SAOIRSE32

Larkspirit

Sunday 15th

Frank has now joined me on the hunger-strike. I saw the boys at Mass today which I enjoyed. Fr Toner said Mass.

Again it was a pretty boring day. I had a bit of trouble to get slopped out tonight and to get water.

I have a visit tomorrow and it will be good to see my family. I am also looking forward to the walk in the fresh air, it will tire me out, but I hope the weather is good. I must go.

Belfast Telegraph

By Jonathan McCambridge
15 March 2006

An alleged leading figure in the north Belfast UDA could have been put at risk of assassination after details of his gambling habits were made public, a court was today told.

Andre Shoukri (27), of Albertbridge Road in Carrickfergus, who is facing charges of blackmail, intimidation and money laundering, gambled up to £25,000 on single occasions, Belfast High Court heard during a bail application.

The hearing heard the charges relate to incidents at Bonapartes Bar on the Cavehill Road in 2004.

Crown counsel David Hopley told the court that Shoukri and a co-accused had approached the bar manager, known as Witness A, and demanded £1,000 a week.

Counsel said that Shoukri had agreed on a reduced amount of £200 a week which was paid to him by cheque and later by cash.

Mr Hopley also said that Shoukri was receiving a “split of money” from gaming machines which were in Bonapartes Bar.

He said Witness A was “effectively thrown out of her bar by the actions of this group” and that she contacted the police who recorded telephone calls and also seized papers as part of their investigation.

Mr Hopley told the court that in June 2005 Shoukri had directed Witness A to lodge a cheque in Bonapartes business account which was from Stanleybet Bookmakers for £6,000.

He said: “The cheque was put in on the basis that it was for a function which never occurred, effectively the money was being laundered.”

He said that an investigation by police discovered that Shoukri had bet £863,000 at the Stanleybet Bookmakers on the York Road between April 2003 and August 2005.

Defence counsel Arthur Harvey QC said his client had obtained a high profile through the “deliberate leak of information to the press” after legal proceedings had begun.

Mr Harvey said that the leaking of details about his client had potentially earmarked him “as a candidate for assassination from individuals who believe his behaviour is not what they demand or require”.

Lord Justice Nicholson adjourned the application, but added: “I must say that from what I have been told the chances of this man getting bail are not high.”

Belfast Telegraph

By Brian Walker
15 March 2006

Peter Hain has warned MPs he may wind up the Assembly by the summer if the parties fail to make political progress soon.

“We can’t keep the Assembly going - we can’t have a meaningless election to an Assembly that can’t exist,” he told MPs at Northern Ireland questions, shortly before he departed for St Patrick’s Day talks and celebrations in Washington.

Showing impatience with the parties, he publicly ruled out for the first time accepting the SDLP’s plan for a temporary executive of appointed members or existing ministers, reporting to the Assembly.

“There’s no use asking me to back a policy when he hasn’t persuaded any other party to support it,” he told the SDLP’s Eddie McGrady.

Mr Hain challenged Ian Paisley’s hard line against Sinn Fein, when the DUP leader called on him to be prepared to say the republicans should be excluded from government.

The Secretary of State told Mr Paisley: “If you’re saying that Sinn Fein is not committed to a peaceful path, you are not looking at the evidence in front of us.

“Are you asking me to bar an important section of the community? I can’t agree with that. Sooner or later your party needs to talk to Sinn Fein, the second largest party.”

However he agreed with shadow secretary David Lidington that no one should secure a place in government until they accept the legitimacy of the police and courts.

Also ruling out joint authority with the Republic if the Assembly fails - “nobody’s talking about it” - he added: “I’m not anticipating failure. I think there’s a real prospect of getting the Assembly up and running.”

At PM’s Questions, Tony Blair and Tory leader David Cameron crossed swords over a supposed threat of academic selection for 11 year olds that critics fear lies behind the Government’s reforms for English secondary schools.

>>Click here

In this issue:

1. RUC/PSNI to buy hi-tech Taser guns
2. Bid to switch from armoured vehicles is hit by attacks
3. Belfast court refuses to revoke loyalist’s bail
4. Weekend of trouble in Derry’s Shantallow
5. Evidence destroyed by RUC ‘to protect source’
6. British regiment to receive ‘massive redundancy payments’

:::u.tv:::

Irish American politicians are alarmed about MI5 assuming the lead role in intelligence gathering in Northern Ireland next year, it was claimed tonight.

By:Press Association

After meeting members of the Friends of Ireland lobby group in the US Congress, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan said he was impressed by their grasp of the issue.

