SAOIRSE32

Sunday Life

Heist fallout ‘could split IRA command’

07 February 2005

LAST week’s IRA statement that decommissioning is “off the table” is strategic rather than terminal, senior republicans said last night.

But high-ranking Belfast republicans still believe the Northern Bank heist row could split the IRA command.

They insist that - although highly-placed Provos may have been involved - the £26.5m robbery was NOT sanctioned.

Army council “politicos” are said to be “hopping mad”.

Some are even said to suspect British Intelligence manipulation of republicans involved in the heist - aimed at sabotaging the IRA’s credibility and keeping Sinn Fein out in the political cold.

Said one Belfast republican: “It’s unrealistic to believe that six men and a woman know everything that’s going on in the IRA. Senior OCs on the ground have more direct power than some bigwig army council outsider.”

Sunday Life

UDA probes churchwoman attacks

By Stephen Breen
07 February 2005

LOYALIST godfathers have launched a probe into a series of attacks on a churchwoman who claims she’s on a UDA hit-list.

The investigation was ordered after a car belonging to Ruth Petticrew was petrol-bombed outside her east Belfast home last month.

Ms Petticrew, who runs a ministry in the Shankill, claims she’s been subjected to a campaign of terror, for providing pastoral care to the family of murdered loyalist Alan McCullough.

Feud victim McCullough - a former ally of Johnny Adair - was shot in retaliation for the killing of terrorist leader John ‘Grug’ Gregg.

Ms Petticrew also claims she has received verbal death deaths from members of the UDA.

Said a senior loyalist source: “The ‘brigadiers’ are determined to get to the bottom of this because the recent attack against Ms Petticrew was not sanctioned.

“There is also heavy influence on the UDA from the UPRG, because this is the sort of activity they are trying to take the UDA away from.

“The UDA feels the attacks on Ms Petticrew may be the work of rivals trying to pin the blame on them.

“The UDA will come down hard on whoever was responsible for this attack, and they are also set to issue warnings to their members to keep away from Ms Petticrew.”

Ms Petticrew was unavailable for comment, but recently spoke about the threats against her.

She said: “It was after Alan McCullough’s killing that I was intimidated, and death threats were made verbally by elements of the UDA.

“Three things were said - that my car was going to be destroyed, my property damaged, and my life would be taken.

“These guys mean business. They crossed boundaries to come into east Belfast and do this.

“But I will not be intimidated. I have worked in this community for 14 years and I will not be put off by these tactics.”

Sunday Life

Bangor warning

07 February 2005

A JUDGE warned yesterday that Bangor is becoming a “no-go area” at night.

Mr Justice McLaughlin spoke out as he granted bail to a serving soldier, who admitted kicking a man in the head in a town centre fracas.

The High Court in Belfast was told that two groups of men and women started fighting in Bangor town centre early on Friday, when one of the women “fraternised” with a youth from the other group.

Crown lawyer Charles McKay said the soldier, Glen William James Nelson, 20, went to help a friend who was being attacked, but claimed that Nelson then started to kick his victim “about the head and face”.

Nelson, whose address was given as c/o Palace Barracks in Holywood, is charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Releasing Nelson on bail - on condition that he stay out of Bangor town centre - at night, Mr Justice McLaughlin said: “This kind of disorder is totally unacceptable - whatever the circumstances.”

Sunday Life

Mother of hit-list teen talks of fleeing

By Stephen Breen
07 February 2005

THE worried mum of a 15-year-old girl on a UVF hit-list was last night set to quit Ulster.

Margaret Cromie - whose daughter, Kerrie, was targeted after she identified two gunmen who tried to kill her - told Sunday Life that moving her young family to a secret location in England, was now a “serious option”.

Said Margaret: “Our backs are against the wall because of this whole thing.

“I may have to move from Northern Ireland.

“Why would anyone want to kill a teenager?

“My daughter is no paramilitary and my family have never had any paramilitary links.”

The mum-of-four claims fleeing the province is just one of a number options she is considering as her family comes to terms with their nightmare.

Sunday Life revealed last week how terrified Kerrie has been forced to wear a bullet-proof vest after she was warned that loyalist terrorists were planning to kill her.

The terrorists are determined to silence the teenager after she survived a previous murder-bid - and vowed to give evidence against the gunmen.

Sunday Life met Kerrie and her mum after they decided to go public about their nightmare.

The teenager said the threat against her has nothing to do with the latest feud in north and west Belfast, between the UVF and LVF.

Although Margaret claims that she was told last week that Kerrie was safe by a senior PUP member, she is still “deeply concerned” about her family’s safety.

