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IrishExaminer.com

United in grief at first heartbreaking removal

26 May 2005
By Caroline O’Doherty

THE tiny two-centuries-old church where the coffin of Claire McCluskey was brought last night could hold barely a quarter of the mourners who gathered to pay their respects.
Some 300 others stood outside, laying wreaths at the old iron gates where a bell ringer tolled sorrowful notes from a small bell.

A marquee was erected to provide some shelter for the crowds in the chill evening as a light spattering of showers became a heavy downpour and the service was relayed outside on a public address system.

In the same way that the crowd overflowed into the little churchyard and the narrow country lane beyond, the grief and shock at the loss of Claire was spilling out far beyond her immediate family.

Parish priest Fr John Brogan said everyone was shattered by the tragedy and was struggling to cope. He told Claire’s family their deep pain was shared by an entire community.

That community gathered in force to support the McCluskeys last night as Claire’s parents, Marie and Christy, and her two sisters, Maria and Anita, made the sad journey from their home in Beauparc, Navan, to the Church of the Nativity in Rosnaree on the road to Newgrange.

Classmates from the Loreto secondary school where Claire was a student formed a guard of honour in their uniforms, along with representatives of the Navan branch of the Irish Red Cross, of which Claire had been a member for the past three years.

Inside the church, several photographs of Claire with her friends were displayed and arrangements of simple white flowers were placed at the altar.

Five of her schoolmates lit five candles to represent their five missing friends, of whom Claire was only the first to be brought to the church. Two of her close friends, Claudia Hegarty and Dean Ladrigan, sang a song that has become a teenage anthem, a track by Green Day with the refrain I Hope You Had The Time Of Your Life.
The opening bars were enough to turn the brave young faces to inconsolable tears and many of the girls clung to each other as they watched Claire’s coffin being carried past them.

The pall bearers passed by a student with her arm in a cast and another leaning on crutches, living reminders of the horror that was Monday’s accident.

Bishop of Meath, Dr Michael Smith, joined the priests of the parish to receive Claire’s remains.

“I do not know if there are words to take away that kind of pain,” he sighed as he prepared to go inside.

Thousands have been sending words of comfort, however. The mourners were told last night that some 4,000 messages of sympathy had been received on the diocese email from all over Ireland and as far as Japan, Nigeria and the US.

BBC

Women inmates’ facilities ‘poor’

Women prisoners in Northern Ireland are held at Hydebank Wood

Current provisions at a jail in Belfast do not meet the needs of female prisoners, according to a report.

It follows a surprise inspection at Hydebank in November, commissioned by the Criminal Justice Inspectorate.

The report said a move from Maghaberry was poorly implemented and there was a lack of trained staff to manage inmates at risk of suicide or self harm.

The Prison Service said it accepted criticisms of past performance and it was “moving in the right direction”.

The report was produced jointly by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owens and the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice, Kit Chivers.

Mr Chivers said he was delighted that the Prison Service has accepted all the main recommendations.

“They have taken it on the chin and faced up to their shortcomings,” he said.

“This is a good outcome for the women prisoners - a win, win situation.”

‘Urgent’

The Northern Ireland Prison Service was told to “urgently” seek assistance from prison services in other jurisdictions which had developed policies to meet specific needs of women in custody.

In 2002, a Prisons Inspectorate report criticised conditions and treatment of women prisoners at Maghaberry jail in County Antrim.

Since then, female inmates have been moved to Hydebank Wood young offenders’ centre in south Belfast, which houses 250 young men.

In this latest report, the two inspectors said the relocation had “not tackled the underlying and fundamental issues” affecting women and girls in prison.

The Prison Service was criticised for failing to take action to implement recommendations made in the previous report.

‘Poorly implemented decision’

Women and girls were moved to Ash House at Hydebank instead, following the suicides of two inmates and a critical report from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.

The report said it was “a poorly implemented decision” and recommended that a separate dedicated prison for women should be provided.

The inspectors said facilities on a site shared with the male offenders lacked integral sanitation.

They said staff were insufficiently trained and prepared to receive the women following the move.

The report found that although women were allowed out of their cells, there was not enough for them to do and they had lost open access to fresh air and grounds.

The Prison Service accepted the majority of the recommendations.

The inspectors said integral sanitation would be installed in the cells at Ash House.

They said the Prison Service had recognised that Ash House could not be a permanent solution to the problem of accommodating women.

Following their recommendations, there is now a dedicated governor with responsibility for women prisoners.

Robin Masefield, director general of the Prison Service said he had to “accept the criticism of aspects of our past performance” but he was confident the regime was “moving in the right direction”.

He said the service accepted Ash House was temporary but, in the short to medium term, he was focusing on improving the regime there.

