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May 18, 2005

PUP Chief Says LVF Killed LIsa

News About Ireland & The Irish

DL 05/18/05 PUP Chief Says LVF Killed Lisa
4N 05/18/05 Adams ‘Confident’ US Committed To Peace Process
SM 05/18/05 Hain: No Deals To Hasten Power-Sharing'
RE 05/18/05 U.S. To IRA: Lay Down Your Arms Now
SF 05/18/05 Adams Welcomes Report On Poverty Eradication
IT 05/19/05 Maginnis To Stand For Leadership Of UUP
UT 05/18/05 Murder Ruled Out In U.S Woman's Death – Police
BB 05/18/05 Dublin To Sell Aer Lingus Stake
EB 05/18/05 Erin Go Girl!
IO 05/18/05 Univ Crack Down On Patrick's Day Troublemakers
IO 05/18/05 Eight Priests To Be Ordained This Year
IE 05/18/05 New Book Focuses On Irish New York

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http://62.253.251.16/dailyireland/home.tvt?_ticket=R1IDALOLO9M2TRRIVXV9ANWPOIA9CHVTWRRKITOJBNULAUKACK3AC4QFIR0BARXDALOL64EFURUSHONGEMTEGUKACK3143597C&_scope=DailyIreland/Content/News&id=4158&opp=1

PUP Chief Says LVF Killed Lisa

Colm Heatley
c.heatley@dailyireland.com

The leader of the PUP says he “can’t work out” why the PSNI was
prepared to indulge in speculation about IRA involvement in Robert
McCartney’s murder but dismissed speculation that the LVF killed Lisa
Dorrian.

David Ervine said it was “beyond doubt” that the LVF killed Lisa
Dorrian, who disappeared from a party in a caravan park in
Ballyhalbert, Co Down, on February 28.

Since her disappearance the PSNI have described speculation that the
LVF was behind the killing as “unhelpful”.

“I can’t work out why police said speculation about Lisa’s killers was
bad.

“It didn’t seem to be too unhelpful with the McCartney murder,” he
said.

Mr Ervine also said that there had been a lack of media focus on
Lisa’s murder.

“There has been a lack of focus on Lisa Dorrian while there was focus
on other happenings at the time.

“That is sad if you are a member of the Dorrian family.”

Meanwhile, the mother of the murdered woman dismissed earlier press
reports that she wanted to meet with loyalist paramilitaries.

“That is untrue. I never said that and I would never meet with
loyalist paramilitaries.

“I would meet with the Loyalist Commission because they are removed
from the paramilitaries,” said Pat Dorrian.

She also said that despite this week’s renewed media interest in her
daughter’s murder she felt as though Lisa’s plight had disappeared
from “the face of the earth”.

“The media could have done more".

“There was a good few weeks that nobody bothered about us at all".

“It was as if Lisa had disappeared off the face of the earth, that’s
why we set up an appeal fund".

“I would call on the media to do much more to help".

“Even in England, where Lisa was born, there has been hardly a shred
of coverage about her murder,” she said.

The family have offered a £10,000 (€14,500) reward for information
leading to the recovery of the body.

Local DUP MLA, Peter Weir, said that, while he condemned the murder,
he wouldn’t speculate on whether or not the LVF is responsible.

“I would appeal for anyone with any information to come forward and
give that information.

“I don’t want to prejudge these matters,” he said.

Newly elected South Belfast SDLP MP, Alisdair McDonnell, who helped
organise the McCartney family’s trip to Washington

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http://www.4ni.co.uk/industrynews.asp?id=40640

Adams ‘Confident’ US Committed To Peace Process

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has said that he is “confident” that
the US administration remains committed to the peace process.

Following discussions with US Special envoy Mitchell Reiss in Belfast
on Wednesday, Mr Adams, along with party colleagues Michelle Gildernew
and Gerry Kelly, said Sinn Féin was intent on achieving the re-
establishment of the power sharing Executive, political institutions
and all-Ireland bodies.

“I told Mr Reiss that while we all await the outcome of the IRA’s
internal discussion, others have responsibilities also – not least the
British and Irish governments and the DUP,” the West Belfast MP said.

“We want to resolve all of the outstanding issues. This will require a
collective effort to move it forward. It will particularly require the
British government to demonstrate to the DUP a determination to push
ahead with the implementation of those aspects of the Agreement,
demilitarisation, equality, human rights, collusion, Irish language
policing and justice, irrespective of that party’s attitude to the
political institutions.”