She claims she was given the assurance over the telephone, but wants to meet a senior PUP representative in person to discuss the threat against her daughter.

Speaking to us from a secret location last night, Margaret said she now fears exile may be the only alternative left to her.

She said: “My daughter has been the target of two shootings, my son was also shot at and it’s clear my family are not safe.

“I can’t even send my young son, Darryl, to school because of all this and he has now been offered home tuition.

“We are still in shock because of this whole nightmare.

“I am seriously considering moving out of Northern Ireland to protect my children.”

She added: “The PUP tell me my daughter is safe and not under threat.

“But, if she is,then why won’t they meet me in a neutral venue, like the City Hall to discuss this?

Lagan Valley DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson also hit out at the threat against the Cromie family.

Said Mr Donaldson: “I am very concerned about the well-being of this family and I have no doubt that they are under threat.

“They have been unable to return to their family home and I am currently trying to get them temporary accommodation.”

sbreen@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

BBC

Five face charges over fire bombs

Five people in County Antrim have been charged with Real IRA membership and possessing explosives.

The charges follow the discovery of three incendiary bombs in Ballymena on Saturday afternoon.

The four men and one woman are expected to appear at a special court in the town on Tuesday.

They will face charges of possessing explosives with intent to endanger life or damage property and membership of the Real IRA.

The charges relate to the discovery of three incendiary bombs at a house in Fisherwick Gardens in the town.

Army technical officers were called to the scene and made the devices safe.

The five people charged are all in their 20s. Another woman, arrested at the time, was released without charge.

Irish Examiner

Adams distances Sinn Féin from robbery

By Michael O’Farrell, Political Reporter
07/02/05

SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams yesterday sought to shift the focus of attention away from the Northern Bank robbery fallout in advance of the publication of the latest International Monitoring Commission’s (IMC) report this week.

Although Mr Adams again denied the December heist was the work of the IRA, the IMC report, which was received by both Governments last week, is expected to finger the IRA and propose some form of punishment against Sinn Féin.

Despite the IMC findings it is not expected that the Government will seek to impose sanctions against Sinn Féin.

Shrugging aside questions as to whether he thought the £26.5m robbery was a crime, Mr Adams was anxious to stress that Sinn Féin would no longer act as an interpreter for the IRA.

“Our willingness to do that in a positive way to provide a conduit has been used and abused,” he said.

However Mr Adams tempered that statement by saying he would, if sensible suggestions are made, continue “to use whatever influence we have to try to bring this peace process to fruition.”

Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week programme, Mr Adams denied that Sinn Féin was shirking from accepting any responsibility for the current impasse following December’s raid and last week’s terse IRA withdrawal of its conditional offer to decommission all its weapons. “I never said that Sinn Féin have all the answers. But Sinn Féin will not be held accountable for the IRA.

“And Sinn Féin will especially not be held accountable for alleged activity by the IRA.”

Although he accused the Irish Government of going off “in a huff”, Mr Adams called on all sides to work on resolving the problems at hand in order to re-establish a viable peace process.

Asked whether the murder of Jean McConville was a crime something controversially denied by Sinn Féin chairman Mitchel McLaughlin Mr Adams again sought to shift focus.

“The focus is to make sure that nobody else is killed. The focus has to be about trying to make sure that all of the horrors that some of us have been lucky enough to survive are not visited on anyone else.”

Mr Adams also called on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to “take charge of the process.”

Also yesterday the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Sean Brady, said the Northern Bank robbery damaged the trust that had been built up throughout the process.

Sinn Féin

Adams - Time to move on

Published: 7 February, 2005

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams speaking in Belfast today said: “It is time Irish politicians got down to the real job of repairing the damage to the peace process and of making progress. It’s time to move on.”

Mr. Adams said:

“The peace process is in severe difficulty. The process came to a shuddering halt in early December when the DUP refused to share power with republicans. That’s the political reality.

“Can a way be found out of the current deteriorating crisis? If the governments and the parties believe this is possible then how can this be achieved?

“Attempts to put the process back together aren’t being helped by mixed messages coming from Irish government ministers. They can’t have it both ways - either the government believes that dialogue is the way to sort out the current mess or it doesn’t. Either they oppose sanctions or they don’t. Either they want to calm the situation or they don’t.

“The accusation which is explicit in all of their statements is that Sinn Féin is not serious about the peace process. This is nonsense and they know it.

“I firmly believe that it is time to move on and republicans are willing to play our part. If the governments want to continue to have a row then Sinn Féin are mandated by our electorate to stand up for them. But when the row is over the outstanding issues will still have to be tackled.

