SAOIRSE32

BBC

The Human Rights Commission wants to be allowed to investigate allegations of human rights abuses involving MI5 or MI6 in Northern Ireland.

The Justice and Security Bill, currently before Parliament, exempts the intelligence services from being investigated by the commission.

Chief Commissioner Monica McWilliams said the bill dilutes her powers.

She said her office already deals with complaints from people who believe they are targets of covert surveillance.

“We shouldn’t be stymied in our work ourselves, if we require documents,” she told the BBC’s Inside Politics programme.

“But you can imagine that stamp of national security, even where it is in the public interest or where there may be an issue of the incompatibility of human rights, we would ask that that not be stamped on our work and prevent us from doing the kind of work that we need to do.”

She said the current bill’s exemption was “very wide-ranging”.

“It would put a lot of limitations on what we would be able to investigate and we are hoping it could be amended,” she said.

“It is in the public interest to investigate, whether it is agencies doing something incompatible with human rights.

“We say we should have the power to investigate matters retrospectively.

“We hope to have these powers by January 2008 so it would be a number of years after that before there would be evidence and documents available.”

Established under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, the commission’s role is to ensure that human rights in Northern Ireland are protected in law, policy and practice.

MI5 is building a Northern Ireland centre near Holywood, County Down, and is due to take over responsibility for national security from the police.

BN.ie

26/12/2006 - 19:17:14

The British government has announced a further step towards restoring the last vessel linked to The Titanic.

The SS Nomadic is due to be moved from its current dock at Harland and Wolff to another where it will undergo some repair work.

The ship was a tender which took mainly first-class passengers from the docks out to join the Titanic and her sister ship the Olympic.

Once the funds have been found, it is to be restored from its currently dilapidated state to its former glory.

The work will begin with the ship’s being covered to protect her from the harsh winter elements during the repair work.

The British government has already spent almost €1m buying and transporting the ship back to Belfast.

Irish Independent

Gene McKenna
27 December 2006

THE Irish and British Governments believe a Sinn Fein decision on policing must come in January if the Northern institutions are to be restored in March.

They are hopeful that Sinn Fein will soon announce the holding of a special Ard Fheis to make a decision on support for the PSNI.

It is understood that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern regards the recent meeting hbetween Sinn Fein and PSNI chief Hugh Orde as being of major importance.

The two Governments are also encouraged by the fact that Sinn Fein representatives have been playing a much greater role in policing committees at local level.

Mr Ahern and Prime Minister Tony Blair kept up contacts with both Sinn Fein and the DUP as intensive negotiations continued right up to Christmas.

The two leaders decided when they met in Brussels at the last EU Council meeting that they would continue to keep up the pressure for adherence to the agreed timetable.

Senior members of Sinn Fein met just before the Christmas period to consider calling the special Ard Fheis to address the party’s policy on policing.

But they made no decision and are to resume their deliberations in the next day or two.

In a statement, the party’s chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, said progress had been made during intense discussions with Mr Blair and the British government.

A two-thirds majority of Sinn Fein’s National Executive is required to call such an Ard Fheis.

Sinn Fein support for the police has been set as a prerequisite for DUP power-sharing in Northern Ireland.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain said he and his officials had worked to tease out sensitive areas of policing policy until late last night.

Mr Hain had been striving to bridge the gaps between Sinn Fein and the DUP, and Mr Blair himself got involved by telephone in a detailed way with the main players.

But the two Governments believe that because of the timing factor involved, a Sinn Fein Ard Fheis must take place within the next month.

If that does not happen, an election cannot be triggered for the March 6 date already set.

The knock-on effect of that outcome would be that the Executive cannot get up and running on the March 26 date which has been planned for some time.

Target

If the target dates are to be met, the two Governments are adamant that Sinn Fein cannot drag out their consultation process on whether to support policing for much longer.

Mr Ahern and Mr Blair now want an early outcome on the power-sharing deal - set out as a priority by both leaders when they first got together to try to resolve the Northern situation a decade ago.

The Taoiseach will then be able to concentrate on domestic political issues in advance of the General Election.

And Mr Blair would be able to chalk up a major international achievement before he leaves Downing Street.

Guardian

Owen Bowcott, Ireland correspondent
Saturday December 23, 2006

It was once renowned for IRA attacks on fortified police stations and army checkpoints, but Newry has now rocketed to the top of the property price rise league.

