SAOIRSE32

Belfast Telegraph
Friday 16, May 2008

For better or for worse, Gerry Adams has positioned himself strangely within the Assembly. As party leader, he would normally be expected to take the position of Deputy First Minister. He must have reasons for not doing so, and what might they be?

Some people see an analogy with the way in which Eamon de Valera removed himself from the political negotiations that produced partition.

De Valera secured a kind of moral detachment for himself, above the murk of political reality while his chief negotiator, the Martin McGuinness of his day, Michael Collins did the deal and took the consequences.

There is one simple reason why that does not fit the Adams McGuinness partnership; Gerry Adams has accepted the deal. He has not split with McGuinness yet he has not taken up the responsibility for governing Northern Ireland as he was entitled to as party leader.

And this leaves him looking strangely separated from the main political action. He does not sit at the Executive table.

He is not a member of any committee.

He may feel that he can float presidentially over the heads of the political workers, in order to retain the big picture.

Perhaps, but the danger for him surely is that the workers themselves might cease to feel that they need him.

The oddity of his position is concealed by the fact that another party leader, Mark Durkan, does the same, but he has not surrendered the prize that Adams has. Another theory is that Adams has simply made a mistake. There were to be two parts to the project; securing a deal in the North and taking a ministerial post in the Dail. Had that plan worked, we might have seen Gerry Adams as Tanaiste, sitting across the table from Deputy First Minister McGuinness at cross-border meetings.

Instead we have McGuinness inheriting his share and Adams looking like a wallflower.

But there is some merit for nationalism in what he has done.

By retaining a heavy hitter outside the Executive, Sinn Fein presents the party as numerically balanced with the DUP, whose party leader is on the Executive.

This cosmetically disguises the fact that Sinn Fein is the smaller party and that unionism has a majority in Stormont. It may not have been planned that way, but it works that way.

Gerry Adams rises to his feet from the front bench and looks like the leader of his side of the house, inflating the impression of an executive presence. Durcan does the same. But is it good for government and even for the Sinn Fein party that Adams stays outside the Executive?

He appoints the Sinn Fein ministers and only he can sack them, yet he does not supervise them at the Executive table.

Consider this feasible scenario.

Pressure builds within the Assembly for the resignation of a Sinn Fein minister, say — merely for purposes of illustration — the Education Minister, Caitriona Ruane.

The Deputy First Minister, the most senior Sinn Fein member of the Executive, approaches the party leader and asks him to remove the minister.

Suppose the party leader doesn’t want to remove the minister.

The separation of the roles of party leader and Deputy First Minister in Sinn Fein creates the potential for every crisis on the Executive to compromise the authority of the party leader or the Deputy First Minister.

And the party must be aware of that vulnerability, must ultimately want what every other government has got, the power for the removal and appointment of ministers to reside within the Executive.

How would Gordon Brown or Brian Cowan like it if senior party officials could veto their ministerial appointments? They would not accept it.

Theoretically, Gerry Adams can even remove Martin McGuinness. It is inconceviable that he would try.

And a further uneasy thought occurs to anyone reflecting on this problem.

Surely, Gerry Adams’s political career is entirely oppositional and subversive.

So can he be trusted outside the Executive to make decisions which are in the best interests of the Executive?

Look at some of the political antics he has got involved in since the Executive was established.

His campaign for truth was ridiculed as a campaign for half-truth, because he wanted to pressurise the British into disclosing their own sins and secrets while continuing to deny that he had ever been a member of the IRA. It was laughable.

The parade organised in Belfast in support of this campaign was flanked by men with berets and rifles, presumably replica rifles, though the police usually do not presume that rifles exposed in the street are replicas.

The campaign itself appears to have withered away, but looked too much from the start like the work of someone with time on his hands.

Gerry Adams has been the president of Sinn Fein for 23 years.

In all that time he has never been challenged from within the party. Only Popes and dictators usually last so long unchallenged.

And since he is now the last of those who negotiated the agreements who is still in place, speculation has begun about who might replace him.

And would the replacement stand outside the Executive, as another conspicuous waste of talent, or take a seat and put an end to presidential detachment and the risks accruing from it?

