By Sam Lister
Belfast Telegraph
Thursday, 24 July 2008

Ulster’s politicians last night vowed to fight an attempt to force a vote on proposals to extend British abortion laws to Northern Ireland “all the way”.

Despite fierce opposition from the DUP, Sinn Fein, SDLP and the UUP, pro-choice MPs have tabled an amendment on the highly contentious Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would allow women the right to an abortion on the NHS.

Although it was widely denied, the DUP was understood to have been assured there would not be any changes in the province by Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his successful attempt to woo the party in return for support on the 42-day detention crunch vote.

But London MP Diane Abbott, who is behind the amendment, believes it has a strong chance of winning enough support to become law.

“When it comes to abortion rights, Northern Ireland women are effectively second-class citizens,” she said.

“They don't have the same rights as women in England and Wales and Scotland. They even have fewer rights than women in the Republic of Ireland.

“The main way if you want to have an abortion, you have to travel to the UK and get one privately.

“We think we have got a very good chance of getting the amendment through.

“There is a very clear majority in Parliament for a woman's right to choose and we believe there is a majority to extend that to Northern Ireland.”

Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland unless it is deemed that the life of the mother is in danger or that the pregnancy would cause serious risk to the woman's physical or mental health.

Pro-choice campaigners point out that rape and incest victims are expected to continue the pregnancy and give birth to the child. Around 50,000 women have travelled to England for the procedure over the last 40 years — with costs now estimated to reach around £2,000 once travel and accommodation has been included.

The new clause would extend the Abortion Act 1967, which means terminations could be carried out up to 24 weeks.

But the amendment could fall at the first hurdle if Speaker Michael Martin chooses not to select it when the bill reaches its next stage in the autumn.

It is the 30th tabled so far with more expected in the first weeks back after summer recess and those chosen tend to have been the subject of discussions in committee or ones which the |Government has carried work out on.

The main political parties in Northern Ireland and the four main churches have written to MPs opposing any change in the law.

Yesterday the DUP’s Upper Bann MP David Simpson uncovered figures about the scale of teenage abortion in England and Wales.

More than 12,000 terminations were carried out on girls aged 15 or under in the last three years and a further 17,500 carried out on 16 year olds.

He said: “There can be little doubt that a return to Direct Rule would only serve to increase both the pressure for such an extension and the chances of success.

“This move also demonstrates that there is not only no support across the political divide in Northern Ireland for it, but that there is active opposition right across Northern Ireland society.

“Every MP in the House of Commons knows full well that if it were up to local politicians and local people this would not take place.

“I and my party will fight such an attempt all the way through the House if necessary.”

Leader of the SDLP Mark Durkan added: “The SDLP, with full democratic conscience, will do everything we can to oppose these plans and will do so on behalf of the people who have elected us and on behalf of those human beings who can be saved if we can effectively curb and hold back the extension of this Act.

“In doing so, we will be seeking to maintain and preserve the fundamental integrity of humanity which goes to the heart of human values and the protection of life. “Furthermore, this issue once again highlights why it is important that the devolution of justice and policing powers take place as soon as possible.

By Andrew Woodcock
Irish Examiner
25 July 2008

THE Conservative Party is in talks with the Ulster Unionists about joining forces to create a new political movement in Northern Ireland.

Tory leader David Cameron revealed that talks have been underway between the parties for the past few months, leading to a decision last week to set up a working group on the creation of the new movement.

The working group is expected to discuss issues like whether a merger should take place or whether the two parties should work together in an alliance, and will report to Mr Cameron and UUP leader Reg Empey in the autumn.

In a joint article in the Daily Telegraph, the two men said they wanted to create conditions to shift the focus of politics in Northern Ireland away from the constitutional and sectarian issues which have dominated the past few decades and onto the bread-and-butter concerns of ordinary people throughout England, like tax, welfare and education.

If agreement is sealed, UUP MPs are expected to take the Tory whip and to be invited to serve as ministers in future Conservative administrations.

Although the UUP presently has only one MP at Westminster — Sylvia Hermon — it is thought likely to improve its showing at the next general election and may hold the balance of power in the case of a hung parliament.

Mr Cameron said: “For the first time in decades the people of Northern Ireland will now have a new choice of politics.

“These discussions with the UUP should mark the beginning of a creation of a new mainstream political movement that could provide leadership nationally but as importantly at every other level.

“Northern Ireland could have a new political force that follows an agenda of prosperity and opportunity and not one focused on division and the problems of the past.

“This new force — whilst supporting devolution — would be the only genuine national movement that stands and is represented in every part of Britain.

“And it will focus on the real issues now affecting the lives of the people of Northern Ireland every day — issues like schools, welfare and strengthening families.”

The Conservatives have historic ties with the Ulster Unionists and share a similar political philosophy, but there have been no formal links between the two parties at Westminster since the 1970s.

It is thought that the talks form part of an effort by Mr Cameron to spread the Conservatives’ appeal beyond the party’s traditional heartlands in England and into the other parts of Britain.

At present, the Tories have only four MPs outside England — three in Wales and one in Scotland.

By Andrew Porter Political Editor
Telegraph.co.ukl
24 Jul 2008

One of the key architects of the Northern Ireland peace process, he is now a Conservative peer and has developed a close working relationship with senior members of the Tory front bench including the Tory leader.

