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 27, 2007

Holy Cross Case Ongoing

News about Ireland & the Irish

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

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2309085.ece

Holy Cross Case Ongoing

[Published: Tuesday 27, February 2007 - 10:57]
By Chris Thorton

The mother of a Holy Cross schoolgirl is going to the House
of Lords with her complaint about the way police handled
violent loyalist protests more than five years ago.

The woman has been granted leave to bring the case to the
UK's highest court after senior judges in Belfast endorsed
police handling of the incidents.

The mother - known only as 'E' to protect her from possible
loyalist threats - has complained about the way the
protests were policed in the autumn of 2001.

The Lord Chief Justice, Sir Brian Kerr, described the
violence as "one of the most shameful and disgraceful
episodes in the recent history of Northern Ireland".

At the height of the demonstrations, scores of tearful
schoolgirls and their parents walked to school through a
gauntlet of screaming loyalists.

Loyalists clashed with police in riot gear and on one
occasion a pipe bomb was thrown at police lines. E's
lawyer, Fearghal Shiels of Madden & Finucane solicitors,
said: "The schoolgirls were subjected on a daily basis to a
violent and unlawful protest and were targeted because of
their religion and because, despite their age, they were
perceived as nationalists. "

In cases before the High Court and the Court of Appeal,
lawyers for 'E' argued that police should have used firmer
action against the loyalists. Judges said the police were
trying to "allow the children to get to school in safety
and to pursue their education". They accepted police
explanations that they were afraid of causing further
trauma to the girls if they used force to push back the
protesters.

c Belfast Telegraph

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

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6400379.stm

Vandals Damage Republican Graves

The graves of nearly 40 people have been desecrated by
vandals in an overnight attack on the Republican plot at
Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast.

Paint was thrown over the gravestones, including those of
hunger striker Kieran Doherty and three IRA members killed
by the SAS in Gibraltar.

The main memorial at the site in the cemetery off the Falls
Road, was covered in yellow paint.

It is the fourth attack on the plot in the last six years.

In 2004, there were a series of attacks on the graves of
republicans, including that of hunger striker Bobby Sands.

Bobby Sands, an IRA prisoner, died in 1981 aged 27 after
refusing food for 66 days in a protest over political
status for republican prisoners in the Maze prison. He was
the first of ten men to die.

On this occasion, Bobby Sands' grave, as well as that of
fellow hunger striker Joe McDonnell, was left undamaged.

Padraic McCotter, chairman of the Belfast National Graves
Association said three or four republicans were buried in
each of the 12 plots.

"It is just wrong," he said, as experts worked to try to
remove the gloss paint from the plot.

"Sixty-six British soldiers are buried in Milltown and not
one of their graves is touched. That is the way it should
be.

"The Republican graves should be treated in just the same
way."

Mr McCotter said the yellow paint which had been poured
over the 1916 Irish Proclamation of Independence on the
central monument at the plot was proving difficult to move.

He said that certain graves had been deliberately
untouched.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2007/02/27 12:04:03 GMT
c BBC MMVII

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/election07/article2308624.ece

Durkan Vows To Seek Referendum On United Ireland

[Published: Tuesday 27, February 2007 - 09:20]
By Noel McAdam

The SDLP is to seek a referendum on a united Ireland, the
party's election manifesto confirmed yesterday.

The party pledged it will seek the plebiscite which should
be timed when an Assembly and Executive are "operating
stably".

And the SDLP blueprint said it would campaign "vigorously"
in favour of a 'yes' vote.

Apart from an all-Ireland Corporation Tax of 12.5%, the
party said it would also establish an all-island economic
policy unit including a growth loan and equity fund to
increase business start-ups, and a cross-border economic
development zone.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the election represented a
choice between stop-go politics, delay and delivery, and
"sharing only contempt for one another or delivering the
prospect of a truly shared society."

But sounding a warning against the promises politicians
make during election periods, Mr Durkan also denied the 48-
page document demonstrated a lack of socialism or would
fuel the fears which could lead SDLP voters to stay at
home.

Mr Durkan said Direct Rule has done real damage since the
last Assembly Election in November 2003 and was "lining up"
still more.

"The same result as the last time will only produce more of
the same: more suspension; more stalling; more direct rule
and an ever tighter squeeze on hard working families and on
our public services," he said.

Northern Irish politics cannot afford any more stalling,
stunts or stand-offs, the SDLP leader warned yesterday as
the party launched its election manifesto.

He said: "When good people don't vote, bad politicians get
elected" .

