SAOIRSE32

Belfast Telegraph
Monday, 19 January 2009

The Republic’s Justice Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday said he “regrets” his representations for a Real IRA chief if it upset relatives of the Omagh bomb victims.

Mr Ahern attempted to play down the substantial embarrassment over his letters on behalf of Michael McKevitt by claiming he was only passing on an email for a constituent.

But the opposition said Mr Ahern’s actions were “ill-judged”.

Mr Ahern made the inquiries to his predecessor in the Department of Justice on behalf of the head of the dissident group responsible for the Omagh bombing almost five years ago. At the time, Mr Ahern was the Communications Minister.

But representatives of the Omagh Victims Group are said to be angered.

The minister does not feel he has to apologise but does regret if he upset families of Real IRA victims, a spokesman said.

By Lesley-Anne Henry
Belfast Telegraph
Tuesday, 20 January 2009

Families of Omagh bomb victims have called on the Irish Justice minister to resign after it was revealed he had made representations on behalf of the leader of the Real IRA.

Dermot Ahern admitted passing on emails on behalf of Michael McKevitt, one of five men suspected of involvement in the 1998 blast — the Troubles’ biggest single loss of life.

The minister, who met victims’ families in Dundalk during 2006, has expressed “regret” but has so far declined to apologise for his actions five years ago. Instead he has tried to play down substantial embarrassment over his letters on behalf of the convicted terrorist by claiming he was only passing on an email on behalf of a constituent.

McKevitt, currently serving life in Portlaoise prison for directing terrorism is from Blackrock, outside Dundalk in Co Louth and part of Mr Ahern’s constituency. It is understood his wife, Bernadette Sands McKevitt, contacted Mr Ahern after a disagreement on the terms of a temporary release.

Yesterday Carol Radford whose teenage brother, Alan, was among the 29 people slaughtered when the 500lb car bomb ripped through Omagh town centre, said an apology would be futile.

“I am not surprised. Nothing surprises me about Omagh. I think he should resign. He is now the Justice minister and you can’t represent the people who carried out the atrocity and the victims.

“I think the only thing Dermot Ahern regrets is the fact that it was made public. To be honest an apology wouldn’t make much difference to me.”

Meanwhile Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh Self Help and Support Group, who lost his 21-year-old son Aiden, said he felt betrayed by the Irish minister.

“This is just disbelief. This is a man who came to the memorial garden and stood with us in 2005 to remember those who died and were injured and show solidarity with the victims.

“We actually met him in Dundalk in about 2006. Really and truthfully we went away from that meeting thinking this is a man who is going to help us.”

Mr Ahern yesterday said that anybody who knew him in public life knew there was virtually nobody who opposed paramilitary violence more than he had.

But he said he also had a duty to respond with compassion to any family who approached him and he had always done that in a fashion which did not in any way compromise his position.

“It would be a dereliction of duty if I was to ignore families when they come to me indicating that, perhaps, there is in some way an infringement of someone’s human rights,” he said.

Belfast Telegraph
Tuesday, 20 January 2009

They once provided shelter and an eagle eye view for soldiers stationed in the heart of west Belfast.

Now the top two floors of the landmark Divis Tower apartment block have been transformed into residential accommodation thanks to a £1.1m refurbishment programme.

The 18th and 19th floors of the tower block, located in the Falls Road area, were for over thirty years used as an observation post by British soldiers to monitor the activity of paramilitaries. At the height of the Troubles, the army was only able to access the post by helicopter.

The floors have now been reinstated for use as social housing.

Housing Executive Chief Executive Paddy McIntyre yesterday unveiled the high level improvements, which included the provision of new kitchens, bathrooms, heating systems, windows and internal doors.

The refurbishments also created a new roof structure, as well as extensive landscaping and a new community garden being provided for residents.

Lifts have been upgraded to accommodate the newly refurbished 18th and 19th floors as well as general improvements to internal hallways, lobbies, and stairways.

“The history of Divis Tower has been well documented so it’s good to be here today to see at first hand the benefits of this latest scheme — particularly the 18th and 19th floors which were out of our ownership for around 20 years,” said Paddy McIntyre.

“The tower is entering a new era and the improvements will ensure that it remains a very popular place to live. With the reinstatement of the 18th and 19th floors we had the added bonus of an extra eight flats for people on the waiting list for the area.”

