SAOIRSE32

Indymedia.ie

By James Reilly
May 13, 2006 22:09

Michael’s mother Gina McIlveen outside her home in Ballymena

Click on the photo to view and read article

Indymedia.ie

**Thanks to the poster for this so the rest of us without expensive subscriptions to the Irish Times can read it

By Susan McKay
Saturday May 13, 2006 21:55
Irish Times

The killing of Ballymena teenager Michael McIlveen is evidence of the deep-rooted sectarianism that is infecting a new generation, reports Susan McKay

Gina McIlveen had her own experience of sectarian violence before she lost her 15-year-old son, Michael, to it this week. Last Christmas, she and her 16-year-old daughter, Jodie, who was heavily pregnant, were in the Tower Shopping Centre in Ballymena.

“This girl was following us around and she came over and she said: ‘I’ll kick that Fenian baby out of you.’ She went for me outside Santa’s grotto and then this man ran out and cracked my face with his fist and broke my nose,” she says.

Catholics are victims of 90% of sectarian attacks

“I knew him. I went to the police. It was all on the CCTV cameras. They questioned him and he blamed his girlfriend. The police told me my life could be at risk if I proceeded with the case and they couldn’t offer me 24-hour protection. I was scared because of who he was and I let it go. Then in March this year, Michael was attacked up the Cushendall Road. His mouth was ripped. I wanted to go to the police but he said: ‘Don’t, mummy, what did they do for you?’ ”

Late last Saturday night, Michael and friends encountered a group of young men at a takeaway in Ballymena. He was pursued and later beaten up against a wall in a car-park in the town centre. He managed to run more than a mile to his home before collapsing. He died in Antrim Hospital on Monday night.

Gina breaks down.

“I am hurt and heartbroken. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it,” she says. “Me and my son were very, very close. There is not one person in this town could say anything against Michael. He was just a happy-go-lucky child. He was a brilliant kid and I’m going to really miss him.”

Michael McIlveen was popular. Nearly all the children and teenagers in the Catholic parts of Ballymena are wearing Celtic shirts now with his nickname “Micky-bo” printed on them. Hundreds of them turned up at a candlelit vigil outside his home in the Dunvale Estate on Wednesday night.

One little boy had a Micky-bo Rangers shirt on. Big teenage boys let tears stream down their faces. Girls clung to each other, giggling one moment, sobbing the next. Michael’s music was being played from his house, including the Tracey Chapman line, “Take a fast car and keep on driving . . .”

But Michael loved Ballymena.

“He was born here, and after we moved to Stranraer in Scotland they all broke their hearts to get back,” Gina says. “So we came back. I put in for a transfer to Antrim last year but Michael was against it. ‘Why would we leave Ballymena?’ he said. ‘All our friends are here.’ ”

The photographs on the shrine the family has erected outside the house show Micky-bo’s brief life, from chubby baby to boy playing combat games - and one of him beaming as he gets kissed on both cheeks by two blonde girls.

“That’s Michael with two wee girls from Ballykeel,” says Gina. Ballykeel is a Protestant estate.

“I wouldn’t be bitter towards Protestants,” adds Gina, a single mother of four whose devotion to her children is mentioned by many who know her. “I have had great support this last two days from people from both communities. There has been people here from the Shankill Road in Belfast. Even Ian Paisley phoned. But something has got to be done to stop this madness.”

The Irish News carried an unbearably moving photograph taken moments after Michael died. The tubes of the life-support machine are still on his face. His uncle is kissing his forehead, while other family members have placed their hands lovingly on his chest. The family requested that the photograph be published once and then put away.

“We just want to show people out there what happens when gangs on both sides roam about,” a family member told the paper. “This is the result.”

Last summer, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) was criticised for being slow to define as sectarian a spate of violent attacks against Catholic homes in the villages around Ballymena. After the attack on Michael McIlveen, the PSNI Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Orde, spoke about young people of a new generation getting caught up in sectarian violence, which was, he said, a “two-way thing”. The DUP leader, and local MP, the Rev Ian Paisley, condemned the murder and called on “all sides to pull back from the brink”.

This is no equal match, however. Sinn Féin councillor Philip McGuigan says that 90 per cent of the sectarian attacks in the town are by Protestants and SDLP councillor Declan O’Loan agrees that the overwhelming majority of attacks are on Catholics.

“There is a disaffected element of young Catholics who fight back,” O’Loan says. The web-pages of the online teenage chatroom, Bebo, were last week full of threats of revenge for the murder of Micky-bo from some of his mates, along the lines of: “Did u c da pepers da day nice big pic of michael on it the next pic we will be cing will b urs u we scummy bastard hope u rote in hell!!!!”

