4ni.co.uk

18 October 2007

Continuing concerns, frequently expressed by campaigning relatives of victims of the Omagh bomb outrage’s victims are unhappy with government attitudes.

A Home Office Minister has told the Omagh Support and Self Help Group that the work of MI5 is "not relevant" to them.

The relatives have consistently said the government can do more in the hunt for answers about possible intelligence failures before the IRA massacre.

In a letter, Minister of State Tony McNulty, has again refused to engage with the relatives about their intelligence concerns.

Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh group, said he believes the Government is trying to fudge the issue and keep MI5 "at arm's length”.

The Omagh families have sought answers from MI5 and the Home Secretary ever since the PSNI revealed that the Security Service was warned about a possible attack on Omagh four months before the bombing that killed 29 adults and children, and two unborn babies.

Mr Gallagher said that although MI5 acted on the warning - passed on by FBI informer David Rupert – they could have prevented an attack by telling the RUC that Omagh was a target.

In raising these concerns, the relatives want to know whether or not police could have responded differently to the attack, had they been told of MI5’s suspicions about the targeting of the County Tyrone town.

Mr Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the 1998 bombing, said the families are concerned about MI5's accountability - especially since the Security Service took over responsibility for national security in Northern Ireland last week.

"We are the first to recognise that there are areas that cannot and should not be talked about," Mr Gallagher said.

"But there has to be some degree of accountability. All we are asking for is a meeting with MI5, so that we can make our own minds up about any deficiencies in the intelligence services with regard to Omagh.”

He rejected Mr McNulty's suggestion that MI5's work is "not relevant" to the Omagh families.

Mr Gallagher said: "We're not experts, but we've experienced terrorism. To me, it's saying we're not important, and that's demeaning of the people who've stood up to terrorism and been counted. "

Last year, then director of MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, refused to meet the families, and their requests for a meeting with previous Home Secretary John Reid also failed. The Home Office is directly responsible for the Security Service.

:::u.tv:::

THURSDAY 18/10/2007 08:09:35

A leading loyalist in Northern Ireland has died after suffering a massive heart attack.

Sammy Duddy, once a commander in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), had been a senior north Belfast member of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) which advised the paramilitary organisation.

He was aged 62.

He had been under intensive care in the Royal Victoria Hospital after collapsing with a blood clot at his office on Monday.

Duddy was a member of the UDA throughout the worst of the violence on the streets of Belfast, working for years as the organisation`s public relations officer. For a time he edited a UDA magazine and later had a book of poetry published.

He retired from active loyalism in the 1990s, but returned to become a member of the UPRG after the UDA leadership split in a bloody feud.

BBC

By Vincent Kearney
BBC NI home affairs correspondent

It was a £1.2m gamble.

The UDA and its political representatives have talked a lot about change in recent years - about the organisation moving away from violence and crime, and transforming into a non-paramilitary organisation.

In March this year, the government announced that it was prepared to wager £1.2m that the UDA meant what it said.

That was the sum it pledged to a loyalist project, the Conflict Transformation Initiative (CTI), that it hoped would effectively put the UDA out of business.

The Ulster Political Research Group, the political representatives of the UDA, insist the project was not directly linked to the organisation, but the government was clear that it believed otherwise.

Peter Hain, the then secretary of state, and David Hanson, the former criminal justice minister, both said they supported the initiative because they believed it could deliver a reduction in UDA violence and crime.

They had no doubt it was a gamble worth taking - if it failed, it would be viewed as an embarrassing mistake, but if it succeeded, £1.2m would be a small price to pay for bringing the largest loyalist paramilitary group in from the political cold.

The problem was that when the Stormont Assembly was restored, the money they had gambled came from the budget of Margaret Ritchie, the minister for social development.

From the outset, she made it clear it was a gamble she would not have taken.

Then the UDA shot itself in the foot. Rival factions clashed in Carrickfergus and Bangor during the summer, disturbances which resulted in one police officer being shot.

Margaret Ritchie reacted by throwing down the gauntlet - giving the UDA 60 days to begin decommissioning its weapons, or lose funding for the project.

Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde reacted by saying he wouldn't give the organisation 50 pence.

The police also expressed concern that the UDA leadership lacked the necessary cohesion to deliver the kind of transformation which it talked about.

