 A police Land Rover was attacked
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The incident happened on the Glen Road in the city at about 0345 BST when a police Land Rover was petrol bombed as it responded to a call.
No-one was injured in the attack. The youth has been charged with arson with intent to endanger life.
A second person who was arrested has been released pending inquiries.
The 15-year-old is to appear at Derry Magistrates Court on Monday.
13 July 2006
Shock at death of Martin Hurson
The death of IRA Volunteer Martin Hurson on 13 July 1981, after 46 days on the Hunger Strike, was unexpected. The suddenness of his death, coming only five days after that of Joe McDonnell, came as a shock, since two previous Hunger Strikers - Kieran Doherty and Kevin Lynch had been almost a week on hunger strike ahead of Martin.
Photo: IRA Volunteers salute their comrade, Martin Hurson
Hurson had replaced South Derry man Brendan McLaughlin who was forced to come off the Hunger Strike due to a burst stomach ulcer. His health, since being moved to the prison hospital, had been deteriorating at a far quicker rate than that of his comrades. Throughout the Hunger Strike he had difficulty keeping down the required daily five pints of water. This problem caused him to hallucinate and he suffered from a degree of incoherence in his speech. He rapidly deteriorated towards the end.
Martin Hurson was the sixth H-Block Hunger Striker to die. Coming two weeks earlier than might have been expected his death disproved the assessment that the Hunger Strikers were not in danger until around the 60-day stage. Even as the young Tyrone man was dying, the vindictiveness of the prison authorities never abated. Though the family had been sent for due to his serious condition, Hurson’s brother Francie was refused entry to the prison because he arrived after 10pm. He spent the night outside the H-Block gate as his brother Martin died inside.
The following morning Martin Hurson’s body was removed by the RUC to Omagh hospital without consultation with the family. This move was designed to deny mourners en route the opportunity to pay their last respects. Despite this, over a hundred cars followed the hearse from Omagh to the Hurson home in Cappagh, County Tyrone. Relatives, friends and comrades carried the coffin for the last mile home, escorted by a uniformed, guard of honour and followed by a large procession of sympathisers. Later at the Hurson home, guards of honour from the IRA, Cumann na mBan and Na Fianna Eireann stood to attention as unending lines of mourners filed past the coffin.
On Wednesday afternoon Martin Hurson’s relatives carried the Tricolour-draped coffin, with gloves and beret on top, down the country lane from his home to the hearse waiting to take his remains to Galbally church. A lone piper lead the hearse which was escorted by an IRA guard of honour, followed by Cumann na mBan and Na Fianna Eireann. Wreath bearers headed the thousands of mourners as three British army helicopters flew overhead. Following the funeral Mass the guard of honour carried the remains to the burial plot. Four armed and uniformed IRA volunteers emerged fom the mourners and fired volleys from handguns in honour of their dead comrade. They then stood for a minute’s silence.
Tyrone republican Francie Molloy presided over the graveside ceremonies. The 1916 Proclamation was read out and a bugler sounded the Last Post as IRA Volunteers stood to attention in salute of their former comrade. An impassioned and comprehensive oration was given by Sean Lynch who had been Hurson’s election agent in the 1981 general election. Speaking of Martin Hurson’s past, Lynch described the 26-year-old as “a member of a large family whose mother died when he was only a boy, a young man who played Gaelic football for the local GAA club in Galbally, a lover of all things Irish who was forced to emigrate and who returned and threw in his lot with those who dispute the claim of England to rule over one inch of Irish soil”.
Lynch talked about the sacrifices of freedom fighters of the time, saying they possessed the same “virtue of patriotism, of spiritual, unselfish love of country as it was understood by Mercier, Casement, Pearse, McSwiney, Stagg, Sands, and Martin Hurson”. He went on to say their sacrifices would “save the cause of Irish independence from destruction at the hands of foreign enemy and native compromiser, and carry it to victory yet”. There was a certain prophetic note to Lynch’s words and again when he said that the spirit of Martin Hurson shines and “calls like a voice from heaven, filling young hearts with courage and determination.”
He went on to outline the origins and sources of, not only the horrendous conditions endured by prisoners in Armagh and the Blocks, but also “all our social and political evils - the British connection”. He also pointed to the “pretence and skulduggery” of the Irish Government of the time who, six deaths later, still refused to support the prisoners’ five demands.
Only three days separated the funerals of Joe McDonnell and Martin Hurson and the proximity of the deaths intensified the depth of frustration and sadness felt by supporters of the Hunger Strikers. Ireland was awash with protests but the British Government wouldn’t budge.
Pat McGeown joins H-Block fast
The Blanketman who replaced the Joe McDonell on the H-Block Hunger Strike was 25-year-old Pat McGeown from West Belfast.
