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BBC

Ulster Unionists delay manifesto

David Trimble’s party will launch its manifesto on Wednesday

The Ulster Unionist Party has delayed its election manifesto launch after the home of one of its Assembly members was raided by police.

Strategists felt the party’s policies, could be “overshadowed” by the money laundering investigation.

East Belfast MLA Michael Copeland confirmed allegations had been made against him, but stressed that he was not guilty of any wrong-doing.

The party leadership opted to move the launch to Wednesday - a 48 hour delay.

A UUP spokesman said: “We would want the focus of our manifesto launch to be on our positive policies.

“In the current circumstances the event would have undoubtedly been overshadowed by the ongoing police investigation.”

He added: “We wish to focus on clearing this matter up first.”

Bank statements

Mr Copeland’s house and offices were searched last week by detectives involved in an inquiry that has already led to charges against a leading estate agent and an ousted loyalist paramilitary boss.

Computer equipment, credit card and bank statements were taken as part of the investigation.

The raids came a fortnight after ousted Ulster Defence Association leader Jim Gray, 47, was arrested by police involved in the money laundering inquiry.

The loyalist has been charged with possessing and concealing property and his girlfriend has been accused of 16 counts of laundering cash.

Philip Johnston, who runs a chain of six estate agencies across Belfast, has also been charged in connection with the investigation.

RTÉ News

No IRA statement before election says Adams

**Audio link on site

17 April 2005 21:32

The Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams, has said he does not expect the IRA to respond to his call to give up their armed struggle, before the British Elections on 5 May.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s This Week programme, Mr Adams said it was a matter of getting the IRA to take itself out of the equation.

He said that while the timing of the statement was unfortunate, he rejected assertions that his statement was an election stunt and he said that this initiative was bigger than the election.

Mr Adams said that the way forward, as he saw it, was through democratic, peaceful and political negotiations.

He said he was calling on the IRA to cease all activities and complete disarmament in a verifiable manner in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Adams was speaking for the first time since he called on the IRA to take courageous initiatives to achieve their aims by purely political and democratic activity.

Adams brands McDowell a ‘racist’

Gerry Adams has branded the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, a ‘racist’.

The comments are the latest in a series of clashes between the Sinn Féin leader and the Progressive Democrats.

Mr Adams was speaking in Belfast ahead of a visit to the city by Minister McDowell tomorrow.

The Sinn Féin President said Mr McDowell was ‘a racist minister for accusations’ and said his visit to an SDLP meeting in south Belfast tomorrow would act as an incentive to republicans to come out and vote Sinn Féin in the forthcoming elections.

Mr Adams said the Minister had deported mothers to Nigeria while their children were still here and he had deported a plane-load of people to Africa.

When asked if this made the Minister a racist, Mr Adams replied ‘absolutely’ and said ‘there was no other description for it’.

Yesterday Mr Adams accused the Minister for Foreign Affairs of overstepping his responsibilities and interfering in the North’s election campaign by visiting the SDLP MP Eddie McGrady in his constituency earlier this week.

RTE News

Trimble calls for cross-community rule

17 April 2005 17:18

The Ulster Unionist leader has called for the creation of a cross-community administration in Northern Ireland, based on, what he called, the centrist parties from the unionist and nationalist communities.

Speaking on BBC television, David Trimble said Sinn Féin and the DUP, the two biggest parties in the last Assembly elections, had failed to deliver a political settlement and should be consigned to a period of opposition.

He urged Northern voters to support his own party and the SDLP in next month’s Westminster elections.

Times Online

**Via News Hound

Relatives sue taoiseach over Monaghan bomb inquiry

Enda Leahy
April 17, 2005

photo from Irish Abroad

RELATIVES of the victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings are suing the taoiseach and the attorney- general for denying them a full public inquiry into the 1974 atrocities.

