BBC
26 Nov 2008

Threats made against community workers by dissident republicans in north Belfast have been condemned.

Police informed staff at the Ashton Centre in the New Lodge area and the Wolfhill Centre in Ligoniel of a threat from the Continuity IRA.


Staff at the Ashton Centre in the New Lodge area were threatened

A statement by the Ashton Centre called for the withdrawal of the threat.

"We will not be diverted from our mission of building a vibrant and confident north Belfast community," the statement said.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said dissidents "have no programme and no support".

"The reports that CIRA are threatening to kill nationalist and Catholic community workers who co-operate with the police to make our streets safer are shocking, but not surprising," said ICTU assistant general secretary Peter Bunting.

Seamus McAleavey, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, said: "This completely flies in the face of the opinions of the community in North Belfast and beyond.

"They have no support and we call for these dangerous and totally unacceptable threats to be withdrawn immediately."

The trade union Unison said it would hold a meeting on Friday "to plan a direct and public response to those who have made these unacceptable threats to workers and organisations whose mission in life is to work with citizens in disadvantaged communities to build a fairer and more inclusive society."

Belfast Telegraph
Thursday, 27 November 2008

Jailed loyalist paramilitary Andre Shoukri is expected to attend the funeral of his brother Ihab which is due to take place today.

According to Shoukri’s family, he will be released from Maghaberry prison for a limited time today on compassionate bail for the ceremony and burial.

Former UDA ‘brigadier’ Ihab (34) died from a suspected drug overdose on Saturday night at a house in the loyalist Rathcoole estate.

Shoukri had been watching the Ricky Hatton boxing fight on TV when he collapsed.

Dozens of mourners are expected to gather at the Holy Trinity Parish Church on the Ballysillan Road at 12pm today for the funeral service.
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PAUL CULLEN
Irish Times
27 Nov 2008

WHILE ALL roads to the North are clogged with Southerners on shopping sprees, Northern Ireland's Parades Commission has been touring historical sites in Dublin. Six members of the commission have been on a three-day visit ending today to sites associated with the Easter Rising in 1916.

Dr Michael Boyle, director of programmes and policy at the commission, said the visit was part of a learning programme aimed at "better understanding cultural and historical aspects of parading and protest in Northern Ireland".

Among the landmarks the group has visited are the GPO, Arbour Hill, Kilmainham Gaol and the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge.

Dr Boyle said it was useful for the commission to increase its knowledge of the background to historical events. Dr Boyle said there were no plans at this time to organise further tours in the Republic, though he expressed interest in the lessons to be learned from the 1798 Rebellion.

Belfast Telegraph
26 Nov 2008

Officials in the Republic burned hundreds of secret files on the orders of Taoiseach Eamon de Valera as panic grew in Ireland over a possible Nazi invasion during World War II.

In a separate move, two Irish diplomats travelled to London to seek British help but made the bizarre decision to only request military help once German forces had actually landed on Irish soil.

The remarkable disclosures are made in a book of declassified documents, revealed for the first time last night by Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin with former Foreign Affairs Ministers Dr Garret FitzGerald and Michael Kenn-edy in attendance.

The volume, published by the Royal Irish Academy, deals with the 17 months at the start of World War II as Europe crumbled before the Nazi onslaught. The files in 'Documents in Irish Foreign Policy -- Volume VI -- 1939-1941' reveal a mood of continual crisis.

Details of sensitive defence cooperation talks in mid-1940 are included in the papers, which can also be accessed online. The papers shed light on a period when Ireland feared a German invasion while at the same time feeling unable to call on British help.

At the height of scares about a Nazi invasion, Taoiseach De Valera ordered the widespread destruction of top secret files.

Hundreds of files held under lock and key in the office of the secretary of the Department of External Affairs were earmarked for destruction in Dublin on May 25, 1940.

The documents involved included details of passport and visa applications, naturalisation of German nationals as Irish citizens, and the identity of Germans living here.

Also burnt were files on British people and on various aspects of diplomatic relations with Britain and the Commonwealth -- including the 1937 purchases of guns and ammunition from Britain -- and a series on the coronation of King George VI.

Also into the fire went documents on General Eoin O'Duffy's Blueshirts and the Irish Brigade's involvement in the Spanish civil war.

Bombing in Berlin completely wiped out files held by the Irish embassy there including all papers detailing Irish relations with Hitler's regime from 1938 onwards.

It also destroyed most reports from Ireland's controversial "minister plenipotentiary" in the Reich capital, Charles Bewley, who was recalled in 1939 after he had "gone native". Bewley was notorious for his anti-Semitic views and his admiration of the Nazis.

