SAOIRSE32

BBC

Ken Barrett was told he would spend at least 22 years in jail

The man convicted of murdering solicitor Pat Finucane could soon be released from prison, it has emerged.

Ken Barrett was given a life sentence in September 2004 after admitting his role in the 1989 murder. He was told he would spend at least 22 years in jail.

He heard he did not qualify for early release under the Good Friday Agreement because he was in a prison in England.

This changed when he was transferred to Maghaberry prison in February 2005, and he is now eligible for early release.

The Sentence Review Commission is holding a three-day hearing at Maghaberry to decide whether he should be freed.

Pat Finucane was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries

The commissioners will sanction his release if they are satisfied that he no longer has any connection to loyalist paramilitaries, and does not pose a threat to the public.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain will make a submission to the hearing to help the commissioners reach their decision.

It is understood this may include sensitive intelligence information from the police.

The hearing is due to end on Wednesday and a decision is expected before the end of the month.

Barrett has been held mostly in solitary confinement since his transfer to Maghaberry, kept away from other prisoners because of fears for his safety.

Mr Finucane, a Belfast solicitor, was shot dead by the UDA at his north Belfast home in front of his wife and family.

It is one of the most controversial murders of the Troubles, with allegations of collusion.

Newshound

(Keith Bourke, Irish News)

A former IRA prisoner has said that he has been “demonised” by the republican Movement.

Richard O’Rawe, the author of Blanketmen: An Untold Story of the H-Block Hunger Strike, said he has been more vilified by republicans than British informer Freddie Scappaticci ever was.

“An agent it seems is better thought of than a blanketman,” Mr O’Rawe said.

“No free passage to Italy in my case. But then Scap was the leadership’s man. I was not,” he said in an opinion piece in today’s (Monday) Irish News.

O’Rawe, who acted as public relations officer for the hunger strikers while in the H-blocks in 1981, claimed in his book that a deal was offered by the British government to end the hunger strike before the fifth man had died.

He said that on July 5, after the first four prisoners including Bobby Sands had died, Danny Morrison, director of publicity for the republican movement at the time, visited the IRA commander in the Maze, Brendan “Bik” McFarlane, to brief him on a British offer of a deal.

Mr O’Rawe said McFarlane returned to the block after his meeting and passed a communication to him detailing the offer, which they both then agreed to accept.

But in his book Mr O’Rawe alleged the IRA leadership outside the jail did not believe the deal was enough.

Three days later a fifth hunger striker, Joe McDonnell, died. Five more men were to starve to death before the protest ended.

In his book Mr O’Rawe asked if the IRA leadership sacrificed the last six hunger strikers to fuel the new groundswell of support for the movement.

At the time of the alleged offer by the British government republican candidate Owen Carron was conte sting a by-election in Fermanagh/South Tyrone to hold on to the Westminster seat that Bobby Sands had won from his hospital bed.

Brendan McFarlane and Sinn Féin have denied that there was any such offer.

Mr O’Rawe said that Sinn Féin knows that they are “losing the argument” and that his claims have since been backed up by others involved at the time.

May 16, 2006
________________

This article appeared first in the May 15, 2006 edition of the Irish News.

BBC

An Orangeman appointed to the Parades Commission is about to resign from the body, it is understood.

Don MacKay has been criticised for putting two politicians forward as referees on his application form without first asking their permission.

Both DUP Upper Bann MP David Simpson and SDLP Upper Bann MLA Dolores Kelly said they would not have supplied Mr MacKay with a reference.

It is believed the commission is yet to receive a formal letter of resignation.

It is understood Mr Mackay ticked a box on his application form to say he wished to be informed prior to any of his references being taken up and had intended to contact Ms Kelly at that stage.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Simpson said no-one had contacted him about the application, which, he said, he would not have supported.

Similarly in February, SDLP Upper Bann MLA Dolores Kelly called on Mr MacKay to resign from the body after he named her as a referee without asking.

Ms Kelly said she believed he should have stood down earlier.

“It was the right thing to do in the circumstances, and the only pity is that it was not done sooner,” she said.

