SAOIRSE32

BBC
15 Jan 09

The Police Ombudsman’s office has agreed to withdraw a report and apologise to the family of murder victim Mary Travers.

Nuala O’Loan’s office examined claims the murder investigation was frustrated in a bid to shield an IRA informer.

MURDERED: Mary Travers with her father Thomas and mother Joan

Mary’s magistrate father,Tom Travers, was badly injured in the fatal gun attack in south Belfast in 1984.

The office has now accepted Mr Travers should not have been identified in the report and it contained errors.

This acceptance by Ms O’Loan’s successor, Al Hutchinson, was made in the High Court on Thursday.

Derry Journal
16 January 2009

The threat posed by dissident republicans is affecting the police’s ability to tackle everyday crime, according to the PSNI Assistant Chief Constable.

ACC Judith Gillespie made the comment during a visit to the city on Wednesday when she met community groups in a number of areas of the city.

She visited the Rosemount Resource Centre where she met a group of senior citizens and listened to their concerns about anti-social behaviour in the area and how the police are dealing with it.

The senior PSNI officer said combating terrorism takes officers away from their normal duties.

“It is a real concern but we have to put it in proportion. It is one element of our work but it does take up time and resources which could be better directed elsewhere. We do have to be careful in the face of the threat but it will not deflect us from putting officers on the ground where they are needed,” she said.

ACC Gillespie also said engaging with local communities was crucial in delivering a better policing service.

“It is important because the more contact we have with communities the more we will understand the needs of people and help us address those needs.

‘Better picture’

“Surveys are one thing but actually going out and sitting and talking with people about the situation in their areas gives us a far better picture of what is happening and what we need need to be doing,” she said.

Derry Journal
16 January 2009

A leading dissident republican from Derry has claimed he was stopped an detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for having anti-Raytheon posters.

Gary Donnelly from the 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM) said the incident happened when a car he was travelling in on Sunday night was stopped in the Creggan area.

“I was in a car with another member of the 32CSM when we were stopped because of a faulty rear light. After the driver said he would replace the bulb the policeman looked into the back of the car and saw anti-Raytheon protest and said he was stopping us under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. It seemed strange that he changed his mind when he realised who was in the car and when he saw the posters.

I’m sure hundreds of people who have been taking part in the anti-Israeli protests have these posters. Will they be stopped and questioned? Does this now mean that protesting against Raytheon is considered to be an act of terrorism?” he asked.

Responding to the claims, a spokesperson for the PSNI said; “If anyone has cause to complain about the actions of any police officer they should contact the Police Ombudsman.”

By John Coulter
Tribune.ie
January 15, 2009

SINN FEIN has increased the influence of key southern Irish representatives in what is being seen as the most significant shift in power within the republican movement since the Provisional IRA ceasefire in 1994. Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald is set to become Sinn Fein vice president at the party’s Ard Fhéis, or annual conference, next month.

This, together with the promotion of other southern activists, will bolster the party’s European campaign as well as a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty expected in October. Sinn Fein played a significant part in the “No” camp’s victory in the Republic last year.

Later this month Sinn Fein will commemorate the 90th anniversary of the formation of the First Dail Eireann in Dublin in 1919. The previous year the party won 73 of Ireland’s 105 seats at Westminster when the whole island was under British rule.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said: “For some time, and for very obvious reasons, Sinn Fein’s main political strength has been in the north and the border counties.

“For the last number of years there has been an ongoing project to make Sinn Fein fit for purpose everywhere on the island and to make republicanism relevant to people in their daily lives.

In my view, this has seen considerable progress.

“This is a long-term project. Sinn Fein as a party is in transition. A number of significant changes to the party structure and leadership are expected at this year’s Ard Fhéis.”

News Letter
16 January 2009

SECTARIAN graffiti has been daubed on a daycare unit catering for children aged from five months to five years old in Derry.

Staff at the Foyle Day Care centre based at Kennedy Place in the Fountain estate were shocked when they arrived at work on Wednesday to find slogans scrawled in black paint on their premises.

Loyalist leaders yesterday said they would condemn anyone involved in painting sectarian graffiti.

At the same time as the attack on the daycare centre, other graffiti targeting a resident of the Fountain estate also appeared on walls in the area. All of it was written using black paint.

