SAOIRSE32

Sinn Féin

Published: 7 March, 2006

Banbridge Sinn Féin Councillor Dessie Ward has today detailed the latest loyalist death threat against him after the PSNI arrived at his home yesterday evening (Monday 5th March) to deliver notification of the threat.

Speaking today Mr Ward said:

“Yesterday evening the PSNI arrived at my home to inform me that my life was under threat from unnamed loyalist paramilitaries. I was not home at the time and they left a sheet of paper which explained that loyalist paramilitaries are currently targetting me.

“This is the latest threat against my life and comes after a more general one in September of last year. It appears that this latest threat is more specific.

“Since election to Banbridge Council there has been a systematic campaign of vilification directed towards me by a number of unionist councillors. These same councillors must now condemn the threats against my life.” ENDS

RTÉ

07 March 2006 13:41

The High Court in Belfast has reserved judgement on whether or not a leading loyalist, Ihab Shoukri, can be returned to prison.

This morning, counsel for Mr Shoukri said that loyalists arrested in a Belfast bar last week were planning to end all UDA crime and violence.

When heavily armed police stormed the Alexander Bar in north Belfast last Thursday, they disrupted what they claim had been a rehearsal for a show of strength by the UDA and UFF.

Yesterday, 11 men where charged in connection with the incident, although Ihab Shoukri, an alleged senior figure in the UDA who was arrested in the bar, was not one of the accused.

This morning in the Belfast High Court the PSNI Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, sought to have Mr Shoukri sent back to prison for bail violations.

During that hearing, Mr Shoukri’s lawyer claimed that the loyalists arrested in the bar were meeting to plan an end to all UDA crime and violence.

Arthur Harvey QC, claimed Mr Shoukri had been downstairs in the bar when police fired 70 CS gas canisters into an upstairs room.

Mr Harvey said it was ironic that the police believed that some sort of show of strength was being planned, when in fact they were attending a meeting which was to announce the end of all UDA criminal activities.

Judgement in the case was reserved until tomorrow and Mr Shoukri was allowed to remain free on bail until then.

BN.ie

07/03/2006 - 14:25:01

The National Museum of Ireland has announced it has acquired an original copy of the 1916 Proclamation of Independence.

The family of Mr Joseph McCrossan, who worked for many years as librarian in the Oireachtas, have donated the copy.

Speaking at the announcement, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O’Donoghue said: “I am very pleased that the National Museum of Ireland has acquired this valuable document. It will help interpret, in a very real way, the new 1916 exhibition being built by the museum.”

“We are deeply honoured to be presented with this document, which represents one of the most important historical documents in modern Irish history,” Dr Wallace, Director of The National Museum said.

“We are extremely grateful to the McCrossan family for their co-operation in making this significant document available to the National Museum and to the State”

Research has proven it difficult to state how many Proclamations survived the Easter Rising but they are of great rarity.

In recent years, some copies surfaced from private collections but were subsequently sold for large sums of money.

This copy donated to the National Museum has been examined in great detail and there is no reason to doubt its authenticity.

Michael Kenny, Keeper at the National Museum of Ireland confirmed: “It is in good condition and comes with a good provenance.

“The proclamation was picked up in O’Connell street in 1916 by Mary McCrossan, the paternal grandmother of the McCrossans, who hid the document in the lining of her hat to protect it.”

Daily Ireland

Editor: Colin O’Carroll
07/03/2006

The attack on a nationalist taxi driver in north Belfast on Saturday night and the subsequent threat telephoned to this newspaper a day later by a man claiming to represent the Red Hand Defenders, a flag-of-convenience for various loyalist killer gangs, is an extremely worrying development for the whole nationalist community.

Despite the death threat being directed at “former IRA prisoners”, the nationalist community knows that in reality this means anyone unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, including any Protestant mistaken for a Catholic.

The reason for this latest outrage from loyalism appears to be the recent raid on a loyalist bar in north Belfast during a UDA rehearsal for a ‘show of strength’, during which the PSNI fired teargas into the bar before storming it ‘SAS-style’ according to some witnesses. The reaction of loyalist paramilitarism to what they perceive as the temerity of any challenge to their gangsterism while they masquerade as protectors of their community has been typical.

