SAOIRSE32

By Lisa Smyth
Belfast Telegraph
Wednesday 4, June 2008

The husband of one of the Omagh bomb victims broke down and sobbed as he recalled the moment his son told him his wife had died in the atrocity.

Relatives of those killed in the explosion cried and held their heads in their hands as Stanley McComb gave evidence at the High Court yesterday as week six of a ground-breaking compensation claim by the families of six people who died continued.

Throughout his evidence, Mr McComb wept as he spoke of his love for his wife, Anne, describing the void in his life since her tragic death.

“Everybody knows how much I loved her. I knew Anne from 1966. There was no-one else, only her. She was a wonderful person. She was the most important person in my life. I don’t go to bed anymore because I don’t want to wake up to nothing in the morning.”

Mrs McComb (48) was one of the 29 people and unborn twin girls killed in the Omagh atrocity when it ripped through Market Street in the town centre on August 15, 1998.

Mr McComb, who was a keen member of a pipe band before his wife’s death, was in Scotland with Clive, one of his sons, at a pipe band competition on the weekend of the explosion.

He told the court that as soon as he was informed of the bomb he began to phone home to find out whether anyone had been injured but was unable to get through.

At one stage, he was told that his sister had been seriously injured in the bomb. Later, Mr McComb told the court, his minister spoke to his son on the telephone as they waited in their hotel and told him he had seen Mrs McComb’s remains at the makeshift morgue which was set up in the aftermath of the explosion.

“Clive and I went to pieces,” he explained.

“I didn’t know what to think. My head had just gone. I knew that if it had been at all possible she would not have been missing for that length of time, if she could have rung someone she would have. I had an idea [she was dead] but I didn’t want to accept it.”

They were not able to return to Northern Ireland until the following day and it was another 24 hours before Mr McComb was allowed to formally identify his wife’s body: “It was unbelievable. Anne was in a body bag, a green body bag. All I saw was her face. It was horrible.

“I tried to keep going but it’s lonely without Anne. That is when my hatred started. I hated those people so much and never hated anyone in my life. Everyday since that day I have been so angry. I’m sorry but that’s just the way I feel.”

Denise Kerrigan, whose 15-year-old sister, Lorraine Wilson, died in the explosion also wept as she described the harrowing scenes which followed after the family went to identify the body of the Omagh teenager.

“She was lying on a stretcher covered in curtain someone had draped on her. It was hard. My mum went hysterical. She ran out the room and first aid had to attend to her. I went over and didn’t realise, I didn’t think she had worse injuries than she had. I took off the curtain and hugged her.”

Paul Radford told the court of the guilt he feels because he spent time helping at hospital oblivious to the fact that his younger brother, 16-year-old Alan, had died in the explosion.

Describing the scene at the hospital as resembling a scene from a Vietnam War movie, he told the court his sister had told him his mother had been injured in the explosion and he was on his way to hospital to see her when he was asked for help by members of the the emergency services.

“We got onto this bus and it was full of severely injured people. Mr McGrath, the last person to die in the explosion, he was on the bus. His leg was hanging off, he had severe chest injuries and it looked like a piece of tyre or wheel was stuck in his chest. Parts of him were missing.

“We carried him off the bus first. There were a few people with limbs missing. A girl I knew had her leg missing. In the hospital there were people bleeding and screaming. It was total chaos.”

Having been mistakenly informed by a friend that she had been with Alan at the time of the explosion, Mr Radford remained at the hospital for several hours to assist with caring for the injured before resuming the search for his brother.

“I checked everywhere. On Sunday morning we went to the leisure centre. A police man I knew came up and said, ‘If you want to know the truth I will tell you now, he’s dead’.

“I can’t get it out of my mind when I was helping someone else, I wasn’t there for my brother. I have a problem with that. I’m very pessimistic about life. I was helping someone else when he needed help. I find that hard to live with.”

The court also heard from Liam Breslin, the brother of Mark Breslin — whose wife Geraldine died in the explosion.

