SAOIRSE32

Belfast Telegraph

By Linda McKee
04 March 2006

SS Nomadic is expected to return to the city where she was built by late spring.

Campaigners who fought successfully to save the former Titanic tender from the scrapyard say the Government has estimated she will return to Belfast by then.

Department of Social Development (DSD) officials recently travelled to Le Havre in northern France to inspect the historic vessel, which was bought at auction last month for the knock-down price of 250,000 euro.

DSD has now invited tenders from companies interested in the task of transporting the former Titanic ferry back to the city where she was built. Members of the Save Nomadic campaign advised the Government that Nomadic will probably have to be carried rather than towed back to Belfast.

David Scott Beddard explained: “We think that because of the bulkheads that have been removed, she will have to be piggybacked at least as far as Belfast Lough.”

A DSD spokesman said: “It is likely that the transport will be by a barge and tenders have been invited. Once these have been evaluated, a decision will be made on the timing of the return voyage.”

DSD has now employed Mr and Mrs Cojibus, Nomadic’s caretakers, to continue looking after her at her mooring in Le Havre docks.

The department has also bought the pumping system which was used by the caretakers to keep the vessel free of rain water.

The Save Nomadic campaign has now raised £57,000 in contributions and pledges from members of the public.

It is in the process of setting up the Nomadic Preservation Trust which will raise money for renovating the vessel that once carried first-class passengers as they boarded the doomed Titanic on her maiden voyage from Cherbourg. Anyone who pledged more than £50 will become a member of the trust, while those who donated more than £250 will become automatic lifelong members.

The Save Nomadic campaign has commissioned world-renowned maritime artist Simon Fisher to create three new paintings of Nomadic. One shows her serving Titanic’s sister ship Olympic and a second depicts her heading out to carry ‘Molly’ Brown, Benjamin Guggenheim, Sir Cosmo & Lady Duff-Gordon and other first and second class passengers to Titanic on the evening of April 10, 1912. A third, yet to be painted, will show Nomadic being fitted out in the Hamilton Dock shortly after her launch in 1911. All three will be displayed on board Nomadic and prints hand-signed by the artist will be available.

Meanwhile, model maker Robin Burrows is on ’stand-by’ to start work on a 10ft model of Nomadic, which will become the central focus of the ship-board Titanic exhibition.

Belfast Telegraph

By Chris Thornton
03 March 2006

More forensic evidence has emerged in the case of two teenagers murdered by loyalists, six years after police began investigating the killings.

The discovery is the second major advance by detectives within a week, but it prompted renewed calls for an explanation of why the evidence was not available earlier.

On Monday, the Belfast Telegraph revealed that a DNA link has been found between a suspect and David McIlwaine, one of the two teenage victims.

David and Andrew Robb were stabbed repeatedly by loyalists linked to the UVF outside Tandragee in February 2000.

David McIlwaine’s father, Paul, has called on the Police Ombudsman to investigate the reasons why police did not act on the evidence earlier.

Mr McIlwaine has maintained for several years that he believed more evidence was available in the case.

A spokesman for the Ombudsman said an investigation into police handling of the case is continuing.

“We are aware of the issue which has been raised by Mr McIlwaine,” he said.

“Our investigation is ongoing and as such it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.” But Mr McIlwaine said he was told the Ombudsman’s investigation had all but formally closed before these latest discoveries. He said he had been told that a draft report concluded that police carried out “a thorough and professional investigation”.

The PSNI has refused to comment on the case.

Belfast Telegraph

Leading loyalist among 17 held at bar

By Jonathan McCambridge
03 March 2006

Serious questions about bail policies in Ulster’s courts were raised today after it emerged that a number of those arrested during a dramatic police raid on a north Belfast bar are already charged with terrorist offences.

Leading loyalist Ihab Shoukri and 16 other men were arrested as police raided The Alexandra bar in Tiger’s Bay last night as part of an operation against the UDA.

Well-known loyalist Shoukri’s bail conditions were initially restrictive - including being barred from entering Belfast - but were gradually softened by the judiciary.

His final restriction allowed him greater freedom except he had to be indoors by 10pm. He is also not allowed to associate with his brother Andre.

SDLP Justice spokesman, Alban Maginness, said the case raised serious issues over defendants being released on bail while on terrorist offences.

“The first thing police will have to do is establish if there has been any breach of bail conditions and act accordingly.

“We are stuck in a position because of human rights legislation that even those who are charged with terrorist offences are given the protection of a liberal approach to bail.”

