SAOIRSE32

BBC

**”Like Fulton, Scappaticci fled Northern Ireland. Rumors circulated that he had gone to Italy, specifically to a certain Hotel La Pace in Cassino…” (Double Blind)

**See also >>Scap spied at seaside resort

‘Outed IRA spy Freddie ‘Stakeknife’ Scappaticci has been making frequent visits to a secret bolt-hole in PORTRUSH.’ (May 2006)

The High Court in Belfast has imposed a media ban on publishing anything that could reveal the whereabouts of Freddie Scappaticci.

The Belfast man went into hiding after he was accused of being Stakeknife, a leading republican who was also a British informer within the IRA.

Mr Scappaticci has always denied those claims.

The ban also prevents the publication of any pictures taken of him within the last three years.

BBC

A bus was driven under an Orange arch

A Newtownabbey man has been charged with hijacking and placing a hoax device on a bus in Glengormley.

Martin Gerard Rafferty, 38, from Fairyknowe Park, was remanded in custody after appearing at Belfast Magistrates Court.

Two men boarded a bus on the Ballyclare Road on Tuesday, left a package and told the driver to drive it to Glengormley Orange arch.

The road was closed before the object was declared a hoax by the Army.

BBC

The UK and Irish prime ministers have both restated the 24 November deadline is the last chance for politicians to restore Northern Ireland devolution.

Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern said failure to meet that deadline would put the assembly in cold storage.

Mr Blair said: “This is the last chance for this generation to make this process work.”

They have published a workplan for the politicians in the run-up to that date and are due to return to NI in October.

The premiers met delegations from the DUP, Sinn Fein, SDLP, Ulster Unionists and Alliance at Stormont on Thursday.

“We are convinced that November is the outer limit of an acceptable timeframe,” Mr Blair and Mr Ahern said in a joint statement.

“Failure to meet that deadline would be a failure which will put the assembly in cold storage from 24 November.

“That would be very regrettable, but everyone accepts that an assembly subsidised by the public which is not serving its community through active government is simply not sustainable.”

Mr Blair said there was “no pressure of an arbitrary sort” they could exert on the political parties.

“We have come a very long way but we need to get the rest of the way now,” he added.

Mr Ahern said he wanted to see the institutions up and running as soon as possible.

“The reality of this is that if we don’t do this by 24 November then we lose a huge opportunity,” he said.

The premiers will return to Northern Ireland following the publication of a report on paramilitary activity.

DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson said they had impressed on Mr Blair and Mr Ahern the need for the assembly to meet.

“If negotiations are going to begin in the autumn, then the assembly is going to have to meet between now and then,” he said.

“We can not move on to the next stage unless we move in the sequence of scoping the issues, debating the issues and then negotiating the issues.”

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said he hoped the process could move on.

“The two governments sought to reassure us of their total commitment to the November 24 deadline and their commitment to making this process work,” he said.

“We now want them to match that verbal commitment with action in the time ahead.”

Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said those who had no intention of meeting the 24 November deadline should “have the guts to say so”.

“We want to see devolution restored if the conditions are right at the time and we will spare no effort to see that is achieved,” he said.

Alliance leader David Ford said his party shared the frustration of the people of Northern Ireland.

“Alliance is prepared to work its socks off until November to get an assembly restored but we need the governments to play their part as well,” he said.

Ahead of his meeting, SDLP leader Mark Durkan said: “The taoiseach and the prime minister shouldn’t have to be here today trying to make sense out of a lot of the nonsense that is coming from some of the parties.

“I hope the two premiers are clear in their message today that they want to see the parties here get on with it, because that is what the public want to see.”

On 15 May, Northern Ireland’s politicians took their seats in the Stormont assembly for the first time since its suspension in October 2002.

It has only met a few times since May after its failure to elect a first and deputy first minister.

A cross-party Preparation for Government Committee has been formed, but progress has been slow.

Talks are expected to continue until August, with intensive efforts resuming in the autumn.

If attempts to restore the assembly fail, the two leaders say that in December there will be a “prime ministerial summit to launch new British-Irish partnership arrangements”.

The government confirmed the next assembly elections would be postponed until May 2008 if the executive is restored by this date.

Devolved government was suspended over allegations of a republican spy ring. The court case that followed collapsed.

Direct rule from London was restored in October 2002 and has been in place since.

Meanwhile, Mr Blair and Mr Ahern met a cross-community delegation of about 30 children from nine schools in Ballymena.

