SAOIRSE32

Daily Ireland

17/07/2006

It seems the British army’s camouflage is now so good that its soldiers are completely invisible, at least to DUP assembly member Diane Dodds, who claimed on a radio programme recently that a photograph in last Thursday’s Daily Ireland of squaddies taking down screens after the Orange march through Ardoyne was in some way tampered with or taken somewhere else.
Mrs Dodds’ allegation of Daily Ireland skullduggery followed the claim from the PSNI that for the first time since 1970, no British soldiers would be deployed to help escort Orangemen through nationalist areas.
This claim was then published as fact by other media outlets, including the BBC on its website.
Mrs Dodds said that as she ‘knew’ there were no soldiers deployed in Ardoyne, presumably courtesy of the PSNI’s proud boast that it was able to assist a sectarian march all on its own, Daily Ireland must be up to some mischief.
We all know that computers can do wonderful things these days, but to conjure up a montage of a couple of dozen Brits doing their annual Twelfth of July tango with the PSNI is thought to be beyond even Daily Ireland’s very talented photography department.
All we can say is our photographer was there and took this picture last Wednesday, even though he could be forgiven for thinking he was still back in the last century when hate-fuelled mobs were escorted through nationalist areas as a matter of course.
The PSNI also seems to have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to spotting truckloads of squaddies haring about, and continued to pander its line that no British army personnel were on the streets to help them out with ‘Orangefest’.
We have helpfully republished the photo above in a larger format.
As can be seen in our undoctored photo, there are quite a few fully togged-out riot cops standing watching the British soldiers take down the sight screens.
For those suffering from the same difficulty as Mrs Dodds, the British soldiers are the ones in green on the left.
The people dressed in helmets with shields watching them are members of PSNI riot squads and behind them are members of the public and the media, some of whom can actually see the soldiers and are even capturing the moment on camera themselves.

Daily Ireland

By Ciarán Barnes
17/07/2006

A County Armagh man who made a false confession after being beaten in police custody has had his conviction quashed.

Paschal Mulholland was only 16-years-old when he was arrested following a petrol-bomb attack on Portadown RUC barracks in October 1976.
Despite being a minor, he was denied access to his parents or a solicitor until he signed a confession stating he was a member of the IRA junior wing – Fianna na hÉireann.
After being held for 40 hours, the teenager finally put his name to the statement. During the course of the RUC interviews he was repeatedly beaten.
A doctor later concluded that “he [Mulholland] was struck a severe blow with the closed fist [right] to the left side of the nose – the force of this knocked the right cheek area against a table. His nose was now bleeding from a abrasion and one officer dipped a tissue in cold water and cleaned up the wound”.
Another doctor found Mr Mulholland “suffered significant physical abuse” and that the explanations given by the RUC for his injuries were not “medically acceptable”.
The RUC men who attacked Mr Mulholland claimed he had hit his nose off a table in the interview room as he bent over to pick up a cigarette.
This excuse was accepted by the judge, Lord Lowry, at Mr Mulholland’s trial in March 1977.
Ignoring reports of torture during interview and the fact that as a minor he was denied access to a solicitor or guardian, Lord Lowry jailed Mr Mulholland for 12 months for being a member of a proscribed organisation.
In October 2000, Mr Mulholland launched an appeal.
In the Court of Appeal last week judges Kerr, Nicholson and Campbell quashed his conviction.
They said the mistreatment of Mr Mulholland “raised considerable doubts” about the safety of the conviction.
The judges said statements from doctors who treated the teenager were both “compelling and damning”.
“In these circumstances we were driven inexorably to the conclusion that the conviction was unsafe and for the reasons we have given, we quashed it,” added the judges.

BBC

The former leader of the Real IRA, Michael McKevitt, has been given fresh leave to challenge his conviction for directing terrorism.

Michael McKevitt is challenging his conviction

McKevitt, 54, was sentenced to 20 years in 2003 for directing terrorism and membership of an illegal organisation.

His lawyers were granted permission to go the Irish Republic’s Supreme Court.

They claim the defence team in his trial was not given full information about the tax affairs of chief witness David Rupert, an FBI and British agent.

