09/08/2016

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:00:08. > :00:10.Figures show one of Northern Ireland's newest tourist attractions

:00:11. > :00:13.has been closed for virtually half of its first year in business.

:00:14. > :00:17.The Gobbins, a ?7.5 million coastal walk

:00:18. > :00:22.in East Antrim, is currently missing out at peak season because

:00:23. > :00:28.Here's our business correspondent, Julian O'Neill.

:00:29. > :00:30.The Gobbins cliff path is breathtaking, but bare

:00:31. > :00:36.It's currently enduring its second shutdown.

:00:37. > :00:41.This one began in June because of rock falls.

:00:42. > :00:45.The discovery centre at its Islandmagee base is open,

:00:46. > :00:48.but the main attraction is off-limits as the first anniversary

:00:49. > :00:59.Today's the 160th day of lost business this year.

:01:00. > :01:03.Financial projections have been ripped up.

:01:04. > :01:05.On top of thousands of unsold tickets, there are the unspecified

:01:06. > :01:13.This closure, and one caused by storm damage earlier this year,

:01:14. > :01:17.have put a big dent in visitor numbers.

:01:18. > :01:21.The goal is to draw 70,000 people annually.

:01:22. > :01:26.But year one will fall short at just under 24,000.

:01:27. > :01:34.I would expect no one expected this at the outset.

:01:35. > :01:37.I think the important thing is we deal with the issues at hand

:01:38. > :01:41.The number of visitors that have gone through on the days

:01:42. > :01:43.we have been open have been quite impressive.

:01:44. > :01:46.The scale of the problem is unclear, but there has been no quick fix

:01:47. > :01:49.and no end to tourists turning up to be turned away.

:01:50. > :01:53.We didn't know that it was closed, and we were very disappointed,

:01:54. > :02:00.Before coming, we prepared our travel, and we wanted

:02:01. > :02:10.Mid and East Antrim Council operates the Gobbins, but one

:02:11. > :02:14.of the area's MLAs wonders whether it's up to the job.

:02:15. > :02:18.Is this project too big for the council to run?

:02:19. > :02:22.Should we be looking outside of the box here to give it

:02:23. > :02:29.to somebody who can really run it, promote it and expand it?

:02:30. > :02:31.Initially the council said this current closure

:02:32. > :02:36.But it now spans three months, with each lost day

:02:37. > :02:47.A pipe bomb has been made safe after a security

:02:48. > :02:53.Army technical experts were called to examine what police

:02:54. > :02:55.described as a viable device, which was found in

:02:56. > :03:00.A number of families had to be moved from their homes during the alert,

:03:01. > :03:02.which began at around seven o'clock this morning.

:03:03. > :03:06.The bomb has been taken away for forensic examination.

:03:07. > :03:17.A 42-year-old man is still being questioned

:03:18. > :03:19.A 42-year-old man who was being questioned

:03:20. > :03:25.about the murder of a prominent member of the UDA in north Belfast

:03:26. > :03:27.on Sunday night has been released unconditionally.

:03:28. > :03:29.John Boreland, a 46-year-old father of three,

:03:30. > :03:31.died after being shot close to his home in Sunningdale Gardens

:03:32. > :03:34.Detectives say tensions among loyalist paramilitaries

:03:35. > :03:36.and criminality are among their lines of inquiry.

:03:37. > :03:38.The chief executive of Sport NI, Antoinette McKeown, says she's

:03:39. > :03:40.still waiting for a formal explanation for her

:03:41. > :03:48.It's almost a year and a half since she was suspended.

:03:49. > :03:49.She spoke to our reporter Mark Sidebottom.

:03:50. > :03:56.Earlier, he told Mark Carruthers what she'd been saying.

:03:57. > :04:05.Sport NI is the body responsible for the development of sport here. In

:04:06. > :04:09.early 2013, Antoinette McKeown became its chief Executive,

:04:10. > :04:15.incidentally the first women to lead the organisation. In 2015 she was

:04:16. > :04:20.suspended for, we believe, a series of grievances lodged both by her and

:04:21. > :04:28.against her. Why has she decided to speak out now? NSX, she is saying

:04:29. > :04:33.she has nothing to hide. She is saying to Sport NI, put up or shut

:04:34. > :04:39.up. She preferred not to record a broadcast interview, but she was

:04:40. > :04:44.very candid and on the record when she spoke to me. Here is the bones

:04:45. > :04:47.of what she said. She said she respects the process and the bus

:04:48. > :04:54.majority of Sport NI staff and looks forward to working with them again.

