6.11.04
Belfast Telegraph
Harold hogging oil the attention at nursery school
**generic hedgehog--Harold not available for photo opportunity
06 November 2004
IT was nearly 'oil' over for Harold the Hedgehog when it fell into a tank filled with the black, sticky substance.
Luckily for Harold, however, a rescue mission was launched and it was brought to a hedgehog hospital in Belfast.
When children and staff at Ballymena Nursery School heard of the hedgehog's plight they decided to adopt her.
Now safely installed in a warm hutch in the nursery school, there is no shortage of little, willing hands keen to make Harold feel as comfortable as possible.
"Harold is actually a female hedgehog," explained principal Gillian Sempey. "When she arrived, we asked the children to suggest names and write them down on pieces of paper. We chose her name by pulling it out of a hat and Harold was the winning name!
"A hedgehog is one of the animals we talk to the children about at this time of year and, in the past, we would have invited Vanessa Dreary from the hedgehog sanctuary in Belfast to come along and show the children a real hedgehog.
"This year, we decided to go one step further and actually adopt one of Vanessa's rescued hedgehogs. Harold had fallen into a tank of oil and her babies had followed her because hedgehogs have a very close mother-baby relationship.
"Children have really enjoyed getting to know Harold and bringing in bits and pieces to make a bed for her to hibernate in."
Hedgehogs normally go into hibernation in November and it seems Harold is beginning to feel rather sleepy.
"We are feeding Harold on cat food to fatten her up for hibernation but recently, she has begun to eat less often, which is a sign that she's getting ready to sleep," said Gillian.
Pupils, parents and friends will soon be able to keep in touch with Harold's story by logging on to the nursery website, which the school hopes to have up and running before Christmas.
Harold hogging oil the attention at nursery school
**generic hedgehog--Harold not available for photo opportunity
06 November 2004
IT was nearly 'oil' over for Harold the Hedgehog when it fell into a tank filled with the black, sticky substance.
Luckily for Harold, however, a rescue mission was launched and it was brought to a hedgehog hospital in Belfast.
When children and staff at Ballymena Nursery School heard of the hedgehog's plight they decided to adopt her.
Now safely installed in a warm hutch in the nursery school, there is no shortage of little, willing hands keen to make Harold feel as comfortable as possible.
"Harold is actually a female hedgehog," explained principal Gillian Sempey. "When she arrived, we asked the children to suggest names and write them down on pieces of paper. We chose her name by pulling it out of a hat and Harold was the winning name!
"A hedgehog is one of the animals we talk to the children about at this time of year and, in the past, we would have invited Vanessa Dreary from the hedgehog sanctuary in Belfast to come along and show the children a real hedgehog.
"This year, we decided to go one step further and actually adopt one of Vanessa's rescued hedgehogs. Harold had fallen into a tank of oil and her babies had followed her because hedgehogs have a very close mother-baby relationship.
"Children have really enjoyed getting to know Harold and bringing in bits and pieces to make a bed for her to hibernate in."
Hedgehogs normally go into hibernation in November and it seems Harold is beginning to feel rather sleepy.
"We are feeding Harold on cat food to fatten her up for hibernation but recently, she has begun to eat less often, which is a sign that she's getting ready to sleep," said Gillian.
Pupils, parents and friends will soon be able to keep in touch with Harold's story by logging on to the nursery website, which the school hopes to have up and running before Christmas.
Belfast Telegraph
Sports stadium site 'not yet decided'
By Deborah McAleese
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
06 November 2004
SPORTS Minister Angela Smith today denied reports that the site of the former Maze prison has been officially chosen as the location for the proposed multi-sports stadium for Northern Ireland.
Ms Smith said no neutral site has been found and different sporting bodies have yet to commit to a site, and until that agreement is reached no final decision can be taken.
According to the Minister, the Government is still waiting for final recommendations from the Maze Panel, the body in charge of bringing forward the proposal for the 360-acre site.
She saidany speculation on those recommendations "might be premature."
The Belfast Telegraph yesterday reported that the site has been earmarked as the site for the stadium.
"No decision has been made and it is not true to say that there has been a meeting involving the four main political parties and Downing Street to discuss this issue," the Minister said.
"At the beginning of the appraisal, two basic conditions for the stadium were set - a suitable and neutral site must be found and soccer, rugby and the GAA would have to commit to playing games there.
"At this stage neither of these conditions have been met."
An official announcement on the location of the proposed site is anticipated within weeks. However, the Belfast Telegraph reported yesterday that the Strategic Investment Board has plumped for the 360-acre Maze site on economic, infrastructure and parking grounds.
The other main contenders were sites at Belfast Lough's northern foreshore and the Titanic Quarter in the east of the city.
Sports stadium site 'not yet decided'
By Deborah McAleese
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
06 November 2004
SPORTS Minister Angela Smith today denied reports that the site of the former Maze prison has been officially chosen as the location for the proposed multi-sports stadium for Northern Ireland.
Ms Smith said no neutral site has been found and different sporting bodies have yet to commit to a site, and until that agreement is reached no final decision can be taken.
According to the Minister, the Government is still waiting for final recommendations from the Maze Panel, the body in charge of bringing forward the proposal for the 360-acre site.
She saidany speculation on those recommendations "might be premature."
The Belfast Telegraph yesterday reported that the site has been earmarked as the site for the stadium.
"No decision has been made and it is not true to say that there has been a meeting involving the four main political parties and Downing Street to discuss this issue," the Minister said.
"At the beginning of the appraisal, two basic conditions for the stadium were set - a suitable and neutral site must be found and soccer, rugby and the GAA would have to commit to playing games there.
"At this stage neither of these conditions have been met."
An official announcement on the location of the proposed site is anticipated within weeks. However, the Belfast Telegraph reported yesterday that the Strategic Investment Board has plumped for the 360-acre Maze site on economic, infrastructure and parking grounds.
The other main contenders were sites at Belfast Lough's northern foreshore and the Titanic Quarter in the east of the city.
Belfast Telegraph
Giant's causeway rocks providing link to Mars
By Fiona McIlwaine Biggins
06 November 2004
THE Giant's Causeway could be the key to Mars, according to a special TV documentary that was part-filmed on location in north Antrim last week.
'Mars Rocks', presented by space commentator Leo Enright, will see the Red Planet come down to earth with a bump next week when it is screened on RTE2 on November 9.
Mr Enright said the connections between Ulster and the exploration of Mars are striking and explained that scientists in Europe and America could not have made their great discoveries at Mars this year without the work of 19th century Irish pioneers, who revolutionised modern physics, mathematics and geology.
The documentary film crew traveled to the Giant's Causeway to examine large rock formations that illustrate Ireland's special contribution to modern scientific thought.
Mr Enright explained: "The Giant's Causeway has a unique place in the history of modern geology. Eighteenth century scientists in Ireland and throughout Europe debated fiercely for decades over the true nature of the rocks on the north Antrim coast.
"What they finally discovered is directly relevant to the exploration of Mars today," added commentator Enright.
Giant's causeway rocks providing link to Mars
By Fiona McIlwaine Biggins
06 November 2004
THE Giant's Causeway could be the key to Mars, according to a special TV documentary that was part-filmed on location in north Antrim last week.
'Mars Rocks', presented by space commentator Leo Enright, will see the Red Planet come down to earth with a bump next week when it is screened on RTE2 on November 9.
Mr Enright said the connections between Ulster and the exploration of Mars are striking and explained that scientists in Europe and America could not have made their great discoveries at Mars this year without the work of 19th century Irish pioneers, who revolutionised modern physics, mathematics and geology.
The documentary film crew traveled to the Giant's Causeway to examine large rock formations that illustrate Ireland's special contribution to modern scientific thought.
Mr Enright explained: "The Giant's Causeway has a unique place in the history of modern geology. Eighteenth century scientists in Ireland and throughout Europe debated fiercely for decades over the true nature of the rocks on the north Antrim coast.
"What they finally discovered is directly relevant to the exploration of Mars today," added commentator Enright.
Belfast Telegraph
RIR in job axe threat
Security source tells of warning
By Michael McHugh and Ben Lowry
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
06 November 2004
ROYAL Irish Regiment soldiers have been warned about possible redundancies in a move which is likely to provoke fresh debate about the normalisation of security in the province, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal today.
Soldiers in the Regiment's St Patrick's Barracks headquarters in Ballymena were told last week that they have two to four years of service left before severance packages are introduced and Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram has refused to make any public commitment on their future.
According to both a security source and local Assemblyman Ian Paisley jnr, a meeting addressed by the Commanding Officer of the RIR's training operation, Lt Col Felix Spender, heard how any scale-down would be on the advice of the Chief Constable.
North Antrim MP the Rev Ian Paisley was expected to hold meetings with Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon on Wednesday and the General Officer Commanding for Northern Ireland, Phillip Trousdell, in an effort to limit the alleged job-shedding, which would involve security assessments and is politically sensitive.
Defence Minister Mr Ingram told South Antrim MP David Burnside in Parliament that no decision had been taken on the future of the three home service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, or about the composition of the long-term garrison in Northern Ireland.
"We are aware that there has been a meeting regarding this (RIR future). We are having a meeting with the Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon and the General Officer Commanding Mr Trousedale," Ian Paisley jnr said.
"Dr Paisley wants to emphasise the role which the RIR plays in making peace and preserving law and order."
A security source said soldiers based in Ballymena were told of a generous redundancy offer being considered, which included a lump sum worth 18 months' pay and six months on full pay after severance to allow troops to re-train for the workplace.
The provisions have fuelled concerns that no decision has been reached to safeguard the future of the RIR battalions.
UUP politician Mr Burnside asked on Tuesday whether, in the event of security normalisation in Northern Ireland, the three home battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment would remain "in addition to garrison strength in the province".
Mr Ingram replied: "The Government have not come to a final conclusion about the future of the three home service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, or about the composition of the long-term garrison in Northern Ireland."
Mr Burnside called for a commitment that "we must continue to have the three locally-recruited home battalions" in peacetime, to be prepared to stop a terrorist threat."
In response to the Ulster MP, Mr Ingram added: "All that is subject to the intense discussions to which I assume he is party, but I had hoped that he wanted a normalised Northern Ireland, not the Northern Ireland that we have had for the past 30 years."
The 2002 British and Irish Governments' Joint Declaration anticipated the scale-down of troops once the conditions for normalisation were in place.
RIR in job axe threat
Security source tells of warning
By Michael McHugh and Ben Lowry
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
06 November 2004
ROYAL Irish Regiment soldiers have been warned about possible redundancies in a move which is likely to provoke fresh debate about the normalisation of security in the province, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal today.
Soldiers in the Regiment's St Patrick's Barracks headquarters in Ballymena were told last week that they have two to four years of service left before severance packages are introduced and Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram has refused to make any public commitment on their future.
According to both a security source and local Assemblyman Ian Paisley jnr, a meeting addressed by the Commanding Officer of the RIR's training operation, Lt Col Felix Spender, heard how any scale-down would be on the advice of the Chief Constable.
North Antrim MP the Rev Ian Paisley was expected to hold meetings with Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon on Wednesday and the General Officer Commanding for Northern Ireland, Phillip Trousdell, in an effort to limit the alleged job-shedding, which would involve security assessments and is politically sensitive.
Defence Minister Mr Ingram told South Antrim MP David Burnside in Parliament that no decision had been taken on the future of the three home service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, or about the composition of the long-term garrison in Northern Ireland.
"We are aware that there has been a meeting regarding this (RIR future). We are having a meeting with the Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon and the General Officer Commanding Mr Trousedale," Ian Paisley jnr said.
"Dr Paisley wants to emphasise the role which the RIR plays in making peace and preserving law and order."
A security source said soldiers based in Ballymena were told of a generous redundancy offer being considered, which included a lump sum worth 18 months' pay and six months on full pay after severance to allow troops to re-train for the workplace.
The provisions have fuelled concerns that no decision has been reached to safeguard the future of the RIR battalions.
UUP politician Mr Burnside asked on Tuesday whether, in the event of security normalisation in Northern Ireland, the three home battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment would remain "in addition to garrison strength in the province".
Mr Ingram replied: "The Government have not come to a final conclusion about the future of the three home service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, or about the composition of the long-term garrison in Northern Ireland."
Mr Burnside called for a commitment that "we must continue to have the three locally-recruited home battalions" in peacetime, to be prepared to stop a terrorist threat."
In response to the Ulster MP, Mr Ingram added: "All that is subject to the intense discussions to which I assume he is party, but I had hoped that he wanted a normalised Northern Ireland, not the Northern Ireland that we have had for the past 30 years."
The 2002 British and Irish Governments' Joint Declaration anticipated the scale-down of troops once the conditions for normalisation were in place.
Examiner
Arafat ‘between life and death’ as row erupts
By Cynthia Johnston and Wafa Amr, Paris
06/11/04
YASSER ARAFAT was lying in a coma “between life and death” yesterday as a row brewed between Israelis and Palestinians over a likely burial site.
A spokesman for the military hospital treating him said in the evening that Mr Arafat’s condition had been stable for the past 24 hours, declaring: “The state of health of President Yasser Arafat has not got worse.”
Palestinian envoy to France Leila Shahid denied Mr Arafat, 75, was braindead and said he was in a reversible coma.
But at home, 14 Palestinian factions met in a show of unity meant to avoid strife in a possible power vacuum.
Mr Arafat has not named a successor and his illness has raised fears of chaos among Palestinians waging a four-year-old uprising against Israel.
Some of Mr Arafat’s powers, such as security and financing, have already been handed to Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie, a leading moderate.
Palestinian officials refused to discuss funeral preparations openly, but Mr Arafat has said he wanted to be buried in Jerusalem.
Israel wants Mr Arafat, admired by Palestinians but reviled by many Israelis, to be buried in the Gaza Strip.
“Jerusalem is a city where Jews bury their kings. It’s not a city where we want to bury an Arab terrorist, a mass murderer,” Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told Channel 10 television.
Mr Arafat, who has spent the past week in France being treated for an unspecified illness, slipped into a coma on Thursday.
“Yasser Arafat in his state of health and at his age is at a critical juncture between life and death,” said Ms Shahid.
“He is not brain-dead,” she said. “He is in a coma. We are not sure what type. But it is a reversible coma.”
The 14 Islamic and secular Palestinian groups which have waged the uprising against Israel put up a united front at a meeting in the Gaza Strip.
“We are people looking for freedom, not fighting tribes,” said senior Islamic Jihad official Mohammed al-Hindi, who emerged from hiding for the meeting. “We have demanded the formation of a unified national leadership.”
In the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians were glued to radio and television broadcasts. Security has been boosted at Jewish settlements, Israeli television said.
Ordinary Palestinians made clear they wanted a successor even less willing to compromise with Israel.
“Unless a successor is more determined and steadfast on the fundamental Palestinian rights, he will never be trusted by the people,” said 30-year-old Khaled Ammar at a Gaza mosque.
But the European Union, whose leaders were meeting in Brussels, underlined the need to press on with peace moves with or without Mr Arafat.
“Europe will continue to make every possible effort to ensure that the Palestinian state becomes a reality,” EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told a news conference.
US president George W Bush said on Thursday he would continue to “work for a free Palestinian state that’s at peace with Israel” if Mr Arafat died.
Mr Bush has backed the idea of a Palestinian state as part of a peace deal with Israel, but has tried to shut Mr Arafat out.
The death of a Palestinian leader that both Israel and Washington see as an obstacle to peace could alter the dynamics of the Middle East conflict.
Both Washington and Israel accuse Mr Arafat of fomenting violence against Israel, a charge he has denied.
Arafat ‘between life and death’ as row erupts
By Cynthia Johnston and Wafa Amr, Paris
06/11/04
YASSER ARAFAT was lying in a coma “between life and death” yesterday as a row brewed between Israelis and Palestinians over a likely burial site.
A spokesman for the military hospital treating him said in the evening that Mr Arafat’s condition had been stable for the past 24 hours, declaring: “The state of health of President Yasser Arafat has not got worse.”
Palestinian envoy to France Leila Shahid denied Mr Arafat, 75, was braindead and said he was in a reversible coma.
But at home, 14 Palestinian factions met in a show of unity meant to avoid strife in a possible power vacuum.
Mr Arafat has not named a successor and his illness has raised fears of chaos among Palestinians waging a four-year-old uprising against Israel.
Some of Mr Arafat’s powers, such as security and financing, have already been handed to Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie, a leading moderate.
Palestinian officials refused to discuss funeral preparations openly, but Mr Arafat has said he wanted to be buried in Jerusalem.
Israel wants Mr Arafat, admired by Palestinians but reviled by many Israelis, to be buried in the Gaza Strip.
“Jerusalem is a city where Jews bury their kings. It’s not a city where we want to bury an Arab terrorist, a mass murderer,” Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told Channel 10 television.
Mr Arafat, who has spent the past week in France being treated for an unspecified illness, slipped into a coma on Thursday.
“Yasser Arafat in his state of health and at his age is at a critical juncture between life and death,” said Ms Shahid.
“He is not brain-dead,” she said. “He is in a coma. We are not sure what type. But it is a reversible coma.”
The 14 Islamic and secular Palestinian groups which have waged the uprising against Israel put up a united front at a meeting in the Gaza Strip.
“We are people looking for freedom, not fighting tribes,” said senior Islamic Jihad official Mohammed al-Hindi, who emerged from hiding for the meeting. “We have demanded the formation of a unified national leadership.”
In the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians were glued to radio and television broadcasts. Security has been boosted at Jewish settlements, Israeli television said.
