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skinny Roaring Fortean
Great Old One Joined: 30 May 2010 Total posts: 169 Location: Adelaide Age: 42 Gender: Male |
 Posted: 02-03-2013 08:12 Post subject: |
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Not sure if this has been mentioned. Peter Taylor's documentary series, Brits, Loyalists and Provos is very good if you want background to the Troubles. It's about 15 years old now, and many of the key players have passed on, but it offers some real insights into the complexities of the Troubles. It's on Youtube and there are torrents for it.
Who do you folks think has emerged with the most advantage thus far? I'm glad the republican catholics now have human rights, long fought for. They have solid representation in all areas of Irish political processes, yet the tensions still simmer. I get the feeling it could all collapse at any moment. The recent flag issue was a test of the resolve of the leadership on both sides, and I thought Sinn Fein leadership were very restrained, and their demands for PSNI intervention were successful. It seems to have calmed now. I for one, am hopeful of future unity for those in NI who acknowledge and celebrate their Irish heritage. The current call by SF for a border poll doesn't seem to be greeted with much enthusiasm outside SF ranks. Probably a bit much of a distraction with the economic difficulties faced down south - not the best time to stir the pot. |
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| balding13 Great Old One Joined: 22 Sep 2006 Total posts: 190 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 02-03-2013 17:11 Post subject: |
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| The arrests of the 'leaders' of the fleg protests has started. However, they've also had to arrest a leading republican for the McCartney murder, cos thats the way we do it here! |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 02-03-2013 18:57 Post subject: |
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| balding13 wrote: | | The arrests of the 'leaders' of the fleg protests has started. However, they've also had to arrest a leading republican for the McCartney murder, cos thats the way we do it here! |
Its very odd. This is the second republican arrested for: investigating the McCartney affair. Both of them were leading IRA members (allegedly) who were working to bring about decommissioning. They would have been in contact with British Government representatives and with the Decommissioning Tribunal.
Is somebody (other than "Loyalists" and dissident Republicans) trying to bring down Stormont? |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 17-04-2013 01:37 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Smithwick tribunal: Garda criticises PSNI's intelligence handling
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-221691119
'
A senior Garda (Irish police) officer has criticised the PSNI for the way it handled intelligence about alleged Garda collusion with the IRA.
Det Ch Supt Peter Kirwan was speaking at the Smithwick tribunal in Dublin.
He said information provided to the tribunal by PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris was given in such a way that it could not be checked.
The tribunal is investigating claims of Garda collusion in the IRA murders of two Northern Ireland policemen in 1989.
High-ranking
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers - Ch Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan - were shot dead in an IRA ambush in south Armagh, shortly after they left a meeting at Dundalk Garda station.
The RUC was replaced by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in 2001, as a result of the Northern Ireland peace process.
Earlier this year, Assistant Chief Constable Harris told the Smithwick Tribunal that during the Troubles, the IRA got information and co-operation from high-ranking garda officers.
The PSNI officer provided the information in summary form.
Regrettable
But giving evidence on Tuesday, Det Ch Supt Kirwan, who is the head of the Garda crime and security section, said his officers had not been able to check out the allegations.
He said that because Garda officers did not have the foundation documents for the collusion allegations, they were not given a chance to interpret what it meant.
Solicitor John McBurney, acting for the family of Ch Supt Breen, said it was very regrettable to hear such a senior officer complain that intelligence had not been properly shared. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 19-04-2013 12:25 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Couple want IRA conviction quash decision made public
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22208527?SThisFB
The Court of Appeal was told that the guilty verdicts against the couple should be quashed
A couple who have been told they were wrongly sent to prison in connection with a murder have asked that the contents of a secret dossier that led to the decision be made public.
James Martin and Veronica Ryan, from Belfast, were both convicted of falsely imprisoning alleged IRA informer, Joe Fenton, before he was killed in 1989.
The public prosecution service said the convictions should be quashed, but want their reasons to be kept secret.
The judges reserved their decision.
Mr Martin, who was also convicted of allowing his home to be used for terrorist activity, served a six year sentence. His wife spent three years in jail.
Last year, the public prosecution service said the couple would not have been charged if it had been aware of confidential material it has now seen.
A lawyer for the PPS told the Court of Appeal on Thursday that it accepted the convictions should be quashed, and that the couple did not have a fair trial.