“Republicans are not prepared to allow all of the work and progress of the last decade to be cast aside. The reality is that life for the people of this island, particularly in the north, has been transformed over the last ten years.

“The people of Ireland have put their hope in their political leaders to sort this mess out. Its time Irish politicians stopped attacking each other and got down to the real job of making progress. Its time to move on.

“The issues which negotiations tackled in December are the same issues that we need to find closure on now - implementing the Agreement, sorting out the issue of policing, restoring the political institutions and addressing the issue of armed groups.” ENDS

Sinn Féin

Concern at attempts to undermine Equality Agenda

Published: 7 February, 2005

Sinn Féin Equality Spokesperson, South Down MLA Catríona Ruane has expressed concern that the British government is acquiescing to unionist attempts to “rewrite, redefine and undermine the equality agenda” after NIO British direct rule Minster John Speller announced an extension of the review into labour market statistics under pressure from unionist politicians.

Ms Ruane said:

“Whatever about perception the fact remains that John Speller has buckled to unionists pressure. Sinn Fein is concerned that is the outworking of the long-term strategy of unionists to rewrite, redefine and undermine the equality agenda.

“Any assessment of equality of opportunity must be based on objective fact and objective fact alone.

“The reality is that 10 out of 15 of the most disadvantaged wards are nationalists.

“Within the Catholic community a greater percentage of children live in workless households, more pupils leave school with no qualifications or no GCSE’s. Only 61.2% of the Catholic population of working age are employed compared 71.2% of the Protestant population.

“It is same across many other sphere’s of life from ill health to housing.

“There is a statutory equality duty on government to target resources on the basis of need. That is not being done and will result in the unwarranted and discriminatory skewing of resources even further away from nationalist areas.

“While I recognise that there has been progress in tackling poverty across all communities and many important battles have been won any attempt to target resources on the basis of perception and not on the basis of evidence should be resisted. Representation in the workforce has improved but again Catholics, women and nationalists are still severely underrepresented at higher levels within the civil services where policy decisions are taken, within the judiciary and in many other areas of employment.

“Sinn Féin believes that the British government is not just in default in failing to live up to commitments to tackle inequality both between and within the communities but that they are complicit in undermining the equality agenda.” ENDS

BBC

Loyalist faces murder charge

A Belfast man who fled Northern Ireland with loyalist Johnny Adair’s ‘C’ Company is on trial for murdering a man he called “a friend”.

Wayne Stephen Dowie, 25, appeared in Belfast Crown Court on Monday, accused of the murder of Jonathan Stewart.

Mr Stewart, (22), was shot seven times at a house in Manor Street, north Belfast, on 27 December 2002.

A prosecuting lawyer said Mr Dowie was masked when he allegedly murdered Mr Stewart.

However, he was still identified by two former friends.

He also told trial judge Mr Justice Hart that when Mr Dowie, who lived in the same street, fled Northern Ireland with “a number of well-known personalities - who appeared to give allegience to a man called Johnny Adair” - a man who had previously given him an alibi, retracted it.

The lawyer added that Mr Dowie later claimed the man did so after coming “under pressure from the UDA”.

The court heard that Mr Stewart had been at the house in Manor Street attending an impromptu party, at which Mr Dowie was also a guest.

The lawyer said that he left the party only to allegedly return, masked and armed, and forced his way into the kitchen where he initially shot Mr Stewart once, then stood over him before firing repeatedly into his prone body.

The lawyer said that despite being masked, Mr Dowie was identified by two people.

Mr Dowie was initially arrested three days after the murder, but was released after claiming Mr Stewart was “a friend” and after he had been given an alibi.

He had claimed he had left the party at about 0500 GMT and returned to the house in Manor Street where he lived with another man who initially backed-up his alleged story.

However, he later retracted the alibi.

The trial continues.

RTE News

Ahern fears IMC report will pose difficulties

07 February 2005 15:23

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has said the report by the Independent Monitoring Commission on the Northern Bank raid in Belfast last December may cause some difficulties in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Dermot Ahern made the comments before leaving for the United States, where he will brief the Bush administration on the impasse in the peace process.

Mr Ahern said he will be advising the US authorities that the Irish and British governments’ position is that no party should be excluded from the process.

The Irish Government will consider the IMC report tomorrow. If the commission finds the IRA was responsible for the robbery, it could recommend the imposition of financial sanctions against Sinn Féin.

However, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has made it clear he is opposed to any sanctions being imposed on Sinn Féin.

