SAOIRSE32

BBC

The government’s controversial bill to allow paramilitary fugitives to return to Northern Ireland without facing prison has been passed by MPs.

The proposals cover up to 150 people wanted for crimes committed before the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

The bill attracted sustained criticism from unionists, the SDLP, opposition MPs and some Labour backbenchers.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said he understood “the pain and anguish” the legislation would cause.

Among those lobbying the prime minister were the families of four murdered Royal Ulster Constabulary police officers who met Mr Blair at Downing Street before the vote.

One of them, Phyllis Carrothers, said they had left disappointed.

“I’m an RUC widow and I asked Mr Blair, as a family man, to look at a photograph of my three children just prior to my husband’s murder… and he really just had no answer,” she said.

The legislation will deal with people suspected of terrorism who have not been brought to court and those who have fled prison.

Sinn Fein has repeatedly pressed for them to be able to return to Northern Ireland.

Under the legislation, paramilitary fugitives would have their cases heard by a special tribunal, but, if found guilty, would be freed on licence without having to go to jail.

Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said Mr Hain was proposing to give people who had “run away from their crime” the opportunity to avoid it “completely and utterly”.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan denied that the proposals flowed from the Good Friday Agreement, whilst the DUP’s William McCrea appeared close to tears whilst talking about close relatives who had lost their lives through terrorism.

The government should consider amendments, Paul Murphy said

He denounced the bill as an “attempt to appease IRA murderers”.

Some Labour backbenchers, such as Frank Field and Kate Hoey, also criticised the bill.

Mr Field told MPs that a different standard was being set for those who he referred to as “white Protestant and Catholic terrorists” to that for “black Muslim terrorists”.

Justice minister David Hanson told the Commons they would consider amendments on whether suspects should appear in person before the special tribunal.

He said this could happen once the measure reached the committee stage at Westminster.

The bill was passed by 310 votes to 262, a majority of 48.

A Conservative Party attempt to block the bill’s second reading because it “creates an amnesty for terrorist fugitives” was rejected by 313 to 258, a government majority of 55.

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy had earlier said the government should consider very seriously “sensible amendments” to its bill.

Mr Murphy acknowledged a 2003 deal did not require on-the-runs to appear in person before a special tribunal. But he said consideration should be given to deal with victims possibly having to appear, but not the accused.

Secretary of State Peter Hain defended the bill in the Commons debate.

Citing the previous Conservative government’s decision to enter into secret contact with the IRA, Mr Hain said governments had to take difficult decisions to further the peace process.

DUP leader Ian Paisley said there could be no closure for relatives when no action had been taken over the deaths of 202 RUC officers moved into the “cold case” investigations.

“How does he think that this legislation, which is really a wiping of the stone clear, how will that ever close what is in the hearts and the minds and the souls of those people?” he said.

Ulster Unionist MP Lady Sylvia Hermon said the bill was “so morally wrong and so morally bankrupt” she could never vote for it.

Liberal Democrat spokesman Lembit Opik said it was “perverse” that on-the-runs should be allowed home whilst those exiled by paramilitaries remained outside Northern Ireland.

‘No easy option’

Speaking earlier, Mr Hain denied the fugitives were getting an easy option.

“It’s part of bringing closure to NI’s past, just as after the Agreement over 400 paramilitary prisoners were released on licence,” he said.

“If they breached the terms of these licences, as some did, they were hauled back in and this could happen to these people who are now outside the reach of the UK jurisdiction.”

During Prime Minister’s Question Time, Tony Blair said allowing paramilitary fugitives to return will cause a lot of pain and anguish, which is going to have to be dealt with.

The prime minister was responding to a question from DUP MP David Simpson, who asked Mr Blair what the British people would think if the killers of a female police officer in Bradford last Friday were granted an amnesty.

In response, Mr Blair said he understood “the pain and anguish” the legislation would cause.

“I hope he understands that as a result of the Good Friday Agreement those people convicted of terrorist offences before 1998 have been released, it is now necessary to deal with those who have not been convicted but nonetheless have been suspected of such offences,” he said.