What will be interesting now will be to observe the reaction of the British and Irish governments, the PSNI, the wider unionist community and last but not least, unionist politicians who purport to lead that community. So far that reaction has been less than reassuring to say the least.

Apart from some sweeping condemnation from DUP MP Nigel Dodds, the silence from others, particularly his party leader, who claims also to be the leader of unionism, has been deafening.

The PSNI has also been strangely silent about how it views this threat and how it plans to deal with it. For those with conspiracy theory mindsets, the thought arises as to why the raid on the Alexandra Bar was carried out in such a highly visible and gung-ho manner, if not to provoke a reaction and add even more pressure to the political process. The governments also have been staying schtum. One wonders if there would be such a calm response if this was a republican grouping threatening to go back to violence.

BBC

Brendan McFarlane escaped from the Maze Prison in 1983

A republican is to go on trial over the kidnapping of a businessman in the Irish Republic more than 20 years ago.

The Court of Appeal in Dublin upheld an appeal by the DPP against a High Court order stopping Brendan McFarlane’s trial going ahead.

McFarlane, from Jamaica Street in north Belfast, has been on bail since 1998 accused of falsely imprisoning Don Tidey in 1983.

McFarlane was one of 38 IRA prisoners who escaped from the Maze jail in 1983.

He was later caught in Amsterdam and extradited to Northern Ireland.

He was released on parole from the Maze in 1997.

McFarlane was arrested by gardai in 1998 and charged with the unlawful possession of a firearm and falsely imprisoning supermarket chief executive Don Tidy near Ballinamore, County Leitrim in 1983.

However, his trial collapsed after gardai lost items including a milk carton, a plastic container and a cooking pot - all of which, it was claimed, had his fingerprints on them.

The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed that decision and on Tuesday the Supreme Court by a four to one majority ruled that the former IRA member should face a retrial.

The presiding judge, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, said the result of the forensic analysis of the three missing items had been preserved and photographed allowing for independent and meaningful comparison of fingerprints.

BN.ie

**See also Break-out 1983

07/03/2006 - 12:51:30

The Maze Prison escapee Brendan ‘Bik’ McFarlane is set to face trial in connection with the kidnapping of a supermarket boss in 1983 after a Supreme Court judgement went against him today.

The former IRA member was arrested by gardaí in 1998 and charged with possession of a firearm with intention to endanger life, unlawful possession of a firearm, and falsely imprisoning supermarket chief executive Don Tidy near Ballinamore, County Leitrim.

His original trial at the Special Criminal Court collapsed because three exhibits discovered at the scene allegedly holding his fingerprints – a milk carton, a plastic container and a cooking pot – were lost by gardaí.

But at the Supreme Court in Dublin today, Mr Justice Adrien Hardiman, presiding, overturned that decision following an appeal from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

He said he was allowing the appeal by the DPP because the result of the forensic analysis of the three items had been preserved and photographed.

“A significantly different situation would arise if this independent comparison were not possible,” he said.

“No attempt has been made in the present case to suggest that meaningful comparison is not possible, using the photographs, or that any additional advantage might have accrued to the defendant (McFarlane) on the basis of a comparison with the actual mark made on the item as opposed to photographs of them.”

The only member of the five-judge court to dissent from the ruling was Mr Justice Nicholas Donnelly, who upheld the Special Criminal Court’s ruling in his separate judgment.

BN.ie

**Here’s a good one if you like fairy tales

07/03/2006 - 11:27:26

Loyalists arrested during a raid on a Belfast bar were meeting to plan an end to all Ulster Defence Association crime and violence, a court was told today.

A barrister made the claim during a scathing attack on Northern Ireland Chief Constable Hugh Orde’s attempt to have alleged senior UDA man Ihab Shoukri sent back to prison.

The bid to have his bail revoked came after Shoukri (aged 31) was arrested along with 16 other men when police stormed a pub in the north of the city during a suspected dress rehearsal for a paramilitary show of strength.

Although 11 of the men have been charged and remanded in custody, Shoukri was released while further inquiries were carried out.

