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July 31, 2005

Police Attacked By Loyalists

News about Ireland & the Irish

IO 07/31/05 Police Attacked During Search On Loyalists
IO 07/31/05 Man Injured In Loyalist Punishment Shooting
IT 08/01/05 New Security Measures Likely Within 24 Hours
EX 08/01/05 DUP Under Pressure To Deal With Sinn Féin
TH 07/31/05 SF Demand Ban Lifted On £500,000 In Allowances
DH 07/31/05 IRA Will Deliver, Pledges McGuinness
IT 08/01/05 IRA Must Change Before Ban Is Lifted- Ahern
IO 08/01/05 Ahern Welcomes Pope's Comments On IRA Statement
GU 07/31/05 A United Ireland Is Inevitable
TO 07/31/05 IRA Disarms, SF Sweeps Polls & Adams Is A Loser
IT 08/01/05 Memorial For Miami Showband Killed By UVF
IT 08/01/05 Sunniest July In 30 Yrs' Heatwave Not To Return
IT 08/01/05 Reek Sunday On Croagh Patrick Draws 20,000
UT 07/31/05 Niall Quinn Arrested On Drink Drive Charge

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http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=151242850&p=y5yz43556

Police Attacked During Search On Loyalists

31/07/2005 - 22:54:57

Police came under attack in North Belfast tonight as they
carried out searches in a loyalist area in connection with
an investigation into serious crime.

Four officers received minor injuries from stones thrown by
youths in Palmer Street in the Woodvale area.

Following the intervention of community representatives the
situation was quickly brought under control.

During the searches, a man was arrested and a number of
items were removed in Ambleside Street.

It is understood the raids are connected with a wider
investigation into loyalism.

Police would not be drawn on whether they were specifically
connected to the paramilitary feud between the Ulster
Volunteer Force and its rival the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

Stephen Paul became the third victim of the dispute last
night when he was gunned down in a red van outside a house
in Wheatfield Crescent.

Another man who was with him was injured.

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http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=124240060&p=yz4z4x64x

Man Injured In Loyalist Punishment Shooting

31/07/2005 - 16:19:39

A man was recovering today after he was wounded in a so-
called loyalist punishment shooting in north Belfast.

The 38-year-old was treated for his injuries in hospital
after the shooting which was linked to the loyalist Ulster
Defence Association.

Detectives do not believe the incident was connected to the
on-going feud between the Ulster Volunteer Force and the
rival Loyalist Volunteer Force which last night claimed a
third victim.

The victim was shot shortly after noon today in the
Westland area.

He sustained a gunshot wound to the right leg and his
injury is not believed to be life-threatening.

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0801/3588439227HM5NIWRAP.html

New Measures To Scale Back Security Likely Within 24 Hours

Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor

British government, army and PSNI figures are expected to
confirm within 24 hours new measures to redraw the security
presence following last week's IRA declaration that its
campaign was over.

Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said yesterday
he was encouraged by the changes undertaken so far in south
Armagh.

These are expected to be followed soon by further
"normalisation" or demilitarisation in Derry city and in
the Divis area of west Belfast where a British army lookout
post scans Gerry Adams's constituency.

The expected British announcements should be in line with
stated objectives agreed with the Irish Government at
summits but which have been on hold because of political
uncertainty.

The IRA is also expected to put the first of substantial
amounts of its arsenal beyond use in the near future.

Sources differ as to when this will happen, but there is a
general expectation that a move will be made before many
senior political figures go on holidays later this month.

Mr McGuinness said yesterday he welcomed the dismantling of
the British army presence in south Armagh within 24 hours
of Thursday's IRA statement.

Speaking after his three-day trip to the US to brief
political figures on the IRA statement, Mr McGuinness said:
"That clearly shows that, if you like, the soldiers,
whether it be soldiers of the IRA or the soldiers of the
British army, are prepared, to some degree, to trust one
another.

"I think that if soldiers can do that then it is incumbent
on the politicians and on the people to support that
effort.

"This means that the Irish and British governments need to
push forward with the implementation of the Good Friday
agreement and the restoration of the political
institutions.

"It also means that the days when the DUP were allowed to
prevent progress have come to an end.

"It is time for the DUP to step up to the plate and
represent the interests of those who vote for them. It is
time that they sit down face-to-face with Irish
republicans."

DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said his party was mandated not to
press ahead with anything until unionist confidence had
been created by concrete decommissioning moves by the IRA.

"The evidence is crucial. We have made clear that we will
not move into government unless the unionist community can
be confident that the IRA has ended its campaign of
violence and decommissioned its weapons."

Further political initiatives are expected in the autumn,
including moves to allow Northern elected representatives
speaking rights in the Dáil.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain has also told The Irish Times
that there will be an announcement concerning moves to set
up some form of truth and reconciliation commission.

