SAOIRSE32

By Tom Brady Security Editor
Independent.ie
Thursday October 16 2008

Five members of the INLA have been punished by the prison authorities as a result of protests at the nation’s top security jail at Portlaoise.

The five dissident republicans are being locked up in their cells for 23 hours a day for the maximum term of 56 days, it emerged yesterday.

Prison authorities took the decision on Tuesday night following a series of incidents including an episode in which the contents of chamber pots were thrown at governor Ned Whelan and a number of his staff. The five had also cut their way through wire mesh on their E4 landing and joined Continuity IRA prisoners on the landing below before making their way to a recreation hall and staging a protest about cell searches.

The prison management responded by imposing the lock-ups as well as denying them visits and telephone calls during the punishment period.

The inmates will be allowed out of their cells only for an hour’s exercise and to wash.

However, some staff sources criticised the decision to leave the five in their own cells and said they should have been transferred to the segregation unit. Staff members also said they felt “humiliated” by a decision to return two other INLA prisoners, who had been taken to the segregation unit on Tuesday morning, to their own cells.

They said this move had weakened the position of senior staff.

Eight INLA prisoners on the E4 landing had been protesting because they felt they were being targeted unfairly for cell searches.

This followed a search on Sunday when staff learned that an INLA prisoner had allegedly fashioned a weapon out of the handle of a soup ladle.

The contents of a chamber pot were also poured through wire mesh to the two landings below, where the Continuity IRA group and the 30 Real IRA inmates are housed.

Humiliated

It seeped into a kitchenette on the Real IRA landing and forced its closure. That led to the INLA group apologising to the other renegade group.

The Prison Officers’ Association said it was deeply concerned by the incidents over the past few days and pointed out that it was the first time in over 30 years that a governor had come under attack from inmates.

However, the Prison Service described the disturbances as minor and said the details had been hyped up.

MARIE O’HALLORAN
Irish Times
16 Oct 2008

MINISTER FOR Justice Dermot Ahern has challenged Sinn Féin to give the Government “a bit of a hand” by repatriating some of the alleged €250 million the party has “stashed away” in US banks.

Mr Ahern told the Dáil that Sinn Féin had not denied the claim “so I suppose it’s true.”

He was responding to Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caolain’s Dáil Budget speech in which the Cavan-Monaghan TD said it was “amazing that the Minister for finance could keep a straight face when he described the Budget as a call to patriotic action”.

Mr Ó Caoláin asked “where were the calls to the wealthy to be patriotic during the Celtic Tiger years? Many of the so-called patriots, the tycoons and multi-millionaires who were pampered by the Government, are tax exiles who pose as great Irishmen and women when they are in this country but who hide their riches away in tax havens so they do not have to pay their fair share here.'’

The Sinn Féin deputy had also quoted James Connolly on patriotism. “True patriotism seeks the welfare of each in the happiness of all, and is inconsistent with the selfish desire for worldly wealth which can only be gained by the exploitation of less favoured fellow-mortals.”

Mr Ahern said “it’s hard to listen to Deputy Ó Caoláin. I read in the newspapers recently that Sinn Féin has 250 million stashed away in US banks.

It hasn’t been denied so I suppose it’s true. But perhaps Deputy Ó Caoláin and his party could give us a bit of a hand and repatriate some of that money.”

During his own Budget speech the Minister said despite restrictions on public sector recruitment, the Government intends to take on 400 new Garda recruits during 2009, in addition to the almost 1,100 already in training as well as retaining 4.6 million hours of overtime worth some €80 million.

He said “our greatest priority is the fight against crime. We need to secure the effective capacity of the organisations at the heart of that effort. That is why I have put the money where it should be. That is the choice I made, and I make no apology for it.”

Some 21 million was being ring-fenced for Operation Anvil.

“This will make it possible to continue with a wide range of intensive policing activity, with a particular emphasis on tackling organised gangland crime. There is no question of the Government going soft on the godfathers of crime and this level of ring-fenced funding is a clear indication of our steely resolve.”

Mr Ó Caoláin said “the wealthy were allowed to avoid tax in a myriad of different ways while ordinary PAYE workers bore the burden, as they always have”.

“Fianna Fáil-led Governments and their friends, the property speculators and developers, the stock-brokers and the bankers, have created this massive economic mess.”