Windows at the bar were riddled with holes after the police discharged irritant rounds containing CS gas, and doors were ripped off their hinges as scores of police officers in riot gear swooped during an alleged rehearsal for a paramilitary show of strength last night.

Stunned residents and onlookers told the Belfast Telegraph of the confusion as they believed that a gun battle had taken place on their doorsteps. People who were drinking in the premises described how they dived for cover as the police raid began.

In the bar was Ihab Shoukri, who is currently awaiting charges on relating to membership of the UDA and UFF. He had his bail conditions varied recently to allow him to return to north Belfast.

Another of those arrested is Gary MacKenzie, who is currently on bail facing charges of attempting to murder four police officers on the Westland Road and membership of the UFF.

Loyalist sources have told the Belfast Telegraph that at least one other person arrested in the Alexandra was also on bail.

A police spokeswoman said: “There have been a total of 17 arrests in connection with serious crime following the police operation in the York Road area of north Belfast last night. There are no further details available.”

However, UDA sources have told the Belfast Telegraph that five of the men arrested in the bar were in “battle gear” as they rehearsed for a show of strength which had been due to take place tonight.

The source said: “This was a well organised police operation and they obviously had been watching the men for some time.

“There was supposed to be a fund-raising function in the bar tonight and as part of that a show of strength was planned. That would have involved imitation firearms and a speech.

“There were no guns found by police because guns were not being used.

“Some of those who were arrested were in battle- dress, including balaclavas.”

Local DUP councillor, Ian Crozier, was at the scene last night and described the confusion.

“When I got there people were in a panic because they thought it was like something out of the OK Corral. It took some time to find out that live rounds had not been used, but the situation was tense.”

North Belfast MP, Nigel Dodds, said: “We were getting reports of bangs in the area, and there was even a rumour of fatalities.

“Thankfully, that was not the case. People were describing almost a cops and robbers scenario. Obviously we will have to wait and see what emerges following this incident, what charges there are and what evidence is brought forward by the police.

Irelandclick

A probe has been ordered by Health Minister Shaun Woodward into the circumstances surrounding the death of North Belfast suicide victim Danny McCartan.
The decision to set up an independent review into the 18-year-old’s case has been welcomed by his parents, who have been fighting for such an inquiry since last October.
Shaun Woodward told Gerard and Carol McCartan of the development during a private visit to their Oldpark home on Tuesday night.
“We are pleased that this independent review is taking place, Gerard McCartan said.
“But we’ve fought long and hard for this. It’s no more than what Danny and others deserve.”
Danny took his life in April 2005 and his body was found in a derelict house close to the family home.
Right from the start, his parents questioned the amount of anti-depressants he was prescribed, the delays in appointments to see his psychiatrist and the lack of mental health facilities for young people.
In the nine months leading up to his death Danny was prescribed nearly 3,000 tablets in an effort to combat his depression and anxiety through a cocktail of anti-psychotic drugs and sleeping pills.
He had been self-harming for three years and had cut his face, legs, and arms with blades.
On the day he committed suicide he asked his Community Psychiatric nurse (CPN) whether he could go back into hospital. He was told that he couldn’t. Danny fled and that was the last time his parents saw him alive.
The couple lodged a ‘super complaint’ against the Mater Hospital, the North and West Belfast Trust and the South and East Belfast Trust, which runs the adult mental health facility Knockbraken, for what they described as a lack of care last June.
The Mater Hospital and North and the West Belfast Trust replied to their complaint three months later, admitting they would be undertaking urgent reviews of their procedures.
“The Mater Hospital is urgently reviewing its outpatient appointment system to ensure that appointments arranged by the consultant are booked accurately and within a reasonable time,” the hospital said in their letter to the McCartans.
The South and East Belfast Trust carried out their own investigation but did not acknowledge any fault in their treatment of Danny.
The McCartans wrote to the Convenor of Complaints at the Eastern Health and Social Services Board (EHSSB) on October 4 and November 11 asking for an independent review.
“The way this complaint has been handed has been a sham, it has caused us undue stress and it should never have happened. It was a total disgrace the way that the three trusts handled this complaint and it must not ever happen to anyone else,” Gerard McCartan said.
The Minister has now asked the EHSSB to commission the review.
“I have asked the Eastern Board to commission an independent review into the circumstances surrounding the death of Danny McCartan and the treatment and care offered to him by the Health and Social Care system,” Shaun Woodward said.
“The untimely death of Danny is a tragedy for his family. We need to establish whether lessons can be learnt so that such tragedies are avoided as far as possible in the future.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health insisted the review would be carried out entirely independent of the EHSSB.
North Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Kathy Stanton said the government needed to bridge the chronic gap in services.
“The lack of mental health resources for children and adolescents, particularly in Belfast where there is no child and adolescent psychiatrist, has already been clearly identified.
“While this independent review is welcome, more so if it identifies the chronic gaps in support for people moving between child and adolescent services to adult services, the fact is that many of the problems are well understood. What is required is resources, funding and a strategic response.”