Only by coming out to vote could people hope to end the
undoubted uncertainty over the restoration of devolution -
and left to themselves the DUP and Sinn Fein could not make
it work.

The SDLP manifesto also calls for:

Two new Assembly committees to examine the cost of
administration and policy delivery

A Commissioner for older people

Replacing A-levels and ensuring the end of academic
selection.

c Belfast Telegraph

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0227/1172185176073.html

Durkan Tries To Drum Up Support Amid Wave Of Voter Apathy

Gerry Moriarty
Tue, Feb 27, 2007

Mark Durkan was rather gravelly at the launch of the SDLP
manifesto in Belfast yesterday. "More croak mark than Croke
Park," he said, explaining that his presence at the Ireland
versus England game on Saturday accounted for his hoarse
voice.

Taking a few hours out from the stomp, especially after
that uplifting result, was probably good for the SDLP
leader's spirit and sanity.

With eight days to go to polling we are now in the final
stages of the election which, curiously, while hugely
important, is as flat as the pancakes the Rev Ian Paisley
was tossing on Shrove Tuesday. Why that is is hard to
explain.

The main protagonists are a volatile bunch - William
McCrea, Gerry Adams, Robert McCartney, Yes and No DUP-pers,
anti-deal republicans, and so on - and the main issue -
whether this is an election to something or nothing - is
crucial. But this election has yet to erupt. In fact it has
yet to even spark.

Therefore this is a doorstep election and every minute out
on the campaign trail must be used to maximum advantage.
After the launch of the 50-page manifesto Durkan was back
in the SDLP campaign bus seeking votes.

For the past week party strategists have concentrated him
in two constituencies, Strangford, and Newry and Armagh,
where they believe respectively they can snaffle seats from
Alliance and Sinn F‚in.

Joe Boyle is targeting Kieran McCarthy's seat in Strangford
and has a reasonable chance of success. The SDLP only has
one seat in S‚amus Mallon's old fiefdom of Newry and
Armagh, that of Dominic Bradley, despite holding close to
two quotas in the constituency. Bradley's young running
mate this time is Sharon Haughey.

They hope that internal Sinn F‚in ructions around the
deselection of candidate and former mayor of Newry David
Hyland - now standing as an independent - together with
better vote management could gain them a seat each. It
could happen.

Nonetheless, unless both the SDLP and the pundits are
totally confounded by the voters, the party at the very
least should be more or less where it was after the 2003
Assembly elections, when it won 18 seats.

So, the old nationalist middleground has not gone away, you
know, even if much of it is now occupied by Sinn F‚in.
There is still a place for the SDLP. But there is one
factor that could upset the fairly positive political
prognostications about the SDLP - good old voter apathy.
Durkan majored on this at the manifesto launch yesterday.
"Don't stay at home. If you do, politics will only stay
stuck. And we'll all be stuck with direct rule," he said.

Durkan also put his finger on why this campaign is so
lacklustre. People are just fed up with the "endless
process", he said. And he's right.

c 2007 The Irish Times

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0227/1172185176056.html

Great Survivor Ford Happy To Take Last Seat

Patsy McGarry in South Antrim
Tue, Feb 27, 2007

He is one of the great survivors in the maelstrom that has
been Northern Ireland this past 10 years and once again,
when you query the likely outcome in South Antrim on March
7th, speculation turns to Alliance Party leader David Ford
and whether he will make it to the new Assembly. Plus ca
change!

For his own part he is measured. His campaign is "going
fairly well." He would be happy to take the last seat again
and likes to remind people that it was reported after the
last Assembly election in 2003 that he had lost to Sinn
F‚in's Martin Meehan. That turned out to be somewhat
"exaggerated".

He is pretty scathing about the fact that three of the
outgoing MLAs contesting this election for six seats in
South Antrim were elected in 2003 to represent different
constituencies.

They include William McCrea (DUP), elected for Mid-Ulster,
Robert McCartney (UKUP), elected for North Down, and
Mitchel McLaughlin (SF), elected for Foyle.

Mitchel McLaughlin for his part believes he is "on target"
to take a seat in South Antrim. He had been received "very
well" on canvasses, "very positively." The party had grown
there from a very small electoral base.

There has been some comment about the SDLP's wisdom in
putting forward two candidates in the constituency. Its
local stalwart Thomas Burns sees no problem. A councillor
for 10 years and elected MLA at the last Assembly elections
in 2003, he and Noreen McClelland have divided the
constituency between them in a bid to maximise first
preferences for the party, he said.

