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July 17, 2006

Loyalist's Victim Fighting for Life

News About Ireland & The Irish

BT 07/17/06 Gang Attack In Londonderry Leaves Victim Fighting For Life
IT 07/17/06 Arsonists Attack And Destroy Orange Hall
DI 07/17/06 Congressman Calls On Govnts To Stand Firm On Nov Deadline
DI 07/17/06 Burrows Resigns
BT 07/17/06 New Laws On Charities To Hit Terror Gangs
BT 07/17/06 Task Forces Will Tackle Barriers To Devolution
IN 07/17/06 Hain ‘Will Talk To SF About Policing’
SF 07/17/06 Gerry Kelly Responds To Hain Speech About Policing
DI 07/17/06 ‘Torture’ Conviction Quashed
BB 07/17/06 Challenge To Real IRA Conviction
MI 07/17/06 McConville: I'll Name Killers
IN 07/17/06 Opin: Fiery But Empty Words From Mr Paisley
IN 07/17/06 Opin: Money For Nothing And Their Kicks For Free...
BT 07/17/06 Opin: Soft Footfalls Testing Out Fresh Ground
IN 07/17/06 Irish To Be Evacuated From Lebanon Today
BT 07/17/06 Titanic Achievement: Nomadic Sails Into Belfast
BT 07/17/06 Ulster To Fry In Hottest Week Of The Year So Far
IN 07/17/06 North Left Out Of RTE Web Broadcast
FF 07/17/06 School To Award Sean Lemass Gold Medal For Leadership
IT 07/17/06 Steeple Of Landmark St George's Church Restored

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698902

Gang Attack In Londonderry Leaves Victim Fighting For Life

By Clare Weir
17 July 2006

A man was fighting for his life today after a farewell
barbeque turned to tragedy following a brutal sectarian
assault.

In a gang attack that has sent shockwaves through the North
West, Londonderry civil servant Paul McCauley is in a
critical condition at the Royal Victoria Hospital in
Belfast today after eight men burst into a party at a house
off Chapel Road in the Waterside in the early hours of
Sunday morning.

Mr McCauley was kicked and punched and suffered horrendous
head injuries which doctors have told his family could him
with brain damage should he pull through.

One of Paul's friends had his jaw fractured a third man was
left badly bruised and with cuts to his face.

A top policeman in the city has called the attack "vile,
nasty and vicious" and said that those behind the assault
could be accused of attempted murder.

The event was being held as a farewell party for a friend
who was travelling to Azerbaijan to teach English.

He was due to leave on Wednesday and the victims were the
last remaining guests at the party.

There were disturbances in the area and a hijacking attempt
following the attack. Traffic was diverted away from parts
of Chapel Road and the Bann Drive area of Irish Street.

Chief Inspector Ken Finney, who said that police were
following a definite line of inquiry, said he utterly
condemned the "despicable act" and said he suspected the
attackers had come from the unionist estate.

He said the attackers came from the direction of Irish
Street and Bann Drive and urged local people to help the
police to catch them.

However community representatives from the area have denied
this and blamed the attack on outside elements.

Paul's father Jim, a former teacher at Thornhill College,
said he had been told by medics that his son had "died" and
had to be resuscitated.

He has also been told that Paul will almost certainly have
suffered head injuries.

Police carried out a fingertip search and conducted house
to house inquiries in the area this morning.

Former Mayor of Derry, Lynn Fleming, a Sinn Fein councillor
in the area where the assault took place, has appealed for
calm.

"I would appeal to people not to become involved in attacks
on others as Saturday nights events clearly demonstrate how
they can result in tragedy for everyone involved," she
said.

"Sectarianism from whatever source is to be condemned and
everyone of influence must do all in their power to
eradicate it."

Another man was attacked in a sectarian incident on
Thursday night.

The man was battered by a gang of five to six men between
midnight and 1am in the Wapping Lane area on the outskirts
of the Fountain estate.

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0717/1837335662HM4NIARSON.html

Arsonists Attack And Destroy Orange Hall

17/07/2006

Unionist and nationalist politicians yesterday united in
condemnation after an Orange hall near Lurgan, Co Armagh,
was destroyed in a suspected petrol-bomb attack.

After a week of relative calm during the Orange Order's
Twelfth celebrations, arsonists attacked Kilmore Orange
Hall on Friday night.

Firefighters believe the arsonists may have gained access
to the roof of the hall and poured flammable liquid inside.

Democratic Unionist MP David Simpson and SDLP Assembly
member Dolores Kelly, who both represent the area,
condemned those behind the attack.

Mr Simpson said it was not the first time the hall had been
targeted.

"This, I believe, may be the second time it has been burnt
down," the Upper Bann MP said. "I understand about 10 or 12
years ago it was burnt down. It is completely gutted and
is, I believe, a big loss to people in this area. They used
it as a local community meeting hall.

"Speaking to the master and the deputy master of the lodge,
I am certain they are as resilient as before and this hall
will be replaced as it was before."

Ms Kelly, a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board,
said she condemned the attack without reservation.

"I would want to appeal for calm right across the
community," the Upper Bann MLA stated.

"It is sad there are still those who live in our community
who wish to stir up sectarian hatred."

The incident was also condemned by Sinn Féin Assembly
member John O'Dowd who said it was wrong and unacceptable.
"Sectarianism, irrespective of its source or who or what it
is directed against, is wrong and I have no hesitation in
condemning this attack.

"Those involved need to desist from this type of behaviour.
The overnight arson attack on Kilmore Orange Hall was wrong
and serves no purpose other than to create and heighten
community tensions."