At Belfast Crown Court today, the judge was asked to examine if he was in breach of bail conditions imposed while he waited to go on trial for membership of the outlawed UDA.

But Arthur Harvey QC insisted his client had been downstairs in the Alexandra Bar in the Tiger’s Bay district when a specialist police unit fired up to 70 CS gas canisters into the building in a bid to capture those at a meeting in an upstairs room.

He told the court: “It’s somewhat ironic that the plea had been advanced by police that the individuals in the upstairs bar were involved in some sort of show of strength.

“In fact they were attending a meeting, the result of which was to announce the end of all criminal activities by the UDA.

“Police have documents to prove that.”

Belfast Telegraph

How did PSNI miss vital evidence over the horrific killing of two teenagers? Families of teen victims demand PSNI answers

By Chris Thornton
07 March 2006

THE SDLP has called on the PSNI to explain the reasons why important forensic evidence was undiscovered and unused for six years after the murders of two teenagers.

Upper Bann Assembly member Dolores Kelly said questions will be raised at the Policing Board about the investigation into the loyalist killing of David McIlwaine and Andrew Robb.

Police recently informed the families of the two victims that forensic evidence - including DNA evidence - linking a suspect to the murdered boys had turned up during a review. David McIlwaine’s father Paul, who is due to meet detectives about the case today, has asked why the evidence was not acted upon sooner.

An initial review of the case by the Police Ombudsman found that detectives acted professionally, but Mr McIlwaine has asked for the case to be re-examined in light of the recent revelations.

Last November - before the new evidence came to light - two men were charged with murdering the teenagers outside Tandragee in February 2000. But prosecutors had concluded twice before that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a case.

Mrs Kelly, who met Mr McIlwaine at Stormont yesterday, said her party will ask the PSNI to explain why the evidence did not resolve the case six years ago.

“David McIlwaine and Andrew Robb were savagely butchered by the UVF,” she said. “The family were assured that everything would be done to bring the killers to justice.”

She said it was “good that the new senior investigating officer has come clean” but asked what police had been doing with the case for six years.

“The McIlwaine family have been put through hell and yet they have never given up on justice. They deserve the full truth and the PSNI must push ahead with prosecutions now.

“The SDLP will be raising this case at the Policing Board.”

Belfast Telegraph

By Chris Thornton
07 March 2006

For almost eight years, MI5 kept intelligence about the 1998 Real IRA atrocity to itself. Before the agency takes over as the senior spying organisation in Ulster, it may have to explain why

Michael Gallagher can picture the scene, days after the Omagh bomb claimed the life of his son, Aidan, and 29 others, including a woman pregnant with twins. “Prince Charles was walking down the street through the rubble, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, and all these other people,” Mr Gallagher said in his soft, insistent way.

“At the same time people in MI5 would have sat like the rest of us watching it but didn’t have the presence of mind to tell the senior investigating officer what they knew. What happened?”

It’s a question that will not be answered easily. Nor is it the only question awaiting an explanation about MI5’s previously undisclosed link to the intelligence failures before and after Omagh. With the agency due to take over intelligence primacy in Northern Ireland next year, the Government will be asking what the effects will be on that important transition.

Sir Hugh Orde indicated to the Policing Board last week that information withheld by MI5 - concerning a possible plot to bomb Omagh - did not handicap the bombing investigation. Mr Gallagher and some of the other Omagh relatives are not reassured: they feel that call would have been better made when the investigation was fresh, not nearly eight years later.

Others scrutinising the intelligence transition have their concerns. They note that MI5 failed to pass on the information to the police when the RUC was nominally in charge of intelligence gathering, and wonder what will happen when MI5 is in charge. “If that’s what happened under police primacy, it’s going to be worse when police don’t’ have primacy,” said Alex Attwood, an SDLP member of the Policing Board.

It has now been 13 days since Sam Kinkaid, the outgoing PSNI Assistant Chief Constable, told the Omagh families that detectives had discovered a potentially crucial scrap of information that had been passed to MI5 four months before the bombing, but never reached the RUC.

The information was discovered when Detective Superintendent Norman Baxter, the man currently in charge of the Omagh investigation, recently travelled to America to find out what David Rupert knows.