They say that while there are individuals who genuinely want to bring about change, the long-running dispute between the group's so-called ruling Inner Council and its "South East Antrim Brigade" demonstrates that they don't have the discipline or structures to carry it through.

That struck a chord with a minister who was already deeply unhappy with the allocation of more than £1m she believed could have been better spent.

By demanding decommissioning as the price for continued funding, she set the bar at what she must have known was an impossible height.

Since then, Margaret Ritchie has come under enormous pressure to lower the bar.

Publicly, the Northern Ireland Office and the Irish government stated that they would endorse whatever decision she reached.

But privately, it was a very different story.

Many officials within the NIO, who have been engaged in talks with loyalists for a number of years, are convinced that many senior figures within the UDA, like Jackie McDonald, its leader in south Belfast, and Frankie Gallagher, a senior spokesman for the UPRG, are genuine when they say they want the organisation to change.

They expressed concern that withdrawing the funding could de-rail efforts to transform the organisation.

Then two weeks ago Shaun Woodward, the secretary of state, applied some very public pressure when he issued a statement saying he had spoken to General John de Chastelain, the head of the international decommissioning body, and had been assured there had been "meaningful engagement" with the UDA.

This wasn't new - the UDA has been speaking to the commission for more than two years now, but Mr Woodward suggested the appointment of interlocutors was a dramatic new development.

There were also calls from the office of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and his foreign affairs minister Dermot Ahern, reflecting concerns expressed by Irish government officials.

Even the US government got involved, reacting to the news of UDA engagement with General de Chastelain.

The history of the peace process would suggest that in the days of direct rule, there would almost certainly have been a fudge.

A deadline would have been set, but not met.

However, Shaun Woodward's statement would have been presented as evidence of significant progress and the deadline moved, or dropped.

Margaret Ritchie clearly wasn't prepared to budge even when she was warned there could face a legal challenge if she withdrew the funding, including claims that to do so would be a breach of contract.

The contract was between the Department of Social Development and Farset, a highly respected cross-community group that has worked with loyalists and republicans.

Its role was to account for how the money was spent, to ensure that it did not go astray and end up lining the pockets of UDA henchmen, as many critics feared.

Margaret Ritchie's threat to withdraw the money was issued just three weeks after staff were appointed to work on what was supposed to be a three-year project.

'Breached contract'

Farset and the UPRG both insist that they signed up to a process of change, not a quick fix, and say the minister did not give that process time to develop.

Their view is that she has breached her department's contract.

Not surprisingly, the minister sees it differently.

The CTI contract listed a number of desired outcomes, including "an end to all paramilitary activity in Protestant working class areas" and "a measurable reduction in levels of crime and anti-social behaviour within target communities".

It also included the following statement:

Any evidence that there is not a sustained reduction in the level of paramilitary activity or levels of crime and anti-social behaviour associated with paramilitary in the target areas may be considered as indicative that the project is not pursuing its identified outcomes and could lead to a cessation of funding.

As far as the social development minister was concerned, the violence in Carrickfergus and Bangor was a clear breach of the conditions of the contract.

But the demand for the decommissioning of weapons was not a stated objective of the contract.

In fact, the word decommissioning wasn't even mentioned.

The UPRG argues that the contract cannot be ended because of the breach of a condition that wasn't included.

Margaret Ritchie's view is that the retention of illegal weapons is itself a criminal act, and that by failing to address the issue, the UDA and its political representatives have clearly breached the spirit of the contract.

She made that clear in her address to the Assembly on Tuesday, saying the UDA was well aware of what had been expected from it when the funding was agreed.

The minister has spoken, but this is not likely to be the end of the matter.

While stating that he shared Margaret Ritchie's outrage towards the UDA, Peter Robinson questioned the way she had reached her decision, and went as far as accusing her of a breach of office.

The deputy DUP leader and finance minister said she had acted against the wishes of her departmental solicitors.

The courts could be asked to adjudicate and there will be a search for other funding sources.

In the meantime, the police are preparing for potential fallout within the UDA.

The problem for the UDA leadership is that if there is a violent reaction, from whatever faction, Margaret Ritchie will say it proves she was right.

Belfast Telegraph

By Chris Thornton
Thursday, October 18, 2007

Omagh relatives have been given the brush-off by the Government in a hunt for answers about possible intelligence failures before the Real IRA massacre.

