News about the Irish & Irish American culture, music, news, sports. This is hosted by the Irish Aires radio show on KPFT-FM 90.1 in Houston, Texas (a Pacifica community radio station)

February 28, 2007

Table of Contents - 02/07

Table of Contents - 02/07

To Index of Monthly Archives
News Searches & Links to News Sources

02/28/07 – SF: DUP Must Accept Result
BB 02/28/07 SF: DUP Must Accept Result
SF 02/28/07 SF Manifesto-Delivering For Ireland's Future
GU 02/28/07 Paisley Casts Fresh Doubt On Devolution Deal
IT 03/01/07 McCartney Says Paisley Wants 'Deal'
IT 03/01/07 Name Of Game Is Getting Vote Out
IT 03/01/07 Constituency Profile: East Derry
BB 02/28/07 Key Battlegrounds In NI Poll
BB 02/28/07 Parties Hit By More Resignations
IE 02/28/07 The March Of Dollars
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02/28/07 – DUP Leaflet Deals With 'Issues That Matter'
BT 02/28/07 DUP Leaflet Deals With 'Issues That Matter'
BT 02/28/07 Old Flashpoint Will Test The Republican Mood
BT 02/28/07 Ford Predicts: We'll Gain Seats
BT 02/28/07 Women's Groups Put Out Manifesto; No Candidates
BT 02/28/07 Conservatives Take 11-Point Lead Over Labour
BT 02/28/07 Feature: The Victims: What They Really Think
BT 02/28/07 Minister's Paisley Jibe Leaves A Bitter Taste
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02/27/07 – £1bn Dividend If Sectarianism Is Tackled
IT 02/28/07 £1bn Dividend If Sectarianism Is Tackled – Ford
IT 02/28/07 Newry: Unpredictable Election Battle Ahead
IT 02/28/07 Constituency Profile: Newry & Armagh
IT 02/28/07 Pupils' Grilling Turns Up The Politicial Heat
BN 02/27/07 Dubliners:Highest Income In Ireland
SL 02/27/07 Black Donnellys: TV Doesn't Get More Irish
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02/27/07- Holy Cross Case Ongoing
BT 02/27/07 Holy Cross Case Ongoing
BT 02/27/07 Vandals Damage Republican Graves
BT 02/27/07 Durkan Will Seek Referendum On United Ireland
IT 02/27/07 Durkan Tries To Drum Up Support Amid Apathy
IT 02/27/07 Great Survivor Ford Happy To Take Last Seat
IT 02/27/07 Constituency Profile: South Antrim.
DJ 02/27/07 Horror Of Greysteel Massacre Recalled
IT 02/27/07 Cost Of Cross-Border Roads To Be Shared
TT 02/27/07 PSNI To Seek SF Help Over Omagh
BT 02/27/07 Council Asks For Vote In Union Flag Row
BN 02/27/07 SF Urges Tougher Domestic Violence Laws
AN 02/27/07 IRA Play To Be Shown Next Month
IT 02/27/07 Blarney Stone Photography Rights Disputed
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02/26/07 – Talks Focus On Steps To Devolution
BT 02/26/07 Talks Focus On Steps To Devolution
IT 02/26/07 Onus On SF To Prove Bona Fides - Allister
BT 02/26/07 McCord Threatened By UVF
BT 02/26/07 McCord To Meet Hillary On US Trip
BT 02/26/07 Top Level Talks On Collusion Cases
SN 02/26/07 Immigration Debate, With An Irish Spin
BB 02/26/07 A Bread And Butter Election?
IT 02/26/07 Adams Hails SF Progress As Office Reopened
BT 02/26/07 SDLP Won't Go Overboard On Republican Backlash
BB 02/26/07 SDLP Can End 'Stop-Go' Politics
IT 02/26/07 Sitting Comfortably On A Knife-Edge Seat
IT 02/26/07 West Belfast: Constituency Profile
BT 02/26/07 Defections And Dramas In The Spotlight Again
BT 02/26/07 Hain Gives A Boost To Maze Plan Opponents
BT 02/26/07 Times Are A-Changing At An Emotional Croke Park
IT 02/26/07 Anthems Filled Croker With Pride & Joy
IT 02/26/07 Campaigner Calls On Gay Byrne To Quit
IT 02/26/07 Deputy Mayor Welcomes Byrne Remarks
IT 02/26/07 Opin: More Than A Match
IT 02/26/07 Opin: Should US Troops Land At Shannon
BT 02/26/07 Clerics & Lovely Girls For Father Ted Event
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02/25/07 – SF Campaigns For Yes Vote on Children’s Rights
SF 02/25/07 SF Campaigns For Yes Vote on Children’s Rights
IV 02/23/07 ILIR Set For Biggest Rally Ever
RO 02/25/07 Hibernians To Lobby For Immigration Reform
SB 02/25/07 John McCain: American Maverick
UT 02/25/07 Two Emergency Workers Killed
BT 02/25/07 O'Toole Leads Irish Hopes At Oscars
US 02/25/07 Mick Moloney & Friends Return For 13th Year
WP 02/25/07 Bk Rev: A Search For Irish America
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02/25/07 – Brits & UVF Met 10 Days After Bombs Killed 33
SB 02/25/07 British And UVF Met 10 Days After Bombs Killed 33
AP 02/25/07 Collusion - The Elephant In The Room
IV 02/25/07 Call For Truth Commission
SL 02/25/07 Jesus Wept! LVF Thug Finds God ... Again
SL 02/25/07 Bogside: Woman Keeping Faith With Errant Top Cop Hugh
SB 02/25/07 Ombudsman Requests Scappaticci Files From The PSNI
SB 02/25/07 Local Issues Dominate In The North
SB 02/25/07 British Policy Pushing North Into Poverty: Sinn Féin
SB 02/25/07 Breakdown Of The Northern Nail-Biter
SB 02/25/07 Opposition Closes Gap As Poll Shows 4% Drop For FF
SB 02/25/07 Confusion In Mary Lou’s Election Machine
PT 02/25/07 Politics, Resilience Drive Exhibit By N Irish Artists
PT 02/23/07 Family's Anger After Soldiers' Memorial Is Vandalised
SB 02/25/07 Opin: Power-Sharing Must Not Be Stopped By Minority
BB 02/25/07 Ireland’s 6 Nation Campaign Back On Track
IT 02/25/07 Croke Park Protest Passes Off Peacefully
ST 02/25/07 RSF Demonstrators Fight Losing Battle
SB 02/25/07 EU Experts: Economy Faces Major Slowdown
PD 02/25/07 Irish Peacemakers:
BW 02/25/07 "Luck O' The Irish" At The Atlantic Theater
SB 02/25/07 Psychic Company Owner Buys Daniel’s House
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02/24/07 – Final Ireland 43-13 England
BB 02/24/07 Highlights of the Game
RT 02/24/07 Ahern Praises GAA, Fans After Irish Rugby Win
BT 02/24/07 Six Arrested Following Protest Outside Croke Park
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02/24/07 – Sinn Féin Determined To Deliver Policing Vision
SF 02/24/07 Sinn Féin Determined To Deliver Policing Vision
IT 02/24/07 Adams Dismisses MI5 Protest By SDLP As A Stunt
BB 02/24/07 Adams Accuses DUP Of 'Posturing'
IT 02/24/07 Adams Wisely Goes Off The Record
IN 02/24/07 DUP Lack Of Clarity On Devolution Date
EX 02/24/07 Independent Republicans To Challenge Sinn Féin
BT 02/24/07 Hain: March 26 Deadline Stands
BT 02/24/07 Anthem Is Fine, Says GAA Star Joe Brolly
IT 02/24/07 Auld Enemy's Visit: A Definitive Test Of Its Maturity
UT 02/24/07 Secruity Clampdown At Croke Park
IN 02/24/07 Opin: SF Leading The Way In Uniting The Country
IN 02/24/07 Opin: Croke Park: Let’s Make Today A Great Success
IT 02/24/07 Bookie Runs Rule Over NI Election Hopefuls
IN 02/24/07 Man Dies 10 Weeks After Sister And Fiancee
IN 02/24/07 Mixed Response To ‘All-Protestant GAA Teams’ Call
IT 02/24/07 Seminar Told Of Mobile Phone Hazards
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02/23/07 – UDA Admits It Carried Out Atrocities
BT 02/23/07 UDA Admits It Carried Out Atrocities
SF 02/23/07 DUP Need To Sort Out Approach To Power Sharing
BN 02/23/07 DUP: SF Won't Get Hands On Police Force
BT 02/23/07 Police Facing Cuts In Overtime Across Ulster
BT 02/23/07 Anger At £300m Policing Cuts Plan
DJ 02/23/07 Images Of RUC Dead Posted To Met Chief
BT 02/23/07 SDLP Protest Outside MI5 Belfast Site
DJ 02/23/07 Mainstream Rpblcns Not Behind Abduction Attempt
BT 02/23/07 Fringe Cast Unlikely To Spring A Surpirse
BT 02/23/07 RSF: England Shouldn't Play In Croke Park
BT 02/23/07 Croke Park Medals May Not Be Returned
BT 02/23/07 McAleese Plea For England Welcome
EX 02/23/07 Hogan’s Nephew: It’s Time To Welcome England
BT 02/23/07 Feature: Croke Park: The Real Story
IT 02/23/07 Tight Security For England Rugby Clash
IM 02/23/07 Logistics For Croke Park Game
BB 02/23/07 GAA Chief Wants Protestant Teams
BT 02/23/07 Opin: No Point In Saying Sorry At Croke Park
BT 02/23/07 Opin: The Game Itself Should Make Its Mark
BT 02/23/07 Opin: Let Dignity Not Mob Finally Win The Day
BT 02/23/07 Van Morrison Honoured In LA Ceremony
BB 02/23/07 BBC Seeks Stars Of Odd Man Out
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02/22/07 - DUP Denies 'Dragging Feet' On Powersharing
IT 02/22/07 DUP Denies 'Dragging Feet' On Powersharing
IT 02/22/07 UDA Will Recognise Sinn Fein Authority
BB 02/22/07 Negotiations Planned Over Parade
SF 02/22/07 Launch Of Irish Language Manifesto & Website
BP 02/22/07 Islands Battle For Father Ted Title
IT 02/23/07 Rural Pubs Shutting Down At More Than 1 Per Day
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02/22/07 – UDA Accepts Catholics Suffered
BT 02/22/07 UDA Accepts Catholics Suffered
IT 02/22/07 Action Sought Against PSNI Officer
NL 02/22/07 Patten Ulster Visit Blocked
NL 02/22/07 Rea 'Did Not Call For Truth Inquiry'
BT 02/22/07 Adams Looking Forward To Forthcoming Elections
BT 02/22/07 DUP 'Gutless' In Poll Commitments: Empey
BT 02/22/07 Unionist MLAs Expected To Retain Seats
BT 02/22/07 Paisley: I'm Not In Favour Of Power-Sharing
IT 02/22/07 Inflation At Highest Level In Almost Six Years
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02/21/07 – Hain's Way: It's 'Devolution Or Dissolution'
IE 02/21/07 Hain's Way: It's 'Devolution Or Dissolution'
IT 02/22/07 Adams Says DUP 'Posturing' Over Funding
IH 02/21/07 Paisley Refuses To Commit Power-Sharing
ND 02/21/07 Split Vote Claims ‘Ludicrous’
IT 02/22/07 Purvis To Hold Ervine's Seat Despite DUP
BB 02/21/07 Wright Murderer Sent Back To Jail
BB 02/21/07 Met Chief 'Must Apologise' Over Police Remark
IT 02/22/07 Ahern To Meet Bush Twice
CT 02/21/07 Opin: On The Brink Of Peace, Again
IT 02/22/07 Opin: Optimism At DUP Campaign Launch
IT 02/22/07 Taoiseach Remembers Flight Of The Earls
IT 02/22/07 Collapse Of The Old Gaelic Order
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02/21/07 – Met Chief: RUC Was Paramilitary Organization
BB 02/21/07 Met Chief: RUC Was Paramilitary Organization
BT 02/21/07 Top Cops Knew About Haddock Seven Years Ago
BT 02/21/07 Paisley: DUP Hold Veto On Power-Sharing With SF
BN 02/21/07 DUP: Devolution Depends on Financial Packet
BT 02/21/07 DUP 'Ready' To Share Power With Sinn Fein
NL 02/21/07 Devolution – DUP Digs Its Heels In
BT 02/21/07 From Brawl In The Hall To Flare In The Square
BT 02/21/07 DUP Has Its Eye On Securing A Third Seat
BT 02/21/07 Sinn Fein Speech On RTE Days Before Poll
NL 02/21/07 Apology To RUC Widows, But Hugh Refuses To Go
RT 02/21/07 1,000 Rescued At Sea In 2006
BB 02/20/07 World Cup Stars Sign For Fr Ted
BB 02/21/07 'Wilde' Party In Oscar Town
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02/20/07 – British Need To Remove Inquiries Act Article 19
SF 02/20/07 British Need To Remove Inquiries Act Article 19
SF 02/21/07 Welcome Removal Of The Rosemount Watch Tower
IT 02/20/07 Canvassing A Changed Portadown
SF 02/20/07 Cyber Launch Of SF's Assembly Election Website
IT 02/21/07 DUP Stance Must Be Tested, Says Durkan
IV 02/20/07 Pelosi Pledges Support To ILIR
IV 02/20/07 ILIR Testifies At Senate Hearings
IV 02/20/07 ILIR To Host Meeting In Dublin
IV 02/20/07 McCain To ILIR — Let’s Get It Done!
IT 02/21/07 Opin: Changing Times, But Obstacles Remain
IT 02/21/07 Opin: Dapper Doc Goes To Pull In The Votes
TE 02/21/07 Irish Should Respect God Save The Queen
IT 02/20/07 Flight Of Earls To Be Commemorated
CS 02/21/07 Book Rev: Parallel Lives In N Ireland
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02/20/07 – Collusion Debate Next To Policing Conference
BT 02/20/07 Collusion Debate Next To Policing Conference
SF 02/20/07 Sinn Féin Support Truth Recovery
SF 02/20/07 SF Offers Chance To Advance Peace Process
BN 02/20/07 Durkan Challenges Brits On Devolution
BT 02/20/07 DUP Decommission Bus, While Reg Nurtures Talent
BN 02/20/07 Assembly Tories 'Will Designate As Unionists'
BB 02/20/07 Irish Exempt From Prisoner Plans
BB 02/20/07 Politicians Under Web Spotlight
BN 02/20/07 Co Cork Chef Convicted Of IRA Membership
BT 02/20/07 Anthem Row Strikes A Sour Note
BT 02/16/07 Feature: Day Five - The Victims
RT 02/20/07 Marian Finucane's Son Recovering After Attack
RT 02/20/07 JFK Pre-Assassination Footage Released
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02/19/07 – Anglicans & Catholics Should Reunite Under Pope
BT 02/19/07 Bishops Urge Anglicans, Catholics To Reunite
BT 02/19/07 Washington Trip May Be Crucial To Assembly Deal
BT 02/19/07 Parties To Slug Out State Of Unionism Battle
IT 02/20/07 Cameron Urges Rejection of Sectarian Politics
IT 02/20/07 North Down: Not An Easy Place To Read
SF 02/19/07 SF To Attend Policing & Collusion Conferences
BB 02/19/07 Families Sue For Murder Collusion
BT 02/19/07 Croke Park: England Return To Scene Of Massacre
IC 02/19/07 Opin: The Protest Vote
BT 02/19/07 St Patrick's Day: Belfast Set For Celebrations