Daily Ireland

Zoe Tunney

Gardai have called off their search for missing Co Tyrone teenager Arlene Arkinson.
A team of 12 officers had spent all last week searching an area around Pettigo in south Co Donegal.
They conducted searches in an area of bogland on the mountain road between Pettigo and Bundoran, known locally as the Black Gap, before moving to Lough Derg where garda divers spent two days searching.
A garda spokesperson said the team had turned up no new leads in the case.
“The search has been completed with no results,” the spokesperson said.
“We will continue to liaise with the PSNI in their investigations but, as far as we are concerned, our investigation has ended.”
Arlene Arkinson, from Castlederg, Co Tyrone went missing 11 years ago.
The 15-year-old had accepted a lift home from a disco in Bundoran with Robert Howard.
He was acquitted of her murder earlier this year. Howard is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of a teenager in Britain four years ago.
Last month the PSNI conducted searches in an area of bogland outside Castlederg. Detectives from Britain worked with the PSNI using new technology and a search dog unit to search the six-acre site.
Water samples were taken from the area and have been sent to a forensic laboratory for testing. New technology should determine whether human remains have been buried in the area where the water samples have been drawn.
Arlene’s sister, Kathleen, yesterday told Daily Ireland her only hope is positive results from the water tests.
“They have searched that area several times and nothing has turned up. If they don’t get the results they are looking for from these new tests we have nothing left,” she said.

Daily Ireland

Ciarán Barnes

A Belfast man who survived two loyalist murder bids has accused Special Branch of protecting his would-be killers.
John Flynn has broken his 15-year silence over the attempts on his life after learning that the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) members who tried to kill him are police informants.
The Police Ombudsman will now be asked to investigate the Special Branch connection to the murder bids and whether detectives had prior knowledge that the 45-year-old was being targeted.
The paramilitaries who tried to kill Mr Flynn were involved in a dozen murders in north Belfast between 1990 and 2001.
On each occasion, their Special Branch handler covered up their involvement in return for them providing information on other UVF operations.
The first UVF attempt on John Flynn’s life occurred in 1990 outside Whiteabbey Hospital in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim.
He had just arrived at the hospital in his car to pick up a friend when a hooded man tried to shoot him.
The weapon jammed and Mr Flynn attacked the gunman, throwing him against and smashing a hospital window, before wrestling the .44 Magnum pistol from the gunman’s grasp.
Mr Flynn tried to shoot his attacker in the back as the man fled to a waiting car but the gun jammed a second time.
Looking back on the incident, Mr Flynn said he was convinced it had not been investigated properly. He said he believed that Special Branch had covered up the attempted murder to avoid compromising the identity of its mole within the UVF.
Mr Flynn said: “The police took away the gun and a top that I was wearing, which was covered in blood.
“I was told at the time that there was blood on the top that wasn’t mine. I took this to mean that it belonged to the man who tried to murder me.
“But no one was ever arrested for the attempt on my life. I have no doubt, if the blood on my top had been forensically tested, it would have confirmed the identity of the man who tried to kill me.”
The identity of the Special Branch informer who tried to murder Mr Flynn is known to Daily Ireland.
He is currently involved in a high-profile court case and was responsible for the murders of the Catholic taxi driver Sharon McKenna, the UVF informer Tommy Sheppard and the Reverend David Templeton. In 1997, he ordered the murder of Raymond McCord Jr from his jail cell.
The paramilitary who killed Mr McCord was the driver of the getaway car on the night that the UVF tried to murder Mr Flynn outside Whiteabbey Hospital. That man too is a police agent. Mr Flynn said he believed that this man’s first name was Willie.
He added: “When I was wrestling with the gunman on the ground outside the hospital, he was shouting: ‘Come and help me, Willie.’”
A few months after the hospital incident, the UVF put a booby-trap bomb under Mr Flynn’s car outside his home in Belfast’s Bawnmore estate.
Local teenagers noticed the device and contacted Mr Flynn, who alerted the RUC. The following day, he received a sympathy card in the post from the UVF. It read: “Third time lucky”.
The identity of the UVF man who placed the bomb under Mr Flynn’s car is also known to Daily Ireland.
He is a Special Branch informer who murdered the Catholic grandfather Seán McParland in 1994 at the victim’s daughter’s house in the Fortwilliam area of north Belfast.
The paramilitary killer is the current boss of the UVF in north Belfast’s Mount Vernon estate.
Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan is preparing a report on the role of Special Branch informers in eight UVF murders in north Belfast during the 1990s. The three men who tried to murder Mr Flynn form a crucial part of this investigation.
The ombudsman’s findings will be published next year. She is expected to recommend prosecutions against the Special Branch detective who ran these UVF informants and who gave them a free hand to commit murder.
The man retired from the police in 2001. His identity is also known to Daily Ireland.