Belfast Telegraph

Catholics in PSNI double

By Nevin Farrell
07 February 2005

The number of Catholics in the PSNI has almost doubled in the last seven years, according to new figures revealed by a senior SDLP politician today.

Ballymena SDLP councillor Declan O’Loan - a member of Ballymena District Policing Partnership - says a briefing to members in his area revealed the number of Catholics now stands at 16.3%.

That is almost double the number of Catholics - 8.3% - who were in the RUC in 1998.

The previous most recent published figures were in October last year when the Northern Ireland Office revealed there was 15.92% Catholic police membership.

The police have a target of 18.5% Catholic officers by March 2006 and 30% in 2011.

According to the 2001 census, Catholics make up 43.8% of the Northern Ireland population.

IRA2

Lib Dems seek answers over Spicer contract

Tom Griffin
4 February 2005
Irish World

The US Government is facing renewed pressure this week over a $293 million Iraq security contract awarded to mercenary Tim Spicer. Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather has called on the US to respond to concerns raised by the family of Belfast man Peter McBride, who was shot dead by Scots Guards soldiers under Spicer’s command in 1992. The call came as Spicer pulled out of a planned lecture at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London last week, because ofthreatened protests by students.

Teather has written to the US Embassy in London to ask that the Pentagon reply to a submission by Derry-based human rights group the Pat Finucane Centre on behalf of the McBride family.

“There are serious issues here. The Americans should at least have the courtesy to reply to the McBride family,” she told the Irish World last week.

“There are also issues around violations of international law,” the MP added, in a reference to the Arms to Africa Affair, when Spicer’s former company, Sandline International, supplied arms to Sierra Leone in breach of a UN embargo with the tacit approval of Foreign Office officials.

Teather first became involved in the McBride case in 2003, when Kelly McBride stood in the Brent East by-election to highlight the British Army’s retention of her brother’s killers. Teather defeated Labour’s Robert Evans to take the North-West London seat, which has the largest Irish community of any British constituency, and pledged to raise the McBride case at Westminster.

Spicer’s role in the case and his chequered mercenary career have fuelled worldwide controversy since the US Army announced last June that it was awarding his company, Aegis Defence Services, the contract to co-ordinate the work of private security contractors in Iraq.

“As Commanding Officer of the Scots Guards he told a pack of lies about Peter’s murder and dragged his name through the dirt,” Peter McBride’s mother Jean said when she learned of the deal. “God knows what his own private army will do in Iraq.”

A campaign against the Aegis contract launched by Irish-American lobby group, the Irish National Caucus, has earned significant support in Washington. Senators including Ted Kennedy, Hilary Clinton and John Kerry wrote to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last August calling for an investigation.

In a reply to the Senators last November, the director of the US Army Contracting Agency Sandra Sieber, defended Spicer’s role in supporting McBride’s killers, Scots Guardsmen Mark Fisher and James Wright, who each served three years of a life sentence for murder before being released and returned to active duty, serving with their regiment in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

“It is significant that the British Ministry of Defence was apprised of our intention to award the contract to Aegis, and did not object to or advise against the action,” Ms Sieber said.

“The contracting officer was not aware of the allegations subsequently lodged against Mr Spicer in the press at the time of the contract award. However, our post-award review of the facts surrounding these matters did not establish that Mr Spicer’s advocacy on behalf of his former soldiers had any bearing on his or Aegis’s record of integrity or business ethics. I understand that others besides Mr Spicer, including members of the British Government, also advocated for the soldiers’ release from prison. The British Government reviewed the case and found in favour of the soldiers release. Recently, a British Army review board reinstated the soldiers into the British Army.”

The Pat Finucane Centre responded in December with a submission on behalf of the McBride family, which described the Pentagon’s conclusions as “factually inaccurate and flawed on a number of levels.”

“The allegation against Mr Spicer is not that he advocated for the soldiers’ release from prison. The issue is that he opposed their arrest and opposed their being charged with any offence whatsover. In a sworn affidavit and again in his autobiography Spicer has sought to portray an entirely fictitious and untruthful version of the events
preceding, during and following the actual murder. It is essential to point out that the version of events as described by Spicer, which constituted the defence offered by the soldiers, has been rejected by the courts and described as a ‘concoction of lies’ by the trial judge. The original judgement has been upheld in subsequent appeals.” Sarah Teather also criticised the American response last week and called on the US to address the issues raised in the Pat Finucance Centre’s submission. “Their defence is indefensible,” she said. They have actually got some of the details wrong. The British Army have not reinstated the two soldiers. They were actually never suspended, completely contrary to Queen’s regulations. ”

The British Government has distanced itself from Spicer’s venture in Iraq. In a statement in July, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Britain was not a party to the contract, and had no involvement in its negotiation. However, the Aegis deal has been widely seen as a sop to British dissatisfaction with the distribution of commercial opportunities in Iraq.