IT 02/20/07 Clare Coach Firms Angered By Cliff Fees
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02/19/07 - IAUC Welcomes Obama's Statement on N Ireland
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02/18/07 – Hain Endorses Hillary For President
TE 02/18/07 Hain Endorses Hillary For President
SF 02/17/07 SF Committed To Institutions by March 26th
SL 02/18/07 Sinn Fein: Help Cops To Catch Sex Beast
SL 02/18/07 UDA Urges Voting For Mainstream Unionists
HT 02/18/07 Martin Galvin Backs Anti-SF Candidates
GU 02/18/07 Loyalists Make Catholic Poles Welcome
SL 02/18/07 Opin: The Times They Are A-Changing
SM 02/18/07 Prince William To Serve In Northern Ireland
SP 02/18/07 Spoof: Barack Obama Is An Irish O'Bama
SL 02/18/07 Why Big Ian May Not Vote For His Deputy
GU 02/18/07 Bk Rev: How IRA Doomed Itself To Futility
AH 02/18/07 Bk Review: Romance Of Irish In America
SL 02/18/07 Rugby And Soccer Stay At Croker in 2008
SN 02/18/07 Irish Day To Be Held At Burke Catholic
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02/17/07 – O’Bama: Time For Candidates To Go Green
BH 02/16/07 O’Bama: Time For Candidates To Go Green
BT 02/17/07 SF Committed To Power-Sharing Deadline
SF 02/17/07 No Going Back On The Good Friday Agreement
BB 02/17/06 UUP Leader Says DUP Being 'Naive'
SF 02/16/07 Sinn Féin Predict Substantial Growth In Dublin
SF 02/16/07 DUP Should Wise-Up And Catch-Up
IT 02/17/07 Hain Rules Out Bloody Sunday Gesture
SF 02/17/07 Sinn Féin Meets PSNI Chief Constable
SF 02/17/07 All-Ireland Free Travel Was A Sinn Féin Demand
GR 02/16/07 Ulster On Euphrates: Dirty War In Iraq
IA 02/16/07 Opin: The Race Is On
BT 02/17/07 Opin: British, Rather Than N Irish, Atrocity
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02/16/07 – Obama Calls On DUP To Join Executive
IT 02/16/07 Obama Calls On DUP To Join Executive
BB 02/16/07 Sinn Fein To Meet NI Police Chief
AP 02/16/07 Ó Caoláin 'Recovering Well' After Heart Attack
AP 02/16/07 Collusion: Finucanes Seek Independent Inquiry
AP 02/16/07 Collusion: Conference
AP 02/16/07 New Lodge Families Demand Justice
AP 02/16/07 Collusion Victims Fear Delay In Dáil Debate
IT 02/16/07 Stone Remanded Over Stormont Attack
DJ 02/16/07 Totally Vindicated Murder Convictions Quashed
CL 02/16/07 Demands For Brit Apology - Bloody Sunday
AP 02/16/07 Opin: Lift The Lid On Collusion
BB 02/16/07 Political Vision Of Wonder City
BB 02/16/07 Free Irish Roaming For Pensioners
IT 02/16/07 Dakota Decides Against Bono Honour
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02/15/07 - Tim Spicer / Aegish Defense Services Action Alert from PFC
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02/15/07 - 1979 Murder Convictions Ruled Unsafe
BB 02/15/07 1979 Murder Convictions Ruled Unsafe
BT 02/15/07 April Court Date For Bank Raid Accused?
BT 02/15/07 Sir Hugh Denies Refusing To Meet Family
BT 02/15/07 MLAs Able To Rent Offices Their Families Own?
BT 02/15/07 SF & SDLP To Slug It Out For 6th Seat
BT 02/14/07 SDLP's Uphill Battle To Regain Its Lost Ground
BT 02/15/07 UUP To Fight To Woo Back Party's Deserters
BT 02/14/07 Six Degrees Of Separation For Bob McCartney
IM 02/15/07 RSF Poblachtach Launch Candidates And Manifesto
BT 02/14/07 Dismantling Brings Normality To Crossmaglen
BT 02/15/07 UUP Goes Cyber With Broadcast On YouTube
BT 02/15/07 Feature: Day Three: The Victims
BT 02/15/07 Feature: Day Four: The Victims
BT 02/15/07 Opin: Election About Building A Better Future
NL 02/15/07 Opin: SF Past May Come Back & Haunt The Future
BT 02/15/07 Hain Hits Out Over Ulster's Slave Past
IT 02/15/07 Hain In Row Over North Slavery Apology
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02/14/07 – Unionist 'Could Hold' Multiple Seats
IT 02/14/07 Unionist 'Could Hold' Multiple Seats
BN 02/14/07 Unionists Standing For Multiple Positions
IE 02/14/07 Obama Would Personally Engage in Peace Process
TO 02/15/07 Brits Urges US To Roll Out Red Carpet For Adams
SF 02/14/07 SF: Scrap Legislation Against Ex-Prisoners
BT 02/14/07 DUP Praises SF Aid To Police In Murder Probe
BT 02/14/07 DUP Demands Strong Stormont
IT 02/15/07 DUP Forced To Confront Threat From McCartney
BT 02/14/07 DUP 'Did Side Deal On School Test Plan'
BT 02/14/07 UUP Uses Election Website
SF 02/15/07 Loyalist Eager To See Assembly 'Up & Running'
IT 02/14/07 Taoiseach Guarantee Dáil Collusion Debate
BN 02/14/07 Man Admits Part In 'Love Ulster Parade' Riots
BN 02/14/07 MEPs Condemn Rendition Flight 'Collusion'
BT 02/14/07 Unionists at Top Of Air Fare Expenses League
BT 02/14/07 Cocaine Use Rising In Cork - Survey
BN 02/14/07 Curtain Falls On Andrews Lane Theatre
BB 02/14/07 O'Sullivan Ready For 'Last Lap'
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02/13/07 – ILIR Set Up For Irish In US
IT 02/14/04 Lobby Group Set Up For Irish In US
BB 02/13/07 Poll Candidate Line-Up Revealed
IT 02/14/07 6 RSF Candidates To Stand In Assembly Election
IT 02/14/07 Constituency Profile: Lagan Valley - 6 Seats
IT 02/14/07 DUP Deputy Rejects UKUP Remarks
IT 02/14/07 Huge Donaldson Vote Could Rebound On DUP
IT 02/14/07 PSNI Praises SF Support
IT 02/13/07 Opin: Elections In The North
IT 02/14/07 Hostility To Travellers Is Worst In 30 Years
IT 02/14/07 Polluted Galway 'Swamp' To Be Treated
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02/13/07 – O Caoláin To Stand In Election
IT 02/13/07 O Caoláin To Stand In Election
BB 02/13/07 PSNI Acknowledge Sinn Fein Help
BT 02/12/07 Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Say OTR
IO 02/13/07 N Ireland Office: No Amnesty For IRA Fugitives
SF 02/12/07 SF Will Continue To Support The Finucane Family
BB 02/13/07 Last Post Sounds For Watchtower
SF 02/12/07 Welcome For Removal Of Crossmaglen Spy Post
IM 02/12/07 Ógra SF Build Solidarity Links In England
BT 02/12/07 Hain To Mark 1920s GAA Massacre?
BB 02/13/07 Soldier Who Blinded Man Forgiven
BT 02/13/07 Split Widens As DUP Man Resigns
DJ 02/13/07 Peggy O’Hara Running To 'Smash Stormont'
BB 02/14/07 RSF Party Will Not Be Recognised
BT 02/12/07 Feature: Day One: The Victims
BT 02/13/07 Feature: Day Two: The Victims
BT 02/13/07 Opin: Pain Never Ends For The Victims
BT 02/13/07 Opin: Fugitives Must Not Evade Justice
BT 02/13/07 Opin: A Bright New Dawn Sets Croke Alight
DT 02/13/07 St. Patrick's Parade Finds New Home In Ferndale
JN 02/12/07 Nun To Lead Mount Kisco St. Patrick's Parade
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02/12/07 - Tributes Paid To Pat Finucane 18 Years On
AN 02/12/07 Tributes Paid To Pat Finucane 18 Years On
IT 02/12/07 So Long To The Armagh Watchtower
IT 02/12/07 NI Candidates Lodge Election Papers
BT 02/12/07 DUP Could Be Hit By Resignations
BT 02/12/07 Strange Days As DUP Feels The Unease
NL 02/12/07 It's Time To Come Clean On Your Past
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02/11/07 – Analysis: The Numbers Don’t Add Up
IT 02/12/07 Analysis: The Numbers Don’t Add Up
IT 02/12/07 Election Battleground
IT 02/11/07 Anti-GFA Unionist Oppose DUP In Key Seats
BT 02/11/07 Devolution Warning Over IRA Fugitives Deal
BN 02/11/07 Finucane Mural To Be Unveiled In Belfast
BT 02/11/07 Hain Supports Orde Amid Love-Child Controversy
IT 02/12/07 Hotel Plan Angers Nuns Who Sold Land For Park
RH 02/11/07 Pub Brings Taste Of Ireland To Lewisburg
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02/11/07 – Victims' Families Want Answers From Orde
SL 02/11/07 Victims' Families Want Answers From Orde
SL 02/11/07 McCord Campaign Goes To The US
SL 02/11/07 'Cold Case' Cops In Dark Over Murders
BB 02/11/07 Love Child Won't Affect Job: Orde
SL 02/11/07 DUP Manifesto May Spark Election Cancellation
SL 02/11/07 Hunger Striker Will Battle SF In Mid-Ulster
GU 02/10/07 Prosecuting IRA Not In Public Interest
SL 02/11/07 Wright Killer Back In Prison
SL 02/11/07 Mad Dog: I'm Still Pining For Jackie 'Legs'
SL 02/11/07 Mad Dog: Nike And Tina Turner!
SL 02/11/07 Threat Crisis For UVF Victim's Mum
GU 02/10/07 Fury At Hains Rugby Wreath Plan
SL 02/11/07 Peter Curistan: An Innocent Man
CD 02/11/07 Essay: Bloody Sunday's Legacy In Ireland
SB 02/11/07 Feature: Mayhem On The M50
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02/10/07 – O’Caolain Admitted To Hostpital
BT 02/10/07 O’Caolain Admitted To Hostpital
IN 02/10/07 Suicide Loyalist Believed To Be Finucane Killer
IN 02/10/07 Finucane: Mural To Honour Murdered Solicitor
SF 02/10/07 SF Seeks Summit On Collusion
SF 02/10/07 Irish Govt Must Lift Lid On Collusion
AP 02/10/07 Irish Needs To Take Head Out Of Sand - Doolan
EX 02/10/07 Relatives Of Victims Stage Collusion Conference
UH 02/10/07 Hussey: Collusion Allegations Were Unfounded
SF 02/10/07 SF Will Not Permit DUP Veto Over Change
UH 02/10/07 Plan B Not Best Option For Republicans- Doherty
IN 02/10/07 Republicans Need Support To Join Police
BB 02/09/07 Paisley 'A Political Rough Rider'
BN 02/09/07 Paisley Buoyant At Launch Of Election Campaign
BT 02/10/07 DUP 'Founding Father' Quits
IV 02/09/07 Irish In Fight Over Illegal Immigration
BB 02/10/07 Orange Order Gives Hain Dossier
IN 02/10/07 PSNI Links To GAA ‘Should Be Notified’
BT 02/10/07 Loyalists's Bid To Prevent A Retrial Adjourned
BB 02/10/07 Durkan Clarifies Controversial Ad
IN 02/10/07 Opin: Restrictions Undermine Their Usefulness
BT 02/10/07 Croker Ready To Write New Chapter In History
IT 02/10/07 Preparations For Historic Rugby Clash
IT 02/10/07 Feature: The Croker Conversion
IT 02/10/07 Feature: Anna Nicole - No More Blonde Ambition
IT 02/10/07 Feature: Can't Get Enough Of Your Love
BT 02/10/07 Artist Benedict Kiely Dies Aged 87
BB 02/10/07 Lifetime Award For TV's Gay Byrne
RT 02/10/07 Cork Donnelly’s Bakery Set To Close
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02/09/07 – Ex-UDA Leader Is Found Hanged At Football Pitch
BT 02/09/07 Ex-UDA Leader Is Found Hanged At Football Pitch
BB 02/09/07 Politicians Urged To Do Business
BT 02/09/07 Assembly: Is This What We're Voting For?
BT 02/08/07 More DUP Splits Emerge
BT 02/08/07 Former DUP MLAs To Stand For UK Unionists
BB 02/09/07 DUP Members Agree Resign Clause
BB 02/08/07 Omagh Probe Seeks Sinn Fein Help
AP 02/09/07 Diplock Courts Must Not Return By Back Door
AP 02/08/07 Collusion: Govt Needs To Take Head Out Of Sand
BT 02/09/07 PSNI Holds New Inquiry Into Kingsmill Massacre
BT 02/09/07 Woman Bids To Clear Name Over £26m Heist
BN 02/09/07 SF Calls For Solidarity w/ Rossport Protestors
IN 02/09/07 Opin: Making Peace With Past Is Major Issue
MG 02/09/07 Rugby Invading Ireland's Hallowed Ground
BT 02/09/07 £25,000 Restaurant Review Libel Bill
IT 02/09/07 Muintir na Tire Founder Commemorated
RT 02/08/07 Bacon Painting Fetches €21.2m In London
RT 02/08/07 Way Cleared For Harris Statue In Kilkee
IN 02/09/07 Cliffs Of Moher Go Hollywood
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02/08/07 – Collusion: Families Meet Ahern
IN 02/08/07 Collusion: Families Meet Ahern
IN 02/08/07 McCord To Run On ‘Justice For Families’ Ticket
IN 02/08/07 Loyalist Likely To Join Ulster Unionists
IN 02/08/07 Watch Out Ian, There’s A New Man In Town
IT 02/08/07 Durkan Baited Over Former RUC Officer Law Suit
BT 02/08/07 Opin: Getting Rid Of Bigotry Begins At Home
IN 02/08/07 Opin: Time To Put Flesh On Agreement Promises
IN 02/08/07 Opin: O’Loan Report: Tip Of Collusion Iceberg
BT 02/08/07 Opin: Why We Still Need Touts
BN 02/08/07 Cancer In Ireland Well Ahead Of European Norm
BN 02/08/07 Taoiseach Opens Cliffs Of Moher Visitor Centre
BN 02/08/07 Coach Operators To Protest At Cliffs Of Moher
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02/07/07 – Blair Asks McCain To Intercede With Paisley
IE 02/07/07 Blair Asks McCain To Intercede With Paisley
IT 02/07/07 Victims' Families Need Closure - Ahern
IT 02/07/07 Orde Investigates 'Unhelpful' Officers
SF 02/07/07 Sinn Féin To Meet Orde On Collusion
BT 02/07/07 Rea: PSNI Informants Must Be Carefully Managed
BT 02/07/07 Ulster Murder Rates 'Lowest In 20 Years'
IE 02/07/07 ILIR Rallies In San Francisco
TO 02/07/07 Croke Park Prepares For Historic Conversion
TE 02/07/07 'Old Foes' Return To Bloody Sunday Site
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02/07/07 – N Ireland: Hate Capital Of Western World
BT 02/07/07 N Ireland: Hate Capital Of Western World
BT 02/07/07 Hain Will Have Control Of New Justice Body
BB 02/07/07 Hain: Obstacles To Devolution 'Removed'
BT 02/07/07 DUP Will Not Be Forced By Deadlines: Robinson
BN 02/07/07 Don't Sabotage Road To Devolution
BB 02/07/07 PSNI Set To Respond On Collusion
BT 02/07/07 Orde To Dominate Policing Meeting
RT 02/07/07 Met Éireann Warning Of Heavy Snowfalls
----

