SAOIRSE32

BBC

Relatives welcome fund proposal

Robert McCartney died in hospital after being stabbed

The family of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney have welcomed a proposal at the European Parliament for a fund to support their cause.

The proposal calls on each political grouping to contribute up to 10,000 euro towards their legal fees.

It was put forward by the Socialist Group at the parliament.

The family are considering taking civil action against Robert McCartney’s killers if no criminal case is brought against those responsible.

The 33-year-old father of two died after he was stabbed following a row in a Belfast bar.

The IRA has been blamed for the murder and interference with evidence and witnesses.

‘Brave campaign’

Irish Labour Party MEP Proinsias De Rossa said he welcomed Socialist Group support for the McCartney family’s campaign.

Speaking in Brussels, he said: “I’m delighted with the Socialist Group proposal of a joint contribution from all the political groups, with each group being invited to make a donation of up to 10,000 euro to the McCartney family campaign.

“When the McCartney sisters recently visited the European Parliament in Brussels, I proposed that the Socialist Group should help their justice campaign financially. I am now hopeful that the other political groups will match the generosity of the Socialists.

“The next plenary meeting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, on Monday 9 May, will discuss the murder of Robert McCartney and the brave campaign of his family for justice.”

At the weekend the family said they believed Sinn Fein had not done enough to help bring his killers to justice.

Several hundred people attended a vigil and flowers were laid at the spot where Mr McCartney was murdered.

BreakingNews.ie

Prisons inspector hits out at ‘inhumane’ conditions

20/04/2005 - 19:06:52

Mountjoy

A scathing report into the Irish prison system was finally released tonight after being delayed by the Department of Justice for one year.

In it, the Inspector of Prisons Dermot Kinelan attacked the continued inhumane conditions in Mountjoy prisons, civil service bureaucracy, the lack of counsellors for sex offenders and the ’mantra of secrecy’ in the Department of Justice.

The retired High Court judge completed the report last April and it was scheduled to be published in July.

A Department of Justice spokesman said it had been delayed because of legal issues.

“Certain parts of the report have had to be deleted for legal reasons,” he said.

Mr Kinelan visited prisons at home and abroad and consulted with various interest groups as part of his inspection into the prison system.

He found prisoners in Mountjoy, which is soon to be closed, were being kept in most inhumane and degrading conditions.

He criticised the prison service for sending senior officials on first class flights to view institutions in Australia, the USA and other countries.

“In this day of modern telecommunications it should be possible to have video links so that you can have an entire conference without anyone leaving their home.”

On a visit to a Category B prison in Nottinghamshire, England, he met with the management there.

“I gave a general history of the commencement of my office and the lack of support and indeed ignorant opposition from certain officials,” he said.

The report describes how, more than a year and a half after his office was set up in 2002, the computer systems were still not working properly.

He said it was standard practice to address problems in the prison service by setting up a committee, with a director, two assistant directors, sub managers for each of them and so on.

“There is little or no political will to do anything. There are no votes in prisons. That is the view of some leading politicians to judge by their behaviour,” he said.

Mr Kinelan said the Irish Prison Service had seven directors, none of whom had prison experience but all of whom are senior officials who have been promoted from the Department of Justice.

“Most have at least one Deputy Director. There are four assistant directors each of whom seems to have at least two managers who seem to have several assistant managers and so it proceeds. However there are plans to expand this group.”

Mr Kinelan said the prison service was determined to take over the Probation and Welfare Service, the Chaplaincy Service and his own office.

He said that the Probation and Welfare service were the most dedicated and important group of people in the administration of criminal Justice

“They must be and be seen to be independent and as a better and cheaper alternatives to prisons.”

He visited probation services in the Moyross area of Limerick city, where offenders ran soccer teams, recycled paper into bricks for the Vincent de Paul and cleaned graffiti from the local school.

He also praised the work of the Coolamber Manor rehabilitation project, which is situated on a 150-acre farm in Longford.

“Everyone seems happy. They don’t have time to brood. It is an extremely impressive place run by a very enthusiastic and friendly staff. It could be expanded very considerably at very little extra cost.”

He added: “It does not require the involvement of the Irish Prison Service.”

The report is written in an informal style with accounts by Mr Kinelan of how he travelled to various locations, who he met and what they said to him.

In Cloverhill prison, he used a friend as an interpreter to talk to 19 Chinese prisoners.

“I got rice for them in place of potatoes. A sentenced Chinese prisoner now calls me ‘Mr Rice’!”

He found a new 9.4 million euro facility at St Patrick’s Institution to be an excellent facility but unsuitable for ‘14-year-old tearaways’.

“However, apparently it is going to be knocked down. It is such an excellent new building that a developer might use it as a school or some such institution.”

Mr Kinelan made 15 recommendations for change including:

:: the granting of the right of all TDs and Senators to visit prisons

:: the preparation of a booklet of prison rules for Visiting Committees, Governors and the Inspector of Prisons.

