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December 10, 2006

Plot to Kill Gerry Adams Aborted

News About Ireland & The Irish

BN 12/10/06 Plot To Kill Adams 'Aborted'
IT 12/11/06 Pastor Accuses Paisley, DUP Of U-Turn
IT 12/11/06 Dodds: DUP Will Not Take SF's Word On Policing
AT 12/10/06 How Green Was My Rally
IT 12/11/06 Moore Street Building To Be National Monument
PB 12/11/06 Opin: Andersonstown News On Threat To Gerry Adams
BN 12/11/06 Runners Complete Course Under Dublin
IR 12/11/06 15th-Century Castle Goes On Sale In Tipperary

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http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/?jp=CWIDIDIDMHAU&rss=rss1

Plot To Kill Adams 'Aborted'

10/12/2006 - 21:18:38

Dissident republican terrorists have been plotting to
assassinate Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, it was claimed
tonight.

The new attempt to murder the West Belfast MP was aborted
because of his own security arrangements, according to a
report.

Police went to his home in the last few days to alert him
that a possible shooting was being planned.

Mr Adams claimed the threat was because of internal party
discussions over whether to take the historic step of
publicly endorsing the North's police service for the first
time.

It followed earlier warnings to other senior Sinn Féin
representatives Gerry Kelly and Martin McGuinness that they
too were being targeted by rogue republicans.

Mr Adams said: "Some weeks ago the Sinn Féin leadership
expressed concern about the coming together of a tiny
number of disaffected former IRA people and elements of
various micro-groups including some members of the INLA
(Irish National Liberation Army).


"This has become more serious as a debate within Sinn Féin
has opened up on the issue of ending political policing.

"We believe that there is now an active threat to senior
members of the Sinn Féin leadership and we are taking this
matter seriously.

"I understand that there are republicans who are concerned
about current political developments and especially
discussions around policing."

A written message delivered to him by officers revealed
details of the threat.

It said: "Dissident republicans recently discussed mounting
an attack, possibly a shooting, on Gerry Adams, but
discounted such a plan due to Adams' security arrangements.

"You are advised to seek advice on and take steps to
protect your personal security."

It was the second time in just over a month that Mr Adams
has been warned by police that his life is in danger and
came days after Mr Kelly was alerted.

But the Sinn Féin chief vowed not to be swayed by any plot.

"I would urge them not to allow themselves to be exploited
or manipulated by individuals who are now operating to
their own malign agenda and who should know better," he
told the Andersonstown News.

"As for Sinn Féin, we will not be deflected from what we
think is the right thing to do."

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokeswoman refused to
confirm if officers contacted Mr Adams.

She said: "We do not discuss the security of individuals.
But where we feel there's a need to warn them we will
advise them of their security."

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/1211/1165221809901.html

Pastor Accuses Paisley, DUP Of U-Turn

Margaret Canning

A loyalist killer turned Christian pastor has said
Democratic Unionist voters have turned against the party
over the prospect of sharing power with republicans.

Pastor Kenny McClinton railed against the party for its "U-
turn" in e-mail correspondence with DUP Lagan Valley MP
Jeffrey Donaldson and DUP Assembly member Ian Paisley jnr.

Dr McClinton was imprisoned for the murders of a Protestant
and a Catholic in 1977 but renounced violence and "found
God" in the Maze prison two years later.

In an e-mail to Dr McClinton, Mr Donaldson is alleged to
have said that unionism was winning over republicanism. "It
is clear Sinn Féin/IRA are under serious internal pressure
and may well be incapable of delivering on what is required
in terms of support for participation in British democracy,
support for a British police service and recognition of
British courts and British justice.

"All of this with no prospect of a united Ireland in our
lifetime."

A Sinn Féin spokesman said last night: "Sinn Féin has a
strategy that can and will deliver Irish unity by peaceful
and democratic activity and we are well on with that
strategy."