His campaign has been going "extremely well" and he felt
the party vote would benefit from growth in population to
the south of the constituency, on the outskirts of an
expanding Belfast. Most of this population was
Catholic/nationalist, he said.

The UUP's David Burnside was in buoyant form. He felt the
party's manifesto launch has been "very good this year." He
admitted he had been "quite critical of such launches in
the past, but Reg [Empey, the party leader] did it very
professionally, across all sectors."

Rev McCrea said he was standing in South Antrim this time -
his son Ian is standing in his old and next door
constituency of Mid Ulster - because at his election as MP
for the constituency in 2005 he had promised to move there.

c 2007 The Irish Times

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0227/1172185176071.html

Constituency Profile: South Antrim.

Tue, Feb 27, 2007

UNIONIST BATTLEGROUND:Another of the more unionist of the
18 Northern Ireland constituencies, South Antrim returned
two DUP, two UUP, one Alliance and one SDLP as its six MLAs
at the last Assembly election in 2003. Next door to the Rev
Ian Paisley's North Antrim constituency, it will be
fascinating to see whether the DUP vote will hold on March
7th, not least because of the growing perception that the
party is about to share power with Sinn F‚in but also by
the presence in South Antrim of that very incarnation of
resistance to such power sharing - the UKUP's Robert
McCartney. Equally interesting will be to see whether DUP
MP William McCrea's own vote holds up. At the 2005
Westminster election he received 14,507 votes, taking the
seat from the UUP's David Burnside.

NATIONALIST BATTLEGROUND:The SDLP's Thomas Bruns seems on
course to hold his seat. Transfers from party colleague
Noreen McClelland should help ensure that happens, which
seems the real reason the party has fielded two candidates
in South Antrim. There have been suggestions that Sinn
F‚in's Mitchel McLaughlin's campaign here lacks the
dynamism and numbers that were such a feature of those
mounted by Martin Meehan in South Antrim. Meehan attracted
a lot of campaign workers from nearby Belfast. Some say
McLaughlin is relying more on his profile than the trudge
of canvass. Whatever, it is believed he will feature in a
tight fight for the last seat, possibly winning on SDLP
transfers.

WILD CARDS:There are 14 candidates competing for six seats
in this constituency which includes the best known possible
wild card of this election - Robert McCartney (UKUP). But
he is unlikely to make it as, again and again, and as with
disillusioned Sinn F‚in supporters, it seems more likely
most DUP supporters disillusioned with their party's
direction will stay at home rather than vote for someone
else.

David Burnside (UUP)7066 (18.9%)
Wilson Clyde (DUP)5131 (13.7%)
Paul Girvan (DUP)4820 (12.9%)
David Ford (Alliance)3393 (9.1%)
Jim Wilson (UUP)3135 (8.4%)
Thomas Burns (SDLP)2732 (7.3%)

Quota 15 per cent

c 2007 The Irish Times

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

http://www.derrytoday.com/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=3421&ArticleID=2081275

'I Feared My Brother Had Been Killed'- Horror Of Greysteel
Massacre Recalled

AN Assembly candidate in East Derry has told how her blood
ran cold after she feared her brother was caught up in the
Greysteel massacre on October 30, 1993.

Orla Beattie, who is the youngest Assembly candidate
standing in the March 7 elections, was 14 at the time of
the atrocity, when a UFF murder gang burst into the Rising
Sun Bar and sprayed Hallowe'en revellers with automatic
gunfire.

Seven people were killed, while an eighth person later died
from their injuries in hospital.

The Glack woman, who works as a teacher, recalls the terror
in her family home when news of the terrorist attack broke.

"I was only 14 at the time and I can remember that terrible
feeling to this day," she told the 'Journal' yesterday.

"We knew that my brother had been planning to go to the bar
that night with his friend and we had no way of contacting
him because mobile phones weren't about in those days.

"You can imagine we were terrified that he had been caught
up in it, but luckily he got held up in Ballykelly
otherwise he would have been there.

"My dad knew all the people who were killed that night and
it had a really hard impact on our family. The bar is only
ten minutes' drive from my house and every time I pass by
it you are always reminded of what happened, because it
still looks the same today as it did then."

Orla says she feels strongly that police should re-arrest
and charge Greysteel killer Torrens Knight with withholding
information from police in relation to the murders.

And she says Knight - originally from Coleraine - also
failed to provide police with full details about the deaths
of four Catholic workmen - including IRA volunteer James
Kelly - during a gun attack in Castlerock on March 25,
1993.