:: the eradication of the old mantra of secrecy in the Department of Justice

:: the funding of a psychology course by the Department of Finance to address the shortage of counsellors in prisons.

:: the urgent appointment of a totally independent prison inspectorate and the provision of pension rights for himself as the current Inspector of Prisons.

The Irishworld Online

Pentagon defends Spicer contract

By Tom Griffin, 15 April 2005

photo from redjade on Indymedia.ie

The US Government has defended its decision to award a £293 million Iraq Security contract to British mercenary Tim Spicer, in reponse 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.

In a letter to the Pat Finucane Centre last month, Melissa Rider of the US Army Contracting Agency said the US had determined that Spicer and his company Aegis Defence Services “both possessed satisfactory records of integrity and business ethics and were responsible. The issue you have raised, though surrounded in political controversy, does not support any grounds for overturning the responsibility determination by our contracting officer. The actions you attribute to Mr Spicer do not appear to have resulted in any conviction for any illegal activity bearing on his integrity and business ethics. The fact that others could have reached a different conclusion does not mean that this determination was unreasonable.”

Rider said that there was no legal basis to deny the contract to Aegis, adding “I now consider this matter closed.”

Spicer’s role in the McBride 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,” 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.”

The Pentagon responded to the Pat Finucane Centre’s submission following a letter to the US Embassy in London in January from Brent East MP Sarah Teather.

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.

In a parliamentary answer last month, Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell told Teather that the British Government was not a party to the Aegis contract.

The latest Pentagon response follows a further letter from the Pat Finucane Centre last month, which said that “various US government departments and bodies are passing the buck and refusing to face up to their obligation to ensure that contracts are not awarded to individuals whose respect for domestic and international human rights standards is questionable and whose record of integrity and business ethics is in doubt.”

RTE News

Amnesty concerns over Finucane inquiry

20 April 2005 16:18

The human rights group Amnesty International has called on all judges in Britain and Northern Ireland to decline appointments to sit on any inquiry set up under the recently-enacted Inquiries Act.

This includes the planned inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.

The campaigning organisation also called for the repeal of the act.

The Amnesty International call comes days after a similar request to judges from Mr Finucane’s widow, Geraldine, who wrote individually to every senior judge in England, Scotland and Wales earlier this week.

Mr Finucane was shot dead 16 years ago by loyalist paramilitaries amidst allegations of collusion by British security agencies.

BreakingNews.ie

Gardaí ‘found IRA paraphernalia’ during search, court hears

20/04/2005 - 17:18:57

Simultaneous searches on the homes of three men accused of membership of an unlawful organisation uncovered items including a bodhran with a man in a balaclava carrying arms and badges inscribed with “sniper at work”, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

Three men from Cork and two from Limerick have denied membership of an illegal organisation.

The five men are Ciaran O’ Dwyer (aged 50), of Castletroy View, Limerick, John Murphy (aged 25), of Ashburton House, Kilbarry, Old Mallow Road, Cork, Ultan Larkin (aged 34), of The Bungalow, Farranshone, Limerick, Gerard Varian (aged 46), of Bride Valley View, Fairhill, Cork and Aidan O’Driscoll (aged 25), of Glenheights Park, Ballyvolane, Cork.

They have all pleaded not guilty to membership of an illegal organisation styling itself as Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the Irish Republican Army, otherwise the IRA on December 15, 2003.

Following search warrants issued by Detective Sergeant John Quilter, the homes of Larkin, Varian and Murphy were searched on the morning of December 15, 2003.

Detective Garda Susan Delaney discovered various items in a downstairs room at Larkin’s house, which was used as an office. Among these were two books of evidence relating to IRA charges on people not before the court.

“I was aware that all of the people mentioned (in the book of evidence) pleaded guilty to firearms offences,” Det Gd Delaney said.

Another person mentioned in the second book of evidence is currently serving a sentence for firearms offences, the court heard.

“I also found two bodhrans – you have a picture of a man carrying arms and in the centre there is a cross,” she said. The second bodhran had “an image of a man dressed in military gear, carrying arms, in a balaclava,” Det Gd Delaney added.

Larkin’s main bedroom was found to contain two brown envelopes which read: “IRA Prisoners’ Welfare Association Christmas Donation” and a book entitled “The Secret War of the Real IRA”.

Det Sgt John Quilter said he “would have expected to find documentary evidence” in a search of Varian’s home.

“As it turns out you got absolutely nothing of evidential value,” Mr Fergal Kavanagh SC, defending Varian, said.

Following his arrest that morning, Varian replied: “I am not a member of the IRA,” the court heard.

At 7.15am, Murphy’s home and the lands outside his home were searched.

Detective Sergeant Ger O’Mahony described the accused Murphy as “uncooperative and aggressive” during the search, yet the accused “roamed around freely” during the search.

Det Sgt O’Mahony found a number of badges in Murphy’s bedroom. Some read “sniper at work” and others had images of Bobby Sands.

He was asked to read what a particular badge had inscribed, and he replied: ” Oglaigh na hEireann”.

