SAOIRSE32

BBC

Kevin Connolly
BBC Ireland Correspondent

A loyalist paramilitary group, the Loyalist Volunteer Force, says it is to stand down in response to the IRA move to decommission arms in September. Kevin Connolly examines the background and implications.

LVF founder Billy Wright was shot dead in the Maze prison in 1997

The short but turbulent history of the Loyalist Volunteer Force mixed bouts of savage blood-letting with bizarre and unpredictable political gestures.

The organisation was created when a faction of the UVF in Portadown rejected the decision of their leaders in Belfast to declare a ceasefire in 1994.

Under the leadership of the local paramilitary warlord Billy Wright, the LVF committed itself to the traditional loyalist belief that the nationalist community could be terrified into demanding an end to IRA violence by a campaign of random murder directed against it.

UVF ‘wary’

The UVF leadership was furious at Billy Wright’s act of rebellion - but they were wary of his reputation for savage, clinical efficiency as a killer and also of his popularity.

When the UVF tried to order him out of Ulster, thousands of Protestants turned out at a rally called to support him. The seeds were laid for future conflict between the UVF and the LVF.

‘End’ of loyalist terror group

Billy Wright was killed in 1997 - shot dead inside the Maze prison by republican paramilitaries armed with a smuggled handgun - and the LVF lost the focus which his cold-eyed fanaticism had given it.

But it remained an unpredictable and dangerous organisation.

Even though it had no political wing, and no clear political agenda, it became the first paramilitary group to decommission any weapons late in 1998.

The gesture was meaningless - the guns it handed in for destruction were old, and formed only a small part of its arsenal; the LVF remained armed and ready for violence and no convincing explanation for its act of decommissioning was ever offered.

It did not confine itself to killing Catholics either. There were feuds with both of the two larger and older loyalist organisations, the UVF and the UDA.

Often it seemed that disputes over the proceeds of drug-dealing or racketeering lay behind these bouts of violence, but always in the background was the ill-feeling between the UVF and the smaller, more violent grouping which had broken away in the original dispute.

This summer that ill-feeling boiled over into a new feud and this time the whisper was that the UVF was determined to wipe out its smaller rival once and for all.

There were four killings - all by the UVF - and twice UVF gangs moved into loyalist estates and forced families associated with the LVF to leave their homes.

The LVF tried but failed to kill in retaliation, a telling indication of where the balance of power between the two organisations now lay.

The last of the killings was carried out in mid-August and, since then, Protestant churchmen and community leaders have been conducting secret talks aimed at finding some sort of resolution.

Political gesture

When the breakthrough came, it brought with it another of those bizarre political gestures from the LVF.

Within hours of the news that the loyalist feud was over came an LVF statement that it was “standing down” its “military units” in response to a similar move made over the course of the summer by the IRA.

Few take the statement at face value - it’s much more likely that the LVF was forced to disband to secure the UVF’s agreement to a truce and is simply trying to cloak a moment of humiliation in the language of grand strategy.

So it would be a mistake to expect any direct or immediate political movement to follow the LVF’s gesture, although that doesn’t mean that its statement has no meaning.

In referring to the IRA statement, the LVF is providing a reminder that if the main republican paramilitary grouping really has given up political violence for good then it will have changed the rules of the political game in Northern Ireland, and changed them permanently.

Loyalist groups after all have always argued that their very existence was justified by the threat of IRA violence and, if that threat is gone for good, they are either going to have to come up with some new justifications or in some way match the IRA’s move.

The LVF statement brings to an end another of those familiar rounds of murderous instability with which loyalists are so familiar - it also leads us to an intriguing question about just what we can expect from the other, larger loyalist groups in the coming weeks and months.

BBC

Eight people were murdered inside the Rising Sun bar

Convicted loyalist murderer Stephen Irwin is to serve out the eight life sentences he received for the 1993 Greysteel atrocity.

Irwin had been released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

However, his licence was suspended after he was accused of slashing a football supporter with a knife during trouble at last year’s Irish Cup Final.

Irwin, who is 32 and with an address on Belfast’s Woodvale Road, was jailed for four years for that attack last week.

Eight people were shot dead when the Ulster Freedom Fighters opened fire inside the Rising Sun bar in the County Derry village of Greysteel at Halloween 1993.

One of the gunmen shouted “trick or treat” before opening fire on customers.