He said this would not be along the lines of the model that
operated in South Africa, but confirmed that consideration
of a policy to address the legacy of the Troubles,
announced by his predecessor Paul Murphy, would continue.

Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey has signalled strong
opposition to any moves to permit Northern representatives
to address the Dáil.

"I'm hearing talks will start in Dublin in September about
the mechanics of bringing speaking rights about," he said.

"There will be a consultation process with parties in
Dublin by the Taoiseach. When the deal with Sinn Féin was
not completed last December, I said this was outside the
terms of the Good Friday agreement and it was a breach of
the principle that the consent of the majority of the
people of Northern Ireland would be required before there
is any change to our constitutional status."

In a warning to Mr Ahern not to proceed with any "embryonic
all-Ireland parliament", he said: "When the idea was first
mooted two years ago, the UUP opposed it. We told the two
governments then, and have repeatedly since, that if it is
pursued by Dublin we will no longer be obligated to our
support for North-South institutions."

Dr Seán Farren of the SDLP criticised Sir Reg's remarks as
"intolerable madness". Accusing the former industry
minister of undoing the good cross-Border work he had done
while at Stormont, Dr Farren said: "Again and again David
Trimble threatened the North-South agenda.

"Again and again he undermined work which had the ability
to transform the lives of everyone on this island. It is a
serious mistake for Reg Empey to attempt to do the same."

© The Irish Times

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http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/ireland/Full_Story/did-sgX9ncQySZFI2sg7OWirIStPSk.asp

DUP Under Pressure To Deal With Sinn Féin

By Harry McGee, Political Editor

NEGOTIATIONS involving all Northern parties will begin next
month amid clear signs that Ian Paisley's Democratic
Unionist Party will come under intense pressure to engage
with Sinn Féin.

Northern secretary Peter Hain yesterday confirmed that he
will commence discussions with the parties in September, to
restore devolved government as quickly as possible.

While Mr Hain would not be drawn on a timescale, he did say
that the IRA statement had created a context that would
allow dramatic progress.

Specifically referring to the upcoming talks, he told RTÉ:
"That is going to be a crunch point, a make-your-mind-up
time."

In an indication of the pressure that will be exerted on
the DUP, he said that all parties would have "to live up to
their responsibilities".

While DUP sources insisted over the weekend that it may be
18 months to two years before the party is willing to enter
negotiations with Sinn Féin, it was clear that both
governments strongly believe the IRA statement has paved
the way for a rapid return of devolution. All the
indications point to a target date between March and May
next year.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, also speaking on RTÉ, said that if
the IRA was given the all-clear by the independent
monitoring commission and by the international
decommissioning body, it would mean that could qualify it
as a legal organisation in the South.

The IRA is currently classified as an illegal organisation
under the Offences Against the State Act 1939, but the act
provides for that status to be reversed.

"I am ready to believe that this week's events, if followed
by particular actions, do offer a clear sign that the IRA
has come around to this peaceful analysis," said Mr Ahern.

Significantly, Mr Ahern also said that once the IRA
statement had been borne out by action, it would also mean
that Sinn Féin would have its electoral 'stigma' removed.

He said that this could leave the party open to seek
potential coalition partners. However, he ruled out any
such agreement with Fianna Fáil in the near future: "It
would be very difficult to do it with my own party because
we disagree with them on most policies."

Mr Ahern also revealed that he had held seven or eight
private meetings with SF leader Gerry Adams since March,
and not the three previously confirmed by Government.

"I was not going to get into a glare of publicity and all
of the activities around these meetings if they were going
nowhere. They were very much meetings to explore whether we
were actually able to get the process to move on," he said,
adding that he never favoured a policy of isolationism
against SF.

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI yesterday praised the IRA's
decision to end its armed campaign as "beautiful news".

He added that the IRA statement had brought "satisfaction
and hope".

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http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/44053-print.shtml

Sinn Fein Demand Ban Is Lifted On £500,000 In Mps'
Allowances

MICHAEL SETTLE, Chief UK Political Correspondent August 01
2005

SINN Fein last night demanded that the year-long ban on its
five MPs receiving taxpayers' money, worth up to an
estimated £500,000 in parliamentary allowances and
expenses, be lifted in light of the IRA's historic decision
last week to give up the gun.

The Irish republican party is also looking to receive
another "peace dividend" windfall with the lifting of the
suspension of a further annual £120,000 political
development grant.

Following a vote by MPs, the allowances and expenses ban
was implemented in April by Paul Murphy, the-then Northern
Ireland secretary, after the Independent Monitoring
Commission's (IMC) report into the £26.5m Northern Bank
robbery in Belfast last December, Britain's biggest, which
was attributed to the IRA.