Meanwhile, the Ulster Unionist Party's sole remaining MP has ruled
herself out of the race for the party leadership.

Lady Sylvia Hermon, the MP for North Down, said she had decided not to
go forward in the contest to succeed David Trimble, citing family
commitments for her decision.

Her husband, former RUC chief constable, Sir John Hermon, suffers from
Alzheimer's disease.

(MB/SP)

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http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4574143

Hain: 'No Side Deals To Hasten Return Of Power-Sharing'

By Senan Hogan, PA

The British Government will not cut side deals with the Republican
movement to speed up the resumption of power-sharing in Northern
Ireland, Secretary of State Peter Hain said tonight.

For the first time since his appointment Mr Hain met Irish premier
Bertie Ahern and Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern in
Dublin.

Mr Hain said the only way to a meaningful political solution was
through partnership talks with everybody involved.

“You can’t solve this problem by side deals. You have to work together
with all the partners involved.

“Ourselves as governments have been stuck together with an umbilical
cord these past seven or eight years. No side deals.

“I’m confident progress can be made over the coming months. I hope
that it can be over weeks but let’s not put timetables on it.”

Mr Hain said he had “a very good meeting” with the Irish premier
before he joined the Foreign Affairs Minister for a working dinner in
Iveagh House.

Dermot Ahern welcomed Mr Hain into his role as Secretary of State and
said he hoped to continue the excellent relationship he had enjoyed
with his predecessor, Paul Murphy.

He added: “We have to continue the excellent relationship that both
governments have. This partnership is crucial to the outworkings of
the Good Friday Agreement.”

Mr Ahern said the relevant issues will also be discussed at a British-
Irish Intergovernmental conference later this month.

Mr Hain added: “An umbilical cord links the Irish and British
governments in this process, in this ambition to end the conflict and
create a permanent political solution through getting the institutions
up and running and stability and prosperity which I think we can do.

“We will work together and spare no effort to achieve that.”

Prime Minister Tony Blair is due to meet the leadership of the
Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein in Downing Street tomorrow.

Dermot Ahern is also due to hold talks with US Special Envoy for
Northern Ireland Mitchell Reiss in Dublin tomorrow afternoon.

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http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-05-19T001922Z_01_SPI857419_RTRUKOC_0_IRISH-USA.xml

U.S. To IRA: Lay Down Your Arms Now

Thu May 19, 2005 1:19 AM BST
By Paul Hoskins

BELFAST (Reuters) - The United States called on the IRA on Wednesday
to lay down its arms sooner rather than later so Northern Ireland can
find permanent peace.

"I would very much hope that the IRA would respond soon," said
Mitchell Reiss, President George W. Bush's special envoy, as
Washington joined forces with London and Dublin to try to get home
rule returned to Protestants and Catholics in the province.

Last month Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams appealed to the paramilitaries to
use words, not guns to fulfil their aim of ending British rule in
Northern Ireland.

Reiss, sandwiching a trip to Belfast between talks in London and
Dublin, said: "Everyone I have spoken with so far recognises there is
a need for the IRA to respond positively and everyone has said sooner
is better than later."

"There is some concern that if it does continue to delay longer, at
least much longer, the situation isn't going to remain the same," he
warned.

But Reiss said it was important to be patient so that the IRA gave a
positive and unambiguous answer.

His visit marks a renewed push to get Northern Ireland's feuding
Catholics and Protestants back to the negotiating table after
hardliners on both sides of the sectarian divide cemented their grip
in this month's election.

Both Adams and firebrand preacher Ian Paisley, who heads the
Democratic Unionist Party, are meeting Prime Minister Tony Blair in
London.

Paisley, who fervently wants to maintain ties with Britain, refuses to
talk to Adams until the IRA renounces its campaign for a united
Ireland by publicly surrendering its weapons.

Blair -- at the beginning of a third term in office that he has said
will be his last -- is likely to make a last-ditch effort to restore
self-government to the province in order to polish a legacy tarnished
by the war in Iraq.

Peace has largely been restored to the province during his leadership
following an IRA ceasefire but a lasting political solution has proved
elusive.

An assembly set up under the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement to give
both sides a say in Northern Ireland's affairs was short-lived, while
a high profile murder outside a Belfast pub and a massive bank robbery
blamed on the IRA have made the DUP more determined than ever not to
negotiate with Sinn Fein.

Reiss made a particular point in Belfast of seeing the family of the
murdered man, Robert McCartney.

They have taken their case to the White House and the European
Parliament but still no one has been charged.

