BBC
9 July 09

SDLP leader Mark Durkan has led a party delegation to meet Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen in Dublin.

The meeting focused on a range of issues, including the devolution of policing and justice.

He said the SDLP wanted to "maximise the potential of the devolution project and the north-south bodies".

"The SDLP once again reiterated our position that a North-South approach remains the road-map for a better future for all the people of Ireland."

Mr Durkan said "North-South business should not be closed down and or pared back to suit different parties".

"We noted our deep concern that the whole North-South project has been frustrated in number of areas since the restoration of political institutions. The DUP has been culpable while Sinn Fein has been compliant," he said.

Mr Durkan said they emphasised "that the devolution of justice and policing powers must take sooner rather than later".

"There is no room for any political party to take its eye off the ball. It is critically important to the devolution project that we get over the line on this issue," he said.

The delegation also met Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore.

News Letter
09 July 2009

The Culture Minister has defended his religious conviction not to attend events in Catholic churches.

"I have personal views regarding worship and I would not attend a service in a Roman Catholic church," said Mr McCausland.

"That has always been my position and remains such. That doesn't mean that I do not have good relationships with Roman Catholic people.

"I wouldn't want to offend them and I am sure they wouldn't want to offend me."

He said he would not attend any event on a Sunday, unless it was an Orange Order parade that included a church service, but denied that his role as a minister might see him have to visit a Catholic church or other venues he might not ordinarily choose to attend.

"There are places that I am sure I will go that I would not otherwise have gone, but when it is a matter of religious principle then I would have to abide by that," he said.

All-Ireland Gaelic football champions Tyrone were hosted at the Stormont Assembly, but Mr McCausland said he did not to know who held the title.

SDLP Declan O'Loan said: "Nobody can expect a minister to be fully conversant with all aspects of language, culture and sport that we have here.

"It is important, however, that he shows himself respectful to all. He seems to ignore his duty in that regard."

Mr McCausland yesterday launched the Orange Order's July 12 events as one of his first actions as minister and faced accusations of not showing the same interest in events linked to the Catholic and nationalist community.

Sinn Fein Assembly member for North Antrim Daithi McKay said: "Since he came into office less than a week ago, Nelson McCausland has engaged in a media campaign attacking the GAA, the Irish language and now the Catholic Church."

News Letter
09 July 2009

POLICE Special Branch in Northern Ireland were aware of intelligence information on the Omagh bomb soon after the atrocity, the former ombudsman claimed yesterday.

But information was not immediately passed on to investigating officers who spent months combing mobile phone records in the hunt for the Real IRA bombers, ex-police complaints head Nuala O’Loan added.

The perpetrators are believed to have used phones to communicate on their way to Omagh with the device.

Dame Nuala gave evidence to a committee of MPs at Westminster.

“I am satisfied that material was passed to Special Branch,” she said.

She talked about the reaction of secret service monitors.

“It triggered, and I am speculating, that the security services would be alarmed and distressed by the explosion and would immediately decide to search to see if they had anything which would be relevant, anything that had come in in the past hour or so.”

Ms O’Loan told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee investigation opportunities could have been availed of.

She said there was a five-month delay in some cases as detectives combed through all the phone records in the area.

By Diana Rusk
Irish News
08/07/2009

**Sign the petition to BRING-BRUCE-HOME at Care 2

**Watch the video


DOGGED DEBATE: Shannon Brown’s dog Bruce who a court has ordered should be destroyed after determining the dog is a pit-bull, an illegal breed. Ms Brown maintains her dog is a Staffordshire-Bull terrier, inset

DOG lovers across the world have backed a Co Down woman’s two-year legal battle to stop her pet ‘pit-bull’ from being destroyed.

Shannon Brown’s dog Bruce was seized from its home in Bangor by North Down Borough Council wardens in September 2007 and has been in kennels ever since.

A district judge last year determined the animal was a pit-bull – an illegal breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act – and ordered the animal be put down.

Despite the dog’s owner lodging an appeal in the case, the original ruling was upheld in Belfast Magistrate’s Court last Monday and it was ordered that the dog be destroyed within a week.

Ms Brown (20) then applied for a judicial review, which was dismissed but she has been given until Monday to appeal the decision in a last ditch attempt to save the animal.

It is understood the court has ruled that the animal does not pose a risk to the public.

Almost 12,000 people from all over the globe have signed an online petition to ‘Bring Bruce Home’ and protests have been organised in America with news channel CNN covering the case.

Northern Ireland is unique in Britain and Ireland because all animals a court decides are pit-bull types must be destroyed.

Ms Brown last night insisted her pet was not dangerous. “He has never harmed anyone,” she said.

“We found Bruce as a puppy in a cardboard box on Albert Street in Bangor and he was just over two years old when he was seized.

“I have always maintained that he is not a pit-bull but that he is a Staffordshire-Bull Terrier.

“He lived with me and my partner’s child, who was three years old, and a Labrador and never caused any harm to either of them.

“I understand pit-bulls being used for fighting would be a danger but this was a family pet who was never abused in any way.”

She said a dog sanctuary in the Republic of Ireland where pit-bulls are a legal breed, has offered to provide a home to Bruce.

Ms Brown said she would be “heartbroken” if her pet is destroyed and hopes international support for her case can add pressure.

“The response has been brilliant and crazy and completely unexpected,” she said.

“There are signatures from all over the world – Italy, South Africa, China, everywhere – protests have been held in America over Bruce and CNN has covered it.”

David Brown from North Down Borough Council said wardens were carrying out their duty when they seized the dog on 19 September 2007 after reports that the animal was an illegal breed.

However, he agreed the legislation around dangerous dogs in Northern Ireland is “not fit for purpose”.

“The judges don’t like it. We don’t like it and we hope the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will soon clarify the legislation,” he said.

“We have been inundated with hundreds of emails and telephone calls from around the world in this case.”

Dangerous dog legislation

--Northern Ireland is the only place in Britain and Ireland where dogs found to be of the pit-bull type must be destroyed under legislation

--Pit-bulls are one of four dogs banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

--In 1997 an amendment to the Act was accepted in England, Scotland and Wales removing the mandatory destruction order for illegal breeds if the court accepts the animal does not pose a risk to the public

--These dogs are entered on to the Index of Exempted Dogs instead of being destroyed

--However, the amendment was never extended to Northern Ireland

--The case is even more clear cut in the Republic where no breeds are banned and some dog sanctuaries operating there give homes to pit-bulls from the north

--Legislation is being reviewed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

--On November 20 2007, agriculture minister Michelle Gildernew announced a review of the Dangerous Dogs Act and dog fighting legislation

--She has held meetings with the PSNI and representatives of District Councils to consider what action should be taken but no decisions have yet been made

--In March she said she would present a bill to the assembly after the summer recess

--It is the responsibility of district councils to enforce the act even though many dog wardens have been calling for amendments to be made to the legislation

--The maximum penalty for owning a banned dog type is six months imprisonment or a £5,000 fine

I included the video on Bruce, thinking that it was most likely just a bit of fluff to add to the story about the family pet being taken away, but at the end of the video, you can see the disgraceful treatment this poor dog has been given in his 2 years of impound and is still being given at the hands of his captors. He is injured and in poor shape. It breaks my heart to look at it. You just want to scream at the injustice.

Please watch the video and sign the petition. If I can find some email addresses to send letters to, I will post them. I am hoping all the many thousands of people who have signed the petition and written in protest will help BRING BRUCE HOME.

**Sign the petition to BRING-BRUCE-HOME at Care 2

**Watch the video