Rupert, the 6ft 5ins American truck driver who infiltrated dissident republicans for the FBI, knows a lot about the people who bombed Omagh. He spent months in the company of Real IRA and Continuity IRA members, and his evidence sent Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt to jail in the Republic.

Although an FBI operative, Rupert’s adventures in Ireland were handled in part by MI5. He communicated with the British agency by email and among the information retained by the FBI, Superintendent Baxter found the possible Omagh warning. In April, 1998, four months before the bombing, Rupert had warned MI5 of a plot to bomb “Derry or Omagh” with a Vauxhall Cavalier car. The particular plot he referred to was foiled.

The Cavalier was significant because it was the model of car later used in the attack - a model apparently preferred by dissident bombmakers because the suspension could be modified to disguise the weight of the load it was carrying.

Last week, Sir Hugh Orde was asked to address the issues in front of the Policing Board. He said he was constrained about what he could say, because Jonesborough man Sean Hoey (36), is still awaiting trial for the bombing.

He did not comment in detail about how the intelligence could have been acted upon before the bombing, although he noted that with hindsight it is easier to see significant details like the type of car and potential target town than it is in advance, when hundreds of pieces of information are being assessed and little is known for certain.

He made one point forcefully. “It’s the view of the senior investigating officer - 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,” he said.

Sir Hugh did not say nothing was withheld, although it was subsequently reported that he had. Information was withheld, but Sir Hugh argued that it was not relevant to the investigation. The people Rupert warned about, he said, had been involved in a different dissident IRA cell from the one that bombed Omagh.

But Sir Hugh’s answer begged further questions. Why, for example, if the material was not relevant, had four senior PSNI officers met the Omagh families to brief them about it? And in 1998, shouldn’t it have been the detective in charge of the investigation - not MI5 - who decided how relevant the warning was?

A crucial point is that the evidence was not passed for years afterwards, despite ample opportunities to do so.

The RUC reviewed the Omagh investigation and was not told. A Policing Board review was not told, in spite of a request to MI5. Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan has been aware of Rupert’s alert for several years, but will not say whether she found out from MI5 or the Garda, who got access to the FBI emails before McKevitt’s trial.

“The point is the police didn’t have sight of it,” said Mr Attwood. “If that’s what happened under police primacy, it’s going to be worse when police don’t’ have primacy.

“That situation is going to be compounded when MI5 is handed primacy.

“How can police be confident that in the new order they will see everything?”

MI5 is keeping mum. The Home Office and NIO have repeatedly declined requests from this newspaper to talk to MI5 about the intelligence transition.

The Omagh families have asked to meet Eliza Manningham-Buller, the director general of MI5, as well as Sir Hugh, about the consequences of the Rupert information.

The Omagh relatives have become a powerful lobby group. They won unprecedented funding from the Government for a civil case against suspected bombers, and they became the ultimate arbiter in the dispute between the Ombudsman and Sir Ronnie Flanagan. They may be difficult for MI5 to ignore.

Wanganui Chronicle - NZ

By JARED DENNIS
08.03.2006

AFTER witnessing an IRA bombing that killed a mother and her two children, Anton Forde quit Sinn Fein and gave peace a go. The Wanganui teacher, who has worked with the likes of the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Bono, will be speaking at the Parihaka Peace Festival next weekend.

Living in Northern Ireland playing professional rugby, Mr Forde said he saw the senseless nature of the Catholic versus Protestant disharmony firsthand. “We would go to church on a Sunday, then we would go down the pub afterwards for a drink and my cousins would be talking about killing people,” he said.

The mother killed in the 1998 IRA (Irish Republican Army) bombing that motivated him to quit the Sinn Fein political party was supposedly targeted because she was dating a Protestant. After being told he had to stop playing for Irish European Cup rugby team Leinster, due to too many concussions, Mr Forde taught in an Irish Catholic School.

The priest at the school, Father Kevin O’Shea, was involved in the mediation process between the IRA, Sinn Fein and the British Government and Mr Forde quickly became involved. “I was 100kg and couldn’t play rugby anymore so he was keen to take me along for protection,” he said. “We would walk into some crazy places.