“At our meeting we were struck by how well informed and concerned leading Irish American Congressmen were about Tony Blair`s plans to give the faceless men of MI5 an enlarged role in the north (of Ireland),” the Foyle MP said in Washington.

“They saw clearly through the spin being peddled by Peter Hain that this was compatible with Patten.

“They realise, in fact, that it was turning Patten on its head and they committed to raise their concerns with the British Government.

“Patten put in place a Police Ombudsman and the Policing Board to keep a close and watchful eye on the police.

“Handing intelligence gathering over to MI5 takes this vital work beyond their reach.

“It means creating a force outside the police force of faceless men who cannot be held to real account.”

The SDLP and Sinn Fein have been highly critical of plans to let MI5 take the lead role in the running of agents and informers in Northern Ireland.

Mr Durkan has argued it waters down police reforms because the intelligence agency, unlike the Police Service of Northern Ireland, is not accountable to Northern Ireland`s Policing Board or the Police Ombudsman.

The proposal is contained in a Northern Ireland omnibus Bill currently winding its way through the House of Commons which also promises to transfer policing and justice powers from Westminster to a future administration at Stormont.

During a debate on the legislation in Westminster on Monday, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain insisted the move to give MI5 supremacy was designed to bring the province into line with the rest of the UK.

“Modern terrorism is an international phenomenon which Northern Ireland needs to be protected from,” he told MPs.

Mr Hain said the police would retain control over operational matters but he added: “We cannot address national security on a regional basis.”

The Northern Ireland Secretary said the change reflected the increasing normalisation of life, security and politics in Northern Ireland.

Mr Durkan said: “Irish American Congressmen saw that this would be bad for law enforcement and bad for public confidence and gave strong backing to our campaign to have this retrograde ruse stopped.”

Among the Congressmen Mr Durkan met were New York Republican Representative Peter King, Massachusetts Democrat Representative Richie Neal and Californian Republican Representative Elton Gallegly.

BBC

Leading loyalist Andre Shoukri was applying for bail

The police have been accused of setting up leading loyalist Andre Shoukri for assasination by leaking details of his alleged massive gambling habit.

The claim was made by a lawyer for 28-year-old Shoukri when he applied for bail on charges of blackmail, intimidation and money laundering.

A Crown lawyer said Shoukri had gambled £863,000 in a north Belfast bookmakers between April 2003 and last August.

The bail application in the High Court was adjourned.

This was so the defence can be given transcripts of police interviews with Shoukri before he was charged last November.

However, Lord Justice Nicholson said: “I may say that from what I have been told the chances of this man getting bail are not high.”

Shoukri’s lawyer said the leaking by police of the alleged gambling figure was calculated to deny his client the beginnings of a fair trial and ear-mark him as a potential candidate for assassination.

Earlier, the Crown alleged that Shoukri, who has been in custody since last November, was receiving £200 a week for allowing a bar on the Cavehill Road to remain open.

It was allegeded he was also getting between £300 and £400 a week from the bar’s gaming machines.

This week we are appealing to all our subscribers to join us in reminding the British and US Governments that the retention in the British Army of the two soldiers who murdered Peter Mc Bride is an issue that will not go away. Jean Mc Bride has asked supporters to take five minutes this week to email the the following questions (copy-paste-send all this week):

-to the British Embassy in Washington where Northern Secretary Peter Hain MP will be staying on Friday night

email PAT@britainusa.com cc to Andy.Pike@fco.gov.uk and/or phone the embassy 1202 3670464

Dear Secretary of State Peter Hain MP,

Your government recently refused the request of the family of Peter Mc Bride for a meeting. Why? You dismiss soldiers who smoke cannabis but not those convicted of murdering Irish teenagers. Why? You call on others not to shield murderers but your government does precisely that. Why?

Supporters of the Mc Bride family may wish to also remind the British Secretary of State Peter Hain MP of the enclosed Early Day Motion (EDM - a form of parliamentary petition) which has now been signed by 51 Labour, Liberal Democrat, Plaid Cymru, Conservative, Respect and SDLP MPs in the House of Commons and which calls for the automatic dismissal from the armed forces of all human rights violators. This EDM, tabled by Mark Durkan MP, emerged from the launch of the PFC End Impunity Campaign. The list of 51 MPs is also attached.