After the murder of Robert McCartney outside a bar in the
city in January, again attributed to members of the IRA,
Sinn Fein's political stock fell further at Westminster and
in the Commons the government succumbed to opposition calls
for the party to be punished.

When the party had four MPs, before May's general election,
including Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, it claimed
more than £100,000-a-year each. With five, that bill would
have been expected to top £500,000 this year.

Last night, a spokesman for Mr Adams said: "We will be
demanding the government recognises our democratic mandate
in the same way it does with other parties."

An IMC report is due later in the year.

The Pope yesterday hailed the IRA disarmament decision as
"beautiful news" and urged all to work for a lasting peace
in Northern Ireland.

Pope Benedict, addressing pilgrims at his summer palace
outside Rome, expressed "satisfaction and hope" after the
IRA on Thursday met international demands to declare its
1997 ceasefire permanent and to renounce violence.

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http://www.dehavilland.co.uk/webhost.asp?wci=default&wcp=NationalNewsStoryPage&ItemID=15013926&ServiceID=8&filterid=10&searchid=8

IRA Will Deliver, Pledges McGuinness

01/08/2005

The IRA will hold true to its word and end its armed
conflict in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein's chief negotiator
Martin McGuinness said yesterday.

Just back from his trip to Washington where he debriefed US
officials on the status of the peace process, Mr McGuinness
heralded the IRA's commitment, set out in a statement on
Thursday, as "momentous and historic".

He said the IRA's pledge was sincere and described it as a
"genuine attempt to move the process forward", adding he
was hopeful the Good Friday Agreement would deliver a
united Ireland through "exclusively peaceful and democratic
means".

The MP said he welcomed the British army's
"demilitarisation" of parts of the province. On Friday, the
Army began to dismantle security bases in south Armagh.

Mr McGuinness said: "That clearly shows that, if you like,
the soldiers, whether it be soldiers of the IRA or the
soldiers of the British army are prepared, to some degree,
to trust one another.

"I think that if soldiers can do that, then it is incumbent
on the politicians and on the people to support that
effort."

© 1998-2005 DeHavilland Information Services plc. All
rights reserved.

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0801/2155052161HM5BERTIEIRA.html

IRA Must Change Before Ban Is Lifted, Says Taoiseach

Liam Reid, Political Reporter

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that lifting the ban on
the IRA would not require legislation and could be done by
a Government order.

However, the IRA would have to change its rule book for
this to occur, and he believed such a move by the
Government was "for the longer haul".

He said the Offences Against the State Act, which outlawed
the IRA in 1939, envisaged a situation where a banned group
could have changed itself sufficiently that it was no
longer an illegal group.

Under the legislation a group that promotes, organises or
advocates the use of force to change the Constitution or
for other means is illegal, and the Government can issue a
prohibition order against specific organisations as a
result.

"It's all set out. In 1939 the government of the day
anticipated that an unlawful organisation might transform
itself into a new mode and become exclusively political,
and it's why the 1939 Act allows the Government to revoke
an order providing that an organisation is unlawful," Mr
Ahern said.

"They never have to drop the name IRA, the Provisional IRA;
that isn't the issue," Mr Ahern told RTÉ radio yesterday.

"It is the conditions about their rule book and their
conspiracy against the State and the armed campaign and all
of the other things.

"So before it can ever change they have to comply with all
of those issues, and I think that is the challenge and I'm
not saying they have to do that in the next week."

Asked whether he thought the Government might lift the
order banning the IRA in the future, he said: "Yes, and it
can actually be done quite simply. It can be revoked or
amended."

However, it could "only happen after a period of time" when
an assessment was made that the Provisional IRA was no
longer involved in activity that constituted a breach of
the legislation. He said the views of the Independent
International Commission on Decommissioning and the
International Monitoring Commission could be "taken account
of when making that decision".

If the IRA did not "change in that fundamental way it will
remain unlawful and the sanctions of the law fully apply to
it".

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell also said yesterday
that the IRA would have to change its "constitution" before
the Government would lift the prohibition order, and that
this would require a full IRA army convention.

Mr Ahern reiterated his belief that last Thursday's IRA
statement meant a complete end to criminal activities by
the organisation even though it did not mention the word
"criminal".

"Well, time will tell, but I think that as of now I'm ready
to believe that this week's events, if followed by
necessary actions, do offer a clear sign that the
Provisional IRA have come round to this peaceful analysis."

© The Irish Times

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http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=151240732&p=y5yz4y438

Taoiseach Welcomes Pope's Comments On IRA Statement

31/07/2005 - 17:46:25

The Taoiseach has welcomed the Pope's good wishes for the
Northern peace process following Thursday's IRA statement
that its armed struggle is over.

Bertie Ahern said that Pope Benedict's comments are a
reminder of the major contribution made by clergy of all
traditions to the peace process.