Ordinary Palestinians made clear they wanted a successor even less willing to compromise with Israel.
“Unless a successor is more determined and steadfast on the fundamental Palestinian rights, he will never be trusted by the people,” said 30-year-old Khaled Ammar at a Gaza mosque.
But the European Union, whose leaders were meeting in Brussels, underlined the need to press on with peace moves with or without Mr Arafat.
“Europe will continue to make every possible effort to ensure that the Palestinian state becomes a reality,” EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told a news conference.
US president George W Bush said on Thursday he would continue to “work for a free Palestinian state that’s at peace with Israel” if Mr Arafat died.
Mr Bush has backed the idea of a Palestinian state as part of a peace deal with Israel, but has tried to shut Mr Arafat out.
The death of a Palestinian leader that both Israel and Washington see as an obstacle to peace could alter the dynamics of the Middle East conflict.
Both Washington and Israel accuse Mr Arafat of fomenting violence against Israel, a charge he has denied.
Guardian
5.4m blood clot patients warned off cranberry juice
**FYI
James Meikle, health correspondent
Saturday November 6, 2004
The Guardian
Drug watchdogs say patients on the anti-coagulant warfarin should not drink cranberry juice. A second person has died since informal advice to at least limit consumption was issued last year.
Now the Committee on the Safety of Medicines has said "it is not possible to define a safe quantity or brand of cranberry juice" and told doctors that patients on warfarin should be advised to avoid the drink unless the health benefits are thought to outweigh the risks.
Women often drink cranberry juice because of its known benefits in reducing cystitis, but patients who refuse to abandon cranberry, and that includes capsules and concentrates, must now be put under increased medical supervision and undergo coagulation tests.
The warning coincides with separate advice for those on cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins not to drink grapefruit juice. The two alerts could affect millions of people.
The grapefruit warning was particularly related to an over-the-counter product called simvastatin, brand name Zocor, and a prescription-only drug, Lipitor. But the Food Standards Agency and juice manufacturers made clear yesterday there would be no health warnings on the drinks.
The problems are thought to be linked to chemicals in the juices which interfere with the way enzymes metabolise drugs. About 100m litres of cranberry juice are sold each year in Britain, as well as 30m litres of grapefruit.
Neither safety warning has been issued to the public in general but only through the update on current problems in drug safety issued to health professionals. About 5.4m prescriptions were issued for warfarin in England last year. It helps prevent blood clots which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. More than a million people are on statins.
Cathy Rees, medical spokeswoman for the British Heart Foundation, welcomed the guidance . "It is important that agencies producing medications work together to make any side-effects apparent."
She added: "For most of the millions with heart disease who take statins or warfarin, the benefits of medicines far outweigh the risks, but these side effects should not be ignored. We advise anyone concerned to speak to their doctor."
The medicines committee said it had received a total of 12 reports of suspected interactions involving warfarin and cranberry, including two deaths. Some involved bleeding. The committee said there was now "sufficient evidence" for formal advice for patients not to drink cranberry juice to be issued. Product information issued with warfarin would therefore be updated.
The British Soft Drinks Association said people on medication should take advice from their doctors "about what kind of dietary avoidances they should make". Warnings on the juices might cause people "to worry unnecessarily".
The Food Standards Agency said: "We haven't discussed the labelling of fruit juices with the industry. It would be for medical professionals to advise on."
5.4m blood clot patients warned off cranberry juice
**FYI
James Meikle, health correspondent
Saturday November 6, 2004
The Guardian
Drug watchdogs say patients on the anti-coagulant warfarin should not drink cranberry juice. A second person has died since informal advice to at least limit consumption was issued last year.
Now the Committee on the Safety of Medicines has said "it is not possible to define a safe quantity or brand of cranberry juice" and told doctors that patients on warfarin should be advised to avoid the drink unless the health benefits are thought to outweigh the risks.
Women often drink cranberry juice because of its known benefits in reducing cystitis, but patients who refuse to abandon cranberry, and that includes capsules and concentrates, must now be put under increased medical supervision and undergo coagulation tests.
The warning coincides with separate advice for those on cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins not to drink grapefruit juice. The two alerts could affect millions of people.
The grapefruit warning was particularly related to an over-the-counter product called simvastatin, brand name Zocor, and a prescription-only drug, Lipitor. But the Food Standards Agency and juice manufacturers made clear yesterday there would be no health warnings on the drinks.
The problems are thought to be linked to chemicals in the juices which interfere with the way enzymes metabolise drugs. About 100m litres of cranberry juice are sold each year in Britain, as well as 30m litres of grapefruit.
Neither safety warning has been issued to the public in general but only through the update on current problems in drug safety issued to health professionals. About 5.4m prescriptions were issued for warfarin in England last year. It helps prevent blood clots which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. More than a million people are on statins.
Cathy Rees, medical spokeswoman for the British Heart Foundation, welcomed the guidance . "It is important that agencies producing medications work together to make any side-effects apparent."
She added: "For most of the millions with heart disease who take statins or warfarin, the benefits of medicines far outweigh the risks, but these side effects should not be ignored. We advise anyone concerned to speak to their doctor."
The medicines committee said it had received a total of 12 reports of suspected interactions involving warfarin and cranberry, including two deaths. Some involved bleeding. The committee said there was now "sufficient evidence" for formal advice for patients not to drink cranberry juice to be issued. Product information issued with warfarin would therefore be updated.
The British Soft Drinks Association said people on medication should take advice from their doctors "about what kind of dietary avoidances they should make". Warnings on the juices might cause people "to worry unnecessarily".
The Food Standards Agency said: "We haven't discussed the labelling of fruit juices with the industry. It would be for medical professionals to advise on."
Derry Journal
A Challenge To The Whole Community
Friday 5th November 2004
The Mayor of Derry, Councillor Gerry O'hEara has said that the civic remembrance ceremony planned for next month is a challenge to the whole community and an essential part of the healing process.
The ceremony is due to be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, December 10 in the Guildhall Square and the theme is 'in memory of all of those who have lost their lives as a result of war and conflict from and within the city and district.'
Speaking yesterday at the launch of the ceremony, the Mayor said that this was an attempt to be all inclusive and that the initiative presented a challenge to all the citizens of the city.
He said: "If we are to move forward people must step outside their comfort zone and face up to challenges like this." "This remembrance can go back to the Apprentice Boys who died in the siege, participants in World War One or World War Two, in fact anyone who died in conflict."
As he announced details of Derry's first ever act of civic remembrance in the city today, the Mayor asked that people make a judgement on the initiative based on its contents, not its author.
Mayor O' hEara said: "On the night I was elected Mayor I announced my intention to attempt to deal in a new and imaginative way with the potentially contentious issue of remembrance." "In attempting to do this I have been in contact with hundreds of individuals and dozens of organisations in the city and beyond as to how we might go about achieving this objective.
"I have been heartened by the response of these people and am confident that this Council can lead the way in creating an act of civic remembrance that will create the space for people to remember all those who died as a result of conflict."
He went on: "I appreciate and fully understand that remembrance is a very personal and voluntary act and I am not seeking to take anyone to a place they are not yet comfortable going to.
"Remembrance is too personal and too sensitive an issue to become a political football. It cannot be forced and should never be faked.
"As Mayor I am also conscious of the many victims of conflict and war, and their loved ones left behind, who are either overlooked by the existing exclusive acts of remembrance or who are uncomfortable with aspects of them."
The Mayor added: "I would also like to state that this event is not intended to replace any of the existing commemorations that take place in the district and which mean so much to those who organise and attend them.
Yet as Mayor I have a responsibility to all the people of the city and district and it is as Mayor, the civic representative of the people of this city and district, that I am initiating A Day of Reflection.
"A Day of Reflection is a civic remembrance act that is dedicated to the memory of every man, women and child who has died in and from the city and district as a result of war or conflict. It will consist of the erection of a plaque that will incorporate a civic logo and the following dedication:
'In memory of all those who have lost their lives as a result of war and conflict from and in the city and district.'
"There will be no speeches or statements, no opinions offered on the nature of the wars and conflicts in which people fell and no judgements made on the circumstances of their death. Each was someone's loved one, and each had a connection with this city and district. For us, that will be enough."
A Challenge To The Whole Community
Friday 5th November 2004
The Mayor of Derry, Councillor Gerry O'hEara has said that the civic remembrance ceremony planned for next month is a challenge to the whole community and an essential part of the healing process.
The ceremony is due to be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, December 10 in the Guildhall Square and the theme is 'in memory of all of those who have lost their lives as a result of war and conflict from and within the city and district.'
Speaking yesterday at the launch of the ceremony, the Mayor said that this was an attempt to be all inclusive and that the initiative presented a challenge to all the citizens of the city.
He said: "If we are to move forward people must step outside their comfort zone and face up to challenges like this." "This remembrance can go back to the Apprentice Boys who died in the siege, participants in World War One or World War Two, in fact anyone who died in conflict."
As he announced details of Derry's first ever act of civic remembrance in the city today, the Mayor asked that people make a judgement on the initiative based on its contents, not its author.
Mayor O' hEara said: "On the night I was elected Mayor I announced my intention to attempt to deal in a new and imaginative way with the potentially contentious issue of remembrance." "In attempting to do this I have been in contact with hundreds of individuals and dozens of organisations in the city and beyond as to how we might go about achieving this objective.
"I have been heartened by the response of these people and am confident that this Council can lead the way in creating an act of civic remembrance that will create the space for people to remember all those who died as a result of conflict."
He went on: "I appreciate and fully understand that remembrance is a very personal and voluntary act and I am not seeking to take anyone to a place they are not yet comfortable going to.
"Remembrance is too personal and too sensitive an issue to become a political football. It cannot be forced and should never be faked.
"As Mayor I am also conscious of the many victims of conflict and war, and their loved ones left behind, who are either overlooked by the existing exclusive acts of remembrance or who are uncomfortable with aspects of them."
The Mayor added: "I would also like to state that this event is not intended to replace any of the existing commemorations that take place in the district and which mean so much to those who organise and attend them.
Yet as Mayor I have a responsibility to all the people of the city and district and it is as Mayor, the civic representative of the people of this city and district, that I am initiating A Day of Reflection.
"A Day of Reflection is a civic remembrance act that is dedicated to the memory of every man, women and child who has died in and from the city and district as a result of war or conflict. It will consist of the erection of a plaque that will incorporate a civic logo and the following dedication:
'In memory of all those who have lost their lives as a result of war and conflict from and in the city and district.'
"There will be no speeches or statements, no opinions offered on the nature of the wars and conflicts in which people fell and no judgements made on the circumstances of their death. Each was someone's loved one, and each had a connection with this city and district. For us, that will be enough."
Derry Journal
Derry Man In Appeal For Missing Daughter
Friday 5th November 2004
A Derry man yesterday made an emotional appeal for help in tracing his daughter who has gone missing while backpacking in Australia.
Hugh O'Gara, originally from Westland Terrace in Derry but now living in Bolton, England, and a brother of the late Fr. Tom O'Gara, flew to Sydney to help the search for daughter, Melody who vanished 10 days ago.
Mr. O'Gara, whose family still live in Derry, appeared at a press conference in Sydney along with his son Kevin.
Melody O'Gara (28) disappeared from a friend's house in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and has not been seen since.
She failed to board two prebooked flights and has not been in contact with any friends or family.
Mr O'Gara described his daughter as a "very special person who lived fast and enjoyed everything".
In an emotional plea to Melody following his long journey this week, Mr O'Gara said: "Whatever it is, if you have troubles or anything, we can get them sorted. Hundreds of people will help you Melody - not just a few, hundreds. Your mum is a bit fragile at the minute and she wants to hear from you."
Mr O'Gara said flying to Australia to look for his daughter was the "worst thing I have ever done in my life".
Australian police have been forced to dismiss two strong leads in the case.
Supt Steve Cullen said reports that Miss O'Gara had logged on to a computer at an internet cafe three days after she disappeared had proved incorrect. And a 70-year-old man who said he saw a woman matching Miss O'Gara's description on the Bondi beach to Tamarama coastal walk last week could not positively identify her.
Miss O'Gara's handbag, containing personal items, was found by a security guard at Marks Park, close to where the man said he had seen her.
Supt Cullen said police were "exceptionally" worried. "When somebody doesn't use their mobile phone, access their bank accounts or contact their parents after the media interest we've had in this particular matter, we're most concerned for her safety," he said.
Miss O'Gara, who grew up in Bolton, had been expected to head home to London after the holiday.
She had arrived on a one-year working visa in January and had spent some time travelling along the east coast and Melbourne.
Derry Man In Appeal For Missing Daughter
Friday 5th November 2004
A Derry man yesterday made an emotional appeal for help in tracing his daughter who has gone missing while backpacking in Australia.
Hugh O'Gara, originally from Westland Terrace in Derry but now living in Bolton, England, and a brother of the late Fr. Tom O'Gara, flew to Sydney to help the search for daughter, Melody who vanished 10 days ago.
Mr. O'Gara, whose family still live in Derry, appeared at a press conference in Sydney along with his son Kevin.
Melody O'Gara (28) disappeared from a friend's house in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and has not been seen since.
She failed to board two prebooked flights and has not been in contact with any friends or family.
Mr O'Gara described his daughter as a "very special person who lived fast and enjoyed everything".
In an emotional plea to Melody following his long journey this week, Mr O'Gara said: "Whatever it is, if you have troubles or anything, we can get them sorted. Hundreds of people will help you Melody - not just a few, hundreds. Your mum is a bit fragile at the minute and she wants to hear from you."
Mr O'Gara said flying to Australia to look for his daughter was the "worst thing I have ever done in my life".
Australian police have been forced to dismiss two strong leads in the case.
Supt Steve Cullen said reports that Miss O'Gara had logged on to a computer at an internet cafe three days after she disappeared had proved incorrect. And a 70-year-old man who said he saw a woman matching Miss O'Gara's description on the Bondi beach to Tamarama coastal walk last week could not positively identify her.
Miss O'Gara's handbag, containing personal items, was found by a security guard at Marks Park, close to where the man said he had seen her.
Supt Cullen said police were "exceptionally" worried. "When somebody doesn't use their mobile phone, access their bank accounts or contact their parents after the media interest we've had in this particular matter, we're most concerned for her safety," he said.
Miss O'Gara, who grew up in Bolton, had been expected to head home to London after the holiday.
She had arrived on a one-year working visa in January and had spent some time travelling along the east coast and Melbourne.
Derry Journal
'Special Branch Offered Me The World'
Friday 5th November 2004
A 37-year-old man has claimed that PSNI Special Branch offered to pay him £500 a month to spy on suspected dissident republicans in the Strabane area.
The man, who does not want to be identified, claimed he was approached by two Special Branch officers who called at his home in Sion Mills.
He said that despite efforts made on his doorstep to persuade him to become a police informant, or risk going to jail, he refused the offer.
The man told the 'Journal' that he was asked to provide information on three local republicans, one of whom was his "mate."
Detailing the encounter which took place outside his home near Sion Mills Police Station at around 10 a.m. last Wednesday, he said: "They came to my house wearing uniforms but weren't wearing any name badges.
"They said, 'We're Special Branch. This is the way it is, either you're with us, or against us. I said 'what do you mean by that'? and they said, 'You know the craic with DNA, you can find DNA anywhere.'"
He claimed he took this remark as a veiled threat as police had previously arrested him and removed items during a raid on his home following an incident in Strabane approximately six months ago. He was later released without charge.
"They said 'we want you to become an agent for us.' I said 'in other words you want me to become an informer and they said, 'if that's the way you want to put it.' I said 'I don't want to be one of them, I don't want to end up with a bullet in the head.'"
The Sion Mills man, who works in Strabane, claimed that one of the police officers who called himself 'Declan' did all the talking, but wanted to give him a new handler's name "because too many people know about Declan." "He turned round and said, 'You'll be getting £500 a month.' I joked 'is that all you're giving me to risk getting a bullet in the head?' His next retort was, 'no, the money does go up if you stay where you are and give us the information we want.
"As far as they are concerned I am involved; I said I'm not involved in anything," he insisted.
The man continued: "They wanted to come into the house but I didn't let them. I said I didn't want to do it and if I was involved, should they not be trying to get me away from it? They said 'no, we want you to stay where you are.'
When he told them he would be going public to highlight the incident, "they shrugged it off," he said.
The man continued: "I told them, 'I don't want any money from you or anything to do with you.' They said 'all we want is five minutes of your time and we'll persuade you. They said 'we can meet you at a rendezvous place.' After that they asked me a few questions about people I know and they also questioned me about incidents in the town.
"I said I have to go now and they asked me for my phone number. I said 'I haven't got a phone and I haven't got a car either.' They said 'don't worry about phones and cars.' They were offering me near enough a car; they were offering me the world.
"It came to the point where they said 'we don't want you running about thinking you are getting away scot free. You only have to look at the examples of [naming two well-known Strabane republicans currently in prison].
The man went on: "Once I wouldn't give them my telephone number they said 'how can we get in contact with you?' They said 'we know where you work, what if we give you a wee shout there?' They said it wouldn't be suspicious if they came into my place of work. They said 'you live up in Sion, you're safe,' as if to say if I touted I would be all right up there.
"That is where it ended, I just shut the door and that was it but they said they were going to get in contact again. They said they were going to crack down on known republicans or just anybody who disagrees with them.
"They even mentioned that I had papers belonging to the 32-County Sovereignty Committee in the house; they were basically saying if you don't give us what we want you're going to jail," he claimed.