"We are a long way from home in terms of getting justice for Robert
but I think so far it is going in the right direction," Reiss told
reporters after meeting McCartney's sisters.

********************************

http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/9600

Gerry Adams Welcomes Trócaire Report On Poverty Eradication

Published: 18 May, 2005

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has welcomed this mornings publication
by Trócaire of its research into the impact of the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). And the Sinn Féin leader has
urged the Irish and British governments to lead by example and move
quickly to honour the commitments they made five years ago at the
Millennium summit on issues around debt, aid and trade.

The Trócaire report, 'More than a Numbers Game? - Ensuring that the
Millennium Development Goals address Structural Injustice', confirms
that what is urgently needed is for all of the 189 governments, but
especially the developed nations, who signed up to the Millennium
Declaration five years ago to keep to the commitments they made then.

At that time world leaders agreed achievable goals for development and
poverty eradication to be achieved by 2015. These also included
halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, increasing
the availability of safe drinking water and improved education
provision for children.

However, Trócire's report, as well as others by the United Nations,
show that most countries are falling behind these targets.

Urgent action is needed to reverse this trend. This means in
particular the cancellation of the enormous burden of debt suffered by
developing nations.

It also means ensuring the provision of more aid, better targeted and
sustained. In addition the world trading system has to be reformed. It
places poorer nations at a distinct disadvantage to the larger
nations, as well as to the huge multi-national corporations.
Globalisation prioritises profit over human need and sacrifices the
poor and vulnerable on the altar of the marketplace.

If money used to pay off foreign debt were diverted back into health
and education, and the other goals set by the Millennium Summit were
implemented, the lives of seven million children could be saved each
year. That is the lives of 1000 children every hour, of every day, of
every week could be saved.

Trócaire's report is an important contribution to the necessary debate
around efforts to end these injustices." ENDS

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0519/3181962576HM7UUPLEADER.html

Maginnis To Stand For Leadership Of UUP

Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor

Lord Maginnis, the former Ulster Unionist MP for Fermanagh-South
Tyrone, has declared he will stand for the leadership of his party.

Announcing his intention, he sketched out his manifesto pledging to
restructure the party, to listen to grassroots unionists and to build
on the leadership of David Trimble by continuing to press for the
Belfast Agreement.

He said he would not run if a younger candidate offering the same
style of politics decided to run.

The former Ken Maginnis failed to win election to Dungannon council
earlier this month having served on it for 20 years, and now
represents his party in the House of Lords.

Talking to ITN yesterday he said: "I am up for the leadership. Let me
be frank, if I could find somebody that was 20 years younger than I
am, who had the same objectives, the same experience, then I would not
be up for the leadership." He praised Mr Trimble, commending his
"marvellous job" and his "tremendous courage".

But he added: "I think I know exactly what needs to be done, and most
importantly, I think I know the infrastructure of politics inside out,
so that I have an immediate advantage in trying to reform and
restructure the party to make it more effective." He said the next
leader should be committed to reaching out to ordinary party members:
"That means getting out every weekend, meeting groups, talking to
them, finding out what the questions are that were not answered, that
caused people not just to vote against us, but not to come out to
vote."

He criticised the DUP, branding them inconsistent. "Since November
2003, the DUP have not made a single, solitary change, except that
they have weakened the agreement," he said.

"They used to criticise the people's forum that we have in Northern
Ireland. Now they have actually conceded that we should have an all-
Ireland consultative forum. That is something that worries me as a
unionist."

He commended Mr Trimble for being "up front" with the electorate in
contrast to the "covert" leadership of the Rev Ian Paisley.He added:
"Paisley and his colleagues will try to build up a relation with
Dublin in the hope that somehow they can appear to be working at that
level."

Also contesting the leadership are Assembly members Sir Reg Empey and
David McNarry - both allies of Mr Trimble when he was leader.

Lord Kilclooney, the former Strangford MP John Taylor, is the fourth
declared candidate for the leadership.

© The Irish Times

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http://www.utvinternet.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=60433&pt=n

Murder Ruled Out In U.S Woman's Death - Police

The death of an American backpacker is no longer being treated as
murder, police said today.

By:Press Association

A woman who had been arrested following the death in Belfast of Ashley
Rowland, 29, from New Mexico, has now been released on police bail,
said a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) spokesman.

Ms Rowland died near the city`s Queen`s University after sustaining a
head injury at Fitzwilliam Street on Sunday evening close to the
hostel in which she had been staying.