But the PPS doesn't want the couple to be told why its position has changed. It wants the court to give a closed judgement - which means the material will remain secret.
A barrister representing James Martin said he, and the wider public, has a right to know what the secret material is.
"If the speculation is correct and it's the case that one agent of the state was allowed to execute another agent of the state to enhance his position with a paramilitary organisation so he could provide a higher grade of intelligence that needs to be stated," his barrister said..
Mr Devine said unless the court reveals what went wrong then "those that have perpetrated this type of behaviour and those that are minded to do so in the future will continue to do so".
However, the barrister acting for the prosecution service, said that the case for delivering a closed judgment was "overwhelming".
He rejected claims that such a verdict would endorse any wrongdoing. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 20-04-2013 23:21 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Smithwick: Senior Garda makes 'outlandish claims'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22226700
Ch Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan were murdered by the IRA in south Armagh in 1989
One of the most senior Garda (Irish police) officers has been accused of making "outlandish" and "self-serving" claims about PSNI evidence to the Smithwick Tribunal.
The hearing is investigating claims of Garda collusion in the IRA murders of two Northern Ireland policemen in 1989.
The Head of the Garda's Security and Intelligence has demanded to see evidence alleging a senior IRA man was getting information from the Garda.
The PSNI have refused.
The PSNI said they are unable to give the evidence to Peter Kirwan as they need to protect their source.
According to Det Chief Supt Kirwan, that makes it impossible for him to assess the evidence.
This row between the forces is based on evidence previously given to the tribunal by PSNI Assistant Chief Constable, Drew Harris.
He said the PSNI has current and recent intelligence alleging a senior IRA man was getting information from Gardai, including a senior officer.
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers - Ch Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan - were shot dead in an IRA ambush in south Armagh, shortly after they left a meeting at Dundalk Garda station.
On Friday, the PSNI legal team accused Mr Kirwan of being "self-serving" and making "outlandish claims" which gave no credence to the evidence of ACC Harris.
The families of the two murdered senior RUC officers at the centre of the tribunal have appealed to the Gardai and the PSNI to overcome their disagreements.
Ernie Waterworth, solicitor for the Buchanan family, said there appeared to be a lack of trust between the PSNI and the Garda at a senior level.
"This begs the question whether there can ever be full disclosure between both forces."
The solicitor for the Breen family, John McBurney, said it must be possible for senior officers in all the law agencies involved to liaise properly to ensure their is a full investigation into the intelligence alleging collusion.
That, he said, should be done quickly. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 26-05-2013 23:38 Post subject: |
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From Facebook re G8.
| Quote: | Richard McAleavey
In the Belfast Telegraph this week Lindy McDowell suggested that people in Northern Ireland ought to get fully behind the G8 meeting in Fermanagh because it would mean more dramas like The Fall starring Gillian Anderson would get made. Northern Ireland has a register of stupid all of its own.
Unlike · · Share · 37 minutes ago via mobile ·
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Turlough Kelly I think the difference between NI and the Republic is basically the difference between a paranoid schizophrenic and two paranoid schizophrenics locked in a tiny room for eighty years.
32 minutes ago · Unlike · 5
Karen Fleming Have a look at this. I hear tell of Monaghan people doing the same.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/g8-summit/g8-summit-homeowners-charging-12k-a-week-for-house-in-fermanagh-29138577.html
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/g8-summit/g8-summit-homeowners-charging-12k-a-week-for-house-
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
32 minutes ago · Like
Karen Fleming 'Property owners making the most of the summit have been praised by Sinn Fein MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Phil Flanagan, who said: "I admire those who've shown entrepreneurial spirit. They're showing that it's alive and well. People who are trying to make the most of this opportunity should be commended for doing so. There's a fear that the benefit of the G8 will be very small, so I suppose if people are able to make a few pounds out of the media scrum and the entourage that's coming along with it.
"People need to be innovative so they can maximise whatever it is they have ahead of the G8. It's rumoured there will be 800 Americans over with President Obama, so it's important to have the capacity to house those people."
DUP MLA Arlene Foster also said: "The G8 will present both long-term and short-term economic opportunities, not just for Fermanagh but for Northern Ireland as a whole.
"Accommodation in Fermanagh and the surrounding counties is clearly in huge demand, with many venues completely booked up before, during and after the summit."