"Knight withheld the names of some of his loyalist cronies
who were involved in the Greysteel and Castlerock
massacres. These people have never been charged.

"The officer who led the murder hunt, Detective
Superintendent Eric Anderson, later admitted that the man
police suspect ordered the Greysteel massacre was never
brought to justice."

The SDLP candidate says the probe into the Greysteel and
Castlerock murders by Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, will
"always be hindered" because Ms O'Loan's office does not
have the powers to force MI5 to "reveal the names of its
informers who were involved in these bloody events."

MI5

"Torrens Knight is also holding back information about the
role played in these atrocities by MI5 and I am calling on
him to be re-arrested and charged with withholding
information."

The Ulster Freedom Fighters claimed the Greysteel gun
attack was carried out in revenge for an IRA bomb on the
Shankill Road in Belfast in which 10 people died a week
previously.

Knight received eight life sentences for the Greysteel
massacre, together with four more for the murders of the
Catholic workmen killed seven months earlier in Castlerock.

He served seven years in prison before being released under
the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Last year it was
claimed that Knight was an RUC Special Branch informant at
the time of the 1993 killings.

27 February 2007

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0227/1172185176060.html

Cost Of Cross-Border Roads To Be Shared

Tue, Feb 27, 2007

The British and Irish governments are to share the ?4
million cost of re-opening the last two Border roads that
were closed during the Troubles.

The decision was confirmed yesterday in Dundalk by Minister
for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and Northern Ireland
Secretary Peter Hain at a meeting of the British-Irish
Intergovernmental Conference (BIIGC).

The roads and bridges at Annaghroe and Knockaginney linked
counties Monaghan and Tyrone.

Many Border roads and bridges were sealed off or blown up
by the British army, citing security reasons, when the IRA
campaign was at its height.

The practice was highly controversial and forced farmers
and other residents to make long detours.

The decision to restore the Annaghroe and Knockaginney
connections means that all of the roads and bridges
formerly sealed off will finally be reopened, according to
sources.

This is seen as a significant landmark in the restoration
of peace and stability to the Border area and to Northern
Ireland generally.

Dublin is said to be paying the "vast bulk" of the cost
involved.

At a news conference, Mr Ahern pointed out that the
intergovernmental conference, established under the Belfast
Agreement to promote co-operation between Ireland and the
United Kingdom, was meeting for the first time outside
Dublin, Belfast or London.

He was "delighted" this was taking place in his own
constituency of Louth.

"We hope it will be the last BIIGC that will happen in this
mode. Hopefully, after March 26th we will have the
involvement of the ministers from the devolved government
in any future intergovernmental conferences," he said.

He added that the "absolute, cast-iron position" of the two
governments was that March 26th was "set in stone" as the
deadline for devolution. "Otherwise it will be dissolution
and that is the strong message that we want to come out
from this meeting today."

Commenting on the choice of location for yesterday's
meeting, Mr Hain said: "It is a symbol of the incredible
transformation that has taken place in the politics of the
whole of the island that we have been able to stage this
BIIGC for the first time in such a Border area."

Mr Hain congratulated all concerned on the success of the
rugby match between Ireland and England at Croke Park. "The
island of Ireland did itself proud on Saturday, on and off
the field, and I want to congratulate the people of Dublin
and indeed the people of the whole island of Ireland for
making the events at Croke Park such a joyous occasion," he
said.

"It was really a big privilege to be there and a fantastic
symbol of how rugby and sport in general can bring people
together and how far we have come, that that event should
have happened at all in the way that it did."

Mr Hain said that in recent days, voters in the Northern
Ireland elections had come to him seeking reassurance that,
"You will dissolve if you don't devolve". He added: "That
is the case. It's not a choice left to me any more."

Meanwhile, Mr Ahern said the issue of British army
helicopters flying low over a recent Gaelic football match
between Louth and Armagh a few miles away at Crossmaglen,
Co Armagh, was raised with the British authorities
"immediately after it happened".

"We got a formal explanation again today," he said. Mr Hain
said the incident was "a regrettable mistake and was
inadvertent rather than deliberate".

c 2007 The Irish Times

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

http://www.tyronetimes.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=2617&ArticleID=2065452

PSNI To Seek SF Help Over Omagh

A LEADING detective is to seek Sinn Fein's co-operation
with the Omagh bomb atrocity investigation.

Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter will urge senior party
representatives to back the hunt for all those involved in
the dissident republican terrorist attack that killed 29
people.