“In the long term we are open-minded, but I am not promising there will be a purpose-built women’s prison.”

A separate facility could cost between £30m and £40m, he said.

“The taxpayer would be asking ‘is that the best use of public money?”‘ he added.

Belfast Telegraph

West Belfast poorest area in province, states new report

By Chris Thornton
26 May 2005

West Belfast is the poorest area in Northern Ireland, according to Government statistics released today.

Nearly four out of five people in West Belfast live in districts that are officially classified as “most deprived”, the report said.

North Down is the least deprived area, with 2% of the population falling into the worst classification.

The report will be used to determine where Government and European assistance should be targeted.

The areas around the Falls Road and Shankill suffer the most from deprivation, according to the study.

Six out of the seven most deprived districts in Northern Ireland are in West Belfast. All of the ten worst districts are in the city.

Londonderry and Strabane also feature among the areas with significant deprivation.

The report for the Northern Statistics and Research Agency calculated deprivation on seven different factors - income, employment, health, education skills, proximity to services, living environment and crime.

A spokesman for the agency said: “These measures will help to inform government in the delivery of key programmes.”

BBC

Adams’ home ‘targeted in attack’

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams’s home was attacked

The west Belfast home of Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has been attacked, the party has said.

The party said the homes of two other Sinn Fein members, Fra McCann and Chrissie McAuley, were also targeted in ball bearing attacks on Wednesday.

The party’s general secretary, Mitchel McLaughlin, said they believed the attacks were linked. No-one was hurt.

Police have said anyone with information about recent vandalism in the area should contact them.

“This wave of attacks replicates similar incidents last year when dozens of republicans’ homes were targeted in Belfast,” Mr McLaughlin said.

“It is clear that all of the attacks last night were linked and those responsible were operating with accurate information regarding the addresses of republicans. One source of this information could obviously be the PSNI.

“Thankfully nobody was physically injured and I would urge republicans to be vigilant in the coming period.”

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesman denied any suggestion that information assisting the attackers came from the police.

“We totally refute this unfounded allegation.

“Our job is to make west Belfast safer for everyone and we abhor incidents such as this where property belonging to anyone is damaged,” he said.

He said anyone with information about recent vandalism in west Belfast should contact the police, and added that officers could offer crime prevention advice to anyone who had property damaged.

BBC

Omagh bombing accused is charged

A court artist’s drawing of Sean Gerard Hoey

A County Armagh man has been formally charged with the murders of 29 people in the 1998 Omagh bombing.

Sean Gerard Hoey, a 35-year-old electrician, from Molly Road in Jonesborough, appeared at Craigavon Magistrates Court in County Armagh.

Mr Hoey stood throughout the 10-minute hearing during which he was charged with possessing explosives and causing an explosion. He did not enter a plea.

He is the first person to be charged with murder in relation to the bomb.

The defendant’s solicitor said his client’s rights were being violated and said there was no new evidence against him.

He said the evidence offered by the prosecution was based on witness statements which already existed.

Michael and Patsy Gallagher, who lost their son, arrive at the court

Mr Hoey faces 61 charges in connection with the bombing in August 1998.

These include a charge of conspiracy to murder security force members.

As well as the fatalities, more than 300 people were injured in the Omagh bombing. It was the worst single atrocity in Northern Ireland.

The defence lawyer was granted a request to have the trial referred to Belfast Crown Court, where Mr Hoey is expected to appear next Tuesday via video link from Maghaberry Prison.

Belfast Telegraph

Board plans to axe 87 lollipop patrols

By Claire Regan
25 May 2005

The cash-strapped South Eastern Education and Library Board risked major controversy today by drawing up plans to axe 87 school crossing patrols.

The SEELB’s finance committee has approved the proposals as a cost cutting measure despite a revolt against similar plans in the Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB) area led by the Belfast Telegraph.

Our Save the Lollipop Service campaign was flooded with thousands of signatures from concerned readers, and gained widespread support from national road safety campaigners, schools, parents, teachers, lollipop personnel and politicians.

The BELB finally backed down after politicians and others on the board weighed in behind the campaign.

The SEELB’s controversial plans would remove part of the service at 16 schools with immediate effect and the lunchtime service at 71 schools from September.

The full board is due to meet tomorrow and it is expected they will decide on whether to endorse the committee’s proposals.

Members will rule on the matter at a time when public concern over pupil safety on the way to and from school has never been higher in the wake of the deaths of five school girls in a bus crash in Co Meath.

According to the minutes of the general purposes and finance committee held this month, the SEELB school crossing patrol budget allocation from 2005/06 is £560,000, £99,000 less than the previous year.

The minutes say a review of services estimated that £13,500 can be saved by stopping the 2pm crossing service at 16 schools because of indications “that there are no unaccompanied children using the service at this time”.