The group has subpoenaed Bertie Ahern and Rory Brady, saying that they breached the victims’ rights under the Irish constitution and the European convention on human rights.

Desmond Doherty, the group’s lawyer, said: “When governments offer any sort of private inquiry they are usually trying to hide something. My clients believe that nothing less than a full public inquiry will do because you cannot compromise on the truth.

“They have been treated, as they have said themselves, like lepers by successive governments over the years, and it is appalling that they continue to be treated in such a way. Our clients’ position has been well documented with the taoiseach’s department, the Oireachtas and the coroner’s court and now before the High Court.”

The victims and relatives of victims are being represented by Michael Mansfield, the barrister who represented the Birmingham Six and the families of Bloody Sunday victims.

Article 2 of the convention, the right to life, is interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) also to confer the right to a public inquiry involving the family of victims in certain circumstances.

The government is defending the case and denies any requirement under human rights law to establish a public investigation into the bombings. “We’re about to enter the discovery phase of the case, which our clients are looking forward to because they’re keen to know what documentation the government is going to produce to seek to deny their right to a public inquiry,” said Doherty.

The bombings, believed to have been carried out by loyalist extremists, killed 33 people. It has been suggested that the terrorists may have been helped by the British security forces.

Three car bombs exploded in Dublin city centre on Parnell Street, Talbot Street and South Leinster Street. Nobody has ever been arrested or prosecuted.

A commission of inquiry last year under Justice Henry Barron criticised both the garda and RUC investigations at the time and the Fine Gael government of the day for its handling of the case. The Barron report found that forensic evidence gathered by the gardai and sent to an RUC lab in Belfast disappeared, as did garda intelligence files relating to the case. The garda investigation was wound down weeks after the bombings and important clues were ignored, he said.

Edward O’Neill, whose father was killed in front of him in Parnell Street and who still carries shrapnel in his neck, said that he looked forward to the days in court.

“It’s a sad state of affairs that citizens of this country have to go to the High Court to force our elected representatives to protect the rights they should have protected all along,” said O’Neill.

The ECHR refused to comment on the case but confirmed that the legal basis for such a challenge had been established in Northern Ireland.

Hugh Jordan, from Belfast, won a case under article 2 of the human rights convention claiming the right to a proper investigation into the shooting of his son by police under an alleged “shoot-to-kill” policy in Northern Ireland.

Finian McGrath, an independent TD who analysed the Barron report, said: “This was the greatest mass murder in the state since the start of the Troubles and included a pregnant woman and her unborn child.

“I listened to credible witnesses and every one of them in their submissions asked for a public inquiry, yet the government hasn’t done it. There’s a can of worms to be opened over this issue and we’re going to have to face it.”

News Hound

Top politicians likely to be called as witnesses in Nelson inquiry

(by Suzanne Breen, Sunday Tribune)

Key security and political figures are to called as witnesses at the public inquiry into the murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson.

The inquiry, which opens in Craigavon Civic Centre, Co Armagh, on Tuesday, is expected to run for over a year. It will consider allegations that security force elements colluded in her murder through acts of omission or commission.

The inquiry team, headed by retired High Court judge Sir Michael Morland, has yet to announce a witness list.

However, a human rights’ group told the Sunday Tribune it will most likely include ex-RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan and former Northern Secretary, Mo Mowlam.

The North’s former security minister, Adam Ingram, is also expected to be called. Human rights’ organisations had written to all three, warning that police officers had allegedly made death threats against Nelson, and that her life was in danger.

Campaigners claim neither the police nor British government took adequate steps to protect her. Nelson (40) was killed when a bomb, triggered by a mercury tilt switch, exploded under her car in March 1999.

The murder was claimed by the fringe loyalist group, the Red Hand Defenders, which had previously never made anything more sophisticated than a pipe bomb.

The murder gang is believed to have included two Special Branch informers and a then serving British soldier.

Nelson clashed with the authorities when representing Garvaghy Road residents, Robert Hamill’s family, and prominent local republicans.

