SAOIRSE32

An Phoblacht

click to view - Joe Cahill with his republican comrades

On the first anniversary of the death of leading Irish republican Joe Cahill, An Phoblacht looks back at one of the episodes with which Joe was always associated in the public imagination — The Claudia affair.

In 1972, 29-year-old Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi made contact with leading Irish republican Joe Cahill through the Breton artist and sculptor Yann Goulet. The purpose of the approach was an offer of material assistance to the IRA whose struggle against British occupation of the Six Counties was reaching a new intensity.

Yann Goulet was an interesting figure in his own right. A leading member of the Separatist Movement in Brittany during the Second World War, he had many narrow escapes in the struggle against the German forces occupying France. Goulet was eventually imprisoned and went on hunger strike. On his release, his political activities again led him to be hunted by both Germans and French. Condemned to death in his absence, Goulet fled France for Ireland.

In relation to his dealings with Ireland and Irish republicans, Muammar Gaddafi insisted on dealing only with Joe Cahill, whom he respected and believed he could trust. Joe’s nerve in appearing at a Belfast press conference while on the run, and his high international media profile following his deportation from the United states, had drawn the attention of the Libyan leader.

Of the initial meeting with a Libyan representative Joe Cahill said: “Jack McCabe, the IRA’s Quartermaster General, and I eventually met him and we talked through an interpreter. The emissary told us that Gaddafi was very interested in the Irish question, would like to help and would like to meet me and whoever else came with me.”

Not a lot came of the initial contact as the IRA leadership appeared to have other irons in the fire in relation to the acquisition of arms. However, contact with the Libyans was eventually re-established through Yann Goulet and arrangements put in place for Joe Cahill to go to Triploi, the Libyan capital.

The IRA put two teams into place, one making arrangements for a four-man group to travel incognito to Libya; another setting about providing passports.

Cahill flew out of County Cork to France in a small four-seater private plane.

At another small airport in France he was picked up and taken by car to Paris. With three others Joe Cahill then set off for Rome. From Rome the group flew to Tripoli where they were met by Libyan officials.

After a five or six-day wait for Gaddafi who was away from the capital, the group were eventually taken to a military barracks for a meeting with him. Cahill was impressed by Gaddafi’s grasp of Irish affairs and the situation in the Six Counties. Although he had good English he refused to speak it and spoke through an interpreter instead. He said he did not understand why the IRA delegation spoke in English, the language of the state they were fighting. He agreed with the cause of a United Ireland and offered to help the IRA. Cahill made it very clear that there could be no question of having any strings attached to the help being offered. However, no such probe arose and Gaddafi was genuine in his offer of assistance. Cahill then gave a detailed list of what the IRA was seeking in terms of weaponry it felt would make an impact on British forces in the Six Counties.

A man known merely as ‘the German’ organised the leasing of the Cyprus-registered boat called The Claudia. Initially, its cargo was to contain 40-tonnes but the Claudia headed out to sea with only a small quantity of five tonnes. The reason for the reduced shipload was that the Libyans were concerned about the ship and its reputation and had done some investigating into its history. They discovered that The Claudia had a notorious international reputation and had been involved in other smuggling operations

It was decided that Joe Cahill and two of his colleagues would make the journey back to Ireland on board the vessel, as this would be their safest route home. The captain was a man by the name of Hans Ludwig Fleugel, and his brother was the first mate.

Of this aspect of the operation Joe Cahill said: “I have no idea what the finer details were that lay behind the acquiring of the ship. What I do know is that we left it entirely up to the German. Our people had met the Libyans before I went out, and it was decided that a boat should be moored outside Libyan territorial waters and the stuff could be transported at sea. After I had met Gaddafi, we arranged that a radio signal from The Claudia, by this time just outside the limits, would let us know when to give the Libyans the go-ahead to head out to sea with the arms.

“When the people on board the Claudia could not make contact, they headed into Tripoli, which they should never have done. It was never intended that the boat would go into Triploi. That was to be the safeguard for the Libyans, but the ship arrived in the harbour and there was a bit of a panic. The Libyans were fair enough. They said they would load the ship where it was. However, for reasons which I did not discover until years later, they did not supply all they said they were going to supply.”

