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Irelandclick

By Roisin McManus

The elderly father of a victim of British state collusion with loyalist paramilitaries has met with the Mayor of Lisburn to oppose plans to erect a UDR memorial in the city.

Michael Power (75) believes that the UDR colluded with the UDA in his son Michael Junior’s murder and strongly opposes plans for a memorial in Lisburn city centre.

He says that he finds it appalling that the Council will allow their land to be used for a memorial to a regiment that colluded with loyalist death squads.
The Andersonstown News accompanied Michael to Lisburn Council on Friday for his meeting with Alliance Lord Mayor, Trevor Lunn.

Robert McClenaghan, spokesman for campaign group An Fhirinne, also attended the meeting to voice his concerns about the monument.

During the meeting Michael recounted the painful details of his son’s murder. Michael Junior was murdered on August, 23 1987 on Dunmurry Lane as he made his way to Mass with his young family. Several days before his murder the 30-year-old was stopped by a UDR patrol and threatened that he would be killed.

On the morning of Michael’s murder the UDR maintained a checkpoint for a number of hours just yards from where he was killed. Ten minutes before loyalists shot Michael dead the UDR checkpoint was lifted.

A monument is set to be erected by the Regimental Association of the UDR in Lisburn city centre on Council land to commemorate those in the regiment who lost their lives during the conflict.

The monument recently received the backing of Lisburn City Council, including Trevor Lunn, despite protests from Sinn Féin.

During Friday’s meeting the Mayor discussed the case with Michael Power and discussed the broader issue of collusion and the establishment of a forum for truth and reconciliation in the North.

Michael Power Senior said during the meeting that he hoped the Mayor could use his influence to change the council’s decision on the monument.

“My son didn’t stand a chance against the gunmen,” said Michael, “I think the UDR set him up. My son wasn’t sectarian, he lived a good life.

“There was most definitely collusion in Michael’s murder. We want justice and we want the truth about his murder to come out,” he added.

Robert McClenaghan from An Fhirinne said during the meeting that the issue of the UDR monument had caused a lot of concern.

“When the issue of the monument came to our attention it caused an awful lot of trauma with the families. The UDR was a sectarian anti-Catholic organisation and the monument is offensive and insensitive.”

Speaking to the Andersonstown News after the meeting Trevor Lunn said he hoped Michael would find out the truth about his son’s murder.

“When I became Mayor I said that I would go anywhere and meet anyone and that still applies,” said the Mayor.

“I had absolutely no problem in meeting with Michael Power. I could not refuse to meet somebody who has lost their son,” he added.

Trevor Lunn voted in favour of the UDR memorial before he became Mayor.
“The decision was taken months ago and I don’t think anything will change that,” said Councillor Lunn.

“The only thing that would change it would be to change the will of Lisburn Council and I don’t see that happening.

“I thought it was the right thing to do to meet Michael Power. In my opinion the UDR and the other security forces held a line in this country against anarchy and terrorism for many years and I think their sacrifice deserves to recognised,” he added.

Following the meeting Michael Power Senior said that he was glad that he had been able to put his feeling across to the Mayor.

He and other members of An Fhirinne are currently collecting signatures for a petition against the UDR monument, which they plan to present to Lisburn City Council at a later date.

Journalist:: Roisin McManus

Belfast Telegraph

By Deborah McAleese
28 August 2006

Royal Black Preceptory members are facing prosecution after an alleged breaching of a Parades Commission determination that music not be played outside a Catholic church.

Community leaders, politicians and preceptory members today said they were concerned at news that the PSNI is investigating the alleged breach and preparing a report for the Public Prosecution Service.

The Parades Commission had ruled that no music other than a single drum beat could be played outside St Matthew’s Church on the Newtownards Road in east Belfast on Saturday.

But bands accompanying RBP Chapter No4 played music as they passed the church on their outward and return routes.

