SITE PROBLEMS
Blogsome is having trouble at the moment, so please read the posts here:
Thanks,
micheailin
8/11/2005
SF TD suspended from Dáil
08/11/2005 - 18:35:07
Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris was tonight suspended from the Dáil for repeatedly trying to raise a constituency matter during the Order of Business.
The North Kerry representative was attempting to ask Taoiseach Bertie Ahern about funding for Tralee General Hospital when he was ruled out of order by Ceann Comhairle Rory O’Hanlon.
After several warnings, Mr O’Hanlon suspended Mr Ferris from the House until next week for being disorderly.
Paramilitary chief and mother held in raids
08/11/2005 - 18:55:29
A loyalist paramilitary chief and his mother were both being questioned by police in Northern Ireland tonight after detectives launched a major operation against organised crime.
Andre Shoukri, leader of the Ulster Defence Association in north Belfast, was held when officers launched a series of swoops on homes across the city.
Three other men – at least one of them another senior UDA man – and Shoukri’s mother were also detained.
A senior security source confirmed: “This is an extremely significant operation.”
It is understood that a decision to hold another person under the police’s witness protection scheme was linked to the arrests, which involved officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s organised crime branch.
Houses in the Westlands estate in north Belfast as well as the Castlereagh area of east Belfast were searched.
During a visit to the loyalist Kilcooley housing estate in Bangor, Co Down, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said he did not think the arrests were specifically aimed at loyalists but were an attempt to tackle criminality and paramilitary activity.
“That doesn’t equate to loyalism,” he said.
“People shouldn’t be acting in a violent or criminal fashion. I understand that the arrests have been designed to stop that happening.”
Mr Hain added that it was vital that anyone involved in criminal or paramilitary activity, whether they were republican or loyalist, knew that the police would come after them.
“They have been doing that this morning and they will continue to do it, and they have my absolute 100% support.”
Paramilitary chief and mother held in raids
08/11/2005 - 18:55:29
A loyalist paramilitary chief and his mother were both being questioned by police in Northern Ireland tonight after detectives launched a major operation against organised crime.
Andre Shoukri, leader of the Ulster Defence Association in north Belfast, was held when officers launched a series of swoops on homes across the city.
Three other men – at least one of them another senior UDA man – and Shoukri’s mother were also detained.
A senior security source confirmed: “This is an extremely significant operation.”
It is understood that a decision to hold another person under the police’s witness protection scheme was linked to the arrests, which involved officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s organised crime branch.
Houses in the Westlands estate in north Belfast as well as the Castlereagh area of east Belfast were searched.
During a visit to the loyalist Kilcooley housing estate in Bangor, Co Down, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said he did not think the arrests were specifically aimed at loyalists but were an attempt to tackle criminality and paramilitary activity.
“That doesn’t equate to loyalism,” he said.
“People shouldn’t be acting in a violent or criminal fashion. I understand that the arrests have been designed to stop that happening.”
Mr Hain added that it was vital that anyone involved in criminal or paramilitary activity, whether they were republican or loyalist, knew that the police would come after them.
“They have been doing that this morning and they will continue to do it, and they have my absolute 100% support.”
Man jailed in Cork kidnap case
08 November 2005 16:19
A 38-year-old former IRA member has been jailed for 20 years after he was convicted of falsely imprisoning and threatening to kill a couple in their home in Cork last May.
Gerard Clarke from St John’s Terrace, Upper John Street in Cork, has 45 previous convictions for offences including attempted murder, conspiracy to cause explosions and possession of firearms, as well as membership of the IRA.
A second man, Edward Gaffey from Dundalk in Co Louth, was jailed for 12 years.
Clarke was a member of the Provisional IRA and was in charge of a punishment squad in Belfast which carried out knee-cappings.
He was jailed for 14 years in 1993 before being released under the Good Friday Agreement. He moved to Cork two years ago.
At the Circuit Criminal Court in Cork last Friday, Clarke changed his plea to guilty on the seventh day of his trial.
He admitted charges of possession of weapons and of falsely imprisoning and threatening to kill Katie and Gary O’Donovan at their home in Rochestown, Cork last May.
