> IRISH NEWS ROUND-UP > http://irlnet.com/rmlist/ > > Wednesday/Thursday, 28/29 June, 2000 > > > 1. GOVT. BATTLES NO CONFIDENCE VOTE > 2. 40-day review of Bloody Sunday evidence ends > 3. Arsonists strike pub, club > 4. Rail line attacked > 5. Shoot-to-kill families want answers > 6. Over 4,000 complaints against RUC > 7. Sligo set to elect Sinn Fein Mayor > 8. 'Irish people deserve new political dispensation' > 9. Analysis: Red card looming for Ahern and Harney > 10. Events in Ireland and Britain > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >>>>>> GOVT. BATTLES NO CONFIDENCE VOTE > > > The Dublin government is today struggling to hold onto power with > its survival dependent on a few independent members of Ireland's > lower house, the Dail. > > Public confidence in Fianna Fail and their junior partner in > government, the Progressive Democrats, has fallen to an all-time > low following their refusal to consider an alternative to the > appointment to a top European job of Hugh O'Flaherty. A former > judge, Mr O'Flaherty resigned following allegations that he > improperly interfered in the judicial process. > > A series of allegations linking members of the current government > to the corrupt reign of the former Fianna Fail leader, Charles > Haughey, could prove the final undoing of the current government. > > A by-election last week in South Tipperary saw Fianna Fail beaten > into a humiliating third place. > > The latest blow for Bertie Ahern's coalition government came > yesterday at the Moriarty tribunal into political corruption, > where it was confirmed that Ahern's Fianna Fail party has failed > to disclose crucial information on donations to the party. > > Mr Ahern and Fianna Fail members emerged from yesterday's > tribunal sitting with several key questions unanswered and with > their claims that they had co-operated fully with the tribunal > undermined. The tribunal is now to investigate whether the party > deliberately or inadvertently withheld crucial information. Mr > Ahern claimed he had not given the tribunal certain information > because he did not think it was relevant. > > The tribunal will now seek to establish whether Fianna Fail's > withholding of key information was deliberate or accidental. The > tribunal counsel, Mr John Coughlan, said he was not suggesting > "at this stage" that the withholding was deliberate but said > "that is a matter to be inquired into" and for Mr Justice > Moriarty ultimately to decide. > > During the lengthy no-confidence debate today -- the last Dail > sitting before October 3rd -- attacks on Mr Ahern were renewed in > the wake of yesterday's evidence. > > But the Taoiseach made a defence of the coalition's record in > office, concentrating on the government's record on the North. He > described the peace process as "the biggest achievement of a > generation". > > The Fine Gael leader, John Bruton, accused Fianna Fail of putting > pragmatism before political principle. This pragmatism, he said, > had allowed certain business interests to "colonise and corrupt > top levels" within Fianna Fail. Fianna Fail, he said, could renew > itself, but only from the Opposition benches. > > Sinn Fein's Caoimhghin o Caolain said the coalition had done > nothing to address the "fundamental inequalities which blight our > society. > > "In health, in education, in the workplace, in the desperation of > tens of thousands of our people to put a roof over their heads, > the inequalities are glaring and the gap between those with > excess wealth and those without the basic necessities has grown > wider." > > There was a real opposition in this Dail, he said, but it was not > from Fine Gael or Labour. "I have no confidence in them either." > > He said the "deeply flawed" approach of John Bruton to the peace > process meant that his would be "a most undesirable nomination" > for the position of Taoiseach. "As for social and economic > policies the difference between his party and the Taoiseach's is > wafer thin." > > Facing a clamour for his resignation, Mr Ahern insisted he was > determined to see out his term of office until the next election > in 2002. With the no-confidence motion opposed by three or four > key independents it is virtually certain that he will at least > remain in power over the summer recess. But in the face of the > overwhelming flood of sleaze revelations, no-one really believes > this government can survive for another two years. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >>>>>> 40-day review of Bloody Sunday evidence ends > > > "Not so much an opening as a beginning of the search for the > truth of what happened," was how the British QC, Mr Christopher > Clarke, described his marathon presentation, which concluded > yesterday as the Bloody Sunday inquiry adjourned until the > autumn. > > His review of the evidence gathered so far on the 1972 British > massacre of unarmed Derry civilians stretched over more than 40 > days. > > It has set the scene for the hearing of direct evidence by > hundreds of witnesses about the events of January 30th, 1972 when > 13 civil rights demonstrators were shot dead by British soldiers > and a further 13 were wounded, one of whom died later. > > The inquiry will resume on September 4th when hearing of oral > evidence by witnesses is expected to begin. > > Spokespersons for the Bloody Sunday Trust, which campaigned for > many years on behalf of the families of those killed and wounded > to have a new inquiry set up, pointed out yesterday that a