SAOIRSE32

Derry Journal

27 November 2007

A list of alleged drug dealers was circulated in the Creggan area of the city at the weekend.

The list was contained in a leaflet posted through letterboxes in a number of streets in the estate and was stuck on walls and lamposts at Central Drive on Friday night. The posters have since been removed.

It is not known who was responsible for creating or distributing the leaflet but a spokesperson for the 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM) denied the organisation was involved. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement has previously named alleged drug dealers in their newsletter.
“We don’t know where this list has come from but it is not the work of the 32CSM. This leaflet is not signed by anyone and could have come from anywhere.

“When we have made the decision to name individuals in the past, we have always put our name to the claims and believed we could stand over them. The very fact that no one has put their name to this list calls its authenticity into question.”

The full article contains 180 words and appears in n/a newspaper.

Irelandclick

By Ciarán Barnes
30/11/2007

A former British soldier has risked his life by blowing the lid off the methods the British army continues to use to spy on republicans.
The ex-squaddie, who is too frightened to be identified because he has broken the Official Secrets Act, gave a detailed account of his part in illegal military operations to the Relatives For Justice (RFJ) group yesterday (Wednesday).
The Andersonstown News was present during his confession, which RFJ Director Mark Thompson described as a “very brave step”.
Although based in South Armagh, the soldier had in-depth knowledge of covert camera operations in West Belfast.
He claimed the Black Mountain is “riddled” with British army cameras aimed at the homes of republicans.
And he further alleged the 2002 loyalist ‘crucifixion’ of West Belfast car thief Harry McCartan in loyalist Seymour Hill was captured on a British Army spy camera.
“I was part of a unit known as the Covert Observation Platoon [COP].
“We were trained to the same surveillance level as the SAS,” said the former British soldier.

“We were involved in planting hidden cameras in different locations to spy on targets.
“The work was often on behalf of the Special Branch.”
Images captured on these illegal spy cameras were used against republicans by various security services including 14th Intelligence – otherwise known as the Force Research Unit (FRU).
The whistleblower spoke of how a four-soldier unit would plant the cameras and often remain with the equipment for up to 10 days.
He also revealed that they were told to open fire on anyone they considered a threat to themselves or the operation.

Spy targets

“We had a motto, ‘better to be tried by 12 men than to be carried by six’,” he added.
The ex-soldier explained how his unit would often travel South to spy on targets there.
He said they had virtually every part of Dundalk under scrutiny from illegal cameras placed around the town.
Despite living at barracks in Bessbrook, the ex-squaddie had regular contact with other COP units in Belfast.
He recalled how his city-based colleagues showed him footage of car thief Harry McCartan being nailed to a fence by loyalists in Seymour Hill.
“A camera got the whole lot. It was gruesome.
“The boys [COP soldiers] couldn’t have intervened even if they wanted to because it would have blown their operation.

Relationship

“That’s just the way it worked.
“We were given targets and we focused on that target. Anything outside that target wasn’t a matter for us. We were always after the bigger fish.”
The soldier decided to become a whistleblower after commanding officers forced him to end a relationship with a Belfast nationalist woman.
“Because of the area in which she lived she was labelled a ‘Red Flag’.
“I was told not to have anything to do with her, and I left the British Army soon after,” he said.
“The government have really f**ked me over and I want to get back at them.
“I know it sounds childish, but it’s how I feel, they have made my life a misery.”
The ex-soldier readily answered any questions put to him by this reporter and by members of RFJ.
Speaking after the meeting, Mark Thompson said it was clear that covert tactics deployed during the Troubles are still being used.

Special Branch

He said: “At a time of relative peace, victims will be concerned that the eyes and ears of loyalist paramilitaries, by that I mean the British Army and Special Branch, are still involved in intensive covert operations.
“It is important that people like this former soldier come forward. He has articulated quite clearly that he is unhappy about the activity he was involved in, doesn’t see a worth or value in it, and views it as an intrusion and not conducive to peace building.”
The ex-soldier is expected to spend today (Thursday) touring South Armagh showing Sinn Féin members the locations of illegal spy cameras and spy posts.
He says that he will not try and make a new life for himself in Ireland.

Belfast Telegraph

By David McKittrick
Friday, November 30, 2007

It is all at once a huge marketing challenge, an economic imperative and a political necessity for the new Northern Ireland: how to turn the negative aspects of Orangeism into a saleable commodity worldwide.

Orange marches and demonstrations, though largely peaceful, have sometimes been the occasion for violence on a large scale, doing much harm to Northern Ireland’s image abroad and damaging tourism.