02/06/07 - Unionism Fails To Face Truth About Collusion
SF 02/06/07 Unionism Fails To Face Truth About Collusion
IT 02/06/07 'Too Much' Spent On NI Ombudsman
BB 02/06/07 New Law 'Excludes' Alliance Role
SF 02/06/07 DUP Failing Unionist People
IN 02/06/07 DUP Accused Of ‘Buying Silence Of Candidates’
EE 02/06/07 Shot IRA Men Fams In House Of Lords Challenge
BN 02/06/07 McCabe Widow Welcomes Legal Costs Move
IN 02/06/07 Opin: Assembly Elections Do Not Present Choice
IT 02/06/07 Flight of the Earls to be commemorated
----

02/06/07 – Mitchell: North Can 'Govern Themselves'
BN 02/06/07 Mitchell: North Can 'Govern Themselves'
BT 02/06/07 INLA Threatens Supergrass If He Comes Back Home
UT 02/05/07 Victim's Father Meets Police Ombudsman
BT 02/06/07 UVF Man Rewarded With Contracts, Claims Dad
BT 02/06/07 Victim’s Family Outraged At O'Loan Disclosures
NL 02/06/07 Stakeknife Tape Emerges After News Letter Probe
AN 02/06/07 Let The Election Battle Commence
BB 02/05/07 Resign Letter For DUP Candidates
NL 02/06/07 DUP Denies £20k Fine To Stop Dissension
BB 02/06/07 End Of ERA As Politicians Bow Out
BT 02/06/07 UUP MP To Miss Assembly Poll
UT 02/06/07 Republican Sinn Fein To Contest NI Election
BN 02/05/07 British Poultry Banned From Irish Fairs
IT 02/06/07 MRSA Endemic In Irish Hospitals, Inquest Told
IT 02/06/07 Hiker's Death Caused By Fall, Inquest Finds
BT 02/06/07 Plan To Bury Soldiers Alive Inside Gibraltar
GA 02/05/07 History Of Croke Park
----

02/05/07 – Injuries Get Worse With New 'Bullets'
IT 02/05/07 Injuries Get Worse With New Plastic Bullets
BB 02/05/07 Restorative Justice Rules Set Out
BT 02/05/07 A Right Royal Row Averted
IT 02/05/07 Duke On Trade Mission To Dublin
CS 02/04/07 N Ireland: Model For Rebuilding Trust In Police
SL 02/04/07 A Law Unto Themselves
BT 02/05/07 DUP MLAs Facing Fines Under Party Contracts
UU 02/05/07 Blog: Carson Demands Clarity From DUP
TW 02/05/07 Blog Opin: How The RUC Saved Republican Lives
IN 02/05/07 Opin: Proposed Protocol Totally Misses Point
AO 02/05/07 IAUC Presents: From Long Kesh To GFA
IT 02/05/07 'Sense Of Fear' During Haughey Era
TH 02/05/07 The Archive: The Shergar Mystery Endures
BB 02/05/07 A Long Way From Dublin's Bloody Past
BN 02/05/07 Campaigners Call For End To Live Hare Coursing
RT 02/05/07 Teaching Of Irish Set For Overhaul
----

02/04/07 – British Troops 'Colluded With Mad Dog'
GU 02/05/07 British Troops 'Colluded With Mad Dog'
IT 02/05/07 SF To Hold Collusion Conference
SL 02/04/07 I'll Aid O'Loan. But She Must Not Do A 'Jonty!'
SL 02/04/07 McCord Letter Not Passed To Flanagan
BB 02/04/07 Ahern And Hain In Deadline Threat
BB 02/04/07 Election Talks For Ahern And Hain
TC 02/05/07 Public Inquiry Called For Into Finucane Case
SL 02/04/07 Opin: Few DUP Big Guns To Lose Out Over SF Deal
BN 02/04/07 NY Mayor Hails Flight Link To The West
BT 02/04/07 Floodlights Switched On At Croke Park
----

