Breaking News.ie
20/12/2009

The brother of Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, who is facing charges relating to the sexual abuse of his daughter was reportedly a youth worker in Dundalk, Co Louth.

According to this morning's Sunday Tribune, Liam Adams was very active in the party even after the 1980s when Gerry Adams became aware of the alleged abuse.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams at the wedding of his brother Liam (far right) poses for a picture with now deceased republican leader Joe Cahill (left) and wedding guests. Gerry Adams became aware of the allegations against his brother in 1987, before this picture was taken

Liam Adams, who is on the run from the PSNI, is facing 23 charges relating to the case.

A statement from Gerry Adams on Friday night urged his brother to turn himself in to the PSNI to face the charges of abusing his daughter

Aine Tyrell alleges she was abused by her father over a period of eight years from when she was just four years old, beginning in the 1970s.

Speaking during a UTV Insight programme Gerry Adams made a direct appeal to his brother to hand himself in to the PSNI.

He said he fully supports his niece and has given a statement to police officers

However today's Sunday Tribune paints a different picture, saying that Liam Adams traded heavily on the Adams name

He also sought Sinn Féin's nomination to be the Louth candidate for the 1997 Dáil election and while he failed to win it he was said to be very active within the party in Dundalk

The article also said that Liam Adams worked with young people in the town as late as 2004.

Liam Clarke
The Sunday Times
20 Dec 09

Near the start of the film Braveheart, the Scottish and English armies line up opposite each other, ready to fight to the death. At the crucial juncture, Edward Longshanks, the English king, announces a series of bribes and sweeteners to the Scottish nobles if order is restored.

The Scottish leaders promptly disband the armies and go home again; this was all they’d wanted. The poor infantry, stoked to fever pitch by the defiant language of their leaders, vow to fight another day.

Chances are, a similar scenario will be played out in Northern Ireland over the next few weeks. That seems to be what everyone wants, but it could go badly wrong and Stormont could fall. Someone could miscalculate and spark, if not a war, at least an election and full-scale renegotiation of the St Andrews agreement.

As in Braveheart, a William Wallace figure could stoke the simmering distrust hard enough to bring down the government over the issue of when the devolution of policing and justice should occur. The most likely candidate for this role is Gregory Campbell, or one of the other Sinn Fein-baiters in the DUP. Campbell regularly taunts Sinn Fein, telling them devolution of policing and justice could be years away.

On the Sinn Fein side, Martin McGuinness has also been pushing his luck, flushed with the high approval rating he scores even among some unionists. He flexed his muscles in public last Monday when, at the end of a press call following a remarkably calm and uncontentious north/south meeting in Limavady, he needled Peter Robinson. British and Irish diplomats who had been preparing to go home were shocked out of their torpor as the Sinn Fein and DUP leaders contradicted each other in front of the cameras. Each shook his head in disapproval as the other spoke, but nobody interrupted or shouted and the disagreement between the first and deputy first minister seemed small enough.

McGuinness wanted a date for the devolution of policing and justice to Stormont set before Christmas. He accused Robinson of making a proposal for resolving disputes over Orange marches a precondition for movement on policing. Not so, said Robinson, it was McGuinness who first linked the two issues. The Sinn Fein MP shook his head in disbelief. Robinson said he could prove it, McGuinness shook his head again, and so it went on.

However, as a body-language expert employed by the BBC pointed out, McGuinness made one revealing gesture during the spat. He spread out his arms to indicate the extent of the problem dividing them, and then slowly brought them together again until his hands touched. Despite the angry face, Robinson called McGuinness “Martin” and never raised his voice.

They sounded for all the world like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the twins who appear ready to brain each other in Alice Through the Looking Glass. As Lewis Carroll’s poem goes:

Tweedledum and Tweedledee Agreed to have a battle;

For Tweedledum said Tweedledee Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew down a monstrous crow, As black as a tar-barrel;

Which frightened both the heroes so, They quite forgot their quarrel.

In this case the quarrel isn’t forgotten yet, but sources at Stormont say both men were chatting as normal next day, even making light of the incident.

There aren’t sufficient grounds to fight. Robinson wants policing and justice devolved, but, like the Scottish nobles in Braveheart, wants to play it long to get the maximum concessions out of Sinn Fein and the governments. He may have pushed it too far and missed his moment.

A few weeks ago he got agreement from Gordon Brown to fund Northern Ireland policing by anything from £800m to £1 billion, provided control was devolved. David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said he would guarantee spending on that level if he became prime minister. Cameron has given no such spending commitment to any other department, yet it was followed by a side deal offering yet more money for pensions for the part-time police reserve.

The chief constable, the Police Federation (the PSNI’s equivalent of a trade union), Sinn Fein and everyone else in the justice business were delighted. At the DUP conference Robinson got a rapturous reception with Reverend Willie McCrea leading a chorus of Peter is Our Leader and We Shall Not be Moved. That was the time to move, but Robinson didn’t. Instead, he hung in for the implementation of Lord Ashdown’s proposals to replace the Parades Commission with a new method of adjudicating on Orange parades. That remains the sticking point.

McGuinness and Robinson would be cutting off their noses to spite their faces if they allowed the Stormont assembly, the culmination of their strategy and the source of employment to so many of their supporters, to founder on such an insignificant rock. For a start, the Ashdown review of parading was drawn up by a committee including members of the DUP and Sinn Fein. There is no fundamental dispute about it, though some details and the timing are still to be agreed. Robinson suspects McGuinness of holding back the issue to bargain for something else later. McGuinness accuses Robinson of trying to push him around.

Sinn Fein and DUP politicians are under orders to keep quiet about big issues; they won’t talk in front of the cameras about anything much except traffic safety. Some do speak privately.

David Ford, the Alliance party leader who is tipped to be justice minister, is also cautious but did he confirm that recent discussions with the two big parties on justice issues were “reasonably straightforward”. He said: “I do not believe there are substantive difficulties on the issues relating to the Department of Justice. I do not think the current difficulties are unbridgeable.”

