06/10/2016 BBC Newsline

to the party chairman. What does he think is causing

A second senior Orangeman has said the Order should consider lifting

a ban on members attending services in a Catholic Church.

Yesterday the Reverend Mervyn Gibson, who is a Grand Chaplain,

said his personal view was that the rule should change.

Today David McNarry, a past Assistant Grand Master, agreed.

The Orange Order's rules go back centuries, but some believe it's now

time for a rethink on the ban on members going to

Grand Chaplain the Reverend Mervyn Gibson said it yesterday.

It can be changed and it may be changed but that harks back to

The opportunity is there for the institution itself

Would you like to see that change personally?

Mervin has generated a discussion that I think the

I agree with what he said today individually.

At the moment I don't detect there is a clamour,

because there is no-one really being admonished if they

This is entirely a matter for the Grand Lodge

I have no doubt there will be strong opinions on both sides,

but I think there are occasions when it is the right thing to do.

It is what David Trimble did after the Omagh bomb.

Even though he was an Orangemen, the then First Minister went

to a Catholic Church for the funeral of three young victims.

Mr Trimble, you are particularly welcome with your entourage.

It was a talking point then and now it is again.

The next meeting of the Orange Order's ruling Grand Lodge

Will the matter be raised at that meeting?

But whether it is raised or not, there

And a former Presbyterian Church moderator believes

If I was a betting man, and I have never placed

a bet in my life, I would say the Order will change the rule.

If not in this decade, certainly in the next decade.

All sides of the argument agree on one thing -

And there'll be more on this story directly after this

Yes, Tara, I'll be asking three people who've played significant

roles in the loyal orders when they think that

And we'll also have a head-to-head on Brexit.

I'll be joined in the studio by the former First Minister Lord

Trimble and the Sinn Fein MLA John O'Dowd to discuss if

a hard border with the Republic is an inevitable

The Home Office says a consultation regarding plans to monitor how many

foreign workers are employed by individual firms will

cover Northern Ireland - as immigration is not

Earlier I spoke to our political editor Mark Devenport

about the plans, which have been controversial across the water.

Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, said she thought some firms weren't

training enough local workers and she could nudge them into better

behaviour by getting them to register what percentage of their

workforce was international. That has been criticised by some local

politicians here, the SDLP call that xenophobic rhetoric and they were

concerned about Irish workers in England, Sinn Fein concerned about

cross-border workers. Because this idea seems to cover employment

matters, which are devolved to Stormont, and immigration matters

which are dealt with by the Home Office, I asked the Home Office

today and they said it will apply to Northern Ireland. How they will

define international workers, I think we will have to wait until

they put that document out to see the detail.

The agency investigating the sale of Nama's Northern Ireland property

portfolio has broken its silence on the inquiry.

In an exclusive interview the director general

of the National Crime Agency has revealed that six people regarded

Lynne Owens said they are treating the case as a high priority.

Our home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney reports.

This is the headquarters of the organisation

It's from here that the National Crime Agency's investigation

into Nama's Northern Ireland property sale is being directed.

It was here I met the agency's director general for

the first interview she's given about the inquiry.

Since the beginning of the enquiry, we have interviewed

Six of the people remain under criminal investigation.

We have interviewed over 40 witnesses.

We have achieved a number of court orders,

both for private properties and public locations,

Did you question seven people under caution,

They were interviewed under caution with agreement.

Do you envisage further arrests at this stage?

We definitely can't rule it out at this stage.

The NCA says the possible crimes being investigated include bribery,

The agency says it's impossible to say how long

When asked if she was confident there would be criminal charges,

That isn't a decision for me to make.

a search for the truth, to compel the evidence

and to put those files of evidence to a prosecutor's office. They will

make a judgment whether there is a case to answer

Our job is to make sure our investigation is

The NCA has confirmed to the BBC that two men arrested

as part of the investigation in May were released

The fact that they were released from police bail so quickly suggests

As you know there is a big debate about bail legislation.

At the moment we should not hold people on bail

longer than is necessary, but neither should people draw

any conclusion about that release from bail.

The agency's director general was in Belfast today, briefing

members of the Policing Board about the investigation.

