SAOIRSE32

Indymedia.ie

For the actual 90th anniversary

‘The Easter rising began at mid-day today 90 years ago. Traditionally the anniversary is marked as being on the Easter Monday rather than the actual date, perhaps in part because of the common theme of blood sacrifice. Histories of the rising tend to focus on the idea of blood sacrifice at both a motivation for the rising and the reason for the creation of the Free State. This article argues that although this may have been an important motivation on the day it was not the reason for the rising nor was the reason for the subsequent rise of the IRA simply found in the execution of the republican leadership after the rising. So using the article to mark the actual ‘90 years on'’ date seems appropriate…’

Click on the photo to read the article

Indymedia.ie

By Josephine Hayden - Republican Sinn Féin
Monday April 24, 2006 18:27
jo.hayden at oceanfree dot net

Rally at GPO, Dublin May 6, 2pm

Remembering the hunger strikers 25 years on

A rally to commemorate the heroic struggle of the ten hungerstrikers - Bobby Sands, Francis Hughes, Ray McCreesh, Patsy O’Hara, Joe McDonnell, Martin Hurson, Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty, Thomas McElwee, Michael Devine - who gave their lives in 1981 will be held in Dublin on May 6. Assemble at the Garden of Rememberance at 2pm for march to GPO on O’Connell Street.

>>Click here

Daily Ireland

17/04/2006

Ninety years ago this Easter an alliance of Irish republican organisations and others, including elements of the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Citizen Army, Sinn Féin, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the woman’s movement, socialists, trade unionists, nationalists and Irish language activists, rose up against British rule in Ireland and declared a Republic.
Much of this occurred in Dublin but republicans also took up arms elsewhere in the country, including the north.
Six days later, and with the centre of Dublin in ruins the leaders of the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic ordered the surrender. In the weeks which followed 15 of the leaders were executed, and four months after that Roger Casement from this county was hanged in London.
The British hoped by the speed of their actions and the scale of the executions that the flame of freedom would be extinguished. They were wrong.
At his court martial Pádraig Pearse got it exactly right:
‘Believe that we, too, love freedom and desire it. To us it is more desirable than anything in the world. If you strike us down now, we shall rise again to renew the fight. You cannot conquer Ireland. You cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom.’
In my view the vast majority of Irish people recognise this. That is why the decision by the Irish government to re-establish the state commemoration of 1916 is a popular decision.
That is why the streets of Dublin were packed this morning.
That is why in every county on this island, and in the United States and Canada and Australia, and in England and other parts of the world, Irish republicans will gather to celebrate and commemorate the men and women of 1916 and of all the generations since then.
I welcome the reinstatement of the government’s commemoration of 1916. It should never have been abandoned in the first place.
And let us not forget that successive governments didn’t just abandon this event, they also banned other commemorations.
On one shameful occasion, the daughter of James Connolly, Nora Connolly O’Brien, by then an old woman, was arrested for daring to do what Irish republicans have never failed to do - to honour our patriot dead.
All of us are proud to be part of that struggle. It is a struggle which continues.There is now a need for a great national effort to bring it to a conclusion. The Irish government should be part of that effort. The Taoiseach has called for a return to the core values of Irish republicanism.
I welcome that call.
The men and women of 1916 were very definite about the type of Republic they wanted to create.
The Proclamation makes that clear.
The Proclamation
It is the heart and soul of Irish republicanism today. But in truth The Proclamation is also unfinished business. It is unfinished business which the vast majority of the Irish people want to see brought to completion.
Are there any real doubts about where Tom Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada, Thomas MacDonagh; Pádraig Pearse; Ceannt, Connolly or Joseph Plunkett, would stand on the great issues of our time?
The Proclamation is about self-determination and democracy. Does anyone think that the men and women of 1916 would settle for a partitioned Ireland?
They fought for and I quote; “A permanent National Government, representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrage of all her men and women.”
Does anyone believe that they would block northern representatives being accorded speaking rights in the Dáil?
Does anyone believe that they would settle for anything less than an active engagement with the British government and unionism to promote and seek support for reunification?

