SAOIRSE32

AN PHOBLACHT

In the shadow of the wall

By Laura Friel
19 August 1999

click to view - houses on Bombay Street backed up to ‘peace line’ - photo from CAIN

`No more Bombay Streets’ is not just the propaganda slogan of the republican graffiti activist It’s a sentiment born out of the experience of northern nationalists in a loyalist state. An experience which didn’t start or finish in August 1969 but has its roots in the partition of Ireland almost 80 years ago. Since the creation of the Six Counties, nationalists in the north have lived under the shadow of sectarian violence. From the burning of Bombay Street to the siege of Garvaghy Road, the story has been one of both courage and resolution. The following are the recollections of people in areas of Belfast that bore the brunt of pogrom in August 1969.

RITA CANAVAN

“We lost everything but our sense of humour,'’ says Rita Canavan. In a photograph taken in August 1969, two small boys are standing outside the burnt out facade of what had been the Canavan family’s Bombay Street home. Short trousers, spindly legs and cropped hair, one child stands up straight for the camera, but his face seems pensive, anxious, unsure. His companion, hands on hips, strikes a more defiant pose.

Behind them, a row of modest terrace houses, fire gutted, roofless, without doors or windows, stand in silent testimony to the sectarian hatred in which they had been engulfed. It’s a simple snapshot but all the elements are there, fear and defiance, vulnerability and courage. For the last 30 years, the image of Bombay Street has haunted not only the memory of residents whose homes were destroyed but the Northern nationalist psyche. And not without reason.

Between 1969 to 1973, it is estimated that 60,000 Six-County Catholics were driven from their homes. Last year, over 1,600 residents, the vast majority Catholic, requested rehousing following sectarian intimidation. To the present day, the petrol bomb remains a pivotal weapon in the loyalist arsenal of sectarian violence. Just over a year ago, the burnt out image of a house in Ballymoney was also accompanied by a photograph of small boys, three faces just as well scrubbed but whose fate was less kind.

Thirty years after the Bombay Street pogrom, children are still found on the front door step of Rita Canavan’s home but the scene is no longer one of desolation. Now 73 years of age, Rita is a proud mother of five, grandmother to ten and “I’ve one great-grandchild,'’ she says. Outside the youngest members of the family are playing in a street bathed only in the light of summer sunshine. “Take our photo,'’ they call to An Phoblacht’s photographer.

As newlyweds, James and Rita Canavan moved into Bombay Street almost 50 years ago. Today a roof high wall straddles the two communities, it’s presence affording a measure of protection from the loyalist gangs who still regularly pelt nationalist homes with bricks, stones, paint bombs and less frequently petrol bombs. Thirty years ago there was “no peace wall,'’ says Rita. “Protestant and Catholic houses were back to back.'’

Rita remembers the area as a “quiet community of decent hardworking people.'’ The largest factory, “Mackies'’, despite being located in a predominantly Catholic area of West Belfast, drew its workforce almost exclusively from the Protestant community, the vast majority from the Shankill. Catholics were more likely to be employed in unskilled, low paid jobs, as store keepers in warehouses, in the mills and at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

Whenever there was trouble brewing, Catholic families lived in fear of Mackies’ afternoon shift finishing before the local men, forced to work outside the area, had returned home. When on Friday 15 August, 1969, hostile loyalist crowds began to gather for a second evening running, “there was an insufficient number of men to defend the area,'’ says Rita. “Some women wanted to put up barricades but we were persuaded that everything would be alright by a local priest who was in contact with members of the Protestant community.'’

Outside a shoe shop on Cupar Street, members of the RUC and B Specials were standing with a crowd of loyalists. “We thought the RUC were there to stop the loyalists invading the area,'’ says Rita. “We were wrong, they gave us no protection at all.'’ As fears of a loyalist incursion increased, the decision was taken to evacuate Bombay Street and a number of vulnerable streets in the surrounding area. “Crates of petrol bombs had been seen by one of my neighbours.'’ Residents boarded up windows and barred their front doors. “Mrs McCarthy and I were the last two in the street to leave,'’ says Rita.

St Paul’s parish hall was overflowing with refugees. “There were people there from Ardoyne and other areas of Belfast where Catholics were being attacked,'’ says Rita. Despite the noise and smell of burning, the refugees at the parish hall did not anticipate the scale of the destruction which would greet them the following morning. “A priest told everyone to go home except those families from Bombay Street,'’ says Rita. “We thought the house had been looted, we never imagined the whole street had been burnt to the ground. There was nothing to salvage. All we had were the clothes we stood up in.'’

With four young children and expecting a fifth, Rita and her family stayed with relatives until they were allocated a caravan in Beechmount. “It was like a refugee camp,'’ says Rita. “We stayed there throughout the winter of `69. It was so cold even the toothpaste froze in the tube.'’ But as well as the hardship, Rita remembers a sense of community and individual acts of kindness with affection and praise.

The young men who held loyalist gangs at bay while their families saved what they could, “they were heroes,'’ says Rita. The Travelling community who faced loyalist violence to collect the furniture of fleeing Catholic families in their lorries, “they were great,'’ says Rita. And the many thousands of people who contributed time and money to rebuild Bombay Street are also remembered. “I moved back into Bombay Street on 11 July 1970,'’ says Rita, “and I’ve lived here ever since.'’

SEAN MURRAY

“Bombay Street was a watershed for me and many of my generation,'’ says Seán Murray. “It started in Derry, but at 16 years of age it wasn’t until I saw what was happening on my own streets that it really hit me.'’

When large scale riots broke out in Derry after the first civil rights march in October 1968, it seemed to one of the organisers that it was “all out of proportion'’ to the housing and employment issues they had been protesting about. After all, sectarian discrimination had been borne quietly by the nationalist community for decades. They had seen, as the song goes, “it through without complaining.'’

In his study, `From Civil Rights to Armalites’, Niall O Dochartaigh identifies the actions of the RUC and B Specials as the key factor in the escalation of the conflict. “From the outset, the response of the state and its forces of law and order to Catholic mobilisation was an issue capable of arousing far more anger and activism than the issues around which mobilisation had begun,'’ writes O Dochartaigh. “Police behaviour and their interaction with loyalist protesters probably did more to politically mobilise large sections of the Catholic community than did any of the other grievances.'’

On Tuesday 12 August 1969, an Apprentice Boys parade through Derry clashed with nationalist residents. The RUC responded by baton charging the nationalist crowd and armoured cars roared into the Bogside. In the Bogside, the RUC encountered fierce resistance from the residents, who forced the RUC into retreat armed only with bottles and stones.