The town, almost midway between Belfast and Dublin, nestles between the Mountains of Mourne and the Ring of Gullion. Its proximity to the border led to it being known for army watchtowers on hillsides and sniper at work roadsigns, but that same proximity has now helped to more than double the value of homes.

The average cost of housing in the County Down city has increased by 54% - £128,000 to £198,000 - over the past year, according to a survey by Halifax Estate Agents which shows the top 10 increases in the UK were all in Northern Ireland. A new motorway will soon link Newry to the Irish capital, adding to the numbers who commute to work in the Republic. “Those towns with good links to the major centres have experienced particularly strong housing market conditions,” the study noted.

Spiralling prices are partially a result of previously low figures catching up with long-term trends elsewhere in the United Kingdom. They may also reflect growing confidence that the decades of paramilitary violence are truly over.

“The rapid rise partly reflects a strong employment market and high levels of immigration,” the Halifax report said. “There has also been high demand for properties from second-home buyers and buy-to-let investors in Ireland who have been attracted by the relatively low prices.”

The other towns to experience hefty increases were Craigavon (51%), Downpatrick (48%), Newtownards (43%), Antrim (39%), Newtonabbey (36%), Larne (36%), Belfast (36%), Armagh (36%), and Ballymena (35%).

Although this is the first year Northern Ireland has dominated the league, the same phenomenon has occurred as sharp price rises have radiated out from London.

“2005 was Scotland’s year, with nine of the 20 towns experiencing the biggest house price increases north of the border,” the Halifax survey said. “2004 was the year of the west, particularly Wales. 2003 was the year of the north.”

Only one town now has an average house price of less than £100,000. In Lochgelly, Fife, a typical home costs just under £97,000.

There has been a significant increase in the number of towns where the average price now tops £200,000, with more than one in three towns now above the benchmark.

In terms of the most expensive places there has been little change. Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, maintains its place at the top of the table with an average house price of £724,594. The London boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster, where the typical homebuyer can expect to splash out £695,874 and £530,262 respectively, are next.

BN.ie

26/12/2006 - 12:49:52

More than 70 Catholic recruits have quit the Northern Ireland Police Service, it was revealed today.

Even though representation from the Catholic community has increased since the introduction of the new policing arrangements, all sorts of pressures have been blamed for numbers dropping out.

These include domestic and work difficulties and republican paramilitary threats.

“One of the main reasons for people leaving was cited as personal reasons, as was individuals failing to meet standards required,” a police spokeswoman said.

“Family and work life was also a factor and this includes people coming under pressure from family and indeed societal pressure to leave.

“Unfortunately a small number of student officers have been advised about their personal security and for some this has resulted in them deciding to leave the organisation.”

Sinn Féin is considering joining the Policing Board oversight committee but Catholic members of scrutiny structures have been threatened by dissident republicans.

Just under 4% of those signed up have left, a total of 99 when non-Catholics are included.

Jane Winter, from the British/Irish Rights Watch pressure group, claimed the 72 drop-outs damaged community confidence in the police.

A form of positive discrimination known as 50/50 recruitment has been adopted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland to ensure half those chosen are Catholic.

It was recommended to overhaul the mainly Protestant force by the September 1999 Patten report into policing.

There are currently 1,574 Catholics in the whole of the PSNI, 20.8% of manpower.

There were 44 student officers and 31 constables who dropped out.

Ms Winter said the figures damaged efforts to make the police service more inclusive.

“The PSNI have not been able to recruit enough Catholic police officers to the force; this is undermining the Patten recommendations and community confidence in the police,” she said.

“This failure is in part due to failings within the PSNI such as an absence of minority representation and partly to external factors such as the intimidation of new recruits.

“These are the sort of teething problems we would expect given the campaign that there’s been on the part of republican dissidents to dissuade people from joining.”

Political and non-political District Policing Partnership members who screen local policing have been targeted across the North for intimidation.

In 2005 SDLP councillor Michael Carr had a device posted to his home in Warrenpoint, Co Down.

An arson attack by republican dissidents in 2003 damaged the home of non-political Londonderry DPP member Marian Quinn and special steps have been taken to protect those who participate in policing.

The PSNI spokeswoman added: “We are on course to meet the Patten target of having 30% of the police service representative of the Catholic community by 2010 with over 30% women.”

In the last recruitment competition there were 7,859 applicants for 220 vacancies.