He was instrumental in brokering the deal, revealed by the Daily Telegraph, which will see the Ulster Unionist Party MPs taking the Tory whip and serving in a David Cameron-led administration.

Mr Cameron's team will be light on experience if he wins the next election, but Lord Trimble is seen as a politician who has a long track record at Westminster. He worked closely with Tony Blair throughout the peace process and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

However, his role in ending violence in Ulster ultimately cost him his career as an MP. At the 2005 election the UUP, which he led, was almost wiped out. He lost his seat and only one MP, Lady Sylvia Hermon, held on.

But when he was ennobled in 2006 he took the Conservative whip.

Mr Cameron said he wanted to make Northern Ireland politics "normal."

He said: "There would be no clearer signal that Northern Ireland was moving on and becoming a 'normal' part of the UK than Northern Ireland MPs supporting and serving in a Conservative Government.

"Such an historic move would be the ultimate expression that whilst the Conservative Party supports the devolution settlement, it is the only genuine national party that stands, and is represented in, every corner of the United Kingdom."

Lord Trimble has worked with shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson on the link up with the UUP which will lead to Mr Cameron declaring that his party truly is ready to govern for the whole UK.

If Mr Cameron wins power Lord Trimble can expect a significant ministerial job, probably in the Cabinet, Tory sources have revealed. Mr Cameron said yesterday that he hoped that former First Minister would have "a strong part to play" in a future Tory administration.

Sir Reg Empey, the leader of the UUP: "I think we want to explore whether we can play a meaningful role in national as well as local politics."

And he said some of his members opposed to developing new ties with the Tories  including North Belfast assembly member Fred Cobain, who once described such a move as "electoral suicide", are changing their minds.

The first test of the new partnership is likely to come in next year's European elections. Jim Nicholson, the UUP MEP, who sits with the Conservative grouping in the European Parliament, could stand as a Unionist and Conservative candidate.

BBC

Gerry Adams has accused the DUP of failing to engage properly with his party in a bid to avoid a political crisis at Stormont.

The Sinn Féin leader also said the issues causing the current impasse went beyond the transfer of policing and justice and Irish Language issues.

He said they concerned a "fully functioning and cohesive government".

DUP junior minister Jeffrey Donaldson said his party was not the one actively blocking executive meetings.

"The only party preventing the executive from meeting is Sinn Fein. Every other party wants a meeting, including the DUP," he said.

"The DUP has signed 30 executive proposals which is enough to sustain three executive meetings so I think the people of Northern Ireland will reach their own conclusions as to who is holding up the process of government and creating uncertainty.

"The DUP is committed to good governance in Northern Ireland and we have engaged with Sinn Fein and the other parties on the main issues and we will continue to do so."


The fact is that despite all Sinn Féin's efforts there has not been a proper engagement or process
Gerry Adams

Gerry Adams said: "In early June the DUP committed to a process of negotiations to resolve all of the outstanding matters - and these go beyond the issues of the transfer of powers on policing and justice and an Irish Language Act.

"Essentially, these are about getting as required by the agreements, a fully functioning and cohesive government delivering on all issues which effect citizens in their daily lives on the basis of equality.

"The fact is that despite all Sinn Féin's efforts there has not been a proper engagement or process, and these issues have not been satisfactorily addressed."

Mr Adams added that Sinn Féin would continue to work to try and resolve the problems.

Belfast Media
Andersonstown News Monday
By Ciarán Barnes
**Via Newshound

JULY 24 marks the 24th anniversary of one of the most infamous murders of the Troubles.

31-year-old Anne Ogilby, a Protestant from Sion Mills, Co Tyrone, was beaten to death in a UDA club in Sandy Row. Her battered body was found some days later in a drain off Stockman’s Lane.

But what sets the killing apart from thousands of others is that it was carried out by women within earshot of Anne’s six-year-old daughter, who heard her mother’s dying screams.

The Ogilby murder was without doubt one of the most brutal of the Troubles – a description often overused, but in this instance very apt.

The mother-of-one had been living in a hostel near the Malone Road in the months leading up to her death on July 24, 1974.

While staying there she became friendly with a loyalist from nearby Donegall Pass, who was later imprisoned in Long Kesh.

Anne would visit him at the jail infrequently. During one of these visits the prisoner complained that his wife was not sending food parcels.

Anne’s fatal mistake was to repeat this publicly in a Sandy Row pub – causing anger amongst the local women’s UDA unit, of which the prisoner’s wife – 32-year-old Elizabeth Young – was a member. At the time the UDA was a legal organisation.

The Sandy Row women’s unit, already suspecting an affair between Anne and Young’s husband, abducted her for questioning.

Five women – Elizabeth Douglas Snr, Elizabeth Douglas Jnr, Elizabeth Young, Kathleen Whitla and Josephine Agnes Brown – ‘arrested’ Anne at a friend’s house in the Suffolk estate near Woodbourne barracks. She was taken to a UDA club in Hunter Street, Sandy Row, and placed before a kangaroo court.

Kangaroo court

Eight women and two men interrogated her about the food parcel claims and the suspected affair. They told Anne that if found guilty she would be ‘rompered’ – a term used by loyalists for an extended period of torture followed by murder.

The Co Tyrone woman was released after an hour when the UDA members present were unable to reach a verdict. The women had wanted to kill the Tyrone woman, but the two men argued against.