Guardian

Matthew Tempest, political correspondent
Wednesday November 23, 2005

Opposition parties tonight rounded on the government’s plan to allow fugitive paramilitaries to return to Northern Ireland without facing jail, calling it “grubby”, “reprehensible” and “a step too far”.

Although the government’s 66-strong Commons majority should see it win the vote on the controversial bill tonight, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats lined up with all the Ulster parties except Sinn Féin in condemnation.

Aware of the anger the legislation has provoked in Northern Ireland, Tony Blair tonight met widows of murdered RUC officers in Downing street. After the meeting the general secretary of the Northern Ireland Police Federation, Terry Spence, said, “We believe the government has let our widows down and our parents down.

“This legislation is reprehensible. It is wrong. It can never be justified, and we are concerned about the double standards that have been applied to Garda/RUC officers as compared to officers who are murdered on the mainland.”

The Northern Ireland (Offences) bill, presented by the government as a final piece in the jigsaw of the peace process, allows paramilitaries who committed offences before the Good Friday agreement was signed in 1998 to return to the province.

There, their cases will go before specially created tribunals rather than criminal courts. If convicted, defendants will have a criminal record but they will be allowed to remain out of jail on licence. They will not have to attend the trials in person.

The Northern Ireland secretary, Peter Hain, who earlier today said he was introducing the bill “with no spring in my step”, looked uncomfortable as MPs described emotional scenes with the victims of IRA bombings.

The Speaker had to call order after the Democratic Unionists’ Rev William McCrea described seeing the remains of his two cousins after they had been blown up by a republican bomb.

The Democratic Unionist leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, whose anti-Good Friday agreement DUP party is the largest unionist party in both Westminster and the suspended Stormont assembly in Belfast, said the bill had on it “the finger marks of the IRA”.

The former Tory party leader Iain Duncan Smith described the bill as “grubby and reprehensible” and as “one step too far”.

And Labour’s Frank Field contrasted the government’s treatment of white Protestant and Catholic terrorists with that of black Muslim ones, saying ministers had sent out “conflicting messages”.

Mr Hain admitted the legislation was “one of the most difficult and sensitive issues” the government had ever had to deal with in relation to the peace process.

The minister said previous attempts to deal with “on-the-runs” at summits in 2001 and 2003 had collapsed because not enough progress had been made on decommissioning weapons.

But the July 2005 declaration that the IRA was ending its campaign of violence had “fundamentally changed the political landscape”, he told MPs.

“So now is the appropriate time to deal with this difficult issue.

“I know that there will be many people who will find this legislation very hard to bear. I understand that.”

After he said the bill could bring “closure” for victims, noisy heckling forced the Speaker to call order.

In Dublin today, the taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, told the Dail a presiential pardon may be the way forward for paramilitaries on the run in the south.

This morning Mr Hain attacked the Tories for not supporting the controversial bill in the same way that Labour supported John Major’s government on in the 1990s.

Interviewed on the Today programme, Mr Hain acknowledged that the legislation raised very difficult issues, but said it was a necessary part of the peace process.

Mr Hain told the programme: “It is not an amnesty. It is a proper judicial process which people will go through, and then emerge, if convicted, on licence.”

Mr Hain criticised the Tories for saying that they will oppose the legislation. “I am surprised that the Conservative opposition is not giving us the same bipartisan support that we gave them when we were in opposition, including John Major’s government when he was talking to the IRA in the early process that led to the Good Friday agreement and has led Northern Ireland into a period of more stability and peace and prosperity than ever in its history.”

A row has already erupted between Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, who wants the bill not to apply to RUC officers and soldiers involved in killings, and the DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson.

Mr Adams, the MP for West Belfast, said: “Sinn Féin’s position is absolutely clear: we are opposed to the inclusion of British state forces in the current legislation.

“In our view, it represents the latest attempt by the British state to conceal the truth about its involvement in the killing of citizens.” But Mr Donaldson, the MP for Lagan Valley, said Mr Adams’s position “shows how insensitive Sinn Féin are to victims of IRA violence and how out of touch they are with the reality of this particular issue.” It is thought around 150 people wanted for crimes committed before the April 1998 Good Friday agreement will be covered by the plan.

Sinn Féin

Published: 23 November, 2005

Speaking in Westminster today, the Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams, expressed outright opposition to any amnesty for British state forces involved in collusion and other state killings.

