SAOIRSE32

Troops Out Movement (cached page)

**this is the spy suing Andersonstown News for publishing his photo

Fulton Exposed

Andersonstown News 03/06/04

**Peter Keeley, otherwise known as ‘Kevin Fulton’

He calls himself Kevin Fulton – but his real name’s Peter Keeley.
We’ve been getting a bit of an insight.

Today, for the first time, the Andersonstown News shows the face of Peter Keeley, also known as ‘Kevin Fulton’, the camera-shy but media-friendly British agent who’s engaged in a bitter battle with his former paymasters – men he accuses of washing their hands of him.

Lifelong republican Gerard ‘Whitey’ Bradley, came forward yesterday to speak of his memories of Keeley in the days when the Newry man had infiltrated the IRA along the border and in Belfast.

‘Whitey’ Bradley’s decision to speak out comes just days after a Sunday paper labelled his brother-in-law, Joe ‘Buck’ Haughey a British agent.

Bradley was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement – he had been sentenced to ten years for his involvement in a foiled IRA attack on RUC Detective Chief Superintendent Derek Martindale in February 1994.

In naming Joe Haughey, the Sunday tabloid referred to unsubstantiated anonymous allegations being posted on an American website.

‘Whitey’ Bradley yesterday outlined his association with Peter Keeley in a series of revealing insights that throw a new light on the secretive British agent now in hiding in London.

“I was first introduced to Keeley in the middle of 1993 by Joe Haughey. Keeley made himself out to be someone who could help the republican movement with cars, money, phones – a real wheeler-dealer, a Del Boy. He also tried to play up his connections and claimed he could get us anything we wanted.

“He used to come up and run around Belfast with a sharp suit, a fast car and a mobile phone the size of a breeze block – this was in the days when nobody had mobile phones. This guy was saying ‘I can do this, I can do that’. But nothing he ever promised was coming off.”

During the period between the summer of 1993 and February 1994, ‘Whitey’ says Keeley was in his house in Belfast on around “30 or 40” occasions.

‘Whitey’ rejects Keeley’s attempts to take credit for foiling the attack on Chief Superintendent Martindale.

“He had no involvement in that operation whatsoever. He’s running around saying he saved Martindale, yet his own published statement on the incident actually calls that into question.

“I thought of him as a bit of a strange bloke – but someone who could be used a bit. About three weeks before the attack – which none of the team involved in even knew about until the actual day – I had asked Keeley to get me a mobile phone.

“That was the phone I had in my possession in the house in the New Lodge when we were arrested after the team over in Belmont were scooped.”

Since getting out of Long Kesh under the Good Friday Agreement, ‘Whitey’ has only met Keeley on one occasion – in 1999.

The last time the men spoke was by telephone. ‘Whitey’ says that he made his antagonism clear to Keeley.

“Here’s the thing that baffles me. Who was fighting the war when Keeley was running around? Because it seems to me that he was only consorting with a convention of Brit agents. Everyone he seems to have met now seems to have been an agent. I want people to ask why all this is happening. Why is anyone trying to destroy a republican family and community like ours? I sat and watched my sister cry her eyes out at the weekend. I’m not scared of the Brits, MI5, Special Branch, British Army or anyone else. Everybody knows where I stand. I was interned twice. I was in under a supergrass. And I got ten years in 1994 at the age of 39. I haven’t spent all this time fighting as a republican just for the possibility of having my reputation ruined by this guy,” said ‘Whitey’.

TOM COMMENT

The above article states: ” In naming Joe Haughey, the Sunday tabloid referred to unsubstantiated anonymous allegations being posted on an American website .” - This refers to the following post on the Cryptome website:

“29 May 2004

Joe [BUCK] Haughey, from Belfast, was the police [S.B.] informer involved in the murder of SMOKER BENNITT. The British Government covered it up by saying it was I.R.A. internal housekeeping. This was the latest in a list of cover-ups for Joe Buck.

JOAN”

Sunday Life

Army spy sues Andytown News
Row over published picture which identified agent

silhouette of Fulton

By Alan Murray
27 December 2004

A BELFAST newspaper - which sought a Government handout of £3m - is being sued by an ex-Army spy.

The former IRA double-agent - who uses the pseudonym ‘Kevin Fulton’ - has also asked the Metropolitan Police to investigate how the Andersonstown News obtained a photograph belonging to him.