IMPUNITY IN THE MILITARY
23.01.2006

Durkan, Mark
That this House welcomes the growing consensus that defence of the international rule of law requires maintenance of the strictest standards for military and enforcement agencies at all levels of the chain of command; deplores those regimes that routinely permit those found guilty of serious crimes to evade justice or resume their military careers after a short sentence; believes that a culture of impunity inevitably erodes military discipline and undermines any peacekeeping role the military is required to undertake; further believes that the armed forces should be an example in this regard and should ensure its disciplinary system is beyond criticism; and urges the Government to affirm that human rights abusers, killers, rapists and bullies are permanently excluded from military service and to restore the certainty that any member of the armed services having been convicted by a court of the most serious of crimes such as murder, rape or torture shall be dismissed from service and may not resume a service career.

Durkan, Mark
Humble, Joan
Teather, Sarah
Dobbin, Jim
Taylor, David
Bottomley, Peter
Jones, Lynne
Caton, Martin
Corbyn, Jeremy
Cryer, Ann
Dismore, Andrew
Devine, Jim
Purchase, Ken
Hopkins, Kelvin
Jackson, Glenda
Cohen, Harry
Moon, Madeleine
Cable, Vincent
Clapham, Michael
Dean, Janet
Drew, David
Anderson, Janet
Leech, John
Lepper, David
Abbott, Diane
Williams, Betty
Llwyd, Elfyn
McDonnell, John
Flynn, Paul
Hancock, Mike
Hodgson, Sharon
Pugh, John
Keetch, Paul
Burden, Richard
Etherington, Bill
Vis, Rudi
Williams, Hywel
Anderson, David
Howarth, David
Simpson, Alan
Harvey, Nick
Stunell, Andrew
Hemming, John
Illsley, Eric
McGrady, Eddie
Galloway, George
McDonnell, Alasdair
Opik, Lembit
Younger-Ross, Richard
Rogerson, Daniel
Swinson, Jo
————–

-to the White House where Jean Mc Bride is not on the invitation list

email president@whitehouse.gov cc to Mitchel Reiss at breiss861@yahoo.com

and/or tel the White House switchboard 1202 4561414

Dear President Bush,

your administration awarded a $293 million security contract in Iraq to a company whose CEO, Tim Spicer has repeatedly justified the murder of Peter Mc Bride. Why? Tim Spicer, gun runner, mercenary and former CO of the Scots Guards in N. Belfast is now profiting from the war in Iraq despite the objections of many members of the US Congress and Senate. Why? Would you be concerned if the Irish Government gave a security contract to an individual who repeatedly and publicly justified the murder of US citizens?

For extensive background on the Mc Bride case and the Aegis /Spicer contract see www.patfinucanecentre.org

Please delete all other PFC email addresses and replace with info@patfinucanecentre.org

Daily Ireland

By Connla Young
15/03/2006

Health chiefs were yesterday again urged to develop an all-Ireland strategy to deal with the island’s spiralling suicide crisis.
The call comes as fears grow that last year’s suicide rate in the North will exceed the 2004 figure of 146. Figures obtained by Daily Ireland show that, by the end of the third quarter of last year, 127 people died as a result of suicide.
Health chiefs are currently in the process of collating a final figure for last year. This is to be revealed in the coming weeks.
South of the border, 282 people are registered as having died as a result of suicide in the first three quarters of last year.
Calls for an all-Ireland strategy coincided with the first meeting of the National Forum on Suicide Prevention, which focuses on suicide only in the South. The forum met in Dublin yesterday.
Phil McTaggart, who helps run the Belfast-based Public Initiative for the Prevention of Suicide and Self-Harm, last night demanded the establishment of an all-Ireland strategy to deal with the issue. Mr McTaggart’s 17-year-old son Philip took his own life in 2003.
Health chiefs on both sides of the border have provisionally estimated that around 600 people took their own lives in Ireland last year. More than 11,000 people were treated for deliberate self-harm at accident and emergency clinics.
Mr McTaggart’s call came as direct-rule minister Shaun Woodward prepared to announce a suicide-prevention package later this month.
The Belfast man said: “I have been to see 15 families whose children have tried to take their own lives since the start of the year.
“Four young people have taken their own lives in north Belfast since the start of the year. No matter how much Shaun Woodward pledges, it won’t be enough. If he gives just £1 million or £2 million, it’s just a drop in the ocean.
“There’s no doubt that we need an all-Ireland strategy. Over 600 people a year are taking their own lives in this country. We have the highest rate of suicide in Europe, and a higher rate of young people dying through suicide than on our roads.
“We need a strategy that’s going to help all our people. We have to look outside the box and deal with this throughout the country.
“People need services and they need access to services and we need to get the voluntary services working with the professionals and develop that all-Ireland strategy. The launch of the forum in Dublin can only be welcomed,” said Mr McTaggart.
President Mary McAleese told the National Forum on Suicide Prevention that a joined-up approach to dealing with suicide was required.
“International evidence shows that reducing the suicide rate requires a collective, concerted effort from all groups in society — health, social services and other professionals, communities, voluntary and statutory agencies and organisations, parents, friends, neighbours and individuals.
“I look forward to seeing the growth of a culture and environment where people in psychological distress don’t hesitate to seek help from family, friends and health professionals — a culture where we recognise the signs and signals of that distress and help guide ourselves or others to good help, a culture where we focus early in life on developing good coping skills and avoiding harmful practices,” said President McAleese.
Tim O’Malley, minister of state at the Department of Health and Children, said adequate services were essential to tackle suicide.
“We all have our part to play in helping those who may experience and face adverse events in life and emotions and feelings so strong that they consider taking their own lives.
“We must aim to provide accessible, sensitive, appropriate and, where required, intensive support in a more comprehensive, co-ordinated and cohesive manner,” he said.

