SAOIRSE32

BBC

Relatives of the Omagh bomb victims are seeking a judicial inquiry

No-one involved in the 1998 Omagh bomb will benefit from an amnesty, the families of the victims have said.

The relatives were speaking after asking Prime Minister Tony Blair for a cross-border judicial inquiry into the bombing, which claimed 29 lives.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden died in the Real IRA attack, said Mr Blair told them any inquiry would have to follow criminal and civil cases.

“Omagh is such that people can’t keep the lid on it forever,” he said.

“We will eventually know the truth - but I would like to know it in my lifetime.”

Victor Barker, whose son James died in the attack, said they had been assured no-one, including any IRA or Sinn Fein member, involved in the periphery of the bombing would benefit from any amnesty.

‘Weary’

“That would include members of Sinn Fein who may or may not have had knowledge of the Omagh bomb or were involved on the periphery of the bomb - even though they are members of Sinn Fein they would not receive amnesty,” Mr Barker said.

However, Mr Gallagher said that while he did not feel Mr Blair understood all the complexities of the bombing they felt they had received a fair hearing.

“There are certain undertakings that the prime minister gave this afternoon and we will hold him to and I have no doubt that he will carry them through,” he said.

He said that they were “weary” after seven years of campaigning, but that they would continue.

“I feel that some of the people close to the prime minister have been a bit naive in how they have handled the Omagh bomb and they have underestimated the Omagh families’ determination to get to the truth,” he said.

Daily Ireland

By MÁIRTÍN Ó MUILLEOIR

Photo by Donal Buckley - The Wild Geese Today

The garda directing the traffic closed off the road through Kilmichael an hour before the 85th commemoration of Tom Barry’s famous victory over the feared Auxiliaries on Sunday last.
Indeed, so popular is the feting of our republican heroes becoming, that they’ll probably have to close Crossbarry down for a fortnight next spring when the Rebel County raises its hat again to the fabled Flying Column.
On Sunday last, Enda Kenny was toasting Arthur Griffith and the founders of Sinn Féin while down the road from Kilmichael in Kiskeam, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was addressing a commemoration for former agriculture minister and War of Independence leader Seán Moylam.
Keeping the faith over many years was a tough task for the faithful of Kilmichael when they were being lashed in the Sindo for celebrating a “serial killer” — as controversial historian Peter Hart, who has just penned a biography of Michael Collins, branded Barry.
Michael O’Connor, Seán Ó Ceilleachair and many others who kept the flag flying high over Kilmichael were smeared — as were the Rebel County’s republicans of all stripes — by the patently false British claims (recycled by the Indo et al) that Barry’s boys had mutiliated the Auxiliaries with axes.
As has been proven by Meda Ryan (author of Tom Barry Irish Freedom Fighter), Brian Murphy, Niall Meehan and other historians who have, in Barry’s words, “gone down into the mire” with the revisionists to expose their cant, the cream of Britain’s forces tricked the inexperienced volunteers by crying out “we surrender” — only to open up again with a withering fire which took the lives of three of the column.
Once bitten, twice shy, Barry, a former British soldier himself, gave the order to keep firing until all 18 of the enemy officers lay dead.
The biting cold at Dús a’ Bharraigh last Sunday as over a thousand people gathered to hear TD-in-waiting Mary Lou McDonald, only served to deepen the sense of awe at the courage of a handful of mountainy men who endured a bitter day and night of sleet and rain to wait in ambush for the Empire’s finest fighting men.
They had marched through the night, after having their confessions heard, and took up positions for the close-quarters battle in the knowledge that there could be no retreat.
As an outsider, invited in to address the after-speeches hooley at Creedon’s Hotel in Inchigeelagh on the success of Daily Ireland, it was a privilege to be part of what is still a community commemoration-cum-celebration; more akin to an parish wedding reception or a Basque ‘gastronomical society’ feast than a service of remembrance, if truth be told.
They’ll be hanging out their brightest colours in the Rebel County for some time to come for the Boys of Kilmichael “who conquered the red, white and blue”.
I suspect that the ending of the IRA campaign and the Taoiseach’s decision to greenlight a state commemoration of the Rising will ensure we have similar community celebrations of daring feats of IRA bravery and derring-do the length and breadth of the country.
Anyone for a Francis Hughes féile?