Evidence of continuing links between Spicer and the British Government has emerged in the wake of last March’s failed coup plot in Equatorial Guinea, which was led by Spicer’s former Sandline colleague, Simon Mann.

Spicer reportedly told the Sunday Times that he was the person referred to by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw when he admitted in December that the British Government had advance information about the impending coup attempt, which the Foreign Office had discussed with “an individual formerly connected with a British private
military company.”

“The individual concerned claimed no knowledge of the plans,” Straw told the House of Commons in a statement.

Straw said the Foreign Office was opposed to the coup attempt. However, the revelation, following initial denials, that officials knew about the plot has fuelled allegations of British involvement.

Irelandclick.com

Ken Livingstone to confront Lisburn Council on Policies

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone has agreed to highlight the issue of discrimination at Lisburn City Council.

The decision has been welcomed by Sinn Féin’s leader on Lisburn Council, Paul Butler, who wrote to Mr Livingstone raising the issues of equality, discrimination and power sharing at the controversial council.

Lisburn City Council has been lambasted in recent years for failing to elect nationalists to senior positions within the council.

“Once again the spotlight will be on Lisburn Council over its appalling record of discrimination and exclusion of nationalists, this time by the Mayor of London,” said Councillor Butler.

Sinn Féin recently sent the Mayor of London a copy of its dossier: Lisburn A History of Discrimination. The dossier will also be sent to the British and Irish governments, the Equality Commission and the Human Rights Commission.

In a written reply to Councillor Butler, Mr Livingstone said, “I would be happy to raise the matters outlined in the dossier with Lisburn Council’s Mayor and Chief Executive. I fully support the principles of equality set out in the Good Friday Agreement.”

Chris Donnelly, Sinn Fein’s Killultagh representative said that unionists on Lisburn Council need to share power with Sinn Féin and end discrimination.

“However, if the stance adopted by DUP politicians across the North at local government level in Lisburn, Ballymena, Castlereagh and Larne is anything to go by, unionism remains absolutely opposed to power sharing with nationalists.”

Paul Butler said that nationalists are right to demand clarity and certainty from the DUP in particular over power sharing.

“We demand immediate action from the DUP and UUP in Lisburn – either prove your commitment to power-sharing is genuine by acting at local government level now, or stand exposed as unreconstructed bigots,” said Councillor Butler.

Journalist:: Staff Reporter

unison.ie

Omagh relatives vow to fight on after latest legal setback

11:28 Monday February 7th 2005

Relatives of the Omagh bomb victims have vowed to continue with their civil action against five men they believe are responsible for the 1998 atrocity.

The Special Criminal Court today rejected the families' request for access to transcripts and books of evidence relating to the trials of the five Real IRA suspects.

The families wanted access to the documents to aid their €20m case against the men, which is being taken due to a lack of criminal prosecutions in the Omagh investigation.

Speaking afterwards, Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the bombing, said he was not surprised by the outcome.

"This seems to be the history of Omagh," he said. "When we get near to getting something, it seems to fall away.

"There are people in Dublin and London who are determined that the families are not going to be allowed to get to the truth of Omagh."

Irelandclick.com

Mayoral Diaries
Resurgence of the GAA

I recall talking to Alec Maskey when he was Mayor of Belfast about the impact the post was having on him midway through his term.

He said what he liked most about being Mayor was seeing the people of Belfast from many different angles, meeting them at their work, at leisure, enjoying sporting occasions and just being able to be with them and help them and validate the work they are involved in.

It’s like that for me as well. With six months left before a new Deputy Mayor is elected one of my main interests has been working with the GAA.

The GAA is a marvellous organisation. It plays a huge part in the lives of the young and not so young across this city and across the country.

It gives people who participate in the sport and those who are on the terraces or watching the TV a great sense of pride in themselves and in their local club or county team.

The GAA instills in boys, girls and teenagers a routine which keeps them safe and gives them a purpose, a role in the very early stages of their lives. This stands to them in later years.

So I am glad to say I have been able to make, in my official capacity, a little contribution to the resurgence of the GAA in this city.

In the scheme of GAA plans it isn’t a lot, but I for one have taken great encouragement from the warm response I got when attending GAA-related events over the last six months.

I am particularly interested in the Sean Martin’s Club in the Short Strand. It is named after an IRA volunteer from the district who lost his life while protecting others in an accidental explosion in Andersons Street in 1940.

