SAOIRSE32

BBC

Mr Conlon was found near Keady in south Armagh

Two people have been arrested by police investigating the murder of Martin Conlon in Armagh last week.

A 30-year-old woman and a teenage boy were detained in the Armagh area.

Mr Conlon, 35, from Railway Street in the city, was found with gunshot wounds at Farnaloy Road close to the Madden estate outside Keady on 7 November.

Police said a homophobic motive was one line of inquiry. They are also looking at whether he was killed by dissident republicans, with whom he was linked.

Mr Conlon was released recently from prison in the Republic of Ireland where he had served a four year sentence after being arrested at a Real IRA training camp.

Detectives returned to the scene of the shooting on Monday to stage a partial reconstruction in a bid to piece together the circumstances surrounding the murder and identify new witnesses.

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Row over Enniskillen bomb picture

The bomb, which exploded on 8 November 1987, killed 11

A complaint about a photograph showing the 11 people killed in the 1987 Enniskillen Poppy Day bombing is being investigated by the Ambulance Service.

It is believed a member of staff at the Enniskillen depot where it was on display described it as “offensive”.

The Ambulance Service refused to confirm or deny if the photograph had been removed from display at the depot.

DUP MLA Arlene Foster said it was there as a tribute to Kitchener Johnston, a member of staff killed in the bombing.

She said it had been hanging on the wall for many years.

Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott urged the Ambulance Service not to remove the photograph.

“I am aghast that a simple tribute by workmates can be targeted in such a sectarian way, and I urge those concerned not to bow to this absurd pressure in order to appear politically correct,” he said.

A spokesman from the service said they were investigating an incident and hoped it could be resolved.

Eleven people were killed in the IRA explosion in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, on 8 November 1987. The blast injured 63 people, many of whom have never fully recovered.

It happened on Remembrance Sunday - the day when those who lost their lives during the First and Second World Wars are remembered.

BreakingNews.ie

16/11/2005 - 12:33:52

A national anti-corruption network is to be set up to give a voice to people who cannot get justice, it emerged today.

The network is being led by Frank McBrearty Jnr, who was framed by gardaí in connection with the death of a Donegal cattle dealer. “We need a mechanism in this country to expose the full extent of corruption,” he said.

The network has grown to around 50 members since a meeting held in the McBreartys’ nightclub in Raphoe following the publication of the Morris Tribunal’s damming second report in July.

Mr McBrearty said he had been inundated with queries and complaints from people regarding not just the gardaí but many other state agencies and professions.

“If we have an independent mechanism in Ireland, then people will get justice,” he said.

Mr McBrearty said he had only been able to pursue his case because his family had been able to afford the legal expertise which he said was needed to get justice.

“We would like to see it (the anti-corruption network) grow, raise money and possibly take cases for people who don’t have money,” he said.

The network is due to hold a public meeting in the Mansion House in Dublin at 1pm on Saturday and is calling on people to bring detailed statements of their complaints.

BreakingNews.ie

16/11/2005 - 14:21:25

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is to be given right of entry to prisons and powers to compel witnesses to give evidence to it, under proposals published by the British government today.

Publishing a consultation paper on the extended powers, Britain’s political development minister David Hanson said: “The government believes strongly in the importance of human rights and is committed to ensuring that the Commission has the right powers to enable it to carry out its duties effectively.”

He said ministers had assessed recommendations put forward to them by the Commission and were satisfied that it already broadly possessed the right powers to carry out its duties.

However, he said: “In two important areas, the right of access to places of detention and the power to compel evidence and witnesses, we agree that it is right to amend the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to make sure that the Commission can fulfil its existing functions properly.”

The consultation will run until early February and Mr Hanson said he particularly wanted views on how the two new powers should be implemented and how the government could ensure the right safeguards were in place.

Getting the new powers has been a lengthy business for the Commission – it first sought them in 2001 in recommendations to the government after its first two years in operation.

The government outlined an initial response in a consultation paper in 2002 and the Commission submitted a request for additional powers in 2004.

Chief Commissioner Professor Monica McWilliams welcomed Mr Hanson’s announcement, while admitting they did not get all they wanted.