Relieved, but also terrified, Anne fled to the nearby Glengall Street station to catch a bus to Lisburn. But the eight UDA women, unhappy at the kangaroo court’s findings, decided to ‘re-arrest’ her.

They followed her to Glengall Street and blocked the road as the bus pulled away from the station.

The paramilitaries boarded the vehicle and seized the single mum before throwing her into a waiting car. The intention was to take her away and continue the interrogation, however the vehicle was stopped just moments later by the RUC.

All eight women and Anne – who were crammed into the car – were arrested and taken to Queen Street RUC station.

Fearing for her safety, Anne refused to tell police about the kangaroo court or the threat against her life.

The women were freed without charge at 2am after three hours of questioning. Although she left the barracks with her captors, Anne returned to the police station a short time later, trembling and clearly distressed. Again she refused to reveal the reasons for her condition and was sent home in a taxi.

Later that afternoon the UDA women gathered in a Sandy Row pub and the decision was made to kill Anne Ogilby.

Hooded

They had information that she had an afternoon appointment with Social Services in Shaftesbury Square, and so took up a position at the Regency Hotel on Botanic Avenue overlooking the Social Services offices.

UDA man Albert ‘Bumper’ Graham was ordered to ‘arrest’ Anne as she left the office with her six-year-old daughter.

As he ordered the mother and child into his van, Graham signalled to the UDA women hiding out in the hotel bar and they followed him to the UDA club in Hunter Street where Anne was subjected to an assault of appalling barbarity.

Her six-year-old child was sent to the shop to buy sweets, and the gang set to work. Anne was hooded, tied up and then punched in the face. She fell to the floor, still bound to a chair, and was kicked about the face, head and stomach. Bricks were then dropped on her head.

The two women carrying out the beating – 18-year-old Henrietta Piper Cowan and Christine Kathleen Smith (17) – then stopped for a drink and a smoke.

They were dancing to disco music when Anne’s six-year-old daughter began banging on the door of the room, having come back from the sweet shop.

Ignoring the child’s screams for her “mammy”, Cowan resumed the beating until Anne was dead.

Her body was then bundled into a van and dumped in a drain near Stockman’s Lane. It was five days before she was found.

An autopsy revealed Anne had suffered 24 blows to the head and body with a blunt object – 14 of which caused a “severe fracture to the bulk of the skull”.

Revulsion

The horrific nature of the murder caused revulsion throughout the North – even at a time when brutal murders were commonplace.

Within weeks detectives arrested 10 women and one man.

In February 1975 – seven months after the killing – they were sentenced in front of a packed Belfast City Commission court.

Cowan, of Teutonic Street, and Smith, of Tates Avenue, pleaded guilty to murder and were ordered to be detained at the pleasure of the Secretary of State.

Elizabeth Douglas Snr, 41, from City Street, who had changed her plea at the last moment from not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, was given 10 years.

It was revealed in court that she was the leader of the Sandy Row women’s UDA.

Graham, 26, from Wesley Street, and Josephine Brown, 18, from Blythe Street, were sentenced to three years on charges of grievous bodily harm and intimidation. Kathleen Whitla, 50, of Howard Street South, was given two years for intimidation. She was second in command of the Sandy Row women’s UDA gang.

Marie Carol Lendrum, 23, Maud Tait, 21, Anne Marie Gracey, 28, and Elizabeth Douglas Jnr, 19, were sentenced to 18 months for intimidation. A 16-year-old minor was handed down an 18-month suspended sentence for intimidation.

Summing up, Judge McGonigle lambasted the UDA, saying: “What appears before me today under the name of the UDA is gun law, a vicious and brutalising organisation of persons who take the law into their own hands and who, by kangaroo courts and the infliction of physical brutality, terrorise a neighbourhood through intimidation.”

Amazingly, it would be a further 17 years before the UDA was outlawed in August 1992.

Most of those involved in Anne Ogilby’s murder are middle-aged or elderly and back on the streets. Many of them still live in the Sandy Row and Village areas.

The UDA women’s leader, Elizabeth Douglas Snr, died in jail in 1979; her second-in-command, Kathleen Whitla, is also dead.

Little is known of Anne Ogilby’s six-year-old daughter, who was forced to listen to her dying mum’s screams. It is thought she returned to live with family in Co Tyrone.

What is known, though, is that of the 3,500 Troubles-related murders, the Ogilby case stands out for its sheer brutality.

In 35 years of violence it is the only instance in which a woman was tortured and killed by other women.

Because of that, and because of the immense impact it had on the public psyche, Anne and her killers are unlikely to be forgotten.

RTÉ
Thursday, 24 July 2008 13:04

The first formal border checks between the UK and Ireland in more than 80 years have been proposed by the two governments.

London and Dublin outlined plans for identity checks on travellers that could involve a full passport inspection.

A British Home Office consultation paper said it was putting forward a substantial change to the passport-free zone known as the Common Travel Area, which was set up in 1925.

Immigration checks between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will also be stepped up to catch non-British and non-Irish nationals who travel illegally between the two countries, the paper said.

But it insisted that there is no intention to introduce fixed border immigration controls on the land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Breaking News.ie
24/07/2008 - 11:01:16

A man convicted of falsely imprisoning a police informer in the North will bid to clear his name at the Court of Appeal, it was announced today.

