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Saturday, August 26, 2006

Sat, 26 Aug 2006 21:47:37 GMT

Slide Show of Oahu Hawaii

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Sat, 26 Aug 2006 21:40:15 GMT

Apology Owed

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 16:26:32 GMT

The Family of Volunteer Patsy O'Hara, Irish National Liberation Army

• 11 August 2006

The Sinn Fein 81 Committee have organised 'Night of Remembrance for Hunger Striker and INLA Volunteer Mickey Devine', in Derry's Guildhall on the evening of August 19th.

We call upon The Ex-Lord Mayor of Derry City, Lynn Fleming (Sinn Fein), to use this opportunity to formally apologise, on behalf of the provisional Republican movement, to the Devine and O Hara families for the harassment and attacks which both suffered at the hands of their members, during many months, which in turn contributed to the imprisonment of Patsy and Mickey in 1976.

It was due to death threats from the provisional movement upon the Republican Socialist Movement, which in turn directly led Mickey and Patsy to raid an arms shop in Lifford Co Donegal. During this raid they took 28 medium to low calibre rifles, to protect both themselves and the Movement to which they belonged.

Both (along with two others) were later arrested in Derry and charged with possession with intent.

The charges against Patsy were dropped due to no evidence. The other 3, including Mickey, were later sentenced to 12 years.

If no threats had been made upon the membership and extended families of the RSM, then it would have been unlikely that Mickey would have found himself imprisoned during this period in time.

Patsy had received a beating from a group of up to 13 of the provisional movement a few weeks previous to these threats.

As a family, we have enormous admiration for the Volunteers of the IRA who fought the British war machine to a standstill. But the actions of some of those members (including its Derry leadership) fell far short of the noble aims, objectives, and conduct of that which a freedom fighter's should be.

It is a truly sad reflection upon this organisation that they were busier harassing, threatening and attempting to prevent Irish Republican Socialist revolutionaries like Patsy and Mickey from conducting attacks against British army and RUC personnel.....than they were persuing republican objectives themselves.

We also acknowledge the genuine people involved in the above committee who have worked tirelessly for months in setting up fitting commemorations for the ten H Block Hunger Strikers.

And, as they have taken it upon themselves to organise this night of remembrance for Republican Socialist freedom fighter Mickey Devine — a leading member of the Irish National Liberation Army (without, we may add, any invitation to the RSM to participate in, or formally attend the event!), let them take the opportunity to formally acknowledge and apologise to our families.

http://lark.phoblacht.net/OH13080616g.html

Monday, August 14, 2006

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 16:24:50 GMT

OMBUDSMAN EXPECTED TO PROVIDE DAMNING EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION

08/14/06 02:32 EST

A report due to be published by Northern Ireland police ombudsman Nuala O’Loan is expected to provide damning evidence that the RUC Special Branch allowed loyalist informers to carry out more than a dozen murders of innocent people.

O’Loan’s report is expected to be published in the coming weeks. It is understood to provide some of the most serious evidence ever uncovered on the murders.

The investigation is the culmination of a nine-year campaign by Belfast man Raymond McCord Sr to bring the killers of his 22-yearold son to justice. Raymond McCord Jr was beaten to death by a UVF gang at Ballyduff Quarry on the outskirts of north Belfast in November 1997.

The 22-year-old, who was himself linked to the UVF, is understood to have been murdered to protect a senior loyalist who was being investigated by the UVF leadership over involvement in drug dealing.

For most of the last nine years, the victim’s father fought a hopeless campaign claiming that his son’s killers were Special Branch informers who had been allowed to kill citizens with the full knowledge of their police handlers.

However, a UVF attack on Belfast doorman Trevor Gowdy in December 2002 was to bring a dramatic breakthrough in the case.

North Belfast UVF leader Mark Haddock and other members of the paramilitary organisation’s Mount Vernon unit were arrested and charged with Gowdy’s attempted murder.

The case and the publicity that came with it forced the RUC (renamed PSNI) Special Branch to cut loose one of its most prized agents.

While McCord continued to allege that Haddock was a police informer and had ordered the murder of his son, few took the claims seriously.