On the streets of the neighbouring Dunclug estate, a startling number of young people approached at random by The Irish Times have stories of violence. They say loyalists send them threatening text messages and don’t bother to conceal their numbers.

“Two weeks ago I got jumped in the field there at the top of the estate. They sliced me with a knife,” says a boy holding a pit-bull terrier on a lead. He pulls up his Celtic shirt to show an angry criss-cross of cuts across his stomach. “That same night, two Catholics were attacked at a cash machine. You are always watching your back. We go about in groups because it isn’t safe to go alone or in twos. Then we get hassled by the police for being a gang.”

He feels safer when the dog is with him.

“Aye, he’d rip their arm off,” he says.

Paul, who is 20, has a scarred face and a bent nose.

“Me and my mates were walking home and a car stopped,” he says. “The door opened and we heard them shouting about Fenian bastards, so we started to run. It was a trap. There was another car ahead and six of them jumped out. I got hit with a wheel brace and kicked and left unconscious. My mates got help and they caught one of the ‘huns’ and hit him with a bit of a skirting board and left his eye hanging out. What goes around comes around.” He shrugs. “My da gets called a Fenian bastard because he lives here - and he’s a Protestant.”

An eight-year-old girl and her mother are leaving flowers at the shrine against the black stone wall where Michael McIlveen was attacked. She goes to school in Harryville, which used to have a large Catholic population until loyalist intimidation pushed them out in the 1970s. “A Protestant hit me when I was coming out of school,” she says. “But I’ve Protestant friends too.”

They call the loyalists the “yoofers” (from the name for the UDA’s killers, the Ulster Freedom Fighters or UFF) and the “huns”.

“Huns are brought up like that,” says a boy with a miraculous medal round his neck and earrings. “They’re all in loyalist bands and it is tradition for them to hate Catholics. I go to a mixed army cadets scheme and I have Protestant friends and some of them are the best mates ever. They hate the yoofers too.”

Last year, a judge sent a man to jail for 16 years for the attempted murder of Michael Reid in Ballymena in 2003.

“As the tide of terrorism abates, sectarianism re-emerges, oozing forth again to corrupt another generation,” said Mr Justice Coghlin.

Reid, a Catholic, was visiting a house in Harryville when he was beaten so viciously that in the end he pretended to be dead. He heard his attackers discussing how to dispose of his body by sawing it to pieces. He managed to escape and was rescued by the police.

It emerged that the convicted man had served time for taking part in the notorious loyalist blockade of Harryville’s Catholic church. During the lengthy protest, about the re-routing of Orange parades, a mob shouted sectarian abuse and threats at Mass-goers and people were beaten up in their homes. A preacher told the mob that this was the “ancient battle between the true church, Protestantism, and the Whore and the Beast and Baal worshippers within Catholicism”. Ian Paisley was criticised for failing to show support for his Catholic constituents.

Until recently, the church was overlooked by a massive UDA mural. After mediation, the “owners” of the mural agreed to replace it with a scroll about Ulster Scots. Money was provided through the scheme initiated by the President’s husband, Martin McAleese. Loyalists now claim that nationalists reneged on their part of the deal by putting up tricolours in Dunclug again.

“These guys know how to sound good,” says one Protestant Ballymena community worker. “But I wonder if giving them money is the answer.”

The Ulster Political Research Group, which advises the UDA on political matters, condemned Michael McIlveen’s murder, while urging Sinn Féin and the SDLP to combat an “evil, evil campaign” in the nationalist community. It is assumed that this is a reference to the existence in Dunclug of a small number of Real IRA sympathisers. The UUP, the DUP and the Orange Order also condemned the murder.

The SDLP and Sinn Féin have welcomed unionist condemnations, but are also demanding action. They say Catholics are treated as second-class citizens in Ballymena, where they make up 20 per cent of the population. They point out that the DUP holds all the positions of power within the town council and refuses to share them. When an SDLP councillor died last year, the DUP refused to allow the party to co-opt another councillor and insisted on a by-election, which the DUP won.

At a council meeting earlier this month, Declan O’Loan accused the DUP of refusing to fund GAA clubs which work with hundreds of young people. Philip McGuigan points out that most of Ballymena’s shops and facilities are on the Protestant southside of the River Braid, while most Catholics live on the northside.

Last year, a local DUP representative protested about the British Christmas stamp because it showed a Madonna and child. A “good relations” policy tentatively launched by the Mayor, Tommy Nicholl, was opposed by some DUP councillors and has not made much progress, according to nationalists. This week Paisley denounced “those attempting to use this tragedy as a political football”.

Jeremy Gardner, a youth pastor with the Presbyterian church, was involved last year in showing solidarity with beleaguered Catholics by, among other things, helping to remove sectarian graffiti from the church at Harryville. He says there is a new openness in communication between community activists, but acknowledges an upsurge in attacks on young Catholics.