Born on 3 September 1956, McGeown was a veteran of the armed struggle, having joined Na Fianna Éireann in 1970 at the age of 13. He was on active service on scores of occasions in his native city.
One of a family of five, with one older sister and three younger brothers, Pat was married with a six-year-old son in 1981 when he became the 14th man to embark on the Hunger Strike.
McGeown was interned in Long Kesh in 1973 when he was just 16 years of age. He was released in 1974 and re-arrested in November 1975, charged with possession of explosives and with bombing the Europa hotel in 1975. He was on remand for seven months and in 1976 was handed down three concurrent sentences, two of 15 years, and one of five years for IRA membership. McGeown was imprisoned with political status in the cages of Long Kesh.
In March 1978 he, along with Brendan (Bik) McFarlane (O/C of the Blocks in 1981) and Larry Marley attempted to escape dressed as prison warders. They were caught before reaching the perimeter of the jail. McGeown was stripped of political status and put on the boards in the H-Block punishment block for 13 months where he immediately went on the blanket protest.
He was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for the escape attempt which he served in the H-Blocks with the other blanket men. However, when the six months was up he was not transferred back to the cages but kept in the H-Blocks. By the time he replaced the late Joe McDonnell on hunger strike, McGeown had spent the previous three years and four months on the blanket.
Saturday, 15 July 2006
A SOFT rain is falling on a fading grey plaque in the centre of Ballyvourney, water trickling over its letters and dripping into the gutter below. But through the mist its words read clearly, a stark reminder that this little town has a history it finds hard to forget.
“In memory of the civilians murdered by British forces,” it says, with a quiet simplicity. There is no need for fine words; the past here is as powerful now as it ever was before. Standing beside the memorial in the Cork Gaeltacht where the Irish language still survives in many households, a local teacher slowly shakes his head. “Such a waste of lives. Everyone knows the stories of these men, but it is not something one likes to talk about. They are just sad memories of a terrible, terrible time.”
Reciting a litany of names “Miceal O’Loingrig, Seamus O’Liacain, Sean O’Ceilleacain”, Padraig O’Suilleabhain remembers the victims of a dirty war and a long-forgotten conflict, when in popular memory an army of farmhands and idealists gave the run to the might of the British Army. The plaque is just one of many along the roads of west Cork. The tourist guide books highlight the rolling hills and deep lush valleys edging down to a wild coastline warmed by the Gulf stream. What the guide books do not do, however, is mention the commemoration of the violence from a recent past. Along with the plaques there are charred, blackened ruins of burned and shattered buildings, kept as reminders of a time of anger and grief that is rarely spoken of with outsiders.
Cork was the most militant centre of Irish nationalist resistance to British rule in the 1920s, the setting of a brutal war of independence and the subsequent civil war which pitted brother against brother. In Beal na Blath (the Mouth of the Flowers) Michael Collins, a son of Cork and national hero, was assassinated by his former comrades for his “treachery” in his signing the peace treaty with Lloyd George’s government. The murders, tortures and burnings of the colonial conflict, the hated Black and Tans and the bitter internecine strife are, for many, still too raw even after all these years. But hidden memories have been stirred by Ken Loach’s film The Wind That Shakes the Barley, the winner of Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
Loach’s film was shot in west Cork, in and around the villages of Ballyvourney and Coolea where The Top of the Coom, “the highest pub in Ireland”, was a well-known vantage point changing hands between the opposing sides. Frayed sepia photographs of IRA flying columns still line the walls of the snug bar along with new pictures of the film being made.
Sitting with glasses of Guinness at the Mills Inn, in Ballyvourney, Fiontan O’Meaghair and Padraig O’Suilleabhain, teachers, reflected on the film and the events it portrayed.
O’Meaghair, whose eight-year-old son, Diarmuid, was picked for a part in the film, said: “I honestly don’t think an Irishman could have made this film. It took an Englishman to do it… The civil war is something people don’t really want to talk about. In fact a lot of it is not really taught in the history curriculum at schools. The war against the British also led to some very painful experiences, some terrible things were done at the time.”
Walking down to the memorial to the three men, O’Suilleabhain continued: “Seamus O’Liacain was killed in a Black and Tan raid. He was mistaken for an IRA man with a similar name. An officer took him out of his home and shot him dead. Miceal O’Loingrig had come out of his home with his daughter and he was standing over there, on that corner, when he was shot and killed for no apparent reason. Sean O’Ceilleacain was killed on a day when there was a raid by thousands of troops in this town.”