Long term resident and member of the West Belfast Housing Community Network John Leathem said: “I’ve lived in Divis Tower for almost 20 years and I really love it. Not only is it one of west Belfast’s most prominent landmarks but residents enjoy some of the best views in Belfast.”

The tower featured as a backdrop to much of the violence which took place during the Troubles, and witnessed several deaths.

:::u.tv:::
19 Jan 2009

The IRA did not murder Disappeared victim Gerard Evans, a Sinn Fein minister has insisted.

The 24-year-old was abducted and murdered in Co Monaghan in 1979.

A man claiming to be from the IRA told a Sunday newspaper that he was part of a gang that killed Mr Evans.

The IRA has repeatedly denied any involvement in the murder.

Conor Murphy has offered to meet Mr Evans` family after the claims emerged.

He said: “My understanding is and always has been that the IRA were not involved in that.

Sinn Fein have always supported the family and have said anyone who has any information as to the whereabouts of Gerard Evans should bring forward information to the commission to let them test that information and hopefully the family of Gerard Evans will have some peace.”

GERRY MORIARTY, Northern Editor
Irish Times
**Via Newshound
20 Jan 2009

FORMER RUC and PSNI chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan has denied that he described the murdered Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson as an “immoral woman”.

He also contradicted evidence by two former senior RUC special branch officers to the Rosemary Nelson inquiry that the murdered solicitor had “crossed the line” by allegedly acting criminally on behalf of the IRA.

In November last year, former senior Northern Ireland civil servant David Watkins told the inquiry of a meeting which Sir Ronnie attended in 1998. When asked how Sir Ronnie described the solicitor, Mr Watkins replied: “I think he used the term an ‘immoral woman’. ”

When asked at the inquiry in Belfast yesterday did he make this remark, Sir Ronnie said: “Absolutely not.” The “immoral woman” reference related to claims by a number of RUC officers that Mrs Nelson, who was murdered in a car bomb attack by the Loyalist Volunteer Force in March 1999, had a relationship with Lurgan republican Colin Duffy.

Sir Ronnie said he never made such a comment. He believed that in 1998 he may have been told of rumours about a relationship between Mrs Nelson and Mr Duffy but there was nothing put to him in documentary form and he “did not pay particular attention to it”.

Sir Ronnie, who was chief constable in the mid-1990s and oversaw the transition from the RUC to the creation of the PSNI in 2001, is due to give three days of testimony to the inquiry.

The inquiry, which was established on the recommendation of Canadian judge Peter Cory, is trying to establish whether the RUC, Northern Ireland Office, British army or other British state agency committed any “wrongful act or omission” that “facilitated her death or obstructed the investigation of it”.

Mrs Nelson was murdered in a Loyalist Volunteer Force car bomb attack in March 1999. She had claimed that she was subjected to harassment and death threats by members of the RUC.

The 40-year-old solicitor came to public prominence through representing the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition (GRRC) during the annual Drumcree disputes which first erupted in 1995, through working for the family of Robert Hamill who was fatally assaulted by loyalists in Portadown, and through representing Colin Duffy who was twice cleared of IRA murder charges, including the June 1997 killings of community police officers John Graham and David Johnston in Lurgan.

Rory Phillips QC questioned Sir Ronnie and also took him through elements of the statement he made to the inquiry.

The barrister raised the claim by two former senior RUC Special Branch officers that they believed Mrs Nelson had acted in a criminal fashion on behalf of the IRA.

Sir Ronnie said this was not his view of Mrs Nelson. The former chief constable said if there were strongly held views of senior officers he would have expected to have been so briefed at the time.

Sir Ronnie also told the inquiry that when he was police chief constable in the period around 1997 he did not realise that RUC Special Branch was keeping a file on the solicitor. He had no information that would “make it appropriate for the creation of such a file”.

“I am not aware of any files, papers or otherwise that would have been kept about Mrs Nelson. My impression at the time is that Rosemary Nelson was a lawyer who was doing her job,” he said in a statement to the inquiry.

The inquiry also heard how in 1977 a former US senator, Robert Torricelli, wrote to the British ambassador in the US calling for an investigation of allegations that an RUC officer in Armagh issued several threats against the solicitor. Sir Ronnie said this complaint was not brought to his attention.

There was further reference to the Drumcree dispute of 1997 and of how the former and late Northern secretary Mo Mowlam wanted to personally tell the GRRC of the decision to allow the parade down Garvaghy Road. But this did not happen because intelligence indicated she “would be held hostage by residents although there was no intelligence her life was in danger”.

