SAOIRSE32

News Letter
11 November 2008

NEW tensions between loyalists and republicans emerged last night as the UDA said it is to launch a campaign to counter the unabating Sinn Fein threat to British culture.

But in a sign of the changed times, a statement released to the News Letter stressed this response would be non-violent.

The UDA angrily accused Sinn Fein of agitation and propaganda across the Province aimed at “challenging our very (British] existence at every level”.

Loyalists and republicans have been working together across interfaces in recent years and developed good communications.

This has helped quell tensions on the peacelines, with UDA, UVF and IRA representatives sitting together on some interface groups.

But the UDA said republican “racism, ignorance and bigotry” has been exposed, particularly during protests at the recent Armed Forces’ homecoming parade.

If unchecked, the Sinn Fein crusade was as dangerous to the Union as the 35 years of IRA violence, it added – warning the threat would be faced down “head-on”.

UDA leadership sources stressed they were entirely positive and peaceful in their aim and clarified they would retrain members for the fight on a new “battlefield”: meaning developing skills in education, politics, social and community work, media promotion and business.
“The violence is over,” it was stressed.

They also called for all unionist parties and loyalist groups to engage in roundtable discussions about a 10-year strategy to oppose the threat.

However, the statement, following yesterday’s Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) report, conspicuously did not mention if and when the UDA will decommission.

The IMC suggested the Government may have to set a deadline for the destruction of loyalist arms in order to bring the issue to a head.
The UDA instead focused on republicanism stirring up community tensions and creating animosity.

It said: “We need more of our members to participate in the challenges that lie ahead. They must understand that the threat from Irish republicanism and nationalism has not abated; they are challenging our very existence at every level.

“They are challenging through agitation and non-violence but it is every bit as dangerous and must be combated.”
The statement, issued to mark Remembrance Day, continued: “Our message to Irish republicanism and Irish nationalism is very simple – they must understand we have our own distinct identity and that we are British, and it is us who will define what we are and who we are, the same as we have come to understand that Irish republicans/nationalists must determine their own identity/nationality.”

The UDA said the “Sinn Fein propaganda machine” continues to press for human rights and recognition of the minority community’s right to national self determination and identity.

“They should take a lesson out of their own manual and recognise the identity and national self determination of the British people in Ulster,” the paramilitary group declared, alleging hypocrisy and sectarianism by Gerry Adams and others.

Specifically of the protests at the homecoming parade, the UDA said “Irish republican racism, ignorance and bigotry” had been exposed by Sinn Fein and Irish dissidents.
“They squandered a massive opportunity to reach out to unionism in a bid to understand us as a people and as human beings, whose only crime is that we are different to them,” the statement read.
The statement then focused on unionist politicians – calling on them to do more to represent loyalist working class communities.

The DUP, UUP and TUV have all warned this year of the need to counter the threat to British culture. The DUP has established internal working groups and vowed to support legal challenges to republican attempts to remove British symbols from public buildings.
*

:::Utv:::
**Via Newshound
10 Nov 2008

A breakaway loyalist paramilitary group, not active for a number of years, has claimed responsibility for a fire which destroyed a GAA clubhouse in Dungannon.

In a call to the u.tv newsroom on Saturday night, the Orange Volunteers group, said it was behind the blaze.

The caller said it was in retaliation for an arson attack on Ballinderry Orange Hall near Coagh last Sunday and an incident at Ballywillwill Orange Hall near Castlewellan towards the end of September, when IRA slogans were graffitied on the walls.

The blaze at the GAA premises on the Coalisland Road in Edendork was discovered at 5am on Saturday morning.

Six fire crews spent several hours tackling the blaze.

Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service District Commander Andy McCartney said the building was well alight on arrival.

“The roof collapsed and the gable walls were left unsupported so it was too dangerous for firefighters to enter the building.”

The Orange Volunteers emerged during the 1998 Drumcree conflict.

They are believed to be comprised largely of former UVF militants who disapprove of the Northern Ireland peace process.

At the height of their activity they were known to have up to 20 members.

In February 2001, the group called off its one year long ceasefire.

However, the group is not believed to have been been active for several years.

By Diana Rusk
Irish News
**Via Newshound
08/11/08

CONVICTED UFF killer Michael Stone lied in his autobiography when he denied killing a Catholic delivery man, the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) has said.

Stone was convicted of the murder of Dermott Hackett (37) when he was shot up to 16 times as he drove his van in Co Tyrone in May 1987.

Despite confessing to the murder at the time, Stone later claimed in his book None Shall Divide Us that he did not kill Mr Hackett.

