SAOIRSE32

Guardian

Henry McDonald
Sunday December 31, 2006
The Observer

A test case in Northern Ireland involving the pension rights of up to 1,000 part-time soldiers could end up forcing the Ministry of Defence to pay out tens of millions of pounds. If the troops, from soon-to-be-disbanded battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, win their legal fight for a pension, it will mean that Territorial Army soldiers will be entitled to the same rights.

The Northern Ireland-based soldiers are challenging their exclusion from military pension schemes by citing a new EU directive that gives pension entitlements to part-time workers. Dozens of cases will be heard in early 2007 in Belfast.

An MoD spokesman said the ministry could not comment on the case for legal reasons. However, it is understood that it will oppose the claim for pension rights for part-time soldiers on the grounds that, while in the regiment, they paid no contributions, unlike the full-time troops.

BN.ie

31/12/2006 - 10:17:24

Prison authorities in the North destroyed 52,382 files in the months before the Freedom of Information Act was introduced.

The data included prisoner records, policy notes and medical logs and was disposed of before the January 2005 law making public bodies more transparent.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service has been criticised for destroying security files on hundreds of terrorist prisoners held at the Maze.

“It seems to me almost in contempt of the FOI Act and it is an extraordinary way to go about dealing with the new dispensation in relation to accessing documentation,” said SDLP justice spokesman Alban Maginnis.

“It shows a very narrow and secretive attitude amongst the prison authorities and obviously it is regrettable that they stooped to such an excessive measure such as destroying a vast number of files.”

An inquiry into the 1997 murder of LVF leader Billy Wright in the Maze Prison heard in November how 800 files with security information on terrorist prisoners released under the Good Friday Agreement had been shredded.

Wright, 37, was shot dead by three INLA gunmen on December 27, 1997, and Lord MacLean’s inquiry is probing how the killers were able to target him in the high security centre.

Some of the material disposed of is uncontroversial and relates to medical and dental records. It is governed by a destruction timetable outlining the period which files have to be kept for.

The FOI was brought in to make public bodies more accountable but opposition politicians and campaigners have criticised shredding papers across government.

A Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders representative said paperwork should be preserved.

“We would support people having access to information and transparency and with the Prisons Ombudsman and the review of criminal justice it is essential that this right is protected,” Siobohan O’Dwyer from NIACRO said.

“We want prisoners to be able to access information and we support transparency in all government departments.” The Prison Service said its actions were governed by official protocols.

“All of the files were destroyed in line with disposal schedules that were drawn up in consultation with PRONI.

“PRONI were also involved in the file review exercise which was in line with rules and regulations contained in the Public Records Act and the Section 46 Code of Practice on the Management of Records under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.”

Inmates’ files are normally destroyed six years after release.

BBC

The leaders of Northern Ireland’s four main churches have called for an end to sectarianism and prejudice.

In a joint New Year message they asked people to pray to help achieve this.

The Presbyterian moderator, the Reverend David Clarke, said they hoped people will show tolerance for one another.

“It’s very easy to look back and complain about one thing or another - I think we want to look forward to a shared future,” he said.

“Where we recognise the equal rights of everyone in society and respect for other people with whose political views we may differ.

“I think it is a constructive attitude we want to encourage - to look forward with hope for the future to build a better society for all our people.”

The statement - from Rev Clarke, Archbishop Robin Eames (Church of Ireland) Archbishop Sean Brady (Catholic) and Rev Ivan McElhinney (Methodist President) - said 2007 would be a year of decision.

“The decisions we make will either take us forward into a shared future with a mindset of moving forward together or leave us in the past trapped by our grudges and prejudices,” they said.

“As Christians we believe our future is in God’s hands and we would ask people to join us in prayer seeking guidance for ourselves, wisdom for our politicians and leaders and for the good of all our fellow citizens.

“We ask everyone to reject those words, attitudes and actions which fuel prejudice and sectarianism.”

BN.ie

30/12/2006 - 10:10:44

Sinn Féin must agree to the dismantling of IRA structures and return the money stolen in the Northern Bank robbery two years ago if they are to convince unionists to share power, a Democratic Unionist (DUP) MP has warned.

As Sinn Féin edged closer towards the acceptance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland by calling a special party conference on policing next month, Democratic Unionist MP the Rev William McCrea warned his community would not be sleep-walked into accepting anything less than democracy demanded.