It would be the people “who will be made to pay the price”.

GERRY MORIARTY
Irish Times
16 Oct 2008

THE NUMBER of people claiming the dole in Northern Ireland has risen by 1,200, the biggest increase in 22 years, according to the latest jobless figures released by the North’s Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

The number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits increased to 28,900 in September, with job losses in the construction industry accounting for 60 per cent of the rise. The unemployment total is now at its highest since February 2005.

The Northern Ireland seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was estimated at 4.3 per cent for the period from June to August.

This represented a slight increase from the rate of 4.1 per cent recorded in the previous quarter and was also higher than the rate of 3.7 per cent recorded during the same period last year.

Despite this, the North’s unemployment rate remained below the UK average (5.7 per cent) and was also lower than the rates recorded for the EU (6.8 per cent) and the Republic (5.9 per cent) in July.

Seasonally adjusted estimates for the same period showed there were 788,000 people in employment in the North. This represented a fall of 0.9 per cent in employment levels over the quarter, but a rise of 1.5 per cent over the year.

The percentage of people of working age who are “economically inactive” is 26.7 per cent, considerably higher than the UK average rate of 20.9 per cent and the highest of all the UK regions.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment Arlene Foster said the figures, while disappointing, were not entirely unexpected.

“The slowdown in the housing market and wider construction industry in particular is having a large impact, with former construction workers accounting for the majority of the rise in benefit claimants during September.”

The latest Index of Services quarterly survey in Northern Ireland reports that the service sector, the economy’s largest sector, decreased by 0.9 per cent in the last quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter of declining output.

The slowdown in output was most apparent in the two sectors that have provided the most employment in the North over the past decade - business services, and finance and distribution, said Ulster Bank economist Richard Ramsey. This indicated that the record level of jobs recorded earlier in 2008 in Northern Ireland had reached its peak, he added.

“While Northern Ireland’s level of unemployment is set to rise quite significantly, it is important to keep this in perspective,” he said. “The economy is not going to return to the double-digit rates of unemployment that were experienced in the early 1990s.”

Ms Foster had some good news on the jobs front yesterday, however, with her announcement that North American telecommunications company BTI Systems is to establish a £6 million (€7.7 million) European headquarters and software centre in Belfast, with financial assistance of £660,000 from jobs promotion agency Invest NI.

“BTI Systems will create 60 high-quality software engineering posts over the next three years, delivering an additional £2.3 million annually in wages and salaries into the local economy,” she said, adding that it was “particularly pleasing to secure the project in such difficult global economic conditions”.

BBC
15 Oct 2008

The family of Michael McIlveen tried to save his life when he arrived home after being attacked.

Michael McIlveen died after being attacked by a gang in May 2006

His family initially thought he was drunk. He was sick twice and started shaking in his bedroom, a court heard.

The jury trial of five people charged with the murder of the Ballymena schoolboy heard evidence from Michael’s uncle, Sean McIlveen.

Michael’s sister fled Antrim Crown Court in tears as a statement from the deceased’s uncle was read to the court.

In the statement Mr McIlveen said that when Michael returned home in the early hours of Sunday, 7 May, 2006, his speech was slurred and he was sick twice, once in the bathroom and again in the top bunk of his bed.

His uncle, who was sleeping in the bottom bunk, said Michael had woken him up when he came into the bedroom and turned on the light.

Mr McIlveen said he noticed a cut on his nephew’s hand and heard him telling a friend on his mobile phone that he was “OK”.

However, moments later the witness called his sister, Gina McIlveen, the mother of the deceased, into the room but Michael was “pushing away any attempt to help him”.

Mr McIlveen told police he took a video on his mobile phone of his nephew because “I thought he was drunk and I was going to show it to him the next day”, but events quickly took a turn for the worst when the teenager started to “shake and kick out with his feet”.

The witness said it was only when a girl called Michael’s mobile and told them of the attack that they “thought there may be something more wrong with him other than being drunk”.

Paramedics

Mr McIlveen told police he noticed a bruise under his nephew’s eye and an ambulance was called. Paramedics worked “for a good while” on the fatally injured boy before he was taken to Antrim Area Hospital.

