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Daily Ireland

Funeral tribute to member of Birmingham Six

25/05/2006

Mourners at the funeral of one of the Birmingham Six, Richard McIlkenny, were told yesterday that he has finally found freedom.
Wrongly jailed for the murder of 21 people in IRA bomb attacks on two pubs in the city in 1974, he died in Dublin aged 73 following a long illness.
An innocent man, he languished in British jails for 16 years before eventually in 1991 his conviction was quashed and he was freed. Father PJ Gilmore told several hundred mourners that the father of six struggled to find peace and come to terms with the injustice done on him after his release.
“I wonder did Richard ever come home?” the priest asked.
“Ann (daughter) said to me last week he never felt free. He never felt free, Richard you touched all of us, you are free now.”
Mr McIlkenny died in a Dublin hospital on Sunday with his family at his bedside after a long battle against cancer.
He was one of six men who had false confessions beaten out of them by British police following the bomb attacks.
Along with Hugh Callaghan, Billy Power, Johnny Walker, Patrick Hill and Gerry Hunter, he was sentenced to life with no release date on the basis of the admissions.
All attended the funeral Mass at St Patrick`s Church in Celbridge, Co Kildare, except Mr Callaghan.
The service heard how Mr McIlkenny courageously tried to protect his friend Mr Callaghan as ruthless police officers savagely dished out beating after beating on the men. Every time Mr McIlkenny tried to intervene he was kicked in the head.
Three of the Guildford Four, themselves the victims of a miscarriage of justice at the hands of British police, also attended. Paddy Armstrong was joined by Paul Hill, who gave one of the readings, and Gerry Conlon, who read a psalm.
Human rights lawyer Gareth Pierce, who helped secure the release of the Guildford Four read a poem as part of the service. Following the service Mr Conlon, Patrick Hill and Paul Hill shouldered the coffin through the main street along with Irish Labour party councillor Nicky Kelly, himself wrongly jailed for a robbery.

Daily Ireland

Ciarán Barnes
25/05/2006

The father of a loyalist murder victim last night called on Hugh Orde to arrest four Special Branch informers involved in a series of Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) murders in north Belfast.
Raymond McCord was speaking after retired CID detective Trevor McIlwrath told the BBC’s Spotlight programme he was blocked in his attempts to arrest the men.
Last year Mr McIlwrath’s former CID partner, Jonty Brown, made the same claim.
Over the past 12 months, Daily Ireland has revealed a series of murders and attempted murders the informers were involved in, but never prosecuted for.
These include the murders of Sharon McKenna, Sean McParland, Tommy Sheppard, Rev David Templeton and Raymond McCord Jnr, two attempts on the life of John Flynn and an explosion outside a Sinn Féin office in Monaghan town.
The most senior informer in the gang, codenamed ‘Helen’ was the leader of the UVF in the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast during the 1990s.
He is currently facing charges of attempted murder.
The second agent, a Catholic who fled Ireland in 1997 after his cover was blown, was responsible for looking after UVF weapons in Mount Vernon.
Codenamed ‘Mechanic’ he helped plant the bomb outside the Monaghan Sinn Féin office.
The third paramilitary informer, who works for a taxi-firm on the outskirts of Belfast, drove the getaway car in the Sharon McKenna murder and John Flynn attempted murders.
The fourth informer has fallen foul of his former UVF colleagues, although he has yet to be outed as a Special Branch and CID agent.
He was part of the loyalist gang that beat Raymond McCord Jnr to death in a north Belfast quarry in November 1997.
Raymond McCord Snr has called for the four to be arrested following Trevor McIlwrath’s admissions.
He said: “Hugh Orde should arrest these men.
“He knows full well who they are and what crimes they have been involved in.”
The three Special Branch officers central to protecting the murderous informers have retired from the PSNI.
Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan, who is investigating whether the gang was given a license to kill, has no power to question these former detectives.