Irwin and three other UFF men were convicted and given eight life sentences for the murders.

It is understood Irwin still has a right to appeal - although he has not responded to two previous chances to do so.

SDLP assembly member John Dallat said he welcomed the move to have Irwin serve the eight life sentences.

“However I am concerned that he can still apply for earlier release, but given the notoriety of his crimes the life sentencing review board should not change their decision.

“I hope the families of the innocent victims he killed will find some comfort knowing this man will live the rest of his days behind bars.”

Daily Ireland

Ciarán Barnes

Click to view - Billy Wright

Since its formation in 1996, the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) has murdered 28 people.
Ten members of the organisation have also been killed, mostly as a result of feuding with the rival Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA).
Of those murdered by the LVF, 18 were Catholics and ten were Protestants.
The group was formed by Portadown loyalist Billy Wright after the UVF leadership stood down his unit for opposing its ceasefire.
Wright, who was nicknamed King Rat and who worked as a British Army agent, was later charged with menacing behaviour and sent to the Maze prison in Co Antrim.
On December 27, 1997, he was assassinated by Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) prisoners, who had escaped from their wing via a roof.
In the months prior to Wright’s murder, the LVF had been actively targeting Catholics, particularly in the north Armagh and south Antrim areas.
The LVF’s first killing was Catholic taxi driver Michael McGoldrick in Lurgan in 1996. The murder was a birthday present for Wright.
During the next 17 months, the organisation shot dead Catholics Sean Brown, Bernadette Martin, James Morgan and Gerry Devlin.
After Wright’s assassination, the UDA broke its ceasefire and murdered a number of Catholics in revenge attacks.
The LVF claimed responsibility for the UDA murders of Edmund Treanor, Larry Brennan, Benedict Hughes, Liam Conway and John McColgan.
LVF units also murdered Terry Enright and Fergal McCusker.
In March 1998, less than a month before the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the LVF gave their reaction to peace talks by murdering Catholic and Protestant friends Damian Trainor and Philip Allen in a pub gun attack in Co Armagh.
LVF man David Keys, who was reported to have been involved in the murders, was found dead in prison two weeks later.
The following month the LVF continued its killing spree murdering Catholics Adrian Lamph in Armagh and Ciaran Heffron in Antrim.
During disturbances in Portadown in September 1998, an LVF blast bomb exploded next to Catholic RUC man Frank O’Reilly. The 30-year-old died as a result of his injuries a month later.
Shortly after Mr O’Reilly’s death, the LVF murdered Catholic Brian Service as he walked through the Ardoyne area of north Belfast.
In April 1999, the LVF carried out its most high-profile murder - blowing up Catholic human rights solicitor Rosemary Nelson outside her home in Co Armagh.
Two months later, another LVF bomb killed Protestant grandmother Elizabeth O’Neill in Portadown.
Mrs O’Neill’s murder signalled a watershed for the LVF; from that point onwards the majority of its murders were non-sectarian and connected to feuds with the UVF and UDA.
Although bad blood existed between the UVF and LVF since the expulsion of Billy Wright in 1996, the organisations had never turned their guns on each other.
This changed in January 2000 when the LVF murdered Portadown UVF leader Richard Jamison.
The UVF responded by butchering Portadown teenagers Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine.
The LVF then upped the ante by shooting dead north Belfast UVF man Martin Taylor.
In August 2000, the presence of an LVF band at a UDA parade on Belfast’s Shankill Road which passed the UVF’s headquarters sparked a UDA/UVF feud that claimed six lives.
West Belfast UDA leader Johnny Adair was trying to merge the LVF with his organisation, sparking a major fall out with the UVF.
Peace was restored when Adair was jailed; however tensions between the UVF and LVF continued to fester.
The UVF murdered LVF man Adrian Porter in 2001, the LVF retaliated killing UVF men Grahame Marks and Stephen Manners during the summer.
Later that year the mid-Ulster LVF shot dead Sunday World reporter Martin O’Hagan. The journalist had written a series of stories on the LVF, angering its leaders.
In the autumn of 2002 the LVF, alligned with Adair’s west Belfast UDA faction, became embroiled in a feud with the mainstream UDA.
The LVF murdered unconnected Protestant Thomas McKinley, after the UDA was blamed for killing east Belfast LVF chief Stephen Warnock and Geoffery Gray, a friend of Billy Wright’s.
In a bid to restore the peace, the UDA ordered the LVF to cut its ties with Adair, a request that LVF leaders complied with.
In 2003, the LVF murdered the UVF-connected Red Hand Commando boss Jim Johnstone. The UVF waited a year before retaliating, killing LVF east Belfast leader Brian Stewart.
Relations between the groups appeared to be improving until July of this year when the UVF murdered LVF-associate Jameson Lockhart.
Within six weeks the UVF shot dead three other men it claimed had LVF connections - Craig McCausland, Stephen Paul and Mick Green.
The feud eventually ended on Sunday when the LVF announced it was standing its units down.

