Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie
Date: 24 Deireadh Fómhair / October 2005
Internet resources maintained by Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie
Date: 24 Deireadh Fómhair / October 2005
Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom
http://saoirse.rr.nu
Irish Republican Information Service
THE body styling itself ‘Limerick Republican Information Service’ is not connected with the Irish Republican Information Service (IRIS), 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, email saoirse@iol.ie and has not been authorised either by IRIS or by the body that sponsors IRIS, Republican Sinn Fein. Therefore it is totally unauthorised and should be regarded as such.
In this issue:
1. RPAG condemns new visitors’ procedure in maghaberry
2. Councillors guilty of misconduct
3. Lee Clegg to be returned to parachute regiment
4. Loyalist threat ‘remains strong’
5. Nationalists ‘aren’t safe in own homes’
6. Adair quizzed over assassination
7. Two in court over parade trouble
8. Petrol bomb attack in Ballymena
9. Masonic brit watchtower being dismantle
10. Bishop suspends his Hunger Strike
1. RPAG CONDEMNS NEW VISITORS’ PROCEDURE IN MAGHABERRY
IN A statement on October 24, Richard Walsh, PRO, Republican Prisoners’ Action Group, said that visitors to Republican prisoners in Maghaberry jail in Co Antrim are now required to furnish photographs and fingerprints before they can visit their loved ones.
The statement said: “As of October 4,, visitors to Maghaberry jail are required to scan their fingerprint into the computer system in the prison after disembarking from the bus. Photographic ID must also be presented, which is then scanned into the computer system along with the visitor’s details. Fingerprints are scanned a further two times before the visit (and the visitor must pass the sniffer dog), and again when they are returning from their visit.
“The Republican Prisoners’ Action Group is concerned about the obvious risks associated with the retention of personal data on those visiting Republican prisoners. If these were to find their way into the hands of Loyalist death squads, it would place the safety of visitors in imminent and serious danger. Such data has been shown to have been retained in Magilligan despite requests for its destruction.
“We are also aware of an increase in the use of the sniffer dogs. Prisoners themselves have been subjected to the sniffer dog when returning from court hearings and temporary release. Any prisoner who ‘fails’ the dog test is sent to the punishment blocks for two days and his excrement is examined for drugs. Given the fact that no Republican prisoner or their visitors have ever been found to be in possession of drugs, this can only be considered a means of punishment.
“The Republican Prisoners’ Action Group feels that this is an attempt to criminalise both Republican POWs and their visitors. The prison authorities have, in effect, deemed visitors and relatives guilty by association.”
2. COUNCILLORS GUILTY OF MISCONDUCT
A NUMBER of unionist councillors and former councillors in Fermanagh have been found guilty of wilful misconduct by the Six-County local government auditor.
They have been told to pay a surcharge of almost £40,000 and could be barred from holding office in local government in the Six Counties. Those involved have strongly denied any wrongdoing.
The action relates to the appointment of Fermanagh District Council’s chief executive, Rodney Connor. Rodney Connor was appointed in 2000.
A case was previously brought against the council with the backing of the Six County Equality Commission over the way unionist councillors appeared to vote en-block on party lines. This led to concerns about unlawful discrimination.
The two unsuccessful candidates received compensation and the council faced a hefty bill for legal costs. The total of £38,178 was the amount the local government auditor said the unionist councillors and former councillors must pay.
3. LEE CLEGG TO BE RETURNED TO PARACHUTE REGIMENT
A SOLDIER convicted and later cleared of murder over a shooting in the Six Occupied Counties is reported to be about to be returned to ‘frontline duties’ with a Parachute Regiment battalion.
Karen Reilly, 18, from west Belfast, and Martin Peake (17), the driver of the car, were shot dead when Lance Corporal Clegg, now a sergeant and working at the Army Foundation College, in Harrogate, and other members of a British army foot patrol opened fire on a stolen Vauxhall Astra car in Belfast on 30 September 1990.
He was imprisoned in 1993 but released in 1995, before going through three appeals to before finally being acquitted in 2000.
On his release, he retrained as a physical training instructor, and was based in Catterick before joining the college.
The 35-year-old recently faced accusations of assaulting a fellow soldier, but the case was dismissed before it went to court martial.
The British army is reported not to consider Sgt Clegg a “special case” and said “there was no reason he should not return to the frontline”.
4. LOYALIST THREAT ‘REMAINS STRONG’
A LOYALIST feud, which claimed the lives of four people in Belfast this summer could erupt again, the British IMC report warned.
It said the Ulster Volunteer Force, which carried out the four murders in July and August, was an extremely dangerous organisation. It also stuck by its recommendation that financial sanctions should be imposed against the group’s political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party.