In December 2005, an attempt by McKevitt to have his conviction overturned failed at the Court of Criminal Appeal.

His lawyers had sought to have his conviction quashed by challenging the credibility of Mr Rupert, a secret agent of the FBI and the British security service.

McKevitt, from Blackrock, County Louth, was the first person to be convicted in the Republic for the offence of directing terrorism, which was introduced after the 1998 Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh.

The explosion claimed the lives of 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.

He also received a six years concurrent prison sentence for membership of an illegal organisation which the court said was the Real IRA.

Mr Rupert was reported to have infiltrated the Real IRA and attended Real IRA Army Council meetings where McKevitt was present.

BBC

Prosecution lawyers have agreed to disclose details of DNA and other forensic evidence in the case of a man accused of the Omagh bombing.

Sean Hoey of Molly Road, Jonesborough, Armagh, has denied murdering 29 people in the Real IRA attack in 1998.

Mr Justice Weir had threatened to exclude the evidence unless prosecution co-operated with defence lawyers.

The High Court was told Mr Hoey plans to challenge the DNA evidence when the case goes to trial later this year.

Mr Hoey has denied the Omagh charges and others connected to more Real IRA attacks, including one in 2001.

BN.ie

17/07/2006 - 11:04:09

Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt was today given leave to go to the Supreme Court in a fresh bid to challenge his conviction for directing terrorism.

McKevitt’s counsel Mr Hugh Hartnett SC was allowed to bring a Section 29 application - a matter of law of public importance - to the Supreme Court. Mr Hartnett claimed that the authorities had failed to provide information to the defence about the tax affairs of the chief witness in McKevitt’s trial, FBI agent David Rupert.

Today the Court of Criminal Appeal allowed the legal point to go forward to the Supreme Court for hearing.

Last December the Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed McKevitt’s appeal against his conviction for directing terrorism. The court said that the Special Criminal Court was entitled to conclude that the main prosecution witness in the case - FBI agent David Rupert - was a credible witness and to accept his evidence and was correct to convict him for directing terrorism. The court also ruled that all matters relating to disclosure in the trial were properly dealt with by the court.

McKevitt (aged 54), of Beech Park, Blackrock, Co Louth was jailed for 20 years by the Special Criminal Court in August 2003 after he was convicted of directing the activities of a terrorist organisation between August 29, 1999 and October 23, 2000. He was the first person to be convicted in the State for the offence which was introduced after the Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh in 1998 in which 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, died.

McKevitt also received a six-year concurrent prison sentence for membership of an illegal organisation which the court said was the Real IRA.

The four-day appeal last year centred on the issues concerning the reliability of the chief prosecution witness in the trial - FBI agent David Rupert - who infiltrated the Real IRA and attended Real IRA Army Council meetings where McKevitt was present.

The court heard during the appeal that Rupert had been paid $1.4m (€1.1m) by the FBI and
400,000 pounds sterling by the British Security Service.

The court rejected all criticisms made of the Special Criminal Court’s judgement in relation to the credibility of David Rupert.

Irelandclick

ANDERSONSTOWN NEWS CAMPAIGN

By Laura McDaid

As the SS Nomadic arrived at Belfast harbour this weekend, the Andersonstown News is backing calls for a commemoration to mark the spot where the Maidstone prison ship was docked in the seventies.

A number of those who were interned on the ship have said that events which took place there should never be forgotten. They added that the arrival of the Nomadic represents a unique opportunity to erect a monument and plaque to those who suffered on the Maidstone.

Among others, West Belfast MP Gerry Adams spent time on the prison ship in 1972. He was released in order to take part in peace talks.

In the same year, Andersonstown News columnist Fra Coogan was also interned on the Maidstone. Yesterday, he said he would welcome a commemoration at the spot where it was berthed.

Our Fra calls for plaque for Maidstone

Speaking of his own experience on the ship, he said that although times were hard, camaraderie between inmates kept their spirits high.

“When I see people on the television nowadays talking about detention and internment without trial in Britain as if it had never happened before, it makes me wonder what planet they’re on.

“There were hundreds of men on the Maidstone – Provos, Stickies, postmen, binmen, you name it. We use to joke that we were on the Maidstone because we’d been caught smoking upstairs on the bus.”