Fulton, who now lives in London, claims that the picture of him was taken 10 years ago from a flat on Belfast’s Antrim Road, which was being used as an IRA safe-house.

He says two other IRA men, whom he has named in a statement, were the only other people who had access to the flat.

The Andersonstown News recently published a photograph of Fulton - whose identity is protected by a Government ‘D’ notice, which forbids the publication of his real name and image.

Fulton told Met officers, that the picture belongs to him, and claims its publication has exposed him to IRA revenge attacks for spying on the terrorists.

Fulton had to flee the province, after he was interrogated by Freddie ‘Stakeknife’ Scappaticci - another Army double-agent, who worked in the IRA’s internal security section.

Fulton and his wife were summoned to meet Scappaticci, after a number of IRA men - including Gerry Adams’ cousin - were arrested, as they plotted to murder an RUC detective chief superintendent, in east Belfast.

Fulton is also claiming breach of copyright, because he says he is the sole owner of the photograph, and the newspaper had no right to use it without permission.

It emerged, in July, that the Andersonstown News was refused a £3m Government grant to launch a morning newspaper, in Belfast, following a commercial appraisal of the project by financial consultants.

Two senior Ulster Unionists - Lady Hermon and Lord Laird - were furious when they learned, in October, that the NIO had misled them on how much taxpayers’ cash had been given to the paper.

In a Parliamentary reply, in June, Lady Hermon was told the newspaper had received £550,000 in grants.

But, later, NIO minister, Barry Gardiner, had to apologise to the North Down MP, and admit his officials had overlooked a further £453,713 in grants made since 1999.

The Met has now passed Fulton’s complaint to the Police Service for investigation.

A Police Service spokesman said yesterday, that officers at Woodbourne, in west Belfast had received a complaint and were preparing a criminal investigation.

Andersonstown News managing director, Mairtin O’Muilleoir, was unavailable for comment.

slnews@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Sunday Life

Blizzard of ’snow’ is forecast after LVF cocaine coup

By Joe Oliver
27 December 2004

THE LVF is behind a plot to flood Ulster with cocaine, Sunday Life can reveal.

The terror gang plans to make a killing, after telling their network of evil peddlers - Get ready for a mountain of snow.

The party drug - nicknamed snow or coke - was once the preserve of the rich and famous.

But it is now almost as cheap as cannabis.

According to reliable sources, drug barons linked to the terror group recently took possession of a huge consignment of cocaine.

The drugs, which originated in the Netherlands, are understood to have been ferried in by container from Scotland.

One source told us: “The people who bankrolled the deal reckon they’ll make a fortune.

“They’ve already put the word out to dealers that something special is on the way.

“They have also said it’s dead easy to get their hands on more.

“Price has always been a problem with cocaine, but if they’re selling it to dealers at £25 a gramme, then a bag will probably cost no more than £8 or £10 on the streets.

“It’s a way of driving the price down to create a demand.”

One of the main men behind the sickening trade is a well-known LVF figure in Lurgan, who has been questioned by police on a number of occasions about serious crime, including murder, in the Co Armagh area.

He and his cousin, who until recently was living in Lisburn, have long been involved in drugs and extortion.

According to sources, the LVF even supply ‘back-up’ to the pair when they collect money from pushers.

One senior detective said: “This is very worrying, and is further evidence that harder drugs - like cocaine - are becoming more readily available.

“Its increase in such a short time is of real concern.”

Police have recovered drugs valued at more than £10m so far this year.

Cannabis and Ecstasy remain the most commonly seized drugs.

But official figures reveal that the overall haul included 16,684 grammes of cocaine, which would have fetched £1.3m on the streets.

The LVF - formed in mid-Ulster by Billy Wright, in 1996, after breaking with the UVF - has long been linked to drug-trafficking.

Other paramilitary groups, including the UDA, have shown increasing concern at the amount of drugs swamping loyalist districts.

And there were rumblings of a backlash recently, when 17-year-old Denise Larkin died after swallowing what is believed to have been a lethal cocktail of a cocaine-based drug.

slnews@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Irelandclick.com

Girl’s family devastated after grave is ‘disturbed’
Cemetery authorities say work is part of clean-up

The heartbroken parents of a five-year-old girl who died from cancer say they are devastated that the surround has been removed from their daughter’s grave at Milltown Cemetery without their knowledge.