The PSNI said on Monday they were treating the death as murder and had
started a murder investigation.

Today they said initial investigations did not support the idea that a
murder had been committed and officers were continuing to investigate
the cause of the 29-year-old`s death.

Ms Rowland arrived in Northern Ireland last month and visited Scotland
before returning to Belfast.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/4561053.stm

Dublin To Sell Aer Lingus Stake

The Irish government has agreed in principle to sell a majority stake
in the national airline Aer Lingus to help fund its future expansion.

Ireland's transport minister announced the plan on Wednesday while
confirming that the state would retain a "significant" minority
holding.

Aer Lingus has recovered from near bankruptcy in 2002 by reinventing
itself as a low-cost operator.

It has axed 2,000 jobs, 30% of its workforce, since 2001.

Long term growth

Transport minister Martin Cullen said the sale of a stake in the flag
carrier would enable the airline to invest in more services,
particularly transatlantic routes.

The government will appoint financial advisors to advise it on the
size and timing of the sale.

There will be investment for growth rather than just short-term
funding to help in a time of crisis

Martin Cullen, Irish transport minister

"This decision allows Aer Lingus to secure funding for new aircraft
and in turn to compete and win new routes," Mr Cullen said.

"Today's decision ensures that for the first time, there will be
investment for growth rather than just short-term funding to help in a
time of crisis."

The government currently owns 85% of the airline, with staff
controlling the remaining 15%.

Analysts believe the sale could raise up to 300m euros.

The government will retain a stake in Aer Lingus, Mr Cullen stressed,
in order to protect the state's "key strategic interest" in the
airline's future.

New strategy

Aer Lingus has gone head to head with budget airlines such as Ryanair
in recent years, slashing its prices in order to win new business.

The airline's profitability has improved but it suffered a serious
blow earlier this year when its senior management quit.

Former chief executive Willie Walsh was subsequently appointed boss of
British Airways.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/05/18 23:17:44 GMT
© BBC MMV

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http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/2005-05-18/calendar/billboard3.html

Erin Go Girl!

Cartoonist and author Trina Robbins walks among the Wild Irish Roses.

By Kelly Vance

Published: Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Scathach the Shadowy was a female warrior, trainer of fighters, and
soothsayer in ancient Ireland who allied with the great hero
Cúchulainn in Scathach's war against Aoife, another Celtic warrior
queen. Mother Jones, born Mary Harris in County Cork in 1830, acquired
her rebelliousness at a young age, and later became one of America's
most combative labor agitators during the era of violent strikes and
lockouts. Beautiful Maud Gonne was more than just a muse to Irish poet
William Butler Yeats (who dubbed her "Cathleen ni hÉireann") -- the
English-born Irish nationalist spent her adult life organizing
protests against the English occupation of her adopted homeland, and
was jailed for her efforts.

These are just a few of the legendary and real-life heroic women in
Trina Robbins' new book, Wild Irish Roses (Conari Press, $14.95
paper). Robbins, the San Francisco-based feminist cartoonist and
author of the GoGirl! series, A Century of Women Cartoonists;
Catswalk; Califa, Queen of California; and Tender Murderers evidently
wants us to forget about the demure Irish colleens of old-fashioned
popular imagination, and to focus instead on such take-charge female
combatants as Queen Maeve or the Morrigan, the tripartite pre-
Christian goddess of war, sex, and death. Says Robbins in her
publicity kit: "The women in Wild Irish Roses are not always nice
girls or even good girls, but they are women who know how to get
things done, whether on the battlefield or in the bedroom." Like
Countess Markievicz, née Constance Gore-Booth, a London-born
aristocrat who spurned the life of nobility to join the Irish
nationalist movement Sinn Féin in time to fight on the barricades with
Pádraig Pearse in the Easter Rebellion of 1916 in Dublin. After all,
Robbins says, "In ancient times, before Patrick, as the story goes,
the first people to land on Irish soil were fifty women and their
queen." But how does she account for the Sheela-Na-Gig?

Ask Robbins about that when she makes her appearance tonight
(Wednesday, 7 p.m.) at Belladonna in Berkeley (2436 Sacramento St.,
510-883-0600), to read from Wild Irish Roses. It's free and open to
all.

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http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=9344854&p=93449xx&n=9344942

Universities Crack Down On St Patrick's Day Troublemakers

18/05/2005 - 18:33:45

Northern Ireland’s two universities have taken tough action against
students involved in disorderly and drunken behaviour on St Patrick’s
Day, it was confirmed tonight.

