micheailin o'cinnsealach (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} fenian32) wrote,@ 2008-05-01 06:21:00 |
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Irish Republican Information Service (no. 147)
Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie
Date: 30 Aibreán / April 2008
Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom
http://saoirse.info
In this issue:
1. Finucane inquiry secretly blocked by British
2. House damaged in Armagh pipe bomb attack
3. Poll shows dramatic fall in support for Lisbon Treaty
4. Details of informers handed to murderer
5. Sligo hospital supporters to take protest to Leinster House
6. Cúirt takes capitalism to task on climate change
7. North Mayo residents propose deal on location of gas refinery
8. Six-County parades body may be dumped
9. Six-County local elections postponed until 2011
10. New victims support group to be set up
1. FINUCANE INQUIRY SECRETLY BLOCKED BY BRITISH
IT was recently revealed that the public inquiry by the British government into solicitor Pat Finucane's murder has been secretly blocked for nearly two years. Preparations for an independent inquiry into the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane have ceased, the British Northern Ireland Office has told the Finucane family. The NIO cited the family's opposition to the terms for the proposed inquiry as the obstacle. The family has now said it doubts if an inquiry will ever be held.
A letter addressed to Geraldine Finucane's solicitors and signed by British Six-County Secretary Shaun Woodward's principal private secretary in early April made clear that that preparatory work was stopped last year. According to the British NIO, this was because the family would not co-operate with the holding of an inquiry under the controversial British Inquiries Act, which empowers the British government to withhold information and any findings from the public domain on grounds of so-called British national security.
Geraldine Finucane, whose husband was shot dead in February 1989 by loyalists acting in collusion with British state agencies, has pressed for an inquiry to be held under existing less restrictive legislation, arguing that a tribunal under the Inquiries Act would not be sufficiently independent of the Britsih government. In a statement Geraldine Finucane publicly doubted if an independent public inquiry would ever be held.
"On April 7th, 2008, my solicitor received a letter from the Northern Ireland Office which stated that, 18 months ago, in the autumn of 2006, a decision was taken by the then secretary of state, Peter Hain, to cease all preparations for an inquiry. We were not informed of this decision at the time," Geraldine Finucane said.
"This letter stated that the decision was taken because my family refused to accept ministerial control of an inquiry under the notorious Inquiries Act 2005. They appear to be saying that, unless we agree that a British government minister should be allowed to control what information the inquiry is permitted to examine in public, there will be no inquiry at all. Two British secretaries of state and the current prime minister have been in ongoing correspondence with me and my solicitor since early 2006, yet it is only now that they have revealed their decision. My solicitor has written back, demanding to know whether they plan to hold an inquiry or not."
She has accused the British government of misleading the people of Ireland and of wishing to hold a type of inquiry that British ministers can control "from behind the scenes". Geraldine Finucane criticised Shaun Woodward and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
"I have long doubted whether the British government had any real intention of ever establishing a genuinely independent public inquiry into Pat's murder. This letter confirms my worst suspicions," she said. "They have misled my family, the Irish government (sic) and they have misled the European Court of Human Rights."
Her solicitors have responded to the British NIO letter seeking clarification and pledging full co-operation in any inquiry as long as it is "independent, impartial, international and public". They continue to insist that "no minister [should] seek to exercise the power to issue Restriction Notices under the 2005 Inquiries Act".
An inquiry into the Finucane murder was called for by Justice Peter Cory, a former Canadian Supreme Court judge, four years ago. He was called in by the British Government and the 26-County Administration in 2001 to investigate a series of controversial cases on both sides of the Border in which collusion was suspected or alleged. In all six he recommended inquiries.
However, following his recommendation special legislation was rushed through the British parliament allowing British government ministers to block evidence from an inquiry. The Finucane family's opposition to the British Inquiries Act was supported by Judge Cory and some of Britain's leading judges including Bloody Sunday Tribunal chairman Lord Saville.
Peter Madden, representing the Finucanes, has written to Shaun Woodward claiming that "no reasonable explanation has been provided as to why it is considered possible to conduct the Rosemary Nelson inquiry, which also covers issues of the alleged involvement of members of the British Army and Secret Intelligence Services, while it was claimed that new legislation had to be enacted before a Pat Finucane inquiry could be established".
In a statement on April 26 Des Dalton, Vice-President of Republican Sinn Féin
said that the fact that the British government were not prepared to accede to the calls of the Finuance family as well as Judge Peter Cory -- who carried out an investigation into collusion in a number of murders between British state forces and loyalists -- for a full public and independent inquiry into the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane in 1989 should not come as an surprise.
He continued: "As Pat Finucane's wife Geraldine pointed out the British government are only willing to hold an inquiry which British ministers can control "from behind the scenes". The murder of Pat Finucane revealed the true face of British rule in Ireland and its collusion with loyalist death squads in a campaign of murder directed against the nationalist community. It is little wonder the British government do not want any light shed on such matters."
2. HOUSE DAMAGED IN ARMAGH PIPE BOMB ATTACK
ON April 26 a house in the Ballynahone Crescent area of Armagh city was damaged in a pipe bomb attack. The device exploded at the front of the house at around 5am.No one was injured in the attack but the blast caused minor damage to the front porch of the house and shattered a number of roof tiles.