August 13 and with Derry still under siege, RUC barracks in nationalist areas in Belfast were stoned in protest. On 14 August, loyalist mobs responded by burning Catholic houses in Belfast. “It was rumoured that loyalists were coming to burn down Clonard,'’ says Seán, “I remember a lot of people being on the streets and the priests promising to ring the chapel bell if the area came under attack.'’

The loyalists didn’t attack Clonard that night but from the chapel grounds, Seán watched houses burning as loyalists attacked other parts of the district. “There were houses burnt down in Dover and Percy Street, down facing Divis Street,'’ says Sean, “Catholic homes in Conway and Cupar Streets were also attacked. We stood and watched in sheer disbelief.'’

“One particular lorry was piled high with the belongings of a family forced to flee for their home,'’ says Seán. “As it was turning from the Kashmir Road into the Clonard area, a loyalist threw a petrol bomb onto the lorry and the whole thing went up in flames.'’

Using Browning machine guns mounted on Shorland armoured cars, the RUC fired indiscriminately into nationalist areas. In Divis Flats, nine-year-old Patrick Rooney was killed as he sheltered in his back bedroom. Four high velocity bullets pierced two walls before striking the child in the head.

As morning broke on Friday 15 August, the scene in several nationalists areas of Belfast was one of utter devastation. Six people had been killed, more were injured. Catholic homes across the city were burning; in some districts entire streets had been destroyed and hundreds of nationalists had been force to flee their homes.

“After the Mackies men got out of work on Friday afternoon, loyalist crowds started to gather,'’ says Seán, “and the scene was set for further sectarian attacks that night.'’ Families living in Cupar Street, Bombay Street and other vulnerable areas had already left their homes. The loyalist invasion of Clonard began early Friday afternoon. The RUC refused to come into the area, they gave the loyalists a free hand.'’

“We had to defend ourselves,'’ says Seán. “People came out and did the best they could. Gerald McAuley, a 15-year-old member of Fianna Éireann, was shot dead defending this area, others were shot, some seriously injured. Alex Robinson and Eddie Donnelly were two of several seriously wounded.'’

And for many young people at the time, once the disbelief had been dispelled, a grim determination to make sure it could never happen again set in.

“We were politicised overnight,'’ says Seán.

NELLIE McAULEY

“He’s not coming home,'’ says Nellie McAuley. “They were the words that confirmed my worst fears.'’ A large black and white pen portrait of her son hangs in the living room of Nellie’s terrace street home. “It was drawn by one of the prisoners in Long Kesh,'’ says Nellie, “and given to Gerald’s uncle. It’s a good likeness.'’

Gerald McAuley was 15 years old when he was shot dead while defending the Clonard district from loyalist attack. The likeness shows all the optimism and confidence of youth. The kind of face which should have been more at home on a GAA pitch challenging his peers, than facing a pitched battle against a rampaging Orange mob.

At 7am on Friday 15 August, Nellie was in Belfast city centre where she was working as a cleaner in one of the big stores. “I was working when I heard the news that a wee boy, Patrick Rooney, had been shot dead by the RUC in Divis Flats the night before,'’ says Nellie.

There were no buses for the return journey home. “A young woman was standing at the bus stop in the town,'’ says Nellie. She was a Protestant, the girl told Nellie, and was too afraid to walk home through West Belfast. “I told her she’d be alright with me, and we linked arms and walked home together.'’

Years later, the two women met again. “She remembered me and also knew that my son had been shot dead just hours after we first met,'’ says Nellie. She thanked Nellie for her kindness and said she had been sorry to hear Gerald had been killed. “It was ironic,'’ she said. “No, it was tragic,'’ said Nellie.

“I’d been out queuing for bread,'’ says Nellie, “and when I returned home there was a commotion at the house. Someone said Gerald had been shot. Another neighbour said he’d only been hit with a stone.'’ With an increasing sense of foreboding, Nellie began a desperate search for her son.

“I heard some of the wounded had been taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital. I pleaded with a nurse to let me search the wards.'’ A neighbour waiting in Casualty for his injuries to be treated confirmed that Gerald had been shot but he wasn’t at the Royal.

Back at home, news reporters had visited the McAuley’s, asking for a photograph of Gerald. “He must be dead,'’ Nellie told her daughter Frances. Finbar McKenna’s father took Nellie to the City Hospital. “A sister at the hospital said Gerald wasn’t there but there was a 19-year-old youth in the morgue at Musgrove Barracks,'’ says Nellie. “I knew it was Gerald; he was only 15 but he was big for his age.'’

Returning home, the reaction of people manning a barricade at Kennedy Way added to Nellie McAuley’s fears. “They moved so quickly and quietly out of our way.'’ From across a road a priest called to Nellie. “Are you looking for your son?'’ said the priest, “He’s not coming home, go home now, he died for his faith.'’ Later that night Gerald’s father travelled to Musgrove to identify his son’s body.

“I didn’t know Gerald was a member of the Fianna,'’ says Nellie. “He was often away from home cycling and camping but I never thought anything of it. I was told later that he had been helping evacuate families, loading their furniture onto the back of a lorry.'’

The McAuley family’s ordeal did not end there. Three weeks later a British army captain knocked on their front door. “He asked for my husband and told him he was wanted down the barracks to identity his son,'’ says Nellie. “My husband told him Gerald was dead and buried but he insisted. `Is it Jim?’ he asked. At the barracks the RUC roared with laughter. It was their idea of a joke, a sort of initiation stunt for the British army officer.'’

PATRICK McPARLAND

“They were a few men with very few weapons but they fought bravely to defend this district,'’ says Patrick McParland. Patrick was a young man of 20 when he watched a handful of IRA Volunteers repel an armed loyalist mob intent on driving Catholics out of the Clonard area. “Bombay Street had already gone up in flames,'’ says Patrick, “but I tell you it could have been a lot worse.'’

Patrick describes the attack of 15 August 1969 as “well planned'’ by loyalists and endorsed by the RUC. “In the early hours of Friday morning, the RUC raided a house in Kane Street, arrested two men and `recovered’ the only weapon in the district,'’ says Patrick. The RUC’s action suggests they not only knew of loyalist plans to attack the area but also colluded by disarming nationalists in advance.

At Mackies factory, the loyalist workforce held a secret meeting. “A Catholic working in the factory walked into the meeting in the tool room by chance,'’ says Patrick. “The room fell silent and he was questioned about what he had overheard.'’ When Mackies afternoon shift finished work, the workforce was strangely quiet and quick to leave the district.

“Trouble started as soon as Mackies workers were away,'’ says Patrick,'’ as if they had waited until everyone was safely home on the Shankill before turning the heat up.'’ The Catholic district began to be showered with hundreds, perhaps thousands of petrol bombs.