“We are delighted that the Secretary of State has issued this consultation paper which, though it does not offer the Commission everything that it sought, includes several recommendations, which if accepted, will empower us to more effectively carry out our investigations,” she said.

She added that, after first asking for the power to compel evidence back in February 2001, “it is gratifying that, at long last, we may soon be able to more effectively investigate allegations of human rights abuse”.

Prof McWilliams said that at the moment, contrary to the United Nation’s Paris Principles on human rights investigations, NIHRC had no power to compel anyone to provide evidence during the course of an investigation, nor did it have access rights to places of detention.

“Hopefully these new powers will enable us to act fully independently in the conduct of inquiries and investigations,” she added.

BBC

Rhonda Paisley (left) was turned down for DUP job

DUP leader Ian Paisley and his fellow party officers are facing legal action by his daughter Rhonda for alleged sexual discrimination.

She has alleged she did not get a job as a DUP policy officer last year because of her gender.

Instead, the post went to one of the party’s councillors in Craigavon, Philip Weir.

A party spokesman said they were content the best person got the job at the end of the interviewing process.

He added that the matter was now in the hands of their legal team.

It is understood there were several applicants for the post.

A spokesman for the Office of Industrial Tribunals has confirmed they have received notification of a case.

However, it is understood it may not be heard for several months.

Rhonda Paisley is a former DUP councillor and ex-Lady Mayoress of Belfast.

However, in recent years she has shunned the political limelight to concentrate on her career as an artist.

She previously took a fair employment case against the Arts Council for Northern Ireland, alleging religious discrimination, which she won.

BBC

A third man charged over an attack on a friend of east Belfast murder victim Robert McCartney has been granted bail.

Samuel Edward Caskey, 43, from Seaforde Court in the Short Strand area, denied causing grevious bodily harm to Jeff Commander on 12 September.

He also denied possessing an offensive weapon. The High Court heard that Mr Commander was attacked by seven men using sewer rods and iron bars.

Mr Caskey’s two co-accused have already been released on bail.

The accused was released on his own bail of £1,000 and two sureties of £900.

Mr Justice Hart imposed a curfew between 2130 GMT and 0800 GMT and ordered Mr Caskey not to cross the River Lagan into the County Down side.

Robert McCartney, who was 33 and from the Short Strand, was stabbed to death in the street outside a bar in Belfast city centre in January.

Irish American Information Service

11/16/05 09:06 EST

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has been warned by police that he is under threat from loyalist paramilitaries, a party spokesman said today.

A Sinn Féin spokesman said: “Gerry Adams’ house has been visited this afternoon. He wasn’t there, but (people there) were informed his details were found on a list and a warning about his safety was given.”

Dozens of other republicans - included the former Belfast deputy mayor, Joe O’Donnell of Sinn Féin - have also been warned their lives are in danger after British army files containing their details fell into the hands of loyalist paramilitaries.

More than 50 republicans in east Belfast were warned by police that they were under threat from loyalist paramilitaries.

The move followed the recovery of a document believed to have been stolen during a break-in at British army offices in the city’s Castlereagh, the complex from where senior elements of police Special Branch and British military intelligence operates, last summer.

At the time of the break-in, it was suggested that republicans were responsible. Sinn Fein denied this at the time.

At the time the file went missing, the then-security minister Ian Pearson said he had been told by senior officers there was no indication it had been given to paramilitaries.

Today however, Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness accused Mr Pearson and “his senior PSNI sources” of trying to “cover up the clear and irrefutable evidence of collusion between the RIR and loyalist paramilitaries”.

“The British government, the British army and the PSNI have consciously allowed over 400 people and their families to live under threat without informing them of this risk for over 16 months in order to sustain the cover-up,” he added.

It was reported last July that 28 RIR soldiers were removed from duties at Castlereagh following the breach.

There was speculation then that the document, reportedly containing details about 400 republicans and loyalists, was under the control of the UDA.

Sinn Féin confirmed officers visited the homes of people in the Short Strand area whose names and dates of birth were on the document.

Sinn Féin’s South Belfast MLA Alex Maskey said the scale of the warnings was unprecedented in recent years.