3. POLL SHOWS DRAMATIC FALL IN SUPPORT FOR LISBON TREATY
PUBLIC OPINION has moved sharply against the Lisbon Treaty, with the Yes side now enjoying only a slender lead, according to a Sunday Business Post/Red C monthly tracking poll published on April 27.
Support for the treaty has fell from 43 per cent in February to 35 per cent among those entitled to vote in the referendum. Those opposed to the treaty increased from 24 per cent to 31 per cent. The number of undecided voters remains almost unchanged, at 34 per cent.
The results are likely to cause unease in Brussels and among European governments, where a safe passage of the 26-County referendum was expected. Defeat of the Lisbon Treaty would precipitate a crisis in Brussels, and would be a huge embarrassment to the 26-County administration.
The poll was conducted on April 21/22/23 among more than 1,000 voters across the 26 Counties.
4. DETAILS OF INFORMERS HANDED TO MURDERER
THE British colonial police have lost a highly sensitive file containing personal details of more than 40 informants - but no members have been disciplined or charged over the blunder.
In the biggest breach of security since the Castlereagh break-in six years ago copies of the 'sensitive disclosure schedule' were handed over to a gang charged in connection with the murder of a north Belfast man. The RUC/PSNI attempted to retrieve the top-secret material but one full file of names and addresses remains missing three years on.
The RUC/PSNI only became aware of the loss when career criminal Louis 'Luger' Maguire handed a page to a senior RUC/PSNI member during a court hearing before his trial for the 2003 murder of David 'Digger' Barnes.
Maguire, who was later convicted, even made paper aeroplanes from the highly sensitive pages during a court appearance. At one stage the 42-year-old represented himself after dismissing his legal team and would have had access to the files. There is no suggestion of improper conduct by lawyers in the case.
A Belfast Crown Court judge has ordered an investigation.
No members of the British colonial police have been charged or disciplined over the breach. Copies of the disclosure schedule - including personal details of informants, witnesses and covert surveillance relating to the case - were handed out to defence lawyers and defendants during the murder trial.
The RUC/PSNI later raided the homes of some of the accused and recovered all but one of the copies. Reporting restrictions meant that much of the lengthy trial went unrecorded and so the security blunder was not made public.
However, statements from a senior member of the RUC/PSNI reveal how Maguire handed him a page from the "uniquely identifiable sensitive disclosure schedule" in a Belfast courtroom in April 2005. "I immediately recognised it as material to which Maguire should not have had access or possession,'' he said.
"Maguire shouted a death threat in respect to a man whose name appeared on the document. I later established that an entire sensitive disclosure schedule [and not just the page handed to me by Louis Maguire] was in the possession of all eight defence counsel and Louis Maguire himself along with the other defendants. I later became aware from my enquiries that a copy of the inadvertently disclosed sensitive schedule was in the public domain and remains so to date."
5. SLIGO HOSPITAL SUPPORTERS TO TAKE PROTEST TO LEINSTER HOUSE
SUPPORTERS of a campaign to retain cancer services in Sligo General Hospital are planning to take their protest to Leinster House. They intend to pack the public gallery on May 14 when a Fine Gael motion favouring retention of cancer services in Sligo will be put before the 26-County assembly.
Three coaches have been booked to carry the campaigners to Dublin for both the debate and vote. Five thousand people filled O'Connell Street in the town centre on April 26 for a rally and concert featuring many of the top entertainers in the northwest. X Factor finalists Tabby Callaghan and Sharon Conway, singer Tommy Fleming, Eurovision winner Charlie McGettigan, trad group Dervish and You're A Star finalist Áine Doherty headed a bill of more than a dozen acts in the closed-off street.
Politicians including Fine Gael TD John Perry, former European commissioner Ray MacSharry and his son Senator Marc MacSharry were in a protest march through the town that preceded the show. 26-County Minister of State in the Department of Health Dr Jimmy Devins, who lives in Sligo, was at the concert but he kept a low profile.
Speakers won repeated long ovations when they demanded a U-turn on plans to move Sligo's cancer services to Galway. 26-County administration plans for eight so-called centres of excellence means there will be no cancer services north of a line from Dublin to Galway, apart from an outreach centre in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
A number of placards illustrated local feeling about the policy. "Death by Geography" one read. Cancer survivor Lily McMorrow, one of the event organisers, told the crowd: "We will not be treated like second-class citizens by the HSE any more. We will not accept that our cancer patients must suffer ridiculously long travel for treatment when we already have an excellent service here in Sligo General Hospital."
6. CÚIRT TAKES CAPITALISM TO TASK ON CLIMATE CHANGE
CAPITALISM will have to "change its own practices" if it wants to be a "serious and sincere partner" in the battle to save the planet from climate change, the South African ambassador to Ireland, Priscilla Jana, has said.
Nations will have to "rise above short-term self-interest" to face up to this global issue, Priscilla Jana told the Cúirt literary festival's annual forum in Galway on the weekend of April 26/27.
The "very existence of humanity depended on the institution of economic systems which were based on justice and equality, and which tackled poverty", she said. The South African constitution included a guarantee to environmental rights, she noted. The debate on the theme "can capitalism save the planet from climate change?" was chaired by RTÉ environment correspondent Paul Cunningham.