The boat reached the Waterford coast but the republicans were frustrated when they were forced to stay at sea for another 24 hours due to adverse weather conditions. Equally frustrated were the awaiting groups at Helvick Head, watching out for The Claudia. The group on land had trouble of their own, as they were unable to establish radio contact with the vessel due to the same technological difficulties the boat experienced in Libya.

A launch boat had to make numerous trips in and out to sea, watching for sight of The Claudia so that they could safely escort her into the harbour. To explain the trips in and out, the “fishermen” said that they were having engine trouble and were trying to fix the problem. Unfortunately, one local was over helpful and wanted to help fix the engine. The men asked the friendly local man to go and source a new lead for them to keep him out of harm’s way.

The land operation had its headquarters in a house overlooking Helvick Harbour. An Abbeyside man was Officer in Command and there was also an active service unit to escort the arms to dumps. In all, there was a 50-person plus team involved in the onshore operation.

On 28 March the watchers in the harbour spotted The Claudia and the launch was dispatched to meet her. The objective was to bring Clareman Denis McInerney to shore so that he could lead up the land operation by ensuring that the arms were brought to safety, and to bring walkie-talkies on board to establish contact between all parties as radio contact was impossible.

The arms were to be brought in with the help of a trawler and some specially made rope nets, which local Volunteers, who were staying in the house overlooking Helvick Harbour, had put together. These nets were designed to carry the weight of the arms shipment.

The people on board the launch informed the crew that all was clear on shore and there was not even a sign of a customs man around. While McInerney headed back to shore, one of the members of the launch, Gerry Murphy, stayed on board The Claudia.

Seán Garvey from Kerry, Joe Cahill and Gerry Murphy from Waterford were talking about the success of the operation when they noticed three ships from the Irish Naval Service — two minesweepers, Gráinne and Fola, and the fishery protection vessel, Deirdre. These boats had been following the gun smuggling operation. Earlier fears on the part of the republicans about a possible sighting of a submarine in the Mediterranean had been correct, as a submarine was spotted off the Island in Helvick.

With the help of newly-acquired radios The Claudia crew warned the people on the launch of the impending danger. So sudden and unexpected was the appearance of the Navy that the republicans had no chance to carry out a pre-arranged plan to scuttle the ship if there was a danger of the weapons being captured. Enough explosives had been provided to rip open The Claudia’s hull, but they were not in a state of preparedness when the 26-County Navy struck.

The launch quickly tried to get ashore to warn the people waiting there. A package was thrown over the side as it tried to reach land. They were able to contact those on shore through the walkie-talkies that they had brought on board. The Navy vessels opened fire on the launch and numerous tracer bullets were rained down on them. The launch halted only when a rubber dinghy from one of the minesweepers pulled up alongside it and fired two shots at close range.

The people waiting onshore had to abort the operation and set about helping the active service unit to get away. They were escorted through fields to a safe house, where they laid low until things had quietened down a few days later.

The OC waited until a number of people gathered on the pier and headed down, along with a local fisherman, pretending to be an onlooker unaware of what all the fuss was about. The other members of the operation then slipped in the back way to Murray’s pub where a party was taking taking place, as the owners had returned from honeymoon.

The Gardaí and Navy were all around the area. An armoured tank was placed opposite Murray’s pub, with its gun pointing out to sea.

Two trucks were on their way to Helvick to collect the arms when they were stopped outside of Dungarvan by an armed Garda/military checkpoint. The drivers said that they were on their way to Waterford Co-op to collect powdered milk and the Gardaí let them pass through.

At the same time in Stradbally, a local man out doing a spot of salmon fishing was surrounded by armed Gardaí as he came ashore. He thought they were the bailiffs, while they thought he was involved in the Helvick operation. Once the Gardaí realised the mistake, the sergeant, a man with a thick Cork/Kerry accent, bought one of the fresh fish.

Back in Helvick on the night in question, one of the sharp-eyed Irish sailors had spotted the object being thrown over the side of the launch. A Navy diver was sent down in the following days but came up with nothing.

Local salmon fishermen spotted the mystery object and marked it with a buoy. A trawler then used a grappling hook while passing it and brought it on board. The object, two suitcases tied together with rope, contained a black box, which had great deal of money, £40-£50,000, in it, as well as a list of contact names and addresses throughout Europe. Also inside the box were the false passports, which had been used to go to Libya.

The money would have been a big loss to the IRA if it had fallen into the wrong hands, as it proved very important in organising future operations.