“They must have been up all Thursday night preparing that amount of petrol bombs,'’ says Patrick. “This was not a spontaneous riot.'’ The RUC had guaranteed Clonard Monastery that they would defend the area against any sectarian attack. “The RUC lied,'’ says Patrick. “They did nothing.'’

As residents desperately tried to defend their homes, fires began to take hold in some houses under petrol bomb attack. “At Teddy Lynch’s, a loyalist threw a grenade and the whole house just went up.'’ says Patrick. Teddy later came back to collect his motorbike - “Motorbike? there was no bloody house!'’

“Geordie McMahon took the initiative,'’ says Patrick. “He hijacked an articulated lorry and threw it across the bottom of the Kashmir Road.'’ At a gap between the back of the lorry and a wall, a loyalist gunman appeared.

“He was dressed in a black hat and black tunic and his face was covered with a hankie. He was carrying a sterling sub machine gun.'’ As the gunman appeared, nationalist residents at the top of the hill ran to the left. “Gerry McAuley ran to the right, he made it as far as Waterville Street, but there was a burst of fire and he fell.'’

The gunman who killed the 15-year-old was a well known local loyalist whose family lived next door to a Catholic-owned bar in Cupar Street. Three other people were shot and seriously injured by loyalist gunmen in the Clonard district that day.

As Bombay Street began to burn, firemen refused to drive into the street. “I think they must have been intimidated by the loyalists,'’ says Patrick. “Colm Meehan drove one of the fire engines up himself. We didn’t know how to use it but it was worth a try.'’ The fire engine was abandoned when loyalist gunmen fired through the windscreen.

Then the IRA arrived. “A handful of men and they weren’t very well armed “ says Patrick, “but what they lacked in manpower and firepower they made up for in courage and tenacity. The men who fought that day became the founding fathers of the Provisional IRA of today.'’

MARTIN MEEHAN

“A .303 rifle with eleven rounds of ammunition saved Ardoyne,'’ says Martin Meehan. “In August 1969, the IRA of that time left nationalists in North Belfast defenceless.'’ Trouble had been brewing in the north of the city for weeks. By August, as sectarian attacks on Catholic areas intensified, the steady flow of families fleeing their homes became a tidal wave of refugees.

“It was like something you would see in Kosovo,'’ says Martin, “wave after wave of refugees fleeing to relative safety within Ardoyne and further afield to West Belfast.'’ Every classroom in the local school was sheltering families with their few belongings.

In early August, the then IRA leadership decided to move any weaponry held in North Belfast into a central pool in the west of the city. “It was all done very quietly,'’ says Martin. “They disarmed the area, we were left defenceless and we didn’t even know. It was to cause a lot of resentment later.'’

On Thursday, 14 August, the RUC and B Specials “came in very heavy'’. Catholic homes and businesses were burnt along the front of the Crumlin Road. The decision was taken to use buses at a local depot to barricade the district against further attack.

“About 50 buses were used,'’ says Martin. “They were used to block off as many roads into the Ardoyne as possible. It was our line of defence.'’ That afternoon loyalists opened up with shot guns,'’ says Martin, “20 people were hit and Ardoyne was in turmoil.'’

Martin remembers with some amusement the casualty ward in the Mater Hospital. Injured nationalists and loyalists sat within spiting distance of each other “and never a word was spoken,'’ says Martin.

Snipers had climbed to the top of mills overlooking Ardoyne and were firing at anyone who moved. Unarmed and under fire, a few local men later set fire to the mills as a defensive measure to deny the sniper a vantage point.

“Someone produced a .303 rifle and 11 rounds of ammunition. That rifle saved this area,'’ says Martin. The weapon was moved from street to street and “the roar of it gave the impression that we were well armed.'’

Both loyalists and the RUC did not attempt to invade the area beyond the barricade of buses. “Catholic homes on the other side of the barricades were attacked and burnt but on this side we were able to defend the district.

“In the immediate aftermath Republicans paid a heavy price for the then leadership’s decision to take weapons out of the area. The seeds for the split which gave birth to the Provisions were partly sown in North Belfast in `69.'’

ANN McLARNON

“My husband was murdered for being a good neighbour,'’ says Ann McLarnon. In the front parlour of the McLarnon family’s Ardoyne home, Ann recounts the night when as a young wife she was robbed of a gentle husband and her three small children lost a father they were too young to really know.

On the wall hangs a small snapshot of a happy couple on their wedding day, holding hands as they walk together down a terraced street. Above the television hangs a much larger framed newspaper cutting of Sammy McLarnon’s funeral cortege.

As Ann tells her story, her voice is trembling and there are tears in her eyes. If Sammy and his bride’s joy had been brief, the grief of his widow has been as long as the trailing line of grim-faced mourners carrying Sammy’s coffin along a winding road.

“We heard shooting earlier that night but I didn’t know what shooting was and when Sammy dismissed it as only blanks I was reassured,'’ says Ann. “Sammy wanted me and the kids to go and stay in his mother’s house but I refused.'’

Ann and Sammy moved into Herbert Street shortly after they were married. By August 1969 the young couple had a two-year-old son, Sammy, a baby daughter, Ann Marie and Ann was expecting their third child, Samantha. Ann was only 20 years old, her husband just 27.

At the top of the street, a crowd of loyalists had gathered together with some members of the RUC. “A house had been set on fire,'’ says Ann, “and Sammy went up to help put out the flames.'’ Shots were fired as a few local residents tried to save the house. “Leave the fenian bastards to us,'’ an RUC officer had shouted to the loyalist mob.

“When Sammy came back into the house we both stood by the front window watching two fellas standing directly across the road,'’ says Ann. “The RUC spoke to the two men and they were moved away.'’ Ann went out into the kitchen.

It was only a few moments later. “As I walked back into the front room, three shots rang out,'’ says Ann, “Sammy fell to the ground.'’ Ann remembers calling her husband’s name, screaming and running for help next door.

Sammy McLarnon’s body lay where he fell for over five hours while the RUC and B Specials refused to let an ambulance through to the house. In the end, the dead man was taken away in a black taxi. Ann and her children were taken to Sammy’s mother’s house in Andersonstown. “I was in a state of shock,'’ says Ann. “I couldn’t think. I didn’t want to believe Sammy was dead.'’

Later on the night of the killing, the RUC opened fire again on the McLarnon family’s home. The walls of the house were riddled with gunfire. It was over a month later before the RUC sent a forensic team to investigate the crime scene.

“There was only three shots fired when Sammy was killed,'’ says Ann. “I have no doubt that those shots were aimed. The RUC deliberately killed my husband and then covered it up. The house was riddled so that it seemed as if Sammy had been killed by a stray bullet, an accident.'’