Mr Breslin also fought back tears as he described the moment medical staff at the Royal Victoria Hospital told them that Mrs Breslin had lost her fight for life.

“It was probably one of the worst moments in my life. Before they opened their mouths I knew what they were going to say. It was sort of disbelief. Our initial reaction was to ask them whether they were sure.” At hearing.

An Phoblacht
29 May 2008

The death of James Mitchell, a member of a group of unionist paramilitaries known as the ‘Glenanne Gang’, has highlighted once again the issue of the collusion between British state forces and unionist paramilitary death squads.

Sinn Féin Newry/Armagh MP Conor Murphy said: “The Glenanne Gang carried out some of the most notorious sectarian killings on both sides of the border. There is compelling evidence that senior members of British state forces, in particular RUC officers, UDR soldiers and their agents, were involved in these sectarian murders.
“James Mitchell was named along with other Glenanne Gang members in the Barron Report of 2003 into bombings in Dublin and Monaghan. There is credible evidence that their activities were known and supported, tacitly and in some cases explicitly, by some of their RUC and UDR superiors and by British intelligence and army officers.
“The issue of collusion between British state forces and unionist death squads like the Glenanne Gang is a major challenge in terms of how we respond to the needs of victims and address the issue of the truth, particularly in regard to the activities of Crown Forces with unionist paramilitaries.
“The claim that it was simply a case of bad apples does not stand up to scrutiny. It was a policy decision which stretches directly to Downing Street and as BBC’s Spotlight highlighted also involved the support of sections of the judiciary in the six counties.
“Sinn Féin will continue to support the families of those killed through the British policy of collusion in South Armagh and elsewhere in their campaign for the truth. The British government lived in denial for decades about this issue. It only began, reluctantly to address it when Sinn Féin placed it on the talks agenda. It will remain on the agenda until the web of collusion and cover-up is untangled.”

By Laura Friel
An Phoblacht
29 May 2008

AN INQUEST into the RUC killing of IRA Volunteer Pearse Jordan in 1992 has been delayed again. The delay comes as the British Government appears poised to impose further legislation which will enable them to hold inquests in secret and presided over by Government-selected coroners.