“Michael’s death is part of something from a deep core. I think this comes down to an identity problem in the Protestant community,” he says. “Young loyalists still have the warlike mentality of Protestants versus Catholics. They go about in gangs, just like in the 1970s. That needs to change. At the same time, unionists need to acknowledge that loyalism is part of unionism.”

One young loyalist defined himself on Bebo in these terms: “Hate all taigs Put one in the bck of there heads scum of da earth.” He listed his musical taste as “uda”, his sports as “rangers fc”. Under the heading, “scared of” he wrote “nuthin”.

A UUP councillor said last week of the loyalist gangs: “The sooner these creatures are taken out of society and away from the majority of law-abiding people in the town, the better.”

At St Patrick’s College, where Michael McIlveen was a student, principal Catherine Magee and her staff are struggling to support students who are deeply upset while facing their exams.

“We are trying to create a sense of normality in a very abnormal situation,” she says. “Michael was a lovely boy and he is a terrible loss to all of us. Our biggest challenge is to give these young people a sense of purpose and the future. A lot of them are saying: ‘What does anything matter now that Michael’s gone?’ ”

BN.ie

13/05/2006 - 21:06:53

Sinn Féin tonight branded the Ulster Unionist Party as hypocrites for recruiting the loyalist Progressive Unionist Party to join its Assembly grouping at Stormont.

The move by PUP leader David Ervine gives the UUP group 25 Assembly members which means it will be able to claim three ministries in a future Stormont executive.

Sinn Féin still have 24 MLAs and will only be eligible for two ministries.

Sinn Féin general secretary Mitchel McLaughlin described the UUP’s recruitment of Mr Ervine as breathtaking hypocrisy because it had refused to engage with his party over its links to the IRA.

“The UUP repeatedly brought down the political institutions on the issue of IRA decommissioning. Yet, in an attempt to obtain an extra minister in a new Assembly, they are seeking to have the PUP leader join their Stormont group when the UVF has refused outright to decommission and continues to engage in sectarian, racist and internecine violence, ” he said.

“It is David Ervine’s democratic right to join any group he wishes. But the UUP attempts to recruit David Ervine underlined Unionist ambivalence towards loyalist violence in the starkest terms possible. The double standards of the UUP are breath taking.”

Prior to the decision of the PUP executive today, the Ulster Unionists would have only been entitled to two ministries as opposed to three for Sinn Féin.

The development came as Northern Ireland’s 108 Assembly members prepare to gather at Stormont on Monday for the first time since they were elected in November 2003.

The PUP’s decision was confirmed by the party’s chairperson Dawn Purvis.

“The PUP took this decision after wide consultation,” the Northern Ireland Policing Board member said.

“It was discussed at length and it was a collective decision.

“It is felt that by forming a group, that will give the unionist community a much-needed boost.”

Mr Ervine, who represents East Belfast in the Assembly, will become part of the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly Group but he will not become a UUP member.

As things currently stand in the Assembly, the Reverend Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists have 32 Assembly members and are the largest group at Stormont.

They will be entitled to the post of Stormont First Minister and to three ministries.

It had been thought last year that the DUP would have been able to claim four ministries but those plans were set back when their Newry and Armagh MLA Paul Berry was suspended following allegations about his private life.

Mr Berry will sit in the Assembly on Monday as an independent unionist.

Sinn Féin had hoped to have gained a ministry following Mr Berry’s suspension but will now, if things stand, be entitled to the Deputy First Minister’s post and two cabinet portfolios.

The nationalist SDLP will be entitled to two ministries in any future executive.

The Northern Ireland Assembly will gather on Monday without a power sharing executive or devolution in place.

The chamber last sat in October 2002 when a row over allegations that republicans operated a spy ring forced the British government to suspend devolution.

Since then, there have been three failed attempts to establish a multi-party government.

The Reverend Ian Paisley’s DUP has also in that time overtaken the Ulster Unionists and become Northern Ireland’s largest party.

But with the IRA last year announcing an end to its armed campaign and completing its disarmament programme, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern are hopeful that an executive can be formed this year.

In a roadmap for devolution unveiled last month, the two premiers announced that they would ask Assembly members to initially try and set up an executive six weeks from next Monday.

But with expectations low about the formation of an executive before the summer, both leaders have given the Assembly an ultimate deadline of November 24 to achieve power sharing.

If that deadline is not met, both governments have warned that they will have to enter into partnership arrangements in the absence of devolution, enhancing cross-border links in Ireland.

The DUP has insisted it will not simply go into a devolved government with Sinn Féin because of the November 24 deadline.

