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July 27, 2005

Nine Arrested In LVF Inquiry

News about Ireland & the Irish

IT 07/28/05 Nine Arrested In LVF Murder Inquiry
IT 07/28/05 Statement From IRA On Arms Expected Today
IT 07/28/05 Kelly Freed On Eve Of IRA Statement
UT 07/27/05 Ahern Confident Over IRA Statement
IT 07/28/05 IRA Faces Path It Refused To Take Last December
BB 07/27/05 PSNI Operation 'Linked To Feud'
CW 07/27/05 Wave Of Attacks On Catholics In N Ireland
IT 07/28/05 Three Cork Towns In 'Atlantic Ports' Booklet
IT 07/28/05 B&Bs Lose Out To Self-Catering & Rented Homes
BB 07/27/05 Reporting The Last IRA 'Stand Down' (1962)
IE 07/27/05 IAUC For Pittsburgh

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0728/1612307242HM9NEWBROWN.html

Nine Arrested In LVF Murder Inquiry

Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor

Police officers investigating the murder of a Co Derry
GAA official in 1997 have arrested nine people and searched
dozens of properties in three counties.

Seán Brown (61) was abducted and murdered by the LVF after
he locked the gates at Bellaghy's Wolfe Tone GAA club. His
body and burned-out car were found in Randalstown, Co
Antrim, about 10 miles away.

Officers connected to the Organised Crime Taskforce carried
out yesterday's searches in Armagh, Antrim and Tyrone.
Detectives were also conducting searches in relation to
loyalist money-laundering operations, but police say this
is not linked to the Brown murder. A further four arrests
were made under proceeds of crime legislation.

The RUC investigation into the high-profile murder was the
subject of a scathing report by Police Ombudsman Nuala
O'Loan in January 2004.

She claimed the RUC inquiry had not been "efficiently and
properly carried out" and that "no earnest effort was made
to identify those who had carried out the murder".

Following this, Seán Brown's family reached agreement with
PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde on how a new
investigation should proceed.

A new team of detectives, including officers from outside
police services, are involved in the new inquiry.

Recently, the BBC's Crimewatch programme reconstructed Mr
Brown's murder and included appeals for information from
the Church of Ireland primate, Dr Robin Eames, and poet and
family friend Séamus Heaney.

The PSNI is hopeful that the fresh appeals, the new
information contained in the BBC programme about Mr Brown's
whereabouts on the night of his murder and the new searches
will advance the investigation.

© The Irish Times

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2005/0728/2623935549HM1BERTIENEWHM1LEADH.html

Statement From IRA On Arms Expected Today

Mark Hennessy and Dan Keenan

The IRA is today set to declare its willingness to
decommission its weapons arsenal and end all paramilitary
actions, in a move that could breathe new life into the
Northern Ireland peace process.

The publication of the statement was guaranteed late last
night following the decision by Northern Ireland Secretary
of State Peter Hain to release the Shankill Road bomber,
Seán Kelly.

Mr Kelly, who had been released under the terms of the
Belfast Agreement, was sent back to jail last month by Mr
Hain after he accepted intelligence reports that he had
become reinvolved in paramilitary activity.

The release of Mr Kelly, who has been granted temporary
release to appeal his recommittal to the sentence review
board, had been a key demand of Sinn Féin during recent
talks with Dublin and London.

The Democratic Unionist Party reacted with fury last night.
Party leader the Rev Ian Paisley is expected to meet Mr
Hain in London today, and possibly British prime minister
Tony Blair, to protest about the decision which it says is
politically motivated.


Today's IRA declaration, expected early today, will be
welcomed by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Mr Blair, though
they are expected to exercise some caution.

The publication of the long-awaited statement should
coincide with a Washington meeting between US President
George Bush's Northern Ireland envoy, Mitchell Reiss and
Sinn Féin chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness.