Irish diplomats were shocked by Germany's contempt for the neutrality of countries like Holland and Belgium and, fearing Ireland would be next, De Valera sent out secret feelers to Britain.

At May 23 and 24 London meetings, Joseph Walshe, secretary of the Department of External Affairs and Colonel Liam Archer, then head of Irish Army intelligence, blocked a British request to station forces in Ireland in advance of a possible invasion.

Walshe said there would be no public support for such a move but once it "became apparent to the Irish people that an act of aggression had taken place against Ireland the whole attitude of the Irish people would change and they would gladly welcome support from British troops".

Britain was worried about IRA support for Germany but was reassured "a few disturbances" would give the State an opportunity "to crush finally the organisation".

The meetings agreed close communications cooperation, a special code and an early warning system of approaching German aircraft.

In other documents, it is revealed that attempts by the Nazis to fly in three extra diplomats -- who the Government suspected were spies -- via Shannon airport during World War II led to a major behind-the-scenes row.

Taoiseach Eamon de Valera warned Hitler's envoy in Dublin, Edouard Hempel, to tell Berlin to withdraw the request and, if Berlin persisted, it would be refused."

Tensions heightened as the possibility of Germany using Dublin's refusal as a pretext for an invasion increased," says the documents.

Ireland also wanted compensation for German bombings. In January 1941, five Luftwaffe planes dropped bombs on the Curragh, Terenure, Borris and Drogheda killing three.In 1940 German planes had dropped bombs in Wexford killing three.

Bombs were also dropped near Waterford Harbour and Bannow Bay and on Ballymitty and Duncormick.

Lindy McDowell
Belfast Telegraph
Wednesday, 26 November 2008

The death this week of the gangster/paramilitary Ihab Shoukri was sudden — but not entirely shocking. Those who live by the sword, die by the sword is how one veteran community worker put it.

Although in this case, those who live by the pharmaceuticals die by the pharmaceuticals might be closer to the mark.

In the immediate aftermath of his death, Shoukri’s cohorts have denied claims that drug taking had anything to do with it. But whether or not drug abuse was a direct cause, it’s hard to believe the lifestyle of excess for which Shoukri and his younger brother Andre were notorious did not have some sort of contributory bearing upon his passing.

Every death is a tragedy. Shoukri was 34-years-old and in the prime of life. He was good looking, bright, the son of a mother who by all accounts is regarded as a decent, hard-working woman. For a time Shoukri worked for the local civil service. In another time, in another place might his life have turned out entirely differently?

Who’s to say?

The fact is that he and his brother chose — deliberately chose — a path that brought them power and money at the expense of others.

“It is a human loss to the family. People are dismissing how it affects the family,” one of his sidekicks told a newspaper this week.

It is precisely because the vast majority of us can accept how the death of a man can affect a family that the Shoukri brothers and their ilk revolt so many.

The pair rose to prominence in the UDA. Apart from their own specific crimes, this was — is — an organisation which has brought misery and suffering on an industrial scale upon other families in Northern Ireland.

The UDA styles itself as a ‘defence association’. But the people it murdered — apart from one-time comrades ousted in bloody coups — were mainly innocent, defenceless young lads gunned down from behind.

And they were murdered for one reason — simply because they were Catholic.

They were also easy targets. The UDA in common with other paramilitary outfits here has no great record of taking on rival terror gang leaders.

Their sectarianism is eclipsed only by their cowardice. That, and their greed.

For UDA chiefs have profited quite considerably from the drug-dealing, extortion and gangsterism that has been their stock in trade.

In running their crime empires they have leached off and devastated the very community they claim to ‘defend’ — the Protestant working class.

They ply drugs to the young. They rip off legitimate businesses and intimidate anyone who dares speak out against them. With their extortion rackets they have ensured that new businesses which could have brought jobs to those areas have been repulsed. It’s the same with housing — any project in fact that wouldn’t fork up for their protection scams.

The Shoukris and their cohorts have been part of all that. But they have not been alone.

There is a move — shamefully accepted in parts of the media — to make some sort of distinction between loyalist ‘renegades’ and what we are now asked to accept as ‘mainstream’ loyalists.

The sort that these days gets a hug from the President of Ireland.

Even dressed up in suits (or golfing gear) they are all just different faces of the same vile gangster outfit. What they have been responsible in the past does matter. What they continue to be party to is relevant.

