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May 28, 2006

British Mole In Murder Inquiry

News About Ireland & The Irish

ST 05/28/06 British Mole In Murder Inquiry
TP 05/28/06 IRA Spy Shock
ST 05/29/06 Stormont Effort Stalls
BN 05/28/06 Adams Angered At Museum Snub
ST 05/28/06 Barrett 'Living On Benefits In UK'
SB 05/28/06 High Risk Of Irish House-Price Crash
SB 05/28/06 Ireland: A Happy Nation
SB 05/28/06 Film Aims To Teach The World About Our Troubled History

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2200301,00.html

British Mole In Murder Inquiry

Liam Clarke
The Sunday Times May 28, 2006

A FORMER British military intelligence agent within the IRA
is to be investigated for the murder of Eoin Morley, a
republican shot dead by the Provisionals in Newry 16 years
ago.

In an autobiography to be published later this month, Kevin
Fulton admits being one of two gunmen involved in the
shooting. The other was a well-known IRA bomb maker who
later joined the Real IRA and moved to Dundalk.

Ailish Morley, the dead man’s mother, and his brother Ivan,
have called for Fulton and the second gunman to be charged.

Last year Nuala O’Loan, the Northern Ireland police
ombudsman, found there had never been a proper
investigation into Morley’s murder, that the police had
failed to arrest a suspect, understood to be Fulton, and
that high-grade intelligence had not been acted on.

The ombudsman found that, during a meeting with a police
handler, the suspect had given the impression he had
carried out the murder. His fingerprint was also found on
the murder weapon.

In his autobiography, Unsung Hero, Fulton does not say who
fired the rifle used in the killing but does admit he was
present and had a gun when the fatal shots were fired.

The Morleys are a well-known republican family who lived
near Fulton’s home on Newry’s Derrybeg estate, where the
murder took place. Eoin’s father, David, was an IRA officer
in the Maze prison in the early 1970s after defeating Gerry
Adams in an election among IRA inmates. Ivan Morley
believes this created resentment towards the family.

Shortly before his death, Eoin Morley had left the IRA and,
like Ivan, joined the rival Irish People’s Liberation
Organisation. In his book, Fulton says it was against IRA
regulations to join another grouping but that the rule was
generally ignored.

But a senior IRA figure had a grudge against Morley and
ordered that a punishment shooting be carried out with a
high-velocity rifle. The weapon used was a Belgian FN Fal
which had been re-bored for use against helicopters. Fulton
says he warned the IRA that Morley was likely to be killed
and says it was clear that was the intention.

Forensic records show that Morley was shot twice in the
back outside the front door of his girlfriend’s house.

In his book, Fulton describes a scuffle and his fear that
Morley might grab a gun. He also writes that when he told
his handlers what had happened they were elated.

“When I told them Morley had been killed, their response
was straightforward. ‘Nice one,’ they said. ‘Let’s hope
they keep on killing their own’,” he writes.

This meeting took place in England and involved senior
police, army and intelligence officers, though this fact is
not mentioned in the book.

Fulton yesterday refused to confirm or deny it. “I am
making no comment on the Morley killing or who debriefed
me,” he said.

Ailish Morley says she met Adams in Belfast and told him of
her belief that her son’s killers had been drinking and
that informers were involved.

Afterwards, Martin McGuinness held an IRA inquiry in
Dundalk’s Muirhevna Mor estate.

Fulton says it lasted only minutes and consisted of asking
those present at the murder scene if they had been
drinking. After McGuinness left, another senior IRA figure
told them not to use high-calibre weapons for punishment
shootings again.

A week after Morley’s death a haul of weapons, including
the murder weapon, was found near Fulton’s home. “The
police told me they were the weapons that had killed my son
and that was before any forensic tests were carried out,”
Ailish Morley said.

She later made a complaint to O’Loan about the police
investigation and was assured last year it would be re-
opened. Last week she complained about the lack of
progress.

A PSNI spokesman said the murder was being examined by the
Historical Enquiries Team.

Unsung Hero will be published by Blake on June 26, €26.45

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http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17143900&method=full&siteid=93463&headline=ira-spy-shock--name_page.html

IRA Spy Shock

Exclusive
By Gail Edgar

TOP secret papers obtained by The People have sensationally
exposed one of Sinn Fein's most senior figures as a British
SPY.