“This development is clearly of concern to the people involved directly, their families and the wider community in the Short Strand,” Mr Maskey said.

“It has been well over a decade since such a large number of republicans were visited in an operation like this in the city. The people visited were told that their date of birth were part of the documentation indicating that the source of the information is some official or statutory body.”

“There is now an onus on local unionist political leaders and unionist community leaders to speak out against these threats and let the small nationalist and republican community in East Belfast know where they stand on this issue.”

A PSNI spokesman said: “As part of an ongoing proactive investigation police have recovered what they believe to be a document linked to the breach of internal security in army offices at the Castlereagh complex in July 2004. As a result police are warning a number of people about their personal security.”

Belfast Telegraph

By Kathryn Torney
16 November 2005

Children in Northern Ireland have been educationally disadvantaged due to school budget mismanagement, it was claimed today.

A House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report last week stated it was “disturbed” figures for schools with deficits or unspent budgets were substantial and growing.

The Belfast Telegraph revealed in August that more than half of Ulster schools have been forced to set up financial recovery plans in a bid to get their spending under control.

Figures from the Department of Education show that 632 schools ran up significant surpluses or deficits - over 5% of their delegated budget - during the 2003-04 financial year. Over 20 schools went more than 30% over budget.

The UUP’s Billy Bell, who was chairman of the PAC in the last Assembly, said he was not surprised by today’s criticism.

He said: “I am still deeply concerned large numbers of children have been disadvantaged, in particular by schools which underspent their budgets.

“There will have to be an investigation to see if the pupils were given the books they needed to pass their exams.

“Parliament voted that money so that it would be spent in-year on school pupils and not so that school management could hoard it, especially if there was no specific pre-agreed project for which the money was being built up.”

BreakingNews.ie

16/11/2005 - 11:01:28

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has rejected Fine Gael calls for the removal of the compulsory obligation to study Irish as a Leaving Cert subject.

Party leader Enda Kenny told Fine Gael’s annual conference last weekend that he believed students should only have to take the subject up to Junior Cert level.

However, answering questions on the matter in the Dáil today, Mr Ahern said he believed such a move would put the Irish language under further threat.

BreakingNews.ie

16/11/2005 - 08:45:57

Ian Paisley’s daughter has launched legal action accusing him of sexual discrimination, it emerged today.

The Democratic Unionist leader and other senior members of the party are named in the case being brought by Rhonda Paisley over a failed job application.

Ms Paisley claims she did not get a position within the DUP’s policy unit last year because of her gender.

A party spokesman today said: “We are content with the person who did get the job.

“It’s all in the hands of our lawyers and we are not going to be distracted by this from the bigger issues.”

It is understood a man with no connections to the party was appointed as a policy officer following the recruitment process.

But Ms Paisley, who has previously worked for her father at the European Parliament when he was an MEP, has lodged a case at the industrial tribunal offices in Belfast.

A former member of the city’s council, she lives at home with her father and mother, Eileen.

The case has been taken against Alan Ewart, the party’s chief executive, but also names Mr Paisley, the North Antrim MP.

DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson and fellow MPs Nigel Dodds, Gregory Campbell, Jeffrey Donaldson, Sammy Wilson, Iris Robinson and William McCrea have also been named along with MEP Jim Allister and Ms Paisley’s brother, Ian Paisley Junior, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Belfast Telegraph

16 November 2005

Ten killers convicted for their roles in at least 29 murders were sent back to prison after being freed under early release schemes linked to the Good Friday Agreement, it can be revealed today.

A Belfast Telegraph probe has uncovered the names of all ten murderers who were returned to jail because they were convicted of new offences or because their behaviour again brought them to the attention of police.

Seven loyalists and one republican are back serving their life sentences, while two - Shankill bomber Sean Kelly and loyalist double killer Darren Larmour - have been released again.

Kelly was controversially freed in July by Secretary of State Peter Hain just before the IRA statement pledging to end all activity.

Larmour was freed on compassionate grounds because he has an incurable brain disease.

East Derry Assembly member John Dallat today condemned the killers who strayed again, saying: “They should never be let loose again.

“It’s clear that a lot of loyalists got out of jail who were just thugs and made no use of the new opportunity.