Unionism
A central part of the work of Irish republicans in the time ahead is to engage with unionists, to talk to, debate with, but ultimately to seek to persuade unionists that their future and that of their children, lies with the rest of us on this island.
The fact is that no British politician has ever governed in any part of Ireland in the interests of nationalists and republicans and unionists.
They have always governed and exercised power in British interests. And they have used and exploited and deepened the divisions and fears of people to advance British interests.
The result has been exclusion, conflict, division, inequality and poverty.
Let’s talk about these matters. And let us begin by reassuring unionists that we are not in the business of coercing them into a united Ireland.
Instead as we seek to build a shared space in which we can move forward we all must appreciate that, as some northern protestants have said to me, ‘the wise man builds his house upon the rock’.
In this case that means a meaningful, working partnership between nationalists and republicans, unionists and loyalists.
I believe the opportunity to do that now exists.
I believe there is a huge opportunity to fulfil the historic destiny of our people by uniting orange and green in unity and justice and on the basis of equality.

The Peace Process
And it exists in no small measure because of the courage and wisdom of IRA Volunteers.
The announcement by the Irish Republican Army on 28 July to formally end its armed campaign was a historic development.
I want to pay tribute to the Volunteers of the IRA for taking this courageous and unprecedented step in order to advance the cause of peace with justice in Ireland.
Despite the profound difficulties of all this for many republicans, the IRA has provided a unique opportunity to significantly advance the peace process and to open up a new era in politics and relationships on this island and between Ireland and Britain.It is vital that this opportunity is availed of and the peace process advanced.This must include the release of all republican prisoners and an end to the ongoing discrimination against republican ex-prisoners.
The two governments are now faced with a stark choice. Are they going to stand by the Good Friday Agreement or are they going to continue to pander to rejectionist unionism?
The answer to that question will become clear in the time ahead.
The governments have said that they will lift the suspension of the Assembly on May 15th. Sinn Féin will be in Stormont that day. We will be there for one reason and one reason only - the election of a government in line with the Good Friday Agreement.
This also has to be the focus of the Irish and British governments.
Ian Paisley has a decision to make. He has failed in his campaign to smash Sinn Féin. The only way Ian Paisley will exercise political power is in an Executive with Sinn Féin. I do not say that to be triumphalist in any way. I say that because that is the reality which faces him today.

Building unity - building peace
As we gather today to remember the momentous events of Easter week 90 years ago, we should also reflect on those long and difficult months 25 years ago when a British government cruelly and cynically allowed ten of our comrades to die on hunger strike.
The Irish government of the day stood back and let the hunger strikers and their families down, safe in the knowledge that republicans at that time had neither the political strength nor organisation to stop them.
That is a lesson which we all must learn from.
The women in Armagh and the men in the H Blocks were extraordinary people who faced up to repression and resisted it in the only way they could.
Their stand, their determination to assert their rights and the rights of the Irish people continue to inspire us, and we owe them and their families a massive and continuing debt.
It is vitally important that all of us use this anniversary year to tell a new generation of Irish republicans the story of 1981 alongside the history of 1916.
We are right to be proud of the sacrifices of all our patriot dead. And we are determined to make the Proclamation a reality.

This is an edited version of Mr Adams’ speech because of reasons of space.

Daily Ireland

Kerry mayor praises Belfast man’s contribution to rebellion

By Francesca Ryan
24/04/2006

A Short Strand volunteer who lost his life during the 1916 Easter Rising was honoured in a commemorative event yesterday in Belfast.
Hundreds of people assembled in Mount Pottinger shops, where mayor of Kerry Toiréasa Ní Fhearaíosa spoke of Charlie Monaghan’s contribution to the Rising.
The Kilmood Street man was the first volunteer from the North to lose his life during the Easter Rising.
Charlie Monaghan was chosen to play a key role in the seizing of a wireless station at Valentia Island off the Kerry coast ahead of the landing of the German boat, the Aud.
The Aud had a cargo of 20,000 rifles, ten machine guns and a million rounds of ammunition which were essential for the daring seizure and defending of government buildings during the 1916 Rising.
On the way to the operation, the car in which Charlie Monaghan travelled along with fellow volunteers Tom McInerney, Con Keating and Donal Sheehan, toppled off a treacherous mountain road and into the River Laune.
Charlie Monaghan was one of three to drown in the accident, Tom McInerney being the sole survivor.
Following the parade through the Short Strand, Toiréasa Ní Fhearaíosa told the assembled crowd she was honoured to be speaking at the event.
“It’s a huge honour for me to be here today amongst the residents of the Short Strand,” she said.
“This is a community that has provided so much inspiration and determination to the struggle and the people’s unbroken spirit is renowned.
“Today in the Short Strand I met with women that everyone on this island should be proud to be associated with. So much has been lost by the people of this area yet they remain unbowed and unbroken.
“The sacrifice of everyone including Charlie Monaghan was not in vain and I am so proud to be among you today.”
Also present at the parade was Laura McAree, a relation of Charlie Monaghan.
“Charlie was my great great uncle,” Laura told Daily Ireland. “Every year the family does something to remember him but it was great to see the community holding this event to commemorate him and his role in 1916.
“The organisers – the Sean Martin/Sean Tracey Cumann here in Short Strand – contacted me about six months ago to say they were going to do something. We are extremely proud of Charlie and very happy with the turnout here today.”