Books of tickets bearing the inscription “Irish Republican POWs” were found in the bedroom and a “Republican Resistance” calendar for 2004 was hanging on Murphy’s wall.

All three men were arrested that morning following the searches on their homes.

Prosecuting counsel, Mr John Edwards SC, has said the five men were allegedly members of the Real IRA.

The trial continues.

Daily Ireland

Anger as Housing Executive targets unionist newspapers for job adverts

A Housing Executive decision to place job recruitment adverts solely in unionist newspapers has been branded “discriminatory” by Sinn Féin.
Daily Ireland has obtained internal correspondence between senior members of Housing Executive staff that reveals its controversial recruitment plans.
Under the Housing Executive’s Affirmative Action Programme jobs for senior administrative officers will only be advertised in the Belfast Telegraph, News Letter and regional newspapers where Protestants make up 60 per cent of the population.
This comes as a response to Protestants being underrepresented in that section of the workforce.
The Housing Executive decided to implement the scheme, which has caused disquiet among the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance union, after consulting with the Equality Commission.
West Belfast Sinn Féin Assemblyman Fra McCann insists the Housing Executive recruitment policy is “discriminatory”.
He said: “Not advertising in nationalist newspapers is no way to go about tackling the underrepresentation of Protestants in different departments.
“This policy smacks of discrimination and I would call on the Housing Executive to have a major rethink of its job advertising plans.
“I am also surprised by the Equality Commission’s involvement in this, and why the entire matter was cloaked in secrecy and only came to light through a series of leaked memos.”
A spokeswoman for the Housing Executive said: “In an effort to address the underrepresentation of the Protestant community among the Senior Administrative Officer grade, the Housing Executive, acting on advice from the Equality Commission, targeted its advertisement to the News Letter, Belfast Telegraph and provincial newspapers in areas where Protestants make up more than 60 per cent of the population.
“Targeting job advertisements to particular newspapers is part of the Housing Executive’s Affirmative Action Programme.”
The Equality Commission declined to comment.

Daily Ireland

Child sex trade is increasing ‘behind closed doors’ in North

The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People warned this week that criminals were forcing children into dangerous situations such as prostitution and drug taking.
Nigel Williams said no child should live in fear of sexual abuse. He cited new legislation introduced in the North — namely, the Sexual Offences Act of 2003, which was specifically designed to give more protection to children and help secure convictions against child sex abusers.
However, the children’s charity Barnardo’s, while welcoming any legislation that would curb the growth of the child sex industry in the North, has highlighted the sinister, intangible and furtive world of child grooming and prostitution.
Children’s charities say the great misconception among parents in Ireland is that child prostitution only happens in Thailand or to children in care or that it always involves an international organised crime gang or paedophile ring.
The fact is that the nature of the child sex situation in the North remains so clandestine and guarded that true statistics do not exist.
Nobody knows how many young girls or boys have been lured into child pornography or prostitution but the commissioner’s warnings this week tell us it is real and it is happening in Ireland.
Fiona MacMullan, communications officer with Barnardo’s, said: “It’s a very difficult area to work in or to gather statistics for. If it is happening with one child, that is enough.
“In Leeds, it is a very visible thing. You actually see young girls standing on street corners.
“In Glasgow, we know it is happening with young boys.
“In Northern Ireland, it is a ‘behind closed doors’ thing.
“With technology like mobile phones and the internet, it could be happening anywhere and parents and teachers wouldn’t even know.”
Ms MacMullan said there was no definitive profile of men who solicit children for sex.
“Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to work with the offenders but we can see some patterns emerging,” she said.
Parents may recognise some of these “patterns”.
“One thing we are absolutely clear on is that the man is usually the girl’s boyfriend. “He is usually six or so years older than her,” Ms MacMullan said.
“The girl may be an ordinary teenager, living at home with her family, but teenage girls can be vulnerable for all sorts of reasons.
“The man will be so very plausible as a good boyfriend.
“He will be so convincing at the initial stages but this is just all part of the grooming.
“He will pay her a great deal of interest.
“He will make her feel good.
“He will say he loves her and he will lull the girl into a false sense of security,” Ms MacMullan said.
“As a parent, this is when you have to stop and ask yourself: ‘Why would a 25-year-old man want to go out with a 15-year-old girl, anyway?’
“Then he will slowly alienate her from her friends and family, ask her to move in with him, burn her address book, lock her in the house.
“We didn’t want to be alarmist when we launched a campaign called ‘Whose Daughter Next?’ but that is the reality in Northern Ireland.
“These people seem to have radar for picking up girls and can manipulate any situation.
“ It’s not just kids in care.”
Barnardo’s said the abusers peddle sex for financial rather than sexual gain.
“It’s a means to an end, just a moneymaking scheme.
“They already have their clients set up.
“They place ads in magazines advertising ‘teen sex’. They move on to new girls, move more girls in,” the charity said.
Ms MacMullan said that, despite the age of the victims or evidence to prove that child sexual abuse has taken place, it was often very difficult to secure convictions.
“The children don’t want to give evidence.
“They don’t know what is happening to them.
“The boyfriend just says: ‘She’s my girlfriend.
‘There’s no problem.’
“It has taken us years to change the common belief among police officers that, in these cases, they they are dealing with a pimp, a prostitute and a punter.
“We’ve had to change that perception to mean a perpetrator of abuse, an abused child and a child abuser.
“If a relative at home was committing these acts on a child, it would be abuse,” she said.
Children’s charities, including Barnardo’s and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, have been proactive in getting the law changed.
The Sexual Offences Act of 2003 introduced a number of offences in relation to child prostitution.
The new offences for which child abusers can be prosecuted include paying for the sexual actions of a child, controlling a child prostitute and meeting a child after sexual grooming.
Since the introduction of the act, the PSNI has the power to apply a sexual offences prevention order against a sex offender involved in prostitution or a risk of sexual harm order against someone suspected of grooming a child under the age of 17.
In the latter instance, the suspect does not need to be a convicted child sex offender.
Colin Reid, a policy adviser with the NSPCC, said the current law in the North still fell short. “The only weakness of the Sex Offences Act is not all of the offences have been applied to Northern Ireland.
“Sections 1 to 14 of the act, which gives new definitions of rape among other things, do not apply here,” he said.
Mr Reid also pointed to a parliamentary debate in which John Spellar — the North’s minister for criminal justice, human rights and equality — gave a commitment to reviewing the law.
“That was in November, 2004,” Mr Reid said. “We must do everything to align the laws to protect children in Northern Ireland with those for children in England and Wales.”
Barnardo’s is currently compiling an advice leaflet for parents, care workers and anyone in contact with young people.
The charity says parents should look out for the following occurrences:
• A new, older boyfriend;
• Changes in behaviour;
• A child disappearing for lengths of time;
• Less contact with friends;
• New possessions such as jewellery, clothes and CDs, with no explanation of where they came from.

