SAOIRSE32

Belfast Telegraph

After five years, a unique course bringing Protestants and Catholics together to study theology is being officially relaunched today. Noel McAdam examines the minor Belfast ecumenical ‘miracle’
03 May 2006

Ecumenism has been hiding its light under a bushel in recent times. And perhaps with good reason. On-the-ground work has been happening quietly but seems to wither should word spread too far.

After all, the ramifications of the Easter week shared Eucharist in Drogheda, involving local Catholics and Church of Ireland members with their Rector, the Rev Michael Graham, will be on-going for some time.

The mass was inspired by Augustinian Order priest Fr Iggy O’Donovan’s view that it is a “blasphemy to make religion the cause of strife” - but it may have inadvertently knocked back the very cause it sought to serve.

Tiny initiatives seem to fare better than grandiose gestures. And so it is that for five years now, every Tuesday night, a small group of Protestants and Catholics have been meeting in Belfast to study theology together, without controversy or headlines. Teaching staff also come from both communities.

And it is not as if the class has avoided tricky areas. Just last week the students discussed the thorny issue of the Eucharist, without rancour or recrimination.

In terms of the institutional churches alone the course is unique. And the involvement of Queen’s University, Belfast, lends ‘Exploring Theology Together’ academic credibility.

Not that the Catholic hierarchy or the Methodist Church leaders who gave the joint study their blessings have exactly been exactly singing its praises from the rooftops.

Two years ago it seemed the course might be in trouble. Initial enthusiasm appeared to have waned, numbers seemed likely to dwindle and the commitment of both institutions was being called into question.

But, after some soul-searching (naturally) and a re-evaluation, led by Edgehill College principal Richard Clutterbuck and reconciliation officer Olive Bell, the course is being officially relaunched at a ceremony this afternoon.

The classes are taught by lecturers from Edgehill and Mater Dei Institute in Dublin, which have both recommitted to the course, with some input from other sources.

Fr Dermot Lane, President of Mater Dei, will be among the special guests for today’s relaunch along with Duncan Morrow, Director of the Community Relations Council.

The first course began in February 2001 when more than 30 students enrolled. Students have the choice of attending a basic course of lectures, or taking a certificate course which requires students to complete an assignment, or thirdly a module course leading to a bachelor of theology degree at Queen’s University.

The originators were the former principal of Edgehill, Dennis Cooke and Fr Brendan Leahy, now a senior professor at Maynooth College.

“Over the years I’ve learned that reconciliation work is not easy. Indeed, the personal pilgrimage in reconciliation is difficult,” says Cooke.

When principal of Edgehill he insisted both ministerial and lay students think seriously about the sectarian nature of Irish society. “I ensured that every Methodist ministerial student learned about the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church from a priest and not second-hand from a colleague or myself,” he says.

“Seminars were arranged for this purpose. When going on mission teams to various parts of Ireland I suggested to our local hosts that it would be useful for us to meet with local people from the community, both Catholic and Protestant.”

For example, one week in Armagh included an afternoon spent in the company of the late Catholic Cardinal Tomas O Fiaich.

But a joint Protestant/Catholic theology study course was on a different level altogether. It was genuinely ground-breaking.

“It was based on the QUB Bachelor of Theology syllabus,” explains Cooke. “Teaching is 50:50 Roman Catholic and Protestant. Students are from both communities. It has been an exciting experience! And it makes sense!”

Dr Leahy adds: “The course provides a space where people from different traditions can learn together and come to appreciate each other’s Church tradition and theology.

“It is one of the initiatives promoted within that movement of the Holy Spirit that is increasingly drawing the churches together in dialogue and in mutual commitment to peace and reconciliation.”

Theology has been defined as ‘faith seeking understanding’ but, for some, the pursuit of understanding on a cross-community basis would be to undermine faith. But the recent re-evaluation showed students, while predisposed to the concept, had still found the experience enriching.

There has been important cross-pollination of knowledge and insight, which added to the depth of relationships made, a report prepared by Olive Bell said.

“The students were ready and willing to look at difference,” she observed. This has created something special in moving beyond divisions of conflict by literally exploring theology together.

“In all aspects of evaluation, it was the coming together in relationship with those who were different which was most cherished; this in itself is the doing of theology.”

Students began to realise that you can challenge assumptions and it “gave great opportunity for interaction, sharing and discussion that made much nonsense of sectarianism.”