Emphasising that he could not be certain, Mr Ahern, in
Galway, said: "I do genuinely believe that we are within
days of seeing an enormous change in the situation."

Once the statement is released, the IRA will begin to
destroy its arsenal over the next month or so, supervised
by the International Independent Commission on
Decommissioning, led by Gen John De Chastelain. However,
the IRA is not expected today to accept that the
decommissioning should be photographed - one of the two
issues which brought down the last round of talks on
December 8th last year.

Now the statement is expected to declare that the IRA and
the IICD will decide on the final verification arrangements
in the weeks ahead, though it is assumed that a deal on
this has already been done.

Although both governments remained tight-lipped last night,
it is understood both are "reasonably hopeful" that the IRA
will go far enough on this occasion.

Highly placed sources yesterday insisted the Taoiseach and
senior ministers had not seen the final IRA text up to
yesterday afternoon, though it is believed that they will
have done so before publication.

Mr Ahern said the IRA had to address all issues from arms,
to training, to recruitment, to targeting if the statement
was to succeed.

"I have given you, I think, the issues that we want to see,
the issues of decommissioning fully dealt with, we want to
see the full range of arms and explosives and all of the
military arms dealt with," he told RTÉ News. "We want to
see criminality and all of the issues, the targeting, the
procurement, the training, all these issues fully and
completely ended."

Speaking early this morning, after arriving in
Philadelphia, Mr McGuinness said: "There's a lot of
speculation. We haven't speculated. We have been patient
and working hard to compel the Irish peace process forward.
There will be huge challenges and huge opportunities lying
ahead."

DUP deputy leader, East Belfast MP Peter Robinson, said the
DUP would not accept Sinn Féin as "a legitimate political
party" or "fit for government" until the IRA
decommissioned. He said "decommissioning alone would not be
enough" since the IRA must also stop "all paramilitary
operations" and shut down "the IRA's criminal empire".

Once decommissioning is completed, the Independent
Monitoring Commission will produce two reports spread
several months apart to verify that the IRA has ended all
actions.

© The Irish Times

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0728/3429537525HM8SEANKELLY.html

Kelly Freed On Eve Of IRA Statement

Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor

Shankill bomber Seán Kelly was dramatically freed from
Maghaberry prison last night on the eve of an anticipated
declaration by the IRA that it is to adopt a purely
political agenda.

Mr Kelly, who had been freed under the terms of the Belfast
Agreement in 2000, was serving nine life sentences for the
1993 Shankill bombing which also claimed the life of his
IRA accomplice. He was sent back to jail by Northern
Secretary Peter Hain last month following trouble at an
Orange march protest in Ardoyne in north Belfast.

Mr Hain said he did so on foot of intelligence reports and
following DUP protestations about Mr Kelly. The Northern
Ireland Office has persistently claimed Mr Hain acted in
good faith and not in response to any political agenda
despite a vociferous campaign by Sinn Féin which claimed Mr
Kelly had been interned.

That decision was reversed last night with Mr Kelly being
allowed out pending an appeal of his re-arrest to the
Sentences Review Commission. That appeal is due to be
submitted today.

Mr Kelly's solicitors have claimed for the past month they
could not appeal the re-arrest because they did not know
the specific grounds on which their client was sent back to
jail.

Normally prisoners returned to jail make their case to the
commission while still in prison.

Unionists, already angry at Prime Minster Tony Blair's
distinction between al-Qaeda and republican violence, last
night reacted with incredulity.

Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson told The Irish Times:
"This is an outrageous decision and smacks of political
expediency."

Questioning the British government's motives he added: "If
the Secretary of State had information three weeks ago that
Kelly was re-involved in terrorism and was a danger to the
public then what has changed?"

He said: "With an IRA statement imminent it is clear this
decision is politically motivated."

© The Irish Times

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http://www.utvinternet.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=63090&pt=n

Ahern Confident Over IRA Statement

Irish Premier Bertie Ahern said today he believed the IRA
would issue a statement on its future within days.

