:00:00. > :00:07.So, it's goodbye from me, and on BBC One, we now join
:00:08. > :00:12.Teachers are harming their pupils' education by taking industrial
:00:13. > :00:16.action and their pay and pensions are attractive - that's
:00:17. > :00:18.what Northern Ireland's top education official has said
:00:19. > :00:21.in a strongly worded letter to all teachers today.
:00:22. > :00:23.But it's provoked an angry response, as our education correspondent
:00:24. > :00:31.Some teachers have taken strike action over pay and workload,
:00:32. > :00:35.but they're also not co-operating with school inspections.
:00:36. > :00:37.And that's led to a blunt message from the head
:00:38. > :00:42.Gavin Boyd says that by their actions are "seriously
:00:43. > :00:46.affecting the education of children and young people."
:00:47. > :00:50.He also says that, "The average teacher's pay in Northern Ireland
:00:51. > :00:54.is just over ?40,000pa," and that "This compares very favourably
:00:55. > :00:58.with other graduate professions locally and is actually higher
:00:59. > :01:00.than the average teacher's pay in England and Wales."
:01:01. > :01:04.The starting salary for new teachers is around ?23,000 a year,
:01:05. > :01:07.but they can go on to earn much more than that, depending how
:01:08. > :01:10.long they're in the job and which responsibilities they take
:01:11. > :01:20.The teaching unions who were meeting today were united in their fury.
:01:21. > :01:25.All love our offices have experienced a high number of calls
:01:26. > :01:33.over the weekend and this morning. Teachers completely frustrated and
:01:34. > :01:37.angry at the patronising and Trump like communications. This will do
:01:38. > :01:39.nothing to improve the climate in the education sector.
:01:40. > :01:41.But doesn't Gavin Boyd have a point in that teachers
:01:42. > :01:47.This principal says his staff are worth every penny.
:01:48. > :01:56.1% pay increase was not awarded in 2015-16. As a result teachers feel
:01:57. > :02:01.undervalued and staff would be, morale would be at an all-time low
:02:02. > :02:05.as a result of that decision. Govan Boyd wasn't available for interview
:02:06. > :02:09.today. He, the other teaching employers and the unions have been
:02:10. > :02:14.talking for months with about pay with that agreement. This letter
:02:15. > :02:17.shows just how divided the seller. -- they still are.
:02:18. > :02:19.A woman has been injured in a suspected petrol bomb attack
:02:20. > :02:23.It happened around 11:30pm last night in Clara Street.
:02:24. > :02:26.The victim was treated in hospital for injuries to her legs,
:02:27. > :02:30.The house was badly damaged in the attack.
:02:31. > :02:34.The funeral has taken place of the Londonderry businessman
:02:35. > :02:36.Brendan Duddy who played a key role in the peace process.
:02:37. > :02:39.The 80-year-old, who died on Friday after a long illness,
:02:40. > :02:41.acted as a secret intermediary between the IRA and
:02:42. > :02:43.the British government for more than two decades.
:02:44. > :02:50.The final journey of a secret peacemaker.
:02:51. > :02:52.Brendan Duddy, who was 80, died on Friday after a long illness.
:02:53. > :02:57.His death came just a few years after his identity as a secret link
:02:58. > :03:01.between MI6 and the IRA was publicly revealed in a BBC programme.
:03:02. > :03:04.It explained how Brendan Duddy's role had been a closely guarded
:03:05. > :03:08.secret during some of the worst years of the Troubles.
:03:09. > :03:10.Today, mourners were told that Brendan Duddy's
:03:11. > :03:18.contribution to peace involved risk and commitment.
:03:19. > :03:26.The first steps towards a possibility of a peaceful future
:03:27. > :03:30.required trust. And Brendan knew the value of creating and maintaining
:03:31. > :03:32.trust on all sides, which would allow the seeds planted through
:03:33. > :03:39.dialogue to produce the peace process. Brandon possessed a
:03:40. > :03:44.determination and persistence to remain actively involved for many
:03:45. > :03:45.decades and the task of creating opportunity for dialogue which could
:03:46. > :03:46.lead to peace. Among those who travelled
:03:47. > :03:48.to the city for the funeral, Peter Taylor - the journalist
:03:49. > :03:51.who revealed Brendan Duddy's role as a back-channel
:03:52. > :03:53.between MI6 and the IRA. He spoke to mourners
:03:54. > :04:06.at today's funeral. His legacy and the legacy of Martin
:04:07. > :04:09.McGuinness also is the part that both of them and many others played
:04:10. > :04:17.in helping to bring about the piece that all of us enjoyed today. It is
:04:18. > :04:21.ironic that both Martin and Brendan Parsley away within weeks of each of
:04:22. > :04:23.the marking the end of an era and the eventual transition from war to
:04:24. > :04:24.peace. Brendan Duddy has been buried this
:04:25. > :04:29.afternoon at the city cemetery. The DUP leader Arlene Foster has
:04:30. > :04:32.been criticised for newspaper comments she made at the weekend
:04:33. > :04:36.about Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill. Mrs Foster's comments have been
:04:37. > :04:40.described as sexist and disparaging. Our political editor
:04:41. > :04:43.Mark Devenport joins me now. What exactly did