© The Irish Times

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Congressman Calls On Governments To Stand Firm On November Deadline

By Jim Dee
07/11/2006

Massachusetts congressman Richard Neal has urged the
British and Irish governments to stand firm on the November
24 deadline for formation of the North’s executive, and
called on unionists to “decommission the word ‘No’ from
their vocabulary.

“After eight years, it is time for the Good Friday accord
to be fully implemented,” Neal said in a speech to last
week’s Ancient Order of Hibernians convention in Boston.

“It’s time for Reverend Paisley to become a partner in the
peace process and there can be no more excuses.”

“I have never had anybody tell me yet what the alternative
is to the Good Friday agreement. It is the only way
forward,” added Neal.

The AOH, which has about 60,000 members nationwide between
it’s men’s and women’s divisions, honored O’Neil as this
year’s recipient of its John F Kennedy Memorial Medal for
Peace. Past recipients of the AOH’s top award include the
late Cardinal John O’Connor of New York, Ray Flynn, former
Mayor of Boston, John Hume, Gerry Adams and Father Aiden
Troy. JFK was a member of the AOH from 1947 until he was
assassinated in November 1963.

Addressing the audience prior to O’Neil’s acceptance
speech, Rita O’Hare, Sinn Féin’s US representative,
credited the Massachusetts congressman for helping the
Irish peace process to achieve “bi-partisan support in
Congress. Ritchie Neal achieved that. He worked with both
Democrat and Republican representatives in putting this
peace process high on the agenda in Washington and keeping
it there.”

The SDLP’s PJ Bradley admitted to delegates that he wasn’t
really aware of all the peace process support work that
Neal had done until SDLP staffers informed him Neal was
“the best friend the SDLP had on Capital Hill.” He too said
Neal’s support of the peace process had been crucial.

Delivering his acceptance speech, Neal recalled how the
hunger strikes had been a “moment of transformation” for
him personally.

“The importance of the hunger strike in 1981 on Irish
republicanism cannot be overstated. It was a watershed
event that, in many respects, was the start of the peace
process,” said Neal.

He told the thousand-strong AOH crowd in attendance that
the organisation had been vital to keeping the peace
process on track. Neal said that, in the past, he’d often
told friends in Ireland that “often times the British
government didn’t care much what the Irish said, but they
cared an awful lot about what Irish-America had to say.”

“We’ve watched the Berlin Wall come down. We’ve watched the
Soviet Union disintegrate, and we’ve watched South Africa
receive majoritarian government, and it was people like the
Ancient Order of Hibernians who said ‘when is Ireland’s
turn?’” said Neal.

The Massachusetts congressman, who co-chairs the Ad Hoc
Committee on Irish affairs in the US House of
Representatives, said that the Strand Two of the Good
Friday agreement “is important to all of us in this room,
because it connects Dublin to Belfast, and that’s what
we’ve always wanted.”

“I’m sure that the Taoiseach and the British prime minister
both agree,” he added. “And these two men should be
credited with having taken extraordinary risks for peace.
The process could not have had two better or more committed
leaders than Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern.”

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Burrows Resigns

23/06/2006

CONTROVERSIAL Parades Commission member David Burrows has
resigned from the Orange Order.

David Burrows was a member of the Portadown Lodge.

His appointment to the commission had been ruled unlawful
last month, but this decision was overturned at the Court
of Appeal.

In a statement released last night the Parades Commission
also confirmed that Mr Burrows will have no involvement in
the Commission’s “deliberations or determinations relating
to any public processions notified by Portadown LOL Number
1 or by any of the loyal orders within Portadown or any
matter pertaining thereto”.

“These arrangements are considered appropriate in the
interests of fairness and transparency,” the statement
said.

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698862

New Laws On Charities To Hit Terror Gangs

17 July 2006

New proposals to tighten up the regulation of Northern
Ireland's charities and stop paramilitaries and criminal
gangs ripping off the public will be revealed by the
government today.

The draft legislation, which is to be put out for
consultation today by the Department for Social
Development, is expected to include the establishment of a
Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and a province-wide
Register of Charities, making charitable organisations more
accountable and transparent.

It is thought that the proposals will make it tougher for
bogus charities to operate, while also offering greater
support to legitimate charitable bodies.

Currently in Northern Ireland there is no requirement for
charities to register and there is no regulating body,
unlike in England and Scotland.

Earlier this month the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Organised Crime report highlighted allegations that
paramilitary groups illicitly used funds raised for
charitable purposes and used charities to divert money
obtained from criminal activities.

The report also stated claims that criminals had sought to
exploit charities, including sham charities that had been
set up to avoid Stamp Duty and a charity that had been set
up to receive large gifts of shares, attracting tax relief
for the donor.

The proposals are also believed to contain arrangements to
control public collections through a system of licences and
permits which anybody wanting to collect money or goods
would have to obtain.

The consultation period is expected to run for 12 weeks.

The Department for Social Development will then seek to
present their proposed legislation to parliament in late
autumn.

The legislation should be in place by late spring of 2007.

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698906

Task Forces Will Tackle Barriers To Devolution

By Noel McAdam
17 July 2006

New committees to tackle key obstacles to the return of
devolution were today due to be formed at Stormont.

The Preparation for Government committee was expected to
hold its latest session this afternoon to set up three sub-
committees - on policing, the institutions and the economic
challenges facing Northern Ireland.

The DUP, Sinn Fein, Ulster Unionists, SDLP and Alliance
were all due to make nominations to the committees which
were ordered by Secretary of State Peter Hain.

The three mini-task forces will then be expected to meet
regularly over the next six weeks ahead of debates in the
Assembly when it resumes on September 4 and 5.

Mr Hain has already directed that Assembly debates, due to
conclude and ratify the work of the sub-committees, must be
held on those dates.

It remained unclear today, however, whether the DUP is yet
in a position to nominate members of the sub-committees.