The PUP’s £27,000 annual Assembly grant has not been withdrawn despite a previous recommendation.
Jameson Lockhart, Craig McCausland, Stephen Paul and Michael Green were killed by the UVF over the summer as it waged a bloody vendetta against the Loyalist Volunteer Force.
All were perceived by the UVF to be members or associates of the LVF, but the report said in some cases they had no links at all.
The report noted loyalist groups were responsible for significantly more attacks than nationalist groups.
While the killing of Ulster Defence Association former leader Jim Gray fell outside the period covered in the report, the IMC attributed the murder of Stephen Nelson, who died in March after an attack in Newtownabbey in September 2004 to the group.
The commission would not definitively state the UDA and UVF were behind the sectarian attacks on nationalist families in the North Antrim village of Ahoghill, but it accused both of supporting them. The IMC also said both the UDA and LVF were both involved in drugs.
5. NATIONALISTS ‘AREN’T SAFE IN OWN HOMES’
A PETROL BOMB attack on a house in Co Antrim on October 18 was described as “cowardly and disgraceful”.
A 54-year-old woman was sitting in the living room of the house at Cushendall Road in Ballymena when the device was thrown through the window at around 1.20am. An RUC/PSNI spokeswoman said the woman was uninjured but shaken by the ordeal. “The device was extinguished by the time police got there,” she said.
“As a community we must all make it clear in the strongest possible terms that incidents like this are neither wanted nor supported.”
The British colonial police said on October 19 that a petrol-bomb attack also took place early on October 18 on a house in the Deramore area of Ballymena.
A spokesman said it was reported shortly before 2am. There were no injuries and minor damage was caused to the front of the house.
6. ADAIR QUIZZED OVER ASSASSINATION
FORMER leading Loyalist Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair was heavily investigated over the assassination of loyalist informer William Stobie, an inquest in the Six Counties was told on October 19.
Adair, the ex-Ulster Defence Association commander, who was in jail when the organisation’s one-time quartermaster was gunned down outside his North Belfast home, refused to co-operate with the RUC\PSNI, an inquest was told.
The inquest into Stobie’s death also heard from a secret witness who saw the suspected murder team patrol outside their victim’s home in a fake taxi for five days before he was killed.
Stobie, 51, was ambushed on December 12, 2001, as he prepared to drive his partner to work. The self-confessed police special branch informer was shot four times in the head and back weeks after being acquitted of plotting to murder Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.
Former UDA associates, using the Red Hand Defenders’ pseudonym, claimed they murdered him for so-called crimes against the loyalist community because he had supported demands for an inquiry into the 1989 Finucane killing, which has been shrouded in allegations of major British state collusion.
At his inquest John Leckey, the coroner for Greater Belfast, read extracts from a biography of Adair, now exiled in Lancashire after being ousted by the organisation he once ruled.
Referring to a section that claimed the former Loyalist death squad chief gave his personal blessing to Stobie’s assassination, John Leckey asked RUC\PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Robert Lee if Adair was ever interviewed about the murder.
Robert Lee told the inquest: “He wasn’t questioned as a suspect. We did try to speak to him in prison, but I could not get sufficient intelligence to support the arrest of Johnny Adair.”
Agreeing with the coroner’s assessment that the loyalist refused to co-operate, he added: “We did commit considerable resources and time into a line looking at Johnny Adair. There was no intelligence to connect him to the murder of William Stobie.”
Although several suspects were questioned about the killing, no one has been charged.
The inquest was also told the gun used, a .38 special magnum revolver, had been used in other shootings and killings attributed to the UDA, according to the British Colonial police.
Ten days before he died, Stobie was warned by the RUC\PSNI he should move from his home on the Forthriver Estate because of threats from loyalists. But he refused to flee. His partner, Lorraine Graham, alleged the RUC\PSNI did not do enough to protect him.
7. TWO IN COURT OVER PARADE TROUBLE
A 41-YEAR OLD man has been charged with setting fire to two cars during loyalist violence after an Orange Order parade was re-routed in west Belfast. Thomas Long, from Hesketh Parade, was also charged with riotous assembly along with a 17-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons. The pair were remanded in custody at Belfast Magistrates Court on October 19. The violence broke out on 10 September when the Whiterock parade was barred from part of the Springfield Road. Police came under petrol and blast bomb attacks and gunmen fired at soldiers during the violence.
8. PETROL BOMB ATTACK IN BALLYMENA
A Ballymena family who’s home was petrol bombed on October 18 were asking the culprits to tell them why they were targeted.
