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News about the Irish & Irish American culture, music, news, sports. This is hosted by the Irish Aires radio show on KPFT-FM 90.1 in Houston, Texas (a Pacifica community radio station)
March 08, 2005
IRA Shooting Killers Unacceptable to SF
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Overall Table of Contents
Table of Contents – Mar 2005
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IO 03/08/05 IRA Shooting McCartney Killers Unacceptable To SF –V(2)
SM 03/08/05 Outrage At IRA 'We'll Shoot Killers' Offer
SM 03/08/05 IRA's Identity Crisis Over McCartney Murder
NY 03/08/05 I.R.A. Says It Offered To Shoot Killers Of Belfast Man
HS 03/08/05 Bush Turns Back On Sinn Fein
BB 03/08/05 Raid Costing Sinn Fein £120,000
BB 03/08/05 Troubles Murder Review Announced
IO 03/08/05 Ahern Backs Troubles Truth Commission
IO 03/08/05 Adams Won't Attend Capitol Hill Lunch
RT 03/08/05 Govt May Take Case Over 1974 Bombings
BT 03/08/05 Decision Time On Plastic Bullets
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Politicians appalled by IRA shooting offer - Brendan Wright reports on the reaction to the IRA's latest statement on the murder of Robert McCartney
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0308/9news/9news56_1a.smil
Tommie Gorman, Northern Editor, analyses the IRA's revelation that it offered to shoot those it believed responsible for the killing of Robert McCartney
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0308/9news/9news56_1b.smil
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http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=2891145&p=z89yy6x&n=2891237
IRA Shooting McCartney Killers 'Unacceptable' To SF –V(2)
08/03/2005 - 18:59:47
Sinn Féin would have opposed any shooting by the IRA of Robert McCartney’s killers, leading party member Gerry Kelly said tonight.
“The shooting did not take place. It would not have been acceptable,” the North Belfast Assembly member said.
“Sinn Féin’s position on shooting is very clear, they should not happen and the IRA has accepted and supports the family on this.”
He said the McCartney family did not want a shooting to take place and the IRA did not do it.
Mr Kelly added: “Whatever people think of the the IRA they have their own disciplinary code or whatever. In this case they said this to the family and did not act on it – that is a changed situation in itself.”
Elsewhere there was condemnation across the board from politicians who said the IRA was still wedded to its violent past.
Democratic Unionist Party leader the Rev. Ian Paisley said the offer to shoot was the kind of “so-called justice” the IRA was used to dispensing.
“It is their declared intent to murder. The Sinn Féin/IRA machine has murdered and maimed the citizens of Northern Ireland for 35 years,” said Mr Paisley.
The offer to shoot those responsible for the murder of Mr McCartney confirmed again that “terrorism is the only stock and trade of Sinn Féin/IRA,” he said.
“Their intention to terrorise is as clear today as the day they were formed. The Sinn Féin/IRA commitment to terror and criminality is total,” said Mr Paisley.
And he said when the offer to murder was considered, people needed to remember those who were named by the Irish Government as leaders of the IRA.
Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell recently named Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness as IRA army council leaders.
“It is time for the government to arrest Sinn Féin/ IRA leaders,” said Mr Paisley.
The IRA statement was branded as appalling by the Ulster Unionist Party which said it showed the Provisionals had learned nothing over the recent weeks.
Senior party member Sir Reg Empey, MLA, said: “The fact that this group is offering murder as a form of justice should be the wake-up call that the governments urgently need.
“These are the people that they would have democrats share power with.”
Sir Reg added that the latest statement proved unequivocally how far Northern Ireland was from the completion it had been calling for. Only the intervention of the McCartneys had prevented further murders.
“It is a sick and desperate statement that will be completely beyond sense to all rational human beings,” he added.
The Alliance Party’s Naomi Long, MLA, said the “barbaric and sickening offer” to shoot the men “shows that the IRA is still wedded to the idea of street ‘justice’ and human rights abuses as a means of resolving issues".
She said the IRA kept making offers that did not constitute natural justice and it was a real credit to the McCartney sisters that they had rejected the outrageous offer.
“Whatever flaws republicans believe exist in the judicial system, at least there is always the right to a trial before a jury and the option of appeal.
“The IRA’s perverse form of justice offers none of that, two wrongs do not make a right.”
If the IRA wanted the witnesses to feel comfortable going to the police, why didn’t they lead by example, she asked.
“They know who the killers are and if they are genuine in their support of the McCartneys and want to see justice done and convictions secured, they should give whatever information they have that could help the family to the PSNI,” she said.
The SDLP MP Eddie McGrady said he was appalled by the IRA’s words.
“This is gun law at its worst and this community cannot afford to let itself slide into this abyss of unknown people taking the law into their own hands by way of so called, so called, justice.”
He said if this was the type of policing the IRA and Sinn Féin were talking about for the future “may God help us all.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy said he was appalled by the IRA statement.
“Any sort of punishment ought to come through the courts, through due process of the law. There is no place for arbitrary justice, there is no place for kangaroo courts or capital punishment in this country,” he said.
Mr Murphy said there was no place for those who signed up for the Good Friday Agreement for “the kind of arbitrary justice and murder that has been suggested here.”
Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell described the IRA statement as bizarre and said it confirmed suspicions that the Provisional movement was in freefall.
In a briefing to reporters tonight, he said: “It’s the first time that I have seen them admit to a willingness to kill.
“Their denials of punishment beatings and bank robberiess just go out the window after this.
“It just shows how deep their crisis is. It signifies a serious freefall within the Provisional movement.
“It’s bizarre. It’s astonishing. What are these people thinking? What kind of a world are these people living in? They’re clearly in a very strange place.”
Mr McDowell said he hadn’t yet spoken to the Taoiseach on the statement but added: “I’ve no doubt that he is as shocked as I am.”
The main opposition party Fine Gael said the IRA had issued an unprecedented volume of public statements about the murder of Robert McCartney but but there had been no witness statements from those involved.
Party leader Enda Kenny said: “It also represents yet another attempt by the provisional movement to minimise the consequences for its members by suggesting that only four people were involved.”
Irish Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte said the IRA statement was a bizarre development which showed the IRA had learned nothing from the murder of Robert McCartney.
“It shows that the IRA is still committed to the law of the gun, rather than the rule of law. It shows that the IRA continues to regard itself as a superior authority to the courts,” he said.
He said the IRA clearly believed that the McCartney family would accept the “obscene offer” to kill those responsible for their brother’s death, when it was clear that they wanted a conviction through the courts.
Irish Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said that the IRA should comply with the wishes of the McCartney family rather than carrying out more shootings.
“Sinn Féin and the IRA cannot continue to live in a dual reality where they cherry pick those aspects of democracy that they find acceptable while continuing with their Armalite strategy,” he said.
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http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4228565
Outrage At IRA 'We'll Shoot Killers' Offer
By Ian Graham, PA.
An IRA offer to shoot the men in their ranks blamed for the murder of Belfast man Robert McCartney prompted outrage in Northern Ireland tonight.
Politicians in Belfast, London and Dublin criticised the republicans, saying they had shown themselves in their true light.
The provisionals said in a public statement that they had told the family of Mr McCartney they were prepared to shoot those directly involved in the murder after carrying out an internal investigation.
The republican movement, both the IRA and Sinn Fein, have been in crisis since father-of-two Mr McCartney was stabbed to death after a row in a Belfast bar at the end of January.
His sisters mounted a courageous campaign accusing IRA members of being responsible for the murder, covering it up and intimidating witnesses.
The IRA initially said it had expelled three members from its ranks for involvement in the killing.
But they went further tonight saying that during a five and a half hour meeting with the McCartneys they expressed their willingness to shoot the offenders.
“The IRA representative detailed the outcome of the internal disciplinary proceedings thus far and stated in clear terms that the IRA was prepared to shoot people directly involved in the killing of Robert McCartney,” said the IRA statement.
