http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0120/1232059661516.html
GERRY MORIARTY, Northern Editor
Tue, Jan 20, 2009
FORMER RUC and PSNI chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan has denied that he described the murdered Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson as an “immoral woman”.
He also contradicted evidence by two former senior RUC special branch officers to the Rosemary Nelson inquiry that the murdered solicitor had “crossed the line” by allegedly acting criminally on behalf of the IRA.
In November last year, former senior Northern Ireland civil servant David Watkins told the inquiry of a meeting which Sir Ronnie attended in 1998. When asked how Sir Ronnie described the solicitor, Mr Watkins replied: “I think he used the term an ‘immoral woman’. ”
When asked at the inquiry in Belfast yesterday did he make this remark, Sir Ronnie said: “Absolutely not.” The “immoral woman” reference related to claims by a number of RUC officers that Mrs Nelson, who was murdered in a car bomb attack by the Loyalist Volunteer Force in March 1999, had a relationship with Lurgan republican Colin Duffy.
Sir Ronnie said he never made such a comment. He believed that in 1998 he may have been told of rumours about a relationship between Mrs Nelson and Mr Duffy but there was nothing put to him in documentary form and he “did not pay particular attention to it”.
Sir Ronnie, who was chief constable in the mid-1990s and oversaw the transition from the RUC to the creation of the PSNI in 2001, is due to give three days of testimony to the inquiry.
The inquiry, which was established on the recommendation of Canadian judge Peter Cory, is trying to establish whether the RUC, Northern Ireland Office, British army or other British state agency committed any “wrongful act or omission” that “facilitated her death or obstructed the investigation of it”.
Mrs Nelson was murdered in a Loyalist Volunteer Force car bomb attack in March 1999. She had claimed that she was subjected to harassment and death threats by members of the RUC.
The 40-year-old solicitor came to public prominence through representing the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition (GRRC) during the annual Drumcree disputes which first erupted in 1995, through working for the family of Robert Hamill who was fatally assaulted by loyalists in Portadown, and through representing Colin Duffy who was twice cleared of IRA murder charges, including the June 1997 killings of community police officers John Graham and David Johnston in Lurgan.
Rory Phillips QC questioned Sir Ronnie and also took him through elements of the statement he made to the inquiry.
The barrister raised the claim by two former senior RUC Special Branch officers that they believed Mrs Nelson had acted in a criminal fashion on behalf of the IRA.
Sir Ronnie said this was not his view of Mrs Nelson. The former chief constable said if there were strongly held views of senior officers he would have expected to have been so briefed at the time.
Sir Ronnie also told the inquiry that when he was police chief constable in the period around 1997 he did not realise that RUC Special Branch was keeping a file on the solicitor. He had no information that would “make it appropriate for the creation of such a file”.
“I am not aware of any files, papers or otherwise that would have been kept about Mrs Nelson. My impression at the time is that Rosemary Nelson was a lawyer who was doing her job,” he said in a statement to the inquiry.
The inquiry also heard how in 1977 a former US senator, Robert Torricelli, wrote to the British ambassador in the US calling for an investigation of allegations that an RUC officer in Armagh issued several threats against the solicitor. Sir Ronnie said this complaint was not brought to his attention.
There was further reference to the Drumcree dispute of 1997 and of how the former and late Northern secretary Mo Mowlam wanted to personally tell the GRRC of the decision to allow the parade down Garvaghy Road. But this did not happen because intelligence indicated she “would be held hostage by residents although there was no intelligence her life was in danger”.
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/former-ruc-chief-lsquounawarersquo-of-special-branch-files-on-solicitor-14147354.html
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Former RUC chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan was unaware that his Special Branch officers kept files on solicitor Rosemary Nelson, the public inquiry into her murder has heard.
The former Northern Ireland police chief was giving evidence to the inquiry into the murder of the 40-year-old, who died in a loyalist bomb attack in 1999 amid allegations of security force |collusion.
But in the first of three days of evidence the former Chief Constable of the then Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) denied describing Mrs Nelson as an “immoral woman”, and challenged the evidence of other security force witnesses who controversially claimed she was helping IRA killers cover their tracks.
Sir Ronnie gave a statement to the probe noting that he did not believe files were kept on the |solicitor, but yesterday he said he was surprised to hear the existence of such documents had been detected by the inquiry.
Yesterday’s proceedings opened with a review of Sir Ronnie’s career, characterising him as an innovative officer who had a ‘hands- on’ leadership style and who encouraged greater openness.
