SAOIRSE32

North Belfast News
3rd of July 2009

Relatives of people killed by loyalists from North and West Belfast have given news of a major decommissioning move by the UVF and Red Hand Commando a mixed reaction.

At the weekend the leadership of the two organisations, who were responsible for almost 1,000 deaths during the 30-year conflict, revealed that all arms under its control had been decommissioned.

The paramilitary command staff said it had “completed the process of rendering ordnance totally and irreversibly beyond use”.

The UDA has also given up some of its weapons and it is understood that the process will be completed before the deadline of February 2010.

North Belfast man JJ Magee tragically lost his 15 year old sister Anne in a UDA/ UFF gun attack in 1976.

For him the move towards complete decommissioning of all arms especially those brought in by the Ulster Resistance, should happen sooner rather than later.

“I do welcome the move and hopefully we see a more substantial move by the UDA in the future. I look forward towards a society where all guns are gone and we have a police force that isn’t armed like there is in the south.

“I do have concerns about weapons smuggled in from South Africa to the Ulster Resistance. Where did they go? “They killed a lot of nationalist people and I would want to be sure all those weapons were decommissioned.

“I want to see those who were involved in setting up the Ulster Resistance play their part by releasing information about the weapons or going to find out where they are now, or encourage people to give them up.”

The UVF said the decommissioning process began last autumn but was suspended after dissident republicans killed two soldiers and a policeman in Antrim and Craigavon, in March.

Former UVF prisoner Billy Hutchinson helped negotiate with the IICD led by General John de Chastelain who four years ago witnessed destruction of the IRA’s arsenal of guns, ammunition and explosives.

Josephine Larmour whose mother Sadie was murdered in 1979 by a UVF gunman said the news was extremely emotive, “especially for someone who has lost a loved one to the UVF,” she said.

“It is a very welcome statement and I hope it is true they have decommissioned all weapons. My focus is on the truth because the UVF and UDA were armed by the State. We need to know why our loved ones were targeted in the first place.”

Maureen Rafferty’s 14-year-old son Philip was abducted close to his home at Tullymore Gardens and shot by the UDA/UFF. The same day 17 year old Gabriel Savage was murdered in the same area, by what is believed was the same gang.

She said she didn’t believe the outlawed organisation had fully let go of all its weapons.

“They will never give up all their arms, I just don’t believe them and I would be very sceptical about what they’ve said.

“I do believe there was collusion in my son’s case, because not for love nor money could you find a soldier on that road the night Philip was taken but yet this gang had the freedom to come in and snatch my Philip and then come back and grab Gabriel Savage outside the Busy Bee and murder him. The hurt is very deep for me about this and I find it very hard to take it in.”

The day after Philip Rafferty’s murder, Eugene Heenan’s father Paddy was murdered as he made his way to work. One man Albert ‘Ginger Baker’ was jailed for his part in the killing.

“Yes there’s less guns on the streets but the big issue is why were innocent Catholics killed? The man who killed my father was trained by special forces, he was an informant and he was the first supergrass to give evidence against the UDA.

“The British government has to decommission their weapons which are their agents because together they stand accused of state murder. I think that is the far bigger issue than any sort of decommissioning by the UVF.”

BBC
3 July 09

Questions must be asked after police could not disclose new evidence about a break-in at Special Branch offices, the SDLP has said.

MLA Alex Attwood was speaking after the collapse of a case against a man wanted for his alleged role in the break-in at Castlereagh police station.

Larry Zaitschek currently lives in the United States

Larry Zaitschek, 41, from New York, had worked as a chef at the base.

Police said they could not disclose all relevant material and conceded he would not receive a fair trial.

Mr Zaitschek was being sought by police in connection with the raid in 2002 when a policeman was bound and gagged and files were stolen.

He has been living in the United States since shortly after the raid.

Alex Attwood said people needed and deserved to know the truth about why police could not disclose the new material.

“What is this information? Is it information that the British Army were involved some way or other around the Castlereagh break-in?” he said.

“Or is it information that the London government or another government has and refuses to disclose, or is it information that may involve an illegal group like the IRA, that for some reason, including for political reasons, is not being disclosed?

