SAOIRSE32

The killing of Aidan McAnespie

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:29:47 GMT

An Phoblacht
26 June 2008

Historical Enquiries Team doubts British Army claim

THE family of GAA fan Aidan McAnespie, shot dead by a British soldier after he passed through a checkpoint on the Monaghan/Tyrone border 20 years ago on his way to a match, say a new report into his death published this week heralds another phase in their campaign for the truth, not the end.

The investigation, by the PSNI’s Historical Enquires Team challenges the British Army’s version of events, which maintains the killing was caused by an accidental discharge from a General Purpose Machine Gun.
After the report was released on Tuesday, Aidan’s sister, Eilish, said:
“We welcome the fact that the HET has highlighted the glaring inconsistencies in the official version of events.
“Reluctantly we have come to terms with the reality that the full truth may never be established. Only the soldier and others on duty that terrible Sunday know what really happened but at least we have an official report which rejects the accepted version of the incident.”

THE PSNI’s Historical Enquiries Team has challenged the British Army’s claim that GAA fan Aidan McAnespie was fatally shot by a soldier by accident after he crossed through a military checkpoint on the Monaghan/Tyrone border in 1988.
Aidan McAnespie’s family has now called for Justice Minister Dermot Ahern to release the report of the separate Garda investigation into the killing carried out by Deputy Commissioner Eugene Crowley.
On Sunday, 21 February 1988, Aidan McAnespie was shot and fatally wounded by a soldier firing a General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) from the permanent British Army checkpoint at Aughnacloy. Grenadier Guardsman David Holden was charged with manslaughter but the Director of Public Prosecutions later withdrew this charge.
Holden claimed that he was moving the GPMG when his wet fingers (allegedly wet from cleaning the sangar), slipped on to the trigger, which resulted in the discharge of three shots. One of the shots struck Aidan in the back, fatally wounding him.
This week, the Historical Enquiries Team’s report said that the version of events suggested by the soldier who shot Aidan and reiterated by the British Army “could be considered to be the least likely”.

Aidan McAnespie was routinely stopped and harassed by the British Army as he passed through the Aughnacloy checkpoint on his way to work or going to the GAA club located past the checkpoint.
He had made numerous complaints to the RUC about harassment and had raised this in the media. In the minutes before the shooting, there is incontrovertible evidence that he was being tracked as he walked through the checkpoint.
Commenting after the release of the PSNI HET report this week, Aidan’s sister, Eilish McAnespie, said:
“This report vindicates our family and our long campaign for justice.
“This report should be read by the British and Irish governments, the Chief Constable, the Prosecution Service, the Ministry of Defence and the relevant authorities in the Forensic Service. And those in authority should at least have the decency to feel a sense of shame.”
Eilish also expressed the family’s “disappointment and frustration” at the refusal of the Department of Justice in Dublin to allow them access to the Garda report into Aidan’s shooting.
“Many people in Monagahan and Tyrone co-operated with the gardaí at our behest but now we are not permitted to see the report even where we requested that a redacted version be made available with all witnesses remaining anonymous.”
Backing the family’s call for the Garda Commissioner to release the findings of the Garda investigation into the killing, Sinn Féin Cavan/Monaghan TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said:
“During the course of that inquiry I met with Deputy Commissioner Eugene Crowley and outlined the litany of harassment Aidan had endured. Like many others who participated in that inquiry I find it totally unacceptable that the report is still being kept secret after over 20 years.”

The HET report

GUARDSMAN Holden claimed that he moved the weapon by holding the pistol grip with a “loose grip”. As he did so, his finger slipped and he inadvertently pulled the trigger. The HET test fired a GPMG and found that:
“Activating the trigger required having a firm grip on the pistol grip and squeezing the trigger until it activated. It was found to be difficult and required considerable force to activate the trigger without having the hand firmly gripped around the pistol grip.” Holden’s loose grip explanation therefore contradicted the results of the practical test on the weapon.
Furthermore, the HET discovered that the gun was mounted on a pivot that allowed the weapon to be swivelled. Consequently, there was no need for Holden to have his hand on the pistol grip and finger on the trigger-guard since he only had to swivel the butt of the weapon on the pivot in order to reposition the weapon. In addition, another soldier confirmed that he had already repositioned the weapon.
Holden claimed that his hands were still wet from cleaning the sangar 10 minutes earlier. HET investigators have analysed the activities in the sangar that day which showed that the cleaning was conducted by a cleaning party and that Holden had resumed look-out duty half an hour before the shooting. The ‘wet hands’ scenario is difficult to reconcile with the timing of the cleaning duties.
Lance Sergeant Peters gave evidence that, on entering the sangar after the shooting and asking Holden what had happened, the reply was that he had squeezed the trigger.
Holden was not interviewed until more than 24 hours after the incident. In the intervening period he remained in military custody. There was a further 24-hour delay before the second interview took place.
The crime scene was not examined by the Forensic Service until the next day and there is no record of any crime scene protection in the interim. This would result in “crime scene evidence recovered being questionable”, according to the HET report.