Deputy leader Peter Robinson has insisted that the party will only contemplate such a move if it is convinced that the IRA has ended paramilitary and criminal activity for good.

Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said as a result of Mr Ervine’s decision unionists would be punching their full weight at the Assembly for the first time since it was established in 1998.

“Unionists will be taking positions back from Sinn Féin,” he said.

“None of this will matter, of course, unless the conditions are created that will lead to the restoration of devolution.

“That is why we have tabled a proposal for the creation of a restoration of devolution committee at Stormont so that we can establish if the conditions can be created for progress or not.”

Belfast Telegraph

Warning as Assembly gets ready

By Kathryn Torney
ktorney@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
13 May 2006

Sinn Fein must support the PSNI as part of any deal to restore a power-sharing government to Northern Ireland, insists DUP leader Ian Paisley.

Mr Paisley issued his warning today, just two days before the Assembly returns to Stormont.

In an interview in the Irish Times, he said: “The talks have no future until everyone who’s going to be in the government of Northern Ireland is a complete and total supporter of the police.”

In the interview he also kept the door open to an eventual partnership administration with Sinn Fein.

But he suggested that people “should not worry” about the November deadline set by the British and Irish governments and rejected the idea that his decisions might be motivated by a desire to spend the final years of his political career as First Minister.

“I’m not interested in office,” Mr Paisley said. “Do you think I have come to 80 years of age to sell my soul? No, I’m not. What I’m interested in is to have a broad base of democracy on which we build, and then, come hell or high water, that edifice is going to stand.”

He acknowledged that there would be tough negotiations ahead and that “a true democracy” at Stormont would require significant changes to the Belfast Agreement.

Asked if he understood that many Catholics would find it difficult, if not repugnant, to wake one morning and find him First Minister, he laughingly replied: “I think I wouldn’t be the unionist I am if they didn’t. I have said that personally to Bertie Ahern and his whole cabinet when I met them.

“I said, ‘You are bound to be against me because I am against you. We’re not sitting here in friendship or ecumenical kisses… we’re sitting here because we are opponents on a vital issue.”

Daily Ireland

This article states that this Sunday is the date; however, at >>Indymedia.ie there is a long article with photo giving the ceremony date as the 21st of May, Sunday after next.
For confirmation contact Des Long on (061) 343314

by Ciarán Barnes

A memorial to two Limerick men murdered by the British army is to be unveiled on Sunday.
A plaque commemorating Michael Blake and James O’Neill is to be mounted at the Cross of Grange on the main road between Limerick and Tipperary.
The Black and Tans shot the men dead in 1920.
No one was ever charged with killing them.
Limerick City Council removed the original memorial to the men from the Cross of Grange during road works in the area.
It gathered dust in a council office until local historian Des Long found it, with the help of Limerick city councillor Eddie Wade.
Following a request from the men, the council agreed to put a new memorial in its place.
The main speaker at Sunday’s unveiling will be Séamus Ó Súilleabháin. His family played a major role in the Tan War in Limerick.
Historian Tom Toomey will address the gathering on the events leading up to the killing of the men. A wreath will be laid by Joe Lynch, chairman of Limerick Republican Graves.
The ceremony will take place at the Cross of the Grange on the main road between Limerick and Tipperary at the junction with the road to Cappamore.
Des Long has asked those attending to assemble at the crossroads before marching to the spot where the men were murdered for the 3pm plaque unveiling.
“We would like to invite the general public to attend and to hear the address by Tom Toomey, who at present is researching and writing a history of the Limerick IRA during the War of Independence,” he said.

Daily Ireland

by Ciarán Barnes

The Real IRA’s leader in south Armagh has quit the organisation in the wake of a foiled cigarette-smuggling operation in Spain.
The Newry-based paramilitary, who is an experienced bomb maker, is said to be disillusioned at the Real IRA’s failure to step up its military campaign.
Last night, other leading members of the organisation were openly questioning the leadership, most of whom are locked up in Portlaiose prison in Co Laois.
“From their cells, they have promised a military campaign but there is nothing happening,” said one dissident republican.
The latest blow to the Real IRA came when Spanish police apprehended a consignment of bootleg cigarettes worth more than €1 million (£685,000). Two men were arrested in connection with the find.
Hardliners in the Real IRA were shocked to learn that the seized container contained no weapons or ammunition.
This has led some to claim that the Real IRA, under its current leadership, is more interested in making money from smuggling cigarettes than in mounting a military campaign against the British presence in Ireland.
“Some prisoners in Maghaberry are already openly questioning the leadership, and it will not be long before there is a split. Already there are talks with some senior figures in the Continuity IRA, and defections to the organisation cannot be ruled out,” the source said.
The Continuity IRA is reorganising in parts of the North. Security services on both sides of border have predicted a step up in the group’s campaign.
Last month, a 113-kilogram car bomb assembled by the organisation was discovered in Lurgan, Co Armagh. Two men have been charged in connection with the find. The intended target of the bomb is believed to have been Lurgan PSNI station.
In a statement released to Daily Ireland, the Continuity IRA said it would target England’s Queen Elizabeth if she went ahead with a visit to Ireland next year. Both the Garda and PSNI fear that those disillusioned with the Real IRA will defect to the Continuity IRA and increase the latter organisation’s capability to launch military operations.