Daniel Caldwell was convicted of falsely imprisoning Sandy Lynch in Belfast for two days in January 1990.

Convictions of two other alleged gang members, former Sinn Féin publicity director and IRA prisoner Danny Morrison and Gerard Hodgkins, were earlier referred to the court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).

A spokesman for the CCRC said: “The Commission has now decided to refer Mr Caldwell’s conviction to the Court of Appeal (in Belfast).

“The nature of the reasons for the referral means that the Commission has been unable to inform Mr Caldwell or his representatives why his case has been referred.”

Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie
Date: 23 Iúil / July 2008

Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom

http://saoirse.info

In this issue:

1. Resistance campaign commemorated in Swanlinbar
2. Protests at Sarkozy visit
3. Czech parliament to be asked to vote despite opposition
4. RSF condemn raids and arrests in Co Fermanagh
5. Condemnation of Goggins plans for jails
6. 26-County police in Rossiter case seek to halt disciplinary proceedings
7. 26-County Administration funds loyalist festival
8. Homeless subjected to 'excessive' questioning
9. Jobless group criticises changes to dole
10. Jobless group criticises changes to dole
11. Tara campaigners support a petition
12. Plaque unveiled for Captain James Kelly
13. Palestinians may suspend negotiations with Israel
14. Guantánamo trials begin with bin Laden's driver

1. RESISTANCE CAMPAIGN COMMEMORATED IN SWANLINBAR

A CROWD of over 250 gathered in Swanlinbar on Saturday, July 19 to unveil a commemorative stone to three IRA Volunteers who died during the 1950's Resistance Campaign against British Occupation.

Volunteers Patrick McManus and James Crossan died within six weeks of each other during the summer of 1958. Also remembered was Volunteer John Duffy (Derry City) who was fatally wounded in 1960 during training.

Led by a colour party of 14, seven of whom were in military dress, the parade marched from Swanlinbar to the Border where the commemorative stone was unveiled. The Pride of Erin Republican Flute Band, Portadown, provided music for those assembled as they marched the short distance. A piper from the Glens of Antrim also participated in the parade. Proceedings were chaired by Ben McHugh who was with Volunteer James Crossan the night he was shot dead by Crown Forces.

Wreaths were laid on behalf of the Leadership of the Republican Movement, the men's families, Fermanagh/Cavan Republican Sinn Féin, the Kieran Doherty Cumann and the McManus/Crossan Cumann. Members of the dead men's family were present including former nationalist MP Frank Mc Manus and Fr Seán Mc Manus of the Irish National Caucus, brothers of Vol Pat Mc Manus.

Prior to the main address a statement was read out by a masked man claiming to represent the South Fermanagh Command of the Continuity IRA. Paying tribute to their fallen comrades the man claimed that the cause that they had died for was alive and well and that resistance to British Occupation will continue.

The main address came from Republican Sinn Féin President, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh. He stated: “Men such as Mc Manus and Crossan had time to prove themselves on different levels of service. John Duffy was not spared to develop his full potential. Their true successors today are those who reject the British colonial statelet north of this line of the border and the collaborationist state south of it and who stand by the All-Ireland Republic of Tone, Pearse and Connolly. Those who deserted that Republic and turned quisling to destroy arms given for the freedom of Ireland and join the enemy forces should stay away from occasions such as today's event. They are puppets of the English occupation enemy now.”

Following the oration the stone was unveiled by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Ben McHugh. Those assembled paraded back to Swanlinbar and enjoyed refreshments at a well attended function that evening.

2. PROTESTS AT SARKOZY VISIT

REPUBLICAN Sinn Féin, the Campaign Against the EU Constitution, which represents 15 anti-treaty groups and large number of groups and individuals opposed to the Lisbon Treaty/EU Constitution, protested outside the 26-County Government Buildings in Merrion Square.

In a statement the Vice President of Republican Sinn Féin Des Dalton said:
“The visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Dublin on July 21 is part of the campaign of the EU political elite to steamroll the Irish people into voting again on the rejected Lisbon Treaty/EU Constitution. Since June 12 since June 12 the Franco/German governments as well as the heads of the various EU Institutions such as the President of the EU Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering and the President of the EU Commission José Manuel Barroso have shown only contempt for the democratic decision of the Irish people.

“The big lie being put forward by the EU political establishment is that the EU can go ahead with the Lisbon Treaty despite or in defiance of its rejection in Ireland. In fact the 26-County administration could halt the ratification process by simply stating that the vote of the Irish people must be respected and cannot be overturned by a second referendum. Instead of defending the Irish people’s democratic decision the Dublin administration have lined up with the EU political establishment to try and create a 26/1 situation by the end of the year.

“On June 12 the Irish people made it clear that they rejected the further tightening of the EU’s grip. They are not prepared to give over more power to an institution which they do not elect and which is not accountable to them. Three times in three years the people of three states have now said no to a militarised and unaccountable EU superstate.

“This is the clear and unequivocal message which should be delivered to Nicolas Sarkozy on his visit to Dublin. In the past the Irish people welcomed the support of France in their struggle against British rule. Today we reject the efforts of Nicolas Sarkozy to subvert Irish democracy.”

