Irish President Mary McAleese was forced to abandon plans to
visit a school in a loyalist area of Belfast due to the threat
of protests and possible violence.
![[Irish Republican News]](https://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/rn.gif) | ![[Irish Republican News]](https://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/harp.gif) |
February 27, 2005
McAleese calls for end to armed struggle
IRA statement welcomed
The McCartney family have welcomed a statement by the
Provisional IRA revealing the expulsion of three of its members
and urging them to take responsibility for their actions in the
death of Belfast man Robert McCartney
ADAMS FIGHTS BACK
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has hit back at political
opponents in the 26 Counties for demonising republicans and
insisted he will not allow them to set the political agenda.
Nominations close as by-election temperature rises
Nominations closed on Wednesday for the two by-elections to be
held on 11 March in Meath and North Kildare.
Sabotaging the peace process
Shame on those you did the Northern Bank robbery, and shame on
those who have used that robbery (bad enough in itself) to
sabotage the peace-process.
Compromise reached on Long Kesh plan
The former Long Kesh prison, a famous site of struggle for Irish
Republicans, will be converted into a sports stadium and a new
centre for conflict transformation, under the agreed report of
an all-party advisory panel.
Keep smiling through the media alchemy
By Jude Collins (for Daily Ireland)
www.judecollins.net
www.judecollins.net
OK, it’s been tough. The headlines over the past week have been all thunder clouds and promises that the sky is about to fall. But a few Ealing comedy moments have peeped through as well.
Adair defies UDA death threat
Notorious unionist paramilitary Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair returned
to the North this week as former colleagues in the UDA stepped
up their efforts to kill him.
February 23, 2005
Special Branch cover-up in feud killing
A police ombudsman report has found that the police Special
Branch in the North withheld crucial information from detectives
investigating the murder of County Down man Eoin Morley.
Storm of criticsm over McDowell statements
Sinn Féin’s chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness has described
Dublin’s Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, as the
“Minister for Smear”.
SPELLING IT OUT
Sinn Féin has gone closer than ever to urging the IRA to stand
down by declaring that, for republicans, “any and all activities
that fall outside the norms of legitimate political action
should cease forthwith”.
Sinn Féin determined to succeed
The following is an edited version of the address by Sinn Féin
President Gerry Adams speaking in Strabane on Sunday to
commemorate Michael Devine, David Devine and Charlie Breslin who
were ambushed and executed by the SAS on February 23rd 1985.
Commission chief blasts human rights sham
The outgoing head of the Northern Ireland Human Rights
Commission launched a stinging attack on the British Government
today, accusing it of doing no more than paying lip service to
human rights.
McCartney family impatient for statements, prosecutions
Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams has repeated calls for witnesses with
information on the killing of Robert McCartney to go to the PSNI
police or any other respected authority.
Britain robs Sinn Féin
The British government has extended political discrimination
against Sinn Féin, with the party set to be penalised by up to a
million Euros in political funding.
Bolstering the SDLP
Last Sunday on BBC television Seamus Mallon accused members of
Sinn Féin of murdering Short Strand man Robert McCartney, who
was brutally stabbed some weeks earlier.
February 20, 2005
Register to vote
Up to 200,000 voters are missing from this year’s electoral
register in the North, it has been confirmed.
Ex-prisoners to sue over toxic gas
Former republican political prisoners plan legal action against
the British government for using a toxic gas to quell a 1974
riot in Long Kesh.
Police forces to swap personnel
Garda police from the 26 Counties are to be exchanged with PSNI
police in the North following a new agreement between the
forces.
OPEN SEASON
Attacks on Sinn Féin by its political opponents increased dramatically this week following
the discovery of quantities of cash in County Cork and Dublin.
Vindicating Captain James Kelly
The treatment of a former Irish army captain, James J. Kelly by
the Irish State is considered a shame by many who remember, or
have studied, the Arms Crisis of 1970/71.
Bank heist stash found at PSNI club
The only cash yet to be recovered from the Northern Bank raid
before Christmas has been uncovered at a police sports facility in Belfast.
Managed impasse
The Irish American Unity in Action Committee drafted this letter
earlier this month regarding recent events in the North of
Ireland.
McDowell declares Adams is IRA chief
The Justice Minister in the 26 Counties, Michael McDowell has
declared that Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams is a member of the
IRA’s ruling Army Council.