A spokeswoman for the parents’ committee at the centre said there were 20 members of staff who were all female, adding that one of the slogans said “Taigs out”.

She said: “This happens every year, though it usually starts around April.

“It’s getting out of hand and is very distressing. We have a mixed staff and we are the biggest employer in the Fountain.

“The staff is mixed and the intake of children is mixed.”

The spokeswoman said 48 children are being cared for at the facility at present, which has been based at its current premises for 20 years.

“It’s getting worse. Something happens every year, but all we want to do is get on with our jobs.”

Police are investigating the matter.

“It’s getting worse. Something happens every year but all we want to do is get on with our jobs. We don’t know whether the godfathers are behind it but our fear is that they are.”

“It’s getting worse. Something happens every year but all we want to do is get on with our jobs. We don’t know whether the godfathers are behind it but our fear is that they are.”

“We don’t know whether the godfathers are behind it but our fear is that they are.”

Police are investigatingWhile such incidents have happened before, she said the organisation tried to adopt a “low-key” approach. She added that the property was owned by the Housing Executive which was trying to get it cleaned up.

The spokeswoman said: “It’s getting worse. Something happens every year but all we want to do is get on with our jobs. We don’t know whether the godfathers are behind it but our fear is that they are.”

David Malcolm, a local spokesman for the UPRG, which has political links to the UDA, said he did not believe loyalists were behind the attack.

Mr Malcolm said: “We would condemn this sort of action. I would say it was not the work of loyalists. Loyalism is now about doing our part to bring communities together. Criminality is a matter for the police and I would urge anyone with information about this to go to the PSNI.”

A resident of the estate, who asked not to be named said: “I’m not aware of graffiti at the Day Care centre but there was other graffiti scrawled in the estate that night using black paint, which was offensive and was targeted at a resident. People demanded that it be removed straight away.”

By Diana Rusk
Irish News
15/01/2009

FAMILIES of 12 people who died when an IRA bomb ripped through a British army coach are appealing for survivors of the explosion to contact them ahead of the 35th anniversary, writes Diana Rusk.

Nine off-duty soldiers and three civilians were killed when the bomb detonated on February 4 1974 as the coach travelled along the M62 motorway near Bradford.

Among the victims was a young family – Corporal Clifford Haughton (23) his wife, Linda, (22) and their sons five-year-old Lee and two-year-old Robert.

Families of those who lost their lives are to gather near the site of the explosion on the 35th anniversary next month to re-dedicate a plaque bearing the names of the victims.

An English oak tree will also be planted in memory of those who lost their lives when the bomb, hidden in the luggage compartment of the coach, exploded.

The families are hoping to make contact with survivors of the atrocity and those who helped at the scene in the aftermath.

Mo Norton whose 24-year-old soldier brother, Terence Griffin, died in the bomb, said she wanted anyone who was affected by the tragedy to know they were welcome to attend the ceremony.

“I know that it might not be an easy day for those who survived, but we would really appreciate any help to find those who were there on the night, whether they were on the coach or who helped in any way,” she said.

Judith Ward, from Stockport, Cheshire, was jailed for the bombing in 1974 but her conviction was later quashed by the Court of Appeal and she was released in 1992.

By Maeve Connolly
Irish News
15/01/2009

A LITTLE sleuthing turns up all manner of interesting facts about people of interest around at the time of the 1911 census. Bit-by-bit information provided by every household in Ireland almost 100 years ago is being put online by the National Archives in Dublin and counties Down, Antrim, Kerry and Dublin are already available with the remaining counties due within months.

Among those who gave details of their occupation, religious background and level of education included the man who helped design the Titanic and would be among the more than 1,500 passengers who died on the vessel’s maiden voyage.

Thomas Andrews was 38 at the time and living with his wife helot and their four-month-old daughter Elizabeth at number 12 Windsor

Avenue in Belfast. His occupation was listed as ‘shipbuilder’.

There were also five servants listed as living in the property, ranging from 19 to 52 years old.

They included a cook, nurse maid, nursing assistant, general servant and parlour maid.

Domestic staff were a common feature in the homes of the affluent, including the clergy.

Then Bishop of Down and Connor John Towill resided at 21 Chichester Park in north Belfast and the year-long was cared for by housekeeper Mary Donnelly (45) and cook Catherine reaving (63).