And would the new party leader not want to choose a new Executive rather than inherit one that had the stamp of Gerry Adams all over it? Adams may not be planning to go for some time; it appears likely, though, that when he does, others will go with him.

‘No bad thing’, is what many in the education sector would think of that.

And who would succeed him?

If the selection was made on merit, it would have to be Conor Murphy, though he’d look shaky if a future prosecution for the murder of Paul Quinn was to cast doubt on the fulsome assurances he gave us that the IRA had had nothing to do with it.

And west Belfast, long used to being at the centre of the republican universe, would surely feel the loss of that position.

All of which adds up to suggesting that, though Gerry Adams may not want to go yet, it will be a big news week in Northern Ireland when he does.

BBC
17 May 2008

A man and woman have been arrested in relation to the attempted murder of an off-duty policeman near Castlederg in County Tyrone.

They were arrested on Friday night and have been taken to Antrim police station for questioning.

Four men arrested at different locations in County Tyrone on Thursday morning, are still being held.

The officer sustained leg injuries after a booby-trap bomb exploded in his car in Spamount on Monday.

Dissident republicans have been blamed for the attack.

BBC

A disc containing personal and protectively marked material relating to the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry has been lost.

Rosemary Nelson died in a car bomb in March 1999

The inquiry said it was working with the PSNI and other agencies to ensure that any risk to individuals has been “assessed and minimised”.

Police launched an investigation, but it is believed the disc was not stolen.

The inquiry said it deeply regretted “this serious breach of secure data handling protocols”.

The compact disc went missing on 6 May.

In a statement, the inquiry said: “Given the nature of the information, it would not be appropriate to say more about the material involved.

“Immediate steps have been taken to avoid any recurrence and a comprehensive review of all aspects of data handling has been initiated.

“The inquiry is determined that the incident should not in any way compromise or impede its investigation into the circumstances of the death of Rosemary Nelson.”

Collusion allegations

Mrs Nelson, 40, died after a booby-trap bomb left by loyalists exploded under her car in March 1999.

Retired judge Sir Michael Morland is chairing a three-strong panel examining alleged security force collusion.

Under its remit, the inquiry must determine whether the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), Northern Ireland Office (NIO), Army or other state agency facilitated the murder, or blocked attempts to investigate it.

The collusion allegations arose because of Mrs Nelson’s role as the legal representative in a number of high profile cases, including that of the nationalist Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition in Portadown.

More than 100 witnesses, including the soldiers, are expected to give evidence to the three-strong panel chaired by Sir Michael.

The inquiry, which opened in 2005 to set out its terms of reference, has already gathered tens of thousands of documents.

Established by former secretary of state for Northern Ireland Paul Murphy in November 2004, the hearings could last for at least two years.

The inquiry panel is also comprised of Dame Valerie Strachan, former chairman of the board of Customs and Excise, and Sir Anthony Burden, former chief constable of South Wales Police.

Irish News [Newshound]
15/05/08

SECRETARY of State Shaun Woodward yesterday proscribed a dissident republican group suspected of involvement in this week’s car-bomb attack on a Catholic police officer.

Mr Woodward said he had decided to specify the dissident group calling itself Oglaigh na hEireann (Irish Republican Army).

The group, which is believed to be based in the Strabane area of Co Tyrone, was blamed for the murder of former dissident Andrew Burns in February.

Mr Burns’s body was found with gunshot wounds close to a church in Doneyloop in Co Donegal.

Police are also understood to be investigating whether the group played any role in a

car-bomb attack in which a police officer in the Co Tyrone village of Castlederg was seriously injured on Monday evening.

breakingnews.ie
14/05/2008

A Dublin man charged with possession of explosives and membership of the IRA was further remanded in custody at the Special Criminal Court today.

Noel Mooney (aged 29), Leo Fitzgerald House, Dublin 2, is charged with the unlawful possession of explosives, namely an improvised explosive device, at Sean Moore Park, Ringsend, Dublin 4, on May 8th last.

He is also charged with membership of an unlawful organisation, namely the IRA, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann on the same date.

