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September 05, 2006

Power-Sharing Talks in Scotland Next Month

News About Ireland & The Irish

BN 09/05/06 Power-Sharing Talks In Scotland Next Month
SF 09/05/06 Sinn Fein Comment On Negotiations Proposal
IT 09/05/06 IMC To Publish Positive Report On IRA
SF 09/05/06 DUP Must Explain Party Link To Right Wing Neo Nazi Group
IH 09/05/06 Brits Review Of Catholic Recruitment To N Ireland Police
SF 09/05/06 Gerry Adams Press Conference In Jerusalem
SF 09/05/06 Gerry Adams Itinerary For Middle East Trip
SF 09/05/06 Unanimous Motion On Irish Unity At Waterford City Council
SF 09/05/06 Victory For 1916 Campaign - Cllr. Doolan
UT 09/05/06 Omagh Bomb Accused Face Trial
GU 09/05/06 Judge Awards $3M To Mob Victim Family
IT 09/06/06 Opin: Summer Has Thawed The Dialogue Of The Deaf
BT 09/05/06 Opin: Who Cares If Apathy Wins On November 24?
IT 09/06/06 Pest Discovered In Lough Conn Poses Threat To Fish Stocks
IT 09/06/06 Ireland Spared As Intel Cuts 10,500 Jobs
IT 09/06/06 Clare Dogs Beach Ban Has No Bite
TE 09/06/06 Clash Over Cash Looms At Venue Of 'Bloody Sunday'

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http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=194498058&p=y94498764

Power-Sharing Talks In Scotland Next Month

05/09/2006 - 18:37:42

The Irish and British governments will attempt to end
the political deadlock in the North next month with
intensive new talks in Scotland.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony
Blair will head up the negotiations involving all sides
in advance of the November 24 deadline that has been
set to reach a settlement.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain confirmed today that the
talks will take place at a location outside the North
and, although no venue has been chosen, it is 99%
certain Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley
and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams will be meeting
somewhere in Scotland in a bid to get the power-sharing
institutions in Belfast up and running again.

This will be the third time the parties have met for
intensive discussions in Britain since the signing of
the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998. Both previous
attempts ended in failure.

The first session was at Weston Park in the Midlands in
July 2001. The then Northern Secretary John Reid
suspended the Northern Assembly in October of the
following year amid allegations of an IRA spy ring
operating inside Stormont.

The parties met again at Leeds Castle near Maidstone,
Kent, in September 2004 but were still unable to agree.

The talks in Scotland are likely to begin some time
around the week beginning October 9, just days after
the International Monitoring Commission, the body set
up by the two governments to monitor the IRA and
loyalist paramilitary ceasefires, delivers its latest
assessment.

With four acts of IRA decommissioning and a declaration
by the Provisionals in July last year that their
campaign was definitely over, Dublin and London are
fairly confident, at this stage, there will be no
evidence in the next IMC report on paramilitary
activity, which could threaten to delay the
negotiations.

It will be critical, but some political
representatives, particularly on the Unionist side,
believe it could be early next year before a deal is
hammered out.

Mr Hain, however, insisted today that the governments
will not be going back on the November 24 deadline for
devolution. Salaries and other allowances for elected
representatives would stop if an agreement was not
reached, he warned.

At Stormont Castle, Mr Hain said: “The onus is
absolutely on the parties to make it work and make that
prize their own.

“Only the parties can travel the distance and complete
the journey. It is down to them.”

He added that the British government had done all it
could to build confidence and said the relatively
peaceful marching season had helped lay the groundwork
for a successful round of negotiations.

Mr Hain confirmed: “Critical negotiations will take
place outside of Northern Ireland. We need to
concentrate minds.

“I think it’s much better to get away from the day-to-
day issues and daily pressures that face all
politicians.

“This will be a working conference of intense
negotiations. This is not some kind of stately home
exercise for its own sake.”

Mr Hain said any agreement would herald a new era for
the North and urged politicians to grasp the
opportunity to move forward.

“I am not trying to bulldoze anybody into doing
anything that they don’t want to do.

“I believe it would be the people of Northern Ireland
who will have lost out (if power-sharing is not
restored) because democracy will have lost out.”

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http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/15805

Sinn Fein Comment On Negotiations Proposal

Published: 5 September, 2006

Commenting after the British Secretary of State Peter
Hain announced that the two governments planned an
intensive series of talks outside Ireland next month,
Sinn Féin MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Michelle
Gildernew said:

"Sinn Féin yesterday called on the two governments to
set out clearly a timetable for the restoration of the
political institutions governing the 12 week period up
to November 24th. A credible work plan is essential. A
two day negotiations session outside Ireland will only
be meaningful if it is part of such a planned approach.

"The only party opposed to the restoration of the
political institutions is the DUP. That needs to be the
focus of the two governments in the run up to their
November 24th deadline. Sinn Féín are ready and willing
to go back into a fully functioning Assembly and
Executive in the morning. The only blockage is anti-
Agreement stance of Ian Paisley and his party." ENDS

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0906/1156791421400.html

IMC To Publish Positive Report On IRA

Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor
06/09/2006

The Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) will today
confirm that the IRA is continuing to disavow
paramilitarism and criminality as the Northern parties
prepare for "hothouse" talks outside Ireland, most
likely at St Andrews in Scotland.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain yesterday confirmed that
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Tony
Blair will host intensive talks next month with the
parties at a location that is virtually certain to be
in Scotland. One senior source said that St Andrews
would be the venue.

The talks are scheduled for the second week in October
after the IMC on October 4th publishes what is expected
to be a positive report on IRA activity.