The couple told the court today their world had changed since the attack. Their home had been violated and the safety they had felt there no longer existed.
McKevitt appeal begins
08/11/2005 - 12:47:51
Michael Mc Kevitt - BBC photo
The appeal by convicted Real IRA leader Michael Mc Kevitt against his conviction has opened at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Dublin.
Mc Kevitt (aged 54), of Beech Park, Blackrock, Co Louth was jailed for 20 years by the Special Criminal Couret after he was convicted of directing the activities of a terrorist organisation between August 29, 1999 and October 23, 2000. He was the first person to be convicted in the Republic of the offence which was brought in after the Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh in 1998 in which 29 people died.
McKevitt also received a six years concurrent prison sentence for membership of an illegal organisation which the court said was the Real IRA.
Today three judges of the Court of Criminal Appeal began hearing legal submissions by Mc Kevitt’s lawyers and the appela hearing is expected to last four days. Mc Kevitt was in court for the appeal which was also attended by his wife Bernadette Sands Mc Kevitt.
McKevitt’s counsel Mr Hugh Hartnett SC said there were 42 grounds of appeal.
He said that the case against Mc Kevitt has relied exclusively on the evidence of Mr David Rupert, an American who was a paid agent of two security services, the British Security Service and the FBI.
Mr Hartnett said that Mr Rupert’s background, credibility and veracity were central to the prosecution case against Mc Kevitt.
Counsel submitted that siginificant areas of disclosure about Mr Rupert’s past, incuding his tax affairs, his criminality and payments made to him by the FBI had been sought by the defence but had not been provided.
Mr Hartnett said that a statement by a New York Strate trooper had described Mr Rupert as a lifelong criminal, drugs smuggler and a smuggler of arms and explosives. He said that the defence were interested in why on two occasions in 1974 and 1994 Mr Rupert was under investigation for various offences and on both occasions he had been recruited by the FBI as an agent.
He said that Mr Rupert had settled a $750,000 tax bill with the US Internal Revenue Service for $25,000 and it would appear that there was some involvement by the security services with that.
Mr Hartnett also said that documents provided by the British Security Service referred to Rupert’s “trickinesses” and the defence wanted to know what these referred to.
Mr Hartnett said there had been a significant failure of disclosure which tainted the whole trial.
The appeal is continuing.
Chief gardaí appear in alleged Real IRA members’ trial
08/11/2005 - 14:38:41
Two Detective Chief Superintendents have given evidence at the Special Criminal Court of their beliefs that three men accused of being Real IRA members were members of an illegal organisation.
Detective Chief Superintendent Philip Kelly, who heads the Special Detective Unit, told Mr Tom O’Connell SC, prosecuting, it was his belief that Adrian Kirwan was a member of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise the IRA on December 5th last year.
He also said that he formed the same opinion in relation to Sean Connolly on the 14th of December last year.
In both cases he said his opinion had been formed before the date of the men ’s arrests.
He said that he based his belief on information available to him but he wished to claim privilege on the source, on the grounds that it could endanger life and hamper ongoing security operations in the State.
Detective Chief Superintendent Noel White from the Donegal division said that he believed that Colum Wiggins was a member of an illegal organisation on December 5th last year.
He told Ms Ann Roland BL, for Mr Wiggins, that this information was based partly on that of an informant.
He said he did not know if any money or other favours had been given to this informant.
Adrian Kirwan (aged 25), a native of Ballymun in Dublin, with an address at Ardilaun Green, Ballymahon Road, Mullingar, Co Westmeath and Colum Wiggins (aged 24), of Annagry, Letterkenny, Co Donegal have each pleaded not guilty to membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on December 5th last year.
Sean Connolly (aged 26), of Bernard Curtis House, Bluebell, Dublin has also denied membership of an illegal organisation on December 14th.
The trial is continuing.
Second man held over two murders
A 25-year-old man has been arrested by police investigating the murders of two teenagers in County Armagh more than five years ago.