Even though Sinn Fein has been accused of refusing to aid
the investigation into the August 1998 outrage, detectives
believe the party`s decision finally to support policing in
Northern Ireland could prove a major turning point.

Information

Mr Baxter wants them to declare publicly that anyone with
information on the Real IRA strike should speak to the
inquiry team.

So far only one man has been charged with the murders.
South Armagh electrician Sean Hoey, 37, is awaiting a
judge`s verdict after standing trial in Belfast.

Detectives have identified areas on either side of the
Irish border where the car used in the bombing was stolen
and then stored before it was taken to Omagh, packed with
500lb of explosives.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesman confirmed
the move may be imminent.

He said: "In light of the new attitude towards policing in
a substantial part of the republican community, the senior
investigating officer in the Omagh bomb investigation is
examining the possibility of requesting the assistance of
public representatives in south Armagh and Dundalk areas to
encourage people to come forward with information."

Unaware

It is understood Sinn Fein`s Conor Murphy will be among
those contacted by Mr Baxter.

The Newry and Armagh MP said tonight he was unaware of the
development.

Arthur Morgan, a Sinn Fein member of the Irish Parliament
for neighbouring Co Louth, was equally in the dark.

He said: "I haven`t heard anything from anyone. If I do I
will have to evaluate what they are saying."

Mr Morgan stressed, however, that he had no personal
information that could assist the inquiry.

"It doesn`t matter whether (Sinn Fein President) Gerry
Adams, (Democratic Unionist leader) Ian Paisley or the
investigating officers asked, I have as much knowledge
about the Omagh bombing as I read in the press."

One of the victims` relatives gave a cool response to the
plan.

Stanley McComb, whose wife Ann, 48, died in the blast,
said: "Why has it taken Sinn Fein eight years to even
decide to talk to the police regarding what happened at
Omagh?

"I have no faith in Sinn Fein. If they do know anything, or
know people who do, why did they not speak up before?

"But I suppose police are on the road to nowhere, so any
information is better than none."

23 February 2007

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2309100.ece

Council Asks Ratepayers To Vote In Union Flag Row

[Published: Tuesday 27, February 2007 - 11:21]
By Claire Regan

The long-running controversy over flag flying in the
Lisburn area has been opened out to the public by the
council in an attempt to resolve the issue.

Lisburn City Council is inviting interested groups to
express their views on the contentious flying of flags
through a consultation exercise as part of its Good
Relations Programme.

The flying of the Union flag has been a divisive issue for
Lisburn councillors in recent years, particularly since the
DUP succeeded in overturning a ban on flying it at council
headquarters all year round last January.

The Union flag had been flown on designated days only for
the previous four years.

The council later came under fire from Sinn Fein when it
emerged œ20,000 of rate-payers' money had been used to seek
legal advice on how to deal with the issue.

Lisburn City's Council new initiative will run until March
20.

David Mitchell, good relations officer at the council,
said: "The flying of flags across the city was identified
as an area which is to be addressed. The council is now
seeking views from local groups on how this issue could be
progressed."

Views can be expressed by contacting 028 9250 9492 or
logging on to www.lisburncity.gov.uk.

c Belfast Telegraph

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

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/?jp=CWSNSNIDMHKF&rss=rss2

SF Urges Tougher Domestic Violence Laws

27/02/2007 - 09:59:38

Laws against domestic violence must be strengthened, the
Dail will hear tonight.

Sinn Fein is to debate a two-day motion on the issue during
its private members' time, ahead of International Women's
Day on March 8.

The party claims one in five Irish women experience
domestic violence at some point in their lives.

Justice and equality spokesman Aengus O Snodaigh said: "Of
the 126 women violently killed in Ireland since 1996, 81
died in their homes and just under 50% of victims whose
cases were concluded were killed by their partner or ex-
partner."

He added: "More than a third of all calls to the Women's
Aid national phone helpline went unanswered due to
inadequate funding in 2005."

Sinn Fein, which holds its ard fheis this weekend, called
for laws to be strengthened to protect victims and
children.

"We need to make a clear statement to offenders that it is
no longer tolerable in Irish society," Mr O Snodaigh added.

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

http://www.irelandclick.com/home.tvt?_scope=DailyIreland/Andersonstown%20News/News&id=26293&psv=1&_ticket=KGPWV6KACK3SMLDEIOQNBO0DALOLQEHFURUSKONHAPVLCMPICLRGUU21S0MAAQ6EAKLAEUTITRRHVR29ANVROXKACJ5S2QRFK10K9NTHLF3NBHSJ7WQFIRY4X9SEAOY9CHYKTRRLRNNADY4SOC

IRA Play To Be Shown Next Month

Andersonstown News
By Evan Short
26/02/2007

The last hours of a West Belfast IRA volunteer's life are
to be acted out in a moving play to be shown next month in
the Roddy McCorley club on the Glen Road.