The three-judge, non-jury court was told that Mr Mooney was not yet ready to apply for bail.

Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, presiding, remanded Mr Mooney in custody until the end of the month with liberty to apply for bail next week.

By Chris Thorton
Belfast Telegraph
Friday 16, May 2008

A senior solicitor told the Rosemary Nelson inquiry yesterday about battles with the RUC over intimidation of lawyers — including the time a client said detectives warned he would end up like murdered solicitor Pat Finucane.

Barra McGrory — the first solicitor in Northern Ireland to be made a QC — told the inquiry into Mrs Nelson’s murder that defence lawyers were subject to “deliberate and systematic intimidation” by RUC officers.

“We realised that the RUC’s behaviour indicated a deep and maligned mindset of hostility towards defence lawyers,” he said in his statement to the inquiry.

Mr McGrory, who also represents Rosemary Nelson’s widower Paul in the inquiry, went to the witness box yesterday afternoon to describe how solicitors began reporting allegations of intimidation by police officers in the years just prior to Mrs Nelson’s murder in 1999. Mrs Nelson had been particularly concerned about threats, he told the inquiry.

“In the conversations I had with her in the prison and on the phone, the subject came up every time. She was concerned that Pat Finucane’s murder wasn’t receiving enough attention,” he added.

Mr Finucane had been murdered by the UDA in 1989. Mrs Nelson was killed ten years later by a bomb that went off in her car as she drove away from her home in Lurgan.

Yesterday the inquiry saw statements from clients she had submitted to the Law Society, describing intimidation through clients. One client said in his statement that arresting officers told him that Mrs Nelson wouldn’t get him off this time because she would be dead soon. He made the statement a year before she was murdered.

Mr McGrory said several clients had told him of threats against him made by detectives interviewing them. On one occasion, he said he parked at a petrol station when he went to see a client in Castlereagh holding centre. He said that client was later told that if Mr McGrory parked there again, he could wind up like Pat Finucane.

Prior to mid-1990s, “we hadn’t made such a big issue of it,” he told the inquiry. “Perhaps in hindsight we should have done so”.

He said that many defence solicitors previously hadn’t given much thought to the situation because they were “case hardened and used to it”.

The QC said that it was only when the UN and other non-governmental organisations began asking about the intimidation that “we realised how badly we were treated and how dangerous this was”.

Mr McGrory said solicitors made few official complaints because “we had no faith in the complaints system”. He said that because there was no independent evidence it was a case of one person’s word against another’s and “police would always believe another policeman when they said there had been no threat”.

He said the intimidation stopped abruptly when sound recording of suspect interviews was introduced.

By Victoria O’Hara
Belfast Telegraph
Friday, May 16, 2008

Former Northern Ireland international Martin O’Neill last night led tributes to former Celtic legend Tommy Burns who died after losing his long-running battle with cancer.

Burns (51), who was first diagnosed with skin cancer in 2006 had been undergoing treatment in Glasgow and France in recent weeks but died at home.

During his career the ex-Celtic midfielder went on to manage the team, and also play for Scotland.

He played for Celtic from 1974 to 1989 and was the club’s first-team coach before being granted leave. He went on to become assistant manager of Scotland under Berti Vogts in 2002 and retained the position under Walter Smith.

However, Burns returned to Celtic for a third time when then manager Martin O’Neill placed him in charge of youth development. Mr O’Neill, said he was deeply sorry to hear the news: “I met him in June 2000 when I became the Celtic manager. He was a great help to me in those early weeks before I was joined by Steve Walford and then John Robertson, at Celtic Park.

“He was a brilliant footballer for the club and will be very badly missed.”

He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Rosemary, and four children.

By Barry McCaffrey
Irish News
**Via Newshound
15/05/08

Secretary of State Shaun Woodward’s decision to respecify the UVF ceasefire will not lead to the early re-lease of paramilitary prisoners, a Prison Service spokesman said last night.

Yesterday Mr Woodward ann-ounced that the British government had decided to recognise

the loyalist paramilitary group’s ceasefire nearly a year after the UVF announced that it was standing down and assuming “a non-military civilianised role”.