BBC

Cross-border link to drugs raids

Seizures of cocaine more than tripled last year

A cross-border police operation has led to two major drugs seizures and the arrests of three men in County Armagh.

NI police said their investigation into organised crime had “dealt a significant blow” to the drugs trade in the province.

Six kilos of cocaine valued at £500,000 were seized in Moy on Tuesday.

A separate haul of £350,000 of cocaine at a house at Timoleague, west Cork, on Tuesday was uncovered by Irish police acting on information from the PSNI.

Gardai from the National Drugs Unit made the Cork seizure, which was made up of about 7kgs of cocaine and a quantity of cannabis. No arrests were made.

‘Drugs factory’

In Northern Ireland, police forensic scientists are examining what has been described as a “drugs factory”.

Both drugs seizures and the subsequent arrests were part of “a major PSNI crime operations department investigation”, a PSNI spokesperson said.

Head of the drugs squad, Detective Superintendent Hayden Bell, said the PSNI had “dealt a significant blow” to the drugs trade in Northern Ireland.

He said the drugs were imported from the Republic of Ireland to be mixed and cut at the so-called factory facility.

He said the operation was the result of a year of police work. It is believed the drugs would have been distributed throughout Northern Ireland.

Cocaine use is becoming increasingly common in Northern Ireland, with police seizures of the drug more than tripling last year.

BBC

UUP urges a power-sharing change

UUP leader David Trimble is contesting Upper Bann

Ulster Unionists want a radical change to the power-sharing formula in Northern Ireland.

The alteration to the Good Friday agreement would see them form a voluntary coalition government with the nationalist SDLP.

But speaking at his party’s manifesto launch leader David Trimble said he could not consider going into government with Sinn Fein.

He said republicans had shown they were not prepared to wind down the IRA.

The UUP’s proposed changes are at odds with the SDLP’s stated position.

The party ruled out government without republicans at its manifesto launch earlier on Wednesday.

“It is clear, moreover, that the unionist electorate would not support, or tolerate now, or in the foreseeable future, the formation of an executive that would include Sinn Fein.

“We have called for the d’Hondt formula that automatically gives parties ministerial appointments to be repealed.

“In that event, we would seek to form a voluntary coalition with the SDLP.

“That would give voters the chance to form a cross community administration leaving out the extremists, if they want it and vote for it.”

The UUP’s suggested change would amount to a radical rewriting of the way the Good Friday Agreement states a government can be formed in Northern Ireland.

The main points of the UUP manifesto include:

- Campaigning for the retention of the full-time police reserve and abolishing the 50:50 rule for recruiting equal numbers of Catholic and Protestant officers

- Insisting on the use and strengthening of anti-social behaviour orders

- Supporting a statutory victims’ charter to enhance and protect the rights of those who suffered during the Troubles, ensuring their needs were paramount

- Backing a United Kingdom-wide identity card scheme in the fight against terrorism and crime, to reduce welfare and electoral fraud and prevent illegal immigration

- Supporting an anti-racism strategy for Northern Ireland to promote British values of tolerance and inclusion.

