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At mural unveiling. Gerry Adams calls for women to join Sinn Féin

BY CHRIS MCCANN

A mural in honour of James Connolly was unveiled in West Belfast yesterday.
A crowd of over 100 people braved wet conditions to attend the event in Rockmount Street, close to the former home of the 1916 Easter Rising hero.

At the unveiling, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams addressed the crowd and musician Andrea Rice sang the ballad of James Connolly.

Local woman Bridie Crostan from Rockdale Street, who lived in the area at
the time Connolly lived there, shared her memories of him with the crowd.

The large mural, painted by local artist Danny Devenney, features an iconic image of Connolly and includes one of his famous quotes: “The cause of labour is the cause of Ireland”.

A plaque in memory of Connolly’s stay is on display outside his former home at the bottom of the Whiterock Road.

During his time in Belfast he became an organiser for James Larkin’s Transport and Workers’ Union.

Addressing the crowd, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams described Connolly as a “rounded and rooted character”.

“James Connolly was heavily instrumental in the struggle for workers when he came to Belfast in 1910 from the USA,” he told the crowd.

“He and his wife Lily had children and he knew what it was like to experience poverty and to live in difficult conditions.

“James Connolly was anti-sectarian and anti-imperialist, not just in Ireland but towards the nature of struggle all over the world,” said Mr Adams.
“He understood the need for core values and principles which still guide us today.

“He was about the future and that’s what the Proclamation was about, and he was an architect of it,” he added.

Mr Adams went on to praise the work of artist ‘Danny Dee’ then took the opportunity to urge people to join Sinn Féin.

“I know that not all of you here today are in Sinn Féin but you are as republican as anyone.

“As we move forward I would urge you to join Sinn Féin, particularly the women among you.

“As our party changes we would like more women to be part of the process,” said Mr Adams.

Bridie Crostan said, “I lived in Rockdale Street when James Connolly was living in the area and I remember him being in our house a lot. He was a good friend of my father.

“It is an honour for me to have been reared beside someone like James Connolly,” added the local pensioner.

Journalist:: Chris McCann

RTÉ

Click on the above RTÉ link for a list of several news videos you can watch concerning the Republic’s commemoration of the 1916 Rising.

BBC

By Gerald Butt
Middle East analyst

Major changes have happened in Libya over recent years - ones that not even the closest observer of the ruling circle in Tripoli could have predicted.

Looking and sounding increasingly weary, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, 64, seems to have come to terms with his own mortality.

With the wisdom of years perhaps, the Libyan leader has tried hard to turn a new page and clean up the image of his country as a haven for revolutionaries.

The stamp of Colonel Gaddafi is imprinted on every aspect of Libyan life

The decision of the US to restore full diplomatic relations with Libya marks the crowning success of his efforts to have his country accepted back into the international community.

He would clearly like a sceptical world to see this as final proof that he and his country have cast aside their rebellious streak.

More than three decades ago, Col Gaddafi led a military coup that toppled King Idris and ended the monarchy in Libya. But since then, he has ruled his country in the style of the most eccentric of absolute monarchs imaginable.

Col Gaddafi’s Libya is unlike any other country in North Africa, the Middle East or the world at large. It has the stamp of its leader imprinted on every aspect of its life - even its name.

Aside from monarchies and sheikhdoms, every other Arab state is happy to call itself a republic - in Arabic, “jumhuriyya”.

But in 1977, Col Gaddafi coined a new word in Arabic to describe his new Libya, governed - in theory at least - by popular committees. It was, he decreed, a “jamahariyya” - a state of the masses.

Green Book

Col Gaddafi’s political and social theories are set out in rambling fashion in three volumes of his Green Book, completed in the late 1970s.

Nearly four years after coming to power, he launched what he called a cultural revolution.

The main thrust was to remove all traces of imported ideologies like capitalism and communism, and all signs of foreign influence, before building a new society based on the basic principles of Islam and home-grown socialism.

As part of this process, corrupt officials were punished and politically unsound books burned.

As popular committees were formed, the Revolutionary Command Council was scrapped and effective authority taken from governors, ministers and senior officials.