The HET reviewed the original police investigations following the claims in Stone’s book and have now found there was “no evidential foundation” in the false confession claims.

It added that there was “significant circumstantial evidence that would support Stone’s own admissions as to the involvement in the murder.”

Last night Mr Hackett’s widow, Sylvia, welcomed the findings.

“I am relieved that the HET report into Dermott’s murder has found no evidence to undermine Michael Stone’s convictions,” she said.

“I also welcome the HET’s confirmation that Dermott had no involvement with any paramilitary group.

“This report has confirmed Dermott’s innocence and has provided a degree of closure for the family.”

The family’s solicitor, Brendan Murphy, said the HET had to overcome the “failure of the original RUC investigation to retain portions of the forensic records”.

“Nonetheless the HET have concluded that Michael Stone’s assertions in his book, that he made a false confession admitting to the murder of Mr Hackett, have no evidential foundation,” he said.

By Bryan Coll / Belfast
TIME
**Via Newshound
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008

It was known as the H-Blocks, Long Kesh, the Cages, Thatcher’s Breakers Yard. Northern Ireland’s notorious Maze prison drew more grim nicknames — and housed more paramilitary prisoners — than any other jail in Western Europe. Its last inmates were released under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which laid the foundation for an end to sectarian violence in the British province. And after bulldozers razed most of the former prison buildings last year, the site where Bobby Sands and nine other Republican militants died in a hunger strike in 1981 became little more than an abandoned relic of Northern Ireland’s darkest days.

But now one of this year’s most talked-about films has put the Maze back at center stage of Northern Ireland’s politics. Hunger, which charts Bobby Sands’ final weeks inside the Maze, opened in Britain last week and is set for a limited U.S. release next month. This is no jaunty jailhouse flick, but rather the most uncomfortable 96 minutes anyone is likely to spend in a cinema this year. Graphic violence, emaciated bodies and stomach-churning filth provide most of the avert-your-eyes moments.

But it’s the film’s timing that is making local politicians squirm. Hunger’s release comes as Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government is under pressure to agree on the final design for a much-contested, large-scale redevelopment program at the Maze site.

While many Protestants in Northern Ireland’s majority Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) view the hunger strikers as little more than convicted terrorists set on suicide, Catholic republicans allied to the DUP’s power-sharing partners, Sinn Fein, regard Sands as an iconic political hero. Given the politically loaded history of the prison, agreeing on what the new Maze should symbolize has proved as tricky as an escape from Alcatraz.

After more than four years of government planning and consulting, DUP First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein have failed to reach a decision. And now with the release of Hunger, public and political impatience is growing.

An early proposal for a Maze Stadium, which would host both Protestant-favored sports such as soccer and rugby and predominantly Catholic games like Gaelic football and hurling, received cross-party support at first, but is now likely to be scrapped for financial reasons. That leaves the most controversial proposal still on the table: an International Center for Conflict Transformation (ICCT) to be partly housed inside the remaining prison hospital, where Sands and other hunger strikers died. The project’s backers say the ICCT, with conference suites and an interpretive center, could act as a peace-making laboratory for visitors from conflict-ridden nations.

“The story of Long Kesh is one of defiance and resistance,” says Danny Morrison, a former spokesman for Bobby Sands and an ICCT supporter. “A lot of positive things came out of here. We should use the site to explain how [Northern Ireland’s] resolution came about. I can see students from Burma and the Middle East coming to use the space.”

For Dessie Waterworth, a former prison officer, the proposed ICCT represents little more than a shrine to the IRA. After working in the Maze during the hunger strikes and the preceding ‘dirty protests’, where inmates smeared excrement on their cell walls, Waterworth has less rosy memories of the place. He has no desire to see the remaining prison buildings salvaged.

“They should be flattened and ground into dust,” he says. “Why should we glorify terrorism and people who chose to kill themselves?”

Waterworth has been the target of more than 30 death threats from loyalist and republican paramilitary groups and says his family home has been bombed three times. He is not alone. A total of 29 prison officers from the Maze were murdered during the Troubles and an estimated 50 officers from Northern Ireland jails committed suicide during the same period.

“People forget that prison officers are victims as well,” says Waterworth, who dismisses the unsympathetic portrayal of his colleagues in Hunger as “propaganda.” “People here don’t want to see terrorists being honored. Are we going to end up putting up shrines where everyone died?”