The visit by French president Nicolas Sarkozy was a “sham” because of his failure to debate the Lisbon Treaty in an open forum and the exclusion of several No campaigners from the French embassy meeting, Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins said.

Joe Higgins was speaking at a meeting of the anti-Lisbon alliance, the Campaign Against the EU Constitution, held in the offices of trade union Unite in Dublin yesterday before Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Ireland.

Unite and other high-profile No campaigners had been excluded from the meeting because the 26-County administration did not want to reveal that workers had been against the treaty, Joe Higgins said.

“It is quite clear that the Office of the Taoiseach is dictating what happens this afternoon. The fact that trade unions who opposed the treaty, the Socialist Party and myself have been deliberately excluded doesn't give me any cause for confidence in the meaningfulness of this meeting.”

If Nicolas Sarkozy's visit was to have had any credibility an open debate should have been held, such as in the Forum on Europe during the visit of German chancellor Angela Merkel, Joe Higgins said.

Joe Higgins said that he would have attended the French embassy had he been invited. Former Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna, who was invited to the embassy, said she had been in two minds whether to attend. “It's a poisoned chalice because in going there you're giving it the credibility it doesn't deserve.”

However, she said she decided to go as a mark of respect to the French people who voted no to the EU constitution.

“The second reason is because people like myself have to go there and do the job of Brian Cowen, which he should have done in the beginning.”

Brendan Ogle of Unite said he would have “loved” an invitation to the embassy to tell Mr Sarkozy why the Irish people voted no, but he said there was no need for Mr Sarkozy to come to Ireland.

“He should reflect upon the history of his own county, reflect on what happened when the French elites became divorced from their own people . . . We don't need a modern-day Marie Antoinette coming here to lecture us.”

( >>Read on )

By Jason O'Brien
Independent.ie
Thursday July 24 2008

ANIMAL-rights activists took their latest campaign against live exports to the steps of the Australian embassy in Dublin yesterday.

Dressed as sheep and dripping in fake blood, members of Animal Rights Action Network (Aran) were calling for a ban on the long-distance transport of animals.

Australia dominates the market for live sheep exports to the Middle East.

"The protest looked pretty spectacular," John Carmody of Aran said yesterday. "Some of the protesters had very realistic sheep faces on and they were covered in blood."

The initiative is part of a global campaign 'Handle With Care' which is calling for an end to the long-distance transport of live animals for slaughter.

Aran is planning a nationwide protest on the issue on October 5 and will focus on the fact that Australian farmers are also shipping sheep to Ireland.

- Jason O'Brien

RTÉ
Thursday, 24 July 2008 07:32

The Ulster Unionist party is in talks with the British Conservative Party about joining forces to create a new political movement in Northern Ireland.

The Tory leader, David Cameron, revealed that talks have been under way between for the last few months, leading to a decision last week to set up a working group.

One of the issues to be discussed is the possibility of a merger.

In a joint article in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Cameron and UUP leader Sir Reg Empey said that they want to create conditions to shift the focus of politics in NI away from constitutional and sectarian issues and onto the bread-and-butter concerns, like tax, health and education.

The Conservatives have historic ties with the Ulster Unionists and share a similar political philosophy, but there have been no formal links between the two parties at Westminster since the 1970s.

Irish Democrat
23 July 2008

Earlier this month, protesters gathered in Dublin's O'Connell Street to put pressure on the Dublin and London governments to live up to their obligations to prisoners as laid down by the European Union. The protest was organised by éirígí, a, socialist republican political party committed to ending the British occupation of the six counties and the establishment of a thirty-two county democratic socialist republic.

The Irish Democrat supports calls for the British government to allow Irish political prisoners held in British jails to serve out their sentence in their home country.

The following report first appeared on the éirígí website. We re-publish it here with permission.

--------

NOEL MAGUIRE, an Irish republican from County Fermanagh, has been languishing in British jails since his incarceration five years ago. Despite no direct evidence of his involvement in explosions in Britain being presented to the court, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

Maguire's family have also been punished, both financially and emotionally - making long and expensive journeys to visit their relative. He has not seen his children in five years.

éirígí activists joined Noel's family and supporters outside the GPO to condemn the British government's continued detention of the Irish citizen, in contravention of his right to serve his sentence in his home country.

The picket also exposed the lack of response by the twenty-six county administration to the plight of an Irish citizen detained overseas.

Speaking after the well-attended protest, éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson pledged éirígí's full support to the campaign for Noel's transfer.

"Despite the fact that Noel would never have been in jail if it had not been for the British occupation of his country, his family are not demanding his release, but simply his return to Irish soil to end the cruel punishment of the long distance between them.

"The British government's refusal to transfer Noel Maguire is in contravention of his rights as enshrined under EU law. Both the Dublin and London governments laud these laws as cornerstones of their states, yet act as if they don't exist when it comes to dealing with their political opponents. "Noel's incarceration, sentence and subsequent denial of transfer are all examples of the cruel and repressive nature of Britain's justice system, and the willingness of its allies in Ireland to acquiesce to it.

"Noel should be transferred home immediately to end the collective punishment being visited on his family. His children should be allowed to see their father again. "éirígí is asking all Irish citizens to contact their elected representatives about this case. Pressure needs to be placed on the British government to send Noel home and that pressure needs to come from all quarters of Irish society."