It is understood the party intended to consult its Assembly
members before agreeing to take part on the sub-committees.

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http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=529643

Hain ‘Will Talk To SF About Policing’

By Barry McCaffrey

The NIO and police are willing to engage with Sinn Fein in
“mature and sustained” dialogue to find a resolution to the
policing problem, Secretary of State Peter Hain last night
signalled.

Offering direct talks between himself, Chief Constable Sir
Hugh Orde and the Sinn Fein leadership, he said: “I want to
take seriously the republican movement’s reservations about
policing and to deal with them directly.”

In a speech at the MacGill summer school in Co Donegal to
honour former SDLP leader John Hume, the secretary of state
said: “Policing should unite us.

“I understand, of course, why it has been a source of
division in Northern Ireland in the past.

“But looking to the future, a society which cannot agree on
its policing and criminal justice arrangements cannot meet
the challenges of social cohesion, still less tackle
serious and organised crime.”

He said it was now time for republicans to follow the Irish
government, SDLP and Catholic Church in supporting the
police.

“Republicans continue to question the practical details of
the reform of policing and its completion,” he said.

“When Chris Patten published his report in 1999 Irish
historians could perhaps understand why Sinn Fein reserved
judgment while the recommendations were translated into
legislation.

“That process was tortuous but once the legislation was
complete and the process of implementation was underway,
the Irish government, the SDLP, the Catholic Church and
broad nationalist opinion shifted towards supporting the
change process.

“They knew that it was indeed a process rather than a state
of perfection but realised that their support was essential
to achieving the very improvements that nationalists wanted
to see.

“They opted to be part of the change and part of the future
of policing.”

Mr Hain said the PSNI was the most highly regulated and
inspected force in the world, with Police Ombudsman Nuala
O’Loan having unparalleled powers of investigation.

“Any outstanding issues of real concern should be
discussed: the PSNI and the government are ready to take
part in a mature and sustained dialogue with the Sinn Fein
leadership this autumn on any outstanding concerns about
the change programme.

“There is no reason to delay this engagement on practical
issues.”

Recognising that republicans still had deep reservations
over policing, he said:

“The experience of republican communities, the history of
physical force republicanism and the basic constitutional
aspirations of the republican movement make support for the
policing institutions of Northern Ireland genuinely
problematic.

“I do not underestimate those difficulties and, yet again,
the burden of history behind them.

“Nor do I underestimate the centrality for republicans of
the transfer of powers on policing and criminal justice to
the assembly.”

Mr Hain said republicans also had to recognise the hurt
they had caused to unionists.

“Given the violence and pain of the last 30 years, that
should not come as a surprise, nor should it be lightly
dismissed.

“That is why republicans need to help allay those concerns
and dispel suspicions that they are somehow ambivalent
about the rule of law itself, as opposed to the political
prism through which they have traditionally viewed rule of
law ‘by the Brits’.”

Mr Hain said he understood Sinn Fein’s constitutional
difficulties in supporting the police but said that
nationalists must be allowed to engage with the police.

“While we work to resolve the issue of devolution, I would
strongly urge the republican leadership to draw a
distinction between ‘constitutional’ endorsement of the
structures of policing, and support for the practical
service of policing.

“There should be no part of Northern Ireland where people
are not actively encouraged to report crimes to the police
so that they can take action.”

Warning that Sinn Fein’s reluctance to work with the PSNI
was damaging the wider political process, he said:

“Once the legislation providing for the devolution of
policing and justice receives royal assent [as we hope] in
the next two weeks, we need to see a step-change in efforts
by all parties to resolve the issue of policing.”

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http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/15102

Gerry Kelly Responds To Hain Speech

Published: 16 July, 2006

Responding to the British Secretary of State Peter Hain's
remarks this evening in Glenties as part of the Magill
Summer School, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Policing and
Justice Gerry Kelly said:

"Peter Hain is well aware of the Sinn Féin position on
policing. The vast majority of nationalists and republicans
believe that the issue of policing remains an unresolved
matter which can be sorted out.

"Sinn Féin have set out very clearly the issues which
remain to be resolved. The core issue is the transfer of
powers away from securocarts in London and the NIO and into
the hands of democratically elected politicians in Ireland.
We have set out publicly the core of what is needed. That
is:

:: The enactment of the necessary legislation by the British
government to transfer powers on policing and justice.

:: Agreement on the detail of what is to be transferred.

:: Agreement on the departmental model and a timetable for
transfer.

"These are essentially political issues which could be
resolved by political parties and the governments quickly
if the political will existed. The obstacle to this is the
DUP refusal to discuss this issue or to be involved in the
institutions of the Good Friday Agreement.

"Peter Hain should concentrate the minds of the British
government on convincing the DUP that there is no other way
to advance the peace and political process outside of the
GFA institutions.

"Sinn Féin want to see an acceptable policing service
delivered. That is why we made policing a central part of
the political negotiations. We remain determined to build
on the progress we have made in recent years and we are
committed to delivering the genuinely accountable and
acceptable policing service demanded by the Agreement."
ENDS
----

Sinn Féin has pressed for the transfer of policing and
justice powers from Westminster to a future Stormont
administration.

SDLP Policing Board member Dolores Kelly said the secretary
of state should think “long and hard” before he “tinkers”
with the policing arrangements in the North to suit Sinn
Féin.

She said: “Hain is sending a message that Sinn Féin can
separate participation in the Patten policing institutions
from day-to-day support for policing on the ground. This is
wrong. Sinn Féin is already splitting enough hairs on
support for a lawful society, cherry-picking political
advantage and leaving the rest of society without
protection.” she said.