FORENSICS & BALLISTICS

The gun had been dismantled and cleaned earlier that day. It has not been established why or by whom the gun was left cocked and with the safety catch off. This was totally in contravention of standing orders.
The forensic evidence concluded that a ricochet bullet which struck the ground just directly behind Aidan before it entered his body inflicted the fatal injury.
The weapon discharged three rounds and the fatal bullet was a tracer round. There is now no way of knowing whether the fatal bullet was the first or the last of three shots fired. Swab tests taken from the roadway no longer exist.
IF the first shot fired resulted in the ricochet from the fatal strike mark, then this could support the assertion that the gun was aimed at the victim or in his vicinity. The HET has since discovered that the forensic report gave no consideration to the possibility that the fatal ricochet was a result of the FIRST shot discharged from the weapon.
It should be noted that there is clear evidence that the guardsman had Aidan (whom he considered to be a suspect) under close observation as he passed through the checkpoint. However, at the moment of discharge, Holden claimed to have been physically repositioning the weapon. In other words, he claims not to have been aiming at or tracking Aidan when the shots were fired.
The HET questions “the likelihood of an accidental random discharge striking the roadway only a few feet behind what would be from the vantage point of the machine gun post a minuscule figure at a distance of 283.4 metres”.
Having weighed up all the propositions and taken all the circumstances and available evidence into account, the Historical Enquiries Team decided that Guardsman Holden’s version of events “could be considered to be the least likely”.

400,000 Irish passports are sent north in last decade

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:38:56 GMT

Belfast Telegraph
2 July 2008

Over 400,000 people in Northern Ireland have claimed Irish passports in the 10 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

Nationalist politicians said the figure showed large numbers of people were benefiting from the recognition of the Irish identify enshrined in the Agreement.

The new data from the Irish government showed 402,658 people from Northern Ireland have taken Irish passports or renewed their existing ones since April 1998.

The Good Friday Agreement recognises the right of those born in Northern Ireland to hold British and Irish citizenship.

SDLP Assembly member for Mid Ulster Patsy McGlone who obtained the figures from the Dail said: "There are clearly a large and growing number of people in the North who want to take advantage of their right to an Irish passport.

"It does seem that people believe the Irish passport is popular and safe to travel on.

"Pensioners are also taking advantage of the free Irish passports available to them.

"But people are obviously increasingly comfortable with and confident in taking advantage of this."

Mr McGlone also claimed he was aware of instances where people from a unionist background had claimed Irish passports, because Ireland's traditional neutrality made it a safer passport to travel on.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin said: "Some 400,000 passports have been issued, since the signing of the Good Friday agreement on 10 April, 1998, to applicants born in Northern Ireland.

"Such applications have been increasing year on year, with some 60,000 passports issuing to persons born in Northern Ireland in 2007 compared to some 30,000 in 2002.

"The majority of Northern Ireland applications are made using the Northern Ireland Express Post Service (NIPX) which is available in some 70 Post Offices throughout the area."

SDLP South Down Assembly Member PJ Bradley described the figures as staggering and called for a permanent Irish passport office to be opened in Northern Ireland.

"Those of us that campaigned in the past for Irish passports to be equally available across the island and to the diaspora overseas did envisage a steady uptake, but the figures released in a reply to a question put in Dail Eireann are well beyond our greatest expectations," he said.

"The figures are bound to add weight to the SDLP's request to have an Irish Passport Office located in a convenient location north of the border.

"I am quite certain that the trend will continue as future generations will emulate the example which is being shown by today's generation."

Phonetaps 'breached privacy law'

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:37:35 GMT

BBC
2 July 2008

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled Britain breached international conventions by monitoring emails and phone calls between Ireland and the UK.

The data was intercepted over a seven year period from 1990 to 1997.

The court found the surveillance was in breach of a convention guaranteeing respect for private correspondence.

The case was taken by three organisations, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Liberty and British-Irish Rights Watch.

For security reasons, the UK neither confirmed nor denied the statements made about its surveillance activities, but it agreed that the court could presume some of the civil liberties' groups communications were intercepted.

"The court recalled that it had previously found that the mere existence of legislation which allowed communications to be monitored secretly had entailed a surveillance threat for all those to whom the legislation might be applied," the court said in a statement.

"In the applicants' case, the court therefore found that there had been an interference with their rights as guaranteed by Article 8," the court said referring to the article in the European Charter of Human Rights on the right to privacy.

The 1985 Interception of Communications Act gave British authorities "extremely broad discretion" to intercept communications between Britain and another country, it added.

"The court considered that the domestic law at the relevant time had not indicated with sufficient clarity, so as to provide adequate protection against abuse of power," it added.

Police free bar killings suspect

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:16:53 GMT

BBC
2 July 2008

A man arrested in England for questioning about the murder of six people in a County Down bar 14 years ago has been released without charge.

Officers from the PSNI arrested the 45-year-old in Maidstone on Monday with the assistance of Kent police.

The killings in Loughinisland took place as the men, aged 34 to 87, watched television.

The victims were watching a World Cup match when a UVF gang burst in and opened fire.

They were Adrian Rogan, 34, 39-year-old Eamon Byrne, Patsy O'Hare, 35, Dan McCreanor, 59, Barney Green, 87, and Malcolm Jenkinson, 54.