West Belfast’s Trench House was the family home of the Hamills, one of the richest Catholic families at that time.

Built in 1880 the house passed into the hands of the Church following the death of the last family member.

The listed building became a teacher training college but closed in 1996 and was demolished shortly afterwards despite a public outcry.

At the time of the census sisters Elizabeth (41) and abby gill Hamill (39) lived there along with three nephews, Arthur (18), Patrick (17) and Robert (11) who were all listed as scholars, either attending school or receiving tuition at home.

Another influential figure at that time was Presbyterian minister and Home Rule supporter Reverend JG Armour.

The year-long lived at 25 Rodenfoot Street in Ballymoney with wife Janie Stanley Adams (56), an elderly aunt and two servants.

Rev Armour organised a public meeting of Protestants in the Co Antrim town to support Home Rule and among the speakers was Roger Casement who was later executed for his part in the Easter Rising.

Writer CS Lewis can be tracked to an address in east Belfast.

He is not registered as living at 10 Circular Road as he had already been sent to join his brother at boarding school in England shortly before their mother’s 1908 death.

His solicitor father, Albert James Lewis (47), continued to reside there along with a 50-year-old widowed cook and 22-year-old housemaid.

The census is available to view for free at www.census.nationalarchives.ie.

By Barry McCaffrey
Irish News
15/01/2009

A FORMER ‘lieutenant’ of Mount Vernon UVF leader Mark Haddock was last charged in connection with the murder of UDA man Tommy English.

Darren Moore (39) is understood to have walked into a police station in Antrim with his solicitor shortly after 11am yesterday.

Moore’s arrest is being seen as a major development in the police investigation into the activities of Mount Vernon UVF and comes less than a week after its leader Mark Haddock was charged with the UDA man’s murder.

Throughout the 1990s Moore was seen as Haddock’s most trusted ‘lieutenant’ inside the Mount Vernon UVF.

In 1997 they were both convicted of a UVF attack on the Golden Hind Bar in Portadown.

In August 1997 Moore is alleged to have told Raymond McCord jnr that he was to go to a disused quarry on the outskirts of Newtownabbey where he was to receive a punishment shooting from the UVF for drug dealing.

However the 22 year-old was instead beaten to death, allegedly on Haddock’s orders.

A complaint made by Raymond McCord snr to then police ombudsman Dame Nuala O’Loan in 2003 would prove to be the first in a series of incidents which would lead to Haddock being exposed as a Special Branch agent who had been protected by police, despite allegedly being involved in 19 murders.

In December 2002 Haddock and Moore went on the run after an attack on Newtownabbey doorman Trevor Gowdy during which he was stabbed and beaten with hammers, hatchets and a baseball bat.

In August 2003 they were both charged with attempted murder.

The charges against Moore were dramatically dropped in 2005 after Mr Gowdy broke down while giving evidence in court.

The charges against Haddock continued as forensic evidence linked him to the scene.

However, the friendship between Moore and Haddock soured in May 2006 as growing evidence emerged that Haddock and other key members of Mount Vernon UVF were Special Branch agents.

On May 30 2006 Haddock agreed to meet Moore outside an Orange Hall in Newtownabbey to try to broker a deal with the UVF.

When Haddock turned up for the meeting he was shot six times and left for dead.

He initially named Moore and another close associate, Ronald Bowe, as his attackers.

Both were charged with attempted murder but Haddock refused to give evidence and charges were dropped.

Moore’s arrest yesterday is understood to be linked to witness statements given by Newtownabbey brothers David and Robert Stewart.

The brothers had originally been charged with the English killing but instead pleaded guilty to reduced charges in exchange for giving evidence against their former UVF associates’ role in the UDA man’s murder.

Haddock and Moore had been arrested within days of Mr English’s murder but claimed to have been at a fireworks display when the shooting took place.

It is understood that one of the killer gang spat on Mr English’s wife Doreen as she struggled during the attack.

Detectives from the Historical Enquiries Team are understood to have sent swabs of saliva and hair samples originally taken from the murder scene for new tests.

Loyalist sources last night claimed that Ronald Bowe had gone missing from the Mount Vernon area in recent days.