The man said that by highlighting his case, he also wanted to reassure other people who may receive similar approaches to "buy" their co-operation with offers of money and other inducements.
"When I mentioned a person who was shot dead in Strabane for being an informer, they just laughed and said 'you'll be all right,'" he claimed.
A spokeswoman for the 32-County Sovereignty Committee condemned the incident and urged "all republicans to be vigilant." "This insinuation about placing DNA is extremely dangerous; Derry man Seamus Doherty is in jail over the head of peelers fitting him up," she claimed.
When contacted in relation to the matter, a PSNI spokesman said: "We cannot comment on individual cases. However, in common with all police services in Ireland, Great Britain and Europe, it is our duty to gather intelligence to help combat crime."
The spokesman added: "If any person feels they have been treated unfairly by the police they should contact the Ombudsman."
'Special Branch Offered Me The World'
Friday 5th November 2004
A 37-year-old man has claimed that PSNI Special Branch offered to pay him £500 a month to spy on suspected dissident republicans in the Strabane area.
The man, who does not want to be identified, claimed he was approached by two Special Branch officers who called at his home in Sion Mills.
He said that despite efforts made on his doorstep to persuade him to become a police informant, or risk going to jail, he refused the offer.
The man told the 'Journal' that he was asked to provide information on three local republicans, one of whom was his "mate."
Detailing the encounter which took place outside his home near Sion Mills Police Station at around 10 a.m. last Wednesday, he said: "They came to my house wearing uniforms but weren't wearing any name badges.
"They said, 'We're Special Branch. This is the way it is, either you're with us, or against us. I said 'what do you mean by that'? and they said, 'You know the craic with DNA, you can find DNA anywhere.'"
He claimed he took this remark as a veiled threat as police had previously arrested him and removed items during a raid on his home following an incident in Strabane approximately six months ago. He was later released without charge.
"They said 'we want you to become an agent for us.' I said 'in other words you want me to become an informer and they said, 'if that's the way you want to put it.' I said 'I don't want to be one of them, I don't want to end up with a bullet in the head.'"
The Sion Mills man, who works in Strabane, claimed that one of the police officers who called himself 'Declan' did all the talking, but wanted to give him a new handler's name "because too many people know about Declan." "He turned round and said, 'You'll be getting £500 a month.' I joked 'is that all you're giving me to risk getting a bullet in the head?' His next retort was, 'no, the money does go up if you stay where you are and give us the information we want.
"As far as they are concerned I am involved; I said I'm not involved in anything," he insisted.
The man continued: "They wanted to come into the house but I didn't let them. I said I didn't want to do it and if I was involved, should they not be trying to get me away from it? They said 'no, we want you to stay where you are.'
When he told them he would be going public to highlight the incident, "they shrugged it off," he said.
The man continued: "I told them, 'I don't want any money from you or anything to do with you.' They said 'all we want is five minutes of your time and we'll persuade you. They said 'we can meet you at a rendezvous place.' After that they asked me a few questions about people I know and they also questioned me about incidents in the town.
"I said I have to go now and they asked me for my phone number. I said 'I haven't got a phone and I haven't got a car either.' They said 'don't worry about phones and cars.' They were offering me near enough a car; they were offering me the world.
"It came to the point where they said 'we don't want you running about thinking you are getting away scot free. You only have to look at the examples of [naming two well-known Strabane republicans currently in prison].
The man went on: "Once I wouldn't give them my telephone number they said 'how can we get in contact with you?' They said 'we know where you work, what if we give you a wee shout there?' They said it wouldn't be suspicious if they came into my place of work. They said 'you live up in Sion, you're safe,' as if to say if I touted I would be all right up there.
"That is where it ended, I just shut the door and that was it but they said they were going to get in contact again. They said they were going to crack down on known republicans or just anybody who disagrees with them.
"They even mentioned that I had papers belonging to the 32-County Sovereignty Committee in the house; they were basically saying if you don't give us what we want you're going to jail," he claimed.
The man said that by highlighting his case, he also wanted to reassure other people who may receive similar approaches to "buy" their co-operation with offers of money and other inducements.
"When I mentioned a person who was shot dead in Strabane for being an informer, they just laughed and said 'you'll be all right,'" he claimed.
A spokeswoman for the 32-County Sovereignty Committee condemned the incident and urged "all republicans to be vigilant." "This insinuation about placing DNA is extremely dangerous; Derry man Seamus Doherty is in jail over the head of peelers fitting him up," she claimed.
When contacted in relation to the matter, a PSNI spokesman said: "We cannot comment on individual cases. However, in common with all police services in Ireland, Great Britain and Europe, it is our duty to gather intelligence to help combat crime."
The spokesman added: "If any person feels they have been treated unfairly by the police they should contact the Ombudsman."
BreakingNews.ie
Seal Sanctuary worried about fate of seals
06/11/2004 - 17:54:54
Photo of Grey Seal at Irish Seal Sanctuary by Terry Flanagan
full view of photo
The Irish Seal Sanctuary has expressed fears over the possible extinction of the grey seal.
These fears come following a series of attacks in recent years, the most vicious of them during the week on the Blasket Islands, of the Dingle peninsula in Co Kerry.
Although grey seals are a protected species under the 1976 Wildlife Act, the animals’ survival has been threatened by inhumane acts of cruelty.
Rachael Whittome, of the Irish Seal Sanctuary, said Ireland's largest seal colony is in danger through depletion, and through the risk of the remaining seals leaving to join other colonies outside Irish waters.
Seal Sanctuary worried about fate of seals
06/11/2004 - 17:54:54
Photo of Grey Seal at Irish Seal Sanctuary by Terry Flanagan
full view of photo
The Irish Seal Sanctuary has expressed fears over the possible extinction of the grey seal.
These fears come following a series of attacks in recent years, the most vicious of them during the week on the Blasket Islands, of the Dingle peninsula in Co Kerry.
Although grey seals are a protected species under the 1976 Wildlife Act, the animals’ survival has been threatened by inhumane acts of cruelty.
Rachael Whittome, of the Irish Seal Sanctuary, said Ireland's largest seal colony is in danger through depletion, and through the risk of the remaining seals leaving to join other colonies outside Irish waters.
IrishExaminer.com:
‘Risk is necessary for peace process’
06 November 2004
By Ann Cahill, Europe Correspondent
ALL the North’s political parties must be prepared to take risks to complete the current phase of the peace process, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern warned yesterday after meeting the British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Brussels.
Both men spent more than an hour reviewing the progress made in the past week and discussing what alternative actions could be taken if there is no agreement by November 25.
Mr Ahern has warned policing, north and south cooperation, cultural and other measures agreed by the governments will go ahead irrespective of all parties reaching agreement.
“Everyone has to be prepared to take risks to reach the next phase.
“At this advanced stage of the peace process, if there is a will, it can be done.
“The risks are not unmanageable for any party and, if they want to do it, they can,” said Mr Ahern.
Both governments have agreed they will resist efforts by the DUP to postpone further agreement until after the elections to Westminster next year.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair discussed the recent IMC report on violence committed in the past six months that showed shootings were down by 42%.
There were no murders committed by the Provisional IRA while punishment beatings and attacks by them had reduced.
Loyalist activity is responsible for 75% of the total violence, which is a reverse of the situation in the past.
The report said they were responsible for three times the number of shootings and twice the number of assaults perpetrated by nationalists.
Officials from both governments will meet in London next week to finalise their positions. A meeting with the North’s parties will take place after. [ FRONT PAGE ] [ BACK ]
© Thomas Crosbie Media, 2004.
‘Risk is necessary for peace process’
06 November 2004
By Ann Cahill, Europe Correspondent
ALL the North’s political parties must be prepared to take risks to complete the current phase of the peace process, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern warned yesterday after meeting the British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Brussels.
Both men spent more than an hour reviewing the progress made in the past week and discussing what alternative actions could be taken if there is no agreement by November 25.
Mr Ahern has warned policing, north and south cooperation, cultural and other measures agreed by the governments will go ahead irrespective of all parties reaching agreement.
“Everyone has to be prepared to take risks to reach the next phase.
“At this advanced stage of the peace process, if there is a will, it can be done.
“The risks are not unmanageable for any party and, if they want to do it, they can,” said Mr Ahern.
Both governments have agreed they will resist efforts by the DUP to postpone further agreement until after the elections to Westminster next year.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair discussed the recent IMC report on violence committed in the past six months that showed shootings were down by 42%.
There were no murders committed by the Provisional IRA while punishment beatings and attacks by them had reduced.
Loyalist activity is responsible for 75% of the total violence, which is a reverse of the situation in the past.
The report said they were responsible for three times the number of shootings and twice the number of assaults perpetrated by nationalists.
Officials from both governments will meet in London next week to finalise their positions. A meeting with the North’s parties will take place after. [ FRONT PAGE ] [ BACK ]
© Thomas Crosbie Media, 2004.
Yahoo News
More Than 450 Bodies Excavated from Bosnia Mass Grave
Fri Nov 5, 1:38 PM ET
World - Reuters
SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Forensic experts said on Friday they had unearthed the remains of 456 people believed to have been wartime prisoners killed by Bosnian Serb forces in what is the second largest mass grave found so far in Bosnia.
"We completed the exhumation of bodies from the Kevljani grave after we had reached the bottom at six meters (18 foot) depth," Esad Bajramovic, an official of the Commission for Missing Persons of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation, told Reuters by telephone.
The experts were working on the 17 meter-long and six meter-wide grave in western Bosnia since mid-August. This is the second mass grave found in the village of Kevljani, near the town of Prijedor.
Bajramovic said documents found on some 40 bodies showed that the victims were prisoners of the Serb-run detention camps Omarska and Keraterm, also near Prijedor.
Early in the 1992-5 Bosnian war, thousands of Bosnian Muslims and Croats were held, killed or tortured in three detention camps near Prijedor. Nearly 3,500 people went missing from the town alone.
Bajramovic said Western experts would continue work on the site to determine what kind of machine had been used to dump the bodies in the grave.
"Once we know what kind of machine was used, we shall go on to search for the executors of this terrible crime," he said.
Bajramovic said DNA samples had been taken from bones for identification to take place in the northern town of Tuzla.
"I will be happy if we complete the identification of the victims in the next two years," he said, adding that it took more than a year to complete the identification of victims from the nearby Ljubija mass grave.
Bajramovic said his team would begin exhumations next week from another mass grave found in a pit near the western town of Kljuc.
About 4,000 bodies of non-Serbs had been exhumed from 110 mass graves in the wider western Krajina region. Only about half have been identified so far. Some 29,000 people, mostly Muslims, went missing in the war.
Bosnia's biggest single mass grave Crni Vrh near the eastern town of Zvornik contained the remains of 629 Muslims killed by Bosnian Serb forces.
More Than 450 Bodies Excavated from Bosnia Mass Grave
Fri Nov 5, 1:38 PM ET
World - Reuters
SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Forensic experts said on Friday they had unearthed the remains of 456 people believed to have been wartime prisoners killed by Bosnian Serb forces in what is the second largest mass grave found so far in Bosnia.
"We completed the exhumation of bodies from the Kevljani grave after we had reached the bottom at six meters (18 foot) depth," Esad Bajramovic, an official of the Commission for Missing Persons of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation, told Reuters by telephone.
The experts were working on the 17 meter-long and six meter-wide grave in western Bosnia since mid-August. This is the second mass grave found in the village of Kevljani, near the town of Prijedor.
Bajramovic said documents found on some 40 bodies showed that the victims were prisoners of the Serb-run detention camps Omarska and Keraterm, also near Prijedor.
Early in the 1992-5 Bosnian war, thousands of Bosnian Muslims and Croats were held, killed or tortured in three detention camps near Prijedor. Nearly 3,500 people went missing from the town alone.
Bajramovic said Western experts would continue work on the site to determine what kind of machine had been used to dump the bodies in the grave.
"Once we know what kind of machine was used, we shall go on to search for the executors of this terrible crime," he said.
Bajramovic said DNA samples had been taken from bones for identification to take place in the northern town of Tuzla.
"I will be happy if we complete the identification of the victims in the next two years," he said, adding that it took more than a year to complete the identification of victims from the nearby Ljubija mass grave.
Bajramovic said his team would begin exhumations next week from another mass grave found in a pit near the western town of Kljuc.
About 4,000 bodies of non-Serbs had been exhumed from 110 mass graves in the wider western Krajina region. Only about half have been identified so far. Some 29,000 people, mostly Muslims, went missing in the war.
Bosnia's biggest single mass grave Crni Vrh near the eastern town of Zvornik contained the remains of 629 Muslims killed by Bosnian Serb forces.
Workers World
George Harrison
Irish freedom fighter, revolutionary socialist
By Bill Cecil
New York
Several hundred people packed the 1199 hospital workers' union hall in Manhattan on Oct. 20 to honor Irish freedom fighter George Harrison. He died in his Brooklyn home Oct. 6 at the age of 89.
Speakers at the memorial included David Dinkins, New York City's first Black mayor, New York Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin, secretary of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Moe Fishman, and Sandy Boyer of Radio Free Eireann. A representative of Republican Sinn Fein flew in from Dublin to address the gathering.
Harrison was born May 2, 1915, in Shammer, County Mayo, in an Ireland oppressed and impoverished by British occupation. A year after his birth the Easter Rising, which was crushed by British troops, took place. Its executed leaders James Connolly and Padraic Pearse would become Harrison's heroes.
As a young man Harrison worked as a wheelwright and a stonecutter. At age 15, he enlisted in the East Mayo Battalion of the Irish Republican Army.
The Depression forced Harrison to leave Ireland. He first went to England, where, like many Irish emigrants, he picked crops and labored on building sites. In 1938 he came to New York, working first as a bartender and then on the docks. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and later became a security guard for Brinks Armor. Working at Brinks for 30 years, he fought for justice as a shop steward and union organizer.
For most of that time Harrison secretly fought for justice on another front: running arms to the IRA.
To Harrison, the fight for Irish freedom was one with the world struggle against imperialism and racism. He stood vigil every week outside the British Consulate in New York to support the Irish people. And he was at every march against war and racism or in solidarity with the people of South Africa, Palestine and Latin America.
"You can't appreciate George Harrison without his passionate hatred of racism," recalled Sandy Boyer at the memorial. "He worked day in and day out to elect David Dinkins as the first African-American mayor of New York City. Even after Dinkins lost his race for a second term, George called him the people's mayor. George would no more recognize Rudy Giuliani as the mayor of his city than he would recognize British rule in Ireland.
"I remember how thrilled George was when we organized an Irish event that raised $10,000 to rebuild the burned Black churches in the South," Boyer continued. "He called me the next morning to say, 'We gave racism and imperialism a good kick in the ass.'"
Boyer also described Harrison as the "most thoroughgoing anti-imperialist I have ever met."
In 1981 the Reagan regime prosecuted Harrison, Tom Falvey, Michael Flannery, Paddy Mullens and Tommy Gormley for arming Irish freedom fighters. The "IRA Five" refused to deny the charges but waged a political defense. Witnesses on Harrison's behalf included Irish leader Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and Sam Gulabe, United Nations representative of the African National Congress. (Dr. Gulabe, then known as David Ndaba, is today a colonel in the South African army and physician to Nelson Mandela.) The five were acquitted.
Harrison gave generously to many projects in Ireland, including a memorial to Irish volunteer Tommy Patton, who died fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War. In the late 1980s, he supported Republican Sinn Fein, which broke with Sinn Fein over the nationalist party's decision to enter the Irish parliament.
Four years ago, in failing health, George Harrison marched in his last street demonstration. It was to protest the acquittal of the four New York cops who murdered African immigrant Amadou Diallo.
But he never stopped thinking of the struggle. On the day he died, Harrison penned a verse for the Republican Sinn Fein newspaper Saiorse:
"May the spirit of those who suffered in the torture chambers of the Empire of Hell animate us with enough strength to free the land of our heart's desire. In dedication to all my comrades--the living and the dead."
Reprinted from the Nov. 4, 2004, issue of Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
George Harrison
Irish freedom fighter, revolutionary socialist
By Bill Cecil
New York
Several hundred people packed the 1199 hospital workers' union hall in Manhattan on Oct. 20 to honor Irish freedom fighter George Harrison. He died in his Brooklyn home Oct. 6 at the age of 89.
Speakers at the memorial included David Dinkins, New York City's first Black mayor, New York Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin, secretary of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Moe Fishman, and Sandy Boyer of Radio Free Eireann. A representative of Republican Sinn Fein flew in from Dublin to address the gathering.
Harrison was born May 2, 1915, in Shammer, County Mayo, in an Ireland oppressed and impoverished by British occupation. A year after his birth the Easter Rising, which was crushed by British troops, took place. Its executed leaders James Connolly and Padraic Pearse would become Harrison's heroes.
As a young man Harrison worked as a wheelwright and a stonecutter. At age 15, he enlisted in the East Mayo Battalion of the Irish Republican Army.
The Depression forced Harrison to leave Ireland. He first went to England, where, like many Irish emigrants, he picked crops and labored on building sites. In 1938 he came to New York, working first as a bartender and then on the docks. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and later became a security guard for Brinks Armor. Working at Brinks for 30 years, he fought for justice as a shop steward and union organizer.
For most of that time Harrison secretly fought for justice on another front: running arms to the IRA.
To Harrison, the fight for Irish freedom was one with the world struggle against imperialism and racism. He stood vigil every week outside the British Consulate in New York to support the Irish people. And he was at every march against war and racism or in solidarity with the people of South Africa, Palestine and Latin America.
