SAOIRSE32

BBC

Convicted loyalist killer Michael Stone is being held after attempting to enter Stormont during a key debate to pave the way for restoration of devolution.

Security guards wrestled a handgun from Michael Stone

He was detained after entering the building with a gun, a knife and what police are treating as a suspected bomb. The building was evacuated.

In 1988, Stone murdered three men at the funerals of three IRA members.

The Stormont meeting was being held to hear if the DUP and Sinn Fein would indicate ministerial candidates.

The alert happened about 20 minutes into the proceedings.

It is understood Stone threw a bag into the hallway, was detained by civilian security guards and Northern Ireland politicians were quickly ushered out of the building.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain has ordered an urgent report from Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde into the breach of security.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said that despite the breach, the St Andrews Agreement remained the only way forward.

Speaking from Downing Street, Mr Blair said: “No move forward in Northern Ireland is easy, we’ve learned that over 10 years.

“It’s not because the people, or indeed, the leaders in Northern Ireland want it to be so, but because each step towards a different and better future is taken alongside the memory of a wretched and divisive past.”

BBC political correspondent Gareth Gordon said it looked as if the building would remain evacuated for the rest of the day.

>>Political reaction in full

Friday had been billed by the two governments as a “critical day”, with politicians gathered to hear if the DUP and Sinn Fein would indicate their candidates for the first and deputy first minister jobs.

During the debate, Sinn Fein said Martin McGuinness was its choice for deputy first minister.

In his speech, Mr Paisley said the circumstances had not been reached where there could be a nomination or designation by his party.

“There can only be an agreement involving Sinn Fein when there has been delivery by the republican movement, tested and proved over a credible period in terms of support for the PSNI (the police), the courts, the rule of law, a complete end to paramilitary and criminal activity and the removal of terrorist structures,” he said.

WHO IS MICHAEL STONE?

Michael Stone was armed with a gun and a knife

>>More photos

–Stone murdered three men at the 1988 funerals of three IRA members killed by the SAS
–He was released early in June 2000, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement

“Clearly, as Sinn Fein is not yet ready to take the decisive step forward on policing, the DUP is not required to commit to any aspect of power-sharing in advance of such certainty.”

UUP leader Sir Reg Empey challenged the Speaker, Eileen Bell, as to whether DUP leader Ian Paisley had actually indicated his party would nominate its choice for first minister.

“It requires to be clarified as to whether or not we have witnessed a marriage or an engagement today,” he said.

However, Mrs Bell said that it was now a matter for Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain to decide.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said: “There is as much hollow farce as there is historic significance in what we have witnessed this morning”.

If all goes to the British and Irish government’s plan, assembly elections will be held in March, with devolution restored later that month.

The DUP and Sinn Fein get to nominate first and deputy first ministers as they are the largest unionist and nationalist parties in the assembly.

For months the British and Irish governments billed 24 November as a make-or-break date.

But since last month’s St Andrews Agreement, the deadline has been watered down, with no talk of the politicians’ wages and allowances being cut.

Friday’s meeting of the assembly was the first since legislation was passed to redesignate it as a transitional body which will be dissolved in January, to pave the way for elections in March.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Hain warned that he was prepared to pull the plug on Stormont unless it seemed that progress could be made.

iT Wire

By Stan Beer
23 November 2006

One of the things that users like about Firefox - it’s ability to remember passwords - has suddenly become a liability because of new vulnerability that allows hackers to steal previously saved passwords.

The vulnerability, which affects the latest release of Firefox, version 2.0, has been called a reverse cross-site request (RCSR) by its discoverer Robert Chapin, a Microsoft Certified Engineer.

According to Chapin, the flaw could affect anyone visiting a weblog or forum website that allows user-contributed HTML codes to be added.

Basically, what can occur is that a hacker can put up a fake form on a trusted site like MySpace (which has reportedly already occurred) and users simply have to click on the form for their saved passwords to be transmitted to the hacker’s website. Worse still, a hacker can put up an invisible form on a page and users can unwittingly transmit their passwords unwittingly by clicking on the part of the page that contains the invisible form.

On his website, Chapin says that Internet Explorer 7 users could also be vulnerable to such attacks but less so because passwords will not automatically be transitted in Internet Explorer unless the RCSR form appears on the same page as a legitimate login form.

The good news for Firefox users is that the problem is easily fixed until a patch is made available. They can simply untick the remember passwords for sites box which is accessible from the tools menu and selecting options then security.

BN.ie

24/11/2006 - 07:15:23

Sinn Féin and the DUP will indicate their intentions to nominate first and deputy-first ministers at Stormont today.

It could mean that Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness will be shoulder to shoulder as leaders of a new power-sharing executive.

If the DUP agrees to it, an Assembly may become a reality next year.

The British and Irish governments are hoping that Rev Paisley agrees to allow his name to go forward, in some form, today as a potential first minister.

Talks continued late into the night on a form of words and arrangements that would be acceptable to both the DUP and Sinn Féin.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said that he wants a decision one way or the other.

BBC

The judge in the Omagh bomb trial has said an immediate investigation should be carried out into why some statements were altered and the originals lost.

Mr Justice Weir said there were “no grounds for delay”.

The call came on day 35 at the trial of Sean Hoey - who is accused of the 29 murders in Omagh and more Real IRA attacks, including one in 2001.

Mr Hoey, 37, from Jonesborough, County Armagh, denies all 58 terrorism charges.

His trial has already heard allegations that statements - one from a police officer and the other a scenes of crime specialist - had been “beefed up” to give the impression that forensic precautions had been taken at an explosives find.

Their original statements have now been lost.

Giving evidence to the court the head of the Omagh enquiry, Detective Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter, said that since the evidence had emerged, he had discussions with the Police Ombudsman’s Office, but it was felt inappropriate to investigate further while the trial was ongoing.

However, Mr Justice Weir said there was no reason for delay and any investigation he said would not have an impact on the trial and it should be “pressed on with with all dispatch”.

He warned Mr Baxter that the impression should not be given to the Police Ombudsman that the continuing trial was a reason for delay.

The case continues.