Daily Ireland

Ciarán Barnes

Relatives of Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) murder victims last night said they are unconvinced by claims that the organisation is to ‘stand down’.
On Sunday evening the LVF said it was standing down all its units following the announcement of an end to its summer feud with the UVF.
However, families of those killed by the group are refusing to put faith in the weekend statement.
Terry Enright, whose son Terry Enright Junior was murdered by the LVF outside a Belfast night-club in 1997, said he would take a lot more convincing.
“The LVF is a gang of criminals that tried to cover up its activities by carrying out sectarian murders,” Mr Enright told Daily Ireland.
“It is going to have to prove it is serious by decommissioning.”
Ann Trainor, whose son Damien and his best friend Philip Allen were murdered by LVF gunmen in Co Armagh in 1998, also found the move hard to believe.
“There is a lot of evil and jealousy,” she said. “It is hard to believe. The evil will never quit - you can see it every way.”
Loyalist sources believe the LVF will make a second statement on its future, thought to be in relation to the decommissioning of its weapons, before the end of the year.
Dates it is currently considering are Remembrance Day on November 11, and the anniversary of the murder of its founder Billy Wright on December 27.
The LVF was on the verge of publicly announcing the standing down of its units in July, but the UVF murder of LVF-associate Jameson Lockhart resulted in these plans being put on hold.
Loyalist Commission chairman, Reverend Mervyn Gibson, who helped negotiate the LVF/UVF truce believes the LVF has gone away for good.
He told Daily Ireland he was “surprised” the LVF went so far as to announce its units were being stood down.
“I didn’t expect this when I started the negotiations,” said Rev Gibson.
“But the feud is over and I think the LVF has gone for good.”
Both Sinn Féin and the SDLP cautiously welcomed the LVF announcement.
Sinn Féin Assemblyman Gerry Kelly said: “Given the history of the LVF, nationalists and republicans will of course be cautious of anything being said or promised by them.”
SDLP Upper Bann MLA Dolores Kelly said: “We must hope that this truly is the end of the LVF and all its killings, drug dealing and racketeering.”
Unionist politicians took more encouragement from the LVF statement.
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson called on other loyalist paramilitaries to “follow suit”, while Ulster Unionist leader Reg Empey said the announcement is the latest in a series of positive developments.
During its nine-year existence the LVF was involved in sectarian murder and drug dealing.
Ten of its members were killed as a result of feuds with other loyalist paramilitaries.

Irish Independent

ABOUT £3m (€4.43m) was spent on policing a controversial Orange Order parade in Belfast which descended into violence.

And another £938,000 was spent on repairing police vehicles damaged during disturbances on the streets of Northern Ireland this summer, the PSNI revealed yesterday.

In a statement responding to nationalist SDLP claims that the Whiterock parade had cost the police £2.2m, the police also said that between September 10 and 17, in the wake of the Whiterock parade, 82 people were arrested and 12 weapons recovered.

A total of 93 police officers were injured.

The PSNI said 150 live rounds were fired at them, 167 blast bombs were thrown at police lines, 167 vehicles were hijacked and more than 1,000 petrol bombs were thrown.

Police fired 216 impact rounds and continued to investigate the disorder.

INJURED

Orde said: “The events of the weekend of September 10 were unprecedented.

“My officers, as I have said before, acted like heroes in the face of the worst public disorder this force has ever witnessed.

“The costs are unacceptable, not only in financial terms but more importantly the human cost, both to the police service and local communities as 93 police officers were injured as a result of the disorder.”

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will deliver a direct message to Northern business interests this week that both parts of the island need to come together to plan for major infrastructural investment.