By:Press Association

With Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness preparing
to brief senior United States government officials on the
situation in Northern Ireland, Mr Ahern insisted the terror
group had to commit to total decommissioning.

The Taoiseach said he was confident a ground-breaking move
by the provisional movement was only days away.

"I think hopefully, hopefully, because I can`t be certain
on this issue, because I don`t control the writing of these
statements, but the Government`s position is very clear on
it that I do genuinely believe that we are within days of
seeing an enormous change in the situation," he said.

IRA members have spent the last four months debating how to
answer calls from Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams to abandon
the armed struggle and embrace democracy.

And with a public statement from the IRA expected, possibly
in the next 24 hours, Mr Ahern stressed the terror group
had to address all the issues from arms, to training, to
targeting.

"I have given you, I think, the issues that we want to see,
the issues of decommissioning fully dealt with, we want to
see the full range of arms and explosives and all of the
military arms dealt with," he said.

"We want to see criminality and all of the issues, the
targeting, the procurement, the training, all these issues
fully and completely ended.

"The only way that can be done is if the provisional IRA
move and instruct their volunteers to end the campaign that
has gone on for years, but we have to wait and see what
happens."

Sinn Fein`s representative to the US, Rita O`Hare, and Mid-
Ulster MP Mr McGuinness will arrive in the US later today
for a series of meetings in Washington and New York with
President George Bush`s advisers on Northern Ireland.

Observers have billed the trip as significant, as in the
past senior Sinn Fein figures have travelled to the US
ahead of key moves by the provisional IRA such as the 1994
ceasefire and acts of decommissioning.

Mr McGuinness will also be briefing US officials and key
figures in Irish-America.

Meanwhile, Nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan said tonight
it was time for republicans and loyalists to stop dragging
their heels on ending paramilitary and criminal activity.

"The delays and foot-dragging which we have seen by all
paramilitaries in living up to their obligations have only
fed and encouraged anti-Agreement unionism," the Foyle MP
argued.

"They have let anti-Agreement unionists know that they too
can proceed at a snail`s pace and get away with it. The
result has been damage to the Agreement, which is the best
hope for progress for the people of this island."

Mr Durkan urged the IRA to issue a statement which was
clear and would make a clean and total break from the past.

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0728/2183750670HM9ANALYSIS.html

IRA Faces Path It Refused To Take Last December

With a statement expected imminently from the IRA,
Political Correspondent Mark Hennessy looks at the issues
that prevented agreement on decommissioning and the
restoration of institutions after last year's Leeds Castle
talks.

Standing in the Waterfront Hall in Belfast last December,
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Tony
Blair were crestfallen.

For more than two months, since the Leeds Castle
negotiations in September, they had worked to finally get
the IRA to agree to decommissioning, Sinn Féin to join
policing and unionists to work the institutions.

The effort came agonisingly close to success.

But the IRA's last-minute refusal to accept decommissioning
being photographed and its refusal to make a copper-
fastened commitment to end criminality destroyed the plan.

The IRA had been asked to accept the following text by the
governments, that recognising "the need to uphold and not
to endanger anyone's personal rights and safety, all IRA
volunteers have been given specific instructions not to
engage in any activity which might thereby endanger the new
agreement".

The language was a step too far. In a statement issued on
December 9th, the IRA said it had been prepared to instruct
its members "not to engage in any activity which might
thereby endanger that new agreement".

That commitment wasn't strong enough for both governments
and the unionist parties.

Just weeks earlier, the Taoiseach had believed the IRA
would face the challenge, so much so he acknowledged a
final deal would require the release of the men who killed
Det Garda Jerry McCabe in Adare, Co Limerick, in 1996.

His comments were seized upon by Fine Gael, the Garda
Representative Association and others, leaving the
Taoiseach badly mauled in the process.