“There would be the IRA on one side and the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) on the other and they were all armed. “And there we were, a hippy and a priest.” This process lead the 33-year-old religious studies teacher to meet many of the leading players in the eventual peace settlement, including Gerry Adams, John Hulme and Martin McGuiness, along with leading IRA activists and British parliamentarians.

After seeing how dialogue can help to ease conflict Mr Forde said he has always seen the pursuit of peaceful resolution as essential to solving world issues. Other situations he has been involved in that he attributes to his desire to speak about peace include: being present in Jerusalem in 2000 when the first suicide bombing in the West Bank for 13 years occurred; travelling to Central America where he witnessed first-hand atrocities of the CIA wars on various Central American nations; and being present at the execution of reformed gang head and Noble Peace award nominee Stanley “Tookie” Williams in California.

“You have these special times in your life,” he said about the situation that occurred outside San Quentin prison at the time Mr Williams’ execution. “I wouldn’t call it a highlight, but it was pretty moving. “These big tough looking Crips guys all had tears rolling down their cheeks. “It was a lot more inspiring seeing that, than seeing them with baseball bats in their hands.”

Mr Forde’s theory on peace is a simple one. “Treat others as you want to be treated. “It’s a pretty simple philosophy, though some might think it is quite airy fairy, but it’s not brain surgery.” If there is one thing he wants people to think about it is the following quote from Mahatma Ghandi: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Daily Record

Ex-soldier is still wanted by police

By Steven Ventura
7 March 2006

AN IRA Scot jailed for six-and-a-half years for a bomb attack on his old army base is back on the streets after just 27 months in prison.

Former soldier Michael Dickson, 41, who was once Scotland’s most wanted man, was jailed for a 1996 mortar attack on barracks in Osnabruck in Germany.

After six years on the run, he was finally arrested in the Czech Republic driving a lorry-load of contraband cigarettes and tobacco.

At his 2003 trial in Celle, Germany, Greenock-born Dickson, nicknamed Dixie, was found guilty of attempted murder and setting off an explosion.

It was bungled and no one was injured.

He was released from Celle maximum security prison last Friday.

Last night, his whereabouts were unknown but he has been in contact with Republican group the West of Scotland Band Alliance to thank them for their support.

He said: “I would like to put on record my sincere thanks for all their support over the last three years.”

His release, though, could be short-lived as he is still wanted in connection with other terror atrocities.

Police said he is a suspect in the 1996 car bombing of the Army’s Ulster HQ at Thiep-val Barracks in Lisburn in which a soldier died and 34 civilians were injured.

He is also wanted over the attempted murder of IRA informer Martin McGartland on Tyneside in 1999.

The IRA claimed responsibility for firing three homemade mortar shells at the Osnabruck barracks.

They could have caused massive casualties but just one of the devices went off.

Dickson rented a flat and vehicles for the attack. The court heard he was a member of a five-strong IRA active service unit.

Dickson served as an HGV driver with the 44 Field Support Squadron, 35 th regiment Royal Engineers.

He became an Irish citizen when he married Ann O’Driscoll in 1992 and they lived in Port Glasgow.

Dickson worked for delivery firm DHL in Paisley for several years but transferred to their Belfast depot when he split with his wife in 1995.

His mother Kathleen, who ran a guest house in Hillhead, Glasgow, also fled abroad after the hunt for her son began.

Larkspirit

Saturday 7th

I received a most welcome note tonight from Bernie, my sister. old Bernie. I love her and think she’s the greatest.

I am now convinced that the authorities intend to implement strict isolation soon, as I am having trouble in seeing my solicitor. I hope I’m wrong about the isolation, but we’ll see.

It’s only that I’d like to remain with the boys for as long as possible for many reasons. If I’m isolated, I will simply conquer it.

A priest was in today, somewhat pleasant, and told me about Brendan O Cathaoir’s article in The Irish Times during the week, which I saw. We had a bit of discussion on certain points, which, of course, were to him contentious. He was cordial in his own practised way, purely tactical, of course, and at the same time he was most likely boiling over inside, thinking of the reference to this week’s AP/RN (February 28th issue) calling him a collaborating middle-class nationalist, or appropriate words to that effect.