BreakingNews.ie

13/05/2006 - 09:05:55

Some 42 sick youngsters from the south west were today heading to EuroDisney Paris on a trip organisers say is just what the doctor ordered.

The children from Kerry, Cork city and county and Tipperary, many of whom have spent time in hospital this year, will travel to France for the weekend.

Breda Chandler, chairwoman for the Cork city hospitals children’s club, revealed around 5,000 children are treated each year at Cork University Hospital.

“While their stay is usually relatively short – two-and-a-half-days on average – children are usually only brought to hospital when they are very sick,” she said.

“Going to EuroDisney is just what the doctor ordered for many of them, especially those who have had a particularly difficult year.

“A trip like this is a real boost for them, a chance to show them that although they’ve been sick, that they can still have lots of fun.”

The money for the break was raised by the children’s Club and the Kinsale & District Lion’s Club.

This annual EuroDisney trip will include not only sick children from Cork University Hospital, but also from the Cork Association for the Deaf, the Mercy University Hospital and the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital.

“We’re delighted that this event is expanding to include more children than in previous years,” said event co-ordinator John Looney.

BreakingNews.ie

13/05/2006 - 09:05:55

Some 42 sick youngsters from the south west were today heading to EuroDisney Paris on a trip organisers say is just what the doctor ordered.

The children from Kerry, Cork city and county and Tipperary, many of whom have spent time in hospital this year, will travel to France for the weekend.

Breda Chandler, chairwoman for the Cork city hospitals children’s club, revealed around 5,000 children are treated each year at Cork University Hospital.

“While their stay is usually relatively short – two-and-a-half-days on average – children are usually only brought to hospital when they are very sick,” she said.

“Going to EuroDisney is just what the doctor ordered for many of them, especially those who have had a particularly difficult year.

“A trip like this is a real boost for them, a chance to show them that although they’ve been sick, that they can still have lots of fun.”

The money for the break was raised by the children’s Club and the Kinsale & District Lion’s Club.

This annual EuroDisney trip will include not only sick children from Cork University Hospital, but also from the Cork Association for the Deaf, the Mercy University Hospital and the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital.

“We’re delighted that this event is expanding to include more children than in previous years,” said event co-ordinator John Looney.

BN.ie

13/05/2006 - 13:15:16

Sinn Féin today faced the prospect of losing a ministerial post in Northern Ireland’s next devolved government after a senior loyalist Assembly member agreed to join the Ulster Unionist group at Stormont.

As Northern Ireland’s 108 Assembly members prepared to gather at Stormont on Monday for the first time since they were elected in November 2003, the Progressive Unionist Party announced their leader David Ervine would form a group with Sir Reg Empey’s Ulster Unionists.

The move would give the new group 25 Assembly members while Sinn Féin will have 24.

And it will result in the Ulster Unionists being able to claim three ministries in a future Stormont executive, with Sinn Féin getting just two.

Prior to the decision of the PUP executive today, the Ulster Unionists would have only been entitled to two ministries as opposed to three for Sinn Féin.

The decision was confirmed by the PUP’s chairperson Dawn Purvis.

“The PUP took this decision after wide consultation,” the Northern Ireland Policing Board member said.

“It was discussed at length and it was a collective decision.

“It is felt that by forming a group, that will give the unionist community a much-needed boost.”

Mr Ervine, who represents East Belfast in the Assembly, will become part of the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly Group.

However, he will not become a UUP member.

As things currently stand in the Assembly, the Reverend Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists have 32 Assembly members and are the largest group at Stormont.

They will be entitled to the post of Stormont First Minister and to three ministries.

It had been thought last year that the DUP would have been able to claim four ministries but those plans were set back when their Newry and Armagh MLA Paul Berry was suspended following allegations about his private life.

Mr Berry will sit in the Assembly on Monday as an independent unionist.

Sinn Féin had hoped to have gained a ministry following Mr Berry’s suspension but will now, if things stand, be entitled to the Deputy First Minister’s post and two cabinet portfolios.

The nationalist SDLP will be entitled to two ministries in any future executive.