But despite the cosmetic changes, ultimate power to push through revolutionary changes rested in the hands of Col Gaddafi alone.

Bedouin ancestry

Even though Libya enjoys a vast oil income, Col Gaddafi himself purports to enjoy a simple lifestyle.

He greets foreign visitors in a traditional Bedouin tent, and likes to spend long periods in the desert.

This, he says, is because of his affinity with the desert region where he was born in 1942 to a Bedouin family. He grew up in an atmosphere of rebellion.

Libya has been shaped by its leader more than most countries. Members of his family took part in the armed struggle to end Italian colonial rule, and his father and one of his uncles served prison sentences.

The young Gaddafi was strongly influenced in his formative years by the pan-Arab nationalism espoused by the charismatic Egyptian leader, President Gemal Abdel-Nasser.

Gaddafi’s support for armed groups led to confrontation with the West

During the Suez crisis of 1956, Gaddafi, aged 14, took part in anti-Israeli demonstrations. Later, at military college, he began forming plans for toppling the monarchy.

After further army training in Britain, he returned to Benghazi in eastern Libya, forming a secret group which planned the forthcoming coup.

On 1 September 1969, Col Gaddafi personally led an attack on the Benghazi radio station that signalled its start. Under the slogan, “socialism, unity and freedom”, a new chapter in Libya’s history began.

African links

In opposing what he said was the pernicious influence of the West on the Arab world and in pursuit of his desire to destroy Israel, Col Gaddafi has, at times, given financial help to a broad range of Palestinian and other armed groups around the globe, including the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Alleged Libyan involvement in terror attacks in Europe in 1986 led to US military strikes against Tripoli.

All the while, the Libyan leader was preaching the need for Arab unity.

After the death of President Nasser in 1970, he had assumed it was his natural role to step into the shoes of the former undisputed leader of the Arabs.

Three decades later, the bitterness he felt at being rebuffed time and again in his efforts at promoting unity boiled over into a public rejection of the Arab world as a whole.

He said in an interview in 2001 that Africa “is closer to me in every way than Iraq or Syria”.

Arab views

From the perspective of other Arab leaders, Col Gaddafi has always been too quixotic and unpredictable to be taken seriously. As a result, they were not prepared to translate the sympathy they felt for Libya, as sanctions were imposed after the Lockerbie bombing, into action to help Col Gaddafi.

They believed that his meddling with militant groups and such acts as the murder of British police officer Yvonne Fletcher by staff firing from inside the Libyan People’s Bureau in London in 1984 made Libya a country that was best kept at arm’s distance.

Among the Arab people, the judgment has been less harsh.

Col Gaddafi won some respect for having the courage to speak his mind without fear.

He has generally struck a common chord, for example, in denouncing the deals that a number of Arab leaders have struck with Israel as a shameful sell-out.

But at the same time Arabs were aware that the views of this maverick veteran were as likely to have as much impact on real life as his former dream of regional unity.

So they were as surprised as anyone when Libya admitted responsibility for the Lockerbie and French airliner bombings.

More surprising still was the decision in December 2003 to abandon his country’s weapons of mass destruction programme - a pragmatic move that almost certainly saved his political life and allowed Libyans to engage with the world again.

Grooming successor?

Now that Col Gaddafi’s political and diplomatic rehabilitation is complete, Libyans are waiting to see what changes might be in store within the country itself.

Over recent months there have been moves towards economic reform. American oil companies have returned to acreage they left in 1986, and firms from around the world are competing fiercely for new oil and gas contracts.

But politically, change seems to be slower. Even today, committees around the country nominally hold power, while real power still rests in the hands of the country’s veteran leader.

The signs are, too, that another member of the Gaddafi family - the colonel’s second son, Seif al-Islam - is a growing power in the land.

Col Gaddafi is intent, perhaps, to ensure that his idiosyncratic years as leader are left as a stamp on the country by the rise to power and possible succession of one of his sons.

Maybe Seif al-Islam will be the next leader. But Libya will never again be the way it was for most of his father’s rule.