Woman charged over Shiels murder

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:57:40 GMT

BBC
2 July 2008

An 18-year-old woman has been charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to the murder of Emmett Shiels in Derry last week.

She will appear at the city's magistrates court on Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, officers investigating Mr Shiels' death have been given more time to question three male youths aged 16, 17 and 18.

A 16 year-old-girl was arrested in Derry in connection with the killing on Wednesday evening.

Mr Shiels, from Tyrconnell Street in the Bogside, was shot in the Bligh's Lane area at about 0045 BST on Tuesday June 24.

He was driving a pizza delivery van when he was caught up in a confrontation with a group of masked gunmen.

Up to 1,000 people attended a vigil in memory of Mr Sheils.

RIRA claim

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:34:14 GMT

News Letter
02 July 2008

FERMANAGH: Police in Fermanagh have revealed that the Real IRA has claimed it tried to attack a police patrol on the Fermanagh-Monaghan border area last Monday.

A PSNI spokesman said that a report was made to a local newspaper in Ferrmanagh and the caller claimed a coffee jar bomb had been thrown at a patrol car near Wattlebridge.

“We have no first hand knowledge of any attack. However, we thought it would be prudent to warn the public and let people know about this claim, which we have been unable to substantiate,” he said.

Sectarianism is still a blight on city - report

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:52:51 GMT

Londonderry Sentinel
02 July 2008

SECTARIANISM and segregation remain prevalent in some of Londonderry's most deprived areas, new research has indicated.

"The Facts, Fears and Feelings" project explored the impact of sectarianism in everyday life for more than 100 young people, aged 16-35, in both Derry and Belfast.

The research involved young people in the Fountain and Creggan areas of the city.

Through their involvement in the study, some of the young people went on to develop the ‘Cut It Out! Stand Together Against Sectarianism’ campaign.

This unique initiative involved the distribution of over 3,000 badges and ads on over 50 cross-town buses in Belfast and Derry, asking people to take a stand against sectarianism.

Dr Rosellen Roche, a social anthropologist from Queen’s School of History and Anthropology, conducted the research and headed the project.

Dr Roche said: “The young people involved, who are mostly out-of-school, seeking work and attempting to gain qualifications, represent a contingent that can often be ignored in research.

“This study does not claim to represent feelings in Northern Ireland as a whole, nor does it present a ‘cure’ for sectarianism and segregation.

“It does, however, illustrate how personalised sectarianism can be, how it can seep down through generations and how young people, like those involved in this project, are grappling with it in contemporary, post-Agreement Northern Ireland.”

Among the key findings were the impact of social isolation and the influence of families.

“Almost two thirds of the young people we worked with were so isolated from the other community that they actually felt completely untouched by sectarianism,” said Dr. Roche

“They live in a kind of 'cocoon' within their own communities, with little reason for mixing or mingling across the divide.”

“One third of participants talked openly about their parents or grandparents having negative views of the other community.

“They often excused this on the basis that they consider their elders to be victims of conflict, who are therefore entitled to be prejudiced.”

Dr Roche said the findings now presented a number of challenges.

“As academics, policy makers, volunteers and political leaders, it is our job to listen to the young people, to gage what really should be done and to help to put community mechanisms in place that will mix young people consistently across the divide," she said

SF mayor of Belfast lays Somme wreath

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:48:42 GMT

AMEL BRAHMI in Belfast
Irish Times
Wed, Jul 02, 2008

THE SINN Féin Lord Mayor of Belfast laid a laurel wreath yesterday at the war memorial of the Belfast City Hall, to remember the unionists and nationalists soldiers who fall at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

Tom Hartley, accompanied by some of his councillors, observed a short silence at the cenotaph, in a separate ceremony held at 9am.

Two hours later the official ceremony took place with the arrival of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment followed by representatives of the DUP, the Orange Order, and war veterans who placed the poppy wreaths at the memorial.

Mr Hartley, the second Sinn Féin mayor to commemorate the deaths of soldiers from the 16th (Irish) division, said he understood that many from the nationalist tradition have felt “alienated” from the commemoration because of the British symbolism involved.

“But Irish soldiers from Belfast were engaged in the British Ulster Division and it is important that the nationalist community is able to remember and engage with this,” he added.

DUP Environment Minister Sammy Wilson deplored the fact that the sacrifice of these soldiers had been ignored and added he was happy that the Battle of the Somme was now seen as part of both communities’ shared history.

“The sacrifice was ignored not only in Northern Ireland but also with the Irish Government. Here we have focused on the 36th (unionist) division but in Ireland they didn’t want to acknowledge the 16th division,” he added.

The battle of the Somme that raged from July 1st 1916 until November 1916 saw the deaths of 10,000 soldiers from the Ulster and Irish divisions.

Nearly half of them – 45 per cent – were from the 16th (Irish) Division. They had joined the battle in September 1916 to support the 36th (Ulster) Division.

INLA activity trial; bail hearing adjourned again

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:46:04 GMT

Breaking News.ie
01/07/2008 - 12:33:20

A Northern Ireland man arrested as part of a Garda Special Branch investigation into INLA activity in Dublin has had his bail application adjourned for a third time as the defence was not ready to proceed.