“Allowing the affair to drag on has just done damage to the Parades Commission from which I hope it will quickly recover.”

Parades Commission chairman Roger Poole told the BBC he believed Mr MacKay had made the “right decision”.

“I think with the difficulties that have surrounded his appointment over the past couple of months and all the speculation in the press meant that Don felt that it was in the best interests of the commission and himself to resign,” he said.

Mr MacKay, a former UUP councillor who is now in the DUP, was appointed last November by Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Hain said he understood Mr MacKay’s reasons for leaving the commission.

“I regret that Don MacKay has had to resign from the Parades Commission but I fully understand his reasons for doinfg so,” he said.

“I made all of the appointments to the Parades Commission in good faith and to introduce fresh thinking.”

On Monday, Methodist minister Jim Rea revealed he had not given permission for another Orangeman, David Burrows, to use his name as a referee for a post on the body.

Both men’s appointments to the commission have been challenged in the courts.

A hearing ended on Monday, with the judgement reserved until a later date.

However, Mr Poole said the situation surrounding Mr Burrows was “very different” and he “shouldn’t have to consider his position at all”.

“As I understand it, David did ask the individual concerned if he would be a referee for him, not for the Parades Commission but if he ever needed a reference - that person said he was prepared to do so, so David put him down as a referee,” he said.

“It is important that we have got an Orange voice on the commission because it is Orangemen who organise these parades.

“I don’t think there’s any question about David’s membership of this commission.”

Speaking before Mr MacKay resigned, Brendan MacCionnaith from the Garvaghy Road Residents Association said on Tuesday that the commission’s “overall position” was becoming “increasingly untenable”.

“Either Burrows and MacKay resign, or the secretary of state is going to have to sack them,” he said.

The government-appointed Parades Commission was set up in 1997 to make decisions on whether controversial parades should be restricted.

Belfast Telegraph

MP puts pressure on Hain

By Michael McHugh
16 May 2006

The Parades Commission appointments controversy deepened again today after a third prominent person came forward to confirm he had been used as a referee without his consent.

The news will put further pressure on Secretary of State Peter Hain to explain why references were not checked out.

Upper Bann DUP MP David Simpson has confirmed to the Belfast Telegraph that he was not asked by controversial Orangeman Don MacKay for permission to use his name as a referee.

And he added that no one contacted him to ask if he would recommend Mr MacKay.

Mr Simpson said he would not have recommended Mr MacKay for the post if he had been asked.

The disclosure will deepen the controversy over the appointment of Mr MacKay and fellow Portadown Orangeman David Burrows to the commission and comes at the onset of a legal challenge to the appointments.

Mr Simpson, who is also a local Orangeman, said he would be taking his “fury” out on the Secretary of State, Peter Hain, for not ensuring that references were checked and added that he would not have supported Mr MacKay for the position.

SDLP Assembly member Dolores Kelly and Portadown minister Jim Rea have also been named as referees without their permission as part of the saga, and Mr Simpson dubbed it a scandal.

“No one asked for my permission for names to go on to a reference or whatever, nobody from the commission approached me (about the reference) and I think that is their failing,” he said.

“It is scandalous. The Parades Commission didn’t come back to me. I am totally opposed to that body. It (the reference) would not have happened but we are where we are.

“I will be taking my fury out on the commission and the Secretary of State.”

The commission has said that it plays no part in the appointments process.

Mr Simpson, a successful businessman, said he would be in urgent contact with the quango today to demand an explanation for the oversight.

He added that he could not be blamed for somebody putting his name on a sheet without his knowledge.

He knows Mr MacKay through his position in the Fire and Rescue Service.

Today’s row is the latest twist in the commission debacle which has seen Upper Bann SDLP Assembly member Dolores Kelly make an official complaint after learning that she had been named as a referee by Mr MacKay.

The issue arose after officials at the NIO said they had been impressed by the reference.

Mr Rea has also expressed concern after learning that his name had been used by David Burrows, former head of the order’s Portadown District, without his permission.