The Enterprise Minister added: "Hosting the G8 is a tremendous coup and it will give us the opportunity to show the world why Northern Ireland is a great place to visit and why it is the ideal location in which to do business, to invest and export goods from." ' |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 31-05-2013 11:10 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Smithwick Tribunal: Officer denies IRA information leak
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22721820
A former Garda (Irish police) sergeant has denied passing information to the IRA during the Troubles.
Owen Corrigan was giving evidence during the closing days of the Smithwick tribunal.
Mr Corrigan said there was no leak from Dundalk garda station that led to the murders of two senior RUC officers.
Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan died in an ambush in south Armagh shortly after they left a meeting at the station in 1989.
Mr Corrigan told the enquiry that during the Troubles senior RUC officers were travelling to Dundalk garda station "willy nilly" without police protection.
"It's a terrible thing to say", he said, but those men, "were authors of their own misfortune."
Intelligence
He denied there was a leak from Dundalk garda station that led to the double murders.
Mr Corrigna told the tribunal that the IRA version of what happened corroborates evidence that he had previously given, that the two senior RUC officers were under surveillance as part of a lengthy operation.
Former garda sergeant Corrigan previously gave evidence in which he said he believed Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchannan were murdered as a result of a leak.
He was asked to explain that comment and how it squared with today's assertion that there was no leak from a garda member in the Dundalk station.
He said he defined a leak as one person passing information or intelligence to another.
So, in his book one IRA member telling another the result of the surveillance was a leak.
That was why he said he could say there was a leak involved in the murders but that it didn't come from a member of the Garda Siochana (Irish police service).
The former special branch detective has denied that he was a rogue policeman who passed information to the IRA for whatever reason, including money.
Deathbed
The tribunal's lawyers were keen to question him about his properties and asked for access to his bank details.
But he said he was going to refuse them as nobody else had been asked to account for their personal finances.
He said he had a lot of time to think about this as he lay on his deathbed and he was resolved not to do so.
He recently underwent a major heart operation
During the session and the former detective repeatedly told lawyers that he was not a well man; and the enquiry should be re-named the "Corrigan tribunal" because Thursday was his 18th day giving evidence which he said he found most insulting.
He likened the enquiry to a political trial that was out to get him. Mr Corrigan said that the British security services were "behind it all".
Mr Corrigan is due back in the witness box on on Friday when the tribunal is expected to conclude its public sittings.
The tribunal was established in 2005 and is being chaired by Judge Peter Smithwick.
It was due to conclude in November 2011, but has been granted a number of extensions by the Irish government. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 02-06-2013 23:57 Post subject: |
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Yet more information on collusion.
| Quote: | Travers urges the unionist parties to acknowledge security forces collusion
http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/Belfast_Telegraph/arts2013/jun1_AnnTravers_wants_Unionists_acknowledge_sec-forces-collusion__LClarke_Bel-Telegraph.php
(Liam Clarke, Belfast Telegraph)
Ann Travers has now challenged unionist parties to face up to the fact of collusion or cover-up by the security forces.
It comes following her successful pressure on the SDLP not to block a bill on preventing people with serious criminal records from holding senior posts at Stormont.
She believes collusion was a factor in many Troubles-era killings, including that of her sister Mary. "However uncomfortable it is to some people's preconception we must accept that there was collusion and it was absolutely wrong," she said.
"All murder is wrong. "For me it is a very uncomfortable reality to realise that people who I would have supported, and who I do still support contained an element that colluded. I mean the police and the security forces."
This week Ms Travers support for a unionist bill to stop ex-prisoners from working as ministerial advisers proved crucial. She now has challenging questions to ask to both unionists and nationalists.
Her sister Mary, a 22-year-old teacher, was shot dead by the IRA as she walked home from Mass with her magistrate father and her mother in 1984.
The IRA has maintained that her magistrate father Tom Travers was the intended target. However a Historic Enquiries Team (HET) review of the case confirmed that attempts were made to kill Mrs Travers and Mary as well.
"It couldn't have been an accident because Mary was shot in the back," she said.
"The gunman even put the gun to my mother's head.
"It misfired but it left gunpowder on mum's temple and her upper lip."
Afterwards the guns were taken away by Mary McArdle, the only one convicted of the crime, who was later appointed a Sinn Féin special adviser.
The gun gang wore wigs and fled to 48 Malone Avenue to change and clean up.
The premises, the HET found, had been supplied by Joe Fenton, a police agent who worked as an estate agent.