Andrew Robb, 19, and 18-year-old David McIlwaine, both from Portadown, were stabbed to death on 18 February 2000.
The man was arrested in Hillsborough, County Down on Tuesday morning.
Another man aged 25 is still being questioned about the killings after being arrested in Coalisland on Monday. A third man was released on Sunday.
A report on the 54-year-old’s arrest was sent to the Public Prosecution Service.
The bodies of Mr Robb and Mr McIlwaine were found on the Druminure Road outside Tandragee, a few hours after they had left a disco.
No-one has been convicted of the murders which were carried out during a loyalist paramilitary feud in the Portadown area.
However, police and both families said neither of the young men had any connection with a paramilitary organisation.
Four held in terrorism operation
Four people have been arrested under terrorism legislation during a police operation in Renfrewshire.
Few details have been released by Strathclyde Police beyond confirmation of the operation, which took place last Thursday evening.
Three adult males and a female were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 and are presently being held at a police station in Glasgow.
The investigation is linked to “matters of affairs in Northern Ireland”.
A police statement said it was “in no way linked to the terrorist incidents which took place in London during the summer”.
The four people are being held in Govan, which is designated as the station where people held under the terrorism legislation are detained.
Money not stress solution - Orde
Hugh Orde says proper treatment is the answer for officers suffering stress
Money is not the solution to stress suffered by police officers, Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde has said.
About 5,000 former and serving officers started legal action on Monday over trauma they say they suffered during the troubles.
Tens of millions of pounds in compensation could be paid out by the government if their case is successful.
“Money may not be the solution, the solution is to make sure these people are properly treated,” Sir Hugh said.
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show, he said the PSNI’s “occupational health system, is without doubt the best in the United Kingdom, because we still have officers we ask to face extreme dangers”.
He said the action was being taken against an organisation which has “moved on”.
About 2,000 serving officers are among those taking the case.
The claimants say the police service failed to diagnose or treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
The chief constable said if officers were suffering from stress to the extent where they should not be on the streets then they would not be.
He dismissed suggestions that the 2,000 serving officers taking part in the case were “compromised”.
“Officers are delivering, are reducing crime and if a fifth of them were not team players that would not be the case,” Sir Hugh said.
Shoukri brothers held in early morning raids
By David Gordon and Chris Thornton
08 November 2005
Big brother Ihab - BBC photo
UDA chief Andre Shoukri and his brother Ihab were arrested today in a major police swoop in north Belfast.
The pair were among five prominent loyalists lifted in an early morning operation against organised crime.
A PSNI spokesman said searches in the north of the city were expected to continue for much of the day.
“The searches are being carried out as part of an operation into organised crime,” he added.
The Shoukris are understood to have been arrested in the loyalist Westland estate. Ihab Shoukri was only permitted to return to an address in Belfast late last month following a variation of bail conditions.
Today’s police move appears to have caught the UDA by surprise.
One loyalist source said the UDA’s political wing, the Ulster Political Research Group, was in the estate this morning seeking to find out more information about the arrests.
The arrest of Andre Shoukri - nicknamed The Egyptian because of his family’s Middle Eastern background - comes amid intense rumours of friction between him and other UDA chiefs.
Shoukri is seen as the last of the “Brigadiers of Bling” - UDA chiefs known for their expensive clothes and lifestyle.
He and south Belfast UDA boss Jackie McDonald publicly denied a rift in June this year.
But rumours of tensions persisted, fuelled by a stand-off between north and south Belfast UDA members in the Sandy Row area.
The loyalist murder of Jim “Doris Day” Gray - the flamboyant former UDA boss in east Belfast in September - prompted speculation of further moves against the remaining “Bling” elements in the terror organisation.
The Shoukri brothers have long associations with north Belfast loyalists - with Andre, the younger of the two, reputed to have taken over the UDA in that part of the city while still just 25.
When he was fined for speeding earlier this year, a court heard that Andre earns £150 a week as a barman - but police suspect he is the main earner behind a number of UDA enterprises.
In July 2002, Andre Shoukri was part of a UDA delegation that met Secretary of State John Reid.