RTÉ
Tuesday, 20 January

A convicted member of the Real IRA has appeared in court after Lithuanian authorities sought his arrest on charges of terrorism and trafficking weapons.

The High Court was told that Liam Campbell of Upper Faughart, Dundalk was arrested on foot of a European Arrest Warrant.

He was remanded in custody until tomorrow afternoon.

News Letter
20 January 2009

FORMER RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan was unaware Special Branch officers kept files on solicitor Rosemary Nelson, the inquiry into her murder heard on Monday.

The former Northern Ireland police chief was giving evidence to the public inquiry into the murder of the 40-year-old, who died in a loyalist bomb attack in 1999 amid allegations of security force collusion.

Sir Ronnie gave a statement to the inquiry noting he did not believe files were kept on the solicitor, but yesterday said he was surprised to hear their existence had been detected by the inquiry.

“I am not aware of any files, paper or otherwise, that have been kept on Mrs Nelson,” Sir Ronnie said in a statement to the inquiry.

“My impression at the time was that Rosemary Nelson was a lawyer who was doing her job.”

But yesterday, lead counsel to the inquiry, Rory Phillips QC, told Sir Ronnie that evidence gathered by the inquiry had shown Mrs Nelson had a Special Branch number signifying the existence of files on her.

On the issue of files kept on Mrs Nelson, Sir Ronnie responded: “I would have been surprised that there would.”

He added: “I had no personal reason to understand… that there would be any material that would make appropriate the creation of such a file.”

Sir Ronnie said he had become aware of the existence of such files only after reviewing evidence already given to the inquiry.

The former police chief began three days of evidence at the inquiry.

The early proceedings yesterday dealt with Sir Ronnie’s rise through the ranks of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).

It heard he joined the force in May 1970, holding a series of senior positions including head of Special Branch before taking over leadership of the RUC in 1996.

The inquiry heard he conducted a major review of policing which fed into the Patten reforms that overhauled the RUC and created the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

In 2002 Sir Ronnie retired from the PSNI and later that year was appointed Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, but he has since become a security consultant.

Mrs Nelson, a mother of three, had driven only yards from her home in Lurgan when the device beneath her car exploded on March 15, 1999.

The attack was claimed by the Red Hand Defenders, but this was seen as a cover name for larger loyalist paramilitary groups.

Mrs Nelson ran her own legal practice in Lurgan and was largely unknown outside the area until the mid-1990s when she took on a series of cases that were to attract wide attention.

Lurgan republican Colin Duffy was twice cleared of murder charges under her representation, while Mrs Nelson also represented the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition in the bitter Drumcree marching dispute.

She also represented the family of Catholic man Robert Hamill, killed in a sectarian attack in Portadown while police were parked nearby.

Mrs Nelson began to receive threats from loyalists as her profile grew, but she also claimed that police officers interviewing clients accused of republican activities had issued threats against her.

Concerns for her safety were also raised by United Nations official Param Cumaraswamy, who monitored the treatment of lawyers and compiled reports into allegations of security force intimidation of defence lawyers in Northern Ireland.

Fergal Keane
Presenter, BBC Radio 4: Taking a Stand
BBC

For many families in Northern Ireland the ending of the Troubles has not brought with it either justice for their murdered loved ones or emotional closure for the loss they suffered.

Catherine McCartney’s campaign for justice led to threats against her family

Instead as the political process has moved forward, the stories of those whose relatives were killed have faded into the background.

Catherine McCartney from Belfast understands this more than most. Her brother Robert, aged 33, was stabbed to death near a Belfast bar in 2005 by a group of IRA men.

The attack happened when the IRA was committed to peace. Robert McCartney and some friends had clashed with the IRA group in the bar and argument spilled over onto the streets outside.

Forensic

“I got a call the following morning around 7 o’clock to say that basically he had an hour to live.

“He’d been in hospital all night. The doctors had been working on him. But my aunt then rang to say that the doctors had said that there was nothing more that they could do,” she remembers.

“Other members - cousins, aunts - people just standing around in like a daze. It was like surreal, just walking into a situation you’d just never have imagined.”

BBC Radio 4’s Taking a Stand profiles people who have taken risks and made sacrifices to stand up for what they believe in.
Listen to Fergal Keane’s interview with Catherine McCartney on the BBC iPlayer

BBC RADIO 4: TAKING A STAND - Listen

Catherine later learned that the row in the bar had erupted after one of the Republicans claimed that Robert had made a rude gesture towards his wife.