Mr Ahern recalled the words of the Pope's predecessor to
the IRA during his visit to Drogheda.

He said it was a matter of regret that John Paul II did not
live to see, what he called "this potentially historic
response to his appeal".

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http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,9321,1540207,00.html

A United Ireland Is Inevitable

The inexorable pressure of economic reality will end
partition

Roy Hattersley
Monday August 1, 2005
The Guardian

Tony Blair was right to rejoice. There is a real prospect
of permanent peace in Northern Ireland. But he was wrong to
imply that the world, at least as seen from Belfast,
changed last Thursday afternoon. History moves on
gradually, not in sudden leaps. The IRA's announcement that
the "armed struggle" is over did not create a new era in
the province. It was one of the new era's consequences.

At last, Sinn Féin has realised that, far from promoting
Irish unity, the violence of its military wing has held
back the achievement of an honourable aspiration. Partition
will be ended by forces wholly unconnected with the IRA.
Its gunmen - if they are anything other than gangsters -
will promote what they claim to be their only objective by
stepping aside. They can console themselves with the
thought that the border, which they hope to obliterate, is
already blurred and will soon be effectively abolished.

The hopes of Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera will be
realised courtesy of the global market and the European
Union. The inexorable pressure of economic reality is
dragging the six counties closer and closer to the
republic. Where economics leads, politics is bound to
follow. Industry and commerce grow closer day by day and
the institutions of government will soon reflect that shift
from partnership to integration.

The pressure to combine has been increased by the growth of
the republic's economy. Gross domestic product per head is
now higher in Ireland than in the United Kingdom. Northern
farmers do not enjoy the "regime" that has made their
southern competitors prosperous. The old jokes about Irish
devotion to antique inefficiency are contradicted by signs
of progress that mock the north. Miles were changed to
kilometres overnight. A smoking ban in public places was
peacefully accepted by the allegedly self-destructive
peasantry. Thanks to tax breaks, picturesque hovels have
been replaced by holiday homes.

There were always more obstacles to Irish unity than the
intransigence of the so called "loyalists" - men and women
so loyal to the crown that they contemplated open
rebellion. The republic was reluctant to integrate with the
hardline (and sometimes homicidal) unionists of the six
counties. More recently there have developed understandable
anxieties about amalgamation with a province in which taxi
drivers run extortion rackets and drug rings and innocent
men have their throats cut for failing to show proper
respect to self-appointed ghetto bosses.

Gerry Adams has at last realised that the tactics of 1921
do more harm than good. He knows too that he can afford to
express lofty views about the need "to reach out and put
the past behind us". The republicans have won the argument.
He is right. "The time to confront the enemy" is past and
Sinn Féin has the strongest possible interest in preserving
the peace.

Conversely, the Rev Ian Paisley has everything to lose from
the decommissioning of IRA arms and the acceptance that,
from now on, the republican campaign must be political
rather than military. If the peace holds, Stormont will be
revived and progress to unity will go irresistibly on. No
wonder that he announced his scepticism within minutes of
the IRA issuing its peace statement.

Adams still has a problem. He has to ensure that his
followers accept the reality of the 21st century. The "Real
IRA" will almost certainly battle mindlessly on. But they
may not be the only dissidents who play into Paisley's
hands. Some of the republican "volunteers" have a financial
interest in the war continuing. The old methods of
preserving discipline - beatings and shootings - can no
longer be employed to keep them in line without the
provoking the plausible accusation that the IRA has still
not changed its ways.

Long ago, during a clandestine meeting in a disused
factory, Adams lost his temper with me when I suggested
that, by acting as pall-bearer to the notorious fish-and-
chip-shop bomber, he had sacrificed all hope of forgiveness
from the Protestants of the Shankill Road. After all, the
bomber had killed two of their children. The driver
nominated by Adams to ferry me to and from the secret
location did his best to justify Adams's conduct: "If he
hadn't carried the coffin, they would have killed him." For
the peace to hold, Adams has to keep the savages under
control.

The chances are that he will manage it. Guerrillas need a
hinterland into which to disappear after operations. For 50
years the republican hinterland has been sympathetic
civilians. Now their sympathy is running out. They realise
that the war is won because time and logic are on the side
of Irish unity. All they have to do is wait. That is why
there is now a real prospect of Northern Ireland enjoying
the tranquillity its peoples deserve.

comment@guardian.co.uk

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1070-1716155,00.html

The IRA Disarms, Sinn Fein Sweeps The Polls. And Gerry
Adams Is A Loser

Tim Hames

ON FRIDAY NIGHT Dolores McNamara, a mother of six from
Limerick, discovered that she had won £77 million in the
European lottery. About 30 hours earlier two Irishmen from
further north, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, had
reason to believe that in another context — that of the the
peace process — they would be hitting a political jackpot.