BBC

Megan McAlorum’s body was found in an area of forest

A man accused of murdering a 16-year-old girl two years ago has admitted killing the teenager.

Thomas Purcell, 19, from Windsor Road, Belfast, had consistently denied murdering Megan McAlorum from Dunmurry.

He was due to stand trial in Craigavon Crown Court on Monday but at the last minute he changed his plea to guilty.

Megan’s semi-naked body was found on a desolate stretch of land in a forested area near Glenside Road in Dunmurry on 12 April 2004.

Purcell was arrested just days later.

The case was put back until next month to allow for the preparation of pre-sentence and psychiatric reports.

Megan was a former pupil of St Genevieve’s High School and had spent Easter Sunday 2004 with friends in the Hunting Lodge bar before she disappeared.

Daily Ireland

Nine lodges seeking total of £141K public funds for parades. Price tag for clean-up after single march last year? – £3 million

by Ciarán Barnes
24/04/2006

Thousands of pounds of community relations cash could be used to fund Orange Order parades in the summer.
Daily Ireland has learned than nine Orange lodges have applied to the Northern Ireland Events Company for £141,729 (€204,000) of grant aid to stage July 12 parades.
If successful, the applications will eat up almost a third of the company’s £450,000 (€650,000) Community Festivals Fund budget. A decision on the applications is expected on May 1.
This is the first time the Orange Order has asked for this type of public funding, although it has received small amounts of cash in the past from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.
To secure financial backing, an applicant has to project a positive image and demonstrate that the event in question will attract tourists.
After a rerouted Orange Order parade on Belfast’s Springfield Road last year, loyalist rioters caused more than £3 million (€4.3 million) of damage. Orange Order members were captured on camera attacking the PSNI with missiles. More than 60 people were arrested in some of the worst violence seen in the North since the height of the Troubles.
SDLP assembly member John Dallat has called on the Northern Ireland Events Company to direct funding away from the Orange Order and into more positive projects. The East Derry politician said the Orange Order did not project a positive image.
“The NIEC has not been particularly good in how it has paid out money,” he said.
“The public would much rather see this cash injected into tourism projects, rather than loyalist parades.
“I have my eye on the NIEC. It is not living up to what it was set up to do. It may be in the interests of the audit office to take a keen look at how the NIEC distributes public money,” added Mr Dallat.
A spokeswoman for the Orange Order accused Mr Dallat of taking a “cheap shot” at the organisation. She said the order deserved funding because it was trying to move forward and promote tourism in the North.
“It’s a real shame that Mr Dallat feels this way. Sometimes it is just too easy to take a cheap shot at the order,” she said.
“We were as disappointed as anyone else about the events on the Springfield Road last year. But that was just one parade out of more than 3,000. People need to look at the bigger picture.
“It would be a shame if the Northern Ireland Events Company based its decision on just one event.”
An events company spokeswoman confirmed that the company had received nine applications for funding from Orange lodges under the Community Festivals Fund.
“The total amount requested is £141,729. The applications are still being assessed,” she said.

Belfast Telegraph

By Brian Rowan
24 April 2006

Exiled loyalist Johnny Adair has been warned not to use the latest infighting within the UDA to make his return to Northern Ireland.

The warning comes from the top of the paramilitary organisation.

“There’s only one place for him,” a senior paramilitary source said - inferring the former Shankill UDA leader will be killed if he tries to come back.

Adair’s closest associates - including the informer John White - were forced out of Belfast during the last UDA feud in 2003.

Later, when he was freed from prison, Adair joined them in England.

The Shankill purge followed the murders of UDA boss John Gregg and loyalist associate Rab Carson - both shot dead by Adair’s men in February 2003.

“The one thing everybody is agreed on is there’s no place for Adair,” a senior UDA leader told the Belfast Telegraph.

“He is sitting back trying to exploit the situation. Out of respect for John Gregg, Rab Carson and the people of south-east Antrim, there’s no way back for him. There’s only one place for him,” the paramilitary leader warned.