Comparing conditions on the ship to the Holywood Barracks, Fra said the latter’s “torture chambers” made the Maidstone seem “like heaven”.

“After the nightmare of Holywood Barracks torture chambers, it was heaven to be welcomed onto the Maidstone by so many familiar and welcoming faces.

“We had great craic amid the hard times. Even when there was a hunger strike on the ship to have conditions improved, the men’s humour shone through.”

Fra was eventually helicoptered off the prison ship to Long Kesh internment camp.

Earlier this year, Andersonstown News Managing Director Máirtín Ó Muilleoir wrote to the Chairman of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, Frank Cushnahan, to request a commemorative plaque and monument at the harbour.

Yesterday, Mr O Muilleoir said he was delighted to launch a campaign “to have nationalist heritage linked to the Maidstone, Argenta and Al Rawdah internment ships remembered and commemorated by way of signage and a plaque.”

Journalist:: Laura McDaid

Irelandclick

The daughter of a woman abducted and killed by the IRA in 1972 is calling on the IRA to show evidence that her mother was an informer.

Helen McKendry’s mother, Jean McConville, was abducted by the IRA from Divis Flats and subsequently shot dead and her body buried in Co Louth.
The IRA has always insisted that Jean McConville was an informer for the British Army.
Last Friday the Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, cleared Mrs McConville of the allegation, following an extensive investigation.
The Ombudsman’s report was followed by an IRA statement saying the West Belfast woman was an informer.
Responding to the weekend’s developments, Mrs McKendry told the Andersonstown News she was happy with the Ombudsman’s investigation.
“Nuala O’Loan went through everything and found nothing to suggest that my mother was an informer, I am happy with that.
“As far as the IRA statement goes, well I didn’t expect anything else from them, I wouldn’t expect them to say anything else.
“If they have the proof, I would like to see it.
“When they carry out investigations, they want proof, well that applies to everyone so I would like to see what evidence they have.
“In the meantime I will keep fighting to clear my mother’s name.”

Journalist:: Staff Journalist

Belfast Telegraph

By Clare Weir
17 July 2006

A man was fighting for his life today after a farewell barbeque turned to tragedy following a brutal sectarian assault.

In a gang attack that has sent shockwaves through the North West, Derry civil servant Paul McCauley is in a critical condition at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast today after eight men burst into a party at a house off Chapel Road in the Waterside in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Mr McCauley was kicked and punched and suffered horrendous head injuries which doctors have told his family could him with brain damage should he pull through.

One of Paul’s friends had his jaw fractured a third man was left badly bruised and with cuts to his face.

A top policeman in the city has called the attack “vile, nasty and vicious” and said that those behind the assault could be accused of attempted murder.

The event was being held as a farewell party for a friend who was travelling to Azerbaijan to teach English.

He was due to leave on Wednesday and the victims were the last remaining guests at the party.

There were disturbances in the area and a hijacking attempt following the attack. Traffic was diverted away from parts of Chapel Road and the Bann Drive area of Irish Street.

Chief Inspector Ken Finney, who said that police were following a definite line of inquiry, said he utterly condemned the “despicable act” and said he suspected the attackers had come from the unionist estate.

He said the attackers came from the direction of Irish Street and Bann Drive and urged local people to help the police to catch them.

However community representatives from the area have denied this and blamed the attack on outside elements.

Paul’s father Jim, a former teacher at Thornhill College, said he had been told by medics that his son had “died” and had to be resuscitated.

He has also been told that Paul will almost certainly have suffered head injuries.

Police carried out a fingertip search and conducted house to house inquiries in the area this morning.

Former Mayor of Derry, Lynn Fleming, a Sinn Fein councillor in the area where the assault took place, has appealed for calm.

“I would appeal to people not to become involved in attacks on others as Saturday nights events clearly demonstrate how they can result in tragedy for everyone involved,” she said.

“Sectarianism from whatever source is to be condemned and everyone of influence must do all in their power to eradicate it.”

Another man was attacked in a sectarian incident on Thursday night.

The man was battered by a gang of five to six men between midnight and 1am in the Wapping Lane area on the outskirts of the Fountain estate.