Mr Ahern will say that economics is primed to become the most important issue for Ireland. The Taoiseach, addressing the Institute of Directors in Belfast on Thursday, will back up arguments already drawn up by Finance Minister Brian Cowen.

Belfast Telegraph

By Senan Molony
01 November 2005

A Colombia Three-style publicity claim is to be launched this week in a bid to stop the extradition of a veteran republican accused of being a key figure in the massive counterfeiting of US dollars.

A petition to stop the extradition of Sean Garland is being started in a bid to block his being handed over to the US, following his recent arrest at a Workers Party conference in Belfast.

TDs and Senators have already been circulated by the Workers Party to ask for their support and endorsement for the campaign.

Former Labour party leader Ruairi Quinn surprised many by raising in the Dail the issue of Mr Garland’s detention in the North.

The campaign says it is concerned at the arrest of an Irish citizen outside the jurisdiction, amid suspicion it may have been orchestrated because of the North’s stronger anti-terror laws.

Mr Garland was seen refusing to make any comment in recent television documentaries which alleged that he was a central figure in the laundering of “super dollars” released into the global economy through the Embassy of North Korea in Moscow.

The campaign claims that Garland, as a citizen of the Republic, is entitled to the protections and legal safeguards which the Constitution and judicial system would afford him. He is “effectively deprived” of these rights, say supporters.

It also asserts that Mr Garland could not get a fair trial in the US.

Belfast Telegraph

By Noel McAdam
01 November 2005

Ian Paisley is considering an offer to appear on UTV’s Gerry Kelly show, it has emerged.

The DUP leader has been invited to sit on Gerry’s sofa following last week’s landmark interview with Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams.

It will be the first time the veteran political firebrand - now 79 - has appeared on UTV’s most popular programme in 12 years.

Friday night stalwart Kelly revealed he had asked Mr Paisley to appear on the programme - due to end its run in December.

A spokesman for Mr Paisley said: “It is under consideration. There has been no decision made at this juncture.”

The spokesman added, however, it was “highly unlikely” that Mr Paisley will agree to take part in the show this Friday.

“If it was going to be this week the decision would probably have already been taken,” he said.

The question which can be asked is: can Ulster’s chat show king help nudge the province’s two main political rivals closer together before his programme passes into history in the run-up to Christmas?

It is thought Mr Paisley may be reluctant to follow-through immediately on the heels of the Adams appearance in which he said “the war is obviously over”.

The last time Mr Paisley went on the show, in 1992.

Belfast Telegraph

Talks are held over Friday demo plans

By Deborah McAleese
01 November 2005

Senior police officers were today due to meet loyalist women who intend to block a number of roads across Belfast on Friday.

And PSNI officers were facing calls not to adopt a “softly softly” approach amid concerns of a repeat of the protests which brought misery to commuters and havoc to the city in September.

Although protest organisers have stressed that their demonstrations will be peaceful, SDLP Assemblyman and Policing Board member Alex Attwood said police have to intervene quickly and ensure that no roads are blocked illegally.

The PSNI was unable to provide statistics for the number of people arrested during the September road blocks.

During the demonstrations there was major concern that police were not taking a tough enough stance against loyalist protesters.

However, police today said officers will ensure that all main arterial roads remain open and that anyone caught blocking roads illegally will be reported for prosecution.

Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland has agreed to meet with representatives of the Women Restoring Unionist Culture (WRUC) group - who were planning the protest in a bid to ensure the Government listens to loyalist grievances - to discuss policing issues within the loyalist communities.

Group chairwoman Jean Barnes said she does not believe the protests will lead to serious disorder across Belfast.

“Our group is entirely peaceful and we are not out to cause trouble,” she said. “We are merely highlighting legitimate concerns from the unionist community.

“We are opposed to violence from whatever quarter and all we want is for the Government to listen to us.”

Mr Attwood said that the women have a right to have their concerns heard but not to bring the city to a standstill.

“The police have to intervene quickly if there are illegal protesters and illegal road closures,” Mr Attwood added.

“We just cannot have the city being brought to a standstill again.

“The protesters need to put people and children first, not their own particular anxieties and concerns.

“Of course they have a right to express themselves but not over the rights of the citizens.”

A PSNI spokeswoman said: “Police are always willing to meet with any individual or group who wish to discuss and make a contribution to any policing issues.