Phillip and Marie O’Brien attended their daughter Colleen’s grave earlier this week and found that the surround and paving stones had been removed and replaced with a mound of earth. The Turf Lodge couple say they were not aware that any work would be carried out at the cemetery.

However Citywide Cemetery Regeneration (CCR) Limited, who are responsible for Milltown Cemetery, say that grave owners were informed months ago about the removal of surrounds from graves in the cemetery.
Little Colleen died on May 22 1993 after losing her 14-month battle with cancer. The child had suffered from muscle tumours and a brain tumour.

Her parents say they were shocked to discover that Colleen’s grave had been disturbed and are angry that they were not contacted personally by cemetery authorities to tell them about developments.

“We got a phone call from a family member on Sunday to tell us to get down to the child’s grave immediately,” said Phillip.

“My wife and I went down and the scene that met us was really heartbreaking, it was like a mudslide,” he added.

“When I saw the grave I broke down in tears and couldn’t stop crying,” said Marie.

“It looked like the grave had been newly dug,” she added.
Colleen’s parents say they have made an official complaint to the cemetery authorities.

“We had gone down to tidy the grave for Christmas. Christmas is really hard for us without Colleen and this makes it even harder,” said Phillip.

“How are we meant to go to Colleen’s grave on Christmas Day and face that mess?

“Any relative who goes to the cemetery and finds that mess will be heartbroken,” he added.

Roy McDonnell from CCR Limited said that notices about the ongoing work at Milltown Cemetery have been clearly displayed for the last four months and that if leaseholders of graves had any queries about the major improvement works they were welcome to make a complaint at the cemetery office.

“The long-term future of Milltown Cemetery includes the removal of surrounds and notices telling leaseholders of this have been displayed in the cemetery for the past four months,” said Roy.

“Photographs of what we are trying to achieve at the cemetery are available at the office and people are more than welcome to contact us.

“Leaseholds clearly state that surrounds are not allowed on graves and any lease bought within the last 30 years will state this clearly. The work carried out at this grave is part of a long-term plan for the cemetery which most people are in favour of,” he added.

Roy said that it is hoped that a grass lawn will cover the graves by January or February and said that this will be maintained by CCR at no cost to the public.
“If the O’Briens want to speak to me personally on this issue, I will be happy to meet with them,” he added.

Sinn Féin MLA Alex Maskey said it was regrettable that the O’Briens had been upset by events.

“The work being carried out at the cemetery is long overdue,” said Councillor Maskey.

“It is unfortunate that some people were not made aware of the plans and were caught off guard when they visited the cemetery,” he added.

Journalist:: Staff Reporter

Belfast Telegraph

Irish couples tell of lucky escape from deluge horror
Holidaymakers witness earthquake devastation

By Isabel Hurley and Louise McCall
27 December 2004

An Irish couple and their young son had a lucky escape after a massive tidal wave hit their hotel in the popular tourist resort of Phuket, Thailand.

Gerard and Emily Donnelly, of Lucan, Co Dublin, and their son Jack (5) spent last night in the darkened upper storeys of the Holiday Inn, which was lashed by a 30-foot wall of water that flooded the first three storeys of the building.

The huge waves struck the resort, which is a favourite with Irish tourists, at around 10am local time. It is understood that at present there may be as many as 2,500 Irish people in Thailand on holiday. However, there have been no reports of any Irish fatalities to date.

A Northern Ireland couple had a narrow escape when one of the tidal waves rocked their boat in Thailand.

Mark McBride and Lisa Lavery, from east Belfast, had just left a fishing village in Thailand when the captain of their boat warned them and others to quickly put on life jackets as a huge wave was heading towards them.

In Phuket, massive waves whipped up out of nowhere under deceptive calm blue skies, wreaking havoc and sweeping unsuspecting sunbathers out to sea. Locals said it was all over in 10 minutes, but the damage had been done with roads rendered impassable and the local airport closed under a sea of mud. Cars and buses were thrown into the air, while buildings were demolished under a towering wall of water.

Last night, Mr Donnelly’s brother John said the family were thankfully uninjured after their ordeal but were stuck in their Phuket hotel without power or supplies.

