SAOIRSE32

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22 April 2008

A row has erupted in Down District Council over IRA memorials.

It followed a DUP motion demanding the removal of republican monuments from council-owned land last night.

They include a memorial in Downpatrick to IRA leader Colum Marks and a monument in Castlewellan which lists the names of IRA members killed in the Troubles.

The issue has now been referred to a working group.

But the DUP`s Billy Walker is threatening legal action if the flying of the Union Flag is under threat.

TUESDAY 22/04/2008 17:19:15
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A new compensation scheme is to be introduced for Orange Order and other community halls targeted in arson attacks in Northern Ireland, it was announced today.

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward, who discussed the issue with Orange leaders and senior members of the DUP including the party`s leader elect Peter Robinson last Friday night, confirmed they had won their battle to speed up the compensation process.

With three Orange halls attacked this year and 27 last year, the Order and unionist parties have been lobbying the Government over the past six years to change the compensation system.

As he announced plans for legislation for a new statutory compensation scheme, Mr Woodward acknowledged there had been a sharp increase in attacks.

“I welcome the significant increase in policing to protect against further attacks and whilst there has been a noticeable decline I believe that we all have a responsibility to protect community halls from this kind of wanton vandalism,” he said.

“This consultation paper will propose a new criterion in the Criminal Damage Order specific to community halls that are eligible for rates relief - including Orange Halls - which would ensure that attacks would generate an entitlement for statutory compensation.”

A spokesman for the Grand Lodge of Ireland welcomed the announcement and said they were looking forward to seeing the draft legislation.

As well as covering Orange halls, the legislation will include halls operated on a not-for-profit basis by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Masons and Knights of Columbanus.

Irish News
**Via Newshound
By Allison Morris
22/04/08

VIOLENCE erupted at a north Belfast interface for the second time in less than a week when petrol bombs were thrown at a police patrol by a crowd of youths.

Sunday night’s violence was the second petrol bomb attack at the volatile Crumlin Road interface which links the loyalist Twaddell Avenue and nationalist Ardoyne areas.

Police were attacked by a crowd of youths in the Brompton Park area just after 10pm on Sunday. Last Monday homes at the Twaddell Avenue interface came under petrol-bomb attack.

Police have now told residents they will maintain a presence for the next seven days because of raised tensions in the area.

Gerald Solinas of the loyalist Conflict Transfor-mation Initiative said they had been forced to hand out fire blankets and extinguishers to residents along the Twaddell Avenue interface because of continuing violence.

“Police have told us that there will be a stationary vehicle at the interface over the coming week which would lead us to believe they have information to suggest there will be further violence,” Mr Solinas said.

“This is very distressing for residents along the interface who are living in fear.

“On this occasion police bore the brunt of the attack but it is obvious there is a group of people who are intent on throwing this area back into all-out sectarian violence.

“I would also call on the police to make better use of the CCTV security coverage of the area to identify the people responsible and bring them before the courts.”

Interface worker Brean-dan Clarke said the incident could have been much worse had it not been for community activists who helped deal with the situation.

“There was already a community presence in the area on Sunday evening due to other events over the weekend,” he said.

“Because of that they were able to deal with the situation fairly quickly and prevent any attacks on homes in Twaddell.”

A police spokesman said: “Police in north Belfast escaped injury last night following an incident in the area of the Crumlin Road at Ardoyne shopfronts.

“It is understood a number of petrol bombs were thrown at police vehicles at around 10pm. There were no reports of any injuries or damage caused and no arrests.

“However a number of lines of inquiry are being followed and police at Oldpark are appealing for anyone with information to contact them.”

Irish Independent
Tuesday April 22 2008

DETECTIVES have linked the discovery of 20 car bombs in the city to a new feud between the INLA and a gangland criminal.

CHILLING DISCOVERY: Gardai at the scene of bombs find

Gardai believe the exposives cache was to be used in an attempt on the life of the drugs trafficker ‘Fat Freddie’ Thompson.

It’s the third major feud in the capital and the second in which Thompson is involved. He has already survived attempts on his life in the so-called Drimnagh Feud.

Now a row over drugs takings has pitched him against the leader of the INLA.

The bombs discovery comes in the wake of the latest gangland murder on the other side of the city at the weekend, although there is no link.

Thirteen suspects were today still being questioned in connection with the feud-related murder of Anthony Russell in an Artane pub on Friday following a massive garda shakedown early yesterday.

In Tallaght, meanwhile, Army bomb experts were called in to deal with the haul of 20 bomb components discovered at the rear of the Cuckoo’s Nest pub, Greenhills Road.

INLA

Detectives suspect INLA involvement in connection with the find.

Officers pointed out that the bombs were of precisely the same type as those discovered on Captain’s Road, Crumlin, on March 16 last and again at Crumlin Park the following day.

The bombs, containing gun powder, screws and ball bearings, are designed to be placed underneath a car.

The INLA was linked to those attacks and is now thought to have made serious threats on the life of Thompson. The row centres on who gets what from the proceeds of drug deals.

Thompson is already involved in a separate feud with another gang – the so-called Drimnagh feud – which has led to 10 murders so far.