Mr Ahern and Mr Blair hope that the report will produce
further evidence that the IRA has moved away from
paramilitarism and criminality, and help coax the DUP
into sharing power with Sinn Féin.

An IMC report that is being published this afternoon on
normalisation of British army demilitarisation will
additionally confirm that the IRA is eschewing such
activity, one well-placed source said yesterday.

This report will mainly focus on demilitarisation, but
will make brief reference to the IMC's conviction that
the IRA poses no paramilitary threat and is meeting its
commitments of last year to end all activity, added the
source. Normalisation can only take place as long as
the IRA and other paramilitaries are perceived as no
major threat to such scaling down of the British army
presence.

The Ulster Unionist Party, the SDLP and the DUP have
expressed misgivings about holding political
negotiations outside the North citing the cost of such
talks, while Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness indicated
that his party was neutral on the matter. Similar talks
outside Northern Ireland were held at various critical
stages of the peace process, most notably at Weston
Park in Shropshire in 2001 and at Leeds Castle in Kent
in 2004.

Mr Hain said the outside venue was chosen in order to
"concentrate minds", adding: "I think it's much better
to get away from the day-to-day issues and diary
pressures that face all politicians and would face
people if they were in Stormont or at Hillsborough or
some other location suitable in Northern Ireland.

"This will be a working conference of intensive
negotiations. This is not some kind of stately home
exercise for its own sake; it's a very, very important
event."

Mr Hain said there was constructive engagement between
the parties, including Sinn Féin and the DUP, on the
Assembly programme for government committee during the
summer. DUP and other party sources said progress could
be made by the governments' November 24th deadline for
a deal, but that it might take until early next year to
finally establish whether a deal was possible.

However, Mr Hain said there could be "no question of
the deadline being extended" and that if there was not
agreement by then the Assembly would close and members
would lose their pay and allowances on November 24th.
"Look, Northern Ireland has had deadline after
deadline, after deadline, and for all sorts of good
reasons in the past they've been extended. This one
won't be.

"The shutters will come down at one minute past
midnight on November 24th, Stormont will be closed up,
salaries and allowances and all of that will
disappear," he insisted.

Urging politicians to do a deal he said he could not
"bulldoze" them into striking an accord. "Only the
parties can travel the distance and complete the
journey - it is down to them."

© The Irish Times

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http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/15789

DUP Must Explain Party Link To Right Wing Neo Nazi Group

Published: 5 September, 2006

Sinn Féin Assembly member for North Antrim Philip
McGuigan has demanded that the DUP give the public an
explanation for one of their recently formed 'Kick the
Pope' flute bands being listed to appear alongside a
right wing neo nazi organisation, the British Ulster
Alliance at a loyalist parade planned for the Whitewell
area of North Belfast.

Mr McGuigan said:

"Since the formation of two 'Kick the Pope' flute bands
bearing the DUP name and logo, one in South Down the
other in Upper Bann, the DUP leadership have
consistently refused to answer questions as to exactly
why a political party sees the need to sponsor such
organisations. Both bands have regularly appeared on
contentious parades across the six counties alongside
bands carrying UDA and UVF flags.

"Now it has emerged that the South Down DUP band is
listed to appear alongside an organisation called the
British Ulster Alliance at a loyalist parade in the
Whitewell area of North Belfast in the coming weeks.
This area has recently seen a marked increase in
sectarian attacks on Catholic homes including a recent
attempt to murder a 12 week old baby in an arson
attack.

"The British Ulster Alliance has been widely reported
in the media over recent years as being a right wing
neo nazi type grouping. The British Ulster Alliance
describe themselves as 'anti-Peace Process' and
comprised of 'loyalists, patriots and British
Nationalists'. The DUP leadership owe people an
explanation. If the DUP are serious about nationalists
and republicans entering into a power sharing
arrangement with them then they need to tell us what
are their links to right wing groupings like this and
what action they intend to take regarding their bands
appearance alongside right wing neo nazi
organisations." ENDS

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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/05/europe/EU_GEN_NIreland_Catholic_Cops.php

Britain Begins Review Of Catholic Recruitment To Northern Ireland Police

The Associated Press
Published: September 5, 2006

BELFAST, Northern Ireland Britain plans to keep
offering preferential treatment to Catholic recruits
for Northern Ireland's predominantly Protestant police
force, the government announced Tuesday.

Security Minister Paul Goggins said the government was
committed to transforming the Police Service of
Northern Ireland into a 30 percent Catholic
organization by 2011. That target was central to a
mammoth police reform plan drafted under terms of the
province's 1998 peace accord.

Goggins said Britain would canvass opinions from
Northern Ireland's political parties and other pressure
groups before deciding whether to renew the current
rule, which since 2001 has required at least 50 percent
of recruits to be Catholic. Protestant leaders are
demanding an end to this affirmative-action program,
calling it discriminatory and illegal.

While the government would not make a firm decision
until the consultation was completed Nov. 28, Goggins
said, "It is currently the government's intention to
renew these provisions so that the target of 30 percent
Catholic representation in (the police) will be met by
2010-11."

Protestants criticized Britain for appearing to have
made it up its mind before the consultation even began.
Catholics criticized Britain for suggesting that any
retreat from the so-called "50-50" rule could be
contemplated.

"There should be no doubt expressed or hinted at,
particularly by the British government, indicating that
50-50 is up for grabs," said Alex Attwood, a moderate
Catholic who sits on the Northern Ireland Policing
Board, a civilian panel that is overseeing the reforms.