The experience was a salutary one and the Taoiseach has
made sure since then that Minister for Foreign Affairs
Dermot Ahern and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell were
present during the crucial meetings with Gerry Adams and
Martin McGuinness over recent months.

This time around, the McCabe killers' release has not been
promised, since Sinn Féin has finally grudgingly accepted
it is not going to happen.

However, Sinn Féin's carefully orchestrated campaign to get
the Shankill Road bomber Seán Kelly released has already
met with success, following last night's decision by
Northern Secretary Peter Hain to release him pending an
adjudication of his appeal.

Kelly, who had been released under a licence granted as
part of the Belfast Agreement, had been returned to jail
last month, after Mr Hain accepted intelligence reports he
was involved in paramilitary activity.

If the IRA had accepted decommissioning and an end to
paramilitary/criminal activity in December, the British
would have quickly removed remaining checkpoints and towers
and cut troop numbers.

In addition, it would have removed from itself the oft-used
power to suspend the Executive and Assembly, thus making it
more difficult for unionists to collapse those bodies in
future.

In turn, the IRA would have destroyed its weaponry by the
end of December, verified by Gen John de Chastelain's
independent decommissioning body.

The destruction would have been witnessed by two clergymen
but also photographed by Gen John de Chastelain's
colleague, the Finn Tauno Nieminen, though the photographs
were only to have been shown to the governments and all of
the political parties at the end of December once
decommissioning had been completed.

The photographs were to have been published once the
Executive was fully established, though this smacked too
much of surrender for the IRA to accept.

If decommissioning had been completed by the end of the
year, the British government would have passed emergency
legislation to establish the Assembly in "shadow" form.

Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party would, by then,
have nominated candidates for the First Minister and Deputy
First Minister positions.

In January and February, the Independent Monitoring
Commission was to have verified the complete end to all IRA
activities, paramilitary or criminal. Once that hurdle was
passed, Britain would have lifted the suspension on the
Assembly that has been in place since October 2002.

By then, the pace of political activity should have
quickened, supported by an agreement between the parties on
the devolution from Westminster to Stormont of powers over
criminal justice and policing.

The policing issue would not have been signed, sealed and
delivered under the December accord, even if the rest of it
had been passed without a hitch. Instead, Sinn Féin was to
have agreed to call a special ardfheis early in 2005 "to
decide on Sinn Féin's support for the new policing
arrangements".

This would have been dependent upon the British and DUP
agreeing to transfer justice and policing powers to
Stormont "as soon as possible".

This agreement should have been in place by the time the
Executive was re-established in early summer.

In March, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister were
to have been confirmed by the Assembly, followed by a
meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council. The British
government was then to have introduced legislation giving
effect to the transfer of devolved criminal justice and
policing powers.

However, the date for the start of these powers was left
vague in the December 8th proposed agreement, only coming
into effect "once sufficient confidence has been
established".

Besides accepting the transfer of criminal and policing
powers to Stormont, the DUP was supposed to have agreed to
"operate and participate" in the new arrangements,
providing that the decommissioning and monitoring bodies
had given the IRA clean bills of health.

Once devolution had been passed at Westminster, the DUP was
supposed to have used its "best efforts to contribute
towards building the community confidence which would be
necessary to allow the Assembly to receive the new powers
within the timescale envisaged by the British government".

Meanwhile, the Irish and British governments had also
tabled a set of proposals in the talks running up to
December to increase the collective responsibility of the
Executive.

Under the proposals, the British would have amended the
Northern Ireland Act 1998 to require Executive ministers to
operate more as a team, rather than a group of individually
appointed departmental heads.

Issues would have to be debated at full Executive meetings
if they involved two or more ministers, rather than being
dealt with at bilateral meetings.

In addition, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
were to be obliged to attend meetings of the North-South
Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council.
Furthermore, the two ministers would also have been bound
by law to send along a replacement to a meeting of either
body if the relevant minister was not going to attend.