Along with other adults, the couple were trying to comfort children who had become separated from their parents in the melee.

Earlier, Mr Donnelly told RTE and Sky News that Phuket was a scene of utter chaos.

“The place is devastated, there are cars piled up on top of each other, people trapped in cars, dead bodies everywhere. It is absolutely horrendous.

“I was in our room, which was on the second floor and when we heard all the bangs, we thought it was a terrorist attack at first. So we just got out of there and we didn’t know what was going on at all.

“We saw the water pouring in, so we headed straight up onto the roof of the hotel. The place is pretty bad,” he said.

John Donnelly said last night that his brother and family were on the fifth floor of the Phuket hotel in pitch darkness.

“I talked to Gerry by phone and they are not hurt, but it appears to be a scene of mass confusion there. There’s lost children without parents, no power in the hotel, the army is on the street outside trying to clear up, the airport is closed. This is their third time to visit the area. They left home around December 16 and were due back on January 10.

“By the sound of things, there is no emergency or action plan in place from the staff. It seems to be the guests largely looking after themselves. Gerry and Emily and Jack are in reasonably good form, but understandably, all they want to do is get out of there and come home. They were very, very lucky not to be hurt.

“But the weather appears to be okay now there,” said Mr Donnelly.

Cork journalist Anita Hooley also reported witnessing scenes of horror in Phuket, with some tourists swept out to sea.

“It is the height of the season and the beaches are very crowded. Some people got some warnings from the residents of Phuket. The beach sellers saw what was happening and shouted at them to leave the beaches, but really it was too late for some,” she said.

Belfast Telegraph

**more PISSNI expertise

Hunt for gun stolen in searches

By Ben Lowry
blowry@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
27 December 2004

Police were still hunting for a handgun and ammunition today stolen from a police Land Rover on Christmas Eve during searches of homes of republicans in relation to the Northern Bank heist.

A PSNI spokesman has confirmed reports that the weaponry was taken from the vehicle during an operation in the Cavendish Street area off the Falls Road.

The loss of the gun is a fresh embarrassment to the police, who have been in the spotlight over their response to a traffic warden’s report of suspicious behaviour while £22m in cash was being shipped out of the bank.

A probe has been launched into the weapon theft that happened during raids on homes in west Belfast that were met with violent opposition. The Ardoyne home of the leading republican Eddie Copeland (34), was among those searched.

During one of the searches, five officers were injured when their Land Rovers were attacked by a crowd of up to 100 throwing stones, bottles and other missiles when moving in to search a house in Ballymurphy.

The Northern Bank may still considering withdrawing all its banknotes in a desperate attempt to foil the heist gang.

Belfast Telegraph

£22m raiders boasted of short jail term
Gang made sandwiches inside hostage’s home.

By Ben Lowry
blowry@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
27 December 2004

The Northern Bank heist gang boasted about the short jail sentences they would receive if caught, according to a woman taken hostage by the robbers.

Karen McMullan, whose husband Kevin was one of the two bank officials taken and ordered to carry out the £22m theft, was later abandoned in freezing conditions in Drumkeeragh Forest near the Mourne Mountains.

The McMullans, who have no children, live in Loughinisland in Co Down, where they were taken hostage on Sunday, December 19, less than a week before Christmas.

Speaking through a friend, Mrs McMullan was quoted in the Sunday Life saying: “I knew how serious the gang were when they put a gun to Kevin’s head, and threatened to kill us if we didn’t co-operate.

“But when one of them said they were not worried about serving 15 years in jail for the robbery, or for killing us, we knew how ruthless they were.”

Mr McMullan was ordered to go to work as normal on Monday, while the cash was taken.

Mrs McMullan said the gang were “very calm” while in the house, making tea and sandwiches.

“Instead of getting one of the hostages to do any cooking, it was they who made the food,” she recalled.

Mrs McMullan also explained how she stumbled out of Drumkeeragh Forest.

“When I was dropped off, I hadn’t a clue where I was. The only thing I could think of was to keep on walking. I was desperate to get out of the forest.

“But I was only able to do it because I decided to head for lights I could see in the distance.”

The other bank official taken hostage, 24-year-old Chris Ward from Poleglass, is reported to have spent the last week with relatives because he is unable to return to his home which has remained a crime scene.