Participants included literary editor Neil Astley, Trócaire's policy officer on environmental justice Niamh Garvey, and Indian Man Booker Prize nominee Indra Sinha. The Irish media's approach to the climate change issue is not adequately reflecting the public's desire for action, several speakers said. Its reaction is "confused", but is being challenged by independent sources like Indymedia, Paul Cunningham noted. Indra Sinha, who drew on the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster for his Man Booker nominated work, Animal's People, said that one had only to look at "who owned the media" for the answer.
However, the internet had proved to be a great communication tool, he said. Indra Sinha, who continues to work for relief of the Bhopal disaster victims, said that he was deeply sceptical about the will of giant corporations. He recalled how nearly 3,000 people died on the night of the Union Carbide gas leak in 1984, there had been over 15,000 related deaths since and survivors were still suffering.
Union Carbide, now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, had been allowed to quit a lethal site which was still leaching toxic chemicals into the environment, he said. Dow Chemical had been part of the Global Climate Coalition which had tried to "rubbish" the climate change argument and had attacked scientists trying to highlight it, he said.
Corporations were now trying to buy into and privatise water rights all over the world, for profit, Indra Sinha said. The carbon credit system was like "paying someone in Africa or India to starve while one kept eating", he said.NiamhGarvey said capitalism had been implicated as one of the key causes of climate change.
However, "market-based mechanisms" which depended on comprehensive trade agreements with targets for carbon emission reduction could address the issue, she said.
7. NORTH MAYO RESIDENTS PROPOSE DEAL ON LOCATION OF GAS REFINERY
NORTH Mayo residents opposed to the Corrib gas pipeline have dropped their demand for a gas refinery to be built at sea and are backing a compromise solution to the long-running controversy.
A statement by seven community leaders in Erris on April 27 says that all of the problems surrounding the Bellanaboy refinery site and its controversial onshore high-pressure pipeline would be "solved in one move", if the developers -- Shell, Statoil and Marathon - agreed to relocate the refinery.
The seven -- Mary and Willie Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, PJ Moran, Pat O'Donnell and Caitlín Uí Seighin -- have all been key supporters of the Mayo Shell to Sea campaign. That campaign was formed after Willie Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, Micheál Ó Seighin and Brendan Philbin were jailed for 94 days over opposition to the pipeline in 2005.
Earlier this month, the seven travelled to Norway with Labour Party president Michael D Higgins, Green Party councillor Niall Ó Brolcháin and Provisional councillor Noel Campbell in a bid to break the current impasse. The group met StatoilHydro, a partner in the Corrib gas project, and received support from the federation of oil and gas workers' unions, SAFE, representing 8,700 members.
StatoilHydro commented afterwards that the chances of moving the refinery were "close to zero". However, in an implicit criticism of the role of 26-County statutory authorities, Helge Hatlestad, StatoilHydro's vice-president (exploration and production) for western Europe, said he believed it was "very unfortunate" that the concerns voiced by the north Mayo community had not been listened to during the planning stages of the project in 2000/2001.
Speaking earlier this month, Helge Hatlestad said: "We've learned in Norway that there is a need for these sort of discussions, for consultation and communication, before a project is sanctioned. It becomes commercially unviable to do something different once a project has started."
The current refinery project at Bellanaboy, which involves a 9km linking onshore pipeline, is about 30 per cent complete. However, the developers are preparing to seek planning and other statutory approvals for a modified pipeline route, which was announced last week.
The community leaders say they support the compromise alternative location proposed by three priests in Kilcommon parish, Fr Michael Nallen, Fr Michael Gilroy and Fr Seán Noone, in letters last year to 26-County Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan. This location at Glinsk, near Belderrig, was identified by Shell consultants, RPS, last summer as a potential landfall during initial work on modifying onshore pipeline routes.
However, the consultants were excluded from involvement in any aspect of the refinery, then under construction, and this option was dropped from subsequent shortlists. Glinsk has no housing within several miles of the exposed area of bogland, but Shell consultants had noted in their assessment for the pipeline survey that the exposed landfall had steep cliffs of greater than 50 metres.
The statement, due to be issued tomorrow, calls for serious consideration of this compromise as the "first real attempt at finding a solution to the ongoing dispute that understands the many concerns surrounding the current location".
"Our stance has never been anti-gas, but our priority has always been health, safety and the environment, and this remains the case," the statement says. "This proposal has come about after a series of events, culminating in our recent visit to Norway. This conflict has always been capable of being resolved by agreement and respect, and we call on all genuinely interested parties to respond positively to this move.
"Failure to do so would inevitably see the situation revert to compulsory land acquisition, court orders, court cases, conflict, and more suffering and trauma for our families, neighbours and community. The current Corrib project has done untold damage to this community, the reputations of Shell, Statoil and successive governments, and the integrity of numerous State agencies. We sincerely hope that this chance for agreement is not lost, as it represents a clearly long-overdue opportunity for resolution, agreement and healing," the statement says.
SHELL EP Ireland rejected the proposal. "Moving the terminal is not an option," The company said in a short statement. "The issues raised in 2005 were around the perceived safety of the onshore pipeline - not the location of the terminal. We believe we have taken every reasonable step to address genuine safety concerns around the pipeline," that it "has at all times been willing to meet and discuss with anyone their concerns about the Corrib project" and "this remains our position".