- Demanding the same investment as other parts of the UK in water and sewerage services

- Opposing the government’s plan for water charges based on capital value

- Calling for a fairer rates system, ensuring any new system for calculating rates protects the most vulnerable from becoming asset rich but cash poor as house prices rise

- Replacing the province’s four health boards with one authority, developing community hospitals to offer a wide range of services

- Advocating a ban on smoking in all public places

- Substituting the five education boards with one authority, freeing up money spent on red tape for the classroom

- Guaranteeing a free pre-school place and promote a fairer method of academic selection making the most of children’s potential

- Create a unified farm inspectorate to replace existing schemes.

- Developing a new partnership between Government and the fishing community in the face of EU reforms;

- Pressing for a new flat rate pension of £110 a week, and replacing means tested benefits

BBC

SDLP calls for a ‘decent peace’

Mark Durkan is fighting the Foyle seat for the SDLP

The SDLP has launched its election manifesto for all 18 Westminster seats in Northern Ireland.

The party reaffirmed its opposition to any attempt to replace compulsory power-sharing at Stormont with a voluntary coalition.

Mark Durkan said voters needed to stand strong because left to its own devices the IRA would not go away.

“We know, not least from the McCartneys, that it’s not what they say but what they do that counts.”

Mr Durkan was referring to the family of Robert McCartney, a 33-year-old father of two who died after he was stabbed following a row in a Belfast bar in January.

The IRA has been blamed for the murder and interference with evidence and witnesses.

Mr Durkan said his was the true republican party and he wanted a decent peace, real progress and a lawful society.

During the launch on Wednesday, he also ruled out any possibility of voluntarily going into a coalition government with the DUP which excluded Sinn Fein.

The main points of the SDLP manifesto include:

- Bringing in a new sectarian and hate crimes act to tackle incitement to hatred on the internet and through the display of flags or graffiti, and football terrace chanting

- Convening a victims and survivors’ forum to design a truth remembrance process and ensure assets recovered from criminal and paramilitary gangs are diverted to victims’ groups

- Advancing police personnel exchanges with the Irish Republic’s police in areas such as serious crime, drugs, community policing, criminal assets, fingerprinting, ethical standards and training

- Creating a fair rates system based on ability to pay

- Opposing the privatisation of water services and creation of a government-owned water company, domestic metering and water charges

- Campaigning for the adoption of the euro by the British government

SDLP pledges support for acute hospital services for Tyrone and Mid-Ulster

- Ensuring primary healthcare services are well funded with a real partnership between GPs and other health professionals

- Allocating significant funds to acute hospital services for Tyrone and Mid-Ulster

- Securing free nursing care for the elderly

- Widening access to third level education, targeting low-income families and dedicating extra spending to those with disabilities, students with dependants and mature students

- Investing in schools and opposing efforts to use new pupil profiles as a means of back door selection

- Replacing A-levels with a broader post-16 curriculum

- Investing in public transport, enabling bus and rail services to meet their passenger charter standards and delivering long-term growth as well as securing capital investment for the Belfast to Londonderry rail-link

- Devising an aviation strategy for Northern Ireland and guarantee air access to Heathrow for planes from the province

- Expanding rural transport initiatives, particularly demand responsive services like community taxis and “rural rover” bus services

- Investing in community sport, encouraging greater physical activity among the population and implementing a strategic development plan for gaelic games and rugby.

- Producing a new Irish language act offering full recognition of the language

BBC

‘Multi-million pound fraud’ raids

Ministry of Defence police officers have been carrying out searches across Northern Ireland in connection with a suspected multi-million pound fraud.

The co-ordinated searches involved commercial property in Belfast, Antrim, Lisburn and Newtownabbey as well as a private residence in Downpatrick.

A MoD spokesman said seven search warrants were issued over suspected fraud by civil servants and others.

It is believed MoD contracts worth millions are being investigated.

The searches are continuing but no-one has been arrested.

The raids, involving the MoD fraud squad and MoD and PSNI officers, began simultaneously at 0730 BST on Wednesday.

Derry Journal

PSNI Notebook Found In Waterside Hotel

Tuesday 19th April 2005

Republicans in Derry last night demanded answers from the PSNI after a police notebook, complete with personal details of a number of former prisoners, was allegedly found in the toilets of a hotel in the Waterside area of the city.

The notebook, which the “Journal” has seen a copy of, contained details of 13 republicans, seven of whom are former prisoners.

The details included their dates of birth, addresses and, in some cases, descriptions of their cars including vehicle registrations.

Speaking to the “Journal” yesterday Gary Donnelly, who is standing as an Independent Republican candidate in the forthcoming council elections, said that those whose names were detailed in the book were “extremely concerned” that such information had allegedly been left in a public bar.

“We don’t know if this was negligence or something more sinister,” Mr. Donnelly said; “But what we do know is that this book was found a week ago and someone passed it on to us.

“In that time we can only assume the owner has realised it is missing and if so, why were those on the list not advised by police that their details had been lost in this way?