Gardai are very concerned at the level of activity of the INLA, particularly in west Dublin, thought to be led by a recently-released prisoner.

The group is known to hire its services out to the highest bidder and has become increasingly involved in overt criminal activity.

The group is also linked to drug dealing, in particular the supply of cocaine in the city centre.

“A lot of the cocaine in circulation in the centre, especially around Temple Bar, can be traced back to INLA operatives,” said one senior garda source today.

The maverick paramilitary group is already linked to wholesale drug dealing, racketeering and intimidation in parts of the city.

Fat Freddie meanwhile partied until the early hours last Friday to celebrate a young woman’s 21st birthday.

The party was held in an upmarket central Dublin hotel and attended by many of Freddie’s friends including Martin Foley.

In Tallaght, local TD Charlie O Connor said the community was deeply concerned by the bombs find.

SCHOOL

“I only heard about it last night, but anybody I was talking to is concerned. It’s not something you want to happen close to housing estates.

“There’s a few small businesses beside the pub, a travellers’ site, and the Cuckoo’s Nest is just across the green from Colaiste De hIde [all-Irish secondary school].

“It’s concerning to see this happen,” he said.

Belfast Telegraph
Tuesday 22, April 2008
By Kathryn Torney

Education Minister Caitriona Ruane was today embroiled in a new controversy as it emerged that a vital strategy to improve the dire reading and maths standards of young people leaving school will be delayed by up to two months - because it has to be translated into Irish.

The Department of Education has confirmed to the Belfast Telegraph that the important Literacy and Numeracy Strategy will now “probably” be issued for consultation in June - just as schools are preparing to close for their long summer break.

The strategy is currently being finalised and will soon be completed, but parents, educationalists and other members of the public cannot have sight of the document until translators create an Irish version. The consultation is expected to run until October.

The drive to improve literacy and numeracy standards here has already faced serious delay. The department’s Literacy and Numeracy Taskforce was only established in February of this year £ almost a year behind schedule.

Last year, the Chief Inspector of Schools in Northern Ireland, Marion Matchett, said that too many young people are leaving school after 12 years with inadequate essential skills. Another shocking fact is that a quarter of the population does not have basic literacy and numeracy skills.

The decision to create the taskforce was revealed by the Government in an official response to severe criticism from MPs. Ruane in literacy translation wrangle

A report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in December 2006 castigated the department over faltering efforts to improve reading and writing skills among pupils. The MPs voiced particular concern over the underperformance of Protestant children in deprived parts of Belfast.

The PAC said a strategy on numeracy and literacy launched in 1998 had failed to narrow the “long standing gap” between the best and lowest achievers, despite the expenditure of £40m. And the committee alleged that a flawed Government approach “appears to set up a significant number of children for failure”.

DUP education spokesman Sammy Wilson, who is also chair of the Assembly’s education committee, said: “This means that schools will be expected to read and respond to the consultation when they come back to school in September £ all because the Minister wants it translated into Irish.

“She may think she is making a point but it is an expensive one. I am led to believe it could cost up to 24p per word to translate.

“I have been told by education board officers that there is not one Irish-medium school or board of governors that conducts its business in Irish. Not all parents of children at Irish-medium schools speak Irish.

The Belfast Telegraph contacted Sir Robert Salisbury, chair of the department’s Literacy and Numeracy Taskforce. He said: “The sooner the strategy goes out for public consultation the better. We need to keep the momentum going.”

A spokesman for the Department of Education said: “The department is in the process of finalising the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy. When this is done it will be translated into Irish and then issued for consultation, probably in June. The consultation period will run until October, which will ensure all interested parties or individuals will have an opportunity to comment on the content.”

There are no translation facilities within the department so this is normally arranged through the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure, which uses external translators.

Sinn Fein Fermanagh/South Tyrone MLA and Irish speaker Barry McElduff said that he supported Caitriona Ruane’s plan to translate the document into Irish.

” I regret that Irish language speakers are always placed in a defensive position when it comes to the promotion of the Irish Language,” he said.

Belfast Telegraph
Wednesday 23, April 2008
By Claire McNeilly

The debate over where to build Northern Ireland’s new multi-sports stadium heated up last night, after a rival bid claimed the Maze site was “dead in the water”.

Former Belfast Lord Mayor Bob Stoker was speaking after new research £ commissioned by Belfast City Council £ found that the city is the best option for the proposed £240m, 38,000 seater arena.

Mr Stoker said the findings also show there are a possible five sites in Belfast that would be more suitable than the former prison, located outside Lisburn.

The Parks and Committee chairman said: “The only viable option is Belfast and the report clearly shows that.”

The five locations identified by the research are Ormeau Park, the Danny Blanchflower Park, the North Foreshore, Maysfield and the Boucher Road playing fields.

These alternatives were made known to all members of the council who attended a presentation on the sports stadium yesterday morning.

Mr Stoker said the report proved that the former paramilitary jail falls short of being the best solution for a number of different reasons, including economic.

“I would like to think it (the Maze) is dead in the water,” he said.

“Not because it’s a Belfast versus Maze decision, but because we only have one opportunity to get this right.