Peter Mullen, solicitor for Declan Duffy, asked the Special Criminal Court for a short adjournment to allow the defence to obtain proofs in relation to Mr Duffy's surety.

Mr Duffy was earlier charged at a special sitting of the Special Criminal Court with membership of the terrorist organisation.

Mr Duffy, a 34-year-old native of Armagh City, with an address at Hanover St West, Dublin 8 was charged with membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish National Liberation Army, otherwise the INLA on June 22.

Michael O'Donovan, solicitor for the State told the court this morning that the garda who would set forth the State's objections to bail would not be available until after next Tuesday.

Mr Justice Paul Butler told Mr Mullen that the earliest available date was Wednesday July 9 and remanded Mr Duffy in custody until that date.

Detective Sergeant Marilyn Brosnan, of the Special Detective Unit, Harcourt Square, gave evidence last week of arresting Duffy in Blackrock.

She said that when cautioned Duffy replied: "I am not a member of any illegal organisation.''

Man arrested over Loughinisland murders in 1994

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:15:40 GMT

News Letter
01 July 2008

**See also this list of past articles on the Loughinisland murders

A man has been arrested by detectives investigating the murder of six people in a bar in Loughinisland 14 years ago.

The 45-year-old was arrested in Maidstone.

PSNI officers from the serious crime branch with assistance from Kent police made the arrest yesterday afternoon (Monday).

The 45-year-old man is currently being questioned at Antrim PSNI station.

The 1994 mass murder in The Heights bar in Loughinisland was the UVF's last major atrocity.

The gun attack on the Loughinisland pub came just month's before the first IRA and loyalist ceasefires and was part of an intense sequence of tit-for-tat attacks.

On the evening of June 18, locals from the small village of Loughinisland near Downpatrick were watching the Republic of Ireland play Italy in the World Cup.

The victims were Adrian Rogan, 34, 39-year-old Eamon Byrne, Patsy O'Hare, 35, Dan McCreanor, 59, Barney Green, 87, and Malcolm Jenkinson, 54.

RSF: LURGAN FIVE RELEASED

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:09:15 GMT

Republican SINN FÉIN Poblachtach

For immediate release

For further information contact:
Richard Walsh (Publicity Officer) on
07835 620 592 (Six Counties) or
087 261 8603 (26-Counties)

LURGAN FIVE RELEASED

Following raids on Friday morning, during which four Republicans were arrested in the Lurgan area of County Armagh, a fifth man was held after being stopped on his journey from work. All were subsequently released from Antrim interrogation centre on Saturday evening without charge.

A spokesperson for Republican Sinn Féin said:

“We have since discovered that SDLP Stormont member Dolores Kelly had arrived at the scene of one of the addresses raided several minutes prior to the raid commencing. This is a clear indication that she is held in sufficient esteem by her British masters to be informed in advance of operations being conducted against the people of North Armagh.

“For our part we call upon the people of Ireland to join with the Republican Movement in ridding Ireland of the illegal and morally bankrupt British presence.”

ENDS rsf.ie
Republican Sinn Fein

Dissidents must 'pack up and go away'

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:36:12 GMT

Derry Journal

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has told dissident republicans to "pack up and go away" at an IRA commemoration event in Derry on Sunday.

In a hard-hitting message to armed republican groups, Mr. McGuinness dismissed their campaign as "bogus" and "pointless".

He also said the response of the people of Derry to the murder of Emmett Shiels in Creggan last week was an indication of the lack of support for dissident republican groups.

"These groups should listen to the voice of the people and pack up and go away. They have come to the point of no return, armed action in the absence of a political strategy and support are pointless and do nothing to advance the cause of Irish freedom. Indeed the opposite is the reality," he said.

Mr. McGuinness also offered to hold talks with the leaders of dissident republican groups. "I have heard some within these groups argue that their motivation is to drag the IRA back onto the battlefield. That will not happen. And indeed, myself, Gerry Adams and other republican leaders have offered to meet with these various groups to set out in very clear terms where we see the struggle sitting and where it is headed in the years ahead," he said.

Nurse's poignant diary tells tragic tale of Ballymena soldier

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:30:17 GMT

Remarkable find reveals the stark truth about war

**Additional material onsite

By Des Blackadder
Ballymena Times
30 June 2008

"The account of his final days is very touching and I thought this link might be of interest to someone "
Sue Light

The traumatic effect of the opening day of the Battle of the Somme on July1, 1916 is a well documented tale.

Movements of the so-called 'big battalions' have been exhaustively written about in a plethora of publications but every now and again, a little snippet of information surfaces which brings the awful tragedy of that bloodiest day into local perspective.

['The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, fought from July to November 1916, was among the largest battles of the First World War. With more than 1.5 million casualties, it is also one of the bloodiest military operations recorded.' --Wikipedia]

Over the past few years, Great War researcher, Sue Light, who concentrates on the role played by nurses during the conflict, has been examining the wartime diary of Edith Appleton, a QAIMNS Nursing Sister, which has recently been put online.

And, amazingly, she was able to trace one of the soldiers mentioned in the historic document to the Ballymena area.