Anyone interested in the course can contact Edgehill College, Lennoxvale, Malone Road, Belast, on 028 90 66 5870.

:::u.tv:::

TUESDAY 02/05/2006 17:03:11

Via Newshound

The wife of an RUC officer has given a graphic account of the mental torture they both endured as a result of him witnessing some of the worst atrocities of the Troubles.

“It was like living with a time bomb and waiting for the next explosion,” said the 54 year-old woman.

“I felt I was a punchbag for all his experiences of lifting dead bodies.”

She frequently broke down in tears while giving evidence in the High Court in Belfast in the action in which over 5,000 members of the RUC/PSNI are claiming compensation for trauma they suffered during 30 years of terrorism.

The hearing began last November and the evidence is expected to finish at the end of this month.

Lawyers will then make wirtten and oral submissions to Mr Justice Coghlin whose decision is not expected until the end of the year.

If the action against current Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde is successful the government will have to meet a compensation bill over over £100 million.

The officers - two-thirds of them retired - have accused successive police chiefs of negligence by failing in their duty of care by not providing adqeuate facilities to tackle mental injuries including post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.

The woman, who is not being named, cried as she told of the nightmare of sharing her life with a man she said was too proud to admit that he had “cracked up” because of what he had come through.

Her husband, who retired on medical grounds in 1997 after 22 years service, had survived a bomb attack and seen colleagues murdered.

Some were close friends and he was detailed to go to the scenes of their deaths and assist in gathering body parts to be put into plastic bags.

One of the murder victims was a young policewoman whose severed hand he picked up with her engagement ring sparkling.

“I used to dread him coming home,” said the woman. “He was having constant nightmares. He was like a caged animal.

“The tempers were ferocious, smashing things. I would have the dinner on the table and he would lash everything on the floor when something set him off.

“He was wrecking the house and smashing dishes as he was completely out of control.

“The tempers would last about 15 minutes and then he was exhausted and would break down crying. One minute he was a monster and the next he was crying like an abandoned child.

“The day he came home and said he had a black-out and nearly killed someone I knew that day he was not going back to the police.

“He was a mess and had the look of a man who was worn out. He was just pitiful, the man was exhausted. He was in a black hole and was really depressed.”

The woman said she was glad when her husband finally left the police and thought he would get better.

“But he felt worthless as he just loved the police and felt discarded,” she said.

He tried a franchise operation but lost £30,000 and also worked as a barman and store detective.

“He just couldn`t cope because he was very aggressive,” she said.

“To this day he is extremely agitated and you can`t predict what is going to rile him. His mother died two years ago and he did not shed a tear.

“When I remarked on this he said death meant nothing to him as he had seen too much dying.”

The woman said her husband was now a lot calmer after receiving psychiatric treatment.

“He is not as explosive and is battling and trying to cope,” she said.

“He is a proud man and finds it hard to admit that he has an illness.”

Newshound

Steven McCaffery - Irish News
May 3, 2006

The British government was aware of large-scale collusion between security forces and loyalist paramilitaries from as early as 1973, according to documents revealed today (Tuesday) in The Irish News.

The files show Downing Street knew that significant numbers of soldiers were linked to loyalist paramilitaries, but failed to act.

The collusion file contains a detailed report on ‘Subversion in the UDR’ – including estimates of the numbers of soldiers linked to loyalists – while intelligence documents show how more than 200 British army rifles and sub machine guns were passed to loyalists.

This is the first time evidence has emerged to show, not only the scale of collusion, but also that government was aware of it early in the Troubles.

The documents reveal that military intelligence:
• estimated 5-15% of UDR soldiers were linked to loyalist paramilitaries
• believed that the “best single source of weapons, and the only significant source of modern weapons, for Protestant extremist groups was the UDR”
• feared UDR troops were loyal to ‘Ulster’ rather than ‘Her Majesty’s Government’
• knew that UDR weapons were being used in the murder and attempted murder of Catholics

Against this background it is significant that as the Troubles unfolded, the government went on to increase, rather than decrease, the regiment’s role in areas of high tension in Northern Ireland.

The files date from August 1973 – and in the two years that followed UDR members took part in the Miami showband massacre, and were linked to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings that killed 33 people.

