SAOIRSE32

Irish News
By Barry McCaffrey
09/02/08
*Via Newshound

Trusted: Roy McShane carrying the coffin of an IRA member killed by the SAS in Gibraltar in 1988. McShane was a bodyguard and driver for Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams

A former Sinn Fein bodyguard exposed yesterday as a British agent had previously been a close associate of Freddie Scappaticci in the IRA’s notorious ‘nutting squad’.

Roy McShane (58) fled west Belfast on Thursday night after admitting to his family that he had been spying on party leaders.

He had acted as a bodyguard and driver for Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and other top republicans for up to 20 years.

Sinn Fein MLA Alex Maskey confirmed that McShane had told his family he was being taken into protective custody after his life as a spy looked set to be exposed.

McShane was close to Scappaticci, another British agent, while they both worked in the IRA’s internal security unit, dubbed the ‘nutting squad’.

Ironically McShane was only moved into the bodyguard and driver role in the late 1980s after the IRA leadership came to suspect that British intelligence had heavily penetrated the ‘nutting squad’.

Last night McShane was also linked to one of the most notorious killings of the Troubles – the IRA abduction and murder of west German in-dustrialist Thomas Niedermayer (45) in 1973.

His body was buried at Colin Glen in west Belfast but was not discovered until seven years later.

It remains unclear what caused McShane to fear that he was about to be exposed.

In February 2006 his position as a Sinn Fein driver was brought to an abrupt end when the republican leadership replaced its entire Bel-fast security team without warning. McShane is understood to have worked as a taxi driver in the Clonard area since then.

Mr Maskey rejected suggestions that the driving job would have allowed McShane to listen in on on delicate discussions between republican leader during sensitive negotiations relating to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

“This gentleman was a driver among a team of people and once we believed as a party leadership that there was a doubt about this man’s integrity then he was re-moved from that work,” Mr Maskey said.

When asked where McShane could be hiding, Mr Maskey said: “We believe that he is

in the company of whichever agency he was working for.”

Mr Maskey insisted that McShane was under no threat from republicans.

“He’s safe. Let’s face it – the war is over,” he said.

BBC

Gordon Brown and Bertie Ahern have urged Northern Ireland’s parties to complete the process of devolution by taking on policing and justice powers.

The premiers were in Manchester for Munich commemorations

The St Andrews Agreement set a May deadline, but some DUP members remain to be convinced.

The premiers said the implementation of St Andrews was “building the community confidence necessary to enable transfer of these powers to take place”.

They were in Manchester to mark 50 years since the Munich air disaster.

Last May, devolution was restored to Northern Ireland after the DUP agreed to share power with Sinn Fein, but Westminster still retains control over policing and justice powers.

Sinn Fein have identified the transfer of these powers as a major priority, but the DUP believe it is unlikely by the target date of May.

‘Huge progress’

In a joint statement, the British and Irish prime ministers said: “We stand ready to help the political parties as they work to complete the process of devolution through the devolution of policing and justice powers.”

They added: “Having seen the huge progress made, we are convinced that the time is right for the parties to move forward and take the final steps towards full devolution and full normality.”

It was the third time the pair have met since Mr Brown became prime minister in June.

Both leaders also confirmed they would attend the Northern Ireland Investment Conference in Belfast in May, which they described as an opportunity “to demonstrate to the world that the peace and stability it now enjoys is here to stay”.

They praised Northern Ireland’s politicians for “putting the case for greater investment at the highest levels in the United States and in Europe”.

“We have seen the smooth running of the North-South and British-Irish Institutions, delivering tangible benefits both on the island of Ireland and across these islands.

“It is therefore with genuine confidence that we look forward to the continued success of these institutions.”

They added: “These are enormously hopeful and positive days for the people of Northern Ireland.

“Our two governments remain fully committed to working closely together in partnership for the benefit of Northern Ireland and of all of the people of our two countries.”

Sunday Life
By Ciaran McGuigan
Sunday 10, February 2008

*See also Decomissioned Provos thrown on scrap heap

Former IRA commander Brendan Hughes was yesterday fighting for his life in hospital.

The 59-year-old former hunger strike leader was believed to be in a coma, with relatives keeping a bedside vigil at Belfast City Hospital, where his condition was described as “critical”.