Rifleman James Lennox, from Edward Street, in the Harryville area of the town, was severely wounded on July 1, 1916. His wounds were mortal and he passed away, after weeks of stoic suffering on August 22.

Sue says: "Few men are named in the diary, but there are occasions where the man can be identified.

"During July and August 1916, she (Nurse Appleton) nurses a young man who everyone knew was without hope, but somehow clung to life for weeks.

"Although not identified at first, he is later named as 'Lennox' and by his date of death, I could eventually pin him down as:-

LENNOX
Initials: J
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Rifleman
Regiment/Service: Royal Irish Rifles
Unit Text: 12th Bn.
Age: 24
Date of Death: 22/08/1916
Service No: 1925
Additional information: Son of James and Sarah Lennox, of Edward St., Harryville, Ballymena.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: II. C. 17.
Cemetery: ETRETAT CHURCHYARD.

Sue added:"The account of his final days is very touching and I thought this link might be of interest to someone in your town - it is so rare to have this sort of descriptive writing of an ordinary soldier."

The link to the site is below - the entries regarding James Lennox begin on July 13th 1916. The diary entry for August 23, 1916 makes particularly emotional reading:

Diaries of Edith Appleton

For the part on Lennox's death, click on the links covering July and August.

If you want to find out more about Ballymena's role in the Great War then go to our sub-site:

Ballymena 1914-1918 Carved in Stone, But Not Forgotten.

Three arrested in Shiels murder probe

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:39:38 GMT

Londonderry Sentinel
30 June 2008

Three men have been arrested in Derry in connection with the murder of 22 year-old Emmett Shiels
The men presented themselves at Strand Road PSNI station this afternoon before being arrested and taken to the serious crime suite at Antrim PSNI station.

The PSNI confirmed the men had been arrested. "We can confirm that three men from Derry have been arrested in connection with the investigation into the murder of Emmett Shiels," the spokesperson said.

Two men were arrested last week as part of the investigation but both were later released without charge.

Tara campaigners in bid to have M3 motorway ruling struck out

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:10:40 GMT

By Ed Carty
Independent.ie
Monday June 30 2008

CAMPAIGNERS who lost a lengthy court battle to reroute the controversial M3 motorway are seeking legal advice over reports on the archaeological heritage in the area.

The TaraWatch group, led by Vincent Salafia, have asked lawyers to look into whether a High Court ruling backing the road may be struck out.

The Sixth World Archaeological Congress, which began in Dublin yesterday, is examining a report by an expert who assessed the significance of historical sites along the M3 route in Co Meath.

It has questioned archaeological findings which paved the way for work to begin on the road. "Legal advice is immediately being sought,'' Mr Salafia said. "There may be a possibility of vacating the judgment or, at a minimum, suing for damages."

The High Court ruled in 2005 that none of the 38 areas examined before construction on the road began were national monuments and that the wider area around the Hill of Tara could not be considered a single national monument.

TaraWatch will this week meet officials from the UNESCO group as it continues its campaign to have the Hill of Tara and surrounding lands declared a World Heritage Site.

- Ed Carty

New Google group

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:09:54 GMT

www.nicivilrights.org has just formed a new Google group you might want to join. It's brand new, so go on over and sign up and get the discussion going:

Civil Rights Network

FBI ready to demand detailed logs of Britons' internet and travel habits

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:13:39 GMT

Mark Townsen
The Observer
Sunday June 29, 2008

**And isn't this special?

The EU is close to finalising an agreement with the US that would allow the FBI to see the internet browsing habits and credit card histories of UK citizens.

However, the prospect of an agreement between Brussels and Washington that will lower barriers to swapping previously private data, including travel history and spending patterns, will alarm civil rights advocates.

Talks about the transfer of highly personal information held by the UK government and leading companies to American security agencies began following the September 2001 terrorist attacks. US counter-terrorism officials argued that increased information on the movements and habits of European residents would help prevent a repeat attack.

Details of a joint report by US and EU negotiators indicate that progress on the agreement is advanced, following years of opposition from European states with stricter privacy laws. One final hurdle still to be cleared is whether British and European citizens can sue the US government over its handling of their personal data.

Another area of concern relates to what 'appropiate safeguards' have been agreed to prevent the US authorities from requesting further information such as the religion, political opinion and 'sexual life' of a British resident.

PRESS RELEASE: Civil Rights' Website Launch

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:42:36 GMT

Civil Rights' Website Launch - www.nicivilrights.org

The recent local launch by civil rights veterans of their 1968 40th anniversary commemorative website was attended by the newly-elected Mayor of Derry, Cllor. Gerard Diver and a former mayor, Helen Quigley, in addition to past residents of Springtown Camp, as well as several 1960s' activists, including the former MP for Mid-Derry, Ivan Cooper. The site, located at www.nicivilrights.org has attracted a fair degree of media attention and as a result a major increase in the number of "hits" has been recorded.

