Evening Echo
14/05/2008

A loyalist ceasefire in North is to be recognised, the Northern Ireland Secretary said today.

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Red Hand Commando (RHC) will be despecifed, with any prisoners eligible for early release, Shaun Woodward added.

The Government ceased to recognise the UVF’s peace commitment in September 2005 following a feud.

However, dissident republican group Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) has been proscribed after being found to be involved in terrorism.

Mr Woodward said: "Under legislation I am obliged to review the status of all specified and other paramilitary organisations and I have today laid an order before Parliament seeking approval to de-specify the UVF and RHC.

“Their statement of last May committed the organisation to assuming a non-military civilianised role. Government undertook to review the position at that time and we have now taken a careful look at the organisation’s position.

“In the light of this and in acknowledgement of their commitment and additional factors, I have therefore concluded that there are sufficient grounds to de-specify the UVF/RHC.”

The early release provisions apply to anybody convicted before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which paved the way for political power-sharing in the North.

The UVF has come under pressure to decommission its weapons.

It said last May that it was putting its arms beyond reach – but not handing them over.

In September 2005 the Northern Ireland Office said it would no longer recognise its ceasefire after it was involved in running battles with the rival Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF).

Loyalists clashed with police following the re-routing of an Orange Order parade in Whiterock, West Belfast, that month.

The UVF had also been linked to four recent murders, related to its feud with the LVF.

Leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) Dawn Purvis welcomed today’s announcement.

“This is a recognition of the work carried out and progress made since the statement of intent of May last year.

“This is further evidence of Northern Ireland’s strides towards normality.”

The Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) has blamed Oglaigh na h'Eireann for the murder Andrew Burns, aged 27, of Strabane, County Tyrone, in February.

The organisation, which reports on paramilitary activity, said Strabane members of the specified dissident republican group were likely to have been responsible for his murder.

It reported that he had been a fellow recruit. His body was found with gunshot wounds near a church in Doneyloop, County Donegal.

BBC

Controversial victims' legislation has cleared the final hurdle at Stormont.



The Victims and Survivors' Bill was backed by MLAs following a debate on Tuesday.

Sinn Fein and the DUP praised the draft law creating a four-member panel as a major boost for those affected by the Troubles.

The bill gives the first and deputy first ministers power to appoint a chief commissioner. It had been withdrawn on two previous occasions.

A compromise backed by the DUP and Sinn Fein, followed a series of delays to the Victims' Bill which is required to give the new commission legal authority.

Alliance Party calls for a chief commissioner to be appointed were voted down on Tuesday.

MLAs also backed a proposal which will only allow the commission to employ someone with a criminal conviction if the first and deputy first ministers give their prior approval.

In January, details of Northern Ireland's victims' commissioners were revealed.

They include broadcaster Mike Nesbitt and ex-interim victims' commissioner Bertha McDougall whose RUC Reservist husband was murdered by the republican INLA.

The others are Patricia MacBride, whose brother was killed by the SAS and whose father died 17 months after being shot by loyalists, and Brendan McAllister of Mediation NI.

All four posts are full-time and receive the full advertised salary of £65,000.

The post is intended to promote the interests of victims of the Troubles.

By Sarah Stack
Irish Examiner
14 May 2008

AN UNDERGROUND room concealed in a cupboard was discovered in the house of one of five men accused of being responsible for the most lethal bomb of the conflict in the north, a court heard yesterday.

Gardaí told the Omagh civil case in Dublin that £2,000 (€2,500), two disposable body suits and face masks, binoculars and a range of communication devices, were also found in Liam Campbell’s Co Louth home, car and garage.

Campbell and four others are being sued by six families, who believe they were responsible for the Omagh blast that killed 29 people and injured hundreds more.

Campbell, Michael McKevitt, Colm Murphy, Seamus McKenna and Seamus Daly, all deny any involvement in the atrocity.

Campbell was jailed for eight years in 2004 on two counts of membership of the Real IRA.

During yesterday’s questioning, McKevitt denied any knowledge of FBI agent David Rupert, who had infiltrated the group, but members of the Garda Surveillance Unit said they witnessed McKevitt and Rupert together at a Dundalk housing estate.

A barrister for McKevitt questioned the work practices of the officers, who failed to keep any written notes, photographs, log times, or note the clothes worn by suspects during the alleged meeting in Oaklands Park on February 18, 2000.

The accuracy of the testimonies given by Det Garda Fergal O’Brien and Sgt Seamus Lynch were questioned by Kieran Vaughan QC.

They denied Mr Vaughan’s allegation that they put their heads together with a senior officer to make statements after McKevitt’s arrest for terrorist offences in January 2001.

Mr Vaughan also accused a senior garda, Det Sgt Noel McGuigan, who claimed to have seen McKevitt and Rupert together on another occasion, of lying or making a mistake.