02/03/07 – McGuinness Calls On DUP To Commit
IT 02/02/07 McGuinness Calls On DUP To Commit
BN 02/02/07 SF Warned To Start Building Unionist Confidence
BN 02/03/07 SF Ard Comhairle To Meet In Dublin Later Today
BT 02/03/07 Goggins Unveils Detailed Rev Of Parades Issue
IV 02/03/07 Families Of The Undocumented To Meet In Dublin
BB 02/02/07 Court Go-Ahead For Wright Inquiry
IT 02/03/07 Two Men Jailed For Kidnapping Republican
IT 02/03/07 Ireland Pushing For World Death Penalty Ban
IT 02/03/07 Grief As News Of 11 Yr Old Boys Suicide Spreads
IT 02/03/07 Bloomberg To Visit Mayo To Mark New Air Link
DT 02/03/07 More Than 500 Visitors For Museum Of Free Derry
TG 02/03/07 Nenagh Link With Michael Collins
PR 02/03/07 American Ireland Fund Announces New York Gala
IT 02/03/07 Crackdown On Fake Irish Names
----

02/02/07 – Parties At Loggerheads Over Justice Ministry
BT 02/02/07 Parties At Loggerheads Over Justice Ministry
IN 02/02/07 SF To Sit On New Policing Board
AP 02/01/07 'Strength Through Unity' - Ógra
BT 02/02/07 McGuinness Appeals For Justice After Ordeal
IN 02/02/07 Dail Northern Committee A ‘Side Deal’
IN 02/02/07 McCord Ready To Meet Foster
DJ 02/02/07 I Want To Come Home - Raymond Gilmour
IN 02/02/07 ‘Viable Device’ Abandoned
BN 02/02/07 Polls Suggest Close Election
BT 02/02/07 Sinn Fein Gets Poll Boost In Republic
BT 02/02/07 Labour 'Falling Apart' As MPs Turn On Blair
AP 02/01/07 Bloody Sunday: 35th Anniversary Commemoration
BT 02/01/07 Ex-Prisoners Lose 'Political Bias' Jobs Case
IN 02/02/07 Opin: In Informing Timing Is Everything
IN 02/02/07 Opin: Another 30 Years Of Hell? No Thanks
IN 02/02/07 Opin: Paisley Will Play Hain’s Weakness
IN 02/02/07 Drowned Mother & Son To Be Buried Side By Side
MA 02/02/07 2nd Miracle Of Knock As Airport Gets US Links
PI 02/02/07 Pardons Board Delays Ruling On A Molly Maguire
PI 02/02/07 Pardon Sought For 130-Year-Old Crime
----

02/01/07 – PSNI Urged To Publish Letter Over UVF Collusion
BT 02/01/07 PSNI Urged To Publish Letter Over UVF Collusion
BT 02/01/07 Unionist Are Blasted Over Report Response
IT 02/02/07 Gap Narrows Between Alternative Coalitions
BB 02/01/07 Dail Body To Deal With NI Affairs
BN 02/01/07 Unionist Parties React To Dáil Invitation`
BM 02/01/07 Adams Denies Pandering To DUP On Policing
SF 02/01/07 Sinn Féin Press Blair On Collusion
SF 02/01/07 SF Gives Blair Oireachtas Collusion Report
BB 02/01/07 Durkan In 'Legal Action Threat'
BT 02/01/07 DUP: SFs Stance On Police Doesn't Go Far Enough
BT 02/01/07 Opin: Scene Set To Break Free Of Direct Rule
IT 02/02/07 Opin: Why Should IRA Be Exempt?
IN 02/01/07 Opin: Reunification Is Solution To Partition
IT 02/02/07 Drought Will Strike Southeast By 2020, Says EPA
BT 02/01/07 Pics Of Past Become A Big Draw On The Internet
----

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SF: DUP Must Accept Result

News about Ireland & the Irish

BB 02/28/07 SF: DUP Must Accept Result
SF 02/28/07 SF Manifesto-Delivering For Ireland's Future
GU 02/28/07 Paisley Casts Fresh Doubt On Devolution Deal
IT 03/01/07 McCartney Says Paisley Wants 'Deal'
IT 03/01/07 Name Of Game Is Getting Vote Out
IT 03/01/07 Constituency Profile: East Derry
BB 02/28/07 Key Battlegrounds In NI Poll
BB 02/28/07 Parties Hit By More Resignations
IE 02/28/07 The March Of Dollars

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

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6405327.stm

DUP Must Accept Result: Sinn Fein

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has said the DUP demanded
the assembly election so must accept its outcome.

Launching the party's election manifesto, Mr Adams made 10
commitments to the voters.

They included a call for the Stormont assembly to be given
power to vary taxes.

Sinn Fein's manifesto commits the party to work towards
restoring the assembly, an executive and an all-Ireland
ministerial council with full powers.

Questioned about whether an executive dominated by the DUP
and Sinn Fein could work, Mr Adams said he wasn't going to
answer for the DUP. But he said Ian Paisley should accept
the outcome of an election which his party wanted.

"On the doorsteps there is a clear demand that locally
elected politicians face up to our responsibilities. That
is also the Sinn Fein position.

"People of all political persuasions want to see the
British direct rule ministers sent home.

"There is no reason why this should not happen by 26
March," he said.

Sinn Fein's manifesto calls for a œ10bn peace dividend.

The party wants any new assembly to be given new powers to
vary local taxes.

Sinn Fein say they are opposed to water charges wand want
more debate about water reform.

Questioned about opposition from republicans angered by
Sinn Fein's policy switch on policing, Mr Adams said the
vast majority supported the party's position.

The 10 commitments Sinn Fein makes in its manifesto are:

To restore political institutions; full delivery on Good
Friday Agreement; expand all-Ireland agenda; increase all-
Ireland implementation bodies; island-wide referendum on
Irish unity

Demand a œ10bn 10-year peace dividend; tax varying powers
for assembly; executive borrowing facility; oppose water
charges and privatisation; increase financial support for
indigenous small and medium businesses and social economy
projects

Promote equal rights for all; time-framed strategy to
eliminate child poverty; commissioner for older people

Rural regeneration strategy; remove 'UK' status from food
exports; Ireland GM free; Reject PPS 14 and reform planning
to allow rural people to live within own community; End
cutbacks in provision of public services to rural
communities

Remove barriers to GP access in rural areas and expand all-
Ireland GP out-of-hours service; reduce waiting lists,
managed through basis of clinical need alone; oppose
privatisation of services and staff; fully implement
regional suicide strategy

End academic selection - replace with parental choice and
pupil profiles to transfer to all ability post primary
education; extra money to schools where measured social and
educational need high

Tackle social housing crisis and waiting lists through
annual target of 5,000 new builds per year - target 70,000
new homes for social housing by 2025; compulsory purchase
of vacant properties; legislation to ensure that 30% of
private development social or affordable

All-Ireland environmental protection agency; ban on
municipal incinerators; introduce plastic bag levy

Civic policing; transfer of powers; truth and victims;
dismantle structures of collusion; end use of plastic
bullets; enhance community safety measures

Opposition to the war in Iraq; support for peace processes
in the Middle East and Basque Country; support for debt
cancellation and fair trade

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2007/02/28 16:28:24 GMT
c BBC MMVII

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

http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/18042

Sinn Fein Manifesto Launch - Delivering For Ireland's
Future

Download PDF
http://www.sinnfein.ie/pdf/AssemblyManifesto2007small.pdf

Published: 28 February, 2007

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams MP today launched the
party's Assembly election manifesto.

Speaking at the event Mr Adams said:

"This manifesto is Sinn Fein's contract with the
electorate.

It is our agenda for government.

It contains the pledges we want to take into the heart of
fully functioning political institutions.

As an all-Ireland party, Sinn Fein is fighting two
elections at this time, the undeclared one in the south
where this party is an increasingly viable option for
voters looking for positive change and this one in the
north.

On the doorsteps there is a clear demand that locally
elected politicians face up to our responsibilities. That
is also the Sinn Fein position.

People of all political persuasions want to see the British
Direct Rule Ministers sent home. There is no reason why
this should not happen by March 26th.

There is an onus on local politicians to deliver on
services for the elderly, the vulnerable and disadvantaged.

There is a need for an anti-poverty strategy, and for first
class health and education services.

There is also a duty to oppose the water charges and the
unfair rates burden being imposed by British direct Rule
Ministers.

Sinn Fein is making pledges on all these issues.

And we have identified ten commitments for change from our
very comprehensive manifesto.

We also continue to engage with the two governments to
secure a substantial peace dividend. We were the first
party to put this on the agenda and we will work with the
other parties to achieve it. We expect to meet with the
British Chancellor in the coming weeks.

Politics has to be about empowering people. It is about
making a positive difference to peoples lives.

We take a strategic view about how to accomplish this.

For example, at our Ard Fheis last year I set out the
objectives for our negotiations. These were:

:: To end the suspension of the political institutions

:: To ensure there would be no dilution of the Good Friday
Agreement

:: Full implementation of the outstanding aspects of the
Agreement

:: A conclusion to the debate on policing

The recent Sinn Fein Ard Fheis on Policing is proof once
again of how Sinn Fein delivers, openly, democratically, in
the national interest and in a way that opens up the
possibility for more progress.

Another example of how we plan ahead is to be found in our
Irish language manifesto in the last election.

In that manifesto - Ag Cur Gaelge Arais i mBeal an Phobail
- we promised to bring forward an Irish Language Act.

We won that commitment last October from the British
government at St. Andrews.

And our focus now is in getting the strongest possible Act
as quickly as possible.

On March 7th the voters will have the opportunity to make a
judgement on our stewardship of all these issues.

Others make promises - we make commitments - we keep our
commitments.

Sinn Fein delivers strong effective representation in every
political forum on this island.

We are delivering both locally and nationally. We want to
continue this work.

We want to confront poverty; sectarianism; racism.

We want a rights' based society, where all citizens are
treated equally.

We are now seeking a mandate to go back into government.

We are seeking a mandate for this manifesto 'Delivering for
Ireland's Future' and for our ten commitments, which range
from support for a united Ireland of equals, through
support for indigenous small and medium businesses, through
rural regeneration, against privatisation of health
services, for a suicide prevention strategy, for protection
for the environment, and opposition to globalisation and
the war in Iraq and Afghanistan." ENDS

Note to Editors

Sinn Fein's 10 commitments

POLITICAL PROCESS: Restore political institutions; Full
delivery on Good Friday Agreement; Expand all-Ireland
agenda; Increase All-Ireland Implementation Bodies; Island
wide referendum on Irish Unity; Promote a United Ireland.

ECONOMY: œ10 billion 10 year Peace Dividend; Tax Varying
Powers for Assembly; Executive Borrowing Facility NOT the
Reinvestment and Reform Initiative (RRI) negotiated by Mark
Durkan and David Trimble that led to the Water charges;
Oppose Water Charges and privatisation - open debate and
consultation and ensure that under funding is met by
British government; Increase financial support for
indigenous small and medium businesses and social economy
projects and for Research and Development and island wide
networking & clustering to boost innovation.

EQUALITY: Promote equal rights for all. Ring fence
percentage of budget to tackle economic inequality and
poverty - ensure all resources are targeted on the basis of
need; Time framed Strategy to eliminate Child Poverty;
Commissioner for Older People.

RURAL AFFAIRS: Rural Regeneration Strategy; Remove 'UK'
status from food exports; Ireland GM free; Reject PPS 14
and reform planning to allow rural people to live within
own community; End cutbacks in provision of public services
to rural communities.