:04:55. > :05:00.She adds, I was brought in to do a difficult task, to lead change in

:05:01. > :05:06.Sport NI, and that is a task which I began and intend seeing through. Is

:05:07. > :05:12.she so being paid for doing the job? Interesting question. When

:05:13. > :05:16.advertised, the salary bracket was ?75,000 to ?85,000. Sport and I will

:05:17. > :05:20.neither confirm nor deny it Antoinette McKeown is substandard

:05:21. > :05:28.uncle salary, but it is my clear understanding that she is suspended

:05:29. > :05:32.on full pay. -- is suspended on full salary. Sport NI will not comment on

:05:33. > :05:39.specifics. The only thing they will say is that they can confirm that

:05:40. > :05:41.Antoinette McKeown remains impulse. Has the Stormont department

:05:42. > :05:45.responsible for Sport NI had anything to say about this latest

:05:46. > :05:49.development? That is the Department for communities, shored up by Paul

:05:50. > :05:53.Gibbon. They issued a brief statement this afternoon which kicks

:05:54. > :06:00.the bowl back here. The key lay in the statement

:06:01. > :06:09.NSX, they are saying, sort of this one out yourselves, and if there is

:06:10. > :06:12.not a solution soon, this could end up in the courts. Rather messy.

:06:13. > :06:15.A new system for making appointments with a GP is being trialled

:06:16. > :06:18.It sees patients being offered an assessment over

:06:19. > :06:20.the phone and then advised whether they actually need to come

:06:21. > :06:23.Our health correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly has been

:06:24. > :06:31.to see how it's working for a surgery in Londonderry.

:06:32. > :06:35.Hello, Abby Medical Practice, can I help you?

:06:36. > :06:37.First thing this morning, and the receptionists start fielding

:06:38. > :06:39.calls from patients looking to see a GP.

:06:40. > :06:41.There is no need to give me any symptoms.

:06:42. > :06:44.A name and number is taken and a brief reason why the patient

:06:45. > :06:54.After a telephone assessment, they will decide whether the patient

:06:55. > :06:57.needs to come in, or perhaps advise that a visit to the local

:06:58. > :07:01.Another difference is that patients cannot make appointments in advance.

:07:02. > :07:06.It is all about what is happening on the day.

:07:07. > :07:14.Life before the new system was hectic, very, very busy.

:07:15. > :07:18.a doctor and possibly longer for a named doctor.

:07:19. > :07:22.Life is busy still, but manageably busy.

:07:23. > :07:23.Like many surgeries, Abbey Medical simply

:07:24. > :07:27.does not have enough GPs to meet growing demand.

:07:28. > :07:28.According to the British Medical Association,

:07:29. > :07:42.We have asked for the department to implement its own workforce review,

:07:43. > :07:45.which said there should be 111 GPs trained each year.

:07:46. > :07:49.We are training 85 this year. So up to 111.

:07:50. > :07:51.If we trained as many as Scotland we would be training 143.

:07:52. > :07:56.Are they being denied that sometimes crucial face-to-face contact

:07:57. > :08:06.What I need from Abbey Medical I still get.

:08:07. > :08:11.This morning I ran to see if I could get an appointment.

:08:12. > :08:14.They talked me through what was wrong.

:08:15. > :08:16.And here I am having had my appointment.

:08:17. > :08:18.Since 2014, hundreds of millions of pounds has been invested

:08:19. > :08:22.in general practice here, but the BMA says it is not enough.

:08:23. > :08:23.The introduction of this new appointment system

:08:24. > :08:29.Firstly how a growing number of practices across Northern Ireland

:08:30. > :08:36.But it also shows how the public and the health service can change

:08:37. > :08:46.Something we are probably going to see a lot more of.

:08:47. > :08:48.The Irish boxer Michael O'Reilly, who was provisionally suspended

:08:49. > :08:53.from the Olympics for failing a drugs test, has admitted

:08:54. > :08:56.he unintentionally took a banned substance.

:08:57. > :08:59.For the latest, let's join Stephen Watson live in Rio.