The UDA’s Inner Council is still trying to remove the Shoukri brothers - Ihab and Andre - from their leadership positions in north Belfast.

Two thirds of that Inner Council supports that position - the brigadiers Jackie McDonald (south Belfast), Matt Kincaid (west Belfast), Billy McFarland (north Antrim/Londonderry) and the organisation’s leader in east Belfast, but the position of the leader in south-east Antrim is less clear.

He and Tommy Kirkham, of the closely associated Ulster Political Research Group, will be the key voices in determining the direction taken by the terror group in that area.

“The south-east Antrim situation is not resolved,” a source told the Belfast Telegraph. “We are trying to give everybody a chance to make up their own minds.

“With the exception of a few individuals in north Belfast, the door has been closed to nobody.”

Those few individuals include the Shoukris and their closest associates in the north of the city.

“Individuals are being excluded, not areas,” a senior paramilitary source said.

The security assessment is that the majority of the UDA leadership is determined to re-involve the organisation in the peace process, but the credibility of that position has been undermined by the continuing criminality of elements within the paramilitary group.

BBC

Concern around trip to Republic

By Jonathan McCambridge
24 April 2006

Hardline republican dissidents could be planning a bombing campaign in a bid to force the Queen to scrap a possible visit to Ireland, it was today claimed.

There has been widespread speculation that a date may soon be announced for the Queen to make her first visit to the Republic later this year.

However, a statement released by the Continuity IRA to a local newspaper said that the visit would be resisted with “all the force at our disposal”.

The warning came as a second man was due to appear in court today charged over the discovery of parts for a 250lb bomb in Co Armagh, linked by police to the CIRA.

The 27-year-old will appear at Craigavon Magistrate’s Court charged with possessing explosives with intent to endanger life. He also faces a charge of conspiracy to cause explosions.

He will be the second person to appear in court following the huge security operation at a breaker’s yard in Lurgan last Wednesday.

Security sources have now suggested that the CIRA could be planning a terror campaign this summer with a campaign of attacks expected in the summer months.

The dissident terror group has also released a statement to the Daily Ireland newspaper warning the Queen to scrap plans to visit Ireland.

The statement said “any visit by the Queen of England to any part of Ireland will be fully opposed”.

It added: “The Queen of England is not welcome in Ireland. Any such visit will be resisted with all the force at our disposal.”

There has been no date announced for any visit to Ireland by the Queen, although there is a growing speculation that a visit could be announced for later this year.

No reigning monarch has visited the Republic since its creation. The last monarch to visit the southern part of Ireland was Queen Victoria.

Late last year the Independent Monitoring Commission warned that the CIRA was trying to coax weapons from Provisional IRA members and seeking to recruit new members.

The report also said that existing CIRA members had received training and the organisation continued its efforts to improve its capacity to use weapons and explosives and to procure new weapons.

The IMC said the Continuity IRA remained a “dangerous organisation capable of mounting attacks”.

Belfast Telegraph

By Brian Rowan
24 April 2006

In the background of the latest infighting within the UDA, Johnny Adair has once more raised his head and his voice.

The exiled loyalist is clearly enjoying the mess the terror group currently finds itself in, and he is talking of returning to Northern Ireland.

It may be nothing more than talk.

The last time he was here, he had to run for his life, and there is nothing to suggest that the next time - if there is a next time - would be any different.

Within the UDA there are still those who want to see Adair dead, who “will not settle until he’s six foot under”, to quote one source.

Adair would be foolish to believe that as the UDA wrestles with the Shoukri problem, that his past has been forgotten.

It has not.

Indeed, he is blamed for helping to elevate the Shoukri brothers into leadership positions within the UDA - the very positions that others are now trying to remove them from.

As that manoeuvring continues inside the UDA, a clearer picture of the internal wrangling is now emerging - a picture which shows that the Shoukris are becoming increasingly isolated.

Andre Shoukri - currently on remand - held the title “brigadier” within the UDA and sat on the so-called Inner Council.

Ihab Shoukri - currently on bail - replaced his brother as UDA leader in north Belfast. He took over as brigadier and took his seat - one of six - at the paramilitary top table.

But four of those who sit at that table - Jackie McDonald (south Belfast), Matt Kincaid (west Belfast), Billy McFarland (north Antrim/Londonderry) and the organisation’s leader in east Belfast - no longer want to share it with a Shoukri, and will no longer meet as an Inner Council in the company of the brothers.

