0:00:00 > 0:00:00Here on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12A jury at the inquest into the death of five members of a Londonderry
0:00:12 > 0:00:15family at Buncrana Pier last year has returned findings
0:00:15 > 0:00:19of death by misadventure.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22Louise James lost her husband Sean and two young sons Mark and Evan
0:00:22 > 0:00:25as well as her mother Ruth and sister Jodie Lee when their car
0:00:25 > 0:00:28slid off a slipway into the water.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30Our North West Reporter Keiron Tourish reports
0:00:30 > 0:00:34from the inquest in Buncrana.
0:00:34 > 0:00:39It was always going to be a highly emotive inquest but little did
0:00:39 > 0:00:45anyone realise the sheer scale and distress of the Buncrana tragedy.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49Five people lost their lives after the car driven by Sean McGrotty slid
0:00:49 > 0:00:55off the slipway and entered the water on March the 20th 2016. No
0:00:55 > 0:01:00witnesses saw the car going in but the coroner's court heard the algae
0:01:00 > 0:01:06on the surface was very slippery and like ice. The inquest heard Sean
0:01:06 > 0:01:09McGrotty was more than three times the drink-driving limit. A
0:01:09 > 0:01:13pathologist said she could not say what empowerment a driver with that
0:01:13 > 0:01:18amount of alcohol would have as each person is different. His two sons
0:01:18 > 0:01:24Mark and Evan as well as his partner's mother Ruth Daniels and
0:01:24 > 0:01:31her 14-year-old daughter also drowned. In his evidence, Garda
0:01:31 > 0:01:37Seamus Callahan said he received a telephone call at 715 and a car had
0:01:37 > 0:01:45gone off the pier. He arrived within one minute. He saw a young baby
0:01:45 > 0:01:50being cared for. And was told for five others were missing. He added
0:01:50 > 0:01:55that the pier was extremely slippery with thick algae. He then cleared
0:01:55 > 0:01:59the pier and sealed it off. Garda Callahan said for other people were
0:01:59 > 0:02:05later taken from the water and they had all died. The jury of five men
0:02:05 > 0:02:09and four women found all five victims died due to drowning and the
0:02:09 > 0:02:15verdict was death by misadventure.I firmly believe the slipway should
0:02:15 > 0:02:20have been closed to the general public or else proper warning signs
0:02:20 > 0:02:28displayed. It was an accident waiting to happen. Hopefully,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31lessons will be learned and the recommendations made following this
0:02:31 > 0:02:36inquest will be implemented.The jury said this had been a
0:02:36 > 0:02:41heartbreaking tragedy. They said Irish water safety should now take a
0:02:41 > 0:02:48prominent role in liaising with all the relevant agencies to promote
0:02:48 > 0:02:51safety, to best international practice on all slipways and peers
0:02:51 > 0:03:02throughout Ireland. The Republic is facing the prospect of a general
0:03:02 > 0:03:13election over what he knew about an attempt to discredit. She has
0:03:13 > 0:03:17admitted she forgot she had read an e-mail a year earlier than she had
0:03:17 > 0:03:22previously claimed, the opposition party Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail are
0:03:22 > 0:03:25both threatening to table motions of no confidence in her.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29The niece of a man who was once accused of being a serial killer
0:03:29 > 0:03:31says her uncle was a monster who abused her.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Debbie Ross, who now lives in the US, has waived her right
0:03:34 > 0:03:35to anonymity to tell her story.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Her uncle, Leslie Ross, died earlier this month while facing
0:03:37 > 0:03:4044 sex abuse charges.
0:03:40 > 0:03:48Our investigations correspondent Kevin Magee reports from New York.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53Debbie Ross once her voice heard from across the Atlantic. As a child
0:03:53 > 0:03:57growing up in County Down she says she was sexually abused by her uncle
0:03:57 > 0:04:01Leslie between the ages of six and ten. He would later become a
0:04:01 > 0:04:05suspected serial killer is to be abused his knees when she visited
0:04:05 > 0:04:14her grandparents pub. -- his niece. An absolute monster to have done
0:04:14 > 0:04:21what he did to me is very disturbing but I was also very afraid of him.
0:04:21 > 0:04:27Last time I was around him I was 18 and he would come into the bar at
0:04:27 > 0:04:31that point with a piece of wood that was to buy two with four inch nails
0:04:31 > 0:04:35sticking out of it, he was terrifying.The abuse had a huge
0:04:35 > 0:04:42impact on how while she was growing up in Northern Ireland.I acted out
0:04:42 > 0:04:47really badly in different periods of my adolescence and early adulthood I
0:04:47 > 0:04:51would say I was self-destructive. Looking for a clean break she
0:04:51 > 0:04:56emigrated to the USA in 2005 where she is now a successful research
0:04:56 > 0:04:59scientist. In 2015 her uncle Leslie was acquitted of killing three
0:04:59 > 0:05:09former girlfriends. He had been facing 44 abuse charges when he died
0:05:09 > 0:05:14earlier this month. His death meant Debbie's activations could no longer
0:05:14 > 0:05:21be tested in court.The outcome would have been out and out
0:05:21 > 0:05:24conviction, no doubt.The PSNI agree and the message to her after her
0:05:24 > 0:05:26uncle died says...
0:05:32 > 0:05:38Why have you decided to waive your right to anonymity and speak to me?
