SAOIRSE32

Sinn Féin

Alex Maskey announces outreach event with unionist community

Published: 15 September, 2005

Sinn Féin MLA for South Belfast Alex Maskey has today announced an outreach event with panel members from the unionist community, representing church, civic, and political opinion. Mr Maskey said the event was ‘particularly timely given last weeks events cross the North’.

The event entitled: ‘Towards National Reconciliation’ is part of Sinn Féin’s Cead Bliain celebrations (100th Year), and will be held in the Conway Mill, Falls Road this Saturday (17th September) from 11am to 1pm.

Speaking today Mr Maskey said:

“Saturday’s event represents the start of a programme of events across the six counties to widen the process of dialogue between republicans and the broad unionist community. Given the events of the past week this conference is particularly timely.

“I am pleased to announce that the panel will consist of Dawn Purvis from the PUP, Rev. Lesley Carroll, Convener of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and Trevor Ringland, Chair of the One Small Step Campaign. I think that it is important that local nationalists and republicans hear at firsthand the range of views provided by the panel.

“Sinn Féin is about engaging and reaching out to others, including the unionist and ethnic minority communities. We will not move forward or make political progress without real and meaningful dialogue.” ENDS

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Paisley in denial

Published: 15 September, 2005

Sinn Féin Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness has expressed disappointment over Ian Paisley’s attack on party president Gerry Adams and accused the DUP leader of compounding the negative leadership of recent months and being in denial about his responsibility to get the peace process back on track.

Mr McGuinness said:

“Ian Paisley’s attack on Gerry Adam’s only serves to highlight how deeply in denial the leadership of unionism is about it’s responsibility for the Loyalist sectarian campaign of the summer and the violence of recent days.

“Last weekend’s violence is a response to the realisation that the status quo is not an option and to the uncertainties of a process of change which demands equality, human rights, proper policing, justice and inclusion. It is a response to the dawning reality that the days of domination, triumphalism and second class citizenships are gone forever.

“This is compounded by the negative approach of the DUP and UUP.

“The unease and instability in unionist communities stems from a political vacuum created by unionist politicians and now filled by loyalist violence. Ian Paisley and his colleagues are running out of excuses.” ENDS

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Sinn Féin appointees to Long Kesh Panel

Published: 15 September, 2005

Sinn Féin Foyle MLA Raymond McCartney and Lisburn Councillor Paul Butler have been appointed to the Long Kesh Advisory Panel. Today the two representatives are meeting with the Strategic Investment Board and officials taking forward the master plan.

In a joint statement after the meeting Cllr Butler and Mr McCartney MLA said:

“This site has huge potential. However, Sinn Fein will not support any development plan that does not give equal priority to the development of a heritage and peace zone and a multi-sports stadium.

“Events in Long Kesh have helped shape the recognition and understanding of the political nature of the conflict here. It has witnessed much grief and pain for all those who passed through it and for their families and relatives.

“The international heritage and peace zone can act as a beacon of hope to all communities and societies emerging from political conflict and support the process of conflict resolution both nationally and internationally.

“However, we are still a long way from securing the end product. We still need to see the detail about how the development will be resourced and we need to see ongoing political will from all sides to see this development through to completion.” ENDS

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Anger as UUP and DUP vote for school bus cuts

Published: 15 September, 2005

Sinn Féin Education Spokesperson, Michael Ferguson MLA has said that DUP and UUP elected representatives on the SEELB are short changing parents and children after they voted against a Sinn Fein motion at today’s board meeting calling for the reversal of cuts to school transport provision in the area. The vote was lost by 12 to 15 with 4 abstentions.

Mr Ferguson said:

“The actions of the UUP and DUP today are a huge disappointment. They have let down the parents and children who they purport to represent. Both parties said that they would defend education services yet when push comes to shove they have failed to defend this important service for local parents and their children.

“This is a blow particularly for working parents.

“If the UUP and DUP had found it in themselves to back this Sinn Fein motion today we would have achieved a major progress in fighting the cuts to services.” ENDS

BreakingNews.ie

15/09/2005 - 18:25:49

There was fresh trouble in Belfast tonight as police pledged to get tough with loyalist demonstrators who have caused major disruption for days.

The city’s senior police commander, Assistant Chief Constable, Duncan McCausland, said he was determined to keep main routes open.

As a special operation was mounted protesters were back on the streets and a number of vehicles were hijacked and burned in parts of north and west Belfast.