The main characters in The Wind That Shakes the Barley are Damian and Teddy, brothers who join the independence struggle and then take opposing sides in the civil war, with fatal consequences. O’Suilleabhain’s father, Michael, and uncle Eamonn fought against the British. There was, however, no family split, both the men siding with the republicans against the Irish Free State. Michael, having survived the war against the British, was shot in the mouth during a firefight with Free State troops during the civil war at the age of 20. At one stage a grave was dug for him, but he confounded his doctors by recovering. He later married his nurse.
In one of the most harrowing scenes in the film, Teddy has his fingernails pulled out by Black and Tan interrogators in jail. “That is what happened to my uncle Eamonn,” said O’Suilleabhain. “But in his case they did this at his home, in front of his crying mother, Minnie. She never really recovered from what she saw.” Eamonn Mac Suibhine was subsequently imprisoned in Northern Ireland. He contracted TB in jail and went to Australia after being freed in an attempt to recover. The recovery never came and he came home to die in Cork. He was 29.
Loach’s film has excited strong sentiments in Britain. Right-wing critics, most of whom have not seen the film, have described it as, variously, “poisonously anti-British”, “legitimising the actions of gangsters”, “repulsive” and “a hard-line Marxist distortion of history”.
Sinn Fein has been accused of cashing in on the film by producing and selling T-shirts saying “The Wind that Shakes the Barley”. The party insisted that the title was a line from an old song to which no one had exclusive rights.
Loach, 70, insists the film does not romanticise the IRA and points out that the brutality of the British forces, especially the Black and Tans and the Auxilliaries, former soldiers hired to fight the insurgency, is a matter of historic record: 1920, when the Black and Tans came to Ireland, has become known as “the year of terror”. The troops made the castle at Macroom, a small town on the edge of farmland to the west of Cork City, their headquarters. It became a target for the IRA and was attacked a number of times before being burned down by republican forces during the civil war led by Erskine Childers, the author and IRA leader.
Today just a few blackened walls and an arched gateway remain of the 13th century castle, which was once owned by the family of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania.
Bridget Orla Ryan, 47, who used to live in Macroom, said: “What happened left a lot of very, very bitter memories. There were dreadful stories of what the Black and Tans did. We grew up with these tales … Almost every family suffered, my grandfather and my uncle were both imprisoned.” The places which now feature so prominently on the tourist trail were scenes of deaths and retribution during the wars.
Thomas MacCurtain, the Mayor of Cork City, was killed by the Black and Tans who also burned down much of the city centre. Kinsale, now a highly fashionable sailing centre, had its chief landmark, Charles Fort, destroyed in 1921.
The winding country road to Ballymaloe, an internationally famous cookery school and one of Ireland’s most famous country houses, was the setting of bloody ambushes of British forces by IRA flying columns. Yet, at the height of the fighting in Cork there were 8800 British troops augmented by 1150 Black and Tans and 540 Auxiliaries, while the IRA strength never much exceeded 350. Some of the British officers there were to achieve fame and notoriety in their future military careers. Major Bernard Montgomery, later Field Marshal Lord Montgomery of Alamein, wrote of his experience: “My whole attention was given to defeating the rebels. It never bothered me a bit how many houses were burnt.” The IRA commander Tom Barry wrote: “British terror was met by not less effective IRA counter terror. We were now hard, cold and ruthless as our enemy has been since hostilities began.”
Loach has said that The Wind That Shakes the Barley has an analogy with another “imperialist war”, the invasion of Iraq. There are, in fact, certain historical links between the two conflicts. Some members of the Black and Tans and Auxilliaries, former British soldiers sent to carry out counter-insurgency operations in Ireland, had taken part not just in the Great War but the Mesopotomia campaign.
But does the experience of foreign occupation give the Irish any special empathy with other people who were oppressed? “Yes it does, it is what has shaped us,” said Donal O’Suilleabhain, Padraig’s brother. “I went to the Iraq war marches in London and I was proud to see banners in Gaelic there. This is not an anti- British thing. It was the politicians, the ones who wanted to cling on to an empire and sent other people’s sons to their deaths, who are to blame.” - The Independent
An Orange hall in County Armagh has been extensively damaged by fire.
The Fire and Rescue Service said it was believed that arsonists were responsible for the blaze at Kilmore Orange Hall outside Lurgan on Friday.
Spokesman Eugene McNally said the building’s meeting hall had been totally destroyed despite having been “very, very well secured”.
It is the third time the hall has been attacked and severely damaged by arsonists.
Fire crews were called to the blaze at 2315 BST on Friday. The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on Orange halls in the past week.
Accelerant
Mr McNally said entry to Kilmore Orange Hall would have been difficult because the windows were bricked up.
“The only way the fire started was because the culprits managed to break in through the roof and pour an accelerant, which we believe to be petrol, down through the roof and set fire to it.”