The Euromillions draw came after nine rollovers. Northern
Ireland has had a similar experience since the Good Friday
Agreement, culminating in the dramatic announcement last
Thursday that the IRA would cease all military activity.
Does this mean that the lives of Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness
are now likely to be transformed, as no doubt they hope?
Unfortunately a study of the past form of lottery winners
is not encouraging. And while I wish the McNamara family
nothing but good fortune, I suspect the two republican
leaders might not fare so well.

At almost any other time the IRA statement would have
dominated the news agenda for weeks. In the present
atmosphere, however, it has been treated almost as an
historical afterthought, not a development with profound
significance. In so far as its implications have been
considered at all, it has been along the lines of "Do they
(the IRA) mean it?" The real question should be: "What does
it mean?" The "Do they mean it?" question is
straightforward.

This is not, unlike other IRA offers to "place beyond arms
beyond use", a declaration that is reversible. After this
the IRA can hardly at some future time issue a video of its
public face, Sean Walsh, instructing volunteers to
"retrieve guns" that have been dumped or engage in
activities that would be "incompatible with peaceful,
democratic methods". Nor would there be any point in the
IRA making this move if the Independent International
Commission on Decommissioning and the Independent
Monitoring Commission could not assign it a clean bill of
health afterwards. To the irritation of some Unionists,
perhaps, the IRA will almost certainly deliver on its word.

It will do so because the relationship between Sinn Fein
and the IRA has changed fundamentally. Sinn Fein was once
the political wing of the IRA; in the course of the past
decade, the IRA has become the paramilitary branch of Sinn
Fein. A paramilitary organisation can choose whether or not
it has a political manifestation. A political organisation
in a Western democracy cannot, ultimately, choose whether
or not it has a paramilitary offshoot. Much of the painful
rollercoaster that Northern Ireland has endured since the
Good Friday Agreement has been about republicans testing
how much of the IRA they could keep intact while still
persuading London, Dublin, Washington and a portion of
Unionists to do business with them. That process has now
been settled on terms that a large enough number of people
can accept.

"What does it mean?" is far more challenging. It will take
time to be confident of an answer. Sinn Fein is now
destined to be as much a paradoxical as a political
organisation, combining electoral success with ideological
failure.

The bonus at the ballot box for Sinn Fein is obvious. It
outperformed the SDLP in the general election despite the
damning publicity that came from the murder of Robert
McCartney and the Northern Bank robbery. It will do even
better once it can campaign without the stigma of the
balaclava.

It is the only authentic working- class nationalist
political party in the Province (not least because the IRA
kneecapped — or worse — anyone attempting to build up an
alternative) and it will romp home once IRA disarmament
renders it fully "respectable". Sinn Fein will decommission
the SDLP even faster than General John de Chastelain and
his team can dismantle the IRA's arsenal. That success will
be duplicated south of the border as well. It would be
astonishing now if Sinn Fein did not win one vote in ten at
the next election in the Republic — a result that would
leave it knocking at the door of office.

That voting strength will leave Sinn Fein, politically, in
a win-win situation. If the Democratic Unionist Party
agrees to enter government with it in the north, then men
such as Mr McGuinness and his like will be ministers again
with departmental fiefdoms. If, on the other hand, the
Unionists will not share power even after the IRA has wound
down, there will be a Secretary of State in Ulster in
effect implementing Sinn Fein's positions on "equality and
justice" and " demilitarisation".

But therein in lies the rub. The more effective that Sinn
Fein is as an electoral force, the more impotent it becomes
as an ideological one. Every deal it strikes with Tony
Blair legitimises the British presence in Northern Ireland.
Every concession it secures that advances the economic and
social standing of ordinary Roman Catholics in Ulster
weakens the argument that it is only through Irish
unification that those material interests can be realised.
With every step that Ulster takes towards becoming a
"normal society", so what Sinn Fein officially regards as
an "interim settlement" becomes more deeply entrenched.

This is the outlook for republicanism. A larger and larger
number of nationalists in both the North and the South will
vote for Sinn Fein — but more because they regard it as the
best vehicle for representing them in a divided Ireland
than out of support for a united one. Nor will it make much
difference if Catholics finally outbreed Protestants in
Ulster. Even at the height of the Troubles a substantial
percentage of nationalists preferred the status quo to the
upheaval of unification.

That sentiment will only swell if politics is perceived to
be working in Northern Ireland. One winner of the national
lottery in Britain recently mused sadly that: "I have never
been richer and I have never been poorer." That is also the
irony that awaits Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness.

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http://peacejournalism.com/ReadArticle.asp?ArticleID=4268

Among IRA Veterans, Quiet Acceptance Of Peace Declaration

Little celebration over formal end to N. Ireland war

By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff July 31, 2005

BELFAST -- A few hours after he became the human face of
the Irish Republican Army on Thursday, Seanna Walsh walked
into the bar at the Felons Club in West Belfast and ordered
a pint.