Hughes, nicknamed The Dark, was the Belfast commander of the IRA and a leading figure in the organisation during the Troubles.

He led hunger strikers for several weeks in 1980, just months before the second jail fast in which Bobby Sands and nine other republican prisoners died.

In recent years he was an outspoken critic of Sinn Fein.

When he was released from the Maze in 1986, Hughes kept a low public profile, but on a number of occasions has attacked the Sinn Fein leadership, claiming that the move towards armalite to ballot box had “created a class of professional liars”.

Hughes had been arrested in 1974 - after escaping from jail a year earlier - and jailed for 15 years on guns and explosives charges. He was later handed another five-year sentence for assaulting a prison warder.

Last year he revealed details of an IRA meeting he attended in Donegal with Martin McGuinness in 1986 in which the now deputy First Minister authorised a “major push” in the IRA’s campaign of violence.

The revelation contradicted Mr McGuinness’ evidence under oath to the Bloody Sunday inquiry claiming he had left the IRA in the 1970s.

Belfast Telegraph
Friday 8, February 2008

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry is still costing £500,000 a month, even though it has not held any hearings since 2005.

And the Government has revealed that the final report of the tribunal is unlikely to be ready before the second half of this year - almost four years after the end of hearings and more than 36 years after the events under investigation.

The bill for the inquiry has now passed £180m, according to information released by the Government.

Costs stood at £181.2m at the end of December, Secretary of State Shaun Woodward said.

Six months earlier, the spending stood at £178,264,000 - an increase of £3m in six months.

More than half of the overall cost is believed to be legal bills for the inquiry.

The inquiry was set up ten years ago to investigate the killing of 14 people by paratroopers in Londonderry in January 1972.

The tribunal began substantive hearings in 2000. The last hearing was held in January 2005.

Recently relatives of the people killed on Bloody Sunday said they expected the final report on the shootings to be complete by May.

But Mr Woodward said Lord Saville, the head of the inquiry, has indicated it is unlikely to be ready in the first half of 2008.

The Secretary of State said “recent media speculation that the report will be concluded in May 2008 has no basis in fact”.

“The tribunal are currently engaged in compiling their final report,” he said.

Belfast Telegraph
Friday 8, February 2008

A father whose son died in the Omagh bomb today said that a Policing Board review into the police investigation is “the last thing Omagh needs” .

Michael Gallagher said he hoped yesterday’s decision by the Policing Board to appoint a panel of independent experts to carry out a review of the police investigation into the bombing will not detract from calls from the Omagh families for a cross-border public inquiry.

He added that relatives of the victims are due to meet with the Secretary of State later this month to discuss their concerns and reinforce their call for the public inquiry.

“As we indicated to the Policing Board when we met last week we feel the last thing Omagh needs is another review or investigation into the police investigation,” he said.

Mr Gallagher added: “However, we have very little power in that and if there is going to be a review then it is important that any lessons that are learned are fed into the police system.

“But we feel that this cannot detract from our calls for a cross-border public inquiry.

“The Policing Board review is only going to look at the PSNI and issues this side of the border. For the families this is only half of the picture.”

However, announcing the board’s decision yesterday to carry out an independent review - despite opposition from relatives of the 29 people who died in the atrocity - board chairman Sir Desmond Rea said the review was necessary to hold officers to account for their actions.

He added that in their discussions “board members remained mindful of the views of all those who have suffered and continue to suffer as the result of the Omagh bombing atrocity.”

“The board acknowledged the particular views that have been expressed in relation to the board’s plans in respect of this review following the meeting with the Omagh families.

“The board also acknowledged the views expressed by the families in relation to a cross-border public inquiry,” he said.

“The board is responsible for holding the police to account and it agreed that this independent external review in the five key areas outlined is necessary to provide wider public assurance and confidence in respect of issues arising from the (court) judgment.”

Belfast Telegraph
Friday, February 08, 2008

The men who directed the UVF’s “war” have held secret talks with the Eames-Bradley Group on Northern Ireland’s past, the Belfast Telegraph reveals today.

On Tuesday retired Church of Ireland Primate Lord Eames and former Policing Board vice-chairman Denis Bradley met the most senior figures in the loyalist paramilitary leadership.