Daily Ireland

Geroid O Caireallain
15/05/2006

Maybe it’s the early Summer sun and that feeling of lethargy that accompanies the first signs of the Mediterranean weather in Ireland. Or maybe its because experience has taught us that the period between Easter and September in this part of the world is officially designated a political sleep zone.
You quite often get elections in May or June. Often in October or early November as well, but early and mid-Summer is much more popular. However, apart from whenever elections occur, the months of Spring and early Summer are not the best for politics. And this year we will not be having elections. Next year, definitely, but not this time.
Apparently, the Orange marching season starts officially on Easter Monday. At least it did this year. And, apparently, you can’t have a political initiative during the Orange marching season. It would be a distraction, you see. During the Orange marching season, Unionist politicians have to concentrate on banging the drum, starching the collarette and polishing the bowler.
By July and August Paisley will be busy thundering his blood and guts out to the Orange hordes, damning Dublin and the Whore of Rome, and proclaiming No Surrender to the IRA, the British Government, the Irish Government, International Opinion, the Catholic Church, the European Conspiracy and all those who work, play or attend football matches on a Sunday. Not a good time for compromise.
And that’s why there is no chance, and never was a chance of any arrangement being found to allow the re-establishment of the Stormont institutions by the end of June. So November of this year is the real deadline, the only deadline, if indeed it is to remain as a deadline.
Here is a perfect world scenario. Sinn Féin edges and inches the DUP into a deal and next November the two parties head up the new Assembly and power sharing Executive at Stormont, with Ian Paisley as First Minister and Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister, and agreement announced on policing and the devolving of powers.
Declared peacemakers and nation builders following their historic breakthrough in the North, a buoyant Sinn Féin strides into the general election in the South (to be held next May or June) and carries off sixteen seats, winning a place in the new coalition government with Fianna Fáil, or – better still – a position of enhanced influence as the party holding the balance of power in the Dáil.
And now the worst world scenario: by the end of October this year the DUP let it out that they are seriously considering making a deal with Sinn Féin and going into government with Republicans. Big Ian later confirms to the media that, although not one hundred per cent sure that the IRA have turned away from criminality and terrorism, the party has decided to take Sinn Féin at their word and go into government for the sake of the people of Ulster.
But a week before the deadline something happens. A tout is shot, or a bank is robbed, or former IRA personnel are involved in a fracas in which a man is killed, or a business man with close links to Sinn Féin is accused in a Sunday newspaper of laundering money for the IRA, or someone jumps bail, or a gun is found or a bomb goes off… whatever.
The IRA deny it, Sinn Féin point the finger at the Brits dirty tricks department, the Irish government pleads for cool heads… but Paisley walks. The perfect Paisley scenario – no need to go into government with Sinn Féin, and all the blame lies with the Republicans. We all believe Sinn Féin, but it makes no odds.
The DUP may well decide that they would be better served by staying clear of a Stormont Assembly with its powersharing Executive. They have nine MPs at Westminster, and perhaps their sights are set on a bigger target than Stormont.
Just say Tony Blair goes early next year and Gordon Brown takes over the Labour Party and the British government. The new man will have to confirm his mandate at the poles and in the ensuing General Election, the DUP might well end up holding the balance of power between Labour and the Tories, whichever one of them is in power.
The next British government could well depend upon DUP votes, and I would say that Paisley, Robinson, Donaldson and crew will be well able to use that situation to their best advantage.
But just say this. Just say that duly elected MPs from the Six Counties were also allowed to sit in the Dáil. The Unionists may well boycott such a set up but who cares? As a Northern nationalist I would be delighted to be able to see my chosen representative sit in the Dáil.
With democratically elected representatives from both communities sitting in the Dáil and Westminster, the two governments could easily set up a system of committees to oversee the governance of the North. It would not be a United Ireland, so it should be acceptable to Unionists, but it would turn Dáil Éireann into an all-Ireland government, and that would be good enough for me.
Just magine it – the North being run on a joint basis by the two governments with elected representatives from the Six Counties entitled to sit in both national parliaments, with all powers including policing and justice, economic development, roads, education, tourism, culture… the lot vested in the democratically controlled committees.
And the system would be further complemented by the new, seven district local council set up.
The only stumbling block, the only barricade on the road, the only problem is the Irish government. Its not the Brits, its not imperialism or colonialism, or even Unionism - it’s the Irish government that has the power to allow democratically elected Irish representatives from North East Ireland take part in the national parliament of Ireland. Its not the Unionist veto, but the Irish veto we have to fight to achieve national democracy.
The good weather makes you dream the big dreams…dammit, here’s the rain again.

