You are currently browsing the daily archive for 2 September 2004.
Province’s computers hit by scam
By Ben Lowry
blowry@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
02 September 2004
An Internet scam that is often operated by gangs in West Africa has led to huge bills for some computer users in Northern Ireland.
The problem was raised with BT officials yesterday by a delegation of DUP MLAs, who urged the telecoms giant to stop paying the fraudsters.
British Telecom admits there is a problem with the scam, which is triggered by a pop-up window which appears on an Internet user’s computer screen. When trying to close the box down, the user may inadvertently activate a premium rate telephone call.
A BT spokeswoman said: “We have been bringing this to people’s attention, offering free premium rate call barring. We are advising people to install firewalls and virus protection software to prevent this happening.
“Once we find out that a site is illegal or fraudulent, it is shut down immediately.”
She said that broadband users were less likely to be affected.
South Down MLA Jim Wells, who led the delegation that included his party colleagues Peter Weir and Edwin Poots, said more than 1,200 people in Northern Ireland had received inflated phone bills as a result of the scam, after being connected to lines costing up to £1.50 a minute.
Mr Wells said: “BT were very open and honest about the problem. They have said they close down any premium rate number that is found to be fraudulent but they will still pay over all the money taken from its customers up until that point.
“They must stop paying these gangsters, not merely close their sites down. They must stop paying funds that have already been accumulated.”
Mr Wells said that some of his constituents were facing bills of over £200 for Internet premium rate calls they never intended to make.
He said that some of the fraudsters were abandoning premium rate numbers and adopting international numbers, which can be just as expensive but are more difficult to monitor.
Irish American Information Service
PROCESS REACHING POINT OF DECISION – MURPHY
09/02/04 12:20 EST
Northern Ireland’s peace process is reaching a point of decision, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Paul Murphy has said.
Mr Murphy was speaking this afternoon after a second day of talks at Stormont which have been concentrating on issues arising out of a review of the Good Friday Agreement.
The talks are aimed at paving the way for more intensive negotiations chaired by the British and Irish premiers later this month.
Mr Murphy said the present talks were “very serious, important and crucial” – and were capable of achieving a resolution.
He said the point of the talks was to implement the Agreement, and rejected any notion the British government was prepared to let go of the fundamentals of the deal.
Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen said no-one was seeking to fudge the issues, and agreed a resolution was possible on issues such as the IRA, decommissioning and policing.
Mr Cowen said the political process was at a “critical” point and the parties would need to use the next two weeks to prepare themselves.
Mr Murphy and Mr Cowen are also expected to host more talks next week.
Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said he was “looking forward” to going into government with the DUP.
Mr McGuinness told a news conference at Stormont that his party was determined to “do the business” at the intensive talks later this month.
He said they had been told in “private discussions” that the DUP wanted to make a deal, and that they had to recognise the new political reality.
“If they want to be in government, they are only going to be in government with Sinn Fein,” he added.
DUP leader Ian Paisley demanded that Tony Blair must “keep his promise” about bringing an end to the IRA and decommissioning all weapons.
Mr Paisley said the British prime minister “carried the burden of guilt on his shoulder” and promised to “nail” Mr Blair on the issue at the intensive talks later this month.
At one point, Mr Paisley said Sinn Fein would have to become a new party. He also said Sinn Fein should not be at the negotiating table while the IRA existed and remained armed.
Mr Paisley said this was a matter which Mr Blair must address. He added that “there is going to be no sell out”.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan said devolution could only be restored in a “confident and lasting manner” by “full and final resolution of the two crux issues which caused suspension, ongoing paramilitary activity and failure to work the power sharing institutions”.
The governments hope the negotiations, believed to be planned for Leeds Castle in Kent later this month, will pave the way for a return to devolution.
A spokesman for Tony Blair said on Tuesday he believed there was a “shared agenda” between the parties which could lead to a deal.
The Ulster Unionist leader, David Trimble, has not been at Stormont for the talks as he is at the Republican Party convention in New York.
The Ulster Unionists withdrew from the review of the Agreement, saying the focus should be on ending paramilitarism, but they have now indicated they will take a full part in the main talks.
Irish American Information Service
ROVE’S IRA – AL QAEDA ANALOGY INVOKES WRATH OF IRISH AMERICA
09/02/04 11:57 EST
President George Bush’s chief strategist, Karl Rove, has invoked the wrath of Irish America by comparing the IRA to al-Qaeda.
During an interview with Associated Press about the war on international terrorism, Mr Rove said: “This is going to be more like the conflict in Northern Ireland, where the Brits fought terrorism, and there’s no sort of peace accord with al-Qaeda saying, ‘we surrender’.”
Fr. Sean McManus of the Irish National Caucus said the comments were a sign of the “anti- Irish Catholic elements in the Republican Party”.
Fr. McManus said: “Karl Rove’s recent statement comparing the IRA to al-Qaeda is, above all else, stupid, but it also may reveal the true colors of some anti-Irish Catholic elements in the Republican Party.”
“While there has always been many fine leaders in the GOP (Republican Party) with excellent records on Irish affairs, there has also been – as a matter of historical fact – a strong anti-Irish Catholic element, the ‘no Pope here’, crowd,” he said.
“President Bush must immediately repudiate Rove’s anti-Irish Catholic bigotry.”
UUP leader Mr David Trimble, who is attending the Republican National Convention in New York as a guest of the International Democrat Union, said he was confused by the comment.
“I’m not altogether clear about what exactly he’s getting at,” he said. “Al-Qaeda is quite a different terrorist organisation to those in Northern Ireland. It’s perfectly reasonable, I suppose, to draw some parallel in that the war on terror will probably take a long time just like it did in Northern Ireland, if that’s what he meant,” he told the Washington Post.
A spokesman for Democratic presidential contender, John Kerry, rebuked Rove for the clumsy analogy.
“Karl Rove’s comments to AP today suggest there was no peace accord between the British and the IRA. We’d like to inform Mr. Rove that in April 1998, the Good Friday Agreement, negotiated by Senator George Mitchell, with the tireless assistance of President Clinton, was in fact a peace accord. Unfortunately these comments are very unhelpful to the current peace process and come on the very day critical talks designed to lead to the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly and a devolved government are commencing. I guess we now know why the president has failed to engage in the peace process for the last four years.”
“This comment also demonstrates once again the Bush administration’s fundamental misunderstanding of the threat posed by al Qaeda and likeminded groups who seek to destroy our entire way of life. We deserve a leader who understands the threats we face and has a real strategy to fight them,” the Kerry spokesperson said.
Thanks to the IRA
BY JIM GIBNEY
WHEN historians turn their minds to writing up the history of the conflict over the last 30-odd years, one date more than any other will shine out like a beacon across this expanse of time.
That date is 31 August 1994, the day the IRA announced a “complete cessation” of military operations.
This week marks the tenth anniversary of the IRA’s announcement, an occasion which, understandably, has led to commentary and analysis in the media — not as much as you would have expected, given the significance of the occasion, but enough to instill a sense of reflection across Irish society.
In my view, 31 August 1994 will be seen as the most important date in over a century of our country’s turbulent history.
There are many people entitled to be praised for the efforts they put into helping to bring about the IRA’s cessation and the media and political establishment have done so.
I have no difficulty with that: John Hume, Albert Reynolds, Bill Clinton are rightly praised. I would like to add one other public but discreet figure to that list to be warmly acknowledged, Fr Alec Reid.
But the point of me writing today is to thank and praise from the bottom of my heart the leadership of the IRA, the Army Council.
Without them where would we be today? Would it have mattered who in the political establishment lined up calling for an IRA cessation? Would they have secured one? I don’t think so.
No, the real praise must go to an unknown group of people who will never step up to the podium to receive the accolade they are most definitely entitled to — a group of people who were prepared to listen to Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and then take their own counsel.