This sort of problem has previously been handled by sequencing and choreography. In this instance a sequence is already in sight. McGuinness has set a Christmas deadline, but it is clear within Sinn Fein that nothing that can’t be undone will happen on December 25. The assembly is in recess, anyway, and there is every expectation that Sinn Fein members will, at least initially, take their places when it resumes on January 11.

Shortly before that, probably on January 9, there will be a meeting of Sinn Fein’s ruling ard comhairle. The expectation is that it will reconvene towards the end of the month in a special session to discuss policing and justice.

This sort of time-frame allows both parties to ratchet up the pressure for concessions, and allow them to move forward. Brown has threatened to take the policing money off the table if policing and justice aren’t devolved soon. He has also reappointed the Parades Commission for another year, signalling that it will remain in place if the impasse continues. McGuinness likes the sound of that.

On the other hand, Brown has said there are remaining obstacles to devolution, and that is music to Robinson’s ears. The obvious way out is a sequence of events in which they both get what they both seem to want.

Timing could resolve this difficulty, and on past form, it probably will. Yet there is always the chance of disaster if Sinn Fein and the DUP continue to push each disagreement to the brink.

The deeper problem facing the power-sharing executive is the distrust between the two parties. Every close scrape reduces the credibility of Northern Ireland’s mandatory coalition and the two parties who dominate it. People are looking for leadership, flexibility and quick decisions in the middle of an economic crisis. So far, none of these have been forthcoming from Sinn Fein and the DUP.

Catholic unionist to contest seat against Catholic nationalist

Henry McDonald
The ObserverThe Observer
Sunday 20 December 2009

The way has been paved for a historic electoral contest in South Belfast that will pit a Catholic unionist against a sitting Catholic nationalist MP.

The former lord mayor of Belfast and veteran Ulster Unionist Bobby Stoker yesterday ruled himself out as a candidate, while the Observer has learned that health minister Michael McGimpsey will not fight the Westminster seat.

The absence of the UUP's major figures at the general election clears a path for the Conservative and Unionist candidate Peter McCann. A former BBC senior executive in Northern Ireland, McCann is a Catholic from the west of the city.

The absence of an experienced unionist with strong links to the area is a boost for sitting SDLP MP Alasdair McDonnell. If the Tories' candidate is the only one to run on the UUP-Conservative ticket, it is understood that the Democratic Unionist party will stand a rival, in all likelihood the former police officer and councillor Jimmy Spratt.

Councillor Stoker, who has a large support base in the Donegall Road, Village and Sandy Row areas, said: "As a matter of principle, I will not be standing. I was not mindful to stand under a joint Conservative-Ulster Unionist ticket, but I will canvass for the party."

One source close to the Ulster Unionist leadership claimed that McGimpsey was also reluctant to stand as a joint Tory-UUP candidate. "It leaves the party with the Conservative candidate Peter McCann with a near clear run to stand on the joint ticket. And that means that, for the first time in Northern Ireland's history, we will have a pro-union candidate who is a Catholic standing against a nationalist MP who is a Catholic," he said.

A spokeswoman for the UUP said no one could comment as there was an "ongoing selection process" taking place. She said the decision would be taken in the middle of January.

By Mícheal Mac Donncha
An Phoblacht
17 Dec 09

In May 1918 British Army Field Marshal John French was appointed Lord Lieutenant and Supreme Commander of the British Army in Ireland. He had previously held the positions of Commander-in-Chief of the British Home Forces and, at the start of the First World War, Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force in France.
French was a career general and a pillar of the British establishment, in contrast to his sister Charlotte Despard who was a militant feminist and supporter of Irish republicanism. French oversaw the suppression of the 1916 Rising and subsequent executions ordered by General Maxwell. He was in command in Ireland when the British government threatened to impose conscription in 1918.

Photo: Martin Savage

By the end of 1919 British military occupation had become more violent and the Dáil, Sinn Féin, Conradh na Gaeilge and other nationalist organisations and publications had been banned. The IRA was intensifying its attacks on British forces and French, as a virtual military dictator, was a prime target. IRA General Headquarters Staff attempted to ambush French on many occasions – 12 according to one account – but without success.
On 11 November 1919 IRA Volunteer Seán Hogan of Tipperary waited on Grattan Bridge for the arrival of French on his way to an Armistice banquet in Trinity College. At the time the Lord Lieutenant’s car was due to pass Hogan took the pins from his two hand grenades and threw them away. But French never passed and Hogan had to hold down the trigger mechanism of the grenades as he made his way to a safe house where new pins were secured to prevent them from exploding.
The following month the IRA made a final and more concerted attempt to ambush French. Around a dozen Volunteers were involved, including Seán Hogan, Dan Breen, Seán Treacy and Martin Savage, a lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion of the Dublin Brigade. He was not part of the unit originally chosen to carry out the ambush but met Hogan in a safe house the night before and volunteered to take part.
The date was Friday, 19 December and the place was Ashtown, Co. Dublin, on the north fringe of Phoenix Park. French was due to arrive by train to Ashtown station at 11.40am and travel by armoured convoy through the Ashtown Gate of the Park and on to the Vice-Regal Lodge (now Áras an Uachtaráin). The Volunteers were waiting at Kelly’s Halfway House pub where they had mingled with customers rather than attract suspicion by taking up ambush positions immediately.
The train arrived earlier than expected and the Volunteers took up positions. The plan was for Martin Savage, Dan Breen and Tom Keogh to draw a cart across the road in front of the convoy. They were delayed in this by the arrival of a policeman who tried to stop them. Before the cart was put in place the convoy arrived. The Volunteers concentrated their gunfire and grenades on the second car in which French was due to travel. It was wrecked and crashed into the ditch but it turned out that French was in the first car and escaped injury.
In the third car in the British convoy were four rifle-men and a machine-gunner. One of the rifle-men fired a fatal shot at Martin Savage, shooting him in the throat. Dan Breen was wounded in the leg. After carrying their comrade’s body into Kelly’s the Volunteers escaped before the arrival of British reinforcements.
Martin Savage participated in the 1916 Rising, was imprisoned in England and went on to play a key role in the Dublin Brigade, losing his life in one of the first major engagements of the Black and Tan war. His body was returned to his native Ballisodare, Co. Sligo for burial. Due to flooding which stopped the trains, Martin Savage’s Volunteer comrades in Sligo marched nine miles to meet the cortege and carried the Tricolour-draped coffin a further two miles to the graveyard on 23 December.
The Ashtown ambush in which Martin Savage lost his life took place on 19 December 1919, 90 years ago his week.