In new statistics published Tuesday, Britain said the
Police Service of Northern Ireland on Aug. 20 had 7,556
officers. It said 20.28 percent of the officers were
Catholics, up from 8.23 percent in September 2001. It
said the force also had 1,770 support staff members, of
whom 19.15 percent were Catholic, up from 13.76 percent
in July 2002.

Control of the police and courts is a major issue in
ongoing negotiations to revive a Catholic-Protestant
administration in Northern Ireland. Britain has
governed Northern Ireland directly since October 2002,
when a previous power-sharing coalition collapsed amid
chronic tensions between Protestant leaders and Sinn
Fein, the Irish Republican Army-linked party.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland Britain plans to keep
offering preferential treatment to Catholic recruits
for Northern Ireland's predominantly Protestant police
force, the government announced Tuesday.

Security Minister Paul Goggins said the government was
committed to transforming the Police Service of
Northern Ireland into a 30 percent Catholic
organization by 2011. That target was central to a
mammoth police reform plan drafted under terms of the
province's 1998 peace accord.

Goggins said Britain would canvass opinions from
Northern Ireland's political parties and other pressure
groups before deciding whether to renew the current
rule, which since 2001 has required at least 50 percent
of recruits to be Catholic. Protestant leaders are
demanding an end to this affirmative-action program,
calling it discriminatory and illegal.

While the government would not make a firm decision
until the consultation was completed Nov. 28, Goggins
said, "It is currently the government's intention to
renew these provisions so that the target of 30 percent
Catholic representation in (the police) will be met by
2010-11."

Protestants criticized Britain for appearing to have
made it up its mind before the consultation even began.
Catholics criticized Britain for suggesting that any
retreat from the so-called "50-50" rule could be
contemplated.

"There should be no doubt expressed or hinted at,
particularly by the British government, indicating that
50-50 is up for grabs," said Alex Attwood, a moderate
Catholic who sits on the Northern Ireland Policing
Board, a civilian panel that is overseeing the reforms.

In new statistics published Tuesday, Britain said the
Police Service of Northern Ireland on Aug. 20 had 7,556
officers. It said 20.28 percent of the officers were
Catholics, up from 8.23 percent in September 2001. It
said the force also had 1,770 support staff members, of
whom 19.15 percent were Catholic, up from 13.76 percent
in July 2002.

Control of the police and courts is a major issue in
ongoing negotiations to revive a Catholic-Protestant
administration in Northern Ireland. Britain has
governed Northern Ireland directly since October 2002,
when a previous power-sharing coalition collapsed amid
chronic tensions between Protestant leaders and Sinn
Fein, the Irish Republican Army-linked party.

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

http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/15807

Gerry Adams Press Conference In Jerusalem

Published: 5 September, 2006

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams this evening held a
press conference in Jerusalem after his arrival on a
two day peace mission to the Middle East. Speaking to a
large group of assembled media Mr Adams said:

My name is Gerry Adams and I represent the Irish
Republican Party Sinn Féin. Our main objective is the
establishment of an all-Ireland Republic free from
British rule in a United Independent Ireland.

Sinn Féin are central players in the Irish peace
process. That process has yet to achieve its full
potential and there are many difficulties and
frustrations but huge progress has been made. Sinn
Féin's commitment and intention is to continue that
progress.

The purpose of this visit is very simple - to encourage
the search for a peaceful resolution to the Israeli -
Palestinian conflict. In our view it is imperative that
genuine negotiation and dialogue between the
representatives of the Palestinian and Israeli people
commences as quickly as possible.

We are here at the invitation of the Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas, and I want to thank President
Abbas and the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli
peace activists we are meeting later this evening for
the opportunity to speak to them.

It has been my intention to come here for some time.
Indeed there was a long standing invitation from Abu
Ammar President Arafat which I regret very much not
being able to take up while he was alive. Various
arrangements had to be cancelled because of the demands
of the process in Ireland or of the priorities here.
When President Arafat died I resolved that I would wait
no longer. It has taken from then to fulfil that
commitment and I am pleased to be here.

Let me tell you that Irish Republicans are very
concerned as are the vast majority of thinking people
about the suffering of people in this region.

Sinn Féin has no special magic formula to resolve the
problems here. But we do believe they can be resolved.
The Anglo-Irish conflict was once labelled as
intractable. Talk of peace and of peace processes was
dismissed as nonsense, as fantasy. But we proved the
pessimists and cynics wrong.

Irish republicans are internationalists. We take a
close interest in events outside of Ireland and we are
always willing to learn and to share our experience
with others seeking to build peaceful alternatives to
conflict. Political will and courage in seeking
peaceful alternatives to conflict is essential.

There is an enormous responsibility on political
leaders and especially on governments to find peaceful
alternatives. Governments have a responsibility to give
leadership which is hope and life giving. That is the
big challenge facing the Israeli government.

In my view the future security, strategic interests,
freedom and rights of the people of Israel are locked
into an acceptance, respect, recognition and defence by
Israel of the rights, freedom and prospects of the
people of Palestine. War is not the only option.

Building a political alternative, constructing a peace
process which can deal with the causes of a conflict,
and which can provide stability, justice and democracy,
is an option also and one which would have the support
of right thinking people world wide.

Of course the difficulties here are enormous. The
conflict affects every aspect of peoples daily lives in
Palestine and in Israel.

The hostile reaction of the Israeli government, of the
EU and of the United States to the election results
earlier this year have compounded these difficulties.
The withdrawal of financial support to the Palestinian
government and the increase in violence is entirely
counter productive.