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http://www.dailyireland.com/home.tvt?_scope=DailyIreland/Content/News&id=9577&opp=1

‘Torture’ Conviction Quashed

by Ciarán Barnes
17/07/2006

A County Armagh man who made a false confession after being
beaten in police custody has had his conviction quashed.

Paschal Mulholland was only 16-years-old when he was
arrested following a petrol-bomb attack on Portadown RUC
barracks in October 1976.

Despite being a minor, he was denied access to his parents
or a solicitor until he signed a confession stating he was
a member of the IRA junior wing – Fianna na hÉireann.

After being held for 40 hours, the teenager finally put his
name to the statement. During the course of the RUC
interviews he was repeatedly beaten.

A doctor later concluded that “he [Mulholland] was struck a
severe blow with the closed fist [right] to the left side
of the nose – the force of this knocked the right cheek
area against a table. His nose was now bleeding from a
abrasion and one officer dipped a tissue in cold water and
cleaned up the wound”.

Another doctor found Mr Mulholland “suffered significant
physical abuse” and that the explanations given by the RUC
for his injuries were not “medically acceptable”.

The RUC men who attacked Mr Mulholland claimed he had hit
his nose off a table in the interview room as he bent over
to pick up a cigarette.

This excuse was accepted by the judge, Lord Lowry, at Mr
Mulholland’s trial in March 1977.

Ignoring reports of torture during interview and the fact
that as a minor he was denied access to a solicitor or
guardian, Lord Lowry jailed Mr Mulholland for 12 months for
being a member of a proscribed organisation.

In October 2000, Mr Mulholland launched an appeal.

In the Court of Appeal last week judges Kerr, Nicholson and
Campbell quashed his conviction.

They said the mistreatment of Mr Mulholland “raised
considerable doubts” about the safety of the conviction.

The judges said statements from doctors who treated the
teenager were both “compelling and damning”.

“In these circumstances we were driven inexorably to the
conclusion that the conviction was unsafe and for the
reasons we have given, we quashed it,” added the judges.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/5187430.stm

Challenge To Real IRA Conviction

The former leader of the Real IRA, Michael McKevitt, has
been given fresh leave to challenge his conviction for
directing terrorism.

McKevitt, 54, was sentenced to 20 years in 2003 for
directing terrorism and membership of an illegal
organisation.

His lawyers were granted permission to go the Irish
Republic's Supreme Court.

They claim the defence team in his trial was not given full
information about the tax affairs of chief witness David
Rupert, an FBI and British agent.

In December 2005, an attempt by McKevitt to have his
conviction overturned failed at the Court of Criminal
Appeal.

His lawyers had sought to have his conviction quashed by
challenging the credibility of Mr Rupert, a secret agent of
the FBI and the British security service.

McKevitt, from Blackrock, County Louth, was the first
person to be convicted in the Republic for the offence of
directing terrorism, which was introduced after the 1998
Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh.

The explosion claimed the lives of 29 people, including a
woman pregnant with twins.

He also received a six years concurrent prison sentence for
membership of an illegal organisation which the court said
was the Real IRA.

Mr Rupert was reported to have infiltrated the Real IRA and
attended Real IRA Army Council meetings where McKevitt was
present.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2006/07/17 11:28:31 GMT
© BBC MMVI

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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17395727&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=i-ll-name-killers--name_page.html

McConville: I'll Name Killers

Exclusive

Daughter of Disappeared mum-of-10 Jean McConville vows to
identify IRA murder and torture gang in book

By Maurice Fitzmaurice

THE daughter of IRA murder victim Jean McConville will name
her mother's killers in a new book.

Helen McKendry said yesterday: "I've nothing to lose. I'm
going to name and shame the people involved in my mother's
death.

"What can they do? Sue me? They'll have to prove they
weren't involved."

Her husband Seamus added: "We've already started and hope
to have it on the shelves by Christmas.

"Helen is telling me everything in her own words and I'm
writing it all down. She is naming names and it is going to
be a powerful story.

"There will be a few cages rattled by this."

Mr McKendry, 48, wrote Disappeared: The Search For Jean
McConville four years ago about the mother-of-10's kidnap,
torture and murder by the IRA.

But he added: "Whatever I wrote was still all third-hand
even though I have been so closely attached to this for so
many years. There may have been some innuendo in my book,
but this will not be the case in what Helen is saying.

"There will be well-known republicans, some of them very,
very senior now, who will be named.

"Sure what's the worst that can happen to us now after all
that we have been through?

"Through all the years I've been helping Helen find out
what happened, I've been threatened with getting blown away
a few times. It's time now the truth came out."

News that Mrs McKendry, 48, is to write the no-holds barred
book comes as IRA insiders admitted that Jean McConville
was not a spy.

Reports in a number of Sunday newspapers yesterday revealed
how Provos have come forward to say she was tortured into
admitting she was a security forces agent Members of Mrs
McConville's family have reacted furiously after the IRA
issued a statement insisting she was a tout. Earlier,
Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan revealed her enquiries found
no evidence that Mrs McConville was acting as an informer
for anyone.

It was also reported that Sinn Fein and the IRA have split
over the issue with Sinn Fein members being told not to
support IRA claims that Mrs McConville was an informer.

Mr McKendry said yesterday: "Some people have been saying
that the P in P O'Neill [anonymous republican spokesman]
stands for Pinocchio. How true that is?"

Mrs McConville was abducted from her West Belfast home in
1972. In 1999, the IRA admitted it had killed her and
several other of the Disappeared, but alleged some of them
had been informants. Mrs McConville, who was a widow, was
killed after she went to the aid of a fatally-wounded
British soldier outside her home at Divis Flats, West
Belfast.

Her remains were finally found at Shelling Hill beach in Co
Louth in August 2003, after a lengthy campaign by her
family and the families of the other missing people.