Little attention was paid to the news that O’Loan had agreed to investigate McCord’s allegations in 2003. However, it was the decision by former RUC detectives Johnson ‘Jonty’
Brown and Trevor McIlwrath to publicly endorse McCord’s allegations that put the first hole in the wall of silence.

Brown and McIlwrath had both been police officers for more than 30 years before they retired. More importantly, they were the men who had sent Johnny Adair to jail in 1994 after secretly recording him admitting to directing UDA terrorism.

Brown and McIlwrath, however, were not afraid to speak out about the Special Branch allowing informers to murder with impunity.

In 1991, they secretly taped UDA man Ken Barrett admitting the murder of human rights attorney Pat Finucane.

However, they claimed that when RUC Special Branch became involved in the case, the confession tape went missing and they were blocked from charging Barrett with Finucane’s murder.

Crucially, Brown and McIlwrath recruited the 16-yearold Mark Haddock to become an informer in 1985 after he was arrested for petrol bombing a bus.

For six years, Haddock fed them information about low-level crime, but in 1990, when he told them he had joined the UVF, Special Branch took over control of the agent. What took place over the next decade will be the subject of O’Loan’s report.

Haddock is alleged to have shot dead Catholic taxi driver Sharon McKenna in north Belfast in January 1991 after the UVF suspected she might be an informer.

Brown and McIlwrath would later claim that, within days, they had enough evidence to charge Haddock with McKenna’s murder.

However, they claim that Special Branch blocked them from moving against the agent.

Over the next decade, Haddock is alleged to have been involved in more than a dozen murders, yet no charges were ever brought against him.

When he was charged with the attempted murder of Trevor Gowdy in August 2003, the Special Branch could no longer protect Haddock. In February of this year he was shot and seriously wounded by UVF gunmen for being a Special Branch informer.

He is on remand on a hospital wing inside Maghaberry prison awaiting judgment in the Gowdy trial.

In October last year, Irish Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte used Dail privilege to name Haddock as a Special Branch informer who had been involved in murder.

In May, Sir Reg Empey, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was widely criticised after he allowed Progressive Unionist Party leader David Ervine to join his party’s assembly team at Stormont.

Ervine’s party is accepted as having close ties to the UVF.

In an ironic twist, Brown, McIlwrath and a third former police officer were arrested by O’Loan’s detectives earlier this week and questioned about alleged attempts to pervert the course of justice.

All three were later released without charge.

The arrest of Brown and McIlwrath is seen as a technicality.

Their questioning is understood to have related to the fact that they had provided evidence of Haddock’s alleged involvement in McKenna’s murder but were blocked from pursuing him by Special Branch.

It is understood O’Loan’s investigators will now seek to question senior police officers in the coming weeks over the allegation that Haddock was protected by the highest ranks within RUC (PSNI) Special Branch.

O’Loan is understood to be preparing to recommend charges against a number of senior Special Branch officers.

If, as expected, she concludes that senior police officers allowed state agents to carry out more than a dozen murders with impunity, the implications for both the PSNI and the UUP will be immense.
__________________________________________________________

The Irish American Information Service is a non-profit organization providing up-to-the-minute political news from Ireland to the world.
The IAIS is funded entirely by your contributions. Please send your tax-deductible contributions to IAIS at the 907 F St NE, Washington DC 20002. You can visit us on the Web at http://www.iais.org

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Tue, 30 May 2006 16:20:34 GMT

COLLUSION SUSPECT SHOT OUTSIDE BELFAST

05/30/06 11:07 EST

A leading Ulster Volunteer Force paramilitary member is critical after being shot in County Antrim.

The attack happened just before 4PM local time this afternoon in Newtownabbey. It is understood Mark Haddock, 36, has been taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast with multiple wounds.

Mr. Haddock was questioned by detectives about the murder in
1997 of 22-year-old Raymond McCord, whose killing is the focus of a major RUC collusion investigation by the Police Ombudsman.

The inquiry is the biggest ever carried out by Nuala O`Loan`s officers.

The Ombudsman`s report is due to be published within weeks.