The meeting was in response to the murder of 15-year-old Michael McIlveen in the County Antrim town last month.

Mr Blair told them they were setting an example which political leaders should follow.

BBC

The Policing Board was told of the intelligence review

Nearly a quarter of all police informers in Northern Ireland have been deactivated in the past three years.

It follows three major reviews into how the force manages its intelligence, the Policing Board has been told.

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Sheridan said action has been taken against those suspected of illegal activity, or who were no longer needed.

Mr Sheridan said intelligence sources under police supervision had helped to save lives.

He said a review had been carried out into the intelligence management system.

“As well as leading to 24% of sources being deactivated, that review had four key outcomes,” he said.

“It examined the risks associated with intelligence management, it drew up guidelines on how to manage cases where a source is suspected of committing a serious crime.

“It established new procedures of managing sources, and it created a new unit called the Central Authorisation Bureau to oversee all authorisations for covert policing.”

He said security force agents had been an essential weapon in the fight against 30 years of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland.

Mr Sheridan briefed a meeting of the Policing Board in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, on how the force was developing its intelligence systems and he stressed the major contribution agents had made.

“I have no doubt that intelligence sources under police service management have helped save lives and brought offenders to justice,” he said.

“We would not have been successful last year in preventing £7m worth of drugs coming into the province without such assistance.

“Can I say that these people will never commit unauthorised criminal activity? No I can’t.

“But what I can say is that individuals who operate outside their authorisation will be liable to arrest and prosecution in the same way as any other person who breaks the law.”

BN.ie

29/06/2006 - 12:19:19

The docking of Britain’s largest warship in Dublin is a shameful violation of Irish neutrality, the Dáil heard today.

The HMS Ocean drops anchor in the capital for a series of informal events including a reception for a British brewery looking to export to Ireland.

Sinn Féin TD Aengus O Snodaigh today told the Dáil that the visit was totally unacceptable.

“(It is) one of the largest warships in the British Navy, and the hosting here of this warship, which played a key role in Britain’s illegal invasion of Iraq, and the presence on this island or in its ports, airports, seas and skies of any part of the British military apparatus while the British military occupation of the Six Counties and of Iraq continues, and the Government’s shameful invitation to the warship to come here which is in gross violation of the principle of Irish neutrality,” he said.

The TD raised the issue under Standing Order 31 before the Order of Business.

Independent TD Finian McGrath shouted ’warmongers’ across the chamber as Mr O Snodaigh was speaking.

The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) described the visit as sickening and said it made a mockery of Irish claims on neutrality.

It expects hundreds of people to turn out in protest at the visit because of the ship’s role in the invasion of Iraq.

The military vessel was central to the assault on southern Iraq in the first three days of the 2003 invasion.

“This is a ship that has been used to export death to Iraq and occupy an entire nation,” said Richard Boyd Barrett, protest organiser and IAWM chairman.

“Are we to witness the obscene spectacle of people toasting the murder and mayhem this ship has inflicted on innocent men, women and children?”

Demonstrators will gather at the famine memorial near the Irish Financial Services Centre at 6pm before marching along the docks to the ship for a rally.

At least two TDs, The Green Party’s John Gormley and independent Mr McGrath, are to speak at the protest, as well as a Sinn Fein representative.

Roger Cole of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance and Brendan Butler of NGO Peace Alliance will also address the rally.

The decision to facilitate the British Royal Navy ship, alongside the use of Shannon airport by the US military, was further evidence of the Government’s support for the war, according to the IAWM.

“An estimated 150,000 Iraqis are dead and Iraqi society has been absolutely devastated as a result of the US/UK invasion and occupation,” said Mr Barrett.

“Any vessel that participated in the slaughter in Iraq or that is linked to the military machine responsible can only be described as a terrorist ship. It should not be allowed into an Irish port.”

BBC

A prominent Belfast loyalist has been remanded in custody after appearing in court on terrorism charges.

Ihab Shoukri is charged with membership of the UDA/UFF on a date between January and March this year.

The 32-year-old, of Westland Drive, faced a second charge of professing to be a member of that organisation.

The court heard Mr Shoukri had been found in the company of several men in paramilitary dress when police raided the Alexander Bar on 2 March.

A speech supporting the Ulster Defence Association was found on one of the men which a handwriting expert would say had been written by the accused, a prosecution lawyer told the court.

The court was told that when charged, Mr Shoukri said: “I have recently been acquitted of that charge. I have to ask whose agenda is being served here?”