Dr McClinton justified the publication of the e-mails,
saying he was speaking for those who were so overawed with
respect for Dr Paisley that they did not want to oppose
him. "I feel that someone has to speak up because there is
so much love and respect for Mr Paisley. Many people who
are supporters and in the electorate are overcome by his
persona. "This is allowing them to hide themselves and
their own thoughts instead of clinically looking at things
. . . it's compelling them to follow a leader when the
leader has done a U-turn but will not say he has done a U-
turn."

He described Dr Paisley as "a man that my family have loved
dearly". Dr McClinton told The Irish Times he had turned
his back on the DUP. There were "thousands" of loyal DUP
supporters who would not vote for it, even if that saw Sinn
Féin's Martin McGuinness as first minister.

Dr McClinton (59) is part of an international ministry of
Ulster-American Christian fellowship. He was ordained into
a ministry in Texas but has been barred from the US since
September 11th, 2001.

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/1211/1165221809899.html

Dodds Says DUP Will Not Take SF's Word On Policing

Margaret Canning

Democratic Unionist MP Nigel Dodds has said his party "will
not take Sinn Féin's word" on its commitment to the peace
process. Mr Dodds also said there must be a "credible
period of testing" of Sinn Féin's intentions, particularly
with regard to policing.


Taoiseach Bertie Ahern yesterday urged Sinn Féin to call a
special ardfheis on policing "as soon as possible".

Mr Dodds, the MP for north Belfast, referred to suggestions
that Sinn Féin may call an executive meeting on policing in
January. "Of course we have been here before with this sort
of thing from Sinn Féin and they tend to bowl short, even
if the words are good and sound convincing . . . We will
not be taking them at their word because we know we cannot
trust them at their word. They have gone back on their word
so many times."

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics, Mr Dodds
said it was "increasingly difficult" to see how the
governments' deadline of March 26th for the restoration of
devolution could be met, particularly as Sinn Féin had yet
to support policing.

"It is just 100 days to March 26th and after 35 years of
attacking the police, murdering the police, undermining the
institutions of law and order, I think many people in
Northern Ireland will be saying, well, you know, 100 days
is a pretty short period in which to test the bona fides of
such an organisation which even today refuse to tell people
to go and speak to the police."

He said Sinn Féin had to convince the community that they
had changed.

Mr Dodds said the devolution of policing and justice was a
"sensitive area" which required special consideration, but
said his party would not be giving any date for devolution.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has said that the party
will not hold a conference on policing until a date is
given for the transfer of policing and justice powers to
Stormont, a plan for the department which will handle it
and the exclusion of M15 from any role in civic policing.

But Mr Dodds said he stood by earlier remarks that such
devolution would not take place within a 'political
lifetime'. "I do not shy away from those terms at all
because what the [ PSNI] chief constable has said about
police is that no one can be a police officer, or even a
community support officer, who has any record of terrorism
or violence. How could it be that someone with a record of
violence or terrorism could be running the police when you
can't have someone like that in the ranks?" Mr Dodds, one
of 12 Assembly members who declared that Dr Paisley and
Martin McGuinness had not been designated first minister
and deputy first minister, also denied a split in the
party.

He rejected comparisons between the DUP of today and the
Ulster Unionist party under the leadership of David
Trimble.

"The DUP unlike David Trimble has gone down the path of
ensuring that its executive and therefore the grassroots
and elected representatives are united around a policy,
which is very clear and unambiguous. David Trimble didn't
do that - he presented his party with a fait accompli and
rammed it through whatever the dissent."

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness yesterday urged
the DUP to commit to an equal rights agenda. "The joint and
equal nature of the office of the first and deputy first
ministers requires the clear development of a shared
agenda.

"It requires a genuine commitment to delivering equality
for all and protecting the rights of all."

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http://www.amhersttimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3614&Itemid=27

How Green Was My Rally

Written By Lawrence Downes
Sunday, 10 December 2006

To roars and applause and whistles so loud and shrill they
stabbed the ears even more than his double-bagpipe escort,
Senator Charles Schumer swept into the packed church
auditorium, levitating on a cloud of affection. For another
entrance as grand, you’d probably have to go back to
Groucho Marx in “Animal Crackers,” borne in on a litter by
bare-chested natives and multiple choruses of “Hooray for
Captain Spaulding.”

