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)

July 20, 2005

Hain Gives PUP A Deadline

News about Ireland & the Irish

IO 07/20/05 Hain Gives PUP Deadline To Justify Allowances
BB 07/20/05 PUP 'Being Pushed From Politics'
IE 07/20/05 U.S. Senators Want Provos To Quit
UT 07/20/05 Blair - 'No Progress Unless Violence Stops'
IO 07/20/05 Arrest Me Now, Challenges Politician
IO 07/20/05 Protest Against US General's Irish Visit
IO 07/20/05 Stephen's Green Celebrates 125 Years
IT 07/21/05 B&Bs And Guesthouses Losing To Hotels

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

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=56114520&p=56yy
4784

Hain Gives PUP Deadline To Justify Cash Allowances

20/07/2005 - 14:11:29

The Progressive Unionist Party, linked to the loyalist
Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commandos, has been
given a week today to make a case to the British government
on why they should be given their Northern Ireland Assembly
allowances.

In a written statement to MPs, Northern Ireland Secretary
Peter Hain said he was considering removing the party's
entitlement to the allowances for another year.

The Progressive Unionist Party, whose leader David Ervine
is its sole Assembly member, and Sinn Féin, both had their
financial allowances withdrawn last year.

This followed a report by the four-member Independent
Monitoring Commission which highlighted paramilitary and
criminal activity by the UVF, Red Hand Commando and the
Provisional IRA.

In May, another report submitted to the British and Irish
governments by the Commission, which assesses republican
and loyalist paramilitary ceasefires, said the UVF and Red
Hand Commando remained active and violent and was involved
in organised crime.

Mr Hain said the report had concluded that the PUP had not
done as much as it should to exert influence on the groups
to end such activities.

"The Commission recommended that I should continue the
financial measures against the Progressive Unionist Party,"
he said.

"I have considered carefully the IMC's report and I have
today written to the Progressive Unionist Party to advise
them that I am minded to remove for a period of 12 months
the party's entitlement to financial assistance payable to
political parties in Northern Ireland.

"I have provided the PUP with seven days from today to make
representations to me. At the end of that period I will
take into account any such representations made to me and
will reach a final decision."

The PUP was yesterday urged by nationalist SDLP Assembly
member Alban Maginness to sever its ties with the UVF
following the group's bitter feud with the rival Loyalist
Volunteer Force.

The feud claimed the life of 20-year-old Craig McCausland
in north Belfast last week, whose family has denied he had
any link to the LVF or any other terror group, and whose
mother, Lorraine, was believed to have been murdered by
loyalists in 1987 in a vicious beating near a drinking
club.

Earlier this month, 25-year-old Jameson Lockhart was also
gunned down as he worked on a building site in east Belfast
in an attack also blamed on the UVF.

The UVF was also blamed for a gun attack on a house in the
east of the city on Monday night.

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

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-
/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4700485.stm

PUP 'Being Pushed From Politics'

The government is trying to push the Progressive Unionist
Party out of politics, leader David Ervine has said.

He was speaking after the NI secretary said he intended to
withhold its assembly allowances for another year.

The decision followed the latest report from ceasefire
watchdog, the Independent Monitoring Commission.

The PUP is linked to the UVF and Red Hand Commando. Mr
Ervine said it was "unjust" to punish his party for the
alleged activities of the UVF.

He said the leadership of his party were not in leadership
positions in the UVF and did not carry out illegal
activity.

"I am the leader of the PUP. If I have broken any laws or
rules, I would like to be arrested and charged now," he
said.

In a written statement to MPs, Secretary of State Peter
Hain said he would give the PUP a week to respond.

Mr Hain's decision came amid pressure from nationalist
politicians to declare that the UVF has ended its ceasefire
following recent violence by the organisation.

The IMC report, submitted in May, said the UVF and Red Hand
Commando remained active, violent and involved in organised
crime.

Mr Hain said the report concluded that the PUP had not done
as much as it should to exert influence on the groups to
end such activities.

"The commission recommended that I should continue the
financial measures against the Progressive Unionist Party,"
he said.

"I have considered carefully the IMC's report and I have
today written to the Progressive Unionist Party to advise
them that I am minded to remove for a period of 12 months
the party's entitlement to financial assistance payable to
political parties in Northern Ireland.

"I have provided the PUP with seven days from today to make
representations to me.

"At the end of that period I will take into account any
such representations made to me and will reach a final
decision."

SDLP assembly member Alban Maginness said Mr Ervine had
"descended to the level of Adams-style political stunts
rather than confront the reality of what the UVF is about".