What is required is inclusive dialogue based on
equality and parity of esteem. It is patently obvious
after decades of conflict that there can be no military
solution to what is essentially a political problem.

Irish republicans do not assume that what has worked in
Ireland is relevant to every other situation. But we
have learned that there are key principles which are
applicable in any process of conflict resolution. These
include;

Inclusive dialogue
Recognising democratic mandates
And upholding human rights

Of course, it is for citizens here to work out and
agree your own solutions. I appeal to all political
leaders to make a fresh effort to rebuild the peace
process.

All of us have to have an acceptance and openness
toward other cultures. The notion that western culture
or civilisation is better than any other is bogus. All
cultures can learn from each other and change
accordingly, peacefully and democratically. Suppression
is not the way.

The role of the International Community and United
Nations is crucial in all of this. So too is the role
of the US government. The US, as a strong ally of
Israel, has a key role to play.

In the Irish Peace Process the U.S. played a positive
and encouraging role, recognising all of the democratic
mandates of the participants, supporting dialogue, and
dealing with everyone on the basis of equality. I would
strongly urge a similar approach in respect of any
efforts to rebuild the peace process here.

What is clearly required is a comprehensive and
inclusive settlement. Such a settlement must be rooted
on the rights of the people of Palestine and the people
of Israel to live in mutual respect, security and
peaceful co-existence and co-operation. Israelis and
Palestinians have more to gain from peace than
continuing conflict." ENDS

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http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/15788

Gerry Adams Itinerary For Middle East Trip

Published: 5 September, 2006

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams this morning embarked
upon his trip to the Middle East. Mr Adams will arrive
in the Middle East this evening.

His schedule is as follows.

Tuesday 5th September

Arrive at Tel Aviv airport at 4pm local time.
7.30pm - Mr Adams will hold a press conference in the
American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem.
8.30pm - 10pm - Mr Adams will meet with members of the
'Palestinian - Israeli Peace NGO Forum' at the American
Colony Hotel.
----

Wednesday 6th September

10am - Mr Adams will arrive in Ramallah
10.15am - Visit the Negotiations Affairs HQ and from
there tour various sites in Ramallah
12.15pm - Mr Adams will arrive at the Presidential
Office
12.30pm - Mr Adams will lay a wreath at the grave of
former Palestinian President Arafat
1pm - Lunch with the Presidents Chief of Staff and
advisers
2pm - Meeting with parliamentarians at the Palestinian
Legislative Council
3.15pm - Visit to Ramallah Hospital, refugee camp and
Red Crescent HQ
5.45pm - Depart from Ramallah

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http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/15804

Unanimous Support For Motion On Irish Unity At Waterford City Council

Published: 5 September, 2006

Sinn Féin Waterford City Councillor David Cullinane
expressed his delight at the unanimous backing in
Waterford City Council for a motion in support of Irish
Unity. The motion called for the commissioning of a
Green Paper on Irish Unity. It also called for the
establishment of a dedicated Joint Committee of the
Oireachtais on Irish Unity and the appointment of a
Minister for state with responsibility for driving
forward strategies aimed at delivering a United
Ireland.

Cllr Cullinane said:

"I am delighted that all councillors present endorsed
this very important motion on Irish Unity. All
political parties which profess to be nationalist and
republican need to work together in planning and
driving forward strategies which can deliver on Irish
Unity. The commissioning of a Green Paper on Irish
Unity provides us all with the opportunity to identify
steps and measures which can promote and assist a
successful transition to a United Ireland. All parties
must rise to this challenge and a Joint Committee of
the Oireacthais on Irish Unity would be a welcome
start.

"I passionately believe that an Independent United
Ireland is the best way forward for all of the people
on this Island. The partition of Ireland has failed
everyone, republican and unionist alike. I am working
for the development of a new state and a new society
that all Irish people can share. A United Ireland must
deliver real social and economic change for its entire
people and bring about a more equal and just society.
The Good Friday Agreement needs to be implemented in
full and indeed expanded upon. I welcome the unanimous
endorsement of this motion which I believe accurately
reflects the views of the vast majority of people in
Waterford who desire to see a United Ireland." ENDS

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http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/15801

Victory For 1916 Campaign - Cllr. Doolan

Published: 5 September, 2006

Sinn Féin's Dublin Environment Spokesperson &
Representative for Dublin South East, Councillor Daithí
Doolan, has welcomed, "City Council's decision to list
14, 15, 16 & 17 Moore Street as a protected
structures."

Speaking at tonight's City Council meeting, Cllr.
Doolan said:

"I am delighted at tonight's decision. This is a clear
victory for all those who campaigned over the last 12
months to preserve these historical significant
buildings. We owe a debt of thanks to the Save 16 Moore
Street Campaign who continued worked so hard for
tonight's victory.''

Cllr. Doolan explains, 'in an age where we suffer from
rampant development it is very important to recognise
that we must never bury our history. The events that
took place during Easter week 1916 continue to shape
the politics of this island and indeed the relationship
between Ireland and Britain. The GPO, Moore Street &
Moore Lane all played a very significant part in 1916
and I hope that following tonight's decision we can now
proceed and develop a 1916 historic quarter in our
city. In this way we can ensure the events of 1916 will
never be forgotten. "

In conclusion Cllr. Doolan, called on, "the Minister
for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government
Reform, Dick Roche to designate these building as a
site of National Historic Significance and to make
funds available to restore these buildings."