The UDR – or Ulster Defence Regiment – was formed in 1970 to replace the disgraced B Specials police reserve, but nationalists came to see it as a carbon copy.

The new regiment, which was the largest in the British army, recruited exclusively in Northern Ireland and eventually became almost 100% Protestant.

It was merged with another military unit in 1992 to form the Royal Irish Regiment – but it also attracted controversy and its Northern Ireland battalions are now being disbanded.

While the new documents concentrate on the UDR, they also include files that show senior political figures making disturbing references to wrong-doing within the ranks of the RUC. The Irish News has had exclusive access to the documents and over two days of special reports will reveal the content of the files which – for the first time – form a paper trail stretching from murder on the streets of Belfast, to decision making at No10 Downing Street.

The UDR saw 257 members and former members killed by republican paramilitaries, and in today’s coverage a UDR veteran recalls her memories of death and terrible injury.

On the new intelligence files, she says that if the British government knew of wrongdoing, “they should have done something”.

The new documents were discovered by campaigners probing allegations of security force collusion in the murder of their loved ones.

The son of one victim recounts uncovering the collusion files, and tells The Irish News: “It was quite alarming to find that the British government at the highest level knew, as they put it themselves, that there was ’subversion within the UDR’.

“They knew that it went as far as getting guns for loyalists, and involvement in murder.”

________________

This article appeared first in the May 2, 2006 edition of the Irish News.

BN.ie

03/05/2006 - 17:33:27

The Corrib gas pipeline has been given the green light. The Government has given the go-ahead to for work to recommence once safety conditions are met.

The Minister for Natural Resources Noel Dempsey made the announcement this afternoon, following the publication of a Government report carried out by consultant group Advantica.

It recommends that the gas should be piped at considerably less pressure, and that a full and proper safety plan should be included in the pipeline’s design.

Shell Spokesperson John Egan said he hopes the company can join forces with the locals to make it work.

“We want to build this project in partnership with the local community,” he said.

“We want to enter into a positive and constructive dialogue, and I would urge those who are still opposed to this project to enter into the mediation process and help both sides to find a solution so that Corrib gas can be brought ashore and bring benefits to Erris, to Mayo and to Ireland.”

BN.ie

03/05/2006 - 18:36:12

The Government must designate an annual day of commemoration to remember the victims of the Famine, it was claimed today.

The Committee For The Commemoration Of Irish Famine Victims believes the 19th century disaster is more important in the state’s history than the 1916 Rising, and must be officially marked by the Government.

Dublin City Council will debate a motion calling for an Irish Famine Victims & Emigrants Memorial Day at its monthly meeting on Monday.

Commemoration Committee chairman Michael Blanch said: “Every household on the island has a relative who died in the Famine.

“It was only three generations ago and the victims were both Catholic and Protestant, so a commemoration can build bridges between the two communities.

“Every country remembers disasters in its history whether it is the Holocaust or New York’s 9/11.”

Dublin City Council’s motion, which is being proposed by former Lord Mayor Cllr Dermot Lacey, could be later passed by other local authorities if approved in City Hall on Monday.

Taoiseach Bertie suggested in the Dail last year that the Famine could be incorporated into the National Day of Commemoration – a ceremony to mark Ireland’s war dead.

But Mr Blanch said this specifically remembers dead Irish soldiers, and not civilians which comprised the Famine victims.

He envisages that an annual commemoration could be rotated to Leinster, Munster, Connaght and Ulster on an annual basis.

The Commemoration Committee also believes that the Memorial Day would be a gesture of solidarity towards people suffering in famines occurring in regions across the world like Somalia and Darfur.

The committee has marked the Famine since 2004 by marching from Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance to the Famine sculptures on Customs House Quay on the last Sunday in May.

It is generally believed that one million people died in the Famine and an additional one million emigrated.

But Mr Blanch claimed that the disaster could have indirectly halved the population as the all-Ireland population was over eight million in 1845 but had shrunk to four million by the 1911 Census.

There are up to 70 million people abroad who claim Irish ancestry – many of whom are descended from Famine emigrants, he added.

The committee has lobbied the GAA, the IFA and the British Government on the issue since it was established in 2003.

The Government previously marked the 150th anniversary of the Famine in the 1990s and the GAA moved the 1947 All-Ireland finals to the Polo Grounds in New York to honour the centenary.