Following incidents in Belfast on March 17, suspensions, fines and
warnings have been issued. In one case, a student was prevented from
sitting end of year exams.

The University of Ulster and Queen’s University had pledged to crack
down on drunken revellers this year after growing complaints from
residents living in the Holyland area of south Belfast about the bad
and anti-social behaviour of students.

They mounted a new campaign to curb the excesses of the students early
in the year hoping to stop trouble in the area .

Yet on St Patrick’s Day students made up the bulk of the 18 people
arrested after going on the rampage following a night of drinking.

Expressions of disappointment and warnings of action swiftly followed
from both universities.

The University of Ulster said tonight that it had suspended three
students for bad behaviour, one of whom was prevented from sitting
summer exams.

Thirty students were fined for their antics.

Another 133 students received “final warnings” , said a spokeswoman.
If those students came to the university’s attention again they would
face suspension.

At Queen’s University one student was suspended, 25 received written
warnings and 15 fines. Cases against a further 31 were dismissed.

More cases at Queen’s are pending.

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http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=95263749&p=95z64zy8&n=95264248

Eight Priests To Be Ordained This Year

18/05/2005 - 15:46:37

Just eight priests will be ordained in Ireland this year, providing
further evidence of the decline of the Catholic Church in this
country.

The priests will all come from the country's only seminary, Saint
Patrick's College in Maynooth.

It compares with rising numbers of new seminarians in eastern European
countries.

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http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=16531

New Book Focuses On Irish New York

Dr. Mary C. Kelly will be giving a talk about the creation of a
transatlantic identity for Irish living in New York.

By Ailbhe Jordan
ajordan@irishecho.com

A leading academic will speak in Manhattan this week about the hidden
ancestry of the Irish community in New York. Dr. Mary C. Kelly will
read from her new book, "The Shamrock and the Lily: The New York Irish
and the Creation of a Transatlantic identity," this Thursday at the
American Irish Historical Society on Fifth Avenue.

Focusing on the period from 1845, the first year of the Famine, to
when the Free State was founded in 1921, the book claims to be the
first singular historical study on the Irish community in New York.

"It was a time of great diversity within the New York Irish
experience," according to Kelly, who is an associate professor of
history at Franklin Pierce College, N.H., and a native of Westport,
Co. Mayo.

Upwards of one million Irish emigrated to the U.S. during and in the
years following the Famine, comprising the genealogical backbone of
the Irish American community in New York and the surrounding region
today. However, Kelly explores the impact of a number of lesser-
documented groups in the community on the makeup of contemporary Irish
New Yorkers.

"There existed a multi-faceted culture amongst the Irish community,
not just Catholic Democrats," she said.

"I looked at the role of Irish women, Irish Protestants and Irish
public discourse during this time period. These three themes are new
to the field. I came across a lot of things that surprised me."

Prior to the Famine, the Protestant Irish community was a well-
integrated and powerful group in New York society, according to Kelly.

"The influence of Protestants on New York Irish culture was
significant," she said.

"They were the ones who brought Irish culture into the realm of
prosperity. They were overwhelmingly prosperous business people, and
prosperous business people are easy to overlook because they didn't
make a lot of noise the way some of the more prominent Fenians did.
Then the Famine occurred, and along came a million starving Catholics.
You had a whole new layer of Irishness that was not welcome on top of
a layer that had integrated into society. They coexisted very
uneasily. It took until 1921 to turn the corner," she said.

The new independent state marked an era of new hope and the beginning
of a contemporary Irish psyche, according to Kelly.

"The formation of the Free State enabled the Irish in New York to
leave behind a lot of the baggage and move towards a time of
prosperity," she said.

"Today is a continuation of that time. The New York Irish are on a
continuing path of prosperity."

Kelly said the distinguishing characteristic of the New York Irish
community today is a self-confidence that many of their 19th Century
counterparts were unable to achieve.

"Irish people today in New York don't have the same prejudices to deal
with," said Kelly.

"They don't have the terrible pressure of the Irish question hanging
over them. The notion of freedom isn't at stake. They no longer have
the dark shadow of the Famine as those in the 19th Century did."

During her research, Kelly traveled to Toronto Metropolitan Library,
where she gained access to detailed historical documents relating to
the Orange Order and the Freemasons. She also spent time researching
in Trinity College Dublin.

For more information, contact the American Irish Historical Society at
(212) 288-2263 ext. 21.

This story appeared in the issue of May 18-24, 2005
Posted by: Unknown / 8:43 PM
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