You will never see their names in print or in the history books. Their secrecy must be maintained to preserve the integrity of the organisation, which they lead, the IRA.
But that doesn’t stop and shouldn’t stop people giving them their place and recognising the mould-breaking nature of the decision they took.
When everything is rounded up, it was the Army Council who made the difference.
Commentators have estimated that at least one thousand people are alive who would otherwise have died in the conflict over the last ten years had the IRA not taken the massive decision they took.
This is reason alone to be thankful the IRA leadership took the decision they did.
There is no doubt that the prisons in Ireland and Britain would have been packed with young republican activists.
We can be certain that some republican prisoners in jail in Britain would be entering their 30th year behind bars, with no sign of release, as the establishment extracted its pound of flesh.
The resistance and the repression would have impacted on nationalist areas on a scale similar to the previous 25 years.
All of this and more, much more, has been avoided due to the IRA’s wisdom.
Ten years on from that momentous turning point, it would be a mistake to believe that the cessation was inevitable. There was nothing inevitable about it.
And why should it have been? Why would the leadership of the IRA step outside hundreds of years of armed resistance to British occupation? Why would they put at risk a struggle which had claimed hundreds of its Volunteers’ lives; had seen thousands of them go to jail; had seen a society in the Six Counties at war with itself over a generation.
There was little incentive for the IRA leadership to move. There was more incentive for Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness to stay their hand and await moves from the British Government.
Republican leaders, more than any other generation over the last 40 years, knew what they were touching when they broached the question of an IRA cessation.
They had the bad experience of previous ceasefires in 1972 and 1974-’75, especially the latter, when the British Government took advantage of the IRA’s willingness to talk peace and tried to defeat them.
Many republicans believe the roots of the Hunger Strike, which claimed ten men’s lives, were sown during these years, as criminalisation and the H-Blocks emerged from this period.
It was this experience which led the IRA to declare annually for over 20 years at Easter that there would never be another ceasefire.
The context within which the leadership thought things through in 1994 was fraught with danger. The subsequent departure of senior IRA figures from the IRA in 1997 is an indication of the volatility of the times.
Tom Hartley and I were given the responsibility of travelling around the North in the autumn of 1994 promoting the cessation at Sinn Féin meetings.
Republicans were in shock. They were angry. They were not prepared for the IRA’s decision. How could they be? This was strictly a matter for a small group of people to decide.
The certainty of armed struggle had been removed and most people, unsure of the future, were at sea. They dug deep into their loyalty to the leadership and suspended their doubts to allow events to unfold.
They were tough times but also times of great opportunity.
The sight of Gerry Adams, John Hume and Albert Reynolds shaking hands on the steps of Government Buildings in Dublin was powerful.
No matter what else happened from that point onwards, and many great and unforeseen things have happened, I was confident, standing out of sight of the cameras with Rita O’Hare observing the handshake. I was confident that the dynamic of the Peace Process would mean that the northern Catholic and nationalist people would never again be abandoned by the Dublin Government or establishment and I was confident that Gerry Adams and Sinn Féin would do their utmost to make sure of this.
That alone was a tremendous achievement.
It is not my intention to trace the extent of the progress that has been made over the last ten years. It has been immeasurable and more is yet to come as we steer our way towards a united Ireland.
But for all of this, let me again thank the Army Council of the IRA.
The decade of the Peace Process
Photo: Gerry Adams and supporters after the 1994 cessation announcement
On 1 September 1994, An Phoblacht’s front page carried a statement from the leadership of Óglaigh na hÉireann calling for republicans to Seize the moment for peace. The historic statement announced a cessation after 25 years of armed struggle by the IRA and marked the beginning of the Peace Process.
On this, the tenth anniversary of the cessation, An Phoblacht’s JOANNE CORCORAN maps out the significant milestones that led to the Army’s decisive initiative and looks at some of the key events that have followed in the ten years since.
Introduction
The publication of Gerry Adams’ 1986 book, The Politics of Irish Freedom; the subsequent production of A Scenario for Peace in May 1987; the 1988 Sinn Féin/SDLP talks; the publication of a Pathway to Peace; and the 1992 launch of Towards a Lasting Peace, were all crucial steps taken by republicans in the lead-up to the events of 1994.
However, it was the 1993 Hume/Adams talks that marked the most substantial milestone in the Peace Process.
Those talks and the resulting Irish Peace Initiative broke through the failure of the Brooke/Mayhew talks, which had begun in 1990 and collapsed a year later.
1993
April
The initial reaction to the disclosure in April 1993 of renewed meetings between Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams and SDLP leader John Hume was far from positive. Fine Gael leader John Bruton described the first statement from the two party leaders as “little more than a propaganda front”.
The then leader of Democratic Left, Proinsias De Rossa, described the talks as a monumental error of judgement, saying the claim to national self-determination was a “dangerous self-delusion”.
May
In the weeks after the Hume/Adams April statement, Sinn Féin increased its vote in the Six-County local elections by over 10,000, winning 51 seats and securing a greater share of the vote (23%) in Belfast City Council than any other party.
June
Martin McGuinness, speaking at Bodenstown, said: “I reiterate that the republican demand for a British withdrawal is not aimed at unionists. It is a demand that the people of Ireland, including Protestants, be allowed to control our own destiny and shape a society which is pluralist and reflective of the diversity of all our people.”
August
An Irish-American delegation led by Bruce Morrison visited Ireland and met Sinn Féin representatives.
September
On 25 September, Adams and Hume announced they were suspending their talks having “agreed to forward a report on the decision reached to date to Dublin for consideration”.
The publication of the second statement generated intense media and political speculation. It was clear that the two party leaders had agreed a significant initiative designed to secure widespread support for an all-inclusive Peace Process.
Their statement was greeted with the usual negativity from unionists.
October
Óglaigh na hÉireann issued a statement welcoming the Hume/Adams Initiative. The statement said: “Our Volunteers, our supporters, have a vested interest in seeking a just and lasting peace in Ireland.”
November
The British Government admitted it had been involved in meetings with Sinn Féin between 1991 and 1993.
A third Hume/Adams statement called on the British Government to “respond positively and quickly” to the “opportunity for peace”.
December
The Downing Street Declaration was launched by Albert Reynolds and John Major. The declaration affirmed the right of the people of the Six Counties to self-determination and also stated that Ireland would be united, if a majority of the Six Counties population were in favour of such a move. It also pledged the governments to seek a peaceful constitutional settlement and said that parties linked with paramilitaries could take part in discussions on the North’s future, if all paramilitary activity stopped.
Within hours it became clear the two governments had different interpretations of the document. When Sinn Féin sought clarification, John Major said: “There was nothing more to tell”.
1994
January
Sinn Féin initiated a public consultation process through a series of peace commissions, asking the general public to give its response to the Declaration. Adams slammed John Major’s refusal to clarify the Declaration.
On 15 January, an Irish Independent poll found that 74% of people in the 26 Counties favoured a united Ireland.
The Dublin Government allowed Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act to lapse, ending 22 years of direct political censorship. The legislation was not repealed, however, and the undemocratic power to censor by Ministerial order remains in situ to this day.
February
Bill Clinton gave Gerry Adams a visa to visit the United States. The Sinn Féin leader’s subsequent visit to the US, opposed by the British Government, internationalised the issue of conflict resolution in Ireland.
March
Óglaigh na hÉireann announced a three-day suspension of offensive military operations in a move to reflect its “willingness to be positive and flexible”.
May
The British Government responded to Sinn Féin’s 20 questions
June
The UVF killed six nationalists and wounded five others, as they watched Ireland play Italy in the World Cup at O’Toole’s bar in Loughinisland, Co.Down. An Phoblacht revealed that the total number of attacks by loyalists on bars and clubs since 1971 amounted to 80, with almost 160 people killed.