Nelson’s brother, Eunan Magee, told the Sunday Tribune his family was approaching the inquiry with “hope rather than faith”.

Representatives from the Government, British-Irish Rights Watch, and the North’s leading human rights’ group, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), will attend Tuesday’s hearing.

British-Irish Rights’ Watch director, Jane Winter, said: “I expect Ronnie Flanagan, Mo Mowlam, and Adam Ingram to be called as witnesses.

“Ronnie Flanagan was dismissive when we wrote to him highlighting the dangers facing Rosemary. We wrote to Mo Mowlam several times and never received any meaningful response.

“There appears to have been a complete lack of interest in Rosemary’s situation by police and government. Nobody lifted a finger to help her. It will be interesting to hear the explanations given.”

The CAJ’s Maggie O’Connor said: “Rosemary Nelson was a valued member of the CAJ executive. We hope that her family will finally receive justice through this inquiry.”

After Tuesday’s opening, the tribunal will adjourn for around six months during which it will continue to gather documents and take witness statements.

It has the power to subpoena witnesses and compel the disclosure of documents. Bar exceptional circumstances, proceedings will be in public.

Nelson’s family have “full participant status” and their lawyers should be able to question key witnesses.

Sir Michael’s co-tribunal members are Dame Valerie Strachan, former Chairman of the Board of Customs and Excise, and Sir Anthony Burden, former Chief Constable of South Wales Police.

Despite their establishment backgrounds, British-Irish Rights’ Watch praised their actions: “So far, they’ve done a thorough and fair job, consulting widely. But we won’t really know how good they are until we’ve witnessed them fully in operation and seen their final report.”

April 17, 2005
________________

This article appears in the April 17, 2005 edition of the Sunday Tribune.

Newshound

Foyle — the last battleground for the heart of nationalism?

(Seamus McKinney, Irish News)

With the Westminster contest under way, Seamus McKinney considers one of the key battlegrounds for nationalism: the Foyle constituency.

The contest between SDLP leader Mark Durkan and Sinn Féin’s Mitchel McLaughlin for the Foyle seat will be one of the most important in the Westminster election.

Following the retirement from politics of former party leader and Nobel laureate John Hume, his heir simply must win to secure his political future.

The stakes could not be higher. If Mr Durkan fails to hold the traditional Hume seat, it will undoubtedly raise questions over his leadership and, thereafter, a major re-examination of his party.

Likewise, the seat is crucial for Sinn Féin. While Sinn Féin is the largest nationalist party in the north, it could be argued it cannot totally claim the crown until it has Derry.

The city has traditionally been a gauge of voting trends within nationalism.

The growth of Sinn Féin in recent elections has been reflected in results in the city. Since it first took its seats in the mid 1980s, Sinn Féin has grown steadily in the Foyle constituency.

Former SDLP leader John Hume held the seat from the establishment of the constituency in 1983. In the last Westminster election in 2001, he took 50.2% of the vote while Sinn Féin’s Mr McLaughlin came in second with 26.6%.

But by the 2003 assembly election, Sinn Féin had closed the gap significantly, winning 32% of the vote to the SDLP’s 36%.

There is a consensus among business and other figures in Derry that if the SDLP can get its vote out on May 5, it will hold the seat this time… but it will be close.

On the doorsteps, election workers claim they are receiving a good response. Sinn Féin says its candidate is being warmly welcomed in areas where only six or seven years ago, doors were slammed in the faces of Sinn Féin canvassers.

The party claims Mr McLaughlin’s controversial assertion that the murder of Jean McConville was not a “crime” has not been a factor on the doorsteps.

Likewise, the SDLP claims its man is opening up new seams of hitherto undiscovered SDLP voters, while also reviving the core vote.

