July 30, 2004

Schedule unveiled for crunch talks

Racist attacks escalate

March decisions provoke nationalist anger

Kerry campaign disappoints Irish activists

LET DOWN AGAIN

Free Seamus Doherty

Bank robbery

Irish political parties have united to condemn seriously illegal activity at the National Irish Bank following a damning report by two High Court inspectors.

IMC is nothing more than a tool of the NIO

The latest IMC report is a mix of carelessness, pomposity, arrogance and toe-curling subservience to their masters in the NIO.

July 27, 2004

We have dossier - UDA

Elements of the unionist paramilitary UDA have said that they are in possession of the intelligence dossier which “disappeared” from Castlereagh Crown force base in east Belfast last week.

Newspaper censored, soldier fined after report

The British Ministry of Defence has placed a gagging order on a former undercover British soldier, who said an IRA sniper attack could have been prevented.

Major may be sacked over Ardoyne skirmish

The British Army is understood to have lost one of its most sophisticated pieces of bomb detecting equipment during rioting in north Belfast earlier this month.

INLA man convicted on 1992 killing

An Irish Republican has been convicted of the 1992 killing of a British Army recruiting sergeant after pleading guilty in a court in Nottingham, England.

FUNERAL OF JOE CAHILL

The funeral was held in West Belfast this morning of veteran republican Joe Cahill, who died last week.

Joe Cahill and the last steps to peace

An extract from the biography of Joe Cahill, A Life in the IRA, written by Brendan Anderson and published by O’Brien press.

Celtic poster sparks sectarian pogrom

One man was thrown through a window as a loyalist mob attacked the homes of three families in County Antrim at the weekend.

Uncle Joe

By Danny Morrison

Years ago I heard a very young Siobhan O’Hanlon talk about her Uncle Joe, clearly proud of her connection, through her mom, to the Cahill clan. I had first got to know Joe - let’s say, professionally - to the extent that as far as I was concerned he was first and foremost an IRA man who could produce miracles, usually in respect to money.

July 26, 2004

SAME OLD STORY

Immense anger has lingered in the nationalist Ardoyne community after a Protestant Orange Order parade and a mob of followers were forced theough the area on Monday evening....

July 23, 2004

Hothouse talks planned for Kent

The 26-County Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, have agreed to hold a three-day summit aimed at reviving the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in mid-September.

Sackville Place victims remembered

The Mayor of Dublin has unveiled a memorial this morning in memory of three CIE transport workers killed in two explosions in the city in December 1972 and January 1973.

SF MEPs address Euro parliament

Sinn Féin’s newly elected MEPs attended have attended their first sessions in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Kelly blames securocrats for Ardoyne riot

Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly has said it is time to “name and shame” pro-unionist elements in the British government’s civil service and the PSNI police who are actively working to undermine the peace process.

RIR IN NEW COLLUSION SCANDAL

Members of the British Army’s Royal Irish Regiment have been blamed for the “disappearance” of a top secret document from a joint British Army/PSNI base in east Belfast.

The Irish in Canada

By The Wild Geese

Today, nearly 400 years since they first arrived, the Irish have been nearly fully and seamlessly integrated in Canadian society. While many Irish tended to congregate in the large cities in the United States, in Canada they tended to spread into the countryside. Thus Irish-Canadians have been a bit less visible than the Irish-Americans, but clearly they had a significant influence on the history of the country.

‘Minister for Inequality’ heads for Brussels

Bertie Ahern has begun a reshuffle of his government by naming unpopular Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy as Dublin’s next European Union commissioner.

Letter to Billy

(by Danny Morrison, Andersonstown News)

Last Friday, former UVF killer, Billy Hutchinson of the Progressive Unionist Party, and North and West Belfast Parades Commission, said that he didn’t understand nationalist objections to loyalist marchers coming through nationalist areas and that he was prepared to talk. Danny Morrison replies.

July 20, 2004

Presbyterians to protest against Pope

Ian Paisley’s church will take to the streets to oppose a planned visit by the Pope to the North next year.

Can’t police, won’t police - Lurgan PSNI

A PSNI police chief has admitted he has not even questioned the individual he blames for his decision to force an anti-Catholic march through Lurgan last week.

IMC claims progress on demilitarisation

The so-called Independent Monitoring Commission has drafted a propogandistic report on British demilitarisation in the North of Ireland.