GARDAI are expected to start a fresh dig this week for the
remains of Tyrone teenager Colum-ba McVeigh.

Forensic experts last week visited bogland at Bragan
Mountain in Co Monaghan where the IRA claimed it had dumped
his body.

Columba, 17, was abducted and murdered in 1975 and his
mother Vera has asked DUP leader Ian Paisley to help put
pressure on the IRA to give more information about her
son's body.

In the last search two years ago, almost an acre of bogland
was excavated.

It is expected the fresh search may be centred at a
different location where forestry had changed the original
appearance of the bogland area.

ulster@mirror.co.uk

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http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=529649

Opin: Fiery But Empty Words From Mr Paisley

The Monday Column
By Roy Garland

Much of Ian Paisley’s Twelfth speech to the Independent
Orangemen was sound and fury, signifying little.

He was never a member of the Independent Orange Order and
only joined the Apprentice Boys in latter years while his
Protestant Volunteers parading in red, white and blue
sashes, faded from the scene after a bombing campaign. The
small Independent Orange Order claims to be non-party
political with a background in working-class politics and
support for Home Rule. They don’t allow politicians to
exploit Orange platforms but paradoxically invite a
reactionary non-Orange politician/pastor as their main
speaker each Twelfth.

But Paisley’s speech is more like a crude attempt to
emulate Patrick Pearse by emphasising that freedom can
“only be obtained at a stupendous price” in “human bodies
and blood”. Once won, liberty requires “the same awful
price” so we must “walk the way our fathers walked” –
seemingly up to the neck in bloodshed. Not that everyone is
expected to make such sacrifice although the DUP leadership
is believed to be prepared to fight to the last drop of our
blood. David Nicholl of the UPRG responded to Paisley’s
off-the-cuff remarks, telling him to “spill his own blood
because it will not be our bodies he is climbing over”.

Regarding carnage at the Somme, Paisley says “Man’s
gallantry to man, what light!” suggesting light comes from
man’s gallantry, rather than from the gospel. He explicitly
rejects compromise and even accommodation as “the road to
final and irreversible disaster”. Even toleration is
eschewed with the deceptive claim that what he derides as
“pushover unionism is a half-way house to republicanism”.
Ian insists “There is no discharge in this war”, suggesting
it seems, further violence.

Ten years ago Paisley was quoted saying if Orangemen did
not walk the Garvaghy Road “all that the reformation
brought to us and all that the martyrs died for and all
that our forefathers gave their lives for is lost forever”.
Taken at face value it was not just the Belfast agreement
but Protestantism itself that died – but no-one believed
it.

For Paisley even mutual co-existence seems a problem and
perhaps peace itself. All of this appears to have more in
common with the fascism western nations rejected in the
Second World War but journalists refer to it as ‘vintage
Paisley’. This softens the impact of dangerous half-a-century-
old nonsense. Many young men who prosecuted such a war will discharge
themselves from this depraved new world because many are
determined never again to “fill the graves or fill prisons”
at anyone’s behest.

There is hardly a society without bloodshed at its
inception but to relate that terrible violence to the
peaceable message of Jesus is a travesty. The sacrificial
mentality should be abandoned rather than emulated.
Massacres and bloodshed should, as far as possible, be left
where most of them are, in history. Modern democracy is
meant as a means to avoid bloodshed. Admittedly human
beings in certain circumstances are prone to violence but
the Christian gospel is meant as good news. Far from
advocating bloodletting, that gospel encourages compromise,
tolerance, returning good for evil and love for enemies as
well as neighbours. This message was for today rather than
some far-off future. The sacrifice of Jesus overturns
ancient sacrificial thinking depicting God as a loving
father rather than an earthly despot demanding pacification
through sacrifices.

Paradoxically Paisley then says, “What we want for
ourselves we will not deny to others”. So liberty is to be
shared – or is it? His thinking is muddled and can’t be
taken seriously. It represents the ranting of politicians
who want to be gods and are made crazy by the desire.
Paisley will make deals with his enemies so long as
followers can believe he is not doing so and he can find
political cover. He convinced them before that he was not
sharing power when in fact he was and he can do it again.
Even DUP colleague Jeffrey Donaldson is “hopeful” that the
IRA will follow the political route suggesting he is up for
a deal. Paisley only seems to reject Donaldson’s hope by
insisting on the “safe path” of “No Surrender to the
enemy”.

No unionist contemplates surrender but the DUP leadership
once toyed with Irish federation and might do so again.

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

http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=529651

Opin: Money For Nothing And Their Kicks For Free...

Opinion
By Tom Kelly

Unofficial transcripts from the Committee for the
Restoration of Government

Mr Maskey: Cathoirleach, on behalf of my Sinn Fein comrades
may I say Maith thu to the newly ennobled Lord Wallace.

Ian Paisley jnr: Sorry, who is chairing this meeting? Did
someone say something?

Mr McFarland: I thought we all agreed this yesterday.

Mr Paisley: Yes but Sinn Fein took over three hours to
highlight 800 years of oppression but we have only been
here for 400 of those years but we only got an hour to
explain our side. We are entitled to another 30 minutes.

Dr Farren: Could I just say if we are not going to be
serious about this could we break for coffee?

Rev McCrea: How long will this meeting be as I have a very
important appointment in 30 minutes with my chiropodist and
it’s the Twelfth next week?

Ms Long: This is typical of meetings whereby the older
traditional parties fill committees solely with men. If
this was a committee of women we would have had agreement
concluded and the dinner on.

Ms Richie: I agree wholeheartedly with my sister Long and
would like to put on record my appreciation for our
greatest ever minister and northern female role model, Mrs
Rodgers, who saved Ulster from foot and mouth.