RTÉ

03 May 2006 16:06

The President and the Taoiseach have attended the annual 1916 commemoration at Arbour Hill in Dublin.

Click to view - image from this >>photographic tour of Easter Rising locations

The Bishop of Meath, Dr Michael Smith, described those who died in the Rising 90 years ago as people of immense passion and selflessness.

The executed leaders of the 1916 Rising are buried at Arbour Hill and every year the State has held special ceremonies there to honour those who died.

Today is the 90th anniversary of the start of the execution of the leaders.

The ceremony was attended by President Mary McAleese, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and former Taoisigh Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald. Opposition politicians, judges and relatives of those who died. Among those present was the 92-year-old son of Michael Mallin, Father Joseph Mallin, now the only surviving child of an executed 1916 leader.

Bishop Smith said that even though some people continue to disagree with the Rising, it led to the foundation of the State. In conscience, he said, those who fought firmly believed that their actions were right.

Bishop Smith continued: ‘Those who gave their lives in 1916 believed they acted in accordance with the demands their informed conscience placed upon them. They did not see the First World War as their battle or indeed as a war in which Ireland should become involved.

‘One respects the conscience of the many Irish people who fought and died in that war. It is harder to respect the conscience of those who encouraged them to become involved in this appalling adventure, or that of those who sent millions to pointless deaths.’

RTÉ

03 May 2006 16:25

The High Court in Belfast has refused bail to leading loyalist André Shoukri.

Mr Shoukri, with an address in Albert Road, Carrickfergus, has been in custody since last November on charges of blackmail, intimidation and money laundering.

A lawyer for the alleged leader of the UDA in north Belfast was told that he could anticipate a further application if he is not brought to trial soon.

Evening Echo

03/05/2006 - 12:45:30

The Special Criminal Court today fixed a date in December for the trial of a Co Cork chef arrested last year as part of a garda investigation into IRA money-laundering.

Don Bullman (aged 31), a chef and father of two, of Fernwood Crescent, Leghanamore, Wilton, Co Cork was charged in February last year with membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on February 16, 2005.

Today, prosecution solicitor Mr Denis Butler asked the court for a trial date and said the trial was expected to last two to three weeks.

The court fixed December 12 for Bullman’s trial and remanded him on continuing bail until then.

Bullman’s counsel Ms Anne Rowland BL applied for a variation in Bullman’s bail conditions to allow him to sign on three times a week instead of daily at Toher garda station and to allow him to take two weeks holiday outside of Ireland in August, but the court adjourned that application until a later date in the absence of Bullman’s surety.

Last year during a bail hearing, Detective Superintendent Diarmuid O’Sullivan of the Special Detective Unit said that gardaí had found a bag containing a Daz box and the box contained more than €94,000 wrapped in three individual wrappings of €30,000 each when Bullman was arrested at Heuston Station in Dublin in a northern-registered jeep.

The Detective Superintendent said during that hearing that Bullman was “a central individual” to the activities of the IRA prior to February 16, 2005 and that activity was “a money-laundering operation for the IRA, in which he is central”.

BBC

The government has refused to release details of up to 100 “side deals” struck with Democratic Unionists during talks on reviving devolution in 2004.

The SDLP had asked that the details be published under the Freedom of Information Act.

But the government said the information could prejudice the United Kingdom’s relationship with the Irish government.

It also warned that it might damage the political process. The SDLP intends to appeal against the refusal.

The SDLP’s Sean Farren said on Wednesday that the political process was dealing with the after-effects of the so-called Comprehensive Agreement.

This was the failed 2004 document proposed by the two governments after months of negotiations involving the DUP and Sinn Fein.

The deal collapsed after the IRA refused to give in to DUP demands that its disarmament process should be photographed.

The SDLP requested the information in March, after DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson claimed his party had secured more than 100 secret side deals and understandings during talks on the Comprehensive Agreement, involving the Irish government and Sinn Fein.

“A shadow assembly is now being put in place because this was agreed by the DUP with Sinn Fein in the Comprehensive Agreement,” Mr Farren said.

Side deals

“While the British government say that they are not wedded to the Comprehensive Agreement, (Northern Ireland Secretary) Peter Hain confirmed last week that they are still talking about legislation later this year to implement parts of it before there could be restoration.

“That is why the SDLP wants all the side deals that the DUP has on the Comprehensive Agreement made public - and why we put in the freedom of information request.”