Mr Fenton, who was later caught and murdered by the IRA five years later, later reported this to his RUC handler.
The HET report said: "A member of the Provisional IRA who was a police informant told his handler that he had been asked to wipe the safe house at 48 Malone Avenue using plenty of Jeyes fluid.
"He was asked to remove evidence of wigs, spectacles or gloves."
The handler, who had wanted to retrieve the evidence, later claimed that Mr Fenton had offered to allow the police to take forensic traces first. However his superior officer ruled this out, the HET report found.
The wigs and other material from the clean-up were instead dumped in a skip.
"They were clearly protecting somebody," Ms Travers said.
A former intelligence officer has claimed that one of the gunmen was a police agent but this has not been confirmed.
"This gives me sympathy with other families, such as the Finucanes, who have found evidence of collusion in the murder of their loved ones," Ms Travers said.
"We need to know who is it decides who it is who lives or who dies and which evidence is followed up in such a situation. "That is why I can see myself raising the issue of collusion in the future."
June 2, 2013
________________
This article appeared in the June 1, 2013 edition of the Belfast Telegraph.
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 24-06-2013 02:37 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | PSNI evidence to Smithwick ‘nonsense on stilts’
Lawyers for Garda commissioner say families of murdered RUC let down by PSNI
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/psni-evidence-to-smithwick-nonsense-on-stilts-1.1438360
The scene of the RUC men’s murder by the IRA in 1989. Photograph: Pacemaker
Tim O'Brien
Fri, Jun 21, 2013, 12:33
The PSNI has been sharply criticised by lawyers for the Garda commissioner for offering the Smithwick tribunal evidence of Garda / IRA collusion which amounted to “nonsense on stilts”.
On the last day of the Smithwick tribunal’s public hearings Diarmaid McGuinness SC said the PSNI had let down the families of two murdered RUC officers, let down the Gardai and the tribunal and let down members of its own force.
The Smithwick tribunal is investigating allegations that a mdember or members of the Garda in Dundalk colluded with the IRA in the March 1989 murders of RUC Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan. The men were killed in an IRA ambush just inside the Border with Northern Ireland within minutes of leaving a meeting in Dundalk Garda Station.
It is specificially looking into the conduct of three former sergeants in Dundalk at the time, Finbarr Hickey; Leo Colton and Owen Corrigan.
As parties to the Tribunal made their final submissions this morning Mr McGuinness said as the PSNI’s approach “cast the gravest shadow” over its willingness to assost the tribunal in uncovering the truth.
He said the PSNI had introduced intelligence at a late stage which suggested a member of an Garda not yet before the tribunal may be implicated. But he said the PSNI had produced no evidence to back up the statement by assistant chief constable Drew Harris that this intelligence was reliable.
Mr McGuinnes said the job of tribunal chairman Judge Peter Smithwick had been made more difficult because of the PSNI’s actions and he invited the judge to “ransack the dictionary” for the words to criticise the force.
Earlier Jim O’Callaghan SC for former detective sergeant Owen Corrigan said his client had been accused of collusion and being “part of an IRA gang” which had tipped off the IRA to the presence of the two RUC officers on the day they were killed.
Mr O’Callaghan said his client, more than his fellow Dundalk officers was identified as being involved in IRA / Garda collusion. This was because Mr Corrigan had been named under house of Commons privilege, in April 2000, as the officer who had tipped of the IRA.
Mr O’Callaghan said there was significant evidence of an alternative explanation for the murders of the officers.
He said Mr Buchanan had a strong habit of making cross- Border visits, to such an extent that concern had been raised for his safety and the safety of those he visited. Mr O’Callaghan said between August 1988 and March 1989 Supt Buchanan had on 39 separate occasions crossed the Border to visit the Garda. On these occasions he always drove his red Vauxhall Cavalier and never changed the registration plates, although this would have been possible.
Mr O’Callaghan recalled that Mr Buchanan’s visit to Dundalk generally happened on a Monday. He said the level of concern for Mr Buchanan’s safety was such that it had been discussed between the Garda and RUC before the two officers were murdered.
Mr O’Callaghan said the tribunal had also heard that an IRA member had seen RUC officer inspector Charles Day in a Garda Station and the IRA had subsequently decided to murder him and Mr Buchanan with home he normally travelled.