“We do not know, we can only speculate.”

Mr Zaitschek told BBC Northern Ireland on Friday that he “had nothing to do with the break-in at Castlereagh”.

“I have said that since day one and I should say that, especially in light of today’s new developments, while the PSNI say that the test was met, I would suggest that the test has never been met,” he said.

The police said this new material did not originate from either them or the security and intelligence agencies.

“Despite the efforts of the PSNI, we are not in a position to make available all the relevant material to PPS for the purposes of disclosure,” a police statement said.

The police statement expressly says that the information is not from an intelligence source - so where is it from?
TUV leader Jim Allister QC

“Consequently, the PPS have concluded that Mr Zaitschek could not receive a fair trial and PSNI are in agreement that a prosecution could not proceed in those circumstances.”

TUV leader Jim Allister said he was not satisfied with the police explanation for not making the evidence available to the PPS.

“It is clear to me that there is something very bizarre and unexplained going on here,” he said.

“Certainly there are cases where prosecutions are abandoned because of an inability to meet disclosure obligations and that generally is in circumstances, where in order to protect a source, information is withheld.

“It is quite clear that this is not the situation here because the police statement expressly says that the information is not from an intelligence source - so where is it from?”

UUP representative Basil McCrea said it was an unsatisfactory conclusion to the case.

“It will be very disappointing for a lot of people that some resolution to this case has not been found one way or the other,” he said.

The incident at the Castlereagh security base on 17 March 2002, where Mr Zaitschek worked as a cook, was a huge embarrassment for the police.

Three men walked in to what was supposed to be a highly secure room packed full of sensitive security information, tied up a police officer and stole dozens of Special Branch files.

Special Branch offices at Castlereagh were burgled in 2002

These files included details of Special Branch officers and their agents’ codewords.

Millions of pounds were spent re-housing officers and others, whose security had been compromised.

Mr Zaitschek flew to the US shortly after the break-in, leaving his wife and young son behind.

It is understood that Mr Zaitschek’s wife was in protective custody after the incident and may have been used as one of the key prosecution witnesses.

Mr Zaitschek has always denied all the charges against him and denied having anything to do with the break-in.

In June 2006, he began High Court action against the Public Prosecution Service.

He said he wanted to return to Northern Ireland to see his son, and demanded to know whether any action was to be taken against him.

The IRA denied being responsible for the break-in.

Irish Times
2 July 09

THE HIGH Court has fixed a date next October for the hearing of an extradition request for a man wanted in connection with the shooting dead of a British army recruitment officer in Derby more than 17 years ago.

The British authorities are seeking the surrender of father-of-two Declan Duffy (35), from Armagh but with an address at Hanover Street West, Dublin. He is in custody in relation to other matters.

Mr Justice Michael Peart yesterday fixed October 8th to hear the request after being told Duffy’s points of objection against the making of an order for his extradition were completed and ready to be filed.

Remy Farrell, for Duffy, said the issues being raised in opposition related to the delay by the authorities in processing the extradition request. He said another issue was the apparent lack of information in the extradition warrant as to whether the offence at issue came under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.

In a European Arrest Warrant seeking Duffy’s surrender, the British authorities claim that on April 13th, 1992, he murdered Sgt Michael Newman (34), a father of one, in Derby, England. He is also charged with conspiracy to commit murder between January 1st, 1992, and April 13th, 1992.

The INLA admitted responsibility for Sgt Newman’s killing.

Britain is also seeking the extradition of Anthony Gorman (39), from Armagh but with an address at Bailieboro, Co Cavan, on the same charges. He is on bail pending the hearing of the extradition request.

Irish News
1 July 09

THE Apprentice Boys last night distanced themselves from a loyalist flags dispute that escalated into a shooting.

Up to three shots were fired through the living-room window of a Protestant couple’s home in Ballymena, Co Antrim, after they tried to mediate in a row.

No-one was injured in the attack in the Rossdale area early yesterday.

The shooting is understood to have followed an approach by the woman to people who put up loyalist flags in the mixed housing development.

It is believed that she had asked them whether they had residents’ permission.

DUP councillor John Carson said he “firmly believes” the latest attack on the couple – who belong to a community association – was connected to the putting up of flags in the mixed estate.