Sinn Féin

Published: 16 July, 2006

Responding to the British Secretary of State Peter Hain’s remarks this evening in Glenties as part of the Magill Summer School, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Policing and Justice Gerry Kelly said:

“Peter Hain is well aware of the Sinn Féin position on policing. The vast majority of nationalists and republicans believe that the issue of policing remains an unresolved matter which can be sorted out.

“Sinn Féin have set out very clearly the issues which remain to be resolved. The core issue is the transfer of powers away from securocarts in London and the NIO and into the hands of democratically elected politicians in Ireland. We have set out publicly the core of what is needed. That is:
· The enactment of the necessary legislation by the British government to transfer powers on policing and justice.
· Agreement on the detail of what is to be transferred.
· Agreement on the departmental model and a timetable for transfer.

“These are essentially political issues which could be resolved by political parties and the governments quickly if the political will existed. The obstacle to this is the DUP refusal to discuss this issue or to be involved in the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement.

“Peter Hain should concentrate the minds of the British government on convincing the DUP that there is no other way to advance the peace and political process outside of the GFA institutions.

“Sinn Féin want to see an acceptable policing service delivered. That is why we made policing a central part of the political negotiations. We remain determined to build on the progress we have made in recent years and we are committed to delivering the genuinely accountable and acceptable policing service demanded by the Agreement.” ENDS

BBC

NI Secretary Peter Hain has urged the leadership of the republican movement to support the police.

Mr Hain said they should make the move even if they could not sign up to policing structures.

Sinn Fein have said they have set out “very clearly” what needs to be done for them to back policing.

Mr Hain told BBC Radio Ulster on Monday: “Sinn Fein locally, on the ground, ought to take their obligations now seriously.

“To meet the requirements of the rule of law, co-operating with policing on practical issues that their communities increasingly expect them to do.”

Speaking at the Magill Summer School in Donegal on Sunday Mr Hain had said that the PSNI and the government wanted to meet Sinn Fein this autumn for “mature and sustained dialogue” on policing.

Mr Hain said: “There is no reason to delay this engagement on practical issues.”

He said republican communities desperately needed a police service to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

“Only the PSNI can deliver this service, and they can only deliver it in partnership with the community.”

Mr Hain said he recognised that republicans had reservations about the police based on past experience.

Parades

However, he said they should appreciate the “sheer depth of hurt” felt by unionists and the police themselves about the past, and their suspicions about republican involvement in policing.

“The PSNI want to engage in this dialogue - indeed, increasingly are doing so, not least in County Derry and in south Armagh - and I hope that increasingly Sinn Fein will promote that,” he said.

“Senior Sinn Fein figures in dealing with the PSNI over recent parades and their very significant efforts to bring about a peaceful summer on the streets has been encouraging.”

The secretary of state said he remained optimistic that the issue could be resolved.

Responding to the speech, Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly said: “Sinn Fein have set out very clearly the issues which remain to be resolved.

“The core issue is the transfer of powers away from securocrats in London and the NIO and into the hands of democratically elected politicians in Ireland.

“Peter Hain should concentrate the minds of the British government on convincing the DUP that there is no other way to advance the peace and political process outside of the Good Friday Agreement institutions.”

Belfast Telegraph

Kids with potential heart defects on waiting lists the health service promised to ‘dramatically reduce’

By Nigel Gould
17 July 2006

Ulster parents who are worried their children have heart defects are waiting more than two years just for a first appointment with a specialist, it can be revealed today.

Shock new figures show that up until the end of May this year, 11 children were on a two-year- plus waiting list to see a paediatric cardiac consultant at the Ulster Hospital.

But other hospitals across Northern Ireland also have lengthy waiting lists.

On average, children wait up to a year to see a consultant at the Ulster and up to nine months to see a specialist for the first time at the United Hospital Group which runs Antrim Hospital.

The average waiting time at the Royal - Ulster’s biggest hospital group - is seven months.

In addition, the shock figures show that nine young patients have been waiting up to two years for a first appointment at the Ulster; 10 up to 20 months, and five up to 17 months.

A spokesman for the Ulster said that a “single” clinic was held every month for children at the hospital.