By Sarah Stack
Independent.ie
Wednesday May 14 2008

AN UNDERGROUND room concealed in a cupboard was discovered in the house of one of five men accused of being responsible for the Omagh bombing, a court heard yesterday.

Gardai told the Omagh civil case in Dublin that £2,000, two disposable body suits and face masks, binoculars and a range of communication devices were also found in Liam Campbell's Co Louth home, car and garage.

This hearing is taking place in Dublin at the request of the overall trial judge in the North, Mr Justice Declan Morgan.

Legal authorities cleared the way for the lawsuit to collect evidence from gardai in a Dublin courtroom. Never before has a British civil action been permitted inside a court in the Republic.

Sued

Campbell and four others are being sued by six families who believe they were responsible for the blast which killed 29 people and injured hundreds .

Michael McKevitt, the alleged leader of the Real IRA, Campbell, said to be his number two, Colm Murphy, Seamus McKenna and Seamus Daly all deny any involvement in the bomb attack in the Co Tyrone town on a busy Saturday afternoon in mid-August 1998.

The District Court heard that when officers searched Campbell's home in Upper Faughart, Dundalk, in March 2000, he ran around the house and it took him 15 minutes to open the door at which point he had to be restrained and arrested.

''During the search we found an underground room and the entrance to this room was through a press (cupboard) in the downstairs bedroom,'' said Det Gda Paul Burke.

Campbell -- the only defendant who has chosen not to be legally represented at the case -- was jailed for eight years in 2004 on two counts of membership of the Real IRA.

The court was also told when gardai searched McKevitt's home in Blackrock, Co Louth, in March 2000 a small bottle of mercury was found.

During the questioning, he denied any knowledge of FBI agent David Rupert, who had infiltrated the RIRA, and maintained he was not aware of anyone with that name.

On day 19 of the case -- which has sat for four weeks in Belfast Crown Court -- members of the Garda Surveillance Unit said they witnessed McKevitt and Rupert together at a Dundalk housing estate a month earlier.

But a barrister for the convicted terrorist questioned the work practices of the officers, who failed to keep any written notes, photographs, log times, or note the clothes worn by suspects during the alleged meeting in Oaklands Park on February 18, 2000.

- Sarah Stack

**Via Newshound
(John Coulter, Irish Daily Star)

Hunt down anti-social hoods by bringing the Provos back onto the streets as a uniformed version of the once feared RUC B Specials armed militia.

Anti-social crime – especially by hoards of teenage yobs – is climbing, but many rural and urban communities feel helpless to combat them.

The peace process is at an all-time high after last week's highly successful US investment conference in Belfast with thousands of Yank dollars and jobs pouring into the North.

While the police have permission to enter former no-go republican regions, the cops seem powerless to clamp down and eradicate spiralling anti-social crime.

If the Sinn Féin/DUP government does not get policing and justice powers returned to Stormont before September, community frustration at teen yobs will deteriorate into vigilantism.

Neighbourhood watch scheme members don't have the muscle to face down the yobs.

A typical pulse on yob culture's grip is the rapidly expanding commuter Co Antrim village of Maghaberry , one of the peace process's housing success stories.

Gangs of hooligans roam the developments at will, sticking the boot in people's doors and battering windows.

And even if residents provide CCTV footage of the yobs in action, the perception is the cops are powerless to stamp out community crime.

Across the North, it could be compared to the Biblical tale of the Israelites who escaped slavery in Egypt.

When times became tough, even though they had escaped the ruthless and cruel Egyptians, some Israelites wanted to turn back to the rigid Egyptian discipline.

In some republican districts, there is a private feeling residents want the Provos back on the streets with their iron bars and baseball bats to control anti-social behaviour.

The same sentiments are filtering in from loyalist heartlands.

There's a compromise. Bring back the B Specials – armed, local militias who have the power to be heavy-handed with their districts' yob culture.

Legalised patrols by former terrorists who have received 'proper' training in anti-yob tactics may be bitter medicine for many to swallow.

But the alternative is that pissed-off residents recruit and fund armed mercenary vigilantes to illegally crack skulls and smash kneecaps of drug dealers, thugs and anti-social vermin.

There's even been loose talk about nutty Right wing racists from the Klan and Combat 18 forming their own 'vigilante patrols' to secure housing estates from the yobs.

The problem is with these nut cases – let them in, and you never get them out, and eventually it becomes impossible to tell the difference between the anti-social teens and the racist 'protection patrols'.

May 13, 2008
________________

This article appeared in the May 12, 2008 edition of the Irish Daily Star.

BBC
14 May 2008

The attack happened just before midnight on Tuesday

A 27-year-old man is critically ill after he was beaten by at least eight masked men in a paramilitary-style attack in Derry.

The incident happened at a house in Derryview Terrace in the Gobnascale area just before midnight on Tuesday.

The man tried to escape but they chased him and beat him with baseball bats.