He is too, says I, and I sympathise with those unfortunate sons of God who find themselves battling against the poverty, disease, corruption, death and inhumanities of the missions…

I am 61 kgs today, going down. I’m not troubled by hunger pangs, nor paranoiac about anything pertaining to food, but, by God, the food has improved here. I thought I noticed that during the last hunger-strike. Well, there is a lot at stake here.

I got the Irish News today, but there’s nothing in it, that’s why I got it.

I’m looking forward to seeing the comrades at Mass tomorrow, all the younger looking faces, minus the beards, moustaches, long rambling untamed hair matted in thick clumps.

One thing is sure, that awful stage, of the piercing or glazed eyes, the tell-tale sign of the rigours of torture, won’t be gone - if it is ever removed. I wonder is it even conceivable that it could be erased from the mind?

We got a new comrade during the week. Isn’t it inspiring the comrades who keep joining us? I read what Jennifer said in court. (On being sentenced, Jennifer McCann said: ‘I am a Republican prisoner of war and at the moment my comrade Bobby Sands is on hunger-strike to defend my rights as a political prisoner.’) I was touched and proud, she is my comrade.

I’ve been thinking of Mary Doyle and Ellen McGuigan and all the rest of the girls in Armagh. How can I forget them?

The Screws are staring at me perplexed. Many of them hope (if their eyes tell the truth) that I will die. If need be, I’ll oblige them, but my God they are fools. Oscar Wilde did not do justice to them for I believe they are lower than even he thought. And I may add there is only one thing lower than a Screw and that is a Governor. And in my experience the higher one goes up that disgusting ladder they call rank, or position, the lower one gets…

It’s raining. I’m not cold, my spirits are well, and I’m still getting some smokes — decadence, well sort of, but who’s perfect. Bad for your health. Mar dheas anois, Oíche Mhaith.

Breaking News.ie

07/03/2006 - 07:50:23

A long-awaited move to outlaw the use of mobile phones by motorists will reportedly be included in legislation due to be published in the coming weeks.

Reports this morning said the new Road Safety Bill would include measures to impose two penalty points on motorists caught using hand-held mobiles while driving.

Research shows that using mobile phones while driving significantly increases the risk of a crash.

However, the practice is not illegal in Ireland at present and a garda can only prosecute if he believes the motorist is driving carelessly as a result of using his or her phone.

BN.ie

07/03/2006 - 06:53:58

Animal rights activists today demanded an end to travelling circuses touring across the island of Ireland.

Kicking off the cross-border campaign against alleged cruelty, director of Animal Defenders International Tim Phillips said the culture of violence had to stop.

“Travelling from place to place, week after week, and setting up on what land is available, animal circuses can never adequately meet the needs of the animals in their care.

“And then there is the culture of violence that we have so often caught on video. We are asking to stop the beatings, confinement and deprivation.”

He claimed around 150 animals are touring around Ireland with travelling circuses.

The campaign, run jointly by Animal Defenders International and the Animal Rights Action Network, will begin in Belfast today before heading to Dublin, Limerick and Clare, urging locals to help bring about the end of animal circuses.

A giant ADI billboard van will be touring Ireland highlighting the suffering of circus animals.

BN.ie

07/03/2006 - 08:38:43

A 24-year-old man arrested in connection with the murder of Donna Cleary in north Dublin over the weekend has died in Garda custody.

The man, who is believed to be from the Finglas area of Dublin, was among five people arrested in Kildare on Sunday night in connection with the fatal shooting of the 22-year-old mother of one.

Gardaí said today that he complained about headaches while in custody yesterday and was seen by a doctor three times.

He was subsequently taken to Beaumont Hospital, but was later brought back to Coolock Garda Station for further questioning.

He fell ill again this morning and was pronounced dead shortly after being taken back to Beaumont by ambulance at 3am.

Two senior gardaí, one from outside the Dublin region, have been appointed to investigate the death.

Meanwhile, the other three men and the woman arrested in connection with the murder investigation remain in Garda custody.