RTÉ

15 March 2006 13:53

The Northern Secretary, Peter Hain, has ruled out a DUP suggestion that Sinn Féin should be barred from a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland.

During Question Time in the House of Commons, Mr Hain told the DUP leader, Ian Paisley, that sooner rather than later his party needed to talk to Sinn Féin, the second largest party in Northern Ireland.

On the need to restore devolved government, Mr Hain said this year was decisive and that all the party leaders would be facing some hard choices.

BBC

The soccer star’s father, Dickie, unveiled the image

There was a unique flying tribute to the late George Best in the skies above Belfast as airline Flybe named one of its aircraft in his honour.

His father, Dickie, four sisters, brother and son attended the launch at Belfast City Airport on Wednesday.

The Q400 aircraft has a picture of George Best in his Manchester United strip and will fly between Belfast and Manchester.

The soccer legend died last November after suffering organ failure.

His son Calum described the last few months as an emotional roller coaster.

“It is quite surreal seeing my father on the side of a plane,” he said.

“He was a modest man but I am sure he would have approved.

“It is a fitting tribute as it connects the city where he was born and the city where his legacy started.”

Dickie Best said the family had no hesitation in backing the tribute.

“The life size image of George on the side of the plane in his trademark red strip and characteristic footballing stance is a wonderful tribute and I reckon if George could be with us today he would be quite taken with the idea of kicking a ball at 30,000 feet,” he said.

Mr Best said the aircraft would also provide a boost for the George Best Foundation which will be launched in May.

The Pat Finucane Centre

Introduction

Sometime between the hours of darkness on Sunday March 14 and the morning of Monday March 15 an explosive device was placed under the car of Rosemary Nelson, a solicitor in Lurgan. At approximately 12.40pm on the Monday the bomb exploded as the forty year old mother of three braked at the bottom of the street where she lived. At 3.10pm Rosemary Nelson was pronounced dead in hospital. She left behind a devastated family and a community in mourning. (Photo from >>here)

In the aftermath of the murder two controversies have arisen which have dominated the investigation of this killing. The first concerns allegations that members of the RUC had routinely intimidated and issued death threats against the victim. This in turn has fuelled the second controversy. According to local people the attack took place against the backdrop of unprecedented security activity in the weeks and days leading up to the murder in the area surrounding the Nelson home. As a result there is widespread suspicion of any inquiry carried out by the RUC which in turn has led to demands for an independent investigation and inquiry.

We have sought to both answer and ask a number of questions. Why was Rosemary Nelson the subject of intimidation and death threats from members of the RUC? Was there unprecedented security activity in the weeks and days leading up to the murder near the Nelson home in Lurgan? Can the RUC carry out an effective investigation and what is the difference between an investigation and an inquiry? Where did the trail of collusion between members of the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries begin? Was adequate protection provided by those who had a responsibility to do so? Was a psychological climate created which demonised a person to death?

>>Read on

Belfast Telegraph

By Noel McAdam
14 March 2006

The DUP and Ulster Unionists were at loggerheads today as controversy over the reconstituted Policing Board grew.

The UUP accused the DUP of ‘welshing’ on a deal to refuse to nominate members for the new board if it was dominated by independents.

But the DUP insisted there had been no understanding and countered that the UUP was “thrashing around” over its policy towards the new board.

It also emerged it will be probably next week before Ulster Unionists announce whether they will formally boycott the revamped board, due to meet for the first time on April 1.