On Wednesday of this week, Sinn Féin took the unusual step of unveiling a constituency manifesto in a slick launch chaired by Cavan/Monaghan TD Caoimhin O Caolain and featuring members of every level of elected forum on the island.

Mr McLaughlin believes there is an established trend towards Sinn Féin.

“Some constituencies have long standing histories of republicanism, some going back to the United Irishmen era of the 18th century,” he says.

“Derry has the other tradition, of constitutional nationalism. What has been happening then has been remarkable and even more significant.

“If you look at west Belfast and Tyrone and south Armagh, these were republican areas but we had a small relatively isolated republican tradition which has just grown stronger and stronger.”

While he admits the Robert McCartney murder is being raised on the doorsteps, the candidate claims it is in the context of people praising the way Sinn Féin responded to requests for help.

Unsurprisingly, SDLP leader Mr Durkan does not share Mr McLaughlin’s view. He acknowledges that next month’s poll is an important one for him personally and for the party.

“Derry is an important place politically. It has always been a positive and progressive place politically and it will be declaring that again by how it votes,” he says.

Mr Durkan claims the key issue on the doorsteps is a desire to get back to devolved government and the Good Friday Agreement.

Political observers believe the Westminster race will be close fought.

Derry accountant and well known electoral number cruncher Gerry Murray believes the 2003 assembly election provides a closer indication of strengths and weaknesses than any other poll. This is because the SDLP vote in that election did not hold the huge John Hume personal vote.

Based on this, and on both parties getting their full core votes out on May 5, he believes there will be about 2,500 and 3,000 votes between Sinn Féin and the SDLP, with Mr Durkan winning.

He believes it will be “Durkan by a nose”.

Likewise, Pat McArt, editor of the Derry Journal believes the residue of the Hume years will provide a huge boost for Mr Durkan.

“Had it been in November when everything was going Sinn Féin’s way, it would have been a lot closer, but with the [Northern] bank and all the other things, Durkan will more than likely hold on. It would be a disaster for him if he didn’t,” he says.

Given the closeness of the poll, it will all come down to who gets their vote out on the day. Sinn Féin has traditionally had an impressive machine, able to call on huge help.

The SDLP has overhauled itself and its party workers are buoyed up by an influx of new members. They believe they will turn out the faithful.

It could all come down to what the weather is like on May 5 and who can call on the most cars to transport voters. But most observers agree that a high turnout will favour the SDLP.

The DUP is to field assembly member, William Hay, while the Ulster Unionist Party has put forward pro-Trimble candidate, Errol Storey.

April 17, 2005
________________

This article appeared first in the April 15, 2005 edition of the Irish News.

Sinn Féin

Adams - Where Was Dermot Ahern When Short Strand and Ardoyne Were Under Siege?

Published: 17 April, 2005

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has rejected Irish Minister Dermot Ahern’s defence of his electioneering in South Down last week and has criticised the Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s intervention on behalf of the SDLP in South Belfast tomorrow.

Mr. Adams said:

“Contrary to Minister Ahern‚s lame protestations I have no objection to government Ministers coming north.In fact as he knows I have lobbied for Ministers to be involved in all aspects of life in the six counties. It is good to remind them that the nation does not stop at the border. For example, Minister Ahern could usefully spend an afternoon in the militarised zone of South Armagh. And when Ardoyne, Short Strand and Garvaghy Rd were under siege the presence of Ministers would have been very welcome.

“I merely raise the fact that until now while all the southern parties have electioneered against Sinn Féin, government Ministers avoided such blatant interference. Perhaps I touched a soft spot.” ENDS

Sunday Life

Little Laura’s chance for life

By Stephen Breen
17 April 2005

Baby Laura, the little Romanian orphan who’s come to Ulster for a life-saving operation, was brought to the province by the Ballynoe Romania Team in Downpatrick and taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital last week, after flying into Belfast.

Charity workers Francie Toner and Kevin O’Shea have been fighting for a year to bring Laura (2) to Northern Ireland.