An Phoblacht
17 Dec 09

A barrister acting on behalf of the family of Robert Hamill has suggested that Ronnie Flanagan, the RUC Chief Constable at the time of the murder, “gave the nod” to the subsequent RUC cover up. The allegation emerged during the second day of closing submissions at the inquiry into the killing of Portadown Catholic Robert Hamill in 1997.
Barrister Barra McGrory told the inquiry that the least the former Chief Constable could be held responsible for was “gross negligence” by giving “free rein” to the late Chief Superintendent Maynard McBurney to conduct the investigation into serious allegations against one of his officers.
But, said the Hamill family’s barrister, the conduct of the then RUC Chief could only be characterised as gross negligence if Flanagan had presided over a series of investigative “mistakes”. Judgement would be much harsher if it appeared that Flanagan had in any way endorsed a process of cover up by omission.
McGrory said a “much worse scenario was that the chief constable knew very well how McBurney was conducting this investigation”.

Photo: Former RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan

“If one is looking for a reason why McBurney may have taken on himself to subtly and cleverly bury this allegation, it is that he had the nod and the nod could have come from only one person and that person is the chief constable,” said McGrory.
McGrory reminded the inquiry an attempt at misdirection by the former chief constable who at one stage suggested that Robert Hamill’s death “could have been caused by his own family cradling his head in a way that led to oxygen denial”.
Flanagan also displayed hostility to the victim’s family by claiming that the dead man’s sister Diane Hamill “had her own agenda to discredit the RUC”.
“This tribunal must now look at the conduct of Sir Ronnie Flanagan from the beginning to the end through a different prism,” said McGrory.
Evidence emerged within weeks of the killing that RUC Reservist Robert Atkinson contacted a prime suspect by telephone, Allister Hanvey and advised him to destroy forensic evidence that could have linked him to the murder.
Hanvey was named by former girlfriend, Tracey Clarke as one of a number of loyalists who punched and stamped on Robert Hamill’s head. The father of two never regained consciousness and died 12 days later.
Hamill and another man were targeted because they were identified as Catholic by a loyalist mob intent on sectarian violence. The attack took place in full view of an armed RUC mobile patrol, which had been specifically deployed to thwart any loyalist attack on Catholics walking home from Portadown town centre.
Four RUC officers sitting in a Land Rover failed to intervene, failed to provide any first aid to the victims and made no attempt to question or detain loyalists involved.
A barrister representing Allister Hanvey at the inquiry has confirmed that an RUC officer made a telephone call to his client’s home shortly after the attack. The admission was made during barrister Mark McComb’s closing statement to the inquiry.
“In relation to the tip off, we are faced, and I think everybody must accept, with the fact that there was a phone call from the Atkinson to the Hanvey household,” said McComb.
“There appears never to have been one before. There was one subsequently, in May and the timing of it may certainly have some significance. I am limited obviously in my instruction as to what the content of that was or even the fact of it having been made but again perhaps this is not for me to speculate on but may I perhaps put a suggestion, and again it is totally without instructions, that Mr Atkinson did see Hanvey there [at the scene of the murder]. I think that is incontrovertible,” said McComb.
The inquiry also heard that the officer in question should and could have been prosecuted. Andree McKee retracted a false alibi she had provided for Atkinson. She originally claimed that a telephone call made from Atkinson’s home to a suspect’s home hours after the murder, had been made by her husband Michael. However the couple later confessed it was a lie and both were convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The inquiry heard that Andree McKee had made herself available as a witness for the prosecution. Her lawyer Ronan Daly said she remained perplexed as to why the prosecution [of Atkinson] did not take place when “she remained all times able and willing to give evidence against him in court”. Daly said that his client felt that failure to prosecute Atkinson has damaged the criminal justice system.
The inquiry is set to resume this week to hear further closing submissions.

By Vincent Kearney
BBC
18 Dec 09

An investigation is to be launched into claims that prison staff planted a note with the details of the governor in the cell of a republican dissident suspect.

Maghaberry Governor Steve Rodford resigned two weeks ago because of fears that he was under threat.

A note with the governor's details was found in a cell

It has been claimed that the note was planted by prison officers at the high security County Antrim jail opposed to reforms he was trying to introduce.

The Prisoner Ombudsman Pauline McCabe is to investigate the claim.

Mr Rodford came from a high security prison in England to take over as governor at Maghaberry - but quit after less than five months.

Security was one of the factors in his decision. His wife had left Northern Ireland weeks earlier because of concerns that they were being targeted by dissident republicans.

In September, a piece of toilet roll containing the governor's name and his car registration were found during a search of a cell occupied by Brendan McConville, who's charged with the murder of police officer Stephen Carroll in Craigavon in March.
Brendan McConville denies the murder of Constable Carroll
The note was found in the cell of Brendan McConville, charged with murdering Constable Carroll

The police questioned the republican about the handwritten note. He was not charged, but detectives are preparing a file to be sent to the Public Prosecution Service.

Last month, partly in response to the discovery of the note, Steve Rodford closed Maghaberry to visitors for four days to facilitate a huge search of the prison.

A lawyer for Brendan McConville has written to the Prisoner Ombudsman alleging that he was "set up" by staff opposed to changes and reforms being implemented by the new governor.

The letter of complaint from Belfast solicitor Kevin Winters says his client denied any connection with the note. The lawyer states that his client has volunteered to provide samples of his handwriting to police.

The letter says Brendan McConville makes the case quite simply that "there's no coincidence between the departure of Stephen Rodford from his post consequent upon the alleged 'finding' of the offending piece of toilet roll".

It also suggests that the note was planted in order to facilitate a "wider agenda within the prison".
Steve Rodford, former governor of Maghaberry Prison
Steve Rodford stepped down as governor after five months

The letter said a number of other inmates at Maghaberry will provide statements confirming evidence of "open hostility" by prison staff to Governor Rodford.