Journalist:: Áine McEntee

Irelandclick

The UDA-linked Ulster Political Research Group has hit out at the DUP who claimed this week they were working hard to secure funding for loyalist areas.
A DUP delegation met with the Minister for Social Development David Hanson on Monday seeking pledges that help would be given to loyalist and Protestant working class communities.
John Bunting of the Westland UPRG said claims by the DUP that they had been working hard to secure further assistance were “wrong”.
“Absolutely not, they only walk in at the last minute when it’s all over,” he told the North Belfast News.
“Community groups are making a difference, not them with their huge political mandate
“We are working at the forefront, we’re at the coalface. They are nowhere to be seen.
“All they’re doing is making dynasties, all the Dodds, Paisleys and Robinsons.”
The UPRG is actively involved in several projects with cross-community organisation Groundwork NI, the UPRG representative explained.
“We have five projects in conjunction with Groundwork in Westland, North Queen Street, Ardoyne in conjunction with community groups and White City,” he said,
“We’ve met with the Belfast Regeneration Office and DSD. We’ve also community houses opening up all across North Belfast offering advice.
“We’re in the advanced stages of negotiating a kickaround at the Westland end at Waterworks, a pensioners’ garden is en route to open up in May and we’ve signed up to the Council’s bonfire programme.
“In Tigers Bay and on the Limestone Road we’ve helped to set up a regeneration group which is trying to upgrade the houses and the look of the area.
“There is a also lot of cross-community work going on as well as the community projects in loyalist areas of North Belfast that we’re involved in, and they [DUP] just walk in and claim all the credit. It’s just wrong. We’re making a huge contribution. They aren’t.”
The DUP refused to comment on the UPRG’s remarks
But North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds said a wide range of issues including education, skills training, regeneration and housing matters had been covered at that meeting with the Minister.
“We emphasised that a long-term strategic approach is needed and not the short-term gimmicks which we have seen in the past,” he said.
“These issues were raised because they are all matters where the unionist community, in particular, is not achieving equality and parity of esteem. The government must recognise that while in the past they have helped deprived nationalist communities they have failed to target and help many similar unionist communities.
“In December 2005, the DUP submitted a detailed 12-page action plan covering many of the socio-economic problems prevalent within these communities. These meaningful and substantial proposals which we have placed before the government could, if implemented properly and funded adequately, start to alleviate some of these problems.”

Journalist:: Áine McEntee

Irelandclick

The North Belfast News has learned that a PSNI camera, designed to automatically log car licence plate numbers, has been installed at Ardoyne shops.
The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera is operated by the PSNI and it is attached to their CCTV camera pole, which is positioned at the shopfronts in Ardoyne.
A similar device operates at Carlisle Circus.
The PSNI said the CCTV and ANPR cameras had an “impact across the full range of policing from public order to the prevention and detection of crime”.
A spokesman for the Ardoyne Focus Group said the cameras were useless in terms of protecting people and property from crime and alleged they were part of the PSNI’s political policing.
“The Focus Group would have grave concerns around the issue of political policing, and this just reinforces the perception that this is more of the same,” the spokesman said.
“I think the general perception from people around here is that this will be an intelligence gathering exercise, given the history of the CCTV cameras, they’ve been totally ineffective in terms of prevention and being able to prosecute after the event.
A PSNI spokesman confirmed two ANPR cameras operate in North Belfast.
“Both are located on main arterial routes where there is considerable traffic flow and have been in operation for several months,” he said.
“Both units were also mounted together with existing CCTV equipment to reduce costs. However, at this time a final costing is not available. There is also a mobile camera unit available that has been in use across the North Belfast DCU since November 2005.”
The last time these ‘sophisticated’ cameras were in the news was after the murder of Bellaghy Catholic Sean Brown in 1997. The 61-year-old was locking up the Wolfe Tone GAA club when he was abducted and brutally murdered by the LVF. His killers brazenly drove twice past similar cameras outside Toome barracks, once with their victim in the car. The RUC said the cameras were unable to pick up the licence plate number of the killers’ car.
The Ardoyne Focus Group said people will consider the new camera as another spying operation.
“The rationale the PSNI is giving is totally disingenuous. This isn’t about crime reduction, this is about intelligence gathering. Political policing is still a live issue and this just highlights it.”
Meanwhile another CCTV camera is planned for Glenbank/Crumlin Road, the PSNI has confirmed, to “assist in reducing the number of attacks on buses.”
“This camera is being erected in a close partnership with Belfast City Council,” the PSNI spokesman said.