"You can't appreciate George Harrison without his passionate hatred of racism," recalled Sandy Boyer at the memorial. "He worked day in and day out to elect David Dinkins as the first African-American mayor of New York City. Even after Dinkins lost his race for a second term, George called him the people's mayor. George would no more recognize Rudy Giuliani as the mayor of his city than he would recognize British rule in Ireland.
"I remember how thrilled George was when we organized an Irish event that raised $10,000 to rebuild the burned Black churches in the South," Boyer continued. "He called me the next morning to say, 'We gave racism and imperialism a good kick in the ass.'"
Boyer also described Harrison as the "most thoroughgoing anti-imperialist I have ever met."
In 1981 the Reagan regime prosecuted Harrison, Tom Falvey, Michael Flannery, Paddy Mullens and Tommy Gormley for arming Irish freedom fighters. The "IRA Five" refused to deny the charges but waged a political defense. Witnesses on Harrison's behalf included Irish leader Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and Sam Gulabe, United Nations representative of the African National Congress. (Dr. Gulabe, then known as David Ndaba, is today a colonel in the South African army and physician to Nelson Mandela.) The five were acquitted.
Harrison gave generously to many projects in Ireland, including a memorial to Irish volunteer Tommy Patton, who died fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War. In the late 1980s, he supported Republican Sinn Fein, which broke with Sinn Fein over the nationalist party's decision to enter the Irish parliament.
Four years ago, in failing health, George Harrison marched in his last street demonstration. It was to protest the acquittal of the four New York cops who murdered African immigrant Amadou Diallo.
But he never stopped thinking of the struggle. On the day he died, Harrison penned a verse for the Republican Sinn Fein newspaper Saiorse:
"May the spirit of those who suffered in the torture chambers of the Empire of Hell animate us with enough strength to free the land of our heart's desire. In dedication to all my comrades--the living and the dead."
Reprinted from the Nov. 4, 2004, issue of Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
BBC
The hospital was run by an Islamic charity
A hospital has been razed to the ground in one of the heaviest US air raids in the Iraqi city of Falluja.
Witnesses said only the facade remained of the small Nazzal Emergency Hospital in the centre of the city. There are no reports on casualties.
A nearby medical supplies storeroom and dozens of houses were damaged as US forces continued preparing the ground for an expected major assault.
UN chief Kofi Annan has warned against an attack on the restive Sunni city.
It is the third time since the end of the US-led war that US and Iraqi forces have tried to gain control of Falluja.
They say militants loyal to top al-Qaeda suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are hiding there.
Zarqawi's supporters have been behind some of the worst attacks on coalition and Iraqi forces as well as dozens of kidnappings. Some of the hostages - foreigners and Iraqis - have been beheaded.
'Ruined'
US troops using 155mm howitzers pounded a number of pre-planned targets in Falluja on Saturday.
Along with air strikes - one of the heaviest in recent days - this is all part of what appears to be a steadily increasing pressure on the insurgents, says the BBC's Paul Wood, who is with US marines outside Falluja.
Overnight, a column of armoured vehicles and humvee jeeps carried out attacks in the outskirts of Falluja designed to draw out the rebels and provide fresh targets for the air power and artillery.
These are the kind of preliminary operations which would be carried out before a full-scale assault on Falluja, our correspondent says.
The air strikes reduced the Nazzal hospital, run by a Saudi Arabian Islamic charity, to rubble.
Hospital officials quoted by Reuters news agency say all the contents were ruined.
More people were preparing to flee the city - more than half of the city's estimated 300,000 people have already left.
US marine officers say the full-scale attack will go ahead only once Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has given the order.
"The window really is closing for a peaceful settlement," Mr Allawi said on Friday after meeting EU leaders in Brussels.
In a letter to the leaders of the US, UK and Iraq, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that the use of force risked alienating Iraqis when their support for elections was vital.
But Mr Allawi called the letter "confused".
He said if Mr Annan thought he could prevent insurgents in Falluja from "inflicting damage and killing", he was welcome to try.
US strikes raze Falluja hospital
The hospital was run by an Islamic charity
A hospital has been razed to the ground in one of the heaviest US air raids in the Iraqi city of Falluja.
Witnesses said only the facade remained of the small Nazzal Emergency Hospital in the centre of the city. There are no reports on casualties.
A nearby medical supplies storeroom and dozens of houses were damaged as US forces continued preparing the ground for an expected major assault.
UN chief Kofi Annan has warned against an attack on the restive Sunni city.
It is the third time since the end of the US-led war that US and Iraqi forces have tried to gain control of Falluja.
They say militants loyal to top al-Qaeda suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are hiding there.
Zarqawi's supporters have been behind some of the worst attacks on coalition and Iraqi forces as well as dozens of kidnappings. Some of the hostages - foreigners and Iraqis - have been beheaded.
'Ruined'
US troops using 155mm howitzers pounded a number of pre-planned targets in Falluja on Saturday.
Along with air strikes - one of the heaviest in recent days - this is all part of what appears to be a steadily increasing pressure on the insurgents, says the BBC's Paul Wood, who is with US marines outside Falluja.
Overnight, a column of armoured vehicles and humvee jeeps carried out attacks in the outskirts of Falluja designed to draw out the rebels and provide fresh targets for the air power and artillery.
These are the kind of preliminary operations which would be carried out before a full-scale assault on Falluja, our correspondent says.
The air strikes reduced the Nazzal hospital, run by a Saudi Arabian Islamic charity, to rubble.
Hospital officials quoted by Reuters news agency say all the contents were ruined.
More people were preparing to flee the city - more than half of the city's estimated 300,000 people have already left.
US marine officers say the full-scale attack will go ahead only once Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has given the order.
"The window really is closing for a peaceful settlement," Mr Allawi said on Friday after meeting EU leaders in Brussels.
In a letter to the leaders of the US, UK and Iraq, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that the use of force risked alienating Iraqis when their support for elections was vital.
But Mr Allawi called the letter "confused".
He said if Mr Annan thought he could prevent insurgents in Falluja from "inflicting damage and killing", he was welcome to try.
BBC
PUP 'struggling' over sanctions
David Ervine said his party is struggling
The Progressive Unionist Party may have to close an office because its assembly allowance is being withheld, David Ervine has said.
Sanctions were imposed on the party earlier this year after a report highlighted continued activity by the Ulster Volunteer Force, to which the PUP is linked.
In its latest report last week, the IMC remained critical of the UVF and its involvement in two murders.
PUP leader Mr Ervine said without the funding, his party may have to close its Shankill Road office.
Mr Ervine told the BBC's Inside Politics programme on Saturday that he was doing his best to tackle paramilitary activity, but the party was struggling to serve constituents.
"I think that at the moment we're on a wing on a prayer," he said.
"We're absolutely hand to mouth and I think if the secretary of state does not restore that party allowance very soon, we can't survive in some aspects of our work."
Secretary of State Paul Murphy announced in April that sanctions would be imposed on parties linked to paramilitary groups still involved in violence and other criminal activities.
The move came after the publication of an Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) report which recommended action against Sinn Fein and the Progressive Unionist Party in response to continuing IRA and loyalist violence.
'Organised crime'
In its latest report last week, the IMC said the UVF remained a "ruthless organisation retaining a capacity for more widespread violence".
Most violence was attributable to loyalist groups, with a greater proportionate reduction by republican groups, it said.
It found paramilitaries on both sides were still "deeply engaged in serious organised crime".
The commission said links still existed between the IRA leadership and Sinn Fein, as well as the UVF and the Progressive Unionist Party.
The IMC report was handed over to the British and Irish Governments last week.
The institutions in Northern Ireland were suspended two years ago amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering at the Northern Ireland Office.
At the conclusion of intensive political talks at Leeds Castle in Kent last month, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern said the thorny issues of IRA disarmament and future paramilitary activity appeared to be resolved.
However, the two governments were unable to get the Northern Ireland Assembly parties to sign up to a deal over power-sharing after unionists and nationalists clashed over future devolved institutions.
The sticking points in the political process have included the method of electing a first and deputy first minister, a date when the assembly can control policing, and whether or not 30 assembly members can challenge ministerial decisions.
PUP 'struggling' over sanctions
David Ervine said his party is struggling
The Progressive Unionist Party may have to close an office because its assembly allowance is being withheld, David Ervine has said.
Sanctions were imposed on the party earlier this year after a report highlighted continued activity by the Ulster Volunteer Force, to which the PUP is linked.
In its latest report last week, the IMC remained critical of the UVF and its involvement in two murders.
PUP leader Mr Ervine said without the funding, his party may have to close its Shankill Road office.
Mr Ervine told the BBC's Inside Politics programme on Saturday that he was doing his best to tackle paramilitary activity, but the party was struggling to serve constituents.
"I think that at the moment we're on a wing on a prayer," he said.
"We're absolutely hand to mouth and I think if the secretary of state does not restore that party allowance very soon, we can't survive in some aspects of our work."
Secretary of State Paul Murphy announced in April that sanctions would be imposed on parties linked to paramilitary groups still involved in violence and other criminal activities.
The move came after the publication of an Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) report which recommended action against Sinn Fein and the Progressive Unionist Party in response to continuing IRA and loyalist violence.
'Organised crime'
In its latest report last week, the IMC said the UVF remained a "ruthless organisation retaining a capacity for more widespread violence".
Most violence was attributable to loyalist groups, with a greater proportionate reduction by republican groups, it said.
It found paramilitaries on both sides were still "deeply engaged in serious organised crime".
The commission said links still existed between the IRA leadership and Sinn Fein, as well as the UVF and the Progressive Unionist Party.
The IMC report was handed over to the British and Irish Governments last week.
The institutions in Northern Ireland were suspended two years ago amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering at the Northern Ireland Office.
At the conclusion of intensive political talks at Leeds Castle in Kent last month, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern said the thorny issues of IRA disarmament and future paramilitary activity appeared to be resolved.
However, the two governments were unable to get the Northern Ireland Assembly parties to sign up to a deal over power-sharing after unionists and nationalists clashed over future devolved institutions.
The sticking points in the political process have included the method of electing a first and deputy first minister, a date when the assembly can control policing, and whether or not 30 assembly members can challenge ministerial decisions.
IRA2
Teens hurt in sectarian attack
FRIDAY 05/11/2004 08:26:14 UTV
Two 13-year-old schoolboys were in hospital in Northern Ireland after
being targeted in a brutal sectarian attack.
By:Press Association
The Catholic boys were on their way home from school in Derry when
they were attacked by a gang after getting off a bus.
Police said the boys were with two others who got off the bus in the
Stoneypath area of the city and were swiftly surrounded by a gang of
15 youths.
Two boys managed to break free and run away, but the other two were
trapped and attacked.
One was knocked to the ground and kicked unconscious, said a police
spokesman.
Both 13-year-olds were admitted to hospital where their conditions
were not immediately known.
Confirming the boys were Catholic, police said they were treating the
attack as sectarian.
Teens hurt in sectarian attack
FRIDAY 05/11/2004 08:26:14 UTV
Two 13-year-old schoolboys were in hospital in Northern Ireland after
being targeted in a brutal sectarian attack.
By:Press Association
The Catholic boys were on their way home from school in Derry when
they were attacked by a gang after getting off a bus.
Police said the boys were with two others who got off the bus in the
Stoneypath area of the city and were swiftly surrounded by a gang of
15 youths.
Two boys managed to break free and run away, but the other two were
trapped and attacked.
One was knocked to the ground and kicked unconscious, said a police
spokesman.
Both 13-year-olds were admitted to hospital where their conditions
were not immediately known.
Confirming the boys were Catholic, police said they were treating the
attack as sectarian.
Guardian
'We worked from 4am to 9pm, sending all our wages home'
Angelique Chrisafis
Saturday November 6, 2004
The Guardian
Mary Caffrey, 83, from Achill Island, Mayo, recently returned to Ireland from a high-rise in Manchester:
"I left when I was 13 to go into domestic service in Hampstead, London. I had never been out of the village, and never left Achill Island. My parents and six children lived in a two-room thatched house with two beds.
"As soon as I heard mention of London, well, it was like Judy Garland going over the rainbow. The lady from London sent clothes and shoes. It was the first time I had worn shoes in my life.
"When she saw how small I was she nearly fainted. I was a kitchen maid, the lowest of the low. I got up at 6am to light the fires, and worked until midnight washing pans from dinner. Some of the pots were so big I could have taken a bath in them. It was like Upstairs, Downstairs. I had one day off a week but they were good to me. I sent my wages home.
"At 15, I went with my mother to Scotland, to work as a tatty-hoker, digging potatoes, for two years. My mother would dig and us smaller ones were down on our knees in the earth picking the potatoes, cold with dew dripping on us.
"Thank God I have my health. I wonder how our generation is not crippled with arthritis. The Irish workers slept on a stone floor in the cowshed. We worked from 4am until 9pm sometimes, sending all our wages home. They badly needed the money here, they were destitute.
"When I married in Glasgow, I would work 16 hours a day, starting cleaning at 5am, then in a biscuit factory or firelighter factory, then cleaning at night. My husband drank, I was in Scotland, I had no father or mother to run to. I had to protect myself for the sake of my children.
"In the 1970s, when there was [sectarian] trouble in Glasgow, I moved to Manchester alone - the 12th floor of a high-rise. At first I was frightened to go out on the veranda. When my children were grown and happy, all I lived for was returning to Ireland.
"People like us that had to leave at 13 made Ireland what it is today. I left an awful lot of broken hearts in Manchester - a lot of Irish women my age would love to get back home but will probably never make it."
'We worked from 4am to 9pm, sending all our wages home'
Angelique Chrisafis
Saturday November 6, 2004
The Guardian
Mary Caffrey, 83, from Achill Island, Mayo, recently returned to Ireland from a high-rise in Manchester:
"I left when I was 13 to go into domestic service in Hampstead, London. I had never been out of the village, and never left Achill Island. My parents and six children lived in a two-room thatched house with two beds.
"As soon as I heard mention of London, well, it was like Judy Garland going over the rainbow. The lady from London sent clothes and shoes. It was the first time I had worn shoes in my life.
"When she saw how small I was she nearly fainted. I was a kitchen maid, the lowest of the low. I got up at 6am to light the fires, and worked until midnight washing pans from dinner. Some of the pots were so big I could have taken a bath in them. It was like Upstairs, Downstairs. I had one day off a week but they were good to me. I sent my wages home.
"At 15, I went with my mother to Scotland, to work as a tatty-hoker, digging potatoes, for two years. My mother would dig and us smaller ones were down on our knees in the earth picking the potatoes, cold with dew dripping on us.
"Thank God I have my health. I wonder how our generation is not crippled with arthritis. The Irish workers slept on a stone floor in the cowshed. We worked from 4am until 9pm sometimes, sending all our wages home. They badly needed the money here, they were destitute.
"When I married in Glasgow, I would work 16 hours a day, starting cleaning at 5am, then in a biscuit factory or firelighter factory, then cleaning at night. My husband drank, I was in Scotland, I had no father or mother to run to. I had to protect myself for the sake of my children.
"In the 1970s, when there was [sectarian] trouble in Glasgow, I moved to Manchester alone - the 12th floor of a high-rise. At first I was frightened to go out on the veranda. When my children were grown and happy, all I lived for was returning to Ireland.
"People like us that had to leave at 13 made Ireland what it is today. I left an awful lot of broken hearts in Manchester - a lot of Irish women my age would love to get back home but will probably never make it."
IRA2
Primate calls on Catholics to help police
Irish Independent
5 Nov 2004
ARCHBISHOP Sean Brady has called on Catholics to offer their full
cooperation to the Police Service of Northern Ireland following a
public meeting of the Policing Board in Armagh yesterday.
It was the first time Dr Brady, who is the Catholic Archbishop of
Armagh, attended such a meeting; it followed an invite from the
Policing Board to Church leaders in the North.
Following the meeting, Archbishop Brady noted that it is now three
years since the foundation of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
He called on the whole community, both Protestants and Catholics, to
come together to make the PSNI work.
He said: "Real progress in policing has been made over the last three
years. I am convinced that even greater progress could be made if the
whole community took responsibility for the future success of
policing. There can be no peace without justice and no justice
without an effective and accountable system of law and order."
Dr Brady continued: "Such a system serves the whole community and is
in the best interest of society. So the whole community should play
its part in bringing about the system."
In an apparent call to Northern nationalists, he said: "It is not
enough to talk about the failings of the past and just hope for a
better future - we have to take responsibility for, and play our part
in, creating a better future."
The Policing Board of Northern Ireland holds monthly meetings with
the public.
Yesterday's meeting in Armagh was its second outside Belfast this
year. The first was in Omagh in February.
David Quinn
Religious Affairs Correspondent
Primate calls on Catholics to help police
Irish Independent
5 Nov 2004
ARCHBISHOP Sean Brady has called on Catholics to offer their full
cooperation to the Police Service of Northern Ireland following a
public meeting of the Policing Board in Armagh yesterday.
It was the first time Dr Brady, who is the Catholic Archbishop of
Armagh, attended such a meeting; it followed an invite from the
Policing Board to Church leaders in the North.
Following the meeting, Archbishop Brady noted that it is now three
years since the foundation of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
He called on the whole community, both Protestants and Catholics, to
come together to make the PSNI work.
He said: "Real progress in policing has been made over the last three
years. I am convinced that even greater progress could be made if the
whole community took responsibility for the future success of
policing. There can be no peace without justice and no justice
without an effective and accountable system of law and order."