He was remanded in custody until next week when he appeared at Thursday’s hearing at Belfast Magistrates Court.

RTÉ

29 June 2006 12:20

Shell Ireland has called for a fresh round of face-to-face talks to try to resolve the dispute over the Corrib Gas pipeline between the company and the residents of Rossport, Co Mayo.

The company says it remains fully committed to the €900 million project but the landowners it is in dispute with say they still have serious concerns about the safety of the high-pressure pipeline that will run close to their homes.

A year ago, five men from the Rossport area were jailed for their opposition to the pipeline.

RTÉ

29 June 2006 11:34

President Mary McAleese today praised a cross-community initiative which has the aim of tackling sectarianism in Northern Ireland.

Mrs McAleese thanked those who, she said, give exemplary leadership and promote the principle of a shared future.

The President today shared a platform with a number of leading loyalists and republicans today at the launch of the project in south Belfast.

The Finaghy Crossroads Group is led by a 12-member committee made up of former paramilitaries from both sides.

Since the organisation was formed there has been a significant decrease in the number of sectarian incidents.

Belfast Telegraph

Fair winds bring sailing ships from a bygone era to Belfast’s inaugural Maritime Festival

By Marie Foy
29 June 2006

Eight of Europe’s most magnificent sailing ships will grace Belfast’s quaysides this weekend as the city hosts its first Maritime Festival.

Taking advantage of a fair wind, the first of the ships to arrive was the ‘Ruth’ which docked at teatime on Tuesday.

The vessel was followed into port by the ‘De Gallant’ which arrived in the small hours of yesterday morning.

Both ships are temporarily docked at the Richardson Wharf before they move round to Donegall Quay closer to the weekend.

At breakfast time yesterday, the mighty ‘Zebu’ surprised morning commuters when it appeared under full sail off Carrickfergus at around 8am. The Swedish-built adventurer was met by escort vessels to complete the final leg of its journey before docking at Abercorn Basin, where it will be open for public viewing on Saturday and Sunday.

Over the next few days, ‘Ruth’, ‘De Gallant’ and ‘Zebu’ will be joined by the rest of the tall ships armada, including the majestic ‘Grand Turk’ and the ‘Tenacious’, the largest wooden ship afloat today.

Many will recognise the Grand Turk from the TV dramas ‘Hornblower’ and ‘Longitude’.

Tomorrow morning, the sailing vessels will be joined by two modern warships, the HMS Ramsey and the German frigate ‘Brandenburg’, which will provide the rare sight of steaming into Belfast together.

The tall ships will berth on both sides of the River Lagan, at the Abercorn Basin and Queen’s Quay (beside the Odyssey Pavilion) and at Donegall Quay, with the two naval vessels berthed at nearby Pollock Dock.

They will be open to the public between 10am and 5pm each day, and the two naval vessels will be open for visits on both afternoons. For operational reasons, access to all of the ships will be subject to certain restrictions.

There will be lots more to see, do and sample, including demonstrations and children’s activities by the RNLI, a seafood festival in the Odyssey Pavilion and a three-day Continental Market at Clarendon Dock.

Music to suit all tastes will include the ‘Rhythm in the City’ festival at Clarendon Dock and the annual Rockabilly Festival in nearby Barrow Square. Lagan Watersports will also host a fun “Come and Have a Go” event for all the family at Lanyon Place (beside the Waterfront Hall).

On the Saturday evening (July 1) there also will be a ‘Nightglow’ hot air display and a fireworks display to round off the first day of the Festival in style - weather depending of course.

More information is available from the Belfast Welcome Centre on (028) 9024 6609.

Belfast Telegraph

More than 300 people volunteer with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute in Northern Ireland, giving up their time to protect and save lives. Debra Douglas joined Donaghadee’s RNLI lifeboat for a simulated air sea rescue to find out more

29 June 2006

The RNLI is often regarded as an emergency service which is always on hand for those who get into difficulties on or around the water.

But in reality, it is a charity which relies heavily on the commitment of its volunteers and the goodwill of those making donations to continue offering it’s extensive 24 hour service across the province.

These men and women come from all walks of life and selflessly give up their time for free for the people of Northern Ireland - it is a remarkable gesture but one that is all too often taken for granted.

Earlier this week, a number of volunteers took part in a training exercise with the crew of the Donaghadee lifeboat and saw at first hand the hard work and dedication of these volunteers.

The simulated air sea rescue also involved Bangor lifeboat, the Coastguard, an RAF helicopter from Prestwick, the Maritime Volunteer Service and the PSNI.