Belfast Telegraph

Legal challenge to Orangemen opens

13 May 2006

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain can remove two Orange Order members from the Parades Commission if they fail to do their job properly, a court was told yesterday.

Mr Hain’s decision to appoint two Portadown Orangemen to the body which rules on contentious Orange parades - including the annual Drumcree parade in Portadown - was being challenged in the High Court.

A judicial review was launched in the name of a Garvaghy Road resident, which Orangemen have been banned from parading down.

Lawyers acting for Joe Duffy sought to have the appointment of the Orangemen quashed.

David Burrows, a one-time Order District Master, and fellow Portadown Orangeman and DUP member Donald MacKay were appointed to the Parades Commission in November.

Launching a legal bid to remove the pair, Barry MacDonald, QC, expressed incredulity at the appointment of ‘two prominent members of the Orange Lodge that for ten years has been a part of the single most contentious parade in Northern Ireland, namely Drumcree’.

Mr MacDonald said: “Neither could conceivably be regarded as impartial or unaffected.”

Nobody from nationalist residents’ groups opposing Orange parades was appointed.

A Government report ahead of the reconstitution of the Commission read: “It goes without saying that the members of the parade’s commission would have to be impartial.”

Defending the procedure, Bernard McCloskey, QC, insisted there were safety measures in place against any conflict of interest.

Mr Hain had ‘the power to remove the individuals from office in the event of either of them failing to comply with the terms of their employment’, said Mr McCloskey.

The hearing was adjourned until Monday.

BBC

The NI Assembly is being recalled on Monday

Progressive Unionist Party leader David Ervine is expected to join the Ulster Unionist group when the Northern Ireland Assembly is recalled on Monday.

It is understood an official approach was made to him on Friday.

The PUP executive is currently holding talks and Mr Ervine will remain its leader.

However, the move could mean the UUP receiving an extra ministerial post if there is agreement and the d’Hondt formula is put into operation.

The d’Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats.

Northern Ireland’s 108 assembly members will gather on Monday for the first time since they were elected in November 2003.

The political parties will then have six weeks to elect an executive.

If the parties fail to do so, they will get a further 12 weeks to try to form a multi-party devolved government. It that attempt fails, their salaries will be stopped.

The British and Irish governments would then work on partnership arrangements to implement the Good Friday Agreement.

The deputy leader of the DUP, Peter Robinson, said his party’s consultation of the unionist community on whether to share power with republicans could begin in the autumn.

He said the Independent Monitoring Commission would need to conclude that the IRA had ended all paramilitary and criminal activity.

Mr Robinson said too many grey areas still existed to begin any consultation now.

He said “there would be no point in going to the community” because “grey areas can’t be allowed to exist”.

“We are on the ground so we have a fair idea what people’s thinking is,” he told BBC Radio Ulster’s Inside Politics programme.

“We want to give them that wider opportunity, that the prime minister flagged up, that people have to be satisfied.

“We will give them that opportunity, presumably some time around October or November.”

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.

An Phoblacht

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike, the film H3 will be re-released with a week long launch at Newry Omniplex 12-18 May. Co-written by former H-Block prisoner Brian Campbell and former Hunger Striker Laurence McKeown, the film brings to life the unbelievable existence of the blanketmen - the horrific conditions of damp, filthy cells with walls smattered in shit, the inadequate diet and casual brutality.

In these conditions young men in their early twenties, cold, hungry, and naked except for a blanket, padded their cells barefoot but with a confidence in their political convictions. Surreal images such as these capture the remarkable defiance of those political prisoners who refused to bow to Britain’s policy of criminalisation.

Although H3 portrays a horrific period in the republican struggle, it also shows the camaraderie, the craic and sing songs, the yarns and black humour. It stands as a remarkable testament to the triumph of humanity, friendship, solidarity and courage over the British Government’s crude efforts to break men who were political prisoners.

In 2001 H3 premiered at The Galway Film Festival to critical acclaim. One film critic wrote, “H3 is a cry from the heart that transcends the party political to embrace the truly human.” The Irish Times described it as, “An accomplished, emotionally powerful drama.” And actor Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now) remarked that H3 is, “A great film”.

In 2002 H3 won the award for best screenplay at the Avanca Film Festival in Portugal in addition to the prestigious Gold Rosa Camuna Award from the Bergamo Film Meeting (Italy).

Anyone interested in having the film screened in their local cinema should approach venue managers to make arrangements and then contact Brendan (Bik) McFarlane of the 1981 25th Anniversary Committee on 02890 740817 to obtain a film reel.

An Phoblacht

Justice denied

Native American Leonard Peltier has languished in prison for three decades for an offence which even US courts have said he was wrongly convicted. Here GERI TIMMONS tells the story of how Peltier has been persecuted for defending his land and people.