The rejection came just hours after a call on April 28 by Bishop of Killala Dr John Fleming on the Corrib gas partners to "consider carefully" the compromise proposal made by Erris residents in relation to the ?900 million project.
Welcoming the proposal made by seven Kilcommon residents -- Mary and Willie Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, PJ Moran, Pat O'Donnell and Caitlín Uí Seighin -- Dr Fleming described it as "an important and significant attempt to resolve the ongoing difficulties which have surrounded the Corrib gas project in north Mayo".
SHELL EP Ireland submitted an application to the 26-County Energy department on April 28 for its modified onshore pipeline. A department spokeswoman said that his statutory role in relation to this may preclude any wider involvement. Shell EP Ireland is also submitting its application to An Bord Pleanála and is seeking a direction from the board on the modified pipeline's qualification under the 26-County Strategic Infrastructure Act.
Dr Fleming said he appreciated the courage of the seven in "dropping their demand that the refinery be located at sea and agreeing that it be sited onshore", and he invited the Corrib gas partners to "consider this proposal carefully".
An increasing awareness of the suitability of the site has grown, he said. The priests of the parish had recommended it to Éamon Ryan and it had now been given further support. Dr Fleming suggested, therefore, that the Glinsk proposal be examined carefully as a viable alternative, with the potential to bring closure to this issue.
"I accept that substantial investment has already been made in the site at Bellanaboy and I realise that relocation to a new site will increase the overall cost of the project.However, I believe that the benefits of relocation will far outweigh the financial considerations involved," the bishop said. "Importantly, a decision to relocate could significantly allay the fears that have plagued the people of this area in recent years. The process of healing the deep hurt felt within the parish of Kilcommon and the wider community in Erris could also begin. Furthermore, it is my hope that this may allow the Corrib gas partners to open a new and more peaceful chapter in their relationship with the local community," Dr Fleming added.
8. SIX-COUNTY PARADES BODY MAY BE DUMPED
THE British Parades Commission, which rules on contested marches in the Six Counties, could be scrapped under proposals expected from a British government-appointed review. However, any transfer of the commission's responsibilities would be linked to the successful devolution of British policing and justice powers to the Stormont Executive.
The commission, supported by many nationalists but largely boycotted by unionists and the Orange Order, has been the independent authority ruling on disputed parades since 1997 in the wake of severe violence surrounding attempts to force the Drumcree Orange march down the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Co Armagh.
However, the British Strategic Review of Parading headed by former British Liberal Democrat leader Lord Paddy Ashdown is understood to be recommending its abolition. In its place Paddy Ashdown is proposing the transfer of its powers to the Office of Six-County First Minister and Deputy First Minister and to local councils.
Local mediators and lawyers would also be drafted in to deal with contentious situations in a case-by-case basis. The Parades Commission is not commenting on reports concerning the Ashdown parading review. Its interim proposals were published on April 29 and the final report is not due until the autumn.
Its proposals could well mean new legislation is needed, thus ensuring the continuation of the Parades Commission for some time yet. The past two loyalist marching seasons have been notably calm despite the persistence of some local difficulties at Drumcree and at Ardoyne and the Ormeau Road in Belfast. The Ashdown review was called to consider the future of the Parades Commission following talks at St Andrews in Scotland in October 2006.
9. SIX-COUNTY LOCAL ELECTIONS POSTPONED UNTIL 2011
THE next Six-County council elections have been postponed by two years to coincide with the redrawing of local boundaries. British Six-County Secretary Shaun Woodward said he made the decision to delay until 2011 the next Six-County local government poll at the request of Stormont Environment Minister Arlene Foster. The number of local authorities is being cut from the current 26 to 11 under plans announced by the DUP Minister.
10. NEW VICTIMS SUPPORT GROUP TO BE SET UP
A NEW victims support group is to be set up, the father of a UVF murder victim said on April 28. Raymond McCord, whose son was beaten to death by loyalist paramilitaries in 1997, made the announcement at Stormont where Assembly members prepared to debate a motion backing investigation of the case. The new group will comprise six members, three from each community and will include Ardoyne priest Fr Aidan Troy.
RaymondMcCord said the Stormont Executive's plans for a four-member victims commission were a "sham". "We are going to set up our own victims' group," he said. "We will help people the way they should be helped and not [through] a political agenda. There is no group here in this country dealing properly with people being intimidated, particularly at interface areas," he said.
Support for Raymond McCord also came from Stephen and Briege Quinn, whose son Paul was murdered in a remote Co Monaghan farm building last October. "Our son was beaten to death, murdered," Briege Quinn said. "No matter what young lads do, nobody has the right to murder. So I am here to listen to the debate today and to support Mr McCord," she said.
The McCord case was investigated by former British police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan, who reported she had uncovered collusion between the RUC at the time and members of a UVF gang who were informants. Afterwards Raymond McCord said: "Now we have the DUP willing to support us. This was not happening before, it has been a change of attitude by them under their new leadership."
Members of the new victims group include Paul McIlwaine, whose son David (18) and his friend Andrew Robb (19) were stabbed in Tandragee, Co Armagh, in 2000. Also included is Bernadette O'Rawe, whose nephew Gerard Devlin was fatally stabbed in Whitecliffe Parade in west Belfast in February 2006 by a Loyalist gang. The Stormont Executive is still divided over plans for the victims commission.