Today, the IRA will have to travel on ground it refused to
go down last December, but this time without a guarantee
that the other parts of the jigsaw so painstakingly
constructed then can be made to fall into place.

© The Irish Times

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4722641.stm

PSNI Operation 'Linked To Feud'

A security operation is continuing in County Down in
connection with the loyalist feud.

Three police and Army checkpoints have been set up around
the White City estate in Holywood.

Police said the operation was to prevent a repeat of scenes
in the Garnerville estate in east Belfast when the UVF
forced LVF members to leave.

They said they were in the area to "disrupt the activities
of those intent on increasing fear and intimidation".

Superintendent Graham Shields said: "It is the role of the
police to uphold the law and protect life and property.

"I would like to reassure the public that police are
working to help bring this feud to an end.

"I would ask those with influence in local communities to
do the same."

Shootings

Over £1m has been spent policing the feud over the past six
weeks and police have appealed for help from the public to
bring it to an end.

During that time, 63 searches have been carried out, with
11 people arrested and seven charged.

Meanwhile, a number of overnight petrol bomb and gun
attacks in County Antrim have been linked to the feud,
according to the police.

A family of four escaped injury after 10 shots were fired
into their house at Station Road, Newtownabbey.

Two adults and two children were at home. Some of the shots
hit the front of the house but a number of bullets went
through a window at 2300 BST on Tuesday.

In a separate incident, a woman and two children escaped
injury in a petrol bomb attack in north Belfast.

They were wakened by the device hitting a window of their
house in the Silverstream area at about 0330 BST on
Wednesday.

Shots were also reported to have been fired.

A short distance away, three petrol bombs were thrown at
another house. Two failed to ignite, but a window was
smashed.

The third did catch fire and caused scorch damage to the
front door.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/07/27 21:51:26 GMT
© BBC MMV

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http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=38664

Wave Of Attacks On Catholics In Northern Ireland

Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Jul. 27 (CNA/CWNews.com) -
Police on Tuesday called a recent spate of attacks on
Catholics in and around Ballymena, a mostly Protestant town
northwest of Belfast a wave of intimidation attacks.

The Associated Press reported that loyalist extremists
planted a homemade grenade outside a Catholic family's home
in Ballymena. The bomb detonated, causing minor damage.
Arsonists badly damaged one Catholic-run pub in the village
of Martinstown, and caused minor fire damage to the outside
of another pub in nearby Rasharkin with two gasoline-filled
bottles. In addition, two Catholic churches in Ballymena
were vandalized with paint-filled balloons and painted-on
anti-Catholic slogans. No injuries were reported.

Catholic leaders reportedly appealed to the area's
Protestant politicians to do more to stop the extremists.

Over the past 35 years of conflict in Northern Ireland,
outlawed paramilitary groups have threatened adherents of
the different Christian beliefs, whether Catholic or
Protestant, despite a 1994 cease fire and Northern
Ireland's 1998 peace accord.

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0728/1015185632HM2QUIETPORTS.html

Three Cork Towns In 'Atlantic Ports' Booklet

Anne Lucey

Some 50,000 copies of a booklet focusing on eight "small
Atlantic ports" which have avoided the excesses of mass
tourism are being distributed this week.

In a drive to attract the discerning holiday-maker to areas
which have escaped overcrowding, the booklet focuses on an
area from the Shetland Islands to the Spanish port of
Tazacorte on the island of La Palma

The network includes the east Cork ports of Youghal,
Ballycotton and Cobh, a meeting of the South West Regional
Authority has heard.

The European-funded project focuses on destinations whose
main economic industry has been fishing and related
activities.

"Through this they are identified in their Atlantic
character and their common profile distinguishes them by
virtue of their rich history, culture and heritage,"
according to the brochure, which is written in parallel
text in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Although some of the towns are not far from popular tourism
destinations, the fact they had not become mass tourism
destinations was what would make them attractive to family
holiday-makers, said John McAleer, chief executive of the
southwest authority.

