:00:00. > :00:11.David Ford is stepping down as leader of the Alliance party.
:00:12. > :00:15.The South Antrim MLA is the party's longest serving leader,
:00:16. > :00:18.Here's our political editor, Mark Devenport.
:00:19. > :00:20.I hope you'll be voting for Alliance.
:00:21. > :00:26.A social worker before he entered politics,
:00:27. > :00:34.David Ford has represented South Antrim for 18 years.
:00:35. > :00:37.For the past 15 years he's been the Alliance leader, and in 2010
:00:38. > :00:39.he made history by becoming the first local Justice
:00:40. > :00:47.12 years and two days ago the politicians of Northern Ireland,
:00:48. > :00:51.the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach stood on the steps to record
:00:52. > :00:56.a significant step forward in the peace process.
:00:57. > :01:04.-- or not these steps. -- on these steps.
:01:05. > :01:06.To date we have seen another significant step forward
:01:07. > :01:09.in the police and political process as we see further entrenching
:01:10. > :01:10.of the in situations agreed on Good Friday.
:01:11. > :01:14.As minister he tackled the high cost of legal aid, and tried to reform
:01:15. > :01:17.At times, the pressure seemed all too clear, such
:01:18. > :01:20.as when he was asked if the Prison Service director
:01:21. > :01:22.should resign after a highly critical report on Maghaberry jail.
:01:23. > :01:26.I said two questions, that was three.
:01:27. > :01:33.You were told I had time for two questions and I had to see
:01:34. > :01:35.the Secretary of State, and I will not be resigning.
:01:36. > :01:38.A high point came when Naomi Long became the first Alliance politician
:01:39. > :01:43.to be elected as an MP in East Belfast.
:01:44. > :01:51.But Mrs Long and other Alliance representatives suffered
:01:52. > :01:53.intimidation, after the party voted to limit the number of days
:01:54. > :02:00.the Union flag should fly over Belfast City Hall.
:02:01. > :02:08.It was a high point to see the way my colleagues stood absolutely firm
:02:09. > :02:12.by our principles. I think that shows the strength we have. We may
:02:13. > :02:14.not have vast numbers compared to other parties, but we have a
:02:15. > :02:22.cohesion and we work together. The 250 members of Alliance's ruling
:02:23. > :02:25.council will meet in three weeks' Any of Mr Ford's seven MLA
:02:26. > :02:29.colleagues is entitled to stand. That said, party insiders predict
:02:30. > :02:31.that Naomi Long could be Mrs Long becomes acting leader
:02:32. > :02:40.tomorrow when Mr Ford formally stands down,
:02:41. > :02:42.and she is without doubt the clear A Londonderry man who blinded
:02:43. > :02:46.himself after self-harming in Maghaberry prison says he misses
:02:47. > :02:48.seeing the joy and happiness A prison ombudsman report found that
:02:49. > :02:56.two prison officers stood and watched for over an hour
:02:57. > :02:59.as Sean Lynch injured himself Two years on, he's still
:03:00. > :03:02.extremely distressed Here's our North West
:03:03. > :03:07.reporter, Keiron Tourish. Even a simple trip to the park can
:03:08. > :03:23.present problems for Sean Lynch. Each day when I waken is a lot
:03:24. > :03:27.tougher than it used to be. I used to be able to get up
:03:28. > :03:30.in the morning and get dressed and get out on my bicycle and go
:03:31. > :03:34.on a run, and since this happened at Maghaberry,
:03:35. > :03:45.I can't get none of it done. From an early age Sean Lynch showed
:03:46. > :03:47.enthusiasm for sport, and had a number of cross-channel sports
:03:48. > :03:56.after his signature. But his life took a different turn
:03:57. > :03:59.and he developed a history It was while in Maghaberry
:04:00. > :04:08.prison that he blinded The prison ombudsman said
:04:09. > :04:15.he inflicted extreme self-harm. They said CCTV cameras showed
:04:16. > :04:18.Sean Lynch shouting in pain and banging his cell door,
:04:19. > :04:27.but two officers watched His family say the way in which
:04:28. > :04:35.authorities have reacted to the ombudsman's report caused great