Garda corruption report fuels demand for murder inquiry

The 26-County government has appointed a senior police chief to investigate new evidence into the murder of a Sinn Féin councillor in Donegal over 10 years ago.

INTELLIGENCE PASSED TO UDA

Unionist paramilitaries are believed to have been handed a British Army dossier on leading republicans following an incident at the top security Castlereagh base in east Belfast.

Intransigence and threats rewarded by Commission

Events of the last few weeks have brought into sharp focus two of the key issues that need to be addressed if there is to be political progress.

Derry might be Derry after all

The official name of Derry may indeed be Derry, and not the ‘Londonderry’ moniker favoured by unionist hardliners.

Escaping the inescapable

By Tom McGurk (for the Sunday Business Post)

When deciding the first Court of Appeal hearing of the case against the six `Birmingham Bombers’ Master of the Rolls Lord Denning faced a truly unpleasant choice.

July 16, 2004

Ireland second worst for inequality

The 26 Counties is second in the world in terms of the gap between rich and poor, according to a damning UN Human Development Report.

Dublin accepts need for EU status for Irish

The 26-County government has finally yielded to demands that it seek recognition of Irish as an official working language of the European Union.

RSF anger at US listing

Republican Sinn Féin has denied a US determination that the party is simply a front for the breakaway Continuity IRA.

Pope confirms Irish visit

The Pope is to return to Ireland next year to mark the 25th anniversary of his first visit to the country, it was confirmed today.

PARAS WOULD HAVE KILLED

British paratroopers came within seconds of firing live rounds at nationalist protestors during a Protestant march in Ardoyne, it has emerged.

Making the North a shared place

I put it to Mr Blair that the best way to secure all of our futures is for the British to make a new strategic alliance with Irish nationalism and republicanism.

Blair permitting destruction of Agreement - SF

Gerry Kelly of Sinn Féin has accusing the British government’s Northern Ireland Office of deliberately preventing the implementation of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Helping the Brits

By Geraldine Kelly (for the Blanket)

Once he fought them tooth-and-nail, now he saves their skin. There have been many transformations in politics down through the years, but few have been as dramatic as that of Gerry Kelly.

July 12, 2004

O’Loan investigates sniper death

The North’s Police Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O’Loan, has launched an investigation into allegations that the British Army could have prevented the murder of a British soldier who was shot dead by an IRA sniper in south Armagh in 1997.

OLD ORDER REASSERTS

A legally binding determination by the Parades Commission was ignored this evening and and over a thousand loyalists were allowed to march provocatively through the Ardoyne in north Belfast, infuriating the area’s nationalist residents.

Orange Order - an alternative guide

The following account of the Orange Order and its early years is taken from ‘For God and Ulster -- An Alternative Guide to the Loyal Orders’ by the Pat Finucane Centre

Families attacked

A family including three children aged under five escaped injury in a petrol bomb attack on their County Derry home.

Bonfire mayhem

The bonfires which mark the eve of the July 12th marches by the Protestant Orange Order is traditionally a focus for violence and this year was no exception.

BBC criticised for promoting ‘Twelfth’

Sinn Féin has criticised the coverage of the Twelfth marches by the Orange Order by the BBC.

Ballymun towers come down

The demolition of Ballymun’s notorious tower blocks began yesterday, to mixed feelings among local residents.

July 9, 2004

Pub rebellion put down

Pubs in Cork and Galway which had briefly defied the smoking ban this week have now given written undertakings that they will comply with the legislation.

Release refusal tested by European law

Two jailed members of the Provisional IRA are to bring proceedings under the European Convention on Human Rights against the refusal of the 26-County government to release them.

Belfast man convicted on information charge

North Belfast man Jude O’Hagan has been convicted of “possessing information of use to terrorists”.

ORANGE ORDER THREATENS DISRUPTION

The Protestant Orange Order is mobilising its members to ensure an anti-Catholic parade, complete with ‘kick-the-Pope’ bands and hangers-on, is forced through a nationalist interface on Monday.

Stakeknife

A review of Stakeknife, written by Greg Harkin and ‘Martin Ingram’, by Mick Hall.

Inquiries fudged again

The British government has released only sketchy details of its plans for inquiries into the murders of Rosemary Nelson, Billy Wright and Robert Hamill.

Release refusal tested by European law

Two jailed members of the Provisional IRA are to bring proceedings under the European Convention on Human Rights against the refusal of the 26-County government to release them.