“Two years ago we were warned to step up security because it was believed these details could be in the hands of loyalists, and yet what faith can we have in the RUC/PSNI when they allow their own notes to go missing in what could clearly be seen as a loyalist part of this city?” he said.

These thoughts were echoed by another republican, who asked that we do not reveal his name.

“I don’t feel safe in my home anymore. I won’t be going back there at all, I need to find somewhere else to live as soon as possible. The police have made it impossible for me to feel safe in my own home,” he claimed.

Mr. Donnelly added: “This incident throws up a lot of questions for republicans in the city, not least whether or not the PSNI can be trusted to be acting impartially.”

Derry solicitor Mr. Paddy MacDermott, who is acting on behalf on those named in the notebook, said yesterday that the matter would be reported to the Police Ombudsman for investigation.

“A number of questions arise out of this. First of all; how did this notebook come to be where it was found? Was it negligence or something more sinister?

“Was this reported to the police authorities? If so, were any steps taken to warn the people whose details were in the book?”

Mr. MacDermott added: ” We are considering launching legal action against the PSNI on behalf of the people named in this document.”

A police spokesperson added: “In light of the suggestion that the matter is to be referred to the Police Ombudsman’s office for investigation, we cannot comment on the substance of the claims.”

BreakingNews.ie

Durkan claims SDLP success would force IRA to disband

20/04/2005 - 12:03:58

SDLP leader Mark Durkan has claimed that success for his party in the upcoming Westminster election in the North would force the IRA to disband.

Speaking at the launch of his party’s manifesto today, Mr Durkan claimed it was the loss of Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams’ seat in 1992 that drove the IRA towards a ceasefire.

He said, left to its own devices, the IRA would not go away, but voters could keep up the pressure on the organisation by supporting the SDLP.

Mr Durkan also reiterated that his party would not accede to unionist demands that it back moves to exclude Sinn Féin from government in the North.

Belfast Telegraph

PSNI ‘not tracking’ sex beasts

By Deborah McAleese
20 April 2005

Police are unable to track Ulster’s convicted paedophiles and sex attackers because of shortfalls in their current intelligence system, a new report warned.

The deficits in the system mean police cannot trace the movements of convicted sex offenders or any changes to their risk status, according to a new investigation.

There is no “stand-alone” Sex Offender Register in Northern Ireland but all individual notification information is held on the PSNI’s Integrated Crime Intelligence System (ICIS).

According to the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland, Kit Chivers, the system does not provide useful management information.

His department carried out an inspection of the PSNI’s Multia-gency Procedures for the Assessment and Management of Sex Offenders (MASRAM).

A report into the investigation - The Management of Sex Offenders In Northern Ireland - raises concerns over the system.

The report states: “It (The ICIS system) does not provide a searchable statistical database that can provide useful management information.

“Therefore it is not possible to elicit, for example, patterns of movement by sex offenders, changes in their risk category, duration of registration or new notifications per annum.”

However, the PSNI is in the process of purchasing a new system, expected by October.

The Violent Offender and Sex Offender Register (ViSOR) is expected to greatly enhance the management of sex offenders.

It will provide a fully-searchable database and deliver much better case management.

A police spokeswoman said: “Police are addressing their current concerns and they are in the process of buying new equipment to assist more efficiently.

“The PSNI is in the process of purchasing ViSOR, which should improve their system.”

Belfast Telegraph

Copeland admits link to porn inquiry

By Noel McAdam
20 April 2005

The Ulster Unionist Assemblyman caught up in a UDA money laundering probe today confirmed he was involved in a police investigation into computer pornography last year.

Michael Copeland, whose east Belfast home, council and constituency offices were searched by police last week, insisted he had “nothing to hide”.

He said he had gone to Castlereagh council officials last May and later to the police after “unsavoury images” were found on a computer in a business he runs.

Mr Copeland, running in Castlereagh, also said he believed he was becoming the victim of a concerted campaign.

He said a Sunday newspaper ran the pornography claim in a report which did not name him and later a copy of the story with his name written on it was sent to him and opened by his daughter.

“If I had anything to hide, would I have brought the computer to staff at Castlereagh council and later, when it returned, to the police? I got it back two or three days later and I was told by police it did not warrant any further investigation.”

Party leader David Trimble has warned party members to “cut back the paranoia” over whether the police raids were part of a dirty tricks campaign, and publicly backed Mr Copeland.

The latest twist today came as the Ulster Unionist party launched its manifesto.

Guardian

Sinn Féin likely to tighten grip in SDLP heartlands

Angelique Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent
Wednesday April 20, 2005
The Guardian

Sinn Féin launched its election campaign yesterday confident that despite the McCartney case and the Northern Bank robbery the party would cement its dominance of Northern Ireland nationalism.

Gerry Adams has focused the campaign on his calls to the IRA to abandon guns, but having warned that they would not respond before May 5, the Sinn Féin president has spent recent days denying it was an election stunt.

