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April 09, 2007

Protestant Areas Grants Are Breaking The Law: SDLP

News About Ireland & The Irish

BT 04/09/07 Protestant Areas Grants Are Breaking The Law: SDLP
BN 04/09/07 McGuinness: United Ireland Countdown Underway
BN 04/09/07 No Going Back For Unionism: Kelly
SF 04/06/07 SF Welcome Ruling On Harassment Of Bus Worker
BT 04/09/07 Dissident Republicans Blamed For Sion Mills Bomb
BT 04/09/07 Opin: Let's Get Out There And Enjoy The Holidays
IT 04/09/07 Commemoration Of 1916 Women
SF 04/09/07 Women Of ‘16 Must Be Afforded Proper Place In History
IT 04/09/07 New TG4 Documentary On Frongoch
BT 04/09/07 Pride Amid The Despair

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2435094.ece

Grants Aimed At Protestant Areas Are Breaking The Law,
Claims SDLP

[Published: Monday 9, April 2007 - 09:40]
By Chris Thornton

New Government grants are "openly breaking the law" by
excluding Catholic areas, the SDLP has said.

The party says it is considering taking legal action over
education and arts schemes - part of a œ33m fund - which
specify that they must benefit working class Protestant
areas.

The Government says the schemes are pilot projects -
indicating that they don't have to comply with Northern
Ireland's strict equality laws.

Upper Bann MLA Dolores Kelly has written to Secretary of
State Peter Hain to ask him to explain "the blatant
illegality and injustice of this".

She refers to an Arts Council award scheme and two Belfast
Education and Library Board grants - both from the Renewing
Communities fund, which the Government launched last year
to help loyalist areas.

The public bodies running the schemes said their guidelines
were set by the Government.

The Arts Council fund, called Place, Identity and Art,
limits awards to non-profit groups " based in a Protestant
working class community" or "working in partnership with a
Protestant working class community".

The Belfast Education and Library Board schemes are limited
to schools with " more than 85% of their pupils coming from
Protestant Neighbourhood Areas".

Mrs Kelly says the funds violate the Northern Ireland Act,
which bans public authorities from discriminating "against
a person or class of person on the ground of religious
belief".

Noirin McKinney, Director of Arts Development in the Arts
Council, rejected the suggestion of discrimination.

She said the scheme is "to make funding accessible to
faith-based organisations in Protestant working class
communities".

"Working within the parameters set by Government, the Arts
Council has invited applicants from any community
background to apply, as long as they can demonstrate
benefit to people living in Protestant working class
communities.

No awards have been made under the scheme and the Arts
Council has asked the Department of Culture to review it.

The Belfast Education and Library Board told the SDLP that
the Department of Education "required the Board to allocate
funding in accordance with its direction".

The Department of Education told the Belfast Telegraph that
the Department of Social Development is responsible for the
Renewing Communities fund.

A DSD spokesman said some projects are being introduced "in
single identity Protestant areas" in order to "test new
ways of working in terms of addressing very specific
challenges".

He said they will become subject to equality screening if
they become "mainstream policy".

Mrs Kelly says the schemes have been set up as part of a
"shady side deal between the Government and DUP".

" This is quite literally a 'No Catholics need apply'
situation, shamelessly run by the Direct Rule government,"
she said.

"Creating competitions with 'no Catholics' in the rules is
just not on. It is against the law, so we are looking at
legal action.

"Everyone involved seems to want to pass the buck, but it
can go no further than the NIO. We want to meet with Peter
Hain to get this illegality ended."

c Belfast Telegraph

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

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

McGuinness: United Ireland Countdown Underway

09/04/2007 - 14:06:45

The countdown to a united Ireland is under way, according
to Stormont's Deputy First Minister in waiting, Martin
McGuinness.

As Sinn Fein members took part in over 100 Easter Rising
commemorations across Ireland, Mr McGuinness told an event
at Drumboe in Co Donegal yesterday that 2007 had been a big
year for republicans who are shaping history once again.

The Mid-Ulster MP, who will jointly head the new Northern
Executive when it is re-established on May 8 with the
Democratic Unionist leader, the Ian Paisley, as First
Minister, insisted Sinn Fein was ready for government.

And he also said the party's republicanism did not stop on
the northern side of the border, with it aiming to be in
government in both parts of the island.