4 May 2006

On a humid summer morning on 26 June 1975, on the Jumping Bull’s ranch, a young group of women were busy preparing food for the children and men. Some were sleeping, others were moving around the camp doing light chores. The night before there had been a thunderstorm and it caused some disruption of the tents, so many were up all night re-establishing camp. Leonard Peltier lay in his tent listening to the sounds of children playing and women chatting as they cooked the morning breakfast. In the distance he heard gunfire but brushed it off thinking it was probably hunters. But the sounds grew closer and he realized that they were under attack.

Peltier rushed from his tent, snatched up his rifle and ran vigorously to the little green house and realized that Grandma and Grandpa Jumping Bull had gone to Rapid City for the day. Past the house, he saw Joe “Killsright” Stuntz lying dead on the ground shot between the eyes.

He headed back across the field, he heard the children crying and saw a shining new car speeding onto the property, still shooting at three young natives in a red pick up. He followed in pursuit of the others and returned the fire in self-defence.

As Peltier headed down the hill, he encountered Bob Robideau and Dino Butler coming up. They returned to camp. Once the dust had cleared the group realised that the two in the shiny car were in fact FBI agents, Ronald Williams and Jack R. Coler, at that moment the world stood still. All knew they would be hunted down and murdered by law enforcement in retaliation for this. They would never be able to explain that it was self-defence. Everyone gathered together to say a short prayer to the Great Spirit asking for protection, for Joe’s journey into the spirit world and for the two dead agents, as the FBI and the Tribal Police surrounded the property.

Background

The violence that surrounded the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation did not start on this day. It was part of a history of corruption and murder for years. Dick Wilson, then tribal chairman and his paid assassins, the Goons (their self proclaimed name), wanted to assimilate the people into the world of capitalism and making themselves rich, by selling tribal land to the US Government. The Government wanted to strip the land of its uranium deposits; the traditionalist natives were strongly opposed.

On 27 February 1973, a group called the American Indian Movement (AIM), seized control of Wounded Knee. The occupation was in protest at Dick Wilson’s sanctioned government. Two people were killed during the 71-day occupation, 12 were wounded, including two marshals, and approximately 1,200 were arrested. AIM placed the issues of Native American rights under an international spotlight.

The murder rate however grew. Dick Wilson’s goons with the help of the FBI, created a reign of terror on the traditionalists that resided on the Pine Ridge Reservation and the American Indian Movement. There were over 60 unsolved murders, with Pine Ridge rating the highest murder rate per capita in the nation; the police agencies did not seem interested in solving them.

The largest manhunt in the history of the United States was engaged against members of the American Indian Movement. Leonard Peltier was labeled public enemy number one, with the accompanying order to shoot on sight. Even though the FBI stated that there were over 40 natives involved in the shoot out, only Bob Robideau, Dino Butler and Leonard Peltier were held for trial after capture.

Leonard Peltier fled to Canada. Meanwhile Dino Butler and Bob Robideau were arrested at different locations and stood trial while Leonard fought extradition. Robideau and Butler were found not guilty by reason of self-defence. This infuriated the FBI and they swore the next trial would be different.

Trial

Under extreme duress at the hands of the FBI a mentally ill native woman gave three inconsistent affidavits stating she was at the Jumping Bull ranch, also was the girlfriend of Peltier and she saw him shoot the two agents. She has since recanted, stating the FBI forced her into making the statements. The damage however had already been done; Peltier was now in the United States. The Canadian government upon learning the truth behind these false affidavits demanded the return of Peltier. These demands fell on deaf ears.

A ballistics expert at Peltier’s trial said he had a clear match for the weapon that shot the agents. This stemmed from a shell casing found at the crime scene. Later, through the release of documents it was learned that the expert lied and fabricated the evidence to ensure a conviction. The federal court verbally reprimanded him for professional misconduct. US Marshals sequestered the jury, implying the American Indian Movement was trying to harm them. Periodic sweeps were done in the courtroom and the judge’s chambers, once again to give the impression of implied threat. On 18 April 1977, after six hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. On June 1, 1977, Judge Paul Benson sentenced Peltier to two consecutive life sentences for the deaths of FBI agents Williams and Coler.

Leonard Peltier has continuously denied the murder of the two FBI agents. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Peltier might have been acquitted had the FBI not withheld valuable evidence. A new trial however was denied due to a legal technicality. Judge Heaney, presiding over the appellant hearing, has expressed his support for Peltier’s release.

The 10th Circuit Court stated: “Much of the government conduct on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and in the prosecution of Mr. Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It coerced witnesses. These facts are undisputed. But [this] is a question we have no authority to review.”