It is alleged "Agent J118" colluded with MI6 on undercover
operations in which a number of people were killed.

He is also said to be a former member of the IRA Council
who met regularly with Irish premier Bertie Ahern and his
government.

The secret documents, passed to our Belfast office, include
his security code number which he used as identification
when liaising with his British handlers.

The agent has been a leading light of Sinn Fein - the main
nationalist party in Northern Ireland - for 20 years and is
known as a brilliant negotiator. Rumours that a top Sinn
Fein man was a spy have been circulating for some time.

But it is only now that the alleged proof of his identity
will be known in wider circles.

Last night, a security source told The People: "I cannot
stress how senior this man is. This will destroy Sinn
Fein."

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2200462,00.html

Stormont Effort Stalls

THE Democratic Unionist party has indicated that power
sharing is unlikely to be restored before next May, writes
Liam Clarke.

Despite the British and Irish governments setting a “final
deadline” of November 24, the DUP assessment adds to
pessimism about the latest initiative.

In a paper it has presented to the American government,
Sinn Fein has said it will review its participation in the
process if a first minister and deputy first minister are
not elected by the end of June.

Sinn Fein is refusing to take part in assembly debates.
Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator, told the
BBC yesterday that Stormont was a “useless talking shop”.

“If it becomes clear to us by the end of June that the DUP
is not prepared to play its part, our message to the two
governments will be clear — close the assembly,” McGuinness
said.

Sinn Fein favours an enhanced role for a devolution
committee in which the DUP refuses to participate fully. No
business is scheduled for this week while the government
tries to clear up the mess.

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http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/05/27/story260760.html

Adams Angered At Museum Snub

27/05/2006 - 17:11:31

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams tonight claimed he had been
snubbed by a prestigious British museum.

The 57-year-old, who has been welcomed in the White House,
No 10 Downing Street and the home of Nelson Mandela, said
the Victoria and Albert Museum in London had refused to
invite him to its Che Guevara exhibition.

He hit out at the museum for claiming that his presence
would be neither relevant or appropriate on the launch
night.

“I think its stance is especially absurd given that this
particular exhibition is about an iconic revolutionary
figure, with family connections to Ireland, who fought
against injustice and oppression both in Cuba and in South
America.”

Mr Adams had been invited to the opening of the Che Guevara
exhibition in the V&A next month by its curator, Trisha
Ziff. She had previously worked with him on a Mexican-Irish
art exhibition and an exhibition of photos about the
shooting of unarmed civilians on Bloody Sunday in Derry in
1972.

According to Mr Adams, Ms Ziff was told that all her invite
list was approved "except Gerry Adams who is neither
relevant or appropriate for this occasion".

The exhibition, which will run from June 5 until August 28,
centres on the iconic photograph of Che Guevara taken by
Alberto Díaz Korda in 1960. It contains photography,
posters, film, fine art and clothing inspired by the image
from more than 30 countries.

When Ms Ziff queried the Museum’s refusal to invite Mr
Adams, she was told by another member of staff that there
would be 1960’s fashion show and a display of 1960’s
graphics running alongside the exhibition, with models,
actresses and fashion journalists expected to attend. The
staff member said that the presence of Mr Adams might not
be appropriate because of this joint event and offered to
arrange a private viewing for him.

Ms Ziff was later told that the Museum had a policy of not
inviting people affiliated to any specific party but that
she could bring Mr Adams as a personal guest.

Mr Adams, who has consistently denied allegations that he
is a member of the IRA’s army council, said one possible
reason for the Museum’s decision was that it was OK to
struggle against injustice, but not against British
injustice.

“On the basis of the current ’reason’ offered by the
Victoria & Albert Museum, of refusing to invite
politicians, it would appear that if Che was still alive he
would be barred from his own exhibition. The British
Establishment works in wondrous ways.”

However, even if the invite had been issued, Mr Adams would
have been unable to attend. He is due to travel to Spain
next month to meet Basque political parties in the wake of
the ETA ceasefire.

A spokeswoman for the V&A Museum was contacting senior
staff for comment.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2200432,00.html

Barrett 'Living On Benefits In UK'

Liam Clarke

KEN BARRETT, the police informer who murdered Belfast
solicitor Pat Finucane, is living on benefits in England
and has received no pay-off from the security forces,
according to his lawyer.