PEARSE JORDAN: Shot by the RUC

The legislation is part of the Counter-Terrorism Bill currently making its way through the British Parliament. The Bill was introduced in January of this year and had its second reading in the House of Commons in April.
The provisions of the bill were not initially intended to apply to the North of Ireland but recently a House of Commons committee passed an amendment to apply the provisions to the Six Counties.
The key provisions allow the British Secretary of State to issue a certificate to allow an inquest to be held in secret. The grounds are very broad and included the interests of “national security” in the interests of a relationship with another country and generally within the “public interest”.
In what can only be identified as executive interference, the Bill also allows the Secretary of State to replace the coroner with a specially-selected coroner of their own choosing.
Significantly, the new legislation would impact not only on subsequent inquests but also on inquests already opened but subject to delay such as the Pearse Jordan inquest.
The inquest into the death of Pearse Jordan is one of a number involving controversial killings by British crown forces to have been subjected to repeated and lengthy delay.
According to the campaign and support group Relatives for Justice, the new legislation would impact directly on between 40 and 50 outstanding inquests, all involving British crown forces directly or through collusion.
The British Government came under international pressure to hold inquests after families of the victims successfully brought the matter before the European Court of Human Rights.
In 2001, the European Court castigated the British Government for failing to investigate properly a number of contested killings and ordered new investigations. The Strasbourg court particularly referred to the delay in holding inquests.
Pearse Jordan, a 23-year-old from West Belfast, was unarmed when he was shot dead on the Falls Road by an undercover RUC unit in November 1992. Jordan was shot in the back three times as he staggered out of the car he was driving after it was deliberately rammed by two unmarked RUC vehicles.
Eyewitnesses said the covert unit immediately opened fire without issuing a verbal warning. Despite the fact that the young man posed no threat, there was no attempt made to arrest him.
Speaking at the time, Pearse’s father, Hugh Jordan, immediately called for a public inquiry. “There should be no whitewash over my son’s murder. This was murder, pure and simple, cold-blooded murder,” he said.
Since the killing, the Jordan family have fought a long legal battle to have the RUC officers involved in the killing give evidence in court, a battle they recently won after an appeal to the British Law Lords.
A ruling by the British House of Lords not only compelled those responsible for the killing to attend the inquest but also widened the scope of the inquest to include more than the restricted ‘findings’ of who, when and how.
Announcing the latest delay during a preliminary inquest hearing, senior coroner John Leckey blamed the PSNI and described their failure as “totally unacceptable”.
Voicing his frustration at the further delay of the Jordan inquest, the chief coroner expressed concern regarding other outstanding inquests into controversial killings.
“I dread to think what is going to happen in the other so called legacy inquests when they are going to start from scratch.”
The latest delay emerged after the PSNI, who had been tasked to carry out risk assessments into any potential threat to 13 officers involved in the killing and due to give evidence at the inquest, announced the assessment had not been completed.
Coroner Leckey said the PSNI had failed despite being given eight months to carry out the assessments and, while MI5 had taken over some responsibility, the blame lay “fairly and squarely” with the PSNI.
The coroner gave a deadline of 6 June and warned the PSNI if they were not completed by then he would “proceed on the basis that they do not need a risk assessment”. But even if the PSNI comply within a month, the coroner conceded the inquest would now not take place until January 2009.
Such a delay allows time for the provisions in the British Government’s new Counter-Terrorism bill to be enacted.
At the hearing, a barrister representing the family, Karen Quinlivan complained that a number of crucial documents has still not been made available to her legal team. These included radio logs and debriefing notes from the PSNI.
The barrister referred to the recent House of Lords ruling that there is a duty to “furnish the coroner with police records”.
But a lawyer acting for the PSNI, Tony McGleenan, said there is “a difference of opinion” about the Lords’ ruling.
Patterns of obfuscation have become the hallmark of investigations into contested killings carried out by British crown forces.
Faced with recent successes of families and campaign groups in compelling the British into holding inquests and challenging the restrictions imposed on coroners’ courts, the British Government has responded by introducing further legislation.
Mark Thompson of Relatives for Justice warned that delaying tactics by the PSNI in relation to the Jordan inquest could be an attempt to override the British House of Lords ruling.
“It’s not clear if Section 64 of the Anti-Terrorism Bill will be extended to the North of Ireland but it seems more and more likely. So far, British Secretary of State Shaun Woodward has refused to rule it out.
“Relatives for Justice will be rigorously challenging any move towards holding inquests in secret. The provisions in the Bill are in direct breach of Article 2 of the European Charter of Human Rights which requires inquests to be independent, transparent and effective. We will be raising this issue in Europe.”
The RUC and British Army were and are subject to specific rules of engagement. Despite the fact that these rules have often been blatantly ignored, the British state has refused to pursue prosecutions and has consistently engaged in attempts at cover-up, including delaying inquests.

BBC

The president of Ireland has met the relatives of IRA bombing victims on a visit to Warrington.

The Irish government will give the foundation £59,000 over three years

Mary McAleese visited the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace, which was set up following the IRA bomb attack in the town in March 1993.

Tim, 12, and three-year-old Johnathan were killed and 56 people were injured when two bombs went off in the main shopping street.

The foundation was set up by Tim’s parents Colin and Wendy Parry.

Mrs McAleese said they had given a “new hope” with their work.

Mr Parry said the foundation had worked with 20,000 young people and adults to tackle issues such as prejudice, discrimination and violence.

‘Dreadful Saturday’

Mrs McAleese also learned about the foundation’s Survivors for Peace programme, which works with adults affected by terrorism or politically motivated violence across Europe.

After the tour she said she came to Warrington to pay tribute to the spirit of the people, including the Parrys, who had worked towards peace and reconciliation.

