BBC
21 Nov 09

Shots have been fired at police in a County Fermanagh village close to the border with the Irish Republic.

Officers returned fire when they came under attack in the village of Garrison, 20 miles from Enniskillen, on Saturday evening.

Police have sealed off the area and are searching nearby woodland but there have been no reports of any injuries.

Security officials believe that dissident republicans against the peace process may have been involved.

They are also believed to have been responsible for the fatal shootings of two soldiers outside Massereene barracks in Antrim, and a police officer in Craigavon, County Armagh, in March.

BBC Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson said that Fermanagh was one of the two areas to have seen most dissident activity, along with north Armagh.

"The likes of the Real IRA have been pretty active there in recent weeks. That's who the finger of blame will be pointing at, at this very early stage," he said.

In line with agreed protocol the Police Ombudsman has been informed of the incident.

BBC
19 Nov 09

Coleraine councillor Billy Leonard has been selected by Sinn Fein colleagues to become an assembly member in East Derry.

He is succeeding the party's Francie Brolly who is to retire.

Mr Leonard is a former Orangeman, RUC reservist and member of the SDLP.

Following his selection he said it was an honour to be chosen to replace Mr Brolly "and to represent the people of East Derry".

"It is testament to the growth of Sinn Fein in this constituency that we are able to hold this convention tonight and I would thank all the party members who came along and contributed to this convention in such a comradely fashion.

"The north west region is one of the most deprived areas on this island and it is important that we have strong leadership to ensure East Derry is given its fair share," he said.

Irish News
14/11/09

A court has heard how a leading dissident republican sustained a broken arm after being stopped by police only hours after being acquitted of an assault charge against PSNI members.

Gary Donnelly (39), of Rinmore Drive in Derry city, is charged with resisting arrest, obstructing police, assaulting police and disorderly behaviour on November 16 2007.

Inspector John Neill told the court in Derry how he had been on patrol in an unmarked car in the Foyle Street area when he had spotted Mr Donnelly and two other men standing talking. He said he decided to search them and back-up was sent for. The inspector said he had watched another officer approach Mr Donnelly who became abusive and tried to walk away.

Mr Neill said he then approached and told Mr Donnelly he was being searched under schedule 3 of the Justice and Security Act.

The court heard that at this stage Mr Donnelly had been standing in a bus lay-by. The inspector said he asked Mr Donnelly to step on to the pavement.

He said Mr Donnelly had thrown up his arms in a “petulant manner” and moved back.

Mr Neill then said Mr Donnelly had swung at him and a struggle ensued in which both he and Mr Donnelly fell to the ground.

The inspector told the court that he had fallen backwards and Mr Donnelly had fallen on top of him.

Mr Neill said that when they were on the ground Mr Donnelly had said his arm was broken but the inspector did not believe this as he could see no change of expression on Mr Donnelly’s face.

The court was told that steps had been taken then to get Mr Donnelly to his feet and that a “rigid handcuff” had been placed on his left wrist, the arm that was broken.

The inspector said that after Mr Donnelly had been brought to his feet he was arrested but refused to get into the Land Rover and a wristlock was placed on him.

Mr Neill said Mr Donnelly had refused to leave his cell to see a doctor after being taken to Strand Road station.

Under cross-examination by Eoghan Devlin the inspector agreed there was “little love lost between Mr Donnelly and the police”. He also agreed that schedule 3 of the 2007 act related to searching for munitions and explosives. Mr Devlin asked whether Mr Neill stopped Mr Donnelly in the past.The inspector said he had done so on numerous occasions.

He also agreed that he had been part of a patrol that had stopped Mr Donnelly two weeks previously. Mr Devlin asked whether Mr Donnelly normally cooperated when he was stopped. Mr Neill said there usually was no hassle. When asked about the “petulant gesture”, Mr Neill said he had never before seen it in his career except from children.

The case continues.

BBC
17 Nov 09



The flight marks the end of the RAF using Northern Ireland as a base

The last RAF squadron based in Northern Ireland has left Aldergrove, the Ministry of Defence has said.