"As the process progresses, more people are recognising
that we have now entered the end phase of our struggle," Mr
McGuinness said.

"I truly believe that we have begun the countdown to a
united Ireland, and we are continuing to get that message
out as widely as possible.

"But Sinn Fein is the only party with the courage to say it
aloud, and encourage proper management of the transition.

"Denying the obvious will serve no purpose, other than to
give false hope to those wishing it were not so."

Mr McGuinness said, in recent times, other parties in the
Ireland had been anxious to show their united Ireland
credentials.

However, while this was welcome, he said rhetorical
republicanism at election time would fool nobody.

"If they are serious about their aspirations for a united
Ireland, then I challenge them to join with us and with
like-minded campaign groups, trade unions and other
interested sections of our society to create an alliance
for Irish unity," he said.

"The potential to progress an all-Ireland strategy for
ensuring full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement
is tremendous.

"Those who attempt to interpret our participation in
implementing the Agreement as a dilution of our
determination to achieve Irish unity and independence could
not be more mistaken."

The Sinn Fein MP said that, as republicans entered the
final lap in the journey towards a united Ireland, they
must try to understand the anxieties of unionists for whom
such change was a terrifying prospect.

However, he said, unionists also had responsibilities,
including the need to face down sectarian politics, which
had been used by loyalist paramilitaries to justify their
refusal to follow the IRA lead and disarm.

He asked why loyalists still felt the need to retain their
weapons.

"Who are they intended for use against?" he asked.

"It requires that they (unionist leaders) use their
influence to encourage these groups to embrace the
political path. "It requires them to participate in the
political debate on the basis of factual argument.

"It requires that they refrain from continuing to play on
fears and superstitions."

Mr McGuinness called on the Irish Government to release
republican prisoners in Castlerea jail, where the killers
of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe are being held.

He said Sinn Fein wanted to change the political landscape
of the Irish Republic as dramatically as it had transformed
politics north of the border.

He criticised the two-tier health system, which, he said,
existed in the Irish Republic and also expressed alarm that
the gap between the wealthy and the rest of the population
was widening.

"I believe that the story of this election will be the
growth of the Sinn Fein vote, and the increased number of
seats that we will win in Leinster House," he said.

"Preparation for this election did not begin today, or
yesterday, but began the day after the last election, and
our workers in every constituency have been busy ever
since.

"Our task in the weeks and months ahead is to reap what we
have sown - to ensure that the support won by your hard
work is mobilised on polling day.

"It is our task to ensure that we continue to work to bring
the goals of Irish unity and independence to realisation."

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

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

No Going Back For Unionism: Kelly

08/04/2007 - 15:32:37

Unionism has crossed a rubicon following the engagement
between the Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams at Stormont, a
senior Sinn Fein figure claimed today.

North Belfast Assembly member Gerry Kelly, who will be a
junior minister in the new power-sharing executive on May
8, told a 1916 Easter Rising event in the city that the
discussions between Sinn Fein and the DUP offered a solid
foundation for a new era of politics on the island of
Ireland.

Mr Kelly also paid tribute to the Provisional IRA during
the commemoration at Milltown Cemetery, claiming it had
shown outstanding valour and vision on and off the
battlefield.

"They have played a central role in this phase of the
struggle and I commend their initiatives, patience,
discipline and tenacity," the former IRA prisoner said.

"Indeed individual and collective courage has been the
mainstay of this long struggle.

"It was the courage shown by the leadership of the IRA in
calling a cessation of military operations in 1994 which
was the catalyst for not only the overall peace process but
for the ongoing development of the republican strategy
which has brought us so far.

"It has taken centuries of struggle by successive
generations of republicans to get as far as we are today."

Mr Kelly continued: "This has been an extraordinary year
and an exceptional few weeks in our strategy.

"When we met last Easter how many thought they would see Dr
'No' become Dr 'Yes'?

"Who would have taken a bet on the Assembly and the all-
Ireland institutions going up, or imagined that iconic
photograph of Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley speaking off the
one hymn sheet about power sharing and Irishness?

"If people had to rub their eyes or rub their ears or
listen to the statements twice in disbelief then let that
be an indication of the rubicon which unionism has
crossed."

