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October 24, 2006

O'Loan Fights For Total Access to MI5 Intelligence

News About Ireland & The Irish

BT 10/24/06 Ombudsman Fights For 'Total Access' To MI5 Intelligence
BB 10/24/06 Governments In 'St Andrews Talks'
BT 10/24/06 DUP Begins Internal Talks On St Andrews
BT 10/24/06 Archbishop In Talks With SF
BB 10/24/06 Former DUP Mayor Attacks Photographer
IN 10/24/06 CIRA Bid To Justify Firebombs Rubbished
IT 10/24/06 Man Shot In Tyrone Paramilitary-Style Attack
NH 10/24/06 US Denies RSF Leader Entry Visa
BT 10/24/06 Opin: Springing Out That Celtic Tiger Effect
NH 10/24/06 Opin: Changing Times Signals The End For Rhetoric
IN 10/24/06 Appeal To High Court To Block M3 Motorway Construction
IM 10/24/06 Academics To Protest M3 At Free Weekly Lecture Series
PC 10/24/06 Jennifer Aniston's Vaughn Crosses Divide In N Ireland
IZ 10/24/06 Cathie Ryan Band In Concert At All Souls Unitarian Church

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=711363

Ombudsman Fights For 'Total Access' To MI5 Intelligence

By Chris Thornton
24 October 2006

Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan has argued that her office
needs "total access" to any MI5 intelligence they need in
order to increase public confidence in the security forces.

Mrs O'Loan told a security conference in Stockholm that
such confidence "is the key in the fight against
terrorism".

But she said that there must also be "proper safeguards" to
protect that secret information from becoming public.

She made her speech as the debate around MI5's role in
Northern Ireland is being reopened by the St Andrews
Agreement.

The Government made unprecedented public promises about the
secret agency in the document, including commitments to
share all necessary intelligence with the PSNI when MI5
takes over control of anti-terrorism next year.

Those commitments are meant to address concerns that some
Patten reforms - like the creation of the Police
Ombudsman's office - could be undermined by once again
removing Special Branch-type activities from scrutiny.

Mrs O'Loan will be out of office by the time MI5 takes
over, but she has been involved in protracted negotiations
with MI5 about her successor's access to intelligence.

"My office must have total access to all necessary
information with the proper safeguards for that
information, some of which will be secret," she told the
conference.

"If I can look a member of the public in the face and say
that I am satisfied because I have seen the intelligence
that what was done was done properly, or, if I have had to
do, I come to the conclusion that those who are charged to
protect life and property failed in their duty and state
that fact, then people will have greater confidence.
Confidence is the key to the fight against terrorism.

"For the new systems to operate effectively to protect our
national interest, there must be proper accountability and
there must be trust between those who have the onerous
responsibility for national security, those who are to be
protected by the police and security services, and those
responsible for the oversight of the police and the
security services.

"Only then will there be the maximum capacity for effective
intelligence work."

In an annex to the St Andrew's Agreement, the Government
noted that Mrs O'Loan and MI5 "have been working together
to agree arrangements for the Ombudsman's access to
sensitive information held by the Service, where this
becomes necessary for the discharge of the Ombudsman's
statutory duties."

It added: "The Service has already disclosed sensitive
information to the Ombudsman's office in a number of
cases."

In the wake of St Andrews, the SDLP has been pushing for an
MI5 complaints mechanism - like the Ombudsman's office -
that can be used to investigate allegations against the
Security Service.

SDLP MLA Alex Attwood MLA said Mrs O'Loan's speech was "a
timely and constructive contribution".

He said: "It outlines the requirement for accountability
mechanisms for, as the Police Ombudsman puts it, 'when
things go wrong',"

He said Mrs O'Loan was calling "robust systems to protect
sensitive information" alongside the access to information.

"The SDLP endorse these requirements. They should have
concrete expression, particularly through a complaints
mechanism against MI5. Currently, anyone in any part of the
world who is under MI5 surveillance can lodge a complaint
against MI5. But anyone else cannot.