“Protests blocking roads are illegal and those breaking the law will be reported to the Public Prosecution Service.

“Police re-affirm their commitment to keeping main arterial roads open.”

Belfast Telegraph

By Michael McHugh
01 November 2005

The father of the LVF’s first murder victim has challenged Northern Ireland’s politicians to use the group’s ceasefire announcement to resurrect peace settlement talks.

Michael McGoldrick (63) from Craigavon, whose Catholic taxi driver son Michael was murdered in July 1996, believes the weekend commitment by the paramilitary grouping to stand down marks a significant step in the peace process.

His Lurgan son, a married 31-year-old father-of-one, was murdered at the height of the Drumcree protest by renegade members of the UVF who later went on to form the LVF.

At the time of the killing Mr McGoldrick appealed for an end to all violence and yesterday he said he hoped this weekend’s announcement marked a final chapter in the group’s history.

“I am very glad that they have stood down and I would be glad if all paramilitary groups stood down,” he said.

“I can only hope that it is genuine and I think this is a wonderful opportunity for the politicians to get together and make Northern Ireland a better community for all. I think that is important for everyone.

“I am happy because I see this as a positive step in the right direction towards taking all guns away.”

In a statement issued over the weekend, the LVF said that it was standing down all units from midnight on Sunday in response to the IRA’s decommissioning.

The group, set up by Billy Wright from Portadown, has been responsible for a string of sectarian murders in its short history.

Mr McGoldrick was shot twice in the head after picking up a passenger on July 8 at a loyalist bar.

His body was found in his cab near Aghalee but his murder was denied by the UFF, UVF and the Red Hand Command at the time.

“I would say that there are a lot of people imprisoned that, had it not been for the Troubles, would never have seen the inside of a prison,” his father added.

“If I want things to change for the better there are concessions which ordinary people have to give and if releasing prisoners is needed then I am all for it.

He added: “I never wanted revenge, not even justice, all I wanted was for it to stop.”

Belfast Telegraph

By Michael McHugh
01 November 2005

The mother of a Protestant man shot dead with his Catholic friend in a Co Armagh bar by the LVF has warned against releasing her son’s killers from prison.

Ethel Allen, whose son Philip and his friend Damien Trainor were gunned down in the belief that they were both Catholics at the Railway Bar in Poyntzpass in March 1998, said she was sceptical about this weekend’s ceasefire announcement by the loyalist grouping and added that her son’s murderers should not walk free.

Stephen McClean (31) and Noel McCready (34) from Banbridge were sentenced in February 2000 for the atrocity which happened months before the Good Friday Agreement.

A memorial garden to the duo was unveiled in Poyntzpass earlier this year. Mrs Allen said she was treating the cessation of violence with scepticism.

“If the ceasefire came in I would be disgusted if they got out, I don’t know whether they could or not, I don’t think any of them should have gotten out,” she said.

“If they were given a sentence they should have served it and I think the early release scheme was the biggest mistake ever,” she said.

Earlier this year McClean lost a House of Lords appeal against his incarceration.

Then Secretary of State Peter Mandelson barred his early release in 2000 but the decision was overturned in the Court of Appeal and finally settled in the House of Lords.

The LVF has opposed the Agreement and been responsible for some of the most callous recent murders including the death of Catholic taxi driver Michael McGoldrick from Lurgan.

A statement by the group, founded by UVF renegade Billy Wright in 1996, ordered all units to stand down by midnight Sunday.

Mrs Allen said she was treating the announcement with caution. “I will believe it when it happens, really I would be sceptical. Yes, perhaps there might be lives saved but I was told that whenever Philip and Damien were murdered that that would be the end of it.

“I hope it works but they are still there in the community and you have to wonder if deep down they have really given up violence.

“If it is genuine they should be apologising. McCready has done a lot to try to get out of prison which to me is wrong. He is supposed to be a changed man and I am waiting on them saying that he is a minister”.

She added that she wanted answers from the pair about their conduct.

“I would like to ask how they felt about shooting dead two boys they knew. McClean was acting in court as if, as if you were talking about shooting a dog, not as if it was about two human beings.”

Belfast Telegraph

By Jonathan McCambridge
01 November 2005

Police today launched a new province-wide non-emergency phone number.

Dialling 0845 600 8000 will connect callers directly to local police who will put them in contact with the appropriate station or person in the PSNI.