A woman narrowly escaped injury in the attack on the Cushendall Road.
Mary McKeown was sitting in her living room around 1am when a brick was thrown through the window followed by a petrol bomb.
Her sons who had been sleeping upstairs helped to put out the fire and to calm their mother down until the emergency services arrived.
A fortnight ago three paint bombs were thrown through the window.
The family want to challenge the people who are attacking their home to give them a reason why.
Mary`s son believes the attack was attempted murder as his mother could have been alone in the house.
In a follow up search, the British colonial police took away a number of items from the garden for forensic examination.
The RUC/PSNI believe the culprits car may have been caught on a nearby CCTV camera and they are examining the footage.
9. MASONIC BRIT WATCHTOWER BEING DISMANTLED
British Crown Forces’ engineers began to dismantle one watchtower in the Masonic Barracks, overlooking Derry’s Walls. This watchtower was marked for closure in response to the final surrender of the Provos’ military body, which saw the destruction of all armaments under their control. Work to remove the watchtower was expected to be completed by October 24. However a second watchtower located on the site is set to remain until next year, and no date has been set for the removal of the rest of the barracks. The former Provo Mayor of Derry, Gerry O’Hara, previously called for the watchtower to be retained for historical purposes.
10. BISHOP SUSPENDS HIS HUNGER STRIKE
At the beginning of October, Luiz Flavio Cappio, a 58 year-old Franciscan bishop in the Brazilian town of Barra began a hunger strike to stop the Brazilian government beginning work on a water pipeline/canal/duct transfer system. The aquaduct which has been suggested in some form or other for almost 150 years is due to be built in 2006.
The Brazilian government, led by Lula, has stated that this project is absolutely neccessary to fight drought and lack of water in the north east of the country, the least well developed regions. The Bishop disagrees, he says the ecological damage which will be caused to the San Francisco river is too great, the benefits cannot justify the re-routing of the river. The bishop has campaigned to save the river for years (The Bishop has written a book on the river and is considered to be an expert). He and his supporters, who include members of a native Indian tribe, claim that only the wealthy landowners would benefit from such a scheme.
He called off his fast after six hours of talks with Jacques Wagner, a senior government minister. While he did not get outright cancellation of the project that he had initially demanded, Bishop Cappio said: “I declare that my fast is suspended in favour of life.” There will now be a nationwide debate about the merits of the project, and the bishop has been invited to Brasilia to meet President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
ENDS
http://saoirse.rr.nu
Irish Republican Information Service
THE body styling itself ‘Limerick Republican Information Service’ is not connected with the Irish Republican Information Service (IRIS), 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, email saoirse@iol.ie and has not been authorised either by IRIS or by the body that sponsors IRIS, Republican Sinn Fein. Therefore it is totally unauthorised and should be regarded as such.
In this issue:
1. RPAG condemns new visitors’ procedure in maghaberry
2. Councillors guilty of misconduct
3. Lee Clegg to be returned to parachute regiment
4. Loyalist threat ‘remains strong’
5. Nationalists ‘aren’t safe in own homes’
6. Adair quizzed over assassination
7. Two in court over parade trouble
8. Petrol bomb attack in Ballymena
9. Masonic brit watchtower being dismantle
10. Bishop suspends his Hunger Strike
11.
1. RPAG CONDEMNS NEW VISITORS’ PROCEDURE IN MAGHABERRY
IN A statement on October 24, Richard Walsh, PRO, Republican Prisoners’ Action Group, said that visitors to Republican prisoners in Maghaberry jail in Co Antrim are now required to furnish photographs and fingerprints before they can visit their loved ones.
The statement said: “As of October 4,, visitors to Maghaberry jail are required to scan their fingerprint into the computer system in the prison after disembarking from the bus. Photographic ID must also be presented, which is then scanned into the computer system along with the visitor’s details. Fingerprints are scanned a further two times before the visit (and the visitor must pass the sniffer dog), and again when they are returning from their visit.
“The Republican Prisoners’ Action Group is concerned about the obvious risks associated with the retention of personal data on those visiting Republican prisoners. If these were to find their way into the hands of Loyalist death squads, it would place the safety of visitors in imminent and serious danger. Such data has been shown to have been retained in Magilligan despite requests for its destruction.
“We are also aware of an increase in the use of the sniffer dogs. Prisoners themselves have been subjected to the sniffer dog when returning from court hearings and temporary release. Any prisoner who ‘fails’ the dog test is sent to the punishment blocks for two days and his excrement is examined for drugs. Given the fact that no Republican prisoner or their visitors have ever been found to be in possession of drugs, this can only be considered a means of punishment.