"This is intolerable. It cannot be justified. This must be
turned around. As part of the ongoing negotiation with the
British Government, this issue needs to be resolved."

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6079020.stm

Governments In 'St Andrews Talks'

Secretary of State Peter Hain is to meet the Irish Minister
of Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern in Dublin later.

They are likely to discuss the implementation of the St
Andrews Agreement.

They will also focus on resolving the row over a
ministerial pledge of support for the police.

Disagreements over the pledge led to the postponement of a
meeting between DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Fein
President Gerry Adams last week.

Meanwhile, Mr Adams is to address a party conference on
all-Ireland integration.

The party said it would be the first large republican
meeting since its internal consultation into the two
governments' St Andrews proposals began.

'Not ready to vote'

On Monday, the secretary of state said he remained
cautiously optimistic that problems surrounding the St
Andrews Agreement could be resolved.

Speaking in Belfast, Peter Hain said he was not worried
about the current Northern Ireland political situation.

He said the row over the DUP insistence that Sinn Fein
pledge support for the PSNI before electing first and
deputy first ministers was a glitch.

Mr Hain said anyone who wanted to turn a glitch into a
crisis had the ability to make that happen, but he did not
believe it would happen.

The DUP wants a pledge of support for policing in place
before DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Fein's Martin
McGuinness can become shadow first and deputy first
minister.

The St Andrews Agreement stated that before the government
legislated on the pledge of office, "it will consider the
outcome of further Preparation for Government Committee
discussions on policing and the rule of law".

The Northern Ireland parties have been given until 10
November to respond to what the governments are calling the
St Andrews Agreement.

It was published after intensive three-day talks between
the parties at St Andrews in Scotland.

If all goes to plan, a first and deputy first minister will
be nominated on 24 November and the devolved institutions
will be up and running by 26 March.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2006/10/24 05:15:10 GMT
© BBC MMVI

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=711378

DUP Begins Internal Talks On St Andrews

By Noel McAdam
24 October 2006

The DUP last night began its internal consultations over
the St Andrews' Agreement at a meeting of grassroots
members from the greater Belfast area.

The first in a series of party exercises was held at the La
Mon Hotel, near Comber, and lasted more than two hours.

Around 300 rank-and-file members were joined by Assembly
members and councillors, as well as leader Ian Paisley, his
deputy Peter Robinson and party officials.

East Belfast MP Mr Robinson opened the meeting with a
state-of-the-art audio visual presentation on the St
Andrews proposals and the party's position.

Then leader Mr Paisley addressed the gathering, for almost
half an hour, before taking questions from the audience.

The press and public were banned from what the party billed
as a "strictly private" event, with several more organised
across the province later this week. But a source said it
had been a "good and constructive" meeting which would help
the party towards a final decision on the proposals - due
by November 10.

The meeting was chaired by councillor Jimmy Spratt, in his
capacity as the Mayor of Castlereagh, who declined to make
any comment on the meeting.

Earlier, East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell said: "We in
the DUP are actively consulting throughout the wider
Unionist community on where we have got to thus far.

"While considerable progress has undoubtedly been made
there is much more work to do."

The party also hit back at Ulster Unionist criticism over
the St Andrews' proposal for an Irish language act.

North Antrim Assembly member Mervyn Storey said: "The
notion of an Irish Language Act is clearly a product of the
two governments and is not supported nor agreed by the
DUP."

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=711374

Archbishop In Talks With SF

By Alf McCreary
24 October 2006

The historic meeting between Archbishop Robin Eames and
Gerry Adams at Stormont yesterday was as significant in its
own way as the discussions between Archbishop Sean Brady
and DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley two weeks ago.

Both are symbolic of a further milestone on the painful
road of establishing more normal relationships between the
main church and political leaders on both sides, and they
represent advances which would not have been possible even
a few years ago.