She recalled the bombing 15 years ago and said: “That dreadful Saturday, when two gorgeous little lives, lovely innocent human beings, were extinguished, two routes were open to the families in their despair and sorrow.

“The route of anger and hatred and vengeance, or the courageous one taken by Colin and Wendy Parry.

“The Parrys have fashioned a new sense of hope. It is the debt we owe to children like Johnathan and Tim.”

Mrs McAleese confirmed the Irish government would give the foundation 75,000 euros (about £59,000) over the next three years to continue its work.

Mr Parry said: “For a head of state to find the time to come and see us and what we are doing is great.

“It is great recognition for those who work here because they are so dedicated and talented.”

BBC

A key prosecution witness has told the Robert McCartney murder trial she had not made a mistake when identifying the man accused of killing him.

The woman identified Terence Davison, 51, as the ‘white-haired man’ she saw assaulting the Belfast man.

Mr Davison denies murdering the 33-year-old in the city in January 2005.

Denying she had made “an honest but very real mistake”, but she insisted: “I am convinced the man I picked out of

the ID parade was the man I saw.”

During cross-examination by a defence barrister, the woman, referred to as Witness C, was questioned about the description she gave of the attacker.

She said the attacker had “shocking grey hair” which was very thick and down to his ears. She also said the man was dressed smartly in a beige bomber jacket and beige trousers.

During Wednesday’s hearing CCTV stills taken from the Royal Victoria Hospital on the night showed an image of Mr Davison - who was attending with his injured nephew - with short hair and wearing clothes different to those described by the witness.

The defence lawyer pointed out the differences in hair and clothes and asked if she could have made a mistake when she picked Mr Davison out of an identity parade when he had short, shaved hair.

Police line-up

She told the court: “I’m absolutely sure it was him. He looked the same and he walked the same. It was definitely the same man but he had his hair cut different.”

The judge asked the woman if she was positive she had given a correct description of the attacker’s hair and picked the man she saw attacking Mr McCartney from the identity parade.

She said that despite the man’s hair being different on the night in question to the day of the police line-up, she also recognised his facial features, the shape of his face, his complexion and the way he walked.

“I can’t get rid of the images of that night”, she said:

“When I was sitting in the car that night I couldn’t do anything to stop what was happening or help, so I tried to remember as much as I could about the person.”

She added: “When someone changes their hairstyle you still recognise them in the street.”

The trial continues.

BBC

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness have been appointed first and deputy first ministers of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Mr Robinson has been appointed first minister

Mr Robinson was nominated by former DUP leader Ian Paisley and Mr McGuinness by Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.

The two ministers then addressed the assembly.

“If devolution is to be meaningful to the people of Northern Ireland then the responsibility for delivering results rests with all of us” Mr Robinson said.

“Of course the deputy first minister and I will have to roll up our sleeves - and neither of us will duck the challenges or recoil from the hard work that such tasks require.”

Mr McGuinness said: “The honeymoon period is over. This is now about hard working people out there expecting results and we are here to deliver.”

Earlier, outgoing first minister Mr Paisley wished his Northern Ireland Executive colleagues well.

He said he was glad to have presided over a government which had put Northern Ireland in a good position.

“We have come from darkness into light,” he said.

“I think this 12 months that we’ve had has been one of the most important 12 months of Ulster’s modern history.”

It is 14 months since devolution was restored.

Earlier, assembly colleagues paid tribute to Mr Paisley.

Mr Adams said: “Ian Paisley has been part of the political landscape for as long as I can remember.

“And he may be pleased to know that it was his desire to vist the Fall Road and Divis Street in 1964 that first wetted my interest in irish politics.”

There had been speculation Sinn Féin would not renominate Mr McGuinness when Mr Paisley stood down.

However, in a statement on Wednesday, Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness said they “look forward to working together after we have been nominated as first minister and deputy first minister.