Mr Farren said the public had the right to know what changes there might be to the Good Friday Agreement for which they had voted.

If the Comprehensive Agreement had been struck in 2004 and devolution revived, there would have been changes to the way the assembly operated.

These include how the first and deputy first ministers would be elected as well as the entire ministerial team.

Under current proposals, the assembly will be recalled on 15 May with parties being given six weeks to elect an executive.

If that fails, the 108 members get a further 12 weeks in the autumn to try to form a multi-party devolved government. If that attempt fails, salaries will stop.

Mr Hain and Irish foreign minister Dermot Ahern have stated that there is no flexibility in the deadline for restoring devolution.

At a meeting in Dublin in Tuesday, Mr Hain said they would “not be blinking” on the November deadline.

If the attempt fails, the British and Irish governments intend to work on partnership arrangements to implement the Good Friday Agreement.

Devolved government at Stormont was suspended in October 2002 following allegations of a republican spy ring.

A court case arising from the allegations later collapsed.

BBC

Mr Hill and Mr Conlon were both wrongly convicted in the 1970s

Two men wrongly convicted of 1970s IRA bombings are among a group of people seeking to sue Home Office Minister Fiona MacTaggart over an alleged libel.

Gerry Conlon, of the Guildford Four, and Paddy Hill, of the Birmingham Six, are among the group of victims of miscarriages of justice.

They say Ms MacTaggart talked of average compensation to a “criminal” whose conviction was quashed.

The group argues that people would associate the remarks with its members.

The Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (Mojo) said Ms MacTaggart’s comments in a broadcast interview were reproduced in newspapers.

It added that those launching the legal action argue that because there are a relatively small number of high-profile miscarriage of justice cases, people would associate the remarks with them.

A Mojo spokesman added: “This is deeply embarrassing for the government. Gerry Conlon had a public apology from the prime minister only last year.”

Mr Conlon was wrongly imprisoned for an IRA bombing in Guildford in 1974, and cleared on appeal in 1989.

Mr Hill wrongly served 16 years in jail over IRA bombings in Birmingham in 1974. He later co-founded Mojo.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We can confirm that the Home Office has received a letter and that we shall respond in due course.”

The interview by Ms MacTaggart was given as the government announced a cut in compensation to victims of miscarriages of justice.

BBC

Two prisoners are on a roof at Magilligan

Two prisoners have climbed onto a roof at Magilligan Prison in County Derry, the Northern Ireland Prison Service has said.

The inmates climbed onto the roof of a single storey concrete building in the complex and asked to speak to a Free Presbyterian minister on Wednesday.

No members of staff or prisoners have been injured and the Prison Service is negotiating with the men.

All prison visits at the facility have been suspended.

Daily Ireland

PSNI lets vehicle stop a second time, giving mob another chance to attack defenceless nationalists

By Connla Young
03/05/2006

The PSNI faced criticism last night after an attack by a gang of loyalists in Co Derry led to four nationalists being hospitalised. (Click photo to view)
An elderly man, two teenage boys and their mother were treated for their injuries after a bus load of loyalists went on the rampage on the Glenshane Pass, near Maghera, on Monday evening.
During the hour-long incident, 71-year-old John Convery was beaten to the ground after challenging up to 30 loyalists from Derry city who had vandalised a roadside mural dedicated to the 1981 hunger strikers. An elderly neighbour who came to his aid was also savagely assaulted.
Mr Convery’s car was damaged in the attack. The loyalist mob then stole his car keys and made off.
It is understood that a number of people on the bus had taken part in a soccer match earlier in the day.
The PSNI later intercepted the bus, which was taken to the nearby town of Tobermore.
Mr Convery later arrived at the scene with a number of people. He made a complaint to the PSNI and offered to identify his attackers.
After being released by the PSNI, the loyalists returned to the Glenshane Pass. They attacked Kathleen Hegarty and her sons Rory and Ciarán in their home as police officers looked on.
Speaking to Daily Ireland from his home, John Convery explained how the loyalist mob had set upon him.
“I was attending to my sheep when I saw these people shouting and roaring and noticed that the mural was wrecked.
“I stopped with them and asked them what they were doing. I told them that they were trespassing. Before I knew it, there were four or five people in my face. Then one of them hit me and cowped me. I never saw anything like that in my life.
“I later asked the police if they had got their names after they stopped them and they said ‘no’. Another man offered to identify them.
“Then the police said they were taking them to the barracks in Magherafelt, but they didn’t. They let them go instead. All the time, these boys were roaring and shouting like wild animals.
“I intend to push this as far as I can. I will go to the Police Ombudsman. There is no law and order when a 71-year-old man can be knocked to the ground at the side of the road and no action is taken. It’s simple. There is nobody to keep order,” said Mr Convery.
Martin Molloy, a friend of the Convery family, arrived at the scene a short time after the attack.
“It was a very frightening experience for all of these people. John Convery is an elderly man. Nobody deserves this to happen to them when they are minding their own business,” he said.
Magherafelt Sinn Féin councillor Patsy Groogan slammed those involved in the attack.
“I condemn the thugs and challenge the RUC/PSNI why, when they had three opportunities to defuse this situation, they did nothing.
“John Convery had nothing to do with this billboard and neither had this woman and her sons.
“The behaviour of the attackers and the PSNI, who allowed the bus to stop a second time and those in it to attack this family, is unacceptable,” said the councillor.
A spokesperson for the PSNI said: “Two people arrested have since been released on police bail pending further inquiries into the matter.”
The spokesperson said several windows on the minibus had been smashed.