:09:00. > :09:14.The Olympic Council of Ireland has tonight confirmed that boxer Michael

:09:15. > :09:17.O'Reilly will not be contesting that provisional suspension. It was

:09:18. > :09:22.imposed last week because of a violation of anti-doping rules.

:09:23. > :09:28.Riley was dropped to the before he left for Brazil, but a statement

:09:29. > :09:34.said he unintentionally took a supplement that may have contained a

:09:35. > :09:40.prohibited substance, given by him -- to him by someone unrelated to

:09:41. > :09:42.his team. He apologised to his team-mates and the association, and

:09:43. > :09:53.will now be sent home from the Games.

:09:54. > :09:56.Elsewhere, one of NI's big medal hopes made an early

:09:57. > :10:06.Add to the end of the race, exhaustion and disappointment. Peter

:10:07. > :10:10.Chambers's Olympics was over. His crew were strongly tipped to repeat

:10:11. > :10:15.the success of London 2012. Great Britain have to wake up your, they

:10:16. > :10:19.are in danger of going out. They needed to finish in the top three,

:10:20. > :10:24.but they could only manage fourth, and were knocked out. We did pretty

:10:25. > :10:30.much everything we could. We just not could not hang onto that or

:10:31. > :10:35.third place when the pace was getting too hot. That is what we

:10:36. > :10:38.signed up for. Olympic racing is not easy, and it is obviously hard to

:10:39. > :10:42.take. You can take for granted that you will do well. But there was

:10:43. > :10:48.better fortune for Alan Campbell, who cruised into the last four of

:10:49. > :10:52.the men's single sculls. What I have got to do is put everything out for

:10:53. > :10:56.the semifinal, and I think there will be a lot of people bringing out

:10:57. > :11:01.the big race for the semifinal, just to make sure they get themselves in

:11:02. > :11:07.that race for medals. If I can get into the race by the medals, we will

:11:08. > :11:10.discuss it then. I am ready. Elsewhere, T Marilyn's hockey

:11:11. > :11:20.players were in action against Germany. The work one -

:11:21. > :11:28.-- T Marilyn's hockey players. We have battled against them and prove

:11:29. > :11:33.that we are here to complete. Obviously they are a bit more

:11:34. > :11:38.clinical than us at the minute, but it is something we have to work on

:11:39. > :11:41.for the next games. Ireland have two games left, and they will probably

:11:42. > :11:43.have to win both to reach the quarterfinals. More like from Rio

:11:44. > :11:47.tomorrow. Let's get a look at the weather

:11:48. > :11:58.prospects now with Geoff Maskell. Good evening. After a couple of days

:11:59. > :12:02.of sunshine and showers, it really is all change tonight. A much

:12:03. > :12:08.greater and duller fielder weather over the next few days, and quite a

:12:09. > :12:12.lot of rain over the second-half of this week. This is the picture

:12:13. > :12:16.overnight tonight. Briefly dry before workload and rain moving in

:12:17. > :12:21.from the Atlantic. The upside is it means things will be a bit more

:12:22. > :12:25.miles than other recent nights. Tomorrow a different feeling day.

:12:26. > :12:30.Dull, grey, rain setting over us pretty much throughout the day. A

:12:31. > :12:33.bit of a north-westerly breeze as well, and that conveyed with clouds

:12:34. > :12:37.and rain mean temperatures for Wednesday are really not getting

:12:38. > :12:43.much out of 14 or 15 Celsius, so well down on what we would expect

:12:44. > :12:46.for this time of year. You can see what is going on year. Sites are

:12:47. > :12:51.quite dry across eastern half of the UK, but increasingly cloudy and that

:12:52. > :12:57.band of that Green works this way. That is during the day. It clears

:12:58. > :13:00.overnight Wednesday into Thursday, but that brings its own challenges.

:13:01. > :13:04.This area of high-pressure sinks away and you can see how tightly

:13:05. > :13:09.packed the isobars are around it. That means stronger breeze before

:13:10. > :13:12.the next band of rain works its way in on Friday. A few showers on

:13:13. > :13:17.Thursday, but the moves through quite quickly on that breeze. A

:13:18. > :13:22.little bit warmer. Temperatures into the higher teams. Things do improved

:13:23. > :13:24.as we moved through weekend and into the start of the next week.

:13:25. > :13:28.Our next BBC Newsline is at 6:25am during Breakfast here on BBC One.

:13:29. > :13:31.You can also keep updated with News Online.