Although both meetings were described by the participants
as being part of the normal round of consultations by
representatives of the province's main religious and social
groups, they inevitably represent historical encounters
which are part of the evolving peace process following the
Good Friday Agreement and the St Andrew's talks.

The decommissioning of arms by the Provisional IRA has been
a major factor in creating an atmosphere where politics can
play a greater role in settling major difference.

It was significant that much of yesterday's agenda at
Stormont was concerned with social justice issues including
education, the church's initiatives on child poverty, and
the review of public administration.

Other important issues discussed are those facing people on
all sides of the community - water charges, rates and
health issues, and the worrying rate of suicides in
Northern Ireland, particularly among young men.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6080578.stm

Former DUP Mayor Attacks Photographer

A former DUP mayor of Coleraine has attacked a press
photographer outside a courthouse in County Antrim.

Dessie Stewart admitted electoral fraud during the 2005
elections and is to be sentenced at Antrim Crown Court.

When Stewart arrived at the court he threw a punch at a
Press Association photographer.

BBC political correspondent Gareth Gordon was outside the
court and said Stewart attacked the photographer "without
warning".

"The photographer was able to turn his head and it
connected with the back of his head," he said.

He said there was some pushing and Stewart then went into
the court.

In September, Stewart admitted four counts of pretending to
be someone else in order to cast postal votes, and two of
fraudulently stopping free exercise of a proxy vote.

The case was adjourned then for pre-sentence reports.

The charges relate to the last general and local government
elections, which were held on the same day in May 2005.

A councillor since 1989, Stewart was re-elected to council
with 773 votes in The Skerries area which includes his home
town of Portrush.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2006/10/24 11:44:48 GMT
© BBC MMVI

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http://www.irishnews.com/

CIRA Bid To Justify Firebombs Rubbished

Exclusive
By Allison Morris

The Continuity IRA has claimed that a series of firebomb
attacks on B&Q warehouses were carried out because the DIY
re-tailer was supplying the military – but the company
immediately denied this.

A spokesperson for the paramilitary group, using a
recognised codeword, put forward for the first time a
motive for the attacks, claiming that B&Q sold “kitchen
worktops and flower bedding to the British army”.

However, the retailer said: “B&Q does not have contracts
with or sell directly to any of the armed forces.”

A leading union official described the attacks on people’s
jobs and livelihoods as “pathetic and cowardly”.

Until now mystery surrounded why dissident republicans were
actively targeting the multinational DIY suppliers.

There has been a series of in-cendiary attacks on stores
be-longing to the DIY giants since August. Until now the
firebombings were thought to have been carried out by the
Real IRA.

However, the Continuity IRA has now admitted responsibility
for all the recent attacks – thought to total five – on B&Q
superstores.

These include a hoax at a store in Derry last week and the
most recent attack on the DIY chain’s Boucher Road store in
south Bel-fast where a device was defused by British army
bomb disposal experts on October 16.

Sprinklers prevented the flames spreading after a store in
Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, was firebombed. Staff had been
working inside when the device exploded.

Damage was also caused to outlets in Coleraine, Co Derry,
and Newry, Co Down, recently when incendiaries hidden among
wood supplies went off.

The Continuity IRA threatened to escalate its campaign in
the run-up to Christmas and claimed B&Q was a “legitimate
target”.

Police have urged anyone who finds a suspicious object not
to touch it or examine it but instead to contact them
immediately.

Peter Bunting of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions
yesterday condemned the attacks, saying the people
responsible were “no-thing but cowards” with no support in
the community.

“B&Q give work to a lot of people in Northern Ireland and
the people responsible for these att-acks have no mandate
from anyone,” he said.

“To firebomb stores and lose working-class people their
jobs while claiming to have some sort of republican
socialist beliefs is just ludicrous.

“I would utterly condemn this ridiculous strategy.

“These people have no support, no mandate and no political
objective.

“They are cowards who are acting with no public support.