Many of the protests were mounted peacefully by women and children and Mr McCausland said he had a difficult balancing act to carry out.

“Our key aim is to keep the life blood of the city open.” but he added: “I have clear indications that if I move against women and children, paramilitaries or other organisations in the community may come out against me and my officers.

“I have to balance that and make a decision in terms of maintaining law and order and the peace of this community – but I intend to keep the roads open as much as possible.”

Mr McCausland said he was especially anxious to keep motorway access and hospital access open.

He spoke out after he accompanied Chief Constable Hugh Orde to a two-hour meeting at which they briefed the Policing Board on the violence of recent days which started with Saturday’s contentious Orange Order parade.

Chief Constable Orde was heckled by loyalist demonstrators gathered outside the building as he was driven past and taken into a secure car park.

They were demonstrating at what they claimed was excessive force used by police during the riots of the weekend.

While Chief Constable Orde avoided the demonstrators, Board chairman Professor Desmond Rea did venture out and speak with them.

He said afterwards: “We believe as a board that Northern Ireland has been efficiently policed – that is not to say there were not individuals who went beyond what they should have.

“I said to the protesters if they have complaints against the police they can go to the Ombudsman.”

Prof. Rea said that the street violence in the North had again damaged its image in the outside world.

“You just need to turn on CNN or BBC World and you become aware this is a lead item,” he said.

Meanwhile, DUP justice spokesman and Policing Board member, Ian Paisley Jnr, said the briefing had held few surprises, but he said no one should be in any doubt about the seriousness of the situation.

The Police, he said “appear to have lost, in certain parts of Belfast, consent to police”. The PSNI would have to try to win back “those who feel alienated from policing”, he added.

Across the city Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain had a series of meetings with political leaders.

DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley told him he needed to put together a financial package to address the problems of the loyalist areas from which the trouble emanated.

He said the British government also needed to replace the Parades Commission which has so angered Orangemen with its rulings banning contentious parades – late last in Whiterock last Saturday – from flashpoint interface areas.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Reg Empey urged Mr Hain to get out on the streets of the city to gauge loyalists’ feelings.

Empey said: “There is no point in confining his meetings to opinion-formers or the great and the good of this country.

“He has to get out on the ground and see for himself, he must listen to their concerns and enter into dialogue with opinion-formers at a grass roots level.”

He added: “He must understand that the sense of alienation felt by ordinary unionists is profound.”

Tensions in loyalist areas were raised again when police mounted raids in the Highfield area. Houses were searched and one man arrested.

Earlier in the week police uncovered a bomb making factory and arrested a man who has since appeared in court charged with possessing seven guns and bomb making equipment.

BBC

Former Ulster Defence Association (UDA) leader Jim Gray has been granted bail in the High Court in Belfast.

The 47-year-old is charged with money laundering.

Mr Justice Coghlin ordered Gray not to have any contact with his two co-accused - girlfriend Sharon Moss and estate agent Philip Johnston.

The judge was told it could be up to two months before a forensic accountant produces a full report into the accused’s financial dealings.

An Phoblacht

by Barry McElduff

Photo: Barney McAleer

The death of prominent Tyrone republican Barney McAleer marks the end of an era in the county and his passing has pained very, very many people who had the privilege of knowing him or being his friend.

Barney McAleer served two terms as a Sinn Féin councillor on Omagh District Council and was aged 60 when he died in Belfast City Hospital, surrounded by his loving family, last Friday 9 September after a long illness.

Barney was married to Kathleen, (nee Donnelly) and was the father of Declan, Orla and Sheena. He lived in the townland of Oxtown between Loughmacrory and Mountfield and had a tremendous attachment to the place and people where he was from. Barney possessed a unique gift of connecting with people in a quiet, understated way, both young and old and this was reflected in the grief of hundreds of people who stood waiting for the return of his body to Loughmacrory around midnight last Friday.

Famous for Hospitality

The McAleer family home has always been famous for hospitality and for the incredibly warm welcome which is extended. The house was often raided by the RUC and often attracted the attention of the UDR and British Army.

Barney married Kathleen on 2 October 1971. In their 34 years of marriage, they were a great couple, great company for each other and to everyone else. They had been out together for six years before they were married.

It was a great comfort to Barney that Declan, Orla and Sheena, even as they got on with their own lives, were ‘not too far away’.

Barney was very proud of Declan’s political path and was instrumental in securing Declan’s election to Omagh District Council in May of this year. Barney took care of the Mountfield end for Declan and for Sinn Féin.

