Republican News · Thursday 21 August 2003

West Belfast man shot dead

Father of five Danny McGurk was gunned down by hooded gunmen at his Ross Road home in the lower Falls at around 11am on Sunday 17 August. McGurk was shot five times and died a short time later at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

The 35-year-old was shot as he watched television just yards from where two of his children were playing. Three more children were asleep upstairs at the time of the shooting. Three masked gunmen were seen by the victim's wife fleeing from the scene. According to the family the attack followed a confrontation on Saturday night involving members of a dissident group.

West Belfast MP Gerry Adams extended his sympathies and condolences to the McGurk family on behalf of the people of West Belfast.

"This is a sad and difficult time for the family and friends of Danny McGurk. There is a sense of anger and outrage with West Belfast at the brutal and senseless murder of Danny McGurk. The people of the lower Falls are also deeply offended at suggestions that Mr McGurk was the target of a punishment shooting, on the contrary Danny McGurk was the victim of gangsterism and thuggery".

Man warned of loyalist death threat

A Poleglass man has denied he is a leading member of a dissident republican group and is fearful for his life after members of the PSNI visited his parents' home and warned him his life was under threat from the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name used by the UDA.

Emmanuel Curran said he received the threat on Saturday 9 August with the warning the unionist paramilitaries are going to take "military action" against him in the near future.

"The PSNI said they received an anonymous call saying that I am a leading republican dissident from West Belfast," he said. "This is not true, I have never been linked to republicanism. I am not who they think I am."

Curran added that since the threat he has been in contact with a homeless charity who are trying to find him accommodation as he is too scared to return home.

Sinn Féin councillor Michael Ferguson said the death threat was a worrying development. "We need people to start mounting legal challenges against the PSNI to find out how many details on nationalists these unionist paramilitaries have," he said. "We have now found that we are the victims of a state-sponsored murder campaign, so we need to know the truth."

British securocrats target Sinn Féin representative

Newry Armagh Sinn Féin representative Conor Murphy has accused British securocrats of continuing their covert activities and has questioned why members of a British Army foot patrol photographed his home on Monday evening.

Murphy said that several British Army foot patrols, accompanied by members of the PSNI, were seen on the main road passing his home in Camlough. One particular patrol stopped and took a series of photographs of the house. "This is a very worrying development for my family and myself," he said.

"For many years British Army and Special Branch files have been a primary source of information for unionist paramilitaries. On many occasions I have highlighted the long history of collusion, which has resulted in the deaths of nationalists and republicans. This latest development is nothing less than state intimidation and an attempt to silence Sinn Féin and myself from demanding the truth about collusion.

"I have also written to British direct rule Minister Jane Kennedy asking her to explain why the British Army are photographing the homes of elected representatives. I have also questioned who has access to this information and where is it stored. We need answers as to why the British Army continue to gather and collate information on elected representatives. This is clear evidence that the securocrats within the British administration continue their covert activities. I have also raised this matter with Brian Cowen and the Irish Foreign Affairs Department in Dublin."

Also in south Armagh, Sinn Féin Councillor Packie McDonald has condemned the recent upsurge in British Army and RUC/PSNI activity in the area, especially the increased helicopter activity.

"Contrary to the promises of the British government of a reduction in their militarisation of this part of Ireland they are moving to entrench themselves even further with ongoing construction evident in the Forkhill base," said McDonald on Friday last. "Local people reported a convoy entering the base within the past week and the level of harassment has increased dramatically. People have been stopped at nuisance roadblocks whilst on their way to mass at the weekend and a number of raids on homes have taken place, including one house when the family were on holiday.

"On Tuesday night, 12 August, up to seven helicopters carrying a large number of British troops and RUC/PSNI members landed in Jonesboro and launched a raid on the home of an elderly woman who has serious medical problems. This kind of activity highlights the disparity between British government promises and the reality of the actions of their armed forces in this area."

12-year-old arrested for speaking Irish

Members of the PSNI stopped and assaulted 12-year-old Garvan Brown after he was asked a question and answered them in Irish.

The assault happened as he walked through the Fernabbey estate in Derry with his older sister at around 1pm on Tuesday 12 August.

The schoolboy told how two PSNI members were sitting in a car with the door opened and as he walked past one of them said something.

"I turned to my sister and asked "Cad é a dúirt sé?" which is Irish for what did he say. Then the PSNI men jumped out of the car and asked me what kind of language I was using."

At this point, the PSNI officers arrested the boy, grabbed him by his arms and tried to force him into the car. According to a PSNI spokesperson, the boy was arrested for disorderly behaviour but was 'de arrested' when a crowd gathered.

The boy's father, Sean, said it was a disgrace that his son could be treated in this way. "The only reason I can see for what happened to my son was he was speaking Gaelic and wearing a Celtic football top," he said.

Sinn Féin councillor Gearóid Ó hEára said the sectarian and racist attitudes of the PSNI lies at the route of this assault and their actions gives a clear example of the problems that remain in the current policing arrangements.

PSNI marshal fans into loyalist band parade

Celtic football supporters have told An Phoblacht they are lucky to be alive after their buses were attacked by loyalists after they drove inadvertently into a loyalist band parade on the Ballyclare Road near Glengormley around 7.30pm on Saturday 16 August.

The band parade consisted of around 800 participants.

While the first bus was untouched, several windows were broken on the second minibus before it reached the safety of Glengormley.

