SAOIRSE32

:::u.tv:::

THURSDAY 19/01/2006 15:59:54

The SDLP was today accused of encouraging unionists in Northern Ireland to believe they could water down the Good Friday Agreement.

By:Press Association

In the build-up to political talks expected next month, Sinn Fein MP Conor Murphy called on his rivals to withdraw their May 2004 proposals for civic administrators to run government departments until devolution returned.

The Newry and Armagh MP argued: “When the SDLP first published their proposals for British Government-appointed commissioners to run the 10 departments instead of locally-elected and accountable politicians, as demanded by the Agreement, they gave succour to those rejectionist unionists who wished to move away from the power-sharing core of the Agreement.

“This was a deeply flawed strategy and is one which is completely unacceptable to the vast majority of nationalists and republicans who voted for the Good Friday Agreement.

“Despite the encouragement given by the SDLP to those seeking to rewrite the Agreement, Sinn Fein successfully defended the principles which underpin the Agreement in the discussions in late 2004.

“Recently it seems that the SDLP are once again naively repeating the mistakes they have made in the past.

“They have opened up communication with the unionist parties in advance of planned talks chaired by the two governments on proposals which are less than that demanded by the Agreement.

“Once again they are giving encouragement to those within unionism who believe they can dilute or subvert the rights and entitlements demanded by the people across Ireland who voted for the Agreement in 1998.”

With the British and Irish Governments planning an intensive push to restore devolution on the back of the latest report on paramilitary activity by the Independent Monitoring Commission, the Rev Ian Paisley`s Democratic Unionists this week ruled out the likelihood in the foreseeable future of power-sharing featuring Sinn Fein.

The party, however, confirmed it was planning to table a 16 page document advocating phased devolution - giving the country`s 108 Assembly members some role short of forming their own multi-party executive.

The Ulster Unionists are also believed to be putting together their own proposals.

In May 2004, SDLP leader Mark Durkan proposed 10 leaders from business, trade unions and community life should be nominated by both the British and Irish Governments to run the devolved government departments.

The panel would have to be approved by Assembly members on a cross-community vote at Stormont and would cease their work once MLAs were able to nominate their own multi-party executive.

The plan was slated by Sinn Fein, unionists and other parties.

Mr Murphy said today that, as the lead nationalist party, Sinn Fein would resolutely defend the Agreement and its power-sharing and cross-border institutions.

“Unlike the SDLP we will not settle for less,” he said.

“The SDLP now need to make it clear that their proposals for commissioners have been binned and that they are prepared to join with the rest of nationalist and republican opinion on the island and defend the Good Friday Agreement.”

The SDLP`s Dominic Bradley claimed there appeared to be confusion and contradiction at the highest levels of Sinn Fein, which could be exploited by anti-Agreement unionists in the forthcoming negotiations.

The Newry and Armagh MLA said: “Yesterday at a press conference, the Sinn Fein president said `what more is there to negotiate about? The negotiations are done. What more is there to negotiate about? We have had seven years, eight years, nine years, 10 years of negotiations. What we now need to see is delivery of all of the agreements that were reached, crystallised in the Good Friday Agreement`.

“On the same day in a statement issued to the press Conor Murphy said, `Sinn Fein will not countenance settling for less that the Agreement in any future talks or negotiations`.

“What`s going on? The Sinn Fein president says he is not up for negotiations and a Sinn Fein MP looks forward to negotiations.

“This sends out even more worrying signals to nationalism when it is recalled that only nine months ago Sinn Fein went to the ballot boxes talking about the need for `intensive political negotiations`, Mitchel McLaughlin on April 23, 2005.

“The DUP must be laughing all the way to the bank. The Sinn Fein leadership is sending out signs of weariness and weakness.

“The DUP must be thinking that they can cause further damage to nationalism and the Good Friday Agreement and the British, apparently already deeply embedded within the Provisional Movement, must be looking forward to concessions being handed to the DUP.”

Mr Bradley said his party made no apology for calling for a date to restore the political institutions nor would it withdraw its proposal to allow civic administrators to run the government departments temporarily.

“That means ending suspension and getting the North South agenda working again in full,” he said.

“If Conor Murphy is against this, then he is for suspension and continued British Direct Rule. Is Sinn Fein`s policy now `Brits In`?”

Accusing Gerry Adams` party of inconsistency, the SDLP Assembly member recalled how in October 2001 Sinn Fein advocated British ministers taking Ulster Unionist seats on the executive if David Trimble`s ministers resigned.