The McAleers enjoyed a family holiday in Brittany just seven weeks before Barney died and he was a very proud man indeed to be formally received by Mayor André le Gac in Plougastel where he was taken to ‘Jardin Bobby Sands.’

Huge Contribution to Freedom Struggle

As a Sinn Féin councillor, as a founding member of the Alice Milligan Cumann, recently elected Cathaoirleach of Mountfield Community Association, as an Easter graveside speaker, as someone who co-ordinated the local Hunger Strike commemorative programme in 2001, as someone who was ultimately loyal to the Drumnakilly Martyrs, it can certainly be said that Barney made a huge contribution to his community and to the struggle for Irish freedom.

Barney was a friend to the families of our patriot dead. He seemed to be a natural choice to chair potentially difficult community meetings and for all his reasonableness, Barney would reveal a steely determination to do what was right. He liked the fact that Alice Milligan was a Protestant poet from Mountfield who was also a dedicated Irish republican.

Thousands paid their respects

In the end, illness caught up with him and Barney slipped away. The funeral itself was massive. Led by a piper and accompanied by a Guard of Honour, all Irish-Ireland organisations were represented and the crowds could not be accommodated by St Mary’s Chapel, Loughmacrory. The Kelly girls who went everywhere with him, Sorcha, Caoimhe, and Padraigín, made up their own special bidding prayers.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams missed the All-Ireland Hurling Final and came to Loughmacrory instead. Packie Coyle, his lifelong friend, played a few tunes including, The Galtee Mountain Boy and he concluded with Amhrán na bhFiann. His friends, John O’Brien and Pat Doherty MP presided at his graveside.

Looking back it is clear that Barney was indeed, as Pat Doherty said, a reference point and a port in a storm. He loved his family and community and they loved him. He was warm and full of integrity. He was a really sound man who had a great way with him. People are usually friends to few and acquaintances to many. Barney managed this the other way round. Barney was unique and made a connection with people.

Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a anam úasal.

An Phoblacht

By SHANE MacTHOMÁIS

Throughout the 17th and 18th Centuries Irish land continued to be confiscated by English colonists. Landlords were becoming stronger, possessing larger and larger tracts of land. The peasantry, both Catholic and Protestant, found themselves frequently in competition for the little land that was available and this struggle led the peasantry to form secret agrarian societies. These groups fought against the landlords, using sabotage and other guerrilla tactics.

In 1784 a largely Anglican peasant organisation, calling themselves the ‘Peep o’ Day Boys’ were hijacked by the ruling class and given the direction to begin attacking Catholic homes. This was in the context of struggles between landlords and tenants in the area of which the Anglican Archbishop of Armagh said: “The worst of this is that it stands to unite Protestant and Papist, and whenever that happens, goodbye to the English interest in Ireland.”

Intimidation included placing notices on Catholic doors, including one which read: “Captain Rakeall and Captain Firebrand, will come and destroy you and send your souls to hell and damnation.” To defend themselves Catholics formed their own group known as the ‘Defenders’. For several years these groups, and others like them, attacked landlords, churches and each other.

In 1795 the Battle of the Diamond in Loughgall, County Armagh, raised the stakes for sectarian conflict. On 21 September a group of Peep O’ Day Boys attacked the Defenders in a fierce battle and afterwards, victorious over the Catholics, the Peep O’ Day Boys formed the ‘Orange Society’, named after their dubious hero William of Orange who, with the support of the Pope, defeated King James at the battle of the Boyne over 100 years beforehand. This latest development was to begin a campaign of terror aimed denying full citizenship rights to Catholics for the next 200 years.

Dissolved in 1825, the Orange Order was re-constituted three years later to combat the granting of Catholic Emancipation in 1829. Having lost that battle they then concentrated on opposing Daniel O’Connell’s campaign to repeal the Act of Union.

Re-constituted once more in 1845, the organisation opposed the Tenants’ Rights League of the 1850s and the plans to disestablish the Church of Ireland in 1869. With the defeat of the later campaign, they went on to oppose the prospect of Home Rule Bill in 1886.

There were riots and violence following Orange marches in almost every decade of the 19th and 20th Centuries. A number of Catholics were killed in riots following Orange marches in 1849 and 1857, and further severe disturbances in 1886 and 1935.