“In the light of this, and in acknowledgement of their commitment and additional factors, I have therefore concluded that there are sufficient grounds to

despecify the UVF/RHC,” he said.

PUP leader Dawn Purvis welcomed the decision.

“This is recognition of the work carried out and progress made since the statement of intent of May last year,” she said.

“This is further evidence of Northern Ireland’s strides to-wards normality.”

A Prison Service spokesman dismissed speculation that the announcement would lead to the early release of UVF prisoners.

“It is a matter for an individual prisoner who believes that he meets the criteria for early release to apply to the Sentence Review Commission,” he said.

“However, preliminary checks appear to indicate that there are currently no qualifying prisoners as a result of today’s despecification of the UVF/RHC.”

While acknowledging the ab-sence of UVF violence over the last 12 months, nationalist parties said loyalist decommissioning and an end to crime remained outstanding issues which had to be addressed.

“It should be recognised that the UVF has taken some steps to address some of the clear and well-documented concerns that exist,” SDLP assembly member Alban Maginness said.

“The UVF must only be judged against how they measure up to the task of ending all of their activities.

“This means that there must be complete and verifiable disposal of all weapons, the ending of all criminality and the dismantling

of the command structures and organisation.”

Sinn Fein assembly member Caral Ni Chuilin said that nationalists wanted to see a definite end to sectarian attacks and loyalist weapons being decommissioned.

“Regardless of what the British government chooses to say or do with the UVF, nationalists and republicans will want to see an end to loyalist involvement in sectarian attacks and drug dealing,” she said.

“The issue of loyalist weapons must be definitively dealt with.”

Alliance MLA Stephen Farry welcomed UVF progress but said de-commissioning had to take place.

“It must not be overlooked that the UVF have not decommissioned their weapons and have ruled out dealing with their weapons in an open and transparent manner through the offices of the decommissioning commission,” he said.

“It is not sufficient for the UVF to manage these weapons on their own terms. Their continued existence poses an ongoing danger and threat.”

Yesterday’s announcement was criticised by Raymond McCord whose son 22-year-old son, also Raymond, was beaten to death by a UVF gang in November 1997.

By Sarah Stack
Irish Examiner
16 May 2008

A SENIOR garda attempted to block a statement that claimed he had no concerns about terrorism in Northern Ireland, the Omagh civil action case heard yesterday.

An internal MI5 memo alleged that chief superintendent Dermot Jennings wanted to remove the report because it cast doubt on the credibility of an FBI informer who had infiltrated the Real IRA.

The document maintained if the garda disputed that he told David Rupert that he was “only being interested in illegal activity in the Republic of Ireland” it would make him an untrustworthy source.

Rupert’s evidence was paramount in the conviction of alleged RIRA leader Michael McKevitt in August 2003, who was jailed for 20 years for directing terrorism, unrelated to the Omagh bomb attack.

Chief supt Jennings, promoted to assistant commissioner in 2001, was not called to give evidence at McKevitt’s criminal trial, and has not been listed to appear before the landmark civil case.

Michael O’Higgins SC, for McKevitt, told Dublin District Court that Rupert and Mr Jennings had numerous meetings in 1997 and described one as an “abortion of a meeting in a bread van” during which Rupert asked for more money.

Mr O’Higgins then turned to the MI5 memo, which he said, in parts, read like something from a cheap James Bond novel.

Typed up in 2001 by a senior member of the British security services, it referred to an email sent by Rupert in 1998 that alleged that in 1997 chief supt Jennings expressed indifference to terrorism in the north, and was only apparently interested in illegal activity in the south. Superintendent Diarmuid O’Sullivan, of the special detective unit, told the court he would be shocked if the senior officer had no concerns as stated “considering he has spent most of his service endeavouring to prevent terrorism in Northern Ireland”.

For almost four hours on day 21 of the unprecedented case, Mr O’Sullivan was grilled over the credibility and trustworthiness of the FBI agent.

The €17.6 million civil action by six families is against five men they believe are responsible for the RIRA blast in August 199,8 which killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins. Although more than 50 gardaí were summonsed to give evidence in Dublin, just seven out of first 29 officers listed for this week have taken to the witness box.