It’s not just the Maze that is causing old grievances to resurface in Northern Ireland. The Consultative Group on the Past, a government-appointed body tasked with examining how to deal with the legacy of the Troubles, is expected to deliver its much-anticipated final report within weeks. The group will likely recommend a Truth Commission-style body to examine unsolved killings committed during Northern Ireland’s 30-year conflict. That tortuous process, plus the Maze’s post-conflict makeover, could mean that Northern Ireland’s contested past and the passions it kindled are about to resurface again. This time, though, the violence is more likely to be verbal than deadly.

RTÉ
Tuesday, 11 November 2008

The trial of five people for the murder of Michael McIlveen in Ballymena will formally open later this morning at Antrim Crown Court.

Mr McIlveen was attacked in Ballymena town centre in May 2006. He later died in hospital from brain injuries.

A prosecution lawyer has claimed that the Catholic schoolboy, who was known as Micky-Bo, was the victim of a sectarian attack.

The five people from Ballymena who are on trial include a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The other four are 19-year-old Jeff Colin Lewis from Rossdale, 22-year-old Christopher Kerr from Carnduff Drive, 20-year-old Aaron Wallace of Moat Road and 18-year-old Christopher McLeister from Knock Crescent, Ballymena. All five deny the murder charge.

A sixth defendant denies charges of affray and criminal damage.

A jury of eight women and four men has been sworn in at Antrim Crown Court.

They were told that another Ballymena youth has pleaded guilty to murdering Mr McIlveen.

He is in custody awaiting sentence.

On the following Cryptome link, you may download a .pdf file of the NI Monitoring Commission 20th Report (780KB)

Cryptome link

Breaking News.ie
11/11/2008

The UDA has issued a belligerent statement to mark Remembrance Day in the North, threatening to take action if nationalists threaten its “British-ness”.

Yesterday, the Independent Monitoring Commission suggested London set a deadline for decommissioning after “disappointing” progress.

In strong contrast to last year’s UDA statement, which was regarded as conciliatory, this year’s is more militant.

It says it remains ready to face the republican threat which, it says, is non-violent but every bit as dangerous and must be combated.

It accuses republicans of racism, ignorance and bigotry.

The Independent Monitoring Commission’s Joe Brosnan, a former secretary of the Department of Justice in Dublin, yesterday suggested a deadline be set for loyalists to move forward and decommission.

BBC
11 Nov 2008

The 90th anniversary of the end of World War I will be marked later.

The cenotaph in the grounds of Belfast City Hall will be open for those who wish to remember the men and women who died in the Great War.

A wreath laying ceremony will be held at the Orange Order’s headquarters in east Belfast, Schomberg House.

Harry Patch, 110, who is one of only a handful of surviving British WWI veterans, said: “It was 90 years ago, but you cannot forget it.”

On Sunday, Mr Patch laid a wreath in honour of his fallen comrades at a Remembrance ceremony in Wells, Somerset.

After the service at St Cuthbert’s Church, he joked: “It’s too much fuss about nothing. I just did my duty.”

BBC
11 Nov 2008

The family of one of the Disappeared, Danny McIlhone, are awaiting the result of a DNA test carried out on a body found in County Wicklow.

The remains may be those of the west Belfast man who went missing from his home in 1981.

They were found on Saturday during a search on behalf of the commission set up to find the bodies of the so-called Disappeared.

The family said they were hoping and praying for good news.

There have been two unsuccessful searches - in 1999 and 2000 - for Danny McIlhone’s remains.

In a statement in 1999, the IRA said Mr McIlhone was not suspected of being an informer but was being questioned about stealing IRA weapons.

It was claimed that he was killed in a struggle with the person who was guarding him.

On Tuesday, Oliver McVeigh, the brother of Columba McVeigh whose remains have never been found, appealed for more information.

“We pray that there is some positive news for the McElhone family, but there is no positive news for our family at the moment.

“It is very traumatic, all the families want is for the people to come forward with the information and get these people a Christian burial.

“The McElhone incident has proved that if the right information comes forward, these experts can find them.”

News of the discovery has been welcomed by Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.

“The apparent discovery of Danny McIlhone’s remains will come as a great relief for his family,” said Mr Adams.

“It is also evidence that republicans continue to work diligently on this important issue.

“It will also be an encouragement to the other families who are still hoping that the remains of their loved ones will be found.”

Alex Attwood, SDLP, said: “The heart of the whole community will go out to the family if these reports prove correct and there will be every understanding and solidarity with the family who may now see the return of their loved one.

“This only confirms that serious questions still continue about the conduct of the IRA in this case of abduction and death and in all the cases of the Disappeared.”

Although he went missing in 1981, the IRA did not claim responsibility for Mr McIlhone’s death until 1999.