“The Republican Prisoners’ Action Group feels that this is an attempt to criminalise both Republican POWs and their visitors. The prison authorities have, in effect, deemed visitors and relatives guilty by association.”
2. COUNCILLORS GUILTY OF MISCONDUCT
A NUMBER of unionist councillors and former councillors in Fermanagh have been found guilty of wilful misconduct by the Six-County local government auditor.
They have been told to pay a surcharge of almost £40,000 and could be barred from holding office in local government in the Six Counties. Those involved have strongly denied any wrongdoing.
The action relates to the appointment of Fermanagh District Council’s chief executive, Rodney Connor. Rodney Connor was appointed in 2000.
A case was previously brought against the council with the backing of the Six County Equality Commission over the way unionist councillors appeared to vote en-block on party lines. This led to concerns about unlawful discrimination.
The two unsuccessful candidates received compensation and the council faced a hefty bill for legal costs. The total of £38,178 was the amount the local government auditor said the unionist councillors and former councillors must pay.
3. LEE CLEGG TO BE RETURNED TO PARACHUTE REGIMENT
A SOLDIER convicted and later cleared of murder over a shooting in the Six Occupied Counties is reported to be about to be returned to ‘frontline duties’ with a Parachute Regiment battalion.
Karen Reilly, 18, from west Belfast, and Martin Peake (17), the driver of the car, were shot dead when Lance Corporal Clegg, now a sergeant and working at the Army Foundation College, in Harrogate, and other members of a British army foot patrol opened fire on a stolen Vauxhall Astra car in Belfast on 30 September 1990.
He was imprisoned in 1993 but released in 1995, before going through three appeals to before finally being acquitted in 2000.
On his release, he retrained as a physical training instructor, and was based in Catterick before joining the college.
The 35-year-old recently faced accusations of assaulting a fellow soldier, but the case was dismissed before it went to court martial.
The British army is reported not to consider Sgt Clegg a “special case” and said “there was no reason he should not return to the frontline”.
4. LOYALIST THREAT ‘REMAINS STRONG’
A LOYALIST feud, which claimed the lives of four people in Belfast this summer could erupt again, the British IMC report warned.
It said the Ulster Volunteer Force, which carried out the four murders in July and August, was an extremely dangerous organisation. It also stuck by its recommendation that financial sanctions should be imposed against the group’s political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party.
The PUP’s £27,000 annual Assembly grant has not been withdrawn despite a previous recommendation.
Jameson Lockhart, Craig McCausland, Stephen Paul and Michael Green were killed by the UVF over the summer as it waged a bloody vendetta against the Loyalist Volunteer Force.
All were perceived by the UVF to be members or associates of the LVF, but the report said in some cases they had no links at all.
The report noted loyalist groups were responsible for significantly more attacks than nationalist groups.
While the killing of Ulster Defence Association former leader Jim Gray fell outside the period covered in the report, the IMC attributed the murder of Stephen Nelson, who died in March after an attack in Newtownabbey in September 2004 to the group.
The commission would not definitively state the UDA and UVF were behind the sectarian attacks on nationalist families in the North Antrim village of Ahoghill, but it accused both of supporting them. The IMC also said both the UDA and LVF were both involved in drugs.
5. NATIONALISTS ‘AREN’T SAFE IN OWN HOMES’
A PETROL BOMB attack on a house in Co Antrim on October 18 was described as “cowardly and disgraceful”.
A 54-year-old woman was sitting in the living room of the house at Cushendall Road in Ballymena when the device was thrown through the window at around 1.20am. An RUC/PSNI spokeswoman said the woman was uninjured but shaken by the ordeal. “The device was extinguished by the time police got there,” she said.
“As a community we must all make it clear in the strongest possible terms that incidents like this are neither wanted nor supported.”
The British colonial police said on October 19 that a petrol-bomb attack also took place early on October 18 on a house in the Deramore area of Ballymena.
A spokesman said it was reported shortly before 2am. There were no injuries and minor damage was caused to the front of the house.
6. ADAIR QUIZZED OVER ASSASSINATION
FORMER leading Loyalist Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair was heavily investigated over the assassination of loyalist informer William Stobie, an inquest in the Six Counties was told on October 19.
Adair, the ex-Ulster Defence Association commander, who was in jail when the organisation’s one-time quartermaster was gunned down outside his North Belfast home, refused to co-operate with the RUC\PSNI, an inquest was told.
The inquest into Stobie’s death also heard from a secret witness who saw the suspected murder team patrol outside their victim’s home in a fake taxi for five days before he was killed.