UUP Assembly member Danny Kennedy said: “It is wonderfully ironic that as the Government is preparing to significantly reduce quangoes it has turned the most important body in Northern Ireland into a quango.

“But we had an understanding with the DUP because of shared concerns that the new board would be dominated by independents. It was in the event of that being the case the two parties would not nominate. Something has happened to change their minds.”

DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson said, however, that party officers were unaware of any understanding. A senior source said the UUP was “thrashing around to get out of a hole”.

New DUP board member Arlene Foster said: “I have no knowledge of any understanding. The fact is we are all nominated and it is a quango because the Assembly is not running.

“There are three members among the independents who are political people - Trevor Ringland (a UUP member) Dawn Purvis (chairwoman of the Progressive Unionists) and (former SDLP Assembly member) Joe Byrne.”

Meanwhile, the SDLP voiced concerns over the appointment of Mrs Purvis, a senior member of the UVF-linked PUP. Policing Board member Alban Maginness said: “While there have been some suggestions that the UVF may be reviewing its political direction, (this) decision raises immediate and serious questions.

“How does the Northern Ireland Office reconcile their decision with the conclusions of the Independent Monitoring Commission less than six months ago?” he asked.

Re-appointed Ulster Unionist member Fred Cobain said the Government had “ratted” on an agreement with his former party leader David Trimble and DUP counterpart Ian Paisley that political representatives would always have a majority on the board.

After refusing to nominate Sinn Fein said a board appointed by the Secretary of State was not what the Patten policing blueprint envisaged. Policing spokesman Gerry Kelly said: “We need democratic accountability not another quango.”

An NIO spokewoman said it was the duty of the Secretary of State “to appoint a board that, as far as practicable, is representative of the community.

“As Sinn Fein refused to nominate, the Secretary of State achieved an acceptable community balance by making further independent appointments.”

Daily Ireland

by Ciarán Barnes
14/03/2006

A dissident republican prisoner being sued by the relatives of those killed in the Omagh bombing is being kept under guard following an outbreak of violence at Portlaoise Prison.
Séamus McKenna (50) was involved in a clash with another dissident republican inmate last Thursday evening.
The pair began fighting on the jail’s E4 landing after the other inmate, who is understood to have been drunk, called Mr McKenna a “tout”. The E4 landing houses prisoners connected to the Real IRA and a faction calling itself the Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners, which is made up of former Continuity IRA members.
A prison source said the dispute between Mr McKenna and his rival had been over funds.
“At one time, both men had been aligned to the CGRP but, in recent weeks, there has been tension between the various groupings in the jail,” he said.
“There are question marks over the money that the CGRP collects, supposedly on behalf of all republican prisoners.
“The CGRP is headed by an ex-Irish National Liberation Army prisoner and their real intention is to call a total ceasefire and impose it on all republican groupings.”
The inmate who fought Mr McKenna was taken to the prison hospital for treatment. The incident happened just before evening lock-up when prisoners mingle on the landing.
“The word ‘tout’ was used, and a man was struck and fell and hit his head,” added the prison source.
“An emergency was declared and the prison went on a state of alert. The man was treated in hospital and Séamy McKenna was locked up as a result.”
No one from the Irish Prison Service was available for comment.
Dundalk man Mr McKenna is serving a six-year sentence for possessing explosives.
He is one of five men being sued in a landmark £10 million (€14 million) civil action by relatives of the Omagh bombing victims.
The others are Liam Campbell, Séamus Daly, Michael McKevitt and Colm Murphy.

Newshound

(Sharon O’Neill, Irish News)

The appointment of a UVF-linked politician to the Policing Board put Secretary of State Peter Hain under the spotlight again last night (Monday).

The shock nomination of Progressive Unionist Party representative Dawn Purvis comes despite repeated warnings about UVF paramilitary activity.

Criticism of the PSNI watchdog emerged soon after the names of 19 new members were unveiled.

Ulster Unionists have threatened to boycott the board after political representation was reduced to eight.

The number of independents has risen from nine to 11, including two with SDLP or UUP links.

But the appointment of Ms Purvis, an unelected loyalist politician, was the most controversial.

Last September the UVF’s ceasefire was officially declared over after it was linked to murder, sectarian attacks and serious rioting.

Mr Hain said at the time: “It makes it absolutely clear to the UVF and everybody associated with it that they’ve got to stop this, they’ve got to find a political way forward.”