It added: “The family made it clear that they did not want physical action taken against those involved. They stated they wanted those individuals to give full account of their actions in court.”
No one has yet been charged with the January 30 murder but as well as the three IRA members thrown out by their terrorist bosses, seven members of Sinn Fein have been suspended.
Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy said he was appalled at the IRA statement.
“Any sort of punishment ought to come from the courts, through the due process of the law. There is no place for arbitrary justice, there is no place for kangaroo courts or capital punishment in this country,” he said.
He said that among those who had signed up for the Good Friday Agreement, there was no place for “the kind of arbitrary justice and murder that has been suspended”.
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary David Lidington said: “Northern Ireland needs the rule of law, not the rule of the gang.”
He said the republican movement should place all the evidence from its “internal investigation” in the hands of the police and the courts.
Democratic Unionist Party leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said the IRA had shown its true colours.
“It is their declared intent to murder. The Sinn Fein/IRA machine has murdered and maimed the citizens of Northern Ireland for 35 years.”
Their offer to shoot those responsible for the murder confirmed again that “terrorism is the only stock in trade of Sinn Fein/IRA”, said Mr Paisley.
“Their intention to terrorise is as clear today as the day they were formed. The Sinn Fein/IRA commitment to terror and criminality is total,” he added.
Senior Ulster Unionist Assembly member Sir Reg Empey said he was appalled at the statement which showed the IRA had learned nothing in the weeks since Mr McCartney’s murder.
“The fact that this group is offering to murder as a form of justice should be the wake-up call that the governments urgently need.
“These are the people that they would have democrats share power with,” he said.
The IRA words were a “sick and desperate statement that will be completely beyond sense to all rational human beings,” said Sir Reg.
In Dublin, Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell described the IRA statement as bizarre and said it confirmed suspicions the provisional movement was in free-fall.
Mr McDowell said: “It’s the first time that I have seen them admit to a willingness to kill.
“Their denials of punishment beatings and bank robberies just go out the window after this.”
He said it showed just how deep the crisis within republicanism was.
“It signifies a serious free-fall within the republican movement,” he said.
“It’s bizarre. It’s astonishing. What are these people thinking?
“What kind of world are these people living in? They’re clearly in a very strange place.”
Amid the condemnation, Sinn Fein’s North Belfast assembly member Gerry Kelly stuck his head above the parapet and said the party would have opposed any shooting by the IRA.
“The shooting did not take place. It would not have been acceptable,” he said.
Sinn Fein’s position on shootings was very clear, he said. “They should not happen and the IRA has accepted and supports the family on this.”
Mr Kelly added: “Whatever people think of the IRA they have their own disciplinary code or whatever. In this case they said this to the family and did not act on it – that is a changed situation in itself.”
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http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4228150
IRA's Identity Crisis Over McCartney Murder
By Gary Kelly, PA
The IRA’s statement suggests an organisation going through a serious identity crisis.
On the one hand, it portrays itself as an organisation on a quest for truth and justice, urging witnesses to come forward to tell what they know.
On the other, it appears set on going back to basics, offering to assassinate those involved in the brutal murder of Robert McCartney.
Republicans so sure-footed in the past have been tipped over the edge by recent events.
The cause of this split personality is the righteous anger in nationalist communities at blatant attempts to cover the tracks of those involved.
The seemingly inexorable progress of the Republican Movement towards high political office has been stopped in its tracks, not least by the steady determination of the McCartney family to achieve justice.
As the McCartney sisters set off to press flesh with the great and the good of Washington on St Patrick’s Day, Sinn Fein representatives will be out in the cold, crying into their green beer.
Sinn Fein is under intense political pressure about its relationship with the IRA, and not just from unionists.
The Irish Government has been withering in criticism of the Republican Movement following the collapse of last year’s potentially historic deal between Sinn Fein and the Rev Ian Paisley.
The agreement on power sharing and ending paramilitarism collapsed over the IRA’s refusal to allow the destruction of arms to be photographed.
December’s £26.5 million Northern Bank raid in Belfast made matters worse as the finger of suspicion jabbed at the IRA.
Sinn Fein hit out at Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern after he claimed its leadership must have known during last year’s negotiations that the raid was being planned.
Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell also weighed in, naming three senior Sinn Fein leadership figures as members of the IRA Army Council.
If Gerry Adams believes relations with the Irish Government are at their lowest ebb, he should look at how partners in the peace process view his party.
Mark Durkan’s SDLP, whose former leader John Hume set in motion moves to bring Sinn Fein in from the political cold during the 1980s, has launched daily attacks on its links to the IRA.
Unionists and the British Government have also been insistent that there will be no power sharing without any move from republicans to end IRA violence, robberies and their black market activities.
But the accusation which has really stung the Republican Movement is that it badly misjudged the impact of the murder of Robert McCartney.
In the immediate aftermath of the killing, Sinn Fein councillor Joe O’Donnell said it was a tragic example of Northern Ireland’s burgeoning knife culture.
Police carrying raids on suspects’ homes were attacked by stone-throwing youths and were accused of heavy-handed tactics by the party’s South Belfast Assembly member Alex Maskey.
However republicans have suddenly over the past month found themselves challenged on their own turf, as the family of Robert McCartney accused the IRA of covering up the murder, shielding his killers and intimidating witnesses.
More than 1,000 people attended the funeral of Mr McCartney in the Short Strand area of east Belfast, from where the forklift driver hailed and where Sinn Fein has enjoyed strong support.
They also took to the streets to protest against IRA members they claim were involved in the murder and also against the intimidation of potential police witnesses.
Within two weeks Sinn Fein and the IRA were suddenly on the back foot.
The Provisionals were anxious to distance themselves from the murder and announced they had expelled three members.
Gerry Adams has also been forced to issue a series of hard-hitting statements, gradually acknowledging that republicans were involved in the murder, supporting the family’s quest for justice, urging witnesses to come forward and announcing the suspension of seven party members.
The McCartneys’ visit to Washington to meet George W Bush will unnerve Sinn Fein, threatening to undo the high standing republicans have had in Irish America since the 1994 IRA ceasefire.
The murder has also put Sinn Fein’s attitude to policing under the spotlight.
Despite Catholic Church, nationalist SDLP, Irish and US Government backing for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein has insisted that police reforms do not go far enough for their community and its officers cannot be trusted.
Opponents believe Sinn Fein’s refusal to endorse policing arrangements has frustrated progress in the investigation into the McCartney murder.
Mr Adams’s announcement that he has passed the names of the seven suspended Sinn Fein members to a solicitor to give to Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan, whose office is now part of the police investigation, is remarkable.
Eleven years ago republicans would not have tolerated the passing on of colleagues’ names to the authorities.
Transgressors would have been shot dead and dumped in a ditch.
The sheer brutality of Mr McCartney’s killing, coupled with allegations of money laundering, robberies and black market sales of cigarettes, alcohol and pirate DVDs, have also added to the belief outside of republicanism that the IRA is an Irish Mafia.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/08/international/europe/08cnd-ireland.html
I.R.A. Says It Offered To Shoot Killers Of Belfast Man
By ALAN COWELL
Published: March 8, 2005
ONDON, March 8 - In an extraordinary admission that threatened to further damage its standing, the Irish Republican Army said today that it had offered to shoot the killers of Robert McCartney, a Northern Ireland Catholic slain by a gang including I.R.A. members.
The killing of Mr. McCartney, a 30-year-old forklift truck driver stabbed to death after a bar brawl in Belfast on Jan. 30, has convulsed Northern Ireland politics, creating a crisis for the I.R.A. and its political wing, Sinn Fein, just months after accusations that the I.R.A. was behind a $50 million bank robbery.
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Between them, the killing and the robbery have built a groundswell of disillusionment, leaving the I.R.A. - once seen as protectors of the province's Catholics - exposed to accusations that it has forfeited its role in the struggle against British rule in favor of common crime and brutality.
