PART 1 > IRISH NEWS ROUND-UP > http://irlnet.com/rmlist/ > > Monday/Tuesday, 3/4 July, 2000 > > > 1. UNCHECKED LOYALIST TERROR > 2. Loyalists force their way into Catholic home > 3. Australian observes Drumcree > 4. The calm before the storm > 5. Britain still opposing Patten on police name, symbols > 6. Adams hails SF's council 'hat trick' > 7. Paisleyites confronted > 8. March concerns in South Antrim > 9. British helicopter crashes in South Armagh > 10. RUC's lies on state violence > 11. No letup in child poverty > 12. Analysis: Europe - The land of no opportunity > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >>>>>> UNCHECKED LOYALIST TERROR > > > Once again, the nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road in > Portadown are being forced to endure a massive, orchestrated > campaign of intimidation, while nationalists across the North are > enduring an onslaught of loyalist terror. > > Tonight is expected to see the worst violence of the week and > there is considerable fear among nationalists in all areas. > > Car hijackings and arson attacks are currently taking place in > Belfast city centre, entirely unhindered by the RUC. Burning > barricades have already brought traffic to a standstill, with > live television pictures showing loyalist mobs roaming freely > across the city. > > The Garvaghy Road, meanwhile, has again taken on the appearance > of a war zone, with loyalists massing in open contempt of the RUC > and the residents' right to live free from sectarian harassment. > > On Monday, the loyalist paramilitary UFF from West Belfast joined > with the Portadown-based LVF in a brazen display of their violent > intent. Behind a huge UFF banner, up to a hundred > shaven-headed, tattoed loyalist paramilitaries paraded down from > Drumcree church wearing t-shirts bearing the motto "Simply the > Best". Led by 'Mad Dog' Johnny Adair -- once convicted of > directing terrorism in the North but now released from jail -- > the same mob cheered as three masked LVF gunmen read out a > threatening message before firing off several volleys of gunfire > into the air. > > The display left no doubt of the intentions of the Orangemen and > their supporters at Drumcree, Every night this week, the level of > violence being used in their efforts to force a way down into the > nationalist estate has escalated. For the past two nights, > everything from fireworks and acid to beer cans and bottles were > hurled over a barricade of British Army tanks. The RUC's use of > water-cannon to disperse the loyalists was a surprisingly moderate > way of dealing with terrorists and paramilitaries. > > And while Garvaghy residents wondered if the RUC's plastic > bullets were being saved for use against nationalists > exclusively, Britain's most tangible response to the Drumcree > crisis arrived -- the giant reinforced barricade which is used to > block the road into the Catholic estate. > > The structure, twenty feet high and thirty feet wide, was made up > of steel containers filled with concrete and topped with barbed > wire. Meanwhile, the British Army is preparing to move into land > adjacent to Drumcree Church. Similar action was taken last year > when barbed wire was strung across the fields which were also > ploughed up. > > But loyalists appear to be concentrating on creating widespread > disorder across the North following an explicit appeal on Monday > by Portadown Orangeman Harold Gracey. > > Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly says that Gracey must accept > responsibility for his words in the wake of widespread loyalist > violence throughout the north. > > Speaking after the Orange Order was banned from marching along > the Garvaghy Road on Sunday, Gracey attempted to rally loyalists > onto the streets saying, "this battle is not about Drumcree. It > is about the Orange Order, it's about the Protestant people. > > "If they don't get off their bellies before it is too late this > country [sic] will be gone". > > Before Sunday was out loyalists had carried out a petrol bomb > attack on a Catholic family in the Westland Road area of North > Belfast. > > At 11.45pm a petrol bomb was thrown through the window of the > house then as two men were attacked by a 15 strong loyalist gang > as they left the house. Both escaped but required hospital > treatment. > > Sporadic incidents of rioting and hi-jacking went on throughout > loyalists areas of the North, particularly in North Belfast, > where a 60 strong mob attacked the Brookfield Mill Complex on > Crumlin Road. > > When the RUC arrived on the scene a car carrying loyalists > attempted to ram the RUC car and according to an eye witness the > RUC fired, "about five or six shots", into the air. > > Vehicles were set on fire in the loyalist Tiger's bay area of > North Belfast while loyalists blocked roads in South Down. > Paisleyite assembly member Jim Wells was among the protesters who > blocked Clough on Sunday night. > > The trouble flared again as early as Tuesday afternoon when > loyalists came through the 'peace wall' at Workman Avenue on the > Springfield Road to paint bomb nationalist houses. > > The RUC has now closed Lanark Way, which connects the Shankill > Road and the Springfield Roads, due to the threat of loyalist > activity. > > On Tuesday night petrol bombs were then thrown over the > Springfield Road 'peace wall' at nationalist homes although none > hit their targets. > > That