Since then a number of dossiers by the Independent Monitoring Commission have stated that the UVF remains an “active, violent and ruthless organisation”.

New UUP board member Danny Kennedy said the party would seek clarification from Mr Hain about Ms Purvis’s appointment.

SDLP assembly member John Dallat, who sits on Coleraine District Policing Partnership, said: “It illustrates the insensitivities of [government] who haven’t given any thought to the ongoing activities of the UVF and don’t have

any sensitivities towards ordinary people trying to change policing.”

Mr Hain was also criticised last month following the appointment of Portadown Orangeman Don MacKay to the Parades Commission after it emerged that Mr MacKay had supplied the name of a nationalist politician as a referee without consulting her.

Ms Purvis hit back at criticism, saying she would report UVF members linked to criminal investigations to police.

“The principles and practices of my party are not alien to the principles of the Policing Board and an effective and efficient police service. I would be totally opposed to violence and criminality of any sort,” she said.

Sinn Féin, which has refused to nominate to the board, said membership was not the issue.

“The key for us is that the Policing Board has failed to hold police to account,” a spokesman said.

The DUP, which has objected to any Sinn Féin representation on the board, said members must be “free from terror and criminality”.

In the House of Commons last night Mr Hain defended Ms Purvis’s appointment, saying she had been “highly recommended”.

“Dawn Purvis performed extremely strongly in the interviewing process in front of a panel which had an independent member on it,” he told MPs.

March 15, 2006
________________

This article appeared first in the March 14, 2006 edition of the Irish News.

Daily Ireland

by Allison Morris
15/03/2006

One of Belfast’s top PSNI officers has praised the work of Community Restorative Justice in trying to resolve the bitter family feud in the Ballymurphy area of the city.
Chief Superintendent David Boultwood has been heading the police operation in the area. He said yesterday that the PSNI needed the community’s help to restore peace to the west Belfast estate.
Since the murder of Gerard Devlin on February 3, Ballymurphy has experienced more than 150 incidents, including several petrol bomb attacks.
Speaking yesterday, Chief Superintendent Boultwood said: “What we have said is that anybody who can provide a service or a facility in which to bring the two families together, then we would welcome that.”
Speaking about the role of Community Restorative Justice, he said: “They and we would recognise that people cannot work in isolation. It has to be a multiagency approach — otherwise, the whole thing falls down.”
He added: “My understanding is that there are people mediating at this present time and hopefully there will be some movement forward.
“I would say that they [Community Restorative Justice] have a role along with other groups and what we may see in Ballymurphy in the near future is very much a multiagency approach to resolving this problem.
“The position at the minute is that the last few nights have been very quiet and there are people who are working very hard within the community to resolve the ongoing problems.
“We are aware of the work that is being done on the ground and we are very supportive of that.”

Daily Ireland

SDLP assembly member criticises court’s relaxation of conditions

by Ciarán Barnes
15/03/2006

An SDLP assembly member has questioned a court’s decision to relax bail conditions imposed on two Co Antrim loyalists.
In Belfast Crown Court yesterday, a judge varied the bail conditions of Clifford Allison and Charles McCann so they could go back to live in Antrim town.
After being arrested at a PSNI checkpoint in October 2003, the pair were charged with membership of the Ulster Volunteer Force, conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of offensive weapons.
Balaclavas, iron bars and latex gloves were discovered in the car in which they were travelling. After an initial court appearance, the men were remanded in custody.
At the end of 2003, the two men were bailed, and the UVF membership charges against them were dropped.
As part of their bail conditions, they were banned from living in Antrim town. They were also ordered to observe a curfew from 11pm to 7am and report to the PSNI three times a week.
In the crown court yesterday, Mr Allison and Mr McCann successfully had their bail conditions varied so they could live again in Antrim town. Mr Allison will live at an address in Garden Village, while Mr McCann will stay at premises in Green View.
South Antrim SDLP assembly member Tommy Burns questioned the decision to allow the loyalists to return.
He said: “Mr Allison and Mr McCann are charged with very serious offences.
“The courts had good reason to ban them from living in Antrim town when they were originally bailed. I don’t see what has changed between now and then. As far as the constituents who I represent are concerned, they would have been in favour of these men being banned from living in Antrim town until their trials.”
Mr Burns voiced his concerns exactly a week after his SDLP colleague Alban Maginness questioned the easing of bail conditions imposed on the leading Belfast loyalist Ihab Shoukri.
In January, there was anger when a 38-year-old south Belfast loyalist charged with murder had his bail conditions altered so he could go on holiday to Amsterdam.
The decision to allow Stephen McFerran to travel abroad came just hours after Belfast criminal Bernard Rooney was refused leave from prison to attend his 15-year-old daughter’s funeral.
Thomas Spence, a former spokesman for loyalist prisoners in Maghaberry who is charged with extortion, had his bail conditions relaxed last September so he could celebrate his birthday. The 40-year-old previously had his bail conditions varied so he could go on holiday to Belgium.