He had supported another local Orangeman, Ian Milne, who is well-known for his negotiating skills and has been at the centre of efforts to solve the Drumcree impasse but was not selected.

Mr MacKay was unavailable for comment today.

BBC

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) should “catch up” with republicans and address criminality and paramilitarism, NI Secretary Peter Hain has said.

He was speaking after Ulster Unionists admitted Progressive Unionist leader David Ervine into their new group in the revived Stormont assembly.

The move angered some unionists because the PUP is linked to the UVF.

Mr Hain said the PUP leader’s decision to link with the Ulster Unionists was “a surprise” but was their prerogative.

“It is a matter for them,” he said.

“They can sit wherever they like and under which umbrella they like.”

However, the NI Secretary said Sinn Fein was in a “much stronger position” to be on an executive, since the IRA had decommissioned.

“The UVF have not ended their paramilitary campaign, they are still involved in criminality in a big way and all of those things are things which the IRA have promised to deliver on and is delivering on,” Mr Hain said.

“Therefore, Sinn Fein are in a much stronger position to claim a seat in a power-sharing executive since they have decommissioned, they have ended their paramilitary campaign and, according to the Independent Monitoring Commission, they are driving criminality out of their ranks.

“Now that is a big, big advance compared with where the UVF are.

“The UVF ought to catch up quickly.”

Mr Ervine announced plans to join the Ulster Unionist party’s assembly group ahead of Monday’s inaugural meeting of the revived assembly.

The move means that the group now grows to 25 assembly members.

It will also mean that there will be a unionist majority in any future Stormont Executive and will give the Ulster Unionists an extra ministerial seat at the expense of Sinn Fein.

The UUP will also be called ahead of Sinn Fein in the assembly under its speaking rights.

Assembly speaker Eileen Bell has been asked by Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists to check the legality of the move.

Sinn Féin

Published: 16 May, 2006

Sinn Féin Assembly member for North Antrim Philip McGuigan today said that nationalists in Ballymena have no confidence in the ability of the PSNI Chief in the town Terry Shevlin to tackle anti-Catholic attacks in the area. He accused the PSNI Chief of providing justification for the murder of Michael McIlveen and of being more interested in boosting his media profile than anything else.

Mr McGuigan said:

“Both myself and my colleague Councillor Monica Digney have been inundated with calls from angry residents in Ballymena concerning the conduct of the PSNI Chief Terry Shevlin in the wake of the murder of Michael McIlveen.

“Shevlin has sought to portray the situation in Ballymena as tit for tat violence. It is nothing of the sort. Catholics in Ballymena have been treated as second class citizens for years. Catholics are frightened to go into their own town centre. Catholic school children are frightened coming home in evening. A 15 year old is beaten to death because he is a Catholic. Shevlin is supposed to be the head of the PSNI in the town. His job is supposed to be to protect the public, instead he has sought to provide excuses for those who brutally murdered Michael McIlveen last week. He is a disgrace.

“Nationalists in Ballymena are rightly angry at Shevlin’s behaviour over the past seven days. He is more interested in chasing headlines and boosting his media profile than standing against sectarianism and anti-Catholic hatred in the town. As a representative of the largest nationalist party in North Antrim I can categorically state that nationalists have no confidence in the ability of Terry Shevlin to provide protection and face down the sectarian bigots waging this campaign of violence.” ENDS

BBC

The mural replaces a painting of loyalist paramilitary Billy Wright

George Best may have been nicknamed the Belfast Boy, but a new project is a timely reminder of his legendary status across Northern Ireland.

His family have unveiled a mural in Portadown which celebrates his footballing genius.

The County Armagh town has been the scene of much sectarian strife, but the painting is being seen as a new beginning.

The mural, which depicts him both in his Manchester United and Northern Ireland colours, is painted over one of Billy Wright - the leader of the illegal loyalist paramilitary group, the LVF.

George’s father Dickie Best cut the ribbon to officially unveil the mural on Monday.

The Best family hope it will help promote the George Best Foundation, set up after his death last November.

His sister Barbara McNarry said the charity had two main aims.