Also inside the cases were three copper plates, which had a man on camelback on them, a statue of the Arc De Triomphe, and a dagger, which Gaddafi had given to Joe Cahill.

These objects never found their way back to Joe Cahill’s possession and can be found in and around the Ring area. Some items of clothing belonging to Joe Cahill were among the contents of the cases. His suit and a pair of shoes were cleaned and brought up to him for his appearance in the Special Court some time later.

The black box containing the money, passports and contact names, was carried up the pier by a crew member of the salmon trawler, known as having no republican connections and straight past the 24-hour guard that had been in place since The Claudia had been caught. This money, the passports and the list of contact details were handed back to the IRA, three weeks after The Claudia incident, in Fraher Field, Dungarvan.

The first journalist on the scene of The Claudia’s capture was John A Murphy, then working for the Cork Examiner, accompanied by photographer Rory Wyley from Dungarvan.

The Claudia was arrested in Helvick and brought to Cobh, where it was searched and unloaded. Much to everyone’s surprise, it was released. Joe Cahill, Seán Garvey and Gerry Murphy were all arrested in Cobh. The crew members of the launch, Ger Walsh and Donal Whelan, along with Denis McInerney, were brought into Helvick Pier and arrested there.

On 21 May 1973, Joe Cahill was sentenced to three years penal servitude. Denis McInerney from County Clare and Seán Garvey from Kerry each received a two-year sentence. Donal ‘Duck’ Whelan and Gerry Murphy, both from County Waterford, received suspended sentences of two years. Ger Walsh was acquitted in the case.

Both Gerry Murphy and Donal Whelan were suspended from their jobs. Gerry Murphy worked for the County Council while ‘Duck’ Whelan was a headmaster in Kilmacthomas Vocational School. He was suspended for seven years. Although his job was continually advertised no one ever applied to fill the position. When the seven years were up, there was one application from ‘Duck’ himself and he was reinstated.

During the trial, the court heard that the Claudia’s cargo hold and lifeboats contained 250 rifles, 246 bayonets, 850 rifle magazines, 243 pistols, more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition, ten anti-tank mines, 500 high-explosive grenades, gelignite, TNT explosives primers, Carter fuses, electric fuses, and material for making booby traps.

In a speech from the dock of the court Joe Cahill said: “All my life I have believed passionately in the freedom of my country. I believe it is the God-given right of the people of Ireland to determine their own destinies without foreign interference and, in pursuit of these aims and ideals, it is my proud privilege as a soldier of the Irish Republican Army, just as I believe it is the duty of every Irish person, to serve or assist the IRA in driving the British occupation forces from our shores.

“If I am guilty of any crime, it is that I did not succeed in getting the contents of The Claudia into the hands of the freedom fighters in this country. And I believe that national treachery was committed off Helvick when the Free State forces conspired with our British enemies to deprive our freedom fighters of the weapons of war.”

An Phoblacht

BY SHANE Mac THOMÁIS

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Painting of Howth Harbour by Norman J. McCaig from here

On 24 April 1914 the unionist paramilitary Ulster Volunteers successfully imported into Ireland 10,000 Manlicher rifles, 9,100 Mauser rifles and 2,000,000 rounds of ammunition all purchased in Hamburg, Germany. The purpose of the importation was to oppose by violence any introduction of Home Rule for Ireland.

In London Eoin MacNeill met with some Anglo-Irish Protestants including Roger Casement, Alice Stopford Green, and Maura Comerford, and provoked by the success of the unionists they decided to respond in kind.

Three months later, on 3 July, the Asgard began a voyage that would see her sail into the pages of Irish history. On board Erskine Childers, Molly Childers, Mary Spring Rice and Gordon Shephard sailed the rifle-laden yacht for 21 days which took them right through the entire British Naval Fleet, then under review by the King of England at Spithead and weathering at least one severe storm

In Dublin, about 20 members of the IRB under the command of Cathal Brugha were sent to Howth early on the morning of Sunday 26 July with instructions to hire boats and generally look as much like tourists as possible. Their business was to receive the yacht, moor her and, in the event of any police interference, to deal with it. The Irish Volunteers met on Sunday morning at Father Matthew Park in Fairview, totalling 800 in all. They were told they were about to go on a route march to North Dublin.

