SAOIRSE32

BBC

Prominent Catholic clergyman Monsignor Denis Faul has died at the age of 74 following a long illness.

He first came to prominence in 1969 when he spoke out against the judiciary, claiming Catholics felt judges were biased against them.

While he campaigned against the ill-treatment of prisoners, he also was an outspoken critic of IRA violence.

Archbishop Sean Brady said he “stood up for what he believed in, for the distraught” regardless of background.

Tributes to Monsignor Faul

“With valour and hope he unstintingly gave his advice, assistance and support, never counting the cost or risk to himself,” the Catholic Primate of Ireland said.

“He realised clearly that justice is not a casual by-product of peace, but something anterior and fundamental to any lasting peace.

“His whole life was an eloquent testimony that justice requires consistent courage, and that peace must be underpinned by morality at all times.”

Renowned

A teacher for more than 40 years, many of which were spent at St Patrick’s Academy in Dungannon, Monsignor Faul was renowned for his outspoken views.

He was Catholic chaplain at the Maze prison during the H-Block hunger strikes in 1980 and 1981.

Monsignor Faul was a teacher for more than 40 years

While he strongly opposed the fasts, he also urged the government to introduce prison reform to defuse the crisis.

His efforts in organising meetings of the hunger strikers’ families was viewed as instrumental in bringing the protest to an end.

Back in 1969, his criticism of the judiciary in 1969 brought him a rebuke from the then-Catholic Primate of Ireland, Cardinal Conway.

He was strongly critical of the Army and the RUC, while also condemning the Provisional IRA.

In March 1977, he described the IRA campaign as spurious and directly contrary to Catholic teaching.

Belfast Telegraph

Parliament is told Ulster forced to foot bill for spending failings by Government departments

By David Gordon
21 June 2006

A top public spending watchdog today exposed multi-million pound failings in government departments and other official bodies in Northern Ireland.

Comptroller and Auditor General John Dowdall detailed a string of shortcomings with the use of taxpayers’ money in an annual accounts report to Parliament.

The most serious problems included a rising level of mistakes in the much-criticised Child Support Agency and poor controls over food industry grants.

Mr Dowdall, who heads the Northern Ireland Audit Office, issues an annual general report on the accounts of various government bodies here.

His document published today dealt with the financial year 2004/05.

÷ Key points included:

÷ Evidence of an “increasing level of errors” within the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency, the body that assesses and enforces payments by absent parents.

Mr Dowdall stated that the agency’s 2004/05 calculations of money owed to it involved errors totalling an estimated £4,927,900.

He commented that the body should be concerned by the indications of a “deterioration in performance”.

And he stated that the levels of errors in the Agency “continue to be unacceptable”.

÷ Fraud and error in the social security system here cost taxpayers an estimated £120.4m in 2004/05 - 3.3% of benefits expenditure.

÷ The risk of “undetected overspending” at Northern Ireland education boards still remains, in the wake of the recent high-profile cash crises at the Belfast and South Eastern boards.

÷ Substantial grants were handed out by the Department of Agriculture to the food processing industry without proper procedures being followed.

Applicants for such grants are required to follow procurement rules, such as tendering or obtaining quotations on proposed purchases.

Mr Dowdall today stated that in 2004/05 an estimated £3.3m of grant funding was awarded when there was “insufficient evidence of compliance with the required procurement procedures”.

He commented: “Procurement procedures such as quotations and tendering are an important control in the prevention of fraud and ensuring value for money and are a clearly stated condition for the payment of grant.”

— The Department for Social Development’s control over a £66.8m budget for community groups and urban development “is still not adequate”.

— Up to £10.3m is estimated to have been lost to the health service here in 2004/05 due to patients wrongly claiming exemption from eye test, dental and prescription charges.

Irish Independent

TOP loyalist Andre Shoukri was thrown out of the Ulster Defence Association after squandering almost £1m (€1.5m) during a two-year gambling spree, it was claimed last night.

His brother Ihab and a third man, Alan McClean, also got the boot in an attempt to clean up the outlawed organisation’s act.

The purge on the UDA’s North Belfast command followed a major internal investigation into how the unit was being run.