It was an opportunity for the organisations to work together to hone their skills but for me it was an interesting insight into how vital these organisations are.

The scenario was one that is not unusual off Northern Ireland’s coastline.

A fishing vessel gets into difficulties off the coast of Bangor. The anxious crew set off a distress signal and the Coastguard launches both Bangor and Donaghadee lifeboats and scrambles the RAF helicopter.

Most of the crew make it on to the boat’s inflatable raft while two end up in the water. Within minutes, help is at hand and a major rescue operation swings into action.

I was one of the lucky - and reasonably dry - ones to get into the raft. Sitting there waiting to be rescued was a very bizarre experience and it is easy to imagine how terrifying it would be for real.

But within minutes, the RAF rescuer landed on the raft from the helicopter and began winching people to safety as we looked on in amazement before we were rescued by the crew of the Donaghadee lifeboat.

Although it was a light-hearted day, it is not easy to forget that these people do this for real, these people save lives on a regular basis.

According to Alan Couser, Donaghadee lifeboat operations manager, the simulated rescue was a complete success.

“It went very well, it was a great opportunity for everyone to work together and everything went very smoothly, we’re very pleased,” he said.

Explaining what happens in a real emergency situation, he continued: “The person in difficulty makes a 999 call which goes to the Coastguard and they decide what to do.

“If they think it is required, they will contact the lifeboat station and ask us if we will launch. If it is blatantly obvious our help is required, they will press an emergency button which sends a message to the pagers all crew members carry.

“Once that pager goes, the crew members stop what they are doing, make their way to the lifeboat station and we form a crew and head out.

“From getting the message from the Coastguard to the boat leaving is no longer than ten minutes which is good going.”

Obviously, the tight time frame means volunteers must live close to the lifeboat station.

“We have to live close enough that we can be there within minutes,” Alan explained.

“It is a case of dropping everything and responding to the call and that requires a lot of understanding from the people our volunteers work for.

“You don’t know how long you’ll be away for so it can be difficult.”

It also requires a great deal of commitment.

“Our volunteers are willing to come out at all times of the day and night to ensure our service operates 24 hours a day,” Alan continued.

“Even if it means getting up in the middle of the night, they are always willing to give up their time to help people.

“You get a real lump in your throat when you see them coming back in from a rescue, there is a lot of pride in what they do.

“These people give their heart and soul to this, they are saving lives, they are making a difference.”

- Last summer, northern ireland’s lifeboats were launched a total of 127 times, making it the busiest summer season on record for the nine rnli stations and their volunteer crews.

- The RNLI’s inshore and all-weather lifeboats launched 208 times in often difficult, and sometimes dangerous, sea conditions.

- Throughout the UK and Ireland, the charity’s lifeboats were called upon 8,273 times during 2005.

- The busiest lifeboat station was Enniskillen, which launched 35 times and rescued 56 people, followed by Portrush, which launched 34 times and rescued 32 people.

- As this year’s summer season gets under way, Alan urged people to ensure they are well prepared before heading out to sea.

- The most important thing is to tell people where you are going.

- “Make sure your boat is kept in tip top order and ensure you are well prepared with lifejackets and a good supply of blankets and warm clothing”.

Belfast Telegraph

By Noel McAdam
29 June 2006

Sinn Fein could pull out of the Assembly in the autumn, senior figures have warned.

The party yesterday launched an internal review which could result in a decision to pull the plug on the Assembly when it returns in September.

As party officers met in Dundalk, a senior source said withdrawal was an option.

The review on July 15 could shift its focus to the next election in the Republic if it calculates a devolution deal is unlikely by the November 24 deadline.

As Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness prepared to meet Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern this afternoon, the source said they would tell the PMs: “We don’t want a pep talk.

“We don’t want to be patronised to have the usual assertions and we don’t want all parties to be tarred with the same brush.”

Mr Adams will tell the PMs the “optimum way” to achieve “proper engagement” from the DUP is to continue to implement the Good Friday Agreement.

The party also expects Mr Blair and Mr Ahern will spell out their ‘Plan B’ - a greater role for the Republic - in more detail.

“There can be no guarantee that Sinn Fein is going to be there in the autumn,” the source said. “An awful lot is going to be influenced by what the Government does - or what they persuade us they are going to do.”

The SDLP, meanwhile, warned that both the DUP and Sinn Fein might be hoping for a balance of power situation at Westminster and the Dail respectively.