Gerry Adams said, “After the release of prisoners under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, Sinn Fein raised the issue of the small number of people, known as On-the-Runs, who are displaced from their families and who, if arrested and convicted, would have been eligible for release under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. All of those we are aware of are Irish republicans and number less than two dozen and are firm supporters of the peace process.

” Sinn Fein did not support, propose, discuss or accept that members of the British state forces should be part of the process. For this reason we did not argue for an amnesty.

” On the contrary, we opposed this approach and we sought to ensure the scheme would not hinder the search for the truth or provide immunity for members of British state forces who carried out or were responsible for state killings and collusion. The scheme that we negotiated was published by the two governments at Weston Park in 2003 and related only to OTRs. It did not include members of British state forces.

“Indeed, one of the key factors in Sinn Féin rejecting the position produced by the two governments at Weston Park was the British government’s refusal to agree to an independent judicial inquiry as called for by the family of Pat Finucane. ”

“Sinn Fein’s position is absolutely clear, we are opposed to the inclusion of British state forces in the current legislation. In our view it represents the latest attempt by the British state to conceal the truth about its involvement in the killing of citizens.

“Sinn Fein will continue to confront the British government on the denial of truth about collusion.

“Our party activists, including elected representatives, were a primary target in this policy of state murder. Only last week, I was again told that my details, compiled by British intelligence agencies, had been passed to loyalist death squads. This is an urgent and immediate issue for Sinn Fein and we will continue to support the victims of collusion and state violence. The British persist in denying their policy of collusion. They must acknowledge the truth and those who directed this policy, including senior British political figures, must be held to account.” ENDS

BreakingNews.ie

23/11/2005 - 11:49:34

A third TD has been thrown out of the Dáil for trying to raise a health issue with the Taoiseach this morning.

The Ceann Comhairle ordered Independent Clare TD James Breen to leave the House when he interrupted Bertie Ahern with a question about the MRSA bug.

Yesterday, two Cork TDs - Fine Gael’s Bernard Allen and Labour’s Kathleen Lynch - were suspended after repeatedly interrupting proceedings during a furious row about cancer services in the south.

Green Party deputy Dan Boyle also walked out in protest at how the pair were treated.

BreakingNews.ie

23/11/2005 - 12:23:09

A Dublin Sinn Féin member who was jailed for four years for IRA membership last year was freed on bail by the Court of Criminal Appeal today pending the outcome of a landmark legal challenge to anti-terrorist legislation.

The court freed Kenneth Donohoe on his own bail of €1,000, an independent surety of €18,000, ordered him to sign on daily at Crumlin Garda Station and not to associate with anyone convicted of a scheduled offence.

Ms Justice Fidelma Macken said that the court was satisfied that in the interests of justice bail ought to be granted. She said that an earlier bail application was refused in circumstances where Mr Donohoe was told there would be an early trial of his appeal.

The judge said that an early trial of the appeal was not possible because of a Supreme Court appeal concerning the right to a fair trial.

Ms Justice Macken said that exactly the same issues arise in Mr Donohoe’s appeal and the court was satisfied that there are special circumstances in the case.

The challenge before the Supreme Court is against the current practice whereby the Special Criminal Court accepts the opinion evidence of a Garda Chief Superintendent in membership trials that a person is a member of an illegal organisation.

The Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday adjourned appeals by two Dublin Sinn Féin members against their convictions for IRA membership after hearing that the Supreme Court has allowed an appeal on a point of law in another case to the operation of the Special Criminal Court.

Niall Binead (aged 36), of Faughart Road, Crumlin and Kenneth Donohoe (aged 27), of Sundale Avenue, Mountain View, Tallaght were each jailed for four years by the Special Criminal Court last year after they were convicted of membership of an illegal organisation on October 10, 2002.

During their trial the court heard that gardaí found a list of TD’s , including three former Justice Ministers, at Binead’s home. Binead is a former secretary of a south Dublin Sinn Féin cumann and was a close associate of Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South Central Aengus O’ Snodaigh.

Adjourning the appeals yesterday Ms Justice Macken said that it had been made known to the court that the Supreme Court has granted an appeal on a point of law against an earlier decision by the Court of Criminal Appeal affirming the conviction of Martin Kelly.

Kelly (aged 47), a former Irish Army Corporal , from Westpark, Artane, Dublin was jailed for four years for membership of an illegal organisation, said in court to be the Continuity IRA, on July 29, 2002.

