:00:00. > :00:08.Voting in Northern Ireland's Assembly election ended just
:00:09. > :00:13.The electoral authorities believe that turnout will be up
:00:14. > :00:16.on last year's figure, which was slightly below 55%.
:00:17. > :00:31.It was the election and no unexpected. But for the second time
:00:32. > :00:36.in a year, but said at polling stations across Northern Ireland.
:00:37. > :00:41.They opened at 7am and closed at 10pm. The future of devolved
:00:42. > :00:45.Government here may be uncertain, but if and when the new Assembly
:00:46. > :00:50.sets, it will look very different. That's because the number of seats
:00:51. > :00:57.has been reduced to save costs. There was 108 previously, but that's
:00:58. > :01:07.990. The number of candidates is Dan too, 228 people stood. -- that's
:01:08. > :01:11.down to 90. The leaders of the parties were among the early voters.
:01:12. > :01:17.The Ulster unionist leader and the Alliance we don't know me long both
:01:18. > :01:21.voted in Belfast, while the SDLP leader Colum Eastwood voted in the
:01:22. > :01:25.north west. Today's bad weather doesn't seem to have put people off
:01:26. > :01:31.heading to the polls. In fact, indications are that turnout may be
:01:32. > :01:35.up. Some sources say by as much as five percentage points. A lateral
:01:36. > :01:41.authorities say staff had been busy in all areas. Now that the polling
:01:42. > :01:44.stations how close, ballot boxes are being moved to counting centres such
:01:45. > :01:48.as this one right across Northern Ireland. They will stay open
:01:49. > :01:50.overnight and counting will begin at 8am tomorrow.
:01:51. > :01:53.There'll be more on the election on The View just after this programme.
:01:54. > :01:56.Yes, Tara - and with me tonight are the former DUP
:01:57. > :01:59.and Sinn Fein MLAs David McIlveen and Daithi McKay, and they - along
:02:00. > :02:03.with three expert commentators - will give us their best judgments
:02:04. > :02:09.And the mentalist David Meade gives his verdict on how
:02:10. > :02:11.the parties have fared at maximising their messages.
:02:12. > :02:15.That's all coming up in a few minutes here on BBC1.
:02:16. > :02:17.And Mark and I will be here with the results
:02:18. > :02:20.as they come in during a special election programme tomorrow.
:02:21. > :02:27.A man wanted in connection with the murder of prisoner officer
:02:28. > :02:31.David Black in 2012 has been arrested in the Republic as part
:02:32. > :02:35.of a joint operation involving the PSNI and the Gardai.
:02:36. > :02:38.40-year-old Damien McLaughlin, from Ardboe in County Tyrone,
:02:39. > :02:44.He was on bail on charges connected to Mr Black's killing and had been
:02:45. > :02:50.He was detained in Donegal under a European Arrest Warrant
:02:51. > :02:52.and is expected to appear at Dublin's
:02:53. > :02:59.A 59-year-old man was also arrested in Donegal and a 47-year-old woman
:03:00. > :03:06.Northern Ireland's Government has failed to pro-actively lead
:03:07. > :03:10.the planning, development and growth of integrated education.
:03:11. > :03:13.That is one of the findings of a report commissioned and just
:03:14. > :03:16.published by the Department for Education.
:03:17. > :03:20.Earlier, I asked our education correspondent Robbie Meredith why
:03:21. > :03:32.It was originally commissioned by John O'Dowd back in January last
:03:33. > :03:37.year, then it was delivered to his successor as Education Minister,
:03:38. > :03:43.Peter Weir, in November. Peter Weir was going to publish it, but the
:03:44. > :03:48.election complicated things. Protocol said he couldn't publish it
:03:49. > :03:51.during the campaign, said he's waited right until the end of
:03:52. > :03:56.polling day. This is essentially his final act in his term of office.
:03:57. > :04:02.What is the report what the cricketer to commit to?
:04:03. > :04:05.It is a big reports, it was the departments to committing to
:04:06. > :04:10.promoting integrated education in many ways. Tackling what it calls
:04:11. > :04:15.the issue of Aricept and costly schooling. This is the should be
:04:16. > :04:18.commitment to increase the number of pupils and integrated schools and
:04:19. > :04:24.suggests a number of ways to do this. It says, interestingly, that
:04:25. > :04:31.teachers should no longer be exempt from employment regulations. It says
:04:32. > :04:36.this would end the situation where Protestant and Catholic teachers end
:04:37. > :04:45.up teaching in respect of domination all schools. A lot of people say
:04:46. > :04:49.they want integrated education, but only 7%pupils are educated and
:04:50. > :04:53.integrated schools. Some number of people who spoke to the first said
:04:54. > :04:56.that when they were registering the child's birth, they should say then
:04:57. > :04:59.whatever school they want the child to go to, as this would show that we
:05:00. > :05:04.need more integrated schools, and then we could plan for that. But the
:05:05. > :05:10.authors said there could be difficult to administer, wouldn't be
:05:11. > :05:16.feasible to make school planning decisions based on preferences
:05:17. > :05:17.stated 45 years back. -- four or five years back.