Party leader Mark Durkan said the governments needed to make clear that they are not going to indulge preconditions, accept vetoes or hand out side deals.

Belfast Telegraph

Loyalist not moved into isolation

By Brian Rowan
29 June 2006

Loyalist Andre Shoukri has not been moved into isolation at Maghaberry jail following the public declaration from the UDA that he was expelled from the organisation.

Newspaper reports suggested that both Shoukri and an associate John Boreland had been moved from the loyalist wing on Bush House.

But a senior prison source dismissed those reports.

Yesterday, the source confirmed that Shoukri was still being held with other loyalists in the jail and that he has advised prison staff that he does not feel under threat.

The situation is being kept under review.

Last Thursday, 48 hours after the UDA statement expelling the Shoukri brothers and Alan McClean, there were loyalist rumours that Andre Shoukri had been moved inside Maghaberry prison.

The suggestion was he had been placed on what is called Rule 32 - meaning he had been isolated from other loyalist prisoners.

But, according to a senior UDA leader, Shoukri was seen in the jail’s visits area on Saturday, and yesterday a prison source confirmed that he had not been moved.

Two men accused of the attempteer of senior UVF figure Mark Haddock are still being held in isolated cells - but UDA prisoners Shoukri and Boreland have not been placed in the jail’s Special Supervision Unit.

The UDA leadership - its inner council - is still considering how to enforce its decision to stand down three of its most senior north Belfast leaders - Andre and Ihab Shoukri and Alan McClean.

A statement issued in the name of the UDA’s so-called north Belfast brigade last week said the men would remain in their positions and had the support of their members.

But a senior source said the paramilitary leadership was privately being asked for help to remove the Shoukris and their associates.

How that is achieved without the use of force is the dilemma facing those on the inner council who oppose the Shoukri leadership.

The position of the UDA leader in south east Antrim is still far from clear.

According to sources, he has told the inner council that he wants to remain part of the mainstream paramilitary organisation but cannot support the decision to expel the Shoukri brothers.

Belfast Telegraph

By Michael McHugh
29 June 2006

The family of an IRA man at the centre of a probe into a loyalist murder in Dundalk today broke their silence on the matter.

George Mussen, who is now dead, is reputed to have been the real target of a four-man Red Hand Commando gang from north Down which murdered Seamus Ludlow in May 1976.

Mr Ludlow, a forestry worker from Dundalk, was picked up in the assassins’ car in the town, driven close to his home and shot dead.

There have been a string of public inquiries into his death amid concerns about the failure of gardai to charge anyone with the murder.

Mr Mussen was interned a number of times because of his republican views and fled from Co Down to Dundalk where he was allegedly targeted by loyalists the night of Mr Ludlow’s death.

“I heard that he may have been a target. He was in Dundalk at the time and I heard that somebody was going down to pay him a visit,” his nephew Ciaran Mussen said.

“The circumstances surrounding his flight from Hilltown were that the Army visited his home in connection with an arms find and he said he was going out to make some tea and he escaped out the back door.

“He lived in Dundalk for a number of years, about 10 perhaps, and he would have been in Dundalk in the 1970s. It has been said that George could have been a target.”

The gunmen are believed, according to the Ludlow family, to have looked unsuccessfully for Mr Mussen before settling on Mr Ludlow.

The on-the-run republican was an independent republican candidate for south Down at one stage and he polled over 11,000 votes. He spent up to 10 years in Dundalk before returning to Northern Ireland to live out the rest of his days.

Mr Mussen escaped in the mid-1970’s after the Army called at his home in connection with an arms find nearby. Although technically still on the run from the authorities he was extremely elderly by the time he returned to Northern Ireland and was not arrested.

“He did have a strong republican connection, he was from a fairly staunch republican background,” Mr Mussen added. “By 1971 he was moving towards the Provisionals.”

During a Dail hearing of the Justice Committee in Dublin earlier this year, retired Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron said Dundalk Garda may have been warned about an imminent attack in the area involving one of the suspects.

It is believed the operation against Mr Mussen may have been linked to that warning.

Four suspects have been interviewed by the RUC about the Ludlow killing but none were charged. Two of them admitted being on the scene at the time of the murder.

Belfast Telegraph

As the two premiers fly in for yet another round of make or break talks, security expert Brian Rowan assesses the IRA’s ceasefire and whether a deal between the DUP and Sinn Fein is possible
29 June 2006

The talk in the political background is that Ian Paisley wants to be First Minister, that he knows if that is to be achieved then he will have to share government with Sinn Fein and that, while he will do that deal “in the right circumstances”, he still cannot see the route map.