The website includes a video on the early struggle for civil rights and the details of the full commemorative programme of events across the North and beyond. Of particular local interest will be obituaries on prominent civil rights figures, which are being added to on a regular basis. Currently these include tributes to the late 'Vinny' Coyle, who was in charge of over 700 march stewards, Cathy Harkin who founded Derry's Women's Aid, the radical author John McGuffin and the late Mary Ellen O'Doherty who died in her 100thyear last June, who was often referred to as the "Mother of the Civil Rights".

The local commemoration committee is appealing not only for other obituaries but also personal memories, photographs and other memorabilia of that dramatic era which led to major reforms across the Six Counties. It is feared that a great deal of historic material may be lost forever if such is not collected and properly recorded during this 40th anniversary year.

The commemoration committee, which meets every Thursday evening at 8PM, can be contacted on 028-71-286359 or by e-mail at rights.civil@googlemail.com

Ireland seizes €6m IRA funds from Tidey kidnap

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:28:35 GMT

Sunday Times
**Via email from Dawn Michele Duarte
29 June 2008

Cash paid by food company to protect its executives from further abduction turns up in dormant account

CASH seized from a dormant bank account earlier this year was protection money paid to the IRA on behalf of a British food company following the kidnapping of Don Tidey, one of its executives.

Almost €6m in IRA funds, which had been frozen in a bank account for more than 20 years, was paid into the public coffers in March. A sum of IR£1.7m was initially sequestered by a judge in February 1985 after gardai were tipped off that it had been paid to the IRA on the orders of Associated British Foods (ABF) to ensure that none of its executives was kidnapped again.

ABF is said to have entered into negotiations with the IRA after it kidnapped Tidey, a Dublin-based executive, at gunpoint in November 1983. He was held hostage for 23 days until he was rescued by gardai following a shootout in woodland close to Ballinamore in Co Leitrim.

Gary Sheehan, a 20-year-old trainee garda, and Patrick Kelly, 35, an army private and father of four, were murdered during the rescue. Tidey was unharmed.

The Special Criminal Court last week ordered the acquittal of Brendan “Bik” McFarlane, 56, a convicted IRA killer, on charges of kidnapping Tidey. The non-jury court ruled that admissions he supposedly made to gardai were inadmissible.

Tidey was taken at gunpoint from outside his home at Stocking Lane in Rathfarnham in November 1983 as he set off with his 13-year-old daughter for school. Terrorists later demanded a ransom of IR£5m (€6.35m).

According to reliable garda sources, ABF decided to pay the IRA ¤2.2m through Control Risks, a London-based security firm. The food company had been told the IRA was planning to kidnap another of its executives, or would attempt to seize Tidey again. The company, which owned the Quinnsworth supermarket chain, decided to cut a deal with the IRA rather than take the risk.

Garry Weston, ABF's then chairman, also feared that his life and his family's safety would remain under threat if the company did not meet the IRA's demands. His brother, Galen, was the subject of an IRA kidnap attempt in 1983. A gang of terrorists surrounded his Wicklow home, but gardai had already tipped off the businessman and he was in London. Galen Weston and his wife, model Hilary Frayne, moved to Canada shortly afterwards.

Ben Dunne, then head of Dunnes Stores, was also kidnapped by the IRA in the 1980s and a ransom is believed to have been paid. Terrorists also seized and ransomed a number of other business people, including Peter Sims and the wife of businessman Albert Folens.

ABF is believed to have paid the protection money into a Swiss bank account controlled by the IRA, and it was later transferred to a branch of the Bank of Ireland in Navan, Co Meath.

Once it was tracked down by MI5 and garda special branch, the Irish government was alerted and rushed legislation through the Oireachtas to freeze the funds. It said the money had been raised by the IRA through “extortion under the threat of kidnap and murder”.

Although ABF denied it had caved into the IRA's demands, the company's payment infuriated Margaret Thatcher's government. “MI5 and Thatcher were of the view that if the IRA managed to get its hands on such a large amount of money, it would have encouraged them to organise more kidnappings,” said one retired garda.

“Thatcher reckoned the money would have kept the IRA in business for years, which was an accurate assessment. It had shown the IRA that kidnappings, or the threat of them, could generate substantial amounts.”

The frozen money was later claimed by two businessmen, Alan Clancy and Dave McCartney, who took a High Court action to secure it. Clancy, who owned a chain of public houses in New York and Ireland, claimed the cash was for a pork-manufacturing business.

Clancy was a republican sympathiser and businessman from Louth who had emigrated to America. Garda special branch had identified him as being friendly with senior IRA figures from Co Meath, while McCartney was known to have republican leanings. The High Court dismissed their claim in 1988.

Clancy and McCartney later appealed the decision to the Supreme Court but never sought a hearing date. The money, which was earning interest, lay for more than two decades until lawyers for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) sought its forfeiture in March.

Justice Kevin Feeney directed that the money be paid to the Department of Justice “for the benefit of central funds”. It had more than doubled by the time it was confiscated

IRA did not offer to shoot killers of Robert McCartney

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:10:52 GMT

Suzanne Breen
Sunday Tribune
**Via Newshound
29 June 2008

Provisional IRA's claim that McCartney family declined an offer to punish his killers is 'pure fiction', say Robert's sisters

The Provisional IRA never offered to shoot those directly involved in the murder of Robert McCartney, the McCartney sisters have told the Sunday Tribune.