When the Parliament Act of 1911 brought the prospect of Home Rule closer, Orange leaders organised the Solemn League and Convenant, signed in September 1912 and the Ulster Volunteer Force a paramilitary unionist organisation which carried out hundreds of sectarian murders in the following decades.

The Orange Order was fundamental to the establishment of the Northern Ireland state. All of its Prime Ministers were Organgemen. The organisation, through the organs of the new state, instituted sectarian discrimination against the nationalist population for the following 50 years.

Qualifications from the Order’s handbook state: “An Orangeman should… strenuously oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the Church of Rome and scrupulously avoid countenancing any act or ceremony of Popish Worship; he should by all lawful means, resist the ascendancy of that Church, it encroachments and the extension of its power…”

The only reason for Expulsion is : “Any member dishonoring the Institution by marrying a Roman Catholic shall be expelled; and every Member shall use his best endeavours to prevent and discountenance the marriage of Protestants with Roman Catholics…”

Over the last 210 years the Orange Order has been the vanguard of reaction in Ireland dedicated to dividing communities through sectarianism. History has shown that whenever change is in the air, the Orange Order is there to try and thwart it. It continues in this work to the present day.

An Phoblacht

Sinn Féin has asked MEP Bairbre de Brún to challenge in Strasbourg, the funding decisions made by the Lisburn Strategic Partnership after it emerged that two thirds of the funding applications it refused were from groups from the Catholic community.

The partnership, on which five unionist and two nationalist councillors sit, has close to £1m to allocate over the next year, and the majority of the applications it turned down came from groups in the nationalist Twinbrook and Poleglass areas which are among the most deprived in Belfast.

Sinn Féin Assembly member Michael Ferguson said the majority of applications coming from the nationalist area were refused on the basis that they did not address the issue of reconciliation. “But we were told that applications coming from unionist area did address the issue of reconciliation. I will be asking every group from Twinbrook and Poleglass who have been refused to put in an appeal immediately, and I will be asking our MEP and Sinn Féin representatives on monitoring bodies to challenge the exclusion of nationalist groups on such spurious grounds”.

An Phoblacht

A republican prisoner in Portlaoise Jail was spiked with a bloodstained syringe in an incident at the jail last week.

The prisoner from Dublin was playing football in the prison yard when he went to pick up the ball and was stuck with the dirty needle. The incident was reported to the prison authorities. As a result of being spiked with the needle the prisoner will now have to undergo HIV-tests.

Republican prisoners at Portlaoise have strongly complained about the fact that their health and safety are being put in jeopardy by the prison regime. They are forced to share space with drug-injecting criminals within the prison, including major drug barons.

Republican prisoners have complained about the situation of syringes lying around the yard in recent months and there are major fears for their safety and wellbeing. They have also said that the Prison Governor has been less than helpful in relation to this ongoing situation which has led to protests.

Concern

Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris has expressed his concern over the latest incident and has called for an end to the situation where the health and safety of republican prisoners at Portlaosie is being jeopardised.

Ferris said that he believes that the Prison Governor has not taken on board the seriousness of the situation and that this could lead to further protest action by republican prisoners. “This can be resolved if there is a willingness on behalf of the prison authorities. Republican prisoner have the right to live in a safe environment.”

Meanwhile, the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle has established a campaign group to seek the release of republican prisoners. The group is to meet in the weeks ahead to devise a campaign strategy for the release of all republican prisoners.

BBC

Policing Board members are to be briefed on loyalist violence

Loyalists staging a demonstration outside the Belfast headquarters of the Policing Board have heckled Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde.

The protesters, who are mainly women, were angry at the way police handled three days of disorder which followed Saturday’s Whiterock parade.

They shouted “shame” at Sir Hugh as he was driven into the board meeting.

Board chairman Sir Desmond Rea has already spoken with the group who told him of allegations of PSNI misconduct.

So far police have made 63 arrests in connection with the trouble.

Violence began on Saturday after the Parades Commission refused to change their decision not to allow the Orange Order’s Whiterock parade to pass through a nationalist section of Springfield Road.

The chief constable has blamed loyalist paramilitaries, the Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force, for being behind the trouble.

Sir Hugh said 60 of his officers had been hurt over three nights of rioting.

Police officers and soldiers were shot at and attacked with petrol bombs, blast bombs and other missiles during the violence.

Dozens of hijacked vehicles were also set on fire at a number of locations across Northern Ireland.

BBC

**This looks like more than a protest to me.

More vehicles have been burnt out in Belfast

Several main roads in Belfast have been blocked by loyalist protestors for the fourth day in a row, causing serious traffic disruption.