July
Sinn Féin delegates and party members met in Letterkenny to democratically discuss and endorse the Ard Chomhairle’s response to the Downing Street Declaration.
August
On 31 August, the IRA released a statement announcing a cessation of all activities from midnight.
September
Gerry Adams pledged in conjunction with John Hume and the then Taoiseach Albert Reynolds the party’s total commitment to democratic and peaceful methods of resolving political problems. The three leaders shared an historic handshake.
The British removed the broadcasting ban on Sinn Féin.
October
Sinn Féin held an internal conference in Dublin to discuss developments. The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation opened in Dublin Castle.
Gerry Adams made an appearance on the Late Late Show and had his offer to shake Gay Byrne’s hand rejected.
The Combined Loyalist Military Command announced a cessation.
November
The Fianna Fáil/Labour coalition in the 26 Counties collapsed. The Fine Gael-led coalition under John Bruton that followed was seen as a stumbling block to the process.
December
The first official meeting was held between British Government officials and Sinn Féin. The government claimed decommissioning was an obstacle to progress, but would not answer Sinn Féin’s questions about demilitarisation. Sinn Féin produced a demilitarisation map, detailing the massive number of British military posts in Ireland.
1995
February
John Major and John Bruton launched their ‘Framework’ document, which included plans for a Six-County Assembly.
July
Sinn Féin pulled out of talks with the British Government, after the British introduced the issue of decommissioning. The party said the subject had not been on the table when the IRA called their cessation.
Residents of the Lower Ormeau Road were hemmed into their area as the RUC forced an Orange Order march down the road.
November
US President Bill Clinton shook Gerry Adams’ hand in a Falls Road cafe during his first visit to Belfast.
December
The head of the International Body on Decommissioning, former US Senator George Mitchell, invited submissions on arms decommissioning from all parties.
1996
January
The Mitchell report was published, laying down six principles of non-violence for entry into all-party talks.
February
The IRA ended its cessation with the bombing of Canary Wharf after the British Government failed to live up to its commitments. Sinn Féin had engaged positively with the International Body on Decommissioning in 1995 and 1996 in an attempt to resolve the impasse, and despite the bad faith of the Major government (Major demanded a statement of surrender from the IRA), used all its influence to sustain the first cessation for a full 17 months, until the rejection by Major of the report of the International Body on Decommissioning.
March
Sinn Féin was turned away from a consultative process organised by the two governments.
May
In the Six-County Forum elections to all-party talks, Sinn Féin polled a record vote.
June
Sinn Féin was barred from the opening of inter-party talks.
Garda Jerry McCabe was killed in an IRA raid on a post office in Adare. Five IRA activists were arrested and imprisoned.
October
The IRA bombed the British Headquarters in Ireland, Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn.
1997
May
Results in the British General Election put Labour Party leader Tony Blair into 10 Downing Street and returned Gerry Adams and party colleague, Martin McGuinness, as MPs.
June
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin was elected TD for Cavan/ Monaghan. A Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrats government was formed in the 26 Counties, with Bertie Ahern taking over as Taoiseach.
Blair visited the North and gave the go ahead for exploratory contacts between government officials and Sinn Féin.
July
On 21 July, the IRA announced its second cessation in three years. Sinn Féin had undertaken a number of political initiatives to bring about this cessation. British Secretary of State Mo Mowlam said she would monitor activity over the following six weeks to decide if Sinn Féin would be admitted to all-party talks scheduled for 15 September.
Violence on the Garvaghy Road brought a renewed call for a proper policing service in the Six Counties and an end to Orange Order parades being forced through nationalist areas.
August
An international decommissioning body was set up to deal with the weapons issue.
September
Sinn Féin signed up to the Mitchell Principles and entered all party-talks. The Ulster Unionists joined the talks, but the DUP stayed away.
The UUP’s Ken Maginnis rejected the hand of friendship from Gerry Adams at multi-party talks in Stormont, and accused the British Labour government of bringing “murderers to the table of democracy”.
October
Adams and McGuinness met Blair for the first time at Stormont Castle buildings.
1998
April
The Good Friday Agreement was signed, with Sinn Féin members endorsing it at the party’s Ard Fheis in Dublin on 18/19 April.
May
After securing party support for the Good Friday Agreement, Sinn Féin campaigned for it in both referendums. Despite the risk of destabilising its own constituency, the party sought and secured support to amend its constitution to remove a 75-year-old ban on members taking seats in any Northern Assembly. The IRA also worked constructively and in good faith with the Independent Commission on Decommissioning.
The people of Ireland, in referenda North and South, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Good Friday Agreement.
July
On 1 July, David Trimble was elected First Minister and Séamus Mallon Deputy First Minister of the new Northern Assembly. David Trimble then sought to have Sinn Féin excluded from the Executive. The summer passed with no Executive formed.
The Orange Order began its siege at Drumcree and the three Quinn children were burnt alive in their Ballymoney home by loyalist arsonists.
August
Dissident republicans bombed Omagh town centre, killing 29 people.
October
The 31 October deadline for completion of a programme of work and the establishment of the Shadow Executive and the Shadow Ministerial Council was not met. A different mechanism was established.
December
Agreement on these matters was reached on 2 December. The UUP reneged on this agreement on 3 December, then agreed again on 18 December but then deferred any movement and attempted to re-negotiate.
1999
March
The British Government promised to trigger the d’Hondt Principles (allocating power in the Assembly in accordance with the strength of support for a party), but failed to do so.
April
Instead, on 1 April in the Hillsborough Declaration — an attempt to further meet UUP demands — the two governments made proposals on the Executive and on the issue of decommissioning which were outside the terms of the Agreement.
One year after the signing of the Agreement, no progress had been made.
May
On 14 May in Downing Street, agreement was reached between the two governments, the UUP and Sinn Féin to establish the Shadow Executive the following week. The UUP reneged on this the following day.
June
Sinn Féin made massive gains in the local elections in the 26 Counties and raised its European vote.
July
The Way Forward statement by the two governments was issued at Castle Buildings on 14 July. This was subsequently developed unilaterally by the British Government into draft legislation tabled on 12 July, which was outside the terms of the Agreement. On 15 July, David Trimble once again failed to establish the Executive. Séamus Mallon resigned.
On 24 July, against this difficult backdrop, the Sinn Féin negotiating team reported to the Ard Chomhairle on the preliminary discussions with Senator Mitchell and the British Government in respect of a review.
The IRA blamed the British Government’s continuous capitulation to the unionist veto for the political crisis.
September
The Patten report on policing was published. It met with stringent resistance from unionists, but was seen by republicans as the bare minimum of what was needed to be done to fix policing in the Six Counties.
November
On 15 November, the Mitchell Review concluded with proposals that:
• the institutions would be established;
• the decommissioning issue would be dealt with by General de Chastelain and the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning.
On 27 November, a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council created a new precondition and a new false deadline on the issue of decommissioning.
Then on 29 November, almost 20 months after the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Executive was finally established.
December
On 13 December the inaugural meeting of the all-Ireland Ministerial Council was held in Armagh and six all-Ireland implementation bodies were established.
2000
February
On 11 February, Secretary of State Peter Mandelson unilaterally suspended the political institutions, at the behest of unionism. This was despite the fact that a new and significant proposition to resolve the arms issue had been laid on the table.
May
The two governments published a joint statement agreeing to re-establish the institutions and to implement the outstanding aspects of the Good Friday Agreement.
On Saturday 6 May the IRA issued a statement stating that it would “initiate a process that will completely and verifiably put IRA arms beyond use”.
On 30 May, power was restored to the political institutions including the Assembly, Executive and all-Ireland bodies.
August
Further calls were made by republicans for British demilitarisation.