It was formed by a group of political prisoners in Crumlin Road gaol in the 1940s and played a prominent part in the life of the district for some 50 years.

The club ran into some difficulties in the early 90s but has bounced back again.

They had three great seasons with the under-12 and under-14 teams and they went on to win the under-16 title and won honours for St Joseph’s.
I was with one of the oldest clubs in Belfast when they celebrated their 75th anniversary, St John’s.

My mother’s people are from the area around Corrigan Park. I remember as a kid visiting relatives there and seeing goats in Corrigan Park. Their job was to munch the grass to its required height. They now have a great clubhouse and pitch and tournaments involving teams of various ages are a regular feature of their annual programme.

One of the most significant developments which we must not begrudge them for is the ‘discovery’ by the BBC and UTV of Gaelic games.

It’s great to see the live coverage and the chat shows dedicated to covering the sport. But a casual look at the film footage on RTE from days gone by, as far back as you care to go, and you’ll see tens of thousands in Croke Park.
Gaelic games have always attracted a huge following, especially the grand occasions. So fair play to all involved and long life to the sport.

Irelandclick.com

Women drivers! The black hacks need you

Last Thursday’s job advertisement in the Andersonstown News from the West Belfast Taxi Association inviting applications for new drivers paid particular attention to women drivers.
Of the Association’s 250 drivers, just three are women. Speaking about the Association’s moves to encourage women to take to the road as black taxi drivers, current taxi driver Nicolette Brown says she would be delighted to have more female colleagues – not least because, in her opinion, women are more patient and therefore better suited to the work of a black taxi driver.
Nicolette has worked as a taxi driver for 17 years in total. She joined the West Belfast Taxi Association just over 10 years ago and cites the political climate at the time as her main reason for pursuing a career with the black hacks.
“It was dangerous driving private taxis at the time, going to different areas, and there were that many road blocks, it just became too much bother. So it was just easier going up and down your own road,” says Nicolette, who hasn’t looked back since.
Nicolette comes from a family of taxi drivers. She balances her busy job with bringing up her eight-year-old daughter who loves the fact that her mum is a black taxi driver, but would rather she drove a Barbie-pink taxi.
Laughing about having just had her roots done, and drawing attention to the fact that her nail polish didn’t quite match the colour of her cap, Nicolette can nevertheless hold her own during the tirades of playful banter she is subjected to from the male-dominated fleet.
“When I started on the road I found it hard with all the codes of conduct you have to abide by,” says Nicolette.
“I kept getting it wrong, it was so embarrassing and as a woman you stick out.
“I cried my eyes out for days when I started. It was horrible getting shouted at or honked at,” recalls Nicolette, who says that her male colleagues now show her great respect.
“All the guys are dead on, and if you’re ever stopped on the road, they will stop and make sure you’re alright, make sure there’s nothing wrong with you.
“I actually think they’re more accommodating if you’re a woman. I don’t like getting my hands dirty you see,” laughs Nicolette again, “so I just open the bonnet up now and ask one of the guys what they think.”
Nicolette dreamed of a career as a paramedic when she was a young girl. Things turned out a little differently, though, but she says she very much enjoys the benefits of being her own boss and enjoys the craic with the people who get in and out of her taxi.
And she says the people who join her on her trips up and down the road are very accepting of a woman taxi driver. “Sometimes they’re a bit surprised,” says Nicolette, “but they like it.
“In my opinion women seem to relate to people better than men do. Women have more patience with people than men.
“When people are struggling in and out with their kids and their mesages, you know yourself what it’s like and you have that bit of sympathy.
“The West Belfast Taxi Association needs more women on the road, I think, to attract more women.
“People in my taxi get in and say, ‘Are you only new?’ so maybe if people saw more women on the road, they would be more encouraged to get involved themselves.”
Steven Long, General Manager of the West Belfast Taxi Association, agrees that women would bring a more patient approach to mothers and families using the taxis and he’s very keen for women to apply for the advertised posts.
“Clearly, women are very badly under-represented in the West Belfast Taxi Association,” admits Stephen.
“We are very anxious to increase the number of women driving our taxis. The roles they play as wives and mothers make them very conscious of the needs of other people, especially women who use the taxis with children and prams and so on.”
“The job is also a flexible one that may suit women in relation to picking children up from school or collecting them and there have even been examples of where people have shared vehicles and this is also a possibility.
“Men in the West Belfast Taxi Association have always reacted positively to women members and are often willing to lend more assistance to them.
“Women have always been very accepted and very appreciated and I hope to see a big response to the advertisement,” added Stephen.