It may not be fashionable but there are still very, very many of us in Northern Ireland who refuse to see a delineation between renegade (or dissident) paramilitaries on all sides and the ‘mainstream’ rest of them. They are all the same. The whole rotten shower of them.

But far from being ostracised by ‘the process’, their very methods have been adopted and officially endorsed.

Is there really all that much difference between the ‘protection’ money extorted at street level — and promises of funding from a compliant, arsenal-licking British government?

Belfast Telegraph
26 Nov 2008

Dissident republicans stepped up their efforts to kill a Catholic police officer after Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness visited an injured policeman in hospital six months ago, MPs have been told.

Martin McGuinness labelled the attack on the 27-year-old officer as “spiteful and selfish” and infuriated dissident republicans when he visited the officer after surgery.

The officer, who joined the PSNI in 2004, suffered serious leg injuries when a bomb exploded under his car near Castlederg in County Tyrone.

Martin McGuinness made an unannounced visit to the injured policeman in Altnagelvin Hospital two days after the May attack to show his support for the PSNI.

The action infuriated dissidents in the groups, which vowed to renew efforts to kill a police officer as a response.

Last week MPs were briefed by a top MI5 officer.

He told members of the Northern Ireland Committee at Westminster that the threat against nationalist PSNI officers was at its highest level ever and that more planned attacks were in the offing.

One MP told the Belfast Telegraph: “The intelligence officer told us that the hospital visit by Martin McGuinness to the officer in May had struck a deep chord I suppose you would call it with the dissidents and they saw it as a very poignant symbolic act of defiance by the Deputy First Minister and they were determined to respond to it by eventually murdering an officer”.

Dissidents saw it as a very poignant symbolic act |of defiance

The injured officer, who is from the Omagh area, was based in Enniskillen and had left his home at Spamount near the border to report for night duty when the deadly undercar bomb detonated just seconds into his journey.

His life was saved by local people who managed to haul him from the vehicle before it was engulfed in flames and destroyed.

Assistant Chief Constable Judith Gillespie said at the time: “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.”

She added: “He will be affected both physically and mentally but he is very determined to get back to work.”

Since the hospital visit Martin McGuinness has been involved in other highly publicised contacts with security personnel.

In July he told Army Chaplain Rev David Latimer, a Presbyterian Minister in Londonderry, that he would pray for his safe return from Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

Major Latimer the Minister of First Derry Presbyterian and Monreagh church in Donegal went to the war zone as a member of Northern Ireland’s Territorial Army medical unit.

He said he had received a good luck message from Mr McGuinness before he left which he described as “remarkable”.

“It confirms to me that what has happened in Northern Ireland is not phoney, it’s real,” the Minister said.

Irish News
**Via Newshound
25/11/08

THE trial of six youths facing charges arising out of the death of Ballymena schoolboy Michael McIlveen has heard details of attempts by his family and ambulance staff to revive him.

The 15-year-old Catholic died from head injuries on May 8 2006, a day after being bludgeoned with a baseball bat and kicked and punched up to 60 times in an alleyway by a group of Protestant youths.

A statement from the victim’s uncle Sean McIlveen, which was read to Antrim Crown Court yesterday by prosecuting QC John Orr, revealed how the family initially thought the injured teenager was drunk when he arrived home.

It was only after he answered his nephew’s phone and heard he’d been involved in a fight that he “thought there may be something more wrong with Michael”.

Mr McIlveen, who had been sharing Michael’s bedroom, said he had been awoken by him coming in and turning on the bedroom light.

He said Michael was initially sick in the bathroom before climbing onto the top bunk above his.

“I tried to help him and I noticed a cut on the back of his hand,” read the statement.

Mr McIlveen said the schoolboy’s mobile then rang and the teenager answered, saying “he was all right, and hung up”.

He said his nephew’s “speech was slurred and I thought he was just drunk”.

Mr McIlveen called in the boy’s mother Gina as he was being sick again, and as they moved him to the bottom bunk bed he was “pushing away any attempt to help him”.

Moments later the teenager “began to shake and began to kick out on the bed”, so his family moved him to the floor.

It was at this stage that Michael’s phone rang again and his uncle, who answered it, was told by a girl of the attack on him.

“It was only then that I thought there may be something more wrong with Michael other than being drunk,” he told police.

In a statement from a paramedic who called to the McIlveen home, the court heard that when they arrived shortly after 2.30am, they found the teenager breathing but unconscious on his bedroom floor.

Paramedic James McCafferty said the boy’s mother told him her son had been hit on the head with a baseball bat and had then staggered home, and when she found him in the bedroom “it looked as if her son was having a fit”.