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http://www.utvlive.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=76522&pt=n

Omagh Bomb Accused Face Trial

Relatives of the Omagh bomb victims are bracing
themselves for a harrowing new ordeal as the man
accused of Northern Ireland's worst single terrorist
atrocity goes on trial in Belfast.

Sean Hoey, 36, from south Armagh, is charged with the
murders of the 29 people killed in the no-warning bomb
attack on the Co Tyrone town. The victims included a
mother of unborn twins.

The case, among the biggest in British and Irish legal
history, could last for three months.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6060454,00.html

Judge Awards $3M To Mob Victim Family

Wednesday September 6, 2006 12:01 AM
By Denise Lavoie
Associated Press Writer

BOSTON (AP) - A federal judge awarded $3.1 million
Tuesday to the family of a man who was killed by
fugitive mobster James ``Whitey'' Bulger, ruling that
the federal government is liable for the man's death
because his identity was leaked to Bulger by a rogue
FBI agent.

The family of John McIntyre, 32, a fisherman from
Quincy, had sued the federal government for $50
million.

They alleged McIntyre was killed by Bulger in 1984
after FBI Agent John Connolly Jr. tipped him that
McIntyre had talked to U.S. Customs agents. The Customs
Service was investigating the involvement of Bulger and
Stephen ``The Rifleman'' Flemmi in a failed plan to
send guns to the Irish Republican Army aboard a
Gloucester fishing boat.

Connolly, who has not been charged criminally in
McIntyre's killing, was convicted of warning Bulger to
flee on the eve of his 1995 racketeering indictment and
is serving a 10-year sentence.

In June, Flemmi testified that McIntyre was killed
after Connolly told them one of the two people aboard
the fishing boat was cooperating with authorities. He
said McIntyre was lured to a party on Nov. 30, 1984,
then chained to a chair, interrogated, strangled and
shot in the head by Bulger.

In his ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Reginald
Lindsay found that Connolly was the ``proximate cause''
of McIntyre's death and that the federal government
should be held responsible.

Lindsay found that Connolly was motivated to leak
McIntyre's identity ``in part by greed and his
friendship with Flemmi and especially Bulger.'' He
cited testimony from Flemmi, who said he and Bulger
gave Connolly more than $200,000 in cash and gifts from
1981 through 1990.

Jeffrey Denner, an attorney who represented McIntyre's
mother, Emily, and brother, Christopher, in the
lawsuit, said the ruling is significant because it is
the first time a judge has found the government liable
in the death of someone killed by the Bulger gang.

Seventeen lawsuits have been filed against the
government by alleged Bulger victims. Ten have been
dismissed because they were filed too late. The
McIntyre case was the first one to make it to trial.

Gina Talamona, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department
in Washington, said the agency was reviewing the
decision and considering its options.

During the trial, an attorney for the Department of
Justice argued that the FBI had no way of stopping
Bulger and Flemmi, leaders of the notorious Winter Hill
Gang, from committing crimes. Both men were also FBI
informants. The government also said McIntire had
turned down an offer to be placed in a witness
protection program.

Flemmi is serving a life sentence for 10 killings as
part of a plea deal that spared him the death penalty.

Bulger is wanted in 19 murders and is on the FBI's ``10
Most Wanted'' list.

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/opinion/2006/0906/1156791420704.html

Opin: Summer Has Thawed The Dialogue Of The Deaf

06/09/2006

The tone in talks between Sinn Féin and the DUP changed
over the summer, writes Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor

As a general principle, power is the politician's
aphrodisiac. However, so far the opportunity for
Northern parties to actually run a country has not been
sufficiently stimulating for the DUP and Sinn Féin to
strike a deal. Yet it's not all discouraging, as the
summer has proved.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain, fresh from his holidays,
yesterday kicked off the latest stage of the long-
running attempt to persuade Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams
that they should do business together.

So, it's off to another big house across the water -
this time in Scotland - for all the parties in the
second week of next month, with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
and British prime minister Tony Blair playing hosts.

There are almost three months to the British and Irish
governments' deadline of November 24th to establish
whether the DUP could stomach being in power with Sinn
Féin. Whether a deal can be struck by then seems
doubtful, but while we might not be there by then, we
might be close.

On a basic human level it is clear that if devolution
is to be restored, the DUP and Sinn Féin must agree to
be at least semi-respectful to each other. And under
the radar there was some surprising engagement between
the two parties during the summer.

While Mr Hain and many of the rest of us were on our
summer break, the Assembly's Programme for Government
committee - with the main parties, including Alliance,
represented - met through June, July and August, and is
still meeting each working day.

And yes, there was real dialogue.

Consider this little exchange at the August 16th
meeting of the group. It was after Arlene Foster of the
DUP asked her colleague, Jim Wells, joint chairman of
the committee with Sinn Féin's Francie Molloy, whether
members must formally declare interests at every
meeting.

Jim Wells: "Only if it is a member's first appearance
at a meeting, and he or she is a member of the Policing
Board, a district policing partnership, MI5 or the
security forces."

Fred Cobain (Ulster Unionist Party): "Do not say that
or everyone will put their hand up."

Gerry Kelly (Sinn Féin): "Welcome to MI5."

Danny Kennedy (UUP): "You said that you would not say
that."

Jim Wells: "If you are being paid by the intelligence
services, you must declare it."

Peter Weir (DUP): "It is purely voluntary work."

Okay, it's not hilarious, but in that minor bantering
there is just a little sense of some common humanity
breaking through, a sense that when bitter opponents
talk to each other face to face it is impossible for
them to persistently act like automatons.

The Hansard for these debates is available by working
your way through the Northern Ireland Assembly website
(www.niassembly.gov.uk).