Journalist:: Ciara McGuigan

Irelandclick.com

The world of dance arrives in Belfast

Belfast is gearing itself up to welcome the prestigious All-Ireland Irish Dancing Championship to the Waterfront Hall today.

Over 50 years have passed since the last time the competition was held in Ireland’s second city and despite this lengthy period, the organisers expect it to be a success – especially since the city so successfully hosted the World Championships of 2000 and 2004 at the Waterfront.
Seamus O’Shea, chairman of the organising body An Coimisiún, says he is confident Belfast will live up to its reputation for drawing large crowds to these events.
“The championship runs through a set format, and everyone knows what to expect by now. But what changes each year is the local support. In the last two competitions held in Belfast there was a large following from the public, not just the participants and their families.”
Boys and girls from nine years and up will be participating in the event which will bring dancers and their families from all over Ireland and beyond to Belfast.
“Belfast is very well represented in this competition as always. Traditionally the teachers of the host town will maximise the amount of local dancers they can enter. Given that the competition is based in Belfast they will have a very big contingent this year,” said Seamus.
“There have been unsuccessful campaigns in the past for the all-Ireland just to be limited to the Irish, although the dancers of Britain have always been represented. There will be dancers from the US and Canada and other far-flung places. The airfares are very attractive for the competitors at this time of year. In fact, less than 60 per cent of the competitors generally come from Ireland. Not necessarily Australia as they normally wait for the World Championships.”
•The six-day dancing event swings into action today. Tickets cost £10 and can be bought at the door.

Journalist:: Staff Reporter

Irelandclick.com

Woman suffering from crippling disease will have to wait another year and more before she can get drugs that would transform her life

A West Belfast woman who suffers from crippling rheumatoid arthritis has called on the Department of Health to make more funding available for drugs that would transform her life and the lives of other sufferers.
Mary Magerr from Hazelwood Avenue has suffered from the condition for the past two and a half years. The disease affects her joints and she says she has been robbed of a normal life. The 46-year-old has been placed on a waiting list for the drugs Remicade and Enbrel which would ease her condition. She has been on the waiting list for the past seven months and expects that it will be another year and five months before she is given the drugs.
Remicade and Enbrel are specialist medicines known as anti-TNF drugs. They are used mainly for treatment of severe rheumatoid arthritis. The drugs cost around £10,000-£12,000 per patient per year for life.
There is a growing demand for anti-TNF treatment. Figures recently provided by Health and Social Services Boards indicate that around 340 patients are currently on treatment in the North and 440 are waiting to start treatment.
“I started to notice about two and a half years ago that the joints in my hands were becoming deformed and I was getting aches and pains throughout my joints and my joints were very red and very swollen,” said Mary.
“I went to my doctor and he referred me to the Early Arthritis Clinic in the Royal. They diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis and that’s when the treatments started from there.”
Mary has been treated with a number of drugs, all of which have proved unsuccessful in easing her condition. She has been treated with Methorexate and she is currently on Distamine. Sufferers are only recommended for Remicade and Enbrel when other treatments have failed.
“I have been on the waiting list seven months,” said the mother-of-one. “I haven’t been able to work for the past two and a half years. I was a legal assistant and I had to come out on the long-term sick. I haven’t been able to physically go to work.
“I don’t really have a life. It is in my fingers and both sides of my shoulders and it’s in my knees and basically it’s hit nearly all of the joints in my body.”
Mary said that the disease has affected almost every aspect of her life.
“If you can imagine it being really hard to do every single thing that you use your hands for, it is also difficult to walk,” said Mary.
“ I have absolutely no energy levels. I wake up in the mornings and I feel like I have run a marathon even though I haven’t even got out of bed yet.
“There is very little that I can do anymore because with the chronic pain and the way that the joints are deformed, I end up going to bed about nine o’clock at night. I enjoyed doing things like going to art classes, I can’t do things like that any more. I enjoyed my work, getting out and socialising. My whole identity has been taken away from me, I have just been left here to sit and bend,” she added.
Mary attends both the Royal Victoria Hospital and Musgrave Park Hospital for treatment, and she had warm words of praise for the medical staff.
“The Royal, where I go every week, and Musgrave, where I go every couple of months are fantastic. I can’t say a bad word about them, but at the end of the day the money isn’t in the pot for these drugs.”
Mary is hoping that by highlighting her case she can draw attention to the issue.
“I have written to the Health Minister Angela Smith and to Tony Blair and I’m hoping that local MPs and MLAs will put some pressure on the Department of Health so that the people on the waiting lists can be treated,” she added.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety said, “It is for the Health and Social Services Boards, who commission health and social services, to prioritise how available funding is used, taking into account local circumstances, demands and pressures in their individual areas..
“In 2002/03 an additional £3million was allocated to Health and Social Services Boards for the provision of anti-TNF and other specialist medicines in Northern Ireland.
“This funding was made recurrent and uplifted annually for inflation. In 2004/05, the Department included the provision of anti-TNF treatment for an additional 100 patients in its Priorities for Action 2004/05 and allocated a further £1million to Boards for this purpose,” she added.
A spokesman for the Eastern Health and Social Services Board told the Andersonstown News: “We have every sympathy with patients with rheumatoid arthritis which is an extremely painful condition.
“Waiting lists are developed in close consultation with consultants at hospitals. It is important that the patients with the greatest clinical need get these drugs and this is decided in close association with consultants,” he added.
A spokeswoman for the Royal Group of Hospitals said, “Ideally none should have to wait for treatment, but where the resource is limited we must give priority to patients in greatest clinical need. Our staff will continue to do their best to ensure that Mrs Magerr receives as much support as possible.”