Mr Carson said a deal on erecting flags in the area had been brokered last year.

It was agreed that the erection of flags would be low-key, he said.

Among the flags flying close to the couple’s house yesterday was one in support of the Apprentice Boys.

However, the organisation’s general secretary, William Moore, said last night: “The Apprentice Boys doesn’t have a policy of flying flags apart from on our own property.

“We don’t have control over who flies a flag.”

Police have increased patrols in the area and are studying CCTV footage which captured shadowy images of the gunman.

Meanwhile, a man arrested yesterday in connection with the attack was last night released pending further inquiries.

Irish News
1 July 09

LOYALISM ON SHOW: Loyalist flags, including that of the UVF, at Fortwilliam in north Belfast, left, and, centre and right, at the Shore Road entrance to Fortwilliam

THERE have been fears that loyalists are trying to stoke up tensions ahead of the marching season, reneging on previous agreements over flags in contested areas.

Last week there were disturbances in Coleraine after loyalists attempted to place flags close to the nationalist area where father-of-four Kevin McDaid was murdered on May 24.

Since then there have been a number of further incidents with nationalist residents raising concerns that previous arrangements over shared space were now being ignored.

Shots fired at a house in Ballymena have been attributed to an argument over the erecting of flags in a mixed housing development.

Over the past fortnight hundreds of flags have been placed in predominantly nationalist areas of south Belfast.

The Ormeau Road and Finaghy crossroads areas are both bedecked with loyalist flags.

At Fortwilliam in north Belfast, which backs onto the staunchly loyalist Mount Vernon estate, Union, Ulster and UVF flags have appeared in recent days.

In areas where cross-community dialogue has taken place there have in the past been verbal agreements on the issue of flags.

This has included an agreed time-scale as to when flags will be placed along a route and when they will be taken back down again.

Loyalist spokesman Harry Smith, who is a member of the loyalist

Finaghy Crossroads group, last night said the issue was a sensitive one that called for compromise on both sides.

“I personally would like to see a time when unionist/loyalist people fly flags from their homes rather than from lamp-posts as they did in the past,” Mr Smith said.

“In the meantime, though, peace does not just happen over night. It has to be worked at.

“There is a very real fear within the loyalist community that the right to express our culture is being slowly chipped away and eroded.

“Tolerance and respect for one another’s culture must be reciprocated on both sides of the divide.

“In recent years flags have been reduced in south Belfast and following the last Saturday of August work will begin in the area to remove flags from lamp-posts.”

However, Sinn Fein spokesman for the area Vincent Parker said the flags were an annual setback to good relations.

“The majority of the residents in Finaghy don’t want flags erected,” Mr Parker said.

“Some Protestant families have contacted me to tell me they are uncomfortable with flags being erected in an area.

“Local business owners on the Lisburn Road have also said the flags have a negative impact on their trade in the summer months.

“Residents that I have spoken to are sick and tired of these flags being erected every year.”

Scott Jamison
South Belfast News
2nd of July 2009

A local political representative has blasted Belfast City Council after it was revealed loyalist flags have been erected on council-owned property in Finaghy.
Vincent Parker was speaking after the South Belfast News discovered two flags flying over the Finaghy Community Centre – a red hand of Ulster flag and an Ulster independence flag. It is believed the local UDA are behind the banners being placed there.
The Balmoral Sinn Féin representative said the council should take “a long look” at the situation due to the centre’s location – the mixed Geeragh Place, just off Finaghy Road South.
“It is bad enough flags are going up in areas that have people of different backgrounds living there but the fact it is council property makes it even worse.
“The council should take them down immediately because they are intimidating people using the facility.”
Mr Parker said the annual furore over flags in the area set back community elations and increased tensions.
“The simple fact is flags are divisive. I believe they are intended to intimidate. It is not about an expression of any cultural position because if that was the case, they would just be in areas where people want them.
“Nobody here wants them, people just want to live in peace because it is a mixed area but all this does is cause problems.
“Members of the loyalist community have told me speaking out on this issue does not improve community relations but we can’t just ignore flags, they are a reality.
“It seems to be just about territorial marking. If those within loyalist communities were serious about good relations and creating a shared space, they really need to look at the policy of erecting flags, especially in such a shared area as this.”
He said the party had been “inundated” with phone calls of support over the issue.
“Even people who are not Sinn Féin supporters have been calling us and saying they are sick and tired of this issue rearing its head every year.
“We are fed up with it as well. We don’t want to be continually coming back to this. Over nine months progress is made in local community relations but then they are set back every summer.
“Along this road it is a mixed area and the flags should not be there, especially on Belfast City Council property.”
A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “Our aim is that all of our facilities should be welcoming to everyone and we are actively engaging with the local community to try to achieve this.”