He also accused Sinn Fein of secretly renegotiating the Good Friday Agreement with the DUP in the December 2004 talks, with measures to exclude the SDLP from government.

“These are the damning facts of Sinn Fein`s record, and
no amount of spin can hide them,” Mr Bradley said.

“It is time for Sinn Fein to back the Agreement and the SDLP`s strategy for getting it all implemented. That is the only way forward.

“But perhaps Conor could clear up one important question for the Irish people: do Sinn Fein back the Good Friday Agreement as overwhelmingly endorsed by the majority of people on the island or do they still back the failed and farcical comprehensive agreement negotiated with the DUP?

“That`s the question Sinn Fein needs to answer. Perhaps Conor would be better served clearing that up rather than confusing himself even more than he already is.”

Sinn Féin

Published: 19 January, 2006

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health and Children Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD has asked the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell if he has been given a reason by the British authorities for their decision to cancel the service formerly provided to An Garda Síochána of vetting British or Six County residents who have applied to work with children in this State. Sinn Féin’s Six Counties spokesperson on children Sue Ramsey said the decision highlights the urgent need for an all-Ireland approach to child protection services.

Deputy Ó Caoláin said, “News of this decision has come as a shock to all those who work with children and to those who work in the child protection services.

“There is a lot of confusion surrounding this decision; no reason has been given for the withdrawal of this vital service and nobody has any idea what steps are being taken to replace this service or to seek a reversal of the decision.

“I have put a written question to Justice Minister Michael McDowell seeking answers to all of these questions and will continue to seek the re-establishment of these services in the very near future.

“This decision highlights the need for Garda vetting to be made available to cover all adults working with substantial access to children including the voluntary sector. In practice only health service executive employees are currently covered.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Children in the Six Counties Sue Ramsey said, “The cancellation of these vital vetting services is a major setback to the child protection services in this country.

“This is a worrying situation for everybody throughout this country. It effectively means that someone who abuses a child on one side of the border can, after serving his or her sentence, move to the other side of the border and apply for a job working with children with no chance of being found out.

“This highlights the urgent need for an all-Ireland approach to child protection services.” ENDS

The Australian

Rick Wallace
January 20, 2006

FORMER IRA commander and convicted murderer Tommy McKearney has accused the Australian Government of taking sides in the conflict over Northern Ireland after he withdrew a visa application to visit Australia.

An angry Mr McKearney, who planned to visit Tasmania to address a prisons conference, released a statement yesterday accusing immigration officials of placing “enormous and unnecessary” hurdles in his path.

“Protracted demands for police records by their immigration officials indicates that the Australian authorities still hold the view that the Irish conflict was an illicit conspiracy, rather than a widely supported insurrection against British misrule in Northern Ireland,” the former IRA hardman said.

“It is unfortunate that the Australian public will not now have the opportunity to hear from those of us who can testify to the futility of governments attempting to address political issues via a security response.

“Personally, I would have liked to visit your beautiful country, not to mention seeing a place where once my captors also held so many other Irish republicans. That this will not now happen is a pity but it won’t persuade me to change my political opinions.” Mr McKearney and several other speakers who have spent time in prison were locked in a struggle with immigration authorities to secure visas in time for the International Conference on Penal Abolition next month.

Legislation gives authorities the right to refuse a visa to anyone who has been in prison for more than a year, although there is a power of discretion.

Mr McKearney spent 16 years in the Long Kesh prison near Belfast for the murder of part-time soldier Stanley Adams during the Troubles.

Mr McKearney, now project director for an ex-prisoners’ support group, was one of a number of foreign speakers at the conference, which is calling for the complete abolition of prisons.

Conference organisers Justice Action, an Australian prisoners’ support group, has accused the Government of dragging its heels on visa applications for Mr McKearney and fellow Irish republican activist Brenda Murphy, as well as Canadian professor Bob Gaucher. A spokesman for the Immigration Department said Mr McKearney had been advised of the criteria for entry and had been asked to provide “additional information” to assist his application.

Irelandclick

BBC photo

All over Ireland and Britain the interface between young people and the police is difficult and often dangerous. Young people everywhere naturally bridle at authority figures and the tales from the courts North and South after every latest weekend of confrontation and aggro between officers and teenagers tell their own story.