night loyalist mobs came on to the streets in force. > > North Belfast saw most of the trouble as up to 200 loyalists > gathered in Carlisle Circus. The loyalists blocked roads and put > up flags in the area. Last week the Circus Tavern was torched by > the UDA just days after a rival UFF leader was spotted in the > bar. The previous week a UDA gang threatened bar staff saying, > "they would take further action if any UDA flags flying in > Carlisle Circus were tampered with". > > Further up the Antrim Road at Glandore Avenue an off license and > chemist shop was burned out by a UDA gang, as were a number of > empty flats. > > As on the previous night the loyalists came out of Cambrai Street > to attack the Brookfield Mill. After breaking through the gate > they set fire to a number of offices. > > However, when local residents gathered the loyalists withdrew on > to Crumlin Road. A number of republican activists took the > opportunity to lock the gates. Using a car chain and padlock the > group secured the gates. > > One of the most vulnerable areas in North Belfast is Ligoniel and > over the past number of nights loyalist mobs have blocked the > only road into the area. > > However on Tuesday at about 10pm a gang of loyalists attacked the > home of a couple who are in a mixed marriage. > > The loyalists dragged the couple's car into road and burnt it. > They then smashed their way into the house and ransacked it. The > couple fled through the back door. > > The nationalist Short Strand in East Belfast is another > vulnerable area that came under attack from loyalists. > Although most of the loyalist activity up until Monday was > confined to blocking roads in their own areas there were stone > throwing incidents. > > One house came under sustained ball bearing attacks, while up to > 50 petrol bombs were thrown at St Matthews chapel on the > Newtownards Road. A local man said that the loyalist plan seemed > to be to burn down the thick bushes to clear the way for further > attacks on the chapel. > > A doctors surgery and a chemists shop was also attacked and > loyalists made their way tward a nationalist area intent on > attacking Catholic homes but retreated. > > In the course of the last four nights loyalist gunmen have fired > on the RUC with the RUC returning fire on at least three > occasions. > > Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said the Drumcree situation was > "hugely dangerous". > > "The RUC have been tolerating road and street blocks being set > up. There have been Catholics evicted from their homes by mobs. > All of this raises the temperature," he said following a meeting > with Irish Prime Minister, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Dublin. > > He added that the Orange Order must take some responsibility for > the problems. > > "They should abandon the siege of the community and the planned > march and instead enter into dialogue." > > He said that for the situation to calm it was vital for civic > unionists, the church and local businesses to raise their voices > against what was happening. > > "They need to stand up and be good neighbours because most > Catholics in the area are too scared to speak out." > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >>>>>> Loyalists force their way into Catholic home > > > Colin O'Brien became the first Catholic to be driven out of his > home as the impact from the Parades Commission's decision to ban > Portadown Orangemen marching the Garvaghy Road hit home last > Sunday. > > Within hours of the ban and 12 hours before the Commission > announced that this year's Drumcree Parade would also be > re-routed, loyalists struck at O'Brien's Fortwilliam Parade home. > > O'Brien said that as the loyalist gang smashed their way into the > house in the mainly Protestant North Belfast street he fought to > protect himself and his pregnant girlfriend, Lisa Magee, who was > staying the night. > > "We are lucky to be alive", said O'Brien, as he described how the > gang tried to smash in the windows of his home but couldn't do so > because of perspex sheeting he had fitted. > > When they couldn't do so they broke through the front door using > iron bars. O'Brien got Lisa to lie on the floor and protected her > with pillows as he held the sitting room door closed. > > The couple called the RUC twice in the course of the attack yet > it took the RUC over 20 minutes to respond. > > At times almost close to tears Lisa described her terror as the > gang smashed their way into the house, "Colin kept shouting that > I was pregnant but it didn't stop them". > > The 25 year old New Lodge woman also said that when the RUC > arrived they weren't interested in catching the intruders, but > when her brother and his friend arrived the RUC stopped them > going into the house. > > According to the couple the RUC were aggressive and threatened to > arrest her brother and his friend and assaulted them as they > tried to force their way past the RUC into the house. > > Ms Magee accused her neighbours of turning their backs on the > couple, "they were all out on the street but when we came out of > the house they turned their backs on us". > > New Lodge Sinn Fein councillor Gerard Brophy who was contacted by > the couple went to the scene and explained that he organised a > group of New Lodge residents to help clear the house of > belongings. > > Brophy added that the Housing Executive is supposed to have vans > on stand by in the event of such an emergency but on this > occasion a van was not sent out. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >>>>>> Australian observes Drumcree > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > Simon Adams, President of the West Australian branch of > Australian Aid for Ireland (a republican solidarity group) is the > first Australian to be invited to Ireland to act as an > international observer of the loyalist marching season. > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > As the first Australian to be invited over by the Garvaghy Road > Residents Coalition to act as an international observer for the > Drumcree dispute, I prepared myself by reading various books > about the Orange Order. I also discussed the marching season with > fellow members of Australian Aid for Ireland who had immigrated > from Portadown and with relatives in Belfast. As such, I > considered myself not unprepared for what I would see on the > Garvaghy Road. > > However, no book or television image could adequately prepare me > for the Orange parade that stomped past the top of the Garvaghy > Road last Sunday. I stood with residents as about 1500 Orangemen > marched to the beat of a solitary drum. Between us and them was a > solid line of at least 50 armoured jeeps, soldiers in combat > fatigues, RUC men dressed in riot gear and dogs - just in case. > Residents trying to attend mass had to wind their way past the > soldiers and dogs in order to get in to the Chapel. Orangemen and > their supporters occasionally glared through the lines of armed > men at us. > > Although there was no violence that morning there was something > deeply disturbing about the scene I witnessed. Coming from > Australia, I am not accustomed to seeing grown men march in > formation with swords and bowler hats. The truth is, knowing what > the Orange Order represents, in real life they don't look > ridiculous to me - they look menacing. The silence only made the > situation seem somehow more ominous. I kept thinking of Robert > Hamill, kicked to death in the town centre less than a mile away, > and the three Quinn boys murdered in Ballymoney so that the > Orange Order might get down the Garvaghy Road. > > Later that afternoon a riot started up at the Drumcree Church and > I watched through binoculars as loyalists threw stones at the > RUC. Down in the Garvaghy Road residents' centre everyone was > analysing the days events and trying to guess what would happen > next. The hospitality and humility of ordinary people there, who > welcomed me into their homes and fed me, was genuinely touching. > Outside children were playing hurley, oblivious to the Army > helicopter hovering over Drumcree church and the rioting. I > couldn't help but hope that the Orange Order would just walk away > from Drumcree and allow these children to enjoy their lives > without soldiers and sectarian parades. They deserve nothing > less. > > Tog sli eile. > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >>>>>> The calm before the storm > > By Fern Lane > > > During what subsequent events have proved to be the calm before > the storm in Portadown last Saturday afternoon, it felt very odd > indeed to be able to drive into the Garvaghy Road in the run-up > to a banned Orange march in an almost complete absence of any > military or RUC presence. That this should feel strange is in > itself a telling reflection on the conditions which the residents > have been forced to endure over the past number of years. During > the two Julys after the infamous forced march in 1997 when > residents were beaten off the road in order to facilitate the > Orange Order parade, anyone attempting to get in or out of the > site during the weekend before 12 July 'celebrations' either by > car or on foot, had to negotiate their way through twenty-foot > high metal gates, huge concrete bollards, rolls of barbed and > razor wire and wall-to-wall British army personnel. > > Although the banning of the 2 July parade was initially > considered less likely to spark massive protest by the Orange > Order and their various supporters and hangers-on than the main > event on 9 July, the amount of sectarian sabre-rattling, warnings > of chaos and increasingly desperate pleadings for mass support by > the Portadown District spokesmen in the weeks leading up to 2 > July did seem to warrant more of a security presence at the > Garvaghy Road interfaces than one, apparently deserted, RUC > landrover sitting in the car park of the St John the Baptist > chapel. For the first time in some five years it was possible on > the day before the Portadown's District's pre-12th march to drive > out of the estate and past Drumcree Church without running into a > police or army roadblock. > > Given that the estate was so easily accessible, it was not really > surprising that the occupants of a one or two cars which drove > past the community centre or past the church into the estate > should shout indistinct abuse and make gestures to anyone > identified as the enemy - a finger drawn across the throat seemed > to be the most frequently employed. > > In the community centre itself, the atmosphere was also subtly > different to previous years. Even though it was by no means > completely certain at that the Parades Commission would ban the > march on 9 July, there was far less of that sense of palpable > fear of what might