*

By Tim Healy and Fiach Kelly
Independent.ie
Wednesday July 23 2008

THE family of 14-year-old Brian Rossiter yesterday said it was a "relief" to have settled their High Court action over the inquest into his death.

Brian's parents, Patrick and Siobhan Rossiter, sought an order restraining Cork City Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane from proceeding with the inquest following the boy's death two days after he was detained at Clonmel garda station in 2002.

Brian was discovered unconscious in a cell at the station on September 11, 2002, after he had been arrested the previous evening for an alleged public order offence. He died on September 13 at Cork University Hospital.

Mr and Mrs Rossiter had argued that the inquest should not continue unless the coroner agreed to hear evidence from witnesses they wished to call, including two independent forensic scientists.

Yesterday, counsel for the family told Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill that the matter had been settled and could be struck out. The settlement came after it was agreed that the expert witnesses would be allowed give evidence at the hearing.

Afterwards, Mr Rossiter told the Irish Independent he "could never understand why the witnesses were refused".

Witnesses

"It's a relief to know we're going to be able to call two expert witnesses," he said.

"They are very important witnesses and we knew we were within our rights. Of course it has been worth it. We weren't left with a choice but to go to the High Court."

Also speaking after the High Court case was settled yesterday, the Rossiter family's solicitor, Cian O'Carroll, said that as part of the settlement it had been agreed that two pathologists from the UK will give evidence at the inquest. Mr O'Carroll also said that the cost of the proceedings will be covered.

- Tim Healy and Fiach Kelly

Belfast Telegraph
Wednesday, 23 July 2008

Threat ‘puts whole community at risk’

Dissident republicans have issued a chilling threat to a group of civil servants.

The Continuity IRA (CIRA) threatened to target customs officers and staff from the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) for dealing with police in Co Fermanagh.

Environment Minister Sammy Wilson, responsible for the DVA which tests and licenses drivers and vehicles, condemned the threat. The threat was issued in a statement read by a masked man at the unveiling of a monument last Saturday near the Fermanagh border, at Mullan, Co Cavan.

Mr Wilson said: “I wish to condemn in the strongest possible terms the threat to DVA Staff issued by the South Fermanagh Command of the Continuity IRA. DVA staff are actively involved in road safety and work with both the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) and Garda.

“Given our current road safety record and the high percentage of the goods and bus fleet operating with serious defects I would have thought that staff would have been actively supported rather than targeted. This threat is simply an attack on Road Safety, DVA staff who are ordinary people going about their work and it therefore puts the whole community at risk.”

In June the CIRA claimed responsibility for planting a landmine near the Co Fermanagh village of Roslea in an attempt to murder PSNI members.

Two officers escaped with minor injuries when the device only partially exploded.

It is understood dissident republicans attended the unveiling of the memorial in Co Cavan in an event including a 14-strong colour party headed by seven masked men.

One of the masked men is understood to have read a statement claiming to represent the South Fermanagh Command of the Continuity IRA.

The statement reportedly read: “It has come to our attention that in recent weeks Customs and Excise and the DVLA (the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) have been collaborating with the RUC in the County Fermanagh area.

“We order them to desist immediately or we will be forced to label them legitimate targets.”

Sunday Life
20 July 2008

Loyalist lifer Trevor McKeown could be called to the public inquiry into the murder of Catholic lawyer Rosemary Nelson.

Four years ago he claimed rogue RUC officers directed him to the spot where Rosemary Nelson parked her car and urged him to shoot her there — less than two years before she was eventually killed by a loyalist car bomb.

McKeown says two officers asked him to kill the human rights lawyer while he was being quizzed over the murder of 18-year-old Bernadette Martin — an allegation they strenusously denied.

He said: "I would be willing to speak at the inquiry as I have nothing to hide. I am very worried about my security in giving evidence.

"These officers wanted me to shoot Nelson. They made that clear. I didn't agree with them that she should be killed and just said nothing.

"When I was arrested a detective said to me: 'You shouldn't have killed that 18-year-old girl, but Rosemary Nelson instead'. He said it would be easy for me or other loyalists to shoot her.

"Another detective was sitting in the room and just sat there as if he agreed while the first detective was telling me he wanted Rosemary Nelson dead. That was made clear to me."

Exactly 20 months after the alleged incident in July 1997, Mrs Nelson died from horrific injuries suffered when the LVF planted a booby-trap bomb under her car in Lurgan. The Red Hand Defenders — a cover-name for the LVF in mid-Ulster — admitted responsibility.

Since her death there have been persistent allegations of security force collusion in the murder, which is now the subject of an inquiry headed by retired judge Sir Michael Morland.

Ironically, McKeown's trial for murdering Bernadette Martin started the day mother-of-three Mrs Nelson was murdered on March 15, 1999.

Two English police officers have already interviewed Trevor McKeown inside Maghaberry Prison about his claims that an RUC officer urged him to murder the Catholic solicitor.

The police team investigating Mrs Nelson's case later found that the officers identified had been questioned years before as part of an internal inquiry into Mrs Nelson's allegations that RUC officers were threatening her while interviewing her clients.

But no evidence was found to uphold the complaints, which the policemen denied.

As the inquiry opened at Craigavon Civic Centre in recent months counsel to the inquiry Rory Phillips QC raised Trevor McKeown's allegations and hinted they may be raised later in the case.