The Sinn Fein MLA said he was looking forward to serving in
the new Stormont executive and to republicans exercising
real power in government from May 8.

However he urged republicans on the ground to play their
part by making their voices heard in the corridors of
power.

Mr Kelly reiterated Sinn Fein's determination to secure a
united Ireland but said in pursuing that goal republicans
needed to reassure unionists that they would not become an
oppressed minority.

"We seek a united Ireland and we must convince unionists
that we are implacably opposed to doing to them what was
done to nationalists and republicans," he said.

"We will never again accept the status of second-class
citizens. Neither will we ever impose second-class
citizenship upon anyone else."

As the political process moved forward, the North Belfast
MLA also called on the British government to acknowledge
over 1,000 deaths during the Troubles were as a result of
collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and members of
the Army, intelligence services and police.

He paid tribute to the families of alleged collusion and to
the plastic bullet campaigner Emma Groves who was blinded
in 1971 by a rubber bullet and who died last week, aged 86.

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

http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/18586

Sinn Fein Welcome Ruling On Sectarian Harassment Of Ulster
Bus Worker

Published: 6 April, 2007

Sinn Fein North Antrim MLA Daith¡ McKay has welcomed the
award of œ80,000 to Ballymena Catholic bus driver Gerald
Duffy by a Fair Employment Tribunal who was forced to
endure five years of sectarian abuse and harassment by
fellow workers.

Mr McKay said:

"This Tribunal found that Mr Duffy had to endure five years
of sectarian abuse, intimidation and threat. The award of
nearly œ80,000 can in no way compensate for this sectarian
campaign of harassment and the impact it has had on Mr
Duffy's life.

"There is a responsibility on all employers to ensure that
their work environments are safe and free from this type of
naked sectarianism. There is also a responsibility to deal
with any claim of sectarianism or intimidation quickly and
professionally. In this case Ulster Bus has been found to
be responsible and there is an onus on them to demonstrate
that they can ensure that all of their employees are
allowed to work in an environment free from sectarianism
and fear.

"There is a serious problem with sectarianism across the
north and particularly in North Antrim that must be
challenged not just by all political representatives but
also by all employers.

In a related matter Mr McKay also voiced concerns about the
flying of the Union Jack at MOT centres after receiving
numerous complaints about the flying of the Union Jack at
the Vehicle Test Centre in Ballymena. Mr McKay said:

"It is unacceptable that the DVTA (Driver & Vehicle Testing
Agency) has failed to ensure that Ballymena's MOT Centre is
kept as a neutral venue. I have sent a complaint to both
the DVTA and the DOE about their failure to keep this
centre neutral. People from across North Antrim use the
facility and many customers find it offensive that
somewhere like an MOT Centre is used to fly a Union Jack,
especially when this is not done at other MOT Centres
across the north.

"This practice does nothing to improve community relations
in this area, and does nothing to promote 'shared space' or
a 'shared future'. I will be calling on the Department of
Environment to ensure that MOT Centres are kept as neutral
locations and are used to test vehicles - not fly flags."
ENDS

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2435090.ece

Dissident Republicans Blamed For Bomb Found In Sion Mills

[Published: Monday 9, April 2007 - 09:35]
By Claire McNeilly

There were new fears of an upsurge in dissident republican
activity last night following the discovery of an explosive
device outside a house in Co Tyrone.

Police confirmed that the bomb, found outside a house in
the Primrose Park area of Sion Mills, was a "viable
device".

The bomb was made safe by Army experts and has been removed
for further forensic examination.

Police have refused to give any further details about the
incident but it is understood that they believe dissident
republicans to be responsible.

Police last night also confirmed that they believe there
was a sectarian motive.

DUP MLA for west Tyrone, Thomas Buchanan, last night
condemned the incident. He also said it was a testing
period for Sinn Fein and called on the party to rise to the
challenge.

"Again you have a dissident republican group who are
seeking to destroy the up-and-coming Assembly," he said.

"I think it's a challenge for Sinn Fein to come out and
condemn this activity and not only that but to call on
their people to give any information they have over to the
police.

"As we move forward into a new political era we have to get
rid of the murders, bombing and bloodshed we've experienced
for years.

"This type of activity needs to be eradicated and can be
stamped out if both communities work together, along with
the police."