Right now, that road is hidden in a kind of political spaghetti junction of stalemate at Stormont, of marching, of policing arguments and security and IMC assessments.

And if a way is to be found to that once unthinkable Paisley-’Provo’ deal, then we will not see it until the summer has gone and autumn arrives.

Where he sits, the Chief Constable is watching significant changes within the IRA - not an “army” that has disappeared, but an army that is different.

Almost a year ago, Seanna Walsh read the IRA statement formally ending the armed campaign and signalling the most significant acts of decommissioning.

“If you look at the evidence they are doing what they said they would deliver - no beatings, no shootings,” Hugh Orde told this newspaper.

He then posed a question, which he answered.

“Are they going back to an armed struggle? No,” is the assessment of Northern Ireland’s most senior police officer.

The IRA did not disband in July last year or since, and the Chief Constable is not suggesting that it has collapsed its organisational structure, but he seems pretty convinced that the republican “war” is over.

“You don’t disband an ‘army’ overnight,” he said. “The intent is the important thing. The intent of the vast majority (of the IRA) is to do what they have been told - to stand down.”

As Mr Orde sees it, “the big picture in a strategic sense is looking good”, but he will tell you that republicans still have more to do, including “engaging in policing in a positive sense”.

Settling the policing issue is also key to getting the DUP to do a deal - it is part of those “right circumstances”.

“Those circumstances are around the definitive end of criminality and the comprehensive dealing with the policing issue,” a party insider said.

“There are those who would be cautious about when to do it (a deal) and how to do it, but the leader and the deputy leader are on the one wavelength,” the party source said.

In Belfast recently, Peter Robinson met the four commissioners of the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC).

Their work, their writing, their assessments in the weeks and months ahead might make the road map to an eventual deal that little bit easier to read - it might show the parties the way out of that political spaghetti junction.

The IMC’s first report on security normalisation or demilitarisation - what progress there has been on scaling down the Army’s presence here - will be written by the end of August and published soon afterwards.

Its most important element will be the latest terrorist threat assessment - how the police and other intelligence agencies assess the IRA’s intentions, current and future.

We know what Hugh Orde is thinking, and those thoughts are bound to find their way into the next IMC report - the one that will be ready for publication in very early September.

The commissioners, Lord Alderdice, Joe Brosnan, Dick Kerr and John Grieve, are due to meet in Belfast for several days in mid-July.

Their published September threat assessment will set the context for another IMC report in early October - a report on paramilitary and criminal activity linked to republican and loyalist organisations.

This will be a detailed assessment - “an overall picture” delivered in the clearest possible terms and charting developments inside the paramilitary world covering the two and a half year history of the IMC.

It is this type of report that the DUP is looking for, a report that will allow it to make its judgement on the IRA before it starts its consultation on the political way forward inside the unionist community.

There is a widespread republican view that the DUP leadership is not yet ready for a deal.

That said, we are told that the republican leadership is moving forward on the basis that a deal might be possible if the British and Irish Governments create the right context.

Sinn Fein is still involved in a party-wide internal discussion on policing, but its future involvement on the Board and in encouraging young nationalists and republicans to join the PSNI depends both on the transfer of powers and the detail of that transfer.

Before the autumn, before the IMC next writes and speaks, there is the business of marching to be dealt with.

In terms of the recent Tour of the North and Whiterock parades, it is a case of so far so good, and some unionists accept that that has had a lot to do with the republican marshalling of protests.

Ardoyne has still to come, and in the words of one republican there are “real worries about being able to cope”.

So we are not yet out of the marching woods - not yet sure that the summer will pass quietly - but if it does, that too should help pave the way towards some eventual working political arrangement.

We can’t yet see it in the confusion of that political spaghetti junction, but then it is not yet July.

The deal may not be done by November 24, but it is still my belief that it will be done - that Paisley and the ‘Provos’ will come to do political business, no matter how unthinkable that once was.

Belfast Telegraph

By Brian Rowan
29 June 2006

Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde says the IRA is delivering on its words of last July when it announced an end to its armed campaign.

With the British and Irish Prime Ministers at Hillsborough today trying to push the parties towards a political deal before the November 24 deadline, Sir Hugh has repeated his assessment that the IRA will not return to armed struggle.

“If you look at the evidence, they are doing what they said they would deliver - no beatings, no shootings,” he told the Belfast Telegraph. “Are they going back to an armed struggle? No.”