This happy moment was a rally by Irish immigrants the other
night at St. Barnabas Church in the Woodlawn section of the
Bronx. Mr. Schumer wore a green tie and that grin of his,
so wide you could drive on it from Galway to Dublin. He was
there to announce the miraculous rebirth of immigration
reform, courtesy of the new Democratic Congress. But first
he did what politicians always do before a throng of happy
Hibernians. After a few courteous preliminaries and a line
from St. Matthew’s Gospel, he committed Irish identity
theft.

“My sister’s name,” he let slip in a lusty roar, “is Fran
... Schumer ... McNULTY!”

Cheers and more cheers.

“Up Mayo!” the senator cried. “Up Leitrim!”

He was just getting started. He introduced an aide, the one
who named his daughters Siobhan, Fiona, Maeve and Nora. The
love spilled over, like foam on a Guinness.

“The more Irish there are in America, the better we all
are!” Mr. Schumer declared, repeating a line he had caught
some flak about a few months before. Some non-Irish
immigrants had grumbled about how unlikely it would be to
hear another group’s name tucked into that equation. They
had a point about ethnic favoritism, though Mr. Schumer,
who sweet-talks everybody, was perhaps not the best example
of it.

Mr. Schumer’s final bit of stagecraft was in Gaelic.
“Tiocfaidh ar la!” he bellowed. It means “our day will
come” and is pronounced, to the senator’s evident
gratitude, “Chucky-AR-LA.” With that he tied the ribbon on
the gift wrap of his speech. The wave of cheers crested and
fell, and Mr. Schumer departed into the windy night.

It’s now a regular thing for big-ticket politicians to go
to Woodlawn, where the Irish pubs and delis have been
struggling as people go back home to ride the Celtic Tiger,
as Ireland’s resurgent economy is known. With Irish-
American neighborhoods in decline, Irish illegal immigrants
have rallied urgently to the cause of friendlier
immigration laws. They are a drop of 50,000 in a bucket of
12 million illegal immigrants, but as Mr. Schumer’s special
blessing showed, they command attention.

He is far from the only politician to be drawn to the
white, English-speaking sliver of the immigration problem.
That fondness for Irish audiences helps reinforce the odd
sense of solipsism surrounding the Irish immigrant lobby.
When you hear the chairman of the Irish Lobby for
Immigration Reform, Niall O’Dowd, vow to fight “to get what
is rightfully ours” — more visas for the Irish — you can’t
help wondering how quickly such words would get a Latino
banished to the militant fringe.

“We Are America” is the Latinos’ and Asians’ cry. The well-
organized Irish don’t feel the need to say that. Their
slogan, on T-shirts and the Irish Lobby’s Web site, is
blunt: “Legalize the Irish.”

The Irish have a just cause, but I only wish they and their
many friends would preach the gospel of immigration reform
in a bigger tent. It is, after all, every immigrant group’s
fate to start out in this country unloved, as the Irish are
only too eager to remind us.

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/1211/1165221809857.html

Moore Street Building To Be National Monument

Liam Reid

The last headquarters of the leaders of the 1916 Rising is
to be designated a national monument by the Government in
an effort to ensure its survival.

Number 16 Moore Street in Dublin, described by some as
"Ireland's Alamo", was where Pádraig Pearse declared the
Irish volunteers' surrender at the end of the 1916 Rising.

The designation, the highest protection that can be given
to a site of historical interest, will be signed into
effect by the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, in
the coming weeks.

The building has been the subject of a sustained campaign
after proposals for its demolition emerged three years ago.

The announcement was warmly welcomed by Matt Doyle of the
National Graves Association, which had led the campaign.

The original plan, which had the approval of Dublin City
Council, would have seen the house demolished to make way
for a major shopping precinct and urban renewal project in
the Moore Street/Upper O'Connell Street area.

Following protests this plan was rescinded by Dublin City
Council, which last year placed a protection order on
Number 16 and its neighbouring buildings.

Number 16, built in 1763, is at the centre of a terrace of
houses on Moore Street where the GPO rebels fled to on
April 28th.

