SAOIRSE32

BBC

Murder charge loyalist given bail

A leading Belfast loyalist who is awaiting trial for murder is to be freed on bail.

William 'Mo' Courtney, of Fernhill Heights in the Shankill area, was to have gone on trial on Monday accused of murdering 21-year-old Alan McCullough.

His body was found on the outskirts of Belfast on 5 June 2003.

However, because of prosecution delays, the judge at Belfast Crown Court said he could not justify keeping the accused in jail any longer.

Mr Courtney has been given one week to lodge a bail surety of £5,000 and also to provide an address outside Belfast.

Mr Justice Hart told the court that the primary reason for the delay in the trial, "was simply because the prosecution" had served evidence against Mr Courtney on his defence at a late stage.

He also said it was still not certain that the trial could be listed for hearing at the beginning of the new Crown Court term in September, adding that the case was unlikely to be heard until at least October.

IOL

Hain sails into storm over peace process

13/05/2005 - 15:41:27


click to view the lovely and provocative Ian Paisley

Peter Hain was at the centre of his first political storm in Northern Ireland tonight after he was accused of rewriting British government policy there.

Democratic Unionist leader the Rev Ian Paisley lambasted the new Northern Ireland Secretary after he told the DUP and Sinn Féin in his first interview since taking over at Stormont there could only be forward movement in the peace process.

With the DUP insisting the British government should press ahead with setting up devolved government without Sinn Féin or devise a more accountable system of direct rule, Mr Hain said yesterday: “There was an agreement seven years ago endorsed by referendum, both north and south, in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and no agreement in modern living memory has had that type of endorsement.

“Therefore you cannot just discard part of it. I understand both where the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin are coming from but that’s not the end of the story.

“I think both parties know that that is not the end of the story.

“Certainly in my preliminary discussions with them, very good discussions, I think everybody realises that there is no reverse gear on this process.

“It’s what forward gear you take. Do you stay in neutral or select a forward gear?”

But his comments drew an angry reaction from Mr Paisley who said the minister was going back on promises on changes to the Good Friday Agreement which were made to the DUP by the British Prime Minister and Secretary of State in last year’s negotiations.

The North Antrim MP said: “Before we were prepared to take part in the previous talks we told the (British) government we had to get this matter sorted once and for all and we asked: was there going to be an opportunity to the amend the Agreement?

“If not, we had nothing to say.

“We went into talks on the fundamentals of the Agreement and asked them to define what they were. They were twofold.

“Firstly, all parties at the table must be in agreement that there must be a democratic government where every person in it was bound by the democratic process only.

“Secondly as far as the Agreement was concerned, the only part that had to be agreed was that all parties, if elected and provided they adhered to the first principle, should be in government.

“We accepted those and on that basis went into the talks and agreed certain changes to the Agreement.

“Now we have a Secretary of State coming into Northern Ireland and within days he is telling us that the Agreement was the greatest thing in living memory, giving it his endorsement and insisting no part can be discarded.

“We have to know has the British government’s policy changed? If that is the case, let them spell it out to the people of Northern Ireland. Let (Prime Minister) Tony Blair speak.

“Mr Hain better realise that he is not in some Welsh valley. He is in Northern Ireland which is part and parcel of the United Kingdom and which will still be part of the United Kingdom.

“Is he actually telling us now as far as this election is concerned it is going to have no influence over what the British Government is going to do?”

During last week’s local government and Westminster elections, the DUP greatly strengthened its mandate, capturing three extra House of Commons seats and 52 more councillors across Northern Ireland.

The Ulster Unionists’ vote dramatically slumped, with David Trimble among four MPs who lost seats and 40 councillors also among the casualties.

Mr Trimble quit as UUP leader this week and tomorrow the 108 party executive will decide during an elections post mortem how they will handle any leadership election.

Belfast Telegraph

McCartney threats 'not from republicans'

By Chris Thornton
13 May 2005

Threats to burn out the family of murder victim Robert McCartney do not come from republicans, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams insisted today.

Mr Adams said he was certain that republicans were not behind the threats which police warned the family about last night.

Days after getting the European Parliament's backing for their plans to take civil action against the suspected killers, PSNI officers told the five sisters and fiancee of Mr McCartney of the arson threats.

The family said police intelligence indicated that their homes and a sandwich business run by Gemma McCartney could be torched by criminals.

Paula McCartney said the family was "shocked" but would not pull back from their campaign to bring the killers to justice.

"At the end of the day, we are the victims here, and we are being terrorised," she said.

"It was our brother that was brutally murdered.

"We are taking the threats very seriously.

"You have to consider that we have small children, we have to take it seriously."

The family said they believe the killers are behind the threats.

Mr Adams said today that "no republican is involved in any threat against this family".

"There is no suggestion - from what I have heard - from the PSNI that republicans are involved.

"I'm quite certain that if there was any inkling of republicans being involved the PSNI would have made that clear," he told BBC Radio Ulster.

Mr Adams said the case remains unsolved because "those who killed Robert McCartney are not men enough to own up to what they did.

"They are guided entirely by selfishness."

He also accused the PSNI of not handling the investigation properly.

Paula McCartney said today that the threats will have "absolutely no impact at all" on the family's campaign.

Daily Ireland

**Following this article is a story from the BBC archive on Brian Nelson

Nelson link to four murders

By Ciarán Barnes
c.barnes@dailyireland.com

A rifle used in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) murder of two young brothers in Co Armagh 12 years ago was used in at least two other killings, Daily Ireland can reveal.
Rory and Gerard Cairns were shot dead at their home in Bleary in 1993. The brothers were aged 18 and 22.
Daily Ireland has learned that the AK-47 assault rifle used in the shootings was one of hundreds shipped into the North from South Africa by British army double agent Brian Nelson. The same weapon was also used to kill Lurgan republican Sam Marshall in 1990 and Catholic factory worker Gervais Lynch the following year.
For 15 years the security services have failed to make public the ballistics of the AK-47 or reveal to the Cairns, Marshall or Lynch families the history of the weapon.
Relatives of the dead men are convinced this is because it would have proved their loved ones’ murders were a result of loyalist/security agency collusion.
Johnny Marshall, the brother of Sam Marshall, yesterday said he was stunned by news concerning the AK-47.
He said: “This begs the question why did the RUC not provide us with this information a decade ago? Why has it taken 12 years for these ballistics reports to come to light?
“It is clear to me that the RUC have been trying to hide something here.
“Detectives knew that a rifle imported by a double agent was being used to kill people throughout Armagh by another double agent, Robin Jackson, yet they chose to keep this secret.
“If that doesn’t prove collusion existed, I don’t know what does,” added Mr Marshall.
A Police Ombudsman probe into RUC misconduct concerning its investigation into the Cairns’ killings unearthed the history of the AK-47 assault rifle.
The Cairns family were unavailable for comment yesterday.
The Police Ombudsman would not comment yesterday on either the Cairns’ investigation or the history of the weapon used to murder the brothers.
Sam Marshall was murdered by the UVF in 1990, minutes after signing bail at Lurgan RUC barracks. On the day of his death he was believed to have been tailed to and from the barracks by an RUC undercover car.
In January 1991, Gervais Lynch was shot dead in his home near Lurgan, Co Armagh.
His UVF killers calmly opened the back door of his house before shooting him three times.
Two years later, the same loyalist gang murdered Rory and Gerard Cairns at their home.
All four killings are believed to have been carried out by a Portadown UVF gang led by British agent Robin ‘The Jackal’ Jackson, who died of cancer in 1998.
Prior to the UVF receiving its stockpile of weapons from the 1989 Nelson arms shipment, the organisation had not murdered anyone in the north Armagh area for six years.

-----------------------

BBC

Dark side of the war


Loyalist gunmen played a brutal part in the conflict

By Peter Taylor
Wednesday, 31 May, 2000

The story of Brian Nelson is one of the murkiest episodes in Britain's secret intelligence war in Northern Ireland.


Brian Nelson: British agent involved in loyalist killings

It's about murder, cover up and collusion between British intelligence and the loyalist paramilitaries, and comes closest to confirming republicans' perennial charge that the British state was complicit in murder and adept at covering it up.

Nelson, a former British soldier from the Shankill Road, was a British agent operating as the intelligence chief of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA), providing the vital intelligence that guided its killers to their targets.

He was directed to do so by the secret army unit for which he worked known as the Force Research Unit - the FRU. The FRU recruited and handled agents. Its crest is a man with a net - its motto "Fishers of Men".

Beyond the law

Astonishingly, the FRU helped Nelson with the intelligence he handed on to the killers. It's a shocking story straight out of the pages of a fantasy thriller but it's true, confirmed in a remarkable interview with "Geoff", one of Nelson's handlers, for our BBC2 series, "Brits".

Tracking him down took months. When it comes to covert operations, the MOD's doors are double-locked and bolted. Geoff admits that Nelson "strayed outside the law at our behest" and feels disgusted that when his activities came to light, he was "hung out to dry" by the Establishment.

He's the first Nelson handler to break his silence. The implications of what he says and the questions raised by it are massive.

The killing of Gerard Slane on 22 September 1988 sheds chilling light on how Nelson operated and shows how fine was the line the FRU trod.


UFF: a cover name used by the UDA

Just after 4am, four masked gunman from the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), the UDA's killer wing, sledge-hammered their way into the Slane's house off the Falls Road, and shot Gerard four times in the head.

They claimed that he'd been involved in the killing of one of their own a fortnight earlier. An RUC detective said there was nothing to suggest that he had.

The last words his wife heard were Gerard screaming, "Teresa, it's the "Orangies"!". She rushed out onto the landing and saw her husband lying dead.

Unmasking an agent

Brian Nelson had provided the UFF with the detailed intelligence that had enabled the "hit" to go ahead. He had found Slane's address, checked it in the electoral register, got hold of a photograph and made out a personal file on him - all with the blessing of the FRU.


Nelson was a key figure in the UFF

"Brian Nelson may not have pulled the trigger," Teresa told me, "but to me he was as guilty of my husband's murder as the actual murderers themselves."

Nelson was finally unmasked as an army agent involved in murder in 1990 after John Stevens, then the Deputy Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire, investigated collusion between the security forces and the loyalist paramilitaries.

"He was as guilty of my husband's murder as the actual murderers themselves".
Teresa Slane

Nelson pleaded guilty on five counts of conspiracy to murder - Gerard Slane was one - and sentenced to ten years.

But these charges were suspected to be only the tip of an iceberg of conspiracy and killing that involved Nelson, the FRU and British intelligence.

Geoff first met Brian Nelson at the beginning of 1987. "He seemed quite a nice person. A family man. He told me he hated violence and he didn't agree with the way in which loyalists were carrying out their attacks.

Agent 6137

He saw himself as the spear-point in the thrust against terrorism." That's why in the early 1980s, Nelson had originally offered his services the FRU and became the UDA's intelligence chief in West Belfast.

After two years, he decided to quit and went to work in Germany. Whilst he was away, loyalist killings dramatically increased from four in 1985 to fifteen in 1986. Most of the victims were innocent Catholics.

At the beginning of 1987, the FRU decided to bring him back, re-recruit him and infiltrate him back inside the UDA.

Apparently MI5 was dead against the idea and believed that Nelson should be left where he was. Army intelligence felt differently. Nelson was given a code-name - Agent 6137.

Geoff became his co-handler and was responsible for his resettlement in Belfast. "We brought his family back into this dangerous job, paid the deposit on a house and car and set him up in a taxi firm. We paid him a salary of £100 a month in cash to do this job specifically for us.

" At the time there was a lack of information coming in from the loyalist side and we needed someone to give us that information. They were just killing people and they didn't care who they were. To me Brian Nelson was a patriot doing an extraordinary job."

Again, with surprising rapidity, Nelson rose to become the UDA's intelligence chief for the whole of the province. His orders from the FRU were to encourage the UFF to stop killing innocent Catholics and concentrate its murderous energies on targeting suspected republican terrorists.

The FRU helped Nelson with the intelligence to carry out the killings. "We suggested that he collate all the information and we taught him the rudimentary system of compiling file cards and photographs."

Geoff showed him how to do it. It was naïve of army intelligence to imagine that Nelson could carry out his mission without becoming involved in conspiracies to murder and even in murder itself.

To do otherwise would mean his life expectancy would be short in such a dangerous double game.

Warnings that failed

Theoretically, the FRU encouraged Nelson to focus the UFF's targeting on IRA suspects so it could save lives, the idea being that once it was known that an attack was due to take place, the target could be warned or steps taken to prevent it.

This is how the chain was supposed to work. Nelson would warn Geoff: Geoff would alert his superiors; the FRU would then alert the RUC's Tasking and Coordinating Group (TCG) that comprises all the intelligence agencies from Special Branch to M15.

They then would decide what, if any, action to take. On some occasions the system worked as intended and lives were saved. On many others it did not and lives were lost, sometimes by mistake.

But when Nelson passed on information to his handlers, it wasn't always acted upon. In the case of Gerard Slane, Nelson warned one of Geoff's successors on two occasions that Slane was being targeted, ten days before the attack and finally the day before the attack itself.

Teresa Slane knew nothing of it. She had no warning visit from the RUC and no attempt was made to thwart it. "My husband might have been here today were it not for the RUC," she says bitterly.


Finucance murder remains deeply controversial

But there's no evidence that the RUC ever knew about it. So what happened to the information? Did it get beyond the FRU? Was it sanitised somewhere up the chain? Was a decision taken to let the killers go ahead? Or was the information simply not precise enough?

There are many questions still to be answered, not least why the killers themselves, whose identities Nelson knew, were not arrested and stopped.

But Nelson didn't always pass on the information. Those who came to know him said he also had a passionate hatred for the IRA and a "psychopathic tendency".

This may have inclined him to act on his own as well as with the encouragement of the FRU. Geoff claims Nelson did much of the intelligence work himself and had to do so to maintain his own credibility with the UFF.

Treading a fine line

Geoff was aware that people would get suspicious and his agent's life was on the line every day. But did Geoff personally ever supply him with information? "No, not directly. But if he said, "is that so-and-so's registration, I would say to him, "you don't have that wrong."

It was the beginning of the slippery slope. If that was the case, I asked, and the car owner was killed, weren't he and the FRU complicit in murder? Geoff was matter of fact.

"Well, it's a fine line you walk," he said. I pointed out that in the end Nelson went to gaol for conspiracies to murder. "Yes," he replied, "at our request." Encouraged by him and his colleagues? "Yes". And by the FRU? "Yes". And by British intelligence? "Yes".

As a result, I added, Nelson went to gaol. "Yes and I'm ashamed of it. Brian believed, not that he was bullet proof, but that he had protection from us and that what he was doing, he was doing at our request and therefore he had immunity - and he didn't."

Geoff is bitter. "He saved, in my estimation, dozens of lives. He was essential to the war effort and gave us an insight into the loyalist organisations we never had in the past - and I believe don't have now.

" He was the jewel in the crown. I'm ashamed at the way he's been treated by the Establishment who had used him and guided him and put him in that position. I promised Brian that the Establishment would look after him and it didn't. It let him down and I'm ashamed of that."

Towards the end of his time as handler, Geoff did become concerned at the way that Nelson was behaving and recommended to his superiors that he should be stood down for a while.

But his report was ignored. "I was told that he was too important and that he had to stay in place because of the information coming in was so vital."


Stevens inquiry faces difficult questions

Nelson continued to work as an agent and became involved in even more controversial killings, most prominently that of the lawyer, Pat Finucane, who, like Gerard Slane and many others, was gunned down by the UFF acting on intelligence some of which had been provided by Brian Nelson.

Nelson had provided the killers with a photograph that featured Finucane leaving the court with one of his clients. This remains one of the matters still under investigation by John Stevens, now, eleven years later, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

But Brian Nelson's legacy did not end with his sentencing. He not only distributed his intelligence storehouse to the UFF in Belfast but to its organisation all over the province - and he did so without the knowledge or approval of his handlers.

Likewise, dissemination didn't stop with the UFF. On several occasions, Nelson copied his intelligence material and handed it over to the UFF's loyalist rivals in the UVF and Red Hand Commando.

Nelson spread his net wide with the result that, should the ceasefires end, the loyalist paramilitaries still have a republican hit list provided by a British agent.

There's still one question to be asked. If, when his inquiries are finally complete, Sir John Stevens recommends prosecution of members of the FRU - or higher - on conspiracy charges, will the prosecutions go ahead?

Or will they, like those in the wake of the Stalker inquiry, be conveniently buried "in the national interest". Such are the political dilemmas when covert operations become public.

Peter Taylor's series, Brits, was broadcast in May 2000 as the final part of his trilogy on The Troubles.

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin to launch EU Constitution campaign

Published: 13 May, 2005

In the coming months the people of Ireland will be asked to vote on the proposed EU Constitution and it is crucial that there is a full and open debate on the consequences that this constitution will have for Ireland and the European Union.

On Monday 16th May at 2:30pm Sinn Féin will launch its campaign opposing the proposed EU Constitution in Buswells Hotel on Molesworth Street, Dublin 2. Attending the press conference will be Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP, Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD and party representative to the Forum on Europe Councillor Daithí Doolan.

We will also be announcing details of a major two day conference on the content and implications of the proposed EU Constitution which will take place in the Irish Film Centre on Eustace Street in Dublin on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th May.

BreakingNews.ie

Warplanes in Irish airspace costing taxpayers millions

13/05/2005 - 14:43:48

Taxpayers have forked out millions of euro to cover the cost of military jets flying over the country, it emerged today.

With more than 100,000 troops passing through Shannon Airport this year alone Roisin Shortall, Labour Party transport spokeswoman, said it was shocking that the public were footing the bill for warplanes using Irish airspace.

Ms Shortall said the Government needed to re-think the policy of granting foreign air forces free access to flight paths.

“I believe that the public will be shocked and surprised to find that the Irish taxpayer is actually paying for the privilege of allowing these aircraft to fly though Irish airspace,” she said.

“Ireland is clearly a significant loser here as very few Irish military flights over-fly other countries, but our position on the edge of Europe means that many foreign military flights go through Irish controlled airspace.”

The Labour TD noted other neutral countries including Austria, Finland and Switzerland did not grant exempted status to US military flights.

“Surely it is time for Ireland to consider adopting a similar policy,” she said.

“It is bad enough that we should be allowing US military flights to use our airspace and to land at Shannon, but it is surely totally unacceptable that the Irish taxpayer should be having to foot the bill for these flights.”

The Department of Transport confirmed the Irish Aviation Authority was reimbursed to the tune of €10m for flight charges since 2000.

The figures showed a threefold increase in cost over the last five years. In 2000 charges ran to €1,139,283, in 2001 €1,377,560 and in 2002 €1,642,541.

The fees hit €2,148,374 in 2003 and last year the bill paid for by taxpayers reached €3,687,933.

The Department of Transport was unable to break down the nationality of military aircraft flying over the country.

But in a separate response to a question tabled by Ms Shortall it emerged 110,766 US troops passed through Shannon this year, more than double the 47,149 for the same period in 2004.

The Department of Transport confirmed the free flying deal was part of a Eurocontrol agreement.

BBC

Real IRA chief can challenge fund


Michael McKevitt was jailed for 20 years

Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt has been given the go-ahead in the High Court to challenge a government donation to the Omagh bomb victims.

Mr Justice Weatherup granted him leave to apply for a judicial review of the decision to help finance a civil claim against McKevitt and four other men.

The government gave the Omagh relatives almost £750,000 to sue them for £14m.

The judge said there seemed to be an arguable case over the way the power to fund the Omagh relatives was exercised.

McKevitt, 54, from Blackrock, County Louth, is serving a 20-year sentence in Portlaoise for running the Real IRA, the organisation which carried out the 1998 Omagh bombing, which killed 29 people and unborn twins.

He and four other people in the Republic of Ireland - Seamus Daly, Seamus McKenna, Liam Campbell and Colm Murphy - are being sued.

Time extended

It is hoped to fix a date for the hearing before the end of the year but more delay could be caused by Murphy's re-trial in Dublin on a charge of plotting the Omagh attack.

McKevitt's case against the Lord Chancellor and the Legal Services Commission - formerly the legal aid department - was based on "inequality of arms" after his claim for £1m in legal aid was turned down.

Counsel for McKevitt said more than £400,000 of the £742,702 provided by the Lord Chancellor had already been paid out to legal representatives of the Omagh families.

Crown prosecution opposed the granting of leave because of the delay in bringing the matter before the court.

He said the Lord Chancellor's announcement was made in February, 2004, which was way beyond the normal time limit of three months.

Mr Justice Weatherup said he was extending the time limit because of delay caused by McKevitt's own judicial review over the refusal of legal aid and the fact that contact with his lawyers had been inhibited because of his incarceration.

The judge said the full application for a judicial review would be heard on 21 June.

Derry Journal

Paisley Wanted Sinn Fein-DUP Outcome

By Ian Cullen
Friday 13th May 2005

IN HIS first major statement since his election as Foyle M.P., Mark Durkan last night launched a scathing attack on both Sinn Fein and the DUP claiming that they had gone out of their way to 'promote' each other in the run up to the elections.

Speaking to the 'Journal' from London where he was taking part in a 'get to know' Westminster induction yesterday, the SDLP leader said the posturing by the two parties ahead of last Friday's elections now looked stupid.

"Not only did Ian Paisley and the DUP promote Sinn Fein during the election campaign but Sinn Fein tried to promote confidence in the DUP during the election by constantly saying that there would be a deal immediately after the election between the DUP and themselves."

And the new Foyle MP launched a particularly scathing attack on the DUP leader and his aims for a voluntary coalition. "Ian Paisley might think that his calls for a voluntary coalition are impressive but they are not; they are hollow and unconvincing.

"He was happy to spend the election pumping Sinn Fein up because he wanted a two party outcome for Sinn Fein and the DUP.

"Everyone in the SDLP knew he wanted Sinn Fein and the DUP and that he hoped that I would not win Foyle. So, knowing all of this, does he really think we would fall for his calls for a voluntary coalition with him and the DUP?

"Ian Paisley's record over the last few days makes Sinn Fein's assurances about the DUP's real position sound stupid," he added.

And Mr Durkan accused the DUP of using an "inproportionate" election result to kill off the GFA once and for all.

"The DUP got a third of the vote but under the first past the post system ended up with half of the seats and they are trying to use that inproportionate result to declare the agreement buried.

"The SDLP are clear that no one party's mandate can override or overturn the agreement's mandate.

The overwhelming mandate for the agreement in the North and throughout Ireland should be the compelling standard for democrats," he said.

Mr Durkan's comments came after a meeting with new Secretary of State Peter Hain in which the possibility of entering into a voluntary coalition was put to the SDLP leader.

"I made it very clear to him that the agreement has to be his agenda, that Governments need to learn the lesson that conducting a process outside or against the agreement is not the way to underpin the agreement.

'He asked me my views on the option of voluntary coalition but I told him very clearly we will not make the mistake that others have made of stepping outside of the agreement as a mistaken short cut of getting back to it," he said.

An Phoblacht

O'Donnell's legacy - Remembering the Past

BY SHANE Mac THOMÁIS


Click to view - Photo: Peadar O'Donnell pictured in 1930

Peadar O'Donnell was born in Meenamore, Donegal. He came from the poverty-stricken Rosses area of West Donegal. His father supported the family by mixing small farming, fishing, migratory work in Scotland and work in a local mill.

Peadar was educated locally and trained as a teacher at St Patrick's College, Dublin. He left teaching (and a prominent role in the Donegal branch of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation) to become a full-time organiser with the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union in 1918.

His mother, a fervent Larkinite, and her brother Peter, a member of the Wobblies (the Industrial Workers of the World) in Butte, Montana, had instilled a strong syndicalist sensibility in the young Peadar and its fruits emerged in an active burst of union organising. He led the Asylum Workers' Union in a strike in the Monaghan Mental Hospital in 1918, when the union, with the support of the patients, took over the asylum, over which they raised the Red Flag!