June
The IRA announced it had re-established contact with the Commission on Decommissioning and that a number of its dumps have been inspected. In October, the dumps were re-inspected.
December
The IRA detailed the commitments it expected the British Government to fulfil to create the context for a process of putting weapons beyond use. These included “the implementation of Patten; to progressively take all the necessary steps to demilitarise the situation; to deal with matters relating to human rights, equality and justice; to resolve issues which remain outstanding at this stage in the development of the Peace Process”.
2001
March
Further talks at Hillsborough failed to provide a breakthrough on the restoration of Sinn Féin Ministers’ attendance at North-South Ministerial Council meetings, which was being blocked by David Trimble. The IRA announced it had decided to enter into further discussions with the IICD and General de Chastelain confirmed its re-engagement.
The Stevens’ team, investigating the murder of Patrick Finucane, was forced to quit its offices at an RUC complex in Carrickfergus, after they were burned down in suspicious circumstances.
May
Trimble threatened to resign as First Minister on 1 July if the IRA had not begun decommissioning by then. Meanwhile, two international inspectors confirmed they had carried out a third inspection of the arms dumps and that the weapons remained unused. The IRA responded to Trimble’s threats, reminding him they had met the decommissioning body four times since March.
Sinn Féin had four MPs elected in the Westminster election, Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Pat Doherty and Michelle Gildernew.
June
In a briefing with An Phoblacht, the IRA said it had honoured all its commitments made in the seven years since the cessation, and said that the arms issue would not be resolved through ultimatums.
July
Talks at Weston Park ended with government officials sent away to draw up a package on policing, demilitarisation, the stability of the political institutions and decommissioning.
August
The two governments published proposals on police reform and demilitarisation designed to create the context sought by the IRA for decommissioning to take place.
The IICD announced that the IRA had proposed a method to put its weapons beyond use. The IRA confirmed this two days later.
Trimble again claimed the statement was not enough and the Assembly was suspended for one day by Northern Secretary John Reid.
It was restored on 12 August, giving a further six-week period for an agreement to be found.
September
Catholic schoolchildren and their mothers came under attack from loyalist thugs in north Belfast as they tried to make their way to Holy Cross school. The ‘protest’ against the children of Ardoyne walking to school continued for some time, and the world looked on horrified.
Unionists used the 11 September bombings in America as another excuse not to talk to Sinn Féin.
The IRA said it would intensify its engagement with the IICD.
October
The UUP tabled a motion to exclude Sinn Féin from the Executive, claiming the IRA had failed to decommission.
Following the defeat of this motion, the UUP Ministers withdrew from the Executive. Gerry Adams announced he and Martin McGuinness had asked the IRA to move on decommissioning and this was followed by a statement form the IRA saying it had implemented proposals to put arms completely and verifiably beyond use.
November
The RUC was renamed the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Trimble was re-elected First Minister of the Assembly.
2002
January
A break-in at the Special Branch office in Castlereagh was blamed on republicans.
April
The IRA made another move to put a quantity of arms beyond use, described by General de Chasteain as “substantial”. The IRA denied any involvement in the Castlereagh break-in.
May
Five Sinn Féin TDs were elected and the Fianna Fáil/PD coalition was returned to power.
June
Alex Maskey was elected Mayor of Belfast.
July
The IRA apologised to families of non-combatants killed during the conflict.
September
The IRA restated its commitment to the Peace Process in an exclusive interview with An Phoblacht. However, it said, “sections of the British military and its intelligence agencies, including the Special Branch, are still at war”.
October
The trial of the Colombia Three — Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and Jim Monaghan – arrested in August 2001, began.
The Assembly was suspended after the PSNI stormed into Sinn Féin offices in the Executive and claimed they had found intelligence dossiers. Subsequently, the serious charges of intelligence gathering against the one woman and three men arrested at Stormont would be dropped.
On 31 October, the IRA suspended contact with the IICD. The army said that unacceptable and untenable ultimatums had been placed on them, while the British Government had not kept its own commitments.
2003
April
The two governments came forward with a Joint Declaration, which agreed to move forward on some of the promises not followed through after the Agreement. However, the document also proposed the setting up of the Independent Monitoring Commission to monitor paramilitary activities, a body outside the terms of the Agreement. Republicans rightly feared it would be used against them.
In this month also, the recommendations of the Stevens’ Report were published, although not the report itself, proving that there was institutional collusion between the British state and loyalists throughout the conflict. Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey pointed out the report was only the tip of the iceberg.
May
The Assembly elections were postponed by the British Government.
October
Judge Peter Cory delivered his reports to the two governments into eight controversial killings during the conflict.
The UUP backed out of a series of choreographed moves designed to get the Assembly up and running again. Following significant gestures on arms by the IRA and a statement reiterating the army’s complete commitment to peace, Gerry Adams made a ground-breaking statement on the Peace Process. At the last minute, Trimble refused to accept the gesture or live up to his side of the deal and the two governments failed to push him, despite republicans fulfilling their side of the bargain.
November
Sinn Féin became the largest nationalist party in the Six Counties, winning 24 seats in the Assembly elections to the SDLP’s 18. The DUP become the largest unionist party, taking 30 seats.
The 26-County Government published its sections of the Cory Report.
2004
January
The Independent Monitoring Commission came into effect. Judge Cory made it public that he had recommended public inquiries into the cases investigated in his report.
April
The British Government finally published censored versions of its sections of the Cory Report and agreed to set up inquiries into the deaths of Rosemary Nelson, Robert Hamill and Billy Wright, but cited the ongoing investigation into the Patrick Finucane case as reason not to establish an inquiry into his death.
The Colombia Three were found innocent on charges of training left-wing Guerrillas in Colombia.
The IMC claimed the IRA was still active and imposed financial sanctions on Sinn Féin. Adams slammed the Dublin Government for going along with the IMC.
June
In European elections across the country and local elections in the South, Sinn Féin got two MEPs elected and its largest number of councillors (126) ever.
July
All-party talks were announced for September.
“A means to an end, not an end in itself”
Within hours of the IRA’s announcement of a cessation, reactions began to flood in from all quarters. Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams immediately saluted the army’s “bold and courageous decision”.
“Anglo-Irish relationships have reached an historic crossroads. The people of Ireland have waited too long for our freedom — we can wait no longer,” he said.
“The freedom struggle is not over. We are in a new area of struggle.
“We must develop an irreversible momentum for change which will move the British Government away from the failed policies of the past.”
The then Taoiseach, Fianna Fáil’s Albert Reynolds, said: “I believe this morning’s IRA statement was made in good faith, and that its strong tradition of discipline will positively contribute to this result. Let 1 September 1994 go into the annals as one of the most important dates in Irish history.” Reynolds added that the government was prepared to, “without delay”, recognise Sinn Féin’s mandate.
Chairperson of the Irish National Congress, Robert Ballagh, with great foresight, said: “Today’s decision by republicans must be viewed constructively and built upon as a means to an end, not an end in itself.
“It is absolutely essential that all sides move this process forward.”
Relatives for Justice, a group representing the families of people killed and injured by British violence, welcomed the announcement, saying they sincerely hoped that peace would see an end to their long quest for justice and truth.
“Future cooperation between all parties concerned depends on trust,” the group stated. “Therefore we call upon the British Government to come clean on such vexed questions as collusion and shoot-to-kill.”
The then UUP leader, James Molyneaux, said everyone would be pleased if the IRA intended a permanent end to violence, but the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, warned of “civil war”.
The British Prime Minister at the time, John Major, welcomed the move but said Sinn Féin should make clear the cessation was permanent. The SDLP leader, John Hume, criticised such “nitpicking”.
British broadcasters pressed for removal of the media restrictions on Sinn Féin. US President Bill Clinton congratulated all those who had brought about the decision. The president of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, said he would propose additional EU aid to the Six Counties.