Initially an associate of Johnny Adair, Andre wound up siding with the main body of the UDA in the feud that brought Adair down.
During the feud, Shoukri was arrested with a gun in his car. He was initially jailed for six years but that conviction was overturned on appeal.
Andre Shoukri first came to public notice in 1996, when he was tried over the death of Dubliner Gareth Parker.
Shoukri admitted punching the 23-year-old. Parker was run over by a car after being knocked over by the blow.
The loyalist was back in court in 1998, when he was jailed for attempting to smuggle cigarettes.
Two years later he was jailed again for his part in a blackmail plot against a Catholic businessman.
Big brother Ihab has a lower profile, but is currently awaiting trial for UDA membership.
Eighth man arrested in bank raid
An eighth man has been arrested by police investigating last December’s £26.5m Northern Bank robbery.
The 40-year-old was arrested in Derry on Tuesday. Four men are now being questioned about the robbery, while two were released without charge.
A 39-year-old man was arrested in Belfast on Monday night in connection with the robbery.
The latest arrest came as a second man appeared in court charged in connection with the raid on Monday.
Martin McAliskey, 42, of Ballybeg Road, Coalisland, denied giving false police statements. He was granted bail.
The charge concerns the alleged purchase, possession and sale of a Ford Transit van believed to have been used in the raid.
Earlier on Monday, a 22-year-old man was arrested in Kilcoo in County Down in connection with the robbery.
On Friday, a 23-year-old County Down man who appeared in court denied involvement in the robbery. He was remanded in custody.
The robbery happened at the bank’s Northern Ireland headquarters at Donegall Square West just before Christmas last year.
Some money seized in County Cork last February was linked to the robbery, but virtually all of the missing millions remain unrecovered.
Leading loyalist arrests in city
Andre Shoukri is believed to have been arrested
The police have arrested a number of prominent loyalists in Belfast in an operation against organised crime.
It is understood UDA leader in the north of the city Andre Shoukri is one of four men and a woman in custody.
A search operation is continuing in the Westlands estate area. Another operation has taken place in Castlereagh to the east of Belfast.
It is understood that as part of the operation, a person has been taken into the police witness protection scheme.
Trial collapses over claim judge was linked to Bush
McDonagh - Bush ceremony claim
THE trial of five anti-war protesters accused of causing millions of dollars of damage to an American warplane at Shannon Airport collapsed for a second time last night.
The development came after the defence suggested the trial judge had attended George W Bush’s first presidential inauguration.
Judge Donagh McDonagh told the jury he had “no option” but to withdraw.
Counsel for the activists claimed Judge McDonagh had been invited to the inauguration ceremonies in 2000 and 2004.
Michael O’Higgins SC also said the judge had posed for photographs with President Bush.
He claimed there might be a perception among the jurors and the public that the judge was biased.
Judge McDonagh said the allegations were half right and half wrong and that he had no option but to dismiss the jury. It is the second time the case has collapsed. In March Judge Frank O’Donnell discharged a jury on day six of the trial, but on that occasion the reason was not made public.
Gun murder victim is identified
The victim was found lying at the side of the road
A man who died from gunshot wounds in County Armagh has now been identified by police investigating his murder.
His name has not yet been released, however he has been named locally as Martin Conlon, 35, from Armagh city.
He was found unconscious on Farnaloy Road close to the Madden estate outside Keady at about 1830 GMT on Monday. He was taken to hospital but later died.
It is understood he had republican connections. Police are examining two cars, one of them the victim’s.
It was found about a mile and a half from the scene, the other in Armagh city.
It is understood Mr Conlon was released recently from prison in the Republic of Ireland where he had served a four year sentence after been arrested at a Real IRA training camp.
Police are expected to make a statement later on Tuesday on the murder, but it is believed detectives are working on the theory that he was killed by dissident republicans who were one-time associates.
A number of people are understood to have stopped to help the injured man and police would like to speak to them.
They also want anyone who noticed cars moving suspiciously on the road or cars parked on the road to contact them.
The police have said that the road will remain closed until further notice. A post mortem will be held later.