“We recognise there are outstanding and unresolved issues which have been raised with the prime minister and which require urgent attention.”

These issues are to be discussed with Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday.

Breaking News.ie
04/06/2008 - 22:53:49

The North’s power-sharing government has been salvaged tonight after Sinn Féin agreed to resume governance with the Democratic Unionist Party.

Fresh talks will be held with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday after the last-minute solution.

A dispute over the devolution of policing and justice responsibilities has not been resolved.

DUP leader Peter Robinson will become First Minister alongside Sinn Féin deputy Martin McGuinness.

Republicans had been engaged in talks over whether to nominate Mr McGuinness tomorrow amid lack of progress on the security issue.

Both parties held talks earlier this week with Brown in London to avert the possibility of fresh Assembly elections.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said: “I am very pleased to say that I will be nominating Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister.

“The Office of the First and Deputy First Minister is a joint and co-equal office.

“Those two are in that office can only fulfil their responsibilities if they are mindful of that fact.”

Brown said tonight he had invited Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness to talks at Number 10 on Friday.

“On the agenda will be various urgent issues, including the forward investment strategy for Northern Ireland, the economic situation, devolution of policing and justice, continuing concerns around paramilitary organisations, parades, sites, the Irish language and education, and the putting in place of a process to deal with them,” Brown said in a statement.

“I look forward to my continuing involvement with the First and deputy First Ministers.

“I remain committed to the continuing implementation of the St Andrews agreement and to helping the parties to address those issues that have been raised with me and require resolution.”

Adams said the new administration had to be rooted in equality for everybody.

A joint statement from Mr McGuinness and Mr Robinson said: “We look forward to working together after we have been nominated as First and Deputy First Minister.

“We recognise that there are outstanding and unresolved issues which have been raised with the Prime Minister and which require urgent attention.

“We look forward to discussing these on Friday.”

The Assembly has been in existence since May last year with former DUP leader Ian Paisley, as its First Minister. He hands over to Mr Robinson tomorrow.

The 2006 St Andrews Agreement laid the foundations for restored devolution.

Sinn Féin believed it paved the way for policing to be handed over to the Assembly by last month, the DUP has said there is not adequate confidence in the community to allow it.

Republicans are also unhappy about the failure to introduce an Irish language act.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen welcomed the joint statement.

“I welcome the expressed commitment of Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness to work together in the Northern Ireland Executive, as well as their joint recognition that the outstanding issues facing the Executive require urgent attention,” he said.

“I very much welcome their intention to engage in substantive discussions on the issues that have been raised and require resolution in the context of the continuing implementation of the St Andrews Agreement.”

SDLP Assembly member Alasdair McDonnell said it had been a false crisis which revealed Sinn Féin’s weakness.

He said the DUP had used veto powers over issues like the abolition of academic selection for children handed to them by Sinn Féin at St Andrews.

“As the two parties move towards their inevitable deal, people will ask why Sinn Féin had to engineer a crisis, threaten to pull down the institutions, then step back again when their bluff was called,” he said.

“The man currently leading Sinn Féin is Peter Robinson - and he is leading them by the nose.”

By Noel McAdam
Belfast Telegraph
Thursday 5, June 2008

Peter Robinson was today taking over as First Minister ahead of ” focused ” negotiations in London to tackle the IRA army council and the switch of policing and justice powers to Stormont.

The talks, carefully balanced to address the concerns of both the DUP and Sinn Fein and due to be chaired by Gordon Brown, will also deal with Irish language legislation, parading, the economy and investment strategy.

And, according to senior sources, the discussions — the second meeting with the Prime Minister in four days — could stretch into next week following an outline agreement hammered out between the two parties late yesterday.

The formula, also worked on by officials in London, Belfast and Dublin, paved the way for this afternoon’s special Assembly sitting at which Mr Robinson was set to become the province’s third First Minister — following Lord David Trimble and Ian Paisley — less than a week after also replacing the latter as DUP leader.