IRA cessation statement
31 August 1994
Recognising the potential of the current situation and in order to enhance the democratic peace process and underline our definitive commitment to its success, the leadership of Oglaigh na hÉireann have decided that as of midnight, Wednesday, 31 August, there will a complete cessation of military operations. All our units have been instructed accordingly.
At this historic crossroads the leadership of Oglaigh na hÉireann salutes and commends our volunteers, other activists, our supporters and the political prisoners who have sustained this struggle against all odds for the past 25 years. Your courage, determination and sacrifices have demonstrated that the spirit of freedom and the desire for peace based on a just and lasting settlement cannot be crushed. We remember all those who have died for Irish freedom and we reiterate our commitment to our republican objectives.
Our struggle has seen many gains and advances made by nationalists and for the democratic position. We believe that the opportunity to create a just and lasting settlement has been created. We are therefore entering into a new situation in a spirit of determination and confidence: determined that the injustices which created the conflict will be removed and confident in the strength and justice of our struggle to achieve this.
We note that the Downing Street Declaration is not a solution, nor was it presented as such by its authors. A solution will only be found as a result of inclusive negotiations. Others, not least the British government, have a duty to face up to their responsibilities. It is our desire to significantly contribute to the creation of a climate which will encourage this. We urge everyone to approach this new situation with energy, determination and patience.
P O’Neill
Irish Republican Publicity Bureau
Dublin
Why not now?
Photo: Ballina honours Michael Gaughan on the 30th anniversary of his death on hunger strike
Sinn Féin National Chairperson MITCHEL McLAUGHLIN delivered the keynote address at a commemoration in Ballina at the weekend to mark this year’s 30th anniversary of the death of Michael Gaughan on hunger strike in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight. The tenth anniversary of the IRA’s historic cessation and the imminent talks on the Peace Process were the focus of his attention.
Thirty years ago in 1974, Ireland was engulfed in a spiralling and tragic conflict. In the Six Counties, the IRA was building up its campaign, Internment without trial was in force and the British Army was on the rampage throughout nationalist areas. British forces were openly colluding with loyalists and had bombed Dublin and Monaghan in May, killing 33 people. That same month, the Sunningdale Executive collapsed after the British Labour Government capitulated to the so-called strike staged by the Ulster Workers’ Council. Right-wing loyalist paramilitaries kept workers out of their workplaces and mounted patrols and checkpoints under the gaze of the RUC and British Army. Loyalist death squads carried out sectarian killings at will but in Dublin, the Fine Gael/Labour Government was obsessed with republicans and demonstrated no concern for the behaviour of the British Government or its security agencies.
Of the hundreds of republicans imprisoned at that time, the most vulnerable were those in English jails. Among them was a young man from Ballina. Twenty-four-year-old Michael Gaughan had emigrated from Mayo to London after he left school. In London, he had joined the IRA and was eventually arrested and then convicted of possession of a weapon and conspiracy to rob a London bank. Michael Gaughan was imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs, Albany and Parkhurst Prisons. On 31 March 1974, Michael joined other republican prisoners, including fellow Mayo man Frank Stagg, on hunger strike demanding an end to solitary confinement, the provision of education facilities and transfer to a prison in Ireland. Michael Gaughan was repeatedly force-fed during his 65-day fast. The procedure involved forcing a wooden clamp into his mouth, through which a tube was passed. Liquid food was then poured through the tube, often entering the windpipe. Michael, as a result of this inhuman treatment, died on hunger strike in Parkhurst Prison, 30 years ago, on 3 June 1974. In accordance with his wishes, Michael’s body was brought home for burial in Ballina and many thousands turned out to pay their respects in Dublin and along the route to his final resting place in Mayo.
The British Government was determined to criminalise the republican struggle and seven years later, ten republican POWs in the H-Blocks echoed that defiance when they too died on Hunger Strike. The British Government are obviously very slow learners when it comes to dealing with Irish self-determination and this is the issue that I wish to address today.
Anniversary of cessation
This weekend’s press has been full of the events of ten years ago when the IRA declared a complete cessation of military operations. There was much analysis and not a little revisionism as we remember the howls of protest at that time of the prospect of negotiations in which republicans would play a key role. A lot has changed since that dramatic event but more needs to be done to achieve a stable and democratic future.
We have all, British and Irish, been victims of a historic tension that has poisoned relationships between our islands. Our history on this island, and our relationship with our closest neighbour, has been difficult and at times destructive. The shared history of tragic conflict is ample testimony to all of that.
But what of the future and the achievement of a more peaceful co-existence?
It is clearly helpful to attempt to place oneself into ‘other people’s shoes’, so as to apply a broader understanding to these vexed issues. But it remains necessary to point out that the British Government has effectively frustrated the creation of a more positive context by prevarication on key aspects of the Agreement.
Upcoming talks
It seems obvious to me that the British Government has a difficulty in accepting that its policy of upholding the Union constitutes an obstacle to a comprehensive resolution of the conflict. Sinn Féin negotiators will once again in the coming weeks, seek to persuade that so long as the British Government holds to this position; it usurps both the spirit and substance of the Agreement and is a complete contradiction of its obligations on Equality and Parity of Esteem.
Current British policy perpetuates an institutionalised inequality and many unionists consequently see no imperative to co-operate with or to promote the concept of reform or change. Unionism continues to depend on a ‘privileged access’ with official government organs that share and reflect a unionist ethos.
Unaccountable ‘Northern Ireland Office’
The unaccountable ‘Northern Ireland Office’ therefore, is a particular example of the need for urgent change. The NIO with its in-built unionist bias runs the six-counties virtually as the old Stormont government. Direct Rule Ministers fly in for a few hours a week simply to rubber stamp decisions pre-formulated by senior Civil Servants.
Too often, those who work within and for the NIO, demonstrate an unapologetic devotion to the unionist cause. The manifestation of unionist government for the unionist people is still preserved. Small wonder then that unionists generally are in favour of the status quo, no matter how undemocratic, so long as it poses no threat to their interests. Tony Blair needs to rein in the NIO.
Sinn Féin is intent on achieving the re-establishment of the Executive, the political institutions and the all-Ireland Bodies as a means to ensure the delivery of the equality agenda and to finally achieve parity of esteem for all. It is only as locally mandated Ministers that we will be able to remove the influence of the rejectionists and the securocrats in the NIO over every facet of our lives.
Current British policy guarantees only continued division and undermines the efforts of those attempting to build non-threatening relationships that would encompass all of our divergent philosophies and aspirations in peace and harmony.
Good Friday Agreement is key
Most objective observers of the situation in Ireland would accept that a stable and secure future would only be found in arrangements that are negotiated and agreed to by the people of Ireland and that is why the Good Friday Agreement is so vitally important. For this scenario to fully develop, it is imperative that the British Government takes immediate steps to change its policy to one based on Equality, Parity of Esteem and genuine self-determination for all of the people of Ireland.
Indeed, Sinn Féin has argued that it is time that the British Government to build a strategic alliance with Irish nationalists.
The Agreement is the blueprint from which we can map our path to the resolution of the constitutional question and sovereignty. Tony Blair, and indeed any British Prime Minister, is fully entitled to publicly declare a personal and political commitment to upholding the Union. That is their democratic right but that view should not take precedence over the Agreement.
Under the terms of the Agreement, the British Government has a duty to guarantee that it is at all times and in all circumstances rigorously impartial in its dealings with Irish nationalism and unionism. So far, the British Government has failed to match that criterion.
If the British Government has any obligation to unionists, it is to use its influence to persuade unionists that they have nothing to fear and indeed much to gain from equality.