On Monday 16 August 1999, an independent public tribunal into the McLarnon shooting was to be held in Ardoyne Community Centre at 7pm. “Fr. Des Wilson is bringing lawyers from America and Europe to take witnesses statements,'’ says Ann. To mark the 30th anniversary of Sammy’s death, a plaque will be unveiled at the spot where the McLarnons’ home once stood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Original mural from Belfast Murals at Danny Morrison.ie

———————

Sunday Life

**Hain thinks IRA statement is ‘imminent’

IRA set to move

By Alan Murray
12 June 2005

GENERAL John de Chastelain flies into Belfast today, fuelling anticipation that the IRA is poised to make a “spectacular” statement.

The retired Canadian general, who has witnessed three arms decommissioning exercises by the Provos, is arriving one month ahead of schedule.

His change of plans has heightened speculation that the IRA is poised to stage its biggest-ever act of arms decommissioning, an estimated 100 tons of its remaining weapons and explosives.

That would pave the way for Sinn Fein to do a deal with Ian Paisley’s DUP, in the late autumn.

British officials have been hinting to loyalist paramilitaries that they should expect to hear a “spectacular” statemen from the IRA soon, and should prepare to make similar far-reaching gestures.

The IRA is under pressure to respond to a call from Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams, to conduct an internal debate on whether to disband, and become the equivalent of an ‘old comrades association’.

The British and Irish governments, and unionists, have demanded that the IRA should announce that it is effectively disbanding, and to order recruitment, training and intelligence-gathering on potential targets to cease.

The organisation’s ruling army council is understood to have authorised a consultation of members, following Gerry Adams’ call in April for a debate to be initiated within the organisation on its future role.

General de Chastelain wasn’t expected to appear in Northern Ireland until next month, according to his office.

But, last Thursday, his spokesman confirmed that he was on his way from Canada, and should arrive in Belfast today.

The spokesman said he would be holding a series of meetings with different parties, and would meet new Secretary of State, Peter Hain, and Irish officials among others.

In May, the spokesman indicated that the general would not be returning to Belfast until at least July, because there was no need for him to spend time in Northern Ireland.

But, his decision to bring forward his trip will heighten anticipation that the IRA is on the brink of a fourth exercise to decommission weapons.

In interviews yesterday, Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, attempted to crank up the pressure on the DUP, by demanding that both governments create more cross-border bodies to enhance north/south co-operation on a range of issues, if Ian Paisley’s party refused to share power with Sinn Fein following a major IRA initiative.

BBC

Car in canal owned by missing man

Gareth O’Connor has been missing since May 2003

Police are working on the assumption that a body found in a car recovered from Newry Canal was that of missing man Gareth O’Connor.

Police confirmed the car was his, but a post mortem examination failed to identify the body and cause of death. Dental records and DNA will be used.

Detectives believe Mr O’Connor, 24, was killed by the IRA. The IRA denied this.

The Armagh man disappeared in May 2003 as he drove south to answer bail conditions in the Irish Republic.

Police said the tests to confirm the body was that of Mr O’Connor would take some time.

Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said if it was the missing man, it would be a major breakthrough.

“It’s one of the things we’ve been looking for for two years. It certainly reinforces our commitment to bringing this case to a closure,” he told Radio Ulster.

Police have been preserving the scene where the car was found

“It will be a very important line of inquiry. It may enable us to take the investigation to the next stage.”

The blue Volkswagen Golf was discovered close to Victoria Lock near Newry after a two-day operation involving members of the PSNI’s Underwater Search Unit.

The car has been taken away for forensic examination.

Divers returned to the canal on Sunday to carry out a follow-up underwater search.

Mr O’Connor’s family also believe he was murdered and have made appeals for information about the location of his body.

The father-of-two was reported missing after he failed to report to Dundalk police station in the Irish Republic as part of his bail conditions on a charge of belonging to an illegal paramilitary group.

He had been charged with membership of the dissident republican Real IRA.

He was last spotted on closed-circuit television pictures driving through the County Armagh village of Newtownhamilton.

Sunday Life

That olde-time UVF ‘religion’

Bomb preacher flees UVF mob

By Ciaran McGuigan
12 June 2005

TERROR preacher, Clifford Peeples, was forced to flee the Shankill Road, last week, after being confronted by his former pals in the UVF.

The pipe-bomb pastor, who recently staged a coup at a west Belfast church, came face-to-face with an angry mob - linked to a UVF commander in the area - outside the church, last Wednesday.

The confrontation came less than 24 hours, after a BBC Spotlight programme highlighted the bitter row surrounding control of the Bethel Pentecostal Church, on Berlin Street.

In the programme - prompted by Sunday Life’s coverage of the row - Pastor John Hull told how Peeples, along with Miami Showband killer, John Somerville, seized control of the church.

Peeples’ appearance on television, and back on his old Shankill stomping ground, angered the local UVF ‘military commander’.

Said one loyalist source: “Having Clifford Peeples on television spouting about how he is welcomed on the Shankill, didn’t go down well.

“The UVF have long memories, and were not going to stand back and let him worm his way back into the area.

“And, he was not going to be allowed to bully his way back in either.

“He was told to leave, and warned what might happen if he continued to show up on the road.”

Former UVF member Peeples first fell foul of the terror group, in the 1990s, in a row over protection money.

Peeples went on to be a leading figure in the shadowy Orange Volunteers, before being caught with a stash of grenades and a pipe-bomb.

In April, Sunday Life revealed how Peeples - freed last year from after a 10-year sentence for explosives charges - had formed an unholy alliance with Miami Showband killer, John Somerville, to force most of the Bethel’s trustees from the church.

Most of the congregation followed, after Peeples and Somerville changed the locks on the church doors, and banished Pastor John Hull and his followers.

That row is now likely to end up in the courts, with the remaining trustees of the church seeking an order for the keys to the premises to be handed over.

Sunday Life

**Nobody has any money for education programmes, but they can fund this kind of shite

‘Bare-faced’ cheek

12 June 2005

Erecting a 70ft-high sculpture of naked woman outside city hall for centenary celebration gets the bum’s rush

AN internationally-renowned artist is planning to fly to Belfast this week (correct)in a bid to defuse the storm over his latest work - a 70ft-high sculpture of a NAKED WOMAN!

Scots-born David Mach was said to be “shocked” at the reaction of city councillors to plans to use the giant nude structure as a centrepiece of next year’s celebrations to mark the centenary of Belfast’s City Hall.

The council’s policy and resources committee gave the project the thumbs-down, with one councillor branding it “a bare-faced cheek”.

But, the full council decided to send the issue back to the committee for “reconsideration”.

The sculpture - put forward as part of a bid for funding from the urban and cultural programme of the Millennium Commission - is to be featured at some point, either during or after, the Belfast Festival at Queen’s.