With the moderate nationalist Social Democrat and Labour party in apparent freefall, Sinn Féin believes it can add Newry and Armagh to its four Westminster seats. The SDLP is expected to hold South Down. But the real battle for the soul of nationalism is in Foyle.

If the SDLP loses the seat in its Derry heartlands, held comfortably by John Hume since the constituency was created, its collapse will seem complete. If Sinn Féin wins, it will be untouchable, probably for decades. The result is too close to call.

But it seems ironic that the fight to succeed Mr Hume, Northern Ireland’s great celebrity politician, who is standing down, is being billed as a battle between two of the dullest men in politics.

Mark Durkan, the SDLP leader who has been mentored by Mr Hume all his political life, is seen as well-meaning and sincere, a “nice, honest guy”. But his critics have attacked him for leading a party that is too remote, too middle-class and middle-aged.

Mitchel McLaughlin, Sinn Féin’s general secretary, a refrigeration engineer, hardly sets pulses racing either. “The most adventurous thing Mitchel’s ever done is shave off his moustache,” one republican said.

Mr Durkan’s crucial challenge is to force out the SDLP’s disappearing voters, who are not switching to Sinn Féin but staying at home.

Commentators feel Mr Durkan could have made huge capital out of IRA criminality. Two more Catholic families in Derry have come forward, claiming the IRA murdered their sons then intimidated relatives. But canvassing on an estate less than a mile from where a man was dragged off by paramilitaries and shot in the ankles, Mr Durkan did not raise the issue. Nor did he attend a rally by the families.

“People have their own feelings on the bad deeds of the IRA,” he told the Guardian. “We are focusing on the bad deals of Sinn Féin. They have failed the Good Friday agreement. Seven years on from the agreement, it was only in the past seven days that Gerry Adams asked the IRA to adhere to peaceful and democratic means.”

Meanwhile, Mr McLaughlin said: “John Hume was a colossus, respected by everyone, including republicans. Against him we had a near impossible task.”

Derry was always a city of constitutional nationalism, “not a republican place”, he added, so Sinn Féin growth there was significant. “I am quietly confident,” he said.

The journalist and veteran civil rights campaigner Eamonn McCann joined the Derry race at the last minute, saying he was sick of the “depressing, unproductive, predictable and sectarian” battle for “tribal supremacy”.

Guardian

Chairman promises to resist any interference

Start of year-long examination of allegation that security forces had role in 1999 car bomb killing of Co Armagh solicitor

Angelique Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent
Wednesday April 20, 2005
The Guardian

The public inquiry into allegations that security forces had a role in the murder of the solicitor Rosemary Nelson yesterday vowed to be independent in its “painful” quest for the truth behind one of Northern Ireland’s most controversial killings.

Mrs Nelson, 40, was killed outside her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh, in March 1999 by a booby-trap car bomb. She had represented Protestant and Catholic clients but rose to prominence defending the nationalist residents of Portadown’s Garvaghy Road during the Drumcree Orangemen marching dispute.

Her death was claimed by a dissident loyalist group, the Red Hand Defenders. But human rights groups claimed that police had failed to properly investigate a series of death threats against her. The mother of three had previously complained of death threats from members of the RUC and had told police of death threats from loyalists.

The inquiry, which opened yesterday, will consider whether the government, police, army and other state agencies were in any way to blame for the car bomb attack or whether they facilitated the death or obstructed the investigation. Despite a six-year murder inquiry in which detectives took more than 5,000 statements, no one has been charged.

The inquiry is the first of a series of tribunals recommended by the retired Canadian judge Peter Cory, who found there was “little doubt” Mrs Nelson had been killed because she was a solicitor. He said questions had to be asked about the role of the security forces and whether officers had incited others to kill her.

He said the attitude of the police to lawyers such as Mrs Nelson who defended republicans suggested “there might have been a reluctance to either protect or to thoroughly investigate threats to a troublesome solicitor”.

The inquiry chairman, Sir Michael Morland, stressed in his opening speech at Craigavon civic centre, Co Armagh, that the inquiry would be impartial, even though it has been set up and funded by the government.

“Just as we are independent of government, so we will resist any attempt to take over, or improperly influence, the inquiry which may be made by any body, organisation or special interest group. We will not allow the inquiry to become a political tool.”

The inquiry, headed by a panel of three, is expected to last for more than a year and hear from more than 100 witnesses, including the former RUC chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan and the former Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam. Former police officers from outside Northern Ireland will be drafted in to “assess the quality” of the RUC investigation.

Public hearings will not begin until next spring, and administrative and legal staff will spend the coming months preparing material.

Mrs Nelson’s brother, Eunan Magee, said six years had been “a long time to wait” but he was hopeful. “We welcome the inquiry as independent and public as far as possible, although I do understand some of the evidence will have to be heard in private.”

Barra McGrory, a solicitor for Mrs Nelson’s husband Paul, said: “We will give it every cooperation, and we sincerely hope that it will succeed in its clear and stated intention to get to the truth of the full circumstances of Rosemary’s murder. We certainly wish it well.”