In an apparent attempt to explain its action, the I.R.A. issued a lengthy statement to news organizations in Belfast today detailing what it called its own investigation into the killing of Mr. McCartney and the stabbing of another man, Brendan Devine.
The statement said I.R.A. representatives had met twice with the McCartney family, with the first meeting lasting for five and a half hours.
"The names of those involved in the attacks and stabbings of Robert McCartney, Brendan Devine and the assault on another man in Market Street were given to the family," the I.R.A. statement said.
The statement said four people were directly involved in the attacks and two of them were "I.R.A. volunteers."
"The I.R.A. knows the identity of all these men," the statement said.
At a meeting with the McCartney family, the I.R.A. statement said, the group's representatives "stated in clear terms that the I.R.A. was prepared to shoot the people directly involved in the killing of Robert McCartney."
Technically, the I.R.A. is committed to a cease-fire declared before Northern Ireland's 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.
The family, however, "made it clear that they did not want physical action taken against those involved," the statement said. "They stated that they wanted those individuals to give a full account of their actions in court."
Members of the McCartney family are set to travel to Washington next week for a St Patrick's Day celebration at the White House, family members said today. But the Bush administration has canceled invitations to Northern Ireland's political parties to avoid the embarrassment of dealing with Sinn Fein.
Previously, the I.R.A. has said it expelled three members because of Mr. McCartney's slaying, while Sinn Fein has suspended seven party members. Both organizations have long refused to deal with the police, but Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein leader, said over the weekend that he had given the names of seven men to a police ombudsman.
His action and today's statement seemed to show both the I.R.A. and Sinn Fein desperately struggling to recover lost prestige and influence by portraying themselves as firmly opposed to Mr. McCartney's slaying and keen to have the killers brought to justice. The I.R.A. statement, for instance, urged "any witnesses who can assist in any way to come forward."
"The only interest the I.R.A. has in this case is to see truth and justice achieved," the statement said, adding that the I.R.A. had offered to protect witnesses against intimidation.
"In addition," the I.R.A. said in its statement, "we informed the family that: We have ordered anyone who was present on the night to go forward and to give a full and honest account of their actions. That includes those who have already been subject to the I.R.A.'s internal disciplinary proceedings."
The statement did not say what those proceedings involved. In the past, the I.R.A. has meted out rough justice, maiming and killing perceived foes and traitors. Despite the apparent admissions that many people know the identity of the murders of Mr. McCartney, no one has been charged.
The statement left some Sinn Fein members "aghast and surprised," in the words of Gerry Kelly, an I.R.A. spokesman, in an interview on BBC television. But Mr. Kelly insisted that the real significance of the statement was that the I.R.A. did not, in fact, carry out its threat against Mr. McCartney's killers. "They have accepted that the best way to deal with this is through the courts," Mr. Kelly said.
But the largely Protestant Unionists who oppose Sinn Fein and the I.R.A. expressed outrage.
"It is time for the Government to arrest Sinn Fein/I.R.A. leaders," said Ian Paisley, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, who does not distinguish between Sinn Fein and the I.R.A.. "Their intention to terrorize is as clear today as the day they were formed. The Sinn Fein/I.R.A. commitment to terror and criminality is total."
Sir Reg Empey of the Ulster Unionist Party declared: "It is a sick and desperate statement that will be completely beyond sense to all rational human beings."
It was unclear where the I.R.A. statement left the stalled effort to restore Northern Ireland's suspended local government grouping both Protestants and Catholics. But Paul Murphy, Britain's Northern Ireland secretary, said today that Sinn Fein might be excluded from a reconvened assembly. The I.R.A. statement, he said, is "totally unacceptable."
"There is no place in Northern Ireland for arbitrary justice," he said.
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http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12489652%255E401,00.html
Bush Turns Back On Sinn Fein
From correspondents in Belfast
09mar05
THE sisters and the fiancee of a Catholic man said to have been murdered by the IRA will be feted by George W. Bush in the White House on St Patrick's Day as part of a US strategy to isolate Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.
Paula McCartney and her four sisters, as well as Bridgeen Hagans, who was to have married Robert McCartney in a few months, will fly from Belfast to Washington on March 15 to highlight their campaign to bring his killers to justice.
While there was no confirmation last night, it is understood an invitation from the White House has been accepted and will be announced later this week.
The invitation is a powerful political message from the US President, whose aides announced last week that, for the first time since 1995, Sinn Fein and the other Irish parties would not be invited to the White House for St Patrick's Day, the most important day in the Irish-American calendar.
Mr Adams and Martin McGuinness, named by the Irish Government as members of the Provisional IRA's ruling army council, will be in the US for the occasion, but administration officials have told The Times that Mr Bush no longer believes either man can be trusted.
The change comes as Sinn Fein is mired in scandal over Britain's largest bank robbery, which has been attributed to the IRA by the British and Irish governments, as well as by the police forces north and south of the Irish border.
McCartney's killing in a Belfast pub brawl on January 30 has provoked widespread condemnation. The White House has also been angered by the IRA's refusal to allow photographic evidence of disarmament moves.
Paula McCartney said yesterday: "We're absolutely delighted. We do believe there's a very strong possibility we will be there and we welcome it. We are going to use it to the best of our advantage. Our message will be to highlight the murder of our brother, Robert."
Asked what they would say to Mr Bush if they met him, she said: "We will be asking him to support us in our campaign for justice for Robert and for Ireland."
A Bush administration official confirmed that the White House was eager to host the McCartney sisters on St Patrick's Day. The President is said to be exasperated by events in Northern Ireland. One aide even talked about Mr Adams in the terms of disdain that the White House held for former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
"Just as the President labelled Arafat not a partner for peace, the same now goes for Adams. The President does not want to meet with him," the aide said.
During Sinn Fein's annual conference in Dublin at the weekend, Mr Adams acknowledged that he knew several of the seven Sinn Fein members suspended from the party in connection with the murder.
In an attempt to distance Sinn Fein from the murder and to defuse the condemnation following it, Mr Adams invited the McCartney sisters to the party conference, where he denounced the killers. "They should admit what they did in a court of law," he said.
From The Times in London
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4330861.stm
Raid Costing Sinn Fein £120,000
The Northern Bank raid will cost Sinn Fein a £120,000 fine, Secertary of State Paul Murphy has confirmed.
A report from the IMC last month blamed the IRA for the £26m Belfast bank robbery in December.
It means the removal of the party's block Assembly grant after an attempt to abduct a dissident republican last year will be renewed from 29 April.
On Thursday MPs will debate a motion to remove Sinn Fein's Westminster allowances, estimated to be £400,000.
Sinn Fein MLA Mitchel McLaughlin said Mr Murphy had "no right to discriminate against democratically elected Irish politicians".
"He has no mandate here in Ireland. The people of Ireland elect us and we are accountable to them," he said.
A report by the Independent Monitoring Commission - which monitors paramilitary activity - recommended imposing financial penalties on Sinn Fein in January.
It backed the police assertion the IRA was behind the £26.5m raid at the Belfast headquarters of Northern Bank on 20 December - a claim the IRA denies.
Outlining his plan to fine the party last month, Mr Murphy told the House of Commons he agreed that there were links between Sinn Fein and the IRA.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/03/08 19:35:31 GMT
© BBC MMV
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4327359.stm
Troubles Murder Review Announced
A team of 100 investigators is to review unsolved killings in Northern Ireland, the government has announced.
The review is an attempt to bring closure to families of hundreds of people killed in the Troubles.
More than 1,800 cases, half the total number of people killed during 30 years of the Troubles, remain unsolved.
The announcement was made by Secretary of State Paul Murphy and PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde at a news conference in Belfast.
Mr Murphy said that £32m would be put into the review over the next six years.
Outlining the scope of the review Mr Orde said it would cover the period 1969 to 1998, and that he hoped they would be able to tell the families of victims as much as they can about their loved one's death.