By Barry McCaffrey
Irish News
**Via Newshound
15/05/08

As he prepares to publish the story of his fight to bring his son’s killers to justice, Raymond McCord tells Barry McCaffrey of his friendship with Bobby Sands and the lack of support from unionist politicians

Exposé: Raymond McCord snr with a copy of his book Justice for Raymond [PICTURE: Hugh Russell]

HE is in constant fear of being killed and lives behind bulletproof windows with CCTV cameras watching his home.

However, after 10 years of fighting to expose his son’s killers as Special Branch agents Raymond McCord insists that his journey for justice is not yet over.

The story of his solitary campaign to bring his son’s killers to justice will be published in a new book tomorrow.

Justice For Raymond exposes the extraordinary extent that RUC Special Branch went to protect Mark Haddock and Mount Vernon UVF members from prosecution despite involvement in more than a dozen murders, including 22-year-old Raymond McCord jnr.

The book also accuses unionist politicians of deliberately snubbing Mr McCord’s pleas for support in his campaign.

“I believe one of the reasons unionist politicians shunned me was because I wasn’t a member of a paramilitary organisation,” he says.

While Mr McCord’s father Hector had been a UDA member he insists that he was never interested in joining any paramilitary group and recalls his teenage friendship with Bobby Sands.

“From a very young age I had Catholic and Protestant friends so there was no way I was going to join the paramilitaries, even though that was what was expected of you,” he said.

“I respect people having their own political beliefs but I don’t believe anyone has the right to force their beliefs on you through the barrel of a gun.

“Myself and Bobby Sands grew up on the Rathcoole estate together.

“We went to discos together and were in the same football team.

“We had a great team spirit. There was no politics or sectarianism. We just talked and played football.

“There were guys on the team who went on to join the UVF, UDA and IRA while others like me took nothing to do with anyone but when we were kids we were all mates.

“The face staring out of republican murals is not the Sandsy I knew. He was a young man led by the Troubles and older men into the IRA.”

Mr McCord, a former shipyard worker, admits to having been a street fighter throughout his life

and to having “stepped outside the law’’ at times.

“I’ve never claimed to be an angel but I was no bully either and if someone hurt my family, then I’d hurt them back,” he said.

“That’s the way I was brought up and I make no apologies for it.”

Mr McCord’s refusal to bow down led to conflict with both the UDA and UVF.

In the 1990s the UDA twice tried to kill him after he beat up the organisation’s south east Antrim ‘brigadier’.

“I saw John Gregg bullying a guy in a bar so I knocked him out,” Mr McCord said.

“I hit him so many times that I broke both my hands.

“He went to the police and had me charged with ABH but when it came to court he refused to give evidence against me.”

Weeks later a UDA gang broke both of Mr McCord’s legs.

However his life changed forever on Sunday November 10 1997 when police arrived at his York Street home to break the news that his eldest son had been beaten to death.

“I just broke down and cried when they told me that Raymond had been murdered,” Mr McCord said.

“To this day I can’t remember what hymns were played at his funeral because I was just numb.”

In the years that followed the heartbroken father attempted to prove that his son’s killers were being protected by Special Branch.

“No-one wanted to know, especially unionist politicians. I was labelled a crank,” he said.

“Protestants didn’t want to believe that collusion took place against Protestants.”

The campaign to expose his son’s killers led to his family paying a heavy price with countless deaths threats and attacks on their homes. Raymond jnr’s grave was desecrated on three occasions.

However, Mr McCord gained an invaluable ally in 2003 when he approached the then police om-budsman Nuala O’Loan .

“She was my last chance,” he said.

“I had nowhere else to go but Nuala O’Loan believed in me and gradually her office was able to show that I’d been telling the truth all along.

“One of the most satisfying days of my life was being there on January 22 2007 to witness Nuala O’Loan exposing the fact that Special Branch had allowed Haddock and his gang to commit up to a dozen murders.

“It showed that 10 years of my life hadn’t been wasted and it showed that police had allowed innocent Catholics and Protestants to be killed in cold blood.”