The strikers gained the sympathy of the townspeople, won their demands, and had "a victory dance at which policemen, strikers, inmates, Sinn Féiners, nationalists and unionists all gathered together".

With the outbreak of the Tan War, O'Donnell joined the IRA and quickly rose through the ranks. He took the republican side in the Civil War and was in the Dublin Four Courts with Liam Mellows and fellow republicans when they were attacked by the Free State Army.

After their surrender O'Donnell, then a Colonel Commandant in the IRA, was imprisoned for two years. In Mountjoy Jail, he was in charge of Communications in 'C' Wing, where he commenced a 41-day hunger strike. Peadar wrote a moving account of this particular strike. The hard core of strikers, who by late November 1923 numbered about 200, were moved, on stretchers, from jail to jail, camp to camp, to break up their solidarity.

On 18 November, even Cardinal Logue expressed the hope that internees would be released before Christmas. Two days later came the first death. Commandant Denis Barry died in Newbridge camp. On 22 November Captain Andrew Sullivan died in Mountjoy. The next day the strike was called off, after Tom Derrig, Frank Gallagher and the leader, Michael Kilroy, had checked with the other jails and camps.

One positive result of the strike was that the women political prisoners (in March 1923 there had been 300) were released, but otherwise the aftermath was bitterness, and the government stepped in, hoping to spread further dissension among the ranks by releasing Volunteers who would sign a form accepting the Free State.

Peadar, in March 1924, two days before the abortive army mutiny, literally walked out of Harepark Camp on the Curragh, in disguise. The next year, he published his first novel, Storm, which was followed by The Islanders, both of which depict the poverty on the Donegal seaboard

For the next ten years he served on the Army Council and Executive of the IRA, arguing that class politics should be the dynamic of republican politics and that the IRA should adopt the role of a Connollyite citizen army. As editor of An Phoblacht from 1926 to 1929, he pursued his left republican beliefs, focusing particularly on the land annuities campaign, which he himself initiated as a grassroots popular campaign.

He was a leading figure in the 1931 Saor Éire experiment, when the IRA embraced a socialist programme. At the IRA convention of March 1934, a final effort was made by O'Donnell to persuade the IRA into a radical political role. He failed, withdrew and called for the formation of the Republican Congress, which met in September 1934.

But divisions occurred, leading to a split which destroyed the movement. On one hand a section wanted to adopt the slogan 'For a Workers' Republic' and argued that the Congress should be a stepping stone towards a political party. The others wanted to form a 'united front' pledged to the slogan 'For a Republic'.

O Donnell argued that to adopt the 'Workers' Republic' at this stage was premature, because it would leave Fianna Fáil to claim monopoly on the realisation of 'the Republic'. While the former said that you could not get rid of British imperialism until you smash capitalism, the latter argued that 'you cannot smash Capitalism until you get rid of British Imperialism'. When a small majority voted for the aim of the Republic and the formation of a popular front, the rest resigned.

Peadar went to Spain on a writing holiday in 1936 and was accidentally caught up in the revolution and civil war. His experiences formed the basis of his book Salud! An Irishman in Spain.

In 1946, O'Donnell became editor of The Bell, the most significant literary magazine in mid-20th Century Ireland and remained its editor until it ceased publication in 1954. In 1963, he published There Will Be Another Day. He condemned America's involvement in Vietnam.

He was associated with most of the progressive campaigns in post-war Ireland and was a seminal figure in groups like the Anti-Apartheid Movement and CND. He was prominent in the Save the West campaign of the 1960s and in the National Land League, which agitated for the break up of large estates. He also continued his lifelong support of Irish emigrants abroad, particularly in Britain.

One of his last public political outings was to take part in a demonstration in Galway against the visit of US President Ronald Reagan in 1984. He published the last of his seven novels in 1975, and died aged 93 in 1986. O'Donnell was called a 'quasi-anarchist' as in an editorial in a paper on the occasion of his death, a title which, if not intentionally complimentary, managed to capture him in a phrase.

For Peadar, it wasn't enough just to get rid of British rule, all inequality had to be abolished in order for the people to be free.

On 13 May 1986, 19 years ago, the writer, journalist, trade union leader, socialist and republican, Peadar O'Donnell, died, aged 93.

An Phoblacht

The passage of time will not diminish our demand for truth

BY Jennifer Williams


Click to view - Photo: Gerry Armstrong, whose brother Paul was killed in 1974

"PSNI and former RUC members and British Army undercover intelligence agents are increasingly in a battle with each other, as each revelation about the dirty war threatens to expose the extent of the role played by the British in state-sponsored killings throughout the North," says Robert McClenaghan of An Fhírinne.

Talking to An Phoblacht recently while attending a major conference in Belfast on state violence, McClenaghan said that British forces had resorted to legal duress and intimidation in their attempt to conceal the activities of British Army Intelligence operatives who played a key role in targeting nationalists to be killed by unionist death squads.

"It has become clear over the years that these intelligence operatives actively collaborated with and fed intelligence to the unionist death squads and that the undercover Force Research Unit (FRU) was a high level intelligence unit tasked with handling undercover agents in the Six Counties and the 26 Counties," he said.

The FRU's activity only came to light through the persistent campaigning of human rights groups and the families of people killed by the UDA and the UVF as part of the British Government's policy of collusion. McClenaghan called for an immediate inquiry into "a policy that has cost the lives of hundreds of nationalists".

Families gather

On Saturday 30 April a conference in the Devinish Complex in Belfast saw up to 150 people, mostly the relatives of people killed by state forces during the conflict, debate issues thrown up by the state's attempts to ignore those killings.

Titled State Violence, State the Truth, the conference was organised by campaign groups Relatives for Justice and An Fhírinne and provided a forum for the relatives of those killed to talk about their experiences and how their lives were affected by the killing of a loved one at the hands of the state.

Among the issues discussed was how the British have attempted to cover up the killings of many nationalists, or as one contributor described it, "the masking of the truth", through the inquest system, the new Inquiries legislation, and the recent funding of a new internal PSNI unit to examine pre-1998 killings.

Speaking strongly on these issues was Relatives for Justice campaigner Clara Reilly, who told the audience that victims of state violence would have no confidence or trust in the new NIO/PSNI crime review branch.

"The Serious Crime Review Team (SCRT) is no different a strategy than that which exists in the form of the Inquiries Act, preventing the truth surrounding the killing of Pat Finucane from coming to light," she said.

"There are equally dangers that the same people involved will use the SCRT and continue to police politically.

"If Hugh Orde and the British Government genuinely want to address issues of the past, then as a matter of building trust we call on them to now make public the suppressed Stalker/Sampson and Stevens Reports into collusion in full.

"We have no confidence that the SCRT process will deliver; instead we believe that it will act against our interests whilst promoting the state interests," she said.

Ardoyne's experience

Also attending the conference was Tom Holland, of the Ardoyne Commemoration Project. He was keen to explain to An Phoblacht what the group is about.

"A total of 99 residents lost their lives as a result of the political conflict between 1969 and 1998. Most of these were killed by the RUC, British Army or loyalists.

"The project has allowed families to speak aloud for the first time about their experiences; we want to let the truth be heard."

"The British Government are playing politics with this issue because they don't want to deal with the truth."

Holland also explained how the Project has compiled a book based on over 300 interviews of family, friends and comrades of those from Ardoyne who died; Ardoyne: The Untold Truth, is a moving attempt by a community to tell its story of pain and in loss in its own words.

Families speak out

Families of those bereaved were keen to tell their stories. One of those was Gerry Armstrong, whose brother, Paul Armstrong, was killed by loyalists in November 1974.

"I think this is brilliant what is happening today, it gives both myself and my family the chance to have our voices and opinions heard," he said.

"My brother was brutally tortured at the hands of the state, my mother could not bring herself to visit his grave. The British Government has no idea about the pain they have caused to my family."

Also speaking at the conference was John Finucane, son of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane, killed by the UDA in 1989. The Finucane family have worked tirelessly in trying to secure an independent inquiry into the killing and have rejected the British government's Inquiries Act.

"Myself and my family are totally against the Inquiries Act and we have made this clear, we will continue to fight for a meaningful inquiry which is what we rightly deserve," he said.

Sheena Campbell

Former Sinn Féin Councillor Brendan Curran, whose partner Sheena Campbell was shot dead in the York Hotel, Belfast, on 16 October 1992, also spoke to An Phoblacht.

A longtime member of Sinn Féin, Campbell was a law student at Queen's University, Belfast, when a gunman entered a crowded hotel where she was having a drink with friends and shot her dead. The UVF claimed responsibility for the killing.

Sheena had stood as a candidate for the party in the Upper Bann area in a Westminster Parliamentary by-election in 1990.

At the time, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams described the killing as "part of the ongoing campaign of murder against members of Sinn Féin, which has seen many of our friends killed or wounded".

Brendan spoke about the politics surrounding collusion. "we have to keep fighting for justice, as we need to stop this policy from happening anywhere else".

"Fifteen years ago, collusion was seen as a republican conspiracy theory; now it has respectability. This shows that change has been brought about by the efforts of the families and campaign groups such as Relatives for Justice and An Fhírinne.

"The £32 million which has been offered by the state to help with inquires is nothing but a drop in the ocean to what they have spent on operations in which they killed our friends and comrades. Justice will only prevail if the people keep fighting."

No to plastic bullets

In a powerful contribution to the day's events, relatives of plastic bullet victims criticised the PSNI and Hugh Orde over the decision to introduce a new type of plastic bullet and vowed to never "give consent to any police force that uses plastic bullets".

On behalf of the United Campaign against Plastic Bullets, Frances Meehan, sister of Michael Donnelly, and Helen Whitters, mother of Paul Whitters, said: "We would like to place on record today that no police force using these weapons will gain our consent.

"The introduction of the new AEP by the PSNI is a disgraceful development and another example of the lack of will of the British Government to implement entirely the proper Patten report into policing.

"Last year, we lost one of our esteemed members, Dominic Marron. He died as a result of the injuries he sustained as a 14-year-old when he was shot in the head by a plastic bullet fired by the RUC.

"He is the 18th person to die from a plastic bullet wound."

This conference was a valuable opportunity to bring families affected by the state and state sponsored killings together to share their experiences, identify their needs and show that their demand for justice has not diminished with the passage of time.

BreakingNews.ie

US catholic group opposes McAleese visit

13/05/2005 - 10:32:30

A US catholic organisation is opposing a visit to a Pennsylvania university later this month by President Mary McAleese.

The 16,000-strong Cardinal Newman Society has accused Mrs McAleese of being out of line with Catholic teaching due to her views on gay rights and women priests.

Mary McAleese is due to accept an honorary law degree and make a graduation speech at the Catholic Villanova University on May 22.

BBC

Strike action over education cuts


Union members are protesting against education cuts

A strike by almost 12,000 education board workers is likely to cause massive disruption in schools and libraries across Northern Ireland.

Special schools dependent on classroom assistants and specialised transport are expected to be worst affected by the one-day strike.

Nipsa, Unison and T&G union members in the education sector voted to strike in protest at £30m cutbacks.

Education and library boards have blamed inadequate government funding.

Staff who are taking strike action include classroom assistants, catering staff, technicians, caretakers, and bus drivers and escorts.

Ten out of Belfast's 11 special schools will not be open for pupils.

Warned

Other mainstream schools, especially in rural areas, have warned that education board buses may not turn up for pupils.

Some schools will not have a canteen service and have told children to bring packed lunches.

A number of primary and nursery schools will not open but most secondary schools have predicted they will open as usual.

Some libraries will also be shut, with one board predicting that half of its branches would not open.

The new education minister, Angela Smith, said Friday's industrial action was "deeply regrettable".

She added that she wanted to meet all the key people in education as soon as possible.

Guardian Unlimited

McCartneys offered police protection
Sisters of Belfast stabbing victim defy threat to burn homes

Sam Jones
Friday May 13, 2005
The Guardian

The sisters of Robert McCartney, the Belfast man murdered in a brawl involving members of the IRA, were offered police protection last night after officers in Belfast warned that "criminal elements" were threatening to burn down their homes and businesses.

Mr McCartney, 33, a father of two, was stabbed and beaten to death outside a Belfast pub in January this year.

Police officers warned his family that they had information about possible attacks on their property.

But Catherine McCartney said she and her four sisters Paula, Gemma, Claire, Donna and his fiancee Bridgeen Hagans, would continue their campaign.

"They told us that the threat to burn us out of our homes and to burn down Donna's business came from criminal elements," she said. "These threats tonight are not going to deter us and they illustrate the type of people we are dealing with.

"We are told they are coming from criminal elements but we would like to know exactly what that means. Does that mean criminal elements from within a terrorist organisation?"

Catherine McCartney said the police had informed the family that they had become aware of the threats through their own intelligence.

She added: "We are taking the seriousness of these threats seriously."

Her sister, Paula McCartney, said it was "absolutely scandalous that the victims" were now being targeted.

"It's bad enough that our brother was murdered," she told BBC News 24. "We are very, very determined. Nobody will intimidate us. We will not rest until the murderers of Robert are brought before a court of law."

She said the family's refusal to back down had angered those making the threats. "They obviously feel that some developments are going to happen if we do get the civil action up and running and somehow they feel under threat." But she said they would accept the offer of police protection. "They are offering to protect us and tomorrow we are going to be getting those security measures in place."

She said nobody could ever be "100% confident" in the security offered, but added: "You can't take any chances with small children in the family."

A spokeswoman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland refused to discuss the nature of the threat last night. But she did say the police never ignored threats to individuals' security.

The IRA has expelled three members over their involvement in the incident, which happened outside Magennis's Bar on January 30.

It has also ordered all those involved in the attack, during which Mr McCartney's friend Brendan Devine was also injured, to help the family's efforts to secure justice.

Former Sinn Féin councillor Sean Hayes, ex-Assembly election candidate Cora Groogan and party member Deirdre Hargey, were among those inside the bar on the night Mr McCartney died.

The party later pulled plans to run Ms Groogan and Ms Hargey as candidates in Northern Ireland's local government elections.

But Sinn Féin has drawn the line at cooperating with the PSNI, which it does not recognise. It has instead advised witnesses to make statements through their solicitors to pass on the police ombudsman.

Police visited the family days after the European parliament supported moves to secure funding from the EU for a civil action against Mr McCartney's killers if criminal proceedings did not take place.

In March, the McCartneys travelled to the White House to highlight the case during St Patrick's Day celebrations.

During their visit to Washington they also received the backing of leading US politicians on Capitol Hill including senators Hillary Clinton, Edward Kennedy, John McCain and Chris Dodd.

The murder of their brother has attracted huge international attention, with US and European journalists visiting Short Strand, where Mr McCartney lived.

RTE News

Roche holds M3 talks with Wallace

12 May 2005 21:06


Dick Roche gives go ahead for M3

The Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, was to meet the Director of the National Museum, Dr Pat Wallace, today to discuss the controversial decision to route the M3 motorway close to the Hill of Tara in Co Meath.

Dr Wallace, who is known to have opposed the plan, has been invited to give evidence to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment.

Earlier this year, Dr Wallace was due to give his views on the M3 to the Oireachtas Environment Committee but was blocked by Arts Minister John O'Donoghue because he was providing advice to Government on the matter.
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The Committee Chair, Fianna Fáil's Seán Haughey, was critical of the move at the time and, now that a decision has been taken on the M3, says he wants to hear from Dr Wallace 'at the earliest opportunity'.

There will be keen interest in what Dr Wallace will say given that he has declined public comment to date but is known to have been opposed to the routing.

An Taisce has described the M3 plans as unjustifiable but the NRA says they are most welcome.

BBC

McCartney family 'in burn threat'


Robert McCartney, 33, was killed near Belfast city centre

The family of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney have been warned of threats to burn them out of their homes and businesses.

The warning came from the police and blamed criminal elements.

Mr McCartney, 33, was stabbed in January. His family say IRA members were involved and witnesses are afraid.

Earlier this week, the European Parliament voted to request EU money to help fund a civil case against those suspected of the killing.

The father-of-two was killed near Belfast city centre after a row in a bar.

"I'm not frightened for myself personally but I have four children here from 13-years-old down, so I have to take it seriously for them".
Catherine McCartney

MEPs back McCartney justice fight

Catherine McCartney, one of Robert's sisters, said she believed the threat had come from within the republican movement.

"For the past three months, we have been asking the republican movement to stop protecting the criminals who murdered Robert that night," she said.

"And now today after our campaign, we get a threat saying our houses are going to be burned down.

"I'm not frightened for myself personally but I have four children here from 13-years-old down, so I have to take it seriously for them."

Ms McCartney said there was a threat to burn a sandwich shop owned by one of the sisters.

Another sister, Paula McCartney, said they remained determined to find justice for their brother.

"Nobody will intimidate us. We will not rest until the murderers of Robert are brought before a court of law," she added.

She said the threat had been made because the sisters had taken a stand.

"They obviously feel that some developments are going to happen if we do get the civil action up and running and somehow they feel under threat.

"Catherine and myself had just arrived home from Strasbourg and police arrived to tell us that their intelligence had received information that the McCartney sisters' houses were under threat of being burned down.

'Very shocked'

"Obviously we are shocked, and considering that we were in Strasbourg and 25 countries are in support of our campaign which was very heartening and positive, now we arrive home and receive this kind of information."

She said police had not revealed specific details of the threat but had offered protection to the family.

Police would not comment directly as the case involved the security of individuals.

A large majority of the European Parliament voted to fund a possible civil action by Mr McCartney's sisters if the current criminal inquiry failed.

The motion will now be considered by the European Commission, which has already pledged help, and EU ministers.

Any cash support would come from the EU's fund to help victims of terrorism.

This fund has never before been used to finance an individual legal case.

Daily Ireland

Murder accused was ‘on run from IRA’

A teenager accused of murdering a nursery nurse on Jersey was on the run from the Provisional IRA, a court heard yesterday.
Paul Greenan (19) claimed he had been forced to flee his native Belfast to the Channel Island after paramilitaries threatened to shoot him.
He admits attacking nursery nurse Tracy Burns (35) two months after arriving on the island, but denies murder. He claims responsibility for his actions was impaired by a personality abnormality.
Miss Burns was found dead in a car park in St Helier in the early hours of March 14 last year. She had been kicked, punched, and her head stamped on in an attack so violent that her right eyeball was dislodged and Greenan's boot print was visible on her face.
Prosecutors at Jersey's Royal Court claim Greenan had drunk 10 or 12 pints of lager and tried to rape Miss Burns before killing her.
He was arrested at the scene and interviewed less than 24 hours later.
Reading a summary of the interview to the court on the second day of the trial, Detective Sergeant Keith Bray said Greenan had lived with his mother in Northern Ireland, but had fled.
The officer said: “He had been expelled from secondary school at the age of 14. He stated that he had got expelled from school because he could not go in because, if he had done, he would have been shot by the Provisional IRA.
“He had been working with the milkman, but had to stop because of threats from the Provisional IRA. He had come to Jersey to settle and had hoped to find work. He was running away from the Provisional IRA.
“He had been living with his father since his arrival in Jersey."

Daily Ireland

Protesters will block M3 route



Furious campaigners have vowed to prevent work beginning on a motorway beside Ireland's most important heritage site.
The Irish government yesterday gave the go-ahead to the controversial M3 motorway which will run past the world-famous Hill of Tara in Co Meath, the former seat of the High Kings of Ireland.
The new motorway is to replace the N3 road from Clonee to Kells, Co Meath and is designed to ease serious traffic congestion in and out of Dublin on this stretch of road.
By giving the go-ahead for the motorway, the government has ignored advice from leading archaeologists, conservationists and local campaigners opposed to the destruction of Tara and even the Director of the National Museum of Ireland, who all made representations in a bid to prevent them from proceeding with the controversial road.
Ciarán Ó Sé, from campaign group Gaeil Óga, yesterday said his group will do everything in their power to save Tara from the roadbuilders.
“We feel compelled to do whatever it takes, even if that means lying on the road in front of the bulldozers," he said.
Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, yesterday said he had approved major archaeological digs along the proposed route. This means he has given the all-clear for bulldozers to move in and begin excavation work around the Hill of Tara.
The proposed route for the 60 kilometre stretch of motorway has no less than 141 archaeological sites in its path.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Dick Roche said he recommended “stringent” conditions on the M3 project, including reports from professional archaeologists and regular inspection by state experts.
He also said all artefacts uncovered will be deposited in the National Museum.
Mr Roche’s announcement is expected to be met with a stiff legal challenge by campaigners.
Vincent Salafia is a solicitor and PRO for the Save Tara-Skryne Valley campaign. He said: “This is complete lunacy and it’s exactly what we’ve been trying to avoid. It’s another Carrickmines situation.”
This refers to an ongoing legal battle between the government and conservationists who have taken the government to court over a road they are building near Carrickmines Castle in north Co Dublin.
The judge in that case made legal history when she recognised the government had a constitutional duty to protect the country’s heritage.
It is on this basis that campaigners will challenge Mr Roche’s decision over Tara in the High Court.
Any action will call into question the National Monuments Act 2004. Last year, the then Minister for Heritage, Environment and Local Government, Martin Cullen, amended the original Act when it seemed protesters would halt work at Carrickmines.
Mr Salafia believes the government’s decision is actually part of a wider strategy to have the National Monuments Act go through the law courts and succeed in being deemed legal.
“This is about the planning of future motorways, not just Tara,” Mr Salafia said. “Carrickmines was their flagship public/private partnership project. If this succeeds they will get a clear route to carry out any other projects.”
Green Party TD, Ciarán Cuffe, said: “This is a bad day for history, heritage and the Hill of Tara. It is an enormous mistake. We all want progress but not at this cost.”

Irish American Information Service

NELSON INQUIRY LEADER ANNOUNCED
05/12/05 14:59 EST

The former police chief who led the British Police Complaints Authority investigation into Scotland Yard's handling of the Stephen Lawrence murder in 1993 is to examine the criminal investigation into the notorious murder of Northern Ireland human rights attorney Rosemary Nelson.

Mr Robert Ayling is to lead a team of former officers examining the criminal investigation into one of the North's most controversial deaths.

Mr Ayling, who retired as acting chief constable of Kent Constabulary last year, was appointed by the inquiry into Mrs Nelson's assassination.

The public tribunal is examining allegations that British security force members plotted with the loyalist paramilitaries who killed Mrs Nelson in a car bomb attack at her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh in 1999.

The inquiry, chaired by Sir Michael Morland, said in a statement tonight: "Mr Ayling is exceptionally well-qualified to undertake this role, in terms of his seniority and his experience of reviewing murder investigations and intelligence work."

He led the Police Complaints Authority investigation into Scotland Yard's handling of the Stephen Lawrence murder in 1993.

This formed a significant part of the evidence put before the Macpherson Public Inquiry.

Chairman Sir William Macpherson described Mr Ayling's investigation as "thorough, painstaking and fair".

He was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for his efforts in 2000.

Other members of the police team are being recruited by the Nelson Inquiry, which is expected to hear from witnesses next year.

Mrs Nelson, who had represented nationalist residents in Portadown's Garvaghy Road during the contentious Drumcree marching dispute with the Orange Order, was murdered by a booby trap bomb claimed by loyalists.

Prior to her death she claimed members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary had threatened her life.

Judge Cory investigated some of the North's most controversial killings, including those of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, Robert Hamill in Portadown in 1997, LVF leader Billy Wright in the Maze Prison in 1997 and Mrs Nelson in Lurgan in 1999.

A splinter loyalist terror organisation, the Red Hand Defenders, said it carried out the mercury-switch car bomb attack.

Human rights organisations have claimed police failed to properly investigate earlier death threats.

The inquiry was set up after former Canadian Judge Peter Cory found enough evidence of possible security force collusion to warrant further investigation. Despite a six-year inquiry that saw detectives take more than 5,000 statements, no one has been charged with the murder.