Daily Ireland

By Connla Young
25/05/2006

Fresh efforts are being made to locate the remains of a former INLA man murdered in France in 1985, Daily Ireland has learned.
Newry man Seamus Ruddy was murdered by three members of the INLA in 1985 and his body was buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area near Rouen, 50 miles north of Paris.
The former republican gunrunner was shot after agreeing to meet with three senior members of the INLA outside Paris in May 1985. It is believed he was killed after refusing to help procure arms for the organisation.
His body was originally buried on the site of an INLA arms dump in the forest and later removed to another location close by.
Mr Ruddy, who lived in France and worked as an English teacher for several years before his death, had severed his links with the INLA which was in the grip of a bitter power struggle at the time of his murder.
Two of the men involved in the Newry man’s death, John O’Reilly and Peter Stewart, have since died. Daily Ireland understands that a third man, who has intimate knowledge of Mr Ruddy’s murder, recently provided detailed information about the location of the body directly to Commission for the Disappeared investigators at a meeting in Belfast.
It is understood that an international expert recruited by the Irish and British governments to help locate the remains of people who disappeared during the Troubles was present at the meeting. The international expert is attached to the Commission for the Disappeared, set up by the Irish and British governments to help find the bodies of people who disappeared during the troubles, and enjoys complete immunity.
The immunity awarded to those involved in the commission’s work does not extend to France meaning those with information about Mr Ruddy’s murder could be pursued by the French judiciary. This is understood to be a significant factor in delaying the new moves to recover the Newry man’s remains.
Eamon Mulligan from the Commission for the Disappeared said: “The legislation governing the operation of the commission doesn’t provide immunity on French soil. The disadvantage in this particular case in relation to other cases we have, is that we can walk the ground with people in Ireland, but not in France.”

RTÉ

25 May 2006 10:13

The Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams, has written to the leaders of the loyalist parade organisations in Northern Ireland requesting a meeting ahead of the main marching season.

Mr Adams said dialogue between the loyal orders and Sinn Féin could help prevent a repeat of the serious violence which surrounded a number of loyalist parades last year.

The loyal orders in a statement said that as a demonstration of the reality behind Mr Adams’s words they would expect to see the highly controversial Drumcree Orange parade in Portadown allowed to march down the nationalist Garvaghy Road.

Irish Independent

A LARGE chunk of Donegal has been ceded to Northern Ireland and there hasn’t even been a referendum.

A Government publication distributed throughout the 10 newest countries of the EU includes a map depicting the Inishowen Peninsula as part of the North.

Not only will confused eastern Europeans wonder whether a visa is necessary to work in the Donegal towns of Buncrana or Carndonagh, they might also end up searching in vain for the ‘town’ of Kerry, depicted as a dot on the same map.

Last night, red-faced officials in national training and employment authority FAS scrambled to withdraw the remainder of 100,000 brochures which have been distributed throughout Ireland and in the 10 new EU members after the error was spotted by members of the public.

It’s not the first time the remote Donegal peninsula has been cut loose. A similar error was made in 1997 when an Oireachtas PR office released a school video on how the political system worked. It included a map of Ireland depicting Inishowen as part of Co Derry instead of Donegal.

Inishowen, nestled between Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle, is roughly the size of Co Louth and with an estimated 30,000 residents, it is more populated than Co Leitrim. The brochures, printed in the languages of the 10 new states as part of the ‘Know Before You Go’ initiative, shows it as part of the six counties. The embarrassment was compounded when it emerged that the recently-appointed chairman of FAS is none other than Donegal-born Peter McLoone, whose brother Michael is county manager for Donegal. Another brother, Paul, is regional tourism manager.

“This is just another typical example of Dublin not knowing or caring where the rest of the country is, beyond the Pale,” stormed irate Fine Gael councillor, Bernard McGuinness, who runs a pub in the village of Culdaff in the Inishowen peninsula.

“If Donegal is the forgotten county, then Inishowen is the forgotten part of the forgotten county. It is unforgivable that this got printed before it was noticed,” he said.

A spokesperson for FAS said it was “an error which unfortunately was not spotted before printing”.

“Our primary focus was to give workers from these former accession countries the correct ‘bread and butter’ information about Ireland before they got here and unfortunately this map slipped under the wire and was not picked up.” The second print run will correct it, the spokesperson added.