Police said they are trying to keep the roads open, but have been told they face paramilitary attack if they try to move women and children protesters.

Earlier, several vehicles were hijacked and set on fire after police carried out searches in a loyalist estate.

One man was arrested during the search operation on the Highfield estate.

Part of the Crumlin Road was closed after a car was hijacked and set on fire and a lorry was set alight on the Ballygomartin Road.

Several vehicles have also been set on fire on the West Circular Road.

Public transport company Translink has suspended bus services to Springmartin and Glencairn because of the trouble.

Buses to Ligoniel and Silverstream have been diverted.

Police said they are stepping up operations to deal with loyalist protests causing traffic disruption in parts of Belfast.

They said an operation was in place in the city to keep the main arterial routes at Broadway and the Westlink open and that the Crumlin Road will be kept clear to ensure access to the Mater Hospital.

Rioting

Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland said all road protests were illegal and that community leaders should exercise their influence to bring them to an end.

He said that the protests, mostly featuring women and children had been peaceful, but that they were causing disruption.

“We have always said we would be proactive in dealing with this activity on the streets of Belfast,” he said.

A crowd has gathered at Broadway and closed the road and the Knock dual carriageway is also blocked.

There has been trouble, mainly in loyalist areas, sparked by the re-routing of an Orange Order parade on Saturday.

Police and soldiers came under sustained attack over the weekend.

Shots were fired at the security forces as well as blast and petrol bomb attacks in the wake of the Whiterock parade.

A number of vehicles were also hijacked and set on fire.

There were a number of attacks on the police on Tuesday, but not on the scale of the previous three nights.

Irelandclick.com

The rioting explained

A UNIONIST politician writes…
Clearly, that little bit of local unrest in the past few days was unfortunate and should never have happened. But it is vital that we look beyond the small matter of gunfire, blast bombs, bloodshed and mayhem to the root causes of why Protestants acted as they did.
To my mind, the chronic lack of educational opportunities has led our young people into a cul-de-sac of nihilistic despair. I attempted to examine the reasons for this and to analyse possible solutions in a letter I wrote to the local paper just last week headlined ‘Sinn Féin/IRA psychos wined and dined while we get nothing’.
Similarly, the lack of community infrastructure coupled with a serious lack of funding and resources for the local voluntary sector is having a deleterious effect on confidence and self-esteem at grass-roots level. I tried to tease these issues out in an address I made to a gathering of community representatives and statutory agencies in the city last month on the theme: ‘Send Back the Colombia Three Now and Let Sean Kelly Rot in Hell’.
Regardless of what the chattering classes are saying at their dinner parties and their ceilis, there is a real sense among the Protestant people that the Provo campaign has been seen to pay and that when republicans resort to violence then the government pays heed. I’m not condoning it and I’m not saying that it’s right, I’m just saying that it exists and we must address it. I attempted to probe the genesis of this particular mindset in a flyer I distributed round the doors of my constituency during the last election: ‘Provo violence has been seen to pay and when republicans resort to violence then the government pays heed’.
Of course, the aggregate effect of recent concessions to republicans has been severely damaging. The release of Sean Kelly, the dismantling of security bases and the disbandment of the home units of the RIR have demoralised unionism and loyalism to the extent that they feel they can’t and won’t give any more. Quite simply, this is the final straw and I haven’t seen Protestants so angry since the RUC’s name was changed, since the UDR’s name was changed, since John Hume met Gerry Adams, since Bill Clinton shook his hand, since the Sunningdale Agreement, since the Good Friday Agreement, since Kristin shot JR, since the IRA ceasefire, since the B Specials were axed, since the Battle of the Diamond, since the Battle of the Bogside, since Lemass went to Stormont, since Frankie went to Hollywood, since Drumcree, since Ardoyne, since….

Contd next week.