There was fighting in the bar, but Robert was fatally stabbed after being pursued down the street by a group of men.

But even as the violence was continuing, an IRA team was erasing all forensic evidence from the bar. This was only the beginning, Catherine says, of an operation to frustrate any prosecution.

“On the morning that Robert died, the names of the people involved were going round the district. Everybody knew the names.

“The police knew the names and within the space of a couple of days, they were arresting people.

“And then they were releasing people and they then told us, confirmed to us about how meticulous the clean up had been; how the people weren’t speaking and about the intimidation of the witnesses.”

Even some close friends of Robert’s who were present that night were refusing to speak to police.

But within a week Catherine and her sister Paula had decided they would take a stand against the intimidation.

Letters

They contacted the media and began a high profile campaign that would eventually catch the attention of the Bush White House, where they were invited as guests for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations.

It was a visit whose political significance was highlighted by the fact that Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was excluded from the guest list.

“I think the message came across in America that Robert’s murder wasn’t anything to do with politics; that the IRA were becoming like a mafia type of gang.

“I think the Irish Americans were receptive to that and that is probably because also of their own experience of 9/11.

McCartney’s meet President Bush
The McCartney family’s campaign took them to the White House
“You can talk about political violence and people fighting wars for freedom or whatever, but when it comes to your own door and you see the human cost of that, I think that changes people’s perception.”

But there was a price to pay for confronting the IRA in this way.

The McCartney family were ostracised and suffered intimidation. Robert’s widow Bridgeen was also targeted.

“After the trip to America, the threats became more intense against us. We had been receiving hate mail letters, things like that. Bridgeen in particular was receiving particularly nasty ones in terms of her children - excrement on letters and stuff.

“There was then bomb scares to Bridgeen’s home and to Paula’s home. The police had to come out and inform us that what they called ‘criminal gangs’ were threatening to burn down our properties.”

Several men were arrested, but the prosecutions ultimately failed leaving the McCartney’s frustrated and angry.

“It was only until that happened to Robert, I really saw my own community for … for the first time, you know.”
–Catherine McCartney

For Paula it meant coming to terms with the idea of leaving the place where she had grown up.

As a child in a Republican Belfast she had once looked at the IRA as the protectors of the community. Not anymore.

“When we were growing up, they made it very clear what it was about. If we got the British out of Ireland, we would be living in this free and equal society and all of that, which was all, yes, very idealistic.

“But three and a half thousand people or more in their graves, I don’t know really. I’m a bit confused on that, what was it all about?

“We were just brought up in a very… well I suppose it was a conflict society, but you looked through these other people’s glasses. It was only until that happened to Robert, I really saw my own community for … for the first time, you know.”
BBC Radio 4’s Taking a Stand profiles people who have taken risks and made sacrifices to stand up for what they believe in.

This edition of Radio 4’s Taking a Stand, featuring Fergal Keane’s interview with Catherine McCartney was first broadcast at 09.00 GMT on Tuesday, 20 January 2009. You can listen to the programme on the BBC iPlayer.

BBC

A former RUC Chief Constable has been accused of being “brisk and dismissive” of a report warning that a Lurgan solicitor was facing death threats.

Rosemary Nelson died just five months later in a loyalist car bombing in March 1999.

Sir Ronnie Flanagan was facing his second day of questioning at a public inquiry in Belfast into her murder.

The Red Hand Defenders said they killed Mrs Nelson but there are allegations of security force collusion in her death.

At the inquiry, Sir Ronnie was shown a series of letters from individuals and organisations, claiming that Mrs Nelson was facing a campaign of death threats, including some which came from RUC officers.

The former chief constable said he had no recollection of seeing most of the correspondence.

He confirmed he had read a report from the human rights group, British Irish Rights Watch, in November 1998 which alleged Mrs Nelson had been subjected to a campaign of death threats and abuse by police officers.

The report cited fears for the safety of lawyers and said there was a “campaign of death threats and vile abuse, some of it sexual in character” by RUC officers directed against Mrs Nelson.

Sir Ronnie acknowledged he had responded to the report six days later.

In his reply, he said that he was “no longer surprised” by what he termed the “total absence of balance in reports produced by the organisation”.

At the inquiry, a QC suggested that his response was “fairly brisk and dismissive”.