Other locals are also angry at the faux pas. Raymond Doherty, chairperson of the Carndonagh Community and Rural Development group, pointed out that unemployment in the area was four times the national average, with little hope of new industry. “What I’m wondering now is whether the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and even the Minister for Justice are all looking at the wrong map. It is a disastrous mistake that this map should have been published,” he said.

Inishowen-based Donegal North East TD Cecelia Keaveney (FF) expressed surprise that the problem of locating Inishowen in the Republic had recurred.

“After all it is not a fluctuating line, and while we have a natural affinity with Derry, Inishowen has always been part of Donegal and the Republic,” she said.

“While I can understand human error, It does not help me as a politician or the people of Donegal, who are trying to promote the area, and I would call on FAS to redress the current impression.

“We in Inishowen are as important as anywhere else, and we deserve the same treatment,” she stressed.

Anita Guidera

BBC

NI Secretary Peter Hain has invited all the main parties to take their places on a committee to restore devolution.

The DUP and Sinn Fein have yet to state clearly whether they will join up. Mr Hain has said they have until next Tuesday to make their mind up.

It is thought the committee would have up to three members from the four main parties and two from Alliance.

Mr Hain also confirmed that Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern will hold talks with the parties before the summer break.

“I hope this committee will use the month of June productively to scope the work that needs to be done in preparation for government, before the prime minister, the taoiseach, (Irish foreign minister) Dermot Ahern and I return to Stormont for intensive talks with the parties before the summer break.

“At that meeting we need to set a clear timeline for addressing these issues,” he said.

Mr Hain revealed he had asked the assembly’s speaker Eileen Bell to convene the first meeting of the committee on 6 June to prepare for the negotiations involving the two prime ministers.

Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness said his party would judge the committee “on its ability to contribute to the restoration of the power-sharing executive”.

“We are not interested in a talking shop,” he added.

Negotiations

On Wednesday, Mr Hain said the committee should not be a negotiating body.

He was replying to DUP leader Ian Paisley’s concerns that the committee would be used as a negotiating forum.

Mr Paisley had said his party would not take part in talks running alongside those promised between the parties and the British and Irish governments.

While the DUP has been seeking to limit the role which the committee plays, the SDLP said it would only enter it if it was clear “that it is the vehicle for restoration of the agreement’s institutions, not a talking shop or meaningless sideshow”.

The DUP continues to refuse to enter direct dialogue with Sinn Fein. However, in the old assembly, DUP members took part in committees alongside republicans.

Belfast Telegraph

25 May 2006

Northern Ireland customs officials and the PSNI have smashed an illegal nationwide fuel-laundering ring estimated to be worth £500,000.

The joint seven-month undercover operation between HM Revenue and Customs and police was carried out on 11 premises in Northern Ireland, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Luton and London.

Yesterday police arrested one man in Hertfordshire in connection to the ring and seized two petrol tankers, dismantled a fuel laundering plant in Bedfordshire, closed a retail fuel outlet in Paddington and seized storage tanks and around 30,000 litres of laundered fuel.

HM Revenue and Customs spokesman Jim Caldwell praised the joint operation saying the organisation estimated the fuel laundering activities cost the government about £500,000 in excise duty.

“The success of this operation is a result of our determined efforts, along with our partners in police forces around the UK, to disrupt and dismantle the illegal supply of fuel,” he said. “Organised crime has a detrimental and harmful effect on all our communities as well as a damaging impact on our environment.

“We would urge anyone with information on fuel misuse or suspicious activities to contact us in confidence straight away.”

It is understood laundered fuel was being sold to unsuspecting members of public at what appeared to be a legitimate petrol station in Paddington, London.

HMRC estimates for every 10,000 litres of fuel laundered a tonne of toxic waste is produced and indiscriminately dumped in the countryside.

While one arrest has been made police have said they were continuing inquiries and expect to make further arrests over the coming weeks.

Irelandclick

By Roisin McManus

Sinn Féin have hit out at the Parades Commission decision to give the green-light to a controversial loyalist band parade in West Belfast, claiming that it will heighten sectarian tension in the area.