On Tuesday morning 230 "Tiger" Squadron took off in a helicopter diamond formation from Aldergrove for their new base at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire.

The flight of the Pumas marked the end of the RAF's 91-year history of flying from Northern Ireland.

Wing Commander Rich Maddison said an "important chapter in the RAF's history" had closed.

"This squadron could not have achieved all it has on operations over the past six years without the essential training we have been able to conduct in the province and we shall certainly miss being here," he said.

With the continuous operational deployments it has been required to participate in Tuesday was the first time all of the squadron personnel had been together for six years.

The formation of Puma aircraft was seen by many people as the squadron flew from Aldergrove across parts of Counties Antrim and Down before heading over the Irish Sea.

In September the RAF flag was lowered at Aldergrove and replaced by that of the Joint Helicopter Force.

The squadron's departure marks the end of basing at Aldergrove for the RAF and command has passed to the three-service Joint Helicopter Force.

However, aircraft from all three services will continue to use facilities and a number of RAF personnel will remain based at Aldergrove.

BBC

A victims' group is setting up a DVD archive featuring the voices of 150 victims and survivors of Northern Ireland's Troubles.

Project Capabe aims to record the stories of a cross section of people who suffered in violence.

It has been set up by victims' group Fair which is run by William Frazer.

150 victims and survivors will tell their stories

Capable - the Conflict Archives Project and Borderlands Experience - is being funded by the European Union with Peace III money and has a budget of £110,000.

Project coordinator Chris Anderson said the archive would be a historical database of first-hand accounts for future generations.

"We take our motivation from the words of US General Dwight Eisenhower when he found the victims of the concentration camps.

"He ordered 'Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the road of history, some sonovabitch will get up and say this never happened,'" he said.

Mr Anderson said the project was about getting a cross section of individuals who had suffered because of republican and loyalist violence to tell their stories.

"This is right across the community," he said.

"The database will see victims and survivors telling their own stories."

Fair has advertised for professional media companies to tender for the task of recording and editing the material.

They said the work would take a minimum of 30 weeks.

More than 3,000 people were killed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland between 1969 and the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

The Eames Bradley Report published in January 2009 looked at ways of dealing with the legacy of that conflict.

One of its recommendations was that a legacy commission would be set up and that people who had suffered in the Troubles would be granted the opportunity to tell their stories and be heard.

BBC
17 Nov 09

A former IRA woman who was jailed for bombing the Old Bailey in London, has been arrested in connection with the shooting of two soldiers in Antrim.

Marian Price, who is 55, was arrested in west Belfast on Tuesday.

Marian Price is being questioned by police

She is being held in connection with the Real IRA murders of two soldiers at Massereene Army base in March.

A 39-year-old man was also arrested in County Tyrone. A total of 12 people have been arrested in connection with the shooting, with two charged.

A police spokesperson said the arrests, made on Tuesday morning, were part of an on-going search operation.

The pair have been taken to Antrim police station for questioning, the spokesperson added.

Ms Price and her sister Dolours were among those convicted for the 1973 bombing outside the Old Bailey in which one person was killed and almost 200 others were injured.

'Treason'

She went on hunger strike in prison and was highly regarded by people in the republican movement.

She split with the mainstream republicans of Sinn Fein around the time of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

In 2001 she told the BBC that Sinn Fein had committed "treason and treachery" and "sold out on all republican principles and core values".

She is now a spokesperson for the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, considered to be the Real IRA's political wing.

Sappers Patrick Azimkar, 21 and Mark Quinsey, 23, were shot dead outside Massereene barracks.

Two men, prominent republican Colin Duffy, 41, and Brian Shivers, 44, from Sperrin Mews in Magherafelt, have been charged with the murders.

Editor attending trial of reporter's alleged killers asks: 'What would happen if armed men stormed the court?'