The bomb at Sion Mills is the latest recent incident for
which dissident republicans have been blamed.

A live mortar and launching tube were discovered by
security personnel at Cornakinnegar Road, near Lurgan, last
Thursday.

On that occasion Army bomb disposal officers remained at
the scene for several hours and the main railway line to
Dublin was closed for several hours.

Detectives spent last Friday carrying out searches of
nearby houses and the railway line close to Cornakinnegar
Road.

The searches come after four dissident republicans were
stopped in a car in the town last Thursday and later
questioned at the PSNI's serious crime suite.

c Belfast Telegraph

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/opinion/article2435301.ece

Viewpoint: Let's Get Out There And Enjoy The Holidays

[Published: Monday 9, April 2007 - 11:31]

The Easter holiday weekend provides everyone with a welcome
breathing space after the dramatic political developments
which have taken place over the past fortnight.

Since March 26 the pace of change has been astonishing and
most people are still coming to terms with the enormity of
what has happened.

Not only have the DUP and Sinn Fein brokered an agreement
but the Rev Ian Paisley has been down to Dublin to give
Bertie Ahern one of the firmest handshakes the Taoiseach is
ever likely to get. And the following day, the First
Minister designate was glad-handing the Irish Transport
Minister, Martin Cullen, at a bus building factory in
Ballymena.

Strange times, indeed, but the net result is that people
are daring to believe that a devolved government could be a
reality by May 8. The Departments have been carved up
between the four main parties and several of the Ministers
in waiting have even been named.

No doubt most of the expats back in Northern Ireland for
the holidays will be cheered by the prospect of political
agreement. This new concord, though, is not the only reason
why people have a spring in their step these days.

The Northern Ireland football team has been scaling new
heights in its victory over Sweden, while the Irish cricket
team has reached the Super Eight in the World Cup. And at
present, Northern Ireland is playing host to rugby's under
19 world championships.

Suddenly Northern Ireland is back on the map for all the
right reasons and the influx of tourists has already begun.
Hotels are busy and tourist attractions are at last living
up their name. Even the weather has been co-operating as
the feelgood factor percolates through the province.

This week, the focus is on Titanic, as the 95th anniversary
of the disaster looms. But the highlight of a number of
Titanic-linked events is the putting on display of Nomadic,
the tender which carried first-class passengers to the
liner.

At last the public is being given the opportunity to go
aboard the ship. The high level of interest locally and
internationally in Nomadic is further confirmation that
Belfast must now make preparations for the big centenary in
2012.

It is vital that by that time, Belfast can boast a
permanent Titanic attraction which will do justice to the
city's links with the vessel. An action plan is needed to
ensure that the plans for such a facility in Titanic
Quarter come to fruition - and that it has a sufficient wow
factor.

Northern Ireland is emerging into the sunshine from the
shadows of the past 40 years, and a new air of confidence
is abroad. Political agreement should produce a new
economic prosperity - and it must have the capacity to lift
all boats.

c Belfast Telegraph

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

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0409/1916.html?rss

Commemoration Of 1916 Women

Monday, 9 April 2007 07:40

Women who fought in the 1916 Rising are being celebrated in
Dublin today.

Female activists and descendents of the women who took part
in the 1916 rising and the War of Independence will be
dressing in period costumes and re-enacting the raising of
the flag at Dublin's Liberty Hall.

The event has been organised by the Dublin community group,
the North Inner City Folklore Project.

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

http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/18602

Women Of 1916 Must Be Afforded Their Proper Place In
History

Published: 9 April, 2007

Sinn Fein candidate for Dublin Central Mary Lou McDonald
MEP this morning attended a commemoration organised by the
North Inner City Folklore Project to honour the women who
fought in the 1916 Rising. Speaking following the event Ms.
McDonald `More than 200 women took part in the 1916 Rising
but for many years their contribution has been largely
overlooked. I hope that as we move towards the 100th
anniversary of the Rising that we afford all of these women
their proper place in Irish history and we ensure that the
type of Ireland for which they fought is built.'