:05:18. > :05:20.The Foods Standard Agency has warned of the risks posed
:05:21. > :05:22.by venison from deer which has been illegally hunted.
:05:23. > :05:26.A carcass can be worth up to ?200 to the poachers if they can get it
:05:27. > :05:29.The police are stepping up patrols to counter
:05:30. > :05:32.Our agriculture and environment correspondent Conor Macauley joined
:05:33. > :05:40.And we've joined a PSNI patrol on the lookout for poachers.
:05:41. > :05:44.They're using the engine of the vehicle to power strong lamps.
:05:45. > :05:46.The animal is almost paralysed in the beam of light and then
:05:47. > :05:57.99% of the time through the head, because they are mindful
:05:58. > :06:01.that they want to protect the meat, which will affect the price.
:06:02. > :06:07.All that cover where they'll be, and that's
:06:08. > :06:17.It happens at night in isolated areas, often close to the border.
:06:18. > :06:20.In our area, they would get it right away and take it south.
:06:21. > :06:22.And that reduces the opportunity for us to detect them.
:06:23. > :06:29.As an illustration of the danger of firing blindly into the dark,
:06:30. > :06:32.this is a metal plate into which a couple of rounds have
:06:33. > :06:37.been fired, similar to those used to take down a deer.
:06:38. > :06:41.This is 1/8 inch of solid steel, and the rounds have
:06:42. > :06:51.If you miss, you really don't know what's behind that animal and how
:06:52. > :06:59.What I can tell you it can go another mile and a half.
:07:00. > :07:03.In that line of fire, how many victims could there be.
:07:04. > :07:06.Other animals or, even worse, human beings?
:07:07. > :07:11.In order not to be caught with the rifle and the deer
:07:12. > :07:14.together, poachers will sometimes gut the animal and string
:07:15. > :07:18.it up in a tree to be returned for the next day.
:07:19. > :07:21.And that has implications for human health.
:07:22. > :07:26.There are strict legislation and rules, legitimate suppliers
:07:27. > :07:31.of meat in the industry know how do that.
:07:32. > :07:35.These guys who were out shooting deer aren't doing that.
:07:36. > :07:38.They are looking to make a quick buck, get it into the
:07:39. > :07:41.food chain and our concern is, because they're doing it that way,
:07:42. > :07:45.You see them at the edge of darkness.
:07:46. > :07:49.Dusk would be one of the most likely times to see deer around.
:07:50. > :07:53.Anecdotally, there are far fewer now than during the Troubles.
:07:54. > :07:56.Then, the risks involved in taking even a legally held firearm out
:07:57. > :08:09.It seems that deer are an unwitting victim of the political process.
:08:10. > :08:15.Now with the weather forecast, here's Geoff Maskell.
:08:16. > :08:24.Good evening. We had sunshine this morning, a commodity in short supply
:08:25. > :08:28.over the next couple of days it's all down to this developing area of
:08:29. > :08:31.low pressure that will spend the next few days tracking north along
:08:32. > :08:35.the Irish Sea. It means for us some wet and windy
:08:36. > :08:39.weather. That started overnight tonight, gradually pushing away,
:08:40. > :08:44.leaving clearer skies in the north and west. A chance of frost there in
:08:45. > :08:49.the morning. Actually start to the day on Friday before more rain moves
:08:50. > :08:54.in, spreading to all parts as we go through the day. That's being driven
:08:55. > :08:57.by this area of low pressure, gradually through the day we will
:08:58. > :09:04.see that rain pushing end. It will be wet and cold, six to Greece, also
:09:05. > :09:09.a breeze from the east too. The wind is swirling around, the best
:09:10. > :09:14.brightness to be found across the north of Scotland. For the rest of
:09:15. > :09:18.the British Isles, that wind swirling around. The warmest
:09:19. > :09:23.temperatures to be found below that weather front. For us, that rain
:09:24. > :09:28.moves then, continuing overnight, Friday into Saturday morning, a bit
:09:29. > :09:34.of a soggy start to the weekend. It will brighten up a little bit as we
:09:35. > :09:38.go through the day on Saturday. If the low follows the course we're
:09:39. > :09:43.expecting over the next few days. Again, not very warm, 6 degrees the
:09:44. > :09:47.temperature. On Sunday, sunshine winning out over the showers, but
:09:48. > :09:48.and unsettled picture for the next few days.
:09:49. > :09:53.Our next BBC Newsline is at 6:25am during Breakfast, here on BBC One.
:09:54. > :09:55.You can also keep updated with News Online.