As Irish republicans, Sinn Féin has sought to engage our opponents, to understand their perspective and to develop ways to overcome difficulties and differences. And, in concert with others, we have had some success. The political landscape on the island has been transformed. The challenge now is to continue the forward movement and not allow the advance we have made to be undermined by complacency, intransigence or lack of imagination.
Outstanding matters
Of course, there are at present, deep difficulties in the peace process which must be urgently addressed and overcome. Instead of stable political institutions, with the people’s elected representatives making decisions on important social and economic issues; instead of a fully operational Assembly and all-Ireland institutions leading the delivery of change, advancing the equality agenda and championing a human rights based society; we have continuing impasse. Most importantly we do not have the inclusive power-sharing institutions which are central to making politics work for the first time in the north and for the first time on an all-Ireland basis.
Our task as politicians, as political leaders, is to find a resolution to all of these outstanding matters. There is no alternative.
Building relationships with unionism
Sinn Féin believes completely in the need to build relationships with unionism. The results of the November election and the more recent European election brought a new political reality. Sinn Féin and the DUP are now the main political parties in the North. The new reality must bring with it a new political realism. It certainly places a huge responsibility on the two governments, the DUP and Sinn Féin to act responsibly to find a way forward.
The best way to do this is through direct dialogue, including between the DUP and Sinn Féin.
For Sinn Féin, the immediate objective is clear — to restore the political institutions and end the crisis in the process.
Our discussions need to focus on a number of key issues. These include:
• full participation in stable political institutions;
• the resolution of outstanding matters on policing and justice, including, critically the transfer of powers away from London;
• armed groups and arms; and
• human rights, equality and sectarianism.
There are also matters which are clearly the responsibility of the two governments across the human rights, equality and demilitarisation agendas. Progress on many of these issues has been obstructed and blocked by elements in the NIO, which, despite the peace process, has adhered to a pro-unionist and securocratic agenda. This was dramatically evident in the events around disputed loyalist parades over recent weeks, which undoubtedly damaged our political project but which had the potential to do much greater damage. The British Government needs to bring its system in Ireland under control.
Progress is possible
The reality is that if the political will exists then we can all collectively make progress. Sinn Féin believes that it is possible to achieve a comprehensive package that deals with all of the outstanding matters in a way that is definitive and conclusive. The way to do this is through dialogue. We need to make politics work as a credible and effective alternative to conflict. That has been the lesson of the last ten years, when peace making replaced conflict. We need to build on what works. The enormous progress which we have achieved over the past ten years is proof positive that an approach based on inclusivity; equality and mutual respect does work. It requires hard work and, at times, even harder decisions. But that is the nature of peace making. It is a mammoth task but it has to be finished sometime. Why not now?
In a last message to his comrades, Michael Gaughan described his motivation: “I die proudly for my country and in the hope that my death will be sufficient to obtain the demands of my comrades.”
And his comrade in struggle, Bobby Sands, in his final dying days, issued a similarly generous proclamation: “I am making my last response to the whole vicious inhuman atrocity they call H-Block. But, unlike their laughs and jibes, our laughter will be the joy of victory and the joy of the people, our revenge will be the liberation of all and the final defeat of the oppressors of our aged nation.” He later returned to this idea when he famously stated: “Our revenge will be the laughter of our children.”
What better encouragement do we need?
TALKS MUST DELIVER
BY JOANNE CORCORAN
On 31 August 1994, the IRA issued an historic statement announcing a cessation of all activity. It was that courageous step ten years ago that added massive impetus to the then embryonic Peace Process.
However, as Sinn Féin once again faces into all-party talks, starting next week, republicans will be more than conscious that a decade after the army’s move, progress has been painfully slow.
Speaking to An Phoblacht yesterday, Sinn Féin Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness said that while he understood people’s frustration, no one “should lose sight of the fact that over the last ten years the political landscape has been transformed.
“When the cessation occurred it marked an end to a vicious cycle of injustice, inequality, discrimination, violence and death,” he said.
“It changed the course of Irish history and was vitally important. Against all odds, it helped to bring about the Good Friday Agreement, which, while it did not contain everything republicans desired, was recognised as having the potential to bring about change if it was implemented properly.”
McGuinness said that, despite progress being slow, it had to be built upon. He said Sinn Féin is going into the September talks in a positive and constructive mindframe, and is expecting a deal to be struck.
“The talks represent a huge challenge for all of us, not least the British Government and the unionists,” he said. “It won’t be easy. The DUP is still coming out with the stupid nonsense that it won’t meet Sinn Féin. It will have to start dealing with change and it will have realise that before we get to Leeds Castle.
“And we will be putting the British Government under enormous pressure to deliver on the Agreement and rein in the securocrats in the NIO, who we all know have more anti-Agreement agendas than the unionists themselves.
“But there is a strong, confident mood among republicans and nationalists,” McGuinness added.
McGuinness said republicans have “maintained our position and pressed ahead for peace, and all this in the face of opposition and the refusal of others to even talk. That is how we are where we are today.”
He said that the party’s priorities going into next week will be the full and faithful implementation of the Agreement and the re-establishment of the institutions.
“People, no matter how frustrated they are, must keep their focus on the importance of the institutions. The all-Ireland Ministerial Council, for example, was the first time since Partition that everybody on the island was represented on one body. It united the people of Ireland, who have shown that they are unanimously in favour of the Agreement and its institutions.”
McGuinness added that he felt people were philosophical about how far republicans have come.
“We have achieved so much, but the greatest difficulty we face now is the ongoing opposition to change, which is being eroded by slow process,” he said. “People need to understand that this takes time.”
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, speaking earlier in the week, praised the IRA for the contribution it has made in bringing republicanism to where it is now.
“The length of the IRA cessations, its discipline in the face of ongoing British military and loyalist activities, and its initiatives to sustain the current process, show that it is genuinely interested in building the peace process,” he said.
But Adams pointed out that the political institutions have now been in suspension for well over a year and a half.
“The Good Friday Agreement has been breached repeatedly by the British Government and much of the essential aspects of that Agreement, on human rights and equality, on policing and justice matters and demilitarisation, have not been implemented,” he said.
Despite all this, he added, there has been much progress made and much good work done.
“As we mark the tenth anniversary of the IRA cessation, there is a heavy onus on all of the political parties, though especially Sinn Féin and the DUP, and on the two governments, but particularly the British Government, to agree measures within the terms of the Good Friday Agreement that can bring all outstanding issues to a definitive and conclusive closure,” he said.
“This is not an easy task, but one nonetheless that those of us who want progress must bend our will to in the time ahead.”
UVF blamed for shooting
A 30-year-old man is seriously ill in hospital after being shot as he sat in his car in Belfast.
Loyalists sources told the BBC on Thursday that they believed the UVF was behind the shooting.
Police said a gunman walked up to the vehicle in Moltke Street in the Donegall Road area and fired several shots into it, shortly before 2200 BST on Wednesday.
The man was hit several times and was taken to Belfast City Hospital where he has undergone emergency surgery. He is said to be seriously ill.
Another man who was a passenger in the car was treated for minor injuries.
The police cordoned off an area around a taxi office, close to where the shooting took place.
Following the shooting, police used powerful flashlights to check nearby alleyways and rubbish skips for any evidence linked to the shooting.
A motive for the attack is unknown.
Detectives are appealing for information about the incident.
GERRY CAMPBELL
Veteran republican Gerry Campbell is to be laid to rest today, on the 62nd anniversary of the death of his comrade Tom Williams.
Gerry, a long-standing member of the National Graves Association, had suffered from heart problems and died aged 79.
His wife, Kathleen, six sons and two daughters survive him.
The dedicated Gael only recently said the rosary at the graveside of Joe Cahill (left) – a service he had carried out at the funerals of countless republican over the years.
Gerry was interned a number of times and had served time on the Maidstone Prison Ship.
