:00:00. > :00:16.The Secretary of State James Brokenshire says all options will be
:00:17. > :00:18.considered including direct rule if more talks to form a power
:00:19. > :00:22.He told MPs at Westminister that the government didn't
:00:23. > :00:25.want to see a return to London rule but it has a responsibility
:00:26. > :00:31.Sinn Fein say they would regard such a move as an act of bad faith.
:00:32. > :00:38.Here's our Political Correspondent Enda McClafferty:
:00:39. > :00:45.Believe it or not, today was a day of celebration at Stormont, marking
:00:46. > :00:51.ten years of Northern Ireland water. But there was no minister and very
:00:52. > :00:53.few MLAs to taste its success. Northern Ireland water spends a lot
:00:54. > :00:59.of time and money clearing blockages, removing the political
:01:00. > :01:05.obstacles at Stormont will be harder. Today we got a taste of what
:01:06. > :01:08.failure might bring. Should talks not succeed in their objective, the
:01:09. > :01:12.government will have to consider all options. I therefore want to give
:01:13. > :01:16.the house noticed that following the Easter recess, as a minimum, it
:01:17. > :01:21.would be my intention to bring forward legislation to set a rate to
:01:22. > :01:26.enable local councils to carry out their functions. And to provide
:01:27. > :01:31.further assurance around the Budget for Northern Ireland. But that, for
:01:32. > :01:35.some, sounded like a move closer to London rule. It is not an option.
:01:36. > :01:39.The legislation says if there is no agreement here we need to go to
:01:40. > :01:44.another election. That is open to the public. They will have their
:01:45. > :01:51.say. James Brogan Jenny Mr act in tandem with that. He would be acting
:01:52. > :01:59.in bad faith if he was to do this. -- James Brokenshire. What would be
:02:00. > :02:02.the chances of fixing this in a couple of weeks? Some feel that Sinn
:02:03. > :02:08.Fein have decided that devolution is over and they are moving on to a
:02:09. > :02:13.different phase. Others believe it is time to bring in the political
:02:14. > :02:17.big hitters. The Prime Minister was in Wales last week, in Scotland this
:02:18. > :02:20.week, she should go to Northern Ireland, convene these talks and
:02:21. > :02:27.find a resolution sooner rather than later. Back in Stormont the benches
:02:28. > :02:33.were empty again today. The only thing moving was the clock is yet
:02:34. > :02:36.another countdown is underway. If we don't get a deal quickly the British
:02:37. > :02:41.government will take more powers to London. We will see more and more
:02:42. > :02:44.direct role. This is a bad scenario. We don't want the British Tory party
:02:45. > :02:49.to be running Ireland. Three things need to happen, we need to get the
:02:50. > :02:54.executive back and running to deal with the economy, education, health
:02:55. > :02:59.and housing. We should send them to a boot camp, not a castle, to sort
:03:00. > :03:02.it out. Because we need stability, no new issues for the next five
:03:03. > :03:06.years for the duration of the mandate. The political uncertainty
:03:07. > :03:11.will continue to cloud around Stormont for at least another three
:03:12. > :03:14.weeks, but the good news for the politicians is that tomorrow is
:03:15. > :03:20.payday. They will receive their first checks since the election for
:03:21. > :03:24.around ?3000. Those who accept the full amount. Not bad when you
:03:25. > :03:29.consider the vast majority of them were only here for a couple of days.
:03:30. > :03:33.Well as we heard in Enda's report, the Secretary of State has said that
:03:34. > :03:35.if further political talks fail, he will ask Parliament to pass
:03:36. > :03:38.legislation to allow rates bills to be sent out.
:03:39. > :03:40.Our Economics and Business Editor John Campbell
:03:41. > :03:53.It is made up of two parts. One is by the local councils, the other is
:03:54. > :03:56.set by Stormont. Because of the political crisis Stormont has not
:03:57. > :04:00.set a rates bill. Those bills would normally be going out this Saturday.
:04:01. > :04:05.We can't have a situation where they are not paid because that would
:04:06. > :04:08.cause crises for councils. The Secretary of State said he would
:04:09. > :04:11.step in the place of Stormont and set the regional part of the rate.
:04:12. > :04:15.That would mean that the rates bills could go out.
:04:16. > :04:19.What will he do exactly? Set the rate. Then on Saturday a
:04:20. > :04:23.letter will be sent out saying, sorry you have not got your bill, it
:04:24. > :04:29.will be coming soon, and rates bills will then start being paid from May.