There were no cheers, no rounds for the house. Walsh said
he was asked to do a job, and he did it. His job was to
read a recorded statement announcing an end to the IRA's
35-year armed campaign against British rule in Northern
Ireland.

Walsh is what his former comrades-in-arms call ''sound," an
IRA veteran who did his ''whack," or prison term. In fact,
Walsh did several of them, beginning when he was 16, when
he robbed a bank to help ''the cause." Walsh has spent 21
of his 48 years in Her Majesty's prisons, some in the same
cell with his good friend Bobby Sands, who led the 1981
hunger strikes in which Sands and nine other republican
prisoners starved themselves to death demanding political
status.

It was because of his impeccable republican credentials,
and his credibility among former and current IRA members
that Walsh was chosen to be the first IRA man since 1972 to
represent the organization without wearing a black mask.
Like many IRA veterans who killed without remorse and spent
much of their lives in prison without complaint, Walsh is
ready to step aside and let a movement always led by gunmen
now be led by politicians.

Since the IRA called a cease-fire in 1994, IRA veterans
like Walsh have played a large role in dictating just how
much ground the IRA would give in negotiations to end the
conflict. They gave Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn
Fein, the IRA's political wing, the backing he needed to
sign the compromise in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998
that accepts that Northern Ireland will remain part of the
United Kingdom until a majority living there votes
otherwise, dashing the republican tenet that it was an
illegitimate state that had to be overthrown.

IRA veterans like Walsh sold the idea of scrapping weapons
to skeptical IRA members for whom guns hold a mythical
allure. More recently, Walsh and a cadre of senior,
influential IRA veterans backed the idea of formally ending
the IRA's war against the British, the IRA's use of
violence and intimidation to control its own neighborhoods,
and even the bank robberies for the cause that first made
Walsh eligible for membership at the Felons Club.

Still, as Walsh and other IRA men stood in the front bar at
the club, watching Adams on television describe the IRA's
''standing down" as an act of courage and confidence, there
were no whoops or cheers.

''Celebration is not the right word. Milestone is more like
it," said Liam Shannon, 57, a former IRA prisoner, looking
around the club. ''There's a quiet emotion here, emotion
tinged with sadness. It's the end of an era."Continued...

A few hours after he became the human face of the Irish
Republican Army on Thursday, Seanna Walsh walked into the
bar at the Felons Club in West Belfast and ordered a pint.

There were no cheers, no rounds for the house. Walsh said
he was asked to do a job, and he did it. His job was to
read a recorded statement announcing an end to the IRA's
35-year armed campaign against British rule in Northern
Ireland.

Walsh is what his former comrades-in-arms call ''sound," an
IRA veteran who did his ''whack," or prison term. In fact,
Walsh did several of them, beginning when he was 16, when
he robbed a bank to help ''the cause." Walsh has spent 21
of his 48 years in Her Majesty's prisons, some in the same
cell with his good friend Bobby Sands, who led the 1981
hunger strikes in which Sands and nine other republican
prisoners starved themselves to death demanding political
status.

It was because of his impeccable republican credentials,
and his credibility among former and current IRA members
that Walsh was chosen to be the first IRA man since 1972 to
represent the organization without wearing a black mask.
Like many IRA veterans who killed without remorse and spent
much of their lives in prison without complaint, Walsh is
ready to step aside and let a movement always led by gunmen
now be led by politicians.

Since the IRA called a cease-fire in 1994, IRA veterans
like Walsh have played a large role in dictating just how
much ground the IRA would give in negotiations to end the
conflict. They gave Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn
Fein, the IRA's political wing, the backing he needed to
sign the compromise in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998
that accepts that Northern Ireland will remain part of the
United Kingdom until a majority living there votes
otherwise, dashing the republican tenet that it was an
illegitimate state that had to be overthrown.

IRA veterans like Walsh sold the idea of scrapping weapons
to skeptical IRA members for whom guns hold a mythical
allure. More recently, Walsh and a cadre of senior,
influential IRA veterans backed the idea of formally ending
the IRA's war against the British, the IRA's use of
violence and intimidation to control its own neighborhoods,
and even the bank robberies for the cause that first made
Walsh eligible for membership at the Felons Club.

Still, as Walsh and other IRA men stood in the front bar at
the club, watching Adams on television describe the IRA's
''standing down" as an act of courage and confidence, there
were no whoops or cheers.

''Celebration is not the right word. Milestone is more like
it," said Liam Shannon, 57, a former IRA prisoner, looking
around the club. ''There's a quiet emotion here, emotion
tinged with sadness. It's the end of an era."