HEALTH: Resource Bairbre de Br£n's 'Investing for Health'
Strategy; Remove barriers to GP access in Rural areas and
expand all-Ireland GP Out-of-Hours Service; Reduce waiting
lists, managed through basis of clinical need alone; Oppose
Privatisation of services and staff; Fully implement
regional Suicide Strategy.

EDUCATION: End academic selection - replace with parental
choice and Pupil Profiles to transfer to all ability post
primary education; extra money to schools where measured
social and educational need high; legislation to guarantee
rights of children with autism and specific needs; Resource
Integrated and Irish Medium education.

HOUSING: Tackle social housing crisis and waiting lists
through annual target of 5,000 new builds per year - target
70,00 new homes for social housing by 2025; Compulsory
Purchase of vacant properties; legislation to ensure that
30% of private development social or affordable.

ENVIRONMENT: All-Ireland Environmental Protection Agency;
Ban on municipal incinerators; Introduce Plastic Bag Levy.

POLICING AND JUSTICE: Civic Policing; Transfer of Powers;
Truth and Victims; dismantle structures of collusion; end
use of plastic bullets; enhance community safety measures.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: Opposition to the war in Iraq;
Support for Peace Processes in the Middle East and Basque
Country; Support for debt cancellation and fair trade.

----

Executive Summary

:: Commence harmonisation of tax rates on an island-wide
basis, within a progressive taxation framework.

Supporting local business development

:: Provide increased financial support for indigenous small
and medium enterprises and for social economy projects.

:: Provide increased financial support for R&D and for
islandwide networking and clustering to boost innovation.

Tackling discrimination

:: Create incentives for investment and implement an
investment programme in areas of high unemployment or
social deprivation, for example, West of the Bann, the
border areas and North and West Belfast.

:: Decentralise government departments to communities West
of the Bann and in the border counties.

Eliminating poverty

:: Ringfence a meaningful proportion of the annual budget
for programmes aimed at tackling economic inequality and
poverty.

:: Ensure that all resources are targeted on the basis of
objective need.

:: Tackle ongoing employment-related discrimination against
nationalists through a time-framed strategy to eliminate
the unemployment differential.

Enhancing workers rights

:: Establish an effective inspection and enforcement system
to protect all workers, particularly young apprentices and
migrant workers, against exploitation and abuse.

:: Launch a multilingual public education campaign on
workers' rights and employers' responsibilities and
actively encourage trade union recognition, membership and
representation.

:: Effectively enforce the existing minimum wage and argue
for its increase.

:: Ensure that public spending does not encourage
exploitation of workers, locally or internationally.

Rural regeneration

:: Agree a comprehensive, fully integrated, properly
resourced Rural Regeneration Strategy.

:: Remove 'UK' status from our food exports, and integrate
the agri-food industry and agricultural services on an all-
Ireland basis.

:: Develop an island-wide animal health strategy, and keep
Ireland as a whole GM crop-free.

:: Radically reform the planning service to protect the
right of rural people to live within their own community.

:: End cutbacks in the provision of public services to rural
communities and provide long-term funding for development
of rural community infrastructure and capacity.

Defending Public Services,

Delivering Rights-Based

Governance

Opposing Water Charges, Privatisation, Double-Taxation

:: Oppose the imposition of water charges and the
privatisation of the water service, and any other forms of
regressive double-taxation.

:: Ensure the water charges legislation is deferred to the
incoming Assembly and Executive to allow for an open debate
and consultation around the issue of water reform.

:: Ensure that the legacy costs of the failure to invest in
water and sewerage are covered by the British Government.

Health

:: Fully resource and implement the 'Investing for Health'
Strategy.

:: Remove the barrier to proper GP access in border areas
through enhanced all-Ireland cooperation in GP Out of Hours
Services.

:: Dramatically reduce or eliminate treatment waiting lists,
and ensure that all waiting lists are managed on the basis
of clinical need alone.

:: Oppose privatisation of healthcare services and staff.

:: Fully implement the regional Suicide Prevention Strategy
and promote a coordinated all-Ireland approach.

:: Support the introduction of legislation to protect
workers and the public from tobacco smoke in the workplace
like that introduced in the 26 Counties, and to raise the
minimum age for the purchase of tobacco products from 16 to
18 years of age.

Education

:: Finally end academic selection - using parental
preference and a Pupil Profile to inform parents of
children transferring to all ability (11-18) post-primary
education.

:: Oppose cuts in vital front-line education services, and
ensure additional investment in schools and children where
the measured social and educational need of the school
population is high.

:: Provide appropriate supports within mainstream classrooms
for children with additional needs.

:: Introduce legislation to guarantee the rights of those on
the autistic spectrum, agree an Autism Strategy.

:: Properly resource integrated and Irish Medium education.

Housing

:: Eliminate the housing waiting list by launching a major
renewed investment in a comprehensive social housing
programme, resulting in an annual new build of 5,000 units
and 70,000 new homes by 2025.

:: Introduce a radical approach to maximise development of
social and affordable housing by using: available land
banks, starting with former British Army and former RUC and
PSNI barracks and brownfield sites in government ownership;
Compulsory Purchase Orders on derelict properties vacant
for more than 12 months; and a legislative requirement that
at least 30% of all private development sites are earmarked
for social and affordable housing.

:: Establish a Cross-Departmental Ministerial Task Force on
Fuel Poverty.

:: Respect, protect and promote the rights of Travellers to
adequate and appropriate housing.

Environment

:: Establish an all-Ireland Environmental Protection Agency
to drive forward a strong programme of enforcement.

:: Ban the development of municipal incinerators in Ireland
and close landfill sites that have not been properly
engineered to minimise the danger of contamination.

:: Extend the plastic bag levy on an all-Ireland basis.

:: Build major national recycling facilities and support
government intervention to create markets for recyclables.

:: Mandate and support all councils to produce waste
strategies including a minimum target of 50% recycling and
a total ban on disposal of compostable waste in landfills
by 2010.

Arts and culture

:: End the funding crisis in arts and culture and reach a
minimum investment target of 1% total budgetary spend.

:: Devote significant support to cooperatively-run and
community arts projects including community festivals, and
particularly those that innovate to actively promote social
inclusion and oppose sectarianism and racism.

Irish language

:: Establish a Gaeltacht Quarter in Belfast.

:: Achieve the introduction of an Irish Language Act, as
proposed in the St. Andrews Agreement,that will give Irish
speakers in the Six Counties at least the same rights as
those in the rest of Ireland.

:: Establish a Commissioner for the Irish Language in the
north.

:: Establish a third level Irish language college that will
develop, deliver and regulate a range of courses through
the medium of Irish.

Justice and Community Safety

:: Achieve fully democratically accountable Civic Policing.

:: Ensure the transfer of powers on policing and justice to
the power-sharing Executive and All-Ireland Ministerial
Council by May 2008 as set out in the St. Andrews
Agreement.

:: Hold the British Government to their commitment to
separate MI5 from civic policing structures in the Six
Counties.

:: Secure truth, justice and equal treatment for all victims
and survivors.

:: Expose and dismantle the structures of collusion and
state murder inside the PSNI, Military Intelligence and
MI5.

:: End the use of plastic bullets.

:: Enhance Community Safety measures.

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

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/northernirelandassembly/story/0,,2023844,00.html

Paisley Casts Fresh Doubt On Devolution Deal

Owen Bowcott
Thursday March 1, 2007
The Guardian

The Democratic Unionist party leader, Ian Paisley,
yesterday cast fresh doubt on devolution being achieved
before the government's imposed deadline of March 26.

On an election walkabout in the County Down seaside town of
Bangor, the 80-year-old implied that Sinn Fein had not yet
moved far enough to enable his party to enter into a power-
sharing executive with republicans.

His comments, though qualified, suggest there will be a
further round of intensive negotiations immediately after
the election before any deal can be reached.

Tony Blair and the Northern Ireland secretary, Peter Hain,
have repeatedly warned that if agreement to share power
cannot be reached by March 26 then the assembly will be
dissolved and a new form of direct rule - with greater
involvement by Dublin - put in place.

The DUP has said it still needs "delivery" from Sinn Fein
on its commitment to work with the Police Service of
Northern Ireland. It has not specified precisely what form
that delivery must take.

Asked whether the deadline would be met, Mr Paisley said:
"I think the 26th of March is a date too early. [Sinn Fein]
have made a distinction between 'civic' policing and
'political' policing. They have broken their word.

"That [deadline] is a dream that the secretary of state has
had. It's a nightmare now because he'll never have that.
But, of course, let me just add, if the IRA delivers we
could have anything."

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0301/1172185297141_pf.html

McCartney Says Paisley Wants 'Deal'

Scott Jamison
Thu, Mar 01, 2007

The Rev Ian Paisley "wants to do a deal by March 26th",
according to anti-St Andrews Agreement unionist Bob
McCartney.

The United Kingdom Unionist Party leader was speaking at
the launch of his party's manifesto. His party will field
13 candidates, with Mr McCartney standing in six
constituencies himself.

He said he believed "family and other factors" would mean
Dr Paisley would form an executive with Sinn Fein.

"For a long time now he [Paisley] has been knocking at the
door of the establishment and now I believe he wants to be
let in."

Mr McCartney attempted to clear up confusion about what
would happen should he be elected in more than one
constituency, saying he would give the additional salaries
he would get to charity.

He also said if he were elected to several seats and
Northern Secretary Peter Hain tried to stop him casting
more than one vote, he would take Mr Hain to court.

The DUP has accused Mr McCartney of being a "vote-splitter"
by taking its votes away and helping Sinn Fein in the
process. He rejects this claim.

"How can a party that is totally dedicated to preventing
Martin McGuinness, Gerry Adams and company ever being in
government be helping them, when a party such as the DUP,
which has reversed the policies of a lifetime to welcome
them, is not helping them?"

The Workers' Party called for the restoration of Stormont
during its manifesto launch, while also calling for non-
payment of water charges.

It said it would also end the practice of designation in
the Assembly, which, it said, was the cause of "political
paralysis".

Meanwhile, DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson has welcomed
the Conservative Party's pledge to remove the designation
system in the Assembly.

"We hope that the sentiments expressed in this area in the
Conservative Party manifesto are not mere rhetoric and will
be implemented if the party wins the next election."

Dawn Purvis, PUP leader and candidate for East Belfast,
said she was "delighted" to attend Tuesday's question-and-
answer session with first-time voters at Lagan College.

"Politics in Northern Ireland often lacks new ideas, so who
better to provide those ideas than our young people?

"We should listen and better value our young people and
first-time voters. This event provided just that
opportunity, and it should not be squandered."

Marion Smith, UUP candidate for North Down, has made a plea
for a good turnout on polling day. "People who want to see
progress must get out and vote on the day."

Meanwhile, North Down Alliance candidate Stephen Farry has
criticised the SDLP over its proposals for a referendum
regarding the Border.

"The last thing that Northern Ireland needs is a Border
poll."

c 2007 The Irish Times

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0301/1172185297139.html

Name Of Game Is Getting Vote Out

Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor, in Coleraine
Thu, Mar 01, 2007

Names are important in Northern Ireland, as the choice of
the neutral-sounding "Foyle" for the Derry city
constituency indicates.

Such delicate choices were seemingly forgotten when it
comes to East Londonderry - or East Derry, as it is on the
nationalist side.

Accuracy, too, is a victim, as this constituency stretches
into north Co Antrim. Perhaps we should not be too
surprised by that, as Strangford town is not in the
Strangford constituency.

Ulster Unionist and SDLP canvassers walk a little more
spritely these days, hopeful if not confident that the
worst of the bad days are behind them.