But things are a little different here in the North. Added to the almost obligatory distrust of the police engendered by hormonal teenage rebelliousness, are folk memories of the RUC and the role they have played in targeting and abusing this community down through the years. The sight of PSNI Land Rovers speeding into nationalist districts with engines whining and doors clanging still has the power to instil fear and alarm. And memories are still strong of the days when bullets – plastic and lead– flew, and when the acrid tang of CS gas filled the air.

Which is why the increasing use of CS gas spray by the PSNI in dealing with public order incidents in West Belfast is a cause for real concern. It was to be hoped that this generation of young people might be spared the stinging eyes and the burning throat – but it seems the PSNI is intent on giving a dose of the gas to a new generation of young nationalists. Our front page story shows the effect that the powerful gas had on the skin of a schoolboy who was sprayed with gas. The PSNI, as they always do, say they won’t comment on individual cases, but the facts speak for themselves.

The force’s own guidelines say that the gas should not be used at a distance of less than one metre. The young boy who suffered the burns and blisters to his neck says that the officer who sprayed him did it at point blank range. Those of us who have been in the thick of the gas in the past – and there are many – will know that the gas in mist form, as it would be if fired from the recommended four to six feet, can cause severe discomfort. Fired at point blank range and thus coming into contact with the skin in large and intense doses, burning and blistering is the inevitable outcome.

That the PSNI would do that is bad enough – that they would do it on a 15-year-old is beyond belief.

No-one is suggesting for one moment that a group of adolescents cannot be a considerable handful at times. Those who have encountered groups of young males while out walking will testify that they can. But there is a difference between a single, vulnerable person and two Land Rovers full of burly officers armed to the teeth and heavily protected.

The PSNI claim they came under attack from stone throwers in the Shaws Road district on Saturday night and that a confrontation occurred when they moved in to make arrests. The first thing to be said about that is that it would be nice if they would act so swiftly and decisively when it is members of this community that are being attacked as they did when it was armoured vehicles. The second thing to be said is that it only takes one look at the burns and blisters sustained by this 15-year-old to appreciate that what happened on the Shaws Road on Saturday night was not an arrest operation but effectively a punishment attack.

The use of CS gas in nationalist Belfast has the power not only to injure, it has the power also to conjure up the ghosts of the past. Next thing the PSNI will start wearing crash helmets and knee-length black overcoats.

No paper at Tesco

I was up in Tesco’s in the Rushmere shopping centre in Craigavon, Co Armagh, and I asked for Daily Ireland. The assistant had great delight in telling me: “We don’t sell that!” I’m not surprised but how are they able to do that? Are there not competition laws?

J Fitzpatrick,
Lurgan, Co Antrim

Negotiations are continuing with Tesco, the only supermarket chain in the North not to carry Daily Ireland. We are confident they will reach a successful conclusion. However, readers should write to the manager of their local store in case their requests are not being logged.

Connla Lawlor,
Daily Ireland marketing director

Daily Ireland

By Eamonn Houston
19/01/2006

A man whose wife was killed in an IRA bomb attack is to be the keynote speaker at a Bloody Sunday commemoration event later this month.
Alan McBride will deliver the annual Bloody Sunday commemorative lecture. His wife Sharon was one of ten people killed in an IRA attack on Frizzell’s fish shop on west Belfast’s Shankill Road in 1993.
He will make his address in Derry’s Guildhall on Saturday, January 28, at 8pm.
Relatives of those killed as a result of Bloody Sunday vowed yesterday to continue their justice campaign unless a second inquiry declared the innocence of the 14 people who died.
Relatives and supporters gathered yesterday at the site of the 1972 shootings to launch a black ribbon campaign as a mark of respect for those killed.
A new inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday was announced in 1998 by British prime minister Tony Blair following a 26-year campaign by relatives.
Lord Saville and two British Commonwealth judges chaired the new inquiry. Campaigners have always maintained that the original inquiry, overseen by Lord Widgery, had been a “whitewash”.
The Saville inquiry is expected to publish its findings later this year.
John Kelly, whose brother Michael was killed by British paratroopers on Bloody Sunday, said yesterday: “This is a year we have been looking forward to. The report’s findings will determine how successful our campaign has been all through the years.
“This is a very significant year but it all depends on the outcome of the report by Lord Saville. If Saville says anything other than our family members were innocent and murdered, our campaign will continue.”
Michael McKinney, whose brother William was also among those killed, said the killings should be commemorated, whatever the outcome of the present inquiry.
A statement issued yesterday on behalf on the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign praised the efforts of the victims’ families.
“The very fact that a people’s campaign succeeded in forcing the British state to conduct a second public inquiry has itself, rightly, been regarded as a victory for the cause of justice.
“However, recent legislative changes to the terms of reference of public inquiries, compounded by measures currently on new Labour’s ‘war on terror’ agenda, are already seeking to outflank this victory.”
Organisers have asked participants at this year’s commemorative march and rally to light 3,637 candles in honour of all the people who lost their lives during the Troubles. Candles will be provided during the march on Sunday, January 29.
Mark Thompson of the Relatives for Justice organisation will speak, as will representatives from Sinn Féin and the SDLP.

