14/02/2017 BBC Newsline

The DUP leader Arlene Foster has said she would like to see

the scrapping of the Assembly's veto mechanism that has been used

by her party and others to block various legislation.

The petition of concern, as it is called, was originally

designed as a way to safeguard the rights of minorities but its use

Our Political Correspondent Stephen Walker reports.

Under the Good Friday Agreement, and even in the Assembly

Under the Good Friday Agreement, any vote in the Assembly

can be made dependent on the addition of concern.

It means emotion will only pass if it has cross community support.

The purpose is to protect one community from legislation that

Over a five-year period from 2011 to 2016, 115 petitions

The DUP sank 86 petitions, the SDLP and Sinn Fein assigned 29.

The DUP sank 86 petitions, the SDLP and Sinn Fein signed 29.

The Green party endorsed four, Alliance three,

Arlene Foster bid queer today what she wants to see happen.

We talk a lot about the petition of concern and opponents talk a lot

We would like to see the petition of concern got rid of for everything

but our opponents would like to keep it for the things they want to use

What we need to talk about after the election

is getting rid of the petition of concern altogether.

Why has Arlene Foster said this today?

Tactically, it says they are prepared to recognise

that the party is behind the curve in relation to some issues.

Public opinion has advanced on these and they are intending to sell it

to the public as a sign that the DUP has become more modernised,

but it doesn't feel the need to use that particular device in order

to block progressive reform in Northern Ireland.

The next Assembly will be 90 seats, which means securing a petition

of concern with 30 MLAs will be harder.

The procedure has come under scrutiny and the SDLP, the UUP,

Alliance and Sinn Fein have all called for reform.

The DUP are well aware of how petitions of concern are perceived

in some quarters and this is the first time

Arlene Foster has spoken about scrapping the procedure.

This development is significant because it opens up the debate

and gives us an indication of the level of detail that

will be on the negotiating table after the election.

The Secretary of State has rejected calls for him to step aside as chair

of any cross party talks after the Assembly election.

Sinn Fein and the SDLP have claimed that recent comments

from James Brokenshire on the Legacy of the Troubles mean he cannot be

The Mallard, I take responsibility for the UK Government are now look

forward to getting into discussions with parties immediately following

the election on 02 March, doing all I can to get involved into devolved

politics. I am very clear on legacy issues that what we need to do is

get on with delivering on Stormont house, by getting Legacy

institutions and running, and that remains my view, it remains very

much the view of the UK Government, and actually getting into

discussions so that we can take forward.

James Brokenshire speaking to our political editor

A councillor has resigned from the Ulster Unionist party

over her leader's voting tactics in the forthcoming

Mike Nesbitt said he would give his second preference vote to the SDLP

Carol Black, a member of Armagh Banbridge

and Craigavon Council, said "the whole ethos of the party

The Ulster Unionist Group Leader on the council Jim Speers

said his party had a vision of Unionism that embraced everyone.

He said clearly Carol Black did not subscribe to that,

The Ulster Unionist leader has denied he had made a mistake

Mike Nesbitt was launching his party's election manifesto

as our political correspondent Gareth Gordon reports.

The Ulster Unionist Party wants this election to be a referendum on how

the DUP and Sinn Fein handled the RHI debacle.

The manifesto says it is a blueprint for real partnership.

But could their partnership with the SDLP and the party leader

saying he will give his second preference votes to that party

and not to the Unionists derail his campaign before

Mike Nesbitt spent much of the launch today

I am confident with my position and I am confident and relaxed that

people behind me are taking different positions

People will come back on the 2nd of March to thinking

about the 85,000 a day that is quite a bit smug.

The ten years of the DUP and Sinn Fein in that castle

no matter what anybody writes in the newspapers,

Coastline south Danny Kennedy, the most senior of Mr Nisbet's

colleagues to disagree with them publicly.

It was a it was reaffirming to know Danny was listening.

The manifesto talks about cleaning up Stormont, with greater

accountability for ministers and their special advisers.

The election of an Assembly Speaker by secret ballot, and to abuse

The election of an Assembly Speaker by secret ballot, an end to abuse

of the petition of concern, greater transparency over

To be in a position to do that, Mike Nesbitt said they would

still have to share power with nationalists,

The Ulster Unionists went into this election hoping

all the attention would be on the shortcomings of the DUP.

They know that focus has now turned on them in a way

And the BBC Spotlight programme will be looking

at the future of the Assembly - that's immediately

The value of the average home in Northern Ireland increased by six

percent or about seven thousand pounds last year.

variation with the most expensive council area being

The average property there is about one hundred and fifty

thousand pounds compared to one hundred and eight thousand

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has told the Dail that a public tribunal

of inquiry will be set up to find out if senior Garda officers

orchestrated a smear campaign against a whistle-blower

It was recently revealed that false claims of child sexual abuse had

been made against the officer, Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

During a debate on the controversy this afternoon the Sinn Fein

President Gerry Adams criticised the Republic's government

In response, Mr Kenny accused Mr Adams of being a "hypocrite".

You are an absolute hypocrite. After what you did and what you said to

the former senator. And what you did and did not do in respect to safe

houses, where sexual abuse was conducted by members of your

organisation. You are an absolute hypocrite.

On tomorrow's BBC Newsline, we talk to the world motorcycling

This year, the Ballyclare rider will try to become

the first rider to win the World Superbike Championship

I won't be thinking about momentum or three in a row, think about this

as a New Year, new challenge, new arrivals. It's very exciting.

That's coming up tomorrow on BBC Newsline at 6:30pm.

Now here's Cecilia Daly with the weather forecast.

Looking milder for the rest of the week. Temperatures on the rise. Not

likely there will be frost over the next few nights. Most places

becoming dry for a while. Some breaks in the cloud. Some thicker

cloud and more rain and drizzle moving up from the south-west before

morning. Expects rain tomorrow. Keep your umbrella handy. It will start

fairly wet in many places with rain and drizzle. More on and off to the

first half of the morning. For many western areas of England, Wales and

Scotland, dull and damp. North-east Scotland looks like it should stay

fine to daylight hours. The Republic of Ireland will be brightening up at

times with a few showers. In Northern Ireland, some bright spells

around. More dry than wet weather. Ten or 11 degrees compares to seven

or eight today. Noticeably milder. Wet to start with on Thursday, but

brightening up for a while with some sunshine. Temperatures in double

figures. Changeable but mild through the rest of the week.