The meeting got the final go-ahead after Sinn Fein confirmed it will re-nominate Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister following a four-day face-off between the two major Executive parties which threatened to trigger new Assembly elections.

The potential for deadlock developed — after the Belfast Telegraph first revealed the potential crisis last Saturday — with Sinn Fein refusing to say it would name Mr McGuinness and the DUP refusing to negotiate “under duress”.

The Downing Street session was viewed as a way of defusing the stand-off, which could have led to effective collapse in the Assembly this afternoon and Secretary of State Shaun Woodward being forced to call new elections.

Now an intensive attempt is anticipated to agree a timetable for the transfer of policing and justice responsbilities and there are indications the Government will proceed with an Irish language act through Westminster, by-passing the Assembly.

A scheduled meeting of the Executive this afternoon, which had been expected to discuss the controversial schools transfer proposals and water charges, was called off last night with Mr Robinson expected to reshuffle his Ministerial team.

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds seems all but certain to replace Mr Robinson as Finance Minister, with Arlene Foster moving from Environment to take Mr Dodds’ seat at Enterprise and Trade and possibly Gregory Campbell coming in fill the Environment vacancy.

There is also speculation that Culture and Arts Minister Edwin Poots could be returning to the DUP backbenches, allowing another internal party promotion, although Jeffrey Donaldson is likely to remain as Junior Minister for the time being.

In a joint statement late last night, Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness said they would “look forward to working together after we have been nominated as First Minister and deputy First Minister.

“We recognise there are outstanding and unresolved issues which have been raised with the Prime Minister and which require urgent attention.”

In a choreographed sequence, Mr Brown then confirmed he has invited both men to Downing Street tomorrow to discuss an agenda which will include ” various urgent issues, including the forward investment strategy for Northern Ireland, the economic situation, devolution of policing and justice, continuing concerns around paramilitary organisations, parades, sites, the Irish language and education, and the putting in place of a process to deal with them”.

Mr Brown said he was committed to addressing the issues.

By Chris Thornton
Belfast Telegraph
Thursday 5, June 2008

The Billy Wright Inquiry was hit yesterday by the unexplained resignation of its most senior lawyer.

Derek Batchelor QC, the lead counsel for the inquiry and the man primarily responsible for presenting evidence about the LVF leader’s murder, stepped down on Tuesday night “with immediate effect”.

Lord MacLean, chairman of the inquiry, announced the resignation yesterday ” with regret”.

The inquiry declined to give any details of the resignation, or Mr Batchelor’s reasons for leaving. Attempts to contact the QC were unsuccessful.

Mr Batchelor had taken part in the inquiry on Tuesday, questioning witnesses several hours before his resignation. And at the end of Tuesday’s evidence, Lord MacLean indicated that he expected the QC to continue questioning witnesses about the 1998 murder by INLA inmates in the Maze Prison.

But at the opening of yesterday’s hearing, he told lawyers: “I have to announce, with regret, that senior counsel to the inquiry, Mr Derek Batchelor QC, resigned his post last night, with immediate effect.”

The chairman vowed yesterday that the inquiry’s investigation of Wright’s death would continue uninterrupted, while a search for a new lead lawyer is carried out.

Lord MacLean indicated some witnesses would have to be rescheduled to the autumn as a result of the resignation, but said Mr Batchelor’s junior counsel, Murdo McLeod, would take over the examination of witnesses for the near future.

A human rights organisation monitoring the case expressed concern about Mr Batchelor’s resignation at such an advanced stage.

“We’re quite concerned that this should happen now that the inquiry is getting to a very serious stage, when some important new information is emerging,” said Mike Ritchie, director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice.

“We sincerely hope that the inquiry will be able to complete its work.”

The inquiry, which has been troubled by delays and confronted by destroyed or missing evidence, now faces the difficult task of securing a top QC at short notice to take over the important role.

The lead counsel for the inquiry is a key position. That person is arguably better acquainted with the evidence than any other barrister taking part in the inquiry.