Henry McDonald, Ireland Editor
The Observer
Sunday 15 November 2009

Colleagues of murdered journalist Martin O'Hagan have revealed how they were attacked by loyalist supporters of the men accused of killing the reporter. They also highlighted the dearth of security around one of Northern Ireland's busiest courts when dissident republicans are targeting the judiciary.

A mob of loyalists smashed up a car belonging to Jim McDowell, the Sunday World's Northern Editor, outside Craigavon magistrates court on Friday. McDowell and his colleague, Hugh Jordan, were inside the court at a remand hearing for five men, one of them a Catholic, who have been charged in connection with the loyalist killing of O'Hagan, the only journalist targeted and killed by terrorists during the Troubles.

It has emerged that no uniformed PSNI officers were on duty inside the Co Armagh courthouse last week even though those accused are allegedly linked to terror group the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

Speaking to the Observer, McDowell recounted how a mob descended on the court and threatened him and his colleague: "My car was in the car park of the courthouse, just yards from the steps leading into the building which is supposed to be at the heart of the legal system in this country.

"I had been in court reporting the latest stage in the bid to bring Martin O'Hagan's murderers to justice. Three of five men charged in connection with the journalist's slaying were in court.

"Nothing happened inside the courthouse – unlike the first appearance at Lisburn court when another LVF goon took a picture of Hugh and myself on a mobile phone – as if they didn't already know who we were.

"However, this latest pathetic attempt at intimidation didn't happen inside the court. It happened outside the Craigavon courthouse in broad daylight, blatantly at lunchtime on Friday.

"Hugh Jordan and I had just walked out to make phone calls. We heard a banging noise, like gunshots. Hugh looked down and said: 'Someone's attacking your car'." He said the attacker was then driven off in a car while the majority of the mob remained outside issuing threats to the two journalists.

McDowell said he was struck by the low level of security at the court even though days earlier judges and district judges in Northern Ireland had been warned that they were being targeted by the Real IRA.

"When I ran into the security annex at the courthouse – manned by two civilians – and asked them to call the police, they told me there was no direct line to the local cops. I had to stand in the annex myself and dial 999 on my mobile phone. What would happen if armed gunmen tried to storm and kill a judge in that, or any other similar courthouse?"

He said that the fact that the pro-LVF mob had smashed up his car in a court car park under the courthouse's CCTV cameras showed they could make "a fool of law and order in this country".

Andrew Robert King and Neil Hyde are charged with murdering Sunday World investigative reporter O'Hagan in September 2001. King's brother, Robin, is charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, Nigel Leckey is charged with murder and possession of ammunition and Mark Kennedy, a 28-year-old Catholic from south Belfast, is charged with helping to facilitate the disposal or concealment of a getaway car. Along with Kennedy, the King brothers have been granted bail, while Hyde and Leckey remain on remand in prison.

O'Hagan was shot dead as he walked home with his wife from a pub in Lurgan, Co Armagh. The murder was claimed by the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name used by both the Loyalist Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association. The 51-year-old had built up a reputation for breaking stories about paramilitary and drug-dealing crimes.

BBC
16 Nov 09

The widow of a former IRA man beaten to death after his prison release has lost an appeal against being denied compensation for his death.

Anne-Marie McCallion was seeking to overturn the secretary of state's decision to refuse her a pay-out.

Her husband, Peter, was jailed for an ambush on troops in Derry in 1978. In 1998 he was fatally injured during a confrontation in the city.

The Court of Appeal ruled the secretary of state's decision was lawful.

Mrs McCallion was denied access to the criminal injuries compensation scheme because of the seriousness of her husband's crimes.

He served an 18-year sentence for attempted murder, weapons offences and membership of the IRA.

'Public interest'

Following his release from prison there was no evidence that he maintained any paramilitary links, but in December 1998 he was fatally injured, at the age of 40.

A recommendation that making a payment to his widow under the criminal injuries compensation arrangements would not be in the public interest was accepted by a government minister on behalf of the secretary of state.

Mrs McCallion went before the Court of Appeal after she and her children failed four times to judicially review that decision.