What is less certain is the position of the UDA in south-east Antrim.

It is not yet clear whether its brigadier will side with the Shoukris or with the rest of the paramilitary leadership.

The brigadier and Tommy Kirkham, a senior figure in the closely associated Ulster Political Research Group, will be the key voices in determining the direction taken by the UDA in this area.

“The south-east Antrim situation is not resolved,” a senior paramilitary source said.

“We are trying to give everybody a chance to make up their own minds. If you try to go too quick you could wreck the thing.”

So the UDA leadership is not going to push this situation to a conclusion just yet.

Its preference would be to have the organisation in south-east Antrim onboard, to have Shoukri outnumbered five to one at the level of the Inner Council, and then for the membership in north Belfast to remove its current leadership.

The Inner Council will support it in that position.

“People are going to have to help them - people outside the organisation and people inside the organisation,” a senior paramilitary source told the Belfast Telegraph.

“With the exception of a few individuals in north Belfast, the door has been closed to nobody. It’s the same situation we have been in before. Individuals in other areas were replaced. It can be done,” the source added.

As the UDA leadership moves to take its organisation back into the peace process, it has arrived at another crucial moment in its history.

Once again, its authority is being challenged - not by White and Adair this time but by the Shoukris, who like the men exiled from the Shankill have grown rich inside the paramilitary world.

“We have been through worse situations and come out the other end,” one leadership source remarked, expressing a confidence that the Shoukris will not win this latest battle inside the UDA.

Certainly, the numbers appear stacked against them, and as this situation develops, the Shoukris will make more and more enemies.

That is the way of the loyalist world in which they live.

The Shankill leadership of Kincaid, Jim Spence and Eric McKee will be critical in this situation.

When it made its mind up in 2003, Adair and White were finished inside the UDA, and for the Shoukris, the same outcome now appears inevitable.

But all of this is slowing down the loyalist march back in the direction of the peace process.

We know, from a recent interview for this newspaper, that another of the loyalist organisations - the UVF - will delay an announcement on its future until after the November 24 deadline for a political deal here.

And the UDA is going nowhere until the Shoukri situation is resolved.

The road back to peace is proving a difficult one to travel. At the end of it, the Shoukris will no longer be part of the paramilitary leadership.

It seems there are just two things still to be decided - how and when they will be removed.

BBC

Ihab Shoukri was charged with UDA/UFF membership

A prominent north Belfast loyalist is to face two further charges of professing to in the outlawed UDA/UFF.

Ihab Shoukri, 32, of Westland Drive was already on bail facing charges of UDA/UFF membership.

Belfast Crown Court heard that the Crown would no longer be relying on the evidence of the chief prosecution witness in the case.

Evidence from a senior police officer has been withdrawn. The judge said he hoped to start the trial next month.

Mr Shoukri has been on bail for almost three years.

Last month, the police alleged he broke his conditions by being in a bar where paramilitaries were meeting.

However, the judge ruled that Mr Shoukri was not at the meeting and had not broken his bail conditions.

Sunday Life

23 April 2006

DAVID Trimble is ready for one last performance as Northern Ireland’s First Minister.

But the former Ulster Unionist leader admits that his curtain call will probably last no more than minutes and hours, rather than days or weeks.

As he awaits a meeting with Garter King of Arms at the House of Lords to discuss a suitable title, the former Upper Bann MP said yesterday: “I suppose, technically, I am the First Minister and Mark Durkan is the Deputy First Minister under the suspension legislation, but I don’t expect that will last for long.

“I suspect there will be a few gentlemen on the DUP benches who would rather not see me in that role.

“I also suspect that somewhere in the legislation that went through the House of Commons last week, there are hidden mechanisms that Peter Hain will be able to engage to change the circumstances,” said Mr Trimble.

“I shall be there as an Assembly member but, really, whether I will be there as First Minister, I have no idea.

“If I am in the post, I wouldn’t expect to hold it for more than a day or two.

“But if the Assembly can’t agree to elect a new First and Deputy First Minister, then I don’t know what will happen.

“I don’t expect the DUP and Sinn Fein will be able to agree on a new First and Deputy First Minister combination - Ian and Gerry doesn’t quite have that ‘Tom and Gerry’ ring to it - so I wouldn’t be surprised if Peter Hain has some other plan up his sleeve, but I will be there for a day or two if needed.

“I can see difficulties ahead and I don’t see the DUP getting much change out of Peter Hain. I detect an attitude at the NIO which I expect will lead to a rough time ahead.”