By Barry McCaffrey
Irish News
15/01/2009

Special Branch informer Mark Haddock’s failure to prevent The Irish News from reporting on any reengagement in crime after his release from prison was last night described as a “significant victory” for investigative journalism.

Earlier this week the former Mount Vernon UVF leader abandoned a legal challenge to prevent The Irish News, BBC and UTV from reporting on his activities if he reengages in crime when he is eventually released from prison.

The Special Branch agent had been due for release tomorrow but in a dramatic development was last week charged with the murder in October 2000 of UDA leader Tommy English.

Haddock (40), whose alleged involvement in 18 other murders is being investigated by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET), had his case funded by Legal Aid.

The Irish News, BBC and UTV were jointly represented by attorney general-designate John Larkin QC and Bernard Fitzpatrick BL for The Irish News, instructed by James F Fitzpatrick Solicitors (Irish News), Roger Watt of C&J Black Solicitors (BBC) and John Rodgers of George L Maclaine Solicitors (UTV).

Mr Larkin argued that the newspaper had a legitimate journalistic concern to report on any criminal activity which Haddock may reengage in when released.

In a landmark ruling, legal costs of the case were made against Haddock, meaning that if he is found to have amassed any substantial assets in the future, he could be forced to pay the £50,000 legal bill accrued by media outlets to defend the case.

“This is an important development during an increasingly difficult period for press freedom,” Noel Doran, editor of The Irish News, said.

“I would like to pay a particular tribute to our entire legal team for their work over many months.”

Haddock’s legal challenge collapsed days after the High Court in Belfast ruled that newspapers could not publish photographs of convicted killer Ken Callaghan when he is released from prison.

Callaghan, who raped his victim while she lay dying on the street, claimed that publication of his photograph after his release from prison could disrupt his life and increase his risk of reoffending.

In 2005 west Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci obtained a court injunction banning the media from reporting on his whereabouts or printing any recent photographs of him, on the grounds that allegations that he was a British army agent codenamed ‘Stakeknife’ meant that his life was under threat from republicans.

Roy Greenslade, professor of journalism at London’s City University, described this week’s Haddock verdict as a “significant victory” for investigative journalism but warned that similar legal cases challenging the freedom of the press were likely to be fought in the courts in the future.

“What we need from the judiciary is transparency,” Prof Greenslade, a media colum- nist with The Guardian newspaper who previously edited the Daily Mirror and was an executive with both The Sunday Times and The Sun, said.

“I believe the courts have an obligation to protect someone being released from prison if there is clear evidence that reporting on their circumstances would put their life in danger.

“But there must be clear evidence to show that such reporting would put someone’s life in danger.”

Raising concerns of a potential abuse of public funding to mount erroneous legal challenges aimed at gagging the media, Prof Greenslade said: “I believe the Scappaticci ruling did not serve public justice in the way that it should have.

“It set a precedent which other people have attempted to exploit to ensure that the media cannot properly investigate their illegal activities once they are released from prison.

“I believe that the poorest people in society should be entitled to legal aid but I

find it astonishing that it has been used in a case such as [Haddock’s].

“There should be a very high onus on anyone who chooses to take such a case to prove beyond doubt that there is a real and clear danger to their life.

“If the public is to be denied the right to know what illegal activities these people are involved in when they are released back into society, then there should be a very good reason for it.”

Irish News
14/01/2009

JAILED Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt is seeking police records on debriefing sessions with a convicted IRA murderer due to testify against him at the Omagh bomb civil action, it emerged yesterday.

His lawyers also want access to medical files on Sean O’Callaghan held by the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

Their applications have been prepared as part of an attempt to demolish a series of claims O’Callaghan made in a statement to the multi-million-pound compensation case brought by relatives of some of the 29 people killed in the August 1998 atrocity.

He is to be called to give evidence at the High Court in Belfast about allegations that McKevitt was with him at a meeting of high-ranking republican paramilitaries to discuss buying guns to kill security force members.

O’Callaghan, who was paid more than £70,000 for media and fundraising work for the Omagh Victims’ Legal Fund, will also be allowed to explore claims that a former IRA chief of staff told him in 1985 that he wanted McKevitt voted onto the organisation’s executive.

The former special branch agent, originally from Tralee, Co Kerry but now based in London, was due to go into the witness box later this month.