With the Shoukris now attempting to establish a power-base in the city’s Westland estate, security chiefs were on alert last night for any new shooting war.

A violent feud erupted after a similar action was taken against Andre’s former mentor, Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair, four years ago.

Lavish

Resentment at the Shoukri brothers lavish lifestyle has intensified ever since their dramatic rise to power.

The designer clothes and swaggering attitude has rankled older, traditional loyalists.

The men were already thought to be on borrowed time when the staggering levels of Andre’s gambling addiction emerged earlier this year.

It was disclosed in court that the 29-year-old, nicknamed ‘the Egyptian’ because of his Coptic Christian father, blew £863,000 (€1.25m) of UDA money in one north Belfast bookmakers between April 2003 and last August.

“That really sealed his fate,” one loyalist source said.

Andre, who is in custody awaiting trial on blackmail, intimidation and money laundering charges, was part of a UDA delegation that held talks with former Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy in 2004. While he has been held Ihab (32) acted up as brigadier.

Even though a judge dropped charges of UDA membership against the older brother this month, few doubt either’s involvement.

It is understood both men were told last week they were being removed. The organisation’s inner council reached a unanimous verdict after its south east Antrim brigade, which had initially resisted, agreed to the move. Membership of that unit have now been instructed to begin a process of selection and election to replace those sacked.

Davy Nicholl of the Ulster Political Research Group, which advises the UDA, claimed expulsions were to protect their community from criminals.

Sinn Fein Assembly member Gerry Kelly said it did not matter who headed the UDA, the UVF and other loyalist organisations. They were more interested in what activities these groups were engaged in.

Alan Erwin

BBC

Two men arrested in an operation targeting dissident republican activity in Northern Ireland and Europe have been released without charge.

Detectives have been granted more time to question another six people arrested on Monday.

Two others were released without charge on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a man arrested in a separate incident in Belfast is being questioned over dissident republican activity in the north west of Northern Ireland.

On Monday, premises in counties Armagh and Fermanagh were searched.

Police said a handgun, explosive material and other bomb making items were found in searches on Lettergreen Road, Donagh.

A related search in France continued into Tuesday.

Police said the searches were part of a joint investigation “between the PSNI Crime Operations Department and the British Security Service” and had “disrupted a potential major terrorist conspiracy”.

Belfast Telegraph

Inquest told that Catholic, 21, was beaten to death

By Maureen Coleman
21 June 2006

The mother of a Catholic man who died in a savage beating by the UDA in Lisburn almost three years ago told an inquest in Belfast yesterday of her hope that her son’s killers will still be caught.

No-one has been charged with the murder of James Alexander McMahon, of Roseville Park in the town, who was beaten by three masked men at Hancock Street on November 20, 2003.

The 21-year-old delivery man never regained consciousness and died from head injuries the following day at the RVH.

James had been drinking with a number of friends at an area known as The Long Steps near the town’s Civic Centre.

Just before 10pm, the three youths were in the Hancock Street area when they saw two men wearing black balacalavs coming towards them. The men were armed with baseball bats.

James and his two friends began running along Hancock Street but a third man, also masked and carrying a weapon, emerged from an alleyway and blocked their path.

Daniel Sloan said that one of the men shouted: “Not this time boys”. He said all three began to run away but one of the men struck James across the head with a baseball bat.

Daniel kept running and caught up with Darren. They both went to Darren’s house to raise the alarm.

James was found later lying against a wall. He was in a “bad state” with blood all over his face.

Detective Superintendent Paul Hamlin said that following the “savage beating” 13 properties in Lisburn were searched and three people were arrested, but no-one has been charged.

Coroner John Leckey described James’ death as a “dreadful crime” and said that although no-one had claimed responsibility for it, the evidence pointed to the UDA.

James mother Deirdre said: “It’s very hard for us. We’ve been waiting for two and a half years for some outcome and we keep hoping that someone will be brought to justice.”