Over the years the peace line has become higher, but in the last year murals have softened its appearance

By Arthur Strain and Peter Hamill
BBC
02 July 2009

Over the years the peace line has become higher, but in the last year murals have softened its appearance

The first one went up eight years after construction started on the Berlin Wall, but 20 years after that wall went down, Northern Ireland still has its so-called peace lines.

For people living in the shadow of a concrete wall topped with fencing the peace they bring can help cement divisions rather than heal communities.

Wall number one, which divides the Falls and Shankill roads at Cupar Street, went up in 1969 following rioting and house burnings in west Belfast. Over the years it has risen to more than six metres.

The last one went up last year in the grounds of a north Belfast integrated primary school following a period of local tension.

There are 53 Northern Ireland Office maintained peace lines in four towns and cities in the region - 42 in Belfast, five in Derry, five in Portadown and one in Lurgan.

However, community relations groups say these are not the only peace lines, with other structures and land being used to keep communities apart.

In a survey for the Community Relations Council the Institute for Conflict Research listed a total of 88 peace lines as well as 44 police CCTV cameras.

Some are listed as wasteland being used by housing authorities as buffer zones, others include derelict houses as well as walls and vegetation to the rear of homes in interface areas.

They still make some people feel safe, but others want more work on taking them down.

Tony Macauley used to live under the Shankill peace line and last year he produced a consultancy paper on a process to remove them.

He said that while they initially made him feel safe he quickly realised that they did not stop people crossing over to carry out killings.

He now lives in a seaside town and said that for younger people in interface areas the peace lines have become part of the fabric of their area, as accepted as the murals that adorn gable walls.

“I can remember when the peace walls went up, but there is an entire generation who have known nothing else,” he said.

“People who grew up in some of those areas and are under 40 have no idea what it was like before them.

“But they used to be mixed areas, the communities used to live side by side.”

The CRC lists some of the peace lines as fences around enclaves and swathes of scrub used as buffers in interface areas.

Others cannot be mapped, as Mr Macauley explained.

“It happens in urban areas, but also in rural ones, where people know they should avoid a certain route to get somewhere or there would be some park they would not go to,” he said.

He said that until communities could agree to live without them the walls would have to stay, but his hope is that talking about removing them will eventually lead to them going.

It takes an outsider to be shocked by the sight of the a peace wall and what it is - a means to stop people living in a western democracy at the start of the 21st century attacking each other.

But even on the walls change can be seen. Murals and graffiti art expressing hopes for peace and a brighter future feature on the Belfast wall now.

Photographer Les McLean is a regular visitor to Belfast and has been capturing its people for years.

He said that the peace murals and messages that have been appearing on the walls have helped soften their harsh look, but there is no disguising what they are.

“I like what they are saying now - the message that’s coming out of there,” he said.

“I’ve been photographing them for the last two or three years and I have always felt I couldn’t understand why they were called a peace line, I’ve always thought they were more about division,” he said.

News Letter
02 July 2009

An Orange Order parade in Coleraine passed off peacefully despite high tension in the town in recent weeks.

Kevin McDaid, a Catholic, died after an attack by a loyalist mob last month in the mixed Heights area of the town.

An estimated 2,000 participants and supporters and 12 bands turned out on Wednesday night for the annual Somme Commemoration parade in the town, which first began in 1960.

Robert Mclreavey, secretary of hosts Killowen LOL 930, said only his lodge and one local band had passed on the parade’s traditional route through the Heights area, as a mark of respect to the McDaid family. The band played no music as they passed by and joined up with the rest of the parade at a later part of the route.