IrishExaminer.com

Bypass must be rerouted to protect Viking site

12 May 2005
By Harry McGee, Political Editor

ENVIRONMENT Minister Dick Roche announced that the route of the Waterford bypass must change to protect an important Viking site.
Mr Roche said yesterday that, under the National Monuments Act, he has issued directions to Waterford City Council requiring the protection of the site at Woodstown, discovered in April 2003, which is on the route of the N25 bypass.

The discovery was made after an Environmental Impact Statement had been furnished and after approval had been granted for the road by An Bord Pleanála.

“The site is considered to be of national importance because of its archaeological and historical significance,” said Mr Roche yesterday. “It is a multi-period site with extensive Viking occupation and is considered a National Monument.”

The minister visited the site at Woodstown earlier this year.

He also consulted with the director of the National Museum, Dr Pat Wallace, as he is required to by statute.

Dr Wallace has indicated that he agrees with the proposed approach.

A working group has been established to formulate a long-term strategy for the site.

The National Roads Authority will also be required to submit its proposals for a re-alignment of the road to avoid the site.

Sinn Féin

Murphy - McDowell needs to learn democratic rights are not concessions

Published: 12 May, 2005

Sinn Féin MP for Newry & Armagh Conor Murphy has described comments by the Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell branding the right of northern MPs to representation in the Dail as 'a concession which was not on the cards' as typically partitionist, short sighted and flawed.

Mr Murphy said:

" Since he arrived in the Department of Justice Michael McDowell has been on a one man anti-Sinn Féin crusade. In that time also the Sinn Féin vote right across Ireland has increased and we have secured representation on every elected tier on the island. The same cannot of corse be said of Mr McDowell's party.

" The issue of representation for Northern elected representatives in the Dail was put on the agenda by Sinn Féin. In various negotiations the Irish government repeatedly insisted that this was an issue not for them but for the all party Oireacthas committee. Given this and the fact that the Committee has reported and recommended movement on this key issue it seems strange that Michael McDowell is now claiming jurisdiction over an issue which the Irish government previously claimed is nothing whatsoever to do with him.

" The rights and entitlements of Irish citizens living in the six counties are not concessions as McDowell would have us believe. His remarks on this issue today are typically partitionist, short sighted and flawed. It is a disgrace that the SDLP feted this man during the recent election campaign and now he seeks to impinge upon the democratic rights of their MPs.

" Nationalists and Republicans know exactly where Michael McDowell is coming from. He will always put narrow party political and partitionist interests before the achievement of national and democratic rights and before the advancement of the peace process. Today's comments are further evidence of that." ENDS

RTE News

Woman undergoes lung transplant at Mater

12 May 2005 17:56


Mater Hospital, Dublin

A female patient in the Mater Hospital in Dublin has undergone the first lung transplant operation to be carried out in the State.

The woman is recovering in intensive care after undergoing the operation in the early hours of this morning. She is said to be in a stable condition.

Medical organisations and groups representing patients have welcomed the development.

Up to now, Irish patients had to travel to England for lung transplants.

An Coimhlint

As you may already know, today marks the 24th anniversary of the death of Francis Hughes in the H-Blocks. You will want to visit this link because there is a photograph of Francis you may never have seen before.


-----------------------

Random Ramblings from a Republican

Today in Irish History:
Francis Hughes dies in the H-Blocks




>>>Read on


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BreakingNews.ie

Blair pays tribute to NI bomb disposal unit

12/05/2005 - 16:41:35

Tony Blair today paid tribute to the military unit that diffused thousands of terrorist bombs over three decades in Northern Ireland.

Tony Blair presented a letter to officers from the 321 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron at Downing Street in honour of the men and women who he said have “put themselves in harm’s way to safe lives and property”.

He said that while Northern Ireland had made real progress towards peace, the gallantry and dedication of the British army Ammunition Technical Officers should not be forgotten.

Even though there have never been more than 100 soldiers in its ranks it is the most decorated peacetime unit in the British army.

Since the upswing in the Troubles in 1969 the 321 Squadron has responded to 55,000 call outs and neutralised 6,000 live devices.

The work of the unit has not been without cost. Some 20 members have been killed and another 24 seriously injured.

Irelandclick.com

Taxi man Joe is hailed a hero as boy is found

Derry family arrive in Belfast to try and find teenage boy

A Derry family were reunited with their teenage son yesterday after a frantic search in Belfast assisted by the West Belfast Taxi Association.

16-year-old Caoimhin Rankin had been missing for three days. Before his disappearance on Monday, he was sighted boarding a train to Belfast in Derry city.

The only indication that he planned to leave was that he left his schoolbag at his school.

Three of the teenager’s aunts arrived in Belfast yesterday morning in an attempt to find the boy. With no clue as to the lay-out of the city, they approached the Sinn Féin office on the Falls Road to ask for help. Sinn Féin staff put the women in touch with the West Belfast Taxi Association, who offered to transport them wherever they needed to go in the city – at no charge.

Without hesitation, driver Joe McCargo drove the sisters to Central Station, where staff confirmed that they had seen Caoimhin at around 5am yesterday morning, lying on chairs in the waiting area.

“He had obviously been sleeping rough all night,” said his aunt, Adele Rankin
.
“That was hard to see because we thought maybe he had a friend in Belfast who was looking after him. It was a bit optimisitic I know, but you try and convince yourself he’s okay, and he had spent a lot of summers in the Gaeltacht in Gweedore, and had a few Belfast friends, so we thought maybe one of them was putting him up.”

The 16-year-old spent six weeks in the Royal Victoria Hospital after being knocked down by a car in Derry four years ago. Since then, his family say he has suffered from depression.

Joe stayed with the women as CCTV footage of the boy’s movements was examined, and offered to drive them elsewhere in the city, but they refused to leave Central Station until Caoimhin was found.

“They didn’t want to go in case he turned up there.”

Then at lunchtime yesterday the family received good news. Caoimhin turned up in Derry, back at the train station where he was last seen. Workers at the station contacted the police, who returned the boy to his family.

On hearing the news, the three women cried with relief, and immediately praised the kindness of Belfast people.

Adele said, “Every person we’ve spoken to today has been so good to us, especially Joe, who was just our hero. He wouldn’t even take money from us, but we’ll have to take him out in Derry for a drink.”

Shrugging off the praise, modest Joe said, “It’s what anyone would have done.

“I’d like to think that if I was in Derry in such a frightening situation people would help me. It was nothing.”

Journalist:: Staff Reporter

Irelandclick.com

Community steps up fightback for Daily Ireland

Community groups and politicians are pledging their support for the fightback against the government ban on advertising in the new West Belfast-based national newspaper Daily Ireland.

And Daily Ireland publisher Máirtín Ó Muilleoir says he’s been overwhelmed by the public response to the newspaper’s decision to take on the powers-that-be.

“There are four daily newspapers in this part of the world, three get ads, one doesn’t. Years ago, the government practised the same type of discrimination in employment but the ordinary nationalist people didn’t let them away with that and they’re not going to allow them get away with this new-style discrimination now either,” he said.

“Daily Ireland has been singled out by unionists for attacks even before it launched but it has proven itself to be a first-class newspaper, unafraid to present the news in a balanced fashion while reflecting the views of mainstream, pro-United Ireland nationalism. We’re not going to give in to this political vetting by government and are confident the same community which stood by us when Belfast City Council banned ads from the Andersonstown News will stand by us against this latest act of political vetting. With the support of our readers, advertisers and investors, Daily Ireland is here for the long haul.”

Daily Ireland now sells over 10,000 copies a day.

“That’s an amazing achievement from a standing start and is a testament to the loyalty of our readers,” added Máirtín Ó Muilleoir.

Daily Ireland has launched a landmark legal case with the Equality Commission against the government ads ban and has won the support of the National Union of Journalists.

West Belfast Partnership Board Chief Executive Geraldine McAteer says the jobs created by Daily Ireland must be protected.

“This is the type of skills-based investment West Belfast needs and, like Andor Technology, Curley’s and Deltaprint, the Andersonstown News Group is a West Belfast success story. Daily Ireland, located in the heart of West Belfast, acts as an ambassador for this area in our continued efforts to attract more investment and we are giving it our full backing.”

• To subscribe to Daily Ireland, phone Connla Lawlor on 9061 1916.


Journalist:: Staff Reporter

Irelandclick.com

School's Out!
Chaos as school staff get ready to strike tomorrow

Local classroom assistants, school kitchen, patrol staff and caretakers are to bring Belfast’s schools to a standstill tomorrow, (Friday), by staging a one-day strike in response to what they have described as “catastrophic cut-backs” being imposed on education and library services.

The strike action is part of a campaign by 5,000 NIPSA union members to defend what they see as vital education and library services that look set to be axed due to cuts of over £30million for the year 2005/06. Similar cutbacks are anticipated in each of the following two years.

Calling on parents to support the strike, which will oppose severe budget cuts and job losses for classroom assistants, patrol men and women, kitchen staff and caretakers, the school staff say they hope to see a large number of parents keep their children off school on Friday, or alternatively to bring their children to school and join staff on the picket line.

Speaking of her disgust at the cuts, which unions say will devastate vital services within local schools, classroom assistant at St Kieran’s Primary School in Poleglass, Janet Captain, said, “We are receiving huge support from our local schools and teachers and we hope to see huge support from local parents as well. NIPSA union members took a ballot on strike action and it was overwhelmingly agreed that we will stage a one-day strike on Friday, with many schools closing or closing half day as a result,” added Ms Captain.

West Belfast schools set for standstill over education cuts

Speaking of her disgust at the cuts across the North’s five education boards, Janet said she, like many others, was angered, not just by the job losses, but by the reverberations these losses will have on the children who will suffer educationally as a result.

“My job is to facilitate the educational demands and safety of children with special needs who are involved in mainstream education. With the proposed cuts to the education system, jobs will go, so these children will not get the special attention and help they need, and in turn, other children in the class will suffer because the teacher’s time will be further divided.

“Classroom assistants, patrol men and women, caretakers and kitchen assistants all provide for the safety and well-being of the children, and without them, this will be greatly hindered.

“We feel that we, and ultimately the children, are paying the price for the Board’s overspend.”

Having already lent his support to a protest on Tuesday of this week over cuts to a vital patrol service which facilitates the pupils of five schools from the Lagmore, Mount Eagles and White Rise estates, Sinn Féin councillor Michael Ferguson said he was delighted with the concern shown on the issue by trade union members and local school staff who attended the protest on the Stewartstown Road, but added that he will also be supporting Friday’s strike as he is deeply concerned for the safety of local children in light of the proposed education cuts.

“The Stewartstown Road has claimed at least four lives in the past, and the loss of this service on the Stewartstown Road will endanger the safety of hundreds of local children,” said Councillor Ferguson.

“Now that the elections are over, it is essential that we get the peace talks restarted and the Assembly back in operation with local ministers determining policy. This is going to affect everyone, including constituents in DUP areas, so they need to start working with us.”

Calling on the newly-appointed Minister for Education, Angela Smith, to show her support for the North’s education system, Cllr Ferguson, in a letter to the MP requesting an explanation for the “obvious tensions and contradictions in its [the British government’s] current policies as they are applied on this part of the island” in regards to education, said he would welcome the opportunity to meet to discuss the current financial crisis facing local schools, and indeed schools across the North.

Welcoming Angela Smith to her new post as Education Minister, NIPSA General Secretary and Falls Road man, Brian Campfield, however issued a warning to the minister saying that the Labour government faced serious long-term consequences if it did not reverse proposed cutbacks in the education budget for the North and needed to live up to its boast that education was its top priority.

“The new Minister of Education needs to be aware of the depth of feeling on this issue. Last week she and her colleagues won re-election on a clear promise to underline the importance of education for the future of our community,” said Mr Campfield.

“Instead of underlining education as a top priority the actions of the last direct rule administration have served to undermine it. Cutbacks of £30m per year in Northern Ireland’s education budget will have a catastrophic impact on the delivery and quality of education provision as well as lead to the loss of hundreds of jobs among staff delivering vital educational services.”

Mr Campfield added that the issue will affect everyone, not just those employed by the Education and Library Boards and said he hoped to see those 5,000 NIPSA members who voted for the strike joined by thousands more to attend lunchtime rallies organised for Belfast, Ballymena, Armagh, Omagh and Enniskillen.

“It is unfortunate that the first public greeting to the new Minister of Education has to take the form of a massive protest strike – but the actions of her predecessors have made this inevitable.

“I hope Ms Smith will learn from what she sees on Friday,” he continued, “and will understand how deeply people feel about the future of education and will act to safeguard the future fabric of our education service”.

The Andersonstown News contacted representatives from both the South Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB) and the Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB), who are responsible for running and maintaining schools in West Belfast.

A spokesperson for the South Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB) said, “On 13 May 2005 non-teaching staff in the education sector are taking strike action in opposition to the under funding for education.

“Senior officers of the Board will be in attendance at Board Headquarters on this date in order to deal with school and parental issues and queries which may arise during the course of the day, many of which may have important impact upon the children in the Board’s area.

“The Board has issued guidance to schools in relation to the strike action on Friday.”

A spokesperson for BELB said, “The Board recognises that employees have a legitimate right to participate in such industrial action and should not be pressurised or victimised for so doing. At the same time the Board also recognises that employees who wish to attend work should not be prevented from doing so.”

A representative of the Department of Education said that they noted the comments of the trade unions and would be releasing a statement later in the week.

Journalist:: Ciara McGuigan

Belfast Telegraph

DUP assault claim probed
Claim over fracas sparks party rift

By Jonathan McCambridge
12 May 2005

Police have confirmed they have received a formal complaint about an alleged assault by a DUP politician on a party colleague.

It is understood officers are gathering evidence to decide whether charges can be brought following the alleged fracas outside a polling station near Ballymoney last Thursday.

Earlier this week the Belfast Telegraph revealed that veteran DUP member Robert Halliday (73) claimed he suffered broken ribs after he was allegedly punched repeatedly by a fellow member of the party.

The alleged row began following an argument over party posters being put up outside Eden Primary School polling station.

Mr Halliday claims his party colleague punched him repeatedly in the stomach and ribs. He was taken to the Causeway Hospital where he was treated for two cracked ribs.

A police spokesman said last night: "A formal complaint about an incident at Eden Primary School has now been received and we are investigating. Inquiries are continuing and we will be interviewing a number of people."

The politician accused of the assault last night told the Belfast Telegraph he had "no comment to make about what happened" before hanging up.

Since the row was revealed earlier this week another DUP member has come forward to this paper to claim they witnessed the alleged assault.

One party source in the area said local DUP members were pressing for the suspension from the party of the man accused of the assault.

He said: "This has incensed some party members and has sparked a rift that will take some time to heal."

It is understood that as well as medical and witness evidence, police could take forensic evidence from Mr Halliday's tie, which he claims was grabbed during the alleged assault.

A DUP spokesman said: "At this stage we are not in possession of the full facts, but if there are criminal proceedings it is something we will need to look at."

It is believed that the issue will be discussed first at a local meeting of the DUP in Ballymoney.

Sinn Féin

Hain must end sanctions programme

Published: 12 May, 2005

Sinn Féin MP for Fermanagh & South Tyrone Michelle Gildernew has called on the new British Secretary of State Peter Hain to immediately lift the programme of sanctions and discrimination placed upon the Sinn Féin electorate by his predecessor.

Ms Gildernew said:

" The recent elections have once again strengthened the Sinn Féin mandate for change. Despite efforts by the NIO and the former British Secretary of State Paul Murphy to try and damage our electoral fortunes through a programme of sanctions and discrimination the people of the six counties voted in even larger numbers for our party.

" Sinn Féin will defend our mandate and defend the rights and entitlements of those who vote for our party but the British government need to heed the message which is being sent to them by voters here. The British government does not have one vote in Ireland. The new British Secretary of State Peter Hain must now end the sanctions programme against our electorate and get back to the job of making politics work and seeing the political process advanced further in the time ahead." ENDS

BBC: On This Day - 12 May 1981

ON THIS DAY

>>>Video news report

12 May 1981: Second IRA protester dies in jail


Women clang dustbin lids on the road to mark Francis Hughes' death

A second IRA hunger striker, 25-year-old Francis Hughes, has starved to death in the Maze Prison near Lisburn in County Antrim.

His death comes a week after the death of Bobby Sands on 5 May, the first to die in a republican campaign for political status to be granted to IRA prisoners.

"His blood is on Margaret Thatcher's hands".
Oliver Hughes, Francis Hughes' brother

Hughes began refusing food and medical attention a week after Sands began his hunger strike on 1 March. He lapsed into unconsciousness and died at 1743BST today.

As news of his death spread in Catholic areas of Belfast and Londonderry, women clanged dustbin lids and young men stoned army vehicles, threw petrol bombs and hijacked lorries.

Hughes' brother, Oliver, blamed the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for his death. Speaking from his hometown of Bellaghy he said: "Margaret Thatcher and the British Government have murdered my brother and his blood is on Margaret Thatcher's hands."

The condition of two other hunger strikers at the Maze, Raymond McCreesh and Patrick O'Hara, continues to deteriorate.

Their five demands include: the right to wear their own clothes, refrain from prison work, associate freely with other Republican prisoners, to have visits and parcels once a week and the right to have lost remission on sentences restored.

"Absolute fanatic"

Security forces have said Hughes was "an absolute fanatic whose name stood for murder and nothing else". A spokesman went on to describe him as "as vicious a man as you could meet, a ruthless killer who thrived on what he was doing".

His republican colleagues hailed him as "fearless and active".

Four years ago, Hughes became a wanted man after the home of a policeman was blown up in County Tyrone. No-one was hurt but Hughes' fingerprints were found on adhesive tape used on the bomb.

In March 1978 he was finally caught after a gun battle at Bellaghy and eventually sentenced to a total of 83 years in prison for his six-year-long career as an IRA gunman and bomber.

The government is refusing to grant any of the hunger strikers' demands. Mrs Thatcher says they are a cover for gaining political status, a special category denied paramilitaries in the Maze since 1976.

FRANCIS HUGHES - 1956-1981

An Camchéachta - Starry Plough

**Today marks the 24th anniversary of the death of Francis Hughes. Tuesday, May 12th Francis died at 5.43pm after 59 days on hungerstrike.


click to view - Photo from Larkspirit

See also Irish Hungerstrike.com and
Bobby Sands Trust

Francis Hughes: Scourge of the UDR



June 1981

The name of Francis Hughes will surely continue to stick in the throats of British military and political hawks.

Unlike many of those who make the ultimate sacrifice Francis Hughes had already become a legend in his own lifetime and amongst his own people as one of the most capable guerrilla fighters Ireland has produced in the long war against British Imperialism.

Having put Francis Hughes "safely away" in 1978 the British assumed that his name would no longer strike terror in their own hearts and a chord in the minds of people in South Derry.

The British were exultant at his arrest following a gun battle in which Francis and a comrade killed an SAS man and wounded another. Despite an awesome wound he refused to answer his interrogators who later described him as "totally uncooperative". After the usual mockery of a Diplock trial British soldiers felt slightly more relaxed in South Derry and surrounding areas. Very foolish of them of course but then the British military mind has never understood the collective spirit of solidarity engendered by individually brilliant revolutionary soldiers like Francis Hughes.

And brilliant he was. His exploits are legion and legendary spreading through areas of Tyrone, Derry and Antrim. They are too numerous to recount here. Suffice it to say that all the normal cliches like dedication, bravery, military skill and the like are inadequate to describe a man who caused the British military machine as much grief as most guerrilla fighters from Tom Barry, Michael Collins and through to the modern breed of fighters.

One or two examples of his coolness and ingenuity would make even Collins look like a novice. The night he was surrounded by British soldiers in one of the numerous "safe houses" in his area of operation he simply grabbed his rifle and weaved his way through the tightening circle stopping occasionally to mumble a few familiar words with the professionals of the British Army whose perception of the "stupid Irish" has often been a weapon in our favour. He got away then as on many other occasions.

Behind his folk hero status in South Derry, however, lies the fairly typical story of a young Irish man who was not allowed to grow up normally in the artificial police state called Northern Ireland. It was not for want of trying.

Showing an aptitude for history and woodwork at school he started an apprenticeship as a painter and decorator at the age of 16 years which he completed shortly before becoming a full time revolutionary. Shortly after he became a painter he and a friend receive a brutal beating from British soldiers on a lonely country road one night. The experience was to prove more painful to the Brits than Francis himself over the next few years.

Responsible for more attacks on British forces than the combined strength of many other units put together he became the "most wanted man" in the Six Counties. So feared was he that his comrades recalled recently in Republican News one UDR patrol recognised him once at a checkpoint but fearful (wisely) of a shoot-out they waved him through.

Francis Hughes is now doubly famous and revered. His hunger strike to the death was just the ultimate proof, if any were needed, that his determination and actions in the field were inspired by a profound political motivation.

If the entire body of self-seekers now scrambling to retain their seats in the Dail possessed between them just a portion of the guts and conviction that Francis showed there might not be the need for the ending of many young Irish lives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Songs of Resistance

BALLAD OF FRANCIS HUGHES

With the wind that blows down through sad Derry
Came a Volunteer brave and so bold,
He took on the might of the British
For the honour of Ireland to uphold.
He led a brave column of volunteers
Against foreign soldiers of scorn,
And in the little town of Bellaghy
Francie Hughes, Hunger Striker, was born

Chorus:
So let’s sing of this brave gallant soldier,
Who on Hunger Strike proudly did stand,
With his comrades McCreesh and OHara,
Joe McDonnell, Martin Hurson, Bobby Sands

We heard how he marched o’er the mountains,
Always ready to meet with the toe.
And how he attacked on a hillside
Then vanished with the winds that blow

So let’s sing of this brave gallant soldier,
Who on Hunger Strike proudly did choose,
To stand for the rights of his comrades,
We remember you, brave Francis Hughes

The wind still blows down through sad Derry,
And it echoes in valley and glen,
And high round the hills of Bellaghy
Francie Hughes watches over his men

BBC

Gas explosion risk in town centre


The alert began when a gas cylinder used by a builder caught fire

The centre of Cookstown remains cordoned off because of the risk of a gas explosion after a cylinder used by welders caught fire on a building site.

Schools and houses were evacuated and surrounding streets could remain closed until Thursday evening. The fire began at about 1100 BST.

Residents of the evacuated area who need overnight accommodation are being put up at Loughry College in the town.

An explosion could still happen 24 hours after the gas has burned out.

An emergency point was established at the Burnavon Centre on the Burn Road.

As a precaution, two primary schools, a nursery school and a leisure centre were all evacuated.

Chapel Street, Molesworth Road and Fountain Road have all been cordoned off and are likely to remain closed for at least 24 hours.

Fire Service Western Area Commander Ian Doyle said it would take time to deal with the fire.

"It's a particularly hazardous situation - 200 metres of the area has been evacuated," Mr Doyle said.

"We're in a defensive mode in terms of tackling the situation, standing back and trying to eliminate the risk to firefighters."

He said the fire would cause disruption to the town centre for some time.

"Unfortunately that's unavoidable, but it's absolutely essential to ensure the safety of firefighters and members of the public."

BreakingNews.ie

Hopes rise for golden eagles in Ireland

11/05/2005 - 12:13:53

Conservationists are confident golden eagles will successfully breed in Ireland after a pair laid an egg in Donegal for the first time in almost a century.

Lorcan O’Toole, manager of the Golden Eagle Trust breeding project, said officials were delighted that the young birds had nested this spring.

“We are pleased they bred this year as it is the earliest possible opportunity for breeding. The birds can live to around 25 to 30 years but they take four to five years to mature before they breed,” he said.

Mr O’Toole said the project was hoping to successfully breed golden eagles here in the next few years.

Officials said that 35 young birds were released into Glenveagh National Park in Donegal since the ambitious breeding project officially started in 2001.

Environment Minister Dick Roche welcomed the confirmation of the nesting from the Golden Eagle Project as a positive step towards the re-introduction of the birds of prey in Donegal.