The Prisoner Ombudsman has confirmed she has received a formal complaint and will investigate it once the police investigation has been completed.

While I understand no individual member of staff has been questioned, there's no question there has been speculation since the discovery of the former's governor's details on a piece of paper inside a cell.

Some of the basic questions being asked are what use would the information be to anyone inside the prison if they were intending to do harm outside the jail, and why would they record such information on paper.

Of course, it could be that the discovery of the paper had exactly the designed effect, but it is important to stress that at this stage, this is simply speculation, an allegation and a lawyer defending his client.

In a statement, the Prison Officers Association said it did not accept that the note had been planted by one of its members, and insisted that they were not opposed to reforms being introduced at the jail.

It said that if Pauline McCabe's investigation reveals that a prison officer did plant the note, then that officer should face full disciplinary procedures and the association would be extremely disappointed in them.

DAN KEENAN
Irish Times
18 Dec 09

THE INQUIRY into the death of Robert Hamill has heard its final submission in public hearing and is preparing to write its report next month.

Sir Edwin Jowett, chairman of the inquiry, along with the Rev Baroness (Kathleen) Richardson and Sir John Evans, heard counsel for the inquiry sum up the last 12 months of hearings.

Ashley Underwood QC told the inquiry in Belfast that the primary purpose of a public inquiry was to allay public concern.

The inquiry is investigating the murder of Robert Hamill (25), who was kicked to death by a crowd in Portadown, Co Armagh, in 1997.

There have been concerns that the RUC at the time may have aided and abetted a murderer and that the subsequent investigation and prosecutions may have been poorly conducted.

Mr Underwood told the inquiry: “In this instance that concern was that the police may have aided and abetted a murder, possibly for sectarian motives, and that the murder investigation and any prosecutions may have been poorly conducted, again possibly for sectarian motives. I respectfully suggest that a concern of that gravity required the most thorough investigation in order to allay it.”

Former RUC chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan has denied that he tried to impede any investigation into alleged collusion by his officers and loyalists connected with the case. In two appearances before the inquiry he has also denied he withheld any information from the then Northern secretary, the late Mo Mowlam.

Mr Underwood said he was handing over to the inquiry some 90,000 pages of evidence and some 1,500 pages of statements.

The inquiry has cost about £28 million (€32 million) to date, and the total cost is expected to reach some £34 million.

Killing claims revealed on US website

By David Gordon
Belfast Telegraph
Thursday, 17 December 2009

Explosive collusion allegations have been published by a US Congress body as part of its examination of a loyalist murder case dating back 12 years.

Members of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs were recently addressed by Raymond McCord over the police's failure to bring his son's UVF killers to justice.

A sub-committee of the Washington body has now published online his written submission to its inquiry, detailing a string of serious allegations.

Using the Congress equivalent of Parliamentary privilege, Mr McCord claimed:

• The UVF's long-standing top commander — named in his written statement as Shankill loyalist John ‘Bunter’ Graham — has been a long-term “agent of the state” .
• The murder of Mr McCord's son Raymond jnr was carried out on the orders of north Belfast UVF man and Special Branch informer Mark Haddock.
• Haddock's main Special Branch handler — named in Mr McCord's statement as an ex-RUC Detective Sergeant — spoke up for the loyalist when he was arrested on suspicion of terrorism in 2000.
• Mr McCord also posed questions for ex-Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan on what he had known about the activities of police informers within the UVF.

His claims have been made to the Congress Committee's Subcommittee on International Organisations, Human Rights and Oversight, which is examining collusion allegations here.

McCord jnr, a 22-year-old former RAF man, was beaten to death by a UVF gang in Newtownabbey in November 1997.

His father has campaigned for years for a public inquiry on the case, and to expose collusion between the police and a vicious UVF unit centred in north Belfast's Mount Vernon estate.

His chief allegations against Special Branch were vindicated in a damning report issued in January 2007 by Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan. Mrs O'Loan has also given evidence to the Congress sub-committee.

In his now-published written submission, Mr McCord alleged Haddock was “the leader of Mount Vernon UVF” and had been “part of the British security forces' intelligence services for at least 12 years”.

He also claimed that John ‘Bunter’ Graham has been an agent “for years”.

“He is the man who controls, and has run, the UVF for years,” the submission added.

“The list goes on. Many of the leading UVF men were in fact Special Branch informants, who were also involved in murders, drug dealing, beatings and extortions. How many innocent lives have been sacrificed so as not to expose these informers?”

He also claimed that a suspect in his son's murder, whom he named as Willie Young, was not interviewed by police for eight days despite being “easily accessible”.

Mr McCord's written statement further stated that Haddock was accused of having information likely to be of use to terrorists in 2000, in relation to possession of a vehicle's registration details.

He alleged Haddock’s senior handler, named as Detective Sergeant Phil Scott, “prepared a confidential document that was forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions”.

It said there were “no sinister motives behind the possession of the vehicle registration number” and expressed the opinion “that the informant will be of great value in the future”, he stated.

Mr McCord's submission to the Congress sub-committee also challenged Sir Ronnie Flanagan, asking: “Did he not know that Haddock was a major suspect in many murders? Why did he continue to allow Special Branch to keep him on as a paid Special Branch informer?

“How many more ‘Mark Haddocks' were there working for the police? How can Ronnie Flanagan wash his hands of all this and pretend he did not know?”

Mr McCord acknowledged that changes have been made in the handling of informants as a result of the Police Ombudsman probe.

But his submission added that the Government has still not publicly admitted to collusion.

“I believe one of the most important aspects of this case is for the British Government to hold up their hands, come clean, and tell the truth.

“They did collude with terrorist organisations and should now apologise and compensate the victims’ families,” he added.

By Deborah McAleese
Belfast Telegraph
Friday, 18 December 2009

Dissident republicans are planning to use honey traps this Christmas in a bid to lure a member of the security forces to his death, it has emerged.

During a recent security briefing Army personnel were warned about the recruitment by dissidents of attractive females to identify soldiers at popular nightspots and lure them into ambushes.