Daily Ireland

By David Lynch
15/05/2006

Realtives of people killed in the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings have renewed their appeal for a full public inquiry into the attacks.
Speaking to Daily Ireland before the 32nd anniversary of the bombings later this week, campaign group Justice for the Forgotten, which represents relatives of the 33 people killed, said it was vital that an inquiry be established into the truth surrounding their loved ones’ deaths. Wednesday marks the anniversary of the attacks which resulted in the biggest loss of life in a single day of the Troubles.
Last week in the Dáil, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern would not commit himself to the establishment of a public inquiry.
However, Margaret Urwin, secretary of Justice for the Forgotten, has urged the government to have a rethink.
“It cannot stay out there in the ether that maybe another friendly state bombed our citizens on the streets of our capital city and in the town of Monaghan,” she said.
“I think that it is essential that the Irish government comes around to establishing a public inquiry.”
A report by senior counsel Patrick McEntee into the 1974 Garda investigation is expected to be with the cabinet by the end of the month.
Ms Urwin said she was “hopeful” Mr McEntee will recommend the establishment of a full public inquiry.
“We always have to be hopeful,” she said. “If that is not recommended, a full public inquiry still needs to be established.”
Ms Urwin said she believed the perpetrators of the attack were part of a gang that included members of the UDR, RUC and loyalist paramilitaries, ‘probably’ under the direction of British intelligence.

Sinn Féin

Published: 15 May, 2006

The Sinn Féin European department will hold a half day conference entitled “Sellafield – Still a Danger” on Saturday 20th May ’06 in the Fairways Hotel, Dublin Road, Dundalk from 10am to 1.30pm.

Among the speakers who will be taking part in the conference are Mr Lennart Varmby, Board Member Swedish Energy Agency, Cllr George Regan, Scottish Vice-chair Nuclear Free Local Authorities, member of Dundee City Council (Scottish Labour) and Ms Rea Street, Vice Chairperson, CND Britain.

Bairbre De Brún, MEP will chair the session “Why Sellafield Must Close” and Arthur Morgan TD will chair the session “How to organise for the closure of Sellafied”.

Other speakers will include Caitriona Ruane MLA for South Down and Louth County Councillor Tomás Sharkey.

Speaking today Sinn Féin Environment spokesperson Deputy Morgan said, “This conference is open to everyone concerned about the continued threat from the Sellafield plant in Cumbria, the most discredited nuclear facility in Western Europe.

“The people of County Louth and indeed the whole island have always had serious health concerns around Sellafield. We want a complete closure of the Plant, on a phased basis. We want a proper clean-up operation and we want more openness and no more cover-ups from the British Government on this issue.

“The threat of a new wave of nuclear power plants across Britain is also of grave concern. On a recent visit to Brussells it was evident to me that there is a very large pro-nuclear lobby at work promoting nuclear energy. Nuclear power can never be a viable option. The devastation caused twenty years ago at Chernobyl and the after-effects, which will be felt for many more generations should be enough to make us stop in our tracks and think again.

Concluding Deputy Morgan said, “I am looking forward to the contributions from the various speakers and I invite anyone interested in hearing what they have to say and who would like to make their own contribution to please come along.” ENDS

Sinn Féin

Published: 15 May, 2006

Sinn Féin MLA for Newry and Armagh and the party’s spokesperson on Demilitarisation Davy Hyland has today welcomed the news that the British Army has vacated a major military installation in South Armagh.

Mr Hyland said that the British Army withdrawal from the Faughil Mountain near Jonesboro would be “wholeheartedly welcomed by the local community”.

Speaking today Mr Hyland said:

“It is my understanding that the British Army has finally left the Faughil Mountain near Jonesboro, South Armagh. All British troops stationed on the mountain left as of Friday last (12th May).