Daily Ireland

‘It’s shameful. We tried to build a positive relationship with the Parades Commission. They have destroyed that process and acted in bad faith. They have rewarded the violence that stemmed from last September’s parade’ - Residents’ spokesperson

By Connla Young
20 June 2006

A Parades Commission decision to give the go ahead for a contentious loyalist parade was branded “shameful” by nationalist residents last night.
People living on the Springfield Road say they may launch a legal challenge to the decision to allow 50 Orangemen to pass through Workman Avenue during a march this Saturday.
In September last year £3million (€4.4million) worth of damage was caused when Orangemen and loyalists went on the rampage after a similar parade was rerouted away from a nationalist section of the Springfield Road.
Loyalist gunmen fired shots at the PSNI during several days of serious rioting in the wake of the rerouted parade.
A spokesperson for the Springfield Residents Action Group (SRAG) said nationalist residents are bitterly disappointed by the Parades Commission decision to allow Orangemen to march through the district.
“It’s shameful. We tried to build a positive relationship with the Parades Commission. With this decision they have destroyed that process, they have acted in bad faith.
“They have basically rewarded the violence that stemmed from last September’s parade. Loyalists rioted, bombed and fired shots last year and now they have been rewarded by the Parades Commission.
“Residents tried to find a resolution through dialogue and are now ignored and shunned by the Parades Commission who have made things very difficult for residents.
“The violence of last year was structured and planned and have now received a huge reward from the Parades Commission. The relationship between ourselves and the commission has been scuppered.”
Chairman of the Parades Commission Roger Poole defended his decision.
“While we understand clearly the hurt and anger caused by this violence, we are also keenly aware that few areas in Northern Ireland have escaped violent confrontation in the past,” said Roger Poole.
“We are determined however that past violence will not be allowed to hold back progress towards a peaceful and shared future for all the people of Northern Ireland.
“This decision is taken in the knowledge that it will cause its own degree of hurt and anger in places on both sides of the religious divide here, but also in the hope that it demonstrates the importance of mutual respect and the absolute primacy of dialogue.
“The commission hopes that people will reflect on this decision before reacting to it.”
In a determination issued yesterday 50 Orangemen from Whiterock Temperance LOL were given the green light to pass through Workman Avenue on their way to Whiterock Orange Hall.
Other parade participants and supporters will be forced to make their way to Whiterock Orange Hall via Invest Northern Ireland’s industrial park which avoids nationalist areas.
A number of restrictions have also been placed on participants carrying loyalist flags and emblems at certain points along the parade route.

Sinn Féin

Published: 20 June, 2006

Sinn Féin MEP Bairbre de Brún has today described the decision to slash £100,000 in funding for the West Belfast Festival - Féile an Phobail, as a “slap in the face for one of the most successful community based festivals in Western Europe”.

Ms de Brún made her comments after the ‘Northern Ireland Events Company (NIEC) said that the festival would receive £45,000 in funding’ down £100,000 on previous years.

Speaking from Brussels Ms de Brún said:

“The decision by the Northern Ireland Events Company to slash funding in such a manner will come as a hammer blow to the West Belfast community, and indeed to those who travel from across the world to attend one of the largest and most successful community festivals in Western Europe.

“This is not the first time that funding has been cut to Féile an Phobail despite the fact that the festival is estimated to have regularly boosted the West Belfast economy by more than £3 million.

“This is not the way to reward community effort and entrepreneurship. The organisers of Féile an Phobail, and the thousands of volunteers behind the scenes must be applauded for their sterling work over this past eighteen years in putting West Belfast on the map, when others tried to denigrate and demonise this community.

“As a regular festival attendee and public representative, I would offer my support to Féile an Phobail to ensure that the festival goes from strength to strength this year, and into the future.” ENDS

BBC

The Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, has said an ambiguous ruling by the Parades Commission was to blame for a breach during a march in Lurgan two years ago.

Mrs O’Loan upheld a complaint against the police after a Black Preceptory parade passed along a route the commission believed it had disallowed.

However, Mrs O’Loan blamed the commission for the mix-up.

She said the government-appointed body should produce detailed route maps of parades to avoid such ambiguity.

Sinn Fein and the SDLP complained about the police handling of the parade.

It is the Parades Commission’s contention that the only direction the march was permitted to proceed was in an easterly direction - however the determination did not say this
Police Ombudsman

Police said they were forced to change the route after the driver of a car refused to move it from an area cordoned-off for marchers.