The claim was made in a statement by the IRA in March 2005 and has been widely reported in the media, including in recent days, as fact. The IRA claimed the family rejected its offer.

However, Catherine McCartney said: "The IRA never made such an offer. We always wanted Robert's killers to face punishment through the courts, but this offer never existed in the first place. It's pure fiction."

It was just one of the many examples of the IRA and Sinn Féin spinning the story in an attempt at damage limitation following the murder, which Sinn Féin initially attempted to portray as the result of a bar-room brawl.

In terms of minimising the electoral repercussions for the party, Sinn Féin's tactics appeared to have worked, in the North anyway. It suffered minimum short-term electoral damage, losing a council seat in the Short Strand area of east Belfast and failing to make gains in south Belfast.

The effect in other parts of the city, and across the North generally, was negligible. In the Republic, however, the killing damaged Sinn Féin's credibility considerably as it sought to widen its support base.

The party was particularly concerned about the effect publicity surrounding the murder would have in the US where the McCartney sisters embarked on a high-profile visit, meeting President Bush.

The British government and unionists used the murder – which followed on the Northern Bank robbery – to exert pressure on Sinn Féin to sign up to policing and on the IRA to decommission. Ultimately, this strengthened the hand of Gerry Adams and those in the leadership who wished to cement Sinn Féin further into the peace process.

While Sinn Féin publicly supported the sisters' campaign for justice, Catherine McCartney said it privately worked to undermine them. On the ground, there was a widespread whispering campaign to demonise the sisters. They were alternatively presented as SDLP stooges or dissident republicans.

Paula McCartney said she handed Gerry Adams the names of six alleged suspects in the murder. She said he insisted he didn't know any of them but a photograph of the Sinn Féin president with one of the men was published in a newspaper the following week.

The IRA claimed to have expelled a high-ranking member, along with two other volunteers, over events on the night of the murder, but this man was later seen in the company of high-ranking Provisionals and is still well regarded in those ranks. The sisters do not believe he was ever expelled.

Sinn Féin and the IRA stated that witnesses were not being intimidated and were free to give evidence about the murder. The litmus test was whether or not anyone with vital evidence came forward after these statements: they did not. On the ground, there was still ongoing intimidation.

Robert McCartney's two friends, Ed Gowdy and Brendan Devine, both told the court they'd met the IRA several times after the murder. Between them, they had around eight meetings with the paramilitary organisation.

"If the IRA was simply advising these men to tell the truth about Robert's murder, as they have said, why did it need to meet them so many times?" asked Catherine McCartney. "If the IRA's only motive was to reassure these men that they should give an honest account of events, I cannot understand the need for more than one, or at most two, meetings."

Council cash for 11 July 'eco-friendly' bonfires

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:03:38 GMT

Loyalists given grants in exchange for a promise not to burn harmful tyres

Henry McDonald, Ireland editor
The Observer
Sunday June 29, 2008

Orangemen are going green this marching season: community groups behind the traditional 11 July bonfires across loyalist areas have received grants of up to £3,000 from Northern Ireland's 26 local councils to ensure that serious pollutants such as tyres are not burnt.

Eventually the Orange Order leadership hopes to phase out the use of bonfires to mark the start of the Twelfth, loyalism's most sacred day. They are looking at replacing the conflagrations of wood and rubbish with self-contained beacons modelled on the ones used in the 19th century. Nationalist political leaders have complained for decades that built-up areas become choked with pollution from the tyres burnt in the weeks leading up to the eve of the Twelfth.

Dr Alasdair McDonnell, the SDLP MP for South Belfast, has campaigned against the practice and yesterday welcomed moves to stop tyre-burning. 'There are up to 50 pollutants released into the atmosphere when the tyres are burnt. Over previous Twelfths, a pall of black smoke hung over Belfast for days. It is not just an environmental issue but also a health one,' he said.

Robert Saulters, the Grand Master of the Orange Lodge of Ireland, confirmed this weekend that his organisation had backed the eco-friendly initiative. 'While the Order does not organise bonfires, it works very closely with community organisations that do,' he said.

'They were a very important part of the Protestant culture, but people should always remember that there are important safety implications which should be adhered to. It is also important to take into consideration the location of these bonfires. The Order is working with many different agencies to ensure that bonfires are enjoyed by many in a safe environment. It is very important that the people who build bonfires pay attention to all the advice on what they should contain - and many items such as tyres, which are harmful to the environment, should not be used.'

The Order will be publishing leaflets this marching season for distribution at bonfire sites to emphasise these points, Saulters added.

Tomorrow the largest of the loyalist marching institutions will officially unveil its plans for an environmentally friendly 11 July alongside Northern Ireland's Health and Public Safety Minister, Michael McGimpsey.

Hugh Smyth, the Progressive Unionist councillor for Belfast's Shankill Road and a former Lord Mayor of the city, confirmed that many of the bonfire groups across the urban loyalist heartland had received council money this year. It will be spent on building beacons, buying material such as wood for the fires and paying for street parties for children at the bonfire sites.

He said a problem remained with unscrupulous local businesses that were still trying to use bonfire sites as a dump for their refuse, much of which contains pollutants.