Typically British day No. 1

Squinter has yet to hear a Prod explain satisfactorily what being British means to him or her. It’s an unfair question, in a way, because nobody ever asks what being Irish means to a Kyalick. Which is as indicative as anything, you have to suppose, of the uneasy position that unionists occupy in this little corner of the island of Ireland.
The Knightsbridge grocery shop Harrods has saved them the trouble, Squinter is glad to report. According to a survey of what the British are and what they like, your average Brit’s perfect day would go something like this.
8AM Shower, dress and breakfast on chicken tikka masala and poppadums
9AM Visit the doctor’s surgery for a free check-up and, if necessary, take a letter to the hospital for some free X-rays and/or blood tests
Midday: Visit the local army barracks to watch our lads on parade
1PM: Lunch of fish supper and a mug of tea
2pm: Nip round to the local park to watch a game of cricket over a few pints of warm beer
3.30pm: Home for a cup of tea and a fruit scone
4pm: Apply starch to upper lip
5pm: Dinner of spring rolls, egg foo yung, chicken balls and a carton of curry
7pm: Settle down on the settee in front of the box to watch the soaps
9pm: Karaoke down the local and a rousing rendition of God Save the Queen, My Way and Wonderwall
11.30pm: Watch the weather on TV, heat up the remains of that Chinese then hit the wooden hill

Typically British day No.2

It’s an unremarkable existence, of course, but it’s endearing in a dull sort of way. That Brits, according to the survey, like the National Health Service, takeway food, the armed forces, Corrie, Eastenders, afternoon tea and cricket isn’t much of a surprise. The Northern Ireland ‘Brits’, however, are an altogether different kettle of fish.
MIDDAY: Shower, dress and breakfast on Ulster fry
1pm: Six pints in the Sovereign Ring and Tattoo
2pm: Emergency meeting of the temperance lodge to discuss banned parade
2.02pm: Back to the Sovereign Ring and Tattoo for six more pints of Dutch courage and a microwaved mince and onion pie
3.45pm: Report to lodge HQ to pick up banner, sashes, uniforms, instruments, gloves, list of stewards, petrol bombs and machetes
4pm: Form ranks and move off unsteadily
4.15pm: Stop at police lines, urinate in nearest garden and loiter until the hangover starts to kick in
5pm: Visit off-licence for bag of bargain beer, 20 Berkeley and a packet of skins. Return to loitering point
7pm: Finish bargain beer, find BBC or UTV crew and commit serious crime as camera rolls
9pm: Hijack packed bus, preferably one with visually challenged disabled OAP aid workers on board
2.20am: Catch last orders at the Sovereign Ring and Tattoo

Reflections on recent violence

It has long been a feature of this wee pravince that outbreaks of ferocious violence are greeted by long periods of reflection and analysis. Squinter has been trawling through the archives and he’s come across a number of interesting examples of how – despite the current bleating of nationalists – mature introspection and measured tones have been the cornerstone of the national discourse.
This, for example, was the DUP’s response to the ferocious rioting which erupted across the North in the wake of the introduction of internment in 1971.
“Let’s be absolutely clear, this violence is not the right way to go about things. Yes, people are dead; yes, communities are destroyed. But it’s not good enough simply to condemn the violence, it is our responsibility as politicians to ask ourselves why it has happened and how we can prevent it from reocurring in the future. There is a huge reservoir of discontent among the Catholic people and that is something that the British government ignores at its peril.”
And in its coverage of the H-Block riots in Dublin in 1981 RTE’s report began: “Thousands of angry and disillusioned republicans descended on Dublin determined to express their inner turmoil and existential angst at recent political developments. And as Gardaí battled to hold back a crowd intent on burning the British embassy, the government must have been reflecting ruefully on whether enough had been done to avert the inevitable conflagration.”
And this Radio Ulster exchange in the middle of the IRA bombing campaign of the seventies was another fine example of being able to look beyond the sensational image to see the bigger picture.
Host: But isn’t it true that militant republicans have been angered by the refusal of the British to get out of Ireland?
Politician: Of course it is, that’s what we’ve been saying for a long time and it seems that nobody’s been listening. I should point out that when I called on the IRA to bring bombs on to the streets, I didn’t actually mean for them to detonate them. It’s important that that’s understood.
Host: Just what is it that can make ordinary people feel so disempowered and angry that they can go out and set bombs off in major cities?
Politician: Well, you’ve got a lack of investment in communities, you’ve got discrimination, you’ve got institutionalised sectarianism, a huge military infrastructure and you’ve got a few people who know an awful lot about fertiliser and diesel. That’s a heady combination.