He suffered lung damage from his ill-treatment at the hands of the British during his time on the Maidstone.
A highly respected member of the community, Gerry was a member of the Antrim Hurling Board for many years as well as Vice-President of St John’s GAA for a time.
Fellow republican Martin Meehan praised Gerry and said his contribution to the republican cause would never be forgotten.
“Gerry was instrumental in the campaign – along with Joe Cahill – to have Tom Williams’ remains removed from Crumlin Road and interred in Milltown,” said Martin Meehan.
“It is poignant and fitting that he will be buried on the anniversary of Tom Williams’ death.
“My thoughts are with the Campbell family at this time.
“Gerry was a fine man, a fine husband, father and friend.
“He will be remembered with fondness and admiration by the many people whose lives he touched over the years.
“Right up until his death he was active in the National Graves Association.
“He was an inspirational republican and he will be sadly missed.”
Gerry Campbell’s remains will leave his home at 645 Springfield Road today (Thursday) at 11am for mass in the Church of the Annunciation with burial afterwards at Milltown Cemetery.
Journalist:: Staff Reporter
ASBO order against NIO minister to mark anniversary
Press Release – 2 September 2004
12 noon Friday – Duncairn Ave entrance to Girdwood Barracks
A symbolic Anti Social Behavior Order is to issued tomorrow (Friday) against NIO Minister John Spellar MP to mark the 12th anniversary of the murder of N. Belfast teenager Peter Mc Bride. The actual anniversary is on Saturday but protesters will gather on Friday at the Duncairn Avenue entrance to Girdwood British Army barracks to launch a poster featuring the ASBO ‘forbidding’ Spellar from entering the area.
The NIO Minister sat on the first Army Board that ruled that the killers of Peter Mc Bride had committed “an error of judgement” in shooting the unarmed teenager in the back. The decision caused massive controversary and the two guardsmen, Mark Wright and James Fisher, remain serving soldiers, 12 years on and despite worldwide condemnation. Earlier this week Senators Kerry, Clinton, Kennedy, Dodd and Schummer raised the Mc Bride case in a letter to US Sec of State Donald Rumsfeld.
Paul O’Connor of the Pat Finucane Centre urged support for the Mc Bride family at the event,
“John Spellar has taken the lead in the introduction of anti social behaviour orders aimed at young people in this community. The initiative itself faces widespread opposition but coming from a man who believes that graffiti writers should face sanction while murderers should get off scot-free is hard to stomach. He rewarded two soldiers convicted of murdering Peter Mc Bride by allowing them to stay in the British Army. One has since been promoted. What kind of message does that send out? Anti-social is about the most harmless description of Spellar’s attitude towards the family. This symbolic gesture, supported by various community groups in Belfast and Derry, will send out its own message. Dismiss Wright and Fisher from the British Army now!”
The text of the ASBO will be read out by a member of the Mc Bride family at 12 noon. Local elected representatives from Sinn Fein and the SDLP have been invited to speak.
Contact the Pat Finucane Centre at 028 71 268846 or 07989323418 for info
SF blames loyalists for bullets in envelopes
02/09/2004 – 12:43:24
Sinn Féin has blamed loyalist paramilitaries for attempting to send more than 10 envelopes containing bullets to Sinn Féin representatives.
Postal workers in the North intercepted the envelopes at a sorting office in Mallusk, Co Antrim, last night and called in the police.
Those targeted included Assembly members Alex Maskey, Gerry Kelly, Fra McCann and Philip McGuigan, as well as councillors Gerard O’Neill, Veronica Wills and Francie Braniff.
Another of the packages was addressed to the home of the elderly parents of leading Belfast republican Bobby Storey.
Mr Storey does not live there, but his Down’s syndrome brother does. “There can be no justification whatsoever in deliberately targeting an elderly couple and their Down’s syndrome son,” said West Belfast Assembly member Michael Ferguson.
Sinn Féin’s Mitchel McLaughlin said it was quite obviously an attempt to intimidate the party’s elected representatives and party activists.
“It bears all the hallmarks of an operation carried out by one of the unionist paramilitary groupings,” he said.
Such attempts at intimidation had failed in the past and would do so again, he said.
PRESS RELEASE: 32 County Sovereignty Movement
IMMEDIATE RELEASE.
01/09/04
CONTACT – Andy Martin (belfast32csm@yahoo.com)
32CSM CONDEMNS BRITISH ARMY AD CAMPAIGN.
The 32 County Sovereignty Movement has recently been approached by family members and friends of those killed by British State forces to make a complaint against the current screening of British Army recruitment advertisements in some cinemas across the six counties.
In particular a relative approached some of our members in a distressed state after visiting The Strand cinema in Derry on Saturday the 30th August to see a showing of the film ‘The Village’ where prior to the film one such advertisement was screened. Overcome with anger and emotion, the person eventually got up and left the cinema before the main feature.
Spokesperson of the Derry branch of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement,Michael Gallagher stated clearly; “It has been duly noted by many in the Nationalist community that there has been a marked increase in television, poster and newspaper advertisements undertaken by the British armed forces in order to attract Irish people to enlist. To add to this there has also been a tendency for certain local news media and advertising agencies to acquiesce in this activity, some of whom would have undoubtedly refrained from such promotion in the past due to their awareness of the sensitivities involved”.
He went on to say that “the idea that the British military is seeking to recruit Irish people is a sickening and disturbing concept, not only due to the fact that once one joins such an army of occupation you may be used as a weapon against your own community but similarly there is a high possibility that you may be used to torture and murder innocent civilians in one of the many other illegal imperialist ventures in Iraq or Afghanistan”. In conclusion Mr Gallagher asked for all such advertisements to be withdrawn and urged people to make their feelings known in either verbal or written complaints to those who carried such material.
COMMENT
Fr Des
Rewriting recent history
There have been requests recently for recognition of the part played by clergy in bringing about peace.
One could put it rather more strongly: there should be recognition of the part played by clergy both in bringing about peace and in preventing it. The arrangement by which Ireland was split in two was not approved by the majority of clergy. But once it was done, the majority of Protestant clergy in the northeast supported the partition. And many Catholic clergy, while disapproving of it, decided to work within the system as they had it rather than as they would like it to be. They had a large influence in the decision of nationalist representatives to go to Stormont. They had a large influence – particularly through Bishop Dan Mageean – in getting Catholic support for building up an education system.
When the war was started in 1969 the Catholic church leaders were insistent, as they had been in the 1950s, in condemning the armed republican movement. At the same time there was a very muted response, if there was any, from Protestant clergy to unionist violence – they either saw that violence as a just punishment on Catholics who “rebelled” or condoned it because of their fear of the various armed unionist orders, religious and otherwise. Those policies need to be discussed.
So there is indeed a great need for a thorough examination of the part played by clergy in the events of the past 30 years and the events of the past 100 years for that matter. Belfast has erected monuments to some of its clerical agitators, men without whose fiery rhetoric there might have been peace. In the south there is adulation for the slightest movement towards reason on the part of such orators, while the efforts of any other cleric even to comment on the systems of government and finance have been described by newspapers as unwarranted clerical interference.
One of the men most despised by the newspapers, Bishop Conny Lucey of Cork, was warning people decades ago against the encroachments of the state into private lives, something which people have reason to complain about today.
He was selective in his remarks, but he was right to be fearful of what a state can do with people’s lives and rights and responsibilities. As the spurious war against terrorism now erodes more and more of people’s rights and the European Union works in an information darkness which our European representatives failed to penetrate for us and tell us about, we see that we should not only have listened but should have tried to find out what exactly such people were saying. But the struggle for power between church and state in the South and the struggle for power among churchmen and politicians in the North was so intense that reason often went out the window.
And to this day there is little analysis of our situation in those newspapers.