But Sir Ronnie later went on to tell the inquiry he was not privy to a series of allegations linked to Mrs Nelson’s case.
Sir Ronnie told lead counsel Rory Phillips QC that:
He did not know his Special Branch officers kept files on Mrs Nelson;
Did not recall being told a US Senator wrote to British officials claiming Mrs Nelson’s life was threatened by an RUC officer;
Was not briefed on the claims of other officers that Mrs Nelson was having an affair with an IRA member;
Did not know security force documents claimed Mrs Nelson was trying to influence a witness in an IRA murder case.
Sir Ronnie said in his statement to the inquiry, read out |during yesterday’s hearing: “I am not aware of any files, paper or otherwise, that have been kept on Mrs Nelson. My impression at the time was that Rosemary Nelson was a lawyer who was doing her job,” he said.
Mr Phillips told Sir Ronnie that evidence gathered by the inquiry had shown that Mrs Nelson had a Special Branch number, signifying the existence of files on her.
On the issue of files being kept on Mrs Nelson, Sir Ronnie replied: “I would have been surprised that there would.”
He added: “I had no personal reason to understand ... that there would be any material that would make appropriate the creation of such a file.”
Sir Ronnie said he had become aware of the existence of such files only after recently reviewing evidence already given to the inquiry.
The inquiry heard he joined the force in May 1970, holding a series of senior positions, including head of Special Branch, before taking over leadership of the RUC in 1996.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/lsquoplan-to-kidnap-morsquo-over-drumcree-14147353.html
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
A residents group at the centre of the Drumcree parades dispute planned to take former Northern Ireland Secretary of State Mo Mowlam hostage, the Nelson inquiry was told last night.
The inquiry heard previously secret claims that at the height of the Drumcree stand-off Ms Mowlam was warned of intelligence of a plan to kidnap her — a revelation that offers a new perspective on a key turning point in the violent saga.
The Drumcree parades dispute saw residents in the Catholic enclave in the mainly Protestant Portadown object to Orange Order parades through the area.
Tensions surrounding the issue caused widespread violence, but in his testimony Sir Ronnie gave an insight into his recollections of key events in 1997.
During that summer Ms Mowlam had launched proximity talks between the GRRC and the Orange Order — but offered a pledge that if that July’s parade was forced down the road, the Secretary of State would break the news to Garvaghy Road residents personally.
In a statement to the inquiry, Sir Ronnie said: “I recall that there was intelligence to suggest that if she went to the road there was a risk that she would be held hostage by the residents, although there was no intelligence to suggest her life was in danger. She was therefore unable to inform the residents personally and following this situation she was focused on trying to rebuild the damage that had been caused by not following through on her promise.”
The parade was pushed through at night despite attempts by residents to block the route. Scenes of police having to clear the way for marchers damaged relations between nationalists and police.
But it also caused residents to claim they had been double-crossed by Ms Mowlam, souring relations in a dispute that caused violence for years.
Sir Ronnie also claimed the GRRC and its figurehead, former republican prisoner Breandan MacCionnaith was influenced by Sinn Fein. The former RUC chief said: “Breandan MacCionnaith and the others were doing the organising but (there was) the view that they were under the control of Sinn Fein.”
http://www.iais.org
01/19/09 14:07 EST
It is being reported that US President-elect Barack Obama could be on his way to Belfast within the next few months. Obama is considering a visit possibly as early as April.
His staff have been surveying a number of potential sites for a visit.
However, sources in Washington say it is still not 100% certain that he will visit Ireland at this time.
Earlier, the Sinn Fein leader said the United States can continue to play an important role in the peace process under the leadership of President Obama.
Gerry Adams left Northern Ireland on Sunday morning to attend the inauguration of President Obama in Washington DC.
Mr Adams said the incoming US president had pledged action on a range of issues of importance to people in Ireland.
He added Sinn Fein would seek to build a positive relationship with his administration.
The Sinn Fein leader met Mr Obama in the run-up to the presidential election campaign and paid tribute to the role America had played in ending the Troubles.
"The United States has played a consistently significant role in the Irish peace process over the last decade," he said.
"President elect Obama has already committed to continuing US support for the Irish peace process. The new US President has also made positive comments on trade and investment, and has acknowledged the need for immigration reform."
Mr Adams added: "The coming into office of the Obama administration will present many positive new opportunities."
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090119.doyle20/BNStory/Entertainment
John Doyle
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
January 19, 2009 at 6:18 PM EST
Today is Obama day. It's all that matters on TV. The swearing-in is at noon.