Military personnel have been advised not to attend certain bars and clubs over the holidays.

If they do attend the nightspots they have been warned to be on their guard for any possible traps.

A security source told the Belfast Telegraph: “We have been told that ‘honeys’ may be used by dissidents to identify soldiers.

“The English accents and haircuts can give soldiers away but these ‘honeys’ will be used to lure soldiers into a trap.

“A lot of soldiers will be out over the holiday period so there is particular concern at the minute about this.”

The source added that all military personnel were recently warned that the terrorist threat against them has been upped yet again.

The use of honey traps is not a new terrorist tactic. It was a popular method used by the Provisional IRA during the Troubles. One of the most famous ‘honeys’ was IRA spy Rosena Brown, who allegedly used her charms to befriend senior prison officer John Christopher Hanna, who became infatuated by her and passed information about a colleague who was murdered by the IRA.

Dissident republicans are clearly reacquainting themselves with old methods and attempting to build a small-scale version of the Provisional IRA

They have been using Semtex plastic explosive and fertiliser-based material in attempted bombings, have been involved in smuggling and attempts at gun-running, and carrying out “punishment” kneecappings in republican areas — all once carried out by PIRA.

A few veteran republicans are passing on techniques learnt in the IRA to the 300-400 active dissidents.

The old guard also brings with it small quantities of the Semtex and firearms once held by the IRA, enough to keep the new campaign going.

However, the use of old tactics should help the security services keep ahead of the terrorist groups as they have dealt with all of this before.

There are also signs that the police and MI5 are combating the threat by “turning” dissident members into agents.

A recent attempt to shoot dead a young police officer in Garrison, Co Fermanagh, resulted in two arrests, the security forces evidently having received high-grade advance intelligence.

Background

The Provisional IRA used the ‘honey trap’ operation several times throughout the Troubles.

In March 1973 the Provos shot dead three soldiers and wounded another after they were lured from a Lisburn hotel |to a flat on the Antrim Road by two women. Dougald McCaughey (23), Joseph McCaig (18) and John McCaig (17), all three members of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, were off-duty |and lured from a pub where they had been drinking. Their bodies were found at Squire's Hill in the Ligoniel area of Belfast.

In September 1981 Private Sohan Singh Virdee of the Royal Pioneer Corps was shot dead by the IRA in the Stranmillis Park area of Belfast after he and his colleague Private John Lunt were lured there by two females who they met in a disco in Lisburn.

IRA spy Rosena Brown, an actress, allegedly used her charms to befriend senior Maze prison officer Christopher Hanna. Hanna became infatuated by Brown and passed information about a colleague who was murdered by the IRA in a car bomb in October 1988. Brown — dubbed the IRA’s ‘Mata Hari’ — was later jailed for conspiracy to murder in a case not connected to Hanna.

By Scott Millar
Irish Examiner
Saturday, December 19, 2009

IT has emerged Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams believed his brother to be a serious child sex abuser for over 20 years before informing either the gardaí or Northern Irish police.

In an Ulster television Insight documentary, screened last night, Mr Adams admitted that in early 1987 he became aware of allegations that his brother Liam had repeatedly sexually abused his own daughter since she was four years old.

However despite stating that from "the very beginning" he believed his niece Áine Tyrell’s claims to have been sexually abused by her father, the Sinn Féin president failed to inform gardaí or instigate any other justice proceedings.

In the documentary, Mr Adams said he was now willing to bear "witness in support of Áine and against Liam". He also called on his brother, who is believed to have been "on the run" in the Republic since a warrant for his arrest was issued by the PSNI in November 2008, to give himself up.

Liam Adams, who is in his late 50s, faces 29 charges.

The programme alleged that as late as 2007 Áine Tyrell, who left Northern Ireland as a teenager in the 1980s to live in Scotland, had encountered attempts by prominent Belfast priest Fr Aidan Troy to "mediate" on behalf of her father rather than allow him face criminal prosecution.

Last night Fr Troy issued a statement denying claims he had attempted to persuade Ms Tyrell, aged 36, from proceeding with a case.

Ms Tyrell said she had first informed her family about the abuse in the mid-1980s. When Gerry Adams was informed of the allegations he organised a meeting between the victim, her mother and his brother Liam.

Ms Tyrell decided not to pursue the prosecution at that time but when she discovered her father had started working with children in community groups she decided to reactivate her case.

BBC
18 Dec 09

The head of the PSNI's serious crime branch has promised a vigorous investigation into loyalist killings in north Belfast in the 1990s.

The Historical Enquiries Team re-examined at least 10 murders blamed on the UVF.

Now at least 20 more cases are to be taken on by the PSNI itself.

Operation Ballast has investigated a number of UVF murders

Despite allegations of past police collusion, Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris promised a thorough approach into the investigation.

"We are totally accountable to the (Policing) Board and the board are now looking at how they will ensure oversight and accountability," he said.

"I am a warranted officer so therefore I am subject to the police ombudsman's investigations as well.

"So there is a full mechanism of rigorous accountability and oversight in respect of all that I do and that my officers do in respect of these investigations."

"But I think we should be actually judged on our results and the results that we actually achieve in these investigations."

Operation Ballast investigated a UVF gang based in the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast.

The original probe was set up amid claims that the security forces colluded with UVF members over the killings.

Former Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan, claimed paramilitary killers were protected from prosecution because they were police agents.

She examined the allegations after a complaint from Belfast man Raymond McCord, whose son, Raymond McCord Junior, was murdered by the UVF in 1997.

'Cutting edge'

ACC Harris said all allegations of police misconduct would by law be investigated by the ombudsman and any evidence uncovered by his officers would be given to the ombudsman.

He said the serious crime branch was best suited to carry on a live investigation into murder.

"We know what we're doing, we're at the cutting edge of investigative techniques and we're also at the cutting edge of national standards," he said.

Operation Ballast

• Set up by Police Ombudsman in 2002 after complaint by Raymond McCord, whose son was murdered by the UVF
• Mr McCord alleged some of the UVF killers were being protected because they were police informers
• The ombudsman's report published in 2007 upheld a number of Mr McCord's complaints
• The investigation was taken over by the Historical Enquiries Team which has charged more than a dozen men with serious crimes including murder
• The investigation is transferred to the PSNI's serious crime branch

"So people aren't getting second best here - it's very much around bringing killers to justice and that's what we're determined to do."