The commission’s deliberation followed an incident last year when bands played while a funeral took place. Parade supporters branded the determination ridiculous and claimed that the bands played hymns. One onlooker said one of the bands played The Sash.

Castlereagh UUP councillor Michael Copeland MLA said the bands playing was the “least problematic of all possible outcomes”.

“The bands had passed before any service had commenced. Had the bands decided not to play it is my belief that people down there might have embarked on some other course of action.

The UUP’s Jim Rodgers said: “There was great anger over the ruling. It was a very bad decision and unnecessary.”

A spokeswoman said the PSNI was investigating a breach of a Parades Commission determination and a report is being prepared for the Public Prosecution Service. The commission meets on Wednesday for reports.

Daily Ireland

By Connla Young
28/08/2006

Fears of a fresh sectarian campaign in north Antrim were sparked at the weekend when the home of a Catholic family was targeted in an attack by vandals.
The PSNI confirmed last night they are “investigating a sectarian motive as one line of inquiry” after windows in the house at Straid Road on the outskirts of the village were smashed.
Several windows in a car parked beside the house were smashed during the incident.
A number of Catholic families were forced to leave the area last year after their homes were attacked by loyalists. The PSNI took the unprecedented step of handing out fire blankets to Catholic home owners after a number of properties were firebombed.
Ballymena Sinn Féin councillor Monica Digney condemned the attack.
“We had hoped these attacks were a thing of the past. Catholics living in Ahoghill are very vulnerable and we saw that last year. We now see it again. These people need to take a look at what they are doing and stop it now. I only hope that this is not the start of another orchestrated loyalist campaign in the area.”
Tensions in north Antrim have been high since schoolboy Michael McIlveen died after being attacked by a loyalist mob. The 15-year-old was attacked on his way home from a night out in Ballymena, several miles from the latest sectarian incident.

Daily Ireland

BY DAVID LYNCH
28/08/2006

Shocking levels of poverty and illiteracy exist in the Republic despite a decade-long economic boom, according to a hard-hitting review published today.
The Conference of Religious of Ireland’s 2006 socioeconomic review is sharply critical of government attempts to tackle poverty.
Years of record profits have not prevented “growing social exclusion”, the review concludes.
Fr Seán Healy, director of Cori’s justice section, said: “Major progress has been achieved in many areas, particularly employment.
“However, the review goes on to highlight that Irish society still has many problems, some of which persist almost as if they were acceptable.
“These include growing levels of poverty; an unequal income distribution; high levels of illiteracy, including high rates among young early school-leavers; insufficient social housing; growing social exclusion; and problems of racism and discrimination.
“In no way is this list complete.
“However, it underscores the necessity to look more broadly at our recent success, assess its limitations and downsides and take action to address these problems.”
The Cori review has become one of the most high-profile annual reports on poverty in the South.
Fr Healy is a leading poverty campaigner and played a significant role in the recent Towards 2016 partnership talks.
“What we know now is Ireland has the wealth to deal with these issues,” Fr Healy said yesterday.
“Maybe, 15 years ago, it could have been said we just do not have the resources.
“But that is not the case now. And the poor should not have to wait any longer.
“The poor have always been told they have to wait. While Ireland has become very prosperous and done very well on a range of fronts, it has substantial deficits in infrastructure and social provision.
“While our per capita income is far above the EU average, our infrastructure and social provision in areas such as primary healthcare and social welfare are far below the European average.”
Cori calls for increases in social welfare payments and an increase in taxation.
The review says the Republic has been performing well according to economic indicators and has recorded the second-highest gross domestic product per capita in the world.
However, figures for investment in healthcare and education and social welfare payments are much poorer, according to Cori.
The Cori review includes some shocking statistics.
Some 19.4 per cent of the population is at risk of poverty.
The at-risk rate is an income equivalent to less than €205 (£138) a week for a single person or €473 (£319) a week for a family of four.
In all, 22.6 per cent of the Republic’s population are identified as being functionally illiterate, meaning they are unable to read basic texts or a newspaper.
The Republic spends less on healthcare as a proportion of gross domestic product than the United States.
Fr Healy said: “In 2006, it is clearer than ever that Ireland is a country of growing socioeconomic divides.
“Any society is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable people. By this measurement, Ireland is failing.
“Despite the substantial resources which have been available, Ireland’s poorest people have been effectively excluded from what is required to live life with dignity.
“As this review shows, the rich-poor gap continues to increase. Consequently, our already unequal society grows more unequal.
“A reversal of this trend will only occur if we as a society focus on developing a fairer Ireland.”
Cori represents more than 135 religious congregations with 12,000 members in 1,400 communities throughout Ireland.
Its review ties in with recent statements by the Society of St Vincent de Paul, which is also dealing with continuing problems of poverty in the Republic.
The full review can be read at www.cori.ie/justice.