0:05:38 > 0:05:43I would like to appeal to other people who are victims to speak up,
0:05:43 > 0:05:49it is never too late to decide to take back your own life and to reach
0:05:49 > 0:05:57your own goals again, to realise they damaged you as a person but you
0:05:57 > 0:06:01ultimately can heal, the damage can be minimised. It will not be removed
0:06:01 > 0:06:06but it can be dealt with. It is meet in patch your life for two years the
0:06:06 > 0:06:12way it has done mine.Speak up, get help. By going public and telling
0:06:12 > 0:06:15her story, Debbie Ross hopes she is sending out a clear message that it
0:06:15 > 0:06:19is never too late for victims of abuse to come forward no matter how
0:06:19 > 0:06:26many years have passed or how many minds they have put behind them.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29The independent unionist peer Lord Kilclooney has faced
0:06:29 > 0:06:31criticism after referring to the Irish Prime Minister Leo
0:06:31 > 0:06:33Varadkar as "the Indian".
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Lord Kilclooney, who used to be deputy leader
0:06:35 > 0:06:38of the Ulster Unionists, says he used the term as shorthand
0:06:38 > 0:06:44and denies accusations of racism.
0:06:44 > 0:06:50Here's Our Political Editor Mark Devenport.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55Earlier this evening, Lord kill Clooney took to social media to
0:06:55 > 0:06:58response to comments from the Irish Foreign minister about a united
0:06:58 > 0:07:04Ireland. He claimed Simon Coakley was stirring things up a dangerous
0:07:04 > 0:07:09way before adding the foreign minister was clearly hoping to
0:07:09 > 0:07:14undermine the Indian. An apparent reference to the Taoiseach Leo Brad
0:07:14 > 0:07:19Carr who was born in Dublin but has an Indian father. Alliances accused
0:07:19 > 0:07:26him of racism and the former victims commissioner said she had reported
0:07:26 > 0:07:31him to the House of Lords standards Commissioner. In his defence, he
0:07:31 > 0:07:35said he has used the term Indian as shorthand because he found the
0:07:35 > 0:07:41Taoiseach's name hard to spell acknowledged he should have referred
0:07:41 > 0:07:45to him as prime minister and declared he is not a racist.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Well, that'll be one of the stories featuring on The View on BBC1
0:07:48 > 0:07:52straight after this programme, and here's Mark Carruthers.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Well, Tara tonight, we'll have more reaction to that controversial tweet
0:07:54 > 0:07:56from Lord Kilclooney.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58We'll also hear from the DUP's Emma Little Pengelly
0:07:58 > 0:08:01and Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey on the proposed amnesty for state
0:08:01 > 0:08:04killings in the troubles and as relations between the British
0:08:04 > 0:08:06and Irish government sour over Brexit.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09I'll be talking to former Tory minister Peter Lilley.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Join me straight after this bulletin.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16The joint bid by Belfast, Derry and Strabane Councils to win
0:08:16 > 0:08:20the title of European Capital of Culture 2023 appears to be over.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23The European Commission has decided no UK city can
0:08:23 > 0:08:26now apply for the role.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29They said Brexit means British cities are no longer eligible.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32Hundreds of thousands of pounds has already been spent on the bid.
0:08:32 > 0:08:39Councillors in Belfast gave their reaction to the news.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43EU was well aware for months if not years and they allowed us to proceed
0:08:43 > 0:08:47and only now at the last minute that they raise this issue and it is very
0:08:47 > 0:08:49interesting the letter only arrived yesterday but they leaked it last
0:08:49 > 0:08:55night.We're not losing hope of the programme being realised and will do
0:08:55 > 0:09:00all we can as a city in partnership with Derry and Strabane to become a
0:09:00 > 0:09:05European capital of culture.It has been feeling much colder, now the
0:09:05 > 0:09:11forecast.It is a very chilly nights to come and the Met office has
0:09:11 > 0:09:11forecast.It is a very chilly nights to come and the Met office has a
0:09:11 > 0:09:15severe weather warning in place for ice because we have subzero
0:09:15 > 0:09:19temperatures and with showers a combination means we could see icy
0:09:19 > 0:09:24patches forming on untreated roads. Tomorrow will be another very cold
0:09:24 > 0:09:28day, wintry showers on the hills, some brightness between the showers
0:09:28 > 0:09:35but you will need to be wrapped up mostly -- nice and warm. Top
0:09:35 > 0:09:40temperatures four or 5 degrees and in the breeze feeling cooler. You
0:09:40 > 0:09:44can still see we are feeling the effects of this area of low pressure
0:09:44 > 0:09:48to the north of Scotland driving in that cold air from the north and
0:09:48 > 0:09:52feeding showers. It is warmer further south and east but only a
0:09:52 > 0:09:57bit. The whole of the British Isles now in this cold zone of air. Into
0:09:57 > 0:10:03the weekend, more wintry showers, more bright spells between showers
0:10:03 > 0:10:07but staying cold, particularly in the breeze. Highs of five or 6
0:10:07 > 0:10:10degrees. A chilly run of weather over the next few days.
0:10:10 > 0:10:11That's it for now.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Our next BBC Newsline is at 6:25am in the morning
0:10:14 > 0:10:15during Breakfast here on BBC One.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Goodnight.