By Joe Diamond
Belfast Media
Andersonstown News Monday

SINN Fein Lord Mayors of Belfast, Alex Maskey and Tom Hartley, made history in recent years by laying wreaths to the war dead at the Cenotaph at the City Hall.

Although the move helped to demonstrate republicans’ willingness to share power on an equal basis with unionists, it is also part of a wider reassessment of the nationalist community’s involvement in the First World War.

Many people mistakenly believe that while tens of thousands of unionists willingly fought and died in the war while nationalists refused to get involved in the conflict.

However, the reality is very different, as Harry Donaghy of the An Eochair/Clondara Historical and Cultural Group explained.

“The idea that unionists helped to fight Germany while nationalists ignored the war, or even stabbed Britain in the back, is a myth. In fact, slightly more nationalists than unionists fought in the war.

“People might think they joined from some kind of love of Britain, but this was not the case either. They were proud to be Irish, and were actually fighting for Home Rule,” said Harry.

The Home Rule movement, led by John Redmond and the Irish Parliamentary Party, aimed to use constitutional means to introduce self-government for Ireland, and was the dominant nationalist political force in the country until the Easter Rising.

The third Home Rule Act, which established devolved government for Ireland, was eventually passed in 1914, but enactment was postponed following the outbreak of the war, and it was eventually replaced by a fourth Act in 1920.

Ireland had virtually become an armed camp and seemed to be teetering on the brink of civil war over the issue. Almost 500,000 people had signed Edward Carson’s Ulster Covenant in 1912 and were pledged to resist Home Rule by ‘all means necessary.’ In response, almost 200,000 nationalists had joined Redmond’s National Volunteers.

The leaders of both movements pledged their support for the British war effort in the belief that the more they gave during the war, the more concessions they would get in return afterwards.

At a meeting in Woodenbridge in County Wicklow in 1914, Redmond encouraged the National Volunteers to fight “wherever the firing line extends in defence of right, of freedom of religion in this war.”

Although the speech resulted in a split in the movement, the vast majority did join up – including over 600 nationalists from the Falls Road, who joined the 6th Battalion of the Connaught Rangers, instead of the Ulster regiments which were formed from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).

Harry said despite the large numbers of people involved, the role of Belfast nationalists in the war is a much-neglected part of our history.

“The vast majority of people from the Falls Road are nationalists, so obviously having a relative who was in the British army was seen as an embarrassment by many people.

“After the failure of the Home Rule movement, the involvement of nationalists in the war was almost written out of history. Home Rule lost the argument to Sinn Féin and faded into the background after 1916, but we must remember that the men who enlisted did so with the best of intentions and with the interests of the Irish people at heart.

“When the war was over many of the soldiers came home and joined the IRA. Many of the volunteers involved in the Raglan Street ambush in 1921 were ex-Britsh soldiers, and Tom Barry, arguably the greatest guerrilla leader of the War of Independence, had been a sergeant in the Connaught Rangers.

“The Free State government introduced a pension for veterans of the War of Independence, and it was amazing how many people claimed to have been involved in the Raglan Street ambush – almost as many as had claimed to be in the GPO in 1916. If they had all really been involved the Brits never would have stood a chance!” laughed Harry.

After two years of research, An Eochair, with the help of local people including Siobhán Deane, Cathal Donaghy and Robert McKillen, formed the 6th Battalion Connaught Rangers Research Group and compiled a booklet examining Belfast nationalists’ involvement in the regiment.

The booklet has been officially launched by Lord Mayor of Belfast, Tom Hartley.

The group say although it is a snapshot of some of the young nationalists who joined the army, it is by no means a contribution to the glorification to the senseless slaughter of the First World War.

Speaking about how the project came about, Seán O’Hare, another member of the group, said they regularly came across people from the Falls whose grandfathers had joined the regiment, and wondered would their stories ever be told.

“We decided it was time something was done to help record that part of our history. If it hadn’t been written down there was a danger that after this current generation it would have either been lost altogether, or someone else would have written it, and it’s better if the history of our community comes from the community itself.

“The Connaught Rangers Research Project, which produced the booklet, is made up of ourselves and other people from different backgrounds who thought the project important.

“Through our research we discovered that a lot of families still have a huge amount of old National Volunteers and Connaught Rangers artefacts hidden away. Public interest in the booklet has been overwhelming. People have come forward with an amazing amount of memorabilia and details, and the Connaught Rangers Museum at Boyle in Roscommon is considering an exhibition.