Sunday Independent

MAEVE SHEEHAN
24 December 2006

DESSIE O’Hare, the INLA gunman on temporary release from prison under the Good Friday Agreement, is due to be granted another month of freedom this week despite Garda concerns that he breached the terms of his release.

The so-called “Border Fox”, who served 18 years of a 40-year sentence for kidnapping and mutilating Dublin dentist John O’Grady, was released in April on a monthly licence - on condition that he lived at a registered address in Galway and did not consort withcriminals.

However, gardai suspect that O’Hare was an associate of the murdered gangland boss, Martin Hyland.

Special branch detectives are now preparing a report on the INLA man to establish his movements in recent months, where he has been living and the company he has been keeping.

The report will not be completed on time for a monthly review of O’Hare’s temporary release licence, however, which is due this week.

O’Hare was to meet with authorities at Castlerea Prison late last week as part of the review process. A prison source said his licence would not be revoked without evidence from gardai to support any suspicions that he had breached the conditions attaching to his release.

O’Hare’s association with the murdered crime boss emerged during an Organised Crime Unit investigation into gangland crime. O’Hare’s telephone numbers were discovered during a search of Hyland’s house. Also, surveillance on the drug dealer suggested that O’Hare was staying periodically at houses in west Dublin thought to be owned by Hyland.

O’Hare also appeared to have changed address without informing prison authorities. Apart from being seen in Dublin, gardai said that he appeared to be spending a lot of time in Monaghan living with relatives.

O’Hare, a former gunman, has, through a spokesman, denied reports that he was a suspect for Hyland’s murder. His denials are supported by gardai who say there is no evidence to link him to the shooting. However, sources said he is one of a long list of friends and enemies of Hyland’s whom they will speak to, if only to eliminate them from their inquiries.

O’Hare’s temporary release licence can be revoked by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, if evidence is found that he has breached the terms of his release.

If the Garda report finds he has breached his release conditions, O’Hare would be the first prisoner released under the Good Friday Agreement, to have his licence revoked.

So far, none of the 58 prisoners released under the Good Friday Agreement have been returned to jail - even though one former IRA prisoner was arrested by gardai two years ago, during an investigation into robberies in Dublin Port.

O’Hare became the most wanted man in Ireland after kidnapping and mutilating the Dublin dentist, John O’Grady in 1987.

Gardai rescued O’Grady but his captor escaped. He was eventually caught after a shoot-out in Co Kilkenny. He was jailed for 40 years and in 2000 began a legal challenge to force the State to release him under the Good Friday Agreement.

He claimed that he had reformed, taken up yoga and attended the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation in Co Wicklow, under the supervision of prison officers. He was eventually granted temporary release in April, after serving 18 years in jail.

Eddie McGarrigle, who co-ordinated the Free Dessie O’Hare campaign, told the Joe Duffy’s Liveline radio show that O’Hare was working with handicapped people and the Brothers of Charity in the west of Ireland, and that he had travelled to Lourdes as an assistant to a group of pilgrims.

The trip, three months ago, was sanctioned by the prison authorities and the Department of Justice.

Belfast Telegraph

By Brian Rowan
Published: Friday 22, December 2006 - 12:17

A date has been set for the publication of a damning report on the Special Branch’s handling of the loyalist agent Mark Haddock.

The report by the Police Ombudsman will be published on January 21, senior sources have told the Belfast Telegraph. A hotel has been booked for a news conference on the same date.

The report follows the biggest and longest investigation ever undertaken by the Ombudsman’s office after a complaint by Raymond McCord relating to the UVF murder of his son - Raymond McCord junior in 1997.

Mr McCord believes Special Branch agents inside the UVF - including Mark Haddock - were involved in the killing.

According to a senior source the report by the Police Ombudsman will be ” extremely critical” of the Special Branch.

“It’s about the lack of management control of informers and the implications of that,” the source told this newspaper.

In presenting a context, the report will look wider than the McCord killing and at more than one informer.

There will be two documents, a private report of around 200 pages which goes to the Chief Constable, the Secretary of State and the Policing Board, and a public report of around 100 pages.

It will not name Haddock - a former senior UVF figure in Mount Vernon in north Belfast - but he is the informer, the covert human intelligence source, under the spotlight in this report.

The UVF attempted to murder Haddock in May while he was out on bail. He has since been jailed for an attack on a nightclub doorman.