She said the NCA is working with law enforcement agencies

in other parts of the UK, the Republic of Ireland,

Last night we heard from the 23-year-old man who blinded

It's being investigated by the Justice Committee

following a highly critical report which found prison officers stood

and watched for over an hour without intervening.

At a committee hearing today the Prison Ombudsman told MLAs

the shocking incident was down to failures inside

Sean Lynch was detained in a part of Maghaberry which,

the Ombudsman found, was "unsuitable for managing

The report also declared that Mr Lynch's "increasingly bizarre

and violent" conduct was met by short-term responses

On the night Sean Lynch blinded himself, two young

I feel particularly, I have to say, for the two young inexperienced

Quite simply on that night when he first

raised the alarm, they were not sure what to do.

They summoned help, which came sometime later.

They were at the sharp end of a series of failings

over the previous eight weeks or so and it wasn't down to

Sean Lynch was remanded to Maghaberry after breaching bail

conditions on charges of assault and criminal damage.

During his detention, according to the Ombudsman,

he was taken to outside hospitals twice.

It is also important to realise that Mr Lynch had quite properly been

taken to outside hospital on two previous occasions.

But on both of those instances, two different hospitals

because he was a prisoner, those hospitals

failed in fulfilling the duty of care.

Also before the committee today, Sue McAllister,

director general of the Prison Service.

She says she hopes to meet Sean Lynch's family this month and

I am sorry for the life changing injuries

that Mr Lynch sustained while in our care.

Today's hearings here at Stormont are part of an ongoing debate

about people with mental health issues who are going

through the justice system, and in particular how

The Republic of Ireland have beaten Georgia 1-0

in the World Cup qualifier at the Aviva Stadium tonight.

It wasn't a vintage performance from the home side at this victory leaves

Martin O'Neill's team well placed in group D with four points from a

possible six. Georgia looked more dangerous in the first 45 minutes,

most notably when these two headers and quick succession struck the

woodwork. Jonathan Wood Walters went closest for the Irish but it was

only in the second half that they cause the Georgians problems. Then

Seamus Coleman surged four from right back and his attempted cross

deflected back into his path, and the captain fondled the ball over

the line. James Maclean had the ball in the net shortly after the goal

was ruled out for offside. There was concern around the stadium when

Robbie Briggs clashed with the Georgian defender and appeared to

suffer a serious injury. The game was delayed as he received

treatment, later leading the pitch on a stretcher while taking oxygen.

Maclean was unfortunate to see his header go off the crossbar in injury

time. The Republic are back in action on Sunday against Moldova but

they will be without Geoff Kendrick, who will be off through suspension.

Are you or members of your family permanently

Well, on BBC Newsline next week we'll have a special series

looking at smartphones and digital technology.

Four out of five adults now use a smartphone.

And the latest research suggests more and more of us are

So what impact is this having on our lives?

What is it doing to our social lives?

Good question, and how is it changing the way we work

And what impact is it having on our health?

On BBC Newsline next week we will be taking a close look.

Oh, and I will be ditching my smartphone for seven days

We have a few showers creeping into the forecast in the next two days

but for tonight it is mainly dry, those winds easing down and with

those clear spells lingering, temperatures in the countryside will

get down to work seven or eight, but it starts to cloud over from the

south-east later in the night and tomorrow will be cloudier. A few

showers in the forecast and tomorrow morning the bulk of those will drift

into eastern counties but they are alike and scattered so there will be

places that don't see many and the West may start out on the bright

side. Across the rest of Ireland and Britain, a mixture of bright spells,

cloud, a few showers pushing in off Sea coast and parts of southern and

can almost any personally cut the odd shower that the emphasis still

on dry weather. Best sunshine reserved for the West, western

Scotland, North West England and the West of Ireland but feeling cool in

the breeze. To Northern Ireland in the afternoon, still one or two

showers, most of those towards the north-east and the North Coast, not

many in the West and this is the best place for brighter intervals

and the showers will taper away in the East. I cruise feeling day, 13

or 14 degrees, but the winds are alike and they continue that way

into the weekend, the isobars opening, keeping those winds light,

a few bright spells and mainly dry. Our next BBC Newsline is at 6:25am

during Breakfast here on BBC One.