Privacy

“We hope and pray for good news,” read a statement released by the McIlhone family on Monday night. “We also ask the media to respect our privacy and stay away from the family.”

Tom Brady, security editor with the Irish Independent, said he believed that there should be some confirmation soon.

“They (garda) have been working on this since Saturday. We could have a positive identification reasonably quickly,” he said.

“At least it will give some sense of closure to the family.”

Mr Brady said there had been ongoing contact between the independent commission for the location of victims’ remains and representatives of the Provisional Republican movement which may have helped in locating the remains which were found on Saturday in the Ballynultagh area.

The IRA admitted in 1999 that it murdered and buried nine of the so-called Disappeared - Seamus Wright, Kevin McKee, Jean McConville, Columba McVeigh, Brendan Megraw, John McClory, Brian McKinney, Eamon Molloy and Mr McIlhone - in secret locations.

The bodies of four - Eamon Molloy, Brian McKinney, John McClory and Jean McConville - have been found.

Others who vanished during the Troubles include Gerry Evans, Charles Armstrong, Robert Nairac and Seamus Ruddy, who disappeared in France and whose murder was admitted by the INLA.

Border Fox loses his fortune and now old INLA comrades target him

Sunday Life
**Via Newshound
Sunday, 9 November 2008

Notorious INLA godfather Dessie O’Hare lost a fortune when his brother Paddy took his own life and now has even more to worry about.

Former INLA Prisioner Dessie O’Hare at his brother’s ‘Patrick funeral at St Patrick’s church in Ballymacnab Co Armagh

The self-confessed serial killer — known as the Border Fox — had secretly invested in his sibling’s property business.

But when the construction crash hit it left Paddy (49) with little more than a handful of properties — all with negative equity — and facing ruin.

O’Hare attended his brother’s funeral (main picture) in south Armagh last month as police quietly patrolled the church perimeter in case an attempt was made on his life.

One republican source told Sunday Life: “There’s no doubt Paddy killed himself because the economic slump took a terrible toll on his once-profitable business. Dessie would have felt the pinch, too, but he has concerns other than his bank account at the moment.

“He’s told many people he’s a born-again Christian devoted to charitable causes, but while he insists the past is in the past, he is terrified the past is about to catch up with him.”

And O’Hare — once the most wanted man in Ireland — has good reason to be fearful.

His friendship with terrorist thug Declan ‘Whacker’ Duffy has put him in the firing line of former INLA comrades and Irish gang boss ‘Fat Freddie’ Thompson.

An uneasy stand-off that has seen Armagh man Duffy deposed as head of the terror group’s Dublin ‘brigade’ could escalate into a full-blown and bloody feud. As a result O’Hare — who served 15 years of a 40-year sentence for the kidnapping of a Dublin dentist — has become increasingly paranoid about his personal security.

He is rarely seen in public and those living close to his detached home between Newtownhamilton and Keady have been warned he “just wants to live out his life in peace”.

In the year following his extended temporary release from Castlerea Prison in April 2006, he was said to be working with a charity for the disabled and had been an assistant to a group of pilgrims on a trip to Lourdes.

But O’Hare (52) has also good reason to fear that the law is not yet finished with him. By his own admission, O’Hare killed 26 people.

He announced after being released from an eight-year stretch in 1986 that he had become a “pacifist” — but immediately went back to waging war on members of the security forces living in isolated parts of Armagh.

In 1987 O’Hare and two other INLA members kidnapped dentist John O’Grady, a son-in-law of successful pharmaceutical businessman Dr Austin Darragh, and demanded an IR£1.5 ransom.

In order to force the family to submit to his demands, O’Hare hacked off the little finger from each of Mr O’Grady’s hands.

Their terrified victim was freed after 23 days when gardai raided a farmhouse in Co Cork. O’Hare escaped, but a month later was captured after a shootout which left gang member Martin Bryan dead.

Since his release and return to south Armagh police have kept tabs on him from a distance, but have made no attempt to arrest him, largely, it’s believed, because his murderous activities pre-

dated the Good Friday Agreement. But Protestant victims’ campaigner Willie Frazer believes the Historical Enquiries Team may be set to act.

One case they will examine centres on the murder of Margaret Ann Hearst (24), a part-time member of the UDR who was shot dead in front of her three-year-old daughter at their home in October 1977.

Just over 10 years later, on New Year’s Day 1987, O’Hare opened fire on the Armagh home of a part-time UDR soldier as he was saying goodbye to his elderly mother.

Both were hit in the hail of gunfire and 70-year-old Iris Farley later died.

