SAOIRSE32

Derry Journal
12 March 2008

A long-lost part of Derry’s historic walls has just been discovered thanks to a faint annotation on a 17th century map in the British Library.

The existence of the 17th century citadel - a heavily fortified building - was made by accident when an archaeologist stumbled across a “faint annotation” on a map while carrying out research on Derry’s cannons and defences.

Dr Brian Scot found a heavily fortified area around the Cathedral on the map which was described as “The Church formerly a Cittidell.”

The Deputy Mayor Derry Patricia Logue has welcomed the find and has escribed it as an exciting and significant occasion for the city.

Mark Lusby, Senior Economic Development Officer with Derry City Council, added: “In other European fortified towns with bastions like Derry, the citadel is usually the strongest part of the system, sometimes well inside the outer walls and bastions, but often forming part of the outer wall for the sake of economy. The Citadel was positioned to be the last line of defence should the enemy breach the other components of the fortification system.

“Equally importantly Citadels were most often used to protect a garrison or political power from the inhabitants of the town it is defending. They were designed to ensure loyalty from the town, which they defended. Many commentators in recent years thought that the absence of a Citadel as part of the city’s defences indicated the loyalty of its citizens.”

It is believed that the citadel was destroyed in the early 1670s after the discovery of a warrant issued by the Lord Lieutenant on 10 August 1667 for the destruction of “the citadel of Londonderry… erected by the late Usurpers so contiguous to the Church there, as that it is a great nuisance to the Church, and perhaps purposely so intended by the erectors.”

Belfast Telegraph
Friday 14, March 2008

Sinn Fein’s youth wing faces expulsion from the University of Ulster’s Students’ Union for breaking university guidelines, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal today.

Ogra Shinn Fein is being investigated for distributing a leaflet which included images of masked gunmen.

The picture of the individuals, standing over a coffin draped in the Irish tricolour pointing weapons in the air, appeared on a flyer advertising the innaugural James Sheridan lecture in which Sinn Fein councillors Ian Milne and Peter Bateson spoke.

Sheridan was a member of the south Derry brigade of the IRA.

He was 20 when he died during an accidental explosion in Magherafelt on the night of 18 December 1971. The leaflet, which included Sinn Fein’s website, encouraged students to hear the “remarkable story” of the ” courageous” Sheridan.

The university adopts a strict political protocol whereby posters informing people of the subject, time and venue of a meeting are allowed to be displayed. A university spokesperson said: “They are not permitted to distribute leaflets or display posters which other members of the university would regard as offensive,”

“Because of this group’s behaviour on this occasion, we understand that consideration is being given to the withdrawal of their accreditation as a recognised club or society within the Students’ Union.”

The Students’ Union President said it was likely that Ogra Shinn Fein would lose rights, such as access to buildings.

Danny O’Connor said: “A letter will be sent to them. We don’t like what they did. They will be pulled in within the union. We can’t let that slide past.”

A distressed student, whose policeman father was killed by the south Derry brigade, contacted the Belfast Telegraph to express his disgust.

The student said: “It breaks my heart that the upper echelons of society give succour to such justification of murder by volunteers [described as] “brave patriot dead” and “Irish soldier” under the guise of educational politics.”

A spokesperson for the Ulster Unionist Party said: “This event was disgusting, wrong and highly inappropriate. There is no place for such an event in a modern tolerant university.”

DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson appealed for the university to apologise.

A Sinn Fein spokesperson said: “In no way was there an intention to cause any distress.”

Sinn Fein councillor Ian Milne said: “I presume it was nothing more than to alert the student population of the lecture.”

News Letter
15 March 2008

CRUCIAL talks which helped bring about the peace process took place in the home of a Londonderry businessman. It has been revealed that Brendan Duddy, passed secret messages between the government and the IRA for 20 years.

The former Policing Board member’s involvement in the peace process brought him into contact with MI5, MI6 and senior Republicans.

He has never spoken extensively about his role before, but in a documentary for BBC2, journalist Peter Taylor has persuaded him to do so.

Mr Duddy told the BBC: “The notion that big things happened in the Oval Office in Washington or in the Grand Hall of the Kremlin… actually it doesn’t happen that way.

“It happens less formally and simply.” Award winning journalist Peter Taylor said the Londondery man’s role was “absolutely critical”.

Mr Taylor said: “He brought the IRA and the British government together for talks that ultimately led to the ceasefire of 1994.

“Without that ceasefire there would have been no Good Friday Agreement and no peace today.

“What is astonishing is that these talks took place in Brendan Duddy’s house. It is really the story of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances.”

Peter Taylor said those involved used to clean out the fire and go and make tea.

“It is a million miles away from the kind of circumstances you expect these historic events to take place in,” said Mr Taylor.

Peter Taylor said Mr Duddy was prepared to take risks as he was “driven by the desire to end the conflict”.

Peter Taylor’s programme, The Secret Peacemaker, will be broadcast on BBC2 on March 26.

Amnesty.org

Amnesty International has revealed that a Gulfstream V jet – nicknamed the ‘torture taxi’ – used in the ‘rendition’ of a Yemeni man, was refuelled at Shannon Airport the day before it was used to move him from Baghdad to Kabul.

Khaled al-Maqtari spent more than 2 1/2 years in secret CIA detention centres known as “black sites”, suffering a whole range of torture techniques at the hands of his captors.

Khaled al-Maqtari’s case sheds new light on the cruelty and illegality of the CIA programme of secret detentions and forced disappearances.

Perhaps now the Irish government will cease its ‘hear no evil, see no evil’ approach to the American government in accepting their assurances (similar to those given to Britain, which recently proved to be worthless) that Irish territory was not being used to commit gross violations of international law.

>>Full story plus report links

BBC
14 March 2008

How the Maze site could look

Sinn Fein will not support a new sports stadium for Northern Ireland unless it is on the site of the former Maze Prison, an MLA has said.

Some unionists oppose the Maze site over plans for a conflict transformation centre at the stadium.

DUP ministers moved earlier this week to quell newspaper reports that the DUP had decided to abandon the plans.

But Gerry Kelly of Sinn Fein said his party would “not accept a stadium being built on any other site”.

The Gaelic Athletic Association, Irish Football Association and Ulster Rugby have confirmed they would play games at the Maze venue.

The site is just outside Lisburn in County Antrim.

Mr Kelly, who was a former IRA prisoner in the Maze, said the conflict transformation centre was designed to help other people around the world learn from the peace process.

“Regenerating this site has the potential to create up to 10,000 new jobs - many of which would be at the higher value end of the scale - and to lever up to £1bn investment,” he said.

Discussions about the Long Kesh or Maze site have gone on for nearly 10 years.

Mr Kelly believes that in order to take advantage of opportunities at the 2012 Olympics “to lever further investment and employment, the time to fully implement the Long Kesh masterplan is now.”

The business case for the £240m multi-sports stadium is currently with Finance Minister Peter Robinson.

Culture Minister Edwin Poots has said the Department of Finance and Personnel is still studying the project.