“It was a very successful and peaceful night,” he said. “It was not a celebration, it was a commemoration of those that lost their lives at the Battle of the Somme and in other theatres of war such as Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Irish Republican Socialist Party — Derry
30 June 2009

The Irish Republican Socialist Party condemns the attack on the Patsy O’Hara memorial in Bishop Street (Derry) which occurred we believe on Monday morning at or around 3.30am.

IRSP spokesperson Martin McMonagle described the attack as pointless but sinister.

“Presently we do not know who carried out the attack on the memorial and we would appeal for anyone who seen anyone in that area at that time to get in touch with the IRSP.

“This attack was carried out by cowards under the cover of darkness. To attack a memorial to one of our hunger strikers is absolutely deplorable. Members of our party have already spoken to residents in Bishop Street and there is a very real feeling of anger at this attack on the memorial.

“This is the second time that this area has come under similar attack. Last year the accompanying mural nearby was paint bombed.

“Patsy O’Hara was and is held in the highest regard by the people of Bishop Street and the entire city and as such we would view this attack on the memorial as an attack on the entire republican community of Derry. Anyone with any information can contact the IRSP on 71353090 or derryirsp@gmail.com.”

Indymedia.ie
Wednesday July 01, 2009

04/07/09 2pm @ Garden of Remembrance

IRELAND IS STILL ONE OF ONLY 3 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WHERE ABORTION IS NOT LEGAL –

HELP US TO KEEP IT THAT WAY!!

Every year, millions of unborn children are aborted throughout Europe and the world. Against all odds, and because Irish people have made their pro-life views heard, Ireland remains one of the only EU countries that protects its unborn children from abortion.

Under constant pressure from the EU and the powerful pro-abortion lobby, the Irish people have maintained their pro-life ethos. But we need to act to keep it that way, and to ensure that we also speak up against the anti-life threats of euthanasia and stem cell research.

So if you take just one pro-life action this year - let this be it!

WHERE: Garden of Remembrance, DUBLIN 1, IRELAND
WHEN: SATURDAY 4TH JULY 2009
TIME: 2 PM

Related Link: http://www.rallyforlife.net

By Seamus McKinney
Irish News
30/06/09

A community worker says many people are still ambivalent about paramilitary-style attacks following the shooting of a 26-year-old man in Derry.

Derry community worker Tommy McCourt was speaking after the man was shot three times at his home in the city’s Rosemount area.

The victim suffered two gunshot wounds to his leg and one to his other foot when a masked man fire through the door of his home at Florence Avenue.

Police are still trying to establish a motive for the attack which took place shortly before midnight on Sunday. It is understood the victim’s injuries are not life-threatening.

Mr McCourt, of Rosemount resource centre, said that most people accepted that in a normal society any alleged problems should be left to the justice system.

“But it is a reality that a lot of people still have an ambivalent attitude to such attacks,” he said.

Criminal justice minister Paul Goggins – who was in the city yesterday to open new legal offices – said he “regretted” news of the shooting. He said there was no place in a civilised society for such actions.

SDLP leader and Derry MP, Mark Durkan said: “We had all hoped that this type of attack had been consigned to history.

“I urge anyone with information about this attack to immediately contact the PSNI.”

Sinn Fein councillor, Maeve McLaughlin said: “It is very worrying that this shooting incident occurred when young children were present in the house. I have visited the home this morning and the family are very angry and upset.

“The people who carried out this attack must inform the community why it was carried out and who they represent.”

Irish News
30/06/09

LOYALISTS linked to the UDA have asked that their ex-prisoners be allowed visas for the US in recognition of the decommissioning of guns.

The Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) said a delegation met members of the US Congress in Dublin yesterday.

Last night the UPRG said it had held the meeting for several reasons, including to request that ex-prisoners be able to access visas.

A statement read: “This would be an appropriate way for the US government to recognise the significance of loyalist decommissioning.”

A UPRG spokesman said the meeting was “very productive and positive”.

Derry Journal
01 July 2009

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement will hold a protest at Free Derry Corner on Saturday against what they have described as the harassment of republicans and their families.

