27/02/2017 BBC Newsline


27/02/2017

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Good evening.

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The local news with Donna Traynor...

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The police have charged a 19-year-old man with

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the murder of 24-year-old Richard Miskelly yesterday.

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Mr Miskelly died after being assaulted at a house

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on the Bangor Road in Newtownards early yesterday morning.

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The man accused of killing him is also charged with perverting

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the course of justice and is due in court tomorrow.

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A second man who was arrested has been released by the police.

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Five men involved in a kidnap gang who threatened to cut off

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the victim's fingers have been given suspended jail sentences.

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The man, who was a cattle dealer, was tied up at gunpoint

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in County Tyrone and held captive for five days in 2012.

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Here's our south west reporter Julian Fowler.

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Paul Gogan, who is originally from County Meath, thought

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he was coming to Northern Ireland to see a meat factory.

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Instead the cattle dealer was kidnapped

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at gunpoint and held here - in an old refrigerated shipping

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container at a motorsport track near Castlederg.

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The location is so remote the gang couldn't get a mobile signal.

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They put Paul Gogan in the boot of a car

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and drove towards the border.

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They called his father Robert.

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He was told to pay ?400,000 or his son's fingers

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would be chopped off.

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He replied, "Cut away," hung up and alerted Gardai.

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Paul Gogan was eventually released after 100,000 euros

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was left in a hedge.

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He was accompanied on his trip by 59-year-old Robert

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Vevers from Dumfries.

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He pleaded guilty to kidnapping, false imprisonment and blackmail.

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The judge said in an idiotic moment he had taken the law

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into his own hands to recover ?200,000 he said he was owed -

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a debt which led to the collapse of his business and his marriage.

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The judge said he sold his soul to the devil when he contacted

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criminals in Dublin who in turn recruited some men from Omagh

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to assist in the kidnap plot.

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44-year-old Patrick Noel McCaul from Slieveard Rise and 27-year-old

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Matthew McLean from Glenpark Road pleaded guilty to conspiracy

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to commit blackmail.

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22-year-old Robert McLean from Deverney Park

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and Martin Arkinson, who's 21, from Ballycolman Estate

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in Strabane admitted assisting the blackmailers by buying food

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and telephone top-up cards.

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The judge said this was an unusual and indeed remarkable case.

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The victim and his family did not give evidence and the central

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players in the kidnap were not before the court.

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The five who admitted their role were given suspended prison

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sentences between 18 months and 2.5 years.

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Talks on a new single transfer test for P7 children are due

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to start next month.

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The organisations who run the current two academic selection

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tests are aiming to have a common exam in place by November 2019.

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Our education correspondent Robbie Meredith reports.

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For many of these P7 children at Andrews Memorial Primary

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in Comber, the transfer tests have come and gone, but

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the memory remains.

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Hard, long.

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It took ages and there were lots of practice papers.

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We could get some tests to keep going over the summer.

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The principal wants to see that testing system streamlined.

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Three Saturdays and potentially another one if they do the tests and

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then another familiarisation day.

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When you have that over the course of the autumn term,

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if there was a shortened version of that and just one test it

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would help everyone.

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A document drawn up for the Education Minister Peter Weir

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obtained by the BBC suggests what a common test could look like.

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It says...

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Children could sit three test papers, each lasting 45 minutes.

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Two papers will be in multiple choice format.

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The third paper will contain writing and maths exercises.

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The three papers could be taken on a single day.

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For a single test to happen, though, two significant hurdles

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have to be overcome.

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AQE charge a fee for entry to their test, PPTC don't -

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so who would pay for it?

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The tests are also very different, so what format

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would a common test take?

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And that means it's not a done deal.

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They are different types of tests.

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They are examined across a different number of days.

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There are significant differences as far as that is concerned.

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That still exists.

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We are going to have to be very resolved and very determined

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if we are to overcome those things.

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It's significant that the testers are getting round the same table,

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but it'll be November 2019 at the earliest before

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a single test is in place.

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A Londonderry man has been called a hero after rescuing a couple

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from a fire in their home at the weekend.

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The man and woman have been transferred to hospital

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in Belfast for treatment.

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Sean McLaughlin heard a fire alarm going off inside their house

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in Galliagh as he was going home on Saturday night.