On-line voting not a good idea

Confession time: Squinter’s been a little bit naughty this week. Skimming through his e-mails on Tuesday he came across one from a pal who shall remain nameless urging him to vote in the News Letter’s on-line poll. The question was, ‘Do You Think the Colombia 3 Should be Extradited’.
Squinter’s chum was excited, because while you might expect the Ayes would have it fairly comfortably, a click on to the News Letter’s website revealed that some 55 per cent of respondents had clicked on No. So Squinter decided to vote, which was a first (in the News Letter, anyway). But it was like eating cashew nuts – one’s simply not enough. And so bad boy Squinter had another go, and another…
Just how many times Squinter (and those to whom he passed on the e-mail) voted is anybody’s guess; suffice to say that by 5.20pm on Tuesday, 70.5 per cent of the loyal people of Ulster were of the opinion that the Colombia 3 should be left alone in Ireland to get on with their lives. Last time anybody voted this often was in the General Election of 1970, when Squinter’s big brother joined 20 other yahoos to squeeze into a Transit van and tour West Belfast polling stations voting for Gerry Fitt. He says he changed coat 20 times, but he thinks he may have voted a few times more than that.
That said, there’s nothing on the News Letter website telling visitors that they’re only allowed to vote once. Squinter’s fairly sure that the News Letter received more hits on Tuesday than it has done for some time, so Squinter’s old pal, News Letter editor Austin Hunter, is likely to have mixed feelings about West Belfast joining in the web vote.
And anyway, there’e a long and proud tradition of hijacks in British cyberspace. Wasn’t A Nation Once Again by the Wolfe Tones recently voted the most popular song ever in a BBC on-line poll?
So, sorry, Austin. It’s not Squinter’s proudest hour, but some things Squinter just can’t resist.

• P.S. By teatime on Wednesday the poll stood at 55 per cent for extraditing the Colombia 3. Clearly, Squinter and his pals aren’t the only ones who’ve been at their work.

Irelandclick.com

Distillery Street homes attacked by rioters as loyalist attacks continue

by Damian McCarney

The fall-out from the loyalist riots continued as gangs attacked the nationalist area of Distillery Street in the Lower Falls on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Tension had been rising in the Lower Falls after a large crowd of loyalists from the Sandy Row area of South Belfast marched up to the Grosvenor Road on Saturday afternoon where a stand-off ensued.

According to local residents, the worst violence occurred on Monday evening when loyalists came from the Roden Street area and threw missiles and petrol bombs over the wall which separates Distillery Street and the West Link.

It is believed that nationalist youths responded with missiles and petrol bombs before the PSNI appeared. Witnesses say that one part of a security gate had been removed by loyalists before the PSNI arrived and burst through the other in Land Rovers. They pulled up in the Distillery Street area where, dressed in riot gear, they confronted the nationalist youths until late into the night.

Many of the Distillery Street residents suggested that those involved on the nationalist side ranged from children to young teenagers. “Kids up to about 11 years of age threw objects at them as soon as they saw the jeeps,” said one man.

Another man agreed that it was a case of boys against men. “The oldest on this side was about 14 years old. The loyalist crowd were adults with scarves over their faces.”

One resident said that they were surprised at the PSNI’s tactics in quelling the trouble. “Instead of cops going up the Westlink to stop the loyalists from coming across the road they came around here in their riot gear.”

That view was shared by another local man. “The PSNI should have been at the Westlink all of the time, but sometimes they were nowhere to be seen and the kids and the loyalists were able to riot.”

At lunchtime on Wednesday the PSNI were supervising repairs to the damaged perimeter wall between the Distillery Street area and the Westlink.

Journalist:: Damien McCarney

Irelandclick.com

Orange Order a laughing stock as press conference turns into an embarrassing farce

Springfield the new Drumcree
Orange Order stumbles through Whiterock press conference

A senior Orangeman has predicted that the Orange Order’s banned Springfield Road march could become the next Drumcree.

Speaking after yesterday’s extraordinary Orange Order press conference on recent loyalist violence, Belfast County Grand Master Dawson Bailie said at this stage he was not prepared to “rule anything out”.

During questioning by the media both Mr Bailie and Orange Order Grand Master, Bobby Saulters, insisted the organisation could not be held responsible for the four days of rioting and road blocks.

Violence erupted on Saturday after the Orange Order called loyalists on to the streets when its planned march along the nationalist Springfield Road was restricted by the Parades Commission.

Sinn Féin and the SDLP have criticised the Order’s “blameless” stance, which comes after PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde said he was holding Orange chiefs “substantially responsible” for the violence.

Mr Bailie also refused to condemn loyalist rioting which involved shots being fired and petrol, pipe and blast bombs being thrown, but he said he did not condone it.

When questioned about images of Orangemen with bricks and swords confronting the PSNI, his response was that they “didn’t have them over their heads”, before admitting he had not seen footage of the violence.