Written and directed by former prisoner Roseleen Walsh,
'Death of an IRA Volunteer' tells the story of West Belfast
man Se n McDermott who was fatally injured after being shot
by the RUC during an operation.

Se n had been on active service with his girlfriend,
Mairead Farrell, who was later shot dead by the SAS in
Gibraltar in 1988, and Kieran Doherty, who was later to die
in the 1981 hunger strike, when he was shot trying to
hijack a car.

The house he had entered was that of an RUC reservist who
lured Se n into his bedroom and shot him with his personal
protection weapon. Se n returned fire injuring the
policeman in the hand. As he lay dying he called to Kieran
Doherty not to follow him upstairs because the RUC man had
the door covered, thereby saving his comrade's life.

Bravery

It was this incident that inspired Roseleen to write the
play, so she could tell a new generation the story of Se n
McDermott.

"My aim is to bring S‚an to the attention of people to
perpetuate the republican cause and the memory of the
patriot dead. I want to bring to the attention of people
the life and death of an IRA man and the cause of Irish
freedom.

"Se n was a revolutionary who instructed his comrade to go
and leave him because he knew the RUC man had the door
covered.

"It must have been very hard for Se n, it was a terrible
situation but he was a soldier and saved the life of his
comrade."

Taking on the role of S‚an is Conall McCorry. A student
studying acting at BIFHE, at 21 he is a year older than
Se n McDermott when he died. He said it was a difficult
prospect playing a character who many in the audience were
friends with, and even related to.

"This is very different to anything I have done before
because he is a real person whose friends will be watching.
But that also helped me develop the character because I
could use their knowledge.

"Although I don't look anything like him I have been told
my stubbornness goes well with the character."

19-year-old Angela Morris plays the role of Marian, a close
friend of Se n's in the period in which the play is set.

Death of an IRA Volunteer is at 7.30pm on March 26.
Tickets, priced œ5, are available now from the Roddy's,
Kolormaster and the Andersonstown Social Club.

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0227/1172185171447.html

Blarney Stone Photography Rights Disputed

Tue, Feb 27, 2007

A dispute over the right to take photographs of people
kissing the Blarney Stone will come before the High Court
later this week.

The Quaid Gallery Ltd, which has taken photos of people
kissing the stone since 1990 and boosted its business to
sales of ?250,000 last year, has challenged a decision to
terminate its lease at Blarney Castle. The company said it
appeared that the estate was proposing to take over
photography at the castle.

Niamh Hyland, for the company, yesterday secured leave from
Mr Justice Frank Clarke to serve notice on Charles
Colthurst, owner of Blarney Castle, of her client's
intention to seek an injunction restraining termination of
its photography service. The judge returned the matter to
tomorrow.

In an affidavit, Catherine Quaid said she and her father
John had been operating the service since 1990 from a kiosk
in the grounds.

The Quaid Gallery occupied the kiosk some 183 days of the
year. Her father had researched the possibility of
introducing digital photography in 2004 and Mr Colthurst
had consented to the erection of five aerials around the
grounds to facilitate this. Mr Colthurst also gave
permission to Mr Quaid to seek planning permission for a
new kiosk, she said.

She said her father entered discussions with Cork County
Council but the application did not go ahead. However, a
new kiosk was constructed on the same site as the previous
kiosk to permit the introduction of digital photography.
The company spent ?55,000 on equipment for this.

Ms Quaid said she was surprised and upset when her company
received a letter on February 21st, 2006 from Mall
Management, agents for Blarney Castle, saying that, from
spring 2007, the estate would make new arrangements for
photography and the Quaid company's facility would cease.
The letter said it reflected "a commercial decision to deal
with photography in a different manner from 2007".

c 2007 The Irish Times

----
To Subscribe to Irish Aires Google News List, click Here.
To Unsub from Irish Aires Google News List, click Here
For options visit: http://groups.google.com/group/IrishAiresNews

Or join our Irish Aires Yahoo Group, Click here

To Get RSS Feed for Irish Aires News click HERE
(Paste http://irishaires.blogspot.com/atom.xml into a News Reader)

To February Index
To Index of Monthly Archives
To Searches & Sources of Other Irish News
Posted by: Unknown / 8:04 AM
Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?