SAOIRSE32

By Noel McAdam
Belfast Telegraph
11 September 2008

Sinn Fein Minister Conor Murphy has effectively snubbed First Minister Peter Robinson in the row threatening the Executive with potential High Court action.

Mr Murphy has written to anti-deal MEP Jim Allister defending his handling of a major policy programme over which Mr Robinson accused the Minister of attempting to “subvert” the Executive and breaking his code of office.

But while the Regional Development Minister has replied to the former senior DUP MEP, he has yet to write to Mr Robinson, who had demanded an “urgent” response.

Mr Murphy’s department confirmed the Minister is still “considering” the letter from Mr Robinson, written two weeks ago, which said the issue “goes right to the heart” of the credibility of the Executive.

At the centre of the row is the Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland with Mr Murphy accused of making 157 changes to documents after they were agreed by the Executive, including referring to ‘the North’ and the city of Londonderry as ‘Derry’.

As revealed in the Belfast Telegraph, DUP leader Mr Robinson told him: “I have sought and received legal advice on this and consider you to be in clear breach of our Ministerial duties and that you have acted unlawfully.”

Mr Murphy has made no public comment, but Sinn Fein regards the letter from Mr Robinson as lacking the authority of the First Minister without the co-signature of Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who has also refused to accede to an emergency Executive meeting over the issue.

In a new letter to Mr Allister, Mr Murphy confirmed the first five-year focussed review of the Regional Development Strategy “was developed and published under my Ministerial direction.”

The MEP said Mr Robinson is now facing a major challenge but the DUP said it would not take lectures from Mr Allister.

News Letter
11 Sept 2008

YOUNG republicans from west of the Bann have been posting photographs of themselves on the internet painting post boxes green.

It is understood that hundreds of Royal Mail boxes in Londonderry, Strabane and Tyrone have been changing colour as part of a fresh strategy to finally bring about some degree of cultural Irish unity.

The campaign has especially high visibility on many home pages of young people on the social networking website Bebo.

But one News Letter reader said the campaign was meeting with definite resistance.

“A post box in Pomeroy was painted green but unfortunately for the ‘painters’ it was restored to its original colour within a day,” he said.

“The owner of the Protestant house which it was situated beside would not tolerate such an attack on his community.”

Asked if it was part of a campaign to divert young republicans from dissident activity, Sinn Fein MLA Barry McElduff said: “Young people need to be encouraged when they make political statements in a peaceful and political manner.

“As many as 50 post boxes have been painted in Tyrone in the past month.

“It is ironic that in Lifford post boxes are green but in Tyrone, only one mile away, they are red.

“This is about blurring the border.”

Asked if the campaign was actually encouraging criminal damage, he said: “Who knows? They look like neat, professional jobs to me.”

But West Tyrone DUP MLA Tom Buchanan condemned the trend.

“No amount of green post boxes will hide the fact that Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and will remain so,” he said.

“The pathetic use of vandalism and graffiti is now all that Sinn Fein has left to attempt to fool some republicans that a united Ireland is coming.”

Traditional Unionist Voice vice-chairman Keith Harbinson called for a security clampdown.

“Do the police plan to take action against these vandals?” he asked.

“Will Sinn Fein assist the police in their investigation and hand over the perpetrators – or will we again see criminal activity by republicans shielded by the so-called republican code?

“Perhaps of the greatest concern, however, is how Sinn Fein can have any kind of role within the devolution of policing and justice when very public displays of law-breaking are encouraged.”

A Royal Mail spokesman declined to comment on the scale or cost of the problem.

“Repairs to letter boxes, which include repainting, will be carried out as part of our ongoing maintenance programme,” he added.

:::u.tv:::
Tuesday 09 September 2008

A man on parole, who was arrested when police stormed a UDA run meeting two years ago, was sent back to jail for 12 months on Tuesday.

However, 39-year-old Samuel Todd Robinson from Arosa Crescent in Belfast will first have to complete the remainder of a nine year sentence he received for blackmail and false imprisonment before serving the extra year.

Lord Justice Girvan told Robinson “it may be regretable”, but he should have been aware the effect his reoffending would have regarding his previous sentence.

The Crown Court judge, said Robinson played a “significant but subordinate role” in helping to organise a rehearsal for a UDA show of strength at the Alexandra Bar in North Belfast on March 2, 2006.

Lord Justice Girvan said Robinson had pleaded not guilty to assisting or arranging the UDA meeting, knowing he had no defence.

During his trial the court had heard Robinson, high-profile loyalist Ihab Shoukri and others were attending a dress rehearsal for a UDA show of strength at which UDA chiefs were expected to announce they will never disband.

Following the police raid a three page speech in praise of the UDA was taken from one of the men arrested and in a follow-up search of his home police also uncovered “preparatory notes” for the planned meeting.