Journalist:: Áine McEntee

Daily Ireland

Connla Young
04/03/2006

A Catholic church prisoner support group has called on the Irish government to speed up the repatriation of a seriously ill 27-year-old Irish prisoner serving a sentence in Yorkshire.
Co Louth man Aidan Hulme was given a 20-year jail term in 2001 after being convicted of involvement in a series of Real IRA bombings in London.
The British Home Office has said it lodged all relevant documents with the Irish authorities last September.
Gerry McFlynn of the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas said: “Aidan has to be sent back to Ireland as soon as possible. He is one of about 20 prisoners waiting to come home. The process takes between two-and-a-half to three years, which is unacceptable given the distress it causes to inmates and their families.
“You have to wonder if the will is there to move quickly on these issues. All we can do is try to keep as much pressure on the authorities as possible. In this case, the hold-up is with the Irish, and we are pushing for a resolution given the state of his health,” said Fr McFlynn.
Michael Holden of the Irish Political Status Committee said Mr Hulme’s brother Robert, who is also serving a prison sentence in England, had asked to be transferred to Full Sutton.
“They were separated about 18 months ago and, since then, the prison authorities have made it difficult for them to correspond.
“Robert is happy to move from Long Martin back to Full Sutton to be with his brother.
“Aidan has been told by a specialist that his leg will have to be amputated. He doesn’t want to be given priority treatment but the specialist is recommending that he be transferred back to Ireland before his leg is amputated.”
The Department of Justice refused to comment on individual cases.

BN.ie

04/03/2006 - 12:53:41

Community groups that promote the Irish language are being honoured at the annual Glór na nGael ceremony in Belfast today.

Pobail an Droichead from the Ormeau Road in Belfast is due to receive the overall prize at this year’s awards, which are being presented at Stormont by Community and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Eamon O’Cuiv.

Speaking ahead of the ceremony, Mr O’Cuiv said he believed the Irish language was more popular now than at any time in recent years.

He said education through Irish was now available in every county in Ireland, while surveys have found a high level of interest in the language.

BBC

A woman has been arrested in connection with a police raid at a bar in the Tiger’s Bay area of north Belfast.

Seventeen men who were arrested during the raid at the Alexandra Bar on Thursday are being held under the Terrorism Act.

The men are being questioned about membership of a banned organisation and having items of use to terrorism.

Detective Superintendent Roy McComb said the raid was aimed at the Ulster Freedom Fighters.

He said were acting on information suggesting a rehearsal for a “show of strength” was in progress.

He said tactics - which included firing CS gas pellets into the bar - were used in the belief that the men were armed.

“Information presented itself that members of an illegal organisation with illegal firearms were going to present themselves as some sort of defenders of the people,” Mr McComb said.

Uniforms

It is believed that half of those arrested were dressed in combat style uniform, but police have not yet revealed if anything, including weapons, were retrieved from the bar.

A full-scale search continued on Friday with police officers coming and going from the pub wearing gas masks.

The UFF is part of the Ulster Defence Association, set up as its “military wing” before the UDA was proscribed.

The police operation began just before 2000 GMT on Thursday.

Bar doors were ripped off their hinges and some upstairs windows in the bar were smashed during the raid.

It is understood that one of those arrested is already facing terrorism-related charges.

Derry Journal

Friday 3rd March 2006

IT’S EMERGED that an FBI agent who infiltrated the Real IRA tipped off his handlers that paramilitaries based in Co. Donegal were planning a strike in either Derry or Omagh in the weeks leading up to the August 1998 bomb outrage in the Co. Tyrone town. The revelation comes amid claims that British intelligence agency, MI5, did not deprive police of any anti-terrorism intelligence during their investigation into the Omagh bomb atrocity.

However, Northern Ireland’s police chief, Sir Hugh Orde, is still resisting pressure to confirm if the agency held back information months before the Real IRA massacred 29 people. His public refusal could heighten uncertainty over whether the August 1998 outrage could have been prevented, a Northern Ireland Policing Board representative claimed. The SDLP’s Alex Attwood said: “The failure to answer that question will not reassure people. “The truth of the matter is there may have been intelligence prior to the murders that wasn’t shared.