Just 48 hours before Austria served an ultimatum on Serbia, the Asgard, with Molly at the helm, sailed into Howth. On the pier the Irish Volunteers, who had been kept in ignorance of their purpose there until the last moment broke ranks in their excitement. As the Volunteers began to unload the rifles a coastguard cutter was seen approaching and rifles were instantly raised by the IRB, and the cutter’s crew, conceding that caution was the better part of valour, restricted themselves to firing rockets to alert a far too distant HMS Porpoise. Within half an hour the unloading was complete and the newly-armed Volunteers formed up to cheer the yacht out of the harbour. Two days later the Asgard and its occupants were in North Wales reading in an alarmed British Press about the landing of guns in Dublin.

Sadly, the gun running was not without further incident. On their way back to Dublin the Volunteers were accosted at Clontarf by police and a battalion of the Kings Own Scottish Borderers. Ordered to surrender their arms, the leaders, Thomas MacDonagh and Darrell Figgis cleverly argued while their men melted away one by one into the fields with their weapons, saving all but 19 of the rifles. The Scottish Battalion withdrew towards their barracks in Dublin followed by a growing, jeering crowd. At Batchelor’s Walk on the Liffey Quays the soldiers came to attention and fired randomly into the crowd of civilians, killing three and wounding 38.

Of the 1,500 guns purchased by Darrell Figgis in Antwerp, Childers brought 900 to Howth. The other 600 and a portion of the ammunition were placed on Conor O’Briens yacht which sailed into Kilcoole on the 1 August 1914. Two years later in the streets of Dublin, the Howth rifles could be heard announcing Ireland’s cry for freedom.

On Sunday 26 July 1914, 91 years ago, the Asgard sailed into Howth Harbour.

An Phoblacht

click to view

Sinn Féin General Secretary, Mitchel McLaughlin has said that Ted Heath will always be remembered as the British Prime Minister who oversaw the events that led to the massacre of innocent civilians on the streets of Derry.

McLaughlin said: “It is ironic that Ted Heath should die on the same weekend as the last of the Mothers of the Bloody Sunday victims. Nancy McKinney, the mother of Willie McKinney, passed away yesterday and I extend my condolences and those of my party to the McKinney family.

“Whilst Mrs McKinney will be remembered by all with pride for the dignity with which she and all the other mothers and families displayed over the years since Bloody Sunday, Ted Heath will be remembered by the people of Ireland for the contempt with which he treated the families of the Bloody Sunday massacre and the people of Derry.

“It was Ted Heath who set the parameters for the Widgery Tribunal when he instructed the British Chief Justice when he appointed him to carry out an Inquiry to remember that they were fighting a ‘propaganda war’ as well as a military one. There never was any intention on the part of the Heath government to disclose the truth of what happened on Bloody Sunday.

“Right up until the end Heath showed nothing but contempt for the search for the truth. Even his appearances at the Saville Inquiry were contemptuous. Unfortunately, Heath’s contempt denied all of the mothers of the victims the dignity of knowing the truth had finally been told before their deaths.”

BBC

Council says fewer people sending waste to landfill sites

Belfast City Council has said that its enhanced recycling service is proving very popular with householders in the city.

Recycling bins were provided for 11,000 homes in south Belfast in June. They are collected on alternate weeks with the regular black bins.

The council has said that 60% of those people are now recycling waste rather than having it sent to landfill sites.

It is hoped that by next year everyone in the city will have the facility.

Tim Walker, head of waste management at the council, said people now have to adjust to new habits on the issue.

The blue recycling bins take paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, tins and cans.

The council also hopes 55,000 households will have brown bins for garden waste by next year.

Under EU regulations councils face large fines if recycling targets are not met.