All numbers for local stations will remain in place and emergency callers should continue to dial 999.

Launching the local rate number at the call management room at Lisburn Road police station in Belfast, Assistant Chief Constable Roy Toner said: “This is the first step in a package of measures designed to make it easier for communities to contact the police and thus assist the PSNI to further improve our quality of service to the public.

“The new number will be used in conjunction with current numbers, so if a caller needs to speak to a specific member of staff or station and already knows the direct number, he or she should continue to use it.

“This will help police deal with other calls more efficiently, thanks to new telephone products, systems and training programmes.”

A public awareness campaign has been launched to promote use of the 0845 600 8000 number.

This will include advertising on television, poster sites and buses over the coming months as well as a leaflet in the latest edition of Yellow Pages which will be issued later this month.

The number will also be displayed on selected police vehicles.

The new number will provide convenient access to citizens 24 hours a day and advanced call routing will help trained PSNI personnel to deal with inquiries.

Should local call handlers be busy, the enhanced technology will find someone else within the PSNI who is qualified to answer the call.

Belfast Telegraph

Licence taken away after football attack

By Paddy McGuffin
01 November 2005

Greysteel ‘trick or treat’ killer Stephen Irwin will now have to serve out eight life sentences for his part in the Greysteel massacre after slashing a football fan with a Stanley knife, it can be revealed today.

Irwin is set to become one of the few prisoners freed under the Good Friday Agreement to be returned to jail to serve the remainder of a life sentence.

The 32-year-old, originally from Londonderry, still has a right to appeal - although he has not responded to two previous chances to appeal.

Irwin made headlines again last week when he was convicted and sentenced to four years for slashing a Glentoran fan with a knife during a brawl at Windsor Park during last year’s Irish Cup final.

Irwin, along with fellow UFF members Torrens Knight, Jeffrey Deeney and Brian McNeill, carried out the infamous murders in the Rising Sun bar on Halloween weekend 12 years ago.

Eight revellers were gunned down in cold blood in the bar on October 30, 1993 and Irwin was the brute who shouted ‘Trick or Treat’ before the killers opened fire.

The murders devastated the small village and sickened the wider community.

Irwin was given eight life sentences for his role in the slaughter and showed no remorse, laughing as he was led from the court.

He was released under the Good Friday Agreement on life licence in 2000 but he was arrested in connection with the stabbing claim last year, and the Sentence Review Commission today confirmed his licence was revoked by the then Secretary of State Paul Murphy.

The former UFF man, who also has links to neo-Nazi group Combat 18, was given leave to appeal the decision but declined to do so, according to the Sentence Review Commission spokesman.

While it is understood he still has the right to appeal, prison bosses today confirmed that, when he finishes the sentence for the Stanley knife slashing that left a victim needing 200 stitches, he will continue to serve his terms for the Greysteel massacre.

A spokesman for the Life Sentence Review Commission spokesman said: “Stephen Irwin had his licence revoked by the Secretary of State in July 2004.

“This recent slashing charge means he will be in jail until next year at least, immediately he finishes this sentence he will begin serving the eight original life sentences handed down to him [for the Greysteel killings].”

He added that upon the revocation of his licence the Sentence Review Commission had written to Irwin to offer him the chance to appeal the decision.

“At that time the Commission wrote to Irwin informing him that he had the right to appeal, but received no response.

“Irwin was contacted twice more on the issue but no response was ever received. On the last occasion he was informed that the Commission had no further involvement.”

This was supported by a spokesman for the Northern Ireland Prison Service who said: “I can confirm that Stephen Irwin is now serving eight life sentences, which take primacy over this more recent charge. He still has the right to appeal.

“The Sentencing Review Commission wrote to him a number of times asking him whether he wished to appeal and he did not respond, but he still retains that right.”

BreakingNews.ie

01/11/2005 - 15:51:09

Any scheme allowing on-the-run paramilitaries to return from exile to Northern Ireland must feature a trial at which they can plead their guilt or innocence to past crimes, the British government was told today.

As Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain prepared to release legislation this month facilitating the return of on-the-run IRA members and loyalists who fled the North during the Troubles to avoid arrest, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan set out six principles which should guide the British government’s legislation.

“First, any on-the-run (OTR) process must respect the rule of law. Even if nobody will go to prison, there must always be a trial – at which people can assert their guilt or innocence,” he said.