Mr McCord said it is ironic that he received more support from nationalists than politicians from within the unionist community.

“Unionist politicians promised to raise Raymond’s murder in the House of Commons but never did,” he said.

“It’s ironic that it was Irish Labour leader Pat Rabbitte who named Haddock in the Dail in October 2005.

“Irish politicians were prepared to do something which unionists would never do.”

In January Mr McCord took another unusual step by addressing the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in his father’s Orange Order collerette.

“I wore my father’s collarette to show people in the south that not all Protestants and loyalists were bigots and that there were just as many republican bigots,” he said.

“Just as collusion wasn’t one sided, neither was bigotry.”

Mr McCord says that one of the proudest moments in his life came while canvassing during last year’s assembly elections.

“Certain unionist politicians told me I’d no mandate to speak for anyone, so I decided to stand in the assembly elections,” he said.

“I’ll never forget canvassing in the New Lodge and Ardoyne and people shaking my hand and telling me I was doing the right thing.

“I got 1,320 votes – that was 1,320 people saying I was right to fight for justice for Raymond.

“I don’t care whether the people who voted for me were Catholic or Protestant.

“I just want to thank them and to promise them the same thing I promised Raymond when he died.

“I’ll not rest until the men that killed my son are brought to justice.

“This isn’t over.”

BBC
15 May 2008

Low-paid civil servants - many Catholic and female - may receive £100m in back-pay under plans by Peter Robinson.

Mr Robinson said there should be equal pay for equal work

The finance minister said he was prepared to deal with historic inequality in pay, affecting 9,000.

He has told officials to look at the scope of the problem and engage with trade unions to resolve the issue.

He said there may be serious financial implications “but I am not prepared to follow the actions of people who preceded me and leave it unresolved”.

“There should be equal pay for equal work of equal value.”

The move will affect about 9,000 civil servants in the lowest grades, mostly in secretarial and administrative posts.

More than 60% of civil servants employed at the AA and AO grades are from a Catholic background.

Workers who have retired from the Civil Service in the past six years could be entitled to the back-pay, which could be up to £20,000.

The finance minister said the executive could either approach the Treasury or find the money from last year’s underspend in Northern Ireland.

“Direct rule ministers did not want to touch this issue because of the enormous amount of calculations and difficulties,” he said.

BBC

A memorial garden which glorified loyalist paramilitaries has been transformed into a new playpark and multi-sports area for children in a deprived area of Belfast.

The £90,000 project in Nubia Street, off the Donegall Road in the Village area of the city, has been built on the site of a UVF memorial garden.

Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie said it has “brought a renewed sense of community identity and pride”.

The park was opened just a day after the government said that it now recognised the UVF’s ceasefire.

Last May, the UVF said it was assuming “a non-military civilianised role”.

Ms Ritchie said the new park had “regenerated a rundown area into an attractive space for the local community”.

Children from local primary schools turned up for the grand opening where they were given a chance to roadtest the new equipment.

The project was developed over the last two years by the Greater Village Regeneration Trust and local people, in conjunction with Belfast City Council and the Department of Social Development.

Councillor Bob Stoker said it was an example of how communities were being encouraged to take ownership of and responsibility for their local parks.

Mr Stoker, who chairs the council’s parks and leisure committee, said he hoped the new facility would “act as a catalyst for more regeneration work within the neighbourhood”.

By Diana Rusk and Seamus McKinney
Irish News
**Via Newshound
14/05/08

ATTACK AFTERMATH: Forensics officers at the scene of Monday night’s car-bomb explosion at Spamount Crossroads near Castlederg in Co Tyrone [PICTURE: Margaret McLaughlin]

A YOUNG Catholic police officer seriously injured in a booby-trap car-bomb has said he is determined to return to work.

He was supposed to have been playing in a match with his Co Tyrone soccer team last night but was instead recovering from shrapnel wounds to his legs and lower body.

While he was seriously injured and underwent emergency surgery, it is thought he will be able to walk again following the explosion as he drove through Spamount village, near Castlederg on Monday night.

The officer told his superiors from his hospital bed that he still believed he had done the right thing by joining the police service three years ago.

