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8/1/2005
severe weather
High winds cause power cuts
A man was taken to hospital after a tree fell on his mobile home
Severe weather has caused flooding and uprooted trees across Northern Ireland.
Driving conditions are treacherous with many roads closed.
At one stage, about 68,000 homes were without power. Supplies have now been restored to more than 40,000 of these households.
Counties Down and Armagh were worst affected, particularly Downpatrick, Newry and Craigavon.
Northern Ireland Electricity spokeswoman Julie Carson said engineers were working to repair damaged power lines.
“We have over 400 engineers, linesmen and call handlers reinforcing our ability to restore supplies as quickly as possible,” she said.
“Damage has been caused by trees and branches down across lines, and by flying debris which has caused damage to poles and other equipment.”
Staff from the river, roads and water agencies have been working overtime to deal with emergencies.
Winds of up to 50 miles per hour are forecast throughout Saturday, especially in the north and west of the province, and heavy and wintry showers are expected to continue.
A man had to be rescued after he was trapped when a tree fell on his mobile home in Dromore, County Down.
UDA
UDA on “high alert” for Adair jail release
Over 30 leading figures in the UDA are on “high alert” with the pending release of Johnny Adair from jail.
Speculation has been mounting whether the former C Coy boss will return to the Shankill or go to his wife Gina in Bolton.
A source within the UPRG revealed this morning that concerns had been raised by the UDA with NIO officials about Adair’s release, which is due around January 15.
“The UDA has been on ceasefire and we told the government when they asked us what we were going to do about him. We said to them ‘what are you going to do about him?’ We got no answer.
“I think Adair would be daft to come back to the Shankill.
“With Johnny you just don’t know what he might do. The UDA certainly have put contingency plans in place because where there’s Johnny there’s usually a feud.
“Leading members have stepped up their security and that is the Belfast brigade and the South East Antrim brigade. Really all brigades in all areas and all parts of Belfast are on alert because we’re talking about a loose cannon here.”
One source close to the Adairs said there was no way of telling what Adair would do on his release.
“Given Johnny we’ll only find out on the morning of his release what he’ll do. Johnny will get up and he’ll either say, ‘I think I’ll go over and see Gina and the kids’ or ‘I think I’ll head up the [Shankill] Road’. That will be the way of it.”
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
Ardoyne march
July March cost £255k
Taxpayers’ huge bill for PSNI operation at Ardoyne march that saw UDA men escorted up Crumlin Road…
The cost of the PSNI operation at Ardoyne that escorted UDA men up the Crumlin Road on July 12 cost the taxpayer a whopping quarter of a million pounds.
And that doesn’t include the cost of the British army operation.
The North Belfast News has learned that the bill for the massive operation that hemmed in nationalists behind barriers of steel to allow an Orange Order march was £255,000.
The PSNI claims it doesn’t cost individual parades, but the department of foreign affairs in Dublin confirmed the cost in a letter to community groups in December.
Cops were criticised by nationalists after they allowed UDA supporters to proceed up the Crumlin Road despite a Parades Commission ruling that banned hangers on.
The decision led to a rift between the PSNI and the Parades Commission and sparked some of the worst civil unrest seen in Belfast for years.
Gerard McGuigan of the Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group said the damage to the area was not limited to the huge cost of the march.
“It would cost that much to bring in another viable route that would take these marches away from Ardoyne. The damage caused is also to community relations. How many millions have been spent to try and improve community relations to then facilitate a sectarian rabble who have refused to engage in dialogue,” he said.
“Taxpayers are paying for a sectarian march to go past an area where those representing these groups won’t even sit down and talk with the residents.”
The NIO said the cost of policing operations was a matter for the chief constable.
A spokeswoman for the PSNI said the cost of the marching season of 2004 for the whole of the North of Ireland was £5.5 million.
“The PSNI does not break down costings for individual parades,” she said.
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
Martin McGuinness
SF rejects IRA heist role and demands evidence
SINN Fein’s Martin McGuinness has angrily rejected the police assessment that the IRA carried out the Northern Bank robbery last month, dismissing the comments as “nothing more than politically-biased allegations”.
Speaking at a press conference in West Belfast, Mr McGuinness said the announcement was just another attempt to undermine the peace process with “not one shred of evidence” from PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde to back up his claims.
“This is more to do with halting the process of change which Sinn Fein has been driving forward than with anything that happened at the Northern Bank,” said the MP for Mid Ulster.
Mr McGuinness said he had “absolutely no idea” who masterminded the massive bank robbery, but insisted that it was not the IRA.
He challenged Mr Orde to produce the evidence that proves the IRA was involved.
“We live in a society where people are innocent until proven guilty. I would like to see the evidence,” he said. “An allegation does not prove guilt in my opinion.”
When he was questioned about the trauma which had been suffered by the bank officials and their families who had been held hostage during the raid, Mr McGuinness said he was “horrified” that any family should suffer such an experience.
He said that Sinn Fein would not condone any such behaviour.
But speaking from New York, Northern Secretary Paul Murphy immediately said that the revelation of IRA involvement in the multi-million Northern bank heist had “virtually destroyed” any chance of political agreement being reached before the next British General Election takes place.
Expressing his disappointment following Mr Orde’s briefing at a press conference held in Belfast, Mr Murphy said the damage to the peace process in the North had been very grave.
The matter had pushed back the efforts which had been made to break the current deadlock until after the election, which is expected to take place during May.