Ms. McDonald said:

"With the exception of Constance Markiewicz, the role of
women in the 1916 Rising was largely forgotten for many
years. It is estimated that out of a total of 1,600 people
involved in the 1916 Rising up to 220 were women. 77 women
were imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol in the aftermath of the
rising. Some were members of the Citizen Army while others
were in Cumann na mBan. Women participated in the Irish
Citizen Army on an equal basis with men and Constance
Markiewicz, Helena Moloney, Madeleine ffrench-Mullen and Dr
Kathleen Lynn were prominent in the Citizen Army during
Easter week.

"Among the last people to leave the GPO were Cumann na mBan
members Winifred Carney, Julia Grenan and Elizabeth
O'Farrell. Julia Grenan was a dispatch carrier during
Easter week and brought information from the GPO to
garrisons around the city. Elizabeth O'Farrell was chosen
by Padraig Pearse to bring the surrender documents to the
various garrisons to signal the end of the Rising. I
welcome the decision of Dublin City Council to unveil a
plaque honouring Elizabeth O'Farrell in City Quay Park
earlier this year.

"It is important that these women and the many others who
played such an important role in the Rising are afforded
their proper place in Irish history. As we begin the
countdown to the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising I
hope that a particular emphasis in placed on the role of
women in the Rising and the impact that this has had on
womens rights since then. It is also important that the
Ireland for which they fought is delivered."ENDS

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0409/breaking14.htm

New TG4 Documentary On Frongoch

Mon, Apr 09, 2007

The Welsh prison where the British allowed defeated 1916
Rising rebels to plot a new Irish state features in a new
documentary.

Frongoch internment camp housed 1,800 revolutionaries,
including Michael Collins and 30 future Dail TDs. It was
dubbed the "University of Revolution" because the seeds
were sown between June and December 1916 for the later War
of Independence and the new Irish state.

Director of a new TG4 documentary, Rosie Ni Cionnaith, said
it was ironic that the British unwittingly helped scores of
volunteers to regroup after the bungled Rising and concoct
plans for Irish freedom.

She said: "Following the Easter Rising, Dublin lay in
ruins, and the rebels' hopes had been dashed. "The newly-
declared Irish republic had been crushed by the might of
the British Empire after only six days.

"However within five and a half years, the Irish had
succeeded in wresting control of most of their country from
one of the most powerful empires in the world. "Ironically,
the British brought together the cream of a generation of
revolutionary nationalists and allowed them, while in the
camp, to map out the tactics of the future."

The documentary, to be screened on TG4 on Wednesday at
9.30pm, used the diaries and letters of prisoners to tell
the story in their own words. Frongoch - University Of
Revolution focuses on three men: Collins, his spy Seamus O
Maoileoin, and Joe Stanley, who printed bulletins during
the Easter Rising.

"Through them we see the prisoners' struggles with the camp
authorities over prisoner of war status, and their
carefully orchestrated propaganda campaign to shame the
British government. "We also see the beginnings of mass
hunger strikes, which were actually pioneered in Frongoch,"
said Ms Ni Cionnaith.

Also being shown on two Welsh channels, the film was shot
at three locations in Ireland during early February.
Frongoch scenes were filmed in Locke's Distillery in
Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, and at the Mill in Slane in Co
Meath. London prison scenes were shot at Wicklow Jail.

Collins, who first came to prominence as a camp leader in
Frongoch, is played by actor Nick Lee. O Maoileoin, played
by Stephen Darcy, was a teacher of Irish and would later
become a successful spy.

Stanley, from Dublin, known as the "Printer to the Easter
Rising", was responsible for printing the war bulletins
during Easter week.

He kept detailed accounts of his time in Frongoch, even
noting Collins' 100 yards race time in a Frongoch sports
event. Stanley is played by his own great-grandson, Trevor
Stanley.

c 2007 ireland.com

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

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2435093.ece

Pride Amid The Despair

[Published: Monday 9, April 2007 - 09:39]

The devastated family of tragic teenager Rory McAlinden
last night spoke for the first time of their pride in the
18-year-old who lost his life trying to save his cousin, 16
year-old Claire Steel.

Claire and Rory's bodies were found together 10 metres
below the surface of the lake in Castlewellan Forest Park
after the boat they were in capsized in the early hours of
Saturday morning.

It is understood that Rory had been trying to save Claire,
who was unable to swim, when they both drowned in the cold
waters.

Rory's uncle Charlie McAlinden said that Claire and Rory
were not just cousins, they were also the best of friends.

