Part 1
IRISH NEWS ROUND-UP
http://irlnet.com/rmlist/
Thursday/Friday, 27/28 July, 2000
1. PRISONERS STEP FORWARD INTO FREEDOM
2. List of IRA prisoners released from Long Kesh
3. RUC trap exposed
4. Sinn Fein meets Dublin government over crisis issues
5. Maghera residents crossed by Parades Commission
6. Government waste strategy in total disarray - SF TD
7. Action over 'prison camp' conditions of Dublin homeless
8. Feature: Adams looks back at Long Kesh
9. Analysis: Securocrats digging their heels in
10. Events in Ireland and Britain
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>>>>>> PRISONERS STEP FORWARD INTO FREEDOM
Forty-six IRA political prisoners were released from Long Kesh
yesterday on a day which saw the infamous prison virtually
emptied and set for imminent closure.
There was a strong sense of history as the IRA men walked free
from the prison in which the British government famously tried to
break the back of Republican resistance.
Amid high spirits, the IRA men were mindful of those comrades
who had given their lives in Long Kesh and all the other victims
of the conflict in Ireland.
The prisoners said they were "unbowed and unbroken" but ready to
extend the "hand of friendship" to everyone wanting to build a
better future for all people in the North.
But as they emerged from the jail into the arms of delighted
friends and family just before midday, the IRA OC (Officer
Commanding) in the prison, Jim McVeigh, said republicans would
continue to strive for a democratic socialist Ireland.
"As republicans, who have experienced suffering, we understand
well the hurt of others. We offer a sincere hand of friendship to
everyone who is prepared to help build a new future for all of
our people. The Ireland we seek is a more equal and democratic
one, an Ireland that cherishes all of its children equally", he
said.
Earlier, prisoners with the breakaway Republican INLA and three
loyalist organisations were released in a staggered arrangement,
catering to each group's taste for the attentions of the
international media.
The IRA prisoners were met by the Sinn Fein Assembly member,
Gerry Kelly, who himself escaped from the H-Blocks in 1983. Mr
Kelly rejected suggestions that the final phase of releases,
which included some of the IRA's top operatives, posed a threat.
"I was in jail and I am no threat to anybody", he said.
If Long Kesh was to become a monument, it had to be a
double-sided monument: "A monument to man's inhumanity to man,
but also a monument to people who found themselves naked and
alone but kept their spirit."
Meanwhile, the only prisoner released from a jail in the 26
Counties yesterday accused the Dublin government of
"cherry-picking" those who qualified for early release under the
Good Friday Agreement.
Dubliner Padraig Steenson, who was freed from Castlerea Prison in
County Roscommon, called for the release of the seven remaining
republican prisoners at Castlerea.
"I have to stress that I am saddened I left behind some of my
comrades. It is hypocritical that the Irish government have
failed to release them under the terms of the Good Friday
agreement even though they are qualifying prisoners," he said.
"The Government have no right to cherry-pick who qualifies to
suit their own political agenda."
But in Belfast, Danny Morrison said it was a "day of celebration"
for republicans - and particularly himself.
His brother Ciaran, who had visited him as a four-year-old when
he was interned, was among the first to emerge alongside David
Adams, cousin of Sinn Fein president Gerry.
Danny said he believed the release of prisoners was the "most
stabilising thing" that could happen.
Although he favoured retaining the hospital where the hunger
strikers died, he said a testimony to prison officers should also
be included.
"It would be an act of reconciliation and a great recognition of
one another's humanity," he said.
Also present was Martin Meehan, the last internee to be released
from Long Kesh, who also served a prison term in the 1990s
alongside his son.
He said his thoughts were with the suffering of prisoners'
families over the years, as a "sad chapter for all" finally came
to a close.
"It is a momentous day, but there is a lot of suffering outside
as well," he said.
"There should be no triumphalism because there is a lot of hurt
out there. Prisoners are hurt, families are hurt, victims are
hurt."
Sinn Fein councillor Paul Butler, who served 14 years in the
prison, also returned and called for part of it to be preserved
as a museum.
"If that is done, it could hopefully be seen as a final chapter
in the whole conflict. It should be a true beginning for everyone
in the north," he said.
"Whatever you say about the people who were in the jail and what
they did, we need to learn from the failures of the past."
LOOKING FORWARD
Belfast republican Paul Stitt, who was sentenced to 22 years in
prison, was one of those who walked free to a joyous homecoming
in his Carrick Hill home.
Speaking just two hours after his release, the 29-year-old
admitted it was hard to believe he was finally free.
"It's still a bit unreal. When I walked out this morning it felt
like I was just going out on a visit - but then, when I came back
to the house and saw the flags and everything, it started to
sink," he said.
"It's been a long wait and, to a certain extent, today was tinged
with a bit of sadness because two of my friends were left inside.
But it's an important day and there's a tremendous sense of
relief to be out."
He said he believed former prisoners had a vital role to play in
Ireland's future.
"We're absolutely essential because we are political prisoners
and, just as we were part of the conflict, now we are part of the
solution," he said.
He has vowed to join Sinn Fein outside the prison to help further
republican objectives.
