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February 25, 2006

Love Ulster Rally Abandoned After Clashes With Gardai

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News About Ireland & The Irish

EE 02/25/06 Love Ulster Rally Abandoned After Clashes With Gardaí
IT 02/25/06 Cars Ablaze As Parade Violence Spreads To Kildare St
BN 02/25/06 Republicans Clash With Gardaí At 'Love Ulster' Parade
SF 02/25/06 No Justification For Disgraceful Scenes In Dublin City
BT 02/25/06 Love Ulster Rally In IRA Arms Call
DI 02/25/06 Counterdemo Organiser Claims Huge Level Of Support

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http://www.eveningecho.ie/news/bstory.asp?j=173992288&p=y7399z994&n=173993048

'Love Ulster' Rally Abandoned After Clashes With Gardaí

25/02/2006 - 14:57:54

The organisers of the ‘Love Ulster’ parade have cancelled
the event following violent clashes on O’Connell Street in
Dublin.

Members of Republican Sinn Féin had become embroiled in
clashes with gardaí in a bid to block the parade by the
Orange Order and victims of IRA violence in the North.

Four gardaí were injured and taken to the Mater Hospital in
the city.

One of the main shopping streets in the capital was closed
down as tension rose.

Rubble and barricades from construction work on O'Connell
Street were set on fire as riot police forced the crowd
further into the city centre.

Parade organiser William Wilkinson said: “The on-going
threat of Irish Republican violence both North and South,
the fact that the violence undermines democracy and human
rights at every level of society.”

“Today’s events, I think, are a let-down for this
jurisdiction and certainly a let-down and disappointment
for the police and it is something that we would like to
see addressed”, he added.

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2006/0225/breaking27.htm

Cars Ablaze As Parade Violence Spreads To Kildare St

By ireland.com reporters Last updated: 25-02-06, 15:14

The violence that swept O'Connell St in Dublin is spreading
to Kildare St as a protest against the Love Ulster Parade
appears to have been hijacked by rioting youths and a
lesser number of republican demonstrators.

Several cars are ablaze just 50 yards from the entrance to
the National Gallery as the scene is becoming increasingly
dangerous with a growing risk of buildings catching fire.

Rioters are on the scene with more making their way south
to join their number. Riot police have sealed off Kildare
Street. Mounted police are also on the scene.

Around 300 have gathered at the Nassau St end of Kildare St
and threw missiles at gardai.

Serious damage was also caused at Pearse train station as
youths went brought their rampage south of the River
Liffey.

Up to 50 Garda reinforcements arrived on Kildare to bolster
the security presence. The gardai are trying to move the
line of rioters back but many are piling down back streets
in an attempt to get to the Dáil.

Others moved onto Grafton St as gardaí baton charged the
rioters.Ugly scenes continued on O'Connell as a lesser
number of rioters, with their faces covered by scarves,
continued to throw missiles and trash shops.

School children, shoppers and tourists were being caught up
in a stampede on Nassau Street although the situation is
stabilising.

© 2006 ireland.com
----

There are reports that cars have been attacked and had
their windows smashed on Merrion Square and Nassau Street
with at least three vehicles set on fire.

It is understood shops and businesses along O'Connell
Street have closed their doors and gardaí have said that
some protestors have attempted to break onto shops along
the route.

Gardaí are advising people to avoid Dublin city centre due
to the violence.

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

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/02/25/story246441.html#

Republicans Clash With Gardaí At 'Love Ulster' Parade

25/02/2006 - 1:33:05 PM

Hundreds of republican demonstrators clashed with riot
police in central Dublin today in a bid to block a parade
by the Orange Order and victims of IRA violence.

About a dozen fireworks, metal barricades, bottles and
stones were thrown at Gardai as loyalist marchers gathered
100 yards away.

Two gardaí sustained head injuries as fireworks exploded.

Dozens of extra gardaí in full riot gear were called in to
try to quell the disturbances.

A line of about 40 riot police blocked the entrance to
O'Connell Street as hundreds of youths pelted them with
rocks, bottles and sticks.

The officers slowly moved in to disperse the rioting
crowds.

Rubble and barricades from construction work on O'Connell
Street were set on fire as riot police forced the crowd
further into the city centre.

Republican slogans were chanted and around 20 protesters
attempted to hold a sit-down protest in the middle of the
street.

Gardaí quickly moved in and prevented the youths from
blocking the road.

At the front of the GPO, the headquarters of the 1916
Easter Rising, rioters charged police and fought hand-to-
hand battles with around 100 officers.

Mounted police were also drafted in to prevent more
protesters joining.

A stand-off ensued for several minutes as dozens of the
demonstrators again attempted to hold a sit-down protest.

All shops, in one of the city's busiest shopping districts,
shut their doors for business.

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http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/13256

No Justification For Disgraceful Scenes In Dublin City
Centre

Published: 25 February, 2006

Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Sean Crowe has said
there was absolutely no justification for the disgraceful
scenes, which occurred in Dublin city centre this
afternoon. He called on those involved to end their
confrontation with Gardaí immediately.

Deputy Crowe said:

"Willie Frazier and the Love Ulster campaign came to Dublin
today to be provocative and get a reaction. Sinn Féin urged
people not to be provoked and to stay away and the vast
majority of Dubliners, including members and supporters of
Sinn Féin, did just that.