Mr Orde said the unit would include skilled support teams, fingerprint experts, analysts and investigators.
Some of the staff will be seconded from other UK police forces and from the Garda if possible, he said, adding that retired officers would also be recruited.
They will be headed by retired Metropolitan Police Commander David Cox.
"We will do our level best as police officers to pursue evidential leads," he said.
"The other point, which I think is important is that many families are not looking for a judicial outcome - they are looking to know an awful lot more."
Mr Murphy said that for many of the families of those killed the pain of not knowing who was responsible and why they died continued to blight their lives many years on.
"You do need to have closure for people on their experiences, their very difficult and awful experiences of the past," he said.
"If this can do that then every penny of that thirty-odd million will be well worth spending."
The Police Federation has welcomed news of the review.
The killings of more than 200 police officers remain unsolved.
Federation chairman Irwin Montgomery said: "Everybody has a different idea of closure.
"Families just want to know what happened to their loved ones, they want to know the circumstances of the deaths, if they have any idea of who may have done it and if there is anything that can be done to bring those people to justice."
Lisburn woman Janet Hunter whose brother, Joseph McIlwaine, was killed by the IRA in 1987, said she welcomed the review but had some reservations.
"It's a step forward for some of the people of Northern Ireland that the police are given the money and the powers to be able to investigate," she told the BBC.
Kathy Nellis, who works with a victims' group in Londonderry, said she had no confidence in the review, as it would not bring closure to families whose loved ones were killed by "state violence".
"If it's about trying to look at some form of justice, then there has to be a willingness on the part of the state to be open to delivering that to families," she said.
Chris Ryder, a former member of the Police Authority, - which has now been replaced by the Policing Board - said the review would be a "futile exercise".
"DNA may help in some small number of cases but I think it's generally going to be a very futile exercise and it's not going to bring the comfort of closure, any sense of justice, to the vast majority," he said.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/03/08 17:02:45 GMT
© BBC MMV
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http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=136070204&p=y36x7x9yx&n=136070964
Ahern Backs Troubles Truth Commission
08/03/2005 - 17:18:29
The families of victims of Northern Ireland’s Troubles need a forum like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.
He told the Dáil families needed to tell their stories and get some form of closure on their grief.
Mr Ahern also said the Government was studying the terms of reference of a Police Service of Northern Ireland review of 2,000 unsolved deaths during Northern Ireland’s Troubles, announced today.
He told Dáil TDs: “It’s very useful to look and see if there is some way that people can lodge their case or submission.
“I’m certainly open to that. Otherwise I don’t think there’s any way that we’ll get closure.”
He said he has raised the issue with Northern Secretary Paul Murphy and the Northern Ireland Office on many occasions.
The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission proved to be a quick and effective process. But he added: “I don’t know it if solved any problems for people.”
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up by former president Nelson Mandela in 1996 to probe apartheid-era atrocities in South Africa.
Mr Ahern added: “It is something we have to look at. We do have to find some process.
“It is endless the number of groups (concerned with) various atrocities. As time passes, instead of the healing process setting in, bitterness arises.
“I have met numerous groups of families, and the more they see one case getting prominence, the more they feel that they haven’t served their families’ interests.
“Every death, every atrocity from whatever quarter is enormous.
“To find a way of dealing with all of these, we would be still here talking about them in 100 years time and I don’t think anybody wants that, not least the families.”
Mr Ahern also said the Government may take a case to the European Court of Justice if it does not receive cooperation from the British authorities on investigations into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974.
Mr Ahern said British Prime Minister Tony Blair told him in a letter in January that there was not enough evidence to justify a public inquiry into the matter in the UK and that it would not be possible to carry out another major search of documents in relation to other matters under investigation by Mr Justice Henry Barron.
Sinn Féin’s Caoimghin O Caolain claimed this amounted to a “point blank refusal” by the British authorities to cooperate.
Mr Ahern said he and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, had continued to raise the matter with the British authorities, but it did not appear likely that they would cooperate.
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http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=136059614&p=y36x6x3zx&n=136060374
Adams Won't Attend Capitol Hill Lunch
08/03/2005 - 16:35:39
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams will not attend this year’s annual St Patrick’s Day Speaker’s lunch on Capitol Hill, it was confirmed today.
Northern Ireland political leaders have already been barred from attending the annual celebrations at the White House.
A spokesman from the Speaker’s office at the House of Representatives, said: “I can confirm Gerry Adams will not be attending our annual lunch.”
He refused to comment on whether Adams had specifically been excluded from the event and said he did not know whether other party leaders would be attending.
President George Bush traditionally attends the lunch alongside Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Irish-Americans and Irish party leaders.
It will be the first time in 10 years that Adams has not attended the lunch and is an indication of the Bush Administration’s frustration over Sinn Féin’s continued links with the IRA.
Mr Adams has been a regular guest since 1995.
He is still expected to attend the annual American-Ireland Fund dinner on March 16, on Capitol Hill.
The family of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney is expected to travel to the US next week and may be invited to meet President Bush at the White House reception.
Mr McCartney’s sisters have been in contact with US Government representatives over the past few days, in their bid to bring his killers to justice.
The 33-year-old father of two from the nationalist Short Strand was stabbed to death after a row in a city centre pub on January 30.
His family blame republicans for the murder on republicans. The backlash has forced the IRA to expel three of its members and Sinn Féin to suspend seven representatives.
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http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0308/bombings.html
Govt May Take Case Over 1974 Bombings
08 March 2005 16:12
The Government is to consider taking a case to the European Court of Justice if it does not receive co-operation from the British authorities on investigations into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974.
The Taoiseach told the Dáil this afternoon that the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, wrote to him in January on the issue.
He said that Mr Blair claimed that his government had co-operated as much as it could with the Barron inquiry into the bombings.
Mr Ahern said the letter continued to say there was not enough evidence to justify a public inquiry into the matter in the UK and that it would not be possible to carry out another major search of documents in relation to other matters under investigation by Mr Justice Barron.
Sinn Féin's Caoimghín Ó Caoláin claimed that this amounted to a 'point blank refusal' by the British authorities to co-operate.
Mr Ahern said that he and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, had continued to raise the matter with the British authorities, but it did not appear likely that they would co-operate.
The Government had not yet considered going to the European Court of Justice, but it would do so if co-operation was not forthcoming, Mr Ahern said.
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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=618049
Decision Time On Plastic Bullets
Board considers using alternative.
By Brendan McDaid
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
08 March 2005
The Policing Board today revealed it is to decide within weeks whether to scrap plastic bullets in Northern Ireland.
A spokesman confirmed that a top-level meeting is to take place - most likely in Belfast - to examine whether a new "soft-nose" alternative, deemed safer than current plastic baton rounds, should be introduced.
A total of 17 people are known to have died after being hit by plastic bullets in Northern Ireland since they were introduced here in 1973.
Derry schoolboy Stephen McConomy (11) was one.
The Bogside youth died three days after being shot by soldiers at close range in 1982. A year earlier another Derry boy, Paul Whitters (15), and Derry man Henry Duffy (45) were also killed by plastic bullets.
A spokesman for the Policing Board today told the Telegraph: "Following a vote, it was agreed that the board would hold a special meeting to further consider the proposed introduction of a replacement to the existing plastic baton round, known technically as 'Attenuated Energy Projectile' (AEP).
"This meeting will take place in coming weeks."
However, human rights organisations today expressed anger that one type of baton round could be replaced by another.
Sinn Fein MLA Raymond McCartney warned that the PSNI were simply planning to re-brand plastic bullets under a less recognisable name. And he insisted there could be "no room for ambiguity".
He said: "At various times throughout the past 35 years, the British Government thought by a simple change in name that they could get people to believe that real change had come about.
"Only this week we get the latest change in name. No longer will we have plastic bullets, but in their place will be Attenuating Energy Projectiles.
"We are told by some who are less than honest that AEPs are less than lethal," he claimed.