Before the prisoners left jail yesterday, he also revealed that a
meeting was held to air views on what should happen on its
closure. The consensus was that, at the very least, the H-block
in which Bobby Sands served time, and the prison hospital, should
be preserved as a museum.
"We met and talked about it and we would particularly like to see
H3 and the hospital retained," he said.
"It could become a tourist attraction just the way Robin Island
is in South Africa and Kilmainham in Dublin," he said.
Looking ahead in the short term, he is preparing to enjoy the
next few days at home and, with a string of newly-acquired
qualifications, he is interested in working with computers.
Above all, he is determined to work towards a positive solution
to the situation in the North.
"At the moment there are a lot of difficulties with the Patten
report and all these issues need to resolved," he admitted.
"But I have total confidence in the Sinn Fein leadership that
they will do everything in their power to ensure that the Good
Friday agreement is implemented."
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>>>>>>> List of IRA prisoners released from Long Kesh
Davy Adams
Brian Arthurs
Gerry Butler
Tommy Brogan
James Canning
Cormac Conlon
Tarlac Connolly
Michael Caraher
Robert Crawford
Leo Cunningham
Robbie Davidson
Tony Doherty
Gareth Doris
Rory Dougan
Michael Duffy
Robert Duffy
Rab Fryers
Paddy Gallen
Eddie Grieve
Finbar Grieve
Sean Kelly
Terry Lavery
Gerard Macken
Phil Manning
Pat Martin
Martin Mines
Rory Morgan
Ciaran Morrison
Paddy Murray
Brendan McAnoy
James McArdle
Kevin McCann
Mark McDowell
Bernard McGinn
Brian McHugh
Noel McHugh
Noel McKay
Hugh McKee
Sean McNulty
Jim McVeigh
Thomas McWilliams
Feilim O hAdhmaill
Mick O'Hara
Michael O'Neill
Paul Stitt
Raymond Wilkinson
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>>>>>> RUC trap exposed
A West Belfast man has revealed an RUC attempt to recruit him as
an informer by offering him #25,000. The plan to entrap the man
was exposed on Wednesday at a press conference called by Sinn
Fein. The elaborate plot entailed the RUC Special Branch placing
advertisements for joiners in the West Belfast newspaper
Andersonstown News.
When the man, 42 year old Joe Malocco, went along for a job
interview the RUC men who said they "were representing the
British government" offered him a bribe of #25,000.
"They said they wanted me to work for them to help secure the
peace process", said Malocco at a press conference in Sinn Fein's
Falls Road offices.
Speaking at the press conference Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly accused
the British government of "failing to tackle the securocrats who
are firmly in control and are doing everything they can to wreck
the peace process".
This latest revelation comes in a week when British Secretary of
State Peter Mandelson has stated that the British government
would not be abolishing the notorious juryless Diplock Courts.
And his predecessor Mo Mowlam confirmed that she approved the
bugging of a car used by Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams and
Martin McGuinness during the negotiations. All this shows, as
Gerry Kelly pointed out, that British militarists still exercise
a huge influence on British government policy and are doing their
best to thwart the equality and human rights agenda of the Good
Friday Agreement.
According to the man at the centre of the latest revelation about
the RUC, Joe Malocco, the bogus advertisement offering excellent
rates of pay for experienced joiners had been running in the
Andersonstown News for months but he was only attracted to it
when he received a copy of the ad in the post with a hand written
note saying: "You may be interested in this".
Malocco phoned the number given which was a mobile that was
linked directly to an answering machine. He left a contact number
after which a woman contacted him and offered him an interview on
7 July.
At the interview in the Butler Suite of the Forte Crest hotel in
Dunmurry, outside Belfast, a man interviewed Malocco and asked
him about his previous experience. "It was a very professional
set-up" says Mallocco.
The interviewer told Malocco that his firm was offering #14.50p
per hour but experienced joiners could negotiate better rates,
"I've six children", said Malocco, "when I heard this I thought
I'd won the Lotto".
When Malocco said he was willing to take the job offered the man
left to get his boss who was introduced as 'Dan'. Dan told
Malocco that the firm would offer, "big bonuses for people of
your calibre" and took #200 from his pocket which he handed
across saying, "put that in your pocket".
It was then that Malocco realised that something was wrong and
asked 'Dan' who he was.
Dan said they represented the British government and stated "We
know all about you".
At this Malocco tried to leave but at the door of the room he
heard a click. "I thought it was a gun and that I was going to be
shot", but it turned out that 'Dan' had opened a briefcase and
declared, "there is #25,000 in it for you".
Malocco left the room and went outside to await the taxi he had
ordered and as he stood outside the hotel he saw the men who
'interviewed' him and two other men leave carrying bags of the
type used to carry video cameras and tape recorders.
According to Malocco the men who spoke to him both had English
accents.
"Over the past ten years I have received constant harassment from
the RUC", said Malocco, "I have been unemployed for years because
they drove me out of work. I have worked as a taxi driver and
they forced me off the road with constant harassment. I worked in
White's bakery on the Lisburn Road and they told me they would
set me up for loyalists. I left that job soon after I was
followed to and from work one night". He believes this was an
effort by the RUC to make him vulnerable to offers of recruitment
and confirms that tentative approaches were made at the time.