"It is disappointing that a small number of individuals did
exactly what Willie Frazier wanted. There is absolutely no
justification for the disgraceful scenes, which occurred in
the city centre this afternoon. I would call on those
involved to end their confrontation with Gardaí
immediately."ENDS
----

Labour leader Pat Rabbitte says the riots have brought
shame on the capital city.

He has accused - what he called ' an 'unrepresentative
minority' of resorting to thuggery by attacking gardaí and
journalists who were there to cover a legal parade.

He also says the gardaí seemed unprepared for what
happened.

The Tánaiste, Mary Harney, has described the violence in
Dublin as 'most unfortunate and counterproductive'.

Speaking to RTÉ News, Ms Harney said that the Orange Order
is clearly a sectarian organisation but that everybody
should be free to protest and march in a democracy.

She said it is a great pity if a counter group have decided
to use violence to prevent that from happening.

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=680477

Love Ulster Rally In IRA Arms Call

By Michael McHugh
25 February 2006

Organisers of today's Love Ulster rally in Dublin are to
call for a public inquiry into the arming of the
Provisional IRA at the start of the Troubles.

Ulster Unionist Assemblyman Danny Kennedy will be making
the appeal during a speech being given outside the Irish
Parliament this afternoon before scores of loyalist
supporters.

Demonstrators and bandsmen organised by the Love Ulster
committee plan to parade through the centre of the city
before gathering at Leinster House.

The call for an inquiry into the state's actions is partly
inspired by the gun-running trial in 1970 which cleared
senior Irish government officials and army personnel of
arming the Provisional movement at the start of the
Troubles.

Mr Kennedy, a Newry and Armagh representative, said he
would be delivering a hard-hitting message.

"We will be there in peaceful protest in recognition of the
innocent victims on both sides of the border and we will be
very critical of republicans for the part that they have
played," he said.

"Republicans have brought misery north and south of the
border and then attempted to airbrush that out of history.

"We will be calling for a full, independent, international
inquiry into the role of the Irish Government at the time
that led to the arming of the Provisional IRA."

Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney, both former Irish
government ministers, together with two other men, Captain
James Kelly, then an Irish Army intelligence officer, and
John Kelly, a Belfast republican, were charged in a Dublin
court with conspiracy to illegally import arms for use by
the IRA. The men denied any involvement in the affair and
were eventually cleared.

Assemblyman Kennedy said demonstrators were seeking justice
for alleged past misdemeanours.

"Individuals involved in gunrunning were acting as the
midwives of the IRA and sparked a campaign of murder which
started in Northern Ireland but eventually affected victims
in the Republic as well, as evidenced by the Dublin and
Monaghan bombs," he claimed.

Enniskillen Poppy Day bomb survivor Aileen Quinton will be
attending the protest as well as those affected by the 1993
Shankill Road bomb which killed nine people.

Protestant victims' spokesman Willie Frazer is helping to
organise the event and will also be addressing supporters,
together with DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson.

The group is due to stop on the border on the Newry to
Dundalk road and leave lists of those who died on both
sides.

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

http://dailyireland.televisual.co.uk/home.tvt?_ticket=YAMVK
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9LLCPHYFURTSNZMAAP6TDKLAEUVHTRRHVVU9ANWP43Y9CHVTVRVJHONDLHG
09LLDPGSG0VQFIUW9ANWP3H3VX&_scope=DailyIreland/Content/News
&id=24723&opp=1

Counterdemo Organiser Claims Huge Level Of Support

By David Lynch
25/02/2006

Hundreds of loyalists and their opponents will take to the
streets of Dublin this morning amid a large security
presence for the so-called Love Ulster parade.

Organisers of a counter-demonstration have said there is a
“groundswell of opposition” to the loyalist march.

Speaking on the eve of the Love Ulster parade along O’
Connell Street, opponents told Daily Ireland that they had
“huge support”.

Republican Sinn Féin vice-president Des Dalton said: “In
recent days, more and more people have been contacting us
about this, and I do feel there is a growing opposition to
this parade.”

Responding to reports in Daily Ireland that some loyalists
might carry pictures of Robert McConnell, who played a part
in the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, Mr Dalton said he was “not
surprised”.

“It would not surprise me that this is the kind of thing
that the organiser, Willie Frazer, and his supporters would
do.

“This parade is nothing to do with remembering victims.”

Mr Dalton said the parade would be “deeply insulting to the
people of Dublin”.

He slammed justice minister Michael McDowell and his plans
to meet a delegation from the Love Ulster march.

“Well, I would not expect anything else from him. I wonder
what the people in the beleaguered communities like Ardoyne
have to go through before they would get a meeting with the
minister?” Mr Dalton said.

Gardaí warned motorists to expect traffic disruption as the
parade kicks off at 12.30pm at Parnell Square North before
moving down O’Connell Street, Lower Grafton Street, Dawson
Street to end in Molesworth Street.

Officers will be out in force to ensure the event is not
marred by disturbances. They said they expected the parade
to end at around 2pm.

Earlier this week, foreign minister Dermot Ahern said the
government hoped the parade would be peaceful.

Before Tuesday’s meeting in Dublin with Parades Commission
chairman Roger Poole, he said: “It’s a free country. We
hope it passes off peacefully like many of the parades in
Northern Ireland and doesn’t lead to difficulties for the
public.”

Mr Ahern said issues surrounding all contentious parades
could be resolved through patient dialogue.

He said the vast majority of uncontested parades in the
North passed off peacefully, Derry being a positive
example.

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