“We will never know if that might or might not have avoided that awful tragedy.” The allegations that MI5 failed to inform RUC Special Branch of the threat emerged during an investigation into an FBI agent who infiltrated the Real IRA.

Based on a tip off from American trucking company boss, David Rupert, who was working undercover within the dissident paramilitary grouping, three suspected paramilitaries were arrested by police in the Irish Republic in April 1998, but released without charge. Rupert had warned that paramilitaries based in County Donegal were planning a strike on either Omagh or Derry, but most likely Omagh, security sources had disclosed. At the time police in Northern Ireland were aware that a planned paramilitary organisation had been disrupted due to the MI5s tip off, it has been claimed. But sources said no trace could be found on their records of any intelligence from the security services that Omagh or Derry had been targeted. Police only became aware after detectives involved in the Omagh bomb inquiry spoke to Rupert and studied e-mail the agent had exchanged with his handlers in the FBI and MI5. He had been the central witness in the successful conviction of the Real IRA mastermind, Michael McKevitt, who was jailed for 20 years in 2003 for directing terrorism.

As the allegations ignited fresh controversy over Omagh, Mr. Orde faced questioning on the case at a meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board in North Belfast this week. Challenged by Mr. Attwood to confirm whether MI5 information was passed to police before the bombing, the chief constable insisted he would not stand over the accuracy of some news reports of the allegations. But he said: “It’s the view of the Senior Investigating Officer (Superintendent Norman Baxter) who I spoke to only two hours ago that the security services did not withhold intelligence that was relevant or would have progressed the Omagh inquiry.”

Sir Hugh also stressed that the dissident republican suspects investigated in April 1998 were from a different cell than those involved in the Omagh bomb plot. “There’s no evidence to link these two units, he said. He also confirmed that senior officers had met with the Omagh bomb victims’ families last week to brief them on the state of the inquiry. A press report of that meeting drew a “starker conclusion” than what was actually discussed, Sir Hugh said. One man has been accused of murdering 29 people in the Omagh atrocity. South Armagh electrician Sean Hoey, 36, denies any involvement in the attack.

Emphasising the levels of co-operation between his force and the Garda in the Irish Republic, the chief constable added that he was not prepared to go any further in public on the issue. “I will do anything that denies the families their right to a proper prosecution or those accused the right to a fair trial.” Mr. Attwood insisted what Sir Hugh had said that Sir Hugh had not answered the question put to him. “The chief constable did say that MI5 did share everything in respect of the murder inquiry, but the point of the question was their intelligence prior to the murders,” he said.

Derry Journal

Friday 3rd March 2006

NORMAN TEBBIT, former top hatchet man in the Thatcher cabinet, has claimed both Derry city and one of its most famous sons - Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness - have glorified terrorism. Mr. Tebbit - a onetime confidante of ex-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher –was in Brighton’s Grand Hotel when it was bombed by the IRA in 1984. His wife Margaret was paralysed in the bombing.

This week, at Westminster, during the Lords debate on the government’s Terrorism Bill, the 74-year-old peer contrasted the respective effects of Islamic and ” homegrown Northern Irish terrorism.” In his contribution to the discussion, Mr. Tebbit said he had “long been concerned that it has seemed impossible to take proceedings” against leading Irish republicans such as Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams who he accused of “glorifying terrorism”.

“We have all seen those two gentlemen standing at military-style funerals with hooded gunmen firing in celebration of the terrorist,” he said. “If that is not glorification of terrorism, it would be rather difficult to define what is.”

Turning to plans to include “grossly offensive” placards in the legislation, Mr. Tebbit asked: “What about the murals on the walls of Belfast and Londonderry which glorify both republican and loyalist terrorism? “Would the creators of those murals be likely to be found guilty of glorifying terrorism? Would it make any difference to the likelihood of their prosecution and conviction?”

BBC

Oleg Federoski was evicted from a hostel for asylum seekers

A Ukranian couple have been evicted from their accommodation after their application for asylum failed.

The police removed Oleg Federoski and his wife Elena from a hostel when the Home Office refused them permission to stay in Northern Ireland.

The Home Office said they could not comment on individual cases.

Mr Federoski said he did not know what he and his wife would do following the eviction. They left Ukraine before it became independent.

“I came here (Northern Ireland) because it was my dream,” he said.