On trial for murder are a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, 19-year-old Jeff Colin Lewis of Rossdale, Aaron Cavana Wallace (20) from Moat Road, 22-year-old Christopher Francis Kerr from Carnduff Drive and Christopher Andrew McLeister (18) of Knockeen Crescent –all in Ballymena.

The sixth defendant is 18-year-old Paul Edward David Henson of Condiere Avenue, Ballymena who denies charges of affray and criminal damage. The trial continues.
*

CHARLIE TAYLOR and GERRY MORIARTY, Northern Editor
Irish Times
27 Nov 2008

The funeral of the former senior UDA figure Ihab Shoukri today was delayed today after two suspect devices were discovered in Belfast.

Mr Shoukri (34), who was ousted from the organisation along with his brother André two years ago, is believed to have died from a drugs overdose. He was found dead in a house in Newtownabbey on Saturday night.

This morning, a suspicious device was discovered at a house connected to the Shoukri family. A controlled explosion was carried out on the device which was later declared a hoax.

A second device was found in the grounds of Holy Trinity Church, Ballysillan Road, where Mr Shoukri was to be buried. It was also declared a hoax.

Ihab Shoukri was ousted from the organisation along with his brother André two years ago,

The Shoukris rose rapidly through UDA ranks in north Belfast, notwithstanding their untypical background. The brothers were sons of an Egyptian father who married a local woman.

Both were heavily involved in criminal activity such as drugs, extortion and racketeering which was tied in with their paramilitary activities. They were particularly engaged in drugs, making vast amounts of money in this area, according to security and local sources. About two years ago, the brothers fell foul of the UDA due to the publicity associated with them.

André Shoukri,who is currently serving nine years on a variety of charges, including blackmail and intimidation, was temporarily released from jail to attend the funeral today.

News Letter
27 November 2008

THE funeral of loyalist Ihab Shoukri was delayed due to a hoax security alert in north Belfast.

Police have confirmed the alert on the Oldpark Road, near the church where Mr Shoukri's funeral service was due to take place.

A police spokeswoman said Army technical officers had been tasked to inspect a suspicious object, which had subsequently been declared a hoax.

The 34-year-old was found dead in a house in the Rathcoole estate in Newtownabbey on Saturday night.

It is reported the notorious loyalist died from a drugs overdose, although it is believed the former UDA leader was susceptible to epileptic fits.

His death has not been treated as suspicious.

Shoukri was jailed for 15 months in June for his part in a UDA show of strength in a bar, but was released earlier this year.

His younger brother, Andre, who is currently serving a jail term at Maghaberry prison, has been granted compassionate leave to attend the funeral.

In November 2007, he was jailed for nine years for trying to extort thousands of pounds from a pub owner.

The funeral will take place in Holy Trinity Parish Church, Ballysillan, this afternoon with interment in Carnmoney Cemetery.

BBC

The security alert that delayed the funeral of north Belfast loyalist Ihab Shoukri has been declared a hoax.


Andre Shoukri (centre) arrives at his brother's funeral

The former UDA member died from a suspected drugs overdose on Saturday night.

Police said there was a security alert on the Old Park Road, near the church from where the 34-year-old was being buried.

His brother, leading loyalist Andre Shoukri, was released from prison so he could attend the funeral.

Ihab Shoukri and his brother Andre were expelled from the UDA two years ago after setting up a breakaway faction in south east Antrim.

The faction had been accused of involvement in widespread criminality, including drug dealing.

Ihab Shoukri took over leadership of the group in November last year after his brother was jailed for nine years on charges including blackmail and intimidation.

The sons of an Egyptian father who married a local woman, both brothers rose through the ranks of the UDA in north Belfast before their expulsion.

BBC
27 Nov 2008


Mary McAleese and her husband Martin visited Brakey Orange Hall in County Cavan

Mary McAleese has become the first Irish President to visit an Orange Hall.

Brakey Orange Hall near Baillieborough in County Cavan re-opened two years ago after it was destroyed in an arson attack.

County Grand Master Henry Latimer described Mrs McAleese's visit as "very significant".

She said she was delighted to be in the presence of "a good Cavan man, a good Irishman and a good Orangeman."

"Perhaps here in Brakey Orange Hall this morning it's a good time and place to acknowledge how far we have come in the last 10 years, since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and to pledge that the journey of peace-building andpeace-making will and must continue," continued the president.