:04:36. > :04:42.anguish as well. There has been no apology. He lives from day to day
:04:43. > :04:44.now. He lives in darkness everyday. What do you miss the most when you
:04:45. > :04:53.hear your family's voices? I miss being able to sit
:04:54. > :04:56.and have a one-to-one The head of the prison service,
:04:57. > :05:03.Sue McAllister, defended her staff and said they had looked
:05:04. > :05:05.after Sean Lynch in a caring and professional way,
:05:06. > :05:08.and it should not be about a portion -- it should not be about
:05:09. > :05:19.apportioning blame. In the face of the report compiled
:05:20. > :05:25.by the ombudsman that is nonsense because several of her staff watched
:05:26. > :05:37.for 67 minutes as Mr Lynch inflicts Sean Lynch knows his life will never
:05:38. > :05:49.be the same again, but says he is determined to move on,
:05:50. > :05:52.and he says he knows he can depend on the help,
:05:53. > :05:55.love and support of his family. The Finance Minister has told
:05:56. > :05:57.a Stormont committee he has no questions to answer regarding secret
:05:58. > :05:59.communications between a former Sinn Fein MLA
:06:00. > :06:01.and a loyalist blogger. Mairtin O Muilleoir was questioned
:06:02. > :06:03.about the exchanges between Daithi McKay
:06:04. > :06:05.and Jamie Bryson, ahead of Mr Bryson's appearance before
:06:06. > :06:07.an inquiry into Nama. Mr O Muilleoir said those
:06:08. > :06:19.questioning his conduct hadn't Mairtin O Muilleoir used to ask the
:06:20. > :06:28.questions on this committee; today he was called to answer some. Let me
:06:29. > :06:34.say first, right from the off I have no questions to answer for this. If
:06:35. > :06:40.two men in the coffee room are talking about me, someone might say
:06:41. > :06:47.I have questions to answer, but I have no questions to answer to them.
:06:48. > :06:51.He sat on this committee with his party colleague Daithi McKay during
:06:52. > :06:56.the last Assembly. Mr Mackay stood down as an MLA during the summer
:06:57. > :07:01.when it was revealed he had been in contact with Loyalist blogger Jamie
:07:02. > :07:06.Bryson. Daithi McKay has always insisted he knew nothing about this
:07:07. > :07:13.communication. -- these communications. You weren't aware he
:07:14. > :07:19.was in contact with Jamie Bryson? I think I've answered that one. Let's
:07:20. > :07:23.go to question number three. Were you aware of the contact from
:07:24. > :07:31.anybody else apart from Daithi McKay? Did you exchange any
:07:32. > :07:35.electronic communication with Daithi McKay about Jamie Bryson in general?
:07:36. > :07:43.I think I have answered that one as well. Very authoritatively. At times
:07:44. > :07:46.during exchanges with the committee chair, patients seemed in short
:07:47. > :07:55.supply. Are you having a conversation with the or are you
:07:56. > :08:02.refusing to answer questions? I am trying to differentiate between
:08:03. > :08:12.conversations we had... I have no involvement whatsoever with this
:08:13. > :08:17.particular affair. Nothing. Whatever MLAs learned today, what is clear is
:08:18. > :08:21.that we have not heard the end of the allegations which brought down
:08:22. > :08:27.an MLA. The PSNI are currently considering whether or not a crime
:08:28. > :08:28.has been committed, and an inquiry by the Assembly standards
:08:29. > :08:31.commissioner is still to take place. It's been claimed that "no full
:08:32. > :08:33.stop, no comma, no phrase" of the Good Friday Agreement
:08:34. > :08:36.could prevent Northern Ireland The Attorney General John Larkin
:08:37. > :08:39.made his comments during the second day of hearings for legal
:08:40. > :08:41.challenges to the government's Two separate challenges
:08:42. > :08:46.to Brexit have been brought - one by Raymond McCord,
:08:47. > :08:48.whose son was murdered by the UVF; the other
:08:49. > :08:52.by a cross-party group of MLAs. More than 37,000 people from the UK
:08:53. > :08:55.have applied for an Irish passport Almost half of them have come
:08:56. > :09:00.from Northern Ireland. BBC Newsline's Mark Simpson has been