This was run by a consultant at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children- the regional cardiology centre.

He added: “All cases are classed as routine rather than urgent.

“Having said that, we are working hard to reduce outpatient waiting lists.”

He said a small number of patients out of the total of 96 on the waiting list had cancelled appointments, while two patients did not turn up. Others had since been dealt with.

The spokesman added that overall figures were now down to 79.

The statistics, revealed by Health Minister, Paul Goggins in reply to a written parliamentary question from DUP MP, Iris Robinson, highlight the huge task facing health chiefs over the next year.

Earlier this year, then Health Minister, Shaun Woodward, promised to “dramatically reduce” waiting times for thousands of outpatients across Northern Ireland.

Six months after setting tough targets for hospitals to tackle high inpatient waiting lists, he announced he was going to revolutionalise outpatient lists.

Eventually, he said he wanted to see every patient referred by their GP to a consultant responded to within 72 hours.

And he set in motion the Integrated Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services (ICATS) scheme to ensure that, once patients have been to their GP, they will be dealt with “as quickly and effectively as possible”.

In future, people should receive a letter five days after seeing their GP giving them details of what the next step is, an indication of waiting times and a helpline number for further information.

That process is now being rolled out but it could be months before it kicks in.

Several weeks ago, current Health Minister, Paul Goggins, pledged to wipe out trolley waits in Northern Ireland as part of a major package of reform for our health service.

Mr Goggins also announced £2m for 20 replacement Accident and Emergency ambulances.

And he promised to end bed blocking with many more people cared for in the community rather than hospitals.

He unveiled his wide-ranging package of health care during a keynote address to health service staff in Belfast.

Sunday Business Post

By Tom McGurk
16 July 2006

How long is the hand of history? How extraordinary it is that a sequence of events that occurred 50 years ago this month created the template for the two conflicts that currently threaten the peace of the times we live in. In July 1956, president Gamal Nasser of Egypt seized and nationalised the Suez Canal Company. It began a chain reaction of events that continues to dominate the headlines.

As once again Israel, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian territory are locked in conflict - and as the crisis in Iraq deepens daily - it is quite remarkable how the Suez debacle produced fault lines that still run across the years.

In the 1950s, Nasser emerged as the first major Arab nationalist figure. Since the 1919 settlement after World War I when Britain and France carefully divided up the Middle East (apparently on the back of a menu card after a dinner between David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau, mostly to the requirements of BP, Standard Oil and French Petroleum) the oil had flowed and the Arab nations had grown increasingly restive.

Nasser burst on the scene like an old-fashioned 19th century nationalist, proclaiming that ‘‘glory and national dignity would be restored to an ancient people’’.

Appealing to a people who had been promised their independence in 1918 if they supported the Allies in the war, only to be bitterly disappointed, Nasser quickly became the most powerful force in centuries in Arab Middle-Eastern politics.

Rhetoric was one thing, but when, in July 1956, he seized the Suez Canal, the international repercussions were instant and proved to be long lasting.

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Times Online

By Helen Nugent
17 July 2006

GREYHOUND racing faces a government inquiry after the revelation that hundreds of healthy dogs are being slaughtered every year because they have passed their peak on the racetrack.

The National Greyhound Racing Club, which governs the sport, and the Environment Department said they would examine evidence uncovered by The Sunday Times that one man is killing the dogs on an industrial scale and charging their owners £10 a time.

David Smith, a builder’s merchant at Seaham, Co Durham, is alleged to have killed an estimated 10,000 greyhounds over the past 15 years. According to the newspaper he kills them with a bolt gun in his garden shed, wheels them out in a barrow to a hole in his one-acre garden and covers the bodies using a mechanical digger.

The Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare will hold a meeting today and press for an immediate official inquiry.

Eric Martlew, MP for Carlisle, will today urge colleagues to pressure the Government for an inquiry. He said: “This is absolutely appalling. It’s time the industry cleaned up its act.

“For a long time now people have thought this kind of thing has been going on but without any evidence. I think the industry is in denial about it. There must have been hundreds if not thousands of people in the industry that knew what this man was doing.