Derry Journal

Tuesday 29th November 2005

The SDLP are to put a motion before Derry City Council today expressing concern at the recent government ‘On The Runs’ legislation. Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Colr. Colum Eastwood said the legislation only served to protect those involved in collusion from facing justice and denies the chance for justice and truth to all victims and the public. “We saw collusion in the past. Now we have collusion on the past –between the British Government and Sinn Fein in this legislation. Each covering up for the others wrongs, covering each others back,” he said.
“This new ‘On the Runs’ legislation does not just apply to a few people. This applies to every single one of the 2,100 unsolved murders including well over 300 state killings. “Not only does this legislation deny families justice, it robs them of the truth. The 2,100 killers can sit back and wait to see if the police ever come knocking on their doors.” Colr. Eastwood also hit out at Sinn Fein, claiming that the party negotiate only for themselves, not for Irish people. “Sinn Fein even negotiated with the British Government that they don’t have to go down to court and listen to how they shattered victims’ lives. They can apply from the comfort of their own homes to be an OTR. Imagine how the members of the British Army’s murderous Force Research Unit will thank Sinn Fein for that” he said.
Colr. Eastwood added that if the British government proceed with the OTR Bill, the SDLP will be forced to table amendments at Westminster. “We will try and undo the damage done and prevent the wrongs that this corrupt law would bring. And if we cannot have justice, we must at least pursue truth” he said.
Commenting of the SDLP’s stance on OTRs, Sinn FÈin Council group leader Maeve McLaughlin said: “The SDLP’s hypocrisy on the issue of victims has been truly exposed. “They are attempting to make maximum political capital by now championing the very families they ignored or rejected in the past. On two occasions, the SDLP was invited to meet the families of victims of collusion at both Westminster and Stormont and on both occasions not one SDLP Assembly Member or MP met with them. “Even when it came to supporting a motion to Derry City Council, penned by the family of the late Eddie Fullerton, a colleague of ours and a much-respected fellow councillor, the SDLP played politics and refused to back the family’s wishes. “When the motion came again before council just a matter of weeks ago, they took the opportunity to force through an amendment which failed to recognise the injustices that goes to the core of his murder - that it was carried out with the assistance of the British state and subsequently covered up, possibly in both jurisdictions.”

Derry Journal

A new book telling the story of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry from the point of view of victims’ families has just been published. Written by local journalist and political activist, Eamonn McCann, “The Bloody Sunday Inquiry: The Families Speak Out” is published by Pluto Press and is available from booksellers priced £10.99.

Of all the grave crises in Northern Ireland’s history, the events of Bloody Sunday are, perhaps, the most notorious and this unresolved issue continues to be one of the most significant events in the recent history of the Troubles. The resulting Bloody Sunday Inquiry has been epic in both scale and implication. It is the longest and most expensive independent inquiry ever undertaken by the British government and has received evidence from more than 2,500 people. In this new book, twenty-one wounded survivors and relatives of the dead describe the campaign which led to the establishment of the inquiry under Lord Saville.

They reveal their bitterness at the “whitewash” of the first inquiry under Lord Chief Justice Widgery and describe the frustrations and elations of their long struggle to force the British government to launch a new search for the truth.

The relatives comment sharply on the performance of the new Inquiry, and on the attitudes of British and Irish politicians, the media and an array of legal representatives. They reflect on whether soldiers and leading politicians should now be prosecuted for murder and discuss whether the outcome of the Inquiry is likely to hinder or enhance the peace process.

One of the key issues raised in the new book is: will the truth about Bloody Sunday raise more ghosts than it sets to rest?