Page 2 of 2 --There seems to be an acceptance, grudging or
not, that the fighters have had their day. The only cheer
that went up in the Felons Club on the day the IRA called
it quits was when the Irish premier, Bertie Ahern, appeared
on the television and said that the prospect of Sinn Fein
one day being a coalition partner in an Irish government
was now possible.

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Despite the skepticism that greeted the IRA's announcement,
especially from the loved ones of some of the 1,700 people
killed by the IRA since 1969, Shannon said most IRA members
accept that their goal of a united Ireland must be achieved
through politics. They make no excuses for waging war, he
says, but they realize Irish unity is only possible after a
sustained period of peace.

''Look around this place," he said. ''There's a lot of
realists."

And yet idealism is literally on the walls. The club is
lined with the images of those who have killed and died for
Ireland. The portraits include Padraig Pearse, who was
executed after leading the 1916 Easter Rising.

In the lounge, two men belted out rebel songs accompanied
by a guitar and banjo, standing beside portraits of Sean
Savage, Dan McCann, and Mairead Farrell, IRA operatives who
were killed by British commandos in Gibraltar in 1988,
during a wave of violence on all sides that led Adams to
begin secret talks that many trace as the start of the
modern peace process.

Mythology and memory run deep here. But Shannon and other
IRA veterans say they are ready to move on.

Danny Morrison already has. Morrison was the IRA activist
and Sinn Fein strategist who famously coined the republican
movement's credo of seizing power with a rifle in one hand
and a ballot box in the other. He spent much of the 1990s
in prison, after being caught by police in the process of
interrogating a suspected IRA informant.

''Danny was the last face you saw before they put the hood
over your head," said Sean O'Callaghan, a disgruntled IRA
leader who turned against his former comrades.

But since his release from prison, Morrison has become a
successful columnist, novelist, and, most recently,
playwright. On Friday night, Morrison's play, ''The Wrong
Man," had its local premier before an invitation-only
audience at the Conway Mill complex in West Belfast. There
were several senior IRA figures in the audience, including
Bobby Storey.

The play, about two IRA men balancing duties to their
families and the cause, contains a gripping scene of IRA
men interrogating one of their own who is suspected of
informing. It is hauntingly realistic and lyrical at the
same time. The IRA members and their police interrogators
are made to seem similar in their heavy-handed quest for
information -- a parallel that seemed shockingly honest in
this particular setting.

Storey politely declined to talk about the play. But even
some of the IRA's most dedicated fighters seem prepared to
debate their violent past even as they launch what they
describe as a peaceful ''new mode" of their struggle.

As Morrison and a group of IRA veterans waited for a taxi,
Seanna Walsh, who had watched the play, joined them.

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0801/16902266HM5MIAMI.html

Memorial Service For Members Of Miami Showband Killed By
UVF

Christine Newman

Three members of the Miami Showband, who were killed by
the UVF 30 years ago, were remembered at a special prayer
service in Dublin on Saturday.

Families of Fran O'Toole, Tony Geraghty and Brian McCoy
gathered with friends at the Pro-Cathedral for a
remembrance service which celebrated their work, on the
30th anniversary of the atrocity.

Dana Rosemary Scallon, the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest
winner and former MEP, performed at the service and was
accompanied by the Pro-Cathedral folk group. She sang hymns
chosen by the families, Abide with Me, Here I Am and Make
Me a Channel of Your Peace.

Dickie Rock, the band's former lead singer, also paid a
musical tribute at the service.

Relatives participated in the prayers and readings at the
inter-denominational service, which was conducted by Fr
Brian D'Arcy and the Rev Robert Dean.

Two members of the band survived the attack, Stephen
Travers and Des Lee.

Mr Travers, who organised the commemoration with the
Justice for the Forgotten Group, attended the Pro-Cathedral
with his daughter.

Mr Lee had travelled from South Africa to attend but had to
leave on receiving news that his wife had been taken ill.
Other members of his family attended.

Tonight a memorial concert will be held in Vicar Street.
Artists appearing will include Brendan Bowyer, Tony Kenny,
Red Hurley, Johnny Fean of Horslips and Paul Ashford.

Margaret Urwin of the Justice for the Forgotten Group, who
attended the service, said one of the ideas mooted for the
proceeds of the concert was a permanent memorial to the
three musicians in Dublin.

The service was attended by many past and present showband
musicians. Philomena Lynott, mother of the late Phil Lynott
of Thin Lizzy, also attended.

Ms Scallon described the service. "It was really beautiful
and very emotional. It was organised to ensure that the
boys are not forgotten."

The Miami Showband was one of the most popular bands in the
1970s. The three musicians were killed as they returned
home from a performance at a dance in Banbridge, Co Down.

Their minibus was flagged down by men dressed in army
uniforms on the road to Newry.