Irelandclick.com

It’s far safer to live in West Belfast

As the demolition of Andytown Barracks gathers momentum, new crime statistics prove yet again…

New PSNI statistics reveal that it is safer to live in West Belfast than in any other part of Belfast.

The welcome news comes after the Andersonstown News reported on Monday that a 75-year-old Glencolin woman was robbed by two masked men in her own home in the early hours of Sunday morning.

However, the new figures show that less crime is committed in West Belfast than in any other part of Belfast. South Belfast remains the crime blackspot of the city.

Safest place in the city

Figures remain on a downward spiral as West Belfast stays bottom of crime league

West Belfast is still the safest area of Belfast to live in, according to the latest crime figures.

The annual crime statistics released by PSNI this week showed recorded crime has even experienced a reduction in the West of the city. In 2004/05 there were 5,337 recorded crimes which is down 94 from the previous year.

The percentage clearance rate of recorded crime has risen from 19.7 in 2003/04 to 22.8 per cent in 2004/05. However, under the guidelines used by the PSNI when compiling the statistics, clearance does not necessarily mean that a conviction arose from the crime. It is sufficient that a person was charged for the crime to be deemed cleared.

Jim Auld, a spokesperson for Community Restorative Justice Ireland, welcomed the reduction in the level of criminal activity in the West Belfast area. “Any reduction in crime has to be seen as a good thing. However, the crime figures only decrease significantly when the community becomes actively involved with a police service which is acceptable to it and they work in partnership.

“The operative word is partnership. Statutory bodies have a view of partnership which is you do as they say. We look forward to the day we can work in partnership with a police service which is acceptable to the community.”
Overall, the figures on crime in West Belfast may be low, but the statistics in relation to domestic offences are cause for alarm in the community. There were 532 domestic offences in 2004/05, which Gillian Gibson, Centre manager in Footprints Women’s Centre, says is unacceptable.

“While those figures are quite shocking, they do reflect the work that we do on a day-to-day basis. In the half mile radius around our centre there were three incidents last year, two involving senior citizens and one a young woman. This brings home to you the level of the problem.

“We would also be concerned about the number of attacks which are not recorded. The figures released do not tell the whole story. There is a bigger onus on all of us to address this issue within our community,” said Gillian.
Within the area of racially motivated offences, West Belfast excelled in comparison to the other areas of Belfast. There were 15 such offences in the West of the city, compared to 108 in South Belfast. East and North Belfast had 32 and 49 racist offences respectively.

Gerry McConville, Director of the Falls Community Council (FCC), welcomed the relatively low number of racial attacks but added a word of caution.
“While the number of attacks is low, and this is due to the work carried out by community groups and activists throughout West Belfast, we must not become complacent. As we can see, attacks have still taken place.

“Minority groups must feel welcomed into the city and feel safe, and in that respect we still have a lot to do. We have recently completed an anti-racism training course for all of our staff and we would encourage other groups and businesses to do likewise.”

With regard to the security situation, casualties from paramilitary-style attacks and shootings were down from the previous year. Within West Belfast there were six shootings and six assaults, which was lower than North and East Belfast.

Journalist:: Staff Reporter

BreakingNews.ie

Ball bearings fired at home of SF MLA in west Belfast

26/05/2005 - 10:06:51

Police in the North are investigating an overnight attack on the home of a Sinn Féin Assembly member in Belfast.

A window was broken when ball bearings were fired at the home of Frank McCann in the west of the city shortly after 11pm.

Last year, a number of other Sinn Féin politicians in the area were targeted in similar attacks.

BreakingNews.ie

Second raider dies after Lusk post office shoot-out

26/05/2005 - 11:01:49

A second man has died after being shot by gardaí during an attempted armed robbery at a post office in north Co Dublin this morning.

Five raiders were involved in the incident, which happened in the village of Lusk shortly after 8am.

The gang arrived at the scene in a number of stolen cars, but gardaí had been lying in wait for them inside the post office.

An exchange of gunfire apparently ensued, leaving one of the raiders dead and a second seriously injured.

The injured man was taken to Beaumont Hospital, where he died a short time later.

Three other men were also arrested and the scene was subsequently sealed off pending technical examination by forensic experts.

Gardaí have also launched an internal investigation into the incident, as is normal whenever shots are fired by members of the force. Chief Superintendent Kevin Ludlow has been appointed to head up that investigation.

BBC

Man shot dead in post office raid

A man has been shot dead during an attempted robbery at a post office at Lusk in County Dublin.

The shooting happened between 0830 and 0840 BST on Thursday and it is thought the man was shot dead by armed police.

It is understood several armed men in stolen cars with false number plates were involved.

It is believed there was an exchange of gunfire and that the dead man was one of the raiders. Another man has been seriously injured.