Their case centred on an argument that the refusal breached the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in relation to discrimination or punishment based on a parent's activities.

It had also been contended that the Secretary of State has never properly given reasons for his decision.

Obligations

Lawyers for Mrs McCallion pointed to a previous ruling which indicated refusal was arguably a breach of the Convention.

Earlier this year, a High Court judge dismissed the case by declaring he was not satisfied that the domestic court can interpret an international treaty.

And his ruling was upheld on Monday by the three-judge panel sitting in the Court of Appeal.

Lord Justice Girvan stressed that the court could not go behind the minister's conclusion that the convention was not being broken in such a way to show the United Kingdom was acting incompatibly with its treaty obligations.

He said: "A live question arises as to whether a claim by dependent children is entirely dependent on the rights which the deceased would have had but for his supervening death.

"If so, no question of discrimination against the children would arise."

Dismissing the appeal Lord Justice Girvan added: "Furthermore, two very experienced judges in earlier proceedings concluded that there was no apparent breach of Article 2.2 (of the Convention).

"It cannot be suggested that a minister of state taking account of these factors and taking a broader view of the international context was bound to conclude that Article 2.2 would be infringed and that the United Kingdom would be in breach of its international obligations if he decided to refuse ex-gratia compensation.

BBC
16 Nov 09

Lawyers for the last man to be sentenced to death in Northern Ireland are to seek access to a secret dossier in a bid to overturn his conviction.

West Belfast man Liam Holden was found guilty of murdering a soldier in the early 1970s, but his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

Mr Holden said he was subjected to water torture to extract a confession.

Earlier this year the Criminal Cases Review Commission referred his conviction to the Court of Appeal.

The CCRC referred the case for appeal on the basis that the conviction may have been unsafe.

Mr Holden's lawyers have told judges there was a confidential annex in the case which they have not seen.

BBC
15 Nov 09

Wires, batteries and piping which could have been used in a crude bomb have been found buried in a garden at NI's high-security prison.

No explosives were discovered during the three-day search at Maghaberry jail in County Antrim.

But prison authorities have launched an investigation after the bomb making parts were uncovered buried near the jail's perimeter wall.

A Prison Service spokesman stressed the items couldn't have made a viable bomb.

It is understood the items came from a prison workshop and a tuck shop rather than being smuggled in.

But the discovery comes less than a month after traces of a component used in Semtex explosives were found in the cells of republican prisoners during searches.

The traces were detected in swab tests taken during routine searches of two cells at Roe House.

At that time, a Prison Service spokesman said no Semtex was found during the operation.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Prison Service said: "We can confirm that some component parts of a small potential device were found in the grounds of the prison yesterday.

"The search of the prison is continuing but visits are taking place."

Maghaberry is Northern Ireland's high security prison with republican and loyalist paramilitaries among its inmates.

Prison visits resumed on Saturday following a major search.

All domestic and legal visitors had been denied access to Maghaberry prison since Thursday morning, when the search operation began.

It has been more than 10 years since the last major search at the jail.

Wexford People
Sunday November 15 2009

Republican Sinn Fein has elected a new president to succeed Ruairi O'Bradaigh, who has led the organisation for more than 20 years.

The veteran hard-line republican, 77, is retiring for health and age reasons.

His replacement Des Dalton, from Co Kildare, has been vice-president since 2003.

At the party's ard fheis, Mr O'Bradaigh vowed to remain active in republican circles.

"Anno Domini catches up with us all, eventually," he said.

"My turn has come to step down as president. I do so on the grounds of age and health.

"All in all, I am in my 60th year as an active member of the republican movement."

A teacher by profession and originally from Co Longford, Mr O'Bradaigh founded the organisation after a split with Gerry Adams and his supporters 23 years ago, famously walking out of a party conference.

He has been appointed patron of the organisation.

cryptome.org
13 November 2009

Dear Norman,

I have viewed the footage of your evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs committee on 11 November 2009.