A Home Office Minister has told the Omagh Support and Self Help Group that the work of MI5 is "not relevant" to them.

The letter, from Minister of State Tony McNulty, is the latest in a series of refusals to engage with the relatives about their intelligence concerns.

Michael Gallagher, chairman of the Omagh group, said he believes the Government is trying to fudge the issue and keep MI5 "at arm's length" .

The Omagh families have sought answers from MI5 and the Home Secretary ever since the PSNI revealed that the Security Service was warned about a possible dissident attack on Omagh four months before the bombing that killed 29 adults and children, and two unborn babies.

MI5 acted on the warning - passed on by FBI informer David Rupert - and may have prevented an attack. But they did not tell the RUC that Omagh was a target, raising concerns about whether police could have responded differently to the attack.

Mr Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the 1998 bombing, said the families are concerned about MI5's accountability - especially since the Security Service took over responsibility for national security in Northern Ireland last week.

"We are the first to recognise that there are areas that cannot and should not be talked about," Mr Gallagher said.

"But there has to be some degree of accountability. All we are asking for is a meeting with MI5, so that we can make our own minds up about any deficiencies in the intelligence services with regard to Omagh.

"I have to stress we haven't made our mind up - that's why the director of MI5 should meet the families, to discuss these matters.

"We understand why they have to be secret, but because they are taking over a wider role in Northern Ireland we feel there should be some degree of accountability."

He rejected Mr McNulty's suggestion that MI5's work is "not relevant" to the Omagh families.

Mr Gallagher said: "We're not experts, but we've experienced terrorism. To me, it's saying we're not important, and that's demeaning of the people who've stood up to terrorism and been counted. "

Last year, then director of MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, refused to meet the families, and their requests for a meeting with previous Home Secretary John Reid also failed. The Home Office is directly responsible for the Security Service.

When Jacqui Smith became the new Home Secretary this summer, the families tried again for a meeting.

Mr McNulty responded this week, two months later. He offered to meet the families, but says he "will not be able to add substantially" to his comments in the letter.

Mr Gallagher said the Omagh families will "meet and discuss the offer Mr McNulty has kindly made to us, but we tend to think it would be a fudge".

In his letter, Mr McNulty said he appreciates the work undertaken by the Omagh Support and Self Help Group.

BBC

A Belfast man who has served almost 25 years in prison for the murder of three of his Irish Army colleagues is to be transferred to Northern Ireland.

Michael McAleavey had applied to be transferred from Mountjoy Jail in Dublin to be closer to his family.

McAleavey received a life sentence for the October 1982 killings in Lebanon, where the soldiers were UN peacekeepers. He was 21 at the time.

The families of the murdered soldiers have expressed their upset at the news.

They said it had come at a particularly difficult time, just days before the 25th anniversary of the murder of the three soldiers.

McAleavey shot fellow privates Peter Burke and Thomas Murphy and Corporal Gary Morrow at Tibnin Bridge, South Lebanon, on 27 October 1982.


Michael McAleavey killed three other Irish Army soldiers

The west Belfast man initially said his unit had been attacked by Lebanese gunmen.

However, he later admitted that he had "cracked" under a combination of pressure and heat exhaustion and killed his colleagues.

He is one of the longest-serving prisoners in Ireland, and has has fought for several years to be repatriated to Northern Ireland, so that he can be closer to his family.

If he applies for parole in the future, any decision will be taken by the Prison Service of Northern Ireland.

In 2005, he gave his first ever newspaper interview to the Irish News. He told the paper that his call for repatriation was not meant to hurt his victims' families.

"In all my 22 years in prison I have never sought publicity," he said.

"One of the major reasons for this is that I have always reflected on how an open appeal in the media would affect the families of the soldiers who were killed. I have hoped never to add to the burden of their suffering.

"And I hope that this appeal is seen only for what it is, a humanitarian application for transfer to another prison that is close to my family."

He will make the move in the next few weeks.

BBC

17 Oct 2007

Leading loyalist Sammy Duddy has died after suffering a heart attack.


Mr Duddy escaped injury in a gun attack linked to the UDA feud

Mr Duddy, 62, was once a leader in the Ulster Defence Association and later joined the Ulster Political Research Group.

During the 2003 UDA feud, his home in the Rathcoole estate in Newtownabbey was attacked. He later moved out.