The demonstration will take place at 2pm.

Derry Journal
01 July 2009

A Derry solicitor has hit out at the PSNI, claiming they are stopping and searching people based solely on their political views.
Paddy MacDermott made the comment after hardline republicans in Derry said they are getting stopped and searched by the police on “an hourly basis.”

Mr MacDermott, of MacDermott and McGurk solicitors, said a number of his clients had contacted him about being stopped under the Terrorism Act.

“We have numerous complaints from clients over the past number of weeks with regard to being stopped and searched by the PSNI.

“It would appear that this is part of a concerted campaign targeted at people for their political views,” he said.

Several members of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM) also contacted the ‘Journal’ to say that they had been stopped and searched under the Terrorism Act.

One member, Paddy McDaid, said he was searched by police officers while holding his three year-old child in his arms. Leading republican Gary Donnelly also said he and his 16 year-old daughter were searched while the teenager was pushing a child in a pram along the quay on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Donnelly claimed it was the latest in a series of incidents where children have been present while republicans have been searched. “As republicans we expect this type of hostility from the police but I think it is unacceptable that they are turning their attention towards children now. I have been stopped while with my children on several occasions in the last fortnight and my 16 year-old daughter has been stopped under the Terrorism Act also. This is a very scary experience for children,” he said.

Michael Gallagher of the 32 CSM, who said he has been stopped several times in recent days, said the incidents are part of a “renewed effort to harass republicans.”

“We have seen the real face of the RUC with the ongoing harassment of republicans and their families.

“Republicans are now being harassed on a daily, and indeed, an hourly basis,” he said.

Responding to the claims, a spokesperson for the PSNI said: “If anyone has genuine cause to complain about the actions of any police officer they can contact the office of the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland.”

BBC
1 July 09

A former secretary of state for Northern Ireland has said the Omagh bombing in 1998 shaped the way he carried out his job.

Peter Mandelson was speaking at the launch of a book about the atrocity and the families’ fight for justice.

Last month, a judge ruled that real IRA leader Michael McKevitt and three others were responsible for the bomb.

Lord Mandelson said the explosion, which killed 29 people, had given him “huge energy” to do his job.

The 1998 explosion killed 29 people and unborn twins

He was one of the supporters of the families’ campaign for justice and helped raise money for the multi-million pound civil case.

“In a very deep way and in a very personal way, it (the bomb) changed how I approached my job,” he said.

“But it also clarified what I was doing and why I was doing it and where I and, all those who I worked with, needed to end up with the people of Northern Ireland.”

Michael McKevitt is serving 20 years for directing terrorism

The book, Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing and the Families’ Pursuit of Justice, was written by journalist and broadcaster Ruth Dudley Edwards.

It tells the story of the bombing, how the families coped with their loss and chronicles their civil case which culminated last month.

Ms Dudley Edwards, who has been working on the book since 2003, said it was the most difficult piece she had ever written.

“First, because it took forever, secondly because it was so hard to do well and to do it right, and because at times I thought there would not be a story to write about,” she said.

“But I am the most proud of this book because I feel it honours these people I so much respect.”

Ms Dudly Edwards said the civil case had tested the relative’s patience.

“We all thought the case would come to court within a year and it took another five years to come to court,” she said.

“And the law moves so slowly and so frustratingly, the delays were utterly terrible. It was mind numbingly awful the progress of the law.”

Godfrey Wilson, who lost his daughter, Lorraine, in the bombing, said other families could learn from their experience.

“I’m delighted in the civil case the way it went and I’m hopeful… we’ll go on to fight against terrorism. We need to fight against terrorism,” he said.

“Terrorism hurt me and my family severely. To lose Lorraine was a terrible, terrible atrocity to myself and my family.”

The book marks another chapter in the Omagh story - but the families believe the ending will only come when a criminal case is successful.

Victor Barker, who lost his son, James, said it was important for other people to read about the suffering caused by terrorism.

“I hope that it will lead to these people being exiled in their own communities and completely rejected by all the communities in Northern Ireland,” he said.

“There is always the hope of a criminal prosecution one day. The families are determined to make sure that their cause and their fight goes on as long as it possibly can”.