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November 19, 2006

Frank Durkan, Defender of Irish Nationalists, RIP

News About Ireland & The Irish

IH 11/19/06 Obit: Frank Durkan, Defender Of Irish Nationalists
IA ??/??/?? Friends Celebrate Durkan Landmark
BN 11/19/06 Sinn Fein Calls For Commissioner Of Victims Inquiry
SL 11/19/06 Paisley Says No To Stormont Meeting
BB 11/19/06 Parties 'Must Decide Ministers'
IT 11/19/06 No Reason For St Andrews Agreement To Fail - Ahern
SL 11/19/06 Talkin' Bout Devolution
SL 11/19/06 'Let's Consign Direct Rule To The Dustbin'
SL 11/19/06 Brian Rowan: 'D' For Disaffected
SL 11/19/06 MPs Set To Discuss UVF Threat To Journalist
SL 11/19/06 Council Should Be Ashamed Over UVF Wreath
SL 11/19/06 (Slab) Murphy's Flaw!
BN 11/19/06 FG: One In 20 Patients Picks Up Hospital Bug
TE 11/19/06 Flatley `On The Mend'

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http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/19/news/obits.php

Frank Durkan, Fierce Defender Of Irish Nationalists, 76

Obituary

By Douglas Martin / The New York TimesPublished: November
19, 2006

Frank Durkan, who as a lawyer, writer and political
spokesman carved out a reputation as a fierce and clever
defender of Irish nationalists, died Thursday in Greenwich,
Connecticut. He was 76.

The cause was complications of a lung infection, his cousin
Brian O'Dwyer said.

Durkan hopscotched among U.S. courtrooms, fighting
tenaciously for the interests and rights of Irish-Americans
who came into conflict with the law because of their
involvement in the tangled politics of Northern Ireland.

One of his famous clients was George Harrison, the Irish
Republican Army's main gunrunner in the United States for
many years. During Harrison's trial in 1982, the prosecutor
accused him of having run guns for the previous six months.

Durkan rose to tell the judge that his client was deeply
insulted, and said, "Mr. Harrison has been running guns for
the last 25 years at least."

The lawyer was able to convince the jury that the CIA was
behind the scheme, despite repeated denials by the CIA
during the trial.

Harrison and his four co-defendants, who had been caught
with about 50 machine guns and other weapons, were found
not guilty.

Durkan accomplished this legal legerdemain by eliciting the
testimony of Ramsey Clark, the former U.S. attorney
general, who said that the CIA routinely denied involvement
in activities they wanted to cover up. Durkan then
persuaded the jury that the agency's denial in fact
represented affirmation.

In the 1981 case of Desmond Mackin, whom Britain wanted
extradited to stand trial on charges of shooting one of its
soldiers, Durkan succeeded by convincing a magistrate that
the shooting was a political act. Because the extradition
treaty between the United States and Britain had a
political-exemption provision, Mackin was not extradited.

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http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irishinamerica/news/friendscelebratedurkan.asp

Friends Celebrate Durkan Landmark

By Kelly Fincham

IT was standing room only at Harbour Lights restaurant at
South Street Seaport on Monday night as the law firm
O'Dwyer and Bernstien hosted an event to honor Frank Durkan
for his 50th anniversary of being called to the bar.

Father Colm Campbell of the Irish Center in Long Island
City gave the blessing and described Co. Mayo native Durkan
as a "wonderful gift" to the Irish American community, and
that "only God could know how much Frank has done in the
service of others."

Attorney Brian O'Dwyer revealed that the law firm had
looked long and hard for a fitting way in which to honor
Durkan, even considering endowing a new training facility
for the Mayo football team.

However, he said, they finally settled on endowing a
fellowship in human rights at the City University of New
York's Law School, "as it would probably do a lot more good
than any training facility for Mayo! That would be throwing
good money after bad!" O'Dwyer laughed.

O'Dwyer also read out congratulation messages from New York
Senator Hillary Clinton, which came in the form of a Senate
resolution, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "That's the great
maturity of Frank Durkan," said O'Dwyer. "Even the
Republicans like him!"