The Supreme Court has allowed an appeal on whether Kelly’s right to a fair trial under Article 38 of the Constitution was infringed when he was precluded from inquiring into the basis of the Chief
Superintendent’s belief evidence against him during his trial.

BBC

Keano - click to view

Celtic have established contact with Roy Keane about a possible move to Glasgow, BBC Scotland understands.

The club are keen to open talks with the former Manchester United skipper, who left Old Trafford on 18 November.

Keane, a Celtic fan, could move to the Scottish Premier League for no fee as he is a free agent, although his wage demands could be a stumbling block.

The 34-year-old is also believed to be weighing up options at several other clubs in England and on the continent.

THE RACE FOR ROY - Confirmed interest: Bolton, Celtic, Man City, Portsmouth, West Brom, West Ham, Wigan
Not interested: Juventus, Birmingham, Tottenham, Roma

West Ham and Bolton were the latest Premiership club to confirm their interest, joining West Brom, Portsmouth, Manchester City and Wigan.

However, Celtic are thought to be Keane’s first choice.

The former Republic of Ireland captain once stated he would like to end his career at Celtic Park, but chairman Brian Quinn has already expressed his concern about his wages.

Keane is believed to have earned £90,000 a week at Old Trafford and Quinn told BBC Five Live that such a sum is “out of the question” for Celtic.

Officially, the club are playing down their talks with Keane.

“Celtic have not, at this point, entered into contract negotiations with Roy Keane or his representatives,” a spokesman said on Wednesday.

However, it is understood that while contract negotiations as such have not started, initial contact has been made.

BBC

Mr Molloy is a councillor on Dungannon District Council

Sinn Fein members should be allowed to express their own opinion, a suspended party member has said.

Francie Molloy was suspended from the party pending a disciplinary hearing after going against party policy on the Review of Public Administration.

Speaking on BBC radio on Tuesday, he spoke against SF policy by opposing the move to reduce the number of district councils to seven.

“There has to be room in all parties for a dissenting voice,” he said.

“I think we need discussion. As Gerry Adams said a short time ago at a dinner in Dublin, he doesn’t need sheep and he expects people to have different views.”

The party’s general secretary, Mitchel McLaughlin, said he was the person who told Mr Molloy he was being suspended.

On Wednesday, Mr McLaughlin said that as party secretary it was his job to inform members when disciplinary procedures were being taken against them.

“I did actually have to deliver the message, I have responsibilities as general secretary to apply the party procedures,” he said.

Sinn Fein favours seven councils, but Mr Molloy, a veteran republican, said 15 would be better.

He earlier said his position was rooted in the civil rights campaign and that reducing the number of councils to seven would be “a sectarian headcount”.

District councils will be cut from 26 to seven - Belfast and six others.

Mr Molloy is a councillor on Dungannon District Council which is set to be scrapped.

He is also a Sinn Fein assembly member for Mid Ulster.

BBC

A number of searches connected to investigations into cross-border crime have been taking place in Warrenpoint, County Down, police have said.

Police in the Irish Republic are also undertaking a number of operations, a Garda spokesperson said.

However, they would not specify where the searches are taking place, how many officers are involved or the nature of the crime being investigated.

No arrests are believed to have been made during the searches.

The Assets Recovery Agency is not involved in the operation.

Irish Independent

Frank Khan

THE possible use of Shannon by the United States for so-called ‘Torture Flights’ is being investigated by the Council of Europe.

It follows claims by Human Rights Watch that the airport was a refuelling stop for planes transferring suspects to Guantanamo-style camps in eastern Europe.

And the Spanish government has already launched a judicial inquiry into allegations that the CIA may have used its airports too for the same purposes.

Now the head of a European probe into alleged secret CIA prisons in eastern Europe is investigating 31 suspected flights that landed in Europe in recent years.

And it is trying to acquire satellite images from Romania and Poland.

Dick Marty, a Swiss senator leading the investigation for the Council of Europe, was presenting a first report on his work at a closed meeting of the human rights watchdog’s legal affairs committee in Paris.

Other airports that might have been used by CIA aircraft in some capacity are Palma de Mallorca, Larnaca in Cyprus and Shannon, Marty’s report said.

Marty said he had asked the Brussels-based Eurocontrol air safety organisation to provide details of the 31 suspected flights, a list of which was given to him by the New York-based Human Rights Watch. Last night the Government here said it had “no comment” to make on the latest report on the flights.