IrishExaminer.com

Non-jury court ‘must be phased out’

27 December 2004
By John Breslin

THE Government has been urged to phase out the use of the Special Criminal Court after a backlog of cases to be heard is cleared by the middle of next year.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell announced last week a second court will sit from next month to clear the backlog and promised a review will then be carried out.

However, the Government has been criticised by lawyers and opposition politicians for dragging its heels over a review of the court and wider emergency legislation.

Under the Good Friday Agreement, the Government promised to review emergency powers.

The Hederman Committee reported as far back as August 2002. A majority argued in favour of retaining the non-jury court, though there were strong minority arguments against it.

Labour’s justice spokesman Joe Costello said he was concerned about the establishment of a second court, believing it will be difficult to stand down once established. He called for the phasing out of the court in 2005, arguing that people’s constitutional right to a fair trial was being denied.

“After the Good Friday Agreement, we were obliged to review the legislation. Hederman divided on the need for a Special Criminal Court but no action was taken,” said Mr Costello. “It’s time we began phasing it out.”

Yet there remains the possibility that members of organised crime gangs will continue to be tried in the Special Criminal Court, despite criticisms that it violates the rights of an accused to a jury trial, as was argued this year by the UN Human Rights Committee.

Mr McDowell, in announcing the establishment of a second court, said he will take into account the recommendations of the Hederman Committee and the extent of the “threat posed by paramilitaries and organised crime” when deciding on its future.

There have also been calls for the Offences Against the State Act to be reviewed, particularly as it is now being used to detain people for up to 72 hours in cases where there are no subversive or even organised crime links.

In a case last month, two people were arrested on suspicion of withholding information about a murder. They were detained under amendments to the act brought in after the 1998 Omagh bombing.

“That’s highly irregular but that’s the problem, it’s being used more and more,” said Mr Costello.

The Offences Against the State Act, where a person can be held for up to 72 hours, is now used to detain people in almost all cases where a firearm is used.

BBC

Asia wakes to quake devastation

Sri Lankan woman weeps next to the remains of her home

More than 14,000 people are now known to have died after a massive underwater earthquake sent giant waves crashing into coastlines across southern Asia.

Global aid teams have joined the effort to find the thousands still missing and to bring help to the hurt and homeless.

The toll from the disaster is set to spiral in the worst-hit areas of Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and Thailand.

The 9.0 magnitude quake - the worst in the world for 40 years - struck under the Indian Ocean off western Indonesia.

DISASTER TOLL
Sri Lanka: 4,850 dead
Indonesia: 4,440 dead
India: 4,270 dead
Thailand: 430 dead
Malaysia: 44 dead
Maldives: 32 dead
Bangladesh: 2 dead

It generated a wall of water that sped across thousands of kilometres of sea.

Phuket, Thailand

Earlier readings by the US Geological Survey had given a magnitude of 8.9 for the quake but this was raised after further tests.

In the early hours of Monday, fresh tremors were detected near the Indonesian island of Sumatra, sparking warnings from Indian and Sri Lankan weather officials of further, smaller surges, also known as tsunamis.

More than 4,440 people have died in Indonesia, 4,850 in Sri Lanka and 4,270 in India.

Casualty figures are rising over a wide area, including resorts in Sri Lanka and Thailand packed with holidaymakers.

Exact numbers of people killed, injured or missing in the countries hit, are impossible to confirm.

Hundreds are still thought to be missing from coastal regions. In Sri Lanka alone, officials say more than a million people have been forced from their homes.

Military equipment and personnel have been enlisted to manage relief efforts in a number of stricken countries.

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga declared a national disaster and the military has been deployed to help rescue efforts.

Hundreds of fishermen are missing off India’s southern coast, and there are reports of scores of bodies being washed up on beaches.

In Indonesia, communications remain difficult, particularly to the strife-torn region of Aceh where the main quake, early on Sunday morning, was followed by nine aftershocks. Reports speak of bodies being recovered from trees.

The Indian-owned Andaman and Nicobar islands, much nearer the epicentre, were also badly hit.

Casualty reports could not be officially confirmed, but a police chief told reporters 1,000 people had died and another 700 were feared dead.

A national disaster has been announced in the low-lying Maldives islands, more than 2,500km (1,500 miles) from the quake’s epicentre, after they were hit by severe flooding.