BBC

An average of one person every day in NI is affected by major trauma

The Royal Group of Hospitals’ role in treating patients with life threatening injuries could be boosted under new Department of Health proposals.

The department is considering encouraging more ambulances to bypass other emergency wards and head directly for the Royal in Belfast.

It said research showed people with major trauma do better if they are taken to a regional specialist centre.

The SDLP said it was vital that local hospitals could deal with emergencies.

Fermanagh and South Tyrone assembly member Tommy Gallagher said: “We want to ensure that there is nothing now slipped in by the department or anyone else that would leave us in the future where our important accident and emergency services might be run down or downgraded.”

The Royal’s role as Northern Ireland’s trauma centre would be enhanced by the proposals.

Review

An average of one person every day in Northern Ireland is affected by life threatening conditions.

The department is reviewing its approach to the management of major trauma.

The Royal’s trauma services could be boosted to improve patient treatment.

BBC NI health correspondent Dot Kirby said such a move would “see the Royal’s role as Northern Ireland’s trauma centre enhanced”.

At the moment, many people with very serious injuries are often taken to the nearest hospital with an accident and emergency department, staying there for a few days before being transferred.

The Department of Health said research showed people with major trauma would be better served if they were taken straight to a regional specialist centre.

However, it said if it was judged that the patient would die before reaching Belfast, the second-best option would be one of Northern Ireland’s other key hospitals: Altnagelvin; Craigavon; Antrim; or the Ulster.

At these hospitals, the patient would be resuscitated and stabilised prior to being transferred.

The department’s list of suitable hospitals did not include the Causeway in Coleraine, the Erne in Enniskillen or Daisy Hill in Newry.

Belfast Telegraph

By Deborah McAleese
15 March 2006

World boxing champion Eamonn Magee last night said he wants to get on with his life after being cleared of assaulting a man during an incident which nearly ended his career.

The 34-year-old WBU welterweight holder from Belfast was in Lisburn Magistrates Court yesterday when the charge against him was dropped.

Magee was charged with headbutting Joseph Clarke (54) - the man who left him almost crippled after beating him with batons. Last month Clarke received a suspended three-year jail sentence for the attack.

Last night Mr Magee said he was delighted he could finally put the incident behind him. “I’m really glad it’s all over. I was very seriously injured during the incident and then when Clarke was in court I was made out to be the aggressor. I am just glad the record can now be put straight,” he said.

Mr Magee added: “For two years this has been hanging over me and it has been pretty bad for me and my family. “I knew that there was no case to answer to but when I was made out to be the worst guy in the world during the recent court case I wanted to prove that the claims against me were wrong.”

Speaking outside the court yesterday the boxer’s solicitor Aidan Deery said: “My client has been totally vindicated. As far as I am concerned there was no case to answer.”

At the time of the attack it was feared that Mr Magee might never box again after one of his legs was broken in two places and the knee fractured. He was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for compound fractures of his tibia and fibula before being transferred to the Ulster Hospital for skin grafts. Mr Magee also suffered a swollen hand and cuts to his face and mouth during the savage beating.

Last month, Clarke, from Lagmore Dale in Belfast, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on the boxer, possessing a weapon - a three foot wooden baton - and causing criminal damage to a car.

The court heard that as Mr Magee and a friend drove through west Belfast on February 29, 2004, their car was attacked by Clarke and an unidentified male. They smashed the windows of the car and hit Mr Magee with batons around the legs several times. It is believed the incident followed an argument between Clarke and Mr Magee over their children.

Mr Magee is currently in strict training for his next big boxing fight in the King’s Hall, Belfast, in May when he defends his title against Takaloo, a London-based Iranian.

Belfast Telegraph

By Noel McAdam
15 March 2006

DUP officers are to meet in the next week to decide on moving closer towards potential talks with loyalist paramilitary groups, it has been revealed.

The officers’ board will debate the issue following a meeting between party deputy leader Peter Robinson and North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds with Loyalist Commission member the Rev Mervyn Gibson last week.

Party officers sanctioned the meeting with Mr Gibson, who chairs the commission. It is an umbrella group which includes loyalist paramilitaries, clergy and community workers.