O'Dwyer described some of Durkan's greatest successes,
including the Fort Worth Five case, who were jailed for
contempt in Texas for refusing to cooperate with a grand
jury investigating an alleged gun-running operation between
Mexico and Ireland. The five were released by order of
Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, who determined
that the U.S. government was illegally eavesdropping on
telephone conversations between Durkan and his clients.

Durkan also led the defense of Desmond Mackin, who defeated
Britain's extradition request in 1981, and he gained
international headlines in his successful defense of George
Harrison, one of the Brooklyn Five, in 1982.

In his then-Newsday column last October headlined "Singular
Irishman Bids Farewell to the World," Jimmy Breslin related
the following tale involving Durkan's defense of the
activist George Harrison, who died last year.

Harrison had been accused of running guns and, as the case
proceeded in federal court in Brooklyn, the prosecutor told
the jury that Harrison had been running guns out of this
city for the last six months.

Harrison was outraged. His lawyer, Durkan, rose and told
the judge, "Your honor, the prosecutor has just charged my
client with running guns for six months. My client is
deeply insulted. Mr. Harrison has been running guns for the
last 25 years at least." Harrison was acquitted.

Towards the end of the evening Durkan took the microphone
to great laughter when he said: "With all these cracks
about the Mayo team, this partnership's about to dissolve!"

He paid tribute to the late Paul O'Dwyer for his
indefatigable approach to life, and also to Oscar
Bernstien, O'Dwyer's law partner. Over 250 guests attended
the event.

Durkan attended Columbia University in New York and
completed his law degree at New York Law School. His work
has included an array of negligence and malpractice cases
in addition to his extensive civil rights work.

Durkan is one of the most well-known and popular members of
New York's Irish American community. He is chairman of the
Americans for a New Irish Agenda lobbying group on Irish
affairs, and his work with the group has kept him in close
contact with politicians in New York and on Capitol Hill.

Durkan and his wife Monica are active members of New York's
Mayo Society and the Mayo Football Club.

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http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/11/19/story285734.html?rss=yes

Sinn Fein Calls For Commissioner Of Victims Inquiry

19/11/2006 - 14:48:41

Sinn Fein has challenged the Northern Secretary Peter Hain
to abide by a High Court recommendation and launch an
inquiry into how he appointed the Commissioner for Victims.

Gerry Kelly said Mr Hain must initiate the "immediate
inquiry" ordered by the court into an attempted cover-up
over his appointment of Mrs Bertha McDougall.

The court found Mr Hain had acted with an improper
political motive in consulting one party only - Ian
Paisley's DUP - before appointing Bertha McDougall, a
police officer's widow, as interim Victims' Commissioner.

Even more damaging was the judge's conclusion that senior
civil servants had decided that incorrect and misleading
information would be supplied to the court.

Mr Hain's subsequent response has been to defend his
appointment and to say that time would prove him right.

Gerry Kelly said it was a "blatant political sop" to the
DUP and that those involved were fully aware Mrs
McDougall's appointment would not command cross-community
support.

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http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=715012

Paisley Says No To Stormont Meeting

By Alan Murray
19 November 2006

Ian Paisley won't be shaking hands with Gerry Adams or
Martin McGuinness at Stormont tomorrow.

The DUP leader's son made it clear last night that Dr
Paisley won't be attending the Programme for Government
Committee in spite of Sinn Fein's hopes that the
groundbreaking meeting could happen soon.

Ian Paisley jnr confirmed that his father won't be
attending the committee meeting and wasn't preparing to
greet either of the two Sinn Fein leaders soon.

"I can tell you now that the party leader will not be
greeting anyone from Sinn Fein tomorrow for a handshake or
any other spin-generating stunt someone has dreamed up.

"The whole idea that Dr Paisley would be meeting with Gerry
Adams or Martin McGuinness on Monday has come from Sinn
Fein and it doesn't extend beyond their spin doctors'
imaginations.

"A meeting is scheduled for Monday for one of the
committees, but that is to continue a debate on the merits
of the economic package Gordon Brown has proposed."