The DUP’s David Simpson said the hall had been rebuilt after previous fires.
“When you have something you have put money into over the years and see it destroyed within 30 minutes, it’s a devastating blow,” said.
“But as I’ve said before, the people have said it will be rebuilt and that message will go out and if it happens again, it will be rebuilt again because they will not be put out of this area.”
‘Sectarianism’
John O’Dowd of Sinn Fein described the attack as “wrong and unacceptable”.
“Sectarianism, irrespective of its source, or who or what it is directed against, is wrong and I have no hesitation in condeming this attack,” he said.
“Those involved need to desist from this type of behaviour.”
The SDLP’s Dolores Kelly also condemned the burning of the Orange hall.
“The people who did this are trying to drive us back into confrontation and we must not let them,” she said.
“It is sad there are still those who live in our community who wish to stir up sectarian hatred.”
13 July 2006
Revelations: British threatened dire consequences over SAS arrests
Details have emerged this week about the arrest and subsequent release of an undercover British army unit in County Louth 30 years ago. The confidential British documents, released under the 30-year rule, relating to the arrest of eight SAS members on 5 May 1976 throw further light on the activities of undercover British operatives South of the border during a period when civilians were murdered in circumstances which raised major questions about collusion.
The papers also reveal the depths to which the Irish Government of the time colluded with British operations and the abject nature of its relationship to the British Government.
The revelations come against the backdrop of the latest Barron report into collusion between state forces and unionist paramilitaries in attacks in the 26 Counties.
Former Supreme Court judge Henry Barron investigated collusion with unionist paramilitary attacks such as that on Kay’s Tavern Dundalk, Silverbridge, Castleblaney, Dublin Airport and the Miami Showband massacre. His report said “there was a high probability of collusion between loyalists and security forces”.
Documents obtained by Sinn Féin and made public this week relate to the year 1976. At this time four people were murdered in mysterious circumstances in the border area, including Seamus Ludlow and Peter Cleary in Louth. Nobody was charged but unionist paramilitaries and the British secret services were suspected.
The SAS men were arrested in three cars with submachine guns, handguns, a short-barrelled shotgun and a dagger. They were charged with possession of weapons with intent to endanger life. In Dundalk they were questioned about killings, including those of Séamus Ludlow and Peter Cleary.
What ensued was three weeks of frantic diplomatic and political activity. It is clear from the files that the British Government would not tolerate any suggestion of the SAS members going to prison for their illegal activities in the 26 Counties and it threatened dire consequences including the use of unionist paramilitaries if they were jailed.
There were phone calls to the Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave from the British Prime Minister and angry representations to Irish Ministers to “press home the full consequences of Irish Government actions”.
Among consequences mentioned were ’strong and violent reaction by loyalist paramilitaries’, and ‘anti-Irish backlash in Britain’.
The British also attempted to suppress media investigations, in particular the “delicate matter” of the arrest of a Fijian national among the SAS team. The Fijian authorities were asked “to play this low-key (as they have on a previous occasion)”. The same Fijian SAS man led a coup against the government of Fiji in the year 2000.
The British prepared position papers on its reaction to the possible jailing of the SAS team including one which proposed a trade embargo, a ban on remittances, a prohibition on Irish immigration to Britain, withdrawal of Irish security benefits to Irish citizens in Britain, ending of voting rights and a sustained media campaign about Irish ‘failures’ in relation to security matters.
The British also discussed the possibility of “covert persuasion” on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from Irish Government Ministers. They took legal advice on the possibility of SAS men absconding while on bail but ruled it out for fear of the consequences it would have for undercover operatives arrested during future incursion into the 26 County area.
The British also considered introducing an Act of Indemnity such as those used at the end of wars or occupation of colonies.
What is probably most revealing of all in the British state papers is the fact that Paddy Cooney, the then Minister for Justice in the 26 Counties, informed the British that had the issue of the SAS men’s arrest been referred to him before it had gone to the DPP, the SAS would have been quietly returned across the border. Cooney assured them that there would be no repeat. He said that this quiescent attitude of the Irish Government in the face of British incursions would probably lead to demonstrations but that the Gardaí ‘would take pleasure in dealing with these adequately’.
The eight SAS men were eventually let off with a fine.
Former Minister for Justice in the 26 Counties, Paddy Cooney
Speaking on Wednesday, the Sinn Féin TD for Louth Arthur Morgan said the revelations raised fundamental questions. “At this time at least four people were killed in mysterious circumstances in the border area, including Seamus Ludlow and Peter Cleary here in County Louth. Nobody was ever charged with these killings although loyalists or elements of the British state were always suspected.