George Best’s father Dickie attended the ceremony

“Its aims are to research liver disease - particularly the effects of alcohol on the liver, which is an area which needs a lot of research,” she said.

“Secondly, (we want) to promote youth football, obviously starting in Northern Ireland, but hopefully working our way across the world.”

Cyril Moorhead, of Portadown Local Action For Community Engagement, said they wanted to show how “paramilitarism is a thing of the past”.

“The communities are moving on and today’s ceremony is an aspect of that, whereby Portadown can be a beacon of good example to Northern Ireland,” he said.

George Best died last November after suffering multiple organ failure. He was 59 years old.

Next Monday, Belfast City Airport is set to be renamed in his honour.

Daily Ireland

Daily Ireland Editorial

Editor: Colin O’Carroll
16/05/2006

What goes around comes around: the DUP’s proposed public consultations in the autumn on doing the business with Sinn Féin are not unlike a similar excercise the republicans carried out nationwide in the wake of the signing of the Downing Street Declaration by the British and Irish governments.
A positive response from the loyalist heartland is as certain as was the republican thumbs-up all those years ago for further engagement in the peace process. The reality is that at the grassroots, the punters are now ahead of the DUP hierarchy and happy to break bread with the ould enemy. (Just as the republican base had arrived psychologically at every major milestone in the peace process — signing the Good Friday deal, decommssioning, IRA standdown — before the Sinn Féin leadership.)
What then stands between the DUP and a historic pact with Sinn Féin in a new executive? Nothing, if truth be told, except the realisation that it would be folly indeed for them to enter a powersharing executive before they have wrested some more concessions from the governments.
From Britain, that probably means even more cackhanded decisions by Peter Hain of the sort which brought us Orangemen on the Parades Commission, on-ceasefire republicans locked up in jail and a king’s ransom for anyone who ever served in the UDR-RIR militia. Look out for the hapless Mr Hain bowing to a series of infantile demands from the DUP in the weeks ahead to allow them to whine and wring their hands at Stormont in televised, quasi-official debates about water rates and hospital cuts.
What more, however, can Bertie deliver? What more indeed? After all, this is the Taoiseach who singlehandedly gifted the DUP the greatest wrecking ball a DUP refusnik could wish for in his statement that Sinn Féin wasn’t fit for government. That said, the Taoiseach’s unhelpful weekend intervention on the issue of policing — that Sinn Féin must “be more clear” about their attitude to the PSNI — is giving another hostage to fortune. Expect the DUP to return to this thorny issue after the summer, using the Taoiseach’s words to try to stall any agreement. The devotion of the DUP to the PSNI and their insistence that Sinn Féin offer up any information on “lawlessness” before they get the ministerial limos is touching indeed when one considers the Paisleyite party’s legendary links with loyalist paramilitaries right up to their present membership of many UVF and UDA-dominated parade forums. Number One priority for nationalists is Irish unity and that means getting the executive, the powersharing institutions and the cross-border bodies up and running again. Unionism is in denial. For nationalists to participate in any type of sham shadow assembly debates would only feed their delusional state.

Daily Ireland

Patricia McKenna
16/05/2006

Tomorrow is a day many people recall with feelings of sadness and anger as well as a strong desire for the truth. Incredible, though it may seem, even after 32 years, we still know so little about the biggest mass murder in the history of this state – the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

Mourners during a wreath ceremony to commemorate the Dublin Monaghan Bombing on Talbot Street, Dublin 17/5/2003