And, supporters hope it would then be installed at the front - and to one side - of the City Hall’s magnificent entrance.

Mach (48), specialises in spectacular, large-scale sculptures and installations.

At one stage, he had exhibitions in 10 different cities - ranging from San Francisco to Madrid and Milton Keynes to Melbourne.

Multiple mass-produced objects, most notably magazines, bottles and car tyres, have been used by Mach throughout his career.

Making classical pillars from thousands of newspapers and magazines at the Tramway Gallery, in Glasgow, in 1990, was a marathon of physical effort.

A spokesman for Queen’s, which is supporting the project, said last night: “There is a lot of misinformation about this sculpture, and David is hoping to clear that up when he arrives here on Tuesday.

“He wants to explain his ideas and outline that much of his work is based on humour and social comment.

“He will be addressing some key opinion-formers, and hopes to bring over examples of the work he has produced.”

Mach’s backers believe the power of large public works of art engage the public imagination, and are an icon for regeneration.

But, whether it will be enough to persuade the 51 members of the city council is another matter.

slnews@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Sunday Life

Memorial ‘for spies like us’

By Chris Anderson
12 June 2005

Camer-shy but media-friendly ‘Kevin Fulton’/Peter Keeley

A FORMER Army spy is calling for a memorial to be erected in memory of agents who lost their lives in Ulster’s murky world of intelligence-gathering.

Ex-RIR soldier ‘Kevin Fulton’ claims it’s high time the Government recognised the “dangerous and vital” role played by intelligence agents in the war against terrorism.

Fulton says that, for far too long, successive governments ignored the sacrifices made by undercover agents.

And he says that a permanent memorial - which he says should carry the words ‘Fallen Agents’ - would be a public recognition and fitting tribute to the work carried out by undercover agents in the province.

Said Fulton: “The RUC, UDR and Army all have memorials recognising those who served and paid the supreme sacrice.

Why shouldn’t fallen agents be treated differently?

“Had these faceless men and women been in uniform, they would have received the highest award for bravery.

“For far too long, they have been shunned and their names never mentioned.”

Fulton, who worked for the highly-secretive Force Research Unit (FRU) and infiltrated the IRA, said even terrorists had memorials erected in their ‘honour’.

The former spy said the ‘Fallen Agents’ memorial should be along similar lines to the National Police or Guards memorials in Horse Guards Square.

He added: “I personally believe the memorial should be located in Northern Ireland.

“But, failing that, somewhere in Whitehall.

“One thing is certain - it should not be tucked away in some obscure corner where no one can see it.

“That would be worse than having no memorial at all.”

Fulton said Northern Ireland political representatives should support the call for a memorial for intelligence agents.

Former FRU soldier-turned-whistleblower ‘Martin Ingram’ last night endorsed the call for a ‘Fallen Agents’ memorial.

slnews@belfast telegraph.co.uk

Sunday Life

Call Scap!

By Alan Murray
12 June 2005

A JUDGE has cleared the way for one of the IRA’s biggest ‘traitors’ to be brought before a Belfast court.

A young Scap

Army agent Freddie Scappaticci, who is believed to have fled to Italy after his cover was blown, is one of several witnesses another former spy intends to call in an action against the Ministry of Defence.

Scappaticci recently

Last Friday, a judge threw out an attempt by MoD lawyers to block a full hearing into an action by a former spy who uses the pseudonym “Sam Rosenfeld”.

The MoD had attempted to restrict the type of hearing Rosenfeld’s lawyers could conduct during an unusual sitting in the Queen’s Bench division of the Family Court in Belfast, where proceedings are conducted in camera.

But despite their attempt to limit Rosenfeld’s action, a judge ruled that he can call the range of witnesses he chooses, in pursuit of his quest for compensation.

Rosenfeld is a 43-year-old Englishman who worked as a builder along the border and agreed to work for the Army’s Force Research Unit in November 1991, when he ran a business in Enniskillen.

He claimed to be part of Operation Rose, an MI5 operation to gather intelligence information on IRA activists operating along the border.

He began his legal action against the Ministry of Defence in 1995, but hopes to have a full hearing of his case before the end of this year.

Friends in London, where he now lives, say Rosenfeld intends to call Scappaticci, Sir John Stevens, all his previous Army and MI5 handlers and contacts and an accountant, who he claims has acted undercover in the province for the security agencies for many years.

The Rosenfeld case is one of two high profile cases being brought by former spies which could expose secret Army, MI5 and Special Branch operations across Northern Ireland in the so called ‘dirty war’ against terrorism.

Scappaticci is understood to have fled to Monte Cassino in Italy early last summer, after he accepted advice from the Special Branch that the IRA intended to abduct, interrogate and kill him for his acts of betrayal.

For a decade the west Belfastman acted as the deputy to former Special Boat Services marine John Joe Magee, who headed the IRA’s internal security unit which interrogated and sanctioned the deaths of suspected informers within the terrorist organisation’s ranks.

slnews@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Sunday Life

Dorrians mark Lisa’s birthday

By Stephen Breen
12 June 2005

WHEN Lisa Dorrian’s sister, Ciara, made her First Communion last month, it was the hardest day her heartbroken family has endured since her disappearance.

Although the Dorrian family continue to struggle with Lisa’s murder on a daily basis, today will also be one of the most difficult they have had to come through.

For the Bangor woman’s devastated family will gather to remember Lisa on what would have been her 26th birthday.

Their pain will also be compounded because it is also Lisa’s sister, Michelle’s, 21st birthday tomorrow.

Speaking to us last night, Lisa’s sister, Joanne - who claims to know the people who murdered Lisa - said her family should have been together for a double celebration.

Instead, they will spend Lisa’s birthday under a cloud of despair.

Part of their day will also be shared with Bangor medium Warren Coates, who has pinpointed an area of north Down where he believes Lisa’s body may be located.

The information has been passed to police - and Lisa’s family are praying that her body will be found “sooner rather than later”.

They will also release 26 white balloons over Bangor pier - one for every year of her young life.

Lisa’s family also intends to write to popstars including Ronan Keating and Bangor’s own Snow Patrol, in a bid to gather support for their campaign.

Said Joanne: “Sunday is always a hard day for us, but this Sunday is going to be extremely difficult because it’s Lisa’s birthday - it’s horrendous.

“It’s been 15 weeks since we last saw her alive and the only thing we are praying for is the return of her body. We are begging people to help us.

“All we wanted was her body returned so that we could have gone to a grave on her birthday and grieved properly.

“If anyone knows where Lisa’s body is I would urge them to think for a minute about what we are going through and please come forward.”