“But now I find myself almost on the street, between bushes or cold dirty roads.

“I do not know what will come on Monday - during the weekend we will be with the Simon Community for a couple of nights.”

SDLP South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell has been helping the family with their case.

He said: “This is a very distressing case… these people have been evicted from their hostel.

“Their application for asylum has failed, but they are stateless.

“They left the Ukraine when it was still part of the Soviet Union, before it became an independent country, and technically they have forfeited rights to Ukrainian citizenship.”

The MP said the couple had been in Northern Ireland for four years and were now “caught between a rock and a hard place”.

“It is frightening that in the 21st century, the year 2006, that in a country relatively prosperous… we could treat people like this.”

Following a BBC interview with Mr McDonnell, he said his office had been inundated with offers of accommodation for the couple.

A south Belfast landlord has offered them a house to stay in over the next few weeks.

BBC

The Alliance leader has criticised the government for not living up to its commitment in the Good Friday Agreement to support integrated education.

Alliance supporters meet this weekend for their annual conference.

David Ford told Radio Ulster’s Inside Politics that denying funding for four new integrated schools was “bizarre”.

“When it’s part of the shared future policy it’s just completely bizarre for the department to say there are spaces in existing schools,” he said.

Earlier this week, Education Minister Angela Smith turned down plans for schools in Clogher Valley, Moira/Hillsborough, Saintfield and funding for an existing independent primary school in Ballycastle.

She said the new schools have been proposed for areas which already have surplus capacity.

Some Alliance Party members have said they will seek to have the decision overturned, and intend to propose an emergency resolution at the party conference.

Party vice-chair Michael Long said the government was leaving parents “stranded” and forcing their children “into segregated schools against their will”.

“They talk about parental choice, but yet are refusing to properly fund a sector which is heavily over-subscribed,” he said.

The party will also debate the political situation at the Dunadry Hotel on Saturday.

Members are expected to back the analysis that failing to resolve the deadlock will ensure “that division, dependency and apartheid policies continue to impact upon all in Northern Ireland”.

Larkspirit

Wednesday 4th

Fr Murphy was in tonight. I have not felt too bad today, although I notice the energy beginning to drain. But it is quite early yet. I got showered today and had my hair cut, which made me feel quite good. Ten years younger, the boys joke, but I feel twenty years older, the inevitable consequence of eight years of torture and imprisonment.

I am abreast with the news and view with utter disgust and anger the Reagan/Thatcher plot. It seems quite clear that they intend to counteract Russian expansionism with imperialist expansionism, to protect their vital interests they say.

What they mean is they covet other nations’ resources. They want to steal what they haven’t got and to do so (as the future may unfortunately prove) they will murder oppressed people and deny them their sovereignty as nations. No doubt Mr Haughey will toe the line in Ireland when Thatcher so demands.

Noticed a rarity today: jam with the tea, and by the way the Screws are glaring at the food. They seem more in need of it than my good self.

Irish Independent

Ministers and gardai shockedby sudden Love Ulster request

Tom Brady and Brian Dowling

GARDAI are to seriously consider allowing another attempt to hold a Love Ulster march through the centre of Dublin.

Ultimately public safety will determine if it should go ahead.

A request from the rally organisers yesterday to return to Dublin as soon as possible took the Government and gardai by surprise.

Ministers are anxious the democratic right to hold a march here should be upheld.

But they did not anticipate that a request would be made so soon after last Saturday’s riots.

The rally had to be called off after violent rioting erupted on the streets and 14 people, including six gardai, were injured.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Justice Minister Michael McDowell both said that a decision on the march would be made by the Garda authorities and they did not have a role to play in reaching that decision.

Government sources added that the primary issues of public order and public safety were best left to the gardai to make an assessment.

The question of issuing licences for potentially difficult marches or parades had arisen a few years ago but had been rejected.

Garda management said they had not yet received a “formal” request from the Love Ulster organisers but would consider it fully against the background of the tension that had arisen as a result of last weekend’s incidents.

The timing of the march is likely to be a key factor in reaching a decision on whether it should be held here.

Garda security advisers would be unlikely to sanction another march in the coming weeks because of the fallout from the violence.

Senior officers want to complete their inquiries, establish if any of the violence was orchestrated, identify the reasons for the rioting and pinpoint what lessons can be learnt for policing future demonstrations.

Mr McDowell has already indicated that policing for other city centre events, such as the St Patrick’s Day parade and the 1916 commemorations will have to be reviewed in wake of the trouble.