The witness said in his statement that a decision was made at 1700 BST on the Monday afternoon - just over 24 hours after Michael was beaten and kicked in an alleyway close to Ballymena’s town centre - to turn off his life support machine.

Evidence was also heard from paramedics who treated the deceased at his family home in Ballymena.

They arrived at the house at about 0230 BST on the Sunday and were told by Gina McIlveen that her son had been hit over the head with a baseball bat and had staggered home.

They found him lying on the bedroom floor on his back, “breathing but unconscious.”

Floral tributes to Michael were left at the scene of his attack

The jury also heard from a neighbour, Keith Miskella, who had spoken to Michael McIlveen in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Mr Miskella said the deceased had arrived at his door with three other people and that “he had blood on his nose and he was very unsteady on his feet. He seemed to be drunk. He looked like he was in a fight”.

The witness also told the court that the schoolboy had told him “he had been fighting or had been jumped by Kerr Bear (the nickname of one of the defendants, 22-year-old Christopher Francis Kerr, of Carnduff Drive in Ballymena) and some boys”.

During a cross examination by defence lawyers, it was put to Mr Miskella that because the teenager was “mumbling” he could have said that he was fighting and then got jumped.

The witness replied: “I’m not 100 per cent sure. It might have been”.

On Wednesday, Mr Kerr’s aunt, Valerie Lamont, told the court that she had been at her nephew’s home on the Sunday afternoon, about 15 hours after Michael McIlveen was attacked.

She said Mr Kerr made a telephone call to the house and told her that “someone would be calling at the house to get something” and they would be getting it “from the bedroom”.

Mrs Lamont told the jury “just in a matter of minutes the place was full of police” and they searched the house, in particular Kerr’s bedroom, taking away “lots of stuff in bags.”

During a cross examination by Laurence McCrudden QC, who is defending Mr Kerr, Mrs Lamont confirmed that her nephew had been attacked at “the top of the town” - an area that has been referred to during the trial as the Catholic end of town - on Easter 2005.

She added: “I don’t know the details but he was badly hurt. He was beaten. He had staples in his head and had a broken leg.”

She also said it was “fair” to say Kerr had “run about with Catholic youths of the town and then started to run with Protestants” and that “half his family is Catholic”.

Five people deny murdering Michael McIlveen on 8 May, 2006.

A 20-year-old has already pleaded guilty to the murder and is awaiting sentence.

The case continues.

Today at the other location I deleted a comment and banner posted by a newly formed Lj community because I feel it is not in the best interests for readers of this journal to think I am recommending any groups for them to join. I feel a person’s privacy is very important, and if you join a group, you should do so of your own volition. I myself am very wary of groups and many individuals as today’s news would indicate to be a necessity.

Please dun be offended, but I do have an email, and if you want something posted, contact me via email first. If I know you or OF you, there is likely no problem. If I have never heard of you, I make no promises.

Cheers,
micheailin

**Received from Italy 32CSM

The Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association (IRPWA)welcome the latest development in the Aidan Hulme campaign whereby the Prison Governor in Portlaoise Gaol has agreed with the prisoners and Aidan that the OC and Adjutant will be allowed access to accompany Aidan when he is visited by a doctor or when visited by the Governor.

Today (15/10/08) such a visit took place and it is confirmed that gangrene is not present in Aidan’s foot rather the symptoms are a result of a severe infection for which Aidan is now being treated.

Staff from the hospital will now visit Aidan to clean the infected areas of his foot and renew dressings to prevent further spread of infection.

An assurance is also given that Aidan will have a consultant assessment before the end of the month and an agreed care plan is being implemented and developed. This will allow for a proper consultant led care management package.

This positive and jointly agreed approach to Aidan’s welfare will ensure early intervention in the event of deterioration and will allow for continuous monitoring of his condition.

The negative effects of the medication will also be closely monitored and with Aidan’s agreement can be reduced depending on his individual needs at any given time.

The IRPWA on behalf of the POW’s would like at this time to thank most sincerely the many people who moved to support Aidan in his time of need and to those who sent greetings.

We would like to extend this thanks to other republican organisations who pledged their support and advice to ensure that Aidan received immediate professional intervention.

Aidan is indeed most grateful for all the support he has received and extends his heartfelt appreciation to everyone involved.

Marion Price
IRPWA