:09:01. > :09:05.looking at the numbers. The rush for Irish
:09:06. > :09:07.passports began the day So many people wanted to pick
:09:08. > :09:18.up an application form from a Post Office, that some
:09:19. > :09:21.in Belfast had to put up notices So we knew there'd been an immediate
:09:22. > :09:25.increase in applications. Today we got the figures
:09:26. > :09:27.for the past three months. Across the UK, a total
:09:28. > :09:30.of 37,306 people applied And that included more than 15,000
:09:31. > :09:38.from Northern Ireland. That's a lot more than during
:09:39. > :09:41.the same period last year; However, there is some evidence
:09:42. > :09:47.that the real rush is now over, and applications
:09:48. > :09:52.are now slowing down. Right, what about across the water,
:09:53. > :09:55.in England, Scotland and Wales? Well, the total number
:09:56. > :09:57.of UK applicants included That's a 97% rise on the same
:09:58. > :10:01.period last year. And there seems to be no end
:10:02. > :10:09.to the rush over there - month by month, the
:10:10. > :10:14.numbers keep going up. According to the Times
:10:15. > :10:16.newspaper last week, at least ten MPs or peers
:10:17. > :10:19.at Westminster have applied for Irish passports
:10:20. > :10:21.since the Brexit vote. That's the downside
:10:22. > :10:26.of the new figures - We don't know exactly
:10:27. > :10:38.who the 37,000 new applicants are. A ?35 million road scheme,
:10:39. > :10:41.which will take 7,000 cars a day out of a busy regional
:10:42. > :10:42.town, opens tomorrow. The A31 Magherafelt Bypass has
:10:43. > :10:44.been completed several The new bypass runs through
:10:45. > :10:51.four miles of countryside Work began last April,
:10:52. > :10:54.and the finishing touches are still being applied
:10:55. > :11:14.to what was a big project. We have during construction moved
:11:15. > :11:21.500 -- 500,000 cubic metres of Earth. A lot of it was sourced
:11:22. > :11:24.locally. And we have laid about 46,000 tonnes of road surfacing.
:11:25. > :11:27.On BBC Newsline tomorrow we look at the cost of going to university.
:11:28. > :11:30.This family in Garvagh is one of the many thousands who take
:11:31. > :11:36.On the programme we hear more about that long term debt.
:11:37. > :11:39.And Donna Traynor will be looking at the daily costs putting
:11:40. > :11:50.The weather forecast now, with Angie Philips.
:11:51. > :11:56.High pressure over Scandinavia continues to dominate, keeping those
:11:57. > :12:01.weather fronts to the west of us and as a result mainly dry. So the
:12:02. > :12:06.weather fronts have moved away, it was a much drier day today. The
:12:07. > :12:11.white lines have been packing in, so the breeze picked up again and it is
:12:12. > :12:17.going to be staying with us through the rest of the night. Quite cool,
:12:18. > :12:20.temperatures dropping into single figures, seven or 8 degrees, and
:12:21. > :12:25.later in the night we will get more cloud edging in. I think there is
:12:26. > :12:29.going to be more cloud around generally tomorrow, but still fairly
:12:30. > :12:35.dry. It could be quite dull and places tomorrow morning; elsewhere
:12:36. > :12:42.across the Republic of Ireland and Britain, the emphasis on dry
:12:43. > :12:47.weather. The best of any breaks of cloud -- the cloud thick enough in
:12:48. > :12:51.parts of the East, particularly south east of England, to produce a
:12:52. > :12:56.few showers, but otherwise the emphasis here also on a lot of dry
:12:57. > :13:01.weather. Temperatures only in the mid teens. For the afternoon, we are
:13:02. > :13:05.looking at a fair amount of cloud. Still drive though, and hopefully
:13:06. > :13:10.the breeze will churn up the cloud to get the odd bright interval or
:13:11. > :13:17.sunny interval. But feeling cool here as well. Risk of one or two
:13:18. > :13:20.showers on Friday morning. Other than that, mainly dry, and the
:13:21. > :13:21.breeze eases down for the weekend as well.
:13:22. > :13:25.Our next BBC Newsline is at 6:25 in the morning during Breakfast
:13:26. > :13:29.You can also keep updated with News Online.