"This weapon is another form of plastic bullet which has killed men women and children. There is no place for this weapon anywhere or in any situation."
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Overall Table of Contents
Table of Contents – Mar 2005
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Overall Table of Contents
Table of Contents – Mar 2005
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IO 03/08/05 IRA Shooting McCartney Killers Unacceptable To SF –V(2)
SM 03/08/05 Outrage At IRA 'We'll Shoot Killers' Offer
SM 03/08/05 IRA's Identity Crisis Over McCartney Murder
NY 03/08/05 I.R.A. Says It Offered To Shoot Killers Of Belfast Man
HS 03/08/05 Bush Turns Back On Sinn Fein
BB 03/08/05 Raid Costing Sinn Fein £120,000
BB 03/08/05 Troubles Murder Review Announced
IO 03/08/05 Ahern Backs Troubles Truth Commission
IO 03/08/05 Adams Won't Attend Capitol Hill Lunch
RT 03/08/05 Govt May Take Case Over 1974 Bombings
BT 03/08/05 Decision Time On Plastic Bullets
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Politicians appalled by IRA shooting offer - Brendan Wright reports on the reaction to the IRA's latest statement on the murder of Robert McCartney
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0308/9news/9news56_1a.smil
Tommie Gorman, Northern Editor, analyses the IRA's revelation that it offered to shoot those it believed responsible for the killing of Robert McCartney
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0308/9news/9news56_1b.smil
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http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=2891145&p=z89yy6x&n=2891237
IRA Shooting McCartney Killers 'Unacceptable' To SF –V(2)
08/03/2005 - 18:59:47
Sinn Féin would have opposed any shooting by the IRA of Robert McCartney’s killers, leading party member Gerry Kelly said tonight.
“The shooting did not take place. It would not have been acceptable,” the North Belfast Assembly member said.
“Sinn Féin’s position on shooting is very clear, they should not happen and the IRA has accepted and supports the family on this.”
He said the McCartney family did not want a shooting to take place and the IRA did not do it.
Mr Kelly added: “Whatever people think of the the IRA they have their own disciplinary code or whatever. In this case they said this to the family and did not act on it – that is a changed situation in itself.”
Elsewhere there was condemnation across the board from politicians who said the IRA was still wedded to its violent past.
Democratic Unionist Party leader the Rev. Ian Paisley said the offer to shoot was the kind of “so-called justice” the IRA was used to dispensing.
“It is their declared intent to murder. The Sinn Féin/IRA machine has murdered and maimed the citizens of Northern Ireland for 35 years,” said Mr Paisley.
The offer to shoot those responsible for the murder of Mr McCartney confirmed again that “terrorism is the only stock and trade of Sinn Féin/IRA,” he said.
“Their intention to terrorise is as clear today as the day they were formed. The Sinn Féin/IRA commitment to terror and criminality is total,” said Mr Paisley.
And he said when the offer to murder was considered, people needed to remember those who were named by the Irish Government as leaders of the IRA.
Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell recently named Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness as IRA army council leaders.
“It is time for the government to arrest Sinn Féin/ IRA leaders,” said Mr Paisley.
The IRA statement was branded as appalling by the Ulster Unionist Party which said it showed the Provisionals had learned nothing over the recent weeks.
Senior party member Sir Reg Empey, MLA, said: “The fact that this group is offering murder as a form of justice should be the wake-up call that the governments urgently need.
“These are the people that they would have democrats share power with.”
Sir Reg added that the latest statement proved unequivocally how far Northern Ireland was from the completion it had been calling for. Only the intervention of the McCartneys had prevented further murders.
“It is a sick and desperate statement that will be completely beyond sense to all rational human beings,” he added.
The Alliance Party’s Naomi Long, MLA, said the “barbaric and sickening offer” to shoot the men “shows that the IRA is still wedded to the idea of street ‘justice’ and human rights abuses as a means of resolving issues".
She said the IRA kept making offers that did not constitute natural justice and it was a real credit to the McCartney sisters that they had rejected the outrageous offer.
“Whatever flaws republicans believe exist in the judicial system, at least there is always the right to a trial before a jury and the option of appeal.
“The IRA’s perverse form of justice offers none of that, two wrongs do not make a right.”
If the IRA wanted the witnesses to feel comfortable going to the police, why didn’t they lead by example, she asked.
“They know who the killers are and if they are genuine in their support of the McCartneys and want to see justice done and convictions secured, they should give whatever information they have that could help the family to the PSNI,” she said.
The SDLP MP Eddie McGrady said he was appalled by the IRA’s words.
“This is gun law at its worst and this community cannot afford to let itself slide into this abyss of unknown people taking the law into their own hands by way of so called, so called, justice.”
He said if this was the type of policing the IRA and Sinn Féin were talking about for the future “may God help us all.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy said he was appalled by the IRA statement.
“Any sort of punishment ought to come through the courts, through due process of the law. There is no place for arbitrary justice, there is no place for kangaroo courts or capital punishment in this country,” he said.
Mr Murphy said there was no place for those who signed up for the Good Friday Agreement for “the kind of arbitrary justice and murder that has been suggested here.”
Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell described the IRA statement as bizarre and said it confirmed suspicions that the Provisional movement was in freefall.
In a briefing to reporters tonight, he said: “It’s the first time that I have seen them admit to a willingness to kill.
“Their denials of punishment beatings and bank robberiess just go out the window after this.
“It just shows how deep their crisis is. It signifies a serious freefall within the Provisional movement.
“It’s bizarre. It’s astonishing. What are these people thinking? What kind of a world are these people living in? They’re clearly in a very strange place.”
Mr McDowell said he hadn’t yet spoken to the Taoiseach on the statement but added: “I’ve no doubt that he is as shocked as I am.”
The main opposition party Fine Gael said the IRA had issued an unprecedented volume of public statements about the murder of Robert McCartney but but there had been no witness statements from those involved.
Party leader Enda Kenny said: “It also represents yet another attempt by the provisional movement to minimise the consequences for its members by suggesting that only four people were involved.”
Irish Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte said the IRA statement was a bizarre development which showed the IRA had learned nothing from the murder of Robert McCartney.
“It shows that the IRA is still committed to the law of the gun, rather than the rule of law. It shows that the IRA continues to regard itself as a superior authority to the courts,” he said.
He said the IRA clearly believed that the McCartney family would accept the “obscene offer” to kill those responsible for their brother’s death, when it was clear that they wanted a conviction through the courts.
Irish Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said that the IRA should comply with the wishes of the McCartney family rather than carrying out more shootings.
“Sinn Féin and the IRA cannot continue to live in a dual reality where they cherry pick those aspects of democracy that they find acceptable while continuing with their Armalite strategy,” he said.
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http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4228565
Outrage At IRA 'We'll Shoot Killers' Offer
By Ian Graham, PA.
An IRA offer to shoot the men in their ranks blamed for the murder of Belfast man Robert McCartney prompted outrage in Northern Ireland tonight.
Politicians in Belfast, London and Dublin criticised the republicans, saying they had shown themselves in their true light.
The provisionals said in a public statement that they had told the family of Mr McCartney they were prepared to shoot those directly involved in the murder after carrying out an internal investigation.
The republican movement, both the IRA and Sinn Fein, have been in crisis since father-of-two Mr McCartney was stabbed to death after a row in a Belfast bar at the end of January.
His sisters mounted a courageous campaign accusing IRA members of being responsible for the murder, covering it up and intimidating witnesses.
The IRA initially said it had expelled three members from its ranks for involvement in the killing.
But they went further tonight saying that during a five and a half hour meeting with the McCartneys they expressed their willingness to shoot the offenders.
“The IRA representative detailed the outcome of the internal disciplinary proceedings thus far and stated in clear terms that the IRA was prepared to shoot people directly involved in the killing of Robert McCartney,” said the IRA statement.
It added: “The family made it clear that they did not want physical action taken against those involved. They stated they wanted those individuals to give full account of their actions in court.”