ENDS
Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie
Date: 30 Aibreán / April 2008
Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom
http://saoirse.info
In this issue: 1. Finucane inquiry secretly blocked by British
2. House damaged in Armagh pipe bomb attack
3. Poll shows dramatic fall in support for Lisbon Treaty
4. Details of informers handed to murderer
5. Sligo hospital supporters to take protest to Leinster House
6. Cúirt takes capitalism to task on climate change
7. North Mayo residents propose deal on location of gas refinery
8. Six-County parades body may be dumped
9. Six-County local elections postponed until 2011
10. New victims support group to be set up
1. FINUCANE INQUIRY SECRETLY BLOCKED BY BRITISH
IT was recently revealed that the public inquiry by the British government into solicitor Pat Finucane's murder has been secretly blocked for nearly two years. Preparations for an independent inquiry into the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane have ceased, the British Northern Ireland Office has told the Finucane family. The NIO cited the family's opposition to the terms for the proposed inquiry as the obstacle. The family has now said it doubts if an inquiry will ever be held.
A letter addressed to Geraldine Finucane's solicitors and signed by British Six-County Secretary Shaun Woodward's principal private secretary in early April made clear that that preparatory work was stopped last year. According to the British NIO, this was because the family would not co-operate with the holding of an inquiry under the controversial British Inquiries Act, which empowers the British government to withhold information and any findings from the public domain on grounds of so-called British national security.
Geraldine Finucane, whose husband was shot dead in February 1989 by loyalists acting in collusion with British state agencies, has pressed for an inquiry to be held under existing less restrictive legislation, arguing that a tribunal under the Inquiries Act would not be sufficiently independent of the Britsih government. In a statement Geraldine Finucane publicly doubted if an independent public inquiry would ever be held.
"On April 7th, 2008, my solicitor received a letter from the Northern Ireland Office which stated that, 18 months ago, in the autumn of 2006, a decision was taken by the then secretary of state, Peter Hain, to cease all preparations for an inquiry. We were not informed of this decision at the time," Geraldine Finucane said.
"This letter stated that the decision was taken because my family refused to accept ministerial control of an inquiry under the notorious Inquiries Act 2005. They appear to be saying that, unless we agree that a British government minister should be allowed to control what information the inquiry is permitted to examine in public, there will be no inquiry at all. Two British secretaries of state and the current prime minister have been in ongoing correspondence with me and my solicitor since early 2006, yet it is only now that they have revealed their decision. My solicitor has written back, demanding to know whether they plan to hold an inquiry or not."
She has accused the British government of misleading the people of Ireland and of wishing to hold a type of inquiry that British ministers can control "from behind the scenes". Geraldine Finucane criticised Shaun Woodward and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
"I have long doubted whether the British government had any real intention of ever establishing a genuinely independent public inquiry into Pat's murder. This letter confirms my worst suspicions," she said. "They have misled my family, the Irish government (sic) and they have misled the European Court of Human Rights."
Her solicitors have responded to the British NIO letter seeking clarification and pledging full co-operation in any inquiry as long as it is "independent, impartial, international and public". They continue to insist that "no minister [should] seek to exercise the power to issue Restriction Notices under the 2005 Inquiries Act".
An inquiry into the Finucane murder was called for by Justice Peter Cory, a former Canadian Supreme Court judge, four years ago. He was called in by the British Government and the 26-County Administration in 2001 to investigate a series of controversial cases on both sides of the Border in which collusion was suspected or alleged. In all six he recommended inquiries.
However, following his recommendation special legislation was rushed through the British parliament allowing British government ministers to block evidence from an inquiry. The Finucane family's opposition to the British Inquiries Act was supported by Judge Cory and some of Britain's leading judges including Bloody Sunday Tribunal chairman Lord Saville.
Peter Madden, representing the Finucanes, has written to Shaun Woodward claiming that "no reasonable explanation has been provided as to why it is considered possible to conduct the Rosemary Nelson inquiry, which also covers issues of the alleged involvement of members of the British Army and Secret Intelligence Services, while it was claimed that new legislation had to be enacted before a Pat Finucane inquiry could be established".
In a statement on April 26 Des Dalton, Vice-President of Republican Sinn Féin
said that the fact that the British government were not prepared to accede to the calls of the Finuance family as well as Judge Peter Cory -- who carried out an investigation into collusion in a number of murders between British state forces and loyalists -- for a full public and independent inquiry into the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane in 1989 should not come as an surprise.
He continued: "As Pat Finucane's wife Geraldine pointed out the British government are only willing to hold an inquiry which British ministers can control "from behind the scenes". The murder of Pat Finucane revealed the true face of British rule in Ireland and its collusion with loyalist death squads in a campaign of murder directed against the nationalist community. It is little wonder the British government do not want any light shed on such matters."
2. HOUSE DAMAGED IN ARMAGH PIPE BOMB ATTACK
ON April 26 a house in the Ballynahone Crescent area of Armagh city was damaged in a pipe bomb attack. The device exploded at the front of the house at around 5am.No one was injured in the attack but the blast caused minor damage to the front porch of the house and shattered a number of roof tiles.