“The confidential documents also reveal an alarming attitude displayed by the Irish government of the day and in particular the Justice Minister of the time Paddy Cooney. They were all too willing to play along in a cover-up being orchestrated by Downing Street rather than standing up and demanding answers on behalf of the Irish people. His attitude and that of the government he was part of is disgraceful. He even goes as far as to say that if he had heard of the incident first he would have ensured the safe return of the SAS gang with no questions asked.
“Paddy Cooney’s conduct and that of the Fine Gael Administration requires close scrutiny and I believe that these revelations will be the tip of the iceberg regarding the shameful relationship he and the administration carried on with the British authorities behind the backs of the Irish people.”
Meanwhile, last week, the latest Barron report into state collusion with unionist paramilitaries was made public. Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said it reinforced the case that the Mid-Ulster UVF, responsible for fatal bombings in Dublin, Monaghan, Dundalk, Castleblaney and other attacks colluded with British crown forces.
“The Report again highlights the fact that the Mitchell farm at Glennane, County Armagh, was the UVF base for attacks, that members of the RUC and UDR were members of the gang and that British crown forces at higher level were well aware of what was going on there.” The Glennane farm, owned by RUC reservist James Mitchell, was used by loyalists and their controllers in the crown forces as a base for a range of attacks across the Border and in the North itself”, he said.
Margaret Urwin of Justice for the Forgotten emphasised the importance of addressing collusion as it affected people in the 26 counties and accused Barron of “letting the British off the hook”. While the report goes as far as to address the attitudes of the British forces towards loyalist attacks which contributed to scenario where “loyalist subversives believed that they could attack with impunity”, he stopped short of accusing senior officers.
In 1975 three members of the Miama Showband were shot dead by a UVF gang who tried to put a bomb on the minibus in which they were travelling. Another band member, Steven Travers who survived the attack said he believed the crown forces colluded with the UVF in the ambush. Margaret English whose father Hugh Waters was killed in the Kay’s Tavern bombing expressed dissatisfaction at the way the families had been treated by the authorities over the years and said the bombers had been treated better.
Laurence McKeown
14/07/2006
Drive up the Falls Road any day of the week and you’re liable to see Danny Devenney painting a new mural by the side of the road. Busloads of tourists stop to take photos of his work, a work that changes regularly depending on what is topical. The subject may be related to Ireland but could equally be about Nelson Mandela, Native Americans, women’s rights, anti-racism, slavery, or the war in Iraq.
The images reflect both Danny’s political outlook and the community he paints for. No one defaces his murals other than state forces. No protests or petitions to have them removed are organised. People are comfortable with them because they are comfortable with their politics. Politics that are outward-looking, transparent, positive, nurturing, inclusive.
I doubt if Danny is ever paid for his murals, certainly those depicting political issues in Ireland. I wonder if the Arts Council will now give him some of the £3.5 million (€5 million) announced this week to “reimage” local communities. I’m sure some of his paintings could do with a facelift and no doubt Danny has many more new images to create. The money, of course, is not meant for Danny but to be spent in loyalist areas to remove the likes of the infamous “reaper” image and other loyalist paramilitary murals.
Therein lies a problem. What do you put in their place? The faces of George Best and CS Lewis or images of the shipyard can’t appear on every gable. I don’t say that in any snide or mocking way. In fact, I feel it tragic. But if there were other images dear to the hearts of people in those areas and that reflected their world political outlook, those images would already be on the walls because the paint is available and the talent to use it.
Professor Bill Rolston of the University of Ulster, who has studied the work of political muralists in loyalist and republican areas of Belfast, made a valid point when interviewed on the topic. He spoke of a period some years ago when political murals were painted over with Disney cartoons as if you could ignore the politics of a community or cover them with a coat of paint. Nice, friendly, bright colours but it’s always better to deal with the real politics underneath.
SF see ruling as ‘undemocratic’ as library turns down committee’s request
by David Lynch
14/07/2006
Fingal county council yesterday defended its decision not to host a photographic exhibition at Blanchardstown library, based on the 1981 hunger strikes.
However, local Sinn Féin councillor Felix Gallagher described the decision as “short-sighted and undemocratic”.
The exhibition included photographs from inside and outside the prison, original ‘comms’ written by Bobby Sands and other hunger strikers.
Mr Gallagher said he booked dates to hold the exhibition at Blanchardstown library with Fingal county council.
He was later told by the council the exhibition would not be allowed at the library.
However a spokeswoman for Fingal county council told Daily Ireland they “have a clear policy in relation to displays and exhibitions in our public libraries”.
She said: “According to this policy, our libraries ‘reserve the right to refuse material for exhibition that promotes a particular political party. This also means of course that without exception, we must reserve the right to refuse material for exhibition that promotes any particular political viewpoint.
“In fact, several requests to display exhibitions of one political viewpoint or another have been turned down in the past for this reason.”