Sunday Life

We will stay in business - UDA

Terror chiefs stage pow wow in drinking den to discuss future policy

By Stephen Breen and Alan Murray
12 June 2005

UDA chiefs have ruled out disbanding - even if the IRA take the initiative and do so.

The loyalist group’s chiefs held a special summit at a Shankill Road drinking den, last week, to discuss its future, and how it would respond to any major initiative by the IRA.

One senior source in the organisation said that it was not prepared to disband, at the present time, because it did not trust the IRA’s intentions.

But, it is understood that inside the rival UVF, suggestions have been made that it might dump weapons, and become a type of old boys association, if the IRA took similar steps.

The UDA’s meeting was attended by each of the UDA’s six so-called ‘brigadiers’, accompanied by 12 senior members from their respective areas, and members of the Ulster Political Research Group.

Sunday Life understands the gathering was organised by the UDA’s leader in south Belfast, Jackie McDonald.

It is believed the meeting was arranged to discuss the progress the UDA has made since its commitment to combat drug-dealing, criminality and extortion.

But, it is also understood the gathering was arranged to discuss the leadership’s concerns over a “fifth columnist” within its ranks.

Also, discussed was the possible return of exiled terror chief, Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair to Northern Ireland, and the summer marching season.

We revealed, last week, how a probe was under way, after the leadership blamed a spy for creating tension, by suggesting that north Belfast brigadier, Andre ‘The Egyptian’ Shoukri, was set to be ousted from the group.

According to sources, Jackie McDonald also told members that leadership styles, similar to ousted east Belfast gangster, Jim ‘Doris Day’ Gray, will not be tolerated in the future.

Said one senior source: “This was one of the biggest meetings the UDA has held for years. All the main players, and most senior members were there.

“It had been arranged weeks ago, but it was brought forward, because the leadership wanted to discuss the issue of the ‘fifth columnist’ within its ranks.

“It was quite an open meeting, but it was funny to see convicted extortionists and racketeers talking about putting an end to criminality.

“There was a whole range of issues discussed, and it was also a way for the UDA leadership to show the rest of the organisation that they are united.”

Sunday Life

**Having gone through something similar to this myself, I feel very strongly about this issue, and I also think that the very fact they call it ‘domestic violence’ implies that it is one step less serious than what a stranger would do to you, almost like the victim condones it. Many times, as here, the attacker is bailed and able to go back and finish off his victim before the case can go to court. Even if he is convicted, the time sentenced and served usually in no way fits the crime. This is the way it is the world over.

‘You’re dead you bitch… I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you’

By Pauline Reynolds
12 June 2005

BATTERED senseless, these horrific images show the sheer brutality of a vicious attack on Lorraine Purdy, which left her bloodied and bruised.

The imprint of a trainer on her face gives an idea of the force evil Bert Purdy (41) used to inflict such horrendous injuries on his estranged wife.

Along with scrapes and scratches, Lorraine also suffered a ripped ear, five cracked teeth and a slash above the eye which had swollen to the size of a tennis ball.

She still suffers spells of double-vision, which show no signs of clearing up, and will have to wear glasses for the rest of her life.

Lorraine, from Co Antrim, is also having tests to determine if the top of her spine has been damaged.

Another victim of domestic violence, the terrified woman could endure the torture no longer and took the brave step of pressing charges.

And in court last week, sick Purdy admitted attacking Lorraine (37). He is due for sentencing later this month.

Lorraine broke her silence last night to reveal publicly what she has had to put up with during the past decade.

“If telling my story helps just one woman pick up the phone and look for help, it will make my life worthwhile,” she said, with steely determination.

Her years of mental and physical abuse came to a head in April last year, when Purdy launched the most violent attack to date.

After dragging her out of her car by the hair, he lashed out.

“I was in the driver’s seat and he came up to the window and smashed his fist through it,” she recalled, her voice trembling as she relived the terror ordeal.

“I remember him pulling at the back of my head and later realised he had tugged out clumps of hair by the root.

“The next thing, I was down on the ground and all I kept seeing was his foot coming towards me again and again.

“And while he was attacking me, I could hear him shouting, ‘You’re dead, you bitch. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you’.

“It was in the evening and I could see car lights coming towards me, but I hadn’t even the energy or the will to try to move.

“The attack got so bad, that, towards the end, I imagined his foot was coming towards my face in slow motion.

“I was in such agony that, at one stage, I prayed to God, ‘Please let me die’.”

It was only when two passers-by raised the alarm that the relentless attack stopped and cowardly Purdy ran off.

Since it happened, Lorraine has managed to piece together other details of what happened after talking to witnesses.

“One said he was kicking my face as though he was taking penalties at a football match.”

The mum-of-two was the victim of domestic violence for 10 years - even after the couple separated in 2000.

But no one would believe that her husband - the non-smoker, non-drinker who attended church every Sunday - would lift a finger to his wife.

It was only a few years ago, when Lorraine managed to tape a three-hour blitz of ranting and raving abuse did anyone take her seriously.

“I recorded him saying how he would never stop - should it take 10 or 15 years - until I was in a bodybag,” she said.

“He said he didn’t love me and would make damn sure he would leave me with a face that no one could ever love.”

Purdy was charged with making threats to kill, but, even while on remand, his wife was so terrified of him that she dropped the charges.

But Lorraine’s attitude has now changed, and she’s hoping that other women in similar situations will follow her example.

“I stayed in three different Women’s Aid hostels and the support I was shown made me feel so strong,” she said, with a new-found confidence.

“I know how difficult it is for someone to get out of an abusive relationship.

“They are controlled so much and are so mentally tortured that they lose all their self-esteem.

“It’s very daunting to be out on your own - but it can be done.

“Women’s Aid, Victim Support and the police domestic violence officers can safely get you out of a dangerous situation. Help and a new life is just a phonecall away.”

Lorraine hopes her estranged husband will be caged for 10 to 15 years.

“In my opinion, it was one step down from attempted murder. I’m praying that he gets put away for as long as it takes for me to rebuild my life.”

Attacked in broad daylight

EVIL wife-beater Albert Purdy viciously kicked and beat his victim in a busy street in broad daylight.

Antrim Crown Court was told how the thug inflicted such serious injury on Lorraine Purdy, that she still suffers bouts of double-vision.

Judge David Smyth QC said she was “quite viciously beaten for some reason” and that the attacker had lost control when he struck and kicked her.

“Her car was damaged and threats were uttered,” he said.

“Mr Purdy may have been influenced by some drugs he had taken.”

Commenting on her injuries, the judge said: “Double-vision was the more lasting result of this.”

Purdy appeared in court last Monday. He had previously denied assaulting his estranged wife at Ballymena’s Cushendall Road on April 17 last year.

A jury of 10 men and two women were selected before the accused dramatically changed his plea.