Peter Robinson, the party's deputy leader, is expected to
attend tomorrow's committee meeting but he too dismissed
speculation that it would be a groundbreaking event.

"It's a meeting, but I'm not expecting anything unusual to
happen. I expect that I will be there, but I don't expect
anything out of the ordinary to happen," he said.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6163524.stm

Parties 'Must Decide Ministers'

The DUP and Sinn Fein must make their choices for first and
deputy first minister on Friday if an election is to be
held in March, Peter Hain has said.

The move will fall short of the formal nomination and
assembly vote, which the government had initially demanded
in the St Andrews Agreement.

But the Northern Ireland secretary said the parties would
nevertheless be keeping to the 24 November deadline.

Mr Hain said the move would enable further progress towards
devolution.

"It's very important that that indication does happen this
Friday, because that was always the deadline and that
unlocks the latter process - the subsequent process - which
is a transitional assembly, then an election and then the
whole devolved government up and running on 26 March.

"Really where we are is in the political endgame," Mr Hain
said.

'Deadlines'

On Saturday, DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson said his
party would not be rushed by government deadlines.

Mr Robinson said there would be no formal designation of
shadow first and deputy first ministers at Stormont on 24
November.

But speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics
programme he insisted the political process was moving in
the right direction.

He said what remained was to deliver on the progress made
so far.

"I expect that what we're talking about is a qualified
intention to proceed when all the conditions are in place,"
Mr Robinson said.

"I think we are making progress and it's clear we made
progress at St Andrews, we've made further progress since
St Andrews and there is further work to be done.

"On top of the work that has to be done there is the big
issue of delivery."

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2006/11/19 15:11:35 GMT
c BBC MMVI

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2006/1119/breaking25.htm

'No Reason For St Andrews Agreement To Fail' - Ahern

There are no credible reasons left for political parties in
Northern Ireland to fail to act under the St Andrews
Agreement, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said
today.

Mr Ahern said the decommissioning of Provisional IRA
weapons opened the way to a lasting accommodation in
Northern Ireland.

"That lasting accommodation demands two moves now; One, a
move on power-sharing by the DUP. Two, support for policing
by Sinn FEin. Both acts are necessary and overdue, both are
a test of leadership for the respective parties," Mr Ahern
told those gathered for the Sean Moylan Commemoration in
Kiskeam, Co Cork.

"The package agreed at St Andrews is balanced. There are no
losers - only winners. As a result - are no credible
reasons left for parties not to move. Sometimes parties
have to make tough decisions in the wider interest. This is
one of those times.

"If they fail to rise to the challenge of devolved
Government there will be no election in March, the Assembly
will close and the Governments move to Plan B.

"At this stage I don't believe it will come to that. My
honest belief is that leadership will prevail and that a
devolved government will be formed."

Officials are planning elections next year and the Assembly
is expected to be restored by next March.

c 2006 ireland.com

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http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=715124

Talkin' Bout Devolution

19 November 2006

It was during the hot summer that exasperated Secretary of
State Peter Hain set a November 24 deadline for local
political parties to reach agreement on a return of the
Stormont Assembly and Executive.

Prospects for devolution looked slim when in August Sunday
Life invited local opinion shapers to commit to print their
views on the issue.

Some of the province's top politicians, church leaders,
captains of industry and senior figures from the voluntary
sector took up the invitation.

Here is a snapshot of the thoughts of some of the key
political players, as penned for Sunday Life, during the
period before and after the St Andrews talks.

Sinn Fein's chief negotiator MARTIN McGUINNESS was the
first of the political heavyweights to join the debate when
on September 3 he urged Ian Paisley to take his "rightful
place" as First Minister. But he warned that progress would
continue, with or without the DUP.

"I believe that the IRA decision last year (to formally end
its armed campaign) has had a profound impact within wider
unionism. The IRA decisively and definitively dealt with
all of the issues which had been presented as unionist
concerns.

"I think that many unionists acknowledge this and that, at
some point, if the DUP do not have the vision or ability to
show positive leadership, sensible unionism will assert
itself and will re-engage.

"So my concern is not what the DUP will or won't do. My
concern is about the two governments and how they respond
to unionist intransigence . . . basic rights and
entitlements cannot be made subject to a veto from Ian
Paisley."