He said: “It represents an exciting landmark in the project to re-introduce the species to Ireland.”

Mr Roche added: “My Department has now reached agreement with the Golden Eagle Trust which will ensure that core funding for the project will continue up to 2008.”

The pair of four-year-old birds that bred had nested on a small cliff face ledge, sheltered by an overhanging rock. Officials said the female bird was very attentive to the incubating egg in March. However, last month the male bird was found to be absent from the nest.

Conservationists discovered during a observation visit to the nest that the single egg was watery and was infertile or had failed at an early stage during incubation.

Mr O’Toole said it was normal for the first two to three breeding attempts by inexperienced young birds to fail.

Mr O’Toole said: “It is a good start. A lot of birds fail in their first breeding attempt. It is not surprising that they failed but we feel it is a major step forward. We are hoping in time to form a viable population.”

Officials tracking the birds by their electronic tags found they had travelled as far south as Kerry and the western seaboard after their release in Donegal.

The birds’ exact location in Donegal has not been disclosed to ensure they are not disturbed.

The sight of the birds of prey soaring in the Derryveagh Mountains in Donegal was once a common sight but habitat changes and hunting led to their extinction.

The last time golden eagles successfully bred in the state was in 1912.

The reproduction project has been supported through the Life Nature Fund, the Department of the Environment, the EU and public and private sectors.

BBC

Motorway to pass near ancient site


The road will be close to the ancient monument

Plans to build a controversial motorway near one of Ireland's most historic sites have been given the go-ahead.

Environmentalists and historians warned that the Hill of Tara and its ancient burial site in County Meath was too important to be tampered with.

The proposed M3 was an issue in the recent Meath by-election.

It will be built near the existing Enniskillen to Dublin road, which can be gridlocked at peak times.

The National Roads Authority had argued that the motorway was needed because it can currently take up to two hours to travel the 25 miles between Navan and Dublin.

'Treasure trove'

However, some historians objected to its route past an area which they view as a treasure trove of archaeological finds and Ireland's equivalent of the Egyptian Valley of the Dead.

Irish Environment minister Dick Roche confirmed on Wednesday that the motorway would go ahead but promised that extra care would be taken to protect the area's heritage.

Campaigners remain unimpressed, although the proposed route is further from the Hill than the existing main road.

Tara, known as Temair in Gaeilge, was once the ancient seat of power in Ireland - 142 kings are said to have reigned there in prehistoric and historic times.

In ancient Irish religion and mythology Temair was the sacred place of dwelling for the gods, and was the entrance to the otherworld.

Irish American Information Service

PAISLEY SAYS RESULTS SIGNIFY BURIAL OF GFA

05/11/05 10:50 EST

DUP leader Ian Paisley has said the general election results had seen the burial of the "so-called agreement".

Mr Paisley was speaking outside the House of Commons, where he and the party's other eight MPs will be sworn in on Thursday.

He warned new NI Secretary Peter Hain to "heed the ballot box and listen to what the people of Ulster are saying".

Mr Paisley said if the secretary of state's intention was to confront the unionist people he would fail.

He added that the DUP "would not be talking to the IRA now, tomorrow or ever".

Mr Paisley said his first priority would be to ensure fair DUP representation on all boards in Northern Ireland.

This would ensure the people of Northern Ireland had "independent Ulstermen representing them, not paid government lackeys," he said.

Most of Northern Ireland's new MPs will be sworn in at the House of Commons on Thursday. The DUP flew to London on Tuesday in larger numbers than ever before - its parliamentary team has grown from six to nine.

While William McCrea has been an MP before, new to Westminster are Sammy Wilson and David Simpson.

Mr Simpson said the DUP will be working to ensure that local issues remain high on the agenda.

While Sinn Fein's five MPs do not take their seats at Westminster, both Pat Doherty and Conor Murphy travelled to Westminster on Wednesday to use facilities there.

Mr Murphy said: "Sinn Fein fought hard to secure the use of our facilities at Westminster in line with our substantial electoral mandate. In the years since, we have used these facilities both to deliver for our constituents and also to advance the peace process and the united Ireland agenda."

Three SDLP MPs have also gone to the Commons.

Eddie McGrady has now be joined by party leader Mark Durkan and Alasdair McDonnell, rather than long-time MPs John Hume and Seamus Mallon.

Lady Sylvia Hermon will be the lone representative of the Ulster Unionists in the Commons, after the party lost four seats in the general election.

BreakingNews.ie

SF TD suspended from Dáil for interrupting Taoiseach

11/05/2005 - 11:38:06

Sinn Féin TD Caoimghin O Caolain has been suspended from the Dáil for repeatedly interrupting the Taoiseach during this morning's business.

The Ceann Comhairle ordered the Cavan-Monaghan TD to leave the chamber for refusing to give Bertie Ahern proper speaking time.

Mr O Caolain had been accusing the Taoiseach of giving more priority to the concerns of those in the horse-racing and greyhound industry than to those in the disability sector.

Mr Ahern countered that the TD was trying to make political gain by deliberately confusing the issues.

“It’s just as important that we look after the needs of people with disabilities as we look after the betting industry in this State. Shame is all I can say,” said Mr O Caolain.

Mr Ahern accused Mr O Caolain of “clinging on to some hope that he can get political gain by ranting on“.

“You’re entirely dishonest in this debate,” he added.

After loud exchanges between Mr O Caolain and the Government benches, the Ceann Comhairle warned the Sinn Féin TD.

He said: “You cannot come into this House, ask a question and then frustrate any member of the Government who wishes to answer the question.

“I’ll ask you to behave yourself. Sorry Deputy, if you open your mouth once more you’ll leave the House.”

After Mr O Caolain refused to resume his seat, Mr O’Hanlon moved that he be suspended from the service of the Dáil.

A vote will be taken under Standing Order 61 before the Order of Business tomorrow morning.

Mr O Caolain had earlier claimed that the Disability Legislation Consultation Group, set up by the Government in 2001, was considering its future after its proposals on the current Disability Bill weren't being implemented in full.

The TD claimed that the group was refused a meeting with the Taoiseach and it was now considering opposing the Bill which is currently at Committee stage.

He asked: “Will you not use the opportunity to ensure the key and critical proposals of the DLCG and the entire disability sector are taken onboard and are enshrined in legislation so that we have legislation that removes the shame of further conflict from the sector?”

He said current disability legislation has backed by multi-annual funding which had never been agreed by any previous Government.

“I don’t believe that I will ever live to see any minister in any Bill bring such recommendations forward.”

“We will try everything we can to make this legislation as perfect as possible.”

Mr O Caolain called on Mr Ahern to meet with the Disability Legislation Consultation Group and to take the world lead in the provision of disability services.

He said the current Government ring-fenced revenue raised in the horse and greyhound industry by legislation in 2001.

Belfast Telegraph

Brother 'beaten and left for dead'
Family accuses loyalists of brutal murder

By Mary Fitzgerald
11 May 2005

The family of a former Downtown Radio producer who died following a brutal nightclub beating spoke for the first time today about their grief and horror at his murder.

Stephen Nelson (55), died in hospital in March, six months after he was attacked by a gang of men who forced their way into the foyer of the Chimney Corner Hotel nightclub near Glengormley.

It is believed individuals linked to the UDA carried out the attack.

Mr Nelson, who had organised discos at the club after leaving Downtown Radio four years ago, suffered serious head injuries and never regained consciousness.

Five people were arrested at the time, but later released without charge.

Speaking for the first time about the attack, Mr Nelson's brother Peter told the Belfast Telegraph he believed the gang intended to leave his brother for dead after he challenged loyalist paramilitaries over drug dealing.

"They just concentrated on his head. There were very few marks on his body," said Peter.

"Because of that I think it is very possible they intended to kill him. Thinking about it still really upsets me.

"I know that one of the theories being examined is that Stephen had worked very hard to keeps drugs out of the Chimney Corner and probably upset some people along the way as a result.

"I believe police think the people responsible are UDA members."

Detective Inspector Ian Gilchrist told the Belfast Telegraph the police investigation was ongoing and appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

Peter Nelson admitted he has little hope his brother's killers will ever be caught.

"I would like to see these people brought to justice but I think it's going to be difficult to bring a prosecution against anyone because of lack of evidence.

"There were no actual witnesses to the attack and there doesn't appear to be any forensic evidence, so I'm not very hopeful."

Mr Nelson was well known in the Ulster music scene and bands across the province were shocked to hear of his death.

He was affectionately known as Rastus to all the bands he recorded at Downtown Radio, where he had worked almost since the beginning of the radio station as a studio producer and engineer.

On one occasion he recorded the Undertones hit Teenage Kicks and had also worked with hit bands like Stiff Little Fingers.

In the late 90s he left Downtown to work at the Chimney Corner where he was in charge of entertainment. He took the job after running many shows there for Downtown.

BreakingNews.ie

SF MEPs defend decision not to back McCartney motion

11/05/2005 - 07:46:15

Sinn Féin's two MEPs have defended their decision not to back moves to get the EU to fund a possible civil action against the alleged killers of Robert McCartney.

Yesterday, the European Parliament overwhelmingly passed a motion calling for anti-terrorism funds to be used to fund any potential civil case.

Sinn Féin's Bairbre de Brun and Mary-Lou McDonald refused to back the motion, a move that attracted criticism from their opponents in the other Irish political parties.

However, Ms McDonald said afterwards that her party would not back the text because it called for co-operation with the PSNI.

She also said any move to use money put aside for the victims of terrorism to fund any civil case was an attempt to politicise the McCartney killing in order to damage Sinn Féin.

"The horrific murder of Robert McCartney was not a political act," she said. "It was a murder pure and simple and whatever support comes to the McCartney family has to come from the correct source."

BBC

Firefighters stoned at house fire

A fire crew has been attacked by a crowd throwing stones and missiles in north Belfast.

It happened while the firefighters were attending a fire at a derelict house in Torrens Parade in the Oldpark area of the city.

None of the firefighters was injured during the attack, which took place on Tuesday night.

There have been a number of recent attacks on fire crews attending call-outs in Belfast.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has appealed to parents and community groups to help stop attacks on their crews.

On Monday night, they came under attack in Poleglass on the outskirts of west Belfast.

Divisional Fire Officer Jim Guy said the incidents had increased because of the longer light evenings.

"It seems to have increased in the last week or so and could be to do with the bright nights," he said.

"We have been running a successful media campaign with our other colleagues in the emergency services and cross-community groups.

"But it does seem to be a worrying trend in the last week that there have been a number of attacks on our firefighters."

Telegraph

Dinosaur age tree unveiled
(Filed: 10/05/2005)

A Jurassic tree dating from the dinosaur age and thought to have been extinct for two million years has been unveiled by Sir David Attenborough.


Sir David Attenborough with the Wollemi Pine

The tree was found by chance by a National Parks officer as he backpacked in Australia and the discovery astonished botanists worldwide who thought it had died out millions of years ago.

>>>READ

IrishExaminer.com

Frustrated suicide support groups set up 24-hour helpline

By Eoin English
10 May 2005

VOLUNTARY suicide support groups frustrated at the Government’s slow response to Ireland’s suicide crisis have joined forces to launch their own national 24-hour helpline.
The groups from Belfast, Dublin, Cork and Limerick also criticised a decision to pay former US President Bill Clinton a rumoured €100,000 to address a RehabCare gala event later this month to raise money for a proposed national suicide prevention programme.

“Any initiative that contributes to the prevention of suicide is very welcome,” said Pat Buckley, spokesman for the suicide support groups.

“But the money it will cost for Bill Clinton to make this keynote speech would fund a lot of counselling for the bereaved and those at risk of suicide in places like Cork, Limerick or Kerry.

“Or it could sustain paid posts to co-ordinate and support the voluntary activities of groups North and South, something that Government and Statutory Agencies seem to have difficulty seeing as a priority.”

The number of people who die by suicide has increased by 400% over the past 15 years. Some 444 people died by suicide in 2003. Four out of five were men aged 15 to 24. There were 8,000 attempted suicides last year.

The decision to set up the national helpline follows a meeting in April of suicide support groups organised by Dublin-based Teen-Line Ireland.

It was attended by members of Rosbrien Suicide Awareness, Limerick, Suicide Or Survive in Dublin, the Pips Project in Belfast and Ballinahinch, the Let’s Get Together Foundation, Midleton, Co Cork, and STOP in Leitrim.

The umbrella group, the National Association of All Ireland Suicide Prevention (ASP), was formed to co-ordinate their activities.

“Five people were killed in road accidents in the last few days and that’s getting all the notice,” Mr Buckley said. “But seven people have died by suicide in the last week and no one is talking about that.

He encouraged other voluntary suicide support groups around the country to contact ASP ahead of their next meeting in Dublin on June 6.

Contact Eithne Dunne on 085-7417 934 or Maureen 085-7416 019 or email: eithnedunne@hotmail.com

IrishExaminer.com

McCartney killer was a Sinn Féin treasurer, says MEP

By Ann Cahill, Europe Correspondent
10 May 2005

THE killer of Robert McCartney was one of Sinn Féin’s official treasurers while the man who ordered the killing is frequently seen with leading IRA members in Belfast, the European Parliament was told last night.

The revelations were made by DUP MEP Jim Allister who also challenged three men at least two of them Sinn Féin members to come forward with evidence of the night's horrific events.

Sinn Féin's two MEPs, Bairbre De Brun and Mary Lou McDonald, sat quietly in the parliament as speaker after speaker described and condemned the horrific details of the Belfast man's murder last January.

Two of his sisters, Catherine and Paula, sat in the visitors' gallery as their courage was praised and support and funding for their campaign was promised by the political groups.

But the DUP's sole MEP, Jim Allister, held everybody's attention as he named names and blamed Sinn Féin for the murder of the 33-year-old father of two.

"By a hand signal, indicating a knife should be used, a member of the IRA's Northern Command gave the order to kill and a key Sinn Féin member savagely wielded the knife and butchered this innocent man, before multiple witnesses.

"An IRA unit, led by the volunteer who had fetched and then disposed of the knife, then co-ordinated a clean-up operation to destroy forensic and real evidence, including CCTV footage. Then, in classic IRA style, the intimidation brigade swung into action to silence the witnesses.

"Though the IRA and Sinn Féin claim to have expelled or suspended up to 10 members linked to this murder, their duplicity and double-dealing is amply illustrated by the fact that three months after the murder this cut-throat killer remained publicly proclaimed as one of Sinn Féin's official treasurers and the man who ordered the killing still struts the streets of Belfast in the company of the IRA's Chief of Intelligence, Bobby Storey and leading Provo, Eddie Copeland."

Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said it was irresponsible of Mr Allister to name names as it could jeopardise a trial.

She said Sinn Féin was not involved in the murder.

Times Online

Firefox flaws prompt security warnings

By Rhys Blakely, Times Online
10 May 2005


image from techfeed.net

Mozilla, the non-profit group behind the Firefox opensource browser, issued an alert, warning users that a combination of bugs could allow criminals to access users' private information - including banking details, logins and passwords.

There is broad concern that hackers may be turning their focus on Firefox, which initially won over users by promising more secure internet surfing.

The exploitation of two separate flaws in Firefox means that outside hackers can return to surfers’ previously visited pages. These could contain credit card details or other personal information.

The rush to patch the problems, which also affect Mozilla Suite, the all-in-one internet application, marked the fourth major security scare at Mozilla in three months.

Firefox users have been urged to disable the browser's javascript option to provide a temporary fix to the problem.

Mozilla has also recommended that the browser's software installation feature be disabled.

This can be done by unchecking the "Allow web sites to install software" box, which can be found by selecting "Options" on the "Tools" menu and then "Web Features".

Further instructions on how to do carry out these measures can be found at http://www.mozilla.org/security/announce/mfsa2005-42.html.

Industry figures suggest that Firefox has built a significant user base with some websites claiming more that Firefox has overtaken Internet Explorer, Microsoft's market leading browser.

BreakingNews.ie

Minister to announce M3 decision tomorrow

10/05/2005 - 19:37:41

The Minister for the Environment is to announce his decision on the controversial M3 motorway at noon tomorrow.

Supporters have said it will provide much needed relief to thousands of commuters who spend hours stuck in traffic travelling between Meath and Dublin.

But opponents have archaeological concerns because they claim the proposed route passes too close to the historic Hill of Tara.

Campaigners have warned that if Minister Dick Roche gives the motorway the go-ahead, they will challenge the decision in the courts.

Irish Democrat

An iniquitous Act

by David Granville


click thumbnail to view photo - mural pic by CRAZYFENIAN

ONE IRISH family's campaign to uncover the truth surrounding the death of a beloved husband, father and brother travelled to Washington recently, though unlike the saturation coverage which greeted the relatives and fiancee of murdered Belfast-man Robert McCartney, you'd barely have known it from an examination of the British media.

At around the same time as the McCartney group took their campaign to the White House and beyond, the family of murdered Belfast human-rights lawyer Pat Finucane were addressing members of the US Congress with their concerns over controversial British government legislation governing major inquiries into matters of grave public interest.

Despite opposition from the Finucane family campaign, human rights groups, legal bodies, senior judges and politicians, the Inquiries Act was rushed through on the final day of the last Westminster parliament.

As readers of the Irish Democrat will be aware, Pat Finucane was gunned down sixteen years ago by loyalist killers working in collusion with British police and military intelligence forces - a fact which is no longer disputed in view of available evidence, including that gathered by the third inquiry into collusion conducted by Sir John Stevens.

However, while details of those directly involved in the killing and their links to British security agencies have been known for many years, and the man who pulled the trigger, Ken Barrett, is now serving a 22-year prison sentence, many details concerning the state's involvement in the murder remain buried under a shroud of official obfuscation, denial and misinformation.

It is for that reason that the Finucane family and their supporters have campaigned long and hard for a independent, international public inquiry into the murder, seeing this as the only realistic chance of getting at the truth and of exposing those responsible at all levels, up to and including government ministers.

The Finucane family's response to the Act being pushed through parliament has been to make it clear that it will not co-operate with an inquiry set up under the terms of the new legislation.

Writing earlier this year in The Guardian newspaper, on the anniversary of his father's death, Michael Finucane outlined the family's opposition to the new legislation:

"The bill (now Act) is not designed to establish public enquiries at all... its focus is on giving control of inquiries to ministers so that anything potentially embarrassing to government is prevented from leaking out".

The Finucane family's critisms particularly relevant considering their long-held belief that the solicitor's murder was "ordered at the highest level" and that the evidence required to prove this "is contained in files locked deep within the establishment".

Finucane's widow Geraldine has also written to every senior judge in England, Scotland and Wales, to ask them not to serve on any inquiry into her husband's death established under the terms of the new Act.

The family's appeal has been echoed by Amnesty International, which has taken its opposition a stage further by also calling upon judges working outside the UK jurisdiction to boycott any such inquiry.

In a particularly tough statement, Amnesty International UK accused the government of "railroading" the legislation through parliament and of attempting to block independent scrutiny of agents of the state, such as those known to have been involved in Finucane's murder.

Amnesty also warned that the legislation would have implications beyond the Finucane case, including for future inquiries into major incidents involving public service failures, deaths in prisons, rail disasters and army deaths in disputed circumstances.

"The Inquiries Act 2005 undermines the rule of law, the separation of powers and human rights protection," Amnesty insisted. "It cannot be the foundation for an effective, independent, impartial or thorough judicial inquiry in serious allegations of human rights violations. Nor would it provide for public scrutiny of all the relevant evidence."

Amnesty is just one of a number of prominent human rights groups and professional legal bodies to have raised serious concerns, especially over the issue of the potential for ministerial control and influence over inquiries. Others to have voiced their concerns include the Committee on the Administration of Justice, the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association and the Law Society of England and Wales.

Opposition from senior judicial figures like Lord Saville, who chaired the recently completed Bloody Sunday inquiry, and Judge Peter Cory, whose report for the British and Irish governments recommend a public inquiry into the Finucane murder and several other cases where collusion is known to have been a factor, has been equally damning.

Writing recently to British constitutional affairs minister Baroness Ashton, Lord Saville stressed that the legislation "would make it difficult to get the whole truth about the death of Pat Finucane". In his letter, Saville made it clear that he would not be prepared to be a member of an inquiry "if at my back was a minister with power to exclude the public or to decide that evidence or documents should not be disclosed to the public".

In a letter to head of the US Congressional committee looking into the possible effects of the new legislation, Peter Cory criticised the British government's attempt to limit the scope of the Finucane inquiry on grounds of 'national security' and described the current legislation as creating "an intolerable Alice in Wonderland situation".

"It seems to me that the proposed new Act would make a meaningful inquiry impossible.... If the Act were to become law, I would advise all Canadian judges to decline an appointment in light of the impossible situation they would be facing." (Cory)

The Blair government's interests in controlling inquiry costs and of protecting 'national security' have been used by ministers as a smokescreen to mask a wider desire to ensure that public scrutiny is kept to a minimum, that the independence of inquiry chairs curtailed and the potential for ministerial interference maximised.

The Pat Finucane Centre, the independent Derry-based human rights organisation, is among those to have pointed to less financially prudent or national security-related concerns at the heart of the government's intent.

In a recent letter to Catherine (Baroness) Ashton, parliamentary under secretary at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, human rights group insisted that the government appeared determined to cover up the truth behind Finucane's murder.

"This is perhaps understandable given the involvement of the Force Research Unit of the British Army, the Security Service (MI5) and RUC Special Branch in the murder and subsequent cover up," the human rights group wrote.

Rather than the official government line of "helping to build public confidence in inquiries", the group indicated the new legislation would instead serve "to convince many people in Ireland, Britain and throughout the world that this government will go to any lengths to hide the truth about the operation of what was essentially a state-sponsored death squad".

The real problem for any British government is that the Finucane killing, and others where collusion has played a key role, goes to the very heart of Britain's dirty war in Ireland - an episode in Britain's history of colonial involvement in Ireland which Tory and Labour governments alike have been eager to keep under wraps.

In a hard-hitting parliamentary contribution made shortly before his retirement, former Labour MP Kevin McNamara, placed the legislation in the overall political context of British misrule in Ireland. Speaking during the second reading debate, McNamara told MPs that it provided them "with a first-hand opportunity to witness the clash between our democratic ideals and the legacy of Britain's imperialist role in Ireland, where the principles of good governance have collided with sordid self-interest and manifest contempt for human rights and the rule of law".

He argued that the "admirable purposes" of the legislation had been "corrupted" by the refusal of the defence and intelligence establishments to come clean over their collusion with loyalist paramilitaries in the murder of Finucane.

"I do not believe that the protection of undercover agents has ever been a prime consideration, but there has been an attempt to hide implications of policy and its implementation. Successive governments have permitted, wittingly or unwittingly, an undercover war in Northern Ireland to be conducted outside democratic control," McNamara insisted.

That the inquiries legislation was pushed through in the face of such widespread criticism should be of concern to all progressives and democrats. This is especially true as the new legislation is likely to prove useful to governments of every political complexion in keeping all manner of misdemeanours away from full public scrutiny and accountability.

However, for those who have yet to be convinced or who have so far failed to see the connection, it also serves as another example of how Britain's colonial involvement in Ireland continues to have a detrimental impact on democracy and the rights of people on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Those with access to the internet can get more information about opposition to the Inquiries Act and register their support for the Finucane family by visiting www.madden-finucane.com

BBC

Council election results in detail

NI council election is completed

The DUP have emerged as the biggest party in Northern Ireland's local government election.

Sinn Fein came second, the Ulster Unionsts were third and the SDLP were in fourth place in terms of seats.

A total of 918 candidates were contesting the seats across Northern Ireland's 26 council areas.

The results have followed the pattern of the general election where the DUP and Sinn Fein were also the largest parties.

On Belfast City Council the DUP became the biggest party beating Sinn Fein into second place with its 15 seats.

In overall terms the Ulster Unionist Party's share of the vote dropped most sharply by just over 5%.

The SDLP's share was reduced by several percentage points while the Alliance Party held its share, gaining several new seats.