Daily Ireland

By LARRY LEVIN Dublin Correspondent

As five Mayo men enter the fourth week of imprisonment over their opposition to the Shell Corrib gas pipeline and with no end in sight to the controversy, their families and friends are calling for renewed nationwide protests in support of the men.
In Dublin today, supporters will be picketing 20 Statoil service stations throughout the city during the evening rush hour. Statoil is the Norwegian state oil company that has a large stake in the gas field off the Mayo coast, where the pipeline would originate before it comes onshore.
Also, Sinn Féin is calling for a day of action today and organising its own protests at Shell and Statoil stations throughout the country.
Tomorrow, a national demonstration is planned for Dublin. The Shell to Sea campaign, the lead organisation fighting the construction of the pipeline, is calling on supporters to gather at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 2pm. The event will begin with a march down O’Connell Street to Trinity College and back to the GPO, where a rally will be held.
The campaign is now taking on a higher political profile in Dublin. For the first time, Labour party leader Pat Rabbitte will participate in a demonstration, joining tomorrow’s march and addressing the rally. He met with the men at Cloverhill prison on Wednesday and said he was “seriously disturbed about the way in which the orders against these five defendants were obtained”. Shell E&P Ireland brought the original court action against the imprisoned men.
Mr Rabbitte, a Mayo-born TD, questioned the legality of Shell’s actions.
“Neither construction nor installation of the pipeline by Shell were permissible. Yet the company somehow managed to get a court order restraining others from interfering with what would in fact have been unlawful acts on its part,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, a Mayo TD, is coming under increasing criticism. Maura Herrington, a spokeswoman for the Shell to Sea campaign, called Mr Kenny “increasingly irrelevant because he has shown no capacity to engage” with his constituents on the issue.
She says that campaign supporters have had little contact with him and that “in so far as we think of him at all, we wonder if he actually exists.
“Does he fully support Shell in their plans or does he support the citizens of his own constituency who want Shell to stay offshore? He should be able to state that,” she said.
The political stakes in the conflict also appear to be rising. Campaigners are no longer directing their anger solely at Shell and its partners in the project. Many are now laying the blame for the stalemate directly at the doorstep of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
“It’s not just Shell we’re fighting – it’s the government, up to and including the Taoiseach,” said Ms Harrington.
“The state, quite literally, is willing to throw its own citizens in a sparsely populated part of the country to the corporate dogs.
“The state considers the health, safety and welfare of its own citizens expendable to corporate wishes.”
Another Mayo TD, Independent Jerry Cowley, said the government was “colluding with Shell to allow Shell to do what it wants without any local planning permission.” He called it “a mockery of the whole system.”
Sinn Féin MP Pat Doherty is calling on Tyrone and Armagh GAA fans who will be travelling to Dublin for their match at Croke Park on Saturday to come early to support the march and join the rally.

Daily Ireland

By Jarlath Kearney
j.kearney@dailyireland.com

The PSNI has failed to charge anyone after a highly sensitive security dossier “disappeared” from east Belfast’s Castlereagh barracks in July 2004, it can be revealed.
Daily Ireland has also learned that – barring three initial searches and one arrest – the PSNI has failed to order any follow-up searches or arrests in the explosive investigation for exactly 12 months.
It’s believed that 28 Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) soldiers ranging from major to private were removed from sensitive intelligence duties after the disappearance of the document from the Military Intelligence offices at the PSNI base was discovered.
Speaking to Daily Ireland yesterday, a British army spokesperson declined to elaborate on the current assignments of the 28 RIR soldiers claiming “it would be unfair to speculate”.
Nationalist politicians were incensed about the apparent theft of the intelligence document. British government officials telephoned members of the media throughout Belfast to advise that the apparent theft was a “non-story”.
The incident followed a previous burglary of intelligence documents at Castlereagh PSNI Special Branch office in March 2002.
On that occasion, the PSNI initially blamed an ‘inside job’ theory before attempting to throw suspicion onto republicans.
Over 30 high-profile raids and nine arrests took place in the days after the 2002 Castlereagh burglary, with extensive PSNI media briefings blaming the IRA for the incident. No one was charged.
By contrast, on Sunday, July 11, 2004, the PSNI issued a brief statement indicating that detectives “had been called to investigate” an alleged internal breach of security at Castlereagh barracks. A later British government statement confirmed that “there is an ongoing investigation into the disappearance of a document from a room in the Castlereagh Complex”.
At that time, just three premises were searched. Only one person was arrested before being released without charge. This individual was believed to be a serving RIR soldier.
It emerged that a highly-classified intelligence dossier containing the personal details of hundreds of citizens had gone missing from Castlereagh barracks.
A PSNI spokesperson confirmed to Daily Ireland yesterday that no subsequent searches or arrests have been ordered in the past 12 months.
“To date, one person has been arrested and subsequently released without charge. Three searches were carried out. Investigations into this incident are continuing,” the PSNI spokesperson said.
A British army spokesperson told Daily Ireland last night that “no soldiers were suspended from duty” over the affair.
“A number of personnel were assigned to other duties while the police investigation went on,” the spokesperson said.
Describing the reassignments as “quite normal”, the spokesperson continued: “We just gave them other jobs. I don’t know what they’re doing now. It would be unfair for me to speculate on what they’re doing now.”
The spokesperson said that the British army would “look at it [the case] when the police finish their investigation”.