He said Mr Ervine's challenge to the secretary of state to
arrest him was "designed to divert attention from the very
real issues that people who associate with paramilitaries
should face up to".

On Tuesday, Mr Maginness had urged the PUP to sever its
ties with the UVF, following the group's bitter feud with
the rival Loyalist Volunteer Force.

Two lives have been claimed in the dispute between the
loyalist paramilitary groupings.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/07/20 15:16:53 GMT
© BBC MMV

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

http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=16822

U.S. Senators Want Provos To Quit

By Ray O'Hanlon
rohanlon@irishecho.com

The U.S. Senate last week Senate unanimously approved a
resolution expressing support for the Good Friday agreement
and calling on the Provisional IRA to disband.

The resolution was introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy and
had nine co-sponsors including Democrats Joe Biden, viewed
as an early 2008 presidential hopeful, and Chris Dodd and
Republicans John McCain and Susan Collins.

The Resolution urges the full decommissioning and complete
disbandment of the IRA in keeping with the pledge of all
signatories to the agreement to a "total and absolute
commitment to exclusively democratic and peaceful means."

The resolution also called on Sinn Fein to work with the
Police Service of Northern Ireland and to cooperate fully
in the investigation into the murder of Robert McCartney.

The resolution also urged Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist
Party to share power with all parties including Sinn Fein,
and work in good faith with the institutions created by the
agreement in particular the multi-party Executive and cross
border North-South bodies.

The resolution further called on the British government to
permanently restore the institutions created by the
agreement, not least the Northern Ireland Assembly, which
was suspended in October 2002.

"All of us are hopeful that a constructive way forward will
be found, and the best way to do so is by continuing to
implement the Good Friday agreement," Kennedy said in a
statement.

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

http://www.utvlive.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=62812&pt=n

Blair - 'No Progress Unless Ulster Violence Stops'

There was "no justification" for recent violence in
Northern Ireland, and it must stop if there was to be
progress towards peace, Tony Blair said today.

Democratic Unionist MP Peter Robinson had urged the British
Prime Minister to criticise Sinn Fein for apparently
failing to condemn republican actions.

At question time, he told Mr Blair that they had included
"atrocious" attacks on the police and on loyalist areas of
Belfast.

There also appeared to be an ongoing feud among loyalists,
in which they were attacking each other, he said.

"My colleagues and I condemn that completely and without
any mental reservation.

"Are you disappointed that the leadership of Sinn Fein does
not condemn the attacks by republicans on loyalists and the
police?"

The British Prime Minister told him: "I completely condemn
those attacks whether they come from republicans or the
attacks that loyalists are committing on each other and
there is no justification for any of it.

"What people have to realise is, is that if we want to make
progress in Northern Ireland the violence, from whatever
quarter, has to stop."

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

http://www.online.ie/news/viewer.adp?article=3258088

Arrest Me Now, Challenges Politician

online.ie
2005-07-20 17:20:04+01

A senior loyalist politician in Northern Ireland challenged
the British government today to have him arrested if it
believed his party had a say over what the Ulster Volunteer
Force and Red Hand Commando do.

Progressive Unionist leader David Ervine issued the
challenge after Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain gave
the party a week to argue for the resumption of its
Assembly allowances after he said he was thinking of
withholding them for another year.

In a written statement to MPs, Mr Hain said he was
considering the move after a report in May by a body which
monitors the loyalist and republican ceasefires said the
PUP (Progressive Unionist Party) had failed to exert any
influence over the UVF and Red Hand Commando.

Mr Hain said: "The (Independent Monitoring) Commission
recommended that I should continue the financial measures
against the Progressive Unionist Party.

"I have considered carefully the IMC's report and I have
today written to the Progressive Unionist Party to advise
them that I am minded to remove for a period of 12 months
the party's entitlement to financial assistance payable to
political parties in Northern Ireland.

"I have provided the PUP with seven days from today to make
representations to me.

"At the end of that period I will take into account any
such representations made to me and will reach a final
decision."

The four member IMC said in its report for the British and
Irish governments that the UVF and Red hand Commando
remained heavily involved in crime, active as a
paramilitary group and violent.

A bitter feud over the past fortnight between the UVF and
the Loyalist Volunteer Force in Belfast has put the PUP's
links again under the spotlight, with nationalist SDLP
Assembly member Alban Maginness urging the party yesterday
to sever all its ties with paramilitaries.

The feud claimed the life of 20-year-old Craig McCausland
in north Belfast last week, whose family has denied he had
any link to the LVF or any other terror group, and whose
mother, Lorraine, was believed to have been murdered by
loyalists in 1987 in a vicious beating near a drinking
club.