One of the supporters told this newspaper how they escaped serious injury as bottles and bricks crashed through the windows of the bus. "There was pandemonium, every one was throwing the children onto the floor and laying down on top of them to stop the missiles from hitting them. It was sheer bedlam windows were smashing all around us and some people got cut by flying glass."

other fan told how the bus could not travel any faster as a PSNI jeep was in front of the minibus and was travelling at walking pace.

"The PSNI jeep was going very slow as the bricks and bottles were thrown at the bus. We were all like sitting ducks because of the speed the PSNI were driving at. I was praying the driver didn't get hit by any of the missiles as if we had stopped we would have been killed".

Sinn Féin South Antrim councillor Martin Meehan said he was inundated with complaints from people travelling on the buses.

"Why did the PSNI travel so slowly in front of the bus when they knew the parade was going on?" he asked.

Meehan said he and several of those on the buses will be making an official complaint to the Police Ombudsman's Office.

"I want to know why the PSNI did not take proper charge of the situation when the sectarian attack occurred. I will be raising the legitimacy of this band parade with the Parades Commission and I will be asking were there any designated marshals to steward this parade and if there were, why did they not stop this attack. I think the people on the buses deserve a proper investigation into these queries."

Unionist paramilitary feud in Derry

Sinn Féin has expressed concern as the latest feud between unionist paramilitaries threatens to break out in Derry.

The threat of the ongoing feud between the UVF and the UDA escalating in the Waterside area grew when Protestant homes were targeted by loyalist pipe bombers last week.

A Protestant family of five escaped serious injury when their home was targeted in a pipe bomb attack. Minor damage was caused when the device exploded at the rear of the house at Bond's Place at around 2am on Thursday 14 August.

A second device picked up by a woman from the doorstep of her home at Church Meadows in Kilfennan was declared an elaborated hoax.

The PSNI confirmed both devices were similar to those used in the past by unionist paramilitaries.

It is understood the families targeted have links to the PUP and that the attacks are linked to a power struggle going on inside loyalism in the Waterside area.

It is thought the tensions between the two unionist groups were heightened during the Apprentice Boys march last weekend, when a band associated with the UVF entered a public house in the Waterside area which is frequented by the UDA.

The PSNI is believed to have escorted the band from East Belfast to their bus to prevent an outbreak of loyalist violence in the area.

Sinn Féin councillor for the Waterside, Lynn Fleming, expressed her concern at the latest activities of unionist paramilitaries in the Derry area.

"The news that unionist paramilitaries are again active in the Waterside is a cause for great concern for everyone in the city," she said. "Whatever the motivation behind the latest attacks it is invariably the case that internal unionist paramilitary tensions are resolved by redirecting their attacks on the Catholic community."

Ä Meanwhile, loyalists have targeted a family in a pipe bomb attack on a house in the Queens Park area of Newtownabbey.

The front room of the house was left "considerably damaged" when the pipe bomb device, which had been left on the windowsill of the house, exploded.

The family who have been threatened in the past were not at home during the attack, which happened in the early hours of Sunday morning, 17 August.

Begley lashes St Enda's arsonists

Omagh Sinn Féin Councillor Seán Begley says there is outright fury among people of Omagh at the arson attack on St Enda's GAA Club in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

"Almost three quarters of the roof of the new stand, which is under construction, has been destroyed as well as around 200 seats. I was at the ground this morning and people are absolutely devastated and sickened," he said.

"A summer camp being attended by almost 200 children was in progress in the shadow of the wrecked stand and the contrast was extremely stark.

"St Enda's plays a central and extremely positive role in the life of Omagh and as the ever-improving county ground, this arson attack has provoked shock and anger not only in the town but throughout the county and further afield. This is an attack that strikes at the very heart of the community.

"It is ironic that this attack should take place when there is much anticipation and growing excitement in the county at Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final fixture. People are not sure whether there is any connection or whether this arson attack was carried out by vandals hell bent on destruction, no matter what the target.

"Regardless of who was responsible, their actions have earned the contempt of the community."

Scappaticci court action fails

A legal attempt to force British NIO minister for security Jane Kennedy to confirm or deny that the man named by the media as the British agent known as 'Stakeknife' failed in Belfast High Court this week.

Presiding Judge Robert Carswell dismissed the application for a judicial review and supported the British government's practice of not commenting on intelligence matters. Lawyers acting for Freddie Scappaticci said they would be considering an appeal.

Commenting, Sinn Féin's Mitchel McLaughlin said the judgement would have the effect of providing further cover for the activities of the faceless and unaccountable agencies who made these allegations.

Segragation needed in Maghaberry

Speaking after meeting the Steele Review Panel looking into safety at Maghaberry Prison, Sinn Féin representative Raymond McCartney said that segragation of prisoners is needed.

"The setting up of this Review is a tacit admission that the safety of prisoners is the issue," he said. "This makes it clear-cut. What is required is segregation. It is now a question of when and how segregation will be applied across the board.

"It is a question of commonsense. It is a question of safety.

Inside Maghaberry, there have been a string of incidents. As well as clashes between rival prisoners, there have been rooftop protests and a dirty protest by dissident republicans.

"Sinn Féin has consistently opposed the actions of these micro groups who have little or no support or strategy," said McCartney, a former republican prisoner who took part in the 1980 hunger strike. "However, it is clear that forced integration does not work. There is no logic in trying to force politically hostile prisoners to live together in prison.

"The NIO already operate a policy of segregation in Maghaberry for individuals from within the differing factions of loyalism. This was a decision taken on the grounds of safety and without any necessity for a review."