On Thursday, the SDLP criticised the decision to transfer the investigation.

Assembly and Policing Board member Attwood said he had a number of concerns and the move required "the greatest scrutiny".

He said that families and victims had "a level of confidence" in investigations carried out by the HET and this may not cross over to a PSNI-led investigation.

"The SDLP will listen to why the PSNI believe the Ballast investigation will be more complete and more successful if conducted by the PSNI," Mr Attwood said.

"However, those arguments must be balanced carefully and fully against the success of the Historical Enquiries Team to date and in developing evidence to the point of prosecution and the need to keep confidence of families, victims and the wider community."

The DUP's Ian Paisley jnr said Mr Attwood had been at a Policing Board meeting which gave unanimous support for the move.

"Less than one week ago he accepted it at a meeting of the Board with very little expression of concern. His decision to express these concerns has come after the event," he said.

BBC
17 Dec 09

The High Court has heard that forensic tests are still to be carried out on more than 600 items seized following the murder of a police officer.

Prosecutors made the disclosure as they opposed a bail application by a teenager accused of killing Constable Stephen Carroll in March.

John Paul Wootton, 18, of Collingdale, Lurgan is also accused of Continuity IRA membership and having information likely to be of use to terrorists.

He was refused bail.

Constable Carroll was shot dead in an ambush as he responded to an emergency call in Craigavon.

A crown lawyer claimed written and photographic material has been seized which links the suspect to the terrorist organisation behind the murder.

She said this included notebooks containing minutes of Continuity IRA meetings, and a computer document with promotional flyers and a recruitment drive.

Bail was refused by the judge who described the alleged evidence against Wootton as a "formidable body of circumstances".

Surveillance

According to the prosecution a Citroen Saxo car owned by the accused, then aged 17, was parked 150 yards from the scene of Constable Carroll's murder and driven off within minutes of the shooting.

Electronic surveillance was used to track the vehicle, which has since been seized and forensically examined, the court heard.

Clothing and cartridge discharge residue was recovered from the car. A sweatshirt belonging to Wootton was said to contain some of the residue.

The crown lawyer claimed more particles consistent with the ammunition used in the shooting was found on a brown coat retrieved in the boot of the Saxo.

This coat has been forensically linked to former Sinn Fein councillor Brendan McConville, 38, of Glenholme Avenue, Lurgan, who is also charged with the murder.

Extensive

The barrister stressed how the probe into the killing was extensive and ongoing.

She said: "There is also forensic testing of over 600 items that were seized and remain outstanding in relation to the whole inquiry."

She added that, following his arrest, Wootton declined to give an account to police.

A defence barrister argued there was no DNA evidence linking his client to the scene of the shooting.

He also claimed a scientific report established that some of the cartridge discharge residue could not have come from the murder weapon.

An agreed bail address in Belfast was available, along with a £20,000 cash surety which Mr Wooton's uncles were prepared to lodge.

Refusing bail, Mr Justice McLaughlin ruled it was not a case where the accused should be released.

GERRY MORIARTY Northern Editor
Irish Times
17 Dec 09

NORTHERN SECRETARY Shaun Woodward has announced he is reappointing the Parades Commission for a further 12 months notwithstanding a demand by DUP First Minister Peter Robinson for its abolition.

It was the issue of parades that precipitated the verbal and head-shaking row in front of Taoiseach Brian Cowen in Limavady, Co Derry, between Mr Robinson and Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness on Monday.

This was prompted by a demand by Mr Robinson that the issue of parades must be resolved before he would agree to the devolution of policing and justice powers. Mr McGuinness was equally insistent that this was a new and unacceptable precondition to the negotiations.

Mr Woodward said the British government was open to changing the parading arrangements, but only where the parties “mutually agree” a way forward. “Until then the Parades Commission will remain in place,” he said.

Meanwhile, the British and Irish governments continue to strive for a compromise to end the stand-off between the DUP and Sinn Féin.

Mr Woodward met Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin at Hillsborough Castle on Tuesday.

“Sometimes the rhetoric is alarming, and unquestionably the events at Limavady on Monday caused a bit of a shock to some people,” said Mr Woodward after the meeting. He added, however, that the deadlock could be broken.

He said he could understand the frustration of Sinn Féin. Referring to Mr McGuinness setting Christmas as the deadline for agreement on policing and justice, Mr Woodward said: “I’m not about actually holding anyone to a deadline or against a deadline, I’m about helping them fulfil their intention.” Mr Robinson had stated his intention was to see the transfer of justice powers, he said.

Mr Martin said it was within the capacity of the parties, all of whom backed devolving policing and justice, to “bring this over the line”.

Mr Woodward said that he was “optimistic” there could be more UDA decommissioning around Christmas. Mr Martin said: “We would love to see it and we would welcome it warmly.”

By Brian Rowan
Belfast Telegraph
Thursday, 17 December 2009

Loyalists yesterday pulled out of talks with Martin McGuinness just hours after this newspaper publicly revealed their plan to meet.

The Deputy First Minister had been expecting a four-man delegation at his Stormont office yesterday afternoon, including the paramilitary ‘brigadier’ Jackie McDonald.

Other senior UDA figures on that organisation’s so-called ‘inner council’ were to join him at the talks, as loyalists arrived back in Belfast after two days of meetings in Brussels.

The McGuinness meeting was to be part of a sequence of background discussions in which loyalists have met the decommissioning general John de Chastelain and First Minister Peter Robinson in recent days.

But at the last minute the UDA took cold feet, apparently angry that the Belfast Telegraph had revealed the talks plan.

One source, however, offered another explanation — a falling out over “egos” at the top of the loyalist group.

Sources have confirmed the Stormont meeting was “arranged”, Mr McGuinness had been expecting to see “four senior people” — meaning senior UDA leaders, but as that historic first meeting approached his office was told: “We want to do a meeting, but we don’t want to do it now.”