Dr Brady continued: "Such a system serves the whole community and is
in the best interest of society. So the whole community should play
its part in bringing about the system."
In an apparent call to Northern nationalists, he said: "It is not
enough to talk about the failings of the past and just hope for a
better future - we have to take responsibility for, and play our part
in, creating a better future."
The Policing Board of Northern Ireland holds monthly meetings with
the public.
Yesterday's meeting in Armagh was its second outside Belfast this
year. The first was in Omagh in February.
David Quinn
Religious Affairs Correspondent
Irelandclick.com
Strand funding snub
The Short Strand will not receive a single penny from a £388,000 grant to help improve deprived communities in inner-city East Belfast
.
News of the snub has sparked a furious response from local politicians and community workers.
During the next month £388,003 of Community Foundation cash will be issued to community projects in the Pottinger ward.
Although the Short Strand represents a large chunk of this area it will not benefit in any way from the cash injection.
A spokesman for the Department of Social Development, the office that decides which areas receive funding, said it used the Nobel Index of multiple-deprivation to decide which areas would receive grants.
He added that the DSD also listened to advice from the Community Foundation concerning areas in the Pottinger ward that have weak community infrastructure. According to the Community Foundation, the Short Strand does not fall into this category.
However, this explanation provoked a furious response from community workers in the Short Strand – an area listed as the fifth most economically and socially deprived district in the whole of the north.
"I'm in no way opposed to other communities in the Pottinger ward getting funds, but I want to know why the Short Strand was ignored," said local Sinn Féin councillor Joe O'Donnell.
"In terms of economic and social deprivation this area is among the worst in the north of Ireland. It is shocking that we have been overlooked. The Community Foundation, which provided the community infrastructure analysis to the DSD, needs to take a long and hard look at itself.
“It appears as if the Short Strand has been deprived funding for having a good community network."
Chairperson of the Short Strand Partnership, Patricia Johnston, said community workers in the area are convinced the Community Fund cash has been set aside solely for unionist areas.
"Short Strand residents are horrified people in administration had an input into how this funding was allocated. We'll be taking this matter up with the DSD."
No one from the Community Foundation was available for comment and the group referred all questions to the DSD. The four areas of inner-East Belfast to benefit from the £388,003 cash injection are Avoniel, the Mount, Willowfield and Ravenhill. In total there is £915,393 of funds being allocated throughout Belfast. Unionist areas are to receive more than £750,000 of this cash.
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
Strand funding snub
The Short Strand will not receive a single penny from a £388,000 grant to help improve deprived communities in inner-city East Belfast
.
News of the snub has sparked a furious response from local politicians and community workers.
During the next month £388,003 of Community Foundation cash will be issued to community projects in the Pottinger ward.
Although the Short Strand represents a large chunk of this area it will not benefit in any way from the cash injection.
A spokesman for the Department of Social Development, the office that decides which areas receive funding, said it used the Nobel Index of multiple-deprivation to decide which areas would receive grants.
He added that the DSD also listened to advice from the Community Foundation concerning areas in the Pottinger ward that have weak community infrastructure. According to the Community Foundation, the Short Strand does not fall into this category.
However, this explanation provoked a furious response from community workers in the Short Strand – an area listed as the fifth most economically and socially deprived district in the whole of the north.
"I'm in no way opposed to other communities in the Pottinger ward getting funds, but I want to know why the Short Strand was ignored," said local Sinn Féin councillor Joe O'Donnell.
"In terms of economic and social deprivation this area is among the worst in the north of Ireland. It is shocking that we have been overlooked. The Community Foundation, which provided the community infrastructure analysis to the DSD, needs to take a long and hard look at itself.
“It appears as if the Short Strand has been deprived funding for having a good community network."
Chairperson of the Short Strand Partnership, Patricia Johnston, said community workers in the area are convinced the Community Fund cash has been set aside solely for unionist areas.
"Short Strand residents are horrified people in administration had an input into how this funding was allocated. We'll be taking this matter up with the DSD."
No one from the Community Foundation was available for comment and the group referred all questions to the DSD. The four areas of inner-East Belfast to benefit from the £388,003 cash injection are Avoniel, the Mount, Willowfield and Ravenhill. In total there is £915,393 of funds being allocated throughout Belfast. Unionist areas are to receive more than £750,000 of this cash.
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
Irelandclick.com
AN AISLING BOOST FOR BATTLING PHIL
A North Belfast man who helped set up a group to stop young people from taking their own lives as his own son tragically did has been nominated for an Aisling Award.
As the prestigious annual Andersonstown News awards ceremony next week gathers momentum, Phil McTaggart is in the running for the Community Endeavour category.
The Public Initiative for Prevention of Suicide and Self Harm (PIPS) is named after Phil McTaggart’s son, Pip, who he lost to suicide in 2002.
Phil McTaggart, though grief-stricken, has been battling for more funding for mental health issues and has brought his fight to the Department of Health. His group has also sought to remove the stigma of suicide as well as helping other families who have suffered similar tragedies.
This year he spoke at the New Lodge Festival concert in St Patrick’s Church held for families suffering the devastating effects of suicide.
“I feel like I’ve been on a roller coaster ride. There have been a lot of downs, like when I think of Philip and how I could have helped him,” he said.
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
AN AISLING BOOST FOR BATTLING PHIL
A North Belfast man who helped set up a group to stop young people from taking their own lives as his own son tragically did has been nominated for an Aisling Award.
As the prestigious annual Andersonstown News awards ceremony next week gathers momentum, Phil McTaggart is in the running for the Community Endeavour category.
The Public Initiative for Prevention of Suicide and Self Harm (PIPS) is named after Phil McTaggart’s son, Pip, who he lost to suicide in 2002.
Phil McTaggart, though grief-stricken, has been battling for more funding for mental health issues and has brought his fight to the Department of Health. His group has also sought to remove the stigma of suicide as well as helping other families who have suffered similar tragedies.
This year he spoke at the New Lodge Festival concert in St Patrick’s Church held for families suffering the devastating effects of suicide.
“I feel like I’ve been on a roller coaster ride. There have been a lot of downs, like when I think of Philip and how I could have helped him,” he said.
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
BBC
PUP 'struggling' over sanctions
David Ervine said his party is struggling
The Progressive Unionist Party may have to close an office because its assembly allowance is being withheld, David Ervine has said.
Sanctions were imposed on the party earlier this year after a report highlighted continued activity by the Ulster Volunteer Force, to which the PUP is linked.
In its latest report last week, the IMC remained critical of the UVF and its involvement in two murders.
PUP leader Mr Ervine said without the funding, his party may have to close its Shankill Road office.
Mr Ervine told the BBC's Inside Politics programme on Saturday that he was doing his best to tackle paramilitary activity, but the party was struggling to serve constituents.
"I think that at the moment we're on a wing on a prayer," he said.
"We're absolutely hand to mouth and I think if the secretary of state does not restore that party allowance very soon, we can't survive in some aspects of our work."
Secretary of State Paul Murphy announced in April that sanctions would be imposed on parties linked to paramilitary groups still involved in violence and other criminal activities.
The move came after the publication of an Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) report which recommended action against Sinn Fein and the Progressive Unionist Party in response to continuing IRA and loyalist violence.
'Organised crime'
In its latest report last week, the IMC said the UVF remained a "ruthless organisation retaining a capacity for more widespread violence".
Most violence was attributable to loyalist groups, with a greater proportionate reduction by republican groups, it said.
It found paramilitaries on both sides were still "deeply engaged in serious organised crime".
The commission said links still existed between the IRA leadership and Sinn Fein, as well as the UVF and the Progressive Unionist Party.
The IMC report was handed over to the British and Irish Governments last week.
The institutions in Northern Ireland were suspended two years ago amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering at the Northern Ireland Office.
At the conclusion of intensive political talks at Leeds Castle in Kent last month, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern said the thorny issues of IRA disarmament and future paramilitary activity appeared to be resolved.
However, the two governments were unable to get the Northern Ireland Assembly parties to sign up to a deal over power-sharing after unionists and nationalists clashed over future devolved institutions.
The sticking points in the political process have included the method of electing a first and deputy first minister, a date when the assembly can control policing, and whether or not 30 assembly members can challenge ministerial decisions.
PUP 'struggling' over sanctions
David Ervine said his party is struggling
The Progressive Unionist Party may have to close an office because its assembly allowance is being withheld, David Ervine has said.
Sanctions were imposed on the party earlier this year after a report highlighted continued activity by the Ulster Volunteer Force, to which the PUP is linked.
In its latest report last week, the IMC remained critical of the UVF and its involvement in two murders.
PUP leader Mr Ervine said without the funding, his party may have to close its Shankill Road office.
Mr Ervine told the BBC's Inside Politics programme on Saturday that he was doing his best to tackle paramilitary activity, but the party was struggling to serve constituents.
"I think that at the moment we're on a wing on a prayer," he said.
"We're absolutely hand to mouth and I think if the secretary of state does not restore that party allowance very soon, we can't survive in some aspects of our work."
Secretary of State Paul Murphy announced in April that sanctions would be imposed on parties linked to paramilitary groups still involved in violence and other criminal activities.
The move came after the publication of an Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) report which recommended action against Sinn Fein and the Progressive Unionist Party in response to continuing IRA and loyalist violence.
'Organised crime'
In its latest report last week, the IMC said the UVF remained a "ruthless organisation retaining a capacity for more widespread violence".
Most violence was attributable to loyalist groups, with a greater proportionate reduction by republican groups, it said.
It found paramilitaries on both sides were still "deeply engaged in serious organised crime".
The commission said links still existed between the IRA leadership and Sinn Fein, as well as the UVF and the Progressive Unionist Party.
The IMC report was handed over to the British and Irish Governments last week.
The institutions in Northern Ireland were suspended two years ago amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering at the Northern Ireland Office.
At the conclusion of intensive political talks at Leeds Castle in Kent last month, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern said the thorny issues of IRA disarmament and future paramilitary activity appeared to be resolved.
However, the two governments were unable to get the Northern Ireland Assembly parties to sign up to a deal over power-sharing after unionists and nationalists clashed over future devolved institutions.
The sticking points in the political process have included the method of electing a first and deputy first minister, a date when the assembly can control policing, and whether or not 30 assembly members can challenge ministerial decisions.
Guardian
Ireland wakens to plight of the forgotten million
Angelique Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent
Saturday November 6, 2004
The Guardian
Con Scully lit a candle in the gloom of his decaying house in Coventry. There was no heating, electricity or natural light. The windows were boarded up against vandals and drug addicts.
Since his wife died, Mr Scully, 71, had lived alone. At night, he crawled on top of piles of hoarded debris to sleep with his dog and a stray cat, ready to defend himself against feared intruders.
He arrived in the UK from Ireland in the 50s, part of a generation of almost a million men and women who came to rebuild Britain after the war. They had no choice but to leave the poverty of the west of Ireland and send their wages back to keep communities alive.
But many of the elderly men who built London's underground, the motorways, the railways and the women who served as "domestics" sending home an estimated €3.5bn (£2.4bn) during Ireland's darkest days - are growing old in subhuman conditions in the UK.
When Ireland's state broadcaster, RTE, showed footage of Mr Scully and other destitute Irish with no running water, no sanitation and no hope, the country was horrified.
A debate is raging about the Irish government's "moral debt" to a "forgotten generation" ignored during the Celtic Tiger boom years.
Last month the government set up a unit in its foreign ministry for the Irish emigrants in the UK, with £2.37m awarded to more than 50 groups working with Irish people in Britain this year.
The sum was short of recommendations from a taskforce on emigrants, but many say Britain should bear its share of the burden and recognise the Irish as a distinct ethnic minority instead of putting them together with the white British population.
There are estimated to be more a million Irish people in Britain with many more second- and third-generation Irish, but numbers are vague. The Irish are the third biggest ethnic minority in Britain.
A generation of young professionals who left Ireland in the 80s leads in media, arts and academia in Britain.
But the biggest problem is the elderly who arrived in the 50s.
They are the only ethnic minority group to have shortened their lifespan by coming to Britain. They have the highest rate of mental illness and are 50% more likely to commit suicide and nine times more likely to suffer from alcoholism than British people.
According to the Federation of Irish Societies, Irish men have the highest mortality rate of all ethnic minorities in Britain.
Eithne Rynne, director of the London-based federation, said the Irish left a culture of communal living to become isolated in Britain, culturally unable to ask for help. They have the highest percentage of single-person households of any ethnic group in Britain and carry a strong stigma of "not wanting to be a burden".
Ms Rynne said: "There needs to be a proper recognition across the board of Irish people as a distinct ethnic minority in Britain. The British government have a duty of care to the Irish community."
In Mulranny, west Mayo, the independent Irish MP, Jerry Cowley, works to bring emigrants back under the state-funded Safe Home scheme. He has brought back 369 people in four years to live in sheltered housing.
"It was the nearest to slavery we went through," said Patrick Gallagher, 89, who left Mayo at 16 to work as a tattie howker, or potato digger, in Scotland.
But community workers in Britain say the Irish who return home are a tiny percentage of the numbers in London, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham who need help.
Ireland wakens to plight of the forgotten million
Angelique Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent
Saturday November 6, 2004
The Guardian
Con Scully lit a candle in the gloom of his decaying house in Coventry. There was no heating, electricity or natural light. The windows were boarded up against vandals and drug addicts.
Since his wife died, Mr Scully, 71, had lived alone. At night, he crawled on top of piles of hoarded debris to sleep with his dog and a stray cat, ready to defend himself against feared intruders.
He arrived in the UK from Ireland in the 50s, part of a generation of almost a million men and women who came to rebuild Britain after the war. They had no choice but to leave the poverty of the west of Ireland and send their wages back to keep communities alive.
But many of the elderly men who built London's underground, the motorways, the railways and the women who served as "domestics" sending home an estimated €3.5bn (£2.4bn) during Ireland's darkest days - are growing old in subhuman conditions in the UK.
When Ireland's state broadcaster, RTE, showed footage of Mr Scully and other destitute Irish with no running water, no sanitation and no hope, the country was horrified.
A debate is raging about the Irish government's "moral debt" to a "forgotten generation" ignored during the Celtic Tiger boom years.
Last month the government set up a unit in its foreign ministry for the Irish emigrants in the UK, with £2.37m awarded to more than 50 groups working with Irish people in Britain this year.
The sum was short of recommendations from a taskforce on emigrants, but many say Britain should bear its share of the burden and recognise the Irish as a distinct ethnic minority instead of putting them together with the white British population.
There are estimated to be more a million Irish people in Britain with many more second- and third-generation Irish, but numbers are vague. The Irish are the third biggest ethnic minority in Britain.
A generation of young professionals who left Ireland in the 80s leads in media, arts and academia in Britain.
But the biggest problem is the elderly who arrived in the 50s.
They are the only ethnic minority group to have shortened their lifespan by coming to Britain. They have the highest rate of mental illness and are 50% more likely to commit suicide and nine times more likely to suffer from alcoholism than British people.
According to the Federation of Irish Societies, Irish men have the highest mortality rate of all ethnic minorities in Britain.
Eithne Rynne, director of the London-based federation, said the Irish left a culture of communal living to become isolated in Britain, culturally unable to ask for help. They have the highest percentage of single-person households of any ethnic group in Britain and carry a strong stigma of "not wanting to be a burden".
Ms Rynne said: "There needs to be a proper recognition across the board of Irish people as a distinct ethnic minority in Britain. The British government have a duty of care to the Irish community."
In Mulranny, west Mayo, the independent Irish MP, Jerry Cowley, works to bring emigrants back under the state-funded Safe Home scheme. He has brought back 369 people in four years to live in sheltered housing.
"It was the nearest to slavery we went through," said Patrick Gallagher, 89, who left Mayo at 16 to work as a tattie howker, or potato digger, in Scotland.
But community workers in Britain say the Irish who return home are a tiny percentage of the numbers in London, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham who need help.
Belfast Telegraph
Stadium gets Maze go-ahead
Prison site chosen ahead of Belfast
By Gavin Mairs and David Gordon
05 November 2004
The proposed new sports stadium for Northern Ireland will be built at the former Maze Prison site, it can be revealed today.
It is understood that the 360-acre site has pipped Belfast Lough foreshore and Titanic Quarter as the location for the state-of-the- art development.
The Belfast Telegraph has learned that the Government's Strategic Investment Board (SIB), in conjunction with the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, plumped for the Maze site largely because it is on cheap, government-owned land, although it also has the benefit of good transport infrastructure and plenty of room for parking facilities.
The issue is understood to have been discussed at a high level meeting involving Downing Street, top civil servants and the four main parties from the province last week.
An announcement, which had been expected several weeks ago, is now expected within a month.
A verdict in favour of the Maze will delight Lisburn City Council which has been campaigning strongly for the location.
Arguments in favour of the site include its accessibility to the M1 motorway and Belfast-Dublin railway line, and the fact that it would not suffer the traffic congestion problems of a Belfast stadium.
Lisburn councillor, Seamus Close, today said: "The development of a sports stadium would attract other investments.
"A blank canvas is the most suitable for a project of this size. With 360 acres, the Maze site has the space to accommodate a wide range of other facilities."
But former Belfast Mayor, Jim Rodgers, a member of the Northern Ireland Sports Council, today underlined his personal doubts about the Maze option.
"My fear is that it could be the biggest white elephant ever," he said. "I believe the stadium should be in Belfast, Northern Ireland's capital city, where there is the necessary infrastructure.
"People attending sporting events will want somewhere to go afterwards."