She also appealed for an end to the targeting of Orange halls and GAA clubs, insisting Ireland should embrace its diverse history.

Mr Latimer praised the President and her husband Martin for the support he said they had given the Orange Order in the Republic.

"Halls like this one we are in today are held very dear by the Orange family," he said.

Belfast Media
Tue, Nov 25 2008

A GERMAN woman who suffered a broken jaw in a sectarian attack on a local taxi in South Belfast on Wednesday night was taking part in an exchange programme at St Mary’s University College.

The 25-year-old, who was extremely traumatised and will have to undergo reconstructive surgery as a result of her injuries, returned to Germany for treatment on Friday.

She was struck in the face when loyalists hurled a rock through the front passenger window of the taxi.

The student and two friends had got a taxi from the Go Broadway depot on the Falls Road and were travelling to the Lisburn Road for a night out when the cab was attacked in Glenmachan Street in the loyalist Village area at around 11pm.

On Thursday we revealed there has been a spate of such attacks in the area over recent weeks. At least 20 West Belfast drivers have now been attacked, along with a number of southern-registered cars, and local garages have reported a surge in damaged taxis over the past month.

Professor Peter Finn, Principal of St Mary’s College, condemned the “random and mindless” attack and described those responsible as “thugs”.

“Students and staff at St Mary’s are disturbed by the attack, which is the first incident of its kind we are aware of relating to international students since the college became involved in the Erasmus programme in 1994,” he said.

“Since then over 800 international students have attended the college and enjoyed their study period in Belfast.

“In the case of this particular student, however, the stone attack and the injuries she has sustained are a horrible and totally unacceptable experience,” added Professor Finn.

Desie Connolly, manager of Go Broadway Taxis, said Wednesday’s attack was the latest in a long line of incidents, and added that he believes the PSNI only began taking them seriously as a result of media interest in the case.

“I was on the phone to them all of last weekend about people throwing bricks at our drivers and they didn’t even get back to me. They have been informed about this before, and they just weren’t interested until people started going to the papers.

“I phoned them after our taxi was attacked on Wednesday too, and they didn’t come out to see the girl or the driver. He sat with her in the hospital until 3am, and he had to go to the station himself the next morning to make a statement – they didn’t even bother to come out and get one.”

Desie added that the firm takes cross-community contracts and said drivers from depots in loyalist areas regularly use the Falls Road without being attacked.

“We would take a lot of the students over to the Lisburn Road for nights out and they have even been asking the drivers not to put our signs on the roof. We just spent over five thousand pounds on new signs and the drivers don’t want to use them either, and you can’t blame them.

“Three of our drivers have left already because of these attacks and I am going to end up carrying one of them out of here in a coffin unless something is done about it. People in the Village must know who is responsible, and I would call on the PSNI and community representatives in the area to stop these attacks before someone is killed.

“How can the PSNI ask our community to support them when it takes something like this to happen before they’ll do anything to help us?” asked Desie.

A spokesperson for the PSNI said every member of the public is entitled to go about their work without fear of attack or harm.

“Anyone who attacks a taxi driver is effectively attacking their own community by attacking someone who is simply trying to earn a living.

“We are committed to tackling this type of crime and will take a robust approach to bring those responsible for such attacks before the courts, but we can do so far more effectively with the support of taxi drivers and the local community.

“We would urge anyone who has been the victim of such an attack or has information relating to such attacks to contact us on 0845 600 8000,” added the spokesperson.

News Letter
27 November 2008

THE PSNI is investigating reports that a gang of men tried to abduct victims campaigner Willie Frazer in south Armagh on Wednesday.

However Stormont minister and MP for the area Conor Murphy of Sinn Fein dismissed the matter and branded Mr Frazer as "a well-known fantasist".

The incident comes only 13 months after 21-year-old Paul Quinn from Jonesborough was lured to a scene only a few miles from yesterday's alleged events and beaten so badly that he died soon after.

Mr Quinn's family and supporters blamed the IRA but Mr Murphy said the IRA had assured him they were not involved.

Mr Frazer and a cameraman were travelling into Crossmaglen yesterday around noon from Castleblaney when they reported that a dark Volkswagen Passat blocked the road in front of them.

Mr Frazer said the driver shouted out to him "Are yous lost?" To which Mr Frazer replied they weren't and that they were going on. "You are going nowhere," was the response.

With that, a white van appeared from another side road and rammed the side of Mr Frazer's car.

They reversed back but several other cars blocked the way behind, and soon there were up to 20 men around the car.