Eamonn McCann’s new book is the story of the longest legal process in British or Irish history recounted in the raw words of those most intimately involved. What they have to say puts a new focus on the significance of state atrocities in shaping perceptions of the past and aspirations for the future in Ireland.

Sinn Féin

Published: 29 November, 2005

Sinn Féin Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness has described the arrest this morning of party Assembly member Francie Brolly as ‘one of the most blatant examples of political policing seen here in recent times’.

Mr McGuinness said:

” This morning heavily armed PSNI members arrested East Derry Assembly member Francie Brolly from his home in Dungiven. This is the latest and among the most blatant examples of political policing seen here in recent times.As has become the norm with this type of political policing selected media outlets were briefed about the identities of those arrested.

” Francie Brolly is an elected representative and a key participant in the peace process. His arrest is completely motivated by an anti-peace process and anti-Sinn Féin agenda operating at the heart of the Special Branch.

” Sinn Féin are demanding the immediate release of Francie Brolly and we will be raising this issue with both the British and Irish governments.” ENDS

Editors Note: Republicans will hold a protest outside Dungiven PSNI Barracks at 2pm today demanding an end to political policing and the release to Francie Brolly.

Sinn Fein General Secretary Mitchel McLaughlin will attend the protest and be available to speak to the media

BreakingNews.ie

29/11/2005 - 11:34:47

**See also Who was Father James Chesney?

A Sinn Féin Assembly member was among four people being questioned today about an IRA atrocity which claimed the lives of nine people 33 years ago.

East Derry MLA Francis Brolly was among three men and a woman arrested today by police investigating the triple car bomb attack which ripped apart the village of Claudy in 1972.

One of those detained is a pensioner, and all are in their late 50s or 60s.

No-one has ever been brought to trial for the murders.

The youngest victim of the attack was eight-years-old.

The Police Service said those arrested were a 67-year-old man and a 60-year-old man, who were both detained in Dungiven, Co Derry, a 50-year-old man arrested in the Portglenone area of Co Antrim, and a 58-year-old woman detained in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.

Police launched a fresh probe into the bombing under a senior detective in 2002 when they revealed a local Catholic priest had been part of the IRA gang which bombed Claudy.

Father James Chesney, who died in 1980, was named as the priest concerned.

Police alleged a cover-up had been hatched between the British government and the then Catholic primate Cardinal Conway to keep the priest’s involvement secret when rumours began that he was linked to the bombing.

Cardinal Conway moved the priest across the border to Co Donegal where he died eight years later.

His name became public after a letter detailing his involvement, written by a “Father Liam”, emerged in 2002.

BreakingNews.ie

29/11/2005 - 12:09:46

Robert Holohan

The young man accused of murdering Midleton schoolboy Robert Holohan pleaded not guilty to murder today but admitted the charge of manslaughter.

Engineering student Wayne O’Donoghue (aged 20) of Ballyedmond, Midleton, was arraigned on the single count on the indictment at the Central Criminal Court in Cork, namely that of murdering 11-year-old Robert Holohan in Ballyedmond, Midleton, Co Cork, on January 4, 2005.

O’Donoghue stood in the dock in a grey suit with pale shirt and dark tie and replied: “Not guilty to murder and guilty to manslaughter.”

A jury of seven women and five men was then sworn in to hear the murder case. Mr Justice Paul Carney was told that the trial was expected to last for two to three weeks.

The case will be opened to the jury by prosecution senior counsel, Shane Murphy, later this afternoon.

The judge agreed to give the prosecution and defence some time to discuss the order of witnesses and other procedural issues.

There is intense media interest in the case. Camera crews, broadcasters and print journalists were at the courthouse on Washington Street from early today.

Jury panelists who were served with summonses were in court at 10am.

Those who did not attend face the possibility of prosecution and fines for ignoring the summons.

There was a roll call followed by the arraignment of the accused, followed by the random selection of jurors.

There were objections made to several people from defence and prosecution lawyers. A number of others asked to be excused because of work commitments or pre-arranged holidays.