The UVF gang loaded a bomb on to the minibus but it
exploded prematurely, killing two UVF members. The rest of
the gang then opened fire on the musicians, killing the
three band members.

© The Irish Times

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0801/3046634205HM3WEATHER.html

Sunniest July In 30 Years But Heatwave Unlikely To Return

Paul Cullen

Ireland has just enjoyed its sunniest July in 30 years,
according to the Met Office.

Notwithstanding the leaden skies and torrential downpours
suffered in the east in recent days, sunshine levels were
the highest since the glorious summer of 1975.

Prospects for a return of the heatwave look dim, however,
with the meteorologists predicting more cloud and some rain
for the coming week.

Sarah O'Reilly of the Met Office said that during July
"close to record temperatures" were measured at a number of
stations on several days.

The highest temperature of 29.2 degrees was recorded in
Kilkenny on July 11th and 12th. This was the highest seen
in the county since 1989.

However, for many, the gloss was taken off the month's
weather by the rain that fell on the east coast from
Wednesday evening to Saturday morning. The equivalent of a
month's rain in July fell on Rosslare in 48 hours, and
almost as much was recorded in Dublin. The downpour caused
the roofs of Dublin Airport and the new Dundrum town centre
to spring leaks. Up to then, this July was the driest for
23 years.

Ms O'Reilly pointed out that the west continued to enjoy
good weather while Dublin was deluged. She described the
Bank Holiday weather as "disappointing" but said the
situation was improving. "There was a lot of cloud over the
weekend and the rain continued in the east through much of
Saturday."

Today's forecast is for brighter conditions, although
temperatures will remain pegged at a mediocre 20-21
degrees.

More cloud and some rain is predicted tomorrow, although it
may brighten up later in the week. With the winds coming
from the northwest, temperatures are not expected to rise
significantly.

© The Irish Times

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0801/3876740459HM2PATRICK.html

Reek Sunday On Croagh Patrick Draws 20,000

Tom Shiel

Lines of gleaming SUVs in car parks at the base of Croagh
Patrick, Co Mayo yesterday was testament to the increasing
affluence of the modern pilgrim or what the Archbishop of
Tuam, Dr Michael Neary referred to as "an Ireland of
growing prosperity".

Stout hazel rods, the traditional "sticks for the Reek",
were on sale in abundance as were items such as mugs and
"miraculous medals", but the cloth-capped, barefoot
penitents seemed less evident than in previous years and
there were definitely more mobile phones than rosary beads.

Still, the numbers doing the annual pilgrimage are
constant. Up to 20,000 pilgrims, some barefoot as is
traditional, made the climb in good weather conditions.

There were no serious injuries, fewer than 20 "walking
wounded", according to Lt David Fahy, of Westport Order of
Malta. An Air Corps helicopter assisted in evacuating
casualties from the mountain and a small number were
transferred by road to Mayo General Hospital.

Stick seller John Cruise, from Galway, was doing a brisk
trade but bemoaned the fact that he was unable this year to
get St Patrick medals to sell to pilgrims. "It's impossible
for love or money to get a medal of St Patrick," he said.
"They don't seem to be making them anymore."

Mary McLoughlin from Ballylinan, Co Laois was perhaps one
of few climbers who would admit not making it to the
summit. "I went three- quarters of the way up," she said,
"then the knees gave in on me. Sure it doesn't matter. I
can pray as well at the side of a mountain as at the top."

A group from the Rossport area of north Mayo, supporting
the five men jailed because of their opposition to the
onshore Corrib gas pipeline, collected signatures at the
base of the mountain.

One of them, Bríd McGarry, said they were getting a good
response. "Even though pilgrims were concentrating on the
tough climb ahead of them, they still took time out to get
informed about the reality of what is happening in north
Mayo," she said.

Archbishop Neary celebrated Mass to mark the centenary of
the building of St Patrick's Oratory on the summit. "Since
that day hundreds of thousands of people have carried their
pain, their hopes, their loneliness, their doubts and their
faith to a listening and caring God."

He said that despite "the seeming weakness of faith in an
Ireland of growing prosperity" there was "still a vibrant
church calling men and women to seek God with the strength
and companionship of others".

© The Irish Times

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

http://www.utvinternet.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=63236&pt=n

Niall Quinn Arrested On Drink Drive Charge

The soccer legend, Niall Quinn, was arrested for drink
driving on Friday night.

The former Irish soccer international hero has admitted the
wrongdoing, and now faces a driving ban.

Mr Quinn says he`s gutted by his actions and is `deeply
sorry` for what he has done.

He was returning from a charity golf outing in Ardee, Co
Louth when he was stopped at a garda checkpoint in north Co
Dublin.

Mr Quinn told Ireland on Sunday that he wishes he could
turn back the clock.
Posted by: Unknown / 9:31 PM
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