:04:30. > :04:30.Normally you pay it for a ten month period, April to January, this time
:04:31. > :04:34.it will be from May to February. A man who crashed into 15
:04:35. > :04:39.members of a film crew, seriously injuring five of them,
:04:40. > :04:42.has been sentenced to 2 years Hugh McGrattan, who is 25
:04:43. > :04:46.and from Whiterock Drive in west Belfast, drove into the group
:04:47. > :04:49.on Apollo Road in south He pleaded guilty to five charges
:04:50. > :05:08.of causing grievous injury Mr McGrattan was driving between 52
:05:09. > :05:14.and 69 mph before the crash, as he slowed down he struck a curb, lost
:05:15. > :05:18.control, and hit the film crew at 25 mph. A witness said the car was like
:05:19. > :05:21.a bowling ball when it struck the group. One woman was left in
:05:22. > :05:26.paralysis from the chest down. Others suffered life changing
:05:27. > :05:30.injuries. The court was told Mr McGrattan has been suffering from
:05:31. > :05:34.post-traumatic stress disorder since the crash. He accepted he was
:05:35. > :05:38.driving too fast but believed the victims shared some responsibility,
:05:39. > :05:42.telling a probation officer signs should have been in place alerting
:05:43. > :05:47.him to their presents. Some of the victims were in court today. The
:05:48. > :05:51.judge said a custodial sentence was appropriate due to the gravity of
:05:52. > :05:55.the offences. She also said Mr McGrattan, although not racing or
:05:56. > :05:58.showing off, was driving at a greatly excessive speed with total
:05:59. > :06:04.disregard for other road users. He will serve to years and four months
:06:05. > :06:08.in prison. Sentencing Mr McGrattan the judge said she took a number of
:06:09. > :06:12.factors into consideration including the fact he stayed at the scene of
:06:13. > :06:18.the time, showed remorse, and pled guilty at the earliest opportunity.
:06:19. > :06:19.She also finds him ?50. She disqualified him from driving for
:06:20. > :06:29.five years. -- fined. The Department
:06:30. > :06:30.for Infrastructure has won a court case which had been
:06:31. > :06:33.delaying its upgrade of the Belfast to Londonderry road and it says work
:06:34. > :06:36.will begin as quickly as possible. An environmentalist had claimed
:06:37. > :06:38.that part of the route would damage a protected wetland
:06:39. > :06:40.and its birdlife. Our Agriculture and
:06:41. > :06:49.Environment Correspondent These are the birds that were at the
:06:50. > :06:52.centre of the case, Hooper Swans, in my great read visitor from Iceland
:06:53. > :06:59.to the internationally protected site where they staying over winter.
:07:00. > :07:04.They were conservation listed. Chris Murphy said they had not been taken
:07:05. > :07:08.properly into account when assessing the impact of the new dual
:07:09. > :07:17.carriageway on the ASICs. He went to the court to contest a section of
:07:18. > :07:23.the route. -- A6. The judge was not persuaded. I don't feel this is the
:07:24. > :07:27.end of the road. Well, the route. It is only a small section of the road
:07:28. > :07:31.which concerns me and should be of concern to millions. This should be
:07:32. > :07:35.a world Heritage site. There is no getting away from it. The finest
:07:36. > :07:46.freshwater wetland in Ireland. I've no doubt about that. The judge said
:07:47. > :07:50.protectionism under European legislation -- the judge said that
:07:51. > :07:52.the protection of the site was under European legislation. She said the
:07:53. > :07:58.building of the road was national and lawful. The North West is
:07:59. > :08:03.lagging behind in infrastructure and connectivity. It has been for
:08:04. > :08:07.decades. Today holds a new chapter in business for the future in
:08:08. > :08:09.Ulster. There has been further controversy because it passed
:08:10. > :08:15.through a landscape made famous by Seamus Heaney, but that did not
:08:16. > :08:19.really feature in the case. The Department for infrastructure said
:08:20. > :08:26.it would get on with the work now as quickly as possible. To be asked to
:08:27. > :08:30.do nothing on the contested section -- they've been asked not to do
:08:31. > :08:33.anything on the contested section while Mr Murphy considers appealing.
:08:34. > :08:35.The new twelve-sided one pound coin came into circulation today.
:08:36. > :08:38.It's 34 years since the first pound coin came out,
:08:39. > :08:41.and our reporter Helen Jones got a handful of the new ones to test
:08:42. > :08:52.The new ?1 coin is difficult enough to get your hands on at the moment.
:08:53. > :08:55.Northern Ireland has been given two supplies. They'll become a familiar
:08:56. > :09:02.sight when more are rolled out over the next few weeks. The most secure
:09:03. > :09:05.coin in the world, brought out to prevent fraud and counterfeiting.