Mrs O’Loan said her investigators believed the officer in charge had acted in good faith and understood how there could be more than one reading of the Parades Commission’s determination.

In addition, she also upheld a complaint that about 100 loyalists were allowed to block the main street in Lurgan.

Mrs O’Loan said: “The reality is that the determination that they issued was ambiguous.

“There was a little area of the route which the parade wanted to walk on which isn’t actually covered by the ruling specifically.

“And for that reason the police officer made the decision he made, he just put the parade in the direction of the flow of traffic, that wasn’t what the commission intended, therefore there was a breach.”

In the absence of a detailed map, she recommended that police check with the commission if the PSNI’s interpretation of a determination was correct and liaise with the loyal order and residents to ensure all sides understood the ruling.

Mrs O’Loan also recommended that police should secure contentious turn points for marches and remove any vehicles causing an obstruction.

Daily Ireland

20 June 2006

The PSNI claimed yesterday [Monday] to have broken up a dissident republican arms-smuggling operation after a series of raids were carried out in Ireland and France yesterday but last night Republican Sinn Féin branded the raids as harassment.
A total of ten people were arrested after eight properties in counties Armagh and Fermanagh were targeted in a series of raids.
The PSNI also confirmed that some of its members had travelled to France to take part in a search operation there.
Up to 200 PSNI men, supported by the British army, took part in the operation that centred on parts of Armagh and Fermanagh.
It is known that a number of properties were raided in the Lurgan area of north Armagh and the Donagh and Lisnaskea districts of Fermanagh.
Significantly the PSNI confirmed that their operation was carried out after a joint investigation between them and “British security services”, prompting speculation that M15, MI6 or both were involved.
Earlier this month, it emerged that a £20 million (€29 million) base is currently being built outside Belfast to cater for M15 when they take primary responsibility for investigating paramilitary organisations next year.
Nationalists are opposed to the move on the grounds that the shadowy intelligence agency will not be accountable to any oversight body.
Some nationalist politicians have also expressed concerns over allegations that MI5 had prior knowledge of the Omagh bombing which killed 29 people in 1998.
A spokesperson for the PSNI last night said that their raids had caused “disruption of a conspiracy by dissident republicans to procure a significant quantity of arms”.
Republican Sinn Féin last night hit out at the raids.
An RSF spokesman said: “Republican Sinn Féin regards this raiding and arresting as gratuitous harassment. The name of the RUC may have changed but otherwise these aspects of British rule remain the same.”

Statement by Ruairi O Bradaigh, President, Republican Sinn Féin

Republican Sinn Fein declares its support for the protest action of the Republican prisoners in Maghaberry Prison, Co Antrim commenced on June 19.

In this 25th anniversary year of the H-Block hunger strike, the British government must not be allowed to go back down the road of attempting to criminalise Republicans while they treat them in an inhumane manner.

In addition to 21 and 23 hour lock-up on alternate days there are constant strip searches. Prisoners are made to choose between daily exercise and education. They are denied facilities to enable
them to organise their own education.

The prisoners seek the right to free association on their own landings and an end to “controlled movement”. They are abused by the use of sniffer dogs to harass their visitors and themselves.

Safe and secure visits are denied, Family visitors are exposed to loyalist visitors and the prisoners themselves are exposed to loyalists while going to and from legal visits.

Since Republican prisoners secured separation from loyalist and ordinary prisoners some years ago, they have been targeted for special reduced conditions. The mistakes of the past must not be repeated in 2006.

ENDS

32CSM Message Board

RPAG Statement - Prison Protest Begins.
Posted on 19/6/2006 at 19:05:28 by rsfcork

PRISON PROTEST BEGINS

Monday 19th June

On Monday 19th June Republican POWs began a protest action in Maghaberry, this is the first in a series of protests planned by Republican POWs in the gaol. POWs are making clear that they will not accept the sub standard conditions on the segregated wing, they will not be criminalised nor will they be intimidated or coerced by the petty restrictions being imposed by prison screws to make the day to day life in the gaol for POWs more difficult.