Comparing debates, say, for June and July with the
debates of August, the difference in tone is clearly
discernible.

In earlier discussions the main adversaries - Rev
William McCrea and Ian Paisley jnr for the DUP and Sinn
Féin's Martin McGuinness - are predictably nasty to
each other.

There's the usual stuff: about "Sinn Féin/IRA";
references to Mr McGuinness's claim that the DUP
alleged he was in MI5 to set him up for assassination;
jnr that Sinn Féin's chief negotiator is guilty of
slander; there's talk of why Mr McCrea stood shoulder
to shoulder with LVF leader Billy Wright in Portadown .
. . And so on.

You could write the script yourself. It is entertaining
if you enjoy or are unfamiliar with such rows but it is
what people in is what people in Northern Ireland have
been confronted with day after day on the airwaves, in
the Assembly when it sits, in the local newspapers, in
council chambers - all utterly repetitive, all equally
unproductive.

Yet if you fast forward through the weeks the the tone
gradually changes.

That is partly because during this period it seems that
Mssrs McGuinness, Paisley jnr and McCrea also took a
break, leaving the work to people who did not grate so
badly on each other.

Yet it is also partly because the mood genuinely
improved the more the parties spoke to each other on
the programme committee and its sub-group economy
committee.

It is crucial here not to exaggerate the level of
contact or to suggest some warmth of relationship
between the DUP and Sinn Féin.

It is also important to remember that DUP leader Ian
Paisley was not at the talks and appears to have been
out of the political loop during the summer.

In typically capricious fashion, he could return from
his vacation and scuttle progress to date with more
"sackcloth and ashes" references or ultimatums about
republican surrender.

SDLP member on the Programme for Government committee,
Seán Farren, who would have a reasonably neutral view
of proceedings, perhaps best reflected the progress
made during the summer.

"There is no doubting that Sinn Féin and the DUP have
moved beyond the dialogue of the deaf," he said. For
the first time we had sustained dialogue taking place
between all the parties in the same room, discussing
the same agendas.

It did not resolve anything but we all heard each
other's excuses, aspirations, criticisms and hopes for
the future."

Indeed, the committee did not agree anything. Yet it
discussed all the main issues, sometimes in detail:
creating a competitive economy, policing, how criminal
justice should be administered, ministerial
accountability. No one could argue that the DUP members
did not know their briefs, or did not fully participate
in the question-and-answer sessions, and the same with
the other parties.

While there was not much consensus, there was a certain
distilling of the issues, an identification of where
the main difficulties lay, focusing on the problems
that must be surmounted in Scotland.

All of this is important because it means that the
politicians will have shaped the Scottish agenda and
gone some distance in examining how key matters might
be resolved.

Yet no matter how successful the Scottish talks, there
will still be loose ends.

For example, it is virtually certain there will be no
Sinn Féin agreement on policing by then.

Yet there could be the makings of a deal by November
24th, a feeling that one last push in late winter or
early spring could compel Ian Paisley to forge a
historic agreement with Gerry Adams, with or without
the Assembly in cold storage.

© The Irish Times

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/opinion/story.jsp?story=705208

Opin: Who Cares If Apathy Wins On November 24?

By Barry White
05 September 2006

Just 80 days to go before the Big Deadline, when MLAs
must decide whether to retire from politics or take
another Trimble-like leap in the dark with Sinn Fein.
In fact, it's all down to the DUP. If they are prepared
to risk a battle a day - at least - between their first
minister and the Sinn Fein deputy (surely not Martin
McGuinness, if he is the only stumbling block?) the
rest will fall into line.

Everyone wonders if the institutions of the Good Friday
Agreement can ever be made to work, with no opposition
and no sense of Cabinet solidarity. It was hard enough
finding common ground between Trimble and Mallon and
Trimble and Durkan, never mind between Paisley and the
top Sinn Feiner.

But I think we all know that the DUP and Sinn Fein will
be the top parties indefinitely, so either they learn
to cope with each other or we're in for a period of
direct rule. (A change of Government would allow rules
to be re-written - just as Tony Blair did in 1997 - but
that's years away.)

So is it possible to turn back the clock to December
2004, when Ian Paisley was prepared to bite his tongue
and try to make a go of power-sharing, if the IRA were
to quit and decommission their weapons transparently?
We've been through a lot since then, including IRA
fund-raising, murder and then the well-publicised
ending of their 35-year campaign, but there's no
certainty that the public prefers Stormont democracy to
dictatorship from London.

Although Peter Hain has done his best to get a campaign
to oust him going, apathy still rules.

Unionists know that the price for capping their rate
bills is to have Sinn Fein running departments and
diluting their Britishness, so they're thinking about
it. Nationalists are eager for change, but ask them to
dilute their Irishness to make life easier for
unionists, and the answer is "no".

A nationalist columnist considered the earth-shattering
decision of St Brigid's to play the PSNI at Gaelic
football and didn't think it should be happening.

"It gives a premature stamp of approval to an
organisation over which more than one question mark
still hangs and for nationalists to keep on giving, as
they've been doing for almost 10 years, sends the wrong
message to unionism."

To unionism? The message was that dropping the GAA ban
against police members meant what it said, that sport
is sport and that old attitudes can change. It meant
that a team presumably consisting mostly of Catholics
and nationalists wasn't being penalised for the uniform
it wore on duty - and that young people needn't think
that the PSNI isn't theirs.

If hostility to the police still exists in sport, what
chance is there that by November 24 Sinn Fein will be
committed to joining the Policing Board and giving full
support to the police as soon as a Sinn Fein minister
is in place? For that is the least which unionists will
demand, if there is to be a deal on devolution.