It is understood he moved into a new home in the Castlederg area with his girlfriend a month before being targeted by the bombers.

Police yesterday cordoned off the house as part of their forensic examinations. While police blamed dissident republicans for the attack, no organisation had formally claimed responsibility last night.

However, sources said it was carried out by fringe group Oglaigh na hEireann. The officer – whose name police are not making public – had just left his home and was on his way to start night duty at Enniskillen police station in Co Fermanagh when the bomb, attached to his car, detonated.

The bomb went off on the Drumnaby Road in an area popular with walkers at around 9.30pm.

A group of people rushed to the officer’s aid and dragged him from his car, which later went up in flames.

Adam Lyons (30), who had been driving along the road, said he heard a bang and thought he had driven over a football before he turned the corner and saw the officer lying beside his vehicle.

“He had a lot of shrapnel in the back of his legs and in his rear end. I think the guy was in shock but apart from that he was in a lot of pain and was talking,” Mr Lyons said.

“He said he was driving along and the car seemed to have exploded.”

The officer had been based in Co Fermanagh since joining the force, first in the Lisnaskea area before moving to the area headquarters at Enniskillen.

Originally from Omagh, he has written on a social networking website that his two “great passions” are

Liverpool FC and the Tyrone county GAA team. A member of the officer’s soccer team last night said he was “absolutely stunned” to hear news of the attack.

Chief Inspector Alywin Barton, the young officer’s area commander, stayed with him in hospital until the early hours of yesterday.

“We sat with him until 1.30am and he was very positive,” he said.

“He was clearly shocked and has physical injuries but I have no doubt he believes he still has a contribution to make.

“I believe it is his intention to continue and his faith that he has done the right thing and that those who did this to him are wrong remains.

“This officer sought out a career to make the community a safer and more enjoyable place to be and all these people can do is try to visit mayhem on him.”

Mr Barton said that the officer had proved himself a “very capable, intelligent young man who has an enormous amount to contribute to society in Northern Ireland”.

The bomb attack was widely condemned. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who last night visited the injured policeman, described it as spiteful, selfish and futile.

“It was conducted by people who have no mandate. They certainly have no strategy whatsoever and clearly they represent no-one,” the Sinn Fein MP said.

“There is a duty, a responsibility on everyone within society and indeed anyone who has information about this particular attack, to give the information to the police as quickly as possible.”

First Minister Ian Paisley said it was an attack on democracy.

“There can be no turning back to the dark days of the past,” he said.

Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said fingers of blame pointing to dissident republicans were “pointing in entirely the right direction”.

“They are out of date, out of time, and they are lashing out at an easy target, an easy target which will give them some sort of publicity,” he said.

“It will not put my officers off delivering community policing and it will not deter every member of the community who is in their right mind from working with us to deliver a safer Northern Ireland.”

BBC

The inquest into the death of Denis Donaldson has been adjourned until February 2009.

Mr Donaldson’s body was found at an isolated cottage

The former Sinn Fein Stormont official and British agent was found dead at an isolated cottage he owned in Donegal more than two years ago.

The decision to adjourn the inquest was made following an application by a Garda superintendent.

He asked the coroner not to proceed due to the ongoing criminal investigation into his death.

Mr Donaldson was expelled from Sinn Fein in December 2005 after admitting he was a paid spy.

He then moved from his Belfast home to live as a recluse in a cottage without electricity or running water. No-one has ever been charged with his murder.

By Patrick Corrigan
Amnesty International UK
15 May 2008 at 15:09

Wall mural, Belfast

As mentioned yesterday, Israelis are celebrating 60 years since the foundation of their State. Meanwhile, Palestinians have been marking 60 years of ‘al Nakba’, the catastrophe. The Guardian has a short article here and a good photo series describing the day that’s in it from a Palestinian perspective.

As often happens in Belfast, a new political solidarity mural has been commissioned (see above) to mark the occasion and was recently unveiled on the city’s Falls Road. As you can see – and as is normal with these Belfast landmarks (and tourist attractions) – an awful lot of political information and imagery has been captured by the mural-painter’s brush.

More background information available online from Amnesty on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.