Purdy asked to be re-arraigned and admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent, making a threat to kill and damaging Lorraine’s car.

He was released on his own bail of £250 with one surety of £250.

He is due for sentencing on June 28.

The thug was ordered to have no contact with his victim, nor can he visit Antrim town except to attend court.

He must also reside at his home address at Brookfield Gardens, Ahoghill.

A pre-sentence report is to be prepared which will include medical reports, a psychiatrist’s file, a victim impact report and a report on Lorraine’s injuries.

Examiner

Why gardaí framed the McBreartys

By John Breslin
11/06/05

A COMPLAINT by the McBrearty family against a detective sergeant who was accused of borrowing money from publicans in Donegal prompted the campaign of intimidation and false accusations which ultimately led to the Morris Tribunal.

A number of gardaí in north Donegal were “waiting in the long grass” for payback over what happened to Sergeant Danny McHugh, said Frank McBrearty Senior, who detailed his suspicions in an affidavit to the High Court which has been obtained by the Irish Examiner.

Mr McBrearty’s son Frank and Mark McConnell were the victims of a conspiracy by a number of gardaí to frame them for what was thought to be the murder of Richie Barron in October 1996. The pair was arrested along with family and friends in early December.

It was later confirmed Mr Barron died following a hit-and-run. The State faces more than 30 claims of unlawful arrest, false imprisonment, assault and malicious prosecution.

The question of why the family was targeted in the first place has never been adequately answered publicly. The McBrearty family believes the answer lies in a complaint made by Frank McBrearty Snr five years before Mr Barron’s death.

Sgt McHugh retired in 1991 after 30 years’ service in the gardaí, following an internal inquiry into allegations of corruption.

It is claimed Sgt McHugh was borrowing money from publicans in the Raphoe area and failing to pay them back. However, it was a demand to be allowed use the McBrearty’s premises for personal purposes that led the McBreartys to complain him to his senior officers.

Former Chief Superintendent Denis Fitzpatrick, responding to the allegations in the High Court that some gardaí in Donegal harboured deep resentment over the treatment of Sgt McHugh, said: “It is, in fact, correct that Sgt McHugh was the subject of a garda disciplinary inquiry and as a result, Sgt McHugh retired on October 7, 1991, after 30 years of service.”

Chief Supt Denis Fitzpatrick, who was allowed retire on full pension after being criticised in the first Morris report, denied gardaí were motivated to destroy the McBrearty’s business because of animosity over the complaints against Sgt McHugh.

However, after Frank McBrearty Snr made the complaint against Sgt McHugh, the publican was accused by gardaí of bribery and a file was sent to the DPP. No charge was ever brought.

Mr Fitzpatrick states the former sergeant did not serve with any of the members implicated in the plot against the McBreartys. However, the High Court affidavit claims he did serve with a number of them, including John O’Dowd and Padraig Mulligan, both of whom were heavily criticised by Mr Justice Frederick Morris.

Mr McHugh did not want to speak yesterday about any link, albeit unwitting, to the sequence of events leading to the McBrearty scandal. However, his wife said yesterday he may have known some of the gardaí but was not friendly with any of them.

In his affidavit, Mr McBrearty Snr states: “Garda O’Dowd played a central role in the harassment of me and my family over the succeeding years, clearly displaying his intense hostility … because of his perception of what I had done to Sergeant McHugh.”

Furthermore, when Mark Quinn, one of 12 people arrested on the same day as Frank McBrearty Junior, was picked up, it is claimed the arresting garda said the investigation into the death of Mr Barron was “payback time” for Sgt McHugh.

Telegraph

Unborn child survives Abigail stabbing
(Filed: 12/06/2005)

Abigail Witchalls is three months pregnant and both mother and baby are doing well, the hospital treating her has announced.

Abigail Witchalls with her husband Benoit and son Joseph

Mrs Witchalls’ local priest hailed the news that her unborn child has survived the attempt on her life as an answer to prayer.

Worshippers at Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic church in Little Bookham, Surrey, have been offering prayers for the 26-year-old every day since the horrific attack on April 20.

The news that Abigail, who was stabbed in the neck in front of her 21-month-old son Joseph in a lane in the village, was pregnant with her second child emerged in the days after the attack but was never officially confirmed.

But last night a spokesman for the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in north London issued a statement saying that Mrs Witchalls was three months pregnant, with mother and baby doing well.

Father John Sheehy said: “It’s an encouragement to keep on praying, isn’t it?”

The hospital spokesman said: “Abigail and her family are happy to confirm that she is 12 weeks pregnant and that she and her baby are doing well.

“They are both being monitored regularly by a midwife and an obstetrician.

“Abigail and her family would like to thank everyone for their kind wishes but would like some privacy at this time.”

The confirmation came days after Abigail finally emerged from intensive care. She is now able to breath without a ventilator and even sit up in a chair for short periods.

The improvement in her condition enabled police to return to her bedside this week to interview her in more detail about the attack.

Police confirmed that that process had included Abigail effectively revisiting the scene of the attempt on her life from her hospital bed for the first time.

In an interview in which she was shown - and failed to pick out - a photograph of Richard Cazaly one of the two suspects in the case, she also saw a video retracing her steps on that afternoon.

A Surrey Police spokesman said that the process was to: “double check that we haven’t assumed something that was incorrect.”

Police also stressed today that they are continuing to focus efforts on Mr Cazaly, whose apparent suicide days after the attempted murder propelled him into the spotlight of the investigation, even though she failed to identify a photograph of him in a photographic ID parade.

Police are compiling a dossier of evidence which they believe links the former garden centre worker to the attack for the Crown Prosecution Service.

It is believed to include evidence found by specialist tracker dogs, capable of detecting scents which are several weeks or even months old, which were sent out into the fields and lanes of Little Bookham, Surrey, less than two weeks ago.

Police issued a statement shortly after the exercise which said that nothing relevant to the investigation had been found.

But the force today stopped short of denying a report in the News of the World that the dogs had in fact picked up Mr Cazaly’s scent at the scene of the attack.

RTE

Taoiseach to hold talks with Paisley

12 June 2005 17:01

A Government team led by the Taoiseach is to hold talks with the DUP leader, Ian Paisley, and a party delegation next week.

It is understood Bertie Ahern will be joined by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern and the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, for a meeting with the DUP at the Irish Embassy in London.

The DUP group is likely to include the Rev Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson and Nigel Dodds.
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The Taoiseach is also expected to hold talks with the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon.

The discussions will focus on efforts to restore devolved government in the North.

:: IRBB ::

Fianna Attacked and Arrested after Frank Gartland Function

Photos of some of the damage posted (click on above link). Read previous article >>>here .

