08/01/2017 BBC Newsline

The Executive has been criticised over the ongoing failure to resolve

The SDLP MLA Claire Hanna says the lack of action by the DUP

and Sinn Fein has turned the row over the debacle into

For a month now, the political wrangling over the Renewable Heat

Incentive has dominated the news, and with the Assembly still in

Christmas recess, patience is wearing thin on the opposition

benches. The DUP and Sinn Fein are playing

this out like a soap opera, but on the 16th we will be trying to get

the most robust inquiry we can get. We still believe Arlene Foster does

not have the confidence of the public and should step aside. But we

need to get on with addressing the major challenges of Brexit and

getting a budget in place. Yesterday at a meeting in West

Belfast Sinn Fein president hinted Martin McGuinness could resign if

Arlene Foster does not stand aside while the scandal is investigated.

If the first minute that does not take the action Society desires and

deserves, and which are sustainable process of change requires, and Sinn

Fein will bring this ongoing and totally unacceptable state of

affairs to an end. When the Assembly returns on Monday the 16th, Sinn

Fein is to launch a motion of no-confidence in the speaker, Robin

Newton. He has been criticised by MLAs for allowing the First Minister

but to make a statement last month without the support of the Deputy

First Minister but that Assembly return is a week away, and a week

can be a long time in politics. A service supporting people

appealing their benefits decisions has been given a reprieve,

after it lost its funding last week. The Belfast Citywide Tribunal

Service was set up three years ago, with money from the City Council

and the Department It had closed last week,

but is now able to continue until March while looking

for further financial support. The project is absolutely vital to

citizens of Belfast. The numbers, thousands of people have used it

over the past three years, and it is oh -- even more vital going forward

giving welfare reform. The Prime Minister has said today

that she'll set out a plan She's denied government

thinking is muddled, but it's still not clear what impact

Brexit will have across Some cities, however,

are hoping it will bring benefits - like Limerick, which is trying

to move on from a difficult past. Our Dublin correspondent

Shane Harrison has been to find out On a sunny winter's day, Limerick

can look quite beautiful and peaceful. A long way from its

violent reputation of the past. Almost symbolically, the new

stadium, the home of Munster rugby, dominates the housing estate that

was once in the news for all the wrong reasons. Gangland crime. Key

decision-makers in the city stress that Limerick has put its past

behind it and is ready for new challenges. We are accessible to do

business in so many ways, but we are a good location for quality of life.

Crime rates, we have the lowest crime rates in the country at this

point in time. There will always be issues in the context of a growing

city, but those issues have been dealt with and managed exceptionally

well at local level. In 2009, it is estimated 5000 jobs were lost.

Something had to be done. Local government was rationalised, and it

began to bite up and build sites for office space, like this property. A

new company called 2030 was set up. It was given the target of

attracting 12,000 new jobs by the end of 2030. It is already two

thirds of the waiver, and there is a strong belief Brexit will help

entice even more of foreign businesses to the city. If the UK

leaves its going to be 27 countries, but 27 countries and 300 million

people, and the obvious place to access them from is from an

English-speaking country, not just because of language but because of

the law. One enterprise that has already moved to Limerick is the

Chicago -based Northern trust financial company. In 2007 it had 19

staff; today it has nearly 900, mainly local people and many are

graduates from the local university in well-paid jobs. Very affordable

to live down here, it's a very good region for that. Whether Limerick's

hopes are justified is as yet a bit like Brexit, unknowable, but one

thing is clear, it is already a city transformed, looking forward to a

future that it hopes will be bright, after a very dark start.

Turning to GAA, and the first round of the McKenna Cup.

Ulster University Jordanstown beat a young Donegal

Derry beat Armagh by a point, while there was also a win for Down

New Cavan boss Mattie McGleenan watched his side win 1-13 to 12

points against Tyrone, with Gerard Smith getting

And in hurling, Antrim beat Westmeath by nine

Let's get the weather forecast for the new week,

It has been a fairly quiet weekend, but it's all change in the coming

week. We will see the wind picking up, and it will become more

unsettled as we head towards the end of the week. It'll certainly turn

colder. Tonight it stays mild for the time of year, we avoid any

frosty conditions with loads of five or 6 degrees in quite a few spots,

but we will have overnight rain, and some of it will be heavily during

the early hours of Monday. Once we get rid of the rain, we will get

unsettled weather and it will be very windy especially towards the

north coast where we may even have some severe gales in sunspots.

Throughout the day, are bricks of rain coming in, but also sunny

spells. Tonight's train will slowly make its way across England and

Wales, pushing its way south and east. Behind it, for everyone across

Wales, Scotland and Ireland, scattered showers, sunny spells, but

suddenly feeling colder with those wins. For us into the second part of

the afternoon and through into the evening, the scattered showers will

continue to come and go. It will be noticeably colder, five or 6 degrees

for many of us. That is about five or six down on today. And it will

stay quite windy again towards the north coast. As we make our way

towards midweek, the colder air begins to sink in from the Arctic.

It's going to turn much colder, and for the time being, for Thursday, we

are expecting sleet and snow, even for some low -- low-level areas.

I'll be back with the late bulletin at ten to eleven this evening.

Until then, you can keep up to date with local news

on BBC Radio Ulster and on the local news online service.