It also still holds the balance of power on Belfast City Council.

The DUP won control of two councils for the first time. They gained 12 seats out of 23 in Ards Borough Council and also have 13 councillors of 23 in Castlereagh.

Among the candidates elected to Belfast City Council early on Tuesday were Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey and the DUP's Diane Dodds.

They topped the poll in Laganbank and Shankill.

Meanwhile, an Ulster Unionist candidate who withdrew from the election was elected in Lisburn anyway.

The withdrawal of David Archer Jr followed an alleged incident inside the city's council offices.

His name remained on the ballot papers because they had already been printed.

It is likely there will have to be a by-election for his seat unless the other parties agree that the UUP can co-opt another party member onto the council.

Turnout

Veteran socialist Eamonn McCann has failed to get elected to Derry City Council. He was standing for the Socialist Environmental Alliance.

In the same council area the Sinn Fein mayor has lost his seat. Councillor Gerry O'hEara, had served for sixteen years in council.

He blamed vote management for his defeat.

In Fermanagh the gender balance of the council was among the notable changes.

Six women were elected compared to the previous tally of one.

The overall turnout was 63%.

This was the last council election in Northern Ireland before the re-organisation of local government.

It is expected to reduce the number of councils from the present 26 to about half that number.

Daily Ireland

New family visit complex to benefit young prisoners


Hydebank Wood exterior - click to view

Teenage prisoners could be saved from a life of crime by a new £3 million (€4.4m) family visits complex at a Belfast young offenders centre, it was claimed yesterday.
Crèche facilities will be available for the first time at Hydebank Wood in the south of the city.
A dedicated family visiting room has been included to allow parents to maintain a bond with their children.
The centre will be managed by the Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (Niacro).
Robin Halward, a former director general of the Prison Service, unveiled a plaque to mark the opening.
He said: “It is a well-known fact that strong family support is one of the key elements in helping to reduce reoffending.
“This development, where families can directly access support services provided here by Niacro and the introduction of child-centred visits, goes a long way to help maintain and develop relationships at what is a very difficult and stressful time for families.
“Visiting a prison can be a daunting experience for young people and some parents are often reluctant to bring children to visits.
“It is wonderful to see a crèche available in the main visits room and activities for the children during their visit.”
Up to 18 visits per session can be accommodated at the complex, where three legal visit rooms are also located.
Family liaison officers have been appointed to support relatives at the centre, which now holds 200 male and 32 female young offenders.
Niacro chief executive Olwen Lyner said good visiting facilities helped settle prisoners and provided families with peace of mind.
“We are especially concerned with the impact that having a parent in prison has on the child of that prisoner. It is important that we think how the experience of visiting a prison impacts on them.
“These new facilities have certainly helped create a more family-orientated environment and we are pleased to say that almost 1,000 children have used the crèche since December.”
All visits at Hydebank must be prebooked, as at Magilligan Prison in Limavady, Co Derry, and in Maghaberry Prison in Lisburn, Co Antrim.
New identification and search procedures have been introduced.
Hydebank governor Stephen Davis said these would enhance the safety of the people using the rooms.
“Everyone who now visits Hydebank Wood will be enrolled on the new system and, on their first visit, will need to bring photographic identification,” he said.
“After they have been enrolled, a scan of their finger and a digital photograph of them will be used to verify their identity.
“We have also introduced new searching procedures and made lockers available for visitors to store items which they are not permitted to bring into the main visits room.”

Daily Ireland

Framed and convicted for fighting for his rights


Leonard Peltier in Leavenworth - photo by J.Scott

ALMOST 30 years have passed, but it’s little wonder that Leonard Peltier vividly recalls how he and his companions felt at noon on June 26, 1975.
“Everybody felt that they were going to die,” said Peltier, answering questions from Daily Ireland via telephone from Leavenworth Federal prison in Kansas.
“But nobody was saying anything about it. Nobody was crying about it. Everybody was defending themselves. We were under attack.”
Peltier and a dozen other Native Americans were in a tent camp at the Jumping Bull compound on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge reservation when two FBI men suddenly drove in at high speed.
Some later claimed that FBI agents Jack Coler and Ron Williams were chasing a jeep that they believed was carrying an Indian who’d allegedly stolen a white man’s boots after a fight.
Others argued that they went there intending to provoke a firefight with activists from the American Indian Movement (AIM), and thus hand scores of nearby federal agents an excuse to invade the compound.
Whatever the truth, the FBI men’s actions proved fatal – for themselves and 21-year-old AIM activist Joe Stuntz, all of whom died during the ensuing gunfight.
Stuntz was shot by a long-range sniper. After being wounded, agents Coler and Williams were finished-off at close range with shots to their heads.
Coler and Williams had entered the Jumping Bull compound fully aware that Pine Ridge reservation was then a tinderbox, and that AIM activists had come to the area at the invitation of local Native Americans seeking protection from the ultra violent administration of Dick Wilson.
Wilson, the pro-government Pine Ridge Tribal Council chairman, scorned traditional Indian culture, and instead pandered to commercial interests who wanted to exploit the reservation’s mineral wealth.
He also regularly diverted sizable chunks of scarce federal money that trickled down the reservation into the pockets of himself and his cronies.
To enforce his rule, Wilson formed the GOON (Guardians of the Oglala Nation), a brigade of violent thugs who assaulted and killed many of his reservation foes.
AIM formed in 1968 with the twin goals of reviving Native American culture, and winning government redress for the social and economic devastation that pervaded most reservations that Native Americans were forced onto during the previous century as white settlers expanded across the continent.
Leonard Peltier told Daily Ireland that, at the time, many Native Americans “just gave up and turned to alcohol and drugs. A lot of people felt helpless, felt useless, felt like all the things that the government were saying were true - that we didn’t have a culture, that we didn’t have a religion, that we were a bunch of savages running around and they came over here to save us”.
AIM also cast themselves as warriors, and armed themselves for community self-defence.
However, Peltier stresses that they considered a warrior’s role to be multi-faceted.
“A warrior is someone that is kind, gentle, protective of his family, his nation, and somebody who will defend them – with his life, if need be,” he said.
Among AIM’s first public protests was a six-day occupation of the Washington DC offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in November 1972.
They demanded the restoration of scores of treaties broken by the US government, and the addressing of the rampant social and economic devastation on reservations.
The protest drew unprecedented media attention to Native American suffering.
It also raised the ire of President Richard Nixon who now saw them as dangerous subversives.
In February 1973, when Nixon rejected their November treaty-restoration demands, AIM occupied the tiny hamlet of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
It was the infamous site of a December 1890 massacre of 300 unarmed Indians – mostly women and children – by the US 7th Calvary.
AIM again called for treaty reinstatements, and also for government action against Dick Wilson and his violent GOON squad.
The government responded with a massive show of force. Gunfire was sporadically exchanged and two Indians were shot dead during the standoff.
After 71 days, the siege ended, with both sides backing off.
The government pledged to probe Wilson’s abuses, but no action followed. Instead, government funds were used to arm Wilson and the GOONs, and a showdown with AIM was inevitable.
During the remainder of 1973, seven more prominent ‘traditional’ Indians died violently on Pine Ridge reservation – including Oglala Civil Rights Organisation leader Pedro Bissonnette.
He was blasted with a 12-gauge shotgun at close range in disputed circumstances by Joe Clifford, an officer with the Wilson-backing Bureau of Indian Affairs police at Pine Ridge. No charges were brought.
About 10,000 people lived on the Pine Ridge reservation at the time. Some 700,000 lived in the rest of the state of South Dakota. Yet, in the three years between the Wounded Knee occupation and 1975’s Jumping Bull shoot-out, more murders occurred at Pine Ridge than in the entire rest of the state combined. In fact, during the period which AIM dubbed the “Reign of Terror”, Pine Ridge had the highest per capita murder rate in the US.
Immediately after the June, 1975 Jumping Bull gunfight, the AIM activists eluded hundreds of surrounding FBI forces, and escaped. Arrest warrants were issued for Leonard Peltier and two others, Dino Butler and Bob Robideau.
Peltier eventually escaped to Canada. Butler and Robideau were captured and put on trial for murder in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But the prosecution’s case was weak.
One of its key witnesses was discredited as a fame-seeking liar, and others said they’d been intimidated into incriminating the defendants. Prosecutors also couldn’t prove what specific gun killed the FBI agents. In the end, jurors also decided that, regardless of who fired the fatal shots, AIM members had acted in self-defence, and Butler and Robideau were acquitted.
Furious FBI agents then went after Peltier.
First, they intimidated a Native American named Myrtle Poor Bear into claiming that she was Peltier’s girlfriend, and that she’d watched him finish off the agents with rifle shots to their heads.
Her second sworn affidavit – which contradicted an earlier one in which she’d said she saw nothing – convinced Canadian authorities to extradite Peltier back to the US.
It later emerged that the FBI had combed the Jumping Bull compound and didn’t find a single fingerprint of Myrtle Poor Bear’s.
Prosecutors later admitted they too found no proof she was ever there.
Poor Bear herself subsequently admitted in a documentary film that she’d never even met Peltier. She claimed that FBI agents threatened to harm her daughter if she didn’t provide false testimony against him.
When Peltier’s trial opened, it was in a different city and with a different judge than the Robideau/Butler trial.
In addition to Myrtle Poor Bear, three other young Native Americans present that day gave testimony – key parts of which were contradictory. None of the three testified to actually seeing Peltier kill the agents.
The FBI produced ballistics evidence allegedly identifying an AR-15 rifle owned by Peltier as the murder weapon. It had been found badly mangled in an arms-carrying car that Bob Robideau was in when it exploded in Kansas while he was on the run (the incident which led to his arrest and trial).
However, FBI documents obtained in the 1980s by Leonard Peltier’s lawyers showed that FBI ballistics tests had in fact determined that the weapon was not used to kill agents Coler and Williams.
Lastly, and crucially, prosecutors admitted in their closing remarks that they did not know who actually fired the fatal shots against Coler and Williams. Nonetheless, Peltier was convicted in April 1977 and sentenced to two life terms in prison.
His jailing was a victory for the FBI in its campaign against AIM. At the core of that campaign was COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) – whose undercover agents infiltrated allegedly subversive groups to sow internal paranoia and division, and thereby divert and disable them. Fake news stories were also fed to the media to defame such groups.
Leonard Peltier says such COINTELPRO tactics still exist. He cites recent rumors that, while in he was on-the-run in Canada, he ordered the killing of Anna Mae Aquash, an AIM member who was murdered on the Pine Ridge reservation in 1977.
“They’re just using this to discredit me and the movement around me - to cover-up their own criminal acts and the violations of the Constitution of the United States in my prosecution. That is what that is all about,” insists Peltier.
Some believe an FBI mole named Douglass Durham, who Anna Mae had suspected of being a spy, actually murdered her. But her family’s campaign quest for justice has seen some former AIM activists claim that the organization kidnapped and killed her themselves.
Whatever the truth, AIM’s momentum dissipated in the years after Leonard Peltier’s jailing. Yet the plight of Native Americans remains. Today, while some reservations have bolstered living conditions by operating lucrative gambling casinos, others remain economically stagnant.
In 2004, 26 per cent of the 2.5 million Native Americans in the US still lived below the poverty line of $9,570 (£4,976, €7,461) per year.
By contrast, roughly 12 per cent of whites are poor. And, according to 2003 US Census data, roughly 90,000 Native American families are either under-housed or homeless. Fifteen per cent of homes in tribal areas are overcrowded, as opposed to 5.7 per cent in the rest of the US. Nearly 12 per cent of Native American homes lack adequate plumbing, compared with 1.2 per cent of homes among the broader 290-million-strong US population.
“There are some reservations that are doing very well with their casinos. And there are reservations that don’t even look like the old reservations any more,” said Peltier. “But the majority of them are still in dire poverty. And the people there are just as they have always been – trying to live, trying to get by, but living in that same old despair that we had for the past 200 years, since they put us on reservations.”
He said he’s watched “the Indian prison population exploding. I see kids coming in here that shouldn’t be here. They should have been probationed. City or county jail time is the most that they should have gotten yet they’re here in a maximum security penitentiary.”
Peltier believes Native Americans now need “some new energy, some new leadership, somebody that will get up there and speak for them, somebody that will get out there and tell it like it is and teach them how they can help themselves”.
“There are still an enormous amount of injustices going on,” he added. “There are some people who are trying to fight that. But of course in this country today dissent is completely squashed and crushed, and anyone who tries to expose criminal acts being committed by the authorities is at risk of going to jail for the rest of their lives. So it’s pretty dangerous times.”
He is aware that many in the US and abroad continue to push for his release, among them Amnesty International, the Dalai Lama, and South Africa’s Desmond Tutu having called for his immediate release.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams recently commented that “Leonard Peltier has spent almost 30 years in prison. He said, “He is the victim of a miscarriage of justice and his long-running campaign for freedom has won widespread international support.
“I support the call by Amnesty International and distinguished leaders like Archbishop Tutu for his immediate release.”
Peltier said Native American activists have always felt a bond with the Irish, “because we understand and recognise that the same thing that happened to them, happened to us, only theirs was a lot longer than ours. We’ve always been strong allies with the Irish people. During the great famine (in Ireland) Indian people raised over $40,000 for goods to be sent over to Ireland.”
In an effort to highlight his case, last year, the small California-based Peace and Freedom Party chose him as their presidential candidate.
“And without any real campaigning, I still got over 40,000 votes,” he said. “And those votes came from all over the United States. And I’m still receiving letters from people telling me that if they’d been aware of it, they would have voted for me.”
Peltier’s lawyers are still seeking over 100,000 FBI documents pertaining to his case – documents that may contain vital evidence, given that earlier acquisitions via the Freedom of Information Act discovered that faulty ballistics evidence was used to convict him back in 1977 (an appeal judge nonetheless denied his request for a new trial).
Barry Bachrach, a Worcester, Massachusetts-based lawyer who helps represent Peltier, said: “There has been much FBI misconduct exposed, where people have been wrongfully framed and convicted. This is a great country, but it’s only a great country if we’re going to support the principles upon which it was based.”

Leonard Peltier is now 60-years-old. He has heart problems, high-blood-pressure, diabetes and suffered a stroke in prison that has left him partially blind. His next chance for parole is in 2008. His official release date is 2035.

Guardian

Huge radioactive leak closes Thorp nuclear plant

Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Monday May 9, 2005
The Guardian


Sellafield nuclear plant, where the Thorp reprocessing plant has been closed. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty

A leak of highly radioactive nuclear fuel dissolved in concentrated nitric acid, enough to half fill an Olympic-size swimming pool, has forced the closure of Sellafield's Thorp reprocessing plant.

The highly dangerous mixture, containing about 20 tonnes of uranium and plutonium fuel, has leaked through a fractured pipe into a huge stainless steel chamber which is so radioactive that it is impossible to enter.

Recovering the liquids and fixing the pipes will take months and may require special robots to be built and sophisticated engineering techniques devised to repair the £2.1bn plant.

The leak is not a danger to the public but is likely to be a financial disaster for the taxpayer since income from the Thorp plant, calculated to be more than £1m a day, is supposed to pay for the cleanup of redundant nuclear facilities.

The closure could hardly have come at a worse time for the nuclear industry. Britain is struggling to meet its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20% of 1990 levels by 2010, despite a substantial programme of wind farm construction, while generating capacity will also be hit by the rundown of some of Britain's coal-fired power stations.

The decision on whether to build a new generation of nuclear power stations is among the most sensitive Tony Blair faces at the start of his third term.

A leak of a briefing paper to ministers on the nuclear option yesterday revealed that the contribution new nuclear capacity could make to cutting greenhouse gases had not yet been considered because of opposition from Margaret Beckett, secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, a quango which took over ownership of the plant from British Nuclear Fuels on April 1, has a £2.2bn cleanup budget for this year, its first year of operation, of which £560m was to come from the Thorp plant.

Richard Flynn, spokesman for the NDA, said: "If the income from the plant is not forthcoming then obviously it will put back plans for cleaning up."

On Friday the British Nuclear Group, a management company formed to run the Sellafield site on behalf of the NDA, held a meeting with the government safety regulator, the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), to discuss how to mop up the leak and repair the pipe. The company has to get the inspectors' approval before proceeding.

A problem at the plant was first noticed on April 19 when operators could not account for all the spent fuel that had been dissolved in nitric acid. It was supposed to be travelling through the plant to be measured and separated into uranium, plutonium and waste products in a series of centrifuges. Remote cameras scanning the interior of the plant found the leak.

Although most of the material is uranium, the fuel contains about 200kg (440lb) of plutonium, enough to make 20 nuclear weapons, and must be recovered and accounted for to conform to international safeguards aimed at preventing nuclear materials falling into the wrong hands. The liquid will have to be siphoned off and stored until the works can be repaired, but a method of doing this has yet to be devised.

The company has set up a board of inquiry to find out how the leak occurred. The NII will set up a separate investigation and has the power to prosecute if correct procedures have not been followed.

The Thorp plant produces uranium and plutonium from spent fuel in such large quantities that only a tiny proportion of it can ever be reused for reactor fuel. Its critics also claim it is uneconomic because it has never operated to design capacity since it opened 12 years ago, and is years behind schedule in fulfilling orders.

This has angered some customers and the British Nuclear Group is embroiled in a court case with one of its customers, the German owners of the Brokdorf power station, which is withholding fees of £2,772 a day for storage of spent fuel, claiming it should have been reprocessed years ago.

In 12 years Thorp has reprocessed 5,644 tonnes of fuel from its first 10-year target of 7,000 tonnes. Last year it failed to reach its target of 725 tonnes, achieving 590.

Martin Forwood, of Cumbrians Opposed to Radioactive Environment, said the NDA had been "naive" in placing trust on income from Thorp, given its track record. "Reprocessing is blatantly incompatible with the official cleanup remit of the NDA, which will now find itself out of pocket as a result of the latest Thorp accident. The new owners would do the taxpayer the greatest service by putting Thorp out of its misery and closing it once and for all."

The managing director of British Nuclear Group, Sellafield, Barry Snelson, who ordered the plant to be closed down, said: "Let me reassure people that the plant is in a safe and stable state."

Sinn Féin

Management at Sellafield remain in "cover-up" mode - Morgan

Published: 10 May, 2005

Sinn Fein spokesperson on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Arthur Morgan T.D. has slammed as unacceptable the three day delay by BNFL in notifying Irish authorities of a leak which occurred at the plant on April 18th. The Louth T.D. said that the delay in notifying Irish Authorities about the leak confirmed that management at Sellafield remained in "cover-up" mode.

Deputy Morgan said, "News that management at Sellafield waited for at least three days before advising Irish Government officials of a major radioactive leak, which occurred at the nuclear plant on April 18th, will be greeted with alarm but no surprise by County Louth residents.

"The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland has admitted that management at BNFL-Sellafield failed to notify them for at least three days of the leak of some twenty tonnes of a highly dangerous mixture, containing uranium and plutonium. Where does this leave the supposed new level of cooperation from BNFL with RPII and what is our Government going to do about this total disregard?

"Comments attributed to the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government Dick Roche in the Irish media this week are causing concern in Co Louth. Minister Roche was quoted as saying that the early warning system is working well. It clearly is not. A three day delay in warning Irish authorities is completely unacceptable. In the Dáil today I am challenging Minister Roche to clarify whether he considers such a delay acceptable.

"It certainly appears to me that management at Sellafield remain in "cover-up" mode and would happily have covered-up this incident, given half a chance.

"We need strong voices from all Government Ministers on this issue, coupled with strong action to hold BNFL to account. This action should include a conference of all groups opposed to Sellafield, including the Nordic countries, who have been much more active on this issue than the Irish government." ENDS

BBC

Man will face Omagh bomb charges


Twenty-nine people died in the Omagh bombing in August 1998

A man is to be charged later this month with murdering the 29 people killed in the 1998 Omagh bombing, it has been confirmed in Belfast High Court.

Sean Gerard Hoey, 35, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, has been in custody for a year on charges relating to attacks in Armagh, Banbridge, Lisburn and Newry.

His application for bail was adjourned at the High Court.

More than 300 people were injured in the no warning car bomb, the worst single atrocity in Northern Ireland.

One of the 29 fatalities was a woman pregnant with twins.

Mr Hoey's lawyer had been due to apply for bail on Tuesday, an application which his lawyer Martin O'Rourke said had been lodged on 22 April.

'Media reports'

"Since then, there have been extensive media reports that the applicant is to be charged with the Omagh bombing and the 29 murders relating to that incident," he said.

He said the accused was already facing a total of 20 charges relating to the possession of explosive devices and associated offences.

Mr O'Rourke said a Crown lawyer told him that preliminary enquiry (PE) papers to be served on 19 May would contain some additional forensic reports relating to the evidence against the defendant.

"In the light of the developments in the case and the fact that preliminary enquiry papers are due to be received within nine days, it is my application to adjourn in order that we can see the full extent of the evidence against the defendant," said Mr O'Rourke.

"At the moment we have been given limited access to some of the forensic reports, but obviously the picture will be complete when the full PE papers are made available."

His request for a further adjournment to allow the legal team to study the documents was granted by the judge, Mr Justice Higgins.

BreakingNews.ie

EU to fund McCartney sisters' legal action

10/05/2005 - 12:33:54



Euro MPs today overwhelmingly backed the McCartney sisters’ fight for justice over the murder of their brother Robert.

A resolution in Strasbourg called for the unprecedented use of EU anti-terrorism funds to finance a civil legal action if Northern Ireland police fail to bring a criminal prosecution.

Father-of-two Mr McCartney, 33, was allegedly stabbed and beaten to death after a row with IRA members in a Belfast bar on January 30 .

Today’s resolution claimed Mr McCartney “was brutally murdered by members of the self-styled ‘Irish Republican Army’ who attempted to cover-up the crime and ordered all witnesses to be silent about the involvement of IRA members”.

It accused Sinn Féin of failing to call on those responsible or who witnessed the attack to to cooperate fully and directly with a Northern Ireland Police Service investigation.

And it expressed support for the McCartney family’s fight for justice, praising the sisters and Mr McCartney’s partner for refusing to accept the “code of silence” and for “bravely and persistently” challenging the IRA by demanding justice.

The two Sinn Féin MEPs, Bairbre de Brun and Mary Lou McDonald, refused to back the resolution, endorsing instead a separate motion less critical of the party and the IRA, but fully backing the McCartney family’s determination to see those responsible for Mr McCartney’s death face trial.

The resolution was backed by 555-4 with 48 abstentions.

The Sinn Féin-backed alternative, which was voted down, acknowledged that “members of the Irish Republican Army are alleged to be among those responsible for the murder”.

It said: “Sinn Féin has repeatedly called for justice, and has called for those responsible for the murder to cooperate fully and directly with those who will be in a position to assist in the prosecution of Robert McCartney’s killers in a court of law.”

It deplored and condemned the killing of Mr McCartney and expressed condolences to his family.

But it did not call for EU funds to fight a civil court action if necessary.

After the vote Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicolson accused Sinn Féin of using “weasel words“.

Mr Nicholson said: “Everyone knows that Sinn Féin and the IRA are inextricably linked. They have simply stonewalled all appeals to bring those responsible for this evil deed to justice.

“The document’s meticulous and crafty wording sought to enable Sinn Féin to wriggle out of its embarrassment over the outrage provoked by the murder. But the Parliament’s resolution is condemnation of Sinn Féin and the IRA as much as it is condemnation of Robert McCartney’s murder.”