“I suspect the people we are dealing with here are not the
brightest and that is an overriding factor in following a
pathetic and cowardly strategy such as this.”

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2006/1024/breaking14.htm

Man Shot In Tyrone Paramilitary-Style Attack

Last updated: 24-10-06, 08:04

A man is recovering in hospital today after being shot in
what appeared to be a paramilitary-style attack in Co
Tyrone.

The man (31) was shot in a leg late last night in the
Springhill Park area of Strabane. His condition is not
thought to be serious.

Police said there has been a resurgence in the number of
such shootings in recent weeks, with a number of attacks in
republican and loyalist areas across the North.

© 2006 ireland.com

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http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2006/oct23_OBradaigh_denied_visa.php

US Denies RSF Leader Entry Visa

(Catherine Morrison, Irish News)

Republican Sinn Féin President Ruairi O Bradaigh has been
refused a visa to enter the US. The former head of Sinn
Féin said he had been planning to visit New York for a book
launch but was denied a visa by the administration over
terrorism fears.

Mr O Bradaigh – a key figure in republican politics since
the 1950s – is the subject of a new biography by an
American university professor.

Dr Robert W White's 350-page work on the life of Mr O
Bradaigh is already on sale in Ireland and was to be
launched at the weekend in New York.

"The proposed weekend visit to New York was intended solely
for the book launch, surely a political act which has now
been suppressed by the US Department of State,'' a
spokesman for RSF said.

Mr O Bradaigh is believed to be the only person who has
served as chief of staff of the IRA, as president of the
political party Sinn Féin and to have been elected – as an
abstentionist in the 1950s – to the Dail.

He took part in the Feakle talks in Co Clare involving the
IRA leadership and Protestant churchmen in 1974.

In 1983 he was succeeded as president of Sinn Féin by Gerry
Adams and when the party ended its policy of abstention
from the Dail in 1986, he led a walk-out to form Republican
Sinn Féin.

The move comes after two high-profile Sinn Féin
representatives were refused visas to travel to the US to
attend a Hunger Strike commemoration.

Conor Murphy MP and assembly member Barry McElduff had been
due to travel to Boston for meetings and take part in a
number of events.

However, they were forced to cancel the trip because the US
administration did not process their visa applications in
time.

In 2004, the US State Department announced it was adding
the Continuity Army Council, as well as Republican Sinn
Féin, to its list of foreign illegal organisations.

Under American law, this makes it illegal for persons in
the US or subject to US jurisdiction to knowingly provide
material support to any of the three groups and requires
financial institutions in the US to block the groups'
assets.

It also allows the US to deny visas to representatives and
members of the groups.

However, Mr O Bradaigh has strongly denied that his party
is effectively the political wing of the Continuity IRA.

The book, entitled Ruairi O Bradaigh: the Life and Politics
of an Irish Revolutionary is by Robert W White, Dean of the
Indiana University School of Liberal Art, and published by
Indiana University Press.

October 24, 2006
________________

This article appeared first in the October 23, 2006 edition
of the Irish News.

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/opinion/story.jsp?story=711332

Opin: Springing Out That Celtic Tiger Effect

24 October 2006

With the St Andrews Agreement deadlines of November 10 and
24 looming, the size and scope of the economic peace
dividend are coming under intense scrutiny. Although the
Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, refused to confirm reports that
the Republic is to spend €1b £700m) on north-south projects
between 2007-13, plans are already afoot and the Agreement
commits both the British and Irish governments to
establishing the most favourable possible climate for
devolution.

Cynics will say that the consent of the parties to sharing
power is being bought at a cost to the taxpayers, but
making sure that the executive gets off to a financially-
sound start is plain common sense. One of the many causes
of the failure of the last experiment in devolution was
that the public saw little tangible sign of economic
benefit, in terms of cross-border co-operation or re-
distribution of funds no longer needed for security
purposes.