(Unidentified laughter and sniggering from male members.)

Ms Long: Stop this nonsense immediately or there will be no
coffee break and neither Margaret nor I will pour.

Dr Farren: Ms Long is right and I would remind you all that
the SDLP and Alliance are the only non-sexual parties here.

Mr Murphy: This is serious stuff that goes to the heart of
Sinn Fein’s quest for equality and justice for all Mr
Paisley: Where’s your equality for Protestants who can’t
walk when and where they want, even if they are not wanted?

Mr Kennedy: Look, if it helps I will toss a coin to see who
chairs?

Mr Maskey: As a confidence-building measure, can we see the
coin first?

Mr Paisley: I think the speaker should toss the coin?

The speaker, Ms Bell: In my new asexual position I don’t
think it’s appropriate that I should be involved at all.

Mr Hain, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Wales and
other nether regions: The people of Northern Ireland will
find it unacceptable that you have been sitting here doing
nothing when you could be in the Lords doing nothing or at
home doing nothing. So if you don’t stop doing nothing, I
will have to pay you nothing. Now Mr Wells, you take the
chair for this morning and Mr Molloy, you take the chair in
the afternoon. You see civility works, if you try.

Mr Murphy: If you are going to treat us like colonials and
keep doing stuff for us; then we might as well do nothing.

Mr Paisley jnr: I warn you Mr Hain, do not patronise us
because nothing is something we do well here which is more
than can be said for your government who are badly doing
nothing.

Rev McCrea: What about my chiropodist appointment?

Mr Maskey: I don’t think the DUP is taking these talks
seriously but in the interests of mutual respect for our
shared marching traditions, we agree.

Chairman: So does everyone agree that we can conclude this
meeting in 15 minutes?

All: Agreed

Mr Kennedy: Chairman, I would like to ask Mr Murphy a
question. Does Sinn Fein accept that the unionist community
has absolutely no faith in the bone fides of the republican
movement and that we need more proof of their good faith?
More proof than statements from P O’Neill, more than photos
of decommissioned weapons, more than the simple clarity of
words saying the war is over?

Mr Murphy: We believe if unionists and not the apostles had
been given charge of the Resurrection, there would have
been no Ascension because they would have kept Jesus on
earth until all the Jews believed!

Dr Farren: Mr Chairman, the SDLP want to table a position
paper on inclusiveness, equality, justice, social
integration, poverty, rural development, policing, cross-
border bodies, east-west relations, nuclear energy,
punishment beatings, power sharing, employment, women’s
affairs, the children’s charter, senior citizens rights and
the abolition of meaningless political phrases.

Chairman: I think this is a good time to conclude today’s
proceedings

Ms Long: Point of information – are we having tea first?

Chairman: Of course.

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/opinion/story.jsp?story=698844

Opin: Soft Footfalls Testing Out Fresh Ground

17 July 2006

Strange things are happening when first the Orange Order
and now the UDA travel to Dublin to bend the ear of the
Irish government. In the same week as a Westminster
committee said the UDA was deeply involved in crime, Bertie
Ahern offered reassurance that if the November 24
devolution deadline is missed, loyalists have no need to
fear joint authority from Dublin and London.

Peter Hain may not be so pleased that his warnings of
closer co-operation have been discounted by Dublin. He is
using every means possible, including promises that a
power-sharing Assembly could veto the abolition of academic
selection, to persuade unionists to give devolution another
try. After last week, they may have less incentive to avoid
the "joint stewardship" option.

Clearly the Irish - and the British - want to see the UDA
follow the IRA's lead by standing down and decommissioning
their weapons. So far, they have done neither, but the
pressure is on, now that the threat of republican violence
has been lifted. If north-south co-operation carries no
constitutional threat, and is only implementing an
Agreement which the UDA support, what is the justification
for loyalist paramilitarism?

The only answer is that it sustains a criminal empire which
has lined the pockets of some notorious individuals, but
has ruined many communities. If the leadership is serious
about wanting to follow a new direction, it should find a
party to support and commit itself to exclusively
democratic methods.

This thawing of relations with Dublin should make parties
like the DUP and UUP re-think their attitudes to
nationalists nearer home. If the UDA can drink tea with the
Taoiseach, why should there be so much distance between
them and the SDLP and Sinn Fein?


The Rev Ian Paisley gave his answer last week, saying that
"Compromise, accommodation and the least surrender are the
roads to final and irreversible disaster." There was no
place for Sinn Fein in government, or "it will be over our
dead bodies".

That is traditional Paisley talk, to an Orange audience,
but other voices within his party are more open to new
ideas. They know that if the next IMC report shows that
republicans are mending their ways - just as Gerry Kelly
broke new ground by meeting the police over the Orange
parade at Ardoyne - there would be no excuse for refusing
to meet their democratic representatives in Sinn Fein.

Any optimism must be tempered by the fact that both Sinn
Fein and Fianna Fail have their main focus on next year's
Irish election. But the prospects for agreement look much
better than they did before a quiet marching season.

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

http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=529629

Irish To Be Evacuated From Lebanon Today

By Staff Reporter

The Irish government yesterday announced it was chartering
a plane to evacuate an estimated 100 Irish people from
Lebanon.

Around 15 citizens were flown from Lebanon – which is under
attack by Israel – to Syria yesterday, with some continuing
on to Cyprus with other EU citizens on an Italian military
plane.

Dozens of Irish people have signed up with the honorary
consul in Beirut for the evacuation which will take place
this morning.

The Department of Foreign Affairs was contacted by a
Belfast woman concerned for the safety of relatives in
Lebanon but it was unclear if these people had registered
for evacuation.