Journalists and photographers unaware that the talks had been cancelled waited outside Stormont Castle yesterday afternoon.

This is an embarrassment for UDA leaders and a pullout that points to the personality clashes at the very top of the paramilitary organisation — an organisation of many chiefs.

But none of the group’s other leaders has McDonald’s public profile.

Matt Kincaid, John Bunting, Billy McFarland and a fourth man from east Belfast are the UDA’s other senior leaders — some of whom were expected at yesterday’s talks.

The paramilitary organisation is facing a final decommissioning deadline of February, but has concerns about the dissident republican threat and the future of the political institutions at Stormont.

They also want to talk about loyalist communities and the future for UDA members when that organisation finally steps off Ulster’s “war” stage.

Martin McGuinness had issues to raise with them, including their continuing activities and the work that has yet to be completed with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning.

Last night one loyalist, trying to put a better face on yesterday’s events, said he was “very confident” a meeting with the Deputy First Minister will take place.

____________


Analysis: Loyalists just left looking foolish

By Brian Rowan

There are many in the UDA who are not comfortable in the bright lights of the peace process.

And there are some in that organisation, according to the latest report of the IMC, still involved in drugs, robbery and extortion.

The UDA is often last in the peace process — and certainly the last of the mainstream organisations still to complete decommissioning.

A meeting with Martin McGuinness probably means more to the loyalist organisation than it does to the man so identified with the IRA’s war and peace.

The UDA craves credibility in the peace process, but it makes itself look foolish when it pulls out of a meeting at this high level.

Is it really because this newspaper revealed the planned talks, or is there another reason? Journalists have revealed many important moments in this process — and it has survived. A report, a headline should not force loyalists into a retreat.

Either they want to meet Martin McGuinness or they don’t.

There is a jealousy thing and that “ego” thing that is part of the UDA ‘inner council’. Jackie McDonald is often portrayed as the UDA chief, but he is just one of many chiefs. Most of the others are still hiding, not comfortable in that public place called the peace process.

Vincent Kearney
BBC

It has emerged that an intiative steered by the husband of the Irish president is being blamed for the UDA's failure to fully decommission.

Martin McAleese approached the British and Irish Governments and the NI Executive for millions of pounds of funding for UDA controlled areas.

It is understood decommissioning stalled because of a perceived failure to deliver the money promised.

Mr McAleese has a well known relationship with senior UDA figures.

He is understood to have held a series of meetings with Jackie McDonald and other UDA leaders to discuss their concerns about working class loyalist communities.

As a result, he drew up an action plan and asked the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) to contribute £5m to a project aimed at regenerating loyalist areas where the UDA has a strong presence.

He said this would be matched by the Irish government. The Irish foreign minister, Micheal Martin, is believed to have attended one of Mr McAleese's meetings with senior UDA figures.

The aim of the 20 page action plan refers to the need to "exploit the opportunity to build a new and positive future for everyone that underpins and consolidates the peace process."

Refusal

The BBC understands the president's husband was told by the NIO that it wouldn't be possible to supply the funding and that such a project would be a matter for the Stormont executive.

Mr McAleese then asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to provide the funding but they apparently refused, telling him regeneration projects must be cross community and based on need.

That is believed to have led the UDA to renege on an agreement it had with other loyalist groups to decommission its weapons.

It's understood republicans supported attempts to bind loyalists into the peace process but did not believe money was the solution.

A senior republican source told the BBC that the initiative was viewed as an attempt by the UDA to sell its guns, which the republican movement would not accept.

Confident

Martin McAleese, who travelled to Brussels this week with Jackie McDonald and others, is now believed to be seeking European funding for a modified proposal which includes a total of ten areas - five loyalist and five nationalist.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin said it would continue to support Mr McAleese's efforts.

"Mr McAleese's outreach initiatives with the loyalist communities have been very helpful in consolidating peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland," a spokesperson added.

The Northern Ireland Office confirmed that such community funding would be a matter for OFMDFM.

"The government is aware of Martin McAleese's interest in community development in loyalist areas," an NIO spokesperson said.

"The issue of decommissioning is a separate one and we are encouraged by the progress made by the UDA to date. We are confident that decommissioning will be completed by February 9 when the legislation comes to an end.

"Anything to do with community development is a matter for the devolved administration and not the NIO."

News Letter
17 December 2009

NO plans have yet been confirmed for an anticipated meeting between Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and senior UDA figure Jackie McDonald.

If the planned talks go ahead they will represent an historic first meeting at the most senior levels of the republican and loyalist leaderships.

It is believed the issue of the dissident republican threat is likely to be on the agenda.

Last night a senior loyalist source said they hoped that meeting would take place this week, "although nothing has yet been confirmed".

"Sinn Fein asked for the meeting but no time has been arranged yet."

UDA "brigadier" McDonald, a member of that organisation's so-called inner council, is understood to have only returned from Brussels last night.

A Sinn Fein spokesman also said that no meeting between Mr McGuinness and Mr McDonald had been confirmed.

The news comes as the MP for South Down, Eddie McGrady, called for answers from the Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward, in the House of Commons about recent speculation that the UDA have asked for multi-million pound funding from both the British and Irish governments on completion of decommissioning.

On Tuesday Mr Woodward said he is optimistic there could be further loyalist decommissioning over the Christmas period.

The deadline to complete that process is February.

Mr McGrady said: "The fear is growing that if such funding were granted it would benefit loyalist paramilitaries, not loyalist communities."

A NIO spokesman said last night: "The Government does not pay paramilitary organisations to decommission their weapons."

Last week, UDA leaders met the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD] and held separate talks with First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson.

With the Stormont stand-off continuing on the question of the devolution of policing and justice, the UDA is thought to be seeking assurances on the political future of the Province before making its next move.

BBC
16 Dec 09

A Belfast man was sent back to jail based on intelligence alleging he was a Real IRA leader planning attacks after his release, it has been revealed.

The reasons for revoking Terence McCafferty's licence were disclosed as he lost his appeal against the decision by Security Minister Paul Goggins.

His lawyers argued that only Secretary of State Shaun Woodward had the power to order his return to prison.