3. POLL SHOWS DRAMATIC FALL IN SUPPORT FOR LISBON TREATY
PUBLIC OPINION has moved sharply against the Lisbon Treaty, with the Yes side now enjoying only a slender lead, according to a Sunday Business Post/Red C monthly tracking poll published on April 27.
Support for the treaty has fell from 43 per cent in February to 35 per cent among those entitled to vote in the referendum. Those opposed to the treaty increased from 24 per cent to 31 per cent. The number of undecided voters remains almost unchanged, at 34 per cent.
The results are likely to cause unease in Brussels and among European governments, where a safe passage of the 26-County referendum was expected. Defeat of the Lisbon Treaty would precipitate a crisis in Brussels, and would be a huge embarrassment to the 26-County administration.
The poll was conducted on April 21/22/23 among more than 1,000 voters across the 26 Counties.
4. DETAILS OF INFORMERS HANDED TO MURDERER
THE British colonial police have lost a highly sensitive file containing personal details of more than 40 informants - but no members have been disciplined or charged over the blunder.
In the biggest breach of security since the Castlereagh break-in six years ago copies of the 'sensitive disclosure schedule' were handed over to a gang charged in connection with the murder of a north Belfast man. The RUC/PSNI attempted to retrieve the top-secret material but one full file of names and addresses remains missing three years on.
The RUC/PSNI only became aware of the loss when career criminal Louis 'Luger' Maguire handed a page to a senior RUC/PSNI member during a court hearing before his trial for the 2003 murder of David 'Digger' Barnes.
Maguire, who was later convicted, even made paper aeroplanes from the highly sensitive pages during a court appearance. At one stage the 42-year-old represented himself after dismissing his legal team and would have had access to the files. There is no suggestion of improper conduct by lawyers in the case.
A Belfast Crown Court judge has ordered an investigation.
No members of the British colonial police have been charged or disciplined over the breach. Copies of the disclosure schedule - including personal details of informants, witnesses and covert surveillance relating to the case - were handed out to defence lawyers and defendants during the murder trial.
The RUC/PSNI later raided the homes of some of the accused and recovered all but one of the copies. Reporting restrictions meant that much of the lengthy trial went unrecorded and so the security blunder was not made public.
However, statements from a senior member of the RUC/PSNI reveal how Maguire handed him a page from the "uniquely identifiable sensitive disclosure schedule" in a Belfast courtroom in April 2005. "I immediately recognised it as material to which Maguire should not have had access or possession,'' he said.
"Maguire shouted a death threat in respect to a man whose name appeared on the document. I later established that an entire sensitive disclosure schedule [and not just the page handed to me by Louis Maguire] was in the possession of all eight defence counsel and Louis Maguire himself along with the other defendants. I later became aware from my enquiries that a copy of the inadvertently disclosed sensitive schedule was in the public domain and remains so to date."
5. SLIGO HOSPITAL SUPPORTERS TO TAKE PROTEST TO LEINSTER HOUSE
SUPPORTERS of a campaign to retain cancer services in Sligo General Hospital are planning to take their protest to Leinster House. They intend to pack the public gallery on May 14 when a Fine Gael motion favouring retention of cancer services in Sligo will be put before the 26-County assembly.
Three coaches have been booked to carry the campaigners to Dublin for both the debate and vote. Five thousand people filled O'Connell Street in the town centre on April 26 for a rally and concert featuring many of the top entertainers in the northwest. X Factor finalists Tabby Callaghan and Sharon Conway, singer Tommy Fleming, Eurovision winner Charlie McGettigan, trad group Dervish and You're A Star finalist Áine Doherty headed a bill of more than a dozen acts in the closed-off street.
Politicians including Fine Gael TD John Perry, former European commissioner Ray MacSharry and his son Senator Marc MacSharry were in a protest march through the town that preceded the show. 26-County Minister of State in the Department of Health Dr Jimmy Devins, who lives in Sligo, was at the concert but he kept a low profile.
Speakers won repeated long ovations when they demanded a U-turn on plans to move Sligo's cancer services to Galway. 26-County administration plans for eight so-called centres of excellence means there will be no cancer services north of a line from Dublin to Galway, apart from an outreach centre in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
A number of placards illustrated local feeling about the policy. "Death by Geography" one read. Cancer survivor Lily McMorrow, one of the event organisers, told the crowd: "We will not be treated like second-class citizens by the HSE any more. We will not accept that our cancer patients must suffer ridiculously long travel for treatment when we already have an excellent service here in Sligo General Hospital."
6. CÚIRT TAKES CAPITALISM TO TASK ON CLIMATE CHANGE
CAPITALISM will have to "change its own practices" if it wants to be a "serious and sincere partner" in the battle to save the planet from climate change, the South African ambassador to Ireland, Priscilla Jana, has said.
Nations will have to "rise above short-term self-interest" to face up to this global issue, Priscilla Jana told the Cúirt literary festival's annual forum in Galway on the weekend of April 26/27.
The "very existence of humanity depended on the institution of economic systems which were based on justice and equality, and which tackled poverty", she said. The South African constitution included a guarantee to environmental rights, she noted. The debate on the theme "can capitalism save the planet from climate change?" was chaired by RTÉ environment correspondent Paul Cunningham.