Stobie, 51, was ambushed on December 12, 2001, as he prepared to drive his partner to work. The self-confessed police special branch informer was shot four times in the head and back weeks after being acquitted of plotting to murder Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.
Former UDA associates, using the Red Hand Defenders’ pseudonym, claimed they murdered him for so-called crimes against the loyalist community because he had supported demands for an inquiry into the 1989 Finucane killing, which has been shrouded in allegations of major British state collusion.
At his inquest John Leckey, the coroner for Greater Belfast, read extracts from a biography of Adair, now exiled in Lancashire after being ousted by the organisation he once ruled.
Referring to a section that claimed the former Loyalist death squad chief gave his personal blessing to Stobie’s assassination, John Leckey asked RUC\PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Robert Lee if Adair was ever interviewed about the murder.
Robert Lee told the inquest: “He wasn’t questioned as a suspect. We did try to speak to him in prison, but I could not get sufficient intelligence to support the arrest of Johnny Adair.”
Agreeing with the coroner’s assessment that the loyalist refused to co-operate, he added: “We did commit considerable resources and time into a line looking at Johnny Adair. There was no intelligence to connect him to the murder of William Stobie.”
Although several suspects were questioned about the killing, no one has been charged.
The inquest was also told the gun used, a .38 special magnum revolver, had been used in other shootings and killings attributed to the UDA, according to the British Colonial police.
Ten days before he died, Stobie was warned by the RUC\PSNI he should move from his home on the Forthriver Estate because of threats from loyalists. But he refused to flee. His partner, Lorraine Graham, alleged the RUC\PSNI did not do enough to protect him.
7. TWO IN COURT OVER PARADE TROUBLE
A 41-YEAR OLD man has been charged with setting fire to two cars during loyalist violence after an Orange Order parade was re-routed in west Belfast. Thomas Long, from Hesketh Parade, was also charged with riotous assembly along with a 17-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons. The pair were remanded in custody at Belfast Magistrates Court on October 19. The violence broke out on 10 September when the Whiterock parade was barred from part of the Springfield Road. Police came under petrol and blast bomb attacks and gunmen fired at soldiers during the violence.
8. PETROL BOMB ATTACK IN BALLYMENA
A Ballymena family who’s home was petrol bombed on October 18 were asking the culprits to tell them why they were targeted.
A woman narrowly escaped injury in the attack on the Cushendall Road.
Mary McKeown was sitting in her living room around 1am when a brick was thrown through the window followed by a petrol bomb.
Her sons who had been sleeping upstairs helped to put out the fire and to calm their mother down until the emergency services arrived.
A fortnight ago three paint bombs were thrown through the window.
The family want to challenge the people who are attacking their home to give them a reason why.
Mary`s son believes the attack was attempted murder as his mother could have been alone in the house.
In a follow up search, the British colonial police took away a number of items from the garden for forensic examination.
The RUC/PSNI believe the culprits car may have been caught on a nearby CCTV camera and they are examining the footage.
9. MASONIC BRIT WATCHTOWER BEING DISMANTLED
British Crown Forces’ engineers began to dismantle one watchtower in the Masonic Barracks, overlooking Derry’s Walls. This watchtower was marked for closure in response to the final surrender of the Provos’ military body, which saw the destruction of all armaments under their control. Work to remove the watchtower was expected to be completed by October 24. However a second watchtower located on the site is set to remain until next year, and no date has been set for the removal of the rest of the barracks. The former Provo Mayor of Derry, Gerry O’Hara, previously called for the watchtower to be retained for historical purposes.
10. BISHOP SUSPENDS HIS HUNGER STRIKE
At the beginning of October, Luiz Flavio Cappio, a 58 year-old Franciscan bishop in the Brazilian town of Barra began a hunger strike to stop the Brazilian government beginning work on a water pipeline/canal/duct transfer system. The aquaduct which has been suggested in some form or other for almost 150 years is due to be built in 2006.
The Brazilian government, led by Lula, has stated that this project is absolutely neccessary to fight drought and lack of water in the north east of the country, the least well developed regions. The Bishop disagrees, he says the ecological damage which will be caused to the San Francisco river is too great, the benefits cannot justify the re-routing of the river. The bishop has campaigned to save the river for years (The Bishop has written a book on the river and is considered to be an expert). He and his supporters, who include members of a native Indian tribe, claim that only the wealthy landowners would benefit from such a scheme.
He called off his fast after six hours of talks with Jacques Wagner, a senior government minister. While he did not get outright cancellation of the project that he had initially demanded, Bishop Cappio said: “I declare that my fast is suspended in favour of life.” There will now be a nationwide debate about the merits of the project, and the bishop has been invited to Brasilia to meet President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
ENDS