Probably one of the most pertinent questions for the relatives of the victims is why the Garda investigation into this, the worst atrocity of the Troubles, was wound down so soon after it happened. Why was there no debate in Dáil Éireann at the time about the progress of Garda investigations and the need for them to continue?
When one looks back to media reports and Dáil records of the time there is no evidence to indicate that any of our elected politicians felt strongly enough about this massacre to ensure that those responsible were brought to justice.
While it is clear the government of the day has many questions to answer about their failure prioritise the protection of human life and the bringing to justice those responsible for such mindless killings, the inaction by the opposition politicians cannot go uncriticised.
They too had a responsibility to ensure this massacre was properly investigated and that, in the words of the then Taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave: “No stone would be left unturned.” Not only was no attempt made to pursue those responsible but also efforts to suppress this slaughter were extremely successful and it has only been in recent years that the issue has been brought to the fore by organisations such as Justice for the Forgotten.
We must not forget that the perpetrators of these bombing did not even attempt to issue any warnings. Clearly their objective was to achieve the greatest number of casualties.
Many of us have believed for years that the bombings were carried out, not by loyalist paramilitaries alone, but with the help and assistance of members of the security forces and British Intelligence.
In fact many leading military specialists have stated it was such an extremely well-planned and executed operation it had to be planned and controlled by experts who knew exactly what they were doing. It was not something loyalist paramilitaries had either the experience or the technology to carry out without assistance.
The recent discovery by Justice for the Forgotten and the Pat Finucane Centre of documents confirming not only large-scale collusion between security forces and loyalist paramilitaries, but also the fact that the British government was aware of the collusion from as early as 1973, should motivate our politicians into action.
Now that Justice Minister Michael McDowell has been made aware of evidence backing up his own suspicions, he and the government should insist on full co-operation from the British on ongoing enquires into the events of 1974.
However, the enquires don’t just stop at the door of the British authorities. We too have questions to answer, not least the question as to why all the files relating to these events have gone missing from state departments.
This alone is a national scandal and a serious breach of security that should be fully investigated. Not everyone seems to agree that these missing files merit such concern. During a Dáil committee hearing on the bombings, former justice minister Paddy Cooney, said: “Of course, with missing files in the Department of Justice, every conspiracy theorist in the world kicks into action.”
When Minister McDowell issued a statement on this point after the report had been published, he said: “Do not make too much out of these missing files. There was nothing significant in them. They would have largely consisted – I can confirm this – of reports that would have come over from the Garda security section for the information of the Department and myself.” The cavalier attitude by both Mr Cooney and Mr McDowell regarding these files is staggering.
While at least Mr Cooney took part in the Dáil hearing and participated in the Barron inquiry, the same cannot be said of the then Taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave, who has refused to co-operate with any inquiry. This is not only astonishing but totally unacceptable and an impediment to the effectiveness of any inquiry since he may have received information others were not party to. Even Garret FitzGerald admitted: “The Taoiseach was present and I knew that he had received intelligence reports. He would have known what was happening.” Or in the words of Senator J Walsh at the hearing: “The Taoiseach would have been privy to information that you (Mr FitzGerald) would not have seen.” Surely it’s time to force this former Taoiseach, who remember is in receipt of a handsome state pension, to co-operate in these investigations into the slaughter of people he was elected to serve.
How long more will relatives and friends have to wait for answers? Surely, regardless of how shocking the findings might be, the time is long overdue for a full public inquiry into these events. The families of the victims have a right to closure. It’s not fair making them wait so long, indeed many have already died not knowing why their loved ones were murdered and who was responsible.
However, if the proposed Tribunals of Inquiry Bill 2005 goes ahead in its present form, there is no guarantee that the findings of a full public inquiry will be made public. Michael McDowell has announced a major reform of tribunal legislation and it would appear that provisions to censor certain findings are enshrined in the legislation.
The bill allows the government, “acting on the opinion of the responsible Minister”, to direct that a report or a specified part of it not be published “where such publication would not be in the interest of state security, or the interest of the state’s relations with other states or international organisations.”
Giving government excessive power to suppress findings on these grounds is scandalous.
In other words the government can censor the report if it believes that in will affect relations with other states. This means that even if collusion and the involvement of British intelligence is proven during a public inquiry the public, who are footing the bill for the inquiry, will be denied the right to know this because it may not be in the interests of our relations with Britain. What is the point of an inquiry?
This legislation does not just have implications for the Dublin and Monaghan bombings or other inquiries relating to the Troubles. It also has serious implications for many other possible inquiries. For example, if it transpires that Shannon airport has been used for the purpose of ‘rendition flights’ and there is a public inquiry into that or other events relating to the so called “war on terror” and our government’s facilitation of this war, then again the finding will be suppressed because it would be considered that publication of the findings would not be in the interest Ireland’s relations with the US.
This is an extremely reactionary piece of legislation giving government a blank cheque to do as it wishes. Ironically the legislation was supposed to be about excessive legal costs and the burden on the taxpayer. Instead it is going to result in a situation where the taxpayer foots the bill for a lengthy and costly inquiry where the findings will be kept from that very same public.