Panel of three:

The inquiry panel’s chairman is Sir Michael Morland, a retired high court judge who has direct experience of Northern Ireland: acting for the crown in 1973 internment proceedings; and serving on the 1974 Gardiner commission into Northern Ireland justice which recommended phasing out “special category status” for prisoners - a move that later led to republican blanket protests and hunger strikes.

Sir Anthony Burden is a former chief constable of South Wales and a former president of the Association of Chief Police Officers.

Dame Valerie Strachan is a former chairman of the board of Customs and Excise, vice-chair of the Big Lottery Fund, which distributes lottery money, and also assisted in a review of UK tribunal system.

Indymedia Ireland

INDEPENDENT REPUBLICANS IN ELECTION
by tomas o’cadhain
Tuesday, Apr 19 2005, 11:36pm

Independent Irish Republicans Standing in all 6 Counties

Sean Mc Aughey • 19 April 2005

While the primary focus for most political commentators remains on what is regarded by some, as the mother of all elections for the hearts and minds of both nationalists and unionists on May 5th . The significance of a “alternative choice” emerging within the republican constituencies in all six counties in the north should not be overlooked.

At the closure of nominations for the council elections on the 12th April, a first was recorded. When, several Independent Irish Republicans including former Sinn Fein candidates, councillors and a former H-Block Blanket man and hunger striker were among the candidates poised to seek a mandate from those constituencies considered as a Sinn Fein pool.

Among the independent Irish Republicans lining up for the local council elections on May 5th are former Blanket man and hunger striker John Nixon standing in Armagh City, former Sinn Fein councillor, Martin Cunningham fighting to retain his seat in the Newry and Mourne borough.

The other Republicans are former Sinn Fein candidate Aine Gribbon, a 39 year old mother of nine children running in Antrim Town and 35 year old mother of two Tish Murray. Last year, both women were part of a mass Sinn Fein resignation in the town, when an entire branch resigned. The other independent republican hopefuls include, Gary Donnelly Derry, Paul Gallagher, Strabane, Kevin Barry Nolan in Fermanagh and Bertie Shaw standing in Larne.

BBC

Old Firm ‘takes on’ sectarianism

The Old Firm Alliance was launched by members of both Glasgow sides

Celtic and Rangers have launched a project to tackle bigotry and sectarianism in the west of Scotland.

The two clubs have ploughed more than £140,000 into their Old Firm Alliance initiative, which was officially launched on Tuesday.

The pilot project aims to educate youngsters and the wider community about the ills of sectarianism through a series of football courses.

Two co-ordinators will work with children in 140 schools across Glasgow.

The community-led programme lasting 10 weeks will focus on building and developing stronger ties between those affected by sectarianism.

It will be delivered by a Rangers and Celtic coach with both coming together in the 11th week to deliver an anti-sectarian message to those on the course.

A number of Old Firm Alliance football centres have also been set up within its Social Inclusion Partnership areas across the city.

The programme also includes festivals, match visits, stadium tours and club development.

Speaking at the launch at the Keppoch Campus in Possilpark, Glasgow, Sports Minister Patricia Ferguson said: “Both Old Firm clubs should be congratulated for working together to educate young people that sectarianism only engenders prejudice, hatred, suffering and intimidation.

‘Nation of opportunity’

“The initiative will give thousands of children in schools across Glasgow the chance to learn about how sport can encourage healthy lifestyles, raise self-esteem whilst warning of the dangers of endorsing sectarian behaviours.

“Scotland is a modern, progressive and dynamic nation of opportunity.

“We can make our small nation better still by stamping out once and for all the bigoted behaviours and attitudes that tarnish Scotland’s name.”

The scheme follows Scotland’s first sectarianism summit in Glasgow, chaired by First Minister Jack McConnell in February.

Mr McConnell criticised the Old Firm following an ill-tempered Glasgow derby last November where he described the Ibrox match as a “step back in time” and part of “Scotland’s shame”.

Rangers chairman David Murray branded his comments “ill-informed and disrespectful” for failing to acknowledge the Old Firm’s efforts to counteract bigotry on the terraces and within the community.

‘Fantastic initiative’

However, there was a clear consensus on Tuesday at the launch of the Old Firm Alliance where both clubs agreed that they had a great opportunity to make things better for future generations.

Ibrox chief executive Martin Bain said: “The Old Firm clubs have massive potential to reach kids and we have taken that opportunity via this project to really make a difference to future generations.”

His counterpart at Parkhead Peter Lawwell added that the project would seek to tackle racism as well as sectarianism.

He said: “Celtic FC is delighted to team up with Rangers in developing this fantastic new initiative for kids across Glasgow.”

Hearts are setting up an anti-sectarian working party in an attempt to eradicate the scenes which marred their recent cup tie with Celtic.

A small section of Hearts fans booed and jeered during the minute’s silence for Pope John Paul II before the Tennent’s Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden earlier this month.