26/01/2017 BBC Newsline

The Director of Public Prosecutions says critics who've accused him

of treating former soldiers unfairly by deciding to prosecute some

for Troubles-related killings have insulted him and his team.

Our Home Affairs Correspondent Vincent Kearney asked Barra McGrory

to respond to claims that he's not impartial because as a solicitor

he represented the Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams

Mystified is the mildest way I can put it because anyone

who is informed about these matters would know that as a professional

lawyer you represent anybody who seeks the representation from you.

I have been a professional lawyer for 30 years, during which period

I have represented loyalist paramilitaries, republican

paramilitaries, members of the DUP, members of Sinn Fein,

I have represented a broad cross-section of people.

Who I have represented in the past really has nothing to do with it.

As Director of Public Prosecutions now, do you view that

criticism as an attempt to influence your decision making,

an attempt to put pressure on you not to prosecute former soldiers?

I can't speak for the motivation of people who say such things

but some of them ought to know better.

If they're not trying to influence me, then

they are certainly being personally insulting and questioning

What concerns me more about that is it is insulting

to this office and to lawyers who work here and do their work

daily with absolute integrity, and to the best of their ability.

I am personally offended by the remarks, but I am

more offended on behalf of the individuals who work

for the public presecution service and who do a fantastic job.

I think those making the comments ought to think a bit more

Politicians have been divided on what Mr McGrory said

The DUP leader Arlene Foster said there was a disproportionate

emphasis on the state, while the Ulster Unionist Doug

Beattie, who's a former soldier, said the perception from a large

portion of the community was that investigations

Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly defended Mr McGrory,

saying it was a scurrilous attack and that he was acting

The former Alliance leader David Ford also defended him.

The View will have more on legacy issues shortly -

here's Mark Carruthers with the details.

That's right, Rick - we have Sir Jeffrey Donaldson

and Gerry Kelly in the studio on the day when a senior

legal figure in Northern Ireland has found himself and his office pulled

into one of our most toxic political problems.

A former army officer has said he was a kind of torturer when it

came to interrogating terrorist suspects during the Troubles.

Bob Stewart, who's now an MP, was reacting to remarks by the US

President Donald Trump about the use of water-boarding when questioning

Before entering the world of politics, MP Bob Stewart

The outspoken former army colonel came to prominence

However, it's remarks he made about his time as an officer

serving in Northern Ireland during the Troubles that have

The Conservative MP was speaking on BBC radio earlier today.

There were forbidden techniques introduced in 1977, some of which I

In a way, technically, as you look at it today, I was the

The UK Government authorised the use of five interrogation methods

during the early years of the Troubles, but this

A man who was arrested and claimed he was waterboarded

during questioning spoke to the BBC about it a few years ago.

The water torture, putting a gun against my head and saying if I

didn't admit to killing a soldier they would have shot me dead.

A group known as the hooded men have been challenging the authorities

here over allegations of torture after they were

And that campaign is still going through the legal process.

Campaigners for the victims of the Birmingham pub bombings have

been told their lawyers will be able to apply for legal aid.

The Government has intervened to remove legal barriers which had

stopped their Northern Ireland-based solicitors from

The inquests into the deaths of 21 people who were killed by the IRA

in November 1974 are due to resume later this year.

The man who died on the Westlink yesterday was 69-year-old

His car was the only one involved in the crash.

Three people escaped injury when a pipe bomb

was thrown at a house in Londonderry last night.

The two men and a woman were inside when the device exploded

in the garden of the property at Erne Gardens in the mainly

loyalist Irish Street estate in the Waterside.

Up to forty people were moved to a nearby community centre

while army bomb disposal experts examined the device.

This neighbour described what happened.

The house has got gas in it, whatever he was growing Meadowbank.

The rest of it was lying on the gas main.

We thought the whole thing might have went off

The children were terrorised and scared to come back

My wife is pregnant and I thought there was going to be an early

Boxer Carl Frampton says he's expecting between four and five

thousand local fans travel to Las Vegas for his WBA

title defence against Leo Santa Cruz this weekend.

Following their initial encounter last summer Frampton

was named the prestigious Ring Magazine's Fighter of The Year.

BBC Newsline's Thomas Kane has sent this report from Las Vegas.

Headlining here on the world-famous Las Vegas strip is reserved

for the biggest names in boxing and following his historic victory

over Leo Santa Cruz in July, Karel Frampton joined that elite

Over the next 48 hours, thousands of fanatical fans

will arrive here in Nevada for what could prove to be

a career defining night, not just for the Belfast boxer

Santa Cruz lost his undefeated record and world title

in the previous contest, but the Irish boxer

maintains he learned more from their fight and his ability

Michael Gove he feels the result will be exactly the same. And the

new... If I can beat Leo Santa Cruz,

that's even more impressive How much of a bearing will the first

fight have on this one? I think it will have a lot.

Psychologically, I already have the edge.

When I fight different opponents the second time I always improve.

I believe I'm better at boxing than Leo Santa Cruz

I believe I will win more convincingly.

We will have all the big fight build-up on tomorrow's programme

as the countdown continues to Frampton against Leo

You can listen live on Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Five Live.

There was quite a drop in the temperature today -

Here's Cecilia with all the weather details for the days ahead.

Still pretty cold out there. It will stay dry for much of the night. The

chilly wind will ease a little bit, but will be strong enough to keep

the frost away. Rain threatening parts of the West. That will come

eastwards during tomorrow. At the same time, it will not feel as cold

because that chilly wind will ease away. Dry weather tomorrow morning,

particularly across eastern counties. The rain does not reach

Belfast until about lunchtime. There is the rain gradually moving from

the West, to the Irish Midlands and towards Wicklow. It is reaching

Belfast about lunchtime, getting into some western parts of Britain

later in the day. For many parts of Britain it will be a dry, bright

day, not as bitter as today. It will not be as cold in Northern Ireland

as tomorrow afternoon. The rain is very slowly clearing away from

Belfast and the East Coast. It is drying up in the West, with some

brightness to end the day. Saturday, a bright and breezy day. Sunshine

and dry weather. There will be a scattering of showers. Some of them

could be quite sharp. Sunday starts dry with some sunshine. A good chunk

of the day could stay dry. Eventually we are expecting it to

cloud up with some rain. Unite that is it for now, the next BBC Newsline

is at 6:25am. You can also keep updated

with news online. There's a reason why your drink

tastes better today, why you're noticing

the subtle botanicals,