David McClarty, an incumbent UUP Assembly member, is pretty
sure that his stay-at-home voters will turn out.

Energised by what he calls the "fracturing" of the DUP
monolith, the leadership's insistence on post-dated
resignation letters and the threat of fines for breaking
rank over sharing power with Sinn Fein, he reckons that the
Ulster Unionists can only gain.


Lost UUP votes to the DUP in 2003 were only "lent", he
says, and will return.

More importantly, the party is motivated, in an election
campaign seemingly devoid of motivation, by a craving for
an end to stalemate.

Unionists are fed up with the procrastination of the
leading unionist party, he says. They haven't delivered and
have avoided all the hard decisions, he claims. "Unionists
are more comfortable that the union is secure, and that's
why you'll hear so much on the doorsteps about water
charges, tax, education and health," he says.

He is right on that score.

SDLP stalwart John Dallat hears of little else as he knocks
the doors of working-class Coleraine, pressing the voters
not to stay at home on March 7th.

One woman tells him angrily that she will not vote as she's
"had it with the lot of them". But her protests soften with
the counter-argument that doing nothing on election day is
the best way of ensuring there is no change.

"She'll vote, all right," says Dallat, closing the gate
behind him.

The names on his well-worked electoral register seem to
share a despair at continued stalemate at Stormont while
"other issues" are played down.

His running-mate is another of the next generation SDLP
candidates. Orla Beattie is a first-time contestant. Her
motivation for standing? "Because the time was right." She
may not make it this time, as there are two nationalist
quotas to be shared among the SDLP and Sinn Fein, but the
27-year-old teacher is looking at contests ahead.

Francie Brolly cautions against talk of a rising tide for
the SDLP and Ulster Unionists.

He is looking for "those people impressed by Sinn Fein's
moves on policing" and for a payback for the IRA decision
to end its campaign and to sort out the weapons issue.

Joining him on the ticket is Billy Leonard, a former SDLP
member with a Protestant background.

SDLP heads still shake at mention of the defection, and
perhaps some voters wonder about him too. But the Leonard
performance, especially in the more unionist end of the
constituency, could tell us much about the state of
republican support after a series of vital Sinn Fein
initiatives since the last election.

The figure of local MP Gregory Campbell still looms large
over the proceedings here. He pinched the Westminster seat
from the UUP and has consolidated it. The task now for the
DUP is to hold the two seats they already possess and to
push for a third.

c 2007 The Irish Times

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0301/1172185297109.html

Constituency Profile: East Derry

Thu, Mar 01, 2007

NATIONALIST BATTLEGROUND:Privately, sources in both Sinn
Fein and the SDLP seem to agree that there are just two
nationalist quotas in East Derry and that the two parties
will retain their single seats. The SDLP will be hoping to
win back some votes from Sinn Fein following the disastrous
2003 election. Intervening elections in 2005 for
Westminster and local government, when it fared better,
provide the party with some hope.

UNIONIST BATTLEGROUND:The DUP could mount a reasonable bid
for a third seat, but that would mean that the Ulster
Unionists are misreading the situation on the ground and
have overstated the drift back to their party. Other
factors cloud the picture. Leslie Cubbitt, a well-known
local, is standing as an independent unionist opposed to
the St Andrews Agreement. The Alliance candidate, Barney
Fitzpatrick, may well improve on the showing of his
predecessor. Much may hinge on voter turnout.

WILD CARD:The Cubbitt factor, the turnout and a possible
growth in the appeal of the Alliance Party may well be
worth keeping an eye on, but there is an unspoken consensus
that the situation will remain 2 DUP, 2 UUP and a seat each
for Sinn Fein and SDLP.
----

OUTGOING MEMBERS

(% share of first-preference votes; Quota = 15%)

*Gregory Campbell (DUP)4,789 (14.0%)
*David McClarty (UUP)4,069 (11.9%)
Francis Brolly (SF) 4,019(11.7%)
George Robinson (DUP)3,466 (10.1%)
*John Dallat (SDLP)3,190 (9.3%)
Norman Hillis (UUP) 2,292(6.7%)

(*Denotes those elected to Assembly in 1998)

c 2007 The Irish Times

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

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6298247.stm

Key Battlegrounds In NI Poll

By Mark Devenport
BBC Northern Ireland political editor

Besides arguing that they needed a new manifesto to reflect
the St Andrews Agreement, the DUP wanted a spring election
to press home their advantage over their rivals the Ulster
Unionists.

On the nationalist side there was less enthusiasm for this
poll, but Sinn Fein will hope that they can reinforce their
position as the dominant nationalist party.

Apart from the usual dogfights between the DUP and the
Ulster Unionists, the SDLP and Sinn Fein, observers will be
watching for what impact is made by unionists opposed to
power-sharing and Irish republicans against any co-
operation with the police.

Some new faces could also make an interesting impact in
certain constituencies.

'Better deal'

Within unionism, East Belfast brings together some leading
players.

It's the Westminster constituency of DUP deputy leader
Peter Robinson, generally considered his party's chief
strategist in favour of restoring devolution.

Sir Reg Empey is also a veteran of East Belfast politics
but this will be his first election since becoming Ulster
Unionist leader.

Sir Reg will no doubt criticise the DUP for stealing the
Ulster Unionists' clothes, whilst Peter Robinson will argue
that he has negotiated a better deal than David Trimble.

This election will also see the entry of Dawn Purvis into
the fray. After the sudden death of David Ervine, Ms Purvis
became leader of the UVF-linked Progressive Unionists.

It was generally assumed that Mr Ervine would have an
uphill struggle retaining the PUP's only assembly seat - it
will now be up to Ms Purvis to keep his legacy alive.

The Alliance deputy leader, Naomi Long, will also be
looking to consolidate her position.

Within nationalism, Newry and Armagh could be one to watch.
Sinn Fein deselected two of their outgoing MLAs, Patricia
O'Rawe and Davy Hyland.

Subsequently, Davy Hyland resigned from the party's
assembly group, expressing opposition to the leadership's
stance on policing.

He is now standing as an independent. If he holds his seat,
it could be at the expense of his former colleagues.

The SDLP will be hopeful of holding on to their seat. On
the unionist side, the DUP's Paul Berry topped the poll in
the last assembly election.

But that was before he resigned from the party after
newspaper coverage of his private life.

He is running again as an independent unionist on an anti-
St Andrews Agreement ticket, but the DUP will still be
hopeful of retaining one seat, as will the Ulster Unionist
deputy leader Danny Kennedy.

South Belfast provided a surprise in the last Westminster
election when the unionist vote split down the middle
allowing the SDLP deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell to take
the seat.

In 2003, the Ulster Unionists took two seats there and the
DUP one.

But this time the DUP will be trying to establish itself as
the stronger unionist party in order to set a precedent for
future Westminster elections.

The DUP's Mark Robinson isn't running again. Its two
candidates, Jimmy Spratt and Christopher Stalford, will be
trying to pick off either the former Ulster Unionist
minister, Michael McGimpsey, or his colleague Esmond
Birnie.

On the nationalist side, Alasdair McDonnell and his SDLP
colleague, Carmel Hanna, will once again face the former
Belfast Sinn Fein mayor, Alec Maskey.

In a crowded field, observers will be fascinated to see
whether the Alliance candidate can take a seat - Chinese
welfare campaigner Anna Lo is the first ethnic minority
candidate to stand for election in Northern Ireland.

In North Belfast another interesting face has joined the
race - anti-collusion campaigner Raymond McCord was so
dismayed by the response of local unionists to the Police
Ombudsman's report on the murder of his son that he has
decided to run.

He only got 218 votes in the 2003 election but may benefit
from the widespread publicity given to the Police
Ombudsman's recent report into the UVF murder of his son.

The local DUP MP, Nigel Dodds, who has sounded increasingly
sceptical about the St Andrews Agreement will lead his
party's campaign alongside Nelson McCausland, with the
Ulster Unionist Policing Board member, Fred Cobain, seeking
to defend his seat.

Within nationalism Sinn Fein will be looking to retain two
seats, with their policing spokesman Gerry Kelly once again
pitted against the SDLP barrister Alban Maginness.

One party leader who will have to work hard to keep his
seat is Alliance leader David Ford.

He only scraped home in South Antrim with the help of
unionist transfers after Sinn Fein's Martin Meehan received
more first preference votes.

Now Sinn Fein has moved Mitchel McLaughlin to South Antrim
from Foyle in an attempt to win a seat there for the first
time.

Within the DUP, there has been a fair degree of turnover
with the deselection of two outgoing MLAs Paul Girvan and
Wilson Clyde.

Their replacements, Mel Lucas and Trevor Clarke, are both
thought to be sceptical about the St Andrews Agreement, as
is the local DUP MP William McCrea.

The Ulster Unionist ticket is led by the former MP, David
Burnside, who is also dubious about power-sharing.

Next door in North Antrim all eyes will be on the DUP
leader, Ian Paisley, given his key role in deciding whether
a power-sharing executive will return in March.

The DUP will probably hold its three seats, but it will be
interesting to see who dares to unfurl an anti-St Andrews
Agreement banner in the DUP leader's home patch.

On the nationalist side there is considerable turnover with
the retirement of the SDLP veteran Sean Farren and the
stepping down of Sinn Fein's Philip McGuigan.

Other seats to watch include North Down where the anti-St
Andrews Agreement UK Unionist Bob McCartney is running.

He will hope for a strong showing, although some observers
feel he might have done better if he had moved to a more
hardline unionist area.

In South Down , two potential future ministers Sinn Fein's
Catriona Ruane and the SDLP's Margaret Ritchie will battle
it out in the hope of setting a precedent for a future
Westminster contest.

In the west, Sinn Fein face a number of challenges from
anti-PSNI candidates like the former IRA man Gerry McGeough
who is standing in Fermanagh .

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2007/02/28 10:26:48 GMT
c BBC MMVII

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

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6406185.stm

Parties Hit By More Resignations

Ballymena DUP councillor Davy Tweed is leaving the party
over the prospect of it going into government with Sinn
Fein.

Mr Tweed said such a move by the DUP would "not so much be
a backward step as a complete somersault".

Meanwhile, Fermanagh Sinn Fein councillor Poilin Ui Cathain
is quitting her seat over Sinn Fein's decision to support
the police.

She said she hoped her reservations about the move would be
proven wrong.

Mr Tweed, a former Ulster and Ireland rugby player, said he
sent a letter of resignation to the party on Tuesday but
had yet to receive a reply.

He said he felt betrayed by the DUP.

He said the party was "falsifying its intentions" and would
be "far better coming out and being open and transparent
with people".

Mr Tweed said the DUP had attacked former Ulster Unionist
leader David Trimble over the Good Friday Agreement, but in
his view the St Andrews Agreement was worse.

He said as more people got to know the details of St
Andrews, they were becoming opposed to the DUP's stance.

Mr Tweed will stay on Ballymena Borough Council as an
independent.

Policing

Sinn Fein's Ms Ui Cathain, a councillor for Erne West, said
her decision to step down from the council was prompted by
Sinn Fein's backing for the PSNI at a special party
conference in Dublin last month.

She has not left the party.

She told the Fermanagh Herald newspaper she was unable to
support the party's new policy on policing.

"I sincerely hope that my reservations regarding Sinn
Fein's support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland
will be proven wrong," she said.

"I believe that this decision is now irreversible.
Therefore while I can afford to be wrong, I don't believe
that Sinn Fein has that luxury."

A Sinn Fein spokesperson said it was comfortable with the
councillor's decision to resign her seat, saying it
respected her point of view.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2007/02/28 20:08:14 GMT
c BBC MMVII

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

http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=18314

The March Of Dollars

Enda Kenny
By Ray O'Hanlon
rohanlon@irishecho.com

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has never disguised the fact
that he sees the Irish in America as an untapped and under-
utilized resource for his party.