Mr Rodgers said he did not expect the SIB to plump for the Maze alone.
"I believe it will issue a list of possible sites. But the Maze has always been the favourite because it is owned by the Government," he added.
It's understood the formal announcement of the SIB's findings is only being held up by political machinations regarding a proposed Maze prison museum.
Stadium gets Maze go-ahead
Prison site chosen ahead of Belfast
By Gavin Mairs and David Gordon
05 November 2004
The proposed new sports stadium for Northern Ireland will be built at the former Maze Prison site, it can be revealed today.
It is understood that the 360-acre site has pipped Belfast Lough foreshore and Titanic Quarter as the location for the state-of-the- art development.
The Belfast Telegraph has learned that the Government's Strategic Investment Board (SIB), in conjunction with the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, plumped for the Maze site largely because it is on cheap, government-owned land, although it also has the benefit of good transport infrastructure and plenty of room for parking facilities.
The issue is understood to have been discussed at a high level meeting involving Downing Street, top civil servants and the four main parties from the province last week.
An announcement, which had been expected several weeks ago, is now expected within a month.
A verdict in favour of the Maze will delight Lisburn City Council which has been campaigning strongly for the location.
Arguments in favour of the site include its accessibility to the M1 motorway and Belfast-Dublin railway line, and the fact that it would not suffer the traffic congestion problems of a Belfast stadium.
Lisburn councillor, Seamus Close, today said: "The development of a sports stadium would attract other investments.
"A blank canvas is the most suitable for a project of this size. With 360 acres, the Maze site has the space to accommodate a wide range of other facilities."
But former Belfast Mayor, Jim Rodgers, a member of the Northern Ireland Sports Council, today underlined his personal doubts about the Maze option.
"My fear is that it could be the biggest white elephant ever," he said. "I believe the stadium should be in Belfast, Northern Ireland's capital city, where there is the necessary infrastructure.
"People attending sporting events will want somewhere to go afterwards."
Mr Rodgers said he did not expect the SIB to plump for the Maze alone.
"I believe it will issue a list of possible sites. But the Maze has always been the favourite because it is owned by the Government," he added.
It's understood the formal announcement of the SIB's findings is only being held up by political machinations regarding a proposed Maze prison museum.
BBC
US vote boosts interest in Canada
Will President Bush be waving goodbye to despondent Democrats?
Canadian immigration officials said the number of US citizens visiting their website went up six-fold the day after the US election.
Their website, which on an average day has some 20,000 hits, was visited by 115,016 on Wednesday, Reuters news agency reported.
The figure dropped on Thursday but was still higher than normal, at 65,803.
There was speculation that Democrats fed up with George W Bush's win were thinking of moving over the border.
The idea of disgruntled Americans wishing to emigrate north across the border has amused Canadians.
One commentator, Thane Burnett, wrote a tongue-in-cheek guide to possible new citizens.
"As Canadians, you'll have to learn to embrace and use all the products and cultures of Americans, while bad-mouthing their way of life," he wrote in the Ottawa Sun newspaper.
Hundreds of Canadians have also signed up to a satirical website urging them to do their bit and marry an American.
"Open your heart, and your home. Marry an American," AFP news agency quotes www.marryanamerican.ca as saying.
"Legions of Canadians have already pledged to sacrifice their singlehood to save their southern neighbours from four more years of cowboy conservatism."
New high
"When we looked at the first day after the election... our website hit a new high, almost double the previous record high," said Immigration ministry spokeswoman Maria Iadinardi.
Canada has a large-scale immigration policy, and Ms Iadinardi said Canada would welcome all new applicants - whether they be Democrats or Republicans.
"Let's face it, we have a population of little over 32 million and we definitely need permanent residents to come to Canada," she was quoted by Reuters as saying.
But she said it would take about six months to find out if there had been an increase in applications.
"There is no unusual activity occurring at our visa missions (in the US). Having someone who intends to come to Canada is not the same as someone actually putting in an application," she said.
Canada could find itself attracting more gay couples from the US after a Saskatchewan court ruled in favour of homosexual marriages on Friday.
The prairie province joins five other provinces and one territory in Canada by declaring existing marriage laws discriminate against gay couples and are unconstitutional.
Earlier this week, 11 US states voted to ban gay marriage in referendums held on the same night as the election.
US vote boosts interest in Canada
Will President Bush be waving goodbye to despondent Democrats?
Canadian immigration officials said the number of US citizens visiting their website went up six-fold the day after the US election.
Their website, which on an average day has some 20,000 hits, was visited by 115,016 on Wednesday, Reuters news agency reported.
The figure dropped on Thursday but was still higher than normal, at 65,803.
There was speculation that Democrats fed up with George W Bush's win were thinking of moving over the border.
The idea of disgruntled Americans wishing to emigrate north across the border has amused Canadians.
One commentator, Thane Burnett, wrote a tongue-in-cheek guide to possible new citizens.
"As Canadians, you'll have to learn to embrace and use all the products and cultures of Americans, while bad-mouthing their way of life," he wrote in the Ottawa Sun newspaper.
Hundreds of Canadians have also signed up to a satirical website urging them to do their bit and marry an American.
"Open your heart, and your home. Marry an American," AFP news agency quotes www.marryanamerican.ca as saying.
"Legions of Canadians have already pledged to sacrifice their singlehood to save their southern neighbours from four more years of cowboy conservatism."
New high
"When we looked at the first day after the election... our website hit a new high, almost double the previous record high," said Immigration ministry spokeswoman Maria Iadinardi.
Canada has a large-scale immigration policy, and Ms Iadinardi said Canada would welcome all new applicants - whether they be Democrats or Republicans.
"Let's face it, we have a population of little over 32 million and we definitely need permanent residents to come to Canada," she was quoted by Reuters as saying.
But she said it would take about six months to find out if there had been an increase in applications.
"There is no unusual activity occurring at our visa missions (in the US). Having someone who intends to come to Canada is not the same as someone actually putting in an application," she said.
Canada could find itself attracting more gay couples from the US after a Saskatchewan court ruled in favour of homosexual marriages on Friday.
The prairie province joins five other provinces and one territory in Canada by declaring existing marriage laws discriminate against gay couples and are unconstitutional.
Earlier this week, 11 US states voted to ban gay marriage in referendums held on the same night as the election.
Sinn Féin
Gerry Adams - Direct rule not sustainable in the long term
Published: 4 November, 2004
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP will tonight address the annual Friends of Sinn Féin Dinner in New York. In the course of his address Mr Adams will demand 'that in the absence of a deal the two governments bring forward proposals rooted in the Agreement to see its full implementation'. Mr Adams also warned that Direct Rule was not sustainable in the long term and suggested that 'the two governments look to formal institutionalised power sharing at government level'.
The full text of Mr Adams address follows:
The Current Crisis
The peace process has suffered a succession of crises. The British government has stepped outside the terms of the Good Friday Agreement and suspended the political institutions three times. They have cancelled elections to the Assembly twice.
This refusal by the British to accept the democratic right of citizens to vote for parties of their choice; the failure of some parties to stand by commitments, and London's unwillingness to fulfil its obligations, is partly the cause of the ongoing difficulties.
But the core of the crisis is rooted in the resistance by political unionism to the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, and their opposition to the agenda of change the Agreement heralded. It is rooted in the failure of the British system to challenge this.
Throughout this period Sinn Féin has worked hard and diligently to create a context in which the institutions can be restored and the Good Friday Agreement implemented in full. Our efforts have been made more difficult by a British government approach which consistently allies itself to unionism and seeks to appease unionist demands; even when those demands are clearly at odds with the Agreement. This approach by the British government is not a basis for stability and progress. On the contrary it is a recipe for ongoing uncertainty and crisis. I have told Mr. Blair this.
The British have to move back to the Agreement
I have also told him that the British government has not implemented with 'rigorous impartiality' its responsibilities in respect of equality and 'civil, political, social and cultural rights.' Consequently many in political unionism see no imperative to co-operate with nationalist or republican representatives. In fact British policy tolerates and perpetuates institutionalised inequality.
For example, recent discrimination figures reveal that nothing much has changed in the levels of discrimination faced by Catholics. The areas that were listed in the 1970's as areas of multiple deprivation are the same areas listed today.
None of this should surprise republicans and nationalists. The fact is that British government strategy aims first and foremost to service British national interests. At this time this is essentially about upholding the Union while trying to modernize the way the state is run. At the same time British strategy remains in a strategic alliance with unionism.
So to modernize even within the limits of its own policy means London has to challenge rejectionist unionism.
Mr. Blair conceded this point to me recently and he argued that his government's relationship with unionism has changed. I told him the fundamentals have not changed and if his government's relationship with unionism has changed the rest of us need to see evidence of that.
The fact is that the British state in the North is still a unionist state. Its symbols and emblems are unionist. So too are its agencies. And its management. But the Good Friday Agreement is about changing all of this. It is about equality for all. It is a contract which binds both governments to these objectives. So, while Mr. Blair may be trying to modernise unionism, his strategy and policy mean that inevitably it is the UUP and DUP which are allowed to determine the pace and depth of change. This is in direct contradiction of the Agreement.
We therefore have to change British policy. London has to get back to the Agreement.
We also have to be remember that unionists are against a United Ireland. Many unionists see the Good Friday Agreement as a step in that direction. Some are genuinely afraid that Irish unity will see them dispossessed, discriminated against or worse. They believe that the union maintains the status quo.
Republicans and nationalists therefore have to understand the genuine fears held by unionists and seek to address these by the totality of our commitment to equality and human rights, to inclusiveness and fairness. But we also have a responsibility to ensure that Good Friday Agreement is implemented in full despite the opposition of the rejectionists. None of this will be easy. But whoever said it would be. It has not been easy thus far.
Despite this Sinn Féin is determined to find a resolution to the current crisis in the peace process. We are equally determined to pursue our goals of Irish unity and independence. These are our priorities as a political party. These are my personal priorities as leader of Sinn Féin .
Making a Deal
But Sinn Féin can't make a deal on our own. It needs the British and Irish governments. It needs unionist leaders. For the past 10 months Sinn Féin has been involved in a series of engagements with the two governments to try and achieve this. Our endeavours have been made more difficult by Ian Paisley's refusal to negotiate face to face with Sinn Féin. I have lost count of the number of meetings I have had this year with officials from the two governments. I have lost count of the number of meetings and telephone conversations I have had with the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister. There were months of negotiations leading up to all-party talks at Lancaster House in London in June. Those discussions failed because the DUP wanted to participate in the orange marching season in July and August, and because key leaders of that party were going off on holiday.
Sinn Féin continued to work over the summer and we and others, including some unionist representatives succeeded in keeping the summer peaceful despite the disgraceful decision to deploy the British parachute regiment in Ardoyne to facilitate and orange march there. In September we were back in England for another round of talks, this time at Leeds Castle in Kent. These also failed because the DUP wanted fundamental changes which would subvert the powersharing, equality and all-Ireland nature of the Agreement.
And since then we have been involved in a series of intense private negotiations with the two governments and through them the DUP. So far these too have failed for the same reason.
The DUP's aim is to bring back unionist rule. Those days are gone. There will be no return to unionist domination.
We are told that the DUP is now for power sharing. But last week in Castlereagh Council, a local Council on the outskirts of East Belfast, efforts by several of the smaller parties to have powersharing introduced were thwarted by the DUP. The DUP Deputy Leader Peter Robinson led the opposition to the proposed change. Here was an opportunity for the DUP to show some generosity and imagination with no great risk to its dominance in the council. So what did the DUP do? They did what rejectionist unionism does best. The DUP said No!
None of this surprises us, sad though it is. And there is little point in being annoyed just for the sake of it. There is no question about the DUPs intentions at this time. The real question is about how long the British government will tolerate DUP game playing?
Two Governments have to call it!
So, where to next?
The DUP needs to understand that the Good Friday Agreement is as good as it gets. And the DUP must also understand, and the governments must make it clear, that the refusal by Ian Paisley to reach agreement with the rest of us cannot stop the process of change.
All the political parties in Ireland except the DUP are for the Good Friday Agreement. The vast majority of citizens support the Agreement.
There comes a time in every negotiation when parties to the negotiation have to call it. In this phase of the negotiation the DUP have had enough time.
They obviously do not want to do a deal except on their own unacceptable terms. It is now time for the two governments to call it. So in the next few weeks I am looking to the two governments to bring forward proposals, rooted in the Agreement, to see the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
Both governments need no reminding that Sinn Féin is a United Ireland party. For us the Agreement is a significant compromise, a strategic and transitional compromise but a compromise nonetheless. Many republicans will tolerate that for the sake of progress. But without progress the management difficulties which challenge the Sinn Féin leadership will magnify.
Compromise is a two way street. In fairness to the DUP they were no part of that. They rejected the Agreement and walked out of the negotiations. Mr. Blair did not. He signed up to deliver his end of the compromise. Six and a half years later his day has come.
Powersharing by the Governments
The British and Irish governments have to defend the principles and core values of the agreement. They also have to ensure that these are reflected in the their policy decisions. The Irish and British governments are co-equal partners in the implementation of the Agreement.
Direct rule by a British government from London is not acceptable nor is it sustainable in the long term. The British Prime Minister and the Taoiseach know this. The all-Ireland architecture of the Agreement points the way forward.
While the DUP refuses to share power with its republican and nationalist neighbours, and until unionists are prepared to work with the rest of us as equals, the two governments must drive the process of change forward.
How?
Its not just parties who can share power - governments can share power also. The British and Irish governments must look to formal institutionalised power sharing at governmental level.
The structures already established under the Agreement, around issues as diverse as health, and education, tourism and investment, energy and waterways must be built on and expanded. These include the existing Implementation Bodies, as well as the Areas of Co-operation.
Greater effort and emphasis must go into co-ordinating our human and economic resources to entrench and strengthen the co-operative and partnership nature of the Agreement. For example, economic co-operation and joint planning and an all-Ireland investment programme could be planned on a joint Ministerial basis.
And there are many good reasons for the governments to go ahead with the All-Ireland Consultative Civic Forum and the All-Ireland Charter of Human Rights.
Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair have to send a clear message to the rejectionists, and to all those who would frustrate the work of the peace process, that there is going to be a substantial and significant investment of effort and resources, into powersharing by the governments to bring about the full implementation of the Agreement.
And if the DUP still refuses to engage properly then the British government should dissolve the Assembly. It is necessary for the governments to do all this because they are obliged to do so under the terms of the Agreement. Because it is the right thing to do, though this has rarely, if ever, been a factor in British policy on Ireland. But it is also the tactically smart thing to do because without encouragement political unionism will have no incentive to join the process.
Why should they engage positively if they can delay progress and be rewared for messing about? Why should the rest of us have to wait on them so that citizens can have basic rights?
Mr. Blair needs to give the DUP a choice. They need to know they can be part of the process now but that if they don't, or won't, or cannot bring themselves to join with the rest of us then the process is not waiting any longer.
It is my view that unionism will eventually engage. Civic unionism, the business community, the broad raft of unionist opinion is for moving on. In many ways political unionism is lagging behind its own broad constituency. But none of us received a mandate to behave in an irresponsible way. Political parties which are serious about representing their constituents will come to terms with a new dispensation when they know they have to.
The onus is now firmly on Mr. Blair to lay the foundations for that new dispensation. So, although there are clearly great difficulties and challenges ahead I would urge you all to keep the faith and to press ahead. Look at how far we have come.
The US Contribution
Ten years ago it was all very different. Ten years ago there was no peace process.
Ten years ago Sinn Féin was a demonised organisation sowing the seeds of our peace strategy to a censored and sceptical media, pioneering delicate and difficult talks in a society which was polarised by the relentless cycle of ongoing injustice and violence.
Ten years ago we were told that peace was impossible and that Irish unity was a pipe dream.
And then came the IRA cessation and the political landscape began to change.
Not least as a consequence of the work of Irish America - and the support of Irish America - of the people in this room - to the efforts for peace.
Ten years ago Irish America committed itself to working to end visa restrictions on Irish republicans; to helping to secure equal access to the Administration and political opinion; to encourage private and corporate investment, and aid from the government; and to persuade the Administration here to act as a guarantor of any agreement which might be achieved.
Much of this was accomplished but much remains to be done. Whatever happens in the discussions over the next few weeks the peace process is now entering a new and more intense phase. Since I arrived yesterday I have met Republicans who are justifiably pleased and Democrats who are justifiably on a downer in the wake of your election. I know there are many issues of contention between you but there are Republicans and Democrats in this room. Why?
Because despite your political differences you care about Ireland. You my friends - Irish America - is what the democrats and the republicans have in common on Ireland. So as an outsider as I extend congratulations to George Bush and commiserations to John Kerry I call upon you all to redouble your efforts in the time ahead. Here in the United States we need a reinvigorated, renewed focus on peace in Ireland.
That means Irish America working as never before for the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. That means Irish America strategically engaging with the White House and Capitol Hill in support of Irish unity and independence and changing British policy.
There are a wide range of Irish organisations and solidarity groups in the U.S. - come together, discuss, argue if you must, but agree a plan of campaign that will ensure that as Sinn Féin grows in political strength in Ireland that here in the United States there is a growth in the popular demand for Irish unity and independence.
You can do it. We can do it together. We have now seen what is possible. Any of you who have visited the north in recent years will have seen the transformation. The reality is that across the island of Ireland life is better for the vast majority of our people. There are hundreds of people, thousands of people, who are alive today who might otherwise be dead and many more who would have been injured. That progress cannot be squandered.