Mark Haddock`s former associates in the UVF are the chief suspects in what police are treating as a murder attempt.

He is currently on bail on a charge of attempting to murder doorman, Trevor Gowdy, at a social club in Monkstown nearly four years ago.

Haddock was named in that court case as a leading UVF member. Judgement in the trial has been reserved.

Part of the Doagh Road has been sealed off as police carry out a follow up investigation.

North Belfast DUP MP Nigel Dodds said he was shocked at the shooting.

"This is an appalling incident which will be condemned by all right thinking people," he said.

"Regardless of circumstances no one has the right to take the law into their own hands and I would call upon anyone with information to assist the police in order to bring those responsible to justice."
__________________________________________________________

The Irish American Information Service is a non-profit organization providing up-to-the-minute political news from Ireland to the world.
The IAIS is funded entirely by your contributions. Please send your tax-deductible contributions to IAIS at the 907 F St NE, Washington DC 20002. You can visit us on the Web at http://www.iais.org

Monday, May 29, 2006

Mon, 29 May 2006 15:13:29 GMT

IRISH INDEPENDENCE MOVIE WINS TOP CANNES AWARD

05/28/06 14:32 EST

British director Ken Loach's movie "The Wind That Shakes the Barley," a saga set amid Ireland's struggle for independence in the early 1920s, won top honors today in an unanimous vote at the Cannes Film Festival.

It was the first time veteran filmmaker Loach won the main prize after seven earlier entries in the main competition at the world's most prestigious film festival.

"The Wind That Shakes the Barley" stars Cillian Murphy as an Irish medical student who takes up arms against a reign of terror by the Black and Tans, British troops sent in to quell calls for independence.

Loach, who previously won the third-place prize at Cannes with a 1990 movie about British collusion in Northern Ireland, "Hidden Agenda", and 1993's "Raining Stones," said he hoped the film would be a small step encouraging the British to "confront their imperial history. And maybe, if we tell the truth about the past, maybe we tell the truth about the present."

The nine-member jury that chose Cannes winners was headed by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai and included actors Samuel L. Jackson, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Monica Bellucci and Ziyi Zhang. Wong said the decision for the top prize was unanimous.

The 59th edition of the world's most prestigious film festival opened May 17 with Tom Hanks and Ron Howard's "The Da Vinci Code," which received a harsh reception from Cannes critics but went on to become an instant blockbuster the following weekend.
__________________________________________________________

The Irish American Information Service is a non-profit organization providing up-to-the-minute political news from Ireland to the world.
The IAIS is funded entirely by your contributions. Please send your tax-deductible contributions to IAIS at the 907 F St NE, Washington DC 20002. You can visit us on the Web at http://www.iais.org

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Sun, 28 May 2006 15:04:31 GMT

28 May 2006

EXCLUSIVE: SPY SHOCKER

By Gail Edgar

http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17143309&method=full&siteid=93463&headline=spy-shocker--name_page.html

TOP secret papers obtained by The People have sensationally exposed one of Sinn Fein's most senior figures as a British SPY.

It is alleged "Agent J11B" colluded with MI6 on undercover operations in which a number of people were killed.

He is also said to be a former member of the IRA Council who met regularly with Irish premier Bertie Ahern and his government.

The secret documents, passed to our Belfast office, include his security code number which he used as identification when liaising with his British handlers.

The agent has been a leading light of Sinn Fein - the main nationalist party in Northern Ireland - for 20 years and is known as a brilliant negotiator.

Rumours that a top Sinn Fein man was a spy have been circulating for some time.

But it is only now that the alleged proof of his identity will be known in wider circles.

Last night, a security source told The People: "I cannot stress how senior this man is. This will destroy Sinn Fein."

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Sun, 28 May 2006 15:03:11 GMT

McGuinness is not a british spy - Sinn Féin

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=151266900&p=y5yz6748x&n=151267509&x=
28/05/2006 - 10:47:31 AM

McGuinness is not a british spy - Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin today rubbished claims by a former British Army intelligence officer that its chief negotiator Martin McGuinness was a British spy.

The allegation, which was carried in a Sunday newspaper, was made by former agent handler Martin Ingram.