Rather than cancel an engagement in New York last year,
when an emergency debate broke out in the D il, Kenny
fulfilled his commitment by flying into Kennedy Airport,
attending the event and flying back to Ireland that same
evening.

Kenny will be reckoning on a little more time to deal with
jet lag next week when he presides over a Fine Gael
fundraising event in Manhattan.

Such events are not unprecedented, but the fundraising
field in New York and other U.S. cities has been a mostly
Sinn Fein shade of green since the mid-1990s and the
effective withdrawal around that time of Fianna F il from
its well established American fundraising operation.

In more recent times, however, Sinn Fein's position as
being virtually alone in terms of large scale public
fundraising in the U.S. has been diluted by the emerging
interest of other parties including Fine Gael, the SDLP and
even the Ulster Unionists who staged a fundraising
reception in Manhattan in the fall of 2004.

Sinn Fein is planning an upcoming fundraiser by way of a
$250-a-head breakfast at the Hilton Hotel in Washington,
D.C. on March 15. The party's main annual U.S. fundraising
event is its New York dinner in November.

The SDLP, meanwhile, is lining up its supporters for a
high-flying fundraising dinner at the Rainbow Room in
Rockefeller Plaza at the end of March.

The gathering will be a celebration of SDLP co-founder John
Hume's 70th birthday, but is also being seen as a harbinger
of a longer term party strategy to more consistently draw
on Irish American sympathy and financial support.

SDLP deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell confirmed to the Echo
that Hume will be attending the Rainbow Room event.

McDonnell himself will also be traveling, as will party
leader Mark Durkan.

The Fine Gael gathering, billed as an "Inaugural Gala
Fundraising Dinner," will take place at Harbour Lights at
Manhattan's South Street Seaport.

It comes just a couple of months before the opening salvos
of an Irish general election campaign in which Fine Gael
will be aiming to topple the current Fianna
F il/Progressive Democrats coalition.

The glossy four-page invitation confidently states on the
cover that the March 8 Fine Gael New York dinner will be
hosted by "Enda Kenny TD, Leader of Fine Gael and Future
Taoiseach of Ireland."

New York-based Pat McGettrick is the primary organizer on
this side of the Atlantic for Fine Gael.

The response to invitations to the $150 dollar-a-plate
Harbour Lights dinner was "pretty good," up until press
time this week, McGettrick said.

"We are getting calls from cities outside New York,
including Chicago," he added.

As was the case with Sinn Fein when that party was first
allowed fundraise in 1995, Fine Gael has now formally
registered itself with the Department of Justice in
Washington, D.C. as required under the Foreign Agents
Registration Act.

The Harbour Lights invitation states that the event is
being organized by a New York-based group called
"Supporters of Fine Gael Inc."

In the invitation, Enda Kenny makes a direct pitch to his
prospective new American support base.

"This is our first fundraiser in the United States in over
a decade, but I hope it will be an annual event whereby
Irish citizens have a chance to support the future of Irish
democracy, even from a distance," he writes.

"Coming as I do from the West of Ireland, I appreciate the
contribution of the Irish in America. I congratulate you
and pledge myself to work in the interests of our people at
all times," the Castlebar-born Kenny concludes.

This story appeared in the issue of February 28 - March 6,
2007

----
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DUP Leaflets Deals With 'Issues That Matter"

News about Ireland & the Irish

BT 02/28/07 DUP Leaflet Deals With 'Issues That Matter'
BT 02/28/07 Old Flashpoint Will Test The Republican Mood
BT 02/28/07 Ford Predicts: We'll Gain Seats
BT 02/28/07 Women's Groups Put Out Manifesto; No Candidates
BT 02/28/07 Conservatives Take 11-Point Lead Over Labour
BT 02/28/07 Feature: The Victims: What They Really Think
BT 02/28/07 Minister's Paisley Jibe Leaves A Bitter Taste

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/election07/article2311865.ece

DUP Leaflet Deals With 'Issues That Matter'

[Published: Wednesday 28, February 2007 - 11:02]
By Noel McAdam

The DUP today launched a new leaflet blitz - without any
mention of the constitutional issue, policing or the
prospect of power-sharing with Sinn Fein.

Instead the glossy pamphlet - inserted in tonight's
editions of the Belfast Telegraph - is wholly focused on
health, education and the elderly.

Just a week ahead of the Assembly election, the DUP said it
was dealing with 'the issues that matter' to people and
about which they are being confronted on the doorsteps.

But it came as the Ulster Unionist Party launched another
attack on the party warning support for the DUP will
guarantee instability in any Stormont administration.

Senior UUP negotiator Alan McFarland said: "Can you imagine
Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness leading a trade
delegation to the USA? Not speaking to each other, not
appearing on platforms or studios together - a recipe for
disaster and embarrassment for Northern Ireland."

Mr McFarland said in 2005 the DUP had promised a 'fair
deal' and added: " Now they are up to their old confidence
tricks again, scaring people and pretending that they can
bring stable government to the Province."

DUP MP Iris Robinson, however, said while the party's prime
focus remained on achieving 'stable and durable devolved
government' the party did not want to neglect the 'bread
and butter' issues.

The party is also expected to return to water charges - one
of the main matters all the parties are being questioned
about on the doorsteps - in the next few days.

With the health service also high among people's
priorities, Mrs Robinson said a more efficient hospital
system is required with enhanced intermediate and community
care.

"Undoubtedly efficiency within the system can be improved.
For instance in England, though they have even fewer beds
per capita than here, their turnover rates are better," the
Strangford MP said.

On education, the party supports area planning with boards
of governors deciding upon the possible joint use of
facilities - and again referred to the retention of
academic selection obtained in the St Andrews talks.

Education spokesman Sammy Wilson said: "Clearly the DUP
does not want schools setting their own criteria to become
a permanent arrangement, but it at least offers a
safeguard."

The elderly, the leaflet said, should be free from poverty
and access to free nursing care was only a 'half-step'.
Concern is also voiced over attacks on older people.

Diane Dodds, a candidate in west Belfast, said: "We support
stiffer sentences to serve as a deterrent. Older people
should feel secure within their own homes, free from the
fear of crime."

c Belfast Telegraph

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/election07/article2311568.ece

Old Flashpoint Will Test The Republican Mood

[Published: Wednesday 28, February 2007 - 09:12]
By Chris Thorton

The rough hills of south Armagh are changing - the
watchtowers are down and the beauty of the place is being
wafted in front of tourists in place of the whiff of Bandit
Country.

But old ways die hard, and Sinn Fein's policing project
will ultimately be tested here. When the PSNI's writ runs
unruffled through the region, the policing debate in
nationalism will be over.

So Newry and Armagh will be one of the weather vanes for
measuring the mood among republican voters in the wake of
last month's special ard fheis on policing.

Sinn Fein has dominated the politics of the constituency
since Seamus Mallon, the former Deputy First Minister and
one of the old SDLP giants, stepped down from the Assembly
and Westminster.

Based on previous election results, Sinn Fein should be in
a strong position to hold three seats in next week's
elections.

But one of the departing Sinn Fein MLAs has also departed
from Sinn Fein after being deselected by the party. Davy
Hyland is now standing as an independent against the party
for which he captured more than 5,700 first preference
votes in 2003.

Departures from Sinn Fein's election list are not unusual
at election time - at times the party rotates candidates
more often than a DUP ministry.

Unusually, Mr Hyland has not gone quietly.

And while party members intimate that he was dumped because
he did not come up to scratch, others in the area say he is
popular and will command something of a personal vote.

Mr Hyland has not loudly positioned himself as an anti-
policing candidate, his vote will be interpreted as a
measure of that position among border republicans.

It's not just Mr Hyland's campaign that makes Newry and
Armagh's election about the performance of independents.
The unionist side carries an element of the same
uncertainty.

That's thanks to the onetime rising star of the DUP - Paul
Berry.

In 1998, Mr Berry unexpectedly captured a seat for the
party and became the youngest Assembly member. DUP elders
put the victory down to his hard work on the doorsteps.

He improved his vote in 2003, topping the Assembly poll. In
2005, his controversial encounter with a male masseur at a
Belfast hotel did not apparently do much harm to his run in
the general election - his vote went up again.

It didn't do much for his standing in the DUP, however, and
he resigned from the party.

Now he is running against them in a test of his personal
vote. Newry and Armagh should hold two unionist seats -
Ulster Unionist Deputy leader Danny Kennedy, Mr Berry and
his DUP replacement, Armagh mayor William Irwin, could have
something of a scramble between them.

A major unionist fracture could be the SDLP's best hope for
a second seat - last time round the party may have had
enough votes to secure two seats, but split the vote across
three candidates. This time they are running two.

In ordinary circumstances, this constituency would appear
to be heading for a broad repeat of the 2003 results. But
the performance of the independent candidates could cause
trouble along the border.

c Belfast Telegraph

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/election07/article2311557.ece

Ford Predicts: We'll Gain Seats

[Published: Wednesday 28, February 2007 - 08:58]
By Noel McAdam

Alliance leader David Ford has boldly predicted gains for
his party - in South Belfast and East Antrim.

Launching the party's manifesto yesterday, Mr Ford said he
detected a " perhaps modest" swing towards Alliance.

But the party could also lose some seats - in Lagan Valley
and Mr Ford's own constituency of South Antrim.

The party blueprint proposes an eventual scrapping of the
regional rate in favour of a local income tax, abolishing
university tuition fees and reducing the number of Assembly
members from the present 108 to 80.

And it said the cash raised from water charges should be
used to reduce the regional rate in the meantime.

Mr Ford said an estimated œ300m of the œ1bn spent on
segregation in Northern Ireland could be used to reduce the
regional rate element of household rates bills.

"We have identified the savings to be made by ending
segregation and re-directing expenditure to priority
areas," he told the launch event in Belfast.

"Other parties have simply produced wish lists and are
intent on sending the begging bowl (for an economic peace
dividend) to Whitehall and to Leinster House."

Alliance also called for free personal care for older
people, and free dental and eye check-ups.

On integrated education, the party repeated its demand for
a target of 10% of children in integrated schools in three
years time - and a guarantee of the right of any parent to
send their child to an integrated school.

The manifesto also called for the establishment of an
independent Environmental Protection Agency, and for
mechanisms to ensure all migrant workers and immigrants
have full access to public services and employment rights.

Mr Ford went on: "The four tribal parties totally failed to
deliver a shared future in the last Executive, when they
had the opportunity.

"We know from responses on the doorsteps that local people
are fed up with divisive rhetoric and can see that for
Northern Ireland to work, we need a shared future and a
party that will deliver it."

c Belfast Telegraph

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/election07/article2309094.ece

Women's Groups Put Out Manifesto For Assembly... But No
Candidates

[Published: Tuesday 27, February 2007 - 11:13]
By Noel McAdam

The Women's Coalition may be no more. But nevertheless a
Women's Manifesto for the Assembly elections on March 7 is
being produced.

Candidates from the parties and representatives of a number
of women's organisations are to attend the launch later
this week.

In part it focuses on the inequalities which persist for
women in relation to salaries, medical services and fuller
participation in civic and political life.

A co-production including the Equality Commission, the
Women's Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and
the Northern Ireland Women's Rights Movement, it also deals
with a range of issues including:

:: violence against women;

:: economic independence;

:: sexual and reproductive health.

Bob Collins, Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission
for Northern Ireland, said: "Although great strides have
been made in gender equality over the past decades,
inequalities for women still exist in too many areas - in
pay, in discrimination related to pregnancy, in medical,
social and community support services, and in the lack of
full and equal participation in public and political life.