February 12, 2005
Psy-ops linked to Tyrone operation
A County Tyrone family has spoken of their terror following a
prolonged British Army/PSNI invasion and occupation of their
homes.
No treachery as flag is lowered on Dail
The tricolour on top of the Dublin parliament was taken down from
the mast this week, and not before time.
Blair wants SF excluded - Durkan
The British government has disputed an allegation by the leader
of the nationalist SDLP party in the North, Mark Durkan, that it
had urged the formation of an administration in Belfast which
would freeze out Sinn Féin.
OSCE call for investigation of British brutality
A meeting at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe in Vienna has heard a call for an investigation into
British Crown forces abuses in Ireland.
IMC ‘snow job’
An agency of the London and Dublin governments has been
condemned for particpating in an attempt to smear the leadership
of Sinn Féin.
PUT UP OR SHUT UP
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has accused Dublin premier Bertie
Ahern of ‘crossing the line’ over allegations that he and Martin
McGuinness were aware of plans to carry out a bank raid before
Christmas.
The history of Sinn Féin
The second part of our feature on the history of the Sinn Féin movement in its
centenary year.
Is history repeating itself?
By John Doyle
The Great Train Robbery frame-up of 1976 remains of immense political significance, not solely because it led to the longest political trial in Irish legal history at the cost of well over #1 million, not because State repression became the focus of international attention and to some extent to the downfall of a Coalition Government, but because it failed in its main attempt to discredit and pave the way for the suppression of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP).
February 5, 2005
PSNI aggression in east Belfast
Heavy-handed raids by the PSNI police have led to angry
stand-offs with local residents in the nationalist enclaves of
east Belfast.
RSF demands return of funds
Republican Sinn Féin have criticised the Special Branch Garda
police for not releasing the proceeds of a raffle seized
following the party’s annual conference in Dublin.
The politics of the last statement
Some of the most striking quotes of the past few days.
Securing peace must be priority - Adams
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP made the following remarks at
Parliament Buildings, Stormont on Thursday following the IRA’s
statement on Wednesday night.
IRA ANGER AT WASTED OPPORTUNITY
The Provisional IRA has hardened its approach to peace efforts
in the North following the rejection of its historic peace offer
in December and recent attempts to criminalise its cause.
An Irish hero
Costance Markievicz [nee Gore-Booth], was born at Lissadell,
County Sligo, in Ireland 140 years ago this week.
British silence testifies to guilt - Donlon
The former secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Sean
Donlon, said “certain conclusions” would have to be drawn from
the refusal of the British authorities to provide documents
sought by the inquiry into bombings in in 1972/73.
Ominous Development
By Danny Morrison (for the Irish Examiner)
The statement issued [Thursday] afternoon by the IRA, the second in twenty-four hours, represents an ominous development and a major deterioration in the peace process.
February 1, 2005
Hysterical response to Presidential gaffe
Unionist outrage over a lack of balance in a comment on
sectarianism by the 26-County President, Mary McAleese, has
prompted an apology.
BRITISH USED POISON GAS ON PRISONERS
The widow of a former Republican POW who was gassed by the
British in Long Kesh prison has demanded that British Prime
Minister Tony Blair publicly admit what was done.
Background to the Guildford 4 and Maguire 7 cases
An edited account from Bob Woffinden’s 1987 book ‘Miscarriages of
Justice’.
Electoral register to be restored
The British government is to rush legislation through parliament
to put disenfranchised voters back on the electoral register in
the North of Ireland.
Blair to apologise for miscarriage of justice
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to issue a public
apology for the wrongful imprisonment of Gerry Conlon - one of
the Guildford Four - and his father, Giuseppe Conlon.
Bloody Sunday remembered
Up to 10,000 people marched in Derry on Sunday to commemorate
the 33rd anniversary of the Bloody Sunday killings, when 27
civilians were shot, 13 of them dead, by British army
paratroopers on January 30th, 1972.
A northern ‘scandal pattern’ is emerging
(from the Irish News)
In light of the high state of confusion that Hugh Orde and his puzzled detectives appear to be in over the Northern Bank job surely its time to call in Scooby Doo, Shaggy and the rest of ‘those perky kids’ who appear to have no problems with these cases.
Sceptical response to Ahern comments on sanctions
The Irish Prime Minister, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is meeting the
British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, this afternoon in London
to discuss the latest crisis in the peace process.