Mr Ingram two years ago identified Belfast republican Freddie Scappaticci as the prized British agent Stakeknife, within the IRA – an allegation he denied before fleeing his home in the west of the city.

It also followed the unmasking last year of Sinn Féin’s former head of administration at Stormont Denis Donaldson as a spy.

He was gunned down in April at a remote cottage in Glenties, Co Donegal after details of where he was laying low emerged.

A Sinn Féin spokesman today dismissed claims that Mr McGuinness, who admitted in May 2001 in a submission to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry that he was the IRA’s second in command in Derry in 1971, worked for MI6 during the 1990’s.

He also rejected claims that the allegation against Mr McGuinness was supported by documentary evidence.

“We have heard this all before,” a spokesman told PA.

“It is rubbish. It is nonsense.

“Anybody with half a wit will treat it with the contempt it rightly deserves.”

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Wed, 24 May 2006 16:21:36 GMT

CALLS FOR COLLUSOIN SUMMIT AS FINUCANE KILLER RELEASED

05/24/06 08:40 EST

An Anglo-Irish summit must be held to discuss collusion between British security forces and loyalist paramilitaries, it was claimed today.

Sinn Fein told the Dail (Irish parliamant) that British Prime Minister Tony Blair should be "put in the dock" about several cases like the 1989 murder of Belfast attorney Pat Finucane in order to establish truth and justice.

Sinn Fein`s Dail parliamentary leader Caoimhghin O Caolain raised the issue a day after the only person convicted of the death of Finucane - Ken Barrett - was released under the Good Friday Agreement and whisked away to a secret location outside Ireland.

Mr O Caolain also recalled the late Sinn Fein councillor Eddie Fullerton, who was shot dead in his Co Donegal home 15 years ago today.

Last Sunday also marked the 12th anniversary of the shooting dead of doorman Martin Doherty at the Widow Scallan`s pub in Pearse Street, Dublin, as he thwarted a loyalist bomb attack.

The 32nd anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, in 1974, when 33 people were killed, also fell last week.

Mr O Caolain said that in all of these cases, the perpetrators were acting as agents of the British security forces.

He said that before a Dail debate in March calling for a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane, the Northern Ireland Office labelled the motion flawed.

He asked the Taoiseach: "Will you now seek a special summit with the British Prime Minister that will focus solely on the issue of collusion and that thereby you will help to bring full international attention to this very important issue?"

The Cavan-Monaghan TD also called for full public inquiries into the Dublin/Monaghan bombings and the murder of Mr Fullerton.

Mr Ahern said all the deaths cited by Mr O Caolain were very sad cases.

He defended the release of Barrett, which he said was adjudicated upon by an independent board.

He said: "I know for Geraldine Finucane and the Finucane family that it is hard to take, but it is for all the families who see people released under this scheme. The board acted in a way that they would see as consistent."

He said it was agreed with the British at the Weston Park talks in 2001 that tribunals of inquiry would be set up for certain atrocities during the Troubles.

But he said that the British set a different deadline for these inquiries.

Mr Ahern said he had lobbied US president George Bush on the issue as well as the EU parliament.

"We have protested continuously about that. It is the British Government`s determination not to have an examination which will bring members of MI5 and MI6 and the security machinery into public light. I do not think they are likely to change that position. So we continue to disagree with them on it."

Mr Ahern noted that barrister Paddy MacEntee was examining the issues of collusion in relation to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and was receiving support from all sides in his work.

Mr O Caolain claimed that a deal was struck in the Finucane murder so that Mr Barrett pleaded guilty and the full truth was prevented from emerging.

"British collusion is ongoing. The British are continuing to protect their agents. It`s not enough to let Tony Blair off the hook. He must be forced before the full glare of the international media to face this issue directly with you.
He must be put in the dock in this issue."

Meanwhile, one of the police officers who helped convict the murderer of Mr. Finucane has said he continues to live in fear of the killer.

Barrett was given a life sentence for the murder in 2004 and was told he would spend at least 22 years in jail.