So at what point do we begin this assessment of the part played by clergy in our affairs? Do we face up to the clerical agitators and ask others to do the same? Do we write history which says churches and trade unions and business people were of one mind in bringing peace? They were not.
One may hope that those historians who believe their job is to find out what happened rather than say what those in power want us to believe happened will lay aside whatever fears they have of those in high places, in universities included, who may discipline them if they tell it the way it was.
We know that there were churchmen who helped bring peace, but we know also that there were churchmen who solidly refused for all those years even to speak to republicans. That should not have happened. We were left in the position that British soldiers were talked to, police were talked to, unionist politicians and British officials were talked to, but time and time again there was official refusal even to have conversations between officials of the churches and the republican movement. That is the reality and it has to be stated now because as time goes on we may have a writing of history which is nice to read but hard to justify. If we are going to have history it has to be true history.
There is absolutely no justification in times of crisis or at any time for a refusal to talk to those who are either the cause of the crisis or victims of it. It must never be allowed to happen again that the churches, the universities, the newspapers and other people who controlled so much of the good things of this life should be able to turn their backs on their fellow citizens for the sake of spurious respectability or bad government policy.
Our people are too precious for that.
There need be no doubt, as Archbishop Brady has said, that clergy have a part to play in creating peace in Ireland. Whether they will play that part or not remains to be seen. What their part is remains to be discussed, we cannot ever take anything for granted. Maybe they have a vital part to play, maybe they have not. But one thing we can take for granted is this – if the policy of any church is to encourage the exclusion of any members of the community they are set up to serve, then that church should be asked to step aside and we must make other provision for those who have been marginalised in this way.
And that is a lesson we learned 2,000 years ago, not just from the experience of a 30-year recent war.
ADAMS HITS OUT AT FIRE SERVICE
MP claims discrimination against nationalists
West Belfast MP Gerry Adams has expressed deep concern at what he says is the level of discrimination that nationalist employees in the Fire Service in the North are experiencing.
Mr Adams says that the discrimination stems from the introduction of standby maps in 2002. Standby maps stipulate that senior members of the Fire Brigade must live within designated geographical zones when they are on standby or call out.
The Sinn Féin President, however, believes that the maps prevent Catholics obtaining top spots in the Fire Brigade. He cited the case of Warrenpoint man John Allen who was offered the post of Divisional Officer at Fire Brigade Headquarters in Lisburn in August 2003 on the condition he moved to the specified geographical zone within a 20-mile radius of Lisburn. Mr Allen declined the position because he was unhappy with the way the maps were drawn up and has complained to the Fair Employment Tribunal about his position.
“The officer standby areas do not make any geographical sense,” said Mr Adams.
“They do not follow any logical transportation routes and do not contribute to fire safety,” he said.
“The fact that the standby area for the Lisburn Headquarters stretches from Portadown, Tandragee and Banbridge in the south through Antrim and Ballyclare to Carrick in the north yet excludes Belfast is a concern.”
Mr Adams said that the maps appear to gerrymander the employment areas for senior grade fire officers.
“Is it the Fire Brigade sending out the signal that the people from Twinbrook, Poleglass or Lagmore are not welcome in the Brigade Headquarters which is just a couple of miles down the road?
“I have written to the Fire Brigade and the Fire Authority seeking an immediate review or ending of these standby areas,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Fire Brigade last night said that the Chief Fire Officer has received Mr Adams’ letter and would be replying directly to him regarding his concerns about the existing standby catchment areas.
“Under the national conditions of service, senior officers are required to provide their standby in designated call out areas – a requirement which has been established for well over 30 years. The policy was reviewed in 1999 and a new map of the call out areas for Headquarters in Lisburn was produced based on providing optimum cover for the people of Northern Ireland.”
The spokesperson said that keeping the people of the North safe from fire is the number one priority of the Fire Brigade.
“The mapping of our standby areas greatly enhances fire safety as they specifically provide optimum spread of officers in each of our four areas which reflects the four Area Commands. The public can be absolutely confident that the mapping of the standby areas have been produced by the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade to save more lives. That is why we exist as an organisation.”
The spokesperson said that as part of the Fire Brigade’s new Integrated Risk Management Plan, fire and rescue cover is being completely equality impact assessed, ensuring that the right resources are in the right place at the right time based on life risk.
“The Northern Ireland Fire Brigade undertakes an ongoing programme of Equality Impact Assessments as detailed in its equality scheme which was detailed with the Equality Commission. The officer standby areas are programmed to be equality impact assessed as an intregal aspect of the Integrated Risk Management Plan.”
The spokesperson said that the Fire Brigade is wholly committed to Section 75 equality and diversity within their workforce.
“For example, at Brigade Headquarters in Lisburn all our job advertisements for support staff have a statement particularly welcoming applications from members of the Roman Catholic community.”
Journalist:: Roisin McManus
Bullets found in post
Bullets found in 12 envelopes which were addressed to Sinn Fein councillors in Northern Ireland have been intercepted by postal workers.
Staff at the Royal Mail sorting office in Mallusk, outside Belfast, raised the alarm after finding the suspicious packages on Wednesday.
The police said each of the parcels contained a single bullet.
They have been taken away for scientific examination.
One of the letters was addressed to Sinn Fein’s North Antrim MLA Philip McGuigan.
He said acts of intimidation would not work.
‘Sinister development’
“It was quite obviously the work of unionist paramilitaries trying to intimidate Sinn Fein representatives and party activists from carrying on their work,” he said.
“This is something that they won’t be able to do.”
Fellow party MLA Caitriona Ruane said it “a sinister development and a cause for concern.”
“This latest threat to Sinn Fein representatives comes on the day unionist and nationalist politicians enter an intense phase of negotiations designed to consolidate the peace process through the restoration of the power-sharing institutions.
“Unionist paramilitaries seem determined to undermine these efforts but republicans will not allow themselves to be deterred from the job at hand.”
The Irish Republican Bulletin Board
**Posted yesterday on the IRBB by ‘beirbua’
Volunteer Tom Williams 62nd anniversary
RIP
On the 2nd sept 1942, nineteen year old Thomas J Williams, Captain of C Company, Belfast Brigade was executed in the Crumlin Road Jail.
Following an Easter Sunday parade, Tom Williams led a six man unit of local Volunteers in a diversionary attack on the RUC.
The aim was to draw the RUC into the Clonard area in order that a Republican Commemoration could take place elsewhere in the city.
Having fired some shots over an RUC police van, the unit then made its way to a safe house, unaware that it had been under surveillance.
Soon, the house was surrounded and, as the police attempted to force an entrance into the house, an RUC officer was shot dead and Tom Williams was wounded three times.
While in hospital, Tom, as OC, claimed full responsibility for the RUC officers death.
Tom was sentenced to death along with his five comrades. The five volunteers sentenced with Tom were later reprieved.
Tom Williams, however, was to be executed in order to appease a very disgruntled RUC out for revenge.
Five out of the six IRA men receiving a reprieve was a blow they sorely felt.
Tom’s final words to the Republican movement were to prove to be an inspiration for generations of Irish people the world over.
“Carry on, no matter what odds are against you; Carry on , no matter what the enemy call you; Carry on no matter what torments are inflicted on you. The road to freedom is paved with suffering, hardship and torture; Carry on my gallant comrades, until that certain day”.
After Tom was murdered, his body was placed in a makeshift coffin which was carried by four prison officers and lowered into an unmarked grave near the jail’s hospital. ”T.W.” was later scratched on the wall.
On Wedensday, 19th January 2000, after a campaign by Republicans for over half a century, Tom Williams’ remains were reinterred from his unmarked grave inside Belfast Prison to finally be buried in the family plot, Milltown cemetery
After Fifty Seven years Tom Williams is finally free.
SAOIRSE32 
Recent Comments