Robinbson`s fingerprints were found on the second sheet of the speech which was in Shoukri`s handwritting.

The speech gave a brief history of the terror group and how “thousands had flocked” to its ranks, some of whom joined the Ulster Freedom Fighters, described as a “well oiled ruthless killing machine”.

It also assured supporters that while the UDA was now taking their “fight into the political arena - it`s not the end of the UDA which is here to stay. We will never go away, you know”.

Two other Belfast men arrested with Robinson; 34-year-old Shoukri, from Westland Drive and 36-year-old Gary McKenzie of Clare Heights, were both jailed for 15 months.

Two other men; 21-year-old Alan McClean from Westland Drive, and 40-year-old George McHenry of Ardoyne Road, were freed on suspended jailed terms.

50-year-old Alexandra Bar owner John Davis of Glebe Manor in Glengormley, was released on probation.

By Tom Brady Security Editor

Wednesday September 10 2008

**Posted FYI. See also >>this previously posted article

Gardai smashed plans for a major upsurge in gang violence in Dublin yesterday after uncovering a pipebomb factory in a fourth-floor apartment.

A spate of bomb attacks was intended to herald a fresh wave of vicious feuding between dissident paramilitaries and city crime gangs.

Five suspected members of the renegade republican group, the INLA, were in custody last night after the Special Branch operation.

The five are thought to be linked to alleged INLA leader Declan Duffy, who is locked up and awaiting trial.

The early morning raid on the apartment at The Crescent, Park West, in west Dublin, followed a detailed investigation into the activities of subversives by the Special Branch and members of the national surveillance unit.

Inside the apartment, detectives found component parts for up to half-a-dozen pipe bombs. These were being examined last night by forensic experts from the Garda technical bureau in the Phoenix Park.

The haul included explosive powder, pipes, batteries, clocks and other accessories for improvised devices.

Four of the men were arrested inside the apartment and the fifth was detained outside during the swoop by heavily armed detectives.

Gardai said that three of the suspects, all in their 20s, are from Dublin. Another is from Monaghan and the other from Belfast.

They were being held for questioning last night at Dun Laoghaire and Shankill garda stations under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and can be detained without charge for up to three days.

Senior anti-terrorist officers are satisfied that the pipebombs were about to be used by the dissident group against members of one of the rival crime gangs currently feuding with the INLA.

One officer said last night: “It looked like the gang warfare involving the dissidents was about to erupt again on the streets of Dublin and the discovery of the bomb parts disrupted the plans.'’

Gardai are also aware that members of the INLA have been using their expertise to manufacture devices and supply them to criminal gangs operating across the capital.

Detectives forced their way into the apartment at around 2am and surprised the occupants.

An Army bomb disposal team was on the scene at 2.25am and gave the all-clear after an examination lasting more than an hour.

Extortion

The INLA has become mainly a criminal outfit in the past few years and some of its members have been heavily involved in drug trafficking and extortion.

Associates of Duffy have been key targets for a special garda team, led by a detective superintendent, which has been investigating the spate of bomb attacks in the past three years in a bid to source the manufacturers and narrow the list of gangs using the devices.

Most of the devices are crudely manufactured and largely unsophisticated and for explosive content the makers depend mainly on fireworks or shotgun cartridges.

Sometimes, nails are added for fragmentation to cause potentially greater injury and shock when a device explodes.

Last May, gardai found a hide being used by dissidents to stash pipebombs on rough ground in the south inner city and recovered a well-constructed device.

A suspect, who had been formerly associated with the Continuity IRA, was questioned about the find.

Devices

The previous month, gardai discovered a cache, which included parts for 20 homemade devices, at the rear of a pub in Tallaght after an anonymous tip-off.

Most of the bomb attacks since 2006 have been linked to local gang feuding, but others have been used by the INLA to intimidate businessmen and other potential extortion victims.

Meanwhile, Declan Duffy remains in jail after being refused bail on a charge of membership of an illegal organisation.

Duffy (34) is a native of Armagh city but has an address at Hanover Street West, in Dublin. He was sentenced to nine years’ jail by the Special Criminal Court in 2000 for possession of firearms and false imprisonment.

This related to an incident which became known as the Ballymount bloodbath, when an INLA member was killed during a fight with a Dublin crime gang.

- Tom Brady Security Editor

From this article posted in 2006, Free Derry period examined, there is this quote:

“Some weeks after the army’s arrival, in a surreal twist, the barricades were replaced by a single painted white line marking the ‘borders’ of Free Derry, which the British army and the RUC agreed to respect and didn’t violate.”

I have a reader who is very interested in obtaining a photograph of this ‘white line’ for use in a university presentation. If you can help in any way, please leave a comment or email me at saoirse32@fastmail.fm. Thank you.

micheailin