Political Status has been denied to Republican POWs since the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and as a result conditions both for POWs and their families and visitors have worsened considerably. The Republican Prisoners Action Group (RPAG) was formed to highlight the conditions faced by POWs and we have met with the Human Rights Commission who accepted that our concerns were justified. Monsignor Faul, at our request also visited the gaol and spoke with the OC, he issued a report strongly criticising the regime and the conditions in which POWs are forced to exist. The British Inspectorate for Prisons issued a Report in October 2005 that was also critical of a number of practices within the Segregated Regime in Maghaberry and yet the Prison Service have done nothing to adequately address these concerns.

The RPAG contributed a submission to the consultation process for the Separated Regime Review conducted by the Prison Service. In their ‘Summary of Responses to Consultation of the Review of the Separated Regime’ the Prison Service clearly indicated that they had identified the sources of concern of those who had contributed, however they failed to address any of these issues in a productive way. The main issues of contention of those who contributed were:

1. Searching
2. The passive drugs dog
3. The daily regime
4. Controlled movement.

In relation to searching prisoners it was reported that the number of rub down searches would be reduced, however the report also referred to plans to build a facility for ‘private searches’ ie. Strip searches that will be sited within access of the circle areas in Bush and Roe Houses (the Segregated wings).

The use of the passive drugs dog is not to be changed in any way that will benefit prisoners or facilitate the maintaining of regular family visits. Minor changes have been made that do not alter the present system in any recognisable way and the issue of prison staff abusing their control of the dog to prevent visits to POWs in the segregated wing and to put POWs in punishment cells on their return from Leave have not been addressed at all.

Instead of altering what is a sub-standard daily regime that requires POWs to choose between exercise and education and enforces 18hour and 22hour lock-up on alternate days the prison service have plans to implement a Two-Tier regime. This is entirely unacceptable to Republican POWs who are not seeking to earn privileges from the Northern Ireland Prison Service but are demanding their rights as Political Prisoners.

The review indicates that Controlled movement will not be changed and insists that it is necessary, the RPAG strongly refute this assertion. Controlled movement is excessively restrictive and prevents any free association between POWs.

The POWs are not prepared to accept these conditions and feel that the RPAG have exhausted all avenues on their behalf to no avail. The RPAG call on the public to give their support to the POWs at this time. The Hunger Strikers sacrificed themselves to improve conditions for those POWs who came after them and to ensure that Political Status was available to POWs as of RIGHT. No one can be justified in signing away the Rights of others, however that is what happened in the Good Friday Agreement, and POWs are now in a position where they must begin the fight for Political Status again.

Republican POWs have formulated five demands and call for these to be addressed immediately.

1. FREE ASSOCIATION
2. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
3. RIGHT TO FULL TIME EDUCATION
4. SEPARATE VISITING FACILITY
5. RIGHT TO ORGANISE OUR OWN LANDINGS

The British Government, the Prison Service, the media and local politicians have all been well aware of these issues for some time and have done nothing to address them. The POWs have been left with no choice but to engage in protest within the gaol and this protest will no doubt intensify if these issues are not addressed and their demands are not dealt with.

The POWs are relying on the Irish people to stand with them in their fight to improve conditions and ultimately to win back Political Status. The Irish people have never failed POWs in the past and we have faith that they will not fail them now.

END

REPUBLICAN PRISONERS ACTION GROUP

www.rsfcork.com

Guardian

Four main galleries are being emptied to house what may be a record-breaking show.

Charlotte Higgins, arts correspondent
Tuesday June 20, 2006
The Guardian

It could be the most spectacular exhibition of the year and the National Gallery’s most popular blockbuster. So many visitors are expected that the National Gallery will dispense with its basement space in the Sainsbury Wing to accommodate the first British retrospective of the great Spanish master Diego Velázquez.

Instead of the galleries in the basement, which proved squashed and bad-tempered for the 267,939 visitors who attended the Titian exhibition in 2003, the exhibition of 40 works by the painter, who lived from 1599-1660, will luxuriate in four of the museum’s main galleries. “It will be an exceptional exhibition,” said the National Gallery’s director, Charles Saumarez Smith. Depending on demand, it is expected that up to 300,000 people could visit the show, making it most popular paying exhibition ever at the gallery (with full-price tickets at £12). Seeing Salvation, a free show based on the image of Christ, was seen by 355,000 in 2000.