Retired CID officer Trevour McIlwrath said Barrett had threatened to kill him and his ex-colleague Johnston Brown.

"Ken Barrett is a dangerous, dangerous man who has threatened to kill Detective Sergeant Brown and myself," he said.

"That is a life sentence he has given us for the rest of our lives. We will be under threat from Ken Barrett and people like him who have been released into the community."

It is understood Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain opposed Barrett's release, but the Sentence Review Commission found in his favor.

The three-day hearing took place at Maghaberry last week to decide whether Barrett should be freed.

The commissioners had to assess whether he still had any connection to loyalist paramilitaries, and whether he posed a threat to the public.

As a prisoner in England, he did not qualify for early release under the Good Friday Agreement.

However, this changed when he was transferred to Maghaberry prison in February 2005, and he became eligible for early release.

Pat Finucane' murder was one of the most controversial murders of the Troubles, with allegations that members of the British security forces colluded with loyalists.

The Finucane family and human rights groups are outraged at the proposed terms of an inquiry which is being set up to examine the murder.

They say that it will not be able to establish the truth as it is being held under the Inquiries Act which essentially gives th eBritish government a veto over what information can be released and what can be supressed "to protect the interests of the state".

Revelations that loyalists who were security force agents had been involved in the killing led to allegations of collusion.

Barrett featured in a BBC investigation into the killing, during which he was secretly filmed talking about his role in the murder.
__________________________________________________________

The Irish American Information Service is a non-profit organization providing up-to-the-minute political news from Ireland to the world.
The IAIS is funded entirely by your contributions. Please send your tax-deductible contributions to IAIS at the 907 F St NE, Washington DC 20002. You can visit us on the Web at http://www.iais.org

Monday, May 22, 2006

Mon, 22 May 2006 16:11:42 GMT

PAISLEY TO REJECT ADAMS' NOMINATION

05/22/06 06:18 EST

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has called for the Northern Ireland Assembly to be scrapped if the DUP refuses to share power with republicans.

Even though voting to establish an Executive has little chance of succeeding, it is part of a process for the 108 MLAs who have been recalled and given six months to establish a working power-sharing administration.

Mr Adams has pledged to nominate the DUP leader, Rev Ian Paisley, for the First Minister's position but urged London and Dublin to intervene decisively if the DUP shows no intention of forming a working coalition.

Mr Adams was accused by the DUP of a cheap stunt in backing Dr Paisley as leader of Northern Ireland's strongest political party for the top post, with Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness his deputy.

But he insisted it was intended to send a message to unionism that political power must be on an equal basis with republicans, and to show his party was prepared to accept Dr Paisley as First Minister.

Mr Adams said: "If my motion on today is unsuccessful we will seek to return to this business at the earliest possible time. Understandably there is a lot of scepticism about whether Ian Paisley will ever lead his Democratic Unionist Party into the Executive with the rest of us. . . .
If Ian Paisley does not play his part then its over to the two governments to get rid of the Assembly and to proceed with all other aspects of the Agreement."

"The best way forward however is with local politicians in charge," Mr Adams said.

The IRA's ending its armed struggle influenced Northern Secretary Mr Peter Hain's decision to revive the suspended Stormont Assembly.

But the DUP has still refused to enter government with republicans, insisting on further preconditions. Sinn Fein's support of current policing arangements is the latest precondition the DUP is making before sharing power.

Scotland's First Minister Jack McConnell told Assembly members today that devolution in his country has given Scotland the confidence and strength to tackle sectarianism.

Mr McConnell said he hoped Northern Ireland and Scotland would have their ambitions fulfilled through devolution.

He told Assembly members in Stormont's Senate: "In 2004 I called sectarianism Scotland's secret shame because it had become a taboo subject which was all too often conveniently confined to sports pages and routinely dismissed as a 'football problem'.

"Devolution gave us the chance to change all that."
__________________________________________________________

The Irish American Information Service is a non-profit organization providing up-to-the-minute political news from Ireland to the world.
The IAIS is funded entirely by your contributions. Please send your tax-deductible contributions to IAIS at the 907 F St NE, Washington DC 20002. You can visit us on the Web at http://www.iais.org