But those plans have been put back after McKevitt’s legal team responded to the plaintiff’s decision to call him as a witness.

Barrister Kieran Vaughan confirmed they want the police service to provide notes from sessions with officers in England and Northern Ireland in 1988, which O’Callaghan refers to in his autobiography, The Informer.

In a further application lawyers for McKevitt – who is serving a 20 year jail sentence at the high security Portlaoise Jail for directing terrorism – are seeking medical records on O’Callaghan held by the Prison Service.

O’Callaghan was sentenced to two life terms for offences including the murders of a soldier and police officer, but later released from jail under a Royal Prerogative.

The defence challenge to O’Callaghan’s claims about McKevitt – who is being sued along with Liam Campbell, Seamus McKenna, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly over the devastating Real IRA bomb attack on Omagh – is expected to lengthen the civil trial which began in April last year.

Irish News
14/01/2009

THE family of a Catholic man murdered by a sectarian mob appealed yesterday for a public inquiry to uncover the truth after a litany of allegations were levelled against police over the case.

Robert Hamill (25), was attacked in Portadown Co Armagh in 1997, during a night out with friends but police at the scene were accused of failing to protect him and frustrating the subsequent investigation.

No-one has been convicted of murdering Mr Hamill but yesterday the opening session of the inquiry heard that within days of the killing police had names for those involved, plus evidence a RUC officer warned one of the killers to dispose of clothes worn during the attack and updated him on the investigation.

“We are very hopeful we are going to get to the truth,” the murdered man’s sister Diane, whose family attended yesterday’s hearing said.

“If there were any mistakes made, we want those to be acknowledged, but if there were any deliberate actions taken to allow the people that murdered my brother to walk free, if anyone helped them, we need that to be exposed,” she said.

Mr Hamill’s inquiry opened in Belfast’s Interpoint Centre, where a public inquiry into Rosemary Nelson’s death is already being held.

Ashley Underwood QC, lead counsel for the inquiry, outlined the case and recounted claims Mr Hamill was attacked on April 27 1997, while an RUC Land Rover carrying four officers was parked nearby.

“By May 10 1997 the RUC had the identities of a number of Protestants who were said to have murdered Mr Hamill,” he said.

“Further, it had evidence that one of the reserve constables in the Land Rover, [Robert] Atkinson, had protected one of them, by telling him to get rid of his clothing and by keeping him updated about the investigation.

“However no-one has been convicted of murdering Mr Hamill and only one person was convicted of affray arising out of the attack on him.

“Reserve constable Atkinson was eventually charged in relation to a conspiracy arising out of the alleged tip-offs that he gave, but was not prosecuted to trial.”

Margaret Ann Dinsmore QC, legal representative for Mr Atkinson, said he and his wife Eleanor denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

Lawyers for other police officers yesterday also denied the allegations and called on the inquiry to separate fact from rumour.

Martin Woolfe, junior counsel for the Police Service, pledged its cooperation with the inquiry and denied Mr Hamill’s case was treated differently because he was a Catholic.

Six men were charged with murder over the Hamill case but charges against five were dropped, while a sixth man was sentenced for affray.

The Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to prosecute the police officers on duty on the night of the fatal assault.

Two people were sentenced after admitting giving false information about a phone call to a suspect’s house.

The admission resulted in charges of perverting the course of justice being brought against RUC reservist Robert Atkinson, his wife Eleanor and a third person.

Charges against the trio were dropped after a key witness was ruled unreliable.

The inquiry has the power to compel witnesses, while evidence given to the inquiry cannot be used to secure convictions.

The Hamill probe will hear from 160 witnesses – including the police officers at the centre of the allegations – with a final report expected by the middle of next year.

The probe has so far cost £18.8 million but officials estimate the final bill will be £36 million.

The inquiry will be chaired by former English High Court judge

Sir Edwin Jowitt, who will be assisted by former chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Sir John Evans and moderator of the Churches’ Commission for Inter Faith Relations the Rev Kathleen Richardson, Baroness Richardson of Calow.

News Letter
14 January 2009

UNIONISTS are sparring bitterly over the meaning of a leaked Assembly report which lists detailed recommendations about how policing and justice should be devolved.