BBC

Firefighters were called to “a very severe” blaze

Residents of 115 homes in east Belfast have been moved and roads have been closed due to a major fire.

Fire crews were initially called to a blaze at a garage on the Avoniel Road shortly after 1430 BST.

At the height of the fire gas cylinders exploded threatening dozens of houses.

Fire Service area commander Chris Kerr said the fact houses close to the garage are still standing was a tribute to the courage of his firefighters.

He said when crews arrived they found a “very severe” fire in a garage which was threatening to spread rapidly to other garages.

“The houses adjacent to those garages were threatened by fire, the flames were literally bouncing off the roofs,” Mr Kerr said.

He said it would be at least Saturday afternoon before the safety of residents of Avoniel Parade, Avoniel Drive and Avoniel Road, could be guaranteed in their homes.

Mr Kerr said firefighters, who had worked in very hot and punishing conditions, would remain in the area for some time.

The fire had been contained and firefighters would be moving in for their final attack on it, he added.

Irish Examiner

By Sean O’Riordan
22 July 2005

WHEN finished it will weigh an astonishing 29,000 tonnes and at 450 metres will be the longest bridge of its type ever built in Ireland.

Work is well underway on the crossing, left, of the Blackwater Valley as part of the €200 million construction of the Fermoy bypass, in north Cork.

Austrian company Straubag is nearly halfway through building the monster bridge which will be 8.1 metres above the river.

Sections of concrete are being cast on the southern side of the river.

“They are jacked up bit-by-bit and then launched across. There are two separate bridges. Each will be dual carriageway with an emergency lane,” said Christopher James, who is general manager of the main contractors, Direct Route.

The bridge, which will cost over €20 million, is by far the largest of 18 which are being built along the 17.5km road.

It will join the Watergrasshill bypass in the south with the existing N8, two miles north of Fermoy near Moorepark.

“In total the bridge will weigh approximately 29,000 tonnes and will have steel reinforcements of 2,000 tonnes,” Mr James said.

The contract signed between the National Roads Authority and Direct route is for the whole bypass to be completed by the summer of 2007.

However, Mr James said yesterday it was possible this date will be brought forward.

It will be the first toll road in Co Cork.

BBC

The SDLP refused to back a call for Sean Kelly’s release

Nationalist and republican councillors in Derry have clashed over a call for the release of Shankill bomber Sean Kelly.

SDLP councillors refused to back a Sinn Fein motion at Thursday’s council meeting calling for the north Belfast man to be freed from prison.

The party said Kelly should only be freed if “there was no evidence against him”.

Sinn Fein has launched a campaign calling for his release.

Derry SDLP councillor Pat Ramsey said the Northern Ireland secretary had “very good reason to make a full disclosure to the public” about Kelly’s arrest.

“Let us all be made aware of the circumstances that led to the revoking of his licence and imprisonment at the present time,” he said.

Rantings

Sinn Fein councillor Paul Fleming criticised Kelly’s re-arrest because “his role at sectarian interfaces was nothing but positive”.

“He has been arrested at the behest of the rantings of anti-agreement unionists facilitated by securocrats,” he added.

DUP MP Gregory Campbell said Kelly should not have been given early release under the Good Friday Agreement.

“The issue isn’t one of Sean Kelly helping old ladies across the road or being a social worker. This man is a mass killer. He never should have been released from jail in the first place,” he said.

Sean Kelly was one of two men who left a bomb in a shop which killed nine civilians and his IRA accomplice.

His early licence was revoked last month and he was returned to prison by Secretary of State Peter Hain on the basis of a security dossier.

Guardian

Staff and agencies
Friday July 22, 2005

The scene outside Stockwell tube station in London after a man was shot dead by police. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Police today shot a man dead at Stockwell tube station in south London.

Scotland Yard said: “We can confirm that just after 10am armed officers entered Stockwell tube station. A man was challenged by officers and subsequently shot. London ambulance service attended the scene. He was pronounced dead at the scene.”

A witness described the man being “shot dead” in front of him as an officer “unloaded five shots” from a pistol. Another witness said he heard were three shots.

Passenger Mark Whitby said he was sat on a Northern Line train when three plainclothes officers ran on in “hot pursuit” of an Asian man.

