:00:00. > :00:09.A post-mortem examination is to be carried out following the sudden
:00:10. > :00:11.death of a man in his twenties in north Belfast.
:00:12. > :00:15.His body was found in a house on the Antrim Road this morning.
:00:16. > :00:17.A 37-year-old man arrested on suspicion of drugs offences has
:00:18. > :00:22.been released on bail pending further police inquiries.
:00:23. > :00:24.The Finance Minister has announced that a retired appeal court judge
:00:25. > :00:27.will chair a public inquiry into the Renewable
:00:28. > :00:32.Starting next Wednesday, the inquiry will have the power to compel
:00:33. > :00:37.witnesses to appear and evidence to be produced.
:00:38. > :00:39.Last night, the Assembly backed a plan to cut costs
:00:40. > :00:46.Here is our political correspondent Stephen Walker.
:00:47. > :00:48.This was the last sitting of the Assembly so it seemed
:00:49. > :00:51.appropriate the RHI scheme was on the agenda.
:00:52. > :00:53.Today, it was announced that Patrick Coghlin,
:00:54. > :00:55.the retired Lord Justice of the court of
:00:56. > :00:57.Appeal, will chair an enquiry into the scheme.
:00:58. > :01:03.Openness and transparency will be key touchstones
:01:04. > :01:15.Two key requirements that I pointed to earlier, the investigation
:01:16. > :01:19.will have to compel witnesses and evidence.
:01:20. > :01:22.No stone will be unturned, no dark corners for a light will be
:01:23. > :01:38.The DUP has made it clear that we want an independent enquiry capable
:01:39. > :01:47.of getting to the truth regarding -- she will be aware of that under the
:01:48. > :01:51.enquiries act. The potential for a lengthy enquiry and I am somewhat
:01:52. > :01:54.disappointed to hear there is no intention of an interim report.
:01:55. > :01:56.Last night when the plan was presented by the economy minister
:01:57. > :01:58.aiming to cut costs associated with the RHI
:01:59. > :02:11.Today was the final sitting of the Assembly
:02:12. > :02:13.and it seemed appropriate that the issue of the RHI boiler
:02:14. > :02:17.The very subject that got us to this point in the
:02:18. > :02:21.As MLAs take the lead, two questions spring to mind, who
:02:22. > :02:23.will return and when will Stormont come back?
:02:24. > :02:26.Two more MLAs have announced they won't be standing
:02:27. > :02:30.The Ulster Unionist Alastair Ross and the DUP's Sammy Douglas
:02:31. > :02:32.said they won't seek re-election in March.
:02:33. > :02:34.Meanwhile, the Assembly has conducted its last business
:02:35. > :02:36.in the main Chamber before the election on the 2nd March.
:02:37. > :02:38.Tonight, a handful of members debated rural broadband provision.
:02:39. > :02:42.The last MLA on his feet was Jim Wells of the DUP,
:02:43. > :02:44.before Deputy Speaker Catriona Ruane - who's also leaving the Assembly -
:02:45. > :02:54.The Economy Department was due tomorrow to reveal the names of
:02:55. > :02:59.Today a judge temporarily banned publication of the details
:03:00. > :03:04.But not all the scheme's participants are against being
:03:05. > :03:07.named, as our agriculture and environment correspondent
:03:08. > :03:20.Johnny Kelly runs the Fir Trees Hotel.
:03:21. > :03:22.In 2014, he spent ?50,000 putting in a wood pellet burner.
:03:23. > :03:24.He says the income from it is part of
:03:25. > :03:27.plans to pay for a wider hotel refurbishment and if the subsidies
:03:28. > :03:30.He has no qualms about letting people
:03:31. > :03:37.I think it's important in the future as well
:03:38. > :03:39.as publishing the names of people who engaged
:03:40. > :03:42.second publication should go out after the investigation and that
:03:43. > :03:45.should be the names of those people who abused the scheme.
:03:46. > :03:47.Allegations of abuse and the potential for
:03:48. > :03:49.reputational damage are part of the reason many firms
:03:50. > :03:53.300 of them, around a quarter of the total, were part of a group
:03:54. > :03:55.action by the Renewable Heat Association today
:03:56. > :03:57.to stop the economy department publishing the details as planned
:03:58. > :04:03.Only 4% of businesses in the scheme have
:04:04. > :04:05.given permission for the details to be released.
:04:06. > :04:07.For several hours, lawyers argued over
:04:08. > :04:17.which had presidence - privacy or the public interest?
:04:18. > :04:20.The judge reserved his findings for a week but that left
:04:21. > :04:22.the problem of the potential publication of names tomorrow.
:04:23. > :04:24.To address that, he issued an injunction banning the department
:04:25. > :04:26.from issuing the names of anyone who was a member
:04:27. > :04:29.of the Renewable Heat Association as of 5pm this evening.
:04:30. > :04:32.The issue of what happens to anyone else, that was left to the
:04:33. > :04:37.The economy minister was on his feet in the assembly as the
:04:38. > :04:40.It left him in an awkward position about what to
:04:41. > :04:44.I particularly regret the injunction that has been sought and
:04:45. > :04:50.awarded this afternoon because I do think in and of itself it prevents
:04:51. > :04:55.full transparency and I will take the time to consider what can now
:04:56. > :05:00.The truth is that it's probably still
:05:01. > :05:03.The department says it is looking at options for
:05:04. > :05:05.maximum transparency which are consistent
:05:06. > :05:13.The Supreme Court has ruled that Parliament's consent is needed
:05:14. > :05:15.for the Government to trigger Brexit and that the devolved
:05:16. > :05:20.administrations do not have to be consulted.