No one has yet been charged with the January 30 murder but as well as the three IRA members thrown out by their terrorist bosses, seven members of Sinn Fein have been suspended.
Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy said he was appalled at the IRA statement.
“Any sort of punishment ought to come from the courts, through the due process of the law. There is no place for arbitrary justice, there is no place for kangaroo courts or capital punishment in this country,” he said.
He said that among those who had signed up for the Good Friday Agreement, there was no place for “the kind of arbitrary justice and murder that has been suspended”.
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary David Lidington said: “Northern Ireland needs the rule of law, not the rule of the gang.”
He said the republican movement should place all the evidence from its “internal investigation” in the hands of the police and the courts.
Democratic Unionist Party leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said the IRA had shown its true colours.
“It is their declared intent to murder. The Sinn Fein/IRA machine has murdered and maimed the citizens of Northern Ireland for 35 years.”
Their offer to shoot those responsible for the murder confirmed again that “terrorism is the only stock in trade of Sinn Fein/IRA”, said Mr Paisley.
“Their intention to terrorise is as clear today as the day they were formed. The Sinn Fein/IRA commitment to terror and criminality is total,” he added.
Senior Ulster Unionist Assembly member Sir Reg Empey said he was appalled at the statement which showed the IRA had learned nothing in the weeks since Mr McCartney’s murder.
“The fact that this group is offering to murder as a form of justice should be the wake-up call that the governments urgently need.
“These are the people that they would have democrats share power with,” he said.
The IRA words were a “sick and desperate statement that will be completely beyond sense to all rational human beings,” said Sir Reg.
In Dublin, Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell described the IRA statement as bizarre and said it confirmed suspicions the provisional movement was in free-fall.
Mr McDowell said: “It’s the first time that I have seen them admit to a willingness to kill.
“Their denials of punishment beatings and bank robberies just go out the window after this.”
He said it showed just how deep the crisis within republicanism was.
“It signifies a serious free-fall within the republican movement,” he said.
“It’s bizarre. It’s astonishing. What are these people thinking?
“What kind of world are these people living in? They’re clearly in a very strange place.”
Amid the condemnation, Sinn Fein’s North Belfast assembly member Gerry Kelly stuck his head above the parapet and said the party would have opposed any shooting by the IRA.
“The shooting did not take place. It would not have been acceptable,” he said.
Sinn Fein’s position on shootings was very clear, he said. “They should not happen and the IRA has accepted and supports the family on this.”
Mr Kelly added: “Whatever people think of the IRA they have their own disciplinary code or whatever. In this case they said this to the family and did not act on it – that is a changed situation in itself.”
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http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4228150
IRA's Identity Crisis Over McCartney Murder
By Gary Kelly, PA
The IRA’s statement suggests an organisation going through a serious identity crisis.
On the one hand, it portrays itself as an organisation on a quest for truth and justice, urging witnesses to come forward to tell what they know.
On the other, it appears set on going back to basics, offering to assassinate those involved in the brutal murder of Robert McCartney.
Republicans so sure-footed in the past have been tipped over the edge by recent events.
The cause of this split personality is the righteous anger in nationalist communities at blatant attempts to cover the tracks of those involved.
The seemingly inexorable progress of the Republican Movement towards high political office has been stopped in its tracks, not least by the steady determination of the McCartney family to achieve justice.
As the McCartney sisters set off to press flesh with the great and the good of Washington on St Patrick’s Day, Sinn Fein representatives will be out in the cold, crying into their green beer.
Sinn Fein is under intense political pressure about its relationship with the IRA, and not just from unionists.
The Irish Government has been withering in criticism of the Republican Movement following the collapse of last year’s potentially historic deal between Sinn Fein and the Rev Ian Paisley.
The agreement on power sharing and ending paramilitarism collapsed over the IRA’s refusal to allow the destruction of arms to be photographed.
December’s £26.5 million Northern Bank raid in Belfast made matters worse as the finger of suspicion jabbed at the IRA.
Sinn Fein hit out at Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern after he claimed its leadership must have known during last year’s negotiations that the raid was being planned.
Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell also weighed in, naming three senior Sinn Fein leadership figures as members of the IRA Army Council.
If Gerry Adams believes relations with the Irish Government are at their lowest ebb, he should look at how partners in the peace process view his party.
Mark Durkan’s SDLP, whose former leader John Hume set in motion moves to bring Sinn Fein in from the political cold during the 1980s, has launched daily attacks on its links to the IRA.
Unionists and the British Government have also been insistent that there will be no power sharing without any move from republicans to end IRA violence, robberies and their black market activities.
But the accusation which has really stung the Republican Movement is that it badly misjudged the impact of the murder of Robert McCartney.
In the immediate aftermath of the killing, Sinn Fein councillor Joe O’Donnell said it was a tragic example of Northern Ireland’s burgeoning knife culture.
Police carrying raids on suspects’ homes were attacked by stone-throwing youths and were accused of heavy-handed tactics by the party’s South Belfast Assembly member Alex Maskey.
However republicans have suddenly over the past month found themselves challenged on their own turf, as the family of Robert McCartney accused the IRA of covering up the murder, shielding his killers and intimidating witnesses.
More than 1,000 people attended the funeral of Mr McCartney in the Short Strand area of east Belfast, from where the forklift driver hailed and where Sinn Fein has enjoyed strong support.
They also took to the streets to protest against IRA members they claim were involved in the murder and also against the intimidation of potential police witnesses.
Within two weeks Sinn Fein and the IRA were suddenly on the back foot.
The Provisionals were anxious to distance themselves from the murder and announced they had expelled three members.
Gerry Adams has also been forced to issue a series of hard-hitting statements, gradually acknowledging that republicans were involved in the murder, supporting the family’s quest for justice, urging witnesses to come forward and announcing the suspension of seven party members.
The McCartneys’ visit to Washington to meet George W Bush will unnerve Sinn Fein, threatening to undo the high standing republicans have had in Irish America since the 1994 IRA ceasefire.
The murder has also put Sinn Fein’s attitude to policing under the spotlight.
Despite Catholic Church, nationalist SDLP, Irish and US Government backing for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein has insisted that police reforms do not go far enough for their community and its officers cannot be trusted.
Opponents believe Sinn Fein’s refusal to endorse policing arrangements has frustrated progress in the investigation into the McCartney murder.
Mr Adams’s announcement that he has passed the names of the seven suspended Sinn Fein members to a solicitor to give to Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan, whose office is now part of the police investigation, is remarkable.
Eleven years ago republicans would not have tolerated the passing on of colleagues’ names to the authorities.
Transgressors would have been shot dead and dumped in a ditch.
The sheer brutality of Mr McCartney’s killing, coupled with allegations of money laundering, robberies and black market sales of cigarettes, alcohol and pirate DVDs, have also added to the belief outside of republicanism that the IRA is an Irish Mafia.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/08/international/europe/08cnd-ireland.html
I.R.A. Says It Offered To Shoot Killers Of Belfast Man
By ALAN COWELL
Published: March 8, 2005
ONDON, March 8 - In an extraordinary admission that threatened to further damage its standing, the Irish Republican Army said today that it had offered to shoot the killers of Robert McCartney, a Northern Ireland Catholic slain by a gang including I.R.A. members.
The killing of Mr. McCartney, a 30-year-old forklift truck driver stabbed to death after a bar brawl in Belfast on Jan. 30, has convulsed Northern Ireland politics, creating a crisis for the I.R.A. and its political wing, Sinn Fein, just months after accusations that the I.R.A. was behind a $50 million bank robbery.
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Between them, the killing and the robbery have built a groundswell of disillusionment, leaving the I.R.A. - once seen as protectors of the province's Catholics - exposed to accusations that it has forfeited its role in the struggle against British rule in favor of common crime and brutality.