Mr Frazer of FAIR said: “A lot of decent, honest, good people were murdered by O’Hare’s gang, although the police keep telling us they have no evidence.

“In the case of Iris Farley, it’s right there in front of them. Dessie O’Hare had already tried to kill her son and police had a guard on their home. They were obviously there for a reason.

“As a group we’ve had very little joy from the Chief Constable, but I’m hopeful the HET will act because we won’t be giving up the fight to bring O’Hare before the courts in Northern Ireland for his crimes.”

Belfast Telegraph
Monday, 10 November 2008

The mayor of a town in Donegal who was originally from Co Fermanagh was one of three people killed in a horrific two-vehicle smash yesterday morning.

The Sinn Fein Mayor of Ballyshannon PJ Branley (58) and his front seat passenger Dessie McNulty (40), a member of Sinn Fein from Ballintra, were killed when his van collided with an oncoming car on the N15, eight kilometres north of Ballyshannon in Co Donegal.

Also killed was the driver of the car, Michael O’Sullivan (17) from Ballyshannon who was on his way to visit his girlfriend in Ballintra, when the crash happened shortly after 10am yesterday morning.

Garda sources say the car being driven by the teenager, a Honda Integra, went out of control after coming off a slight bend in the townland of Ballymagroarty and collided with the van which was travelling in the opposite direction.

Sinn Fein councillor Padraig MacLochlainn confirmed that the two Sinn Fein workers were on their way to distribute party newsletters outside church gates when the crash occurred.

He said: “They were carrying out party business which is a measure of what committed republicans they both were.”

Emergency services used cutting equipment to remove the dead and injured from the mangled wreckage.

Both Mr O’Sullivan and Mr McNulty were pronounced dead at the scene and their remains were removed to Sligo General Hospital for post mortem examinations.

Mr Branley was taken to Sligo General Hospital suffering from serious injuries but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Cllr MacLochlainn added: “PJ had been the mayor of Ballyshannon since June and was recently selected to represent the party in south Donegal in the local elections next year. He was an inspirational colleague and one of life’s gentlemen.

“Dessie was one of our senior members on the ground and a key member of PJ’s election team. The whole party is absolutely shattered with the tragic news.”

Mr Branley was a father of six and grandfather of 10, and originally came from Fermanagh.

Mr McNulty, who worked as a painter and decorator, is survived by his elderly mother and a wide family circle.

Local priest Father Seamus Dagens said the family and community were distraught by the tragedy.

Teenage driver Michael O’Sullivan had moved from England to the town with his mother and older sister seven years ago.

The scene of the crash remained closed throughout the day with traffic being diverted while accident investigators carried out a detailed examination.

Kerryman
Tuesday November 11 2008

Sinn Fein says it hopes the family of Danny McIlhone will get some closure from the discovery of remains in Co. Wicklow, believed to be that of the missing 19-year-old.

The teenager disappeared in west Belfast in 1981.

Remains were found in the Ballynultagh area of Wicklow by a team working for the independent commission which searches for the remains of people killed and buried in secret by the IRA.

Danny McIlhone’s family say they are hoping and praying for good news and have asked for privacy.

Sinn Fein MEP Mary Lou McDonald has said Republicans have been forthcoming with information.

Belfast Media
Andersonstown News Thursday
**Via IRA2 - Yahoo group

Two former Blanketmen from Ballymurphy have died in the space of a week.

Cormac Mac Airt, aged 56, who originally came from the Short Strand, passed away last Thursday after a long battle against cancer.

Cormac, an ex-internee and Blanketman, was well known by people from around the country. He was a member of the rearguard in the 1983 escape from the H-Blocks. He is survived by his wife Cathy and five children.

Jimmy Duffy was one of the first Blanketmen. He and Fra McCann MLA and Gerard ‘Beef’ Murray were the first Blanketmen.

They were on the blanket in Crumlin Road Gaol. Kieran Nugent was the first Blanketman in the H-Blocks.

Jimmy Duffy, aged 62, also an ex-internee, will be buried from his New Barnsley home on Thursday at 10.30am. He is survived by his brother and sisters who are travelling from America for the funeral.

Suzanne Breen
Tribune.ie
**Via Newshound
November 9, 2008

The family of murdered Belfast man, Robert McCartney, have said they believe the police have no interest in bringing his killers to justice. They have begun legal action to obtain police files on the case.

In their first interview since three men charged in connection with events on the night of the 2005 murder were found not guilty, the McCartney sisters said they believed the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) investigation was effectively over.

“The police haven’t been in touch with us once since the verdict four months ago,” Catherine McCartney told the Sunday Tribune. “Regardless of what they say publicly, we believe the PSNI murder investigation is effectively over.