This time both Gordon Brown and Irish Finance Minister
Brian Cowen, have been involved in the pre-Agreement
negotiations, showing proper regard for the need to re-
build the Northern Ireland economy, after 35 years of
neglect. Last year, there was an announcement of joint
government investment of €15m, but this will be far
surpassed in the Republic's forthcoming National
Development Plan, which covers the spending of €100b on
infrastructure projects, including what has been described
as "a significant cross-border element".

Fortunately the Irish Foreign Minister, Dermot Ahern,
represents a border constituency, so he is well aware of
the need for closer economic links between Belfast and
Dublin. His pledge that "the Republic will not be found
wanting when it comes to providing exchequer funding" will
long be remembered, as the bargaining begins between the
British, Irish and hopefully the Stormont governments, over
the cost of new, shared, infrastructure projects.

If the Press reports are correct, plans are well advanced
in Dublin for more than €1b to be spent on motorways,
electricity links and healthcare provision, all of which
will have benefits for Northern Ireland. The detail has yet
to be worked out - and the power-sharing executive must
have its say - but there should be no controversy about
funding for upgrading the Londonderry-Aughnacloy road, two
new electricity inter-connectors and shared hospital
services.

While London has rejected pleas for a reduction in fuel
duties, to eliminate the north-south gap, even the
Taoiseach has joined the growing pleas for a common 12.5%
corporation tax, arguing that "it would make a lot of
sense". Despite all the objections against creating
differentials in the UK and EU, it remains the most
effective means of spreading the Celtic tiger effect and
eliminating our over-dependence on the British exchequer.

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http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2006/oct23_changing_times_end_for_rhetoric__RGarland.php

Opin: Changing Times Signals The End For Rhetoric

(Irish News)

Many are tired of the twists and turns of the peace process
but I can also detect a seething anger among many
unionists.

Their anger is directed at Ian Paisley for contemplating a
deal with republicans that is no better and possibly worse
than the original agreement.

This, after a lifetime of protest against conciliation and
peace making, protests which many unionists believe were
little more than a tactic to gain power and achieve
personal triumph.

Paisley should take note of the anger because it could
easily become an avalanche as people turn against him and
his supporters. Previously he damned everyone who sought to
make peace as traitors and Lundys. O'Neill had to go,
Chichester Clark had to go, Brian Faulkner, Jim Molyneaux
the Judas and David Trimble all had to go.

They went their different ways but Paisley remains and the
prospect of gaining power seems to have given him a new
lease of life. But rather than repent in sackcloth and
ashes for the damage inflicted he claims victory over the
UUP.

Some years ago I discovered that the supposed traitor
Robert Lundy of 1688 fame was demonised for doing exactly
what his accusers were doing – trying to come to terms with
the enemy. Lundy was therefore a scapegoat in the truest
sense, damned for doing precisely what his accusers were
doing. O'Neill was similarly condemned by Brian Faulkner
for his tentative and minimal concessions to nationalists
but Faulkner went on to share power with the SDLP.

In 1998 from inside the building where the Good Friday deal
was done I observed Paisley wandering about outside the
building and protesting with a small crowd of followers.
The whole place had been blockaded as Paisley tried to hype
up fears. As I watched from an upstairs window I became
convinced that at some level Paisley wanted to be inside
but had been upstaged by Trimble.

It seemed he was deeply jealous of the latter's success.

He was also being hounded by a small number of loyalist
protesters incensed that the man who resisted change for 40
years was now trying to damage possibilities of peace.

Paisley knows the deep antipathies that lie within hearts
and minds and once he could draw out the fears with his
rhetoric. This ability was a powerful weapon to be drawn
upon to inflict fatal damage on potential deal-makers.

But notwithstanding his reversion to type in his Twelfth
speech, he is now being decommissioned.

Rather than closing gates Paisley is now throwing them wide
open to engage directly with the leadership of the Catholic
Church and eventually with Sinn Féin.