Buses have been arranged to take up Irish citizens to
Syria, from where the flight is expected to take them dir-
ectly to Dublin. A team of Irish medics and officials have
been dep-loyed to assist the evacuation.

“We decided early yesterday that we would not just rely on
the assistance of some of our EU partners but that we would
get our own people out and in fact we have commandeered a
number of buses that will leave Beirut [this morning],”
minister for foreign affairs Dermot Ahern said.

“We have agreed to allow two Dutch buses to take part in
the convoy as well; they have to get their people out as
well. We have obviously made arrangements with the various
governments including the Israelis to ensure safe passage.”

Violence flared last week following the seizure of two
Israeli soldiers by Lebanese-based Hezbollah militants.

In waves of Israeli raids which began on Wednesday around
150 Lebanese people have been killed.

Yesterday Israeli air raids killed at least 23 people, most
of the civilians, in southern Lebanon. At least 16 people
were killed by in the coastal city of Tyre, while Israeli
attacks on a border village killed at least seven people.

Twelve Israeli civilians have been killed in Hezbollah
rocket attacks, including eight in Haifa yesterday.

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698865

Titanic Achievement: Nomadic Sails Into Belfast

By Linda McKee
17 July 2006

Fans of the SS Nomadic will be dressing up in period
costume to welcome her as she makes a triumphant return to
Belfast's docks this evening.

The ship has already made an appearance in Belfast Lough as
she arrived on Saturday morning but her official homecoming
will take place this evening.

As the Titanic's 'little sister' proceeds up the Lagan to
dock next to the Odyssey Arena, she will receive a chorus
from a brass band as supporters dressed in Edwardian
fashion cheer her.

A party of members of the French Titanic Society (AFT) who
worked closely with Belfast Industrial Heritage in the
hard-fought campaign to save Nomadic from the scrapyard
will be present this evening to welcome her home.

The 95-year-old vessel was bought by the Department of
Social Development in January at auction in Paris.

Her rescue followed an intensive campaign by the Belfast
Telegraph to bring her home to the city where she was
built.

Nomadic left Le Havre in northern France five days ago,
piggybacked on a submersible barge owned by Anchor Marine
Transportation.

AMT's survey has revealed that she remains watertight,
despite years lying in the Le Havre docks and a 30-year
stint as a floating restaurant in Paris, according to David
Scott-Beddard of the Nomadic Preservation Trust.

As Nomadic left French waters, her stern displayed the
White Star Line burgee (flag) that was flown in her early
years as she served Titanic and sister liner Olympic.

It's the first time a White Star Line vessel has flown the
burgee independently since the company was taken over by
Cunard 70 years ago.

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698836

Ulster To Fry In Hottest Week Of The Year So Far

By Linda McKee
17 July 2006

Ulster is set for one of the hottest weeks on record - with
temperatures expected to hit 30 degrees (86F) in some
places.

Sun-worshippers made tracks to the beaches yesterday as the
province simmered under blistering temperatures.

And if the old adage about St Swithin's Day is true, then
the scorching weather seen on Saturday can be expected to
continue for 40 more days.

The Met Office is certainly predicting that the hot, sunny
weather is expected to dominate for the next few days,
although we can expect some showers today.

But by tomorrow, the wet conditions will evaporate and
temperatures will rocket as high as 30C in Londonderry and
Enniskillen - casting even traditional hotspots such as
Tokyo and Puerto Rico into the shade, with predicted
temperatures of 26C and 28C respectively.

And after that, it's all balmy sunshine until Thursday
evening, when temperatures drop and downpours are forecast
across the province.

A band of high pressure has brought the dry hot weather to
most parts of Ireland.

Forecaster Joanna Donnelly of Met Eireann said: "30°C is
very unusual for Ireland, but it's not unheard of. We had
27°C on Saturday which is hot by our standards and it's set
to go up for the next few days."

The Government has urged the old, young and chronically ill
to take care as the hot weather brings the risks of heat
exhaustion and dehydration.

Carers and staff at nursing and residential homes were
urged to heed the advice and keep those at risk out of the
sun.

The government advises vulnerable people to avoid going out
in the hottest part of the day, stay in the shade, bathe in
cool water and wear loose-fitting clothes.

It suggests checking on older relatives or neighbours and
reminding them to drink plenty and often.

GP Sarah Jarvis said it was essential to keep up fluid
intake to avoid dehydration.

"Salt intake, which is what people think about when they're
sweating, is actually not the thing that's important. It's
plain old water - you don't need energy drinks. What you
need is water," she said.

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

http://www.irishnews.com/access/daily/current.asp?SID=529639

North Left Out Of RTE Web Broadcast

By Keith Bourke

RTE was left red-faced last night when GAA fans in the
north were unable to access a live webcast of the Munster
final because they were not “in Ireland”.

Instead of getting to see the likes of Colm Cooper and
James Masters in action, those logging on were greeted with
the message: “Due to broadcast rights restrictions, this
event is only available to viewers located in Ireland.”

The clash between Cork and Kerry yesterday was to be RTE’s
first ever live webcast of a GAA match.

Outraged Irish News readers yesterday said they could not
believe that the national broadcaster’s webcast was not
available in the north.

“I thought I was seeing things when I logged on to see the
Munster final and a message appeared on my screen saying I
couldn’t watch the match because I am not in Ireland,” one
bemused GAA fan said

“Do RTE think that Ireland ends at the border?”

A spokeswoman for RTE said the problem was not limited to
internet users from the north.

GAA supporters nationwide encountered similar problems and
that the webcast was intended to be available to users in
all of the 32 counties.

The spokeswoman said:

“This was a technical problem with the internet service
provider. It was outside of our control and completely
unforeseeable prior to going live with the webcast.”