BreakingNews.ie

Nuclear leak closes part of Sellafield site

12/06/2005 - 10:19:18

A recent leak at Sellafield nuclear engineering plant could close part of the site for months, it was reported today.

Production stopped at the site’s Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) in April after the discovery of a leak from a pipe, which went undetected for up to eight months.

Sellafield’s managing director, Barry Snelson, told the BBC the plant may remain closed for months.

He described the incident as “a stumble, not a fall”.

Safety regulators have indicated the discharge could result in criminal charges, the BBC reported.

An investigation by British Nuclear Group last month found the pipe may have begun to fail as early as August 2004, and that opportunities were missed between January 2005 and April 19 that would have shown material was leaking.

The pipe fractured and discharged nitric acid onto the floor of a concrete-lined cell in the Thorp complex.

A secondary containment cell ensured there was no release of radioactivity to the environment. The leak could not have been prevented, but the amount of liquid released could have been reduced, the report found.

No staff at the Cumbrian plant were contaminated.

BBC

Hain ‘can remain honest broker’

“Since 1972, he has been a critic of British policy towards Northern Ireland.”

Peter Hain said things have completely changed in NI

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain has defended his ability to act as an honest broker in the peace process.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Mr Hain was involved in the Time to Go movement which advocated Britain’s phased withdrawal leading to a united Ireland.

At the time, Mr Hain said partition was at the heart of its problems.

He told the BBC’s Politics Show that the Good Friday Agreement had “changed everything” and there was a “completely different life” now in the province.

“Some of those quotes are going back 20 to 30 years,” he said.

“Nelson Mandela was in prison in South Africa, the Berlin Wall was still up.

“There was no prospect at all of the completely different life that I now see around me just today in Belfast.”

“Peter Hain is probably the most partisan secretary of state for Northern Ireland ever.”
Dr Paul Dixon
University of Ulster

Ulster Unionist leadership candidate Sir Reg Empey said the onus was now on the secretary of state to reassure unionists.

“There was ambiguity there, there’s no doubt,” he said.

“I think it would put a line under this if he was to prepared to make it clear that he doesn’t believe in taking troops out of Northern Ireland, that he does support the principle of consent.”

Dr Paul Dixon, a lecturer at the University of Ulster specialising in Labour’s Irish policy during the Troubles, said he had uncovered evidence of Mr Hain’s support for Irish republicanism up until the time that Labour got into government.

“Peter Hain is probably the most partisan secretary of state for Northern Ireland ever. Since 1972, he has been a critic of British policy towards Northern Ireland,” he said.

“During the 1980s he consistently supported a withdrawal policy, which was against the Labour official policy of Irish unity by consent.

“During the 1990s, Peter Hain’s position continued to echo that of Irish republicanism.”

Political commentator Brian Feeney said Mr Hain’s past might come as a shock to many unionists but his change in views mirrored that of other cabinet colleagues.

Peter Hain came to prominence in the 1970s as a radical

“They’ve all just flip-flopped because they knew by the mid-1990s that it wasn’t going to get them into government.”

Mr Hain is one of a clutch of cabinet ministers who in younger days had the security services monitoring their activities.

He first came to national prominence as a radical Young Liberal in the forefront of the campaign against apartheid in South Africa, where he lived until he was 16 and his activist family fled to Britain.

He led the 1969/70 Stop the Seventy campaign to disrupt the South African cricket tour of the UK, and helped found the Anti-Nazi League in 1977 - the same year he moved over to Labour.

He spent 15 years working as a political researcher for a trade union, entering the Commons at the 1991 Neath by-election.

Irish Independent

De Chastelain visit to North may herald IRA decommissioning

GENERAL John de Chastelain, the former Canadian general who supervised three acts of IRA decommissioning by the IRA, is to fly into Belfast today.

His arrival a month ahead of schedule has fuelled anticipation that the IRA is preparing to decommission tons of weapons and ready the ground for a deal with Ian Paisley.

UK government sources have been hinting to loyalist paramilitaries that they should expect a “spectacular statement” from the IRA soon and should reciprocate.

BBC

IRA ‘could move within weeks’

By Brian Rowan
BBC Northern Ireland security editor

For two months now the IRA has been talking to itself - talking to itself in “disciplined and systematic briefings” right across its organisation.

The leadership has been consulting the men and women in its ranks in a discussion about the future of the IRA, or more accurately, a future without the IRA.

It is a debate that has the potential to open up another negotiation and the possibility of another deal in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Almost exactly two months ago, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams spoke directly to the IRA organisation.

He sketched out an alternative to “armed struggle” and posed this question:

“Can you take courageous initiatives which will achieve your aims by purely political and democratic activity?”

Republicans will see what is happening in the context of trying to do business with Ian Paisley’s DUP and of a move towards endorsing policing

We should have the answer to that question soon, some suggest within weeks rather than months, and possibly before the end of June.

Republicans are saying two things: that the IRA won’t be rushed but that, on the other hand, Mr Adams does not want his initiative “to run cold”.

So decision time is approaching.

Beyond the debate, there will still be an IRA. It won’t disband, but it will be a very different organisation.

Its words and actions will have to signal a final end to its “long war” and its arrival into that purely political and democratic arena that Mr Adams spoke of in April.

There are IRA members who see the organisation in its historical context and who will oppose the Adams initiative because the “Brits” are still here and Ireland is still partitioned.

But no-one is suggesting an IRA split.

Republicans will also see what is happening in the context of trying to do business with Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party and in the context of a move towards endorsing policing.

For some, this will be too much to stomach, and not every IRA member will support the Adams initiative. That is another of the inevitabilities of this process.

The IRA’s decision on its future will not open up the immediate prospect of a deal with the DUP.

The removal of watchtowers could follow any move by the IRA

But a decision to end all activities and to quickly complete the decommissioning process - possibly with additional witnesses - may well pave the way to autumn negotiations.

These would coincide with the next report of the Independent Monitoring Commission - a kind of ceasefire watchdog which advises the British and Irish governments on continuing paramilitary activity.

Its next report could be crucial in setting the mood for new talks.

And that is why the IRA statement - now expected within weeks - and the subsequent, speedy decommissioning will have to be credible and qualitatively better than anything that has been said and done before.

Convincing needed

After the Northern Bank robbery and the murder of Robert McCartney, the IRA has some convincing to do - particularly in the unionist community - and what it says and does in the coming weeks will put it back in the political shop window.

If it does enough to convince the governments that the political process can be re-built, the first response to the IRA initiative should come in the shape of demilitarisation - a reduction in troop numbers and the removal of the British army watchtowers on the hills of south Armagh.

This will be the build up to the next negotiations and the next effort to achieve a political deal and republican participation in policing.

And, very shortly, we could see the first steps in what is likely to be a lengthy process.