The South Antrim MP warned Sinn Féin and the Irish and British governments: “Having once again listened to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Peter Hain), it seems he is totally devoid of any understanding of the position of unionism over the issues of policing, justice, law and order and the other measures necessary to be resolved before Sinn Féin can eventually be considered for government in Northern Ireland.

“Unfortunately, Government is so taken up with crawling and scraping to Sinn Féin/IRA that it has lost its credibility and integrity when dealing with democratic standards.

“The DUP has made it clear that policing is but one of several major issues that need positive resolution before any deal can be considered.

“My colleague Mr (Peter) Robinson MP has made it clear that the devolution of policing and justice would be several light years away. Therefore the issue is not on the radar irrespective of promises emanating from the Northern Ireland Office, London and Dublin.

“The DUP resolve remains solid on this issue but we also serve notice that many other issues need delivery.

“Sinn Féin has to agree to the dismantling of IRA structures, the handing over of IRA ill-gotten gains - including the Northern Bank robbery money, informing on those responsible for the murder of Robert McCartney, and identifying the whereabouts of the disappeared - to name but a few of the outstanding issues.”

Mr McCrea’s demands came after two other senior DUP members - the party chairman, Lord Morrow of Clogher Valley and MEP Jim Allister - also cast doubt on whether Sinn Féin would be able to convince unionists that it was genuinely supporting the police within the timeframe envisaged by the British and Dublin governments for achieving devolution by March 26.

The South Antrim MP also insisted the British government had to address a number of confidence-building measures for unionists before the DUP would be convinced that it should share power with Sinn Féin.

BN.ie

30/12/2006 - 17:09:47

A priest who braved attacks on his home to say Mass at Harryville during the loyalist protests has died.

Fr Frank Mullan, 81, died in Dublin yesterday after a long battle against illness.

He led his Co Antrim congregation during 20 months of conflict from September 1996 when loyalists began targeting his Church of Our Lady in a dispute over parading.

His car was set on fire and a builder’s block put through the window of his house during the trouble.

Fr Sean Connolly, a Ballymena priest, said Fr Mullan was highly regarded.

“He was a very popular man. He was at Harryville for about four years but he certainly made his mark during that time there,” he said.

“At the time of the Harryville protests they set fire to his car and they came and put a builder’s block through the room.

“He was well-regarded locally and people from here kept contact with him after he left. He fought against illness and never gave in to it.”

The protests began after the Parades Commission restricted the route of a loyal order parade at nearby Dunloy.

Last year the church was targeted for paint and graffiti attacks and it was set on fire by arsonists in 2000.

Loyalist protesters mounted a weekly picket outside the Harryville church during Saturday evening Mass between September 1996 and May 1998.

The protests were called off shortly after the Good Friday Agreement received 71% support in a referendum.

SDLP councillor Declan O’Loan paid tribute to the cleric.

“He had a great zest for life, and was totally humble. He was very well read and had a wealth of experience,” he said.

“He was fond of music, good food and conversation. He served on the mission fields, and during the Nigerian civil war, was forced out of Biafra at gunpoint.”

BBC

Previously confidential government files relating to 1976 have been released by the Public Records Office.

Ten Protestant workmen were killed in the 1976 Kingsmill massacre

It was one of the bloodiest years of the Troubles, with 10 Protestant workmen murdered by the IRA in the Kingsmills massacre in County Armagh.

The IRA murdered British Ambassador to Ireland Sir Christopher Ewart-Biggs.

A total of 295 people died, and while little new emerges about any of these incidents, there is plenty of new detail about other events of the era.

Some of those events of 1976 still resonate today.

For example the opposition of the Catholic Church to integrated education is highlighted.

Originally held back

According to one memo, the then Cardinal Conway dismissed the idea of shared schools as “trivial, irrelevant and without popular support”.

It was also the year of the Peace People, but the papers show that an NIO official said government assistance to them should be avoided, so as not to embarrass the movement.

Elsewhere, the papers show the current Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey warned the government in 1976 to back majority rule, while his predecessor David Trimble accused the party of self-deception.

DUP leader Ian Paisley is also mentioned in papers released from 1968 which were originally held back.

In one, an RUC inspector accuses him of inadvertently playing into the hands of civil rights activists through his policy of organising counter demonstrations to civil rights marches.