He told BBC News: “I heard lots of shouts of ‘get down, get down’. I looked to my right and I saw an Asian man run on the train. As he ran on he half tripped.”

He said the man was being pursued by three plainclothes officers who ran on just a few feet behind him.

The witness said one officer brought out a pistol in his left hand and “unloaded five shots into him”. He said the shooting happened “five yards” away from him.

Asked what condition the man was in, Mr Whitby said: “He’s dead … I’ve just seen a man shot dead, I was distraught.”

There was speculation the man may have been a would-be suicide bomber who had been followed by police. Mr Whitby said he did not see a bag, but the man had worn a bulky winter-style coat, and there may have been “something underneath it”.

He said he then left the train where he saw 10 to 15 police officers armed with handguns and sub machine guns on the platform.

He said: “One of the police officers was holding a black automatic pistol in his left hand. They held it down to him and unloaded five shots into him. I saw it. He’s dead, five shots, he’s dead.”

Journalist Chris Martin said he was waiting on the northbound Northern line platform at Stockwell station and a train had pulled in when several men burst on to the platform about 20 yards from him.

“There was a lot of shouting, I thought it was football fans or something,” he said.

“There was obviously some sort of altercation going on, and then they came flying on to the platform and these guys just threw this man into the open doors of the train.

“Then I heard shots, I thought it was three but someone else said five. It sounded like a silencer gun going off, and then there was blind panic, with people shouting and screaming and just running away.

“I didn’t actually see the gun, but I heard this ‘bang, bang, bang’.

Another witness, Christopher Scaglione, 35, a fashion designer, was on a Victoria Line tube train shortly before the shooting.

He said: “The train didn’t stop at Vauxhall and so I got out at Stockwell. I was just on my way out when I heard at first a little bang, not like a bomb more like a gun, and then people were shouting. People then started to run and I heard two or three more bangs like people shooting.”

Another witness, Chris Wells, 28, said: “There were at least 20 of them [officers] and they were carrying big black guns … The next thing I saw was this guy jump over the barriers and the police officers were chasing after him and everyone was just shouting ‘get out, get out!”‘

Today a large area around Stockwell tube station, which is an interchange for the Northern and Victoria lines, was cordoned off and traffic approaching the area ground to a halt.

An ambulance and several police cars were also at the scene and sirens were heard blaring in every direction.

Tube services on the Victoria and Northern lines were suspended following a request by the police, London Underground said.

The shooting comes as police are seeking four would-be suicide bombers who yesterday failed in an attempt to reproduce the carnage in the capital caused on July 7 when four suicide bombers murdered 52 people.

So far, there has been no official linking of today’s shooting to the investigation into the terror attacks of yesterday or July 7.

Irelandclick.com

By Joe Nawaz

South Belfast has come out tops in business investment hand-outs, it’s been revealed in a new report on funding distribution by Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI).

The Invest NI corporate plan shows that for the year 2003 – 2004, Invest NI made 268 offers of financial assistance to businesses in the South of the city, amounting to nearly £26 million.

This figure outstrips every other region in the North and means that South Belfast received a massive 21.9 per cent of the total of £117 million inwardly invested by Invest NI that year.

And it looks like the money will keep on coming, with planned future Invest NI investment for South Belfast tabled at 22.8 percent of total expenditure.
In contrast, the second highest beneficiary, East Belfast, received £15,781,520 and third-placed West Belfast just over £8 million.

Sinn Féin MLA for South Belfast, Alex Maskey, said that the large figure was deceptive and did not represent the true amount invested in local regeneration.

“What we are seeing here is a large figure being quoted by Invest NI, but what amount of it is going towards social development?

“South Belfast has large areas of need as the recent government task force on the Village demonstrated. Places like the Markets, Donegall Pass and the lower Ormeau are badly in need of investment.”

He continued: “Part of the Invest NI remit is to address social need, but such a very small part of their budget goes towards that. If you look at other regions, which are getting even less than South Belfast, it means in whole that very little of the money will go where it is needed”

And the disparity with other regions is also worrying, added the former Lord Mayor. “There should be a ‘lift all boats’ policy of investment,” he said.

Meanwhile, Alliance Party representative for South Belfast, Allan Leonard, welcomed Invest NI’s revised Corporate Plan, and countered complaints by the SDLP and Sinn Féin that Invest NI were targeting too much money into South Belfast.