Meanwhile, 19th-century paintings that normally occupy the four main galleries, including Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Seurat’s Bathers, will be shunted out and partially rehung in the Sainsbury Wing’s basement space.

The show will include 40 paintings, nearly half of the 80 or so that are extant. There are 18 Velázquezes in the UK, 16 of which will be brought together for the exhibition, which opens in September. Its curator, the National Gallery’s Dawson Carr, called Velázquez “the greatest painter … He has an uncanny ability to convey a sense of truth. He goes beyond realism to create a sense of psychological presence. We believe we are standing before these people he paints.”

Omissions

But the exhibition will be without Velázquez’s two most famous works: Las Meninas, his enigmatic painting of the Infanta Margarita with the king and queen reflected in a mirror on the far wall; and Pope Innocent X from Rome’s Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, one of the greatest portraits ever made.

Of Las Meninas, which is at the Prado museum in Madrid, Mr Carr said: “That painting has only left Madrid once - during the Spanish civil war, when it was sent to Valencia for safety. It’s not going anywhere: nor should it … If we had asked for Las Meninas, they wouldn’t have taken us seriously.”
(Click photo to view - image from >>here)

Mr Saumarez Smith said: “Prince Jonathan Doria Pamphilj is a great friend of this institution. But that painting [Pope Innocent X], has only left Rome once, when the palace was closed for renovations 10 years ago.”

Mr Carr said the exhibition had been made possible only through the cooperation of the Prado, the major holder of Velázquezes from the Spanish royal collection. It will lend the National Gallery eight of its paintings by the artist. These include the outstanding works Apollo at the Forge of Vulcan, Philip IV as a Hunter, and the portrait of the court dwarf Francisco Lezcano.

But Mr Carr said not everything on his wishlist had been granted. “We wanted a Mars from the 1630s, a Venus from the 1640s, and Mercury and Argus from 1659,” he said. “Nevertheless, eight is an extraordinary number.” The vast majority of the works that will be lent from overseas had never been seen in the UK before, he added.

The National Gallery’s nine Velázquezes are the biggest single collection of works by the painter outside Spain. They are mostly early works, made before he rose to dizzy heights at the court of Philip IV. By bringing in works from abroad, said Mr Carr, the sweep of Velázquez’s career would be fully appreciated, and the development of his “marvellous technique”, which is “really about suggestion rather than elaboration” with “details that, close up, dissolve into dabs and dashes of paint”. The beautiful early works, such as Kitchen Scene with Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, in the National Gallery, still struggle with depth and perspective. By the late paintings, such as Infanta Margarita in Blue, he was working the paint with effortless virtuosity, using a thin layer and incorporating the brown shade of the canvas to create the texture of a rich, blue-velvet dress.

The National Gallery will also borrow four works from Apsley House, London, including a work related to the Innocent X portrait, possibly a sketch for it, which is being cleaned. They were captured from the French army by the Duke of Wellington, who was offered them by the king of Spain as a gift of thanks.

Guardian

Rob Evans and David Leigh
Tuesday June 20, 2006
The Guardian

Lawyers for Michael Stone, convicted of killing Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter, Megan, yesterday launched a high court battle to prevent the media from reporting intimate medical details about him. Stone is trying to block the publication of the full report of an inquiry into his supervision and treatment by Kent mental health, probation and social workers before he killed in 1996.

Josie Russell, Megan’s sister, who was badly injured in the attack, and her father, Shaun, are pushing for the report to be published in the hope that mental health professionals will learn lessons from it and prevent similar crimes in the future. The report, by an independent barrister, has been kept secret for six years.

In court yesterday, Richard Clayton QC, for Stone, said Stone had cooperated with the inquiry and disclosed sensitive medical information about his care and treatment to the investigating team. But he objected to the report, which contained “highly personal medical information”, being published in its entirety to the “world at large, because of the treatment it will receive by the tabloid press”.