He said: "There was, for example, some years after the murder, an allegation made by a man described as a convicted loyalist killer that he had been incited by police officers to murder Rosemary Nelson.

"Now, at present it is not clear to what extent we will be able to explore this matter in the evidence, and I, therefore, propose to say very little more about it at this stage, save to say this: this was a matter again investigated by the murder investigation team; the allegations were denied and no charges were brought as a result.

"However, it was with these sorts of allegations of criminal conduct in mind and as one of a series of measures designed to encourage witnesses to be open in their evidence to the inquiry and to ensure that the inquiry received the fullest disclosure and co-operation from those with material of relevance, that the inquiry, during the course of 2005, sought from the then Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, a limited evidential undertaking."

The undertaking declares that no one giving evidence shall have it used against them later in any criminal proceedings.

BBC
23 July 2008

Sinn Féin has held talks with the Prime Minister in Downing Street.

Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness are understood to have met Gordon Brown amid fears of a standoff between Sinn Fein and the DUP at Stormont.

DUP leader and NI First Minister Peter Robinson, and party colleague Gregory Campbell, met Mr Brown on Tuesday.

A Sinn Féin source said its meeting focused on issues including the devolution of policing and justice powers.

The DUP has played down talk of deadlock at Stormont, while Sinn Féin described its Downing Street visit as "routine".

Other issues the two parties are split on include education reform, an Irish Language Act and the future of the Maze prison site.

On Tuesday, a meeting of the NI power-sharing executive, set for Thursday, was called off at short notice.

Other parties have claimed that a standoff between the DUP and Sinn Féin is causing deadlock in the executive.

SDLP deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell said divisions between the two parties were preventing the assembly tackling the price rises hitting consumers as a result of the international economic crisis.

"Devolution was supposed to make a difference to people's lives and yet in the midst of this economic crisis we have executive meetings cancelled at the drop of a hat," he said.

The cancellation of Thursday's meeting means ministers will not have held a formal round-table meeting for more than a month.

BBC
23 July 2008

**Your thoughts on this?

MPs have tabled an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill to give women in Northern Ireland the same abortion rights as in Britain.

The 1967 Abortion Act was never enacted in Northern Ireland.

The amendment was tabled on the last day of the parliamentary session and MPs will not debate the amendment until the Autumn at the earliest.

All the Northern Ireland parties with MPs at Westminster oppose moves to extend abortion rights.

But there is no guarantee that the amendment tabled by Labour MP Diane Abbott will be called by the Speaker for debate.

Ms Abbott says she believes there is "a very good chance" of it being passed by MPs - but it would face stiff opposition from Northern Ireland MPs who are against such a change.

There was speculation last month, at the time of the vote on detaining terror suspects for up to 42 days, that assurances were given to the Democratic Unionist Party that the abortion legislation would not be extended to Northern Ireland.

The nine DUP MPs were crucial to the government winning that vote - although Gordon Brown insisted there had been no deals.

Despite this, supporters are hopeful that the amendment may be successful as the abortion time limit that applies to the rest of the UK was discussed as part of the HFE legislation, so it would be difficult to rule it out of order.

The Northern Ireland amendment was tabled on Wednesday in the name of Ms Abbott and backed by fellow left-wing MPs John McDonnell and Katy Clark, plus Tories Jacqui Lait and John Bercow and Lib Dem Evan Harris.

Ms Abbott says it is an issue of equality.

"When it comes to abortion rights, Northern Ireland women are effectively second class citizens: they don't have the same rights as women in England and Wales and Scotland and they even have fewer rights than women in the Republic of Ireland," she said.

Free vote

"So really the main way, if you want to have abortion and you're a woman in Northern Ireland, you have to travel to the UK. So every year thousands of women pay with their own money to have an abortion here.

"The effect of the amendment would be to give women in Northern Ireland exactly the same rights to abortion with NHS funding that women elsewhere in Britain have."

Democratic Unionist Party MP Jeffrey Donaldson said all the main political parties in Northern Ireland and the four main churches had written to MPs opposing any change in the law.

"The reason why the law is different in Northern Ireland is because that is what the people of Northern Ireland want," he said.

"We will be vigorously opposing any move to override the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Assembly."

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said: "I had feared these amendments proposing such an extension would have been tabled at an earlier stage, but it comes as no surprise that it has happened now.

"The SDLP with full democratic conscience will do everything we can to oppose these plans and will do so on behalf of the people who have elected us and on behalf of those human beings who can be saved if we can effectively curb and hold back the extension of this Act."

If the amendment was debated, there would be a "free vote", which means MPs can vote with their conscience.

The remaining stages of the controversial HFE Bill were due to be debated earlier this month, but this has now been delayed until the autumn.

Irish Times
23 July 2008

Republican paramilitaries opposed to the peace process have threatened a group of civil servants in Northern Ireland.

The Continuity IRA said they would target customs officers and staff from the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) for dealing with police in Co Fermanagh.

The threat was issued in a statement read by a masked man at the unveiling of a monument last Saturday near the Fermanagh border, at Mullan Co Cavan.

Northern Ireland Environment Minister Sammy Wilson condemned the threat and said it put the entire community at risk.

“DVA staff are actively involved in road safety and work with both the PSNI and Gardai,” he said.