“I welcome this withdrawal from the South Armagh area. This base was a major military installation and overlooked most of South Armagh and North Louth and was a constant intrusion into the everyday lives of local people. No doubt the local community will also wholeheartedly welcome this news.

“My hope is that this latest withdrawal will provide the catalyst for the full and immediate removal of British troops and their weapons of war from South Armagh and indeed across the six counties.” ENDS

BN.ie

15/05/2006 - 17:33:21

Murdered Catholic schoolboy Michael McIlveen’s body was released today in preparation for his funeral.

As another 15-year-old appeared in court accused of the sectarian killing that has horrified Northern Ireland, the Coroner’s Office completed its post mortem examinations.

Michael’s funeral is now expected to bring his hometown of Ballymena, Co Antrim, to a standstill later this week.

The 15-year-old St Patrick’s High School pupil was beaten to death by a gang earlier this month.

He was cornered and attacked with a baseball bat after being chased as he bought a late-night takeaway pizza.

With five teenagers already accused of the murder, the latest youth to be charged appeared before a magistrate in Coleraine, Co Derry.

A 16-year-old was also in the dock on a charge of causing affray.

Both the accused, who cannot be identified but deny the charges, were remanded in custody after the court was told their safety could not be guaranteed because of rising tensions in Ballymena.

Threats have been made against their families, a detective opposing bail said.

The youths will appear by video link with the co-accused at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court next month.

BN.ie

15/05/2006 - 13:33:00

The Department of Education has reported significant progress in its efforts to get Traveller children into full-time education.

In a report published today, the department says almost all young Traveller children are now attending primary school, while the number attending secondary school has increased three-fold in the past eight years.

However, the report also says there is much progress still to be made, with just 50% attending secondary-school and just 10% of these going on to complete the Leaving Cert.

It also says Traveller children have relatively low abilities in reading and maths compared to the general population.

BN.ie

15/05/2006 - 15:49:52

Damning reports alleging corruption and negligence among gardaí in Donegal in the 1990s will be made public within the next 10 days.

Justice minister Michael McDowell tonight confirmed material contained in three reports from the Morris Tribunal will be released.

But Mr McDowell said he had concerns that some information would be prejudicial in an existing prosecution against an officer and that he would be going to the High Court to get directions.

“It is my intention to put them into the public domain as soon as I can,” he said of the reports.

He added he hoped that would be within the next 10 days.

The Morris Tribunal is investigating seven modules concerning the behaviour of gardaí.

Three reports were last week handed to Mr McDowell.

They concern allegations that officers planted a bomb and gun, intended to frame a group of travellers, manufactured a death threat and psychologically intimidated two sisters in custody.

Tribunal chair Mr Justice Frederick Morris has already heard evidence on three controversial incidents.

The Silver Bullet module focussed on claims that gardaí arranged for Sligo man, Bernard Conlon, to make up allegations of a death threat against himself and a detective sergeant.

A second module concerns allegations that gardaí planted a bomb or explosive device in a telecommunications mast near Ardara in order to arrest three locals.

The Burnfoot Module probed the arrests of seven travellers after the apparent discovery of a sawn-off shotgun.

It is believed the reports contain information regarding suspended Detective Sergeant John White in relation to a charge of illegal possession of a firearm.

His lawyers have argued that revealing details of the Burnfoot episode before his trial date in Donegal would be prejudicial to the case.

BN.ie

15/05/2006 - 14:34:12

A group of Afghan asylum seekers vowed today to starve themselves to death unless they are allowed to remain in Ireland despite Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s insistence that they cannot stay.

Thirty-three men began refusing food and water at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin yesterday afternoon and were joined by eight others today.

They insisted they will die one by one unless they are granted political asylum.

Osman Hotok, 27, spokesman for the group, said the men fear being tortured if they are sent home.

“There are reports of politically motivated or extra-judicial killings by the government or its agents,” Mr Hotok said.

“For example, torture, official and punitive, poor prison conditions, abuse of authority by regional commanders, trafficking in persons and abuse of workers and children.

“The refugee applications commissioner has not given full attention to us and unlawfully refused most of our asylum applications.

“We will remain on hunger strike until somebody could come forward to guarantee us that we will get political asylum or we will die one by one.”