The seven women and five men who were empanelled selected a woman from among them as foreman for the duration of the trial.

Robert Holohon’s body was found on January 12 near Inch Strand in east Cork, about 19km from his Ballyedmond home.

The fifth-class schoolboy had been missing since January 4.

No details of the case will be given until Mr Murphy opens the case some time after 2pm.

BreakingNews.ie

29/11/2005 - 13:06:03

Liam Lawlor

The Mahon Tribunal has heard claims that the late Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor took payments totalling IR£189,000 for assistance with the Quarryvale project in west Dublin.

The allegation is contained in evidence due to be given during the second phase of the tribunal’s investigation into controversial planning decisions in the area.

Opening that phase today, tribunal lawyers said political lobbyist Frank Dunlop would be claiming that he paid Mr Lawlor a total of IR£153,000 in relation to the Quarryvale scheme.

Property developer Owen O’Callaghan is also set to tell the tribunal that he gave IR£36,000 to the former Fianna Fáil TD, who died in a car crash in Moscow last month.

Before his death, Mr Lawlor had admitted to receiving a lesser sum of IR£85,000 from both men.

The tribunal’s investigation centres on a decision by Dublin County Council in May 1991 to rezone land in the Quarryvale area, where the Liffey Valley shopping centre was subsequently constructed.

BBC

Debbie McComb

A so-called joyrider has lost his last chance to get his conviction and jail sentence for killing a 15-year-old Belfast girl overturned.

Harry Marley, 22, of Colinward Street, had his application for leave to appeal to the House of Lords dismissed.

He was jailed for nine years in 2003 for causing the death of schoolgirl Debbie McComb by dangerous driving.

Debbie was knocked down by a stolen car on the Springfield Road in west Belfast in March 2002.

In the Appeal Court in Belfast, Marley’s lawyer submitted that a point of law of general public importance arose out of his conviction.

He said the judge’s address to the jury was unsatisfactory in regard to recognition and identification evidence.

Crown counsel said the issue was whether the jury’s verdict was safe and the trial judge’s address had adequately conveyed the need for caution.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr, sitting with Lord Justices Nicholson and Sheil, said they had not been persuaded that there was anything remotely approaching a point of law of public importance and refused to certify an appeal to the Lords.

At his trial, Marley was also given a consecutive sentence of three years for theft.

RTE

29 November 2005 12:06

Four people have been arrested in connection with the Claudy Bomb which killed nine people in July 1972.

The Claudy attack was a combination of three car bombs which killed six people when they exploded. Three others later died from their injuries.

The bombing was blamed on the IRA. Among the victims were nine-year-old Katyrn Eakin who was cleaning the windows of a family shop and 16-year-old William Temple who was doing his milk round in the village.

Detectives investigating the bombing arrested the three men and one woman early this morning.

A 67-year-old man and a 60-year-old man were arrested in Dungiven in Co Derry. A 50-year-old man was arrested in the Claudy area and a 58-year-old woman was arrested in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.

All four are being held at Antrim Police Station.

BreakingNews.ie

29/11/2005 - 07:11:10

A 20-year-old student is to stand trial today charged with the murder of a Co Cork schoolboy, Robert Holohan, whose body was found dumped near an isolated beach eight days after he disappeared.

Wayne O’Donoghue

Wayne O’Donoghue, from Ballyedmond, Midleton, is charged with killing 11-year-old Robert on January 4 this year.

A jury is expected to be sworn at a special sitting of the Central Criminal Court at Cork’s Washington Street courthouse, only the second time a murder trial has been heard in the city.

Robert went missing near his Ballyedmond home after going out to play on a BMX bike he had been given as a present for Christmas. The bicycle was found at the roadside 500 yards from his home.

Robert Holohan

A massive search of the surrounding area was launched with thousands of people, gardaí, defence forces and civil defence involved in the hunt.