Journalist:: Roisin McManus

Irelandclick.com

Attack condemned

A house in Glengormley was attacked with breeze blocks in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The house on the Mill Road near the Abbey Centre shopping complex was targeted around 6am while a woman was sleeping upstairs. The female victim and her husband, who wish to remain anonymous, said their house has been attacked at least half a dozen times over the past five years by paint bombs, petrol bombs and gunfire. The last time they said their house was attacked was November 2003.
“It’s an ongoing thing up here,” the woman said. “I think this is the sixth time we’ve been hit. This time round, we were lucky that they didn’t break the window. It’s toughened glass and God only know what would have happened if they had’ve got through.
“My neighbour heard them first. I was sleeping upstairs and I didn’t hear a thing. She said she got up when she heard the first bang she shouted out the window at them. She said she saw one guy in our front garden with his arms raised and about to hit our window again. She shouted at him to go away and he hit the window one more time. His mate was in a car, revving the engine with the door open. He hit the window again, made a move to run, slipped and fell and then jumped into the car.”
Speaking after the attack the homeowner said he thought the attack was very determined.
“This was quite a determined attack. They obviously came prepared, and seemed determined to break the glass,” the man said.
“It’s a sad thing, but we’re used to this kind of stuff. This house has been in the family for over 30 years and unfortunately these kind of attacks are starting to happen again.”
A spokesperson for the PSNI confirmed the attack and said inquiries were continuing. Newtownabbey councillor Briege Meehan said the attack was sectarian.
“Sinn Féin utterly condemns the attack on a house at Mill Road. These cowardly thugs have terrorised these families at the bottom of Mill Road and I call on the leadership of the UDA to call a halt to these despicable sectarian attacks on the nationalist people of Bawnmore.”

Journalist:: Staff Reporter

BBC

NI army dead may exceed Korean war

The number of British soldiers who died during the Troubles in Northern Ireland could exceed those killed in the Korean War, a veterans’ group has said.

Official Ministry of Defence statistics do not include those who took their own lives.

A report in Monday’s Daily Telegraph said the true number of those who died may be 30% higher than the Ministry of Defence total of 763.

This would bring the actual total who died to more than 1,000.

The Northern Ireland Veterans’ Association said at least 45 soldiers have taken their own lives since 1984 and 100 or more took their lives during the conflict.

The organisation’s Steven Jones said the high suicide rate could be blamed on the easy access to firearms and the stresses of an operational tour.

“During my three tours I knew of at least five men who took their lives. There were also a lot of suicides when blokes got back from the tours,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

“Soldiers were under a lot of pressure and there was no real recreation time. Also, the appropriate psychological training was not given before or after the tours.”

‘Memorial plan’

The association was “100% behind the memorial”, he said.

“People in Britain need to be educated about the sacrifice made by soldiers who fell during the longest-running conflict for the British army.”

The new estimated figure emerged following a government-backed proposal to erect a memorial to every soldier, sailor and airman who died during the Troubles.

The National Memorial Committee has been formed to consult relatives of dead servicemen and regimental associations before unveiling a memorial plan by the autumn.

In September 2003, more than 800 servicemen and women murdered during the Troubles were remembered at a special service in England.

The Ulster Ash Grove, which is part of a national memorial in Staffordshire, is a permanent “living” tribute to members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the armed forces and prison officers who were killed.

The centre-piece of the memorial is a three-metre tall pillar of Mourne Granite, surrounded by six boulders taken from the six counties in Northern Ireland and arranged to symbolise a map of the province.