Daily Ireland

by David Lynch
19/01/2006

A world-renowned political activist last night warned that the Irish government could be taking part in “war crimes” if it let the United States use Shannon airport to transport prisoners.
Noam Chomsky told more than 2,000 people at a packed Royal Dublin Society in Dublin last night that, if it is found that Central Intelligence Agency detainees were being brought through the Co Clare airport as part of Washington’s “extraordinary rendition”, then the Irish government would be taking part in “war crimes”.
Replying to a question from Richard Boyd Barrett of the Irish Anti-War Movement, Professor Chomsky said that, if the CIA planes were bringing prisoners through the Irish airport, then the Republic would be involved in a “supreme international crime” as defined at the Nuremberg trials of 1945-46.
The 77-year-old professor said the use of Shannon by US troops would leave Ireland open to being involved in such crimes.
“I have to answer this conditionally because I do not know all the facts. However, if what you say is true, then it is indeed participation in a supreme international crime,” said the Philadelphia-born activist. More than 4,000 people had applied for tickets for last night’s event, which was hosted by Amnesty International.
Professor Chomsky said he supported a Dáil investigation into the alleged use of Shannon airport by the CIA.
The veteran anti-war campaigner urged Irish people to take part in the worldwide anti-war demonstrations on March 18.
“Remember when you are out on the streets, it is not just the people in the West that you are marching with but you are marching in support of the majority of Iraqis who are against it [the occupation of Iraq],” he said.
In a wide-ranging speech, Professor Chomsky argued that the so-called war on terror had begun in the Reagan White House.
He also pointed to the long-standing links between the United States and the Saddam Hussein regime.
“Saddam is at last on trial for his crimes. The first trial now under way is for crimes he committed in 1982.
“1982 happens to be an important year in US-Iraq relations. It was in 1982 that Reagan removed Iraq from the list of states supporting terror so that aid could flow to his friend in Baghdad. [Donald] Rumsfeld then visited Baghdad to confirm the arrangements,” he said.
Professor Chomsky argued that the 2003 invasion of Iraq had increase “terror” as defined by the United States.
“There is extensive supporting evidence to show that, as anticipated, the invasion increased the risk of terror and nuclear proliferation,” said the professor.
He argued that the war had helped Osama bin Laden and so the United States had become “bin Laden’s indispensable ally”.
Professor Chomsky is widely known for his linguistics work, his political activism and for his criticism of the foreign policy of the United States and other governments. He describes himself as a libertarian socialist and is considered a key intellectual figure of the US left.

:::u.tv:::

THURSDAY 19/01/2006 15:46:24

Politicians in Northern Ireland were today urged to ensure that proposals for neighbourhood justice schemes avoid becoming the subject of a political football game.

By:Press Association

Lord Clyde, the Oversight Commissioner for judicial reforms in Northern Ireland, insisted the recent momentum for finalising guidelines on community restorative justice schemes should not be lost.

And in his fifth report examining the overhaul of Northern Ireland`s justice system, while he insisted overall progress had been encouraging there were still areas that need implementation.

The report stressed the role that community restorative justice schemes, which are currently privately funded, could play in dealing with low-level crime in some areas.

Lord Clyde, who has visited two schemes in West Belfast and Bangor, argued that while it was important there was discussion on the guidelines, the Government should avoid getting locked into an unduly extended debate.

He told PA: “It is an area, I think, which is of enormous importance, and I do believe community restorative justice can have, as the review group said, a role to play in the criminal justice system.

“The matter has moved at a fairly slow pace for the first two years of my oversight work.

“Time was taken working towards the production of guidelines. The matter has come much more into the public forum since the autumn with the (Criminal Justice) Minister (David Hanson) taking an active role by furthering the thing and preparing the guidelines to move the process forward.