Daily Ireland

Relatives of UVF victims blast Ulster Unionist Party after paramilitary group’s spokesman David Ervine aligns himself with party in a Stormont voting pact

by Mick Hall
16/05/2006

Relatives of people killed by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) have slammed the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) after loyalist assembly member David Ervine formally aligned himself with the party at a reconvened Stormont yesterday.
The inclusion of Mr Ervine, whose Progressive Unionist Party is linked with the UVF, increased the Ulster Unionist assembly team to 25 MLAs, effectively giving the UUP-PUP assembly group an extra ministerial seat at the expense of Sinn Féin.
The development came as the 108 MLAs gathered at Stormont in the first attempt to resurrect the collapsed political executive in nearly four years.
The UUP strategy was condemned by Belfast man Gerard McErlean, who lost two brothers to two UVF gunmen on May 23, 1975.
John (29) and Thomas McErlean (19) were murdered as they played cards with Protestant workmates.
Mr McErlean said the move showed the UUP’s past position on refusing to deal with republicans unless the IRA decommissioned its weapons to be “one-sided” and devoid of principle.
He questioned whether the UUP was now to be considered the political representatives of the UVF.
“This move is a farce. Are we to use the phrase UUP/UVF when describing their Stormont team?
“The last Stormont executive was collapsed because Ulster Unionists threatened to walk due to the alleged republican spy ring. They said they couldn’t, in principle, deal with active paramilitaries.
“It seems the party never ascribed to that principle and it is clear all they want is power. They’ve shown sickening expediency and double standards.”
Johnny Marshall, brother of Lurgan man Sam Marshall, shot dead in March 1990 by the UVF with the alleged help of security force members, echoed Mr McErlean’s comments.
He said the UUP move was an insult to every civilian killed by loyalists during the conflict.
“My brother was killed and the Ulster Unionists couldn’t care less who killed him. They don’t care how many nationalists were killed by people who still have guns. It’s an insult.”
Ray McCord Sr, whose son was beaten to death by UVF members and dumped in a quarry on the outskirts of North Belfast in 1997, said the UUP had shown “total hypocrisy” by bringing Mr Ervine into the party’s Stormont team.
Mr McCord held a meeting with UUP leader Reg Empey and deputy leader Danny Kennedy yesterday morning.
He told Daily Ireland: “I asked Reg Empey why he would bring a man like Ervine into the unionist group, a man who fails to condemn UVF murders. Since its ceasefire, 25 to 30 people have been killed by the UVF.
“The Ulster Unionists walked out of the assembly three years ago over what the IRA was doing, but the Provos weren’t killing Protestants, the UVF have been.”
“I believe unionist politicians have shown no sympathy or any urgency for bringing people to account for the UVF’s silence.”
“The reason for his inclusion is for power, to get an extra seat and take a seat away from Sinn Féin. That’s not satisfactory.”
He said that allegations by DUP leader Ian Paisley that the UUP had aligned itself with ‘terrorism’ were simply “point-scoring”.
Mr McCord revealed to Daily Ireland that the UUP leader agreed to ask Mr Ervine to meet Mr McCord for face-to-face discussions over the death of his son, something the PUP leader has so far refused to do.
Mr Empey defended his party’s position yesterday, claiming the move would pass a third Sinn Féin executive place to them and see a unionist majority for the first time on the executive.

BBC

About 250 ferry passengers and crew are stranded on ships after a 500lb (227kg) bomb was found in the River Mersey.

The explosive, from World War II, was discovered by the Royal Navy at Twelve Quays dock, Birkenhead.