In 2004, Barrett received a 22-year sentence after pleading
guilty to Finucane’s murder. Last week the Sentence Review
Board ordered his release under the terms of the Good
Friday agreement after he had served less than three years.

Alex Maskey of Sinn Fein described Barrett’s release as a
“further act of collusion” and claimed that the agent had
been treated in the same manner as Brian Nelson, another
loyalist informant who was the UDA’s intelligence officer
at the time of Finucane’s murder and who was resettled
after being released from jail.

“Nelson had also changed his plea to guilty in the last
stages of his trial and was released during the late
1990s,” Maskey said. “He was relocated and was given a
substantial financial package. There is no reason to
believe that Barrett hasn’t been given the same treatment.”

Joe Rice, Barrett’s lawyer, flatly denied the claim. “My
client received no resettlement package and he has told me
that he is not expecting to do so,” he said.

Rice confirmed that Barrett has moved outside Northern
Ireland but would not say where: He quoted Barrett as
saying: “I have received no pay-off. I have seven pounds in
my pocket, my partner is on benefit and I am currently
making an application to claim benefit myself.”

Rice said the police position seemed to be that their duty
of care ended when Barrett moved outside Northern Ireland
and his safety was the responsibility of the authorities
where he was living.

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http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqid=14604-qqqx=1.asp

High Risk Of Irish House-Price Crash

28 May 2006 By Eamon Quinn

Ireland is one of a small group of countries that risk
experiencing a sharp house-price reversal, according to a
leading international think tank.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) said there was a 50:50 chance that the housing
market would suddenly slow. The organisation’s economists
said that, in its study of 17 countries, Ireland was among
those where there was a significant risk that house prices
would fall sharply or collapse.

Among the other countries most at risk are Denmark and New
Zealand, where the probability of a major reversal was put
at 100 per cent and 87 per cent respectively.

Sweden, France, Spain and the US are also in the high-risk
category, with the chance of house price reversal being
more than 50 per cent.

Ireland will join the high-risk countries if house prices
continue to rise this year and interest rates increase by
about 1 per cent, said senior OECD economist Paul van den
Noord.

‘‘It is giving a warning signal to policymakers and
government,” van den Noord said.

‘‘We call it peaking - it means that prices will fall in
real terms after accounting for inflation.

‘‘We do not make a distinction between a soft landing or a
hard landing. House prices do not bode well, but it would
need another interest rate increase to tilt Ireland over
into a high-risk country.”

The OECD said Britain faced a low risk - a one in ten
chance - because interest rate rises have already led to a
substantial slowdown in house prices.

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http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqid=14598-qqqx=1.asp

Ireland: A Happy Nation

28 May 2006 By Nicola Cooke

Ninety-five per cent of Irish people are happy, according
to a new survey.

The poll of 1,000 adults, carried out by Amarach
Consulting, found that 48 per cent of people described
themselves as ‘‘very happy’’, while 47 per cent said they
were ‘‘quite happy’’.

Only 5 per cent felt unhappy.

The poll, which was specially commissioned for RTE’s Prime
Time, also revealed that one in five Irish people feared a
nuclear accident more than anything else.

In addition, only one third of Dubliners said they were
satisfied with their jobs, compared with half of those
living in the rest of Leinster.

Those who live in Dublin spend on average 1.2 hours
commuting to work and have the shortest average working
days of 6.87 hours, according to the survey.

Just under 70 per cent of people who lived in Connacht and
Ulster were most happy with their jobs.

Forty-eight per cent of Munster people said they were happy
with their jobs.

The full results of the poll will be revealed in an hour-
long Prime Time programme on Tuesday, entitled The Time of
our Lives, which looks at changes in Irish society over the
last 20 years.

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http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=TOM%20MCGURK-qqqs=commentandanalysis-qqqid=14539-qqqx=1.asp

Film Aims To Teach The World About Our Troubled History

28 May 2006 By Tom McGurk

There will soon be a new film showing here in Ireland that
may reawaken a lot of historical arguments.

The film, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, is British film
director Ken Loach’s take on the nation-defining events of
the War of Independence and the subsequent Civil War.