The attackers soon had the doors open and were trying to drag Mr Frazer out of the car, but he was fighting to stay inside.

"I could see the white van with both of the back doors open," said Mr Frazer and they were shouting 'get him out'. I have no doubt they intended to kidnap me."

The cameraman, who declined to be named, said he calmed his attackers down by insisting he was "just a cameraman".

However his broadcast quality camera was taken, and when he protested he was simply ignored.

Meanwhile, Mr Frazer said they punched and kicked him viciously and when they couldn't get him fully out of the car, they repeatedly slammed the door on his leg.

As a desperate last resort Mr Frazer reached into his coat and shouted: "Get back or I'll shoot."

"With that they all scattered like rats," he said. "Within 20 seconds there was not a sign of any of them on the road.

"The police were there 60 seconds after we phoned them," he said.

Police and Customs officers were in the area carrying out raids on illegal fuel plants and he thinks his attackers presumed he was involved.

"People say to me 'what does campaigning against fuel fraud have to do with victims?'

"But the republicans that rule this area with an iron fist and have made so many victims down through the years to build their power and influence through millions made in fuel smuggling," he said.

DUP Newry and Armagh MLA William Irwin said it was "saddening" that there are those within the community who are "still prepared to engage in such criminal acts".

Calling for anyone with information to bring it to the police, he added: "They almost think they are above the law."

A spokesman for Mr Murphy's office said they knew nothing of the events.

"If Willie Frazer feels a crime has been committed then he should report it to the PSNI," he said.

Derry Journal
25 November 2008

Around one hundred people took part in a commemoration march on Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of IRA volunteer Patsy Duffy.

Mr. Duffy was shot dead by the SAS as he went to check on an arms dump in a house in Maureen Avenue in November 1978.

The march, which was organised by the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and the Duffy family, began at the Brandywell grotto and made its way to the Republican Plot in the City Cemetery.

A number of PSNI landrovers accompanied the parade and marchers were told they were taking part in an illegal parade before it set off.

In the cemetery, wreaths were laid on behalf of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM), the Duffy family, and Oglaigh na h'Éireann. The main oration was given by Marian Price, the national secretary of the 32CSM, who told the crowd that the republican movement is being rebuilt.

"Republicanism is alive and well and it's the only ideology and plan for Ireland that hasn't been tried and it was time that it was put into action. We are beginning to rebuild the republican movement and from here it's onwards and upwards," she said.

IAIS
11/27/08

DUP Assembly-member Ian Paisley Jr could be jailed if he refuses to comply with any High Court order to reveal the identity of a prison officer who told him about an alleged file destruction policy.

Mr Justice Gillen set out the potential consequences as he ruled that legal proceedings brought by the inquiry into loyalist leader Billy Wright`s murder were civil rather than criminal.

Lawyers for the tribunal chaired by Lord MacLean have gone to court in an attempt to compel Mr Paisley to co-operate with its requests for the officer`s name.

The North Antrim MLA has so far insisted he will not identify the man who supplied him with information which he then passed on to David Wright, father of the assassinated LVF chief.

Mr Paisley said he was told of an alleged policy within the Northern Ireland Prison Service to destroy a large number of files as an emergency due to data protection legislation.

It was suggested that up to 5,600 files were destroyed shortly after Wright, 37, was shot dead by republicans inside the Maze Jail in December 1997.

Mr Paisley said details were given to him in confidence by a senior prison officer who approached him last June while he was still a Junior Minister at Stormont.

With the information regarded as relevant to the public inquiry into claims of British security force collusion in the killing, he decided the most appropriate action was to pass it on to David Wright.

The High Court application, brought under Section 36 of the Inquiries Act which deals with enforcement issues, is believed to be the first of its kind to be made in the UK.

During a preliminary debate over how to characterise the proceedings John Larkin QC, for the Inquiry, argued that they were civil.

Backing this view, Mr Justice Gillen said the focus was on obtaining the information rather than on the punishment.

Although the judge emphasised that he had an entirely open mind about how the case will be ultimately determined, he said if any enforcement steps were taken and failed to secure compliance the dual nature of civil contempt will come into play".

"At that stage the High Court will have a very substantial interest in seeing that any order it makes must be upheld - if necessary by committal to prison for contempt. But that stage is far from being reached at this point and in my view is not the primary purpose of Section 36."

Mr Justice Gillen added: "It seems to me that if an order requiring compliance is made by the High Court it may well carry sufficient status to secure adherence by a publicly elected official who is, it may be assumed, committed to upholding the rule of law even if he disagrees with it in a particular instance."