“The greater number didn’t reoffend but those loyalists that did have let down political leaders who were trying to be positive. Now they’re behind bars, they should stay there.”

The most high profile killer back behind bars is Greysteel gunman Stephen Irwin, who was last month jailed again for slashing a football fan’s leg.

Another sent back for a new offence was Christopher McMillan, who murdered Norman Harley at Belfast Waterworks in November 1995. He was reincarcerated after assaulting an ex-girlfriend in England.

Others returned to prison for new crimes include George Armstrong who was jailed in 1990 for his part in the murder of James Hamilton at his home in Belfast.

After being freed he was jailed in England for false imprisonment of a man he accused of being an undercover SAS officer.

Armstrong and McMillan’s licences have been revoked.

Only two others have had their licences revoked - loyalist Victor Graham who was jailed for two murders, and republican John Brady, who was given a life sentence for the 1989 murder of Reserve Constable David Black in Strabane.

Three others are back behind bars because their licences were suspended - licences are not classified as revoked unless there has been a review.

One is John Marsden, who was jailed for the UVF murder of two Catholics in Belfast in 1994.

Two others are not being named for legal reasons as they face current court proceedings.

The Prison Service confirmed today that eight of the lifers who were reincarcerated are still in custody.

In addition, two killers released on temporary licence in 2000 have also been returned to jail.

They are Stephen McClean (31), and Noel McCready (34), who are serving life sentences for the 1998 murders in the Railway Bar in Poyntzpass.

Sinn Fein Assembly member Mitchel McLaughlin today said: “The fact that over 80% were loyalists would signify the commitment of republicans to the Good Friday Agreement.”

But PUP leader David Ervine said the number was a tiny percentage of those who have been released early since the late 1980s.

He added: “You have to be relieved to some degree that there isn’t a desire to commit political violence and that’s a major move from the past.”

Belfast Telegraph

By Claire Regan
16 November 2005

Shopkeepers across Northern Ireland have been warned to be on the alert for a potential dissident republican firebomb blitz in the busy run-up to Christmas.

Police have warned retailers to check their premises thoroughly amid fears of a similar campaign to that which wreaked millions of pounds worth of damage at some of the province’s busiest retail and commercial centres during the last Christmas period.

The 2004 bumper retail period was blighted with the planting of fire devices in Belfast, Lisburn, Newry, Antrim, Londonderry, Newtownabbey and Ballymena. A number of the incendiaries, largely blamed on the Real IRA, ignited causing devastating damage to several stores.

And over the Easter weekend there were five firebomb attacks at shopping centres in the province leading to retail chaos in another example of dissidents deliberately targeting shopping centres during periods when they know there will be heavy trade.

News of the new province-wide alert emerged in Ballymoney.

PSNI Chief Inspector Allan Barton asked shopkeepers in the area to ensure their premises were checked thoroughly and if they see people acting suspiciously to be vigilant.

“This is not specific to Ballymoney but a general province-wide alert,” he said.

“There is information that we should be aware of this threat.

“We are hopefully moving towards relative peace but there are still groups out there who want to plant incendiary devices.”

Mr Barton’s warning comes amid already heightened fears of an increased threat from the Continuity IRA, which is reported to have warned it is planning “mayhem” with a series of bomb alerts before Christmas.

Just over a week ago, the dissident group admitted responsibility for a bomb alert which forced 10,000 people to evacuate the Down Royal horse meeting.

Racing had to be abandoned when police discovered a suspicious object hidden in a marquee that had earlier been packed with people enjoying the festivities.

And just days before that around 2,000 delegates had to be evacuated from one of the biggest conferences held in Northern Ireland.

The British Council of Shopping Centres event was forced to relocate from the Waterfront Hall when the terror group claimed a bomb had been left inside. It was later declared a hoax.

A Continuity IRA figure is reported to have said that his group will be targeting “major commercial events and premises”.

BBC

SDLP leader Mark Durkan is set to outline his party’s concerns

Legislation dealing with “on-the-runs” is “just a cover-up process negotiated between the British government and Sinn Fein”, the SDLP has claimed.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan is to outline the party’s concerns about proposed legislation allowing fugitives from Northern Ireland to return home.