Councillors are expected to decide upon their preferred option within the next couple of months.

The findings of the report are now to be handed to executive ministers Edwin Poots and Peter Robinson who are currently reviewing plans for a stadium at the Maze.

For many years, the government’s favoured site for a complex housing football, rugby and gaelic appears to have been the Maze.

But last month, a senior DUP source told PA that “it is unlikely that the Maze stadium will go ahead”.

DUP Finance Minister Peter Robinson is currently reviewing the business case for the project and will give his recommendation to the Executive in the coming weeks.

Culture Minister Edwin Poots is, however, a long-time supporter of the Maze plan. He insisted that while the project has been discussed by senior members of the party, there has been no firm decision.

But Ulster Unionist MLA Basil McCrea said he believed the DUP had already decided to dump the Maze site.

“Highly reliable sources tell me that the decision to dump the Maze stadium was taken at a DUP meeting in Lisbon, Portugal,”he said.

In April, it was also revealed last night that a letter sent from the Road Service to the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure raised concerns about any Belfast-based stadium such as Windsor Park.

Martin McGuinness denies bomb link

Tuesday 22, April 2008
By Chris Thorton
Belfast Telegraph

Martin McGuinness today dismissed a report that he knew about the Enniskillen bombing in advance as “completely false”.

A BBC documentary to be broadcast tonight claims the Deputy First Minister was in charge of the IRA unit that coordinated the 1987 Poppy Day bomb that killed 11.

But Mr McGuinness said the Age of Terror report was “entirely based on untrue briefings from individuals within the intelligence apparatus long hostile to Sinn Fein.”

“These are the same so-called reliable security sources who told the world that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction as a basis for the invasion of that country.”

Jim Dixon — who was injured in the blast — said: “It is unbelievable that a man who is involved in the council of the IRA, which was carrying out heinous atrocities, can sit in the government of our country. But I believe in a God above. God judges people. No man escapes.”

The programme claims Mr McGuinness was in charge of the IRA’s Northern Command.

Belfast Telegraph
Tuesday 22, April 2008

An Enniskillen bomb survivor has declared that God will judge Martin McGuinness after the BBC said intelligence sources claimed the Deputy First Minister knew in advance about the Poppy Day blast that killed 11 people.

Age of Terror, broadcast tonight on BBC2, says Mr McGuinness was in charge of the IRA’s Northern Command at the time of the massacre. The report by Peter Taylor says Northern Command co-ordinated the attack between three IRA units.

The programme says intelligence agencies believe Mr McGuinness was briefed on it three days before it was unleashed on Remembrance Sunday.

Detective Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter, who led the continuing investigation into the attack in recent years, told the programme that the attack was considered at a senior level within the IRA.

“The calculation was taken as to the number of casualties they could inflict on the civilian population against the number of casualties they could inflict on members of the security forces. And they decided that the risk was worth taking,” he said.

“The civilians were collateral to the bomb but they were prepared to accept the number of casualties.”

Mr McGuinness told the programme that he was not in Northern Command and knew nothing about the Enniskillen attack. The BBC said: “He declined to be interviewed.” Mr McGuinness has not commented on the reports.

He has previously admitted being a member of the IRA, but claims he left the organisation in 1973.ó

Some victims of the attack praised Mr McGuinness’s transformation into a politician, but Jim Dixon, who was injured in the blast, said that to ” see him in government is enough to turn the stomach”.

“It is unbelievable and totally unacceptable that a man who is involved in the council of the IRA, which was carrying out heinous atrocities, it’s unbelievable that he can sit in the government of our country.

The programme also says intelligence reports put Mr McGuinness in Fermanagh hours after the bombing, meeting IRA members to find out what went wrong.

The BBC said: “He didn’t deny going to Fermanagh after the bomb but implied it would have been in his Sinn Fein capacity.”

BBC
22 April 2008

The first and deputy first ministers have said they have agreed to make changes to the bill to put the Victims and Survivors Commission into law.

However, they still have not publicised what the changes will be, and the measure was withdrawn when it came up for debate in the assembly on Tuesday.

Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness said they are determined the commission is put on a “sound and durable footing”.

However, Tuesday’s delay was denounced by other parties in the assembly.

The UUP, SDLP and Alliance called it an abuse of both victims and the assembly, a “shambles and “an absolute horlicks”.

The bill is necessary because of the decision earlier this year to appoint four victims’ commissioners rather than one.

After months of delay over the appointment of a victims commissioner, Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness both signed up to a compromise which saw the creation of a new four-strong commission.

But earlier this month their deal ran into trouble when DUP assembly members backed an Alliance proposal which would create a role for a chief commissioner and introduce a system of majority voting on the commission.

Junior Minister Jeffrey Donaldson pulled the bill when it came before the assembly on Tuesday, but insisted his department will take the time it needs to get the measure right.

Ulster Unionsit deputy leader Danny Kennedy interrupted a news conference by the Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams in the Great Hall, after he claimed the other parties had been briefed about what was happening.

The Alliance party said unless the impasse is resolved it will attempt to bring forward its own bill.