East Belfast MP Mr Robinson described the talks as “useful” but said he would first be reporting back to party officers.

A spokesman said officers were due to meet in the next week or so and there was no need to refer the issue to the party’s executive. Mr Robinson said his party wanted to encourage those within loyalist paramilitary groups who want to move away from criminality and violence.

He told the BBC’s Inside Politics show there was a “fair idea” of how some further progress could be made - but what form any contact will take would be a decision for officers. Mr Robinson also accepted talks with the UDA would bring the party under criticism for refusing to hold direct talks with Sinn Fein.

“There would be those who would say that and that’s why the party officers will consider all elements of the issue before they take a decision,” he said. “Possibilities might be plentiful.”

BN.ie

15/03/2006 - 07:02:13

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has said that the Bush administration is hampering the Northern Ireland peace process by restricting his party’s ability to raise funds in the US even after the IRA agreed to scrap its weapons.

Adams has been invited to the White House on Friday, a warmer reception than he got last year for St. Patrick’s Day, when the Bush administration refused to meet with him or any of the Northern Ireland party leaders in addition to cutting off Sinn Féin’s fundraising privileges in the US.

That was intended principally to isolate the IRA-linked Sinn Féin, which relies much more heavily than other Northern Ireland parties on support from Irish-American supporters.

The US moves followed a 2005 verdict by an international fact-finding panel that blamed the IRA for killing a Catholic civilian in January 2005 and robbing a Belfast bank of £26.5m a month earlier.

Yesterday, Adams criticised the Bush administration for maintaining the sanctions.

“Not only does this go against the principles of equality and inclusion that are at the heart of the peace process, it is being used by those opposed to the Good Friday Agreement” of 1998, a bid to end Northern Ireland’s decades-long civil strife.

The key aim of Northern Ireland’s peace accord, a joint Catholic-Protestant administration, has remained in political limbo since 2002, when the previous coalition collapsed over an IRA spying scandal. Leaders of the major Protestant party, the Democratic Unionists, say they will not share power with Sinn Féin until the IRA disbands.

“It’s quite remarkable, I don’t understand why this restriction is being put on me. I’ve been invaluable to the White House, and I don’t understand why I can’t walk around the corner and go into a restaurant,” Adams said at a press conference, referring to a fundraising event planned in Washington tomorrow.

“I’m surprised and bewildered as to the rationale and the purpose” of the fundraising ban, Adams told The Associated Press.

“The issue is that the administration has chosen to treat Sinn Féin differently than it treats the other parties, and the peace process is based upon equality, and based upon inclusivity,” Adams said.

“And I find it quite remarkable, given the huge advances that have been made by Irish Republicans in Ireland last year and the IRA putting its weapons beyond use,” Adams said.

“Many people, Irish Americans and friends of Sinn Féin, are angry,” Adams said of the continued ban, but added that he would shake President Bush’s hand if he encountered him at Friday’s White House event at which other Northern Ireland leaders will also be present.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton lifted fundraising restrictions on Sinn Féin and invited Adams to the White House for St. Patrick’s celebrations, a policy continued annually under Bush until last year.

A leading Irish-American congressman said yesterday that the Bush administration does not intend to lift the fundraising ban.

Rep. James Walsh, chair of the Friends of Ireland congressional group, said: “It’s true, though there hasn’t been an official statement yet. What they decided to do was invite Adams to the White House, but they’re not lifting the fundraising ban.

Walsh, a New York Republican, strongly criticised the decision, saying it effectively punishes Sinn Féin for the IRA’s pledge last year to decommission its weapons, announced by Adams and Martin McGuinness, a veteran IRA commander and chief negotiator for Sinn Féin.

“What is absolutely bizarre about the decision is that Adams and McGuinness have delivered. They got a complete cessation, a complete decommissioning. The IRA stood down. To punish them for it makes no sense at all,” Walsh said in Washington.

Outlawed Protestant paramilitary groups, chiefly the Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force, less well-armed than the IRA but involved in much more violence, have said they will not disarm.

While Sinn Féin and its supporters were frustrated about the fundraising ban politically, they said the financial effects were minimal, if not inspiring, to donors to the party.

“Interestingly enough, I was denied a visa to attend a fundraiser in November and I didn’t come to the US and I think we raised 500,000,” Adams explained. “So I think my absence was a financial boost for our efforts.”

“At the end of the day it doesn’t restrict how much money we make,” said Larry Downes, president of the Friends of Sinn Féin.