Mairtin O'Muilleoir of the Andersonstown News said they were
"consulting with our solicitors with a view to suing the Ministry
of Defence".
Meanwhile a North Belfast man who also attended the press
conference spoke of his fears after the RUC told him three weeks
ago that he was on a "Loyalist death list".
The man said the RUC told him to take the threat seriously but
refused to tell him where the threat was coming from.
Eamon McKenna, a father of five said this was the second time the
RUC had warned him of a threat to his life in the year.
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>>>>>> Sinn Fein meets Dublin government over crisis issues
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams MP and a high-level Sinn Fein
delegation met the Irish Prime Minister, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
and Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen at Government Buildings
on Friday to discuss concerns over the implementation of the Good
Friday Agreement.
The Sinn Fein leaders said they were very worried that if a range
of "very important issues" including demilitarisation by the
British Army and policing were not acted upon "with commitment,
sincerity and speed" then they could escalate into crisis issues
in the autumn.
The lack of momentum on demilitarisation and policing was already
undermining people's faith in commitments given by the British
government under the Good Friday Agreement, a spokesperson said.
As a consequence, relations between Sinn Fein and the British
government were particularly bad.
Speaking to reporters at Government Buildings afterwards, Mr
Adams said that the Taoiseach and Minister Cowen were "very, very
focussed" on the issues the Sinn Fein delegation raised. He said
there would be no new police service unless republicans and
nationalists are part of it.
"A rejigged RUC by another name will not be acceptable and will
not work," he said.
"The Good Friday Agreement was about creating equality. If we do
not have a police service that can secure the support of
republicans and nationalists in the Six Counties and throughout
the island then the Good Friday Agreement will be holed below the
water-line. This is not an issue for fudging on."
Mr Adams added that this was a matter for the British Prime
Minister on which to assert himself on and honour the commitments
he gave.
South Armagh Assembly member Conor Murphy pointed out that the
British government had so far failed to fulfil promises made in
negotiations at Hillsborough to remove British military
installations at Cloghoue and Crossmaglen Square.
"It is crucial for the success of the peace process that all
sides honour their commitments," he said. "Unfortunately the
British military establishment seem to be doing all in their
power to stop the Good Friday Agreement from succeeding. This
must not be allowed to happen."
The Taoiseach later held a 90-minute meeting with a delegation
from the Ulster Unionist Party led by party leader David Trimble.
Mr Trimble emerged in trenchant mood, accusing nationalists of
"nitpicking" and "hanging back" and using the policing issue as a
"smokescreen".
"It doesn't matter what the technicalities are," said Mr Trimble.
"You can have all the provisions in the Bill you like with regard
to recruitment and all the rest of it. It won't mean a thing
unless people come forward to serve. And they won't be able to do
that in sufficient numbers until the leaders of their community
support them in so doing."
Mr Ahern again stressed the Irish government's demand for the
full implementation of the Patten report, but Mr Trimble
suggested the "technicalities" of legislation to reform policing
were less important than the need for nationalist leaders to
encourage and support members of their community wishing to join
the police, no matter how the Police Bill, currently going
through the British parliament, ended up.
However Mr Ahern said Dublin was "very well aware and conscious"
of nationalist concerns about the future of policing. "The
Government's position has always been the implementation of the
Patten report."
His government's case was also advanced "by the nationalist and
republican community, by church and civic leaders". "There's no
doubt about the fact that what we all hope to see coming out of
this is an effective police service that is broadly supported
throughout the community and is representative of the community
as a whole. But, of course, there are difficulties."
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>>>>>> Maghera residents crossed by Parades Commission
Nationalists in Maghera last night told of their outrage after a
last-minute u-turn by the Parades Commission allowe a sectarian
loyalist parade through a nationalist area.
In an inexplicable last-minute u-turn by the Parades Commission,
marchers went down the Hall Road and Meeting House Avenue areas
of the County Derry town accompanied by loyalist flute bands
playing party tunes.
Around 100 nationalists who gathered to oppose the parade were
outraged but their protest remained peaceful.
John Kelly, Sinn Fein MLA, said last night: "As we planned it was
a very dignified and peaceful protest.
"But were are furious that the bands breached conditions laid
down by the commission by playing party tunes on several
occasions along the route."
In a shock move the commission made an 11th-hour change on a
decision to re-route the bands march in Maghera. In preparation
for the march a huge British Army and RUC presence moved into the
area at tea time last night.
According to assembly member for the area, John Kelly, police
also started removing tricolours from lamp-posts until they were
confronted by local residents.
Explaining its change or heart, the Parades Commission told
Maghera residents the review followed a meeting with organisers
of last night's march.
But assembly member, Mr Kelly denounced the decision. He said was
"profoundly disapointed" at the move.
"It is our understanding that the curtailing of the route of the
parade previously was not done on a voluntary basis but followed
a major disturbance in 1994 and was imposed by the authorities,"
he said.
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