A senior police source with knowledge of Haddock’s agent role described the Special Branch’s handling of the informer as “unforgivable”.

How bad was it? “Off the Richter scale,” is the response.

The source is convinced that Haddock was involved in murders. The report of the Police Ombudsman will contain recommendations, but no detail of these is being made public at this stage.

In an interview with this newspaper in late August, the UVF leadership said its “internal security section” was standing by and waiting for the document to emerge.

The UVF will read in it what it already knows - that a senior figure in its organisation was also working for the Special Branch.

The murky tale of UVF informer Haddock

IT will be another of those moments when Special Branch’s past collides with the policing present.

We now know the date, January 21, and we know the story.

It’s the stuff of the dirty war - the Special Branch, agents and murder - puppets and strings, all tangled in a mixed-up, murky world.

The loyalist, who is the principal character in the report that is to be published by the Police Ombudsman, is Mark Haddock.

He was a member of the UVF, and a Special Branch informer.

Loyalists tried to murder him in May while he was on bail. He survived and was jailed for an attack on a nightclub doorman.

The Ombudsman started investigating Mark Haddock after a complaint from Raymond McCord, whose son Raymond jnr was murdered by the UVF.

Mr McCord believes agents working for the Special Branch were involved.

The report published next month looks wider than Haddock and the McCord murder. It has to, to tell the whole story.

Its context will bring in other killings and other informants, and it will look at “the lack of management control of informers and the implications of that”.

The source didn’t expand. He didn’t need to. We all know what is meant by implications - that an agent, or agents, participated in murder.

Haddock is no longer an informer - what is called a covert human intelligence source.

He has been struck off or de-activated to use the proper term.

When? The report next month might answer that question.

And there is another question. Who is going to carry the can for this?

Those who are part of the policing present will have to implement whatever recommendations come with the Ombudsman’s report. But Haddock was run by another regime, not by the one now in place.

No one who was involved with him is currently working within the police intelligence system.

What Hugh Orde will stress is the “root and branch review of informant handling”, the review of informants and the “decommissioning” of some, “new management” and “tighter controls”.

The chief constable won’t need the report of the Ombudsman to tell him how bad things were. He will know, because he will have read the Haddock file.

It will have been one of his first acts when he became chief constable in 2002, and, even before then, he’d seen the stuff of the dirty war as part of the Stevens investigation into the murder of the Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane - a killing involving not one agent but many.

Sir Hugh Orde’s dilemma is how to respond to the report that is coming to his desk.

How close will he come to saying it wasn’t on his watch, and how close will he come to pointing the finger at others?

A senior police source, speaking to this newspaper described the Special Branch’s handling of Haddock as “unforgivable”.

The chief constable won’t try to defend what happened. He can’t and wouldn’t want to.

Who let it happen? Who couldn’t see what was going on? Who wasn’t looking?

Why has it taken another investigation - the biggest and longest ever undertaken by the Ombudsman’s team - to open up another can of worms?

How many more Mark Haddock-type cases are there?

What was he paid for?

Some time ago, someone with knowledge of the Ombudsman investigation told me that it would point to an institutional lack of control in relationships between handlers and agents.

He wasn’t suggesting that those precise words would be used, but he was pointing to what had been found.

Another source reckons the above description is “too kind”.

What about the UVF? It also knows what’s coming.

The leadership of that organisation, in an interview with this newspaper in August, said its “internal security section” was standing by and waiting for the document. But in the waiting, the UVF has been piecing its own jigsaw together.

It knows that Haddock was an agent, but it maybe doesn’t know for how long.

It knows he did damage to the organisation, but it maybe doesn’t know how much.

Inside the loyalist group there will be those who will want to know why it took so long to find him out.

It’s the same everywhere and in every organisation when these types of stories emerge.

Questions are asked and suspicion falls on others. This case will be no different.

Haddock was not the only informer inside the UVF.

The group’s leadership will tell you that had they known - had they had proof that Haddock was an agent before he went to jail - they would have had him killed. Somebody tried that in May. Haddock wasn’t meant to survive.

Now pages and pages of fine detail are about to emerge. The report won’t name Haddock, but everybody knows it’s him. He’s no longer a secret of a dirty war. He’s out in the open now.

From inside the old Special Branch you’ll be told that Haddock saved lives. But how many did he take, and who knew? Who will answer those questions?