17/04/2017 BBC Newsline

Fire crews are dealing with a fire at a business

premises on Main Street in Larne this evening.

It follows a series of arson attacks in the town over the Easter weekend.

In one early this morning a family, with two young children,

were at home when their house came under attack.

The house targeted this morning was at Mill Road

A petrol-soaked rag was recovered from the scene.

A second car was set alight in Bryan Street.

The police are investigating a link with other attacks on Saturday

and Sunday when five cars were extensively damaged.

There have been arson attacks on Friday,

I totally condemn these attacks and I appeal to anybody

who has any information, no matter how small that is,

to come forward to the PSNI with that information so that these

people can be apprehended and brought before the courts.

Last night was a typical example where a lady

was in the house with a young family that was petrol bombed.

This is totally and utterly unacceptable.

A DUP MP says Northern Ireland is heading towards direct rule.

Talks to form a Stormont Executive are due to resume after Easter.

While the UK Government says it will consider all options,

Sinn Fein insist it's either a deal or an election.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told our reporter Sara Neill that

Sinn Fein are changing the goalposts every day.

I think that with the situation if it continues like this over

the next couple of weeks we are looking at direct rule.

The DUP is ready to to form a government without preconditions.

We recognise there are a lot of issues we need to work through,

but surely the best way to do that is being in government

and having the reins of power and to be able to make the changes

necessary and to deliver for the people who elected us,

so we are ready to go into government but apparently

You are saying that Sinn Fein are not ready to go into government

and there are issues that need to be worked through, is the problem that

The DUP has approached negotiations willing to find

consensus and agreement, but every day Sinn Fein put

They want another election and the opportunity to become

the largest party in Northern Ireland.

They are not interesting in an agreement or forming

a government, they just want to be top dog and where does that leave

Without a government, without a voice in Brexit

or on the important issues that confront us at that time.

Two men from Latvia have been seriously assaulted in Coalisland

in what police are treating as a hate crime.

It's believed a group of men carried out the attack outside a bar

The victims, who are in their 20s, suffered cuts, bruises

People are not happy because it brings our town into disrepute and

it is not something we are used to wear something that I have every

memory of happening before where people were attacked and it was

believed to be because of their race. This is a town where people

have always been made to feel very welcome.

The police say a fire at a derelict property in Portrush last night may

Crime scene investigators will examine the site at Bath Terrace.

Fire crews were called out at about 9pm and worked

through the night to put out the blaze.

Thousands of people gathered in Londonderry this afternoon

for a parade organised by the dissident

The parade started in the Bogside and ended in the Creggan estate

where a wreath was laid at a republican mural.

The main oration was given by the former republican

prisoner Paul Duffy, brother of the prominent

He said the party wanted to bring an end to British

We'll have the weather forecast in few moments.

But first, for more than 200 years a team at Armagh Observatory have

taken handwritten weather recordings on temperature, wind,

But that could all be about to change.

Our weather presenter Barra Best has the details.

Since the late 1700s, someone every single day

and in all types of weather has been taking weather measurements

From checking the thermometer for the temperature to checking how

many minutes or hours of sunshine there has been and more.

It is my responsibility now and it has have been for 18 years.

These are just as accurate as digital thermometers

and there was no significant difference in them, really.

The old way is as good as the new way.

This is one of the few remaining and final sites that records weather

manually in Northern Ireland and it is thought to

Those handwritten records are still at the site

and one of our weather team was given a look.

This is the first sheet of measurements.

Inside temperature, outside temperature and the barometer.

This is the start of the measurements and it has been

going on ever since at Armagh Observatory.

Most stations are now automatic, capable of giving

And how does the person who has been doing it manually

It will be a nice Saturday morning when you don't have

to come up the hill, stand here and get wind

For now, the history books will continue to be written

Football, and there was a fourth successive loss

They lost 2-0 to Galway United in the EA Sports Cup second round.

Looking ahead to BBC Newsline tomorrow,

This man who was sent to Australia as a child finds

It was a shock and a surprise. We got the champagne out the day we got

the results of the DNA test and it was confirmed that Patrick was

related to us. For my dad it was just great to be able to meet

Patrick and bring him over and he took Patrick down to Fermanagh and

showed him where his mother grew up. And you can see that story on BBC

Newsline tomorrow evening at 6:30pm. The weather forecast

is next from Cecilia Daly. In fact I have got the frosty globe

out, because there could well be Clear skies, we are expecting

them to hang around Temperatures getting very close

to freezing in a number of places, and possibly subzero

in some gardens. If you are up early tomorrow

there will be a frost in places. If you are on your holidays,

you probably won't be getting up that early,

at the morning is likely to bring It will be dry in most places

and there will be some Maybe one or two showers before

the morning is finished, but most places getting away

with a dry morning. Quite cold and damp though

across north-west Scotland, but across many parts of the UK

and Ireland it is not a warm day, but there will be a lot of dry

weather and there will be some It will be quite nice down

towards Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Across Northern Ireland,

we will see some sunshine for a time in the afternoon before the cloud

increases, and it will probably thicken enough to bring

one or two showers. But not too much in the way of rain,

although it will feel that bit Wednesday onwards sees some milder

weather with temperatures And there will be a little

bit of rain at times, Bits of dampness here

and there on Wednesday. Quite cloudy, a little bit dull

and misty over the hills. But at least temperatures will get

up into the low teens. And on Thursday, although there

will be some showers around, there will be a few bright spells

too, and in some places Our next BBC Newsline

is at 6:25am in the morning With unprecedented access

to our prison service, and some of the men and women

serving time,