“We suspect that if new witnesses came forward, they’d be sent away. Given the Stormont political set-up, there isn’t the will to pursue an investigation into an IRA murder.”

The sisters’ fears are shared by Traditional Unionist MEP, Jim Allister, who is “seriously concerned” following correspondence between himself and PSNI Chief Constable, Hugh Orde. “The police seem utterly uninterested in this case,” Allister said.

Catherine McCartney said the family had hired a solicitor to request access to PSNI files: “The prosecution case was unbelievably weak. We want to see if a stronger case could have been presented. We want transcripts of police interviews with those arrested to establish what questions were actually asked.

“We were told footage from the Law Courts’ CCTV cameras, opposite Magennis’s bar, were so grainy they were of little use to the investigation. We want to see the tapes for ourselves.” The family suspect one of those involved in the assault, who has never been charged, is a police informer.

The McCartneys’ lawyer is seeking a judicial review into the Northern Ireland Coroner’s decision to refuse an inquest into Robert’s death. The Sunday Tribune has obtained correspondence on the murder investigation between Jim Allister MEP and Hugh Orde.

The PSNI told Allister the case remained open but added: “There are currently no new lines of enquiry. We are dependant on witnesses coming forward to testify against those responsible.” However, Allister dismissed the replies as “evasive” on matters such as how many officers were currently assigned to the investigation.

He quizzed Orde on whether police were investigating possible perversion of the course of justice. One reason Judge Gillen acquitted those charged was that the IRA had meetings with two of the three chief prosecution witnesses. Gillen feared some evidence may “have been influenced or indeed directed by the IRA”.

The court had heard meetings between witnesses and the IRA were facilitated through Sinn Féin figures including Gerry Kelly. Allister said: “I’m stunned that five months after this emerged in court, the PSNI still haven’t even questioned Kelly.” Allister also raised the issue with DUP First Minister, Peter Robinson, in whose office Kelly is a junior minister.

“I assume you would be disapproving of such behaviour (facilitating meetings between witnesses and the IRA). The question is what you intend to do about it?” Allister asked Robinson.

By Brian Payne
Amnesty.org.uk
10 November 2008

On the 16th September of this year, five people were taken to hospital after shots were fired at a house in the Lagmore Avenue area of West Belfast. Then, on the 10th October a man was shot in both legs in West Belfast. On the 29th October a man in his fifties was beaten with crowbars during a paramilitary-style gang attack in East Belfast. Finally, in probably the most severe example, a man suffered horrific leg injuries when fired upon with a shotgun in a bookmaker’s establishment in the Meenan Square area of Derry.

These are just a few examples of violence perpetrated by paramilitaries on members of their own community in the last few months. They share similar attributes such as an emphasis on injuring the legs of victims and a reason for the attack is normally provided stating some form of antisocial behaviour as justification. These attacks also span ethnic boundaries, as both unionist and nationalist communities in Northern Ireland have experienced resurgence in punishment violence in recent times.

There are, however, important differences both in the causes of punishment violence and the manner in which communities are reacting to its prevalence. In predominantly protestant/loyalist areas, paramilitaries periodically use punishment violence against members of their own communities either in an effort to achieve and maintain social control, to support their involvement in crime, or to secure territory from competing loyalist groups. Punishment violence in loyalist communities tends to be tolerated to a greater extent than attacks by republican paramilitaries. This can be explained by the greater pressure placed upon republicans that originates from their presence in the new political dispensation. The extent to which loyalist paramilitaries have been under less political pressure to cease punishment attacks is also matched by the muted response of the media, and to a lesser extent, the reaction of some community groups in relation to incidences of punishment violence in protestant/loyalist areas.

In predominantly catholic/nationalist communities, the increase in punishment violence is connected to an upsurge in the activities of dissident republican groups. Many commentators such as Chief Constable Hugh Orde, believe this increase is linked to events such as the recent paralysis of the Northern Ireland Assembly and stagnation in the proposed bid to devolve policing and justice powers to Northern Ireland. Others, such as Henry McDonald writing in the Guardian, believe Hugh Orde’s view to be over simplistic in its conception of republicanism. Instead, McDonald argues that those who have been signing up to dissident groups are motivated by the same ideologies that fuelled the early years of the conflict:

“Although this foundational ideology has been severely weakened by decades of partition and the changing nature of Irish society, particularly in the south, it still exists and remains attractive to a potentially violent minority of disaffected northern nationalist youth.”