:09:06. > :09:10.That is according to the Royal Mint. The new coin apparently has a hidden
:09:11. > :09:14.security feature. It has 12 sides. An image which works like a
:09:15. > :09:20.hologram. And micro-sized lettering inside both arms. In with the new
:09:21. > :09:29.and outwith the old by the 15th of October, is Ireland -- is Northern
:09:30. > :09:34.Ireland ready? I'm probably safer without them. Shopping trolleys will
:09:35. > :09:38.also have to be re-engineered. 25% of our parking meters have been
:09:39. > :09:44.updated. I found that out to my surprise in Belfast city centre. Are
:09:45. > :09:51.you kidding me? Translink says it's been preparing for the change for
:09:52. > :09:55.some time. With the launch of the coin that will be in legislation
:09:56. > :10:05.with the round calling, from today up until the 15th of October, after
:10:06. > :10:12.that the round coin users, you will have to pay with the new 12 sided
:10:13. > :10:19.coin. That's fantastic. Can you see the hologram? Yes, I can, the pound
:10:20. > :10:30.symbol and the one, that's amazing. Apparently one in ?30 coins is
:10:31. > :10:35.counterfeit. -- one in 30 round pound coins is counterfeit. Will you
:10:36. > :10:39.let me keep that? CHUCKLES
:10:40. > :10:44.This is the new coin con is it? It is quite light. Once the old coin is
:10:45. > :10:51.decommissioned later this year, who knows, maybe it will be a collectors
:10:52. > :10:54.item? -- this is the new coin, is it? I'll get that back off you.
:10:55. > :10:55.CHUCKLES Sport and the Republic of Ireland
:10:56. > :10:57.have lost their friendly The only goal of the match
:10:58. > :11:01.came in the 21st minute, when Hordur Magnusson's free kick
:11:02. > :11:03.sailed into the net. Martin O'Neill's team picked up
:11:04. > :11:06.the pace in the second half Looking ahead to a story tomorrow,
:11:07. > :11:10.and whatever happened to the multi-million pound critical
:11:11. > :11:13.care building at the Royal Victoria Hospital, which was due
:11:14. > :11:15.to fully open in 2012. Here's our health correspondent,
:11:16. > :11:28.Marie Louise Connolly: Five years on and corridors,
:11:29. > :11:35.theatres, and rooms which should be bustling with patients and staff
:11:36. > :11:38.instead are empty. Serious building problems have meant that this state
:11:39. > :11:42.of the art hospital has remained a building site.
:11:43. > :11:44.That story is coming up tomorrow across all of our news outlets on
:11:45. > :11:55.radio, TV, and online. Not much chance of spotting the
:11:56. > :12:00.Aurora tonight. Too much cloud around. There will be some showers,
:12:01. > :12:03.but also some lengthy dry spells. Thick cloud will come in from the
:12:04. > :12:08.south-west by morning. Rain expected during the rush hour in the morning.
:12:09. > :12:13.But it is a mild night. No frost. Gardens will see some rain. Not
:12:14. > :12:18.necessarily cold rain. There will be dry spells at times, too. In the
:12:19. > :12:22.rush hour, expect rain, puddles, and a breeze picking up. One area of
:12:23. > :12:26.rain moves away from us into south-west Scotland and continues to
:12:27. > :12:30.move to the north. It will dry out for a time in the morning, but there
:12:31. > :12:33.is more showery rain across the Republic of Ireland. It would be wet
:12:34. > :12:38.at times tomorrow. Some of the rain will spill across the Irish Sea into
:12:39. > :12:42.the North of England and Wales. But it should stay dry over the
:12:43. > :12:45.Midlands, down towards London, and the north-east of Scotland may stay
:12:46. > :12:50.largely dry although chilly. Temperatures across Northern Ireland
:12:51. > :12:54.should be higher than today, maybe 15 degrees, and some gaps in the
:12:55. > :12:58.rain, and some brightness. Breezy compared to today. More unsettled
:12:59. > :13:01.conditions. Generally mild for the rest of the working week. But we
:13:02. > :13:07.should see things dry out this coming weekend. Thursday, if lucky,
:13:08. > :13:10.a dry morning, but some showers around, especially in the afternoon.
:13:11. > :13:14.Temperatures could hit the mid-teens. Especially in the
:13:15. > :13:18.sunshine. More showers for a time on Friday and Saturday, but drying up
:13:19. > :13:22.on Saturday with dry weather this Sunday.
:13:23. > :13:25.Our next BBC Newsline is at six twenty five in the morning
:13:26. > :13:29.You can also keep updated with News Online.
:13:30. > :13:35.Call the police! Is anyone hurt? Is anyone in the car?