The DUP's deputy leader PETER ROBINSON described himself as
a "committed devolutionist" but said his party would not be
rushed into a deal.

On September 17, he insisted Sinn Fein had to face up to
the issue of policing.

"The DUP is not the impediment to devolution . . . but it
must be on the basis where the conditions are right.

"Since taking the lead role for unionism, we have made a
significant difference and are now well on our way to
delivering the kind of arrangements and environment which
will allow devolution to return. From our point-of-view,
the sooner this happens the better.

"But we will not be bullied, influenced or cajoled into
taking decisions on the basis of November 24 - or any other
date for that matter."

SDLP leader MARK DURKAN warned on October 1 that the stakes
could not be higher as Mr Hain's deadline loomed.

"If we achieve the restoration of the Agreement's
institutions, we will be setting out towards reconciliation
and a shared society.

"But, if we don't get a deal, our economy and our people
will suffer under direct rule.

"And our communities may drift apart, with the North carved
up into seven 'super-councils' with dominant majorities,
out-voted minorities and still no guarantees of power-
sharing."

Alliance Party leader DAVID FORD called for reform of the
Belfast Agreement.

"If we are to create a normal society, the Berlin Wall of
segregation in Northern Ireland must come down. Sadly, the
(Belfast) Agreement added bricks to the top of this wall -
such as the sectarian 'designation' system for MLAs.

"Those who don't recognise the need to reform the Agreement
are leading Northern Ireland up the garden path again.
Demands to preserve the Agreement unchanged are as
unrealistic as demands to scrap it. Agreement
fundamentalism will only lead to Assembly failure."

Writing immediately after the St Andrews talks, Ulster
Unionist Party leader SIR REG EMPEY declared on October 15
that we stood on the cusp of a new dawn in Northern Ireland
politics.

"The work that my party began more than 10 years ago has
been vindicated. The framework of this deal at St Andrews
is the framework that we negotiated in the Agreement. The
constitutional question has been settled.

"The heavy lifting undertaken by my party has borne fruit.
Now is the time to make Northern Ireland work for all of
us."

UK Unionist leader ROBERT McCARTNEY struck a different note
last week, claiming the DUP had "caved in to the
Government's blackmail on rates, academic selection, and
local government" and accusing the party of ducking
questions over St Andrews.

"The DUP, while asserting that it has agreed to nothing and
that almost every issue is 'work in progress', is clearly
working to a game plan calculated to keep the unionist
electorate in the dark until after a March 2007 election."

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http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=715009

'Let's Consign Direct Rule To The Dustbin'

In the final part of our series giving key opinion shapers
their say on devolution Peter Hain, Secretary of State for
Northern Ireland, says the people of the province have
waited long enough for the restoration of devolved
government, it's now time for the politicians to deliver...

19 November 2006

These are a crucial few months in the history of the
political process in Northern Ireland.

What's at stake is the biggest political prize of all - the
opportunity to restore devolved government, with locally-
accountable ministers taking decisions on local issues.

The people of Northern Ireland have waited long enough for
the return of democratic government and they deserve
better.

It's now more than four years since the Assembly was
suspended and responsibility for governing Northern
Ireland's affairs returned to London.

Direct rule - a political arrangement that sprang up out of
necessity more than 30 years ago - is well past its sell-by
date and should be consigned to the dustbin.

It's what the parties all say they want, it's what the
people tell me they want, and I'm convinced that it can be
achieved by March 26.

It's just more than five weeks since we published the St
Andrews Agreement.

Since then, we have been in discussions with the parties to
translate the vision of that agreement into a political
reality.

It's been difficult, but it's been worth it and we are - in
spite of what the cynics say - making progress.

Everyone involved in this process knew that there would be
issues to resolve once we left Scotland.

We're working at resolving those issues and we are still on
track to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland
within the timeframe set down at St Andrews.

A few days ago, I introduced into Parliament legislation
that will give effect to the St Andrews Agreement.