Eight days after his disappearance Robert’s body was found covered in black plastic hidden in undergrowth at the edge of Inch Strand, 12 miles from his home.

A post mortem exam, carried out by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy, showed that Robert died from asphyxiation.

The trial is expected to be presided over by Mr Justice Paul Carney and dozens of witnesses are likely to be called.

It will be the second murder trial to be heard in Cork, after the first such case took place in the city last month.

The case will sit at Cork Courthouse on Washington Street which reopened last February after a five-year closure.

BBC

Two people have been arrested by detectives investigating the £26.5m Northern Bank robbery in Belfast in December 2004.

It is understood Northern Bank employee Chris Ward is one of two people detained in the latest arrests.

A 24-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were arrested on Tuesday morning, said a PSNI spokesman.

After the bank robbery, Chris Ward described how he had been held captive in the run-up to the raid.

The details were given in an interview with BBC’s Spotlight programme.

He described in detail how he and a colleague were forced to facilitate the theft of millions of pounds from the cash centre of the Northern Bank’s headquarters.

Police Land Rovers have been at the Ward family home in the Poleglass area of west Belfast since about 0600 GMT.

Earlier this month, police investigating the robbery arrested several people.

Of the 10 people questioned to date in connection with the robbery, three have already appeared in court.

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.

Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde subsequently blamed the IRA for the raid.

BBC ON THIS DAY

29 November 1993

Sir Patrick Mayhew: “No change in the government’s position”

The Conservative government has come under attack in the Commons over the revelations it has had secret contacts with the IRA.

Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Patrick Mayhew insisted there had been no change in the government’s official position - there could be no negotiations with the republican movement until a ceasefire had been agreed.

But his claims were brushed aside by the Democratic Unionists, led by the Reverend Ian Paisley, who called on the Northern Ireland Secretary to quit.

Channels ’still open’

Downing Street has said channels to the IRA are still open and talks could begin once a ceasefire was in place, possibly about 10 weeks after it started.

Sir Patrick insisted nothing said in private had undermined the public promises.

“Nobody has been authorised and nobody will be authorised to enter into discussions with people who are responsible for violence or who justify the use of violence,” he said.

His opposite number on the Labour benches Kevin McNamara said the pursuit of peace was more important than anything else.

In dramatic scenes at the House of Commons today, Mr Paisley first accused Sir Patrick of telling falsehoods.

When he was asked to apologise, he went even further and accused the Northern Ireland secretary of lying.

He has been expelled from the Commons for five days.

The government has produced what it says is a complete set of documents recording the contacts with the IRA which began in February.

Sinn Fein has said at least one of the documents was false - and it has denied initiating the dialogue.

The documents appear to show the two sides discussing how talks could begin - but they were interrupted first by the Warrington bomb in March and in April by the Docklands bomb.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said: “What I am concerned about is that Patrick Mayhew and John Major have been abusing these contacts and we have to place our position on the record.”

Chris McGimpsey from the Ulster Unionist party executive has been studying the documents.

He said: “Some of these meetings were three-hour discussions over a table between the provisional IRA and the government. We will be trying to find out exactly what happened and then we’ll decide.

“But unless the Northern Ireland Office can indicate to us we have nothing to fear, then they can expect a pretty rough ride from the Ulster Unionist party.”

In Context

On 15 December 1993, Prime Minister John Major and his Irish counterpart, Albert Reynolds, signed the Downing Street Declaration.

It stated that Britain had no “selfish strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland”.

It went on to say the British Government would encourage agreement on a political settlement in Ireland, based on the wishes of the people.

An IRA ceasefire was declared in August 1994, but it did not last.

A new ceasefire was finally announced in July 1997.

The Good Friday agreement was signed in April 1998.

It included plans for a new Northern Ireland assembly with some devolved powers from London.

The Assembly has so far had a turbulent history.

It has been suspended several times, the last in October 2002 over allegations of IRA spying within the Northern Ireland Office.