He stands naked and exposed and his only excuse is that IRA
weapons have been decommissioned and the IRA will support
the police.

But the DUP insisted that decommissioning had to be
transparent and that the police service was already
destroyed under Patten. They demanded pictures of
decommissioning as evidence alongside the wearing of
sackcloth and ashes rather than the traditional green. It
hasn't happened and Paisley is now an emperor without
clothes.

One aspect of Paisley's Agreement in particular is raising
unionist hackles. This is the section on promoting of the
Irish language. Annex B states "The Government will
introduce an Irish Language Act reflecting on the
experience of Wales and Ireland and work with the incoming
Executive to enhance and protect the development of the
Irish language".

The Good Friday Agreement did the same but only "where
appropriate and where people so desire it".

Now some unionists are worried that their children will
have to learn Irish and that their businesses will be
forced to produce everything in Irish as well as English.

They feel that a door has been opened a door to the further
greening of Ulster.

But the ultimate prize is a better Northern Ireland at
peace with itself and with our neighbours. Paisleyism has
little choice but to follow through and while legitimate
concerns exist about dividing the spoils between the
biggest parties, this is but one step along the road
towards a better normal society.

We with the generations that follow will face the task of
moulding and shaping a new Northern Ireland in ways that
can better meet human and environmental needs.

Hopefully we will never again countenance violence as a
means of solving human problems or be taken in by the
rhetoric of demigods.

October 24, 2006
________________

This article appeared first in the October 23, 2006 edition
of the Irish News.

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http://www.irishnews.com/

Campaigners To Return To High Court To Block Controversial M3 Motorway Construction

By Staff Reporter

The M3 motorway in the Republic could be delayed again by
further legal action, it emerged last night.

At least two campaigners are to return to the High Court in
a bid to block the project going ahead through the historic
Hill of Tara in Co Meath.

Protester Vincent Salafia said that “at least two” people –
whom he declined to identify – plan to mount a fresh legal
challenge soon.

Speaking before a talk at NUI Maynooth last night, Mr
Salafia said there were a number of potential areas of
future litigation against the government.

The law student dropped his long-running Supreme Court case
against the project earlier this month on condition he
would not have to pay an estimated e600,000 (£415,000)
costs incurred in a preceding High Court appeal.

“The remains of at least two national monuments have been
found in the area of the motorway in recent times,” he
said.

“European law is also being studied to bring it to bear on
the side of campaigners.”

Mr Salafia also claimed that the National Road Authority
plans to hold the public consultation for the tolling of
the M3 after they sign the Public Private Partnership
contract with the tolling consortium.

Meanwhile, independent candidate for next year’s Seanad
elections, businessman Martin Hogan signalled that the Tara
project

will be a key campaigning issue for him.

The Tara Watch group aims to canvass all Dail TDs on their
stance on the subject in coming months.

“Environmental campaigns such as these highlight the need
to involve people in decisions that affect their lives and
the need to move away from corrupt and incompetent
government in Ireland once and for all,” Mr Hogan said.

Mr Salafia’s talk at NUI Maynooth, entitled ‘The
Inconvenient Truth About the M3 Motorway’ was inspired by
the recently-released film on the environment by former US
vice-president Al Gore.

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http://www.indymedia.ie/article/79242

Leading Academics To Protest M3 At Free Weekly Lecture Series

Dublin History And Heritage News Report
Tuesday October 24, 2006 09:47
By Admin - Tarawatch Info At Tarawatch Dot Org

Series to begin this Saturday 28th October

TaraWatch is pleased to announce that the Tara Lecture
Series at the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
(RSAI) will commence on Saturday 28th October.

All lecturers are opposed to the current route of the M3

The proceedings of the lecture series will be collected
into a published volume, which will be co-edited by the
Irish Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Professor Paul Muldoon
of Priceton University, whose anti-M3 poem was published in
the Irish Times earlier this year (below).