"This manifesto highlights all these issues and emphasizes
the diversity of women in Northern Ireland and how that is
refelected in the many forms of inequality which they
continue to face. It provides a clear guide on what still
needs to be done to effect real change in our society on
this important and pervasive issue."

Margaret Ward, Director of the Women's Resource and
Development Agency, said that: "Women will recognise the
issues raised in this manifesto as they have concerned them
for decades.

"Although women individually and collectively, have made
huge gains, society in Northern Ireland doesn't come near
to being equal - not in the home, not in the workplace, not
in political or public life."

c Belfast Telegraph

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/article2309236.ece

Conservatives Take 11-Point Lead Over Labour

[Published: Tuesday 27, February 2007 - 13:59]
By Andrew Grice

The Conservatives have opened an 11-point lead over Labour,
enough to give David Cameron an overall Commons majority of
100, according to the latest monthly opinion poll for The
Independent.

The survey by CommunicateResearch suggests Mr Cameron's
drive to rebrand his party is attracting floating voters
and firming up the support of natural Tories. It is the
Tories' highest rating from CommunicateResearch since the
company began political polling in August 2004.

The findings will add to the jitters of Labour backbenchers
who fear the party is on the slide during Tony Blair's
final months and worry that Gordon Brown, his most likely
successor, will struggle to turn round such a big deficit.
"We are just treading water and wasting time," one Labour
MP said last night.

According to the poll, the Tories have hit the electorally
crucial 40 per cent mark, gaining 6 percentage points since
last month and increasing their lead over Labour from five
to 11 points. Labour is unchanged on 29 per cent, while the
Liberal Democrats are down four points to 17 per cent and
other parties are on 14 per cent (down two points).

The Tory core vote remains the most loyal of the three main
parties; 91 per cent of people who identify most with the
party say they will vote for it. In contrast, only 76 per
cent of Labour "identifiers" intend to back the party,
while for the Liberal Democrats the figure is 83 per cent.

All the signs are that Labour will find it much harder than
its rivals to get its vote out at the next election - and
that Mr Blair's successor will have a tough task in
motivating the party's natural supporters.

Some 65 per cent of Tory "identifiers" say they are
"absolutely certain" to vote, compared to 53 per cent of
natural Liberal Democrats and only 43 per cent of Labour
"identifiers". Labour's natural supporters are twice as
likely to say they are certain not to vote as their Tory
counterparts.

Mr Cameron seems to be making progress in the important
battle to win over undecided voters. The Tories have the
support of 43 per cent of those who do not know which party
they identify with most, while 28 per cent of this group
say they will vote Liberal Democrat and just 19 per cent
intend to vote Labour.

Some 15 per cent of Labour "identifiers" say they will vote
Tory, while only 4 per cent intend to back the Liberal
Democrats. Seven per cent of natural Liberal Democrats say
they will vote Tory and only 2 per cent Labour.

The Tories, who trailed Labour among women last month, are
now well ahead among both sexes. Some 40 per cent of both
men and women would vote Tory, while 30 per cent of men and
28 per cent of women back Labour. The Liberal Democrats
enjoy much stronger support among women (21 per cent) than
men (14 per cent).

CommunicateResearch telephoned 1,001 adults between 23 and
25 February 2007. Data were weighted to take account of
expected turnout and party identification for those who
declined to say how they would vote. CommunicateResearch is
a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its
rules.

Full tables at www.communicateresearch.com

c Belfast Telegraph

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/features/daily-features/article2311647.ece

Feature: The Victims: What They Really Think

[Published: Wednesday 28, February 2007 - 11:36]

Kevin Skelton (52) lost his wife of nearly 20 years,
Philomena (49), in the Omagh bomb on August 15, 1998. He
tells Gr inne McCarry about the challenges of bringing up
their children, Paula (27), Ray (25), Tracey (24) and
Shauna (22) by himself, the struggle for compensation - and
how he believes his late wife would have approved of his
new marriage to Maria (40), with whom he has a daughter,
four-month-old Gabriella

My life changed forever the day the Omagh bomb went off.
Thankfully, a new chapter has begun with my remarriage, but
the day the pain of Omagh leaves me will be the day I am
carried to my coffin.

Just over seven years after I lost my wife, I married
again, on October 12, 2005. In a way, it was through my
first wife Mena that I met my new wife, Maria. Mena was
involved with a charity called The North West Romanian
Relief Fund, which reached out to poor families.

Maria's daughter Andreea stayed with us for two weeks in
the summer of 1997. Her sister, Nicoletta, stayed with
another family. Both children were in an orphanage. Mena
and I had talked about the possibility of bringing Andreea
and Nicoletta over here to live permanently.

After Mena died, I went out to Romania to visit Andreea,
and that's when I met her mother. I think Mena had
something to do with bringing us together. I was finding it
hard to cope with life - the children were all growing up
and branching off on their own lives. I felt I didn't
really have a purpose anymore and was feeling very sorry
for myself. Now I have Maria and our new baby, Gabriella.

Although I'm very happy, memories of that day in Omagh will
always be there. I remember every single thing about it -
how could I forget? Myself, Mena and our three daughters
had gone into the town from our home in Drumquin to shop. I
had been pricing flights to Romania because Mena and I had
made plans to visit Andreea.

Browsing

Mena was trying to get bits and pieces of school uniform in
the SD Kells shop for Shauna and Tracey, and I was browsing
in the shop next door. Paula was further up the town.

There had been a bomb scare earlier on in the day - that's
why we had moved on to where we were. Then the bomb went
off and the shop's front window was sucked out. I went
outside and saw all the shops along the street cave in one
by one as the bomb's vacuum spread. They folded like cards
... it was like something out of a movie.

I climbed in through the window of Kells to see if I could
find Mena, Shauna and Tracey. I found Mena lying face down
in the rubble inside the front door. She was already dead.
I thought my whole family were. I found Tracey half an hour
later, on her knees beside her mammy. She had been knocked
out, but when she came round she went searching for
everyone.

It was another two hours before I found Shauna. Someone had
helped her out the back of the shop. She was then taken to
Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry with very bad facial injuries
and then transferred to the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald. I
don't know how Paula survived the impact of the bomb. I
don't know why some lived and others didn't. I had only
three scratches on my forehead. Paula and Tracey didn't
have any physical injuries, but the mental scarring will
always be there.

After Shauna was released from hospital, she received a bit
of counselling. I left it up to each of them to decide if
they wanted any or not. The counsellors came to visit me
and it was obvious they had not been trained to deal with
an atrocity like this. They didn't have a clue what they
were talking about.

It was very difficult to get on with things because there
was no help. The place was swarming with social workers,
but as soon as the funeral was over, the house emptied.

My mother, Maggie, was my rock. Nobody else came near me to
see how I was coping with the children. We were all left to
row our own boats - it was either sink or swim and I nearly
sank ... I worked as a lorry driver and was a referee at
hurling, gaelic football and soccer matches. I was used to
getting phone calls at the weekend a few hours before a
match, asking me to referee.

Different

All that was over. I had to be there to put the dinner on
the table. The odd time I went to a match, but it just
wasn't the same. People treated me differently. Referees
are used to being called names and shouted at, but everyone
was so polite. The bomb changed everything - even wee
things like that.

For the first few months after the explosion, it seemed as
if we were riding on the crest of a wave. Bill Clinton came
over, and Tony Blair and the late Mo Mowlam met with the
families. They really did put on a show promising us the
sun, the moon and the stars. I believed them - I certainly
don't anymore.

The Chief Constable of the RUC, Ronnie Flanagan, said that
no stone would be left unturned in catching the people who
had carried this out and Tony Blair told us that anyone who
committed a crime after the Good Friday Agreement would not
get away with it.

Crimes

But all of our politicians have sold us down the river.
There were no political points to be scored from a bomb
that killed Spanish, Irish, Mormon, Catholic and
Protestant. Victims are treated like second class citizens,
while the people who carry out these crimes are protected
and looked after by the Government. The bigger a scoundrel
you are, the better you are treated.

I met the Interim Victims' Commissioner Bertha McDougall. I
had problems with her, because I thought she was going to
fight for the rights of all innocent victims - not create a
two-tiered system for RUC victims and UDR victims. Their
families are no different from anybody else's. Then, there
are the murders like that of Pat Finucane and Rosemary
Nelson, which were high profile as both had a background in
working for human rights. They did not deserve to die
either. Each life is as important as the next one. To try
and categorise victims is completely and utterly wrong.

The Omagh bomb shattered my whole family dynamic. I got œ52
a week sick pay for six months from my employer. I don't
know how I would have got by without the generosity of my
family and good people from around the world. I'm not
ashamed to say I received donations from as far away as
Canada and Australia.

When I tried to get the finances sorted out I was left to
feel like I was defrauding the system. I was told that if I
claimed compensation, I couldn't claim benefits. I was told
I wasn't getting compensation, then I got a cheque for
œ7,500. I have since received a further amount of money but
my son Ray, who lost his mother, was entitled to absolutely
nothing because he wasn't in town that day.

Paula was due to go off to do her teacher training at
Stranmillis College in Belfast. She was going to take a
year out, but I insisted she go on as planned. It's what
her mother would have wanted. Shauna is now training to be
a teacher and graduates this year. Tracey is married and
working in an office, and Ray is a joiner. I'm proud of all
of them and always will be.

A memorial is to be erected in memory of the people who
lost their lives and no one can agree on the words
'dissident Republicans' being written on the memorial. Why
not let it be known that it was dissident Republicans that
did this? But Omagh is a Republican town and not everyone
wants it highlighted that the bombing was carried out by
the Real IRA.

Some people say 'Why would God let such an atrocity
happen?'. But God didn't plant the bomb, God didn't kill
all those innocent people. He created human beings and gave
them their own free will. It's up to the individual what
way they use that free will.

Continuing Mena's charity work after she had gone gave the
family something to focus on. Since the bomb, we have
fundraised to build an orphanage in Fagaras in Romania. The
first phase opened in August 2004 and we're hoping that the
second phase will open next year.

Our new baby, Gabriella, is a great wee girl. I had never
seen a child being born before. She's a spoilt wee girl as
well. I think she looks like her mammy, but others say she
looks like me. Maria's other daughters, Andreea (18) is in
Northern Ireland, training to be a beauty therapist and
hairdresser, while Nicoletta (20) has returned to Romania.
They have another little sister, six-year-old Iulia, who
attends St Conor's Primary School in Omagh.

I have a new start now, and a new family. I'm certain Mena
made all of this happen and is looking down on me today. We
will never forget that day in Omagh ... but life has to go
on.

c Belfast Telegraph

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2311769.ece

Welsh Minister's Paisley Jibe Leaves A Bitter Taste

[Published: Wednesday 28, February 2007 - 10:27]
By Noel McAdam

The DUP today accused First Minister of the Welsh Assembly,
Rhodri Morgan, of "poor taste" after he made a joke about
Ian Paisley on his deathbed.

Mr Morgan made the quip in the presence of Secretary of
State Peter Hain and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He said Mr Paisley converted to Catholicism before dying
because he thought it was better to lose a Catholic than a
Protestant, the Western Mail reported.

Ian Paisley refused to comment on the remark but his wife,
Baroness Paisley, insisted that "this certainly wouldn't be
his philosophy".

A DUP spokesman said: "It's a joke in poor taste. It's not
a remark one would expect from a First Minister from any
part of the UK. We are involved in more serious activity
and we would trust that the Welsh First Minister would be
more careful with his language and not be so offensive."

The First Minister's spokeswoman said: "The joke used by
the First Minister is an old one, which has been doing the
rounds for a long time. He certainly did not intend it to
cause offence."

The joke was made at a dinner on the eve of the Welsh
Labour conference in Llandudno, north Wales, last Thursday
night.

c Belfast Telegraph

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