“Given our current road safety record and the high percentage of the goods and bus fleet operating with serious defects I would have thought that staff would have been actively supported rather than targeted.”

BBC

The head of the team re-examining unsolved murders during the Troubles has admitted they will need much longer to complete their work.

The Historical Enquiries Team was set up three years ago and given six years to re-examine more than 3,200 deaths.

Director Dave Cox said they had only got as far as 1974 and would need an extra three years.

The HET, which is based in Lisburn and employs 180 people, has used up half of the £34m allocated to it.

The team is looking into the deaths, some of which go back as far as 1968, in chronological order.

Mr Cox said: "I think it unlikely, indeed, that we will have looked at all the cases by the original six-year period.

"I would anticipate there would be an over-run of certainly two, maybe three years."

Independent.ie
By Anne-Marie Walsh
Wednesday July 23 2008

A TAXI driver who dreamt of honouring the forgotten victims of the Famine has been appointed to a committee to establish a national memorial day.

Michael Blanch will join academics, politicians, famine activists, and a former ambassador to plan an annual day to commemorate the most devastating event in Ireland's history.

Over a million people died and another million emigrated when the potato blight struck the crop that was the population's main foodstuff between 1845 and 1849.

The ravages of the Great Hunger also led to mass emigration to Britain and North America for decades afterwards.

Mr Blanch felt the victims of what was one of the worst human disasters of the 19th century had been largely forgotten.

It was a fitting honour yesterday when he was formally appointed to the new National Famine Memorial Committee by a relative of a former Taoiseach.

Eamon de Valera's grandson and Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Eamon O Cuiv, paid tribute to the man who "worked hard over the years to promote this concept".

He admitted he did not expect something on the scale of the 90th commemoration of the 1916 Rising. However, Mr OCuiv said he wanted people to do "something small" on the special day through committees all over the country.

History

"This is a different type of event to 1916 and was the greatest disaster in our history," said Mr OCuiv.

"If the Famine didn't happen, there could be 12 million people living in Ireland and eight million could be native Irish speakers."

The appointment of the committee was the culmination of a journey that had very humble beginnings.

Michael Blanch (57) and his wife Betty were the only people at the first commemoration in Dublin in 2003..

His idea has since grown with yearly processions from Dublin's Garden of Remembrance to the famine sculptures near the Liffey.

Mr Blanch successfully persuaded the Government to come on board and in May this year the first official reception was held at the Custom House.

"Today is a great day," said Mr Blanch.

"The victims of the Famine and generations of Irish emigrants will finally be given the respect they deserve."

- Anne-Marie Walsh

Breaking News.ie
22/07/2008

One of the country’s best known historical writers is among group of experts who will decide how to honour the million people who died in the Great Famine.

Tim Pat Coogan was revealed as part of the National Famine Commemoration Committee set to explore how to mark Famine Memorial Day.

Tim Pat Coogan

The broadcaster and former editor of the Irish Press has penned a number of books on Irish history including biographies on Michael Collins, and his grandfather Eamon De Valera, and the first major work on the Irish Diaspora.

The committee, which held its inaugural meeting today, was established by Community Affairs Minister Eamon O’Cuiv who will chair the group.

“There is nothing else in the history of the Irish people than can be likened to the Great Famine, either for its immediate impact or its legacy,” said Mr O Cuiv.

“The involvement of this committee will help to ensure that the Famine, its victims and its legacy are not forgotten.”

The catastrophic failure of the potato crop in the 1840s led to the death by starvation of one million people while hundreds of thousands emigrated, sparking a worldwide Irish Diaspora.

The devastating natural disaster left a lasting social and political legacy on modern Ireland.

Ireland’s population, which exceeded eight million in the Census of 1841, was reduced by approximately 1.5 million through death and emigration. Only 10 years later, the 1851 Census recorded a population of only 6.5 million.

The Famine resulted in large Irish communities settling in countries like the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and was also blamed for the decline of the Irish language.

Famine Memorial Day will be the first time the forgotten victims of the Famine are to be remembered in an annual official event.

The event is a major victory for the Dublin-based Committee for the Commemoration of Irish Famine Victims, which has run a lobbying campaign for five years.

Taxi driver Michael Blanch, who set up that committee and held commemorations in the capital since 2003, will have a key role in the Government’s new group.

Other members include Minister of State John Curran, historians Dr Margaret McCurtin, Prof. Gearoid O Tuathaigh, and Dr Eamon Phoenix, Gorta’s Brian Hanratty, Trocaire’s Justin Kilcullen, retired ambassador Hugh Swift, and Dr Majda Bne Saad, a senior lecturer at UCD.

The committee will also include representatives of the Departments of the Taoiseach, Foreign Affairs, and Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

Mr O Cuiv – who is a grandson of former Taoiseach and President Eamon De Valera - said the main objective of the committee is to consider the most appropriate arrangement for future national commemorations of the Great Famine.

“The general legacy of emigration, cultural loss and the decline of the Irish language, together with the specific issues of food security and the strong commitment of the Irish people to humanitarian aid and relief, are particular themes that will be explored by the committee during its work,” he added.

“In the context of the Irish Diaspora, it is envisaged that the committee will consider means through which this aspect of the Famine might appropriately be recognised, and the extraordinary contributions of those who emigrated, and of their many descendants abroad, justly celebrated.”
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