom, visiting Republican

graves including those of Michael Collins. The Prince of Wales and the

Minister then laid wreaths at the MacRobert J Wall that commemorates

all those that died at the Easter Rising. -- laid wreath at the wall.

There are also a keen sense of awareness here that just up the road

the EU chief Brexit negotiator is hearing concerned about what the

future could hold for the very same negotiations. After a brief meeting,

Prince Charles had to the home where a previous ambassador was murdered

by the IRA in 1976. There he met and shook hands with the Sinn Fein

leader Gerry Adams. We did not have a chance of anything other than a

quick chat. He was lagging me that I was older than him. We were born in

the same year. He commiserated about Martin McGuinness's death. A deeply

moving moment of his three date visit was at the cemetery this

morning. It is so important that we are able to come together to

remember men and women from all sides whose sacrifice should shaped

our shared history. The Prince left Ireland promising to return saying

in these challenging times, it is important to strengthen British and

Irish bonds. A blind woman has won a landmark

ruling against the height Joanna Toner began legal proceedings

fearing that blind and partially sighted people were in danger

of being hit by traffic A judge at the High Court ruled that

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council had failed to ensure

equality for disabled people as part of the multi-million pound

regeneration scheme. Council representatives are now

expected to ensure the process is subjected to a full

equality impact assessment. I am delighted because the

implications for other disabled people and other shared schemes

across the country is going to be immense. That is something we have

definitely been fighting for for a long time. It is just dangerous to

remove the Kurds and to let blind and partially sighted people mix

with traffic. Eight members of what the police

believe is an international crime gang have been jailed

for selling heroin The gang, five of whom are

Portuguese, were handed The police used two undercover

officers, posing as heroin users 'Ricky' and 'Ian',

to catch the gang who were described by the judge as bottom of the food

chain street dealers. A 30-year-old man has been left

with serious cuts and burns after an attack in west Belfast

early this morning. The police say he was assaulted,

then bundled into a car He was driven to an unknown address

where he was further assaulted and had boiling water

poured over him. The families of ten people shot dead

by the army in west Belfast in 1971 have been given a date for a full

inquest into their deaths. The hearing into the Ballymurphy

killings will be held on September 11th next year and is expected

to last three months. This week is being promoted

as a time to be aware of the devastating effects

of brain injury. On Monday we met a man

fighting to get back to work Social life can also

present problems with some survivors struggling at times

to control their mood and behaviour. Offering a unique solution

to that is a group of For those who survive a brain

injury, social interaction can be very difficult and it is all too

easy to slip into isolation and loneliness. Going out with the

person we care for. We do not feel comfortable because you do not know

how the situation will develop and the least thing could set off an

explosion of frustration and you can't run around saying to people,

hold on a minute, this person has a brain injury. Very often they do not

understand. What to do if a trip to the pub is just too difficult? The

brain injury foundation decided they would open their own pub. It is a

pub with no beer and the reason it is a pub with no clear is that

people with brain injury are not encouraged to drink alcohol. It is

not good. -- no alcohol. They love pool and they are good at it. We

play matches in the existing pool room with local teams in the pool

league. They come here thinking we're going to beat us. We do not

win all the time that we give them a fair lesson sometimes. The crack is

not as same as being in a pub. We wanted to treat the atmosphere being

in a pub as close as we could get without being in an actual pub. If

you are out at a social event in a pub, different things are not

accepted. Where as when we are all in the group together, we can accept

each other for who we are and what we are. Nobody is going to get drunk

and nobody is going to get annoyed or going to go overboard about

anything or get annoyed at the other person, or if they do get annoyed,

that is OK then because that is just us. The pub is due to open shortly

and it will be next door to the existing centre and caterers and

members of the public are all welcome.

Next week BBC Newsline's Mark Simpson tells us the inside story

of the recent return to Mauritius of John McAreavey.

Six years after Michaela Michael really was murdered on Holliman, her

family is still seeking justice. -- Honeyman. There are things that will

stay with me for the rest of my life. They came here for five days.

The appealed to the people of Mauritius for help. They put

pressure on politicians and they returned to the scene of the crime.