“If people are found guilty, that must always be registered.

“Second, the OTR process should be time-limited for six months to a year. That way, those who have been responsible for the hundreds of unsolved murders have some incentive to come forward and give their victims closure.

“If there is no time limit, then people who have committed murders know that they can afford to sit back, say nothing and wait to see if they are in danger of ever being charged, knowing full well that if they are, they will not go to prison. No time limit would show total contempt for victims’ interests.

“Third, the on-the-runs must attend their trial in open court. One of the most outrageous aspects of the (British) government’s original plans is that the on-the-run does not even have to appear in court to show some respect for those they have hurt.

“Fourth, the victim must have the right to make a victim impact statement. This would allow the victim the chance to make clear how his or her life was damaged by violence.

“Fifth, it must be limited to crimes committed before the Good Friday Agreement. The Agreement gave everybody a full and equal chance to participate in the political process. Those who failed to do so should not be spared a prison sentence.

“Sixth, if an OTR becomes involved in breaking the law, it should always be possible to return them to prison – like people released under the Good Friday Agreement.”

During an appearance before the House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee last week, Mr Hain acknowledged public concerns about an amnesty for terrorist fugitives but said undesirable actions sometimes had to be carried out for conflict resolution.

Unionists have expressed their outrage at the plans to allow on-the-runs to return and some have also voiced their concerns about the impact on the cold case review team set up by Northern Ireland chief constable Sir Hugh Orde into the 1,800 unsolved murders from the Troubles.

Mr Durkan said his party had not sought the legislation and stressed that it was not part of the Good Friday Agreement.

The SDLP leader continued: “Many will also question the timing of on-the-run legislation – when paramilitaries still will not let those they have exiled come home.

He said: “The SDLP recognises that the on-the-run legislation will cause all victims enormous difficulties – be they victims of state violence, of loyalist violence or of republican violence.

“It is all the more important, therefore, that any on-the-run legislation does not do them a downright injustice. That is why the SDLP is setting out key principles that must be included in any OTR legislation.”

Irish Examiner

01 November 2005
By Cormac O’Keeffe

THE Garda Special Branch is investigating claims from the Continuity IRA that it will use “extreme” measures against drug dealers across Dublin and throughout the country.

The investigation follows threats from the breakaway republican group against suspected drug dealers made in a number of phone calls to national newspapers.

The CIRA recently left a sophisticated hoax bomb on the driveway of a house occupied by a drug abuser in the Blanchardstown area of north Dublin.

In a phone call to a daily newspaper at the time, the CIRA threatened further action against people they consider to be involved in the drug trade.

The warning said: “This is a message from the Continuity IRA. We will not tolerate drug dealing in Blanchardstown, in Dublin, or anywhere else in Ireland. We will go to all extremes to stop drug dealing.”

The previous week, the same person made a phone call to another newspaper, stating that it had left a device at the house of a named family in Whitechapel Grove in Clonsilla, near Blanchardstown. Gardaí found no one of that name living in the area and a cursory search found nothing.

The following day, the caller again rang the paper. Gardaí then discovered a device at the driveway of a house. When officers investigated, a man with the name given by the CIRA was living in the house with another woman.

Gardaí called out an Army bomb squad, which examined the device.

“The Explosive Ordnance Disposal commandant said it was a very elaborate device,” said a garda source. “There was a component missing that would have finished the job. They knew that.”

Sources said the intended target was not a drug dealer, but was a drug abuser.

“We’re not saying he doesn’t need watching, but he’s at the bottom of the pile. He’s a soft target,” said one garda.

Gardaí are understood to have given advice to the man, suggesting he move out of the house.

“We’re treating this as very serious and are investigating the matter,” said a garda.

He said the Special Detective Unit which targets paramilitary activity was assisting in the investigation.

The Special Branch, as it is also known, is examining a number of incidents possibly connected with the CIRA’s self-proclaimed anti-drug campaign.

BreakingNews.ie

01/11/2005 - 12:57:02

A united Ireland should be created as soon as is humanly possible, it was claimed today.

Sinn Féin launched details of a Dáil parliament motion calling on the Irish Government to publish a Green Paper discussion document on the issue.

The party’s Dáil leader, Caoimhghin O Caolain, called on Irish political parties to unite behind the idea to make it a reality.