In many ways, this is the film that we have been awaiting
for over 30 years - ever since the collapse of the
partition settlement made during the film’s period brought
the return of direct intervention in the North by London.

Loach is probably the most outstanding historical and
alternative film director of his generation. His films
include Kes, Land and Freedom(about the Spanish Civil War),
Hidden Agenda (about British intelligence undercover
activities in the North) and Black Jack.

Loach first showed his alternative credentials in 1975 with
a remarkable drama series entitled Days of Hope for the
BBC.

Produced by Tony Garnett - another of the radical tradition
in the British film industry - the series told the story of
an English family through the momentous events of 1914 to
1926.

It began with their involvement in the First World War,
then took in the War of Independence in Ireland and finally
back to the General Strike in Britain.

As committed socialists, Loach and Garnett saw this era as
the defining moment in the abandonment of the working class
by the newly emerging British Labour party.

In particular, the series delved into British class
relationships and, most poignantly, the intersections
between British international imperialism and native
socialism. In the Irish section of the film, Loach depicted
British working-class squaddies fighting Irish working-
class volunteers.

In The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Loach is returning to
territory he first examined in Days of Hope, the
intersection between imperial ambitions and native rights.

Interestingly, at the Cannes film festival, Loach insisted
that the story of Ireland’s War of Independence and the
subsequent Civil War were as much a part of British history
as Irish history. Of course, they are, though it’s not
often seen from that perspective.

Given that Loach has – uniquely as a British artist with a
socialist perspective - sought to examine the wider impact
of Britain’s imperial culture on its working class history,
its oldest colonial relationship, that with Ireland, is
seminal.

Loach has been revolutionary in aesthetics, as well as in
his politics.

From the beginning of his film career, he set himself
solidly against the conventional practices of the industry,
making films that beautifully detailed ordinary lives,
seeing drama in the most mundane things and searching for
socialist heroes in diverse places.

Within the industry, his film-making methods have been
radical; Loach has never seen the script as an end-all and
he has experimented successfully with using amateur actors
alongside professionals.

His experiment with amateurs has given his films a gritty
realism; for example, were he shooting in, say, Sheffield,
he would audition local drama groups to find some of the
players.

Actors in Loach films never know the ending and, since he
also shoots sequentially, they are on a discovery process,
like the audience, as the film progresses.

He has also been known to shoot sequences on a pure
scenario basis, abandoning pre-written scripts. Having
introduced the actors to where the scene is leading, he
then leaves them to improvise themselves.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley - shot on location in west
Cork - features rising Irish star Cillian Murphy. Given
that Murphy has always admired Loach, this is a successful
film pairing. The story is loosely based on the life of
Ernie O’Malley, the Republican revolutionary whose
remarkable books On Another Man’s Wound and The Singing
Flame remain the great classics of the Irish revolutionary
era. O’Malley, in his introduction to On Another Man’s
Wound, described the War of Independence as ‘‘the story of
a risen people taking on an empire’’.

O’Malley joined the Volunteers when he was a medical
student and fought right through the independence struggle
to the end of the Civil War. In fact, he was the last
republican prisoner to be released from the Curragh at the
end of the Civil War. He then went into exile, travelling
the world.

Incidentally, Richard English has written a superb study of
O’Malley entitled Ernie O’Malley - IRA Intellectual.

Loach’s film tells the story of two brothers from west Cork
who fight through the War of Independence together but,
after the Treaty is signed, find themselves on opposite
sides in the Civil War.

The themes examined include military occupation,
colonisation, the notion of the parish against the empire
and, in the end, the bottomless debate about the Treaty. I
suspect that no cinema audience will have seen British
troops portrayed as Loach portrays them, with the film
documenting the full terror of the Black and Tans.

But, as Loach said at Cannes, it is not an anti-British
film, but an examination of occupation and colonisation.
‘‘There are always armies of occupation somewhere in the
world being resisted by the people they are occupying,” he
said.

‘‘I don’t need to tell anyone here where the British now -
unfortunately forcefully and illegally - have an army of
occupation.

“It’s also a story about extraordinary comradeship and
heroism and a tragic conflict within that story.

‘‘It seemed to us a story that in the end we could not
avoid.”

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