Seán Curry, also of An Eochair, said it has been surprising how much interest there has been in the booklet from right across the board.

“We have had interest from everywhere, from Newry to New Zealand and from Falls Road ex-pats from as far away as America and Canada. People have even called to the office from the Shankill Road to get a copy. We had 1,200 copies of the booklet, and they are almost gone, the interest has been phenomenal.

“The demand is there, so we are planning to produce a follow-up with all sorts of other material we have uncovered since the first book was published,” added Seán.

For more information contact the Connaught Rangers Research Project at 426 Falls Road, phone 90229366, or email seancurry@aol.com or messines04@hotmail.com

BBC

The trial has begun in Cork of a father and son accused of money-laundering in connection with the £26.5m Northern Bank robbery in Belfast.

On trial are Timothy ‘Ted’ Cunningham, 60, a financial advisor, from Woodbine Lodge, Farran, and his son, also Timothy, 33, of Church View, Farran.

Both men deny the charges.

The court heard several weeks after the December 2004 robbery, gardai found more than £3m in six holdalls and a plastic bag in Ted Cunningham’s house.

The prosecution said that they would be able to prove because of markings on the notes that a significant number of them came from the Northern Bank robbery.

The prosecution told the jury they would call a large number of witnesses from Northern Ireland.

They are to include Kevin McMullan, who was forced to help the robbers while his wife was held hostage.

The trial has heard that while in custody both Ted Cunningham and his son said on tape that they knew or believed that the money came from the Northern Bank.

The trial continues.

BBC

People affected by the Troubles have “muddled along” for 40 years, the NI Victims Commission has said.

Commissioners said victims’ groups needed long term funding to serve people’s needs.

Commissioners Mike Nesbitt, Patricia MacBride, Bertha McDougal and Brendan McAllister

The commissioners said there “needed to be big changes” so that £36m, made available for victims between now and 2011, was spent properly.

One of the commissioners, Mike Nesbitt, said a “big problem” was caused by short-term funding of victims’ groups.

“That leads to poor planning and instability,” Mr Nesbitt said.

The commissioners said they would prefer to see such groups funded for a three-year term.

They added that victims had not been consulted on how health and social care legislation might be tailored to their needs.

Irish News
19/01/2009

Former RUC chief constable Ronnie Flanagan was unaware that Special Branch officers kept files on solicitor Rosemary Nelson, the public inquiry into her murder heard today.

The North’s former police chief was giving evidence to the inquiry into the murder of the 40-year-old, who died in a loyalist bomb attack in 1999 amid allegations of security force collusion.

Flanagan gave a statement to the inquiry noting that he did not believe files were kept on the solicitor, but today he said he was surprised to hear their existence had been detected by the inquiry.

“I am not aware of any files, paper or otherwise, that have been kept on Mrs Nelson,” Flanagan said in his statement to the inquiry, read out during today’s hearing.

“My impression at the time was that Rosemary Nelson was a lawyer who was doing her job.”

But today lead counsel to the inquiry Rory Phillips QC told Flanagan that evidence gathered by the inquiry had shown that Mrs Nelson had a Special Branch number, signifying the existence of files on her.

On the issue of files being kept on Mrs Nelson, Flanagan replied: “I would have been surprised that there would.”

He added: “I had no personal reason to understand… that there would be any material that would make appropriate the creation of such a file.”

Flanagan said he had become aware of the existence of such files only after recently reviewing evidence already given to the inquiry.

The former police chief began three days of evidence at the inquiry today.

Mrs Nelson, a mother of three, had driven only yards from her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh, when the device beneath her car exploded on March 15 1999.

The attack was claimed by the Red Hand Defenders, but this was seen as a cover name for larger loyalist paramilitary groups.

Mrs Nelson ran her own legal practice in Lurgan and was largely unknown outside the area until the mid-1990s when she took on a series of cases that were to attract wide attention.

Lurgan republican Colin Duffy was twice cleared of murder charges under her representation, while Mrs Nelson also represented the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition in the bitter Drumcree marching dispute.

She also represented the family of Catholic man Robert Hamill, killed in a sectarian attack in Portadown while police were parked nearby.

Mrs Nelson began to receive threats from loyalists as her profile grew, but she also claimed that police officers interviewing clients accused of republican activities had issued threats against her.

Concerns for her safety were also raised by United Nations (UN) official Param Cumaraswamy, who monitored the treatment of lawyers and compiled reports into allegations of security force intimidation of defence lawyers in the North.