Terence McCafferty tried to blow up a motor tax office in 2002

Three Court of Appeal judges ruled that Mr Goggins did have the power.

McCafferty, from the New Lodge area of the city, received a 12-year sentence in July 2005 after being convicted of possessing explosives after an attempt to blow up a Belfast motor tax office in 2002.

The 41-year-old was released on licence last November, but was rearrested the following month and returned to Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, County Antrim.

Mr Goggins authorised the revocation on the grounds that his continued liberty would put the public at risk and the possibility of further offences.

Following a failed application for a writ of habeas corpus, McCafferty sought to overturn the decision in the Court of Appeal.

Ruling on the new challenge, Lord Justice Coghlin set out the contents of a letter from the Security Minister giving reasons for revoking his licence.

Concerns

"In reaching that decision Paul Goggins had regard to information made available to him that you are a leading and active member of the Real Irish Republican Army who held the position of officer commanding of RIRA prisoners within HMP Maghaberry prior to your release from prison in November 2008," it stated.

"During your sentence, you remained in regular contact with senior RIRA members and involved in directing RIRA business, and displayed a clear desire to continue your involvement in RIRA activity on your release, including in becoming involved in plans for attacks that would present a threat to public safety.

"From immediately on your release you have been in regular contact with leading RIRA figures. It is assessed that you have taken up a leading role in the organisation and have been involved in plans to conduct attacks."

McCafferty categorically denied the allegations in the letter, which was not read out in open court during a summary of the nine-page judgement.

His legal team claimed the Security Minister was biased because he was unlikely to have made an independent decision on someone believed to pose a threat.

'Appropriate'

It was also argued that he probably had access to "damaging information" which could not be seen by McCafferty or his advisors for security reasons.

But Lord Justice Coghlin, sitting with Lord Justices Higgins and Girvan, found no substance in the submissions.

Dismissing the appeal, the judge acknowledged ultimate responsibility for security in Northern Ireland rests with the Secretary of State.

"Both he and the Minister will have the same concerns for and receive the same briefings about the matters of security and both are subject to the same systems of accountability," he said.

"Both occupy high offices of State. In such circumstances, it is entirely appropriate that the Minister of State should be entitled to exercise the Secretary of State's decision making functions under the 1995 (Remission of Sentences) Act."

BBC
16 Dec 09

A leading republican has launched a legal action against his forthcoming trial being heard without a jury.

Brian Arthurs, 45, of Finulagh Road, Castlecaulfield, Dungannon, is charged with deception and possession of criminal property.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has issued a certificate for the trial to take place in front of a judge alone.

Mr Arthurs' barrister argued his client had "a fundamental right to trial by one's peers."

The lawyer told High Court judges it was the first judicial review challenge to be brought against a provision under the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007.

But Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan questioned why an application should not instead be made at the Crown Court before the trial begins in February.

Adjourning the hearing, he said: "Because this is the first case of its type to come before the court the procedure that should be adopted is clearly important for other cases."

Sir Declan stressed that care should be taken before any determination is made.

RTÉ
Wednesday, 16 December 2009

The British and Irish governments have agreed to try to find a solution to the row between Sinn Féin and the DUP over the devolution of justice and policing.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin and Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward met in Hillsborough last night to review the problems in the power-sharing administration at Stormont.

Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers had a public row in Limavady on Monday.
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The spectacle convinced the British and Irish governments that power-sharing at Stormont is in trouble.

Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson are squabbling over the devolution of justice and policing powers from London to Belfast.

Sinn Féin argues it has proven its 'bona-fides' by joining the Policing Board and supporting the PSNI.

Martin McGuinness wants a date for devolution agreed by the end of the year.

The DUP's stance is to list preconditions that must be satisfied before devolution goes ahead.

Two months ago the problem was finance.

Peter Robinson's latest dealbreaker is the contentious issues of parades.

Against this troubled backdrop Micheál Martin and Shaun Woodward began firefighting at Hillsborough last night.

The two governments agreed to work up to Christmas in the search for a compromise.

They are convinced they will come up with a formula to allow devolution to take place early in the New Year.

The Taoiseach has told the Dáil that he believes that progress can and should be made on the devolution of policing and justice in Northern Ireland.

However, he said it would require goodwill and dialogue between the parties involved.

Mr Cowen said that he would not like to see a situation where progress had not been made on this coming into the New Year.

He indicated that the Government had been made aware of the contents of the letter sent by First Minister Robinson to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The Taoiseach was replying during leaders questions to Sinn Féin's Caoimhgín Ó Caoláin.

BBC

Secretary of State Shaun Woodward said he is optimistic there could be further loyalist decommissioning over the Christmas period.

In June the UVF decommissioned all weapons under their control, but the UDA only decommissioned some weapons.

Mr Woodward was speaking after a meeting with the Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin.

They also said they hoped the DUP and Sinn Fein could overcome differences over the devolution of justice.

First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Martin McGuinness were involved in a public clash on the issue earlier this week.

Mr Woodward said it was important to remember that despite their differences, the DUP and Sinn Fein were devolutionists in principle.

He also noted that both have already agreed to a £1bn funding package with the Treasury to support NI's new justice department.

'Local difficulties'

"It's clear to me that what we've got to recognise here is the shared sense of common purpose," he said.

"Peter Robinson is a moderniser, he is a devolutionist, he does not want a British (government) secretary of state running policing and justice any more than Martin McGuinness wants to see - perhaps for different reasons - a British secretary of state running policing and justice. So let's be really clear: they share a common goal, they share a common purpose."

He added: "Yes there are some ... local difficulties at the moment, the rhetoric is loud, it is looking a bit difficult.

"Having said that though, remember where we've come from, remember the obstacles that were overcome."

Mr Martin echoed his sentiments."It's clear there are a remaining number of steps to be taken," he said.

"If you were to take the politics out of it for a second it would appear to me to be entirely within the grasp of the parties to achieve a solution to this devolution question and to bring about an early devolution of policing and justice. I am hopeful that that can happen.

"Obviously both governments will work with the parties to support them in any way we can but obviously the parties have to come together as well and bring this about .

"We know the steps that have to be taken - it is entirely feasible that that can be done early."