Police in riot gear deployed to Falls

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:52:21 GMT

By Marie Louise McCrory West Belfast Correspondent
Irish News
28/06/08

RIOT police are permanently patrolling a west Belfast neighbourhood where a man was murdered just months ago in a bid to disrupt the actions of a paramilitary-inspired gang of young hoods who are terrorising the streets.

The PSNI’s Tactical Support Group (TSG) – who wear the navy boiler suit uniform – are being deployed in the lower Falls area every night in a bid to wipe out anti-social behaviour and disrupt the actions of the Divis Hoods Liberation Army (DHLA).

The tactical team – code-named the Jades – are normally based in Belfast city centre but have been shifted to the lower Falls area as fear of crime hits an all-time high among residents.

According to police the DHLA, made up of 30 males who live in the area, have been involved in “a wide spectrum of criminal activity” ranging from anti-social behaviour and petty crime, to assaults.

The gang’s actions have turned the area into a no-go zone after dark.

In March, father-of-two Frank ‘Bap’ McGreevy was beaten in his Ross Street home and died three days later.

One man has been charged in connection with the 51-year-old’s killing.

The incident prompted outrage in the community and police were widely criticised for a lack of action on the ground.

The Jades have now been deployed in the area permanently to take a robust approach and have been instructed to utilise bail checks and stop-and-search legislation in pursuit of that goal.

Since March 25, 76 people have been arrested in the lower Falls as part of Operation Streetsafe and officers have stop and searched 129 people. Arrests have been made for a number of crimes including outstanding warrants, motoring offences, disorderly behaviour/assaults, drugs, theft, robbery, indecent behaviour and car theft.

Officers have also carried out 891 bail checks and found 79 breaches. Ten people have been arrested for breaching their bail conditions.

Fifteen houses have been searched and alcohol has been seized on 86 occasions.

Chief Superintendent Gary White said it had been “a good operation and it has made good progress”,

“It has made a very tangible difference to the quality of the lives of the people of the lower Falls area,” he said.

“If there is a crime then it will be dealt with professionally.”

Report highlights anti-social behaviour

According to a 12-month report presented to the District Policing Partnership, overall crime in west Belfast has fallen by 17 percent in the past year, though anti-social behaviour has risen by 18 percent.

The number of domestic burglaries rose by 3 percent in the past 12 months from 373 incidents to 384 in the past year.

There have been 91 drug seizures with a total cash value of £138, 925.

These seizures included 2,994 grams of cannabis resin, 600 grams of amphetamine powder, 419 grams of cocaine powder, 18 amphetamine tablets and 124 grams of herbal cannabis.

There were also 79 cannabis plants seized and nine cannabis joints.

During this period, 38 premises were searched for drugs and 56 people were arrested. Of these, 22 people were charged with drugs offences.

During 2007/2008, there were 875 vehicles recovered.

Of these, 478 were stolen vehicles – 155 of which had been stolen in west Belfast.

There were more than 175 notices served on drivers caught using their mobile phones while driving and 92 people were caught speeding by the fixed detection camera on the Springfield Road outside New Barnsley Police Station.

Victims' commissioners inundated with questions in live online chat

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:48:30 GMT

News Letter
29 June 2008

Victims Commissioners have taken part in a groundbreaking online chat with News Letter readers.

Recently appointed commissioners Mike Nesbitt and Brendan McAllister answered readers' questions on a range of issues connected with the remit of the new body.

The active involvement and scale of questioning was such that they had to extend their time online by 30 minutes to cope with with demand.

To open the question and answer session >>click here. Then click on the circular green arrow in the centre of the column to proceed.

Police release man in murder investigation

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:43:54 GMT

News Letter

A 19-year-old man who was being questioned about the murder of Londonderry man Emmett Shiels has been released without charge.

The INLA has been been blamed for shooting the first-time-father-to-be in the early hours of Tuesday, although that group has strongly denied involvement.

The 19-year-old suspect was released on Saturday evening.

Up to a thousand people attended the 22-year-old's funeral on Saturday in Londonderry, with mourners including Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and SDLP leader Mark Durkan

Mr Shiels, who police said was completely innocent, was shot on the Creggan estate in Londonderry after he intervened when an armed gang targetted his friends. The PSNI said he had not been involved in any violence.

Police have released CCTV footage which showed the masked men at the time of the killing.

Billy Wright's killer dies in hospital

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:18:34 GMT

News Letter
29 June 2008

The republican who shot dead loyalist leader Billy Wright in the Maze prison 11 years ago has died.

Christopher 'Crip' McWilliams led the INLA unit that shot Wright as he sat in a prison van inside the jail in December 1997.

It is understood that McWilliams died in Newry's Daisyhill Hospital in this morning from cancer.

The killing rattled the peace process and sparked strong retribution.

McWilliams, who was in his 40s, was one of three INLA members who carried out the infamous shooting.

He received a life sentence for the murder, which he carried out support from fellow republican prisoners John Kennaway, and John "Sonny" Glennon. All three men were released early from jail under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

The Billy Wright Inquiry is ongoing at Banbridge Courthouse and is probing the possibility of state collusion in the killing.