Peace is possible, real and lasting and permanent - and a united, independent Ireland is ours if we want it badly enough, if we win support for that objective and if we are prepared to work hard to achieve it. So my friends stay with us in this great endeavour ."
ENDS
Gerry Adams - Direct rule not sustainable in the long term
Published: 4 November, 2004
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP will tonight address the annual Friends of Sinn Féin Dinner in New York. In the course of his address Mr Adams will demand 'that in the absence of a deal the two governments bring forward proposals rooted in the Agreement to see its full implementation'. Mr Adams also warned that Direct Rule was not sustainable in the long term and suggested that 'the two governments look to formal institutionalised power sharing at government level'.
The full text of Mr Adams address follows:
The Current Crisis
The peace process has suffered a succession of crises. The British government has stepped outside the terms of the Good Friday Agreement and suspended the political institutions three times. They have cancelled elections to the Assembly twice.
This refusal by the British to accept the democratic right of citizens to vote for parties of their choice; the failure of some parties to stand by commitments, and London's unwillingness to fulfil its obligations, is partly the cause of the ongoing difficulties.
But the core of the crisis is rooted in the resistance by political unionism to the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, and their opposition to the agenda of change the Agreement heralded. It is rooted in the failure of the British system to challenge this.
Throughout this period Sinn Féin has worked hard and diligently to create a context in which the institutions can be restored and the Good Friday Agreement implemented in full. Our efforts have been made more difficult by a British government approach which consistently allies itself to unionism and seeks to appease unionist demands; even when those demands are clearly at odds with the Agreement. This approach by the British government is not a basis for stability and progress. On the contrary it is a recipe for ongoing uncertainty and crisis. I have told Mr. Blair this.
The British have to move back to the Agreement
I have also told him that the British government has not implemented with 'rigorous impartiality' its responsibilities in respect of equality and 'civil, political, social and cultural rights.' Consequently many in political unionism see no imperative to co-operate with nationalist or republican representatives. In fact British policy tolerates and perpetuates institutionalised inequality.
For example, recent discrimination figures reveal that nothing much has changed in the levels of discrimination faced by Catholics. The areas that were listed in the 1970's as areas of multiple deprivation are the same areas listed today.
None of this should surprise republicans and nationalists. The fact is that British government strategy aims first and foremost to service British national interests. At this time this is essentially about upholding the Union while trying to modernize the way the state is run. At the same time British strategy remains in a strategic alliance with unionism.
So to modernize even within the limits of its own policy means London has to challenge rejectionist unionism.
Mr. Blair conceded this point to me recently and he argued that his government's relationship with unionism has changed. I told him the fundamentals have not changed and if his government's relationship with unionism has changed the rest of us need to see evidence of that.
The fact is that the British state in the North is still a unionist state. Its symbols and emblems are unionist. So too are its agencies. And its management. But the Good Friday Agreement is about changing all of this. It is about equality for all. It is a contract which binds both governments to these objectives. So, while Mr. Blair may be trying to modernise unionism, his strategy and policy mean that inevitably it is the UUP and DUP which are allowed to determine the pace and depth of change. This is in direct contradiction of the Agreement.
We therefore have to change British policy. London has to get back to the Agreement.
We also have to be remember that unionists are against a United Ireland. Many unionists see the Good Friday Agreement as a step in that direction. Some are genuinely afraid that Irish unity will see them dispossessed, discriminated against or worse. They believe that the union maintains the status quo.
Republicans and nationalists therefore have to understand the genuine fears held by unionists and seek to address these by the totality of our commitment to equality and human rights, to inclusiveness and fairness. But we also have a responsibility to ensure that Good Friday Agreement is implemented in full despite the opposition of the rejectionists. None of this will be easy. But whoever said it would be. It has not been easy thus far.
Despite this Sinn Féin is determined to find a resolution to the current crisis in the peace process. We are equally determined to pursue our goals of Irish unity and independence. These are our priorities as a political party. These are my personal priorities as leader of Sinn Féin .
Making a Deal
But Sinn Féin can't make a deal on our own. It needs the British and Irish governments. It needs unionist leaders. For the past 10 months Sinn Féin has been involved in a series of engagements with the two governments to try and achieve this. Our endeavours have been made more difficult by Ian Paisley's refusal to negotiate face to face with Sinn Féin. I have lost count of the number of meetings I have had this year with officials from the two governments. I have lost count of the number of meetings and telephone conversations I have had with the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister. There were months of negotiations leading up to all-party talks at Lancaster House in London in June. Those discussions failed because the DUP wanted to participate in the orange marching season in July and August, and because key leaders of that party were going off on holiday.
Sinn Féin continued to work over the summer and we and others, including some unionist representatives succeeded in keeping the summer peaceful despite the disgraceful decision to deploy the British parachute regiment in Ardoyne to facilitate and orange march there. In September we were back in England for another round of talks, this time at Leeds Castle in Kent. These also failed because the DUP wanted fundamental changes which would subvert the powersharing, equality and all-Ireland nature of the Agreement.
And since then we have been involved in a series of intense private negotiations with the two governments and through them the DUP. So far these too have failed for the same reason.
The DUP's aim is to bring back unionist rule. Those days are gone. There will be no return to unionist domination.
We are told that the DUP is now for power sharing. But last week in Castlereagh Council, a local Council on the outskirts of East Belfast, efforts by several of the smaller parties to have powersharing introduced were thwarted by the DUP. The DUP Deputy Leader Peter Robinson led the opposition to the proposed change. Here was an opportunity for the DUP to show some generosity and imagination with no great risk to its dominance in the council. So what did the DUP do? They did what rejectionist unionism does best. The DUP said No!
None of this surprises us, sad though it is. And there is little point in being annoyed just for the sake of it. There is no question about the DUPs intentions at this time. The real question is about how long the British government will tolerate DUP game playing?
Two Governments have to call it!
So, where to next?
The DUP needs to understand that the Good Friday Agreement is as good as it gets. And the DUP must also understand, and the governments must make it clear, that the refusal by Ian Paisley to reach agreement with the rest of us cannot stop the process of change.
All the political parties in Ireland except the DUP are for the Good Friday Agreement. The vast majority of citizens support the Agreement.
There comes a time in every negotiation when parties to the negotiation have to call it. In this phase of the negotiation the DUP have had enough time.
They obviously do not want to do a deal except on their own unacceptable terms. It is now time for the two governments to call it. So in the next few weeks I am looking to the two governments to bring forward proposals, rooted in the Agreement, to see the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
Both governments need no reminding that Sinn Féin is a United Ireland party. For us the Agreement is a significant compromise, a strategic and transitional compromise but a compromise nonetheless. Many republicans will tolerate that for the sake of progress. But without progress the management difficulties which challenge the Sinn Féin leadership will magnify.
Compromise is a two way street. In fairness to the DUP they were no part of that. They rejected the Agreement and walked out of the negotiations. Mr. Blair did not. He signed up to deliver his end of the compromise. Six and a half years later his day has come.
Powersharing by the Governments
The British and Irish governments have to defend the principles and core values of the agreement. They also have to ensure that these are reflected in the their policy decisions. The Irish and British governments are co-equal partners in the implementation of the Agreement.
Direct rule by a British government from London is not acceptable nor is it sustainable in the long term. The British Prime Minister and the Taoiseach know this. The all-Ireland architecture of the Agreement points the way forward.
While the DUP refuses to share power with its republican and nationalist neighbours, and until unionists are prepared to work with the rest of us as equals, the two governments must drive the process of change forward.
How?
Its not just parties who can share power - governments can share power also. The British and Irish governments must look to formal institutionalised power sharing at governmental level.
The structures already established under the Agreement, around issues as diverse as health, and education, tourism and investment, energy and waterways must be built on and expanded. These include the existing Implementation Bodies, as well as the Areas of Co-operation.
Greater effort and emphasis must go into co-ordinating our human and economic resources to entrench and strengthen the co-operative and partnership nature of the Agreement. For example, economic co-operation and joint planning and an all-Ireland investment programme could be planned on a joint Ministerial basis.
And there are many good reasons for the governments to go ahead with the All-Ireland Consultative Civic Forum and the All-Ireland Charter of Human Rights.
Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair have to send a clear message to the rejectionists, and to all those who would frustrate the work of the peace process, that there is going to be a substantial and significant investment of effort and resources, into powersharing by the governments to bring about the full implementation of the Agreement.
And if the DUP still refuses to engage properly then the British government should dissolve the Assembly. It is necessary for the governments to do all this because they are obliged to do so under the terms of the Agreement. Because it is the right thing to do, though this has rarely, if ever, been a factor in British policy on Ireland. But it is also the tactically smart thing to do because without encouragement political unionism will have no incentive to join the process.
Why should they engage positively if they can delay progress and be rewared for messing about? Why should the rest of us have to wait on them so that citizens can have basic rights?
Mr. Blair needs to give the DUP a choice. They need to know they can be part of the process now but that if they don't, or won't, or cannot bring themselves to join with the rest of us then the process is not waiting any longer.
It is my view that unionism will eventually engage. Civic unionism, the business community, the broad raft of unionist opinion is for moving on. In many ways political unionism is lagging behind its own broad constituency. But none of us received a mandate to behave in an irresponsible way. Political parties which are serious about representing their constituents will come to terms with a new dispensation when they know they have to.
The onus is now firmly on Mr. Blair to lay the foundations for that new dispensation. So, although there are clearly great difficulties and challenges ahead I would urge you all to keep the faith and to press ahead. Look at how far we have come.
The US Contribution
Ten years ago it was all very different. Ten years ago there was no peace process.
Ten years ago Sinn Féin was a demonised organisation sowing the seeds of our peace strategy to a censored and sceptical media, pioneering delicate and difficult talks in a society which was polarised by the relentless cycle of ongoing injustice and violence.
Ten years ago we were told that peace was impossible and that Irish unity was a pipe dream.
And then came the IRA cessation and the political landscape began to change.
Not least as a consequence of the work of Irish America - and the support of Irish America - of the people in this room - to the efforts for peace.
Ten years ago Irish America committed itself to working to end visa restrictions on Irish republicans; to helping to secure equal access to the Administration and political opinion; to encourage private and corporate investment, and aid from the government; and to persuade the Administration here to act as a guarantor of any agreement which might be achieved.
Much of this was accomplished but much remains to be done. Whatever happens in the discussions over the next few weeks the peace process is now entering a new and more intense phase. Since I arrived yesterday I have met Republicans who are justifiably pleased and Democrats who are justifiably on a downer in the wake of your election. I know there are many issues of contention between you but there are Republicans and Democrats in this room. Why?
Because despite your political differences you care about Ireland. You my friends - Irish America - is what the democrats and the republicans have in common on Ireland. So as an outsider as I extend congratulations to George Bush and commiserations to John Kerry I call upon you all to redouble your efforts in the time ahead. Here in the United States we need a reinvigorated, renewed focus on peace in Ireland.
That means Irish America working as never before for the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. That means Irish America strategically engaging with the White House and Capitol Hill in support of Irish unity and independence and changing British policy.
There are a wide range of Irish organisations and solidarity groups in the U.S. - come together, discuss, argue if you must, but agree a plan of campaign that will ensure that as Sinn Féin grows in political strength in Ireland that here in the United States there is a growth in the popular demand for Irish unity and independence.
You can do it. We can do it together. We have now seen what is possible. Any of you who have visited the north in recent years will have seen the transformation. The reality is that across the island of Ireland life is better for the vast majority of our people. There are hundreds of people, thousands of people, who are alive today who might otherwise be dead and many more who would have been injured. That progress cannot be squandered.
Peace is possible, real and lasting and permanent - and a united, independent Ireland is ours if we want it badly enough, if we win support for that objective and if we are prepared to work hard to achieve it. So my friends stay with us in this great endeavour ."
ENDS
**Posted by Danielle Ni Dhighe
5 November 2004
Irish Republican Socialist Party
http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html
Support the Turkish Death Fasters, End the Campaign of Isolation
Three years ago on 5 November 2001, the Turkish state murdered four
people who had acted in solidarity with prisoners on a death fast to
bring an end to isolation of political prisoners within the gaols
there. At that time, the struggle had already been ongoing for a year,
today, as the protest enters its fifth year, 117 lives have been lost
in the fight to oppose isolation in the prisons.
It was the 20th of October 2000 when the Turkish state decided it
would break the will of the political prisoners it held by ending
their right to association and introducing a new system of isolation.
The prisoners responded with a death fast, which is a less austere
form of the hunger strike tactic employed by prisoners in Long Kesh in
1981. After only the 59th day of the death fast, on 19 December 2000,
a military assault was launched on the prisoners' compound, resulting
in the murder of 28 prisoners, including six women prisoners who were
burned alive in their cells.
Following the massacre, the state was able to gain greater isolation
of the prisoners, so their supporters on the outside took up the death
fast. When that resistance couldn't be broken, the area in the Armutlu
district of Istanbul where the protesters resided was attacked. The
result was the four deaths whose anniversary we observe today.
Throughout the past four years, the Turkish state has been unable to
break the resistance of these political prisoners and their
supporters. Despite solitary confinement, torture, arrests,
force-feeding of hunger strikers, brutal assaults, and more, the fight
continues. Though it is estimated that as many as 600 people have
sustained permanent damage to their health and 117 lives have been
lost, the struggle continues.
Comrades of the Irish Republican Socialist Party have stayed with the
death fasters in Armutlu. The comrades of the death fasters have
visited the graves of hunger strike martyrs of the Irish National
Liberation Army. We have both attended conferences that drew activists
from around the globe to speak out against state isolation of
political prisoners. The death fasters in Turkey and their comrades
have our deepest solidarity. We call upon all those who believe in
social justice, all those who oppose fascism, to join us in supporting
Kurdish and Turkish political prisoners in Turkey and fighting against
the state campaign of isolation. Only an end to the campaign of
isolation will bring to an end the struggle and martyrdom of
these revolutionaries.
5 November 2004
Irish Republican Socialist Party
http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html
Support the Turkish Death Fasters, End the Campaign of Isolation
Three years ago on 5 November 2001, the Turkish state murdered four
people who had acted in solidarity with prisoners on a death fast to
bring an end to isolation of political prisoners within the gaols
there. At that time, the struggle had already been ongoing for a year,
today, as the protest enters its fifth year, 117 lives have been lost
in the fight to oppose isolation in the prisons.
It was the 20th of October 2000 when the Turkish state decided it
would break the will of the political prisoners it held by ending
their right to association and introducing a new system of isolation.
The prisoners responded with a death fast, which is a less austere
form of the hunger strike tactic employed by prisoners in Long Kesh in
1981. After only the 59th day of the death fast, on 19 December 2000,
a military assault was launched on the prisoners' compound, resulting
in the murder of 28 prisoners, including six women prisoners who were
burned alive in their cells.
Following the massacre, the state was able to gain greater isolation
of the prisoners, so their supporters on the outside took up the death
fast. When that resistance couldn't be broken, the area in the Armutlu
district of Istanbul where the protesters resided was attacked. The
result was the four deaths whose anniversary we observe today.
Throughout the past four years, the Turkish state has been unable to
break the resistance of these political prisoners and their
supporters. Despite solitary confinement, torture, arrests,
force-feeding of hunger strikers, brutal assaults, and more, the fight
continues. Though it is estimated that as many as 600 people have
sustained permanent damage to their health and 117 lives have been
lost, the struggle continues.
Comrades of the Irish Republican Socialist Party have stayed with the
death fasters in Armutlu. The comrades of the death fasters have
visited the graves of hunger strike martyrs of the Irish National
Liberation Army. We have both attended conferences that drew activists
from around the globe to speak out against state isolation of
political prisoners. The death fasters in Turkey and their comrades
have our deepest solidarity. We call upon all those who believe in
social justice, all those who oppose fascism, to join us in supporting
Kurdish and Turkish political prisoners in Turkey and fighting against
the state campaign of isolation. Only an end to the campaign of
isolation will bring to an end the struggle and martyrdom of
these revolutionaries.
IRA2
Mechanic Finds Live Bomb Under Car During Oil Change
Fri Nov 5,12:42 PM ET
A mechanic performing a routine oil change discovered
a live bomb underneath a car apparently rigged to
explode when the driver turned the vehicle's lights
on, according to Local 6 News.
Police said Jim Panaro drove his car to Donald's Auto
Repair shop located at 57th Avenue and Johnson Street
in Hollyood, Fla., after he noticed wires dangling
under the car's rear bumper.
A mechanic then found the explosive.
"It was wrapped in tape and had putty underneath," a
Donald's mechanic said. "So, we put it up in the air
and saw a wire running on top and then called 911
right away."
Two hours after shutting down and evacuating an entire
neighborhood, the Broward County bomb squad removed
the device and detonated it.
Hollywood police refused to say what kind of bomb it
was, only that it was the real thing, Local 6 News
reported.
According to public records, the owner of the car,
Panaro is a former chairman of a group called Noraid,
which is known to fund the Irish Republican Army .
Panaro said he is no longer affiliated with the group
and has no idea who might target him.
Police are continuing their investigation.
Mechanic Finds Live Bomb Under Car During Oil Change
Fri Nov 5,12:42 PM ET
A mechanic performing a routine oil change discovered
a live bomb underneath a car apparently rigged to
explode when the driver turned the vehicle's lights
on, according to Local 6 News.
Police said Jim Panaro drove his car to Donald's Auto
Repair shop located at 57th Avenue and Johnson Street
in Hollyood, Fla., after he noticed wires dangling
under the car's rear bumper.
A mechanic then found the explosive.