Youghal is depicted on the accompanying website as "a
renowned family centre with miles and miles of blue flag
beaches".

Ballycotton, which has a population of about 500 people, is
described as a welcoming small village, while Cobh is a
"bright and cheery harbour town nestled under an imposing
cathedral".

The website is http://www.atlantic-ports.com

© The Irish Times

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0728/1993909213HM3TELEVISION.html

New TV Channel Licensed For 10 Years

James Fitzgerald

A new television channel has been awarded a 10-year
licence, in principle, by the Broadcasting Commission of
Ireland (BCI). Subject to confirmation, it is expected that
Channel 6, as it will be known, will be on our screens
within six months.

According to the BCI, the new channel, operated by Muglins
Broadcasting Ltd, will provide "a broad format
entertainment service providing movies, music, drama and
comedy". It will also include local programming "on topical
matters exploring all aspects of modern Irish culture".

It will be aimed primarily at the 15-35 age bracket and
will be carried by Sky, NTL and Chorus as part of their
standard analogue and digital packages. It is thought that
the service will broadcast initially for 12 hours per day
Monday to Friday and 15 hours Saturday and Sunday.

The licence has been awarded to Channel 6 under the
Broadcasting Act 2001.

BCI chairman Conor J Maguire said he was delighted to award
the licence. "I am confident that the proposed service will
provide its viewers with a quality Irish entertainment
service which will add to the diversity of services
currently available. We look forward to commencing contract
negotiations with the station."

The fifth channel licensed in the State, City Channel, is
due to hit the airwaves on September 6th, providing niche
programming for a Dublin-based viewership. It is thought
that Channel 6 will be more mainstream, being available
throughout the country.

Meanwhile, the BCI said yesterday it had agreed in
principle to further licensing of commercial radio
stations, particularly those providing regional youth-
driven, speech-driven or religious services. More details
of a three-year licensing plan will be released after the
BCI's next meeting in September.

© The Irish Times

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0728/1099384371HM3TRAVELFIGURES.html

B&Bs Lose Out As Domestic Tourists For Self-Catering And
Rented Homes

Joe Humphreys

Irish residents holidaying domestically are increasingly
checking out of B&Bs and checking into self-catering,
rented and self-owned holiday homes, according to figures
from the Central Statistics Office.

In the first three months of the year, there were 26 per
cent fewer bednights spent in guesthouses and B&Bs on
domestic trips compared with the same period in 2004. In
contrast, nights spent in self-catering and rented house
accommodation grew by 27 per cent, and in "own holiday
homes" by 25 per cent.

In the same period, bednights spent in hotels and
conference centres remained almost unchanged.

The latest Household Travel Survey, published yesterday,
also showed a 6 per cent fall in domestic trips taken by
Irish residents in January-March 2005.

This compared with a 13 per cent rise in overseas trips
over the same period.

Trips to Austria, France, Germany, Spain, Central and South
America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand all recorded large
increases.

Holidays, a rising number of which were taken by older
residents, accounted for most of the fluctuation in travel
patterns. International holiday trips rose by 23 per cent
in the quarter, while international business trips fell by
9 per cent.

The figures also showed international trips taken by
residents aged over 70 years increased by 56 per cent,
compared with a 22 per cent rise for those in the 0-14 age
group.

Overall estimated expenditure on international trips grew
from €801 million in January-March 2004 to €949 million in
the same period this year.

The comparative change in expenditure on domestic trips was
a drop of 5 per cent to €188 million from €197 million.

Commenting on the figures, Fine Gael tourism spokesman
Jimmy Deenihan said: "Ireland is haemorrhaging potential
tourism business at an alarming rate, and the Government
must act to encourage Irish people to holiday at home.

"Price hikes, years of high inflation and Government-driven
stealth charges and taxes are all contributing to driving
Irish people to holiday abroad."