However Mr Gallagher rejected this.
“This exhibition is not being organised by any particular political party, indeed the local H Block/Armagh Committee included representatives of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and Sinn Féin,” said Mr Gallagher.
“Offensive to public taste is subjective, but this exhibition has been held in libraries up and down the country, from Donegal to Kerry.
“The reality is that the hunger strike was a momentous period in Irish history and touched the community of Dublin West.
“Anthony O Hara, brother of hunger striker Patsy, stood in this constituency and out-polled, amongst others, future President Mary Robinson.”
The exhibition was also to include radios and cameras smuggled into the prison.
The Fingal spokeswoman said the council had a “responsibility to ensure that we take a neutral stance on all political issues”.
She said: “We must also ensure that all material on display in our libraries is suitable for viewing by visitors of all ages and that the material does not cause offence on any grounds to any of our citizens,” she said.
“It is our view that the exhibition put forward by Councillor Gallagher.
“While of some historical interest, would also include content that may be distressing or unsuitable for viewing for some of our visitors, particularly young children and that it is clearly political in nature.
“For this reason we have turned down Councillor Gallaghers request to put the exhibition on display.”
Republicans from across Ireland will travel to Tyrone this weekend to mark the 25th anniversary of Martin Hurson’s death on hunger strike in 1981.
Events to mark the anniversary began last night and will continue until Sunday.
Tonight, at 10.30pm a torchlight procession will take place from the Hurson home to St. John’s Church, Galbally.
Tomorrow at noon a football tournament will be held at Galbally Pearse’s GAA ground.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams will speak at a parade on Sunday which will follow the route of Martin Hurson’s funeral.
The parade will leave St John’s Church at 7pm.
A number of other events will be held in other areas in memory of the hunger striker.
‘It’s just my guess, but I don’t think Ofcom welcomes the sectarian targeting of vulnerable community workers’
14/07/2006
So there I am, driving an American friend around the city on the July 11, showing her some of the cultural wonders of the Orange world. Where to start? That was the question.
The fun began as soon as we hung a right onto the Shankill Road from Lanark Link, the featureless stretch of road that divides the loyalist heartland from the nationalist Springfield Road. On a lamppost, a standard paid tribute to Orangeman man Brian Robinson who was shot dead in 1989. Brian’s lodge was Old Boyne Island Heroes and at his funeral eight collarette-wearing brethren flanked the coffin. It was a moving sight, although possibly not for the family of the innocent Catholic that UVF man Brian shot eleven times before he himself was sent to the great Orange Arch in the sky by an undercover British army unit.
They’ve got plenty of pubs and clubs on the Shankill, I’ll say that for them. From every packed watering hole, crowds spilled on to the beer can-littered streets, hungrily knocking back the drink ahead of the lighting of the bonfire at 11pm. This was at 2pm. I’d say they were probably going to peak too early.
From every gable wall terrifying balaclava-clad gunmen glared down and from the lampposts flew all manner of flags, union jacks, Ulster flags, UDA flags, UFF flags and, scariest of all, the Northern Ireland soccer team ‘Our Wee Country’ flag. The towering bonfire was devoid of controversial symbolism, there was just a green primary one standard drawing of the Carlsberg logo atop the slogan ‘If Carlsberg did bonfires this would be it’.
The names of the hunger strikers would come later in the evening.
Plenty more flags on display outside the offices of Shankill FM, the community radio station which is granted a summer licence by the broadcast regulator Ofcom. Now I don’t know much about Ofcom regulations, but I’m pretty sure they might have something to say about Shankill FM’s playlist, on which party tunes are not ‘Club Tropicana’ or ‘The Macarena’, but rather more tuneless celebrations of Protestant culture. The most popular this year by far was ‘King Billy’s on the Wall’, not so much a tribute to the gay guy on the white horse as a fingers-up to the Catholic Church and nationalist residents’ groups.
“There are slogans painted in red, white and blue.
“They tell the Pope where he can go and what he can do.
“There’s one for Gerard Rice and that’s a different class.
“Go take the Lower Ormeau Road and stick it up your ass.”
My gut feeling is that this isn’t the kind of ‘community radio’ that Ofcom had in mind when it gave Shankill FM its licence. I could well be wrong on that and there may well be a subsection in the relevant legislation that reads “Ofcom welcomes the sectarian targeting of vulnerable community workers by licence-holders”, or something to that effect, but I’ll stick by my initial assessment that the aforementioned Mr Rice may get some satisfaction when he complains to Ofcom, as he’s about to do. Spoilsport.