You won't catch many people looking at events today through the prism of irony, but let's have a go. While it is universally acknowledged that Barack Obama is the first black president of the United States, and this is a wonderful thing, it is less widely acknowledged is that he is yet another Irish-American president.
Yet it's true. He is. A priest has proved it, and a priest wouldn't tell a lie. Kenya can claim him. Hawaii can claim him. But the new president will always be Barack O'Bama to me. He is, in fact, part of the Kearney family from County Offaly. His people are from the village of Moneygall, a lovely place.
Quit your sniggering now. I told you, this is all true. You see, early last year, Stephen Neill, an Anglican priest in Ireland, was contacted by a researcher in the U.S. about local parish records that mentioned Joseph and Phoebe Kearney, and their son Fulmouth (also known as “Falmouth”), who emigrated to the U.S. in 1850. As the good Anglican priest later explained on his online blog, he was initially reluctant to take on the task because he gets many, many inquires from people in the United States seeking their Irish roots. But the researcher then mentioned a possible connection with Senator Barack Obama and, intrigued, the priest began his research in earnest.
Internet Links: YouTube link
What he discovered is that an 18-year-old Falmouth Kearney left Ireland in 1850, and sailed to New York with thousands of others, when the potato famine was devastating the tiny country. He went to Ohio where he worked as a farmhand in the 1860s and later had his own farm in Indiana. He and his wife Charlotte, Obama's great-great-great-grandmother, had five daughters and three sons. Three of their daughters, Phoebe, Martha and Mary-Ann, all married three brothers, sons of Jacob and Louisa Dunham. Daughter Mary-Ann married Jacob W. Dunham, who is Obama's great-great-grandfather.
The Irish have never been modest about claiming significance or connection to important people and events. I know this to be God's own truth. I am one of them, after all. In fact, I'd guess that almost every purchased copy of that bestselling book How the Irish Saved Civilization is owned by an Irish person who nodded sagely in agreement with every assertion on its pages. I did.
Keep all of this in mind today when you're watching the inauguration coverage. And oblige me by keeping yours truly in mind. I was born in the town of Nenagh (pronounced “Nina”) in Tipperary. On the outskirts of Nenagh, there's a place called Puckane (pronounced “Puckawn”), which is home to three brothers, members of the Corrigan family.
These three fellas have formed a musical group (pithily, “Corrigan Brothers”) and they will be performing today. They will perform at the parade on the Irish-American float, and they will follow that by playing at the inauguration party thrown by the Democratic Party.
Why? Because they are composers and performers of the insane ditty There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama. Again I remind you that I'm not making this up. The video for the song has about one million hits on YouTube and they've performed it on BBC shows and on CBS's The Early Show. They were invited by Obama's people (in the U.S., not the Kearneys in Moneygall) to take part in the historic shindig today. The lyrics of the song begin, “O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara/ There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama/ You don't believe me/ I hear you say/ But Barack's as Irish/ As was JFK.”
Check it out, I plead with you. The animated version is especially crazy. It also includes these lyrics: “He's in the White house/ He took his chance/ Now let's see Barack do Riverdance.” And you know what? I'll bet he could and he would. By the way, in interviews given by the Corrigan Brothers (and Nenagh people never lie), they say they've been told that Obama sings the song in the shower every day.
It is universally acknowledged that this is a great day for the United States, and for the world. The Irish want it acknowledged that it is a great day for Ireland. A priest proved it. And if I were you, I wouldn't argue with a priest or people from Nenagh. The new prez will always be O'Bama to me. Ironic, isn't it?
Inauguration Coverage: On CTV, Lloyd Robertson will anchor coverage at 10 a.m., with analysis from Frank McKenna, former Canadian ambassador to the U.S.; Avis Jones-DeWeever, director of the National Council of Negro Women; and Eleanor Clift, former White House correspondent for Newsweek. Lisa Laflamme reports from the White House and Tom Clark from the National Mall. On CBC and Newsworld, Pastor Mansbridge anchors from the Canadian embassy in Washington, starting at 11 a.m., with guests including Melissa Harris-Lacewell, a professor of African-American studies at Princeton University. On Global, Kevin Newman will broadcast from Washington, starting at 11 a.m., and a two-hour live special will have Derek Burney, former ambassador to the U.S.; political expert Melissa Hausman; and Rosemary Sadlier, president of the Ontario Black History Society.
The U.S. networks and all-news channels have all-day coverage, of course. Tonight, CBS will have a one-hour inauguration special at 9, and ABC will have one at 10.
Check local listings.
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