In an apparent attempt to explain its action, the I.R.A. issued a lengthy statement to news organizations in Belfast today detailing what it called its own investigation into the killing of Mr. McCartney and the stabbing of another man, Brendan Devine.
The statement said I.R.A. representatives had met twice with the McCartney family, with the first meeting lasting for five and a half hours.
"The names of those involved in the attacks and stabbings of Robert McCartney, Brendan Devine and the assault on another man in Market Street were given to the family," the I.R.A. statement said.
The statement said four people were directly involved in the attacks and two of them were "I.R.A. volunteers."
"The I.R.A. knows the identity of all these men," the statement said.
At a meeting with the McCartney family, the I.R.A. statement said, the group's representatives "stated in clear terms that the I.R.A. was prepared to shoot the people directly involved in the killing of Robert McCartney."
Technically, the I.R.A. is committed to a cease-fire declared before Northern Ireland's 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.
The family, however, "made it clear that they did not want physical action taken against those involved," the statement said. "They stated that they wanted those individuals to give a full account of their actions in court."
Members of the McCartney family are set to travel to Washington next week for a St Patrick's Day celebration at the White House, family members said today. But the Bush administration has canceled invitations to Northern Ireland's political parties to avoid the embarrassment of dealing with Sinn Fein.
Previously, the I.R.A. has said it expelled three members because of Mr. McCartney's slaying, while Sinn Fein has suspended seven party members. Both organizations have long refused to deal with the police, but Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein leader, said over the weekend that he had given the names of seven men to a police ombudsman.
His action and today's statement seemed to show both the I.R.A. and Sinn Fein desperately struggling to recover lost prestige and influence by portraying themselves as firmly opposed to Mr. McCartney's slaying and keen to have the killers brought to justice. The I.R.A. statement, for instance, urged "any witnesses who can assist in any way to come forward."
"The only interest the I.R.A. has in this case is to see truth and justice achieved," the statement said, adding that the I.R.A. had offered to protect witnesses against intimidation.
"In addition," the I.R.A. said in its statement, "we informed the family that: We have ordered anyone who was present on the night to go forward and to give a full and honest account of their actions. That includes those who have already been subject to the I.R.A.'s internal disciplinary proceedings."
The statement did not say what those proceedings involved. In the past, the I.R.A. has meted out rough justice, maiming and killing perceived foes and traitors. Despite the apparent admissions that many people know the identity of the murders of Mr. McCartney, no one has been charged.
The statement left some Sinn Fein members "aghast and surprised," in the words of Gerry Kelly, an I.R.A. spokesman, in an interview on BBC television. But Mr. Kelly insisted that the real significance of the statement was that the I.R.A. did not, in fact, carry out its threat against Mr. McCartney's killers. "They have accepted that the best way to deal with this is through the courts," Mr. Kelly said.
But the largely Protestant Unionists who oppose Sinn Fein and the I.R.A. expressed outrage.
"It is time for the Government to arrest Sinn Fein/I.R.A. leaders," said Ian Paisley, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, who does not distinguish between Sinn Fein and the I.R.A.. "Their intention to terrorize is as clear today as the day they were formed. The Sinn Fein/I.R.A. commitment to terror and criminality is total."
Sir Reg Empey of the Ulster Unionist Party declared: "It is a sick and desperate statement that will be completely beyond sense to all rational human beings."
It was unclear where the I.R.A. statement left the stalled effort to restore Northern Ireland's suspended local government grouping both Protestants and Catholics. But Paul Murphy, Britain's Northern Ireland secretary, said today that Sinn Fein might be excluded from a reconvened assembly. The I.R.A. statement, he said, is "totally unacceptable."
"There is no place in Northern Ireland for arbitrary justice," he said.
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http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12489652%255E401,00.html
Bush Turns Back On Sinn Fein
From correspondents in Belfast
09mar05
THE sisters and the fiancee of a Catholic man said to have been murdered by the IRA will be feted by George W. Bush in the White House on St Patrick's Day as part of a US strategy to isolate Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.
Paula McCartney and her four sisters, as well as Bridgeen Hagans, who was to have married Robert McCartney in a few months, will fly from Belfast to Washington on March 15 to highlight their campaign to bring his killers to justice.
While there was no confirmation last night, it is understood an invitation from the White House has been accepted and will be announced later this week.
The invitation is a powerful political message from the US President, whose aides announced last week that, for the first time since 1995, Sinn Fein and the other Irish parties would not be invited to the White House for St Patrick's Day, the most important day in the Irish-American calendar.
Mr Adams and Martin McGuinness, named by the Irish Government as members of the Provisional IRA's ruling army council, will be in the US for the occasion, but administration officials have told The Times that Mr Bush no longer believes either man can be trusted.
The change comes as Sinn Fein is mired in scandal over Britain's largest bank robbery, which has been attributed to the IRA by the British and Irish governments, as well as by the police forces north and south of the Irish border.
McCartney's killing in a Belfast pub brawl on January 30 has provoked widespread condemnation. The White House has also been angered by the IRA's refusal to allow photographic evidence of disarmament moves.
Paula McCartney said yesterday: "We're absolutely delighted. We do believe there's a very strong possibility we will be there and we welcome it. We are going to use it to the best of our advantage. Our message will be to highlight the murder of our brother, Robert."
Asked what they would say to Mr Bush if they met him, she said: "We will be asking him to support us in our campaign for justice for Robert and for Ireland."
A Bush administration official confirmed that the White House was eager to host the McCartney sisters on St Patrick's Day. The President is said to be exasperated by events in Northern Ireland. One aide even talked about Mr Adams in the terms of disdain that the White House held for former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
"Just as the President labelled Arafat not a partner for peace, the same now goes for Adams. The President does not want to meet with him," the aide said.
During Sinn Fein's annual conference in Dublin at the weekend, Mr Adams acknowledged that he knew several of the seven Sinn Fein members suspended from the party in connection with the murder.
In an attempt to distance Sinn Fein from the murder and to defuse the condemnation following it, Mr Adams invited the McCartney sisters to the party conference, where he denounced the killers. "They should admit what they did in a court of law," he said.
From The Times in London
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4330861.stm
Raid Costing Sinn Fein £120,000
The Northern Bank raid will cost Sinn Fein a £120,000 fine, Secertary of State Paul Murphy has confirmed.
A report from the IMC last month blamed the IRA for the £26m Belfast bank robbery in December.
It means the removal of the party's block Assembly grant after an attempt to abduct a dissident republican last year will be renewed from 29 April.
On Thursday MPs will debate a motion to remove Sinn Fein's Westminster allowances, estimated to be £400,000.
Sinn Fein MLA Mitchel McLaughlin said Mr Murphy had "no right to discriminate against democratically elected Irish politicians".
"He has no mandate here in Ireland. The people of Ireland elect us and we are accountable to them," he said.
A report by the Independent Monitoring Commission - which monitors paramilitary activity - recommended imposing financial penalties on Sinn Fein in January.
It backed the police assertion the IRA was behind the £26.5m raid at the Belfast headquarters of Northern Bank on 20 December - a claim the IRA denies.
Outlining his plan to fine the party last month, Mr Murphy told the House of Commons he agreed that there were links between Sinn Fein and the IRA.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/03/08 19:35:31 GMT
© BBC MMV
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4327359.stm
Troubles Murder Review Announced
A team of 100 investigators is to review unsolved killings in Northern Ireland, the government has announced.
The review is an attempt to bring closure to families of hundreds of people killed in the Troubles.
More than 1,800 cases, half the total number of people killed during 30 years of the Troubles, remain unsolved.
The announcement was made by Secretary of State Paul Murphy and PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde at a news conference in Belfast.
Mr Murphy said that £32m would be put into the review over the next six years.
Outlining the scope of the review Mr Orde said it would cover the period 1969 to 1998, and that he hoped they would be able to tell the families of victims as much as they can about their loved one's death.
Mr Orde said the unit would include skilled support teams, fingerprint experts, analysts and investigators.