Lectures will be held weekly in the Helen Roe Lecture
Theatre of RSAI, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 at 12.00pm
every Saturday. Admission is free.

28th October: “The kingship of Tara—Pagan and Christian:
The International context”

- Mr Charles Doherty, School of Early Irish History and
Archives, University College Dublin.

Abstract: "The importance of Tara is not just local or
national — it is international. The type of kingship that
is associated with Tara is found in many societies
throughout the world. Thus a study of Tara has an important
contribution to make to world studies on kingship. The
kingship of Tara is exceptionally ancient and early Irish
sources contain archaic elements that throw much light upon
this subject. This lecture will place Tara within the
context of kingship as found in archaic societies in other
parts of the world. The impact of Christianity upon this
pagan institution will be examined. The archaeological
evidence will be discussed in the light of the documentary
sources."

4th November: “The Four Masters conception of the High
Kingship and use of Tara as a semi-legendary prop of
nationalism”

- Dr Joseph Flavin, Dept. of Old and Modern Irish,
University College Cork.

11th November: “Tara and the rebellion of 1641

- Dr. Tadhg Ó hAnnracháin, School of History and Archives,
University College Dublin.

* Other lecturers will include:

- Dr. Liam Leonard, Geography Department, NUI Galway author
of the recently published Green Nation: the Irish
Environmental Movement from Carnsore Point to the Rossport
5

- Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, Folklore Department, University College
Dublin

RSAI was founded in 1849 in Kilkenny ‘to preserve, examine
and illustrate all ancient monuments and memorials of the
arts, manners and customs of the past, as connected with
the antiquities, language, literature and history of
Ireland.’ They were very active around the early 1900's in
stopping the British Israelites from digging up the Hill of
Tara in search of the Ark of the Covenant

For more information please see http://www.rsai.ie/
http://www.tarawatch.org/

Contact Vincent Salafia 087-132-3365 info@tarawatch.org
==

TARA OF THE KINGS

by Professor Paul Muldoon, Princeton University

(The Irish Times on Saturday Sat Jun 24, 2006)

WE MET AT THE SUMMER SOLSTICE
WHEN EVERYTHING STOOD STILL
HER SLOPING AWAY LIKE ISEULT
LEFT ME OVER THE HILL

I RAISED THE CHAMBER IN THE MOUND
THE OAK-FRINGED SACRED SPRING
THAT FEEDS THE STREAMS THAT RUN AROUND
TARA OF THE KINGS

SHE WAS THROUGH WITH CARBON DATING
STAKEHOLDERS WITH NO HAIR
SHE WAS THROUGH WITH MONSTER MEETINGS
IN FLATS OFF PARNELL SQUARE
SHE WAS THROUGH WITH CROWNED AND UNCROWNED
YEW TREES WITH COUNTLESS RINGS
THE DITCH THAT USED TO RUN AROUND

TARA OF THE KINGS
COULD WE WHO ENDURED THE PENAL
AND EDWARD POYNING’S LAWS
(NEVER MIND THE BEEF TRIBUNAL)
NOW SOMEHOW BE IN AWE
OF A ROAD RUNNING THROUGH THE GROUND
ON WHICH STOOD OUR ALTHING
AND NOT ENSURE IT RUN AROUND
TARA OF THE KINGS?

WE KNOW THE STONE OF DESTINY
WAS SET UP IN THIS SOIL
NOW THE SOLDIERS OF DESTINY
ARE SET TO BANK THE SPOILS
AND LEST THEY WISH TO BE RENOWNED
FOR RAPE AND RAVISHING
THEY’LL NOT GIVE US THE RUNAROUND
ON TARA OF THE KINGS

WE’RE FATED TO BE REMEMBERED
AS SPOILERS OF THE DEAD
AND THOUGH WE SEEM QUITE UNHAMPERED
BY HONOUR OR BY DREAD
YET WE ARE DREAD- AND HONOUR-BOUND
TO OUR UNBORN OFFSPRING
TO ENSURE THE M3 RUN AROUND
TARA OF THE KINGS

Related Link: http://www.tarawatch.org/

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

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_21245862.shtml

Jennifer Aniston's Vaughn Crosses The Divide In Northern Ireland

By Staff
Oct 24, 2006

Jennifer Aniston's "friend" Vince Vaughn crossed a
centuries old divide when he interviewed opposing
politicians in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as he filmed a
documentary about the city's murals.