Over 2,000 loyalists will descend on the Blacks Road on June 3 after an application by the Upper Falls Protestant Boys was given the go-ahead by the Parades Commission yesterday.

It is expected that up to 58 bands will take part in the huge loyalist parade which will last around three hours. Local Sinn Féin Councillor Gerard O’Neill said that the decision was “disappointing” but “not surprising”.

Sinn Féin had met with the Parades Commission on Wednesday to discuss the planned parade.

However, a representative of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) says that he expects the parade to pass off peacefully.

The Suffolk parade has previously been shrouded in controversy. In 2004 the Ulster First Flute Band attended the parade in paramilitary style outfits and the day ended in a brawl between two rival loyalist bands.

Nationalists in adjoining areas were trapped in their homes for over four hours while around 30 bands paraded through the Suffolk Estate.

One band strapped a teddy bear wearing a balaclava and holding an automatic rifle to a large bass drum.

Councillor O’Neill said local people are angry with the Parades Commission decision.

“This is disappointing, the Parades Commission have not taken on board the views of the residents of lower Lenadoon,” said Councillor O’Neill.

“This parade will increase sectarian tensions and we are in the business of trying to dampen tensions. This decision will only serve to raise tension and there is the potential for trouble.

“We have explained that to the Parades Commission. They make these decisions and then they walk away and we are left on the ground to manage the situation,” he added.

Colin Halliday, South Belfast Representative of the UPRG, who has been working with the Protestant Interface Network on the issue of the Suffolk parade, said that he believes it will pass off peacefully.

“The band will make sure that the day is peaceful and there is no hassle,” said Mr Halliday.

“The band intend to do all they can to keep the day free from trouble.
“Gerard O’Neill’s comments about the parade raising tensions are total nonsense. If sectarian tensions are heightened, it will not be coming from the Suffolk Estate side,” he added.

Parades Commission Chairman Roger Poole said, “Today we met the organisers of the parade in Suffolk and in recent days we heard the concerns of residents in the area.

“The only reason the Commission was forced to intervene in this parade was that there was no local accommodation.

“We urge both sides, who have shown considerable leadership in their respective communities, to engage in a meaningful way to ensure that a long-term resolution to this particular dispute can be achieved,” he added.

Journalist:: Roisin McManus

BN.ie

25/05/2006 - 09:51:04

A new exhibition dedicated to the life and works of legendary poet William Butler Yeats is due to open at the National Library in Dublin today.

The exhibition includes many items acquired by the National Library that have never before been seen in public.

It is due to be officially opened this afternoon by Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O’Donoghue in the presence of Yeats’s son, Michael, and other members of his family.

bn.IE

25/05/2006 - 11:31:16

The Irish and British governments are planning to oversee a fresh round of peace talks with the Northern parties in the coming weeks.

The move was announced today by Northern Secretary Peter Hain as he unveiled details of the Stormont Assembly committee he is establishing to discuss the restoration of devolution.

Mr Hain said the first meeting of the committee would take place on June 6th and would focus on preparing for a fresh round of “intensive” negotiations led by the Taoiseach and British Prime Minister.

He said he hoped the committee would act productively to lay the groundwork for those talks.

However, it remains unclear whether the main parties in the North will participate.

The DUP is refusing to sit on the committee if it amounts to negotiating with republicans, while Sinn Féin is refusing to take part if the body is only a talking shop.

RTÉ

24 May 2006 22:26

A knife amnesty has been introduced in Northern Ireland as part of a UK-wide drive to persuade young people not to carry them as weapons.

The three-week initiative comes amid growing concern over rising knife crime, with 1,200 incidents reported last year.

The campaign targets the high-risk group of boys aged 11 to 18 and urges them to dump such weapons in special disposal bins.

The amnesty will run for three weeks and also applies in England and Wales. A previous amnesty in Scotland was seen as a success with thousands of knives handed in.

In addition to the amnesty, legislation will be extended to cover Northern Ireland, whereby the age for purchasing a knife will be raised from 16 to 18.