The Mersey Viking and Dublin Viking, travelling from Dublin and Belfast, have been waiting since the early hours of Tuesday to dock.

Navy divers are currently moving the 7ft (2.1m) device out to a safe area of the Irish Sea to detonate it.

The Wallasey tunnel and a Merseyrail line was closed for about 45 minutes when the operation began, but Merseytravel said disruption was kept to a minimum.

The German penetration bomb is being moved to be detonated in deeper water in the Irish Sea before the two Norfolk Line ferries will be allowed to dock.

The Mersey Viking, which has 64 passengers and 55 crew, and the Dublin Viking, which has 81 passengers and 46 crew, arrived in the early hours.

Commander Chris Davies, from the Royal Navy, told the BBC that the bomb was a German 500lb air-drop explosive.

He said: “It would cause a significant blast if it detonated.

“The measures that we have put in place with Merseyside Police and the Liverpool port authorities ensure public safety and the remainder of the operation is to minimise disruption to the city and the Port of Liverpool.

Navy teams are moving the device from the Mersey out to sea

“We routinely carry out these operations and they [the Navy team] are towing the device at a sufficient length, so that if it did detonate, they would be safe.”

A Navy spokeswoman said a lifting bag was attached to the bomb to raise it to a depth of 3m (9ft).

“They then attached a tow line and are currently towing it at slow speed to North Bar Light, a safe area identified by the Coastguard,” she said.

“Once they get there, a diver will go down and attach plastic explosives to the device in order to detonate it.”

Irish Independent

THE alleged former boss of the Provisional IRA in Dublin has been arrested in connection with a massive cigarette smuggling operation in Spain.

Police detained Dickie O’Neill at his home in Alicante where he has been living for several years after allegedly being removed from his post in charge of the IRA’s so-called southern command.

O’Neill was said by gardai to have been in charge of the Provisionals’ southern units in 1996 when Det Gda Jerry McCabe was murdered by an IRA gang during an abortive raid on a postal van at Adare, Co Limerick.

Four members of the IRA unit were subsequently convicted of the killing. O’Neill was said to have stepped aside and left for Spain shortly afterwards.

Last month, following an application by the DPP, the Special Criminal Court in Dublin cancelled a warrant, issued in 1998, for the arrest of Gerard ‘Dickie’ O’Neill, a native of Belfast, with an address at Cushlawn Park, Tallaght, on a charge of membership of an unlawful organisation, styling itself as the Irish Republican Army, on July 12, 1997.

However, garda officers continue to have the option to seek either another warrant to detain O’Neill or to look for his return to Ireland under a European arrest warrant.

Also arrested by Spanish police in the house in the small town of Rojales, inland from the resort of Torrevieja and south of Alicante, was Sean Hunt, from Ramilles Road in Ballyfermot, Dublin.

Hunt was described by the Spaniards as the ringleader of the smuggling operation and the detentions followed a two-year investigation by the Spanish and British authorities into the scam.

Last week, police arrested a 32-year-old man with addresses in Dublin and Kildare and a 42-year-old man from Lisburn in Northern Ireland at Malaga on the Costa del Sol.

These arrests resulted from the seizure of half-a-million packets of cigarettes, worth €1m on the Spanish market.

The cigarettes were found hidden in furniture in two lorries and were thought to have been one of a series of shipments from Spain to the UK. The two men were later released on bail by an investigating judge at Spain’s national criminal court in Madrid after they were charged with tobacco smuggling.

Three years ago, Hunt was successful in the Supreme Court when he appealed against a High Court decision granting a judgment for €1.77m to the Criminal Assets Bureau for alleged unpaid income tax and VAT.

The court found the CAB was not entitled to seek judgment in circumstances where assessments in relation to Hunt were not, at the time the proceedings had been taken, final and conclusive under tax legislation and because no prior demand for tax had been made.

The court also ruled he had not exhausted his right to appeal against the assessments to the Revenue Appeals Commissioners.

And the court held that bank statements related to accounts in the name of Hunt’s wife, Rosaleen Hunt, also known as Jean Hunt and Jean Maher, which CAB alleged were beneficially in the ownership of Sean Hunt, were not admissible in evidence.