Daily Ireland

By Roisin McManus
28/08/2006

The elderly father of a victim of British state collusion with loyalist paramilitaries has met with the mayor of Lisburn to oppose plans to erect an Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) memorial in the city.
Michael Power (75) believes that the UDR colluded with the UDA in his son Michael Jnr’s murder and strongly opposes plans for a memorial in Lisburn city centre.
He says that he finds it appalling that the council will allow their land to be used for a memorial to a regiment that colluded with loyalist death squads.
Mr Power travelled to Lisburn council on Friday for his meeting with Alliance lord mayor, Trevor Lunn.
Robert McClenaghan, spokesman for victims’ campaign group An Fhírinne, also attended the meeting to voice his concerns about the monument.
During the meeting Michael recounted the painful details of his son’s murder. Michael Junior was murdered on August, 23, 1987 on Dunmurry Lane as he made his way to mass with his young family. Several days before his murder, the 30-year-old was stopped by a UDR patrol and was threatened that he would be killed.
On the morning of Mr Power Jnr’s murder, the UDR maintained a checkpoint for a number of hours just yards from where he was killed. Ten minutes before loyalists shot Michael dead the UDR checkpoint was lifted.
A monument is set to be erected by the regimental association of the UDR in Lisburn city centre on council land to commemorate those in the regiment who lost their lives during the conflict. The monument recently received the backing of Lisburn City Council, including Trevor Lunn, despite protests from Sinn Féin.
During Friday’s meeting the mayor discussed the case with Michael Power and discussed the broader issue of collusion and the establishment of a forum for truth and reconciliation in the North.
Michael Power Snr said during the meeting that he hoped the mayor could use his influence to change the council’s decision on the monument.
“My son didn’t stand a chance against the gunmen,” said Michael. “I think the UDR set him up. My son wasn’t sectarian – he lived a good life.
“There was most definitely collusion in Michael’s murder. We want justice and we want the truth about his murder to come out,” he added.
Robert McClenaghan from An Fhírinne said at the meeting that the issue of the UDR monument had caused a lot of concern.
“When the issue of the monument came to our attention, it caused an awful lot of trauma with the families. The UDR was a sectarian anti-Catholic organisation and the monument is offensive and insensitive.”
Speaking after the meeting, Trevor Lunn said he hoped Michael would find out the truth about his son’s murder.
“I had absolutely no problem in meeting with Michael Power. I could not refuse to meet somebody who has lost their son,” he added.
Trevor Lunn voted in favour of the UDR memorial before he became mayor.

Guardian

Scotland inflamed as Celtic player gets legal caution for religious gesture

Lorna Martin, Scotland editor
Sunday August 27, 2006
The Observer

A furious row has erupted after a Celtic footballer was given a formal caution for blessing himself during an Old Firm game. Artur Boruc, the Polish goalkeeper, was accused of inciting violence and angering rival supporters by making the gesture in front of Rangers fans at Ibrox stadium in Glasgow.