Informed loyalist sources have confirmed the meeting took place.

In the room were men from what the UVF calls its Command Staff - including its overall leader and his second-in-command.

Their roles at the top of the loyalist organisation have spanned several decades.

The delegation is also believed to have included another influential Shankill Road loyalist - possibly the commander of the UVF’s “1st Battalion”, although this has not yet been confirmed by sources.

A fourth man at the talks is a former prisoner who had a key background role ahead of the public presentation of the organisation’s endgame statement last May.

Tuesday’s talks were at the request of the Eames-Bradley Group and were held in their offices in central Belfast.

One of the loyalists present is a suspected long-time Special Branch agent - and to this day a member of that UVF Command Staff.

The Belfast Telegraph knows his identity, but is not revealing it at this time.

Informed sources had recently signalled the intention of the Eames-Bradley Consultative Group to try to begin a private dialogue not just with the UVF, but the UDA and IRA leaderships also.

They want to explore what contribution those organisations are prepared to make to any examination of Northern Ireland’s past - and the search for the truth.

Tuesday’s talks - achieved through background negotiations - were the start of that process.

The report and recommendations of the Consultative Group are due this summer.

Contacted by the Belfast Telegraph about the UVF-Eames/Bradley talks, the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party Dawn, Purvis would neither confirm nor deny the meeting.

She said the PUP - which has links to the UVF - had met the Eames-Bradley Group and “a wide range of issues were discussed”.

The Telegraph understands that meeting also happened on Tuesday - some hours before the UVF talks.

Other members of the Consultative Group joined Lord Eames and Denis Bradley in the meeting with loyalist leaders.

The UVF has been behind hundreds of killings - and remains an armed organisation.

Puppets and strings

After the UVF leadership met the Eames-Bradley group, security writer Brian Rowan asks: what’s in it for them?

THERE are many questions but only some answers on that meeting on Tuesday when Lord Eames, Denis Bradley and some of their colleagues sat in the room with the UVF leadership.

We know why the Consultative Group on the Past wanted those talks.

They are speaking to governments and political parties and the security forces, and want to know what the republican and loyalist leaderships are prepared to contribute in an explanation of their “wars”.

I have said before the question is, is it to be a truth or a part-truth process?

That the UVF have come through the door so quickly surprises me, and yet, in the same breath, does not surprise me at all. I know the men in the room ? have known them for a very long time, and have spoken to them and not spoken to them, depending on their mood, over many years.

But why have they spoken to Eames-Bradley?

Think of the backdrop to this meeting - all of the recent controversy around those words “war” and “amnesty” as part of a looking back and a thinking forward.

The UVF would certainly have an opinion on all of that.

But there is something else worth considering.

Eames-Bradley have had access to the Stevens Investigation - to the secrets of that inquiry into the business of agents and collusion.

And there is a suggestion out there that the community will be, if not devastated, then shocked, at the extent of the relationship and collusion between elements of the security forces and not just the loyalists, but the IRA also.

This is the dirty business of war - except we called it something else.

We choose the Troubles.

What intrigues me is the UVF line-up for that Eames-Bradley meeting, including the presence of a man who I am told was a Special Branch agent for a very, very, long time.

Is he still a paid informer?

Can you stop being one?

I do not have the answers to those questions.

Is he part of what is shocking about our past - that war or whatever else we choose to call it?

It depends whether we should be shocked that someone who sits in the highest seat at the UVF’s table could also have been in the pay of Special Branch - a CHIS, or covert human intelligence source.

Could he, for his own reasons and concerns, be trying to get a read on what Eames-Bradley might reveal?

Is it likely that in Tuesday’s talks that visit to the Stevens Investigation team was raised, and how that might fit into the overall reporting of the Eames-Bradley Group?

I reckon it was, and that tells you that people are worried about what could spill out from the past - what Eames and Bradley have found under some of the stones, and how vulnerable that could leave some of the players in our dirty war.

For them, it is not about national security any more - but national insecurity. The past is worrying the present.

Someone took the lid off the can of worms - others have had a look inside, and there are secrets that are spilling out.

There is talk in the loyalist background not just about one informer at the top of the UVF - but two.

“There’s two at least,” one source told me.

But how does he know, and why is he telling me, and who told him?