The group, which includes seven teenage boys, were visited by Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Dr John Neill. The clergyman pleaded with the men to drink water, and the men have said they will consider this.

A 17-year-old boy who began the hunger strike yesterday was taken to hospital after a few hours without food. It is believed he has a kidney complaint.

Another of the failed asylum seekers, Sultan Kabir Chakari, a 45-year-old blind man from Kabul, fears that he will be persecuted if returned. He said he will be tortured in Afghanistan because of his role as an official in the Foreign Ministry under the Taliban regime.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell urged the asylum seekers to call off their protest and insisted he would not negotiate with them.

“I understand that in Belgium some 20 churches were occupied. We don’t do business that way and we won’t do business that way,” he said.

“We don’t deal with people in the lump so to speak, we deal with every individual case.”

Mr McDowell said the Irish Government had developed a complex immigration system which was suitable to deal with asylum applications.

“There’s a system there. It’s wrong for me to try to break down our system and it’s wrong for anybody else to try to break down our system,” he said.

“It’s a very sophisticated system and people can’t just suddenly say ‘we’re opting out’.”

He said asylum seekers had been returned to Afghanistan in the past.

“I would just ask the public to bear in mind that although there are disturbances in Afghanistan, that doesn’t mean that anybody has the right to come and live in Ireland,” he added.

BN.ie

15/05/2006 - 13:43:06

The Democratic Unionist Party in the North is now refusing to share power with the Ulster Unionists following PUP leader David Irvine’s decision to join the latter’s Assembly grouping.

Mr Irvine is aligning himself with the UUP in the newly-reconvened Stormont Assembly as part of a move designed to ensure unionist dominance of any power-sharing Executive.

The move gives the unionist party the right to claim an extra ministerial seat at the expense of Sinn Féin.

However, it has angered the DUP, which is now refusing to enter any power-sharing arrangement with the UUP due to Mr Irvine’s links with loyalist paramilitaries.

Mr Irvine’s Progressive Unionist Party is regarded as the political wing of the Ulster Volunteer Force, which is not on ceasefire and which is deeply involved in drugs, extortion and violence.

Speaking at Stormont today, DUP leader Ian Paisley said: “If people want to be aligned with any form of terrorism, whether it be Protestant or Roman Catholic, they have no right in the government here.”

BN.ie

15/05/2006 - 13:30:07

Spanish police have arrested a suspected leader of a Real IRA splinter group in the south-eastern city of Alicante, the Interior Ministry said today.

The man was part of a group that was broken up by police on May 7 in the southern city of Malaga for allegedly attempting to smuggle 500,000 packets of cigarettes to Britain.

Two other people were detained in that operation.

The man arrested today is described as the leader of the group part of the Real IRA. He is suspected of being involved in tobacco smuggling to finance activities for the armed group, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

During the investigation, police determined that several citizens from the North had taken up residence on Spain’s south coast and were suspected of “collaborating directly” with armed groups linked to the Real IRA.

The Real IRA claimed responsibility for the August 15, 1998, car bomb attack on Omagh, where 29 people were killed and more than 300 wounded.

In this issue:
1. Sectarian attacks continue in Co Derry
2. RUC/PSNI criticised over Glenshane Pass assaults
3. Bloody Sunday report delayed
4. UDR brothers faced previous bomb charge
5. Seven charged with killing Ballymena schoolboy
6. Call to ‘protect’ against torture
7. Markievicz group among objectors to housing plan
8. SIPTU to help finance film on life of James Connolly

Click >>here

BBC

The families of two boys charged in connection with the murder of schoolboy Michael McIlveen have been threatened, a court in County Londonderry was told.

A detective told Coleraine Magistrates Court that tensions were high in Ballymena with fears of reprisals.

He was opposing bail for a 15-year-old boy charged with the Ballymena boy’s murder last Sunday and a 16-year-old youth charged with causing affray.

Both accused were remanded in custody on Monday.

Five teenagers are already in custody charged with the murder of the 15-year-old St Patrick’s College pupil in Ballymena last Sunday.

The teenager died last Monday, a day after being attacked by a gang at Garfield Place, Ballymena.