The following day Pearse and other 1916 leaders, including
the wounded James Connolly, Thomas Clarke, Joseph Plunkett
and Seán McDermott, gathered at number 16 where the
declaration of surrender was made and signed by Pearse.

Nurse Elizabeth Farrell, who handed the surrender document
to the British, previously described the scene at Number
16.

"The members of the Provisional Government were in this
room for a considerable length of time," she wrote, "where
they held a council of war. Willie Pearse was also with
them. On the floor of the room lay three wounded volunteers
and a soldier, a prisoner, who was badly injured, lay on a
bed on the side of the room."

Other buildings linked to 1916 have already been granted
national monument status, including Kilmainham Gaol,
Pearse's cottage in Connemara, and St Enda's school in
Rathfarnham, also founded by Pearse.

The Moore Street building's proposed designation was
announced yesterday by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, who
also announced that consideration was being given to the
redevelopment of part of the GPO site to mark the centenary
of the 1916 Rising in 10 years' time.

"As we move towards the centenary of the Rising, I think
that there must be a very special consideration of the
future use of the GPO in O'Connell Street, involving not
only the post office itself but the extensive buildings
behind it," he said.

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http://apublishersblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/andersonstown-news-lead-with-eports-of.html

Opin: Andersonstown News On Threat To Gerry Adams

We report today that Gerry Adams has become the lattest
prominent republican to have been told by the PSNI that his
life is under threat from dissident republicans. While
experience and common sense tell us to treat anything that
the PSNI has to say on the matter of security and
republicans with a proper degree of caution, the reaction
of both Mr Adams and Gerry Kelly

indicates that they are taking the matter extremely
seriously and are concerned about the intentions of certain
dissident groups.

It is mind-boggling to think that there is a single person
in this community who thinks that the killing of any
republican would advance the cause of Irish freedom one
iota. For many years, men and women who fought in the
struggle and went to jail for their beliefs were targeted
for assassination by the British government and their proxy
agents within the loyalist paramilitary groups. Sinn Féin
paid a heavy price in terms of members and supporters killed
or grievously injured and it is deeply depressing to think
that former colleagues would consider putting republican
politicians in the firing line again.

There is much bar-stool bravado among dissident republicans
who loudly accuse the present Sinn Féin leadership of
having betrayed the cause of Ireland. In stirring speeches
they outline the need for one more push to drive the Brits
out of Ireland, and yet they target not armed agents of the
British state, but former comrades whose political strategy
they disagree with. If scrawling graffiti on the Falls
Road, hysterically berating anyone they disagree with, and
now discussing the assassination of senior Sinn Féin
figures is their idea of a strategy for freeing Ireland,
then they’re in for a long wait.

If there are any within that vocal republican rump which
objects to the Sinn Féin strategy who disagree with the
threat to Adams and Kelly, then they have remained
untypically silent. And that speaks volumes.

posted by Máirtín Ó Muilleoir at 9:55 PM

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http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=203882916&p=zx38836zz

Runners Complete Course Under Dublin

10/12/2006 - 14:40:51

More than 10,000 runners today made history in Dublin by
completing a 10km fun run under the city.

Competitors called for the one-off Dublin Port Tunnel race
to be made an annual event on the athletic calendar.

The tunnel has been under construction for more than five
years and is expected to carry 98% of the heavy goods
vehicles from Dublin Port direct to the national roads
network when it officially opens later this month.

“It was a great experience,” said runner Eanna Cunnane,
from Rathfarnham.

“But it was very surreal, like running in the middle of the
night. There was no wind and no noise.

“They should definitely close the tunnel to traffic one day
every year and hold this.”

The electric atmosphere brightened up Dublin’s grey skies
as runners made their way from the start line to the north
tunnel entrance.

People from all walks of life took part in the once in a
lifetime event, from trained athletes to pensioners,
mothers pushing children in buggies, and even one visually
impaired man whose guide dog left his paw mark on the
occasion.