Earlier this month, 25-year-old Jameson Lockhart was also
gunned down as he worked on a building site in east Belfast
in an attack also blamed on the UVF.

The UVF was also blamed for a gun attack on a house in the
east of the city on Monday night.

Mr Ervine, the PUP's sole Assembly member, said today he
was willing to meet Mr Hain over the course of the next
week.

But he also challenged the British government to have him
arrested if it believed the PUP had a say over what the UVF
and Red Hand Commando did.

"I am willing to meet the Secretary of State and lay before
him the reality of life within the leadership of the PUP
who in some people's eyes seem to be responsible for all of
the things that are wrong in this society," the East
Belfast MLA said.

"The reality is our record speaks for itself - our desires
and wishes for Northern Ireland have been well laid out.

"It is against all the tenets of natural justice that
people who are not responsible for what paramilitaries do
are punished in this way.

"I am the leader of the PUP. If I have broken any laws or
rules, I would like to be arrested and charged now."

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

http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=11479158&p=yy479zyz&n=
11479272

Activists Protest Against US General's Irish Visit

20/07/2005 - 15:36:03

Anti-war activists spoke out in protest at today's visit to
Ireland by the head of the US defence forces.

Joint-chief-of-staff General Richard Myers is here on the
invitation of his Irish counterpart.

But protester Ciaran O'Reilly said General Myers shouldn't
be welcomed and that Ireland was complicit in the war in
Iraq by allowing the US military access to Shannon Airport:

"Willie O'Dea, the Defence Minister, is dragging Ireland
deeper and deeper into complicity with this war with over
28,000 US military personnel passing through Shannon
Airport each month," said Mr O'Reilly.

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

http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=185374120&p=y8537499z&
n=185374998

Stephen's Green Celebrates 125 Years

20/07/2005 - 16:15:59

A series of free events are taking place in Stephen's Green
to celebrate its 125 years as a public park.

The events are being organised by the Office of Public
Works and will run until the August 1.

Live music, wildlife trails and children's activities are
included in the events.

Park superintendent Margaret Gormley said the park was
still very popular, even after 125 years: "There's a lot of
people who work within the environment of Stephen's Green
who commute to work, so for them coming in to the Green is
like a little oasis."

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0721/32251578
86HM6CSOTOURISM.html

B&Bs And Guesthouses Losing To Hotels

Christine Newman

Guesthouses and B&Bs are losing out to hotels in the
tourism market share, new figures for the first three
months of this year have shown.

The Central Statistics Office figures which compare the
first three months of this year with the same period last
year also show that more Irish people made trips abroad,
with the greatest increase on the transatlantic routes.

The number of visitors to the Republic increased but they
were not staying quite so long. There were not so many from
North America although there were more visitors from
Europe.

The number of bed nights spent in guesthouses or B&Bs fell
by 19 per cent and bed nights in hotels increased by 6 per
cent.

Minister for Tourism John O'Donoghue said the CSO figures
showed the overall number of bed nights, a key indicator
for the sector, was up over 7 per cent. However, he said
that guesthouses and B&Bs continued to lose share.

"The poor first quarter results for the guesthouse and B&B
sector reinforces the urgent need to address the particular
competitive challenges faced by this most traditional of
Irish tourism products and I look forward to the outcome of
the work currently being undertaken by Fáilte Ireland in
this regard."

According to the CSO figures, expenditure for January to
March this year showed a net outflow of €145 million.
Earnings from visitors to the State accounted for €711
million while expenditure by Irish visitors abroad amounted
to €857 million, up 5 per cent.

Irish residents made 1,208,000 visits abroad, up 16 per
cent, with a 24 per cent increase on European routes and a
32 per cent rise on transatlantic routes.

The number of visitors rose by 6 per cent to 1,290,000.
Those coming from Britain grew by 3 per cent and those from
other European countries increased by 33 per cent. The
number of visitors from North America fell by 11 per cent
as did the number from other areas. The average length of
stay of overseas visitors with at least one overnight fell
from 6.5 nights to 6.4 nights.

"These latest figures from CSO present a very mixed bag for
the tourism sector and confirm yet again the changing
nature of consumer demands in a highly competitive
industry," the Minister said. On the positive front, he
added, overseas revenue was up and as the first three
months only represented one-quarter of the year's business,
it augured well for remainder of the year.

Results from Britain and Europe were positive, but the US
and other long-haul markets were down. The Minister said
better access should provide the necessary bounce in these
markets to ensure Ireland performed well over the year.

He said the industry could not afford to hide from the
fundamental shifts in consumer behaviour in the sector, but
he was confident it would continue to adapt.

© The Irish Times

Posted by: Unknown / 10:50 PM
Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?