Daily Ireland

Shot boy’s father appeals for the gunman to give himself up

The father of Darragh Somers, the schoolboy struck by a stray bullet last month, yesterday appealed to the person who fired the shot to come forward.
Speaking at a specially organised press conference, Gerald Somers told reporters his family “need closure” and he said the only way they can move on from the tragedy is for the person responsible to turn themselves in.
Mr Somers’ appearance at the conference was the first time he left his five year-old son’s bedside since the incident.
Darragh was playing in the yard at St Patrick’s Primary School in Mullnaskea near Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh when he was hit by a stray .22 calibre bullet.
From the outset, the PSNI, the Somers family and the principal of St Patrick’s school were very vocal in their opinion that the shooting incident was a tragic accident.
They have all appealed since the shooting on April 22 for the person responsible to come forward.
Darragh underwent surgery to remove the bullet and was in intensive care for over two weeks. He has since been moved to a public children’s ward where staff at the Royal Victoria Hospital describe his condition as “ill but stable”.
Mr Somers said Darragh was “coming along nicely” and described his son as a “happy wee boy”.
Gerald Somers said: “He still is a happy wee boy. He got an award for being a good patient and his bandages are colour co-ordinated with his pyjamas.
“We are all delighted with his progress so far and can’t wait ‘til the day we get him home.”
Explaining the reason for the press call, Mr Somers said: “I’m here today to see if I can get a message across to anyone out there with any information, however small or insignificant, to come forward to the police or anyone they rely on and pass on that information.”
Mr Somers also re-iterated his belief that Darragh was shot by accident.
“This has been a terrible accident,” he said. “I have no doubt in my mind that the person who did this did it by accident.
And he added: “It would be so much better for the person who did this to come forward. I’m here to repeat the plea for the person to come forward,” he added.
The police officer heading the PSNI investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Kyle, said: “It has been an absolute delight for all of us involved in this inquiry to see the progress Darragh has made.
“It can be described as nothing less than a miracle and we, too, look forward to the day that he walks out of hospital with his parents, something a couple of weeks ago we didn’t think would happen.”
Appealing to the public for their help, DCI Kyle said:
“The information we received from the public has been second-to-none and we want to reassure people that we have completely eliminated names and vehicles reported to us.”
However, Mr Kyle said his team were still trying to trace the driver of a dark blue Toyota 4x4 vehicle which drove into St Patrick’s school shortly after the shooting and drove back out again.
Mr Kyle said: “It must be a terrible weight on the shoulders of the person who did this. That person knows that at around 1.05pm on the afternoon of Friday, April 22 he fired the shot that struck Darragh Somers.”
The PSNI said ballistics tests were still being carried out on rifles seized in the Co Fermanagh area.

BBC

Police attacked during operation



Police officers have come under attack while carrying out a search at a house in Newry on Monday night.

One man was arrested and charged with handling stolen goods after the search and a vehicle, which had been stolen in Dublin last week, was recovered.

While carrying out the search in Parkhead Crescent, police said they were attacked by about 30 youths.

They threw petrol bombs and other missiles at the officers, but no-one was injured.

Newry and Mourne district commander Chief Superintendent Bobby Hunniford called on newly elected politicians to support police in bringing to an end such attacks.

"Five petrol bombs and a number of paint bombs were fired, striking cars parked in the area as well as police vehicles," Mr Hunniford said.

"Thankfully no-one was injured but this is not the first time police have come under attack in this area and it cannot be allowed to continue."

Mr Hunniford said he was prepared to meet with the local MP, MLAs, councillors and community representatives either as individuals or as a group to discuss the issues.

"Police must be allowed to operate and carry out their day-to-day duties without the fear of being attacked and this can only happen if the whole community are prepared to work together," he said.

IRA2

Speech From Bobby Sands Commemoration



A chairde,

Today we remember Volunteer Bobby Sands who died on hunger strike for the sake of his comrades and for the cause of the Irish Republic on May 5th 1981. What better place to remember one of the greatest heroes of the All Ireland Republic than at this spot where Pearse proclaimed the Republic and where so many brave Irish men fought and died defending it?

Bobby Sands was born in Rathcoole, North Belfast in 1954. His twenty seventh birthday fell on the ninth day of his hunger strike. Bobby was to experience the realities of living in a sectarian partitioned state at an early age when his family were forced out of their home in Abbots Cross, Newtownabbey by pro British loyalists in 1962. He was to experience bigotry, hatred and harassment on many occasions in his young life such as when he was forced out of his apprenticeship and in 1972 when his family was again intimidated into moving home this time from Rathcoole to Twinbrook. Bobby was later to describe the effect this evil that pervaded the six north eastern counties of Ireland had on him in the following way: "I was only a working class boy from a nationalist ghetto, but it is repression that creates the revolutionary spirit of freedom. I shall not settle until I achieve liberation for my country, until Ireland becomes a sovereign independent socialist republic". It was in this year of 1972 that Bobby aged only 18 yet seeking the liberation of Ireland and the establishment of a 32 county socialist republic took the brave decision to join the Irish Republican Army.

Bobby's commitment to the All Ireland Republic of Pearse and Connolly led him to become an inspired and an inspiring volunteer. In October 1972 he was lifted and charged with possession of weapons. At his trial being a loyal Republican Volunteer he refused to recognise the legitimacy of the court. He was sent to Long Kesh for three years where the prisoners had political status.

On his release Bobby immediately reported back to his unit of the IRA for his treatment at the hands of the British had done nothing to quell his love of freedom. He was straight back into the fight for the All Ireland Republic, the honourable war against the Brits, the occupier and the real terrorists in our country. Six months later Bobby was lifted again, this time following a bomb attack and gun battle. Now unfortunately he was sent to the torture chambers of Castlereagh for interrogation. For six days they beat and tortured Bobby and his comrades. For those six long days despite their tortures the Brits couldn't break Bobby. In all that time he told them nothing except his name, age and address. Bobby was to write of his experiences in Castlereagh in a poem in 1980
entitled "The Crime of Castlereagh".

They came and came their job the same
In relays N'er they stopped.
'Just sign the line!' They shrieked each time
And beat me 'till I dropped.
They tortured me quite viciously
They threw me through the air.
It got so bad it seemed I had
Been beat beyond repair.
The days expired and no one tired,
Except of course the prey,
And knew they well that time would tell
If I had words to say,
Each dirty trick they laid on thick
For no one heard or saw,
Who dares to say in Castlereagh
The 'police' would break the law!

Bobby was imprisoned on remand until his trial in September 1977 where he again refused to recognise the court. This time Bobby was on trial with three other men and they found themselves sentenced to fourteen years each for the possession of one handgun. This was and is typical of the treatment handed out by Britishpolitical courts to Irish patriots. While the agents of Britain can murder at will Irish men and women can expect special sentences for special offences in the special courts. And although he received a politically motivated sentence by a politically appointed court Bobby was refused political status as part of Britain's attempt to criminalise the Irish freedom struggle.

Having spent 22 days in solitary confinement in Crumlin Road Bobby was moved to the newly built H-Blocks where Republican prisoners were engaged in the Blanket protest for the restoration of POW status. Bobby's commitment to the cause and his keen mind was recognised by his fellow volunteers and he became PRO for the Blanket Men. Like Pearse before him Bobby was a gifted poet and writer as well as an Irish revolutionary. While Pearse's political writings appeared in such publications as An Claidheamh Soluis, the sword of light, which he edited, Bobby's writings appeared in the Republican papers of his day; Republican News and An Phoblacht under the nom de plume Marcella, his sister's name. The letters he wrote were of necessity written in tiny handwriting on toilet paper and smuggled out of the jail.

Bobby and his fellow Blanket Men suffered under a brutal regime imposed by the Brits in an attempt to break the prisoners' resistance to the policy of criminalisation. But the prisoners refused to be broken. They knew that if they allowed themselves to be labelled criminals then the struggle for the All Ireland Republic would also be labelled a criminal act. The H-Block was another front in the war against the Brits. The prisoners knew that although they had no guns or bombs their determination to resist was their weapon that would see them victorious. Famously Bobby was to say "I am, even after all the torture, amazed at British logic. Never in eight centuries have they succeeded in breaking the spirit of one man who refused to be broken. They have not dispirited, conquered, nor demoralised my people, nor will they ever".

In April of 1978 the protest was intensified with the commencement of the No Wash protest against the treatment dealt out to prisoners going to the toilets or to the showers. And in case they be forgotten, the women in Armagh Jail joined this protest when they suffered under similar conditions in February 1980.

The No Wash protest had been ongoing for two and a half years in the H-Blocks when in October 1980 seven prisoners began a hunger strike. Bobby was appointed OC as Brendan Hughes his predecessor was on the strike. The strike was called off in December as it was believed that a deal had been reached. But the Brits, being without honour, reneged on the deal just as Bobby was negotiating with the prisoner governor. Bobby was to write 'We discovered that our good will and flexibility were in vain. It was made abundantly clear during one of my co-operation' meetings with prison officials that strict conformity was required. Which in essence meant acceptance of criminal status".

There was no way now that the prisoners were going to accept criminalisation after all they had endured. On March 1st 1981 Bobby began a Hunger Strike in the full knowledge that it could and probably would lead to his death. "Of course I can be murdered", he said, "but I remain what I am, a political POW and no-one, not even the British, can change that".

A few days after he commenced his strike Frank Maguire an independent MP who supported the prisoners cause died forcing a by-election in the Fermanagh-South Tyrone constituency. Dáithí Ó Conaill, the late vice president of Republican Sinn Féin proposed at an Ard Comhairle meeting that Bobby Sands should run as an abstentionist candidate to highlight his plight. Bobby agreed to this and an intense election campaign was begun. On April 10th he was elected thanks to the support of the nationalist people for his struggle. Bobby was not now an MP. He had stood on a Republican ticket and was endorsed by the people of Fermanagh-South Tyrone. He was a TD and would only have taken his seat in a 32 county All Ireland Dáil had circumstances allowed. The election victory was a great boost to the struggle. Support for the prisoners and for Irelands cause was now building on a world
wide scale. But the British were oblivious to the shame being heaped upon them and on May 5th, the sixty sixth day of his hunger strike Bobby Sands joined the ranks of Irelands martyred dead. Over the next few months while the streets of Ireland ran with blood and fire the Brits remained impervious to world opinion and nine more brave men were to sacrifice themselves just as Bobby had done.

Following the deaths of the 10 Hunger Strikers it was clear that Britain's shameless intransigence could not be overcome by the deaths of more Irish men. The strike was called off in October. But the Brits had been stung by the hunger strike and the turning of world opinion against them. Rather than risk a repeat of the protest, effective Political Status was introduced without fanfare on the quiet.

Bobby is a true hero of the Republic in the same way that Pearse and Connolly who fought here are. Not only did he gallantly fight the enemy on the field of battle but through his struggles and sacrifice his name has become synonymous with resistance to oppression the world over. He has inspired this generation of Irish men and women the same way the men who fought here at the GPO inspired previous generations. I know that he has inspired me. I remember well that day we marched to the British embassy in Ballsbridge and were baton charged by the Free State police. I can clearly remember thinking "this is what the hunger strikers are fighting against". And though I was afraid, being only nine years old, I knew that the fear I felt was nothing compared to the fear felt every day by the men in the H-Blocks and the women in Armagh. Yet I would have gladly endured that fear a hundred times over if only we could have had Bobby Sands and the other hunger strikers back again.

Now twenty four years later we stand here humbled by the greatness of the Hunger Strikers and the Heroes of 1916. But that which they fought and paid for so dearly is still not achieved. Britain still rules in six Irish counties and a puppet regime administers her rule in the other twenty six. The goal of the Republican Movement remains today the same as it was on Easter Monday 1916. We aim to establish an All Ireland Republic free from foreign oppression and interference where the common name of Irish Man replaces the labels of Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter. This was the cause for which Pearse and Connolly fought. This was the cause to which Bobby Sands and the other H-Block Hunger Strikers dedicated themselves and for which they eventually gave their lives.

Bobby Sands and the Hunger Strikers of 1981 have inspired a generation of Irish men and women. Their brave sacrifices showed that there was still honour and nobility in the world. They have proven that The Republic which has been struggled for by so many gallant men and women is indeed worth the heavy price paid. We must ensure that the price paid by the blood Irish martyrs is not wasted. It is up to us to ensure that the Irish Republic of Pearse, Connolly and Sands is finally enthroned.

Bobby is often quoted as saying, "Everyone, Republican or otherwise, has his or her own part to play". What will your part be? Will you be content to sit on the sidelines and criticise while darkness slowly descends on the Republic? Or will you join in the struggle? Will you stretch forth your hand and grasp "an claidheamh soluis", the sword of light, and drive back the darkness of British rule, defeat the shadow of Imperialism? The day of the Republic is only dawning and so long as we stand united and sing of the glory of Pearse and Connolly of Bobby Sands and the All Ireland Republic then night will never fall.

An Phoblacht Abú

- Fergal Moore
7 May 2005

BBC

Stones are thrown at firefighters

Firefighters have been attacked by children throwing stones on the outskirts of west Belfast.

It happened after they were called to the Poleglass estate on Monday night after a vehicle was set on fire.

John Langtree, of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, said such attacks seem to be increasing.

"We really want to get the message out to the community, to the children and to the parents just to say 'you have to stop this'," Mr Langtree said.

He added he was concerned by the trend in such attacks.

A young firefighter is still off work after being injured in a similar incident before Christmas, Mr Langtree said.

"That's a firefighter that we don't have fire fighting; that's an essential resource that's not available to the community," he said.

BBC

Three new NIO ministers appointed


Peter Hain has replaced Paul Murphy

Prime Minister Tony Blair has made three new appointments to the Northern Ireland Office as part of his cabinet re-shuffle.

David Hanson and Lord Rooker have been made ministers, taking over from Barry Gardiner and Ian Pearson.

Shaun Woodward, a millionaire who defected from the Conservative Party to Labour, was made a junior NIO minister.

Angela Smith remains at the NIO but there is no confirmation of John Spellar's fate.

David Hanson is the MP for Delyn in North Wales and is a trusted ally of Tony Blair, having been his Parliamentary Private Secretary for the last four years.


David Hanson is a trusted Blair ally

Lord Rooker - formerly an MP for Birmingham's Perry Barr - moves from the Home Office to take up his new position.

The portfolio's will be announced on Tuesday, a statement from the NIO said.

Ian Pearson is to be Minister for Trade at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Barry Gardiner becomes Parliamentary Secretary at the Department for Productivity Energy and Industry.

Meanwhile, the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, will continue meeting Northern Ireland's political parties.

After arriving in Belfast on Monday the successor to Paul Murphy had a walkabout in the city centre then met DUP and Sinn Fein delegations at Stormont.

He is to meet an SDLP delegation on Tuesday, headed by the party's leader, Mark Durkan.

DUP leader Ian Paisley, deputy leader Peter Robinson and North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds were on the first party delegation to meet Mr Hain.


Lord Rooker is moving from the Home Office to the NIO

At the meeting the current political situation was discussed along with a number of other issues.

Mr Dodds said they urged Mr Hain to move the process on without Sinn Fein.

"We have to get on with making sure that the people's views are represented and the people have an input into the governing of Northern Ireland," he said.

"It's quite clear that everything since the spectacular failure of the provisional movement to move into the democratic process since Christmas and their ongoing failure to move into that process means that we cannot afford, as democrats, to be hanging around waiting for them.

"We must move on."


Shaun Woodward is a millionaire former Conservative MP who joined Labour in 1999

A Sinn Fein delegation also met Mr Hain.

Speaking afterwards party President Gerry Adams said the government should press on with reforms.

"Key elements of the Good Friday Agreement do not require co-operation from the DUP," he said.

"Progress on equality, human rights, collusion, the Irish language, demilitarisation, justice and policing are entirely within the gift of the British government.

"There is an increased onus on the British government to face up to the many issues within its control."

Mr Hain's appointment followed big changes in Northern Ireland's political landscape, with the DUP and Sinn Fein making large electoral gains.

IRISH REPUBLICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (no. 16)



Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie
Date: 9 Bealtaine / May 2005

Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom

http://saoirse.rr.nu

In this issue:
1. British disengagement from Ireland is off the agenda for the Provos
2. Provo SDLP wipeout bid fails
3. Election strengthens partition
4. New RSF Cumann in Armagh
5. Continued harassment of Republicans
6. Anti-social behaviour orders
7. Conference brings together victims of state violence
8. Claim that police agent set up Monaghan bombing
9. Lawyer slams Omagh 'stunt'

1. BRITISH DISENGAGEMENT FROM IRELAND IS OFF THE AGENDA FOR THE PROVOS

THE outcome of the Westminster elections in the Six Counties is no great earth shift as supporters of the Stormont Agreement maintain.

It is proof of the Republican Sinn Féin analysis that an equality agenda based on a British colonial set-up in the Six Counties is a fool's dream. British rule and union with the Imperial heartland has been strengthened.

David Trimble on losing his seat to the DUP acknowledged this, saying, "I believe they have inherited from Ulster Unionism a very strong position for Unionism and I hope they manage to safeguard that position over the course of the months to come."

British rule is indeed safeguarded as Britain's unionist underlings, whether in the DUP or UUP unite again under the banner of unionist fundamentalism.

Meanwhile on the nationalist side British disengagement from Ireland is off the agenda for the Provos. Gerry Adams has called on the Provo militia to leave the stage and to "commit itself to purely peaceful and democratic methods".

Both the Provisionals and the SDLP are anxious to sit in the Stormont assembly with their unionist colleaguies - this is their notion of equality. But with the unionist position safeguarded DUP-led unionism is quite happy to continue with direct rule and can afford not to hurry back to a Stormont assembly. This means further capitulation from the nationalist camp, in particular the Provos.

The final results of the Westminster election were: DUP, nine, up three seats from 2001; UUP, one, a loss of four seats; unionism continues with the same number of seats; the Provisionals, five, up one from 2001 and the SDLP remain the same at three seats.

2. PROVO SDLP WIPEOUT BID FAILS

THE Provisionals failed in their bid to effectively wipe out the SDLP in the Six-County Westminster elections on May 5. Their most spectacular failure was in Derry's Foyle constituency where the Provos were confident they would beat SDLP leader Mark Durkan for John Hume's seat.

However not only did Mark Durkan beat the Provos' Mitchel McLaughlin but did so by almost 6000 votes. Whilst the Provos increased their number of seats by one the SDLP managed to hold on to their three. The biggest surprise of the day was in South Belfast where the SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell won, the first time a nationalist has done so in what has been a predominately-unionist constituency.

Meanwhile the DUP succeeded in their bid to obliterate the Ulster Unionist Party's representation at Westminster taking four of the UUP's five seats, including that of UUP leader David Trimble in Upper Bann. This led to David Trimble's resignation as UUP leader on May 7.

In his cabinet reshuffle following the British general election British Prime Minister Tony Blair has appointed current Secretary for Wales as the new British Six-County Secretary, replacing Paul Murphy. He will continue in his position as Welsh Secretary.

3. ELECTION STRENGTHENS PARTITION

IN A statement on May 5 Republican Sinn Féin President Ruairí Ó Brádaigh called on people within the Six Counties to boycott, or failing that to spoil their ballots, in the local and Westminster elections on May 5.

He continued: "We would remind people that Thursday, May 5 marks the 24th anniversary of the death on hunger strike of Bobby Sands, who contested and won the Fermanagh/South Tyrone, by-election in April 1981. Bobby Sands not only vindicated his right and that of his comrades to be treated as political prisoners but he also represented the Irish people's resistance to British Rule in Ireland.

"In contrast to the candidates of the two constitutional nationalist parties which are contesting Thursday's elections, Bobby Sands did not seek to reform the Six County state, or the establishment of a new Stormont, within which he could administer and police British Rule. Like all Republican candidates before and since he sought election to an All- Ireland parliament as a TD, his platform was unequivocally Republican and separatist, he sought a complete British withdrawal from Ireland, the dismantling of the entire partitionist system and the creation of a New Ireland north and south.

"The imposition of a political test oath, renouncing the Irish people's right to resist British occupation, and publicly disowning the organisations of the Republican Movement, on candidates contesting the Six County local elections excludes Republicans from the electoral process and denies people their right to vote for a Republican candidate.

"By boycotting or spoiling their ballot on Thursday people can register their protest at the undemocratic nature of the polls and their denial of an opportunity to vote for candidates committed to breaking the connection with England," the statement ended.

Richard Walsh, Republican Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle member from Derry said in a statement on May 5 that it was "sad and ironic that former comrades of Bobby Sands will seek election on the anniversary of his death on hunger strike to the Imperial parliament at Westminster. Whilst they are running on an abstentionist ticket, they are not seeking election to the All-Ireland Dáil.

"Along with the Provo candidates, several candidates describing themselves as "Independent Republicans" are contesting the local council elections. In a further twist, at least one of these has admitted that they will take the political test oath - publicly rejecting those organisations proscribed by the British, and the right of the Irish people to wage war against England. This in effect amounts to the acceptance of the policy of criminalisation pursued by the British - a policy Bobby Sands and his comrades steadfastly rejected, ultimately resulting in their deaths on hunger strike.

"All nationally-minded people should reject this British policy of criminalisation and England's claim over part of Ireland by either boycotting the general and local elections on May 5th or by spoiling their votes."

4. NEW RSF CUMANN IN ARMAGH

REPUBLICAN Sinn Féin in Armagh have formed a new Cumann, the Liam Lynch/Armagh Martyrs Cumann which will cover both the Armagh City and Keady areas.

A spokesperson said: "We are here to offer an alternative to the failed policies of the Provisional Movement through the ÉIRE NUA policy. We urge all true Republican's in the areas to join with us and help expose the lies and deceit that people have been fed by the Provo's and others since the signing of the failed Belfast agreement.

"One of our first priorities will be to campaign on behalf of Republican POWs, including three local men, who due to the Belfast agreement are now branded as criminals and are having to exist within a very harsh prison regime. We will fight for their human rights and an end to the criminal tag that they have been labeled with.

For further information on the Liam Lynch/Armagh Martyrs Cumann please contact the Belfast office on 028 90 319004 or to contact the Cumann direct e-mail rsfarmagh@yahoo.co.uk.

HARASSMENT
On May 9 the chairperson of the Liam Lynch/ Armagh Martyrs, Republican Sinn Féin Cumann accused British Crown Force members of carrying out a campaign of harassment against him and his family. In the space of two days the Keady man was stopped and held for over an hour on three separate occasions including one particular occasion when his eight-year-old son was with him, by members of the UDR/RIR.

On another occasion, the former POW emerged from a friend's house in Armagh City to find that members of the RUC/PSNI had broken into his car and were carrying out a search, when he pointed out that they were acting illegally he was threatened with arrest.

Speaking about the incidents, the Keady man said: "This campaign of harassment is due to the fact that I am the chair of the Liam Lynch/Armagh Martyrs RSF and have also had trumped up charges against me dropped. I believe the Crown Forces are out for revenge.

"On one occasion I had my eight-year-old son with me when I was stopped by members of the UDR. They held me for over one hour and behaved in a very aggressive manner to myself and my son, who was very distressed by the incident. I'm used to British Crown Force harassment, but the fact that they now seem to be targeting the children of Republicans shows how low they will stoop.

"Also the fact that my car now seems to be in constant danger of being broken into, not by hoods, but by members of the RUC/PSNI, shows how totally desperate they are to cause distruption to the lives of true Republicans. I can live with the harassment and won't cow down to these bullies. I'm more concerned about other people in the Armagh and Keady areas who are to scared to speak about this type of harassment for fear of being singled out for special RUC/PSNI treatment.

"I would urge these people to highlight these incidents as its the only way we can stop it happening." he said.

5. CONTINUED HARASSMENT OF REPUBLICANS

ON Thursday, April 8, Paddy Fox from Tyrone and Kevin Sutton from Dungannon were stopped and searched outside a pub on the main Armagh to Moy road by members of the RUC/PSNI.

They were allowed to go on but later that evening their houses were raided at 6pm. They found a piece of copper pipe in Kevin Sutton's mother's house and Kevin and his two brothers Dominic and Shane were arrested and taken to Antrim serious crime unit.
Paddy Fox's house was raided again at 1.30 am and he was arrested as well.