Waves forced out from the earthquake are even reported to have reached Somalia, on the east coast of Africa.

And as far away as the Seychelles, nine people were reported missing as a two-metre surge struck.

Aid promises

International aid agencies have called for a rapid response to avert further deaths.

The European Union immediately pledged 3m euros (£2.1m) to disaster relief efforts.

Sri Lanka has appealed for international aid to ease the crisis
Messages of condolences have poured in from around the world.

US President George W Bush offered aid to affected nations and expressed sorrow for the “terrible loss of life and suffering”.

Harrowing reports of people caught in the devastation and dramatic tales of escape are emerging.

“I heard an eerie sound that I have never heard before. It was a high pitched sound followed by a deafening roar,” a 55-year-old Indian fishermen who gave his name as Chellappa told Reuters news agency.

“I told everyone to run for their life.”

Sunday’s tremor - the fifth strongest since 1900 - had a particularly widespread effect because it seems to have taken place just below the surface of the ocean, analysts say.

Experts say tsunamis generated by earthquakes can travel at up to 500km/h.

ON THIS DAY

On 27 December 1997

Loyalist leader murdered in prison

A leading protestant paramilitary, Billy Wright, has been shot dead at the maximum security Maze prison in Northern Ireland.

Wright was the leader of a dissident paramilitary group, the Loyalist Volunteer Force, one of several Protestant militias that want Northern Ireland to remain in British hands.

It is understood he was shot several times by prisoners of the Irish splinter republican group the Irish National Liberation Army, INLA.

They had climbed onto the roof of a prison block before making their way to a compound where Protestant inmates were being held.

Reports suggest Wright was shot at about 1000 GMT while he was seated in a van waiting to be transferred to a visitor’s centre.

The prisoners surrendered to prison staff without a struggle and were arrested by the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Undermining peace

Three men are being questioned about the shooting and two guns have been recovered.

Both republican and loyalist leaders have called for calm and have appealed for no retaliation to prevent undermining the peace agreement any further.

The shooting comes at a time of heightened tension over lack of progress in multi-party peace talks on Northern Ireland.

The Prison Service said in a brief statement an investigation about how the weapons were brought into the jail was under way.

INLA inmates are being moved from the cells in H Block Six to other areas in the jail to enable a full scale search.

Wright, who survived several previous attempts on his life, was jailed in March for threatening to kill a woman.

The murder of the man known as “King Rat” is the latest in a series of security lapses at the prison.

There was an uprising by loyalist prisoners in April and May this year following a failed mass escape attempt by members of the IRA.

Earlier this month an IRA prisoner escaped while dressed as a female visitor.

Irish Independent

Stags ’saved for another day’ as annual hunt called off

PLACARD-wielding hunt saboteurs had an unexpected Christmas bonus when two of Leinster’s biggest hunts failed to go ahead yesterday.

Dozens of anti-hunt protesters turned up at Kells and Ashbourne in Co Meath to show their opposition on what is traditionally the biggest hunting day of the year.

But the saboteurs were delighted when St Stephen’s Day events, run by the Meath Fox Hounds and The Ward Union Stag Hunt, were cancelled - although the reasons for cancellation were not immediately clear. The Ward Union Stag Hunt, which usually meets in Ashbourne, is the only stag hunt in the country.

“The stag was saved for another day. I was up half the night making banners, but that doesn’t matter. The main object is to stop the cruelty,” said Bernie Wright of the Association of Hunt Saboteurs.

Ms Wright said the hunts’ non-appearance could have been a reflection of the push for a fox hunting ban in England, as the hunts here attempt to keep a low profile. However, the treacherous road conditions may have played a big part.

Ms Wright added that saboteurs will continue their campaign until the end of the hunting season in March.

Anti-bloodsport campaigners here are gearing up to fight for a complete ban on all hunting with dogs, including coursing.

Meanwhile, in the south-east, the Waterford Foxhounds held their annual meet in Tramore, Co Waterford which passed off virtually incident-free.

Up to 35 hunt saboteurs, led by John Tierney, gathered outside the Majestic Hotel on the quay front to watch some 50 huntsmen, women and children gather at around 11am.

Mr Tierney said that as the hunt left there had been “a bit of pushing and shoving from both sides, but nothing serious”.

Sarah Murphy and
Bernie O’Toole