He will meet NIO minister David Hanson to hand over a “detailed critique” of the bill, published last week.

The plans cover up to 150 people wanted for crimes committed before 1998.

They would have their cases heard by a special tribunal, and if found guilty would be freed on licence without having to go to jail.

Unionists and terrorist victims expressed their outrage at the law, calling it an effective amnesty.

The government and Sinn Fein argue that it clears up “an anomaly” left by the release of those already in jail after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Durkan said many countries had attempted a truth process, and although none has been perfect, “all have been better than this”.

“Because there is no time limit on the legislation, those responsible for the 2,100 unsolved killings can sit back and wait to see if the police ever come knocking on their door,” he said.

“If they do, then they can apply to be an on-the-run from the comfort of their own homes.

“Sinn Fein even negotiated with the British government that the killers don’t have to turn up in court and listen to how they shattered victims’ lives.”

Amendments

The leader of the Alliance Party, David Ford, is meeting Conservative and Liberal Democrat spokesmen on Northern Ireland, about the on-the-runs issue.

Alliance want amendments to the legislation that would mean fugitives had to appear in court for their hearing and for clarification on the status of those exiled by paramilitary groups.

The proposed law would set up a two-stage process. First someone who will be known as the certification officer will decide if someone is eligible for the scheme.

This could be a paramilitary on-the-run, someone living in Northern Ireland who is charged with an offence before 1998 or a member of the security forces accused of an offence committed when they were combating terrorism.

The case would then go to a special tribunal, consisting of a retired judge sitting without a jury. The tribunal would have all the normal powers of the Crown Court but accused would not have to appear for their trial.

If found guilty they would get a criminal record but would be freed on licence. They would have to provide fingerprints and DNA samples to be granted their licence.

The scheme will be temporary but a precise cut-off period is not specified in the bill - instead its expiry is linked to the lifetime of the chief constable’s historic cases review team, which is looking at unsolved murders during the Troubles.

The measures are contained in the Northern Ireland Offences Bill which is expected to get a rough ride as it makes its way through parliament.

BBC

How the Maze site could look under the new proposals

Proposals to build a £55m national stadium at the former Maze Prison site in County Antrim do not have public support, it has been claimed.

Supporters of rival plans for Maysfield and Ormeau Park in Belfast said the site would lack facilities.

In March, the government said the Maze site near Lisburn was the only viable location for the new stadium.

The DUP’s Edwin Poots, who sat on the consultation panel on the future of the Maze, said it was the best option.

“At the Maze there is a proposal for a leisure village that will include cafes, restaurants, pubs and hotels,” he said.

“We would be hoping to create in the Maze jobs for about 5,000 people - so that there will be a regular activity at that site.

“There will probably be a village of between 1,000 to 1,500 homes - this is not a stadium in isolation to everything else.”

However, two Belfast-based groups are set to outline their alternative plans to site the stadium in the city on Wednesday.

Belfast Chamber of Trade said the stadium should be at the former Maysfield leisure centre.

Dave Pennick from the Chamber of Trade said people were “so short of information” about the Maze plans.

“We are still working on the principle of 30,000 seats (for Maysfield),” he told BBC News on Wednesday.

“In terms of infrastructure, Belfast has it. We have roads, we have rail, we have boat, we have air.

“We have been side-lined in Belfast for some fairly grand plan.”

‘Working with financiers’

Paul Durnien, who has a quantity surveying company, has put together a team focused on the Ormeau park.

“The site has had a long association with recreation and sport,” he said.

“The government are arguing against themselves. It is part of a statutory document that is the Laganside masterplan to have a stadium on the site.”

Part of their proposal would be to build two pedestrian bridges linking the Gasworks site and the Lower Ormeau area to the proposed stadium.

“We have been working with financiers both in America and across the UK,” he said.

On Tuesday, Sports Minister David Hanson said work on the possibility of a multi-sports stadium was at an advanced stage.

“We need an indication from soccer, rugby and GAA that they will commit to the new stadium at the Maze/Long Kesh site,” he said.

“Without this commitment the stadium cannot go ahead and I want to emphasise that there is no plan B.”