“I do welcome these initiatives to make progress. On the other hand one has to be aware that there are a great number of sensitivities, anxieties, about this development, and one must respect those anxieties and concerns.

“But the review built in a considerable number of safeguards.

“I am simply waiting for the eventual emergence of the guidelines, and we will have to see in the next few months how it advances from there.

“Anyone would regret that the matter has been kicked about in a sense like that.

“It is far too important a matter to be treated as a game. I think everyone has serious concerns and serious proposals to make. I welcome the opportunity for the debate that has now been started.”

Unionists, moderate nationalists and the Northern Ireland Policing Board have expressed concern at the Government guideline on the operation of community restorative justice schemes, which could receive state funding in the future.

While the Government has insisted that schemes operating in republican areas will have to refer cases to the police, some politicians and Policing Board members are worried that the PSNI has been given an arms-length role, with proposals referred to them by the Youth Justice Agency.

Community restorative justice schemes bring the perpetrators of low-level crime face to face with their victims, in their neighbourhood, to agree an appropriate penalty.

Lord Clyde said that while it was never easy to express statistically how much change had occurred in Northern Ireland`s courts and wider judicial system, significant progress had been made.

“We are far down the road,” he said. “We have got a very substantial number of reforms which have been completely signed off and I am confident by the summer we will be further down the road.”

Among the areas the Justice Oversight Commissioner has highlighted as requiring further progress were:

:: Moves to allow the Irish language to be used in courts.

:: The implementation of reforms to improve the information and explanations given to victims of crime.

:: Facilitating the temporary transfer of prisoners between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

Lord Clyde was also in his report awaiting progress on the proposed transfer of justice powers from Westminster to an executive at Stormont.

The recommendation of the creation of a single Department of Justice at Stormont headed by a locally-elected minister, will depend on whether an overall political deal is reached between the British and Irish Governments, unionist and nationalist parties.

SDLP justice spokesperson Alban Maginness said it was vital there were strong safeguards in the community restorative justice plans.

“Lord Clyde is right about the important role community restorative justice can play,” the North Belfast Assembly member said.

“But we have to be careful. We must protect human rights and guard against paramilitary justice, paramilitary policing or state-paid vigilante gangs.

“We need to be sure that exiling, strong-arm tactics, threats and covering up of crimes by CRJ`s own members cannot happen. Nor do we want a culture of vigilantism to flourish.

“The SDLP did not accept the B-Specials. We won`t accept the (I)RA-Specials either.”

Mr Maginness said his party was demanding:

:: A totally independent, statutory complaints system.

:: A direct working relationship with the police and not the systematic frustration of police investigations when
members of the Provisional IRA are involved in crime.

:: Proper training for dealing with crime and not dangerous amateur interventions in domestic violence cases.

:: The rule of law and not paramilitary control.

:: Everybody involved to sign up to the rule of law, instead of covering up for their own.

BBC

The Policing Board remains at odds with Security Minister Shaun Woodward over his assessment of IRA activity.

A police briefing to the board said the IRA was involved in organised crime, but last month Mr Woodward said the IRA was no longer involved in such crime.

Mr Woodward wrote to the board and said there was a distinction between the actions of individuals and the “intention of organisations”.

Board chairman Desmond Rea said this did not address the board’s concerns.

Professor Rea has made public his correspondence to Mr Woodward over the matter.

“From the briefing the board acknowledges that, in certain areas, progress has and is being made,” he wrote.

“But on the issues of organised crime the board is clear that PSNI and the other agencies advised that all paramilitary groups were still involved in organised crime.

“This is clearly at odds with your position as stated during the briefing and in your earlier statement of 13 December 2005.”

Mr Rea also said he did not believe the breach of confidentiality that led to the assessment to the board being made public emanated from any board member or officer.

He said that the board “awaits with interest” the publication of the Independent Monitoring Commission Report, “which will allow everyone to judge the position based on the evidence available”.

Sam Kinkaid, the PSNI’s most senior detective, gave a confidential briefing to board members on Tuesday.

It is believed Mr Kincaid said there had been significant progress in terms of ending some activities on the part of the IRA, such as paramilitary attacks and armed robberies.

However, he told board members that no paramilitary group, including the IRA, has ceased involvement in organised crime.

He said the police had seen no change in this for a year.

Due to a server move, Blogsome was down for new posts. Hopefully you picked up the stories on the alternate site listed to the right. Posting will again resume here.

Thank you for your patience. It was a surprise to me as well.