'The Break-Up' actor met republican Sinn Fein president
Gerry Adams in west Belfast before meeting with loyalist
leader David Ervine in the east of the Northern Irish
capital last week (ends22Oct06).

Belfast is a city split between Catholic republicans who
want Northern Ireland to be unified with the Republic Of
Ireland, and Protestants who are determined to remain part
of the Britain Isles.

Continue reading this article below

Both sides painted giant murals to convey political
messages and to honour their heroes during the violent
struggles which lasted for three decades until a ceasefire
was agreed in 1997. But new murals focus on bringing the
divided city closer together.

Ervine says, "He (Vaughn) was taking a break from shooting
a film in London with Kevin Spacey to do this documentary
and came over for this weekend. There's no question he's
genuinely interested in the subject.

"He was telling me his interest was sparked on a previous
visit when he took a black taxi tour from the Europa Hotel.
He knew nothing about the murals before that trip.

"We did a spot of filming in Dee Street around a mural
depicting people coming to the shipyards. I was explaining
to him that years ago we would not have a mural like this
because it would all have been about politics and our
divisions.

"I told him that, for me, the mural was the epitome of the
change process that is going on in Northern Ireland. The
murals are changing." (c) WENN

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

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/18537/

Cathie Ryan Band In Concert At All Souls Unitarian Church

Posted Sunday, October 22, 2006 :: Mike Dugger

Irish American Cathie Ryan, with her crystalline vocals and
insightful songwriting, is an original and distinctive
voice in Celtic music.

Kansas City, Mo. - infoZine - Since her acclaimed seven
year tenure as lead singer of Cherish the Ladies, the
Detroit born Ryan has established herself as one of Celtic
Music's most popular and enduring singer-songwriters. The
Boston Globe recently wrote, "Cathie Ryan is a thrilling
traditional vocalist whose honey-pure soprano is equally at
home on probing original ballads about a woman's place in
the modern world."

Thursday, November 9th, 2006

All Souls Unitarian Church 4501 Walnut, KCMO

Tickets are $17.00 for MVFS members, $18.00 for Irish
Museum and Cultural Center members w/postcard $20.00
General Public

Sarah Milonovich- Fiddle, Flute, Whistles, Mandolin and
Backing Vocals

Sara has been playing the violin since she was four years
old. She joined The Adirondack Fiddlers at age seven, and
at age twelve released her first cassette of traditional
fiddle tunes, Traditionally, Sara. She has performed with
various classical ensembles throughout New York State,
including the Empire State Youth and Repertory Orchestras,
several string quartets, and with members of the Albany,
Glens Falls, and Schenectady Symphonies. In 1998 she
released the CD Mrs. Ippy Fiddle, which was a nominated
semifinalist for the 1999 Grammy awards.

Greg Anderson- Guitar, Bouzouki, Backing Vocals

Greg Anderson is one of folk music's most respected multi-
instrumentalists. He has long been a mainstay in the New
York Irish music scene, and has been the musical director
of the Cathie Ryan Band for 8 years. He plays guitar,
bouzouki, cittern, tenor guitar, bass, and keyboards, as
well as providing backing vocals. Greg has played with some
of Irish music's best loved performers, including James
Keane, Tommy Sands, John Whelan, Susan McKeown, and Sean
Tyrell, as well as artists as diverse as The Klezmatics,
Itzhak Perlman, L. Shankar, and the avant-rock group Doctor
Nerve. He also co-founded the NYC Celtic-fusion band
Whirligig.

----
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