He suffered two broken legs and fractures to his skull and face and is in a critical condition in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

The PSNI are investigating the incident and have appealed for anyone with information to contact them.

A spokesperson from Sinn Féin described the attack as "brutal", and said anyone with information should go to the police.

BBC

Caitríona Ruane was addressing grammar and secondary school principals

Northern Ireland's education minister has said her plan to continue academic selection for another three years was a "difficult move" for her.

Caitríona Ruane said she still had a "vision that there will be no academic selection" and that she was prepared to take the steps needed to achieve that.

In a speech to grammar and secondary school principals, the minister referred to personal criticism of her.

But she also thanked everyone for adding to the debate.

She said there cannot be a "Transfer Test Mark II" and that she hoped academic selection will soon be seen as an "historical anomaly".

Last December, Ms Ruane announced that the test, commonly known as the 11-plus, would come to an end in 2008.

On Tuesday, the SDLP said a new post-primary transfer test for schoolchildren in NI would be a "climbdown".

Ms Ruane will reveal her plans on Thursday to the Northern Ireland Executive.

She is to propose a form of testing to continue for three years, but there will be a limit on the number of pupils grammar schools can take on that basis.

The SDLP's Dominic Bradley said it had the hallmarks of a DUP/Sinn Féin deal. But Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd said Ms Ruane was setting out a clear way forward.

It is believed that now, the minister could commission new tests which encompass broader educational areas than the current transfer test.

These tests would be developed and marked by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment, continuing for about three more years.

By Claire Weir
Belfast Telegraph
Wednesday 14, May 2008

Martin McGuinness has paid a hospital visit to the Catholic police officer injured in a bomb attack.

The Deputy First Minister called at the bedside of the officer — who suffered serious leg injuries when a bomb blew up under his car on Monday night.

A spokesman for Mr McGuinness today confirmed that a visit had taken place at Altnagelvin Hospital but would not elaborate. He said: "It was a private matter."

The former IRA chief's move came as condemnation continued to grow following the attack at Spamount, near Castlederg, which is being blamed on dissident republicans.

A top ranking policewoman has said the officer, believed to be from Omagh, could have been killed if members of the public had not intervened and dragged him from the flaming vehicle.

Assistant Chief Constable Judith Gillespie added that it was too early to say which dissident grouping had planted the under-car device.

ACC Gillespie said that when she visited her colleague in hospital, he had seemed in "good spirits" but had very serious leg injuries following the explosion.

"He was based in Enniskillen and was on his way to perform night duty in Enniskillen. Nobody should be attacked in this way," she said.

"He has serious leg injuries and will take some time to recover. He has had surgery and it is expected that he will make a full recovery.

"He is in good spirits but he needs rest and care and our thoughts are with him and his family. He will be affected both physically and mentally but he is very determined to get back to work."

ACC Gillespie said that the PSNI will be working hard to develop intelligence surrounding such attacks.

"These incidents have been happening throughout the province and we will not in any way be deterred from our duties. The Chief Constable has already stated that dissident republicans have the capacity to mount attacks, " she said.

She added that security is kept in constant review and, while it was too early to say how and where the bomb was attached to the car, she confirmed that it was an under-car type device.

ACC Gillespie said the PSNI would continue to protect the streets in a high-profile and visible manner and would not be retreating behind walls. She also thanked those who helped pull the officer from the car.

"I shudder to think what might have happened, he had a very, very fortunate escape. The car he was in was absolutely gutted and chances are that if he hadn't been pulled out he could have been much more seriously hurt or he could have died."

One of the first people to arrive on the scene was local man Tommy Sproule who said that he and other members of the public helped move the injured officer a safe distance away from the vehicle, just moments before it erupted in flames.

"If we hadn't moved him, he was only about two metres from the boot of the car, his injuries would have been a lot worse than what they were," he said.

Mr Sproule said that the officer, whose leg was cut almost to the bone, feared it had been blown off altogether.
*

Derry Journal
14 May 2008

Young people from the Brandywell and Bogside have been asked to respect a memorial to dead republicans from the area.

Michael Kinsella from the Derry Republican Graves Association made the appeal after people living near the monument on the Lecky Road complained that young people were drinking around the memorial at weekends. Mr Kinsella said broken bottles and cans had recently been left in the area.

"We have been contacted by a number of the people from the area and relatives of our republican patriot dead who are angry and upset that at the weekend rubbish from carryouts and broken glass was strewn in and around the site of the monument dedicated to their memory on the Lecky Road," he said.

Mr Kinsella said the memorial was paid for and built by the local community and appealed for it to be treated with respect.

"The Derry Republican Graves Association would appeal to those involved in these actions to desist and respect the ground in and around the monument and the memory of our fallen comrades. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the monument being built.

"It was fundraised for and built by local people and republicans from across the city and we see it as a lasting tribute to their memories for future generations," he said.