BBC

The consultation period on Belfast Port’s future runs until September

Belfast’s lord mayor has expressed fears that the Port of Belfast could be broken up and stripped of its assets.

It follows a government consultation document which the port said could pave the way for selling off key parts of the business for “quick cash”.

There are also fears that the review will undermine the port’s £140m capital investment programme, which includes progress on the Titanic Quarter.

Pat McCarthy said the port was the “lifeblood” of Northern Ireland.

“I am very concerned that the government may be attempting to asset strip Belfast’s single most important piece of economic infrastructure and prepare the way for its sale to private interests,” he said.

“This would be nothing less than a sale of Belfast’s ‘family silver’. The Port of Belfast is part and parcel of what Belfast is and the port must remain within public ownership.”

‘No prior consultation’

Port of Belfast commercial director Joe O’Neill said they were surprised at the government document’s emphasis of the “potential break-up of the port’s estate and the stripping of assets for a quick sale”.

“We are very much looking forward to consulting with all the stakeholders who have an interest in the future of Belfast Port on how we can continue to contribute to Northern Ireland’s economy,” he said.

“But we feel there has been no prior consultation as to what the government’s thoughts were in respect of the break-up of the Harbour Estate.”

The consultation period lasts until 22 September.

Last November, Belfast Harbour Commissioners announced a huge investment in the development of Belfast port.

However, there were concerns at that time that uncertainty over the port’s regulatory status would “hamper its ability to develop to its full potential”.

Its five-year corporate plan includes a new terminal and updating security.

The port handles 66% of all Northern Ireland’s seaborne trade and 25% of the entire island’s.

BN.ie

29/06/2006 - 01:02:56

Ousted loyalist paramilitary chief Ihab Shoukri has been charged with terrorist offences.

Shoukri (aged 32) will appear before a magistrate in Belfast today after the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) serious crime branch accused him of new offences.

It is understood they called in a handwriting analyst as part of the inquiry into his affairs.

The expert studied an Ulster Defence Association (UDA) statement seized during a police raid on a north Belfast bar where suspected paramilitaries were gathered, sources said.

Shoukri was arrested on Tuesday, a week after the UDA expelled both him and his brother Andre (aged 29) from the outlawed paramilitary organisation.

Police would only confirm that a 32-year-old north Belfast man had been charged with terrorist offences.

But authoritative sources claimed it was linked to the statement found during searches of the Alexander Bar on the York Road.

“It was hand-written and found in somebody else’s pocket, but they have been checking to see who actually wrote it,” one claimed.

Shoukri was one of 17 men held after police in riot gear stormed the pub in March.

At the time it was alleged they were preparing for a paramilitary show of strength.

A lawyer for Shoukri claimed, however, that the men were instead preparing to announce an end to all UDA crime.

The seized document detailed how the organisation planned to take its resistance to a united Ireland into the political arena.

It also said: “However, this does not spell the end for the UDA. We want to reassure you all that the Ulster Defence Association is here to stay.”

Earlier this month, Ihab Shoukri was cleared of charges that he was a member of the organisation and its military wing – the Ulster Freedom Fighters.

A judge said the offences related to a snapshot in time which was now historic.

But within days the terror organisation’s inner council announced it had thrown out both brothers in a bid to clean up its act.

The purge followed growing resentment at how they were running the UDA’s so-called brigade in north Belfast.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Andre Shoukri had squandered £863,000 (€1.25m) of UDA money in a two-year gambling spree at one Belfast bookmakers.

He is currently remanded in jail on charges of blackmail, intimidation and money laundering.

While in custody, Ihab was widely believed to have controlled the unit – until both were deposed.

As detectives questioned him, a north Belfast political representative praised the police offensive on loyalist paramilitaries.

Alban Maginness, a nationalist SDLP Assembly member, said: “The UDA has caused major problems in this area for many years. Any clampdown by the police on elements within that organisation is to be welcomed.”

Irish Examiner

28/06/2006 - 1:50:34 PM

A Dublin man who a top garda said had been a member of the IRA since he was 15 years old, has been jailed for five years at the Special Criminal Court.

Vincent Kelly, who was arrested wearing an Oglaigh na hEireann t-shirt, was found guilty by the three-judge court earlier this month of being a member of the IRA on June 7 last year.

Kelly, who is now 21, of Empress Place, Ballybough, Dublin was arrested when gardaí found a handgun hidden inside a van on the Malahide Road in Dublin, along with a canister of CS gas, rounds of ammunition, two balaclavas and two pairs of gloves.