Mr Clayton argued that a full version of the report should be shared confidentially among health professionals and other officials, who could consider what lessons could be gleaned from it. Another version, shorn of sensitive medical details, should be published to the general public.

Stone has had a long history of mental illness. His sister has claimed that he would not be serving three life sentences if he had been looked after properly.

Derry Journal

20 June 2006

It was still a waiting game for the parents of little Ava Nixon last night as they prepare for their daughter’s potentially life-saving trip to Germany.
The family, from the Hazelbank area of the city, were overjoyed last week when the NHS confirmed it would fund Ava’s £10,000 bone marrow transplant.
Ava, suffers from a rare form of leukaemia, and her parents have been told there is just a 30 per cent chance that the transplant will be a success.
Speaking to the ‘Journal’ yesterday, Ava’s father Stephen said: “We’re just waiting now to see when we’re heading to Germany. Ava is in good form.”
Ava’s plight - first highlighted in the ‘Journal’ - has touched the hearts of people across the city and further afield. And it has received valued support from the city’s newly elected Mayor, Councillor Helen Quigley. Ava is in Belfast this week undergoing blood tests ahead of her trip to Germany.
Wishing Ava and her parents Stephen and Fiona all the best, the Mayor said: “It has been a very difficult and anxious time for the Nixon family as they try to cope with little Ava’s condition and prepare for the operation. I would like to send the best wishes of the people of Derry to little Ava and her family. We will be thinking of you and look forward to welcoming you home.”
The ‘Journal’ will keep readers up to date with progress on Ava’s story.

Derry Journal

20 June 2006

DERRY TOT Paul Donnelly is recovering well after a lifesaving heart transplant in England last week. The four-year-old from Hazelbank was rushed to Newcastle for the gruelling nine-hour operation last Thursday after doctors located a perfect match.
Speaking yesterday about the transplant at The Freeman Hospital. Paul’s aunt Carmel Rankin said: “It’s a wee miracle!”
“He’s doing fine, there’s been great improvement since the operation, doctors are impressed with how quick he seems to be recovering.
“Today they have him sitting out on a chair, and taking small steps, although he’s retaining a lot of fluid since the operation. But he just wants to get home,” his aunt added.
But Paul’s Transplant Co-Ordinator, Dr. Lynn Holt, said the little boy almost missed out on his new heart due to a shortage of private jets because of the World Cup.
“This nearly didn’t happen, we couldn’t get a plane to fly my team there with the new heart. All the jets were so busy with the World Cup, no-one could get a private flight.
“We could have given up, but the donor family were so desperately keen to get their organ used, we ended up getting scheduled flights instead.”
“People do have private planes, but just don’t realise how much we might need them. If they knew the situation, maybe they’d offer them to us when available,” Dr. Holt added.
Paul suffers from a severe heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy and was fitted with a pacemaker at only five months old. For his long term survival, a heart transplant was his only hope.
Paul’s devoted parents, Bella and Paul Donnelly - who first highlighted their son’s plight in the Derry Journal last year - have been keeping a vigil at his bedside.
“They were really scared,” Mrs. Rankin said, “He’d been called up for an operation three weeks ago, but that heart turned out to have a fault in it.
“Then, on Thursday morning around 7am, we got a phone call and they took him straight to Newcastle.”
Mrs. Rankin said that Paul’s brother and sister are also “delighted” he’s finally had his transplant.
“They’re happy they’ll be able to play with him just like a normal boy now.”
News of Paul’s transplant and rapid recovery will be welcomed by the wider family circle too.
Tragedy struck the family last January, when Bella and Carmel Rankin’s other sister, Annie, was killed in a house fire at her home in Galliagh. Paul’s diagnosis came only a month later.
“All my parents’ prayers have been answered. It’s been a tough year, so this is great. They thought they would lose Paul too,” Mrs. Rankin said.
“We’d like to thank all the people of Derry who supported Paul, thanks to The Derry Journal for their support too.” And of course, they especially want to thank the donor’s family. “It must have been such a hard decision for that family to make, but we appreciate that they have given Paul the chance to live,” his aunt said.
“Paul’s a fighter and whoever’s heart he has, we’re so grateful to them. We thought there was no hope.”