A detective told the court on Monday that when charged, the boys had replied “no” or “not guilty”.

The youths, who cannot be named for legal reasons, spoke only to confirm their identities.

The detective said the families of both the accused had already been threatened.

‘Tensions’

He added that tensions were very high in the town, and that police intelligence indicated fears of street disorder and possible republican reprisals.

It would be almost impossible to guarantee their safety if they were released from custody, he said.

Magistrate Richard Rolston said tensions were clearly so high in the town that bail would not be granted.

The two youths are due to appear by video link with five other co-accused at Ballymena Magistrates Court on 8 June.

The police said a number of witnesses have still to come forward.

A book of condolence for the McIlveen family has been opened by Ballymena Council.

Belfast Telegraph

By Claire McNeilly
15 May 2006

Police were last night urged to investigate a loyalist website over its comments about murdered Ballymena schoolboy Michael McIlveen.

The extremist website makes derogatory remarks about Michael and his family in a video featuring news reports on his death.

The Belfast Telegraph was alerted to the material last night by an angry caller, who, though a loyalist himself, described the site as “disgusting”.

The website also features footage of the Milltown cemetery murders carried out by loyalist Michael Stone in 1987.

The DUP’s Ian Paisley Jr last night condemned the site.

He said: “This sort of thing is just filthy and doesn’t deserve credibility or the attention it craves.”

SDLP man John Dallat called for the police and the Government to take action.

“I think in the dying kicks of loyalism, there appear to be no depths to which they’ll not stoop and attacking the dead is the lowest form of life,” he said.

“The police need to take action and the Government needs to bring on board legislation to deal with these things immediately. People expect protection, especially a family at this extremely difficult time.”

Michael, who was a pupil at St Patrick’s College, died last Monday, a day after being attacked by a gang at Garfield Place in Ballymena.

Last night, DUP leader Ian Paisley declined to comment on whether or not he be would attending the funeral later this week, amid speculation that he is to join mourners in Ballymena.

Meanwhile, the family of murdered north Belfast schoolboy Thomas Devlin has conveyed its condolences to the McIlveens.

His mother Penny Holloway told the Sunday Life newspaper that Michael’s murder had brought back the horror of her own son’s killing.

“We have sent a message to the McIlveen family,” she said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this tragic time.”

She added: “Once again, our society has witnessed the senseless waste of such a young life. Like Thomas, Michael had his whole life in front of him - and he has been robbed of that.”

Irish Independent

**Via Newshound

Ann O Loughlin
13 May 2006

A DETECTIVE garda yesterday went to court in a bid to stop his trial on perjury charges relating to evidence given by him during the trial of Colm Murphy on charges connected to the Omagh bombing.

Det Gda Liam Donnelly claims his right to a fair trial has been prejudiced.

The High Court yesterday heard that the detective is claiming his right to a fair trial has been prejudiced because of a number of factors. They include the non-availability of some evidence which a forensic expert had given to Mr Murphy’s trial relating to his technical analysis on Garda notes of an interview with Mr Murphy.

Having carried out an examination of certain documents, the expert had testified that a page of a memorandum was falsified.

However, one of the original documents on which he had based that conclusion is now missing and this is among the reasons why Det Donnelly contends he cannot receive a fair trial on the perjury charge.

Det Donnelly also claims the delay in bringing the prosecution has caused him prejudice, personal stress and anxiety.

In opposing the garda’s application for the DPP, Paul O’Higgins SC rejected the detective’s argument and said the non-availability of the writing analysis document was not the fault of the prosecution team.

While there had been some prosecutorial delay, it was not such as to create the risk of an unfair trial, counsel also submitted.

Mr O’Higgins also said Det Donnelly’s application should be refused on grounds of the detective’s own delay in bringing his judicial review proceedings.

Det Donnelly was outside the three-month time limit in bringing his case, which was not initiated until November 2005, although the return for trial was in January that year, counsel for the DPP said.

Having heard from both sides, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill said he would reserve his judgment in the case to Tuesday next.

Both Det Donnelly and another Det Gda, John Fahy, were each returned for trial in January 2005 on perjury charges before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court relating to crucial evidence they gave during the Colm Murphy trial.