Barry Bachrach, Peltier’s lead counsel has asked “If the Judicial Branch has no authority to review outrageous government conduct, then, who does? If the Judicial Branch continues to acknowledge that Mr. Peltier’s due process rights were violated, but claims it has no authority to rectify it, then who does?”

Widespread support

Amnesty International has declared Peltier a political prisoner and demanded his release. His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and countless other luminaries have expressed their support for Peltier publicly.

US Prosecutor Lynn Crooks has clearly admitted: “We can’t prove who shot those agents”. Peltier is still held in captivity within the prison system. On 12 September, 2005, Leonard Peltier saw his 61st birthday pass behind the rolling wire and 20 foot high walls at Lewisburg Federal Prison. He has been incarcerated over 30 years for defending his people and his land. The government is relentless in their continued effort to keep him locked away like a caged animal. It has been proven the FBI lied, fabricated the evidence and coerced the witnesses. When will they be held accountable for their past transgressions. The native community awaits the day that this country recognizes the great wrong this government has done. We are asking for all people to unite in solidarity, joining our campaign for freedom, it is time for Leonard Peltier to come home!

• For more information please visit the web site at http://www.leonardpeltier.org/ or write info@leonardpeltier.org

Show your solidarity by writing to Leonard Peltier:

Leonard Peltier # 89637-132

USP LEWISBURG , P.O. BOX 1000 , LEWISBURG, PA 17837
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• PUBLIC MEETING

4pm Saturday 13 May

Sandino’s Bar, Water St., Derry. Organised by Pat Finucane Centre

Irish Examiner

By Ray Ryan, Agribusiness Correspondent
13 May 2006

THE 80-year-old Irish sugar industry was brought to an end yesterday when Greencore closed the country’s last remaining processing plant in Mallow, Co Cork.

A radical reform of the sugar regime by the European Union led to the closure of one of the State’s foundation industries.

It had linked workers, farmers and local communities — both rural and urban — in economic and social wedlock over the years.

The closure of the Mallow plant will result in the loss of €100 million a year to the national economy and will affect the livelihoods of up to 5,000 people in one way or another.

A total of 324 employees were made redundant and 3,700 farmers no longer have a sugar processing outlet for their beet.

The closure will also impact on road and rail hauliers, agricultural contractors and other service providers. Most of the workers, who departed from the plant yesterday, were still worried about their redundancy package, according to their union officials.

SIPTU branch secretary and worker director Liam Lucey, along with Pat Guilfoyle, TEEU regional secretary, accused the company of not honouring a Labour Court recommendation on redundancy.

They called on Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan to intervene, urged the Labour Court to revisit the issue and indicated that the workers will continue to report for work until the issue is resolved.

But the company said the redundancy package was full and fair and that it has also made a range of career support services available to staff, which were widely taken up.

Ms Coughlan and Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin said in a statement last night it was extraordinary that Greencore seems to be stalling on the implementation of the Labour Court recommendation.

Labour TD Joe Sherlock, who worked at the factory for 18 years, said the State must consider the purchase of the plant following Greencore’s announcement that it is not interested in developing bio-ethanol production at the factory.

Mr Sherlock said Ms Coughlan has failed the people of Mallow by not securing the plant’s future.

Senator Paul Bradford, (FG) said the blame for the death of the sugar industry lies squarely with Ms Coughlan and the Government. A viable alternative energy policy rooted in the use of bio-fuels must be developed and Fine Gael has the plan to do it, he said.

Green Party deputy leader Mary White said the Government could have seized the opportunity to turn Ireland’s closing sugar industry into a profitable and much needed bio-fuel industry — but had inexplicably failed to do so.

Guardian

Owen Bowcott
Saturday May 13, 2006

Decommissioning weapons may be the political imperative for Northern Ireland, but Derry yesterday took delivery of a battery of cannons, including a ship’s gun carriage, and hoisted them on to the city’s fortified walls.

Derry’s walls from the Guildhall Square - click photo to go to Derry photo site

The last batch of restored culverins, falconets, minions, sakers and demi-cannons, dating back to 1590, were formally handed over to complete a conservation programme preserving the defences which held out against successive Irish and Jacobite armies.

The ceremony in the Guildhall Square marking the occasion was an opportunity for civic leaders to commemorate historic ties with the City of London at a time when they are intent on shedding the nominal link. Derry city council, controlled by nationalist and republican parties, wants the city to revert to the ancient name of Derry instead of Londonderry - the title it acquired in 1610 when King James I granted trading companies from the City of London the rights to a settlement.

The turbulent history of Derry/Londonderry has cast a long shadow, reinforcing centuries of sectarian division.

The cannons are being restored for “tourism purposes” only, insisted Mark Lusby, an economic development officer with the council.