:04:44. > :04:52.Arlene Foster say, Mark? These comments were made in the
:04:53. > :04:57.course of what I suppose was meant to be a soft focus and depute in the
:04:58. > :05:01.Sunday Independent. At the end of that interview the journalist asked
:05:02. > :05:05.Arlene Foster to play a word association game, what word came to
:05:06. > :05:11.mind she said a name? And cheaper to the name Michelle O'Neill. Let's
:05:12. > :05:20.look at Commons. After she did that Arlene Foster said... The journalist
:05:21. > :05:24.said go on, and she came out with the word blonde. She went on to say
:05:25. > :05:28.that Michelle O'Neill always looks the same, she said Michelle is very
:05:29. > :05:33.attractive and she added that she was always well presented. She said
:05:34. > :05:39.you never see her without her make up for her ever perfect. And what
:05:40. > :05:42.has been the reaction? Sinn Fein not amused by this. They said this was
:05:43. > :05:47.sexist and disparaging. We haven't heard from Michelle O'Neill and this
:05:48. > :05:53.is because she has been in transit today, she was pictured at the
:05:54. > :05:59.airport in Dublin together with Mary Lou McDonald as part of the Sinn
:06:00. > :06:02.Fein campaign to achieve designated EU special status for Northern
:06:03. > :06:04.Ireland in Strasberg. Heard daughter took to Twitter and made this
:06:05. > :06:19.comment... Disgraceful... Has the DUP said anything? Was in
:06:20. > :06:25.the last hour and a half DUP MP Sammy Wilson said that if Arlene
:06:26. > :06:31.Foster wanted to be disparaging to quite a lot of things she could say.
:06:32. > :06:35.She was taking the line that the comments were complimentary and they
:06:36. > :06:37.have got nothing to apologise for. Thank you.
:06:38. > :06:39.A Londonderry-based manufacturing company is to add 61 jobs
:06:40. > :06:42.GES makes steel components for major international companies.
:06:43. > :06:44.The jobs will be created over the next three years
:06:45. > :06:53.with the assistance of almost ?400,000 in grants from Invest NI.
:06:54. > :06:58.Now let's have a look at the weather forecast, here's Barra Best.
:06:59. > :07:05.Thank you. We have got off to a shaky start today. A good bit of
:07:06. > :07:08.rain this morning. Most of it has cleared the way. Some brighter
:07:09. > :07:12.spells coming into the north and west. A cloudy picture across the
:07:13. > :07:18.island of you are troubling. Further spells of wet weather for making
:07:19. > :07:21.further north. It is one. 18 or 19 in parts of the West if we do get
:07:22. > :07:24.prolonged spells of sunshine. Although they will be a good bit of
:07:25. > :07:28.dry weather some patchy light rain and drizzle will make its way in
:07:29. > :07:31.through the seeming tonight. A rather mucky necklace of us.
:07:32. > :07:37.Temperatures likely to stay at about 14 or 15. After a bit of a dry start
:07:38. > :07:41.tomorrow it will become wet again and 20. It will improve through the
:07:42. > :07:46.day. We begin to see the wet weather coming in the parts of the West. We
:07:47. > :07:54.could even have some thunder and lightning. Behind it brightens up
:07:55. > :07:59.nicely. But sunshine. Many of us enjoying a fine evening. 15 or 16.
:08:00. > :08:02.Likely to see some further wet weather especially during the second
:08:03. > :08:07.night of Wednesday but we hold onto those temperatures slightly above
:08:08. > :08:11.average. As for the rest of the week scattered showers are always in the
:08:12. > :08:15.forecast. Not all a complete wash-out. Some sunshine but a
:08:16. > :08:17.cooling trend from 18 on Tuesday to 13 on Friday.
:08:18. > :08:25.Now a signed news summary with Raymond Abernethy.
:08:26. > :08:32.Northern Ireland's top education official has accused teachers of
:08:33. > :08:37.harming people's' education by taking industrial action. He also
:08:38. > :08:41.said they got better paid than their counterparts in England and Wales.
:08:42. > :08:43.It has provoked an angry response from the unions.
:08:44. > :08:46.A woman has been injured in a suspected petrol bomb attack
:08:47. > :08:50.It happened around 11:30pm last night in Clara Street.
:08:51. > :08:52.The victim was treated in hospital for injuries to her legs,
:08:53. > :08:59.The funeral has taken place of the Londonderry
:09:00. > :09:01.businessman Brendan Duddy, who played a key role
:09:02. > :09:08.The 80-year-old, who died on Friday after a long illness,
:09:09. > :09:10.acted as a secret intermediary between the IRA and
:09:11. > :09:19.The DUP leader Arlene Foster has been criticised for newspaper
:09:20. > :09:22.comments she made at the weekend about Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill.
:09:23. > :09:36.Mrs Foster comments have been described as sexist and disparaging.
:09:37. > :09:39.A Londonderry-based manufacturing company is to add 61 jobs,
:09:40. > :09:42.GES makes steel components for major international companies.
:09:43. > :09:47.The jobs will be created over the next three years
:09:48. > :09:50.Our next television news is at 6:30pm this evening.
:09:51. > :09:54.In the meantime you can follow this programme
:09:55. > :10:01.From all of us on the BBC Newsline team, good afternoon.