The Assembly and Executive Review Committee (AERC) report, obtained by the News Letter, contains a series of proposals – some of which were passed with DUP and Sinn Fein support against UUP and SDLP dissent – about how policing and justice will be devolved.

The document recommends cross-community support for a justice minister be reviewed by May 2012 at the latest, something Jim Allister said raised the prospect of Gerry Kelly being justice minister after that date, but the DUP insisted did nothing to remove its veto over any future candidate.

And, in a series of other recommendations, the report, which crucially does not give a date for the transfer of powers, proposes that:

n the new policing and justice ministry will be called the Department of Justice and will become a 12th Stormont department;

n the Judicial Appointments Commission, which appoints judges, will become the responsibility of – and accountable to – the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister;

n the Public Prosecution Service will be a ‘non-ministerial department’;

n a ’sunset clause’ will end the block on a DUP or Sinn Fein minister in May 2012 and will also remove the need for the justice minister to be appointed by a cross-community vote, meaning the parties will have to “agree a way forward by this time”.

The report also hints at the possibility of the justice minister not sitting as a full member of the Executive, something it says needs more consideration.

Should the minister not have to sign up to collective Executive responsibility, it may make it easier for an Alliance minister to take the hotly-contested role while still allowing the party to attack perceived failings in other Executive departments.

The News Letter understands that next week’s Assembly vote on the report is likely to see a rare split in the Assembly: UUP and SDLP members filing into the ‘No’ lobby to cast their votes while Sinn Fein and the DUP enter the ‘Yes’ lobby together.

Ulster Unionist deputy leader Danny Kennedy, who sat on the committee, said he was deeply unhappy at aspects of the final report and hit out at the initial decision to limit Assembly debate on it to 90 minutes.

“I remain astonished at the political hypocrisy of the DUP – Nigel Dodds was saying ‘never in a political lifetime’ would these powers be devolved,” he said.

“There is insufficient public confidence for this to happen now – the Executive has yet to prove itself in working constructively for all the people.”

TUV leader Jim Allister said: “The report was railroaded through the committee on the strength of joint DUP/Sinn Fein votes, with every contested and recorded vote seeing the DUP side with Sinn Fein to provide a majority.”

But a DUP spokesman said the party had been “open and transparent” about its intentions, discussing it in public session at the committee.

And he attacked the “pure and utter hypocrisy from the UUP who were prepared to devolve these powers in 2005 with no veto in place”.

DUP MLA Nigel McCausland said that it was “sad when we have negotiated a good deal to bring policing powers back to Stormont that some so-called unionists have been doing the work of republicans” by attacking the deal.

Meanwhile, the SDLP MLA Alex Atwood, claimed the report meant a nationalist could be excluded from the justice ministry until 2016 if a minister was appointed for a full term after the 2011 Assembly elections.

News Letter
14 January 2009

THE brother of a British Army Paratrooper killed in the “mass slaughter” at Narrow Water 20 years ago has told of his family’s devastation at Sinn Fein Youth’s trip to the site.

Terry Wood, 46, from London, said his family has never recovered from the murder of his older brother Tony, who was killed by the IRA along with 17 other Army personnel on August 27, 1979.

Today, had he survived, Tony would be 48 years old.

Mr Wood said that hearing the news that Sinn Fein Youth had visited the site last weekend was “very disturbing”.

He said his older brother was “blown to smithereens” while driving the last truck from Warrenpoint, which “got the full blast of the bomb”.

Recalling the full horror of the atrocity, Mr Wood said: “All that was left of him was a welded pelvis on the seat of the truck he was driving. His body was totally disintegrated by the 700lb bomb.”

Mr Wood, also a former Paratrooper who served in Northern Ireland, said his mother – who is originally southern Irish – was particularly hurt at news of the trip.

He questioned what body had given Sinn Fein Youth permission to attend the site.

A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) said it was not clear what part of the site the trip had included, adding: “NIEA was not approached about the planned trip.”

Mr Wood said of the bomb attack: “It was carried out by evil people and God can be their judge now. I remember Margaret Thatcher’s assurances to my parents and other families that no stone would be left unturned to catch those responsible. But that did not happen. People were arrested and let go. There has been no charges.

“The Sinn Fein Youth who went on this trip were not even alive during the Troubles and it is so distasteful and uncalled for.”

