SAOIRSE32

IAIS
*12/28/07 13:03 EST

Secret British Public Record Office files from 1977 show senior Northern Ireland Office officials believed current First Minister Ian Paisley was associated with loyalist terrorists.

The remarks made by the officials reveal they considered arresting the now First Minister for conspiracy.

Almost 400 confidential state papers from 30 years ago were released but 50 files remain closed.

Among them are documents relating to the economic activities of paramilitary organizations.

The remarks on Mr Paisley were recorded in the minutes of a conversation among senior Stormont officials during the United Ulster Action Council Strike in 1974.

It was suggested that the DUP leader should be arrested for conspiracy.

The documents also show that the military was ready to seize power stations if workers threatened a stoppage.

Yesterday, State papers released in the Irish Republic reveal that Lord Mountbatten, assassinated by the IRA in 1979, was in favor of Irish unity.

IAIS
01/03/08 12:15 EST

Northern Ireland’s police chief constable has confirmed two officers under investigation following the Omagh bomb trial are still on duty.

Sir Hugh Orde was speaking after being questioned by the Policing Board, the body that holds the police in Northern Ireland to account.

Last month, Sean Hoey was cleared of 58 charges, including the murders of 29 people in the 1998 Real IRA attack.

Mr Justice Weir told the Omagh trial two officers on the case were guilty of “deliberate and calculated deception”.

Sir Hugh has confirmed that one is currently working as a chief inspector, the another is a constable.

Speaking at a news conference this afternoon, Sir Hugh said he would act on any recommendations from a current investigation by the Police Ombudsman.

He said the allegation about the two officers was in relation to a device in 2001, not in relation to the Omagh investigation.

“The judge’s comments were rightly damning. I have said I will deal with that through the Police Ombudsman,” he said.

“Rest assured, when the ombudsman reports, I will take firm action if it needs to be taken.”

He also said the decision to prosecute Mr Hoey was “sound.”

Mr Hoey, 38, of Molly Road, Jonesborough in south Armagh, was the only person to have been charged with the Omagh murders - one of the worst atrocities of Northern Ireland’s Troubles.

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward has said the judge’s comments needed serious consideration.

Sir Ronnie Flanagan, who is now head of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, was the RUC chief constable at the time of the Omagh bombing.

Human Rights Commissions on both sides of the border have called for the British and Irish governments to set up an independent judicial inquiry into the bombing.

Last month, Sir Hugh defended the performance of police adding that detectives were hindered by mistakes during the initial investigation after the bombing.

Belfast Telegraph
3 January 2008

A couple targeted in an overnight petrol bomb attack are blaming the LVF.

They say they will not be forced from their home and are asking for more police protection.

The attack took place in the strongly loyalist Mourneview estate in Lurgan, Co. Armagh.

There has been a spate of related incidents there over past months.

A 7-month-old baby was asleep when the house when two petrol bombs were thrown.

One, thrown at the front of the house failed to ignite and a second thrown at the rear was extinguished.

The family said that police warned them on Wednesday night about an impending attack but say little was done to protect them.

The SDLP’s Dolores Kelly said anyone who throws a petrol bomb at a house at two in the morning is clearly trying to kill those inside.

Henry McDonald, Ireland correspondent
Friday January 4, 2008
The Guardian

The Northern Ireland Policing Board last night agreed to appoint a team of independent experts to re-examine evidence from the Omagh bombing, in an attempt to bring to justice those responsible for the 1998 atrocity.

The unanimous vote for an external overview of past investigations came after a five-hour meeting in Belfast, and as the Police Ombudsman’s office confirmed that it had passed to the Public Prosecution Service files on two officers accused of misleading the court during the trial of Sean Hoey, 38, the south Armagh electrician last month acquitted of the bombing in which 29 people were killed.

Board member Jeffrey Donaldson said the overview would look afresh at the case. “The objective is to re-focus on the evidence, and bring the focus back again on the need to secure a prosecution.”

After the meeting, chief constable Sir Hugh Orde defended his decision to allow the two scene-of-crime officers severely criticised in the trial to remain serving in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The trial judge accused one officer of “beefing up” evidence against Hoey. In his damning judgment after dismissing 58 charges against Hoey, Mr Justice Weir highlighted serious errors by both the police and forensic services.

Policing board chair Sir Des Rea said the independent panel would also examine whether these failings had since been addressed by the police service.

The chief constable accepted that the judge’s remarks were “rightly damning” but stressed the two officers were entitled to remain serving while the Police Ombudsman had still been investigating the conduct of the inquiry. He said he would take action against anyone criticised in the Ombudman’s second report on the bombing. Orde repeated his belief that as a result of the Hoey trial no one else would be prosecuted in relation to the Omagh bomb. He said the failure of low copy number DNA in the case against Hoey would have “international implications” for criminal prosecutions.

But he defended the police decision to use this type of evidence despite doubts from the start of the trial. The chief constable was speaking after a closed meeting with the board, during which he outlined his force’s response to the Omagh trial.

Relatives of the Omagh bomb victims have called on Hoey to attend any future public inquiry into the worst atrocity of the Troubles. Hoey said yesterday that he supported the relatives’ demand for a cross-border independent investigation into the Real IRA bomb attack.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the car bombing, welcomed Hoey’s support but challenged him to co-operate with any future inquiry. The Omagh victims campaigner thought an independent inquiry was unlikely. He said victims’ families were still planning to pursue their civil case against men they allege were involved.

Hoey said: “I have been fully cleared by the courts and would ask that people respect that.”