After meeting the press Mr Bailie spoke about how the Orange Order’s restricted Springfield Road march could be resolved. He said there was talk of it being the next Drumcree, but claimed this was an outcome he did not want.
Orangemen, who have been banned from walking along Portadown’s Garvaghy Road for the past seven years, have staged a weekly protest near Drumcree Church.

Mr Bailie admitted this could happen on the Springfield Road.

He said, “There are different suggestions being put forward and I can’t rule anything in or out, but I am prepared to back the local Orange lodge in every legal way possible.

“The people who will decide what happens on the Springfield Road are No 9 District Orange Lodge, they are determined to walk along the proposed route and have a right to do so.

“There has been talk of this being the second Drumcree. That is not something I want, but I do understand where people are coming from when they say it and it could happen.”

Sinn Féin General Secretary, Mitchel McLaughlin, said the Orange Order had to take responsibility for the loyalist violence.

He said, “The attempts by unionists and the Orange Order to try and blame everyone but themselves is infantile. It is time for its political leaders to grow up.”
Deputy Leader of the SDLP and South Belfast MP, Dr Alasdair McDonnell, accused the Orange Order of taking a stand with men of violence against the forces of law and order.

He said, “The Order has thrown away the last shred of the respectability it once held so dear.”

Further loyalist rioting occurred on Tuesday night when petrol bombs were thrown at New Barnsley and Mountpottinger PSNI barracks in Belfast and a petrol bomb was thrown at a police Land Rover in Lisburn.

Since Saturday 115 shots have been fired by loyalist paramilitaries and 146 blast bombs thrown. The PSNI fired 216 plastic bullets and six live rounds. The British army also fired an unconfirmed amount of live and plastic bullets.

Loyalists involved in street violence hijacked and burned 116 vehicles. A total of 63 people have been arrested, 60 for public order offences and three in connection with serious paramilitary crimes.

The PSNI has promised to make more riot-related arrests over the coming days.

Journalist:: Ciaran Barnes

Belfast Telegraph

By Deborah McAleese
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
15 September 2005

PRESSURE was last night mounting on the Secretary of State Peter Hain to specify the UDA ceasefire.

Mr Hain was asked to closely inspect the terrorist group’s activities and not let them “off the hook”.

PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde had implicated both the UDA and UVF in the weekend riots which saw gunfire directed at police.

The UDA has also been linked to other attacks, including the murder of nightclub promoter Stephen Nelson, who died earlier this year after being assaulted in September 2004.

Following the specification of the UVF ceasefire, Mr Hain is facing increasing pressure to admit the UDA ceasefire has broken down.

As speculation mounted on Tuesday that the UVF ceasefire would be declared defunct, a UDA statement called for a cessation of all violence.

However, the timing of the statement has been questioned and the Government urged not to be taken in by the “well-timed” statement.

SDLP MLA John Dallat said: “The UDA’s well-timed statement calling for an end to violence was designed to get it off the hook, but the fact is that it was up to its neck in the weekend violence in Belfast.

“The Northern Ireland Office needs to get real and begin respecting ordinary, decent people who want to see a shared future which involves both communities without the influence of terror groups.”

Meanwhile, questions were being raised last night over what constitutes the breaching of a ceasefire.

Liberal Democrat’s Ulster spokes- man Lembit Opik MP said: “There does not seem to be a standard by which the public can clearly judge when a ceasefire has been broken.

“It is unclear whether the Secretary of State takes criminal activity, or internal community exilings and intimidation into account when reviewing the state of the ceasefires.”

BreakingNews.ie

15/09/2005 - 08:13:34

The SDLP has condemned an attempt by the Orange Order to get permission to parade down the nationalist Garvaghy Road on Christmas Day.

The party has described the move as “appalling” and “shameless” given the riots and violence that accompanied a re-routed Orange parade in Belfast last Saturday.

Local SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly accused the Orangemen of deliberately planning the latest march to “up the ante” in the wake of this week’s riots.

She said they appeared intent on casting a shadow over Christmas as well as making every summer a time of fear for the Garvaghy Road residents.

The Orange Order has been banned from marching down the road since 1998 due to its refusal to hold talks with the nationalist residents.

BBC

Lisa Dorrian

The body of missing County Down woman Lisa Dorrian may have been disposed of in water.

The 25-year-old shop assistant was last seen at a party on a caravan site in Ballyhalbert, near Bangor in February.

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