While he said Mr Buchanan was regarded as “a lovely man” who was “extremely popular” in terms of the frequency of his visits across the Border he was careless and excessive”.
Mr O’Callaghan said it was his client’s thesis that he had been implicated by British security services in a bid to deflect calls from the Southern Government for an inquiry into allegations of collusion between loyalists and the RUC. He said the calls for an inquiry into Garda collusion with the IRA had been made to “deflect attention” from calls fro an inquiry into the murders of Northern solicitors Rosemary Nelson and Patrick Finucane. |
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| ramonmercado Psycho Punk
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 17657 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
| Posted: 10-08-2013 23:06 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Belfast riots: 56 police officers injured during parade protests
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-23645607
Northern Ireland Chief Constable Matt Baggott condemned the rioters.
The number of police officers injured during loyalist protests against a republican parade in central Belfast is 56.
The police fired 26 plastic bullets and made eight arrests on Friday evening amid sustained rioting in Royal Avenue.
Northern Ireland's Chief Constable Matt Baggott described the violence as "mindless anarchy" and "thuggery".
He praised his officers, saying they had put their lives on the line to protect the rule of law.
"I want to, as ever, commend my colleagues for their immense courage last night. I have no doubt whatsoever that they prevented that anarchy from spreading and without that courage, many lives may well have been lost," Mr Baggott said.
Officers hospitalised
He added that those who attacked police had "no intention of peaceful protest".
Bricks and fireworks were thrown at officers, and they were also attacked with scaffolding poles and paving stones ripped from the city's streets.
A PSNI spokeswoman said four of the injured officers needed hospital treatment and one of them remained in hospital.
Injured police officer on the ground during loyalist protest in Belfast
Dozens of police officers were injured during loyalist protests against a republican parade
In addition to plastic bullets, police also used water cannon and dogs during the disorder.
The eight people arrested on Friday night were detained on suspicion of offences including riotous behaviour and disorderly behaviour. The police said a number of people have now been charged.
Mr Baggott said: "We made arrests last night where we could, you can be assured that many more will follow."
He added: "I have no doubt whatsoever that significant custodial sentences will be handed down in the weeks and months that follow. The prisons will be bulging, sadly."
Shops damaged
Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers described the violence and attacks on police as "shameful".
She said what had happened was a "hugely regrettable step backwards" after Northern Ireland's recent successes at hosting the G8 summit and World Police and Fire Games.
The trouble began when loyalists staged a demonstration in the city centre, against a republican parade that was due to pass along Royal Avenue, one of Belfast's main shopping districts.
Theresa Villiers MP: "It is outrageous that police officers were attacked."
The protesters attacked the police with bricks and bottles as they waited for the parade to arrive.
Police said they came under heavy and sustained attack by crowds "intent on creating disorder".
A number of parked vehicles were set on fire in the nearby North Street area and a number of shops and a pub were damaged during the violence.
'Heavy-handed'
Officers also said they had reports that two members of the public had been injured.
Some loyalists accused the police of being heavy-handed.
The commander in charge of the policing operation, ACC George Hamilton, said significant numbers of people began to gather in Royal Avenue at about 17:30 BST on Friday.
"There was absolutely no organisation, no coordination and no leadership around any of those protests. We saw numbers swell to around 1,200 people and it was evident that many of them had violent intent.
"There was no attempt whatsoever that we could see of any organised or coordinated protest activity in line with that which had been notified to the Parades Commission."
ACC Hamilton said police stopped the republican marchers in North Queen Street, while officers "faced huge personal risk" trying to clear protesters from Royal Avenue to make it passable for the parade.
However, he said that after a 25 minute delay the parade organisers decided to avoid Royal Avenue and take a different route towards Carrick Hill, Millfield and into west Belfast.
"The police did not reroute the parade away from Royal Avenue and in fact we were within minutes of having Royal Avenue cleared to allow the parade to go through," ACC Hamilton said.
Major operation
The parade and the protesters later confronted each other about 100 metres apart and what the police have described as serious disorder took place in the Carrick Hill, Peter's Hill and Millfield areas, just north of the city centre.
The parade then passed into west Belfast after protesters were pushed back towards the Shankill area.
Police put in place a major operation ahead of the parade, involving hundreds of officers and dozens of vehicles.
The march, which started in north Belfast, marked the introduction of internment in 1971.
The Parades Commission had given permission for six loyalist protests against the parade. Numbers were restricted at four of them. |
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