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

http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_10006591.shtml

Trinity-IMI Graduate School Of Management To Award Sean Lemass Gold Medal For Business Leadership

By Finfacts Team
Jul 17, 2006, 11:00

The Trinity-IMI Graduate School of Management has announced
today that it is establishing a founding award for the
school. The award is to be dedicated in honour of the late
former Taoiseach Sean Lemass who was instrumental in the
establishment of the Irish Management Institute in 1952.

Sean Lemass, Irish Taoiseach 1959-1966

The award is to be called the Sean Lemass Gold Medal for
Business Leadership and the first presentation of the medal
will take place on July 26th at Trinity College Dublin.
The first recipient of the founding award is to be Dr John
Malone, Chairman of Liberty Global Corporation. He is the
founder and leading shareholder in a wide array of
international media interests and is a global player in the
cable industry. His ancestors are Irish. He will be
presented with the award by the Minister for Finance, Mr
Brian Cowen TD, who is also Deputy Leader of Fianna Fail.

Speaking on behalf of the Trinity-IMI Graduate School of
Management, Dr Tom McCarthy, Chief Executive of the IMI,
said: “We have decided to establish the Sean Lemass Gold
Medal for Business Leadership to honour Mr Lemass’s memory
and as the founding award of the Trinity-IMI Graduate
School of Management. Mr Lemass was instrumental in the
establishment of the Irish Management Institute and its
programmes have contributed to the development of the
leaders for an industrialised Ireland.

“The opening of the Irish economy to foreign direct
investment and the concept of social partnership have both
been major drivers of the success we are now enjoying. Mr
Lemass was the initiator of these processes. He was
globally recognised in the 1960s, featuring on the cover of
Time Magazine over 40 years ago this month.

Dr John Malone has been selected for the inaugural
presentation of the award for his significant business
achievements, his entrepreneurial skills and his Irish-
American roots, Dr McCarthy said. “His heritage reflects
the Irish-American span of the Trinity-IMI Graduate School,
especially given our link to Babson College in the US which
is the recognised leader in entrepreneurship education and
in the creation of entrepreneurs.”

One of the most successful entrepreneurs of Irish-American
extraction, Dr Malone features in Harvard Business School’s
Great American Business Leaders list. He is Chairman of
Liberty Global and Liberty Media Corporations, was Chairman
of TCI when it merged with AT&T, and serves on the boards
of the Bank of New York, the CATO Institute, Discovery
Communications, Expedia and the Nature Conservancy. He is
a graduate of Yale and Johns Hopkins and has been the
recipient of many awards and honours. His family
originated from Co Cork and emigrated, like many others, to
the US in the 19th Century. His business interests,
through Liberty Global, include UPC Ireland which has been
formed following his acquisition of NTL and Chorus and
which when its networks are upgraded involves an almost €1
billion investment by Mr Malone in the Republic.

The Trinity-IMI Graduate School of Management was launched
in October 2005 and brings together the IMI and TCD’s
School of Business. The School also has a strategic
partnership with Babson College in the US, a recognised
global leader in entrepreneurship education and an
internationally recognised business school. The Babson MBA
in Entrepreneurship is ranked number one in the world.

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0717/1202356607HM3STEEPLE.html

Steeple Of Landmark St George's Church Restored

Frank McDonald, Environment Editor
17/07/2006

After spending nearly a quarter of a century shrouded by
scaffolding, one of Dublin's most significant landmarks,
the triple-tiered steeple of St George's Church in
Hardwicke Place, has finally been revealed in all of its
glory.

The steeple, which is nearly as high as Liberty Hall, is
the only church spire which can be seen from O'Connell
Bridge. It is also the first landmark to greet visitors on
their way in to the city centre from Dublin airport.

The former church dates from 1814 and is acknowledged as
the masterpiece of Francis Johnston, architect of the GPO
in O'Connell Street and the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle.
It was deconsecrated in 1988 due to lack of patronage.

Its structure had been suffering from the same problem that
hit the Custom House. As a result of water penetration over
the years, the iron cramps holding its blocks of Portland
stone together had expanded, splitting the stone.

Four years ago, Dublin City Council issued a dangerous
buildings order requiring Galway-based Redgrove Properties
Ltd, which then owned St George's, to remove all the loose
stonework in its steeple and wrap it in wire mesh to
prevent any more falling off.


In December 2004, the property was acquired for a reported
€1.25 million by Navan-based property developer Eugene
O'Connor, who had already restored the former St Kienan's
Church in Duleek, Co Meath, as The Spire, a successful
restaurant. Saying he was committed to bringing St George's
back to life, Mr O'Connor's first task was to remove the
rusty scaffolding erected years earlier by Rainey; it had
been up for so long, with the firm's name on it, that it
became known as "the Rainey church".

Last August, an application was made to Dublin City Council
under Section 5 of the 2000 Planning Act seeking a
declaration of exemption from planning permission for the
repair and restoration of the stonework on the steeple and
its louvred windows.

This was granted last October and work started immediately,
under the supervision of conservation architect James
O'Connor. Consulting engineers Barrett Mahoney estimated
the cost of restoring the stonework would be in the region
of €1.5 million.

The city council made a contribution towards the cost from
its limited budget for conservation.

With this work now complete, the next phase will involve
urgent reslating to the main roof of the building, which
once housed the Temple Theatre. Previously, the building
was owned by actor Seán Simon, who purchased it from the
Church of Ireland in 1991.

Pieces of its ornate pulpit adorn Thomas Read's pub in
Parliament Street, while the church bells, mentioned in
Ulysses, now ring at Taney Church, Dundrum. The restoration
of its steeple was warmly welcomed yesterday by Dublin city
architect Jim Barrett. "It's great to get such an important
landmark back," he said.

© The Irish Times

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