Participants included literary editor Neil Astley, Trócaire's policy officer on environmental justice Niamh Garvey, and Indian Man Booker Prize nominee Indra Sinha. The Irish media's approach to the climate change issue is not adequately reflecting the public's desire for action, several speakers said. Its reaction is "confused", but is being challenged by independent sources like Indymedia, Paul Cunningham noted. Indra Sinha, who drew on the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster for his Man Booker nominated work, Animal's People, said that one had only to look at "who owned the media" for the answer.
However, the internet had proved to be a great communication tool, he said. Indra Sinha, who continues to work for relief of the Bhopal disaster victims, said that he was deeply sceptical about the will of giant corporations. He recalled how nearly 3,000 people died on the night of the Union Carbide gas leak in 1984, there had been over 15,000 related deaths since and survivors were still suffering.
Union Carbide, now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, had been allowed to quit a lethal site which was still leaching toxic chemicals into the environment, he said. Dow Chemical had been part of the Global Climate Coalition which had tried to "rubbish" the climate change argument and had attacked scientists trying to highlight it, he said.
Corporations were now trying to buy into and privatise water rights all over the world, for profit, Indra Sinha said. The carbon credit system was like "paying someone in Africa or India to starve while one kept eating", he said.NiamhGarvey said capitalism had been implicated as one of the key causes of climate change.
However, "market-based mechanisms" which depended on comprehensive trade agreements with targets for carbon emission reduction could address the issue, she said.
7. NORTH MAYO RESIDENTS PROPOSE DEAL ON LOCATION OF GAS REFINERY
NORTH Mayo residents opposed to the Corrib gas pipeline have dropped their demand for a gas refinery to be built at sea and are backing a compromise solution to the long-running controversy.
A statement by seven community leaders in Erris on April 27 says that all of the problems surrounding the Bellanaboy refinery site and its controversial onshore high-pressure pipeline would be "solved in one move", if the developers -- Shell, Statoil and Marathon - agreed to relocate the refinery.
The seven -- Mary and Willie Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, PJ Moran, Pat O'Donnell and Caitlín Uí Seighin -- have all been key supporters of the Mayo Shell to Sea campaign. That campaign was formed after Willie Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, Micheál Ó Seighin and Brendan Philbin were jailed for 94 days over opposition to the pipeline in 2005.
Earlier this month, the seven travelled to Norway with Labour Party president Michael D Higgins, Green Party councillor Niall Ó Brolcháin and Provisional councillor Noel Campbell in a bid to break the current impasse. The group met StatoilHydro, a partner in the Corrib gas project, and received support from the federation of oil and gas workers' unions, SAFE, representing 8,700 members.
StatoilHydro commented afterwards that the chances of moving the refinery were "close to zero". However, in an implicit criticism of the role of 26-County statutory authorities, Helge Hatlestad, StatoilHydro's vice-president (exploration and production) for western Europe, said he believed it was "very unfortunate" that the concerns voiced by the north Mayo community had not been listened to during the planning stages of the project in 2000/2001.
Speaking earlier this month, Helge Hatlestad said: "We've learned in Norway that there is a need for these sort of discussions, for consultation and communication, before a project is sanctioned. It becomes commercially unviable to do something different once a project has started."
The current refinery project at Bellanaboy, which involves a 9km linking onshore pipeline, is about 30 per cent complete. However, the developers are preparing to seek planning and other statutory approvals for a modified pipeline route, which was announced last week.
The community leaders say they support the compromise alternative location proposed by three priests in Kilcommon parish, Fr Michael Nallen, Fr Michael Gilroy and Fr Seán Noone, in letters last year to 26-County Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan. This location at Glinsk, near Belderrig, was identified by Shell consultants, RPS, last summer as a potential landfall during initial work on modifying onshore pipeline routes.
However, the consultants were excluded from involvement in any aspect of the refinery, then under construction, and this option was dropped from subsequent shortlists. Glinsk has no housing within several miles of the exposed area of bogland, but Shell consultants had noted in their assessment for the pipeline survey that the exposed landfall had steep cliffs of greater than 50 metres.
The statement, due to be issued tomorrow, calls for serious consideration of this compromise as the "first real attempt at finding a solution to the ongoing dispute that understands the many concerns surrounding the current location".
"Our stance has never been anti-gas, but our priority has always been health, safety and the environment, and this remains the case," the statement says. "This proposal has come about after a series of events, culminating in our recent visit to Norway. This conflict has always been capable of being resolved by agreement and respect, and we call on all genuinely interested parties to respond positively to this move.
"Failure to do so would inevitably see the situation revert to compulsory land acquisition, court orders, court cases, conflict, and more suffering and trauma for our families, neighbours and community. The current Corrib project has done untold damage to this community, the reputations of Shell, Statoil and successive governments, and the integrity of numerous State agencies. We sincerely hope that this chance for agreement is not lost, as it represents a clearly long-overdue opportunity for resolution, agreement and healing," the statement says.
SHELL EP Ireland rejected the proposal. "Moving the terminal is not an option," The company said in a short statement. "The issues raised in 2005 were around the perceived safety of the onshore pipeline - not the location of the terminal. We believe we have taken every reasonable step to address genuine safety concerns around the pipeline," that it "has at all times been willing to meet and discuss with anyone their concerns about the Corrib project" and "this remains our position".