He had denied being a member of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the IRA on June 7, 2005.

Passing judgement Mr Justice Richard Johnson said Kelly had been convicted of a serious offence that carries a potential penalty of eight years imprisonment.

However he said he was taking into consideration the age of the accused, the fact that he did not give evidence, his community and sporting work and his family circumstances.

However, he noted that Kelly had previously been convicted of the offence of unlawful drilling or marching for which he had received a three-year suspended sentence.

During the sentence hearing Detective Superintendent Diarmuid O’Sullivan told Mr Remy Farrell BL (with Mr Tom O’Connell SC) prosecuting, that Kelly had been convicted of this offence on November 6, 2000.

He said he had attended a training camp for the Real IRA and had been arrested during the course of a training session when he was between 14 and 15 years old.

Det Supt O’Sullivan said that in this latest offence the accused had been arrested after gardaí stopped a white Astra van on the Malahide Road outside a house that had been linked to drug related activities.

When Kelly, who was a front passenger seat in the van, was approached by Garda Anna Marie Gilmartin from Clontarf station he had claimed he was on his way to get chips.

The driver of the van then opened the back doors and a third man escaped on foot in the direction of a nearby school.

Kelly was detained for the purpose of a drugs search.

Nothing was found, but the van was later found to contain a canister of CS gas, two balaclavas, two pairs of black gloves and a semi-automatic 9mm handgun with two rounds of ammunition, which was found to be in working order.

A fingerprint linked to Kelly was found in the back of the van, near where the items were found.

The van had been travelling in convoy with a black BMW that immediately pulled away from the scene but was later stopped and searched, yielding no evidence.

Det Supt O’Sullivan said during questioning Kelly had made no effort to address questions put to him and had not been of any assistance to the gardaí.

Mr Diarmaid McGuinness SC, defending, said his client was the only person to have been convicted in relation to the two vehicles that were stopped and searched.

He said his client had fathered a young son in the last month and was of some support to his grandmother.

He was also an active member of his local GAA club and was involved in voluntary work including summer projects and sporting activities for children in his community.

Mr McGuinness claimed the items found in the van had not been forensically linked to his client in any way.

He applied for leave to appeal against both conviction and sentence, which was refused by the court.

Sinn Féin

Published: 28 June, 2006

Sinn Féin MLA for Upper Bann John O’Dowd has today met with the Parades Commission in Belfast to discuss the Orange Order’s insistence that it march through the nationalist Garvaghy Road area of Portadown this summer.

Speaking after the meeting Mr O’Dowd said:

“Today’s meeting with the Parades Commission was about emphasizing the need for the Parades Commission to stand firm and not capitulate to the Orange Order.

“Nationalists and Republicans in Portadown have a complete lack of faith in the Parades Commission and neither the Chairman nor the British Secretary of State have sought to address this matter.

“I impressed upon the Parades Commission that for the Orange Order to walk into a room and meet with residents should not be used as justification for a march on the Garvaghy Road. This should not be a box ticking exercise for the Orange Order. Events to date on the Springfield Road, suggest that this is all the Parades Commission are interested in. What is required is that the rights of nationalists to live free from sectarian harassment as promised in the Good Friday Agreement are upheld.” ENDS

www.rsfcork.com

Republican Sinn Féin

229 Falls Road
Belfast BT12 1FB
Telephone: Belfast 90319004

28 Meitheamh / June 2006

IN A statement on June 28 Republican Sinn Féin, Belfast said that in 2006 Irish Republicans were still incarcerated for their political beliefs.

The statement continued: In 1981 ten brave men died for the fight for political status. Twenty-five years later the fight still goes on. Today Republican prisoners have once again found it necessary to resort to prison protest.

We urge all Republicans to support the prisoners in their struggle to gain back the right to be treated as POWs. These men are prisoners of war and deserve to be treated as such.

• 1981: They were political prisoners then.
• 2006: They are political prisoners now.

Help end the prison struggle; support the Republican POWs. Political status is a right not a privilege.

We would like to call on all ex-prisoners’ groups to come out and show their support for all political prisoners who are on protest in Maghaberry Concentration Camp. We ask them to join in white-line pickets and any other protest organised by the Republican Prisoners Action Group and Republican Sinn Féin.

We need everyone to show their support — Come to the white-line picket and support the prison protest.

Geraldine Taylor
RSF Belfast