It will put the twin pillars of support for policing and
the rule of law across the whole community and power-
sharing on a fair and equitable basis at the heart of a new
Assembly. The Government is living up to the commitments it
made at St Andrews and will put the legislation through
Parliament this week.

Others also have to live up to their commitments.

The programme for government committee is scheduled to meet
for the first time tomorrow.

The Speaker has agreed to convene the Assembly on Friday
where the two largest parties - the DUP and Sinn Fein -
will indicate who will be the First Minister and Deputy
First Minister when devolution is restored following the
election and assuming that all the commitments of St
Andrews are met.

A successful process on Friday triggers the Transitional
Assembly, but if, for some reason, there is failure,
everyone understands that the Assembly will fall and
devolution will give way to dissolution.

Progress is being made.

I can understand that, after years of mistrust, Northern
Ireland's politicians are moving forward cautiously.

But the reality of the situation is that we all have
choices to make within the timeframe set out in the St
Andrews Agreement.

If, at any stage between now and March 26, anyone walks
away from the process, we will move to dissolve the
Assembly.

We cannot force people into government, but, if it falls,
devolution will become dissolution and the prospects of
restoring locally-accountable government will be lost for a
very long time.

There are important decisions to be taken to improve our
schools, our hospitals and attract investment and create
news jobs.

These cannot wait until the politics catch up.

I believe that the will is there to deliver the St Andrews
Agreement. We must all maintain the momentum to achieve
this end.

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http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=715010

Brian Rowan: 'D' For Disaffected

19 November 2006

It was a week when a new 'D' word entered the republican
vocabulary and alongside it a new threat.

We already knew about the republican dissidents, those who
have their roots in the falling-out inside the IRA in late
1997 - and those who then showed themselves in the bombs of
1998 in Moira, Portadown, Banbridge and Omagh.

The dissidents are the Continuity and Real IRA
organisations, and it is the threat they currently pose
that the chief constable has been warning about in recent
weeks.

We see it in the burning of stores, in the roadside bomb
they abandoned in Fermanagh - another of their devices that
didn't explode - and in the recent gun-attack on a police
station in Co Armagh.

This is one part of the threat, but there is another linked
to the new 'D' word - the "Disaffected".

Now, we are talking about more recent resignations inside
the IRA - resignations that are only some months old.

This, we are told, is where you will find the threat to
Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Gerry Kelly that Sinn
Fein spoke so publicly about last week.

The resignations are being viewed as a statement of
opposition to their political strategy and the position
they are trying to develop on policing.

What has happened recently inside the IRA is not on the
same scale as 1997 - nothing like it.

The number of resignations is much smaller and they do not
reach up to the same levels of leadership.

One source spoke of "a slow shedding of personnel (who) are
finding a home with each other".

According to the source, the numbers are "small", but there
has been some coming together of individuals "of all sorts
of affiliations" - "disaffected IRA members, INLA members
and members of other micro organisations" - meaning the
Continuity and Real IRAs.

"They have access to arms," a source said. "Some of the
people who are involved are serious characters," said
another source.

And, when you add those two things together, you get to why
republicans believe there is a threat to the Adams-
McGuinness-Kelly leadership.

The public expression of opposition to that leadership, and
the direction in which it is taking the republican
movement, can be read in the "traitor" graffiti that has
started to appear in some places.

So, as the British and Irish governments try to make the St
Andrews Agreement work, there are now two threats - the one
linked to the dissident organisations, and, now, this added
feature of the more recent resignations from the IRA by
those who have become disaffected over politics and
policing.

The question is: Would they dare do what some believe they
are thinking and talking about?

Add the dissidents and the "disaffected" together and, in
terms of their numbers and how they fit into the big
picture, they struggle to be relevant - but they are
dangerous.

The dissident organisations were long-ago infiltrated.
Special Branch has agents inside their bomb teams - so much
so that explosives have been removed from devices and
replaced with similar-looking substances. It is called
'substitution'.

The dissidents and the disaffected are not an alternative
to the IRA and Sinn Fein - what they are, within the
broader republican community, is a nuisance, an irritant.

But the fear is they may try to get themselves noticed or
make themselves relevant by following through on this
threat against the Sinn Fein leadership.