They were five hours in handcuffs and were not allowed to go to sleep until 6.30 in the morning. They were stripped and made wear paper boilersuits, they had run out of shoes so all the men were barefoot as well. Those arrested were all questioned about a so-called explosive device.

At 10pm Paddy Fox and Shane and Dominic Sutton were released and Kevin Sutton was charged with possession of explosives. In the meantime Paddy Fox's house was raided for a third time in 24 hours. This time they were there six hours and still found nothing. During all the interrogations they were told this piece of pipe was a type of detonator that had been used before in attacks against British Crown Forces but they did not produce any forensics to back this up.

Kevin Sutton was charged even though he is not living at the house where this item was found nor is he a key holder.

On April 22 the charges against Kevin were dropped after the forensic lab issued a report to say the item was in fact a thermostat for a home heating system! Kevin spent two weeks in Maghaberry jail and files were sent to the British DPP pending charges against the rest of the men.

Dominic Sutton is a student living in a loyalist part of Belfast. His house was raided when he was in Antrim barracks and he subsequently had to move out of his house in Belfast because of loyalist threats. It now costs him £70 a week to commute.
Both Paddy Fox and Kevin Sutton are members of Republican Sinn Féin, in two newly-formed Cumainn in Armagh and Coalisland and no doubt that is why they were arrested and Kevin was charged.

This case has implications for everyone. The British authorities in the Six Occupied Counties, as has already been seen in the arrest and internment by remand of the Lavelle family from Fermanagh are reverting to techniques used in the 1970s and '80s where whole families were arrested and charged on no evidence at all. The recent arrest and jailing of John Joe McCusker of Fermanagh on trumped-up charges is another example.

The RUC/PSNI may have a new name and uniform but the old anti-nationalist/Republican psyche is still inherent in there attitude.

6. ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR ORDERS

MINISTER for Justice in the 26 Counties, Michael McDowell is planning to introduce
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)in his forthcoming Criminal Justice Act. The three main political parties in Leinster House favour such legislation.

ASBOs are civil orders that the Gardai can use against anyone over the age of ten years by going directly to the District Court thereby by-passing the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The courts can make an open-ended order restricting the movements and/or actions of an accused individual. The burden of proof in a civil case is much lower than that in a criminal case. In England the local housing authorities can also apply for ASBO and complaints remain anonymous - past experience has shown us that it will be only a matter of time when this will be introduced in Ireland.

Opponents of ASBOs say that the bypassing of the DPP's office forms part of their objections. The Green Party justice spokesperson, Ciaran Cuffe has described the orders as "summary justice" and pointed out that ASBOs can be "based on hearsay evidence, yet those who breach an ASBO can go to jail". (Breaching an ASBO is a criminal offence and carries a prison sentence of up to five years. So the application/implementation of an ASBO can lead to a longer process in the long run.)

Ursula Kilkelly, chairperson of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IRPT) and a lecturer in law at UCC, described ASBOs as "cheap and nasty because they don't engage the social services at all. They are not integrated into the Children's Act infrastructure and go against everything the Childrens Act stands for".

She said there was "no indication that an Anti-Social Behaviour Unit will be set up in Ireland to monitor ASBOs".

Even in England concern has been expressed over the use of ASBOs. Two areas
of concern are:

1. That people are being jailed following the breach of an ASBO where the original offence was itself non-imprisonable, and that ASBOs are being used where people have mental health problems where treatment would be more appropriate.

2. Certain local authorities are using ASBOs to clear sink estates of problematic families and individuals. This appears to avoid dealing with wider environmental problems on those estates and also avoids putting in place wider social policies that would deal with the underlying problems of anti social behaviour.

On May 4, 2005 an new group The Coalition Against ASBOs outlined its opposition to the ASBOs. Speaking at a press conference in Buswell's Hotel in Dublin, Matt Foot a leading expert on Anti Social Behaviour Orders in Britain warned against heir proposed introduction in Ireland.

"Behaviour likely to cause 'harassment, alarm or distress' is capable of including everyone from serious criminals to people whose appearance makes us feel uneasy," said Matt Foot Coordinator of ASBO Concern in the UK. An order made on this basis is arbitrary, has no regard for the normal legal process, and doesn't deal with the causes of antisocial behaviour in the first place, " said Foot.

He said that "Evidence from the UK demonstrates that ASBOs are being abused in some areas. This is due in large part to the frightening vagueness of the definition. In many incidents, individuals are receiving a custodial sentence where the original offence was not itself imprisonable. The ASBO is clearly therefore, moving offenders up tariff and
resulting in the inappropriate use of custody."

Geoffrey Shannon, Irish Child Law Expert and Solicitor who also attended the meeting said that, "Anti social behaviour can be tackled using the wide range of measures available under the Children Act 2001 and through support services based in local communities, To be successful however, we must fully implement and resource the Children Act and resource existing support services. ASBOs are an unnecessary and counterproductive addition to the current framework for dealing with children in conflict with the law."

Members of the Coalition Against ASBOs include: Children's Rights Alliance, National Youth Council of Ireland, Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Barnardos, Irish Youth Foundation, ISPCC, Irish Penal Reform Trust, Amnesty International (Irish Section), Comhlamh, The Ark, ICON Inner City Organisations Network, Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, Sugradh, DICP/LTDF, Arrupe Society, Irish Refugee Council, Irish Traveller Movement, Pavee Point, Union of Students of Ireland, Integrating Ireland, Community Policing Forum NEIC, Bluebell Youth Project, Cabra Youth Service, Kilbarrack Community Project, Swan Youth Project, Rialto Youth Project, Finglas Youth Reach Centre, Solicitors Geoffrey Shannon, Sarah Molloy, Catherine Ghent, Ursula Kilkelly, Pól Ó Murchú, Leonora Mullett, Barristers: Teresa Blake, Mary Ellen Ring, Aisling Reidy, Ivana Bacik, Individuals, Father Peter McVerry SJ, Louise Cadwell, John Nisbet, Paul O'Mahony , Seamus Kinlen.

The beliefs and aims of the Coalition are:

Beliefs
1. Anti-social behaviour can cause distress and anxiety but the response to it must be appropriate, just, proportionate, positive and effective.
2. ASBOs are a punitive measure that can criminalise people for behaviour that is not in itself criminal. They can be often imposed solely on the basis of hearsay evidence.
3. ASBOs do nothing to deal with the causes of anti-social behaviour and can distort the work that is being done to build stronger communities.
4. We want properly funded community and youth services and support for people with mental health, drug and alcohol or other social problems. This will help build an inclusive society. We want the Children Act 2001 to be fully implemented and resourced.

Aims
1. To publicly highlight the potential problems if ASBOs are introduced in Ireland and the need for alternative ways of tackling anti-social behaviour which do not criminalise people for behaviour that is not in itself criminal.
2. To bring together those concerned about the way ASBOs might be used - voluntary organisations, trade unions, community groups, professionals, young people and others - in a joint campaign.
3. To advocate for the full and immediate implementation and adequate resourcing of the Children Act 2001.
4. To publicly highlight the existence of options other than ASBOs in alleviating the difficulties caused by anti-social behaviour.

7. CONFERENCE BRINGS TOGETHER VICTIMS OF STATE VIOLENCE

FAMILIES and campaigners affected by British state violence have no confidence in British government-controlled schemes to deal with past killings, a major conference was told on April 30.

Over 250 delegates who attended an all-day conference in Belfast took the decision to set up a steering group by victims' relatives to examine truth mechanisms relating to collusion and state-sponsored killing in the Six Counties.

State Violence - State the Truth was jointly organised by the anti-collusion group An Fhírinne and Relatives for Justice. Among the issues discussed were the lack of truth in the inquest system, the role of media, the British government's new inquiries legislation, the policy of British state collusion and the Six County Office's funding of a new internal RUC/PSNI branch to examine pre-1998 killings.

Veteran campaigner Clare Reilly told the gathering that victims of British State violence couldn't have any confidence in the new NIO/RUC/PSNI crime review branch.

"It is lawyers for Hugh Orde who are citing the possible use of Public Interest Immunity Certificates at inquests. It is the RUC/PSNI who run agents involved in murder," Ms Reilly said. "The Serious Crime Review Team is no different a strategy than that which exists in the form of the Inquiries Act preventing the truth surrounding the killing of Pat Finucane from coming to light.

"State killings constitute proportionally the largest number of unsolved killings in comparison with any other participant groups to the conflict whereby the state used its sovereignty as a shield to deny truth and justice and provide impunity.

"If Hugh Orde or the British government genuinely wanted to address issues of the past then as a matter of building trust we call on them to now make fully public the Stalker/Sampson and Stevens Reports. Any process that examines the past must be independent, transparent, accountable, and have public confidence and support.

"The RUC/PSNI's SCRT does not constitute that criterion and is unacceptable to hundreds of families affected by state and state-sponsored violence. We have no confidence that it will deliver - instead we believe that it will act against our interests whilst promoting state interests," Ms Reilly said.

Relatives of plastic bullet victims declared that they would never give "consent to any police force that uses plastic bullets".

On behalf of the United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets, Frances Meehan, sister of Michael Donnelly, and Helen Whitters, mother of Paul Whitters, said, "We would like to place on record today that no police force using these weapons will gain our consent.
"No body which oversees their purchase will be trusted. No person who has human rights or civil liberties at their hearts can credibly sit on these bodies," the statement said.

The relatives called for any future negotiations on policing issues to "ensure that these weapons of mass injury and death are removed from our streets forever. he introduction of the Attenuating Energy Projectile - or new plastic bullet - by the PSNI on April 7 is a disgraceful development.

"Last year we lost one of our esteemed members, Dominic Marron. He died as a result of the injuries he sustained as a 14 year-old when he was shot in the head by a plastic bullet fired by the RUC. He is the eighteenth person to die from a plastic bullet wound," the statement said.
A letter from American Congressman Chris Smith supporting the need for open, transparent and accountable government institutions was also read to the conference delegates.
Referring to the six cases reviewed over recent years by Canadian judge Peter Cory as "emblematic of the problem of state-sponsored collusion" Congressman Smith specifically urged the British government to establish a "Cory-compliant public inquiry into the murder of human rights lawyer Patrick Finucane".

8. CLAIM THAT POLICE AGENT SET UP MONAGHAN BOMBING

A POLICE agent within the British-backed loyalist death squad the UVF organised a bomb attack in the 26 Counties after the organisation's 1994 ceasefire, the father of a young man killed by the terror group claimed on May 2.

The British Police Ombudsman's office has confirmed that the 1997 attack on a pub in Monaghan town is one of the events being probed by investigators examining the murder of Raymond McCord jnr.

The 22-year-old former RAF man's brutal killing in November 1997 is at the heart of Nuala O'Loan's probe into the activities of a senior UVF man in north Belfast over more than a decade.

Raymond McCord senior claimed that the senior UVF man who is currently awaiting trial on an attempted murder charge ordered the murder of his son because he didn't want the UVF leadership to know who bought the cannabis his son was caught smuggling into the Six Counties.

At a meeting with RUC/PSNI Assistant Chief Constable, Sam Kincaid Raymond McCord alleged that the man who ordered his son's murder was instrumental in the placing of a bomb outside a public house in Monaghan town. Raymond McCord claims he knows the identity of the other two men centrally involved in the attack and is demanding that the informer's RUC/PSNI handlers at the time tell investigators if he revealed his involvement in the bombing.

The UVF device was intended for the Provisionals' office in the town according to McCord, but the three-man team panicked and left it outside a nearby pub. Raymond McCord also claims that the north Belfast informer wasn't unmasked as a RUC/PSNI agent by internal UVF probes, because a senior figure within the British-backed death squad was also working for the British Crown Forces.

9. LAWYER SLAMS OMAGH 'STUNT'

A SOLICITOR acting for Omagh bomb accused, Seán Hoey, from South Armagh, has said he is "profoundly disturbed" at allegations that his client will be charged with murder in relation to the 1998 Omagh bombing.

Peter Corrigan, of Kevin Winters and Co Solicitors, was speaking after reports alleging the Six County's DPP and the RUC/PSNI will soon serve murder charges on Seán Hoey. The reports were attributed to police sources but Peter Corrigan said his client had not received any communication from either the RUC/PSNI or the DPP.

Peter Corrigan was in telephone contact with the Six-County DPP on May 7 about Seán Hoey's case but he was not told of any proposal to bring forward further charges. Seán Hoey has been held at Maghaberry prison, Co Antrim, since September 2003. He faces 17 charges in relation to constructing explosive devices.

Peter Corrigan said he applied for a bail hearing within the last week. He believes that the latest revelations are a "media stunt designed to disrupt the strong and well-prepared case which Mr Hoey intends to make in applying for bail".
"I am profoundly disturbed with this interference in my client's basic rights," Mr Corrigan said. "Absolutely no evidence has been brought to date against Sean Hoey in relation to the Omagh bombing.

"In the opinion of the defence, little or no evidence has been put to our client which would give rise to a realistic prospect of conviction on the current charges. But the fact these latest allegations have been leaked shows that it is a media stunt," Peter Corrigan said.

"Seán Hoey is a prime candidate for bail. He has never been convicted of any offence.Yet he has been facing questioning or charges in relation to this since 1998. My client vehemently denies all charges put against him."

ENDS

IRA2

NEW RSF CUMANN IN ARMAGH

REPUBLICAN Sinn Féin in Armagh have formed a new Cumann, the Liam
Lynch/Armagh Martyrs Cumann which will cover both the Armagh City and
Keady areas.

A spokesperson said: "We are here to offer an alternative to the
failed policies of the Provisional Movement through the ÉIRE NUA
policy. We urge all true Republican's in the areas to join with us
and help expose the lies and deceit that people have been fed by the
Provo's and others since the signing of the failed Belfast agreement.

"One of our first priorities will be to campaign on behalf of
Republican POWs, including three local men, who due to the Belfast
agreement are now branded as criminals and are having to exist within
a very harsh prison regime. We will fight for their human rights and
an end to the criminal tag that they have been labeled with.

For further information on the Liam Lynch/Armagh Martyrs Cumann
please contact the Belfast office on 028 90 319004 or to contact the
Cumann direct e-mail rsfarmagh@yahoo.co.uk

BreakingNews.ie

Sellafield leak doesn't affect Ireland - Govt

09/05/2005 - 19:13:59

The Government insists the latest radioactive leak at Sellafield has no implications for Ireland.

Twenty tonnes of spent fuel leaked from pipes into a steel container three weeks ago, the scale of which is only becoming apparent now.

The highly radioactive leak has forced the closure of Sellafield's multi-billion euro reprocessing plant.

It is reportedly half the volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool and is too radioactive for staff to enter.

The plutonium content is estimated to be enough for 20 nuclear weapons.

Irelandclick.com

**Why are teenagers allowed to buy this stuff at all?

Taxi drivers told to beware of being used for ‘solvent runs’

Taxi drivers in North Belfast have been asked to be aware of teenagers and young people using the service for ‘solvent runs’ to buy drums of industrial glue in hardware shops.
And community workers say the glue, which is charged on a “dip” basis, has reduced in price in such places like the Waterworks from £3 to as little as 50p.
Five groups including Community Restorative Justice (CRJ), community relations workers in the New Lodge, Cliftonville and Ardoyne as well as Sinn Féin have put their support for the new voluntary guidelines for taxi drivers.
It’s believed young people put together money to send one or two teenagers to buy the industrial strength solvents. And community workers have warned the scourge of solvent abuse is the most widespread and dangerous form of drug abuse in the north of the city. In a letter to local taxi firms, CRJ said taxis were being “abused for the purpose of buying solvents and drugs”.
“We fully understand that this activity is in no way facilitated deliberately by any depot or driver,” said spokesman Brendan Clarke.
He said young people were requesting return fares to buy solvents.
“We request that if young people are requesting a return fare to anywhere that arouses suspicion that the depot or driver enquire of them the purpose of their journey. Of course they have to remain conscious of their rights to freedom of movement and privacy. But young people are travelling to buy glue and solvents from large building suppliers. This issue has been highlighted by concerned drivers and depot managers already and we merely ask that all taxi depots continue their vigilance,” said Brendan Clarke.

Journalist:: Staff Reporter

BreakingNews.ie

Foster Network urgently seeks families

09/05/2005 - 12:41:50

Northern Ireland urgently needs another 350 foster families, it was revealed today.

The Fostering Network NI is beginning a two week campaign to try to attract more people to begin fostering children.

It said there was considerable ignorance about fostering in the North. One in four people wrongly believed they had to be married to foster and half of 25-34 year-olds mistakenly thought foster carers didn’t get paid for what they do.

A study by the Fostering Network also showed that children were being moved a long way from their families and friends because of the shortage of carers.

Irelandclick.com

Masked men at Strand parade

Residents of the Short Strand have criticised the PSNI over a UVF parade on Friday night that saw around 30 men with hooded faces following the bands.

But despite concealing identity being an offence, the PSNI did nothing to stop the loyalists accompanying the East Belfast UVF band.

A protest was held by residents of the Short Strand who have also protested to the Parades Commission.

One caller to the Andersonstown News yesterday said the actions of those accompanying the march was “intimidating” whilst the police “did nothing”.

“This band had around 30 men with hoods and scarves at the junction of Short Strand. Almost every band was carrying UVF flags. We complained about the men with the East Belfast UVF band to the police and those in charge went over to them and spoke to two of the men. Then they came back and told us they were going to move a wee bit. We couldn’t believe it.

“They then moved down near Sirocco works. Another band came down
with another 30 men who walked round the back of the garage around to the Sydenham bypass. Then there was one man in his sixties who broke away and wanted to go up the Newtownards Road. The PSNI approached Short Strand interface workers and asked them to guarantee his safety. We couldn’t believe it. He had broken through the cordon and community workers from Short Strand had to accompany him. It was a recipe for disaster. This was all with two top PSNI officers in East Belfast, four authorised officers of the Parades Commission and an observer from the British/Irish Secretariat.”

Paddy Murray of Kevin Winters Solicitors, who is representing the residents, witnessed the incident and said it was “a cynical attempt to intimidate Short Strand residents.”

“There were in all around 70 mainly young men who were not part of the march. They were marshalled to walk up to the protesters to face them masked. They obviously had been marshalled and ordered to stand there. Once the parade passed they disappeared. They didn’t proceed with the bands onward to the city centre, so it was a deliberate attempt to intimidate,” he said.

Paddy Murray said he would be writing to the Police Ombudsman in relation to the incident.

A spokeswoman for the PSNI said no arrests had been made and added that the men were supporters.

“The parade in East Belfast on Friday was policed in accordance with the normal procedure. No Parades Commission determination was made. The men in question were supporters of the band and moved on voluntarily after consultation. A confrontation was averted.”

Journalist:: Andrea McKernon

Irelandclick.com

Another first for Falls Leisure Centre

The Falls Leisure Centre can proudly boast to be the first gym in the North of Ireland offering a fitness suite specifically for children.

Still in its infancy the junior gym project will not officially be launched until this September, when it will be opened to children from the general public. However plans are afoot to involve primary schools in the coming weeks before building the service up over the summer months, until it is operating at full strength.

The specialist equipment was last week set up in a basement room, and leisure centre staff are currently in the process of being trained in the use of the sophisticated equipment. The junior gym’s equipment is between 75-80 per cent of normal size equipment, and the weights involved are much lighter.
Pat Rice, Manager of Falls Road Leisure Centre, was delighted with the arrival of the equipment, and is looking forward to the full launch in early autumn.

“We are offering an Activ8 programme which was developed specifically for this equipment. This will include a full body workout lasting about 50 minutes which will involve using the static bicycles to work the heart and lungs, and other equipment like the bench press which work the major muscle groups.”

Pat invited a staff trainer, Robert Kielty, a lecturer in Sports Science from the University of Strathclyde, over to Belfast to train the Falls Road staff. Robert took a few minutes from the session to explain a little about the benefits for children.

“These are specifically designed pieces of equipment which are more user-friendly for bones and joints and can offer an introduction to muscle resistance and strength. We focus on cross training work which work muscles and heart with a combination of different types of exercises, which we find are an effective way of training.

“The initial idea comes from the US, which they brought in to tackle the ongoing concerns of obesity in children. Local authorities from all over the UK have taken the idea to tackle both obesity and general inactivity which is increasingly prevalent.”

According to Robert, the benefits of the programme are not just limited to physical health. “The longer term aim is to encourage a healthier lifestyle with people becoming more comfortable with their bodies and to gain the associated mental health benefits, such as self esteem, confidence and body image.

“It is all happening in a fun environment with music and it is instructor led, who can help the kids with their own personal goals.”

Journalist:: Staff Reporter

Belfast Telegraph

Puzzled voters spoil 6,000 ballots

By Chris Thornton
09 May 2005

Confusion surrounding the Westminster and council election systems helped spoil as many as 6,000 votes last week.

723,530 people voted in the General Election on Thursday, but the tally of votes applied to candidates was 717,502.

More than 7,000 votes were spoiled in 2001, when the General Election and the council vote were on the same day. About 3,000 were spoiled in 1997, when just one election was held.

The spoiled votes in 2001 could have affected several seats. The winning margin in at least two constituencies was lower than the number of rejected ballots.

In 2001, most spoiled votes were caused by people incorrectly marking their ballots because they were confused about the systems.

In council elections, candidates are listed in order of preference. But the Westminster election requires voters to select only one candidate.

Belfast Telegraph

Lollipop man says thanks to Tele readers

By Claire Regan
09 May 2005

A lollipop man whose job was under threat from plans to axe dozens of school crossing patrol services last night thanked Belfast Telegraph readers for taking successful action on the issue.

Sinclair Goudie (78) said he was delighted that the Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB) had thrown out plans to reduce dozens of lollipop patrols outside schools across the city.

The north Belfast man said the "great decision would undoubtedly save lives". He also paid tribute to 3,578 readers who signed up to the Belfast Telegraph's Save Our Lollipop Service campaign which has been heralded as a deciding factor in the board's ruling.

"The members of the board might not have realised how important this decision is," said the Mount Vernon man.

"But I'm the one who stands on patrol every day and I know better than most the dangers if the service was reduced.

"Some drivers just don't stop even though they see you. It would have been a matter of hours before someone was hurt, not days or weeks."

Mr Goudie, who feared he would lose his job, spoke of his relief.

"This job means everything to me. I've been on tenterhooks since I heard of the plans and I'd be completely devastated if I lost my job. I don't do it for the money - it's what gets me out of the house and gives me something to do with the day.

"I'd really like to thank all the readers who supported the campaign. The response has been amazing."

Readers' signatures flooded in to the initiative which was launched over a fortnight ago in response to public disquiet on plans to cut 54 lunchtime patrols along with 14 at post-primary schools and 38 on roads where there is also a pelican crossing or traffic lights.

Members held a crunch meeting on Friday when we handed over the last batch of signatures. They later voted narrowly to reject plans which were drawn up by the board's general purposes and finance committee in a bid to save almost £300,000.

BELB vice chairman Jim Rodgers, who voted to reject the money-saving cuts, said he was sure the cuts would have been endorsed had it not been for our campaign.

The plans were drawn up by the board's general purposes and finance committee in a bid to save money as part of a package of cuts of almost £7m reluctantly passed by BELB to cope with a budget shortfall imposed by the Department of Education.

The total stripped from services across the five education boards hit £30m.

Scotsman.com

Europe falls silent as world observes VE Day

ANGUS HOWARTH
9 May 2005

THEY were fewer in number than in previous years but the spirit of the dwindling band of brothers was undiminished.

As the mournful sound of the Last Post drifted over Europe’s war memorials, they lowered their tear-moistened granite faces to remember those who never made it home.

Their polished medals and regimental badges gleaming proudly in the sunshine, thousands of Second World War veterans across Europe marked the 60th anniversary of VE Day yesterday.

In London, the stirring commemoration was led by the Prince of Wales, along with a host of government and military VIPs, including the new Defence Secretary, John Reid.

Dressed in formal naval uniform, Prince Charles began the wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

He was followed by Dr Reid, General Sir Michael Walker, the Chief of the Defence staff, representatives of veterans’ organisations and personnel from the emergency services.