The CAB also lost its claim that costs should not be awarded to the Hunts.

In an earlier hearing, evidence was given by the head of CAB, Det Chief Supt Felix McKenna, that Hunt was arrested in 1995 for the murder of a man in Ballyfermot, which gardai believed had been carried out by the Provisional IRA.

Hunt was subsequently released without charge.

Evidence was also given that Hunt was suspected by CAB of being a member of a criminal gang in Ballyfermot, highly involved in cigarette smuggling.

Tom Brady

BBC

David Burrows was appointed to the commission

NI Secretary Peter Hain has been accused of making “disgraceful comments” about SDLP complaints over appointments to the Parades Commission.

It comes after a Methodist minister revealed he did not give permission for Orangeman David Burrows to use his name as a referee for a post on the body.

There was no comment on Monday from Mr Burrows or the Commission.

Mr Hain said the SDLP and others should “stop jockeying for position” over the appointments and see the “big picture”.

The SDLP’s Alex Attwood said Mr Hain had got the issue “badly, badly wrong”.

“This is disgraceful in its content and disturbing in its attitude,” he said.

The Burrows case is a virtual re-run of controversy surrounding another Orangeman and Commission member, Don MacKay.

Mr McKay put down SDLP assembly member Dolores Kelly as a referee without her permission.

Methodist minister Jim Rea has confirmed that he provided a reference for one Portadown Orangeman in an application to the Commission.

However, he said that he would have refused to allow his name to be used in a similar application by another.

Both appointments - made by Mr Hain - has been challenged through the courts.

The hearing ended on Monday, with the judgement reserved until a later date.

The Protestant marching season is one of the fixed elements of Northern Ireland life, and in recent years some parades have led to disputes and street violence.

The government-appointed Parades Commission was set up in 1997 to make decisions on whether controversial parades should be restricted.

RTÉ

15 May 2006 21:38

President Mary McAleese was due to arrive in Denver, Colorado today on the first stop of an eight-day visit to the US.

The trip will focus on the cultural and economic links between Ireland and the Rocky Mountains region.

Ms McAleese, who will be accompanied by her husband Dr Martin McAleese, has been invited by the Governors of Montana and Colorado.
Advertisement

The president is due to travel to Butte in Montana, a small city in the heart of the Rockies, where many Irish settled in the late 19th century to exploit the region’s copper mines.

She will also inaugurate an Irish studies programme at the University of Montana.

In Denver, Ms McAleese will meet business leaders and attend a state dinner hosted by the Governor of Colorado.

Next weekend, the president will travel to Notre Dame University, which has a strong Irish-American tradition. She will deliver the commencement address at a graduation ceremony.

BBC

Michael’s uncles brought the coffin into the house

Hundreds of people have gathered in Ballymena, County Antrim, for the return of murdered schoolboy Michael McIlveen’s body to his home.

The melody of ‘There Were Roses,’ a song about the futility of sectarian murder, was played as his coffin was taken inside the house in the Dunvale estate.

The 15-year-old’s funeral is expected to be held on Wednesday.

Earlier on Monday, two youths appeared in court in connection with his killing in the town last Sunday.

A 15-year-old teenager was charged with his murder, while a 16-year-old teenager was charged with causing affray.

Both of the boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were remanded in custody at Coleraine Magistrates Court.

Michael’s mother Gina wept as the coffin was carried by his uncles past dozens of wreaths and a shrine to the murdered teenager into the house.

Many young people wearing Celtic and Rangers football shirts with the message ‘Mickey-bo RIP’ written on the back gathered in the rain outside the house.

Michael McIlveen died after being attacked in Ballymena

At the earlier court hearing on Monday, a detective opposing bail for the two accused said that the families of both teenagers had been threatened

He also said that tensions were high in Ballymena with fears of reprisals.

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

The youths spoke only to confirm their identities.

Tensions high

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.

Five other teenagers are already in custody charged with the murder of the 15-year-old St Patrick’s College pupil in Ballymena on 7 May.

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