He said they had visited the scene as if it was a battle site.

“But it was not a battle site, it was the mass slaughter of people who were driving down the road,” said Mr Wood.

“The whole family was totally devastated by news of the Narrow Water meeting. Tony was only 19 years old when he died. He didn’t get a chance at life.

“He said to our mum when he was at home, only three weeks before the bomb, that he did not think he would be coming home, and he didn’t.
“Tony had a death vibe. I have served in 2 Para myself in the Falklands and in Northern Ireland and I know people get the death vibe.”

Terry, who was encouraged to go into the forces after his brother’s murder, served in Ballykinler, Crossmaglen, Forkhill, Lisnaskea and all around the Province in 2 Para.

Terry said he was also based in Ballykinler a couple of years after his brother.

“I was a civilian when my brother died,” he said. “That encouraged me to go into the forces, very much so.

“Tony was the eldest of three children and my mother’s eldest son.
“Our mum is Irish, from the south of Ireland, and she was so disgusted she never returned after Tony’s death. Tony was the first Para to be buried and our family even got a death threat in London that day.”

On January 10, protestors clashed with republicans visiting Narrow Water. The delegation were met at Carlingford Lough by a group of protestors equipped with posters and banners, including DUP MLA Jim Wells and prominent victims’ spokesperson, Willie Frazer.

Mr Wells, who had hoped the visit would be called off given cross-community objections, described the event as “ghoulish”.

“I was actually quite surprised and shocked they (the members of Sinn Fein Youth] went ahead with the tour,” he said.

“They were commemorating and gloating over the biggest loss of human life in Northern Ireland until Omagh.”

The South Down representative believes the tour poses more questions than answers, particularly regarding the bona fides of Sinn Fein.

“I would like to know how they had a guide who appeared extremely knowledgeable of the Narrow Water massacre?” said Mr Wells

“If that person is so knowledgeable, he clearly has information that would be useful to the police.”

News Letter
15 January 2009

A LOYALIST yesterday admitted using a friend who worked for the police to get information on people which could be used by terrorists.

Standing in the dock of Belfast Crown Court dressed in a dark-blue suit, 31-year-old Darren Leslie Richardson pleaded guilty to four charges of collecting information relating to the names and addresses of a total of 62 car owners which was “of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”.

Richardson, from the Money-nick Road in Randalstown, also pleaded guilty to possessing documents containing car registrations, names and addresses which could have been used by terrorists, and also to a charge of having 40 rounds of 9mm bullets in suspicious circumstances.

He also admitted to two counts of “aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring wilful misconduct by a public officer” in that the information he obtained was from a man called Aaron Hill who at the time was a data inputter for the police on their integrated computer system with all the charges dated between January 18, 2004 and December 2006.

Hill, 24, from Neillsbrook Park in Randalstown, had already pleaded guilty to collecting information and to charges of misconduct in a public office.

During a previous court hearing when Hill applied for bail, the Crown alleged that Richardson had given Hill a number of car registration marks which he then used to glean the names and addresses from the police computer.

Mr Justice McLaughlin released Richardson on bail and adjourned passing sentence on both Hill and Richardson until next month when probation pre-sentence reports have been compiled.

News Letter
15 January 2009

ULSTER’S former First Minister Ian Paisley will talk to an Irish language radio station about his admiration of the work of Irish saints such as St Patrick in a radio interview due to be broadcast this week.

The DUP North Antrim MP has spoken to Belfast-based Irish language radio station Raidio Failte, after being approached by one of its reporters at the launch of an exhibition of a painting last week.

Dr Paisley said that the interview had been a “friendly enough thing”.

“I don’t think the Roman Catholic Church and St Patrick have anything in common,” he told the News Letter in the wake of the radio interview.

“He was not sent by the Pope, he had never met him. He came as an ordinary person and never in his ministry – as far as we are aware – did he mention the Pope, or the Mass, or the worship of Mary.

“His message is purely New Testament. He was certainly not a Romanist.”

The former DUP leader also told the News Letter he had a “fair respect for Roman Catholic people – and they don’t attack me at all now”.

He said: “They realise that I stood by what I said and carried it through. I think they have a sneaking regard for me.”