:05:21. > :05:22.The SDLP says the judgement "undermines the democratic
:05:23. > :05:31.It was the biggest vote in a generation.
:05:32. > :05:33.But while the UK voted to leave the European Union,
:05:34. > :05:38.Northern Ireland, like Scotland, voted to remain.
:05:39. > :05:40.We're leaving anyway, says the Prime Minister.
:05:41. > :05:45.But some aruged that Northern Ireland, as a devolved
:05:46. > :05:49.institution, should have its say, perhaps even a veto,
:05:50. > :05:51.before Article 50 is triggered, and the process
:05:52. > :05:57.Today, the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court,
:05:58. > :06:04.Relations with the EU are a matter for the UK Government.
:06:05. > :06:08.The judges dismissed two legal challenges from Northern Ireland,
:06:09. > :06:12.from political parties and the victims campaigner Raymond McCord.
:06:13. > :06:15.They had argued that the UK could not quit the EU
:06:16. > :06:21.without the consent of the people of Northern Ireland under
:06:22. > :06:23.the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
:06:24. > :06:25.The Supreme Court ruled against the Government,
:06:26. > :06:27.stating Parliament must be consulted before talks begin
:06:28. > :06:33.However, they ruled the assembly here at Stormont
:06:34. > :06:35.or any other devolved matter, doesn't have to be
:06:36. > :06:38.There's been a mixed reaction to the judgement.
:06:39. > :06:40.Good result for the people of Northern Ireland.
:06:41. > :06:42.56% of people from Northern Ireland voted to remain.
:06:43. > :06:45.We said all along that it has to go to
:06:46. > :06:53.We are very disappointed that the Supreme Court and the
:06:54. > :06:57.British Government do not recognise that this Assembly and other
:06:58. > :06:59.devolved assemblies should have the right to have a say
:07:00. > :07:07.We believe it drives a coach and horse through the
:07:08. > :07:10.devolution that we have fought so long for and worked
:07:11. > :07:16.SDLP MPs will be voting against the triggering of Article 50.
:07:17. > :07:18.But it seems unlikely the vote will do anything other
:07:19. > :07:20.than delay the legislation passing through Parliament.
:07:21. > :07:22.The Government says it's still aiming to begin negotiations
:07:23. > :07:29.on withdrawing from the EU by the end of March.
:07:30. > :07:31.The police have released unconditionally two men aged 36
:07:32. > :07:35.and 39, who were arrested over Sunday's attempted murder
:07:36. > :07:40.A 30-year-old man remains in custody.
:07:41. > :07:43.Up to ten bullets were fired during the attack at a busy petrol
:07:44. > :07:50.The officer who was among the customers was wounded in the arm.
:07:51. > :07:52.An update now on story we highlighted yesterday
:07:53. > :07:55.about a potentially life changing drug.
:07:56. > :07:57.Three children who suffer from a severe muscle wasting
:07:58. > :08:00.disease are waiting to see if they will get the drug.
:08:01. > :08:02.Their parents accused the Belfast Trust of not
:08:03. > :08:07.Today the Health Minister blamed a breakdown in communication
:08:08. > :08:14.and said the families could expect to meet clinicians on Thursday.
:08:15. > :08:16.Let's have a look at the weather prospects now.
:08:17. > :08:28.Keyed evening. No frost tonight. The mild air that arrived today stays
:08:29. > :08:33.with us tonight. There is lots of cloud and foggy over the hills, odd
:08:34. > :08:38.spots of drizzle and the breeze will pick up. Quite windy at times
:08:39. > :08:42.especially in the exposed parts of the east coast. Tomorrow the
:08:43. > :08:46.southerly wind will be brisk. Fortunately, lots of dry weather to
:08:47. > :08:52.come and it should still be on the mild side. Because of that breeze,
:08:53. > :08:57.it should break up the cloud. A dry start, quite cloudy but breaking up
:08:58. > :09:00.in places of the day goes on. Much colder if you're travelling across
:09:01. > :09:05.south-east England, southern England, some frost ice and fog and
:09:06. > :09:09.it will be chilly, especially for the fog sticks. Dry weather across
:09:10. > :09:13.most parts of Britain, most of the rain falling over north-west
:09:14. > :09:18.Scotland and the west coast of Ireland. Possibly gale force wind at
:09:19. > :09:22.times. Once again tomorrow we will see temperatures in double digits. A
:09:23. > :09:28.little bit brighter, less gloomy compared to today and generally dry.
:09:29. > :09:33.Things are going to cool down because we start to drag our error
:09:34. > :09:38.in familiar continent which has been extremely cold of late. It will
:09:39. > :09:43.still be a keen wind. Much cooler Thursday on words. Temperatures will
:09:44. > :09:47.fall, dampness, strong winds and initially but those winds will start
:09:48. > :09:51.to ease. Frost in places this coming weekend. Mild tomorrow.