Obviously the prospects aren't great, but things are
stirring on the loyalist paramilitary side which could
lead to a breakthrough. The retirement of the IRA, even
on paper, has led the UDA and UVF to question the
reason for their existence.

So don't rule anything out, as the deadline approaches
- and even a last-minute postponement must be a
possibility, though words would have to be eaten. There
is so much uncertainty around, concerning Tony Blair,
Peter Hain, MLA salaries, rates, loyalist
paramilitaries, joint stewardship, etc, etc, that it
would be foolish to consign devolution to an early
grave.

Failure would be touted, around the world, as failure
for the peace process and unionist-nationalist
reconciliation, though that would be a
misrepresentation.

It would be an interruption, signalling that there had
not been enough demographic change, yet, to let the two
sides see that the British and Irish identities must be
fully represented in a new dispensation.

Faced with such a proposition, the thinking DUP will be
working as hard as Sinn Fein to keep devolution alive.
They know the alternative is even less political power
and more all-Ireland co-operation.

Checkmate for rates

Take a minute or two at your computer to check why your
rates, under the new property value system, may be
doubling or trebling, and all is explained.

It's obvious that south Belfast householders are
suffering, because of the shopping explosion on the
Lisburn Road, and the north has escaped.

A medium-sized semi off the Lisburn Road, with no
garage, comes in at £350,000; a larger detached house,
with garage, off the Antrim Road, is valued at £90,000
less.

And if you click on the explanatory video, the man
responsible for it all gets as far as to say that the
assessments are "fair and accurate". "They reasonably
reflect," he adds, when the video runs out.

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0906/1156791421250.html

Marine Pest Discovered In Lough Conn Poses Threat To Fish Stocks

Tom Shiel in Castlebar
06/09/2006

The zebra mussel, a dreaded marine pest, has been
discovered for the first time on 14,000-acre Lough
Conn, Co Mayo, which is a prime salmon and trout
fishery.

Two young zebra mussels were found during a summer
monitoring programme on the lake carried out by the
North Western Regional Fisheries Board in conjunction
with Sligo Institute of Technology. Local anglers and
fishermen reacted with shock and dismay.

Zebra mussels multiply rapidly into dense clusters.
Fishery interests and ecologists are seriously
concerned by the discovery as infestation irrevocably
affects the ecology of a water body, with major long-
term implications for fish stocks.

They were first recorded in Ireland in 1993, when it is
believed they arrived on boats from England or The
Netherlands. They quickly spread throughout the Shannon
system and were discovered in recent years in Lough
Gill and Lough Arrow in Co Sligo.

Sightings of adult zebra mussels are expected on Lough
Conn next year, with a high population increase in
subsequent years.

The Lough Conn discovery has heightened concern about
the possible spread of the species to the Loughs Carra,
Mask and Corrib system, where a highly invasive weed,
lagarosiphon major, is already posing a threat to
fisheries on Lough Corrib.

Vincent Roche, chief executive of the North Western
Regional Fisheries Board, said the discovery in Lough
Conn highlighted the need for increased efforts by all
lake users to prevent the spread of zebra mussels.

He urged anglers, eel fishermen, jet-ski owners and
other lake users to comply with the guidelines which
have been put in place by the Western Region Zebra
Mussel Control Initiative to prevent the spread of the
species. He said the board would be reviewing its own
operations and putting measures in place to ensure
zebra mussels could not be spread to other water bodies
in the region by the board's boats and equipment.

Dr Francis Lucy, an expert in zebra mussels at Sligo
IT, said it was likely that the mussels were introduced
to the lake by a boat.

Zebra mussels are thumbnail-sized shellfish that
consume the plankton which small fish depend on. As
well as ecological damage, they create problems for
boat owners and can clog water pipes.

© The Irish Times

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2006/0906/1156791421551.html

Ireland Spared As Intel Cuts 10,500 Jobs

Denis Staunton in Washington, and Fiona Gartland in
Leixlip

06/09/2006

Intel's 5,500 strong Irish workforce will escape the
immediate impact of a massive restructuring that will
see the loss of 10,500 jobs worldwide, but the company
suggested yesterday that job cuts next year could
affect its Irish operations.

In a widely predicted announcement yesterday, Intel's
chief executive Paul Otellini said the world's biggest
microchip manufacturer would shed one-tenth of its
workforce within the next 12 months in an effort to
stem losses and regain market share. "These actions,
while difficult, are essential to Intel becoming a more
agile and efficient company, not just for this year or
the next, but for years to come," he said.

Most of job losses this year will affect management,
marketing and information technology functions, but the
company said that cuts in 2007 "will be more broadly
based as Intel improves labour efficiency in
manufacturing, improves equipment utilisation,
eliminates organisational redundancies, and improves
product design methods and processes".

Informed sources said last night that any job losses at
the Irish operation will be part of the second tranche
next year, but are unlikely to number more than 200.
The company is hopeful they could be achieved through
voluntary redundancies, said the source.

The company employs 5,500 people in Ireland, directly
or indirectly, at its plant in Leixlip and a further
150 at Intel Communications Europe in Shannon, Co
Clare. Yesterday's announcement follows a three-month,
internal review of Intel's operations, the most
sweeping reassessment the company has made since the
1980s. Intel has seen profits fall, as its smaller
rival, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), grabs a bigger
share of the microprocessor market.

Workers at the Intel plant in Leixlip were nonplussed
at the news, which had been well flagged. One worker
said there would be no shortage of volunteers if
redundancies were sought by the company.