One area, in which dissident groups can appear strong in the eyes of their community, is by using punishment attacks as a rapid response to crime and disorder. Attacks will often result in horrific injury for victims, and evidence of an offence is normally reported by word of mouth, ensuring the possibility of mistaken identity or hidden agendas contributing to an innocent person being subjected to violence. The prospect of fast, retributive justice remains popular to some in communities that have grown accustomed to violence as a solution to a lack of effective community policing throughout the conflict

In the Colin area of West Belfast the resurgence in punishment violence has led to a coalition of community workers, political parties and the local clergy joining forces to condemn the attacks and call for their cessation. The group argue that there is no support within the vast majority of the community for punishment attacks and it has been shown in the past that violence has no effect on levels of anti-social behaviour. This, a view supported by the two acting community-based restorative justice groups in Northern Ireland, both of which, originated as a viable alternative to punishment violence at a time when attacks were endemic.

Community Restorative Justice (CRJ) (in nationalist communities) and Northern Ireland Alternatives (NIA) (in loyalist communities) argue strongly that the only way to tackle issues such as anti-social behaviour is through a process of putting the community at the heart of the criminal justice system, empowering the community in a manner which gives them a voice in how these difficult issues can be tackled. The groups urge members of the community to trust in their human rights based approach to tackling crime and antisocial behaviour rather than taking the destructive path of fuelling further punishment violence.

As a proactive community organisation, CRJ take the issue of community a step further. They believe that community justice is only one piece of the jigsaw that needs to be completed in order to empower communities enough to make paramilitary violence a thing of the past. The organisation lobbies the various statutory agencies to ensure that housing is of an adequate standard, the community is a safe place to live in and young people from the most deprived backgrounds get a good education. Victims of crime in nationalist communities are encouraged to report offences to the police, enabling a proactive relationship which ensures the police are held accountable for crime. These measures are an important contribution to the regeneration of communities where decades of conflict have left a legacy of unemployment, poverty, ill health and lack of self-esteem.

It has long been accepted that paramilitary violence has a detrimental effect on community development and confidence. By supporting the work of groups that are attempting to embrace human rights and empower communities, the people of Northern Ireland can play their part in removing the factors that contribute to a disaffected minority feeling the need to turn to paramilitary violence. Only then can we truly see an end to punishment violence.

Breaking News.ie
10/11/2008

The head of Chernobyl Aid Ireland, Eoin Ryan MEP, is to meet with the Belarus ambassador to the EU in Brussels tomorrow to discuss easing travel arrangements for the children of Chernobyl who want to visit Ireland.

There are as many as 2,500 children from Chernobyl who visit Ireland every year and 200 children from Belarus want to visit Ireland this coming Christmas.

Ryan will meet the ambassador Senko Vladimer together with Chernobyl Aid Ireland chief executive William Grant.

“The primary purpose of this meeting is to ensure that agreement can be reached between Ireland and the Belarus government concerning travel arrangements for the children of Chernobyl who want to visit Ireland,” said Ryan.

“The reality is that the Belarusian government contacted the Irish Government (and other governments around the world) last August and said that a new agreement would have to be put in place between Ireland and the Belarus government concerning future travel arrangements for children from Chernobyl travelling to Ireland.

“The Belarus government sought to revise our arrangements between our two countries dealing with these issues because of the fact that one child from Belarus did not return to Belarus after visiting Italy. A similar incident took place in America this year as well.

“We must ensure that we do all in our power to guarantee that an agreement is reached between Ireland and Belarus so that these children can visit Ireland this coming Christmas.

“Only one country to date, which is Italy, has concluded such a bilateral agreement with Belarus on the specific issue.”

BBC
10 Nov 2008

Republican dissidents are more active than at any time in the last four and a half years, the Independent Monitoring Commission has said.

Dissident republicans have been behind a number of recent attacks

The body, which monitors paramilitary activity, said dissidents are directing their efforts to kill PSNI officers.

In its 20th report the IMC said dissidents have “engineered” public disorder to expose officers to attack.

It said the current political vacuum in Northern Ireland is likely being exploited by the groups.

In its report to the British and Irish governments, the IMC said dissidents had sought to raise tensions with loyalists during the parades season.

It said in previous years, when one group was active, another would be less so.

“In the past few months the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA have been more active at the same time,” the report said.

“One possible reason for this may be a perception that the absence of progress on the devolution of justice and policing has created a political vacuum, or may have caused disaffection among republican supporters, which the dissidents think they are able to exploit.”

As in its last assessment, the report once again confirms, that the Provisional IRA had maintained an “exclusively political path”.