Sunday Life

23 April 2006

THE Independent Monitoring Commission has been urged to investigate the re-emergence of a notorious criminal gang linked to the UDA.

At a time when the loyalist terror group has declared it is turning its back on criminal activity and cleaning up its act, the gang is back in business in the Co Down village of Killyleagh.

Gang members, claiming to represent the UDA, have visited a number of homes in the area, ordering people to get out.

And in spite of the claims that the UDA is going straight, loyalist sources who contacted Sunday Life claim the gang continues to be involved in gangsterism.

“People are astonished. These people are straightforward criminals, in it for their own gain. They have never served a day in prison for the loyalist cause,” said one.

The gang gained notoriety in 2004 when it carried out a campaign of pipe-bombins - long after the UDA had declared an end to attacks.

SDLP MLA Margaret Ritchie said: “The people of Killyleagh are peace-loving and it is wrong that this type of terror is going on. There can only be one type of community policing and that is the community assisting the police to ensure those responsible are apprehended.

“If the UDA are involved, it places a question mark over the validity of the UDA ceasefire.

“Chief Constable Hugh Orde and Lord Alderdice’s Independent Monitoring Commission should be investigating these issues.”

Sunday Life

‘Put him back in jail’ call after Wright’s killer linked to vicious assault in Newry

By Sunday Life Reporter
23 April 2006

THE leader of a loyalist victims group last night called for INLA killer Christopher ‘Crip’ McWilliams to be sent back to prison following allegations that he had become re-involved with dissident republicans in south Down.

Willie Frazer of Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR) said police should investigate claims that the man who shot dead LVF mass murderer Billy Wright was part of a gang that assaulted the brother of Sinn Fein MP Conor Murphy in Newry last month.

Declan Murphy (43) and a friend had just left a bar in the city centre when two cars pulled up alongside them.

A number of men got out and began attacking the Newry and Armagh MP’s brother with baseball bats and iron bars.

Republican sources in Newry said McWilliams had been identified as one of the attackers.

Sunday Life also understands that he has been associating with know INLA figures in south Down for some time.

Frazer claimed McWilliams’ re-involvement with paramilitaries breached the terms of his early release and he should be returned to prison immediately.

He said: “This man should not be walking the streets.

“McWilliams is actively involved with dissident republicans, who still pose a threat.

“Secretary of State Peter Hain should revoke his licence and return him to prison without any further delay.”

McWilliams was freed from jail in October 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

Along with fellow INLA killers John Kennaway and John ‘Sonny’ Glennon, he had served fewer than two years of a life sentence for the 1997 killing of LVF boss Wright.

Since then McWilliams has been living in Newry’s Derrybeg estate.

In 2001, Sunday Life revealed that he was fighting leukaemia and had to have a bone marrow transplant at a Dublin hospital.

Sunday Life

23 April 2006

THE Dublin-based tribunal investigating the IRA murders of two senior RUC officers could be on a collision course with journalists over the disclosure of sources.

The Smithwick Tribunal into the IRA border killings of Harry Breen and Bob Buchanan wants to interview journalists who have written articles alleging Garda collusion in the killings.

But it is understood that one journalist has already refused point blank to disclose his sources to the inquiry.

Last month Justice Peter Smithwick and his legal team began their investigations into the murder of Chief Superintendent Breen and Superintendent Buchanan, who were ambushed by IRA gunmen in Co Louth as they were returning from a meeting with senior Garda in Dundalk.

Informed sources in Dublin confirmed the Smithwick Tribunal would be contacting journalists.

“The Tribunal has identified several journalists who have promoted the collusion theory in stories about the Breen and Buchanan murders,” said the source.

“The Tribunal will push the journalists to either identify their sources or to ask the source to contact the Smithwick legal team in person.”

The source confirmed one Northern Ireland journalist had already been approached by the Tribunal and asked to reveal his sources.

“The guy told them he wouldn’t reveal or approach any source. He told them he was not an intelligence-gathering source for the Tribunal.”

The source said the Smithwick Tribunal was heading for confrontation with journalists should it insist on the disclosure of sources.

It follows similar controversy at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, when two senior journalists were threatened with prison for steadfastly protecting the identity of former soldiers who had co-operated in a series of Channel 4 News reports on the fatal shootings in 1997.

In what is regarded as a landmark ruling, Lord Savillle, the chairman of Inquiry, finally announced in January 2004 that he would not take action for contempt against ITN or the journalists concerned, Alex Thomson and Lena Ferguson.