© The Irish Times

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4614509.stm

Reporting The Last IRA 'Stand Down'

The last time the IRA stood down its "volunteers" was in
1962 when it called an end to its border campaign.

A statement released to the media on 26 February 1962 went
as follows: "The leadership of the resistance movement has
ordered the termination of the campaign of resistance to
British occupation launched on December 12th, 1956.

"Instructions issued to volunteers of the active service
units and of local units in the occupied area have now been
carried out.

"All arms and other material have been dumped and all full-
time active service volunteers have been withdrawn."

So how was the ending of this IRA campaign reported?

Fyffe Robertson of the BBC's Tonight programme presented a
special report in 1962 on the ending of the campaign,
during which he heard from two IRA men.

Armagh raid

One of them was Joseph Christle, aged 33. He is described
as a qualified barrister and accountant who joined the IRA
at 20 while a university student in Dublin.

He was believed to have taken part in a raid on Armagh
barracks during the border campaign and was wounded in
another raid.

He was also believed to have been court-martialled by the
IRA because he disagreed with its policy on violence.

In fact, at the time of the interview, he was thought to be
leading what Robertson described as a splinter group he had
formed.

Christle was perhaps the 1962 equivalent of a dissident
republican.

Despite the nature of their politics the report clearly
labels both men, who appear in civilian clothes, as IRA
volunteers.

Guerrilla warfare

Details of their day jobs were given and viewers were told
Christle worked for the Electricity Supply Board.

In response to a question about whether he believed the IRA
had ended its campaign for good, Christie was emphatic that
the IRA had not gone away for good.

"That is an absolutely ridiculous statement to make because
the Irish people have never abandoned their nationality."

He went on to say that he still believed violence was
justified and made it clear he would support any new
violent campaign.

"I would like to see it run on the lines of violent, well-
planned action in terms not merely of guerilla warfare but
aimed at disrupting civil government in the six counties,"
he says.

The second IRA man featured in the report was a former
chief-of-staff, Tomas MacCurtain, whose links with the
organisation ended around the end of the border campaign.

On the blanket

MacCurtain was imprisoned for killing a policeman in the
1940s, and was now working as a "commercial traveller for a
washing powder firm".

In a protest which would be repeated during the later
Troubles, he tells how he spent seven years of his jail
sentence dressed only in a blanket for refusing to wear
prison clothes.

He tells Fyffe Robertson that the only fault he would find
with the 1956-62 campaign was that it failed and blamed
this on the Irish government of the day.

"The 26 county government, far from helping, did everything
possible by imprisoning anybody they could catch, thus
stultifying the efforts of the IRA," he says.

Like Crystal, MacCurtain suggested that the IRA's war was
not over for good. He also believed violence was the only
way for it to succeed.

He cited other examples of "independence struggles" which
had taken place since the end of World War II, including
those in Cyprus and the Middle East.

"There is a Jewish home and a Jewish state in Israel after
how many hundreds or thousands of years? Did they get it by
talking?"

Of course the words of both men were to be proved correct
in that the IRA would re-emerge in the 1970s as the armed
Provisional movement for the bloodiest part of its war yet.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/07/27 12:00:19 GMT
© BBC MMV

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

http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=16860

IAUC For Pittsburgh

The Irish American Unity Conference will hold its 22nd
National Convention Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 in Pittsburgh,

"The theme of this conference will be British
accountability," said IAUC president Andy Somers.

Somers said the conference will focus on "Britain's
involvement in murder, police corruption, injustice, and
the derailing of democracy" in northern Ireland.

"With this conference we hope to send a wake up call to all
Americans. If you think it's over, think again," said
Somers.

The conference program will include an address by Canadian
Judge Peter Cory who has investigated allegations of
collusion involving the security forces and paramilitary
groups in the North. Details on the conference are
available from I-800-947-IAUC, iauc@iauc.org or (412)782-
2715.

This story appeared in the issue of July 27-August 2, 2005
Posted by: Unknown / 11:46 PM
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