But now a determined push is on, within both the tourist industry and the Orange Order, to turn old negatives into new positives. Tourism Ireland, which has been working closely with the Order, yesterday signalled plans for a general re-branding of Irish tourism which would place a new emphasis on Orange and Protestant culture.

The Orange Order, currently re-vamping its image to appeal to the younger generation, is highly enthusiastic about this, and particularly keen to transform the 12th of July marches which it organises each year into a major tourist event. It has even created an orange cartoon superhero which will appear on Orange Order Christmas cards and other merchandise. A competition is under way for young people to name the caped character, the current favourite being “Sash Gordon”.

There are already many visitors who go to the marches, but other potential tourists tend to stay away, in part because in the past widespread disturbances.

These once caused a British Government minister to suggest that visitors should avoid that month and come instead at other times of the year. At that time a police chief warned: “Northern Ireland cannot withstand another summer like this. We were on the brink of all-out civil war.”

In addition to the street disturbances there was also a steady stream of bombings and shootings. But now it is a measure of how far things have improved that the focus is no longer on terrorism, but on tourism.

A tourist industry source said: “One outcome of the review is an assertion that the island of Ireland brand should better reflect the diversity of the island. In the past it would have been a struggle to present some aspects in a positive light, but things are utterly different.”

While the new approach has yet to be worked up into a detailed blueprint, its general theme has been endorsed by First Minister the Rev Ian Paisley, who has already undergone a personal re-branding.

Earlier this year he visited the scene of the Battle of the Boyne along with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, sending the message that events of history need not generate conflict. Tourist chiefs and the Orange Order are hoping to increase visits from the many millions of Americans who are of Ulster Protestant descent but have yet to come to their ancestral homeland.

According to David Hume, the Order’s director of services: “There is tremendous potential in distinct geographical areas of North America where the Scots-Irish or Ulster-Scots tradition is strong. It is largely untapped from a tourism point of view. We feel the July celebrations are a positive and highly attractive potential marketing tool. One of the primary appeals for Americans visiting the island of Ireland is culture and history. There is a terrific opportunity to build up a tourist package which would include the Twelfth.”

Potential Orange attractions

Battle of the Boyne

The Irish government is spending millions of euros on a 500-acre site commemorating the victory of the Protestant William III over the Catholic James II.

The walls of Derry

The still well-preserved defences around the city where Williamites held off James’s forces during a momentous siege.

Birthplaces of Ulster-Scots US presidents

At least 15 of them (including George Bush) come from Ulster Protestant stock, as did the American frontiersmen such as Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone.

Birthplace of the Titanic

The Belfast shipyard where the ill-fated liner, which sank in 1912, was built by Protestant workers.

BBC

30 Nov 2007

The Apprentice Boys of Derry have brought forward their annual Lundy parade from 18 to 1 December.

The organisation said the move was to accommodate Londonderry’s business community in the run-up to Christmas.

It has been involved in ongoing talks with Derry’s chamber of commerce as well as residents from the Bogside.

There had been pressure to move the parade to an earlier date in previous years as shopkeepers were unhappy about disruptions during the busy period.

“We welcome the move of the parade, which commemorates cultural events, while allowing everyone to enjoy the Christmas festivities”, said Garbhan O’Doherty of Derry’s Chamber of Commerce.

The parade is part of events marking the shutting of the city’s gates by supporters of William of Orange against the forces of the Catholic King James II in 1688.

BBC

30 Nov 2007

The first meeting of a District Policing Partnership in west Belfast involving Sinn Fein has taken place.

Senior police officers were questioned at the meeting on Thursday about how long it took the PSNI to respond to calls in the west of the city.

Several leading republicans were amongst the audience at the meeting which focussed on community issues.

A protest by members of the Irish Republican Socialist Party before the meeting passed without incident.

SF councillor Tom Hartley said response times were typical of the issues which needed to be addressed by the PSNI.

Mr Hartley, chairman of the partnership, said: “The PSNI just can’t come to a meeting and say, we can’t answer that.

“If they want to build confidence, if they want to engage with the community, they have to be prepared to be open about these issues.”

BBC

Ulster Unionists are fundamentally divided over whether to remain in the Stormont executive or enter opposition, the DUP’s Arlene Foster has said.

The environment minister resigned from the UUP four years ago before joining Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists.

Speaking on Radio Ulster’s Inside Politics programme, Mrs Foster said the UUP needed to resolve their internal differences.

“There is a fundamental fault line within the Ulster Unionists,” she said.

She said it was becoming “clearer and clearer” that the UUP cannot agree as to whether they should be in the government “and making Northern Ireland a magnet and a beacon in the new world” or be in opposition to “fight against those of us who have a mandate to take Northern Ireland forward”.