great > deal of important evidence remained to be completed. Legal > representatives of the families have not yet seen, for example, > the statements of some 300 soldiers which have not yet been > signed or otherwise completed. > > Mr Liam Wray, whose brother Jim, was among the dead, said the > detailed evidence had been quite harrowing at times: "It brings > back memories that, to some degree, you've put to the back of > your mind because they are horrific." > > The detail conveyed the reality of what did happen "and what > happened was that my brother and other people were murdered on > that day and that matter has not been resolved adequately 28 > years on. I sincerely hope that in the next year or two it will > be." > > MEDIA INFLUENCED > > The last day of Mr Clarke's presentation saw him reveal how a > Britsh newspaper journalist was encouraged to take part in a > cover-up of Bloody Sunday. > > In February 1972, a Sunday Times journalist met a British army > public relations officer for drinks at a barracks outside Derry, > according to material heard yesterday. At the meeting, a > 14-year-old boy from the Bogside was produced, who professed to > have seen IRA men open fire on Bloody Sunday. Counsel to the > inquiry read part of a secret memorandum from the journalist, > Murray Sayle, to the then editor, Harold Evans, and others. > > It included what counsel described as "a curious passage", from > which a name has been blanked out by the tribunal. It says: > > "Last Monday night, February 14th, I was invited down to Drumahoe > barracks just outside Derry for drinks with [blank], PRO officer > of the 41 Light Aircraft Regiment . . . "[Blank] shot me an > incredible line. He said he had been present at the demonstration > himself, dressed in plain clothes and a wig, and had seen the IRA > open up with Thompsons near the barricade site, thus killing > their own people. One body, he said, had a .303 bullet in it, > proving that the IRA had shot, because they have .303s stolen > from the British army barracks; so, I pointed out, have the > marksmen on the sniper posts around the Bogside. > > "He produced a boy of 14 who said he was from the Bogside and > said he had seen the IRA men open up with Thompsons and > nail-bombs. I asked him (the boy) was he sure about the > nailbombs. He said: `Yes'. > > "Ten minutes before, [blank] said he had heard no nail-bombs and > not one witness had heard any nail-bombs. > > "Then, getting deeper and dee per into the whisky, (blank said): > `You know, old boy, there is only one thing we really want here, > we just cannot let people at home think we shot unarmed men in > the back, we just cannot have people thinking that, can we?" > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >>>>>> Arsonists strike pub, club > > > Loyalists carried out arson attacks on a north Belfast bar and on > a County Derry Gaelic sports club within the past two days. > > The Circus bar on the Antrim Road, at the junction of Carlisle > Circus, was gutted in the early morning blaze on Wednesday. > > The arson attack has been linked to a dispute over the removal of > dozens of loyalist paramilitary flags which were erected as part > of a territorial feud among loyalists in Belfast. > > The so-called "Ulster Freedom Fighters" had threatened business > owners in the area, warning them "further action" would be taken > if the flags were removed. > > Up to 30 firefighters battled for over two hours to bring the > pub blaze under control. > > The building's roof was completely destroyed and the first and > second floors, which were rented out as office accommodation, > extensively damaged. Damage is estimated to run into hundreds of > thousands of pounds. > > Sinn Fein assembly member Gerry Kelly last night urged > nationalists to be vigilant, especially in north Belfast. > > Meanwhile, extensive damage was caused when flamable liquid > exploded at St Oliver Plunkett's GAA club in the village of Clady > on Tuesday, one of County Derry's foremost GAA facilities. > > Last night Sinn Fein councillor for the area, Margaret McKenna > said it was a clear attack on the GAA. > > "It must be taken in the context of the attempted bombing of GAA > facilities at Magherafelt and the murder of [GAA offical] Sean > Browne in Bellaghy," she said. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >>>>>> Rail line attacked > > > A device detonated today near the main Belfast-Dublin rail line > outside Newry in South Armagh. > > This was the first time the Belfast-Dublin rail line has been > attacked by a dissident micro-group. > > There were no reports of anybody being hurt by the explosion, and > there was no claim of the group responsible. > > A bomb alert north of Newry in Banbridge turned out to be a hoax. > A number of residents were evacuated from their homes after a > suspect device was found outside a house. > > The RUC Chief Constable, Ronnie Flanagan said he believed that > the so-called "Real IRA" was responsible for the South Armagh > blast near Meigh, which caused minor damage to the rail track. > > Flanagan also said today that he also had some evidence that > dissident Loyalists were planning to cause trouble at Orange > parades such as Drumcree, but did not elaborate. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >>>>>> Shoot-to-kill families want answers > > > The families of three unarmed IRA Volunteers shot dead by the > British SAS in disputed circumstances in 1978 are calling for the > full facts to be acknowledged by the British government. "We only > want the truth," said Margaret Brown, mother of Volunteer Dennis > Brown. > > Speaking at a Belfast press conference, the mothers of two of the > dead described the day their sons were killed. Dennis Brown, > Jackie Mailey and Jim Mulvenna were all young men in their > twenties; all three had young children of their own. A fourth > man, William Hanna (26), a Protestant passer by on his way home > with a friend, was also killed. > > All four unarmed men were shot dead by an SAS assassination squad > which had staked out an unoccupied post office depot in North > Belfast and waited for their victims to walk into the killing > zone. > > The SAS had been tipped off by an informer that a four-man IRA > unit planned to firebomb Ballysillan depot. Over 170 shots, > without warning, were fired by the ambush team of five SAS > soldiers and an RUC officer. One man was repeatedly shot by two > soldiers as he lay seriously injured on the ground. > > In the ensuing cover up, the British Army initially claimed there > had been an exchange of fire but no weapons were recovered at the > scene. There was no forensic evidence to suggest that the men had > even handled weapons and the inquest accepted that the dead men > had been unarmed. > > British Army claims that warnings were given by the team before > opening fire were dismissed by civilian eye witnesses, including > a companion of the civilian killed during the SAS operation. > > Demonisation of the dead men in the British media attempted to > obscure the lies told by the British Army and authorities. At > inquest, the SAS team changed their story, and claimed they'd > returned fire after they "thought" they were being fired at. > > In the words of Monsignor Raymond Murray, their statements were > "well spiced with imaginary firing from phantom gunmen, shouts of > warnings and escaping men in 'firing positions' and seemingly > 'carrying a handgun'. > > Fr. Murray described the ambush as a "terrible atrocity". The > British had "got away with it" by peddling the myth that three of > the men somehow "deserved to die". At the time of the shooting, > British military sources leaked spurious stories to the media. > > The Daily Mail headline the morning after the killings claimed > that the dead men were "suspects" in the La Mon bombing. "Depot > bombers carried Napalm" claimed the tabloid press. > > A call for an inquiry into the SAS killings by the Hanna family > in 1978 was rejected out of hand by the then British Secretary of > State, Roy Mason. For over two decades, relatives of the deceased > have sought to establish the truth about the death of their loved > ones. > > Until recently, repeated requests by family members for a copy of > the inquest documents had been refused, but earlier this year > papers were handed over to a solicitor acting on behalf of the > families. > > Outside of the obvious prevarication in the statements of the SAS > and RUC personnel involved in the killings, the inquest documents > raise serious doubts about the British Army operation. > > Premeditated and pre-planned killings contravene Article 2 of the > European Convention on Human Rights, the right to life, a > spokesperson for the families and sister of Dennis Brown, > Geraldine Keenan, told the conference. > > "This convention provides for the right to life and a right to a > fair trial. Both rights were blatantly denied to those killed. > The SAS were determined that no prisoners were to be taken alive > that night. > > "Those who denied these fundamental rights are the same people > who condemn terrorism and claim a moral superiority in the > conflict of the last thirty years. That particular lie was > exposed in the Ballysillan massacre. We are determined to expose > the other lies and falsehoods that the British government have > encouraged to distort the facts of this case," she said. > > The families went on to describe the "double burden endured all > these years." Not only were their loved ones killed without mercy > but the authorities then treated their grieving relatives with > contempt. > > "For hours our loved ones lay dead in the street. We were not > informed about their deaths until morning," said Geraldine. > Identifying the bodies was a harrowing ordeal made a great deal > worse by the attitude of the RUC. > > Kathleen Magee went to identify her partner, Jim Mulvenna. She > innocently asked her father, who had accompanied her to the > morgue, why Jim's body was wet. An RUC man standing close by > overheard the question and gleefully said: "Wouldn't you be wet > if you were lying out in the rain all night." > > "A few months after the killing a man,claiming to be a witness to > the shooting called into Ardoyne chapel," said Geraldine. "He > claimed that he heard the men surrender, he had seen murder > committed, and his mind had been disturbed by what he had > witnessed." > > "The British described those they killed as "terrorists" but to > us they were husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, uncles. They were > not faceless men. They were popular individuals in this > community. They were proud IRA Volunteers." > > The families are calling for any witnesses to come forward. "They > were human beings with human rights," said Geraldine. " They did > not deserve to die as they did." > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > c. RM Distribution and others. Articles may be reprinted with credit. > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