Leaving the Shankill, my favourite bonfire was just five minutes away, on the Crumlin Road. On a sharp blind bend, the bonfire had taken up fully half of the road, forcing country-bound motorists to take to the other side of the road. On a large wooden board in blue paint was scrawled ‘KAT’ which, if I’m not mistaken is an exhortation to murder persons of the Pope’s persuasion. When I pulled out on to the wrong side of the road an oncoming lorry honked a deafening honk and I swerved just in time to see eight six-foot wheels whizzing by my head. Clearly the Prods have decided that killing all taigs is best done in time of peace by manufacturing road traffic accidents instead of using knives and guns. Trouble is, in an area like that, for every one they get like me, they’ll get ten of their own. It’s entirely possible, of course, that the blokes on the bonfire would consider that a reasonable trade.
As I checked the moisture level of the seat and reversed off the pavement, it occurred to me that not only is putting a bonfire in the middle of a blind bend on a public highway a health and safety issue, it has to be well… illegal. Doesn’t it? I’d be willing to wager that if I stood in the middle of the Falls Road tomorrow stacking tyres up on the bad bend at St Louise’s, passing white Land Rovers would in all likelihood take an active interest. So I called the Trevors and asked them what the hell was going on.
Here’s what they had to say: “PSNI will fully investigate any complaints in relation to breach of the peace or any allegations of law-breaking in relation to 11th Night celebrations. The community and other agencies as well as the police have a duty of care to ensure the safety of those involved, affected by the celebrations.
“To this end, if police believe a bonfire may have an unsafe impact, they liaise with community representatives to ensure the moving of the bonfire to a safer distance, or indeed its removal.”
Which sounds quite impressive, but in reality all of this has about as much substance as a Twelfth field Cornish pasty.
Promising to investigate complaints about the bonfire doesn’t quite cover up the trifling matter of the PSNI having watched the yahoos build it.
Driver: ‘Sarge, there’s a mob putting a massive stack of tyres and wood in the middle of the road.’
Sarge: ‘Come on, Sammy, it’s the Twelfth. Where’s your sense of pride an identity?’
Driver: ‘It’s got a big KAT sign on it as well. They told me in college that trying to get people killed is a crime.’
Sarge: ‘It’s not as simple as that, Sammy. Sometimes sensitive policing requires… Jesus Christ, Sammy, watch that bus!’
Sammy: ‘What are we going to do, Sarge?’
Sarge: ‘You honk, I’ll wave.’
While that community liaison stuff sounds quite impressive, can it really be the case that a bonfire in the middle of the road wasn’t worth a phone call?
At least this year there were no paramilitary petrol stations. Three years ago the Andersonstown News did a story about a petrol station in Belfast which had changed the price of a litre of unleaded petrol from 69p to UFF.
Don’t ask me what that is in Euros.
Three children aged 8-10 have been arrested after a Catholic school was badly damaged in County Antrim.
Damage to St Mary’s on the Hill Primary School at Carnmoney included 41 broken windows. Graffiti was also daubed over the buildings.
Headmaster Patrick Kennedy maintained the incident did not reflect the attitudes of young people in the area.
“I think it’s important to keep this in perspective - we are talking about a small minority of children,” he said.
District commander Supt Will Kerr described the arrests as “a timely and proactive response” by police.
“We will not tolerate these completely senseless and mindless acts of wanton destruction,” he said.
“This school has been targeted in the past and due to these previous incidents local officers have been closely monitoring the area.”
He added: “These arrests were as a result of a timely and proactive response by the local crews and we want to make it clear that we are concentrating resources and working closely with the local community to help combat this type of anti-social activity.”
The mayor of Newtownabbey, Alliance councillor Lynn Frazer, said she condemned “those involved in such incidents”.
“Those who lead young children astray and prompt them into committing sectarian acts are an absolute disgrace,” she said.
“People should be setting a positive example for young children, not instilling prejudice and hatred in them.”
14 July 2006
THE FAMILY of a Bogside youth have accused a community activist in the area of assaulting a 16-year-old during incidents on the 11th night.
The injured youth’s mother, who asked not to be identified told the “Journal’ she had feared for her son’s life after he was injured in an incident in Durrow Park.
She said: “As far as I know my son was hit by one of the men who was one of these community activists.
“These are the people who are supposed to be stopping attacks on the Fountain and yet one of them has time to hit my son.
“After he was hit he was taken up to his granny’s house which is close to the scene where this happened and he was really badly injured.
“We had to take him to hospital and he is still receiving treatment and his face is all swollen and numb.”
She went on: “I can’t believe that this has happened to my son and I don’t know what i can do.
“This is not the first time that he has had bad head injuries and when I heard that he had hit his head when he fell I was really worried.
“It is ridiculous that a grown man can go about hitting a young fellah like this.”