• Norman Baxter testimony (forward clip to 39.36):

• http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=5147

In your testimony you stated that I, Kevin Fulton, made a statement in 2007 in the presence of my solicitor and that:

1. I stated that I misled police Ombudsman's investigators over the Omagh bombing.

2. You stated that in a statement I made that the claims I made over the Omagh bombing were factually incorrect.

3. You stated that I admitted that I lied over the information I gave over the Omagh Bombing.

I now give you seven working days to substantiate your statements and to prove that your testimony was truthful.

Failing this I and the public can only come to the conclusion that you, Norman Baxter, have purposely lied to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

That you are a liar.

That nothing you say can be believed.

That you used the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee to launch a public and personal attack on Kevin Fulton that has caused me great distress.

That you caused the publication and the broadcast of this personal and public attack on Kevin Fulton with the help of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and the parliamentary website.

Kevin Fulton

Kevin Fulton's response to Baxter testimony:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x-7epw2gmA

By Barry McCaffrey
Irish News
12/11/09

A leading dissident republican could face charges of involvement in the murder of two British soldiers after CCTV footage identified him buying mobile phones used by the killers.

Mark Quinsey and Cengiz ‘Patrick’ Azimkar were shot dead by Real IRA gunmen outside Massereene army barracks in Antrim on March 7.

Two men, Colin Duffy and Brian Shivers, have so far been charged with their murders.

Detectives have been aided by the fact that the gang responsible failed to burn the getaway car.

Sources close to the investigation have confirmed that police have made another breakthrough after tracing two mobile phones which made calls to the killers’ car on the night of the murders.

The calls were made from a batch of five phones, all with consecutive serial numbers.

Police have been able to identify two people who bought the pay-as-you-go handsets and topped them up with credit at stores in Belfast and Magherafelt, Co Derry, in the weeks before the attack.

Both suspects, one of whom is a prominent dissident republican from Belfast, were arrested and questioned earlier this month.

They were released while the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) considers whether to charge them.

Crucially, police have been able to prove that the mobile phones were used only twice.

The first instance was during a ‘dry run’ by the gang weeks before the attack. The second was on the night of the murders.

The phones were not used again afterwards.

Police used communications experts, previously employed in the hunt for the Omagh bombers, to prove that the mobiles were used in the vicinity of the barracks and in the area where the getaway car was found 20 minutes later.

In August The Irish News revealed how the killers had inadvertently recorded themselves in the getaway car talking to other gang members via mobile phone.

Police sources say they are confident that they can prove the call was made to one of the mobile phones bought by the dissident suspect.

During the telephone conversation one of the gang in the car is heard to say: “There’s a few dead all right.”

A second gang member is then heard saying: “I have to say boys, you were as crude as f***.”

The gang member then chillingly replies: “Thank you.”

Voice experts are understood to be analysing the recording in a bid to identify the killers.

Earlier this year MI5 rejected claims that it had secretly rec-orded mobile telephone conversations between the Real IRA gang carrying out the Omagh bombing.

Irish News
13 Nov 09

A south Armagh republican alleged to be a leading member of the IRA’s ‘army council’ has claimed that a major investigation into his finances is “politically motivated”.

Sean Hughes described a raid on his home by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) this week as a “scalp” to placate DUP hardliners.

Soca says the 47-year-old has profited from tax, mortgage and benefit fraud while amassing a portfolio of 11 houses and an apartment in south Armagh and Belfast.

Eight years ago he pleaded guilty to benefit fraud and was fined £1,500.

Mr Hughes, who was named by Peter Robinson in the House of Commons as the man behind the 1995 Canary Wharf bombing and a series of other devastating IRA attacks, yesterday described the allegations as “ridiculous”.

“I own two houses – a Housing Executive property which I lived in for many years and later bought and a new home which I recently built on the family farm and which was paid for by remortgaging the first property,” he said.

“I’m a farmer and have no other income. My books are there for anyone to see.

“These claims that I have 11 houses and an apartment are totally and utterly untrue.”