Laura suffers from the rare heart condition, ventricular septal defect.

The charity workers’ prayers were answered when, during a visit to Laura’s hometown of Barolt in January, they were told by Romanian doctors that she could finally make the trip.

But they were also warned that, unless she received the op in the RVH, she would not be alive this time next year.

Previous attempts to arrange Laura’s journey were frustrated by Romanian red tape, as the child’s parents were Hungarian.

Doctors at the RVH last week carried out a battery of tests on Laura, who has also suffered from anaemia and malnourishment, in the past year.

The charity workers have been visiting Romania for three years and have undertaken a range of projects in schools, orphanages and villages across the country.

When the workers were shown Laura in January 2004 and told of her critical condition, they vowed to do their best to help her.

Now that the little girl has finally arrived in the province, they are hopeful her life can be saved.

Said Francie: “We’re just so glad that we’ve finally got Laura to the Royal - we’ve waited a long time for this.

“It’s still early days, and the doctors are still doing their tests. We don’t know what date they will be operating on Laura.

“Time is of the essence here, and every single second counts. We are going to take each day as it comes and work very closely with the hospital.”

He added: “We are just so grateful to everyone who contributed to our campaign to bring Laura over here - the support has been tremendous.

“We’ve waited for a year for this visit to happen, but we still have a long way to go.

“We are dealing with a little girl’s life here. We are all just praying that the operation is successful.”

• Little Laura’s journey to Northern Ireland is set to feature on an upcoming Stephen Nolan show on BBC NI.

Sunday Life

Stakeknife sued

Family of ‘nutting squad’ victim to bring private prosecution against Scap

Exclusive by Chris Anderson
17 April 2005

Scappaticci

THE parents of a Co Armagh man ‘executed’ by the IRA are poised to sue outed Army agent Freddie Scappaticci.

Pat and Irene Dignam say they are planning a private prosecution against ex IRA hardman Scappaticci (aka agent Stakeknife), who they believe was involved in the torture and brutal murder of their son, John, in 1992, while working for the security services.

The 32-year-old dad-of-two from Portadown was abducted by the IRA’s notorious internal security unit, known as the nutting squad, in June that year.

His body was found a week later, dumped on a lonely border road in South Armagh.

The IRA released an audio tape of Dignam admitting his involvement with the intelligence services.

Pat and Irene Dignam believe their son’s murder could, and should, have been prevented.

The couple said they believed the intelligence services sacrificed John to protect the Army’s top IRA agent, Scappaticci, who, ironically, was a leading figure in the informer-hunting ‘nutting squad’.

Pat Dignam told Sunday Life: “Neither the British government nor the Stevens Investigation have any intention of bringing Scappaticci to court.

“That’s the reason we have decided to take a private prosecution against Scappaticci. We want the truth - not a cover-up’.

The Dignam family also revealed they had played their son’s ‘confession tape’ to former intelligence officers, who agreed to meet them.

“Once they heard the audio tape they immediately identified a number of factors, which indicated the presence of Freddie Scappaticci during recording,” said Irene Dignam.

“We now have specific information which we will use in the private prosecution against Scappaticci.”

Sunday Life has also heard the audiotape of John Dignam’s confession.

One of the ex-intelligence officers told Sunday Life he had no doubt west Belfastman Scappaticci had been present, when the recording was made.

“Scap had certain idiosyncrasies, peculiar to him alone. He also always used the same set procedures during the interrogation of suspected informants,” the soldier said.

“All of these can be clearly identified on this particular tape.”

The ex-soldier believes John Dignam’s death should have been prevented.

“He wanted out, but his bosses weren’t having any of it. There was too much hassle involved - as far as the Brits were concerned, he wasn’t worth it.”

Yesterday, the Dignam family said they would begin the private prosecution against Scappaticci as soon as possible.

The family has also spoken to solicitors about possible legal action against the Government.