On the subject of loyalists, the IMC said that although some loyalists want to make progress, they still had work to do especially in the area of decommissioning and that progress had been slow.

The report covered the period between 1 March and the end of August.

Responding to it, Secretary of State Shaun Woodward said society in Northern Ireland has clearly and decisively moved on but that challenges remain to secure an end to paramilitarism.

“That process would be greatly enhanced by the devolution of policing and justice powers,” he said.

The Republic’s justice minister, Dermot Ahern, said dissident republicans had no mandate and represented only themselves.

“Members of these groups need to leave behind their failed ideology, move on and join the rest of the people of this island in rejecting violence,” he said.

DUP assembly member William McCrea dismissed the link between political deadlock and dissident violence.

“I cannot agree with anyone who suggests that dissident republicans are rioting in the streets, shooting at the police and planting bombs because they want to see the immediate devolution of policing and justice powers to the Stormont assembly,” he said.

Ulster Unionist Tom Elliot said the report made “grim reading”.

“We certainly owe the security forces a great deal of thanks, but with the potential for more attacks a reality we also need to give them our full support as they work to uphold the peace,” he said.

BBC
10 Nov 2008

The group looking at how best to deal with NI’s troubled past will not recommend an amnesty for murderers.

Consultative Group on the Past co-chairman Denis Bradley said: “People have said to us, ‘why not just draw a line in the sand?’

The group was set up to examine the legacy of the Troubles

“But that would mean no more prosecutions and that is the same as introducing a general amnesty.

“Let me state in the clearest terms possible. There will be no amnesty recommended in our report.”

The group, co-chaired by Lord Eames, is still working on its final report, which, Mr Bradley said, would be published early next year.

‘Real cost’

Speaking at an event organised by victims group Wave and Queen’s University Belfast’s School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mr Bradley dismissed suggestions that too much money had already been spent on dealing with the legacy of the Troubles.

“If we base dealing with the past solely on how much it will cost in financial terms then we will be making a huge error of judgement,” he said.

“The real costs to our society and for future generations could be far more damaging than a purely financial burden. This is not a time for short-term strategy, we have to look to the long term.”

Mr Bradley said it was unfair to place the burden of dealing with the past on victims alone, and called on all sections of society to look at how they could help.

“Only with a collective response can we hope to build a shared and reconciled future in which we do not create a new generation of victims,” he said.

Key recommendations

Details emerged earlier this year about some of the report’s key recommendations.

It is expected to call for the establishment of an independent commission for a five-year period to take over the role of re-examining all killings during the Troubles, something currently carried out by the Historical Enquiries Team.

The commission would also investigate controversial killings where there are allegations of collusion with the security forces - a role currently undertaken by the Police Ombudsman.

In cases where there is no possibility of a prosecution, the commission would ask the families of victims if they want to know details about what happened.

If the families agree, the commission would then call on those responsible - whether it was paramilitary organisations, the police or army - to come forward and provide details.

There would not be a general amnesty - but those who agree to meet the commission would be given immunity for the information they provide, meaning it could not be used for prosecutions.

The chief constable has insisted that the killers of Paul Quinn can still be caught.

Paul Quinn was beaten to death in October 2007

Sir Hugh Orde was speaking after meeting the parents of the 21-year-old south Armagh man.

Mr Quinn was beaten to death at farm buildings near Castleblayney in County Monaghan in October 2007.

Despite numerous arrests, no-one has ever been charged with his murder. “This will happen, it’s simply a question of time,” said Sir Hugh.

“What we’re looking for now is someone, even someone who was involved in it, to step forward.”

“Because rest assured at some stage in the future, one of these people will break ranks, and will talk to us, and the others will go down for a long period of time.”

BBC
10 Nov 2008

Partial remains discovered during a search in County Wicklow may be those of a Belfast man abducted by the IRA.

The first search for the remains of Danny McElhone in Wicklow in 1999

Danny McIlhone, 19, from the west of the city, went missing in 1981.

However, it was not until 1999 that the IRA claimed responsibility for his death. DNA tests on the remains, found on Saturday, are being carried out.

“Mr McIlhone’s family have been informed of the find and are being kept up to date,” said BBC NI home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney.

The search in the Ballynultagh area was being carried out on behalf of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains, which liaises with families of the so-called Disappeared.

There have been two unsuccessful searches - in 1999 and 2000 - for Danny McIlhone’s remains.

In a statement nine years ago, the IRA said Mr McIlhone was not suspected of being an informer but was being questioned about stealing IRA weapons.

It was claimed that he was killed in a struggle with the person who was guarding him.