“Invest NI’s report is a recognition of what Northern Ireland plc needs to be for the 21st century: a globally competitive economy with the right types of exportable goods and services,” he said.

“The geography of the Lagan River, with rail links at Central Station, regeneration of the Gas Works, and continual development around the Waterfront area, is a natural attraction for new and expanding business.”

He added: “Invest NI funds individual projects by its merits, and the assets of South Belfast contribute to success. As residents, we should be encouraged by the confidence in our area.

“Meanwhile, this attraction is all the more reason to ensure good community relations by being good citizens to each other and respecting and valuing the diversity of our neighbourhoods.”

Glyn Roberts, spokesperson for the Federation of Small Businesses, welcomed investment in South Belfast, but criticised the “disparity” of investment in other regions.

“We have nothing against investment in South Belfast, but the extent of the imbalance with other regions is alarming,” he said.

“I thought that the aim was to make a uniform economic improvement across the North, and these figures just don’t suggest that.”

A spokesperson for Invest NI attributed disproportionately large investment in South Belfast to the sums of money that the government agency had offered to high-profile, established businesses in the area.

Journalist:: Joe Nawaz

Belfast Telegraph

By Alan Erwin
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
22 July 2005

THE SALE of a house said to be haunted has been abandoned after protests by anxious neighbours, it has been revealed.

Housing Executive chiefs in Northern Ireland are facing demands to flatten the property which has been derelict since a terrified woman fled eight years ago.

Strange, unexplained noises have been heard in the house which, according to legend, was built on the site of an old horses’ graveyard.

Signs of the occult were also spotted inside and attempts to block out trespassers failed when cement refused to set, according to a nervous homeowner living opposite.

Truck driver Brian Marshall (51) said: “There’s some forces in there that won’t allow it to be lived in. Whatever it is people round here believe it’s causing bad harmony in the estate.”

The house was in a block of four vacant properties put on the market on the Rockview Park estate in Moneymore, Co Derry. Residents claim new tenants refused to move in because they feared what lurked within.

The estate’s reputation plummeted further after a man was killed last year outside a nearby property and two alleged paedophiles were hounded out.

But it is the unease that surrounds No 55 which dominated demands for a complete demolition.

A single mother-of-two who said she saw strange figures on the stairs and heard noises in the dead of night was met with sniggers until a neighbour came to stay with her, Mr Marshall claimed.

“They heard it too and she forced the Executive to rehouse her. It was never occupied again,” he said.

“Young ones went in to mess once but didn’t stay long because they said there was something strange about it.

“I laughed at them but went to see for myself and saw a small circle of stones about two feet in diameter and a Ouija board.”

Mr Marshall and his wife Gemma were part of a residents’ group that lobbied against Housing Executive bosses selling it to a private developer because they suspected anti-social tenants would be moved in without any checks.

At a meeting with chief executive Paddy McIntyre earlier this year he was urged to get rid of all four addresses.

Despite suspecting a secret deal has been done to sell the lot for £250,000, the authority insisted no agreement had been reached.

And a Housing Executive spokeswoman disclosed: “Following representations from the local community, the properties have been withdrawn from the market.”

She added: “I cannot confirm information or knowledge of the property at 55 Rockview Park being haunted.”

But political representatives insisted it should be removed immediately to soothe frayed nerves.

Mid Ulster SDLP Assembly member Patsy McGlone said: “This is a vacant, derelict block and the only thing put to it should be a JCB digger.

“It’s an eyesore and there’s concern among residents that it will go into the private sector without any control over who comes into it.”

RTE

22 July 2005 11:11

US military officials have confirmed that 52 prisoners being held at the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba have gone on hunger strike.

According to human rights campaigners the protest is against inhumane conditions, indefinite detention and the lack of legal representation at the detention facility.

The authorities say that, so far, the men had refused nine meals over three days and were being monitored by medical professionals.
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The Centre for Constitutional Rights, a US human rights group based in New York, issued a statement this week that said hunger strikes have been going on at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay since late last month.

The news coincides with the release, this week, of eight detainees from the base on Wednesday.

The Associated Press in the US has quoted two of the released as saying that some 180 men are on hunger strike at the camp.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is scheduled to send a delegation to the camp next week.

510 men are being held in Guantanamo Bay. Some have been held for over three years without trial.