Does it suit a purpose to spread the blame - and spread suspicion?

There are those who have nothing to fear who just want it all to come out - want to know the real story and the whole story, and who was on what side.

It is about puppets and strings - and who was pulling them and for what purpose, and not just inside the UVF and not just on the loyalist side.

There is much more to this story.

Henry McDonald
Sunday February 10, 2008
Guardian

Northern Ireland’s Truth Commissioners have been shown three filing cabinets containing details about British state agents working inside the IRA and other republican organisations, The Observer has learnt.

Dr Robin Eames and Denis Bradley were shown the material during a recent visit to detectives from the Stevens Inquiry in London, which for nearly two decades has been investigating collusion between the security forces and paramilitary groups.

The duo, who have been asked to draw up a detailed report on the nature of the Troubles, were said to be ‘taken back’ by their findings, particularly the extent to which the IRA and Sinn Féin had been infiltrated by the security forces.

The Church of Ireland Primate and the ex-priest were unavailable for comment this weekend. So far they have refused to comment publicly about any of their findings. However, sources close to their inquiry told The Observer that both men had been shocked about the depth of penetration of the republican movement.

‘They have been stunned by how many agents the RUC and MI5 had inside the Provos,’ one source said yesterday. ‘When they were in London, they were shown three cabinets of files on the use of republican agents alone.’

The revelations regarding spies inside republican organisations comes as the IRA and Sinn Féin absorbs the shock over the Roy McShane affair. The 58-year-old west Belfast republican was revealed on Friday as a long-term MI5 agent inside the IRA.

McShane had been a bodyguard and driver forsenior Sinn Féin figures, including Gerry Adams.

Henry McDonald and Gaby Hinsliff
Observer
Sunday February 10 2008

Police chief Sir Hugh Order confirmed this weekend he had asked the Secretary of State Shaun Woodward to have Gordon Brown’s plans for the introduction of wire-tap evidence in court extended to Northern Ireland.

Asked if Orde regarded wire-taps as bona fide evidence, a spokesman for the PSNI Chief Constable said: ‘In principle, yes. However, as the Prime Minister has said, it is important all the safeguards are in place before it is introduced.

‘It would allow further evidence to be placed before the courts which could help in the prosecution of terrorists and those involved in criminality.’

Senior PSNI officers and retired top policemen involved in major investigations such as the Omagh bombing inquiry have backed the use of intercept evidence. One officer involved in the original Omagh investigation said that if they had been able to use wire-taps they could have brought a number of Real IRA suspects to court for the atrocity.

But the current Chief Constable’s lobbying for wire-tap evidence will be fiercely resisted on the Northern Ireland Policing Board. Sinn Fein member Alex Maskey said yesterday that his party was ‘instinctively opposed’ to the use of such evidence.

‘We would oppose it because it’s not suitable for the new climate in the north of Ireland, and because of the historic abuses of power by the state again and again throughout Irish history,’ he said.

The South Belfast assembly member added that, if policing and justice powers were devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive, then Sinn Fein would seek to block the use of wire-taps in court. Under the 2006 Saint Andrew’s agreement that led to the present power-sharing government at Stormont, the British government promised to hand over policing and justice powers to ministers elected by the assembly in Belfast this May. However, due to opposition from the Democratic Unionists, it is unlikely that these powers will be devolved until later in the year.

Meanwhile, the Rev William McCrea, the Democratic Unionist MP, entered the row over wire-tapping of MPs this weekend by claiming he had been systematically bugged by the security services. The South Antrim MP said he had ‘no doubt’ that both his home and office phones were tapped at the height of negotiations during the peace process. He said he and his colleagues had their offices swept for bugs. ‘We got private persons in to do tests and they found that at that time it seemed very evident that this was going on,’ he said.

‘There is no doubt whatsoever that the authorities were doing it. If you were opposing what was government policy, or were seen as an obstacle or standing in the way, it happened.’

McCrea said that he had routinely taken ‘corrective measures’, such as avoiding using the phone for sensitive political conversations.

The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has already ordered an inquiry into revelations that the Muslim Labour MP Sadiq Khan was taped when he visited a constituent in prison, contravening the Wilson doctrine that supposedly protects elected politicians from secret surveillance.