BN.ie

03/05/2006 - 08:16:20

The Orange Order in the North is refusing to abandon its controversial policy of not speaking to nationalist residents groups about disputed loyalist parades.

Yesterday, the SDLP held talks with the order for the first time in its history and urged it to accept dialogue with Catholic residents in areas like the Garvaghy Road.

However, the order refused to end its policy, which has led to several contentious Orange marches being banned from Catholic areas.

Despite this, both sides described yesterday’s meeting as constructive and said they planned to hold further talks in the future.

BN.ie

03/05/2006 - 11:51:53

Nationalist politicians have renewed their accusation that successive British governments turned a blind eye to collusion in the North.

The accusation follows the discovery of new papers showing that London was aware more than 30 years ago that the British Army’s Ulster Defence Regiment was deeply infiltrated by loyalist paramilitaries.

The secret intelligence briefing from 1973 says between 5% and 15% of UDR members were also members of the UDA or UVF.

It also says the regiment was the single most important source of guns for the two paramilitary organisations.

Sinn Féin says the papers show that collusion was routine practice in the North and was effectively authorised at the highest political level.

The SDLP, meanwhile, says it is shocking that the British government did nothing to put a halt to the situation.

Belfast Telegraph

By Chris Thornton
03 May 2006

Crucial police documents about the murder of Billy Wright have not been handed over to the inquiry into the LVF leader’s killing - almost six months after the PSNI was given a 28-day order to give them up.

The PSNI’s failure to hand over all its paperwork is one of the reasons behind a second six-month delay to the full start of the inquiry.

Lord MacLean, the inquiry chairman, indicated last week that hearings will not begin until the spring of 2007 - a year later than intended, three years after the inquiry was announced and almost a full decade after the murder.

Announcing the delay, he indicated the failure to hand over documents “has slowed down the Inquiry’s work”.

MI5 may also be holding on to documents, but the Home Office refused to discuss the matter.

Both police Special Branch and MI5 knew of threats against notorious loyalist Billy Wright before he was shot dead by INLA prisoners in the top security Maze Prison in 1997.

The judge who recommended the inquiry, retired Canadian Supreme Court Justice Peter Cory, said he could not establish if those warnings were passed on to prison authorities.

“In light of the specific nature of some of the threats to kill Billy Wright, it may well be that a failure to alert prison authorities to this intelligence would constitute a collusive act since it could amount to turning a blind eye to a situation of real and imminent danger,” he wrote in 2003.

The Prison Service and the NIO confirmed last week that they have handed over all papers requested by the inquiry.

A PSNI spokeswoman said: “The PSNI have forwarded substantial material to the inquiry to date and will continue to forward material requested in accordance with the terms of the notice.”

The situation could turn into a test for the controversial Inquiries Act, which is another reason for the delay in hearings.

Billy Wright’s father, David, is mounting a High Court challenge to the use of the Act, because of the powers it gives Ministers to keep information secret.

However, Lord MacLean asked for the Inquiries Act to be applied to the case because he said it would give the inquiry greater powers to get evidence from Government agencies.