That is on BBC One Northern Ireland next Tuesday night at

There is a big day of racing tomorrow. Stephen is at the paddock

for us. Thank you very much. Exciting prospect tomorrow but one

team that will not be here is Honda racing. They have withdrawn today

because of the crash yesterday by their rider John McGuinness. His

injuries are worse than first feared. I will be getting the latest

from our expert in just a moment. Tomorrow is the big race day at the

international north-west 200 and Gavin Andrews has been talking to

some of the contenders. He is always a big hit with the fans of the

north-west. It is not difficult to see why it he is a star attraction

this week. Last night's victory in the race was his 18th year. He has

now had at least one win in the circuit every year for the last

decade. I am in a good place at the minute. I am happy with my

machinery. It is looking like the weather might not be great but we

know from previous years we can do well and shown good pedigree in

those conditions and the bikes are working well. I feel confident going

into Saturday's race and we will soon find out. Hopefully I could get

on the podium, top step would be best. Some tough competition

tomorrow. Ready to race wins at this meeting and the Superbike class is

wide open. One of the favourite is when Irwin. He is playing down his

chances. It is great that a lot of fans are tipping me for the win.

They say you have better odds than the big use and the beauties are

going to see this and not give me good odds. It is good to be back

here. Another big contender businessman and he always attracts a

crowd. Those who make the trip to the course tomorrow are in for a

treat. Yes, it is going to be some great racing. Disappointing that

Honda are not here. Very much so. A very awkward situation for Honda.

Their flagship bike has just arrived in the showrooms and there is a

question mark over it. We have withdrawn from the race because they

are not sure what happened in the accident. He went into Primrose Hill

in fourth gear at 20 mph and something happened. Nobody knows for

sure but it is unlikely John McGuinness made a big mistake and he

had a big accident. His injuries are worse than first feared? They

thought it was a broken leg but he also has two broken vertebrae is and

two broken ribs. He has had a fight like Mike Tyson. Hopefully, these

safety features here at north-west 200 have got a lot better and he is

going to make a full recovery. Best wishes to him. What kind of day are

we expecting tomorrow? There are so many fast guys here. Hutchison has

something to prove. His team-mate is riding the big bike and his other

team-mate on top form. Conditions looked to be good for tomorrow and I

am very excited. I am probably not going to sleep tonight. I hope you

do. A big commentary day tomorrow. Thank you very much indeed and you

can see the first television highlights on BBC One tonight at

9:30pm. There are two crucial

football matches tonight. Carrick face Institute in the second

leg of their play-off tie to determine which club plays

in the Danskebank It's poised one-all

from the first leg. Meanwhile, Ballymena host

Glenavon at the Showgrounds, with the winner claiming

the lucrative prize of a place It would mean an awful lot with

regards to our progress to where we want to take this club. The are of

the clear what we wanted to do and qualifying for Europe would be

great. We have got to go to Ballymena now and it will be

difficult. We have a very good side who is much improved and finished

fourth, deserted late so this year. -- deservedly so. Calls on our late

bulletin with live commentary on radio Ulster.

Six shots off the overnight lead, Rory McIlroy was among the earlier

starters today for the second round of the play at the Players

...And the World Number Two didn't make too much headway.

Starting on the back nine today, he picked up just one shot.

But would drop a shot on the seventh to remain level par

Graeme McDowell is just starting his second round on one under-par.

That is it from the north coast. The road is closed tomorrow. If you are

coming, get here early and if you are not, watch live on the sports

website and the Facebook page. Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the

race. The weather forecast is next. A bit of a mixed bag. The long,

prolonged dry spell has moved on. Changeable this weekend but it will

not be raining all of the time. Some damp weather initially tomorrow

before its search to dry up and brighten up from the south. In

trying to start with on Sunday but showers around during the afternoon.

No pressure at nearby and areas of cloud and rain. The next area of

rain has moved in now heading up to Belfast. It will continue to move

north and west words. A couple of hours of slow moving rain, some of

it quite heavy but by the end of the night, most of it is in the west.

Cloudy, damp and misty with low cloud over the hills. It is a mild

night. Tomorrow, it is damp but it will brighten up from the south as

the morning goes on. Most of the rain will be patchy. The peas will

pick up with time. Not perfect for the north-west but an improving

situation. -- breeze. Some showers before the end of the afternoon. If

you are off to Balmoral for the last day, take an umbrella because it

will be dry and bright for parts of the day. Most places will be dry in

the afternoon and it would be cold. Temperatures up to 17 Celsius. As

the afternoon goes on, shower clouds bubble up Andy shattering of

showers. By tea-time those showers will merge to bring in a more

prolonged spell of rain. It will be wed in the evening. Most rain clears

off by Sunday evening. That will lead into a nice morning on Sunday.

Quite breezy and showers in the afternoon. More tri- band wet

weather. Sunshine and feeling warm in the breeze. The next area of low

pressure arrives on Sunday night and Monday. To begin with next week and

it stays changeable but it will not be cold. Good, a positive note.

Our late summary is at half past ten.