Mr Hughes said he now faced financial ruin and that the bank accounts of family members and neighbours had also been frozen without explanation.

“My 76-year-old mother is at her wits’ end because she’s had her life savings frozen,” he said.

“My brothers are both contractors employing local people and they’ve had their accounts frozen as well. They don’t know how they’re going to even pay their workers at the end of the week.

“I’m a farmer with sheep and cattle but I can’t even get money out of the bank to buy feed.”

The senior Sinn Fein figure was publicly defended this week by regional development minister Conor Murphy, an intervention which prompted criticism from the DUP’s Willie McCrea yesterday.

Mr Hughes claimed the Soca investigation into his affairs was “politically motivated”.

“When I remonstrated with one of the ones raiding my home he told me it was ‘payback’ time,” he said.

“He even admitted that this is a civil and not a criminal matter. No-one has been arrested or even questioned but my family and neighbours are all going to be left with nothing until we fight our way through the courts to get our money back.

“That could take years and by then we’ll probably be financially ruined anyway.”

Mr Hughes rejected unionist calls that his wife Annette should now resign her seat on their area’s district policing partnership board.

“My wife has done nothing wrong and neither has anyone else,” he said.

“She’ll be staying on the district policing board and won’t be resigning at the behest of the DUP.”

BBC
13 Nov 09

Prison visits are set to resume at a high security jail in County Antrim on Saturday, as a major search continues into a third day.

All domestic and legal visitors have been denied access to Maghaberry prison since Thursday morning, when the search operation began.

It has been more than 10 years since the last major search at the jail.

The prison service said all visits affected by the suspension on Thursday and Friday would be re-scheduled.

It added that anyone scheduled to visit on Saturday or Sunday should attend as normal.

When the search began on Thursday, the prison service said the operation was "in the interests of the safety of staff and prisoners".

It is understood that no major items of contraband have been discovered so far.

Semtex

Last month, traces of a component used in Semtex explosives were found in the cells of republican prisoners during searches.

The traces were detected in swab tests taken during routine searches of two cells at Roe House.

At that time, a Prison Service spokesman said no Semtex was found during the operation.

Maghaberry is Northern Ireland's high security prison with republican and loyalist paramilitaries among its inmates.

BBC
13 Nov 09

A dissident republican has gone on trial charged with assaulting and obstructing police officers in Derry two years ago.

Gary Donnelly, 38, from Rinmore Drive in Creggan, denies assault, disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest.

The defendant sustained a broken right arm during the incident in Water Street in November 2007.

A police inspector told the court Mr Donnelly headbutted him in the face. The trial continues.

Derry Magistrates Court heard that Mr Donnelly had been acquitted of other charges relating to the police a few hours before the incident took place.

Inspector John Neal said that on the afternoon in question the defendant and two other men were under police observation outside the library in Foyle Street.

He said he decided to search the men for security reasons, and stopped them on Water Street.

He said Mr Donnelly was excitable and verbally abusive and refused to move from a bus parking bay onto the footpath.

Inspector Neal said he told Mr Donnelly that if necessary he would move him onto the footpath. The police witness then decided to arrest the defendant for disorderly behaviour.

He said Mr Donnelly then came towards him and started throwing punches.

Inspector Neal said he then grabbed hold of the defendant and they both fell to the ground together while Mr Donnelly continued to headbutt him on the face.

Inspector Neal said he then applied a pressure point on Mr Donnelly's nose, a technique he had been trained in, and Mr Donnelly started shouting that his arm had been broken.

He said another police officer had his CS spray drawn and was shouting "get back" to the two other men.

He said the defendant was trying to break free so he placed a rigid handcuff on Mr Donnelly's left wrist.

Inspector Neal said that together with another officer he assisted Mr Donnelly to his feet and then coerced the defendant into the rear of a police Land Rover.

He was then taken to Strand Road police station.

Under cross-examination, Inspector Neal agreed there was "little love lost between Mr Donnelly and the police".

He said he was not aware that Mr Donnelly had appeared in court that day.