“I also suspect this isn’t the only canine killing field like this. There are probably others around the country.”

On two consecutive days an undercover reporter filmed trainers delivering greyhounds to Mr Smith to be killed. Mr Smith is quoted as saying: “I am doing a service because the council and everyone who comes here, the RSPCA . . . begged us not to pack it in because if I do there will be dogs all over the streets . . . that’s what they said to me.” The RSPCA said it had no record of speaking to Mr Smith.

Ben Bradshaw, the minister responsible for animal welfare, said that he was shocked by the report.

Greyhounds race until they are 3 to 5 years old. Some are found new homes as pets and live to an age of 12 to 14, but many simply vanish.

Alistair McLean, chief executive of the National Greyhound Racing Club, said: “We categorically don’t endorse this kind of thing.”

Mr Smith said outside his home yesterday: “We are considering legal action [over the story]. It has been blown up out of all proportion, and I’m not doing it any more anyway.”

Sunday Times

Daniel Foggo
July 16, 2006

THE secret slaughter of at least 10,000 racing greyhounds by one man has been exposed by an undercover investigation.

For the past 15 years David Smith, a builders’ merchant, has been killing healthy greyhounds no longer considered by their trainers to be fast enough to race. He buries them in a one-acre plot at the back of his home in Seaham, Co Durham.

Last week The Sunday Times covertly filmed Smith on two consecutive days receiving greyhounds from trainers before killing them with a bolt gun, dumping them in the plot and covering over the “graves” using a mechanical digger.

He told an undercover reporter it took him three years to fill the field, at which point he simply started all over again. “Within a year the bodies have gone,” said Smith. “It takes me about three years to get across there and by the time I get there I can start back here again and there are only a few bones left.”

According to Sunday Times calculations and testimony of two racing insiders, it is conservatively estimated Smith has killed at least 10,000 dogs.

The scandal, described as the “canine killing fields” by one campaigner, has shocked the government and greyhound industry, which attracts bets of £2.5 billion a year.

Ben Bradshaw, minister for animal welfare, said Smith’s business was “horrendous” and promised an inquiry into the slaughter and potential health and environmental hazard of such a large-scale dumping of dogs’ bodies. Alistair McLean, chief executive of the National Greyhound Racing Club, which governs the sport, described it as a “euthanasia factory” and promised an inquiry. “This is disgraceful. We categorically don’t endorse this kind of thing,” he said.

The RSPCA has previously expressed “grave concerns” about the fate of up to 12,000 retired greyhounds that go missing every year. A spokesman said: “There is no justification for killing these animals simply because they can’t do their job any more.”

Smith charges owners and trainers £10 to kill unwanted dogs, many only a few years old. One trainer, who asked not to be named, said: “This man kills dogs for 40 licensed trainers and there are at least 10,000 dogs in his field. People in the industry have been going to him for years. Many of the bigwigs knew it was going on.”

Since 1997 anyone has been able to own a bolt gun to kill animals without a licence, although they can be prosecuted if the animals are put down inhumanely or without the owner’s permission. A new code of practice proposed under the animal welfare bill would restrict the killing of greyhounds to vets using “humane” lethal injections.

After being confronted this weekend Smith said he would stop killing dogs, which he said he had done in the past for “humane” reasons.

Sunday Times

Daniel Foggo
July 16, 2006

Another day, another death: this man slaughters greyhounds on an industrial scale

DAVID SMITH met the owners of the two greyhounds at his garden gate and pocketed £10 from each as he took hold of the makeshift leads.

With his chained-up rottweilers looking on, the bearded and bespectacled Smith led the lithe racing dogs — one a fawn- coloured brindle and the other black with white markings — across his plot and into a breeze-block shed.

The animals appeared sprightly and alert as if they hoped they might soon be allowed off the lead for a run. But seconds later two sharp reports rang out. They had been killed.

Anyone who had worked in an abattoir would have recognised the sounds as the discharging of a bolt gun, a weapon that fires a metal bar with enough force to smash the toughest skull.

The dogs emerged lifeless and limp in Smith’s bloodied wheelbarrow. He dumped them in a freshly dug hole on one side of his one-acre garden before covering the grave with earth using a mechanical digger.

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