On her first major state occasion since their marriage, the Duchess of Cornwall looked on from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Following the Last Post and Reveille, the crowds clustered at Whitehall fell silent for two minutes in tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the struggle against Hitler.

Around 2,300 servicemen later marched to the rousing strains of military bands through Hyde Park, saluting the Prince of Wales and his wife, at the annual parade of the Combined Cavalry Old Comrades’ Association.

There were servicemen from ten regular regiments, five Yeomanry regiments, Indian Cavalry as well as representatives of 81 Commonwealth Cavalry regiments from Australia, Canada, Fiji, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa.

The Prince also chatted to the young recruits - hours before his own son, Prince Harry, began officer training at the Sandhurst military academy.

The commemoration was part of a series of events yesterday from Paris to Berlin to Moscow marking Victory in Europe on 8 May, 1945 .

The United States president, George Bush, flew into the Netherlands where he paid homage to the "terrible price" paid by soldiers in the Second World War. Mr Bush laid wreaths with Queen Beatrix at the US Margraten cemetery near Maastricht, where 8,000 US servicemen are buried.

Members of the White House delegation, wearing orange raincoats, were among the 10,000 people who braved the cold to pay their respects.

Military planes streaked over the graveyard in a "missing man" formation, where one plane breaks from the group to signify a fallen comrade.

Mr Bush said: "We commemorate a great victory for liberty. And the thousands of white marble crosses and Stars of David underscore the terrible price we paid for that victory.

"Americans and Europeans are continuing to work together and are bringing freedom and hope to places where it has long been denied. In Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Lebanon and across the broader Middle East."

The Dutch prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, paid tribute to the fallen US soldiers, saying "they gave us the most precious gift - freedom".

First Lady Laura Bush laid flowers at the grave of a Medal of Honour recipient from the 104th Division, in which her late father served in the war.

Mr Bush later left for Moscow, where he and other heads of state will attend Russia’s victory celebrations today.

But he risked damaging relations with the Kremlin after he said the Soviet domination of eastern Europe was one of "the greatest wrongs of history", ahead of talks with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

In France, President Jacques Chirac laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, watched by troops from the many nations that united to crush Hitler’s reign.

They included Britain, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and the US.

Jets flew over the tree-lined Champs Elysées in the French capital, streaking the sky with red, white and blue smoke - the colours of the French flag.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero travelled to Austria to mark the liberation of the former Mauthausen Nazi death camp, where some 100,000 inmates were killed. About 6,000 of the camp’s victims were Spaniards, enemies of the fascist Spanish leader General Francisco Franco. Mr Zapatero said: "As prime minister of the government of a democratic Spain, I want to pay homage, remember and express my admiration for all Spaniards who suffered in this concentration camp."

In Berlin, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the German president, Horst Köhler, laid wreaths at a memorial to victims of Nazism and war.

But the German capital’s VE Day commemorations were nearly overshadowed when neo-Nazis from the National Democratic Party tried to gate-crash the event.

Some 3,000 members of the far-right group, who labelled the event a "day of shame", eventually called off a march to the Brandenburg Gate.

Away from the celebrations, Berlin’s ambassador to London criticised Britain’s "obsession with the Nazi period".

Thomas Matussek said the two countries were "slowly drifting apart" because there was so little interaction between British and German schoolchildren.

Mr Matussek told a Sunday newspaper: "Now, I have found this great interest in and obsession with the Nazi period is still there, but there are few people who actually know Germany."

He added: "We have to make a distinction between the clichéd stereotypes that are outright funny - like in Dad’s Army or Fawlty Towers - and something that goes a little deeper. The humour stops when I hear that German children are regularly beaten up and abused by British youngsters."

In London last night around 15,000 people gathered in Trafalgar Square for a free concert which was organised by the Royal British Legion, the BBC and the London mayor, Ken Livingstone.

A Battle of Britain Dakota DC3 based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, flew at 1,500 feet over Big Ben, Whitehall and Trafalgar Square to begin the performance. The concert, called A Party to Remember, was headlined by Will Young and Katie Melua and featured an appearance from "forces’ sweetheart" Dame Vera Lynn.

Footage was screened of the original Trafalgar Square VE Day celebrations from 1945 during the concert, which was beamed live to giant screens in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, and Hull.

In Manchester, an afternoon of 1940s games was held along with tours of city areas destroyed during the Blitz while in Liverpool, the Albert Dock was decorated in 1940s style and hundreds gathered for a Lottery-funded street party.

More than 40 million people lost their lives by the time Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had finally surrendered at the end of the war.

Around 265,000 British servicemen and women were killed, and tens of thousands of civilians died in the Blitz.

RTE News

Counting underway in North local elections

09 May 2005 10:30

Counting in the North's council elections is underway this morning.

The count will continue today and tomorrow under the PR system.

The DUP is anticipating further electoral gains at the expense of the Ulster Unionist Party.

The UUP had held over 200 of the 600 council seats prior to last Thursday's vote but party insiders are already acknowledging it will suffer losses across the 26 councils including Belfast.

Sinn Féin is also expected to win seats at the expense of the SDLP.

RTE News

McCartney sisters at European Parliament

09 May 2005 07:14



The sisters of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney will visit the European Parliament today.

The women will hear MEPs debate whether or not to contribute towards the costs of their legal campaign to bring Mr McCartney's killers to justice.

If the measure is approved, the sisters will be given funds to help them take a civil action against the killers.

They insist that members of the IRA were involved in their brother's murder outside a Belfast bar in January.

BBC

'IRA influence' in Farc attacks

By Jeremy McDermott
BBC News, Medellin



Recent attacks by Colombia's Marxist rebels display the training of IRA members captured in the country in August 2001, an army chief has said.

Gen Carlos Ospina said there was no doubt Revolutionary Armed Forces (Farc) rebels were using IRA techniques in a counter-offensive launched in February.

The three Irishmen were convicted of helping train Farc rebels in explosives and terrorist techniques.

They are now on the run and thought to have skipped the country.

The armed forces chief said the Farc guerrillas were employing new technology in the home-made mortars they had recently used to bomb towns in the south-western province of Cauca.

Security forces had seized rebel grenades that were copies of those manufactured by the Provisional IRA, Gen Ospina added.

The guerrilla actions have caught the military by surprise.

The three Irishmen caught the Colombian police similarly by surprise when they disappeared after their convictions.

James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley vanished while on bail in December awaiting the outcome of an appeal against their 17-year sentences.

Their whereabouts remain unknown and an international arrest warrant has been issued for them.

JOE McDONNELL




Click on thumbnail to view CRAZYFENIAN's photo of the Joe McDonnell mural.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IRISH HUNGER STRIKE 1981 MEMORIAL WEBSITE

**Please visit this excellent site to read Joe's biography, originally published in IRIS November 1981. This site is a personal tribute by the webmaster, well done with lots of information and photos and very moving.

Joe McDonnell



Began Hunger Strike 9 May 1981 - Died July 8th, 1981

'A deep-thinking republican with a great sense of humour

THE FOURTH IRA Volunteer to join the hunger-strike for political status was Joe McDonnell, a thirty-year-old married man with two children, from the Lenadoon housing estate in West Belfast.

A well-known and very popular man in the Greater Andersonstown area he grew up, married and fought for the republican cause in, Joe had a reputation as a quiet and deep-thinking individual, with a gentle, happy go-lucky personality, who had, nevertheless, a great sense of humour, was always laughing and playing practical jokes, and who, although withdrawn at times, had the ability to make friends easily.

As an active republican before his capture in October 1976, Joe was regarded by his comrades as a cool and efficient Volunteer who did what he had to do and never talked about it afterwards.'

>>>READ ON


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CELTIC LYRICS

Joe McDonnell

by Brian Warfield

Oh my name is Joe McDonnell
From Belfast town I came
That city I will never see again
For in the town of Belfast
I spent many happy days
And I loved that town in oh so many ways
For it's there I spent my childhood
And found for me a wife
I then set out to make for her a life
Oh but all my young ambition
Met with bitterness and hate
I soon found myself inside a prison gate

And you dare to call me a terrorist
While you look down your gun
When I think of all the deeds that you have done -
You have plundered many nations
Divided many lands
You have terrorized their people
You ruled with an iron hand
And you brought this reign of terror to my land

Through the many months internment
In the Maidstone and the Maze
I thought about my land throughout those days
Why my country was divided
Why I was now in jail
Imprisoned without crime or without trial
And though I love my country
I am not a bitter man
I've seen cruelty and injustice at first hand
And so one faithful morning
I shook bold freedom's hand
For right or wrong I tried to free my land

Then one cold October's morning
I was trapped in the lion's den
And I found myself in prison once again
I was committed to the H-Blocks
For fourteen years or more
On the "blanket" the conditions they were poor
Then a hunger strike we did commence
For the dignity of man
But it seemed to me that no one gave a damn
Oh but now I am a saddened man
I've watched my comrades die
If only people cared or wondered why

Oh may God shine on you, Bobby Sands
For the courage you have shown
May your glory and your fame be widely known
And Francis Hughes and Ray McCreesh
Who died unselfishly
And Patsy O'Hara, and the next in line is me
And those who lie behind me
May your courage be the same
And I pray to god my life was not in vain

And though sad and bitter was the year of 1981
All was not lost, but it's still there to be won

© Brian Warfield

BreakingNews.ie

Disability group threatens to cease contact with Government

08/05/2005 - 18:31:44

The group advising the Government on new disability laws is threatening to break off links unless its point of view is heard.

The Disability Legislation Consultation Group (DLCG) said it received a flat 'No' to its recommendations from Junior Minister Frank Fahy, when they met him on Friday.

The group accused the Government of being intransigent, and said the bill - that's currently going through the Dáil - is totally flawed and inadequate.

Group member Seamus Greene said they are considering mounting a nationwide protest.

Mr Greene said the DLCG feels it has wasted three years, as the new legislation ignores the majority of advice the group has compiled for the Government.

Sunday Life

For two members of one loyal district, was it a case of... A sash too far?

By Joe Oliver
08 May 2005

TWO senior members of the Orange Order in Belfast have been summoned by a court for "playing inappropriate music" on the Twelfth - THE SASH!

The charges have been brought against Raymond Spiers, district master of Ballymacarrett No 6 District, in east Belfast, and it's secretary, Harry Whiteside.

Last night the order vowed to "vigorously contest" the case.

And, Tom Hare, deputy County Grand Master for Belfast, told Sunday Life: "There is a great deal of anger about this.

"We believe this action to be vindictive, and unfair, against two people, whose names may simply have appeared on the notification of a public procession."

Both men have further been charged with allowing a parade to make an "undue stoppage" in Middlepath Street, and also failing to obey the instructions of a police officer.

The charges were brought under the Northern Ireland Processions Bill (1998), and allege breaches of a Parades Commission determination.

They relate to the return of the Ballymacarrett district from the 'Field' to east Belfast, last July 12.

The Twelfth processions had passed off peacefully - until violence flared at Ardoyne, in the north of the city, as Orangemen made their way back from the main demonstration.

A spokesman for the order said: "A lot of feeder parades were delayed out of concern for their brethren's safe passage at Ardoyne.

"But, there was absolutely no trouble in east Belfast - yet it has been decided to pursue this prosecution."

He added: "We believe it to be pernicious and will vigorously contest these charges in court.

"We would take great issue to the allegation that The Sash is inappropriate or sectarian.

"It is listed among the archives of folk tunes in the national museum, in Dublin."

The case has been listed for hearing, next month.

And, it could have consequences for many parades during the forthcoming marching season.

slnews@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Sunday Life

Ex-army sniper's 'suicide probe'
Marksman on IRA hit-list 'holding photo of a Provo' when he shot himself dead

By John McGurk
08 May 2005

THE apparent suicide last month of the Army's top sniper in Ulster during the Seventies has taken a sensational turn - after photos of an IRA man were allegedly found beside his body.

Scotland Yard confirmed to Sunday Life that a number of photos were recovered from the vehicle in which ex-marksman Mike Norman was found dead last month.

But a spokeswoman refused to confirm that the pictures were of a Provo Mr Norman had killed during his undercover days in Ulster.

The body of the 62-year-old was discovered at the wheel of a hired BMW - on the same west London road as the local police station - on April 17.

In an apparent suicide, he had sustained a gunshot wound to the stomach from a 9mm pistol, which was found beside the body.

However, cops confirmed they are investigating the death of Mr Norman - an anonymous witness at the Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday - as potentially suspicious.

Detective Inspector Stephen Leonard, of Hounslow police, is leading inquiries.

But Scotland Yard said the death had also been referred to an officer of commanding rank, because of Mr Norman's past.

It is known that a police log on his death makes reference to "underlying sensitive Government issues".

It is believed the possibility of foul play in Mr Norman's death - involving vengeance-seeking republicans - is one line of inquiry.

Army sources said Norman had claimed six 'kills' of IRA members during his time in Ulster.

Ex-wife, Fiona McNab, said that he had been cleared by an Army board of inquiry, after being accused of murdering a civilian - who he believed to be an IRA operative - at a roadblock.

Former Sandhurst Military Academy trainee Richard Fullerton said: "Michael Norman told a group of cadets - and I was one of them - that he believed he was on an IRA hit-list, because it was known that he was an Army sniper."

The Scotland Yard spokeswoman told Sunday Life: "Photos were recovered from the vehicle, but we are not prepared to discuss anything further than that.

"However, they bear no relation to Bloody Sunday."

jmcgurk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Sunday Life

Orde cops it over firearms training

By Alan Murray
08 May 2005

THE Police Ombudsman has recommended that Chief Constable Hugh Orde should review the force's firearms training, after clearing of wrong-doing an officer who fired a shot at a motorist in Newry, two years ago.

The constable - identified only as 'Officer A' - told Nuala O'Loan's investigators that he fired the shot because he thought the driver was about to run over a colleague, who had been knocked to the ground during the early-morning incident.

The officer said that he raised his weapon and pointed it at the driver of the Toyota car and shouted "stop" twice, before firing one shot.

The bullet lodged in a door pillar, but there was no evidence the driver of the vehicle had sustained any injury, a forensic examination concluded.

Months after the incident - in 2003 - the driver surrendered to police and was subsequently jailed, after admitting a number of offences.

Mrs O'Loan ruled that the officer had acted properly in firing his weapon.

But she expressed concern that neither Officer A, nor his colleague, had attended refresher firearms training as required.

The Ombudsman said that the firing of the shot was justified because of the "potentially life-threatening situation" the officers faced.

However, she said she was concerned that the police hadn't acted to implement a programme for refresher firearms training courses - in spite of the matter being raised by her on previous occasions.

Mrs O'Loan has now recommended that Mr Orde should undertake an audit of firearms training for the force.

Sunday Life

** fuckwit update

'Bolton Wanderers' hit hard time

By Stephen Breen
08 May 2005

EXILED members of Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair's old gang have fallen out in a row over cash, it has emerged.

Senior security sources told Sunday Life that 'Sham' Millar and Donald Hodgen clashed last week, over a car-wash business in Bolton.

It is understood trouble between the pair flared after Millar, who was accused of attacking old-pal Adair last month, refused to allow Hodgen to run one of his businesses.

Hodgen, who fled the province after the killing of UDA boss John 'Grug' Gregg, has been working in a scrapyard during his time in Bolton.

But sources claim that the Shankill man is furious that Millar has been raking in the cash from his car-wash businesses.

It is understood Hodgen approached Millar for a role in the business, but he was knocked back.

It is believed Millar invited another member of Adair's old gang, who is the chief suspect in Gregg's murder, to run one car-wash.

There are now fears that violence could erupt between the pair's rival gangs.

Ever since the Shankill loyalists fled Ulster, they have been involved in a serious of bitter rows over cash.

Most of the exiles have also refused to have any contact with Adair and they now appear to be going their separate ways.

Said a senior security source: "They were very close in the Shankill and when they first arrived in Bolton, but things change.

"It will be interesting to see what happens between the 'Bolton Wanderers' over the coming weeks, because all they seem to be doing at the minute is argue and fight."

Meanwhile, the partner of one of exiles has been jailed for planting a hoax bomb outside her home.

Mum-of-four, Catherine Kidd (39) was sent to prison for nine months at Bolton Court last week, after pleading guilty to placing the hoax device outside her Halliwell home and wasting police time.

She had hoped the hoax device would convince Bolton police that yobs were targeting her family, and she deserved to be re-homed by the local council.

Sunday Life

MEP Allister to name 'McCartney Six' in EU Parliament tomorrow

By Alan Murray
08 May 2005

SIX IRA and Sinn Fein members - identified by police as being present when Robert McCartney was bludgeoned to death outside a Belfast pub - may be named in the European Parliament tomorrow.

DUP MEP Jim Allister confirmed last night that he has been allocated two minutes to speak on a resolution concerning the 33-year-old Belfastman's murder in January, and the parliament's possible funding of a civil legal action against his killers.

The names of the six men - four of whom have known IRA links - have become widely known within republican and police circles.

It is reliably understood that Mr Allister is aware of their identities and the individual roles they allegedly played in the murder.

Three of the six are also believed to be members of Sinn Fein, with one, until recently, holding a prominent position within the party.

Three of the IRA men have been expelled from the terrorist organisation, according to republican sources, but it is not clear if a fourth man, who has a conviction for a terrorist offence, remains a 'volunteer' or is now only a member of Sinn Fein.

Mr Allister received messages through "channels" last week, cautioning him about naming the men.

It has been suggested that naming them publicly could damage the prospects of a criminal legal action.

But DUP sources close to Jim Allister say that, as a lawyer, he is well-aware of the potential legal implications, but would expect that a case brought against six defendants - four of whom at least were known to be members of the IRA - would be unlikely to be heard by a jury.

Mr Allister said yesterday: "On Monday evening, it is my intention to explore the circumstances of the murder of Robert McCartney, which may involve references to persons connected with both Sinn Fein and the IRA."

Sunday Life

Help!... the IRA
Beatle Lennon offered to play gigs in Ireland for the cause

08 May 2005



IRA sympathising ex-Beatle John Lennon met with a senior Belfast Provo at the height of the Troubles, a new book reveals.

And the pop star promised he would do concerts in Dublin and Belfast. The revelation is contained in No Surrender, a new biography of Ulster soft rock star Van Morrison.

Ex-IRA prisoner Gerry O'Hare tells author Johnny Rogan how he met Lennon in New York after the former Beatle had carried a pro-IRA placard at a rally in London. His claims tie in with reports that British Intelligence kept tabs on Lennon.

"Lennon was taken very seriously," recalled O'Hare, a former Belfast councillor.

"Paul McCartney had also written (about Ireland). These were two powerful people to have on your side.

"We were up to speed with Lennon because he was very interested (in the IRA).

"I met him through a contact whose name I do not wish to divulge," added O'Hare, whose ex-wife Rita remains a senior republican figure.

"Lennon gave me the impression that he was genuine. He said he'd like to do the concert in Dublin, but he insisted on doing one in Belfast, too.

"I got the impression he wanted to do an additional show for the Protestant community."

But they never happened because Lennon was afraid US immigration would refuse to let him back into America if he left the country.

Lennon, who was murdered by deranged fan Mark Chapman in 1980, tried to reconcile his pacifist Give Peace A Chance views with support for the IRA by saying: "If it's a choice between the IRA and the British Army, I'm with the IRA. If it's a choice between violence and non-violence, I'm with non-violence. So it's a very delicate line."

Belfast Telegraph

Drums sound as Paisley greets the Trimble victor

By Michael McHugh
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
07 May 2005


representational lambeg drum in action at Rossnowlagh

THE deafening beat of the Lambeg drums greeted DUP leader Ian Paisley as he arrived in Banbridge yesterday to congratulate the man who has toppled David Trimble from his 14-year reign as MP for Upper Bann.

There were jubilant scenes among the crowds of Union Jack-waving supporters who jeered Mr Trimble and hailed David Simpson at a watershed moment for unionism.

Mr Simpson (46), a self-made millionaire and director of a meat processing firm, won by a resounding 5,300 majority and consigned Mr Trimble's tenure as MP to history.

The result was a significant improvement on Mr Simpson's 2001 Westminster challenge, which failed by around 2,000 votes.

DUP luminaries Peter Robinson, Nigel Dodds and Jeffrey Donaldson also arrived at Banbridge's leisure centre to a cacophony of noise to herald the new MP.

Giving his acceptance speech at 7.20pm yesterday Mr Simpson said he was humbled by the vote of confidence and pledged to serve the electorate faithfully.

"I stand here today very humble in fact that the people of Upper Bann have allowed me to represent them for the next 4-5 years and I believe it sends out a very clear signal that push-over unionism has gone forever and I believe that what the people want in this constituency is to be consistently represented on bread and butter issues."

The outgoing mayor said that over the last four years as a Craigavon Borough councillor he had proved his record of representing people.

The crowd cheered when the DUP businessman arrived at the counting centre.

When the Rev Ian Paisley, flanked by his son Ian Jnr and wife Eileen appeared, crowds thronged around him and whistles greeted their entrance.

"David Trimble and his policies are sunk. There never was a peace process. We need to get it out of the road and then start again on a democratic basis," Dr Paisley said.

"The Assembly is not democratic as it puts into office by law those who are law breakers."

Dr Paisley said that a leopard could not change its spots and added that he had "seen the spots".

Mr Trimble looked as if he was struggling to retain composure when giving his speech.

"Northern Ireland is now a much better place. I am proud of our record.

"Today has been considerably successful for the DUP and that can't be gainsaid," he said.

"They will know that with that success comes responsibility. They have inherited from unionism a very strong position for unionists and I hope that they manage to safeguard that position over the months to come."

Mr Simpson's final tally was 16,679 votes to Mr Trimble's 11,381. Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd won the nationalist race with 9,305 votes over 5,747 for the SDLP's Dolores Kelly.

Mr Trimble became UUP in September 1995 after coming to prominence during the banned Drumcree march of that year when he walked alongside Dr Paisley.

A key Trimble ally, Lord Maginnis, expressed sadness at the result in Upper Bann and elsewhere.

"I am mesmerised by a community that cannot remember the situation over the last 30 years and that is willing to risk plumping for extreme politics," the former UUP MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone said.

"This is not a community staying where it is or moving forward, this is a community saying we are prepared to surrender where we are and we want to re-negotiate."

BBC

Crowd attacks junior soccer team

A junior soccer team have decided to pull out of their football league after what police said was a sectarian attack on their minibus in County Antrim.

Members of the team from Carnlough were leaving after a match with Ballykeel, in Ballymena, on Saturday when their minibus was stoned by up to 30 people.

A window on the bus was broken and four of the boys were treated for cuts and bruises.

Martin McKinley, who was driving the bus, said the children were shocked.

"They were screaming, 'Drive off, drive off, quickly!' and I couldn't get on to the main road because there were cars coming.

"I am sure a lot of passing cars saw what happened. I saw by their faces they were shocked too. But, thankfully, nobody was seriously hurt."

He said the club had decided to pull out of the league because of the attack.

Ballymena district police commander, Superintendent Terry Shevlin, said that it was not the first time such incidents have occurred.

"It would appear that the aggressors were a group of some 30 loyalists who surrounded an under-16 team from Carnlough as they were about to leave the venue at Ballykeel in their minibus," he said.

Appeal

"I utterly condemn and deplore this type of sectarian aggression, which seems to be focussing on junior soccer where teams are being targeted by the perceived religious affiliation of their young players."

Mr Shevlin said on 11 April, republican youths attacked what they perceived to be a Protestant team who were playing a match in the Dunfane area of the town.

"This is a most disturbing trend and if it is not stamped out it will have serious consequences for the future of the sport in the area and for overall community relations," he said.

"I would appeal for those with influence in the communities in Ballymena to exercise a positive influence and to provide any information about this incident to local police."

The committee of Ballykeel football club said they would be holding a meeting on Monday to discuss what had happened.