The Crown Office’s decision to give him an official warning has provoked a strong reaction, with politicians and church leaders saying it will make Scotland the ‘laughing stock of the world’ as players often cross themselves in football grounds. Boruc was cautioned for a breach of the peace after complaints were made by Rangers fans following the game in February.

The Catholic church has condemned Scottish prosecutors, with spokesman Peter Kearney saying many Catholics would feel subject to persecution following the decision. ‘It’s an alarming development, especially since the Sign of the Cross is globally accepted as a gesture of religious reverence,’ he said. ‘It was commonplace throughout the World Cup. It is extremely regrettable that Scotland seems to have made itself one of the few countries in the world where this simple religious gesture is considered an offence.’

The Crown Office said a caution was issued as an alternative to prosecution. A spokesman said that as Boruc made the gesture before a crowd in the charged atmosphere of an Old Firm game it constituted a breach of the peace and had ‘provoked alarm’.

But many politicians were also critical. Nationalist leader Alex Salmond said the ‘ludicrous’ move was the type of action which brought the law and legal system into disrepute. ‘The procurator fiscal and the Crown Office are acting in a way that will inflame rather than reduce religious antagonism,’ he said.

Liberal Democrat MSP Donald Gorrie said he felt the situation could have been addressed by talking to Boruc privately. ‘I think they were wrong to focus on the crossing rather than the whole performance, as described to me by quite sensible people who were definitely wound up by it as they were intended to be, and he shouldn’t do that,’ he added.

Neither club has commented on the cautioning, but Eddie Toner, a former general secretary of the Celtic Supporters Association, expressed fury with the club, claiming it had ‘hung Boruc out to dry’.

‘Perhaps those who made the complaint to the police should have a long hard look at themselves, as it seems that it is they who have the sectarian problem,’ he added. ‘The gesture is made by sportsmen and women all over the world, but bizarrely only seems to cause offence here in Scotland.’

However, Rangers Supporters Group said it was ‘disappointing’ Celtic did not take action after the game. Stephen Smith, spokesman for the group, added: ‘Professional footballers are meant to set an example. What he did was deliberately provocative and completely done to wind up the fans.’

The fixture takes place in a highly charged atmosphere and has produced no shortage of controversy. Time, the international news magazine, once described it as 90 minutes of sheer hatred.

Sunday Life

By Alan Murray
27 August 2006

The handlers of a former IRA spy have been questioned by detectives who raided his London safe house last month.

Former Special Branch, Army and MI5 agents who handled ‘Kevin Fulton’ have been probed about terrorist incidents including the murder of a leading republican’s son.

Eoin Morley was dragged from his girlfriend’s house in Newry in April 1990 and shot in what was believed to have been a punishment attack ordered by the IRA for ‘treason’.

In his book Unsung Hero, Fulton admits taking part in the attack.

Fulton has refused to comment about the killing but it’s understood PSNI officers who searched his home in July were looking for any notes or unpublished material related to the Morley murder, as well as intelligence documents related to the murder of Constable Colleen McMurray, who died in a Provo mortar attack in Newry in 1992.

Fulton has claimed he briefed his handlers before the attack about the development of a detonator using a camera flashgun that couldn’t be jammed by radio signals.

The new detonator was used to launch the IRA ‘mark 12′ mortar that killed Constable McMurray and badly injured a colleague.

Fulton claims Constable McMurray’s death could have been prevented. He alleges the security services knew an attack was imminent and that a senior IRA bomb-maker had prepared a mortar for use in the fatal attack.

The Police Ombudsman is believed to have found some evidence to support his allegations there was intelligence foreknowledge of the attack.

Fulton is locked in a legal battle with the NIO for compensation for his work as an agent. A conviction for a terrorist crime would scupper his compensation claim.

A friend said: “It looks as if they are very interested in the Morley murder to try to establish Kevin’s precise role in it, but the other incidents he has referred to in Unsung Hero are also being probed.

“Several handlers and intelligence analysts were hauled in over the last month to answer questions about what they knew of these matters.”