“We have waited far too long to know why Johnny died,” said Irene Dignam.

Irish Independent

‘Couple plan to abandon toddler again’

LARA BRADLEY

THE wealthy Irishman who abandoned an adopted boy in an Indonesian orphanage after failing to bond with him, says the boy could be cared for in Azerbaijan where the man and his family now live.

But Joe Dowse last night refused to say if he and his Azerbaijani wife Lala will look after three-year-old Tristan Dowse - or just dump him in a state orphanage in the grim former Soviet republic.

In a furious attack on the couple last night, the Adoption Authority of Ireland accused the Dowses of planning to abandon the child for a second time. Registrar Kiernan Gildea said: “He could be put into care in Azerbaijan. How in God’s name could an Irish man bring an Indonesian child to Azerbaijan and put him in care?”

The couple’s original decision to abandon the child in Indonesia - where he remains - has horrified childcare campaigners and there is pressure on Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern to intervene to help Tristan, officially an Irish citizen.

Tracked down to his home in the Azerbaijani capital Baku last night, Mr Dowse said: “I understand the concern but I am not interested in talking about this. Anything I say could prejudice Tristan’s case.” But Mr Dowse, in a letter to the Department of Foreign Affairs, has suggested that Tristan be flown to Azerbaijan where he and his wife now live with their new baby.

The Sunday Independent can reveal that the couple made the recommendation to the Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday as one of four possible options to deal with the boy.

But even Mr Dowse’s Wicklow-based solicitor Gus Cullen last night admitted he had “no idea” what the couple plans to do with the child if he is released to Azerbaijan.

Tristan is trapped in a bureaucratic and diplomatic limbo with no parents, no rights and no home after getting Irish citizenship when he was adopted by 37-year-old Dowse.

The Wicklow accountant dumped his adopted son in an Indonesian orphanage when his wife became pregnant after years of being unable to conceive. The couple simply said the adoption had not worked out.

The Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs claim the adoption was illegal and say the child could be deported as he is an Irish citizen living in Indonesia without a visa. Mr Dowse’s solicitor, however, strongly denies that the adoption was illegal.

The Adoption Authority of Ireland believes that having already discarded the toddler once, it is unlikely the couple now plans to provide a loving home for him.

Registrar Kiernan Gildea said: “I don’t think this is for the purposes of reintegrating Tristan into the family. He could be put into care in Azerbaijan. How in God’s name could an Irish man bring an Indonesian child to Azerbaijan and put him in care?”

Mr Dowse wrote to the Department of Foreign Affairs last week listing four outcomes to the situation that were acceptable to him. Next on his list of recommendations was that Tristan be brought to Ireland and looked after by his extended family.

The little boy’s adoptive grandparents, Margaret and Joseph Dowse Senior of Carnew, Co Wicklow, and his aunt Vanda Cummins were unavailable for comment.

Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern last night said Tristan would not be repatriated to Ireland. But he insisted Irish officials were doing everything possible to assist the child and stressed his strong personal interest in the case.

“He has never been to Ireland but is entitled to an Irish passport. Under our Constitution the rights of the child are paramount,” Mr Ahern said. “We can’t repatriate the child to an orphanage in Ireland.”

Mr Ahern said the best resolution would be for the child to be adopted, with one family in Indonesia already attempting to do so, but he insisted that if the current adoption attempt does not work out he would be happy if an Irish family stepped in.

The other alternatives suggested by Mr Dowse are that the Department and the Adoption Authority issue letters to Indonesian authorities stating they have no objection to the child being adopted by a family in Indonesia.

The Adoption Authority insists the solution is simple - the couple must apply to the High Court here to have the adoption revoked. Mr Gildea said: “It is quite clear what needs to be done. It would cost a considerable sum, but they should consider making an application. Even if it proves to have been an illegal adoption in Indonesia this is the only way it can be struck out in Ireland. I don’t understand why they won’t do this.”