They might think that this would derail the republican
project and the political process.

The question still is, would they dare?

The IRA, the leadership that is overseeing the transition
of this organisation, will be monitoring all of this very
closely - checking the mood inside the movement and
watching those who have gone.

If the conditions can be got right, then republican
participation in policing will be delivered.

Yes, there are still those inside the republican community
capable of pulling a trigger or exploding a bomb.

But what they can't do, and what they won't do, is stop
this process.

The dissidents and, now, the disaffected, are being left
behind.

slnews@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

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http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=715020

MPs Set To Discuss UVF Threat To Journalist

By Ciaran Murray
19 November 2006

Security Minister Paul Goggins' refusal to grant protection
to an Ulster journalist under threat from the UVF is to be
raised at the House of Commons.

MPs are to be asked to debate whether he was justified in
refusing a Sunday World reporter into the Key Persons
Protection Scheme.

The journalist has been subject to a number of threats from
members of the UVF in recent months.

But security chief Mr Goggins said the journalist did not
meet criteria to qualify for protection measures under the
KPPS, despite the Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Orde, regarding
the threat against the reporter as substantial.

Mr Goggins said the reporter did not "occupy a wider public
role which is contributing to the objectives of the
scheme".

His decision is expected to be challenged in an Early Day
Motion due to be laid down later this week.

The National Union of Journalists' Irish Secretary Seamus
Dooley described the NIO minister's decision as "baffling".

He said: "Sadly we have learnt from experience that there
are times when journalists are targeted and are deserving
of special protection. The employer is of course exercising
a duty of care, but the State also has a responsibility."
Sunday World's journalists have been targeted by loyalist
paramilitaries before.

Just over five years ago the LVF gunned down investigative
reporter Martin O'Hagan (right) as he walked home from a
night out with his wife.

No one has ever been charged in relation to his murder. And
the paper's former Northern Editor Jim Campbell was shot
and severely injured by the UVF in 1983.

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http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=715015

'The Council Should Be Ashamed Over Wreath Laid By UVF Terrorists'

By Stephen Breen
19 November 2006

The crusading father of a loyalist murder victim last night
hit out at councillors over their failure to remove a UVF
wreath from the Belfast Cenotaph.

The terror group waited until dark before having their own
commemoration at the city hall last Sunday.

Although the council received numerous complaints about the
UVF ceremony, the wreath has remained at the cenotaph all
week.

Mr McCord (above), whose son Raymond jnr was butchered by a
gang of UVF informers in 1997, said the wreath was an
insult to the memory of soldiers who died in two world
wars.

Said Mr McCord: "It's a disgrace that the UVF has been
allowed to do this. This wreath has nothing to do with the
old UVF.

"It's up to the council to address this problem. David
Ervine should remove it because the people of this city
don't want killers and drug dealers honouring the fallen.

"This is the organisation behind the Shankill Butchers'
attacks and many other atrocities. My father and
grandfather fought in two world wars and the last thing
they would want is a group like the UVF remembering their
sacrifice.

"The wreath should have been removed as soon as it was
placed on the cenotaph.

"It seems unionist politicians are frightened to stand up
to the gangsters of the UVF, an organisation that kills its
own. It has murdered 30 Protestants since 1994."

Nobody from Belfast City Council was available for comment.

The SDLP's Alban Maginness said: "Veterans and relatives of
those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of their
country will be disgusted at this sullying of their good
name.

"Everyone knows their claim to links with the organisation
formed in 1914 is a gross distortion and a ruse to fly
their flags.

"If the UVF want to become an 'old boys' commemorative
organisation, then we will be expecting them to hand in
their guns forthwith."

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http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=715021

Murphy's Flaw!

'Slab' kept detailed ledgers for IRA's criminal empire -
and they're now in hands of authorites following raid...

19 November 2006

The IRA's multi-million pound border crime empire has been
laid bare - in handwritten ledgers seized from the home of
top Provo Thomas 'Slab' Murphy.

Precise details of massive smuggling and counterfeit
operations are contained in the records found during a
joint PSNI-Garda raid on Murphy's farm in March.