The rejection came just hours after a call on April 28 by Bishop of Killala Dr John Fleming on the Corrib gas partners to "consider carefully" the compromise proposal made by Erris residents in relation to the ?900 million project.
Welcoming the proposal made by seven Kilcommon residents -- Mary and Willie Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, PJ Moran, Pat O'Donnell and Caitlín Uí Seighin -- Dr Fleming described it as "an important and significant attempt to resolve the ongoing difficulties which have surrounded the Corrib gas project in north Mayo".
SHELL EP Ireland submitted an application to the 26-County Energy department on April 28 for its modified onshore pipeline. A department spokeswoman said that his statutory role in relation to this may preclude any wider involvement. Shell EP Ireland is also submitting its application to An Bord Pleanála and is seeking a direction from the board on the modified pipeline's qualification under the 26-County Strategic Infrastructure Act.
Dr Fleming said he appreciated the courage of the seven in "dropping their demand that the refinery be located at sea and agreeing that it be sited onshore", and he invited the Corrib gas partners to "consider this proposal carefully".
An increasing awareness of the suitability of the site has grown, he said. The priests of the parish had recommended it to Éamon Ryan and it had now been given further support. Dr Fleming suggested, therefore, that the Glinsk proposal be examined carefully as a viable alternative, with the potential to bring closure to this issue.
"I accept that substantial investment has already been made in the site at Bellanaboy and I realise that relocation to a new site will increase the overall cost of the project.However, I believe that the benefits of relocation will far outweigh the financial considerations involved," the bishop said. "Importantly, a decision to relocate could significantly allay the fears that have plagued the people of this area in recent years. The process of healing the deep hurt felt within the parish of Kilcommon and the wider community in Erris could also begin. Furthermore, it is my hope that this may allow the Corrib gas partners to open a new and more peaceful chapter in their relationship with the local community," Dr Fleming added.
8. SIX-COUNTY PARADES BODY MAY BE DUMPED
THE British Parades Commission, which rules on contested marches in the Six Counties, could be scrapped under proposals expected from a British government-appointed review. However, any transfer of the commission's responsibilities would be linked to the successful devolution of British policing and justice powers to the Stormont Executive.
The commission, supported by many nationalists but largely boycotted by unionists and the Orange Order, has been the independent authority ruling on disputed parades since 1997 in the wake of severe violence surrounding attempts to force the Drumcree Orange march down the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Co Armagh.
However, the British Strategic Review of Parading headed by former British Liberal Democrat leader Lord Paddy Ashdown is understood to be recommending its abolition. In its place Paddy Ashdown is proposing the transfer of its powers to the Office of Six-County First Minister and Deputy First Minister and to local councils.
Local mediators and lawyers would also be drafted in to deal with contentious situations in a case-by-case basis. The Parades Commission is not commenting on reports concerning the Ashdown parading review. Its interim proposals were published on April 29 and the final report is not due until the autumn.
Its proposals could well mean new legislation is needed, thus ensuring the continuation of the Parades Commission for some time yet. The past two loyalist marching seasons have been notably calm despite the persistence of some local difficulties at Drumcree and at Ardoyne and the Ormeau Road in Belfast. The Ashdown review was called to consider the future of the Parades Commission following talks at St Andrews in Scotland in October 2006.
9. SIX-COUNTY LOCAL ELECTIONS POSTPONED UNTIL 2011
THE next Six-County council elections have been postponed by two years to coincide with the redrawing of local boundaries. British Six-County Secretary Shaun Woodward said he made the decision to delay until 2011 the next Six-County local government poll at the request of Stormont Environment Minister Arlene Foster. The number of local authorities is being cut from the current 26 to 11 under plans announced by the DUP Minister.
10. NEW VICTIMS SUPPORT GROUP TO BE SET UP
A NEW victims support group is to be set up, the father of a UVF murder victim said on April 28. Raymond McCord, whose son was beaten to death by loyalist paramilitaries in 1997, made the announcement at Stormont where Assembly members prepared to debate a motion backing investigation of the case. The new group will comprise six members, three from each community and will include Ardoyne priest Fr Aidan Troy.
RaymondMcCord said the Stormont Executive's plans for a four-member victims commission were a "sham". "We are going to set up our own victims' group," he said. "We will help people the way they should be helped and not [through] a political agenda. There is no group here in this country dealing properly with people being intimidated, particularly at interface areas," he said.
Support for Raymond McCord also came from Stephen and Briege Quinn, whose son Paul was murdered in a remote Co Monaghan farm building last October. "Our son was beaten to death, murdered," Briege Quinn said. "No matter what young lads do, nobody has the right to murder. So I am here to listen to the debate today and to support Mr McCord," she said.
The McCord case was investigated by former British police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan, who reported she had uncovered collusion between the RUC at the time and members of a UVF gang who were informants. Afterwards Raymond McCord said: "Now we have the DUP willing to support us. This was not happening before, it has been a change of attitude by them under their new leadership."
Members of the new victims group include Paul McIlwaine, whose son David (18) and his friend Andrew Robb (19) were stabbed in Tandragee, Co Armagh, in 2000. Also included is Bernadette O'Rawe, whose nephew Gerard Devlin was fatally stabbed in Whitecliffe Parade in west Belfast in February 2006 by a Loyalist gang. The Stormont Executive is still divided over plans for the victims commission.
ENDS