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The man who was in the bungalow, he can't walk, so he was sitting

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on the bed and the flames were all around him.

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And his wee legs were starting to take on fire.

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His wheelchair was just outside the room, so I managed to get him

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off the bed and put him on the wheelchair.

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And I got him outside and I wheeled him outside

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in the backyard and asked him was anybody else in there?

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I went back in and to be quite honest the fire started getting

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a bit worse and thick black smoke and I couldn't really see her.

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I shouted her name and then I heard her, a soft toned

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voice shouting out to me, "Help!

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And when I got in, more yellow flames started coming out,

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so I got to see her again and I just asked her could she crawl

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towards me and she got a wee bit over towards me.

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And then I just managed to grab her arm and pulled her out.

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The political crisis at Stormont has stalled

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the recruitment of a new head of the Northern

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Ireland Civil Service.

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Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness interviewed candidates last year,

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but when the renewable heat scheme controversy blew up,

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the process was halted.

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Our business correspondent Julian O'Neill reports.

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It is a key post at Stormont Castle.

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The head of the Civil Service acts as the principle policy advisor

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to the top two ministers.

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A failure to fill the job means this man, Sir Malcolm McKibbin, has

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temporarily put off his retirement to remain in charge of 23,000

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officials in government departments and manage a budget of ?11 billion.

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It is a powerful position at the heart of devolution,

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but replacing him has been delayed and the Executive will likely

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require legal advice to proceed.

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Last November, Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness

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together interviewed two short-listed candidates.

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Rules were changed to allow it.

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They were given training in equality laws and an HR consultant

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sat in to ensure proper procedures were followed.

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The two men they interviewed were senior, experienced civil servants -

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David Sterling and Andrew McCormick.

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Both had worked with Mrs Foster when she was Minister

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at the Department of Enterprise and each has accepted responsibility

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for failures around the RHI scheme.

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The BBC understands the interviews produced a winner,

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but as the fall-out from RHI created a crisis, no appointment was made

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during a seven-week period before the collapse of the Executive.

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The recruitment process stalled and is now clouded by uncertainty.

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Having politicised the appointment, it needs a First and Deputy First

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Minister to complete - and no-one is confident those

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posts will be filled quickly after the election.

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A further complication is that Michelle O'Neill,

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having replaced Mr McGuinness, was not part of the interview panel.

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The Executive office will not comment on what it said

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is still a live recruitment process.

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No-one knows what the outcome will be - and it might even be

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an issue a London minister has to address.

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The latest weather outlook now, with Cecilia Daly.

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Hello, good evening.

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Another cold night coming up.

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Fairly clear skies around at the moment, but there is an ice

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warning now in force.

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Temperatures will fall to around freezing, maybe just below

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and there will be a few showers.

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But showers will become more frequent during the early

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hours from the northwest, hitting the cold air

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and folding as snow in places by the end of the night,

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particularly over high ground.

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So, tomorrow morning through the rush-hour,

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there will be the risk of ice in places and there will also be

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some wintry showers moving south.

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Just bear that in mind.

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It will feel much colder in the gusty wind.

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Most of the showers falling as rain, sleet or hail at lower levels,

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but over the high ground there could be a couple

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of centimetres of snow.

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So, you can see there is a little area of low pressure there moving

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southwards over parts of Scotland, towards north-west England

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and across Northern Ireland, which will bring quite

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frequent showers initially.

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Behind it, sunnier skies over northern and central

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areas of Scotland.

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Wintry showers for much of northern England.

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East Anglia and the south-east of England staying dry,

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at least until late in the day, and the Republic of Ireland seeing

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some sunshine and not too many showers until late

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in the day either.

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But it will be quite cold and wintry across Northern Ireland, gusty

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winds, fairly frequent showers.

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Some sunshine at times too, particularly in the afternoon.

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Now, is the last day of February, the last day of winter,

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and as March rolls in, which is the start of meteorological

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spring, still a bit unsettled, but it won't be just

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as cold and wintry.

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On Wednesday there will be a fair bit of dry weather

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through the morning, just one or two showers.

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Some rain though edges up from the south late in the day.

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And Thursday, we'll see a few showers, but also some dry spells.

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That's it for now.

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Less than a year since the last Assembly election,

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