They pinpoint how the IRA sold millions of pounds of
illegal goods to members and criminals for distribution.

Officers from the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau can hardly
believe their luck at finding the meticulously kept
ledgers, which give the clearest insight ever into the
Provos' racketeering empire.

The discovery is likely to cause embarrassment to Gerry
Adams who earlier this year claimed Murphy was "not a
criminal".

One source said of the ledgers: "It is an old-fashioned
book-keeping method that may reflect the age or the
generation of the person who maintained it. But it is
immaculate and is very easy to follow.

"In simple terms, purchases or smuggled goods of one type
are colour-coded and they turn up in the same colour code
when they are sold on at a profit.

"Diesel has one colour code, petrol another and cigarettes
another. These are immaculately maintained records which
will enable the Criminal Assets Bureau to levy a tax bill
of maybe œ5m against Murphy."

The records clearly indicate the cost of goods brought into
the IRA's 'stores' and the price received for the
contraband goods when they were offloaded on both sides of
the border.

They reveal how the goods came into the IRA's possession
and were then sold on to its members and criminals for
distribution.

The majority of the transactions show smuggled fuel being
ferried from the Republic into the IRA's control around
Murphy's farm at Ballybinaby, which straddles the
Armagh/Louth border.

The records were seized earlier this year when 200 soldiers
and cops accompanied customs officers to carry out a major
search of the property belonging to Murphy, a former IRA
chief-of-staff.

Officials from the Republic's Criminal Assets Bureau and
personnel from the Customs and Excise Department were
accompanied by gardai as they entered the property from the
southern side of the border.

Two laptop computers concealed among bales of hay in a barn
were located during the search, but sources say the
handwritten ledgers provide the most detailed insight into
the IRA's criminal operation.

Senior officials in the CAB in Dublin are understood to be
delighted at the precise book-keeping details recorded in
the ledgers.

Because they're handwritten and not formulated on a
computer, handwriting experts may be able to pinpoint the
identity of the person who maintained the records, and tie
them into the IRA's crime operations.

That could lead to a membership charge or a more serious
terrorist charge being brought by the Garda.

In a stout defence of Murphy after the raids, Mr Adams
described him as "not a criminal" and went on to say he was
"a key supporter of the Sinn Fein peace strategy".

Mr Adams also said that smuggling was wrong and that his
party supported the pursuit of criminal assets.

But that praise for Murphy could backfire on Mr Adams when
the CAB goes to the High Court in Dublin to demand millions
from him in unpaid taxes, and lay bare the criminal,
financial empire Murphy has controlled for the IRA for over
two decades.

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

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/11/19/story285696.html?rss=yes

FG: One In 20 Patients Picks Up Hospital Bug

19/11/2006 - 12:46:16

One in every 20 patients gets an infection as a consequence
of their time in hospital, Fine Gael has claimed.

The party is calling for a uniform system for detecting and
recording the problem, claiming that thousands of people in
Ireland are being affected by hospital bugs - including
MRSA.

Fine Gael also wants a national director of infection
control to be appointed to spearhead what it sees as
essential changes.

The party's Seanad Health Spokesperson Senator Fergal
Browne has called for more transparency on the extent of
the issue.

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

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061119/NEWS/611190647/1052

Flatley `On The Mend'

LONDON - Irish-American dancer Michael Flatley left a
private London hospital yesterday, two weeks after being
treated for an unspecified illness.

The 49-year-old dancer and choreographer left the London
Clinic with his wife, Niamh O'Brien, telling reporters, "I
am on the mend."

It was announced on the dancer's Web site Wednesday that
the 20-date European tour of his "Celtic Tiger" dance show,
which was to start Friday, had been canceled.

The lightning-footed Chicago native, who rose to
international fame as the male lead of "Riverdance" in the
mid-1990s, was married last month to his "Celtic Tiger" co-
star, O'Brien, 32. It was his second marriage.

Flatley has admitted suffering from heavy bouts of drinking
and depression, particularly after the 1997 collapse of his
first marriage, and in April said he had been treated for
facial skin cancer in 2003 but that he had completely
recovered.
----
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