“People are talking about the symbolism of a united Ireland for the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising in 2016 but I believe it should be achieved as soon as humanly possible. I hope to see it in my lifetime,” he said today.

“The political situation has changed enormously and there will also be huge changes in the decade before us.”

The motion, published today, calls for the promotion of all-Ireland policies and strategies and highlights the need to persuade unionists on the advantages of unification.

It also says the Government must “prepare politically, economically, socially and culturally for Irish unification; identifying measures, including a Green Paper, which can assist a successful transition to a united Ireland”.

Calling for all-party support, Mr O Caolain pointed out that Fianna Fáil is known as the republican party and Fine Gael described itself as “the United Ireland Party” when it was first founded in 1933.

The motion will be debated tomorrow evening and conclude on Thursday evening during the party’s Private Members’ time.

Mr O Caolain, who is into his ninth year as an Opposition TD, also told a media briefing today that it was inevitable that Sinn Féin would enter government soon and that its TDs would become ministers.

“At some point in time, that is a nettle that Sinn Féin will have to grasp.

“If Sinn Féin is to go from effective presentation of its policies to effective implementation, we will need to go into government at some point.”

However, he said the party would absolutely rule out any alliance with the Irish Government’s harshest critic, Justice Minister Michael McDowell, or his Progressive Democrats party.

Mr O Caolain claimed that Sinn Féin will win seats in eight constituencies in the next General Election, including Donegal North East, Donegal South West, Meath West, Wexford, Waterford, and Cork North Central.

The party is also targeting seat gains in two Dublin constituencies which have not yet been confirmed.

The leadership would convene a special Ard Fheis to consider entering a coalition with other parties if the issue arose.

Mr O Caolain also did not rule out increasing tax rates if it led to better public services.

“Ordinary people out there are not opposed to paying more tax as long as everybody is paying their fair share, in a wholly equitable system.

“People might say that if they pay a little bit more taxation, they could have a better health service.”

The Cavan/Monaghan representative denied Opposition claims that the issue of speaking rights for Northern MPs in the Dáil was a “side deal” cut between Sinn Fein and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

“All we’re arguing for is the right for MPs to actively participate in debates in the Dáil chamber on issues that affect them or they have specialist knowledge of. I do believe it should happen.

“It would promote positive engagement and dialogue between north and south politicians and would demonstrate the type of society we are trying to create on this island.”

He said Sinn Féin also advocated voting rights but he accepted that this was not a realistic short-term goal.

Belfast Telegraph

Hundreds eligible for 10 year review amnesty

By Chris Thornton
01 November 2005

Around 60 IRA fugitives are prepared to sign up to a new law which will allow them to return home without serving jail time - with hundreds of others expected to qualify for a 10-year amnesty from the ongoing review of unsolved murders.

Security and political sources say that they expect about 60 republicans, and possibly more, to apply for clearance of the crimes which led them to flee Northern Ireland.

The Government is due to unveil legislation dealing with OTRs - short for “on-the-runs” - in a matter of days.

Last week Secretary of State Peter Hain said to the Commons’ Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that the legislation would be published in early November and that “dozens” of fugitives would qualify.

Under the proposed law, fugitives would apply to a quasi-judicial system and would not be punished for any crime.

Sources say the law may now also include a provision dealing with suspects who might be identified by the PSNI’s £30m cold case review. The review is re-examining approximately 1,800 unsolved murders.

DUP Policing Board member Sammy Wilson has already said that he is concerned that the investigations could be undermined by the OTRs law.

The new legislation is expected to include a 10-year period in which people who are suspected of a Troubles murder can qualify for a virtual pardon.

Last week Mr Hain first suggested a link between the OTRs legislation and the PSNI’s historic cases review, saying it “could be that people facing historic crimes could take advantage of the OTRs process”.

Such a provision could deepen the opposition that the Government is expecting to face over the fugitives legislation in the House of Lords.

It would also spark more unionist fury about the concessions to the IRA. There has been speculation that the Government delayed publication of the OTRs law in response to police concerns that it could cause unrest at last weekend’s Love Ulster rally.

Unionist anger could be compounded by reports from the Republic that the Irish government has vowed that two men, still suspected of the IRA killing of Garda Jerry McCabe, will not be included in any pardon - even though RUC killers may well qualify.