"It was wrapped in tape and had putty underneath," a
Donald's mechanic said. "So, we put it up in the air
and saw a wire running on top and then called 911
right away."
Two hours after shutting down and evacuating an entire
neighborhood, the Broward County bomb squad removed
the device and detonated it.
Hollywood police refused to say what kind of bomb it
was, only that it was the real thing, Local 6 News
reported.
According to public records, the owner of the car,
Panaro is a former chairman of a group called Noraid,
which is known to fund the Irish Republican Army .
Panaro said he is no longer affiliated with the group
and has no idea who might target him.
Police are continuing their investigation.
Sinn Féin
SDLP challenged after Policing Board whitewash
Published: 4 November, 2004
Sinn Féin Assembly member for North Belfast Gerry Kelly today challenged the SDLPs Alex Attwood to come to Ardoyne and publicly debate with him the report published today by the Policing Board , of which he is a member, which endorses the PSNI operation in Ardoyne on July 12th.
Mr Kelly said:
"The PSNI operation in Ardoyne in July when an Orange march along with a UDA mob was forced through three nationalist areas resulted in serious violence. The anger generated by this operation is still being felt within the broad nationalist community in North Belfast.
" In the wake of the operation and in the face of growing nationalist anger at the actions of the PSNI the Policing Board with the support of the SDLP advised that the only mechanism they had to hold the PSNI to account was through the commissioning of this report. This despite the fact that the Chairperson of the Policing Board Des Rea had already praised the PSNI for the operation.
" Sinn Féin predicted that this exercise was not about holding the PSNI to account but was simply a device aimed at taking pressure off the SDLP leadership in the face of mounting criticism from within their own ranks over their continuing support for this sort of failed policing. The contents of this report prove that to be the case. The report is little more than a whitewash and endorses the PSNI operation.
" This outcome obviously raises very serious questions for the SDLP. Alex Attwood assured the nationalist community that the Policing Board would hold the PSNI to account over the Ardoyne operation. The opposite has proven to be the case. The report simply rubber stamps the PSNI operation which forced an anti-Catholic mob through catholic areas and will cause further anger and offence within the broad nationalist community.
" I would now challenge Alex Attwood to come to Ardoyne and debate the contents of this report with me. Let him now try and tell the people of Ardoyne who were brutalised by the operation that he is delivering accountability through the Policing Board. Today's report is another vindication of the approach which republicans have adopted to the current policing arrangements" ENDS
SDLP challenged after Policing Board whitewash
Published: 4 November, 2004
Sinn Féin Assembly member for North Belfast Gerry Kelly today challenged the SDLPs Alex Attwood to come to Ardoyne and publicly debate with him the report published today by the Policing Board , of which he is a member, which endorses the PSNI operation in Ardoyne on July 12th.
Mr Kelly said:
"The PSNI operation in Ardoyne in July when an Orange march along with a UDA mob was forced through three nationalist areas resulted in serious violence. The anger generated by this operation is still being felt within the broad nationalist community in North Belfast.
" In the wake of the operation and in the face of growing nationalist anger at the actions of the PSNI the Policing Board with the support of the SDLP advised that the only mechanism they had to hold the PSNI to account was through the commissioning of this report. This despite the fact that the Chairperson of the Policing Board Des Rea had already praised the PSNI for the operation.
" Sinn Féin predicted that this exercise was not about holding the PSNI to account but was simply a device aimed at taking pressure off the SDLP leadership in the face of mounting criticism from within their own ranks over their continuing support for this sort of failed policing. The contents of this report prove that to be the case. The report is little more than a whitewash and endorses the PSNI operation.
" This outcome obviously raises very serious questions for the SDLP. Alex Attwood assured the nationalist community that the Policing Board would hold the PSNI to account over the Ardoyne operation. The opposite has proven to be the case. The report simply rubber stamps the PSNI operation which forced an anti-Catholic mob through catholic areas and will cause further anger and offence within the broad nationalist community.
" I would now challenge Alex Attwood to come to Ardoyne and debate the contents of this report with me. Let him now try and tell the people of Ardoyne who were brutalised by the operation that he is delivering accountability through the Policing Board. Today's report is another vindication of the approach which republicans have adopted to the current policing arrangements" ENDS
5.11.04
Sinn Féin
Derry Mayor launches Civic Rememberence Day
Published: 4 November, 2004
Derry Mayor Gearoid O hEara, announcing details of Derry's first ever act of inclusive civic remembrance in the city today, has asked that people make a judgement on the initiative based on its contents, not its author.
Mayor O hEara said:
"On the night I was elected Mayor I announced my intention to attempt to deal in a new and imaginative way with the potentially contentious issue of remembrance."
"In attempting to do this I have been in contact with hundreds of individuals and dozens of organisations in the city and beyond as to how we might go about achieving this objective. I have been heartened by the response of these people and am confident that this Council can lead the way in creating an act of civic remembrance that will create the space for people to remember all those "Who have died as a result of war and conflict in and from the city and district."
"I appreciate and fully understand that remembrance is a very personal and voluntary act and I am not seeking to take anyone to a place they are not yet comfortable going to. Remembrance is too personal and too sensitive an issue to become a political football. It cannot be forced and should never be faked.
"As Mayor I am also conscious of the many victims of conflict and war, and their loved ones left behind, who are either overlooked by the existing exclusive acts of remembrance or who are uncomfortable with aspects of them. I would also like to state that this event is not intended to replace any of the existing commemorations that take place in the district and which mean so much to those who organise and attend them.
"Yet as Mayor I have a responsibility to all the people of the city and district and it is as Mayor, the civic representative of the people of this C ity and district, that I am initiating A Day of Reflection.
"A Day of Reflection is a civic remembrance act that is dedicated to the memory of every man, women and child who has died in and from the city and district as a result of war or conflict. It will consist of the erection of a plaque that will incorporate a civic logo and the following dedication:
"In memory of all those who have lost their lives as a result of war and conflict from and in the city and district.
"There will be no speeches or statements, no opinions offered on the nature of the wars and conflicts in which people fell and no judgements made on the circumstances of their death. Each was someone's loved one, and each had a connection with this city and district. For us, that will be enough." ENDS
Derry Mayor launches Civic Rememberence Day
Published: 4 November, 2004
Derry Mayor Gearoid O hEara, announcing details of Derry's first ever act of inclusive civic remembrance in the city today, has asked that people make a judgement on the initiative based on its contents, not its author.
Mayor O hEara said:
"On the night I was elected Mayor I announced my intention to attempt to deal in a new and imaginative way with the potentially contentious issue of remembrance."
"In attempting to do this I have been in contact with hundreds of individuals and dozens of organisations in the city and beyond as to how we might go about achieving this objective. I have been heartened by the response of these people and am confident that this Council can lead the way in creating an act of civic remembrance that will create the space for people to remember all those "Who have died as a result of war and conflict in and from the city and district."
"I appreciate and fully understand that remembrance is a very personal and voluntary act and I am not seeking to take anyone to a place they are not yet comfortable going to. Remembrance is too personal and too sensitive an issue to become a political football. It cannot be forced and should never be faked.
"As Mayor I am also conscious of the many victims of conflict and war, and their loved ones left behind, who are either overlooked by the existing exclusive acts of remembrance or who are uncomfortable with aspects of them. I would also like to state that this event is not intended to replace any of the existing commemorations that take place in the district and which mean so much to those who organise and attend them.
"Yet as Mayor I have a responsibility to all the people of the city and district and it is as Mayor, the civic representative of the people of this C ity and district, that I am initiating A Day of Reflection.
"A Day of Reflection is a civic remembrance act that is dedicated to the memory of every man, women and child who has died in and from the city and district as a result of war or conflict. It will consist of the erection of a plaque that will incorporate a civic logo and the following dedication:
"In memory of all those who have lost their lives as a result of war and conflict from and in the city and district.
"There will be no speeches or statements, no opinions offered on the nature of the wars and conflicts in which people fell and no judgements made on the circumstances of their death. Each was someone's loved one, and each had a connection with this city and district. For us, that will be enough." ENDS
Irelandclick.com
Court hears drugs find is linked to loyalists
A court heard this week that police had uncovered a major loyalist drugs operation in North Belfast and ecstasy tablets worth a street value of £80,000.
The comments were made by a crown prosecution barrister as two men appeared at Belfast magistrates court charged with possessing ecstasy with intent to supply the drug.
The accused are Mark McMahon (26) of Whitewell Road, and John David Robert Smith (19) of Ballysillan Avenue. Both deny the charges.
The crown lawyer said the two accused were found in an outhouse adjacent to a property on the Flush Road with 6,000 euro and bags of ecstasy tablets that appeared ready for distribution. Viagra-type tablets were also found.
The court heard that 10,000 ecstasy pills were found in grounds to the rear of the property along with another 3,000 euro.
The court also heard that when the police arrived at the scene a hooded figure ran from an outbuilding and across neighbouring gardens and escaped.
Crown counsel said police believed they had found a major distribution centre organised by loyalist paramilitaries for the supply of class A drugs in North Belfast.
She said it was a highly sophisticated and developed system with purpose-built hides in fields not on the property but convenient to an address on Flush Road.
Nothing had been found in a follow-up search of Smith’s house, but that a search of McMahon’s home uncovered 3,740 euro and a substantial quantity of figures which police say related to drug-dealing figures because of their references to halves and quarters alongside names, the court heard.
A lawyer for Smith told the court that his client protested his innocence and would maintain that the sheds in question were pigeon sheds which his client had been cleaning when the PSNI raid occurred. He said there was no forensic evidence against his client.
The court heard that McMahon had told police he had gone to the property at Flush Road to leave off a car to be prepared for MOT.
The pair were refused bail and remained in custody until November 29.
info@irelandclick.com
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
Court hears drugs find is linked to loyalists
A court heard this week that police had uncovered a major loyalist drugs operation in North Belfast and ecstasy tablets worth a street value of £80,000.
The comments were made by a crown prosecution barrister as two men appeared at Belfast magistrates court charged with possessing ecstasy with intent to supply the drug.
The accused are Mark McMahon (26) of Whitewell Road, and John David Robert Smith (19) of Ballysillan Avenue. Both deny the charges.
The crown lawyer said the two accused were found in an outhouse adjacent to a property on the Flush Road with 6,000 euro and bags of ecstasy tablets that appeared ready for distribution. Viagra-type tablets were also found.
The court heard that 10,000 ecstasy pills were found in grounds to the rear of the property along with another 3,000 euro.
The court also heard that when the police arrived at the scene a hooded figure ran from an outbuilding and across neighbouring gardens and escaped.
Crown counsel said police believed they had found a major distribution centre organised by loyalist paramilitaries for the supply of class A drugs in North Belfast.
She said it was a highly sophisticated and developed system with purpose-built hides in fields not on the property but convenient to an address on Flush Road.
Nothing had been found in a follow-up search of Smith’s house, but that a search of McMahon’s home uncovered 3,740 euro and a substantial quantity of figures which police say related to drug-dealing figures because of their references to halves and quarters alongside names, the court heard.
A lawyer for Smith told the court that his client protested his innocence and would maintain that the sheds in question were pigeon sheds which his client had been cleaning when the PSNI raid occurred. He said there was no forensic evidence against his client.
The court heard that McMahon had told police he had gone to the property at Flush Road to leave off a car to be prepared for MOT.
The pair were refused bail and remained in custody until November 29.
info@irelandclick.com
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
Irelandclick.com
ARDOYNE POLICING REPORT IS SLAMMED BY SF’s KELLY
A report by the Policing Board into this year’s notorious Orange march that saw loyalists pushed past Ardoyne shops, including senior members of the UDA, has been slammed by Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly after it completely exonerated the policing operation.
And the Sinn Féin man is among many who are angry that no mention was made of the central presence of feared UDA brigadier William John Borland on the day.
The July 12 parade reached new heights of controversy after the PSNI forced through the loyalists despite a Parades Commission ban on supporters going up the Crumlin Road.
One of these was William John ‘Bonzer’ Borland, the leading member of the UDA’s North Belfast brigade.
The police actions of that day led to a fierce nationalist backlash and some of the worst civil unrest seen in North Belfast for many years. It led to calls from former SDLP mayor Martin Morgan for his party to leave the Policing Board.
But today the PSNI was said by the Policing Board report to have “complied with the Human Rights Act”.
The report says the PSNI “only had power to prevent the followers/supporters proceeding along that part of the route if they presented a threat to the peace sufficient to trigger police powers to deal with a breach of the peace”. But the report later states that police on the scene described the loyalist crowd as “well behaved, but impatient... no threat of violence, nor was there any physical pressure on the police line.”
It goes on to state the possibilities that might have happened if the loyalists did not get up past the Ardoyne shops.
“There was concern that holding back the group for a prolonged period might increase the risk of disorder at least, or serious violence at worst if followers/supporters from other parades joined those at the junction of Woodvale Road and Woodvale Parade swelling the numbers from the 200 or so to a much larger number, possibly even 1,000. It has been suggested to us that the PSNI over-stated this concern, but we have seen a leaflet recovered by the police that urges East Belfast Orange to ‘delay their return to Templemore Avenue until all Brethren, bands and loyal supporters return safely to Ligoneil (sic) Orange Hall’.”
But Gerry Kelly said the report held no surprises for the nationalist community in North Belfast.
“Unfortunately this is no surprise and we said at the time the call for the report was to keep the SDLP on the Policing Board,” he said. “The PSNI wrested the powers of the Parades Commission and they themselves forced a UDA mob up through a Catholic area.”
Gerry Kelly said the anger was still palpable in Ardoyne five months after the loyalists were forced up the Crumlin Road as protesting nationalists were hemmed in behind walls of steel barriers.
“Anger is still felt in the Ardoyne area because Des Rea, the chairman of the Policing Board, exonerated the PSNI even before the outcome of any report.
“Martin Morgan, who was in the SDLP, said at the time the party should consider coming off the Policing Board. People won’t be surprised that the Policing Board found the PSNI had behaved properly when it was the PSNI who forced an anti-Catholic march through a Catholic area. Here you have the PSNI, who have policed this parade before, having the choice of whether to force these loyalists up the road or not. They knew it was being led by well-known UDA men and they forced it through a Catholic area. Here you have a report that doesn’t even mention that.”
A spokeswoman for the Policing Board admitted the UDA issue “was raised” but that it was nothing to do with the report.“This was our human rights lawyers considering how the police met their responsibilities in compliance with the Human Rights Act.”
Journalist:: Andrea McKernon
ARDOYNE POLICING REPORT IS SLAMMED BY SF’s KELLY
A report by the Policing Board into this year’s notorious Orange march that saw loyalists pushed past Ardoyne shops, including senior members of the UDA, has been slammed by Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly after it completely exonerated the policing operation.
And the Sinn Féin man is among many who are angry that no mention was made of the central presence of feared UDA brigadier William John Borland on the day.
The July 12 parade reached new heights of controversy after the PSNI forced through the loyalists despite a Parades Commission ban on supporters going up the Crumlin Road.
One of these was William John ‘Bonzer’ Borland, the leading member of the UDA’s North Belfast brigade.
The police actions of that day led to a fierce nationalist backlash and some of the worst civil unrest seen in North Belfast for many years. It led to calls from former SDLP mayor Martin Morgan for his party to leave the Policing Board.
But today the PSNI was said by the Policing Board report to have “complied with the Human Rights Act”.
The report says the PSNI “only had power to prevent the followers/supporters proceeding along that part of the route if they presented a threat to the peace sufficient to trigger police powers to deal with a breach of the peace”. But the report later states that police on the scene described the loyalist crowd as “well behaved, but impatient... no threat of violence, nor was there any physical pressure on the police line.”
It goes on to state the possibilities that might have happened if the loyalists did not get up past the Ardoyne shops.
“There was concern that holding back the group for a prolonged period might increase the risk of disorder at least, or serious violence at worst if followers/supporters from other parades joined those at the junction of Woodvale Road and Woodvale Parade swelling the numbers from the 200 or so to a much larger number, possibly even 1,000. It has been suggested to us that the PSNI over-stated this concern, but we have seen a leaflet recovered by the police that urges East Belfast Orange to ‘delay their return to Templemore Avenue until all Brethren, bands and loyal supporters return safely to Ligoneil (sic) Orange Hall’.”
But Gerry Kelly said the report held no surprises for the nationalist community in North Belfast.
“Unfortunately this is no surprise and we said at the time the call for the report was to keep the SDLP on the Policing Board,” he said. “The PSNI wrested the powers of the Parades Commission and they themselves forced a UDA mob up through a Catholic area.”
Gerry Kelly said the anger was still palpable in Ardoyne five months after the loyalists were forced up the Crumlin Road as protesting nationalists were hemmed in behind walls of steel barriers.
“Anger is still felt in the Ardoyne area because Des Rea, the chairman of the Policing Board, exonerated the PSNI even before the outcome of any report.
“Martin Morgan, who was in the SDLP, said at the time the party should consider coming off the Policing Board. People won’t be surprised that the Policing Board found the PSNI had behaved properly when it was the PSNI who forced an anti-Catholic march through a Catholic area. Here you have the PSNI, who have policed this parade before, having the choice of whether to force these loyalists up the road or not. They knew it was being led by well-known UDA men and they forced it through a Catholic area. Here you have a report that doesn’t even mention that.”
A spokeswoman for the Policing Board admitted the UDA issue “was raised” but that it was nothing to do with the report.“This was our human rights lawyers considering how the police met their responsibilities in compliance with the Human Rights Act.”
Journalist:: Andrea McKernon