"It is the lads in the States I feel for. They're very
worried," he said. "They don't have the employment
legislation to support them. Over there, they are told
to find another job within the company or else they are
out. They are not obliged to pay redundancy there."

Another worker who recently joined the company said he
was disappointed at the lack of detail in the webcast
from Mr Otellini which broke the news to staff in
Ireland and across the globe. "There are still a lot of
rumours going around," he said. "Basically, it seems
the further away from the core business you are, the
more likely you are to be affected."

Intel shares were up 11 cents to $19.99 on Wall Street
last night ahead of the announcement which came after
the market's official close.

© The Irish Times

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0906/1156791421254.html

Clare Dogs Beach Ban Has No Bite

Gordon Deegan
06/09/2006

Not a single fine was issued over the summer to people
flouting Clare County Council's new ban on dogs on the
county's beaches, it was confirmed yesterday.

The afternoon ban on dogs at beaches came to an end
last Friday and a council spokeswoman said that over
the three months it was in place, not one fine was
imposed on any individual walking a dog on the beach.
In the bylaws brought into force last June, those found
walking their dogs - even on a lead - on Clare's
beaches between 11am and 6pm faced on-the-spot fines of
€125, and fines of €1,270 if case went to court.

The spokeswoman did confirm that one fine was imposed
on an individual who brought a horse on to Lahinch
beach. "The emphasis in the first year of the beach
bylaws was on awareness rather than enforcement," she
said. Cllr Colm Wiley (FF) said yesterday: "The fact
that not one fine was imposed shows that the new laws
have not been enforced. The council has had no one
policing the ban on dogs."

© The Irish Times

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/09/06/soinvr06.xml&sSheet=/sport/2006/09/06/ixothspt.html

Clash Over Cash Looms At Venue Of 'Bloody Sunday'

By John Inverdale
(Filed: 06/09/2006)

A lot of you reading this may well be at Croke Park in
Dublin in the spring to see Ireland play England in the
Six Nations Championship. (The rebuilding of Lansdowne
Road is, it's safe to assume, in the very capable hands
of the many thousands of Polish builders who are
presently in the Irish capital.) The band will strike
up God Save the Queen and most of you will bellow "send
her victorious" with greater lung-power to mark a
historic sporting occasion, unaware perhaps that of all
the songs written, it's the most unlikely to be
performed at that particular arena.

Croke Park was the scene of Bloody Sunday in November
1920 when during a Dublin-Tipperary hurling match,
British police auxiliaries entered the stadium, and in
response to the deaths of several of their colleagues
earlier, fired shots which led to at least a dozen
people, among them Michael Hogan, the Tipperary
captain, losing their lives. As if that was not enough,
the ground's famous terracing is called Hill 16 having
been originally made from the rubble left after the
Easter Rising in 1916.

So while a lot of sports stadiums may boast of having
rich histories, Croke Park is different — it's not just
been part of Irish history, it's helped shape it.

Well, I went to Croke Park on Sunday for the All-
Ireland hurling final, and rest assured that those of
you who visit the ground for the first time next year
are in for a real treat. With the possible exception of
the Millennium Stadium, it will be the finest rugby
arena I've been to. And while Sunday was not about
rugby, it evoked memories of another age when 83,000
packed a stadium to watch players run themselves into
the ground, and receive precisely nothing in return.

Hurling is like no other sport, if for no other reason
than it goes back as far as 400 AD. And after watching
Sunday's final between Cork and Kilkenny, it comes as
no surprise to realise that it was banned during the
13th century for being too violent. You can be sure
they didn't have crash helmets in those days.

I couldn't even begin to explain the rules. All I can
tell you is that the fitness levels are extraordinary
and the skill levels greater, and it provides as good a
spectacle as you could hope. Which is why you suspect
that problems lie ahead for the Gaelic Athletic
Association.

Because 83,000 people paid probably not far short of €5
million (£3.4 million) to be at Croke Park on Sunday,
and the winning Kilkenny team went home as heroes to
have a few beers, party the night away and then return
to the day job on Monday as policeman, teacher, farmer,
sales rep and self-employed JCB operator. Does this
sound familiar?

The 83,000 who will watch Ireland play England will pay
a lot more, but the profit and loss account will read
rather differently. The O'Driscolls and Wilkinsons of
an altogether different sporting world are millionaires
in their own right, but their forefathers such as
Jeremy Guscott and Ollie Campbell will know exactly how
the men of Cork and Kilkenny will have felt at the
weekend. That's why rugby's levee had to break in the
end. The guys who provide all the entertainment
ultimately want some of the return.

And with the GAA finally opening the doors of their
home to professionalism, albeit by force of
circumstance, you wonder if it's only a matter of time
before one of the last bastions of amateur sport
finally gives in. The gaelic authorities are not
paupers. They bought Croke Park for a pittance nearly a
century ago and they've spent €260 million making it
the magnificent stadium it is now.

And by way of an example, take Kilkenny's Henry
Shefflin. I can't tell you much about him except that
he was beyond brilliant on Sunday. Think O'Driscoll at
his mesmeric best. However, Shefflin is sitting at his
desk today remembering the glory but concentrating on
the world of credit finance because that's the reality
of life for the best that hurling has to offer. But
will the next generation be so accommodating? If all
the big matches in Irish sport, whether with round or
oval ball, start heading for Croke Park, it can surely
only be a matter of time before someone takes a hurly
to the GAA and starts demanding a slice of the action.

www.telegraph.co.uk/inverdale

----
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