happen during the night which characterised > 1998 and 1999. After Mo Mowlem's betrayal of the residents 1997, > many of them had in the following two years felt compelled to > wait up through several sleepless nights before and after the > march, worrying about and preparing for the same thing to happen > again. > > It could be that there is a feeling that some kind of > psychological shift has taken place in the British government > towards the Orange Order, perhaps brought about by a practical > realisation, long overdue, of just how difficult it is to deal > with - and that its 'loyalty' is little more than a figment of > the imagination. It could also be a sense that, as well as the > day to day struggle on the ground on of Garvaghy Road, the wider > moral and intellectual argument in respect of the right of > nationalists not to have to put up with everything which goes > with Orangeism has also been won. Even so, the relief when the > determination of the Parades Commission was announced on Monday, > and the strength of its criticism of the Orange Order began is > filter through, was tempered by anxiety about the wider effects > of refusing the march, particularly in other small nationalist > communities throughout the six counties if loyalist > paramilitaries took it upon themselves to become directly > involved. > > In the early hours of Sunday morning the security forces moved in > to seal off the estate and the march itself passed off without > incident. Members of the Orange Order were clearly told by their > superiors not to repeat the antics of last year and, although it > clearly was desperately difficult for many of them not to gesture > at the Church or hurl sectarian abuse at the residents as they > passed by, they did manage to restrain themselves. But still some > were not able resist the deliberate intimidation of pointing > video cameras as anyone standing in the grounds of the chapel. It > was notable that the march was very much smaller than in previous > years; the Portadown District has around 1500 members and even > the most generous estimate of the numbers on the parade could not > have put the figure at more than that. Those gathering in the > lane outside the church could also not have numbered more than a > few hundred, a stark contrast to previous years when the > adjoining fields were a sea of orange. > > The point at which things began to get a lot more ugly - and > which were to have an effect reaching beyond the immediate > environs of Portadown - was Monday evening when the recently and > unnaturally muscled Johnny Adair pitched up mob-handed with > several dozen members of the UDA, complete with matching T-shirts > and garish banner to offer their support to their friends in the > Orange Order and to posture in front of the police lines. That > such a thing could be allowed to happen without any arrests being > made is in itself an outrage, and although their appearance > clearly has as much to do with the power struggles going on > within the various strands of loyalism as with Drumcree itself, > the message being sent out to Catholics all over the six counties > was clear; more atrocities are in the making. The Orange Order > may not so far have been able to mobilise the masses as they have > in previous years, but they continue to be able to attract the > most sinister and dangerous elements of loyalism who have made > themselves available to conduct a campaign of terror against the > residents of the Garvaghy Road and the wider nationalist > population. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >>>>>> Britain still opposing Patten on police name, symbols > > > There are growing concerns that the British government intends to > scrap the Patten proposals on flags and emblems for the North's > new police service. > > There are reports that an announcement is to be made shortly by > the British government on the formal title for the new service, > which unionists have said should incorporate the name of the > discredited RUC. > > The Patten commission on policing set up under the Good Friday > Agreement had said the name of the new police service should be > the Police Service of Northern Ireland. > > At yesterday's meeting of the standing committee on the Police > (Northern Ireland) Bill, the British government rejected > amendments which would have prevented the flying of the Union > Jack over police buildings, and would have ensured that any > emblem for the new service would be neutral, as Patten proposed. > > Nationalist unease was increased when Mr Adam Ingram, the > Minister of State, told the committee: "We recognise we may be at > variance with Patten . . . but Patten wasn't the fount of all > wisdom." > > On symbols, Ingram did not accept that there need be "complete > neutralisation" from both traditions despite the provisions of > the Good Friday Agreement for equality, consent, and the parity > of esteem for both traditions. > > The effect of the curent position on flags and emblems is to > reserve decisions on these contentious issues to the Secretary of > State, pending consultation with the Policing Board, to be set up > next spring. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > c. RM Distribution and others. Articles may be reprinted with credit. > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > RM Distribution > Irish Republican News and Information > http://irlnet.com/rmlist/