Fergus O’hIr, who is station manager at Raidio Failte, said that they had been interested in speaking to Dr Paisley in his capacity as a former First Minister, and that “we are interested in showing that the Irish language is a common culture and the heritage of all of is who live here”.

He added: “We feel it’s important to keep the Irish language as something which everyone can enjoy.”

The interview is to be broadcast on Raidio Failte 107.1FM tomorrow at 1pm, and Mr O’hIr says they believe “there will be a lot of interest in it”.

He added: “I am sure that people will be very happy about what he has to say.”

It is not the first time the station has featured unionists and Protestant communities on its shows. Former DUP Culture Minister Edwin Poots has been on air, and the station broadcast special programmes on the anniversary of the death of former PUP leader David Ervine, a service from Fitzroy Presbyterian Church in south Belfast, and interviewed people living in the Shankill area “about their attitudes to the Irish language”, said Mr O’hIr.

News Letter
15 January 2009

A FORMER top loyalist has appeared in court charged with the murder of former UDA chief, Tommy English.

Darren Moore, 39, is the fourth man to be charged in connection with the death of Mr English, during a bloody loyalist feud over eight years ago.

He was remanded in custody after appearing at the city’s Magistrates Court on Thursday amid heavy security.

A PSNI officer confirmed when the accused was charged, he replied: “I strenuously deny the allegations - not guilty.”

Moore, from Mount Vernon in Belfast, was also accused of two counts of membership of Ulster Volunteer Force.

Last week, Mark Haddock was charged with the murder of Mr English after being arrested at Maghaberry Prison.

Two brothers from Newtownabbey have previously pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting in the killing on Halloween night in 2000.

Mr English was shot dead at his Newtownabbey home.

BBC
14 Jan 09

A Cork financial advisor and his son are to face trial accused of laundering more than than £3m arising out of the Northern Bank robbery investigation.

Timothy Cunningham, 60, from Farran in County Cork, faces 20 charges of money laundering.

His son, Timothy John Cunningham, who is 33 and also from Farren, denies two similar charges. The trial is due to start on Tuesday.

It is expected to last between six and 12 weeks.

Up to 250 witness are listed for the case but the lawyers for the various sides may be able to agree to run the trial with fewer witnesses.

More than £26m was stolen from the Northern Bank in Belfast in a robbery in December 2004.

BBC
15 Jan 09

Air and ferry passengers travelling between the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain are to face routine passport checks under new laws.

All EU citizens will have to show their passport or ID card on arrival at airports and ferry terminals from 2014.

Non-EU passport holders will face more detailed checks on their right to be in Britain.

The plans are outlined in the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, which was published on Thursday.

The bill also contains the new “earned citizenship” rules for spouses and economic migrants.

Husbands and wives of UK nationals will be able to become full citizens in as little as three years and economic migrants in as little as six.

But they will have to be able to speak English, secure work and pay tax, and volunteer for community work if they want their application speeded up.

Committing minor crimes could lead to applications being delayed for up to 10 years.

And access to benefits will be restricted until applicants have passed through the “probation” process.

By Vincent Kearney
BBC
15 Jan 09

Northern Ireland police are so short of experienced detectives that dozens of officers who took lucrative redundancy packages are being re-employed.

A confidential paper, seen by the BBC, revealed almost 250 detectives were expected to retire within two years.

Police cannot find enough suitable recruits to replace them.

The PSNI currently employs 79 staff from a recruitment agency - most former officers who left with generous packages under the Patten reforms.

Ten years ago the Patten Commission recommended sweeping changes to the RUC - which was replaced by the PSNI.

They included a generous redundancy package to encourage long-serving officers to resign to make room for new recruits - 50% of them Catholics.

As a result, hundreds of experienced detectives have left the police.

A confidential paper presented to Northern Ireland’s Policing Board said there were 1,174 PSNI detectives, but senior officers have said that is 112 fewer than they needed.

The situation is so bad that the police currently employ 79 staff provided by a recruitment agency - most of them former police officers who retired with generous redundancy packages.

The situation is likely to get worse with 244 experienced officers eligible to leave under Patten by the end of March 2011 - and most are expected to go.

The Policing Board has given the police permission to fast track the training and recruitment of intelligence officers to work as detectives - but they know that alone will not fill the recruitment gap.