"The family is very proud of Rory for trying to save
Claire. Claire and Rory were cousins but they were also
very good friends. It is a really awful time for the
families," Mr McAlinden told the Belfast Telegraph.

He added: "Rory was an apprentice joiner with a local
family building firm. He was renowned as being a very hard
worker. He was also a very popular lad. He was always up
for a bit of fun and mischief and his friends all say he
was a good laugh to be out with. He had a very large circle
of friends."

Rory was also well known for his sporting achievements in
the area.

"He had been looking forward to a football career as well,"
said Mr McAlinden. "He has a number of significant sporting
achievements. He was a member of the minors County
Championship team that brought the title this year to
Castlewellan GAA Club for the first time in 30 years."

Claire was also prominent in sport, regularly playing for
Down ladies GAA team.

"Claire was a very bubbly, energetic person and she also
had a large number of friends. Her and Rory are going to be
very badly missed," said Mr McAlinden.

Claire was a fifth year student at St Malachy's High School
in Castlewellan.

Her English teacher Mrs Jacqueline Bogues said that
everyone in the school has been deeply upset by the news of
her death.

"I taught Claire all the way through school from first to
fifth year. Her older brothers also attended the school.
Claire was a lively and energetic girl whose sparkly
personality will be sadly missed in the year 12 class. Our
thoughts go out to her family."

Claire and Rory's friend Patrick Morgan (18), who survived
Saturday morning's tragedy, has been praised for his
assistance to the search and rescue teams in helping to
locate the bodies.

A spokesman for Mourne Underwater Search Team (MUST) said:
"The young lad worked with us throughout the morning to
give as close a position as possible where the boat
capsized. He was very accurate. He was in shock and upset.
Good on him, as his information helped the divers start
their search in the right area."Pride amid the
despairDeborah McAleese reports from Castlewellan, where
deaths of two teenagers in a boating accident has
devastated a close-knit community

The devastated family of tragic teenager Rory McAlinden
last night spoke for the first time of their pride in the
18-year-old who lost his life trying to save his cousin, 16
year-old Claire Steel.

Claire and Rory's bodies were found together 10 metres
below the surface of the lake in Castlewellan Forest Park
after the boat they were in capsized in the early hours of
Saturday morning.

It is understood that Rory had been trying to save Claire,
who was unable to swim, when they both drowned in the cold
waters.

Rory's uncle Charlie McAlinden said that Claire and Rory
were not just cousins, they were also the best of friends.

"The family is very proud of Rory for trying to save
Claire. Claire and Rory were cousins but they were also
very good friends. It is a really awful time for the
families," Mr McAlinden told the Belfast Telegraph.

He added: "Rory was an apprentice joiner with a local
family building firm. He was renowned as being a very hard
worker. He was also a very popular lad. He was always up
for a bit of fun and mischief and his friends all say he
was a good laugh to be out with. He had a very large circle
of friends."

Rory was also well known for his sporting achievements in
the area.

"He had been looking forward to a football career as well,"
said Mr McAlinden. "He has a number of significant sporting
achievements. He was a member of the minors County
Championship team that brought the title this year to
Castlewellan GAA Club for the first time in 30 years."

Claire was also prominent in sport, regularly playing for
Down ladies GAA team.

"Claire was a very bubbly, energetic person and she also
had a large number of friends. Her and Rory are going to be
very badly missed," said Mr McAlinden.

Claire was a fifth year student at St Malachy's High School
in Castlewellan.

Her English teacher Mrs Jacqueline Bogues said that
everyone in the school has been deeply upset by the news of
her death.

"I taught Claire all the way through school from first to
fifth year. Her older brothers also attended the school.
Claire was a lively and energetic girl whose sparkly
personality will be sadly missed in the year 12 class. Our
thoughts go out to her family."

Claire and Rory's friend Patrick Morgan (18), who survived
Saturday morning's tragedy, has been praised for his
assistance to the search and rescue teams in helping to
locate the bodies.

A spokesman for Mourne Underwater Search Team (MUST) said:
"The young lad worked with us throughout the morning to
give as close a position as possible where the boat
capsized. He was very accurate. He was in shock and upset.
Good on him, as his information helped the divers start
their search in the right area."

c Belfast Telegraph

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