Some of the staff will be seconded from other UK police forces and from the Garda if possible, he said, adding that retired officers would also be recruited.
They will be headed by retired Metropolitan Police Commander David Cox.
"We will do our level best as police officers to pursue evidential leads," he said.
"The other point, which I think is important is that many families are not looking for a judicial outcome - they are looking to know an awful lot more."
Mr Murphy said that for many of the families of those killed the pain of not knowing who was responsible and why they died continued to blight their lives many years on.
"You do need to have closure for people on their experiences, their very difficult and awful experiences of the past," he said.
"If this can do that then every penny of that thirty-odd million will be well worth spending."
The Police Federation has welcomed news of the review.
The killings of more than 200 police officers remain unsolved.
Federation chairman Irwin Montgomery said: "Everybody has a different idea of closure.
"Families just want to know what happened to their loved ones, they want to know the circumstances of the deaths, if they have any idea of who may have done it and if there is anything that can be done to bring those people to justice."
Lisburn woman Janet Hunter whose brother, Joseph McIlwaine, was killed by the IRA in 1987, said she welcomed the review but had some reservations.
"It's a step forward for some of the people of Northern Ireland that the police are given the money and the powers to be able to investigate," she told the BBC.
Kathy Nellis, who works with a victims' group in Londonderry, said she had no confidence in the review, as it would not bring closure to families whose loved ones were killed by "state violence".
"If it's about trying to look at some form of justice, then there has to be a willingness on the part of the state to be open to delivering that to families," she said.
Chris Ryder, a former member of the Police Authority, - which has now been replaced by the Policing Board - said the review would be a "futile exercise".
"DNA may help in some small number of cases but I think it's generally going to be a very futile exercise and it's not going to bring the comfort of closure, any sense of justice, to the vast majority," he said.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/03/08 17:02:45 GMT
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http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=136070204&p=y36x7x9yx&n=136070964
Ahern Backs Troubles Truth Commission
08/03/2005 - 17:18:29
The families of victims of Northern Ireland’s Troubles need a forum like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.
He told the Dáil families needed to tell their stories and get some form of closure on their grief.
Mr Ahern also said the Government was studying the terms of reference of a Police Service of Northern Ireland review of 2,000 unsolved deaths during Northern Ireland’s Troubles, announced today.
He told Dáil TDs: “It’s very useful to look and see if there is some way that people can lodge their case or submission.
“I’m certainly open to that. Otherwise I don’t think there’s any way that we’ll get closure.”
He said he has raised the issue with Northern Secretary Paul Murphy and the Northern Ireland Office on many occasions.
The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission proved to be a quick and effective process. But he added: “I don’t know it if solved any problems for people.”
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up by former president Nelson Mandela in 1996 to probe apartheid-era atrocities in South Africa.
Mr Ahern added: “It is something we have to look at. We do have to find some process.
“It is endless the number of groups (concerned with) various atrocities. As time passes, instead of the healing process setting in, bitterness arises.
“I have met numerous groups of families, and the more they see one case getting prominence, the more they feel that they haven’t served their families’ interests.
“Every death, every atrocity from whatever quarter is enormous.
“To find a way of dealing with all of these, we would be still here talking about them in 100 years time and I don’t think anybody wants that, not least the families.”
Mr Ahern also said the Government may take a case to the European Court of Justice if it does not receive cooperation from the British authorities on investigations into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974.
Mr Ahern said British Prime Minister Tony Blair told him in a letter in January that there was not enough evidence to justify a public inquiry into the matter in the UK and that it would not be possible to carry out another major search of documents in relation to other matters under investigation by Mr Justice Henry Barron.
Sinn Féin’s Caoimghin O Caolain claimed this amounted to a “point blank refusal” by the British authorities to cooperate.
Mr Ahern said he and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, had continued to raise the matter with the British authorities, but it did not appear likely that they would cooperate.
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http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=136059614&p=y36x6x3zx&n=136060374
Adams Won't Attend Capitol Hill Lunch
08/03/2005 - 16:35:39
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams will not attend this year’s annual St Patrick’s Day Speaker’s lunch on Capitol Hill, it was confirmed today.
Northern Ireland political leaders have already been barred from attending the annual celebrations at the White House.
A spokesman from the Speaker’s office at the House of Representatives, said: “I can confirm Gerry Adams will not be attending our annual lunch.”
He refused to comment on whether Adams had specifically been excluded from the event and said he did not know whether other party leaders would be attending.
President George Bush traditionally attends the lunch alongside Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Irish-Americans and Irish party leaders.
It will be the first time in 10 years that Adams has not attended the lunch and is an indication of the Bush Administration’s frustration over Sinn Féin’s continued links with the IRA.
Mr Adams has been a regular guest since 1995.
He is still expected to attend the annual American-Ireland Fund dinner on March 16, on Capitol Hill.
The family of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney is expected to travel to the US next week and may be invited to meet President Bush at the White House reception.
Mr McCartney’s sisters have been in contact with US Government representatives over the past few days, in their bid to bring his killers to justice.
The 33-year-old father of two from the nationalist Short Strand was stabbed to death after a row in a city centre pub on January 30.
His family blame republicans for the murder on republicans. The backlash has forced the IRA to expel three of its members and Sinn Féin to suspend seven representatives.
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http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0308/bombings.html
Govt May Take Case Over 1974 Bombings
08 March 2005 16:12
The Government is to consider taking a case to the European Court of Justice if it does not receive co-operation from the British authorities on investigations into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974.
The Taoiseach told the Dáil this afternoon that the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, wrote to him in January on the issue.
He said that Mr Blair claimed that his government had co-operated as much as it could with the Barron inquiry into the bombings.
Mr Ahern said the letter continued to say there was not enough evidence to justify a public inquiry into the matter in the UK and that it would not be possible to carry out another major search of documents in relation to other matters under investigation by Mr Justice Barron.
Sinn Féin's Caoimghín Ó Caoláin claimed that this amounted to a 'point blank refusal' by the British authorities to co-operate.
Mr Ahern said that he and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, had continued to raise the matter with the British authorities, but it did not appear likely that they would co-operate.
The Government had not yet considered going to the European Court of Justice, but it would do so if co-operation was not forthcoming, Mr Ahern said.
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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=618049
Decision Time On Plastic Bullets
Board considers using alternative.
By Brendan McDaid
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
08 March 2005
The Policing Board today revealed it is to decide within weeks whether to scrap plastic bullets in Northern Ireland.
A spokesman confirmed that a top-level meeting is to take place - most likely in Belfast - to examine whether a new "soft-nose" alternative, deemed safer than current plastic baton rounds, should be introduced.
A total of 17 people are known to have died after being hit by plastic bullets in Northern Ireland since they were introduced here in 1973.
Derry schoolboy Stephen McConomy (11) was one.
The Bogside youth died three days after being shot by soldiers at close range in 1982. A year earlier another Derry boy, Paul Whitters (15), and Derry man Henry Duffy (45) were also killed by plastic bullets.
A spokesman for the Policing Board today told the Telegraph: "Following a vote, it was agreed that the board would hold a special meeting to further consider the proposed introduction of a replacement to the existing plastic baton round, known technically as 'Attenuated Energy Projectile' (AEP).
"This meeting will take place in coming weeks."
However, human rights organisations today expressed anger that one type of baton round could be replaced by another.
Sinn Fein MLA Raymond McCartney warned that the PSNI were simply planning to re-brand plastic bullets under a less recognisable name. And he insisted there could be "no room for ambiguity".
He said: "At various times throughout the past 35 years, the British Government thought by a simple change in name that they could get people to believe that real change had come about.
"Only this week we get the latest change in name. No longer will we have plastic bullets, but in their place will be Attenuating Energy Projectiles.
"We are told by some who are less than honest that AEPs are less than lethal," he claimed.
"This weapon is another form of plastic bullet which has killed men women and children. There is no place for this weapon anywhere or in any situation."
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