BBC ON THIS DAY

29 November 1999

Ten members were voted on to the Northern Ireland Assembly

Northern Ireland has moved a step closer to ending 25 years of direct rule from London after the election of a Northern Ireland Assembly.

Ten members were voted onto the power-sharing executive in Stormont under the leadership of Unionist First Minister David Trimble.

Westminster will now be asked to approve an order devolving power to the Assembly, with actual power expected to be transferred on Thursday.

Later this week, the British and Irish Governments will implement constitutional changes laid down in the Good Friday Agreement.

The articles of the Irish Constitution that lay claim to Northern Ireland will be dropped, while the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement is to be superseded by a new British-Irish Agreement.

But the appointment of Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, a suspected former IRA commander, as the minister in charge of Ulster’s schools has provoked anger from some unionists.

Next to Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president, Mr McGuinness, is the most powerful member of the Republican movement and was once jailed in the Irish Republic for membership of the IRA.

While hard-liners in Reverend Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party agreed to take their seats in the cross-community government three members walked out of the meeting on hearing Mr McGuiness’s appointment.

‘Provocative’

Danny Kennedy, the Unionist chairman of the assembly’s new education committee, said many parents, teachers and educationists would be “very concerned and alarmed” by the “deliberately provocative” appointment.

Despite the protests Mr McGuinness pledged to commit himself to “exclusively peaceful and democratic means”, and to serving “all the people of Northern Ireland equally”.

“In my opinion all of the children of this island, no matter what political persuasion they come from, are our most important natural resource.

“We have to nurture them, we have to care for them, we have to treat them with equality, treat them with justice and in the course of my work I will be working in a very co-operative fashion with parents and teachers to do our best for our children,” he added.

In the share-out of executive posts Mr Trimble chose the enterprise, environment, arts and culture for his party.

But his deputy, John Taylor, distanced himself from the executive by declining a ministerial post.

John Hume, the Social Democratic and Labour Party leader, selected finance, agriculture and higher education for his party.

Seamus Mallon was re-instated as Deputy First Minister after a three-hour debate, while Rev Paisley’s deputy, Peter Robinson, became minister for regional development and Nigel Dodds accepted the social development post.

Mr Hume said the successful nomination of ministers represented a “huge and historic development”.

“This is the first time in our history that representatives of all sections of our people will be working together in government. It will transform our society and replace the politics and violence of the past,” he added.

Despite the Democratic Unionist appointments, Mr Robinson and Mr Dodds still refused to sit down with Sinn Fein.

Other ministerial members voted onto the assembly included Brid Rogers (SDLP) as agriculture minister, Michael McGimplsey (UUP) as minister of culture, Sam Foster (UUP) as minister of the environment and Sean Farren (SDLP) became minister of higher and further education and employment.

In Context

The Good Friday Agreement was signed at Stormont in April 1998 to create the Northern Ireland Assembly and new cross-border institutions.

The assembly became fully operational when power was handed over from London on 2 December 1999. But it has been dissolved several times over the issue of weapons decommissioning.

Unionists were concerned that the IRA was not decommissioning quickly enough and republicans believed the British were slow to demilitarise.

Failure to resolve the deadlock over decommissioning led to a return to direct rule on 12 February 2000.

Talks followed and when the Provisional IRA indicated that it would put its arms beyond use, the Assembly and the Executive were reconvened on 30 May 2000.

But David Trimble resigned as First Minister on 1 July 2001 over the decommissioning issue.

After the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US, the IRA came under more pressure to puts its weapons “beyond use” and on 23 October Sinn Fein announced it had done this. But while David Trimble believed them, two dissident members of his party did not - along with members of the anti-agreement party the DUP .

Mr Trimble was re-elected as First Minister on 6 November 2001 after pro-agreement parties struck a deal to redesignate three Alliance Party members as unionists.

Less than a year later, in October 2002 London suspended the Northern Ireland Assembly once more over alleged intelligence gathering by republicans.

The issue of decommissioning has remained the major stumbling block in talks between all parties seeking to restore devolution.