BBC
13 Nov 09

The conviction of four men found guilty of terrorism offences in the 1970's may be ruled unsafe after prosecutors said they no longer stand over the verdicts.

Three of the men, Eric Wright, James Henry Brown, and Peter Joseph McDonald, from Derry, signed confessions in police custody in 1976 and 1977.

They were 16 when they were detained, and should have been interviewed with a solicitor and an appropriate adult.

A judge will rule on whether to quash their guilty verdicts later this month.

The three men were arrested on suspicion of terrorist-related activity, including in at least one case membership of the IRA's youth wing.

Their cases were referred back to the Court of the Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission due to alleged breaches in the regulations, known as Judge's Rules, which were in operation at the time.

It has also been claimed they were ill-treated during their period in custody.

"Senior counsel Gerry Simpson QC told the Court of Appeal that the Crown's position was that they "do not seek to stand over these convictions".

"It will then be for the court to decide whether these convictions are safe," he said.

Defence solicitor Paddy MacDermott said it was a "vindication of my clients' long battle for justice".

"The RUC breached the rules that existed at the time.

"There were very few safeguards for people in custody," he said.

By Simon Doyle, Education Correspondent
Irish News
09/11/09

Almost 2,000 children in schools in counties Derry and Antrim are to benefit from sharing in education. The Primary Integrating/Enriching Education (PIEE) project is being financed by the International Fund for Ireland and The Atlantic Philanthropies and delivered by the North Eastern Education and Library Board (NEELB).

A three-year cross-community initiative, it promotes shared education and will impact on about 1,900 children at 28 NEELB primary schools.

The programme provides links for schools and early years groups from different community backgrounds to help them learn and work together. PIEE, which begins during this school term, focuses on small schools with less than 105 pupils.

It will develop cross-community partnerships between schools, to deliver curricular, non-curricular and summer activities; for example, joint classes, events, shows, inter-school buddy systems and joint fundraising projects.

Pupils and teachers will benefit from access to resources and facilities available at partner schools, joint staff development and support from partners in delivering the revised curriculum.

The partnerships will help offer pupils a broad educational experience as well as the opportunities to develop new relationships.

This will improve personal well-being and social development – key elements of the personal development and mutual understanding requirements included in the revised national curriculum’s Key Stages 1 and 2.

The project is funded jointly by The Atlantic Philanthropies and International Fund for Ireland (IFI) – under its Sharing in Education Programme – which have granted £915,000 in total.

It is managed by NEELB, in partnership with the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, Comhairle Na Gaelscolaiochta and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE).

The project is the culmination of four years work, which began with the Integrating Education Pilot Project at NICIE in 2005, NEELB chief executive Gordon Topping said.

“In the mainly rural areas that the NEELB covers, schools often serve as the hub of the community,” Mr Topping said.

“Through the PIEE project, these schools will have the opportunity to create positive cross-community links.

“My thanks go to the funders, whose financial support has brought this project to fruition.”

IFI chairman Denis Rooney said improving academic and personal outcomes was a key driver for the Sharing in Education Programme.

“We are delighted to be contributing to the PIEE project, which I have no doubt will have a positive impact on a large group of young people, their teachers and families,” he said.

“Providing a safe and supportive environment for young people to meet, learn and work together is key to furthering community relations and helping to foster peace and non-sectarianism in Northern Ireland.”

By Allison Morris
Irish News
11/11/09

While the INLA has not actively participated in the public inquiry into the 1997 prison shooting of loyalist killer Billy Wright, it has closely followed the hearings.

On one occasion the inquiry was told that a member of British intelligence received a phone call from an informant telling him of a “live hostage situation” taking place in Maghaberry prison.

It is this statement that sparked an internal INLA investigation and led to allegations that Kevin ‘Bap’ McQuillan – once a prominent spokesman for the IRSP, the group’s political wing – had been working at the time as a paid informer.

The hostage incident in question involved Kevin McAlorum, who had been implicated in the 1996 feud-related murder of Gino Gallagher.