Mr Duddy had been in the intensive care unit of Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital after collapsing with a blood clot at his office on Monday.

He had recently been working for the Conflict Transformation Initiative.

In January 2003, Army bomb experts declared a suspicious object found at the doorway Mr Duddy's home a hoax.

In November 2002, he escaped injury in a gun attack which was linked to the UDA feud.

Mr Duddy said a death threat had been phoned to his house by rival loyalists.

On Wednesday, Frankie Gallagher of the UPRG said: "He came out of retirement to pursue a peaceful path for his community and in pursuit of that he has given his life. It's a massive, massive loss for his community."

Belfast Telegraph

By David Gordon
Thursday, October 18, 2007

First Minister Ian Paisley has been warned to expect resistance if he carries through a threat against public information rights in Northern Ireland.

The DUP leader last week claimed that the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act was being used by "lazy journalists who will not do any work".

And he suggested restrictions on FOI will be needed because civil servants are spending too much time answering queries from "enquiring minds".

Mr Paisley's comment at the Assembly has been criticised by some of the UK's leading open government campaigners.

The National Union of Journalists has also now spoken out, with its Irish Secretary Séamus Dooley describing the comments as "disturbing".

Mr Dooley continued: "Politicians in the Republic reacted in a similar fashion to the introduction of FOI legislation in the south and in fact sweeping amendments to the original Act were introduced in the south, partly on the basis of spurious claims that vexatious requests were clogging up the system.

"One wonders if the First Minister has caught a dose of that rather nasty secrecy virus which for long infected politics in the south.

" Certainly he appears to be preparing the grounds for 'reform' - which really means turning off the light.

"The NUJ will resist any such move and I am confident that civic society groups would support a campaign in defence of freedom of information.

"Freedom of information is not just about access to official information - rather it is about an ethos which recognises that access to information is a right of citizenship."

The senior union official added: "There is no evidence to suggest that journalists or any other group of citizens are clogging up the system in Northern Ireland and the NUJ would be alarmed if the First Minister or Deputy First Minister were to consider amending the existing legislation or the procedures governing Freedom of Information requests.

" While Dr Paisley says there is 'no doubt' that requests take up staff time, he does not support his statement with statistics."

Mr Dooley said the reference to "lazy journalists" was "bizarre", adding: "One suspects he would really prefer if journalists did not use the Freedom of Information process - which in fact can be time consuming, requiring patience on the part of requesters as well as those who process requests.

"As for 'enquiring minds', the First Minister should be grateful that at long last we have in place a system of Government which generates public interest. Enquiring minds may be a trifle inconvenient, but apathy would be a far greater threat."

The Assembly does not actually have the power to alter the Freedom of Information Act, as it applies to England and Wales as well as Northern Ireland.

Any attempt to weaken its provisions here would require brand new legislation at the Assembly, or a fresh decision at the Westminster Parliament.

Derry Journal

By Ian Cullen
18 October 2007

East Derry MLA John Dallat says he believes the Police Ombudsman was "severely hampered" in her investigation into the RUC handling of the Greysteel massacre.
Mr. Dallat told the 'Journal' he was "very disappointed" that Nuala O'Loan had found the police had taken "appropriate action" with information provided by him ahead of the killings in the Rising Sun Bar on Hallowe'en night 1993.

The SDLP assemblyman had complained that he had given the RUC information that could have prevented the UDA's 'trick or treat' attack which left eight people dead.

But Ms O'Loan said she could find no evidence that the RUC had information that could have prevented the attacks. She also rejected suggestions that UDA killer Torrens Knight was protected by RUC officers.

However, Mr Dallat said he believed the information he passed on was crucial to preventing an attack.

"I don't regret bringing the complaint to the Ombudsman. It was based on what I believe was important, useful information. I still believe a lot greater effort should have been put into dealing with that gang.

"I was playing the role of a public representative who had people coming to me with information which was valuable."

He added: "I believe Nuala O'Loan was severely hampered by the lack of a paper trail. As a civilian looking in on it, I have no doubt that a lot more could have been done and, if it was today, it would have been done."

UFF members Torrens Knight, Stephen Irwin, Jeffrey Deeney and Brian McNeill were convicted for the killings and subsequently released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. One of the killers yelled 'trick or treat' before he opened fire on the bar's patrons.