The injured man’s brother said: “I saw what happened and while there was a bit of a row going on there was no excuse for hitting my brother like that. The man that did it was part of the community activists and he ran away after it”, he alleged.
“People are saying that my brother was hit because he is a thug or the like that is simply not true my brother is involved with youth workers and he is no thug.”
A spokesperson for the community activists and a resident of the area who was present on Tuesday night said that the incident was ‘unfortunate’ but added that there was ‘an extremely tense situation’ ongoing at the time.
He said: “On the 11th night a crowd of 50 or 60 youths were determined to get up to the Fountain and we were trying to prevent this.
“When this was frustrated a group of youths went down and built a burning barricade across the Lecky Road.
“Some people went down to try and remove this but as soon as it was taken away it was replaced.
“A group of community activists went down to the area and there was a pretty tense confrontation between some of the youths and the activists.
“In the course of this some of us were threatened and one youth threatened to pour petrol over one of our people and set it alight.
“It was during this very tense and extremely volatile confrontation that this unfortunate incident happened.”
14 July 2006
DISSIDENT REPUBLICANS in Derry have denied being behind the latest bomb hoax outside SDLP Assembly man Pat Ramsey’s home and they also disputed claims they abused police and Mr. Ramsey during the alert.
Following the finding of a hoax device the PSNI said they believed that dissident republicans were behind the incident and they also accused some known dissidents of abusing police and Pat Ramsey at the scene.
However dissident republican sources disputed this and claimed they had been abused by the PSNI and that they were present to inform Mr. Ramsey that republicans had nothing to do with the incident.
The ‘Journal’ was told: “To claim dissident republicans were behind this is to fly in the face of the facts that are well known to Pat Ramsey.
“We had nothing to do with this incident and some republicans went to the scene to make it clear to Mr. Ramsey that this had nothing to do with us.
“While we were at the scene the PSNI began to abuse us and told us to get behind the cordon. When we pointed out that there was no cordon they immediately set about placing one.”
The spokesperson added: “At this point the PSNI informed us that they were going to search us under the Terrorism Act and when we disputed this words were exchanged. Pat Ramsey is a public representative and we asked him to intervene to stop this sort of harassment.
“He told us we were not welcome in the area and we asked him who was he to say who was or was not welcome in the Bogside.
“At this point we did have words with Mr. Ramsey but he called us over to continue the discussion. At no time did we abuse Mr. Ramsey. We have worked with him in the past on various issues and we believe he is well aware that we had nothing to do with this hoax device.
“In fact many people in the immediate area knew it was a hoax and paid no attention to it. It seems that Pat Ramsey is not prepared to speak out when the PSNI are using incidents like this to attack republicans.
“We have made it clear in the past that we have not been involved in these hoax bomb attacks at Pat Ramsey’s home and it is a well know fact in the Derry community that it is not republicans.”
This is the 14th hoax device left outside the SDLP Assembly man’s home.
14/07/2006 - 13:23:14
Fingerprints of a Dublin man accused of IRA membership were not found on boxes of ammunition Gardaí say were part of a major arms operation, the Special Criminal Court was told today.
Detective Garda John Barret was giving evidence in the trial of Colm Maguire (aged 32), of O’Moore Road, Ballyfermot who has pleaded not guilty to membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA on August 23 last year.
Det. Gda Barrett said the gardaí seized the boxes containing 149 rounds of ammunition from a man they believed had been in contact with Maguire in Jury’s Hotel in Christchurch earlier that day.
He said forensic tests were conducted on the boxes, but Maguire’s fingerprints were not found.
The trial continues on Monday.
14/07/2006 - 13:29:50
Protestors who have been camping on the Hill of Tara since the Summer Solstice on June 21, have been ordered to leave by the Office of Public Works (OPW), according to protest group TaraWatch.
The protestors are trying to highlight opposition to the M3 motorway that will pass through the Tara archaeological complex, in the Tara / Skryne Valley.
“This action being taken by the OPW is outrageous. The Hill of Tara belongs to the people of Ireland,” said Tarawatch political affairs officer Siobhan Rice.
“These people are camping peacefully on the top of the Hill of Tara. They are not interfering with any works, and should be allowed to remain.
“They are exercising their constitutional right of free speech, and expressing the view of the majority of Irish people, 70% of whom want this motorway moved.
TaraWatch is calling on the public to support their peaceful demonstration, which is taking place on the roughly 100 acres of publicly-owned land atop the Hill of Tara, near the Sloping Trenches.
Excavations are currently under way on 38 archaeological sites between Navan and Dunshaughlin.
The excavations, approved by Minister for Heritage Dick Roche on May 4, 2005, are now the subject of a Supreme Court case. The hearing date will be scheduled in the coming weeks.
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