“I think it is unlikely that we will be able to get a resolution along the lines of what we agreed back before Christmas. I do not think that is realistic between now and the election,” he said.
“It is deeply damaging for the process, I think mainly because of the problem of trust and confidence that is necessary between the parties, (which) has been affected by this,” he continued.
Mr Murphy said the announcement had created “enormous difficulties” for the British and Irish governments as “that sort of paramilitary activity flies in the face of the Good Friday Agreement”.
“The feeling I have, which I guess is shared overwhelmingly by the people of Ireland, north and south, is one of great disappointment,” he said.
“We were hoping before Christmas for a real breakthrough, we were nearly there, and this has obviously affected the possibility of that very seriously indeed.”
Mr Murphy rejected any suggestions that the process in Northern Ireland was being undermined by elements within British intelligence.
“I know Hugh Orde does not want to thwart the peace process,” said the Northern Secretary.
“This was a bank robbery. The idea that you invent a bank robbery to stop the peace process is not realistic.
“It is a criminal act, but because it has been committed by the IRA, which has committed itself to the Good Friday Agreement and the process - this goes against the principles of the Good Friday Agreement,” he concluded.
Louise McCall
PSNI
PSNI Campaign Against The Nationalist Community Ongoing
Published: 6 January, 2005
West Belfast Sinn Féin Assembly member Michael Ferguson has branded the ongoing PSNI operation against the republican and nationalist community in North and West Belfast as ‘political in motivation and violent in nature’.
Mr Ferguson said:
“Since Christmas Eve the PSNI have been involved in an ongoing operation against the nationalist and republican community in North and West Belfast. The guise for this campaign has been their investigation into the robbery at the Northern Bank.
“It has involved raids on scores of businesses and homes in the majority of cases without any form of warrant. Health Board and Education Board offices have been raided along with a children’s play group.
“Unsurprisingly nobody has been arrested and nothing linking any of these raids to any robbery has been uncovered. This campaign is not about solving a robbery. It is about pointing the finger at republicans and it is about trying to frustrate efforts to see a comprehensive political deal agreed. This operation is clearly political in motivation and violent in nature and is causing widespread anger within the broad nationalist and republican community.” ENDS.
Sinn Féin: no evidence
Orde produces no evidence for political allegations
Published: 7 January, 2005
Responding to politically biased allegations made today by the PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde linking the IRA to the recent robbery in the Northern Bank in Belfast, Sinn Féin Chief negotiator Martin McGuinness MP said:
“Hugh Orde’s comments today are nothing more than politically biased allegations. He has not produced one scrap of evidence. Within days of the robbery at the Northern Bank, and following media speculation and PSNI briefings, which suggested IRA involvement, I asked the IRA about this and was assured that they were not involved.
” We are witnessing a renewed attempt to undermine the peace process. We need to think long and hard about who is setting this agenda and why? This is more to do with halting the process of change which Sinn Fein has been driving forward than with anything that happened at the Northern Bank.
“Sinn Féin has a substantial electoral mandate achieved at the ballot box. We will resist any attempt to marginalise, criminalise this party.
“We have told both the British and Irish governments that Sinn Féin will not countenance any attempt by the DUP, or by the governments or by any one else, to demonise this party.
” The campaigns to smash Sinn Féin, to criminalise and marginalise the republican struggle all failed. Sinn Féin represents the majority of nationalists in the north. The securocrats and the DUP need to come to terms with this political reality.” ENDS
Omagh
Garda charged in Omagh bomb case
Twenty nine people died in the Real IRA attack
Two Garda officers have been charged with perjury relating to the prosecution of the only man convicted in connection with the 1998 Omagh bomb.
Detectives Liam Donnelly and John Fahy appeared in Dublin District Court.
The charges arise from an investigation following the judgement delivered in the case DPP v Colm Murphy, a Garda statement said.
In 2002 Murphy was jailed for 14 years for conspiring to cause the Real IRA explosion which killed 29 people.
taxi scam
Fake plates in taxi scam
Bogus drivers use black market.
By Deborah McAleese
07 January 2005
Illegal taxi drivers in Northern Ireland are beating the new licensing system by buying counterfeit licence plates on the black market.
It has been claimed that licence plates - made compulsory in November - are readily available at Jonesborough Market in Co Armagh where police raids have targeted para-military and other criminal gangs suspected of a multi-million pound counterfeit trade.
All licensed taxis were ordered to display the new plates by the DoE’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland (DVLNI) to discourage rogue taxi operators.
Under the previous system it was difficult to distinguish between a licensed and unlicensed taxi as the only identifying mark was a disc on the windscreen.
The new system requires vehicles to display the plates at the front and rear, with smaller plates inside.
However, one legitimate Belfast taxi driver said there is a “frightening” number of illegal taxis.
He said bogus plates were readily available at Jonesborough Market and that the scam was pushing insurance costs for legal drivers “through the roof”.
“We are all aware this is going on and it is unfair on legitimate drivers who must pay for their PSV, insurance and taxi licence.
“The public must be made aware that this is going on and make sure they book their taxi with a reputable firm,” he said.
The cost of a PSV for a taxi, which includes the new plates, is £120 while a taxi driver licence is £58.50.
On the black market fake plates and licences can be bought for as little as £20.
The Department of the Environment today admitted it was aware of allegations that forged taxi licence plates could be purchased on the black market.
Since the introduction of taxi plates in November the Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency enforcement section has detected 30 vehicles alleged to be operating unlicensed and unplated.
Further investigations are ongoing to clarify the details of these cases.