Despite having 16 jet fans for the tunnel’s ventilation
system, runners stuck in the middle of the pack felt the
heat, removing layers of clothing and Santa hats as they
travelled through the course.

An ambulance also had to take one man from the tunnel who
complained of stomach pains during the event.

As the last of the entrants disappeared down one side of
the 4.5km tunnel to a depth of 20 metres, the leaders began
to emerge from the opposite bore. They then turned around
and ran through the tunnel again, before completing the
short dash in daylight to the finish line to make up the
10km.

More than 3,000 women and almost 7,000 men had registered
for the run, but many more unofficially took part on the
landmark occasion.

Participants from Canada, USA, Iceland, Iraq, Israel, and
all over Europe travelled to be part of the historic
affair.

The wheelchair competitors were first across the blustery
finish line in under 30 minutes.

Marcus Causton, from USA but now living in Dublin, was
closely followed by Patrice Dockery and Gareth Culliton,
both from Dublin.

“It was a really good road and great conditions,” said
Marcus, 28, who was left paraplegic from a rock climbing
two years ago.

“It was awesome,” added 35-year-old Patrice. “At one stage
going down hill I did a maximum speed of 43km per hour,
then coming back up hill I was on 9km per hour so it was
hard work.

“It’s been a great day and a once in a lifetime race.”

Runner Robert Connolly crossed the finish line in 30.22,
followed by Martin Conroy on 30.57 and Alan O’Shea at
31.06.

“It was a very fast and competitive race right from the
beginning,” said Robert, of Dundrum SD Athletic Club.

“Everybody was going pretty hard but was a good even
surface.

“Most of the light down there was coming from the lead car
and traffic signs, but you can certainly tell there’s light
a the end of the tunnel. As you go through it you can see
the sky in the distance.

“It was definitely an unusual running experience.”

Sinead Jennings scooped the woman’s race on 36.34, with
Barbara Sanchez on 36.53 and Helena Crossan with 38.11.

“It’s been fantastic,” added Dublin Lord Mayor, Cllr
Vincent Jackson.

“It could have attracted about 20,000 runners if numbers
hadn’t been limited.

“It was a great opportunity for people to see the tunnel on
foot, and even better for all the charities that will
benefit from it.”

The project, which started in June 2001, will be officially
opened by Cllr Jackson and An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, on
Wednesday, December 20.

It is expected to carry 98% of the heavy goods vehicles
from Dublin Port direct to the national roads network.

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/1211/1165221809750.html

15th-Century Castle Goes On Sale In Tipperary

James Hayden, in Tipperary

The historic Ballyfinboy Castle in Borrisokane, Co
Tipperary, has been put on the open market with a guide
price of €200,000.

Castletreve Developments, a local company, purchased the
castle and the surrounding two acres last year. The castle,
which is a listed building and stands on 2.5 acres, dates
back to the late-15th century, and is thought to have been
constructed on the banks of the Ballyfinboy river around
1480.

The first recorded mention of the castle relates to its
capture under siege by the Earl of Essex in 1599. The owner
at the time, one Philip Kennedy, was put to the sword and
the castle damaged and rendered indefensible.

During the Cromwellian era, Ballyfinboy Castle was
confiscated and granted to Sir Nicholas White, an
adventurer from Co Kildare. In an 1840 survey, the castle
is described as being "a ruin in a good state of
preservation".

The castle, a listed building, boasts a Sheila na Gig - a
crude pagan carving of a female form with her limbs
splayed, believed to depict fertility - carved on a stone
in one corner of the building. There are only 13 examples
of a Sheila na Gig in their original locations in the whole
of Ireland, and experts believe the example at Ballyfinboy
Castle is one of the better-preserved examples.

Overlooking the Ballyfinboy river, the castle is 1.5km (one
mile) from the market town of Borrisokane, while the
picturesque Lough Derg is only a short drive away. Owner
Michael O'Brien said the property presents a unique
opportunity for any buyer to acquire a piece of Irish
history.

"It is a unique opportunity to purchase a historic property
and would prove an interesting project to take on for any
prospective buyer. The obvious way of preserving this
historic monument would be to put it back into use."

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