A trial date has been fixed for October 16th next.

Both gardai, who were members of the Carrickmacross-based team of gardai who interviewed Mr Murphy, have denied the charges being brought against them by the DPP.

Both gardai face two counts each of falsely swearing evidence during the trial of Mr Murphy on dates between October 18 and November 15, 2001. He was convicted in the non-jury Special Criminal Court in January 2002 of conspiring to cause an explosion.

A retrial was subsequently ordered by the Court of Criminal Appeal after it quashed the conviction on two grounds, including the Special Criminal Court’s approach to the alteration of Garda interview notes and the evidence given by the two officers.

Sinn Féin

Published: 14 May, 2006

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP today unveiled a mural in memory of James Connolly, the last of the leaders of the Easter 1916 Rising who was executed by the British on May 12th 1916.

Gerry Adams described James Connolly as ‘the foremost Irish political thinker of his time, whose teachings are as relevant to Ireland in 2006 as they were in 1916.’

The mural dedicated to Connolly is in Rockmount Street only a short distance from where the Connolly family lived on the Falls Road at the time of the Easter Rising. A small plaque was unveiled by Bridie Crossan aged 92, a local resident who still lives in the same house she was born in and who was there when the Connolly’s lived on the Falls.

Mr Adams recalled that James Connolly left the family home on the Falls Road and journeyed to Dublin where he took command of the Dublin Division of the Irish Republican Army.

Gerry Adams said:

“Connolly was the last of the leaders to be executed after the Rising. He had been badly wounded during the fighting but the Irish Independent newspaper campaigned for his execution. It described the Rising as criminal. ‘Let the worst of the ringleaders be singled out and dealt with as they deserve.’

The Independent was owned by William Martin Murphy, Chairman of the Employers Federation which had tried to crush workers and their organisation, the ITGWU during the great Dublin lockout in 1913. The Citizens Army emerged from that particularly brutal period, to defend workers against the police and other thugs hired by the Employers Federation.

The Citizens Army was founded by James Connolly. It was a highly disciplined workers army, open to men and women on the basis of equality. The Citizens Army played a pivotal role in the Rising. Connolly was also very active here in Belfast. He came here from the USA where he spent seven years of activism in the workers movement.

In 1911 he was Belfast organiser of the ITGWU. He helped organise the mill workers. Or the slaves of slaves as he called them. ‘Many Belfast Mills are slaughter houses for the women and penitentiaries for the children.’

Connolly was also active with the dockers and other sections of Belfast workers. He was anti-sectarian. He understood how sectarianism was and is used to divide working people

Connolly was an avowed internationalist and a socialist who saw the two sides of the Irish struggle ˆ the struggle for freedom from Britain and the creation of a socialist republic ˆ as two sides of the one coin.

In his own words; ‘The struggle for Irish freedom has two aspects it is national and it is social.’

As a social theorist Connolly was both innovative and far sighted. His Labour in Irish History should be read by all Irish republicans, and anyone concerned with the cause of labour and the cause of working people.

Connolly understood the need for core values and clear objectives and the necessity of developing organisational and strategic programmes to achieve these.

Invariably parties of the left, particularly in Ireland, loose their way because of opportunism by leaderships or short-termism, as with the Irish Labour Party today or a blind and unyielding dogmatic adherence to the holy grail.

Neither of these tendencies live in the real world of political struggle where the main task, as in Connolly’s time is to make activism relevant to and part of the people in their daily lives.” ENDS

RTÉ

15 May 2006 12:01

Northern Ireland’s political parties have met at Stormont for the first time since devolved government was suspended in 2002.

Eileen Bell, the speaker appointed by the Northern Secretary Peter Hain, outlined her plans to the 108 assembly members.

Ms Bell told the MLAs that their conduct in the chamber would influence how they were viewed by the public.

There was also a moment of silence as a mark of respect to the murdered Ballymena teenager Mivchale McIllvine.

Before the chamber adjourned, the Progressive Unionist party leader, David Irvine, aligned himself with the Ulster Unionists.

The Irish and British governments have given the parties until November to agree on setting up a new power-sharing administration.

Today marked the first serious, structured attempt in four years to re-open Stormont for business.