In April 1997 Christopher ‘Crip’ McWilliams and John ‘Sonny’ Kennaway seized a prison officer in Maghaberry jail in a failed plot to kill McAlorum.

The two men were later transferred to the Maze while McAlorum remained in Maghaberry.

Eight months later McWilliams and Kennaway were part of a three-man gang that gunned down Billy Wright in the back of a prison van in the Maze.

In 2004 McAlorum was shot dead as he drove his child to school in what was believed to be a reprisal killing for Gino Gallagher’s death.

This timeline of events came under close scrutiny of the Wright inquiry team.

It was told that an MI5 operative had been alerted to the hostage situation in Maghaberry by an agent prior to it being made public.

During later evidence to the inquiry a former prison governor said he had alerted an IRSP person on the outside to the hostage situation as it was unfolding.

INLA sources say internal inquiries concluded that this person, referred to separately as an agent and an IRSP contact, could only have been Mr McQuillan.

While this is not in itself damning, the INLA has claimed that more evidence of informant activities by Mr McQuillan exists.

However, a spokesman for the paramilitary group said it could not make any further details public due the risk of “compromising methodology and personnel”.

Mr McQuillan was a prominent IRSP figure during the 1990s and would have liaised closely with members of the press on behalf of the organisation.

He survived several assassination attempts at the hands of loyalist paramilitaries and was shot in the face by members of his own organisation during a feud in 1987.

In 1998 he was badly beaten and he says that permanent damage he suffered as a result of the attack has hampered his recollection of events.

An INLA source claimed that Mr McQuillan had been at two lengthy meetings with the organisation and failed to give an explanation for his actions during the period.

However, he categorically denies the informer allegations.

“The republican socialist movement is calling for an independent inquiry into allegations surrounding the 1981 Hunger Strike,” Mr McQuillan said.

“Well you would think that in the light of such serious allegations being levelled against me that I would be entitled to a similar inquiry.

“I have nothing to hide. I am open to scrutiny at any level.

“Would some of the people who are levelling these allegations at me open themselves up to similar scrutiny?

“I would seriously doubt it.”

Mr McQuillan has most recently been aligned with the Republican Network for Unity (RNU).

A spokesman for the RNU said last night: “Members of the network met the Irish republican socialist movement leadership on a number of occasions.

“After examining the information and after consultation, the position of the RNU is that the information presented was not found to be compelling and Kevin McQuillan remains a member of the RNU.”

REPUBLICAN’S ASSETS FROZEN

By Diana Rusk
Irish News
11/11/09



RAID: The farm of senior republican Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy on the Louth-Armagh border as customs and police from both sides of the border carry out a raid in March 2006 as part of an investigation into organised crime, money-laundering and fuel-laundering (Photo: Pacemaker)

THE Provisional IRA’s alleged chief-of-staff Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy is one of the most high-profile republicans to be pursued by fiscal investigators.

Mr Murphy is currently awaiting a court date for his second attempt to block a series of charges he faces on tax evasion stretching over eight years.

There has been a series of in-depth financial investigations into Mr Murphy’s activities by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency and its counterpart in the Republic, the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab).

A year ago Mr Murphy agreed to hand over a £1 million criminal assets portfolio including cash, cheques and nine properties to revenue officers in Britain and the Republic. It followed a major police investigation into a cross-border smuggling racket.

He and his brothers, Frank and Patrick, and a fuel company called Ace Oils were all targeted by the investigation.

It is understood the action severely damaged the IRA’s money-making operations.

However, it is a seperate Cab fiscal investigation that is slowly making its way through the courts in the Republic.

The 58-year-old from Ballybinaby in Hacksballscross, which straddles the border between Armagh and Louth, faces nine charges of tax evasion stretching over eight years from 1996.

An initial legal challenge to the High Court failed but a spokesman for the Courts Service in the Republic said Mr Murphy initiated a second round of legal proceedings that have yet to be heard.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has said of him: “Tom Murphy is not a criminal. He is a good republican.”