Parcel bombs linked to dissidents

The breakaway ‘Real IRA’ was thought to have carried out parcel bomb attacks on the governor of Maghaberry prison and and four members of District Policing Partnerships (DPPs).

Report sells schmaltz and not much else

By Jude Collins (for the Irish News)

The report Policing with the Community slithered out of my newspaper last week and since then I’ve been trying to remember reading a more patronising, ham-fisted document. I can’t.

July 7, 2004

Ahern fudges on Irish status in EU

The 26-County Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has admitted that his government did not seek full status for the Irish language during its presidency of the European Union.

Galway pub rebels against smoking ban

A Galway publican has decided to challenge the new workplace smoking ban by allowing customers to light up in designated areas.

FRUSTRATION AT GOVERNMENTS’ INACTION

Nationalist frustration has grown after the British and 26-County governments again suggested that they have little role to play in resolving the deadlock in the peace process.

PSNI back off on flag intimidation

New legislation intended to tackle the issue of intimidatory sectarian flags has been undermined after the PSNI police refused to act on the issue in Larne, County Antrim.

The week in Irish history

Events on this week throughout Irish history.

Bass pulls out of west Belfast

A boycott of Bass beer has been mooted after the owners of the Bass Brewery in west Belfast decided to sell up.

Ardoyne march gets go-ahead

A decision to allow a march by the anti-Catholic Orange Order through a Belfast nationalist interface on July 12 has been strongly condemned.

July 5, 2004

Ombudsman finds no collusion in Stobie death

The Police Ombudsman in the North, Nuala O’Loan, has said she believes the PSNI police did all they could to protect a British double-agent before he was shot dead.

Man sentenced ‘in secret’

The case of a Limerick man sentenced to five years behind bars without his lawyer present must be reviewed, Republican Sinn Féin has said.

‘War is over’ - Orde

The Chief of the PSNI police has told a Sunday newspaper that he believes the war by the Provisional IRA is over and that Sinn Féin is moving closer to supporting his police force.

Mass cancelled as Harryville intimidation lingers

Eight years after sectarian intimidation of Catholic church-goers began in Ballymena, the doors of the Church of Our Lady closed on Saturday night.

DRUMCREE QUIET, BUT DISPUTE CONTINUES

The tenth annual parade by Orangemen in Portadown since trouble first arose passed off quietly yesterday, but there is still no sign they will hold face-to-face talks with nationalist residents.

Elderly couple targeted

A Catholic pensioner narrowly escaped injury yesterday when a rock was thrown through her bedroom window by loyalists.

DUP must talk

By Danny Morrison
www.dannymorrison.com

Seven weeks ago the IRA shot dead 34-year-old Brian Stewart in East Belfast. Two months before that the organisation killed 47-year-old Andrew Cully in Greyabbey by firing ten shots into him as he sat in his car. Three months before that the IRA killed 31-year-old John Allen at his home in Ballyclare.

Ahern comments on abuse apology

The Irish Prime Minister, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern admitted to the Child Abuse Commission in Dublin today that the 26-County state had “let down” victims of child abuse in the past.

July 2, 2004

DUP attacks Trimble after ‘scrap Stormont’ call

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble was today accused of trying to undermine efforts to restore the Belfast Assembly after calling for it to be scrapped if a deal to revive it is not reached it by September.

New Deputy Mayor commemorates Somme

Sinn Féin’s approach to the annual commemoration in Belfast of the World War I Battle of the Somme has again proven controversial.

Bomb alerts cause Belfast chaos

The breakaway ‘Real IRA’ has claimed responsibility for a series of hoax bomb alerts which created traffic chaos across Belfast early yesterday.

HRC ‘SET UP TO FAIL’

Another member of the Human Rights Commission has resigned, claiming the body’s failure may have been orchestrated by the British government.

Free Ciaran Ferry campaign appeal

The Ciaran Ferry Freedom Action Committee is holding a raffle to benefit the legal defence fund for Ciaran, an Irish republican and current U.S. resident unjustly imprisoned at the whim of U.S. immigration authorities.

Drumcree showdown ruled out

Concerns that a sectarian march could still be forced through the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown were resolved after the Protestant Orange Order dropped a legal challenge today.

More hype on base closures

An announcement that a British Army base in County Down is